A Democratic Bucket of Spit

So we're off with Democrats. With no real no-brainer here that will seal the deal, who's the person that will go down in flames in November? Here's my random list, probably none of who will be nominated.

THE DELIBERATIVE FELLAS
There are a number of folks in the world's greatest deliberative body that may have a chance for the no. 2 spot. In a meritocracy, to make the trains run on time, Joe Biden is probably a strong choice. He knows foreign policy, would be a strong speaker on the use of smart or soft power, etc. But he brings you Delaware. I'm unsure if Delaware is a big deal in the electoral math. He's also a little bit goofy. Bayh is another guy I'm sure on many pundits short lists. I honestly don't know much about him. An authentic midwestern guy with strong Democratic bloodlines, former chair of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council and well regarded Governor of Indiana, yeah so he will play to all 837 independent, undecided centrist voters who vote on good management and free trade all across the country. None of these guys fit into the electoral math.

JOHN'S MONKEY BUSINESS
How the somewhat mighty have fallen. If you believe the tabloids, John Edwards "Two Americas" consist of a girl friend on the west coast and his lovely wife back in North Carolina. It's a good thing the endorsement of the Angry Middle didn't carry Edwards to the nomination. John may have taken his RFK mantle just a little two seriously. John won't be the VP candidate whether his hands were in the cookie jar or not, but I couldn't help myself in making an RFK and Gary Hart reference in the same paragraph.


THE THIRD VIRGINIAN
Jim Webb would have probably been the most interesting of VP candidates, providing a cache that a Navy Cross winner, former Republican with a Iraq vet son could provide. As a hot head, the debate would have been something, I like Jim Webb, but I like him in the Senate a lot better. Mark Warner also seemed like a strong Virginian, but along come Governor Tim Kaine. I got no problem with Kaine, no one is ever going to confuse him with John Edwards and the $400 haircut. Kaine is part of the movement that is turning Virginia blue, a key state in the election. He is also one of the Democrats that will piss off the liberals in the party with his pro-life views and ironically may bring some non-Democrats to vote Democratic because he pisses off a few liberals, nothing make people vote Democratic more than a Democrat that pisses off liberal. Also as a Governor he brings that executive experience that will likely balance out a Governor that will be nominated by the GOP.

THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE
If the Democratic Party machinery really just wants to throw 2008 away and save some money for 2012, nominate HRC for the vice presidency. This way people who are sexist or racist will both have a reason to vote the other way. Hillary was likely the most polarizing political entity in recent history until George W. Bush's recent escapade to run the country into the ground. Honestly despite commentary to the contrary, there are about 17 knucklehead Clinton supporters that are going to stay home or vote for McCain in November if she is not on the ballot. There are very few candidates who will elicit bumper stickers that say Defeat Hillary when she is no longer even running for anything. Again I don't really know what it is, what really pisses people off about her. A powerful woman? An opportunist? A feeling that being the wife of a former two term President doesn't necessarily entitle you to the Oval Office? The selection of HRC as VP is a sign of surrender, not just for this election but for the entire Democratic party, if this is the choice just fold up the tents because you have become totally out of touch with America.

THE GENERALS
With Senator Obama's short national security resume in a time of a Global War on Terror, the Generals become a very interesting choice. I'm a Wesley Clark guy, hard to put anything past a combat vet who's a Rhodes Scholar who was head of NATO and ran a war in the Balkans. He is often slandered "for almost causing WWIII", which in this time would just be considered some posturing and toughness with the Ruskies. In a campaign that's just stupid, even commenting about someone else isn't allowed unless it's a personal attack on someone, so his comments about Senator McCain and national security were just seen as a personal attack instead of reflecting on someone's real credentials. So it's difficult to see if Clark is a front runner. General Anthony Zinni is another attractive if not hidden candidate, if in fact he would want to give up the fat jobs of corporate directorships and teaching at Duke. Zinni was an early anti-Iraq war general referring to it as the "Bay of Goats" If not as VP, Zinni would be an outstanding NSC chief, as another combat vet with an incredible mind, not appealing to his patriotism to serve again in a post-Bush America for either party would be a loss.

THE ELDER STATESMAN
You know what this ticket is missing? An old white guy from the south. I had kind of forgotten about Sam Nunn. Always knew him as one of those hawkish Democrats. His nomination would be considered to be "the adult in the room" nomination, similar to the selection of Dick Cheney in 2000, and that worked oh so well. I'm not comparing Nunn to Cheney but that was the initial intent way back there at the turn of the century. I like Nunn, why he would give up teaching at a school that's named after him is beyond me, to do the real hard work of redefining Executive power in the post-Bush years. But maybe he's the adult we need.

THE OTHER WOMAN
In any other election, Kathleen Sebelius, the Governor of Kansas would be an interesting candidate. Democratic governor of a red state, known for working bipartisan angles, likely a good VP to work across the aisle. I'm not sure if the country is ready for search a "diverse" ticket. And the fact that she too is lacking in national security cred does not work in her favor. Barry and Katie leading the US into a post 9/11 world may not resonate with middle America being that on 9/11, Obama was a state senator and Sebelius a state insurance commissioner, not exactly the two jobs that inspire you in a war against Islamic extremism. Sexism is sexism and a guy is always going to appear tougher.

Republican Vice President

THE GOP SECOND BANANA

An older President who spent time in a Vietnamese prison hell is likely to bring more attention to who lies a heartbeat away from the Presidency. There is no real clear answer on who gets this warm bucket of spit. Is it regional balance? Another old guy? A more conservative/liberal guy? A younger guy? A woman? Here's the first cut, more to follow. Gotta run the numbers.

Mitt Romney
To me, Mitt Romney is very similar to McCain in that his past incarnation is much more appealing than his current one. He is the Jaws II of potential candidates. Romney was elected Governor of one of the most liberal states in the union, a state that liked to balance their Democratic legislature with a nice, fiscal conservative Rockefeller republican. This is a guy who actually gave Ted Kennedy a run for his money in the Senate. But then he decided to run to the right in the GOP primaries. Of course this made him an attractive candidate across the 50 states with his keen business sense and perfect hair. I've beat up on Romney before, to me not a bad governor who gave up his job halfway through to run for President. Also this guy flip flops like a madman, running seconds behind his polling data. I like Romney for Secretary of Treasury or Transportation. He is likable though, and doesn't have the baggage of other candidates. Probably the front runner.

Bobby Jindal

Young Bobby Jindal, the balance to McCain's age issue, a youthful Roman Catholic from the Deep South. Strongly pro-life governor with Congressional experience. But wait a second, it an Indian guy. I think this is the GOP's thinly veiled attempt of showing the diversity of it's big tent. This of course from a party who recently had a major candidate use the term "macaca" in his campaign. He's a rising star in the Republican party but there is now way he'll ever make the final cut Oh and by the way, he's a skinny dude, so I don't trust him.

