On to Super Duper Scooper Tuesday

Caucuses Suck
In the list of things I hate politically, caucuses are among them. Likely the most undemocratic of events, posed as a Norman Rockwellesque town meeting to select the right candidates. For those of us who are somewhat politically active, our own caucuses which are relatively low stakes (delegates to the state convention) can be incredibly painful, especially as Democrats, we are expected to listen to every crackpot speaker who has an ax to grind, whether it be related to the topic at hand or not.

Caucuses create an opportunity for the political bully, it may not be physical intimidation, it certainly can be mental torture, grinding down others until they "see it your way". The lack of a private vote behind a curtain sets the stage for all kinds of manipulation, by peers, by supervisors and bosses, etc and certainly a short span of time for party members to show up and vote. What happens to those party members that are hampered by caretaking issues? Those that may usually show up at 7 to vote or 8 in the evening on the way to or from work?

A prime example of the effect that a small number of voters can have in caucuses is in Nevada. Last Saturday, senator McCain got 6 times in SC as many votes as Romney in Nevada. However, Mittster gets 18 delegates, McCain 13 (many lost due to the penalized rescheduling of the primary) Along with the the effect of superdelegates, representative democracy in the primaries for both parties is being lost.

Menino's Marbles Massachusetts Municipal Message
Recently, Mayor Menino gave his state of the city address. I didn't listen because frankly he's difficult to listen to. It's not his speech pattern but generally his tendency not to take responsibility when any problem hits the city. It it's a snowstorm that paralyzes the city, it's the state's fault, schools underperforming, the state's fault for underfunding. There is a general feeling in municipalities is that proposition 2 1/2 and "unfunded mandates" have paralyzed cities and towns. Along with the cost of healthcare, certainly many cities and towns in Massachusetts are in a bad way, fixed costs such as healthcare and energy increase by huge percentages while revenues do not. However in Boston, with it's huge tax base this isn't the same type of problem as smaller cities and towns.

There's always a host of people for Tom to blame for the city's problems, this is a major fault of leadership among politicians, strong leaders take responsibility for what goes wrong. Take responsibility in public, go and chew out who's actually responsible and make sure it doesn't happen again. Menino has been called the urban mechanic, the guy who keeps the city running, certainly 4 terms is a bit much for someone to maintain a city. Where is the innovation? Is the biggest new idea picking up lawn chairs and cones after a snowstorm? Where is the innovation in negotiating with the powerful public employee unions, to give better services for residents and better use of the public dime?

Certainly the mayor runs the city with an iron fist, there is little patience for those who oppose him and occasionally he will make bizarre comments such as the one about the "Minute Clinics" at pharmacies, "allowing business to make money off sick people." I'm not sure if da Mayor has looked around but outside of higher education, that's Boston's biggest business. Certainly a parent who doesn't want to beg for an appointment with his physician for poison ivy or spend a day waiting in an emergency room for a minor malady will celebrate the opportunity for a quick visit to CVS instead of missing an entire day of work and school.

In November 2009, the Mayor and his machine will likely dominate the mayoral campaign, it is nearly political suicide for any candidate to take up the opportunity to run. It is unknown when a New Boston will rise from this current mucked up, non-innovative machine.


Hunter Gets Captured by the Game
Probably one of the most disappointing things for many people is realizing that the author of Fear and Loathing was actually deceased and not tossed his hat in the ring for the GOP nomination. Hunter S. Thompson would have been a fascinating candidate and a interesting libertarian alternative to Ron Paul. But it was Duncan Hunter, and outside of a few red meat conservatives, he had little chance. Being good friends with Duke Cunningham likely didn't help things as often we are judged by the company that we keep, certainly Duncan was never accused of being dirty, more by association. Who's this help? Well, some military conservatives may go to McCain, but let's be honest, this was going nowhere.

ONTO GOD'S WAITING ROOM
The race on both sides is pretty tight, for Republicans however it is wider and tighter. Looking at the scoreboard, Governor Romney is leading in delegates, but has yet to gain the Mittmentum to carry him into SuperDuper Tuesday. McCain and Huckleberry also continue to be in the fray for leadership but mostly it's virtually a game of Risk as the leaders try to knock out Thompson and Paul who are holding on to some lesser territories hoping for a helluva roll if they survive the next turn.

Rudy has been the non-factor so far, his strategy is to come in later in the race, missing some of the early rounds and score big in Florida and gain momentum on the way to February 5th. As the other candidates have been knocking the hacky sack around, Rudy's been fiddling around with the stereo, hoping to score with some drunk co-ed's who just finished the 2 liter of wine coolers, the new "attractive" candidate that's come late to the party.

Florida is an interesting place for a Republican campaign, lots of elderly folks who are from somewhere else, some coming with more "cosmopolitan" interests, folks who are more likely to be concerned with the solvency of social security in the near future rather than privatization or other schemes, Cuban Americans as well as "southern" Florida which is actually central and northern Florida which tends to be more, well how should I put it, more "culturally" and "socially" conservative. So watch for Rudy to be the tough guy of tough guys here, and play the Rudy drinking game, everytime he says, 9/11, kill, hunt or any other violent word, have a little drink with me.

SATURDAY SHOWDOWN IN THE PALMETTO STATE
This is a big day for Obama, in fact much bigger for him than for HRC. As the big two begin to stretch a space between themselves and John Edwards, Obama needs the momentum from South Carolina as the quasi-national primary takes place on Feb. 5th. It's a bigger day for Obama because many of the states on Feb. 5th are running strong for Clinton due to her strength among the "Democratic Establishment". Expectations are huge for Obama, who will need to run strong among African Americans to set the stage to leapfrog into later primaries. For John Edwards, it is a matter of survival, as the southern white male battles a Yankee woman and a black man for his own viability as a candidate in the cradle of the Confederacy, who woulda thought? There was a powerful effort to force the race issue into the debate, a debate like all the others, high on rhetoric and low on solutions and policy. Still waiting, still waiting.