Joe Lieberman

Joe Lieberman is the Manny Ramirez of the Democratic party. He does things that constantly piss Democrats off, supporting the war and a neo-conservative foreign agenda and then goes and is pretty progressive domestically supporting things like gay rights.

In some ways he is way too liberal for the GOP. He is a Scoop Jackson type Democrat, supporting America's military projection of power beyond the water's edge but that's where it really stops. On gun, God and gays he doesn't follow the Republican's blueprint, and he certainly doesn't drag many Democrats over to McCain. Oh and he seems even older than McCain. Joementum brings McCain nothing.

Mark Sanford

I'm tempted to throw Tim Pawlenty into this same category. Young conservative governors to balance out the old man legislator. With the increased imperial power of the executive branch it will be necessary to have someone who has had this type of experience, that is the actual execution of appropriate policy. One of these young governors would likely be John McCain's domestic policy liaison, trying to straighten out a lot of issues around infrastructure, education, oh yeah and regulation and oversight over our banking and corporate friends. In some ways, putting a conservative republican in charge of oversight of markets seems like a laissez faire abomination, but folks after all this crap, hopefully that ship has sailed.

Rudy Giuliani
Sorry I just think that's a hilarious concept. I could probably write Giuliani's address to the convention. A whole lot of 9/11 and tough talk, painting the Democrats as being the party of law enforcement against your bitter enemies trying to kill you rather than going out and hunting down your enemies. Using some old recycled anti-Dukakis propaganda. Giuliani gets to be among the paraders of the Democrats are weak and you're going to die speakers that you will hear from Minnesota.

Charlie Crist
So, he really isn't gay. Good Time Charlie is now engaged to a younger, smart, well educated, pretty costume company heiress divorcee. Perfect arm candy for a vice presidential candidate. As the Chief Administrator of God's Waiting Room, Charlie has insight into what it will take to win one of the major swing states. Charlie may have better personal appeal, but it's hard to say if the condition of his state will hurt him. Most people around the country like the idea of Florida as the Magic Kingdom or a week at Boca, but may not see it as a model for the governing of their own state, no income tax or not.

That's it for now.... Coming soon some Democrats and the obligatory women added to the GOP short list, who will it be Liddy Dole??? Sarah Palin???

Hey Dummy, It's The Economy

The Angry Middle's Guide to Dough
First, I'm not anywhere close to being an economist. I took one economics course at CCCC. A lot of it is common sense, some of it makes no sense whatsover. My personal finance knowledge is based on a fear of being poor. And a complete fear of debt. To the point that the only debt I'll carry now that my student loans are paid off is a mortgage, and even that to me is evil. So it's credit cards that get paid off every month and paying cash for a car, so we are huge on 1990's Hondas. I still roll change, I return empties, etc. I'm a cheap mothafricker. Not to say I don't splurge, I got a big tv, cable, broadband internet and like good beer and booze, but mostly I have no desire to ever put my electric bill in my daughter's name, get chased by bill collectors, etc. I believe in living below our means.This really isn't the American way. I may sound arrogant about personal finance but that's the way I feel. Don't spend what you don't have, how complicated is that? (more later on this topic)


VEN ACA, TORO
I've taken my bruises investing. The key to the New American Corporate economy is to get everyone in the game. 401K's, mutual funds, self funded pensions, discount stockbrokers got everyone in the game. A thing of beauty for Wall Street, no longer was there a huge rift between the middle class and the wealthy class, what was good for GM was good for America. The difference between retiring to a nice house on the Cape and living with your kids and being a greeter at Wal-Mart. There began to be more of a revulsion of the poor, taxes were high, because of welfare, or housing, or support for schools, money that would be better spent as part of the Investor class.


I continue to invest, both in a 457, which is the public employee's version of the 401K and in a taxable brokerage account which is my wife and I's version of casino gambling, which of course has hit a speedbump to landmine depending on what's being held, with our old friend Freddie Mac leading us into the toilet. I've been here before, holding some Fidelity tech funds in 2000 that tanked, leading me to believe that the idea of investing Social Security funds, already an underfunded Ponzi scheme into the general economy to be completely ludicrous and probably the biggest piece of corporate welfare this side of the Military Industrial complex ever handed to Wall Street. The Scratch Ticket Index fund would certainly not be too far behind this development. We all hypnotized by the idea of compounding interest and "free" money on our investments. Thinking that this money should appear overnight and without risk.



Cover Your Fannie, Mac
this rabble you're talking about... they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath?
I'm really too old to believe in the Easter Bunny or conspiracy theories. Working for government it is hard to believe that it would be organized enough or that there would be any public employee that would be able to keep a secret longer than a trip to the water cooler.


But sometimes things are just too hard to believe. How could the mortgage crisis get as bad as it is other than by some type of bizarre conspiracy? Did everyone simultaneously get so blinded by greed and avarice that common sense jumped out the window? Were loans really given out for a half million dollars or more to people with such low numeracy or literacy skills that they didn't know what they were getting themselves into? That real estate for some reason would continue to go up 20, 25, 30% a year and everyone could flip themselves into wealth?


I'm a strong believer in home ownership, it builds a pride, a continuity in a community. But you got to be ready and understand what you're getting yourself into. Certainly it was not completely the fault of uninformed consumers, banks and mortgage agents "conspired" to create this craziness, where someone without employment or savings could walk out with a loan to buy a multi family, or someone who just qualified could get an huge ARM at an incredible rate to go from college student to McMansion in minutes. Hell, everybody wins, you get a home and equity loans and HELOC's fuel a consumer revolution with Sony, Hummers and Martha Stewart at the tip of the spear. Every man a paper millionaire.


Like Oksana Baiul running off the highway, this came to a quick halt. Soon all these mortgages are collateralized and bonded, overrated by the very firms that were supposed to be analyzing them and keeping them in check and ignored by a laissez faire administration that didn't want to regulate themselves out of fake economic growth. And now we face the issue of the guarantors, Freddie and Fannie. Freddie and Fannie were the folks that could make all of these loans happen. It's not their fault per se, it was there job to make sure there is liquidity in the market, money so people could own homes and as long as everyone was making money, who cared. Not keep an eye on the quality of the investments. Now the chickens have come home to roost, the bonds for Freddie and Fannie are so widely held that it could totally disrupt the economy including retiree pension funds. So it's a taxpayer bailout with more rich people getting richer or a chance for the federal government to become the world's largest landlord of people who either were too dumb to understand a home loan are were swindled by mortgage agents.


Chances are the American economy will live through this crisis. The immense size of the US economy and increased globalization may make this all into a half trillion dollar hiccup. Wall Street will come up with another scam to make their billions, outside of growing American industry and economy.


Wow, that was some of the most boring stuff I've ever written, and most of this issue I don't even understand.

Drill, Baby, Drill

The next corporate scam is drilling in the US. It's probably inevitable. Soon the drills will go into ANWR and an oceanfront near you. The rightwing is screaming that the treehuggers are killing the American economy and hate America, the public is clamoring for cheaper gas at any cost, and the Democrats, the sissies that they are, seem to be afraid of speaking up, once again.

There is a great misunderstanding in worldwide oil markets. Folks actually think that all the oil that is pumped in America will end up in their gas tanks and bring back dollar gas. Oil as the economists like to say is "fungible", and what that means in layman's terms is that stuff is going to go where you can get the best price for it, it may be in your Expedition, but it may also go to fuel the Chinese war machine, Dutch brothels, or a Japanese go-go bar, one never knows. I guess I got nothing against the oil companies, they're in business to make money, and make money they have, and given the opportunity to drill closer to home and make more money they'd probably take it.

I don't know much about Peak Oil. I know it took millions of years to create these fossil fuels and we're burning through them as fast as we can. Most of OPEC's oil is easy to get and relatively inexpensive, meaning huge profits for all. OPEC knows it's the easy oil and will likely not just burn through it all and will control the tap until they retreat back into the 14th century. (a gross oversimplification of OPEC as being predominantly Muslim) At that point the move will be to the highly polluting US shale fields.

Hell, even T. Boone Pickens, who may be one of the biggest jerks in the history of recent American politics sees the economic benefits of alternative fuels and thinks you can't drill out of the problem, the drive to drill is just another quick fix, and honestly by the time it's pumped will do little to alleviate $7/ gallon gas. But hey, if it's nice to yell and scream about liberal treehuggers, be my guest.

OK, enough depressing economics, onto VP candidates next week.

Independence Day

WHERE'S YOUR LAPEL PIN?
I was inspired by Obama's speech on patriotism to write, especially on this Independence Day. If Obama was running for rhetorician in chief, it would certainly be a landslide, now I don't have to impress anyone, so I'm off on my own rant.

" War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes." Smedley Butler (two time Medal of Honor recipient)


With apologies to the late General Butler. Patriotism is a similar racket. On the Fourth of July you'll see the displays of fireworks and flags, the crack cocaine of patriotism, the quick rush. With politics you get the same rush. A poll taken says that 90% of people think John McCain is patriotic. I'm not sure what the other 10% said, probably something like, "that's the stupidest question I've ever heard." Since 9/11 there has been a contest, even a battle to back the other candidate into another corner and question his/her patriotism. Max Cleland fell victim to this, from a wheelchair no less. A disabled veteran accused by a draft dodger. Most of the accusations were when someone questioned money for Homeland Security, the war effort or expressed some concern about the Constitution, civil rights or something silly like that.

I love my American flag, it was one of the first things I bought, when I bought a house. It's a symbol for a lot of things to me, that I live in a country that has a meritocracy and opportunity so that I could live in a house I own, not be hungry and be able to obtain all the blessings of liberty. However, I love my country even more. I love my country because someone can go out and burn a flag if they want. To make a statement, to speak their minds. To me, America has always been that city on a hill. As it is often said, while other countries will ebb and flow in economic and military power, there is no Chinese dream, there is no Indian dream or German dream, but there is an American Dream.

Many are now defining this American Dream as "soft power". The country that provided for the Marshall Plan, the country that is always there to pitch in when another country gets hit hard by national disaster. Certainly there is a realpolitik to these actions. We are a country of mutts, of immigrants from every corner of the world, who's parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc. came here searching for that dream. Every one of these generations of immigrants have faced certain obstacles, economic, linguistic, etc. yet people still line up and fight to come to America.

This American Dream has been tainted, not by lack of economic opportunity, excessive immigration, globalization or a threat of terror but by fear and the United States being perceived as a global bully. Patriotism has now become synonymous with not questioning the actions of a militarized state, xenophobia, fear and a lack of desire to learn about difference. To question or even think outside of this box makes you unrealistic, having a pre 9/11 mindset, lack of support for the troops, or even supporting terror.


Anybody with that kind of record is gonna make a mistake. I want all party members in the tri state district to monitor the city, county and state police on their CBs. Mr. Blues is gonna fuck up, and when he does, he better pray the police get to him before we do.

America is a weird place, and I'm not one to say that there aren't a lot of people who are just outliers. Whose exercise of their Constitutional rights can just be infuriating. Nazi's marching through Skokie, Klan causing a ruckus, those Topeka aholes spewing homophobia, crazy stuff, the same crazy stuff that makes this fruitcake called America taste so sweet.

My own story comes out at a birthday party for the US Army on Cambridge Common a couple of years ago. I took the day off and made my way down to hear a WWI vet speak, see the family of a Medal of Honor winner speak and other great pieces of the American experience, much of which is drawn from military service. It was a special day for me. Sure, it was a recruiting attempt in the middle of a controversial war, a chance for some good PR. So the Cambridge crazies came out in force, I'm unsure if they took the same personal day. Shouting down the speakers including a seven year old boy whose father had died in Iraq and a 106 year old veteran of European battlefields. Infuriating, and at some times confusing, when one woman started yelling at me, "Bates? you went to Bates? you should know better?" Apparently confusing my Pittsburgh Pirates jersey with a school that I probably couldn't of afforded to drive to, much less attend. So the point being, democracy and a republic is an ugly, ugly endeavor.

The Internet has made this lack of discourse even crazier, from both ends of the spectrum. Between blogs, chain emails and angry talk radio, solitary voices from the edge combine and gain volume, chattering away at any positive discourse and discussion that may lead to policy change that benefits the American people as a whole. I blame the left as much as the right, the right seems to have taken over the airwaves for political "thought" while the left has come up with the "net roots".

There has been no wave of reasonableness or a moderate voice that has come out of this storm. It is said that after 5 o'clock Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan would be friendly after fighting it out all day in sometimes pitched and insulting battles. I'm unsure if Pelosi and GW would ever be able to have that same type of conversation. Because of this national polarization, where is the opportunity for civility and moderation in politics, to agree to push those that try to push politics to the edge to the edge themselves. It is great to have discussions that push the envelope, many good things can actually come from the extremes of thought, curiosity about the possibilities. In fact, this is the very germ of progressivism and change, smart people thinking about possibility.

This 4th of July lets all agree, we love America but you're not going to be able to catch that in a can or box, firework or bumper sticker. It is a deep love, the kind that sometimes screws you over but always comes back to you. America is not some soulmate but this love takes the work of a lifetime.

Happy Independence Day!

60 Days

Wow, it's been a long time. Garden's going, Celtics road to the Championship, new boiler, Elena's walking around, lots of housework and other things. Lots of thinking about politics, watching what's going on and getting ready for the stretch run through the fall. To be honest it's been exhausting. I hate to say it, but I've become sick of politics, sick of the whining and the lying, more so the stretching of the facts and the attention paid to issues that are not really that important. So I did my Angry Middle being Manny thing halfway through the season, resting my hammies for the drive towards the pennant.


ZooOldParty and The DummyCrats

Who would have thought we'd have the candidates for the Oval Office that we do now? The Republicans nominate the old, cranky guy McCain, with hopes that he brings back some normalcy to the GOP. A solid, war veteran with some maverick tendencies. I think most Americans like to think themselves a bit of a maverick, the "I'm an independent" majority of Americans who always end up voting for one of the major parties, unless they smoke so much weed they think Ron Paul is a good idea or make a run to the nearest right leaning, change candidate nutjob that has enough money to self-finance. I think for many Republicans, it was time for the adults to take over the party again. They thought the tax cutting, tough talking GW would shrink the government enough so only rich folks would be able to steal and keep regulation off corporate backs, at least until they needed to get bailed out by the American taxpayer.

Let's just say I had McCain all the time, an early adopter. I thought Romney would make a little hay, as the milquetoast but much smarter adopter of the Reagan legacy, but generally people saw that his flipflopping and inability to order breakfast without a focus group as a liability, the rest of the field really were just a bunch of dooshbags. I mean is there really another word for it? Huckleberry? That my friends is what you call a historical footnote, Jeopardy 2012.

I think there was some hope for McCain 2000 to come in, knock some heads around and bring some maturity and sense back to government. Alas sometimes it seems like sense has grabbed the checkbook, the keys and the kids and hit the highway. I still have respect for McCain, and I think all Americans should realize that no matter who wins in November, that our long American nightmare is likely over. If you think about and chronicle the past eight years, and I'm not just talking about the big stuff like 9/11, the Global War on Terror, two bear markets, huge budget deficits, oh the Iraq War, PlameGate, etc but really silly wacky stuff like Dr. Frist diagnosing people over the TV, Congressmen who can seem to keep their hands to themselves, a really strange Ptolemic view of science and just general poor judgement in hiring and keeping public servants.

The Democratic party manages to take any chance of just a cakewalk to the White House and make it much more difficult. Let's just say any random white guy who had honorable service in the military or public service, hasn't stolen public money and manages to not have sexual relations with a narwahl who won the Democratic nomination would be picking drapes at this point and getting Bekins for January 20th.

But Democrats being Democrats, we go with the brilliant but extremely polarizing wife of a former President and a black guy that's not named Colin Powell. Oh and not some ordinary black guy, this fella's middle name is Hussein. Which brings us to the most strangely timed middle name since Harry Tojo Truman dropped his moniker in exchange for a less polarizing letter "S". It's not to say that Barack Obama is a fascinating candidate but to quote my friend from two years ago, "nobody care what the junior senator from Ohio has to say." (we've since cleared up his midwestern US geography) Where did he come from? How did this happen? An incredible orator and communicator, is he a creature of the primaries? From people so frustrated on the left that they decide not to have the middle ground candidate (read random white guy) or the dynastic overlady to be, become the candidate for the oval office?

The latest meme is the Jimmy Carter comparison. Accurate in some ways in that many people are likely to vote for anyone who doesn't have a R after their name, similar to the post-Nixon funk of 1976. But the label is really being put on because Jimmy Carter was probably the only liberal candidate ever elected President since FDR, and some might argue FDR was just trying to save capitalism. And his (James Earl Carter) Presidency is often looked upon as a complete failure. It will be entertaining however to watch George W. in retirement in comparison to Jimmy Carter but that's a point for another day, Habitat for Halliburton?

So we're off. I'll be doing some research, that is buying some bourbon and trying to figure out the handicapping for vice presidential candidates by the end of the month. Until then, keep smiling.

Oh, if you get a chance read Fareed Zakaria's Post American World. Best book I've read in a while. This guy should be secretary of state.

A Long, Dry Spell

Wow, spring hits and baseball and the yard work call. That and a little break in the Democratic primaries have left me less than prolific.

PENSHILLVANIA
So CNN projects that Senator Clinton will carry Pennsylvania. I won't be staying up to update, but I had Hillary winning by 8 percentage points on the continuing Democratic political death march towards November.

The issue with this down to a one party horserace is that the press who continue to be unimpressive and unintellectual and just show incredible resiliency in just trying to make this a scandalfest of Paris Hiltonesque proportions, who misremembers or misspeaks in a game of "gotcha" for the highest international stakes.

These are two candidates who have incredibly large negatives, some of which are unintentional, accidents of birth in a nation still growing away from sexist and racist notions. Hell, less than 50 years ago it was a challenge to elect a Catholic. But some which are accidents exacerbated by personality, choice of company and a 24/7 news cycle.

Clinton will argue she wins the big states, while Obama chips away in the small states and caucuses which are driven by Democratic activists and party insiders. How she'll have the chutzpah to attack the insiders is beyond me, but we currently have a Skulls and Bonesman, son of a President who ran for President as an outsider so who knows. In many ways, thus far, this has been a civil, Civil War. I'm still not sure what any of the three candidates is going to do about major issues internal and external but I know that Hillary is partial to Blue Moon wheat beer, Obama to green tea and I would just assume that McCain has a Budweiser while watching the end of the Suns game.

I've got to the point that I can't watch a debate or a stump speech, I keep waiting, keep waiting, but so far nothing. Nothing to inspire me to do anything but wait for 2012 and hope for the best. Just like going over your handlebars and hoping to land in the soft sand and not the asphalt.

WHAT IS CHINESE FOR LENI RIEFENSTAHL?
China is in a weird place right now. In some ways, it is just entering the Industrial Revolution at a blinding pace, shedding it's Communist past very rapidly just keeping those lovely parts of Communism around, central financial planning and political repression. It's having it's own issues with the Warsaw Uprising, errh domination of Tibet and some really, really bad international PR, so bad they have to hire thugs in powder blue pajamas to run alongside the torch. There have got to be some comparisons made between the Berlin Olympics of 1936 and the Beijing Olympics 0f 2008. This is China's coming out party.

There is actual an Internet theory about how long a conversation takes place before it breaks down into analogizing about Nazism or Hitler, (Godwin's Law) but hear me out. China's economy is growing geometrically as it has thrown off the cuffs of socialism to produce the world's cheapest products through the world's most efficient cheap labor. Simultaneously it is building it's brain power, educational and physical infrastructure as it skips from the 19th to 21st century with the deftness of a prima ballerina. A rising star economically that will eventually have to move from it's robber baron like oligarchy to a less stratified consumer culture with the potential for a massive middle class hungering for oil, SUV's and big sides of beef from Texas. The terrifying part of this is something like auto ownership, currently Chinese auto ownership is the equivalent of the US in 1918, the idea of 1.3 billion Chinese owning cars simply boggles the mind, and all the Jangaweed oil in the world is not going to fuel those vehicles, and ANWR ain't going to solve the issue either.

So is China's lebensraum the petroleum supplies of the Middle East and Africa? Do the 100's of billions of American T-bills and interest building up eventually get played against the United States as oil runs up to $200 a barrel as America sleeps and plays the world policeman? Or are the Olympics of less evil intent, a chance to showcase the New China, beyond the Oriental backwards, racist stereotypes of bound feet, smoking opium and clever copycats. A China where Google, Microsoft and other large corporations of the information economy compete for the most highly trained scientists and technicians. What is curious is if these scientists and other intelligentsia can begin to drive social and economic change in China, in one of the great "what if's" in history, who knows what the outcome of WWII would have been if the great Jewish scientists had not been forced out of Germany by the anti-Semitism of Nazism. Will these scientists choose to march with their feet to the freedom of the West or Japan or Korea?t

These are interesting times, where at some points, China seems to be holding a lot of the cards. Still however there are issues on the horizon, a huge aging population in a country where social security is usually the back bedroom of your kid's apartment, the potential for environmental and health disasters that come from rapid growth and perhaps what has the most potential for the United States, the quest for rule of law and the hankering for freedom that comes when capitalism starts to infect the middle class. So is it the 1936 Olympics, I hope not, I'm not sure what the world would look like after World War III.


AH, WHISKEY
Oh, whisky you're the devil you're leading me astray over hills and mountains and to Amerikay.

There is nothing worse that someone running for President that wants to be a "regular guy". I'm a regular guy, and you don't want me to be President. I like whiskey, some people would say a little too much. Doesn't make me more likely to vote for someone who has a shot and a beer like a regular guy.

There is an amusing story about Hillary and McCain going vodka shot for vodka shot while overseas, I appreciate that more, this country needs to understand more that the opposing party is not the enemy and that there are more things that make us alike than make us different. Reagan and Tip O'Neill were known to tipple and tell Irish stories despite the battles that took place on Capitol Hill. These weren't photo ops, in fact it's how a lot of things get done. It's hard to think that there could be any civility or understanding that could come back to politics, given the last 20 years or so of politics, but especially the explicit weirdness that has come to the White House, particularly since the beginning of the Iraq War and the growth of stomp your feet, tantrum, blowhard, accusatory politics of the Bush administration. As Mayor Bloomberg was recently quoted saying, "at least we'll have an adult in the White House".

The point is, there's no reason for a "regular guy" (or gal) to be in the White House. Certainly we should be hoping for the extraordinary candidate, the Roosevelt, the Eisenhower, not another guy we want to have a beer with. Hell, I'm sure GW is great at a Ranger's game, didn't mean he wasn't the worst president of the past 8 decades who has mortgaged America's moral and financial future.

Oh yeah and Hillary, you're running for President of the United States not queen of Canada, can I suggest a nice American bourbon? A Knob Creek or Maker's Mark even? A Booker's if you are feeling particularly saucy.

No War Left Behind

THE WAR POWERS ACT OF 2009

In March of 2009, after 6 years of war in Iraq, a

Congress that has picked up dozens of Democratic seats in the House and several in the Senate sends a bill to President McCain that is likely to change American foreign policy for the next several generations, a retooling of the War Powers Act to weaken the White House's seemingly unilateral control over military expeditions overseas.

OK, this is probably some type of wonkish fan fiction, but what does Congress do in the next administration to regain some control over governing? Particularly it's Constitutional duty to declare war. There has been no declaration of war in the United States since the early 1940's. Things have been a little crazy over the past few years, kind of a bunch of folks who have no idea what they are doing just kinda seem to be winging it. So, maybe it's time for the grownups to take over. So here is my wacky proposal, I'll work out the details later (you know like Constitutionality and so forth, but really it's just a piece of paper)

The President is the Commander in Chief, a necessary piece of civilian control of the military, and the leader of clear chain of command. There is no need to have a representative from Vermont working on tactical and even strategic missions in theater. In fact under the new War Powers Act the President will have a 90 day period to act to any immediate threats to national security.

After this 90 day period, any further expenditures will have to have the approval of Congress, also at this point at least a 10% income surtax (as a percentage of tax paid, not of income, similar to the Vietnam surtax)

After 180 days, the revised Selective Service Act of 2009 takes effect. This Selective Service is truly selective. The military in consultation with the civilian leadership identifies skill sets needed for the good of the nation and it's defense. Gone are the $900-$1200/day trigger pullers from Blackwater, etc., welcome to Uncle Sam's Army, here's your 45K plus combat pay, sergeant. You need some wastewater engineers, linguistic experts, computer programmers, there you go, right there in public agencies and private corporations.

Sure this is pure fantasy, the suffering in Iraq is done by poor and working class Americans for the most part and their families. But war, as important as it can be for national security, needs to be a last resort and needs the efforts of an entire population to win. So how can a Congress that has become more insignificant year by year, pounding down earmarks like crab rangoons and arguing about steroids in baseball and Terri Schiavo and naming post offices actually regain a little control over governing?

MEDIOCRITY IS THE NEW BLACK

Wow, this election campaign sucks. And I'm afraid cycle by cycle, it's just going to get worse. There will likely never be any more exciting candidates, energizing, experienced candidates who have taken risks, experienced failure and grown into prudent, logical, critical thinking adults who know who to take counsel from and who to ignore and push away. Best case scenario, some blow dried corporate hack like Mitt Romney running the country through focus groups and white papers, worse case scenario, someone makes the leap from American Idol to the White House.

Instead of AC-DC and Minor Threat we get Winger and a bunch of hair bands. Instead of the Barking Crab we get Red Lobster, instead of Fenway we get some bullshit cookie cutter park. Instead of Thomas Friedman, you get some jacked up blogger. You get the drill.

Netroots, 24-7 news cycles, short attention spans and gossip have destroyed any opportunity for clear articulation of policy, any real campaigning but reacting to the latest media manufactured scandal or gossip. What's Hillary wearing, where's Barack go to church, what cute blonde does John flirt with? Just stupid, insipid crap that makes you insane.

March Madness

Wow, what a couple of weeks. McCain comes back from the dead to clinch the nomination, hoping to get Dole to come out of retirement as his running mate to show the vitality that is John McCain. The Democrats fall over themselves in their quest to blow the election. All fun and games here in the American political system, where no politician is too stupid.

MRS ANGRY MIDDLE SPEAKS UP
As democrats consider whether to label themselves with the Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks brand, it is worth considering—beyond the sound bite language of the endless campaign—what these labels really mean.

Obviously, the major implication is price- rich snobs drink Starbucks, working stiffs drink DD. This many well be true, but on a price per ounce basis this may not necessarily add up. According to a 10/28/05 article in the Boston Globe, here in New England “Dunkin's small 10-ounce coffee costs $1.46 and Starbucks' small 12-ounce runs $1.58”. While prices have probably changes since then, by my reckoning DD coffee cost over a penny more per ounce. Since Starbucks coffee has as much as twice the caffeine, the price per unit of caffeine consumed makes Starbucks a much better value.

But there are other questions about these two brands a good democrat would do well to ask: how do they treat their workers? Do they provide good wages and benefits? Do they purchase Fair Trade Coffee? What about organic, shade grown blends? And what about those disposable cups and other types of pollution (ie SUVs in the drive-through line)? Does wanting good, green collar jobs (and a strong cup of coffee) somehow make you an effete snob?

If all this talk about balancing costs and social justice makes your head want to explode, you may want to just take the route of the Angry Middle family and brew your own and tote it around in a reusable cup (even if at times you end up a forget-the-cup, have-no-money and have-a headache-all-day Democrat). This could help you save more money toward your kids’ college, homeownership, or retirement… and maybe guns and canned goods. Cause the way this country seems headed, you may need them.

OK, That's nice honey, now go make me breakfast....

SPITZER SWALL.... OK I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT
Dammit, Eliot you were supposed to be one of the good guys. Attacking corporate and organized crime as a prosecutor, moving into the corner office ready to show what good government is.

OK, so it turns out you're just another scumbag, hypocrite. Trying to stop the organized crime that you don't personally patronize. I'll give you this, you weren't afraid to spend daddy's money on some quality dates. Yeah, nobody's ever going to catch you with high class call girls, that never happens.

Whatever happened to the traditional, upperclass Democratic skirtchasing of socialites? The Palm Beach crowd that didn't benefit from it being known that they are philanderers? Is this some type of 21st century multitasking, going to DC anyway to lobby, may as well get me one of those 22 year old hotties. It's hard to say what was going through his wife's head, another woman's life destroyed as she heads up to the podium in a Xanax-like haze. How do you know the center of the scandal was a Democrat, adult woman.

HOLY CRAP
I know almost nothing about the minister of Obama's congregation. I do know that the IRS for some reason is looking at our entire church organization, The United Church of Christ, because Obama spoke at the synod. I'm unsure if they have looked at every conservative church for the same purposes but that's a different issue altogether.

Barack's minister came up with some crazy crackhead conspiracies not often heard outside the buzz of a black helicopter or the whining of a spoiled brat Larouchite. Certainly many of us are often disturbed by the leaders of our faith and in Barack's case, he bought the whole boat with this guy. Obama made an amazing rhetorical response and saved face among the "readers" in the country. It's difficult to understand why someone would stay in a church with a pastor like this, unless perhaps one can have an understanding of what being "saved" is, perhaps this is where Obama stands, but this is not for me, not for me to understand his heart and soul. How this benefits his being while hearing words that may revile. Either that or he makes Slick Willie look like mumbly jones.

There is a profound challenge in this day of a 24/7 newscycle, Hillary has certainly faced this for years, the constant abuse. There is a long trail ahead.

CORPORATE WELFARE
These are strange economic times, huge swings in the markets and the economy based on the news of the day. These are times when the big corporations cry out for government intervention. The "revenooers" don't seem so vicious when they are dishing out the dough. The big investment banks have the government over a barrel, they know that their failure will reverberate throughout the American economy, and the government will happily use the taxpayer's money or the money we borrow to ironically bail out those companies that have become overextended.

It's different to collect welfare when you have lobbyists, 6 and 7 digit bonuses and a three piece suit. It comes quickly and by wire. There is no shame to it, no social worker coming to check up on your family, no hiding the man of the house. Companies now are dumping their dirty laundry on the American taxpayer, hiding it in hedge funds, bundling it in impenetrable derivatives, moving around money faster than a Flatbush Ave three card monte game. The beauty of this of course, every high executive gets their golden parachute, stock options at levels that existed only on paper on a particular date, not based in reality and the Wall St. shuffle to another firm instead of a bus to Danbury to do some federal time. And when this shakes out, there is incredible growth in financial stocks, the herd thinned not by the free market but by taxpayer largess.

March On

REMEMBERING WFB
I'm not sure for most of my life I could be so different from someone politically. A cold warrior from a well to do background compared to a social misfit from a working class background. As a younger progressive I always assumed that people like Buckley would be my political foil for the rest of my days.

Alas, we never knew the route that politics and life would take us. The Republican party of Buckley has vanished, gone is the intellect of the party, the fiscal conservatives that you could argue policy with, now the party exists of the fear purveyors, long distance diagnosers, anti-science advocates, single syllable articulators and warmongers. Buckley feared foreign entanglements, likely believing in the case of Iraq that 12 skulls and bonesman could easily do the job of 150,000 regular people in toppling Saddam, as in the case of Iran in 1953, Guatemala in 1954, Chile in 1973 ad infinitum.

I always hated his arrogance, and his adopted accent but what made him different from the monosyllabic perpetrators who co-opted his party was his amazing use of language and the way he could insult people without people even realizing it. His magazine while sometimes repugnant politically to me, always had the best writing in it. The policies well articulated beyond words like "evil doers", "freedom" and "they hate America".

A bit of me has passed with WFB. Now the one's to argue with are armed with a couple of internet articles, the disciples of Rush and Ann fueled by gossip and innuendo. Surely a sad day.

THE STUPID GETS STUPIDER

Yup, he's here to overthrow the government. Which Manchurian Candidate do you want, the Muslim extremists or the one that was prepped in Vietnamese prison camps to bring Communism to the United States. (ed. note Sinatra's the Manchurian Candidate is the best political movie ever made)

I'm not sure who Barack's handlers were in this shot. There's nothing wrong with it, there's probably a picture of me somewhere in leiderhosen after one of my uncles or grandfather came back from the service, doesn't necessarily make me a nazi but seriously if you're ever thinking of running for President, even if you're being polite, leave the Somali gear for the Somali's. for a guy who looks like he wakes up in a suit and tie, he doesn't even look comfortable as a Somali elder.

Again, this is the bullsh!t that passes for news nowadays. Fueling the fire that Barack Hussein Obama is a tool of Islamic extremism. It's a stupid fire, but relevant in what passes for discourse nowadays. Barack is about as Muslim as I am a cobbler, if you go back to my grandmother's father's profession back in Puerto Rico.


DRUDGE IS A TRAITOR
If there is a king of bloggers, that is the person that has the most effect in the "blogosphere" or the semi-news Internet is Matt Drudge. Drudge cut his teeth on Clinton and has continued with his gossiping, occasionally making the big score but existing on Washington Times and British tabloid articles that feed the right wing ahole public. There have been lefty attempts at the throne, but things like the Daily Kos are not checked daily by the mainstream media looking for scoops.

When does gossip become irresponsible? Certainly Prince Harry is soon going to come under some type of weird right wing chicken hawk spin. But this crap is inexcusable. Support the troops? Just an enigma, a passing fad. Is this war or just confusion?

An Off Week

No primaries this week as we head into the day that is also a sentence, March 4th. So just doing a little pre-spring cleaning here in the Angry Middle.

A STARBUCKS DEMOCRAT ?
Recently I've been reading some articles about this group of people are that group of people supporting a particular candidate. Latinos in Texas are for so and so, Asians in Ohio are for this guy, etc. The most recent conventional wisdom is that working class lunch bucket Democrats are for Hillary Clinton and the latte drinkers are for Obama. The exact quote from the Machinists Union President (when's the last time that guy paid for a meal anyway) I've got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won't last a round against the Republican attack machine. He's a poet, not a fighter.”

Now if this guy were working for Karl Rove's attack machine, I'd get it, but he's supposed to be "one of the good guys." with friends like this, who needs enemies. Step 76 on the road to the defeat for the Democrats. I'm unsure what Buffenbarger (onomatopoeic if you ask me) was trying to due, but it's been a weird time for the Clinton campaign, not quite lemmings but certainly the cyanide is being passed around the Clintonbunker just in case. Her campaign reminds me somewhat of the Birmingham campaign for Governor in 2002, the what the hell are they talking about campaign. The more qualified candidacy just mailing it in.

So the analogy being made for Clinton v. Obama is Dunkin' Donuts v. Starbucks. So, is the argument both are overpriced for what you get? You got to wait in a long line burning fuel for Clinton? If you're an Obama supporter you have no idea what you're ordering when you go there and you have to listen to bad music at the same time? Frankly I think both places are a waste of money so maybe that makes me a lukewarm Mr. Coffee Nader voter.

The analogy of course is that people who are for Obama are Sissycrats who have never worked a day in their life and sit around and read, the classic "where's the beef", the other are tough lunch bucket "guys" and their families who work from paycheck to paycheck. I have no idea where this came from, did Time magazine talk to seven guys? Most of these lunch bucket folks have long left the Democratic Party during the Reagan Revolution, those that may remain, from Public Employee unions are likely to vote either way and certainly don't look at Hillary Clinton as the savior of working class America.

I need to find a new party, my party is just stupid. How the hell could you lose this year?

UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED REDUX

There certainly is a time to stop, Godfather III, Jaws II, Caddyshack II, but Ralph he just keeps on going. After the aberration of 2000, there was a lot of hating going on for Nader. Now granted if Gore could have carried his home state, he would have won the election, how the hell do you not carry your own state? Ralph 2008 will be taken a lot less seriously, even less seriously than in 2004. He'll certainly pick up some contrarian voters, the "don't blame me I voted for someone else" voters, the same type of people that watch the Superbowl for the commercials, that don't want any real investment except to not be wrong.

I have mixed feelings about a Nader candidacy. One says the more the merrier, a divergent number of ideas for a common vision and purpose is a good thing. Nader's argument is that there is little difference between the corporatist parties, in fact he says he once asked his father if he ever though there would be three parties and his father said, I hope someday there are at least two. The other is that it is an egotistical distraction for Nader in a time of great need for leadership in this country, no one wants to watch a folk singer while your house is on fire. He's the guy who stands behind you while your trying to fix something telling you you should have bought a different brand. Timing, my friend.

SENATORS PREFER BLONDES

So the trash begins to fly. The formerly somewhat respectable Grey Lady begins to publish gossip using some named sources and some unnamed sources about Senator McCain and a blond lobbyist. There are two different levels of looking at this, the more lascivious way of looking at it, the senator having an affair with a much younger blond woman resembling his wife but some 25 years younger or the more common way, an elected official who has always claimed to rise above such nonsense doing political favors for a lobbyist.

The first is more fun, it's gossip, it's interesting in a world filled with reality TV, skinny woman romping around in bikinis flirting with their boy toys, in this case the boy toy being an aging senator/war hero. The second, in reality of course is more disconcerting, not just because of the Senator, but that it shows that all of Congress is for sale. This is not something that is unusual. Huge money is spent by lobbyists to influence policy and various tools certainly used to get influence.

All things equal, education, skills,etc. it would make more sense to influence the white, old man's club with a pretty blonde than someone like myself. Even men who have no intention of cheating are impressed by the attention of good looking women and the unconscious flirtation that take place and looks at every level are an entry point. But certainly this isn't the point. Huge money buys influence, on all sides, regardless of party. No one is going to attack McCain on this point because it is just hypocritical. In many ways, this has worked out at a good time for the Senator, nearly eight months for this to blow over and enough time for the conservative right to get behind their candidate as their greatest enemy the liberal media has emerged for the fight.

On President's Day

3oo MILLION

As of today there are over 303 million people in this country. Of those about 2.2 million are incarcerated, about a quarter of this number are children and likely another quarter are between 18 and 35, leaving roughly 150 million people that are eligible for the Presidency. OK, that's an exaggeration, exclude non-citizens and many others and the number is actually much smaller, but my point is, after all the millions of dollars spent we are basically down to our last three candidates, a woman who is the spouse of an ex-President, likely one of the most divisive figures in recent political history, a young Black guy with a thin resume and an old, angry white guy that conservatives don't really seem to like.

So those are the options. Barring a run by a strong independent, this is what it boils down to. The desk and button get handed from GW to someone a little higher on the US leadership depth chart, but still not anywhere close to the first string. The strength of a Washington, the wisdom of a Jefferson, the moral fortitude of a Lincoln, the creativity of a Teddy Roosevelt is devoid from these candidates that will attempt to reconfigure the US economy, build the US image in the world, protect the country from enemies foreign and domestic and ensure the economic security and healthcare of a rapidly aging population. So here, we go, certainly there have been accidental presidents that have brought great success to this country and our hope is that this will be the same.

PASSING THE TORCH

So Mitt's millions and miscellaneous movement towards the right didn't secure him the Republican nod for the Presidency. The savior of the Winter Olympics (assisted in a great way by the US taxpayer) and part time Governor of Massachusetts couldn't triple axel his way to Pennsylvania Avenue.

I'm unsure what this newfound darling of the conservative movement will do for his next move. He has endorsed McCain which is the non-astronomical equivalent of the sun rising but it remains unclear if he has the chops for the vice presidency under an old and battered Senator McCain. It seems that chief of staff which would likely be the best position considering his business leadership background would be "beneath him", but certainly he would do well in the cabinet in some function.

I think the idea of the CEO presidency should be put to rest. Certainly there is room for various business leadership models in government, but the techniques of Bain Capital can only go so far in leading the American people. Certainly George W. tried to use the business model of governing but made the mistake of taking bad counsel, and in fact there is no golden parachute for the Commander in Chief. No reward for failure as you move on to your next corporate governance position. Usually it is not the CEO's job to inspire your "customers", the job of President goes beyond cost cutting, supervision and marketing.

THE RUMBLE CONTINUES

The battle for second place continues. A close run that will likely end up at the convention and decided in a somewhat undemocratic way by party bigshots outside the troublesome swarm of hoi polloi that will flood into Denver in August. So the show is on. Today's battle was around a candidate's wife that is proud of her husband and the Senator's bidenesque use of language from his friend Deval Patrick. Certainly, now we are talking about the issues. You know, the things that separate Senator Clinton from Senator Obama as the best representative of the Democratic party. The circular firing squad begins to take shape.

A year or so ago, it seemed that the Democrats would walk into the White House, as Bush fatigue turned into exhaustion, now it's hard for me to envision how either of these candidates, once the 527's and media machines get fired up can possibly beat a McCain who while disliked by the right has unquestionable appeal as a war hero and patriot. So if you're either senator how do you sell yourself to the American people? How do you appeal to people who want someone who is tough on national security and terror but still want to be inspired to believe in America again. Bush fatigue will not bring enough energy to those beyond the activists on the left to bring you to the White House, a real connection with the American people is the only path.

SEPARATION

The race for the Republican nomination is just about sewn up. With Governor Huckabee a mere speedbump at this time, Senator McCain after being declared politically dead only several months ago will walk into the hall in Minneapolis and be annointed the GOP candidate for the White House. Gone are the candidates of the hour, Rudy G. gone the way of a Tito Jackson album, Mitt the way of Vanilla Ice and Mike Huckabee the way of some guy who thought weight loss, guitar playing and baptist preaching would bring him to the secular promised land of politics.

Also gone is the McCain of 2000, the attractive, maverick candidate whose strokes of independence repulsed the "conservative" stalwarts that brought the mess of George W. into office. McCain soon saw the "errors" of his way and largely bended to the neo-con's and theocon's that provide the rock of the Republican party. Soon he was eating cake and hugging the President while still remaining a bit of maverick tendency around some issues that still got stuck in the craw of conservative activists during the primaries, but not enough to keep him from reaching the pinnacle through the support of the non-lunatic fringe of his party.

Now McCain has to make a decision. A move to kiss and make up with the Republican party base or a move towards the center to sew up the White House for the party. The rhetoric that will come from the candidate in the months leading up to the convention will be telling, will it be concilatory, a willingness to work across the aisle, something that might be attractive to moderates and independents or will it be continuing the business as usual and paralytic dysfunction of American government? John McCain has the benefit of campaigning to the middle, the rumored conservative staying home on Election Day is not going to happen in the face of a Clinton or Obama opposition. The choice of a vigorous, moderate vice presidential candidate would certainly bring energy to the general campaign. Senator McCain has an opportunity to save his party from the cuckoo's and win the White House simultaneously, the choice is his.

Super Ain't It

PRIMARY BLOGTOPIA
Ah, after a dissapointing to disgusting superbowl game, time to grab the couch and a cocktail and see what CNN blasts through the tube. It can be a pretty long night. You get to listen to some interesting comments, Bill Bennett for example just made a comment of how some conservatives speaking out about McCain not being a conservative as "being Trotskyists" in looking at some kind of purity in the party. It's a strange world in which McCain isn't a conservative and an indication of how far the Republican party has swung to the right. Similarly, the Democratic party swung to the left as identity politics and the the "mainstreaming" of the New Left led to a legacy of losing from Humphrey to Clinton I, (leaving out the outlier of Jimmy Carter, a reaction to Watergate more than the strength of the candidate himself) leaving out lunch bucket Democrats. The question is where is the Democrat's Ronald Reagan, the candidate that can clean up the disaffected "left wing" of the Republican party and moderate independents.

TRENCH WARFARE
The finest day that I ever had was when I learned to cry on command Love myself better than you I know it's wrong So what should I do? Nirvana

Being a Democrat in a Democratic hotbed means you get lots of phone calls, lit drops, mailings, etc. This year, we also have a contested state rep race, making the calls even more intense and the recycling bins fill up quick. State Rep seats open up about every two cicada cycles, so people who are interested jump on high and hard. Perhaps the most annoying thing is when a stranger calls you for support, when you personally know the candidate, real turnoff, know you're tired and busy but call those people yourself.

Being of Latino descent and having a Spanish surname, I get the pleasure of getting things in two languages, seemingly ignoring the fact that the vast majority of Latinos who are US citizens are either bilingual or English dominant. Culturally competent? I dunno, more pandering to me. You want to do right by Latino voters, it's not about immigration or welfare or some other racist notion, it's about jobs, schools that are held accountable for educating our children and public safety, wait is that what everyone else wants, ahhhhhh, now you get it.

As we walked to vote today, I still hadn't decided who to vote for, I had Edwards who has "suspended his campaign" on my mind as a broker at the convention, a spokesperson for the Two Americas, etc. I got no idea why he dropped out, he could have coasted to 15% all along the way and had a lot of influence. I eventually voted for Obama, "the half breed with a funny name", mostly out of solidarity. Not really but it's a good story and probably the only thing I'll remember when I age.

Neither of these candidates really impress me. I love portions of both of them, Hilary's potential wonkiness, Obama's rhetorical style but neither of them has really said anything yet. It's mostly intentional, any program or idea that you bring out has the potential to be overanalyzed and destroyed in the media which tends to be too shortsighted and slowwitted to understand the nature of policy development. I voted for Obama on the grounds of meritocracy and electability. It is a strange time in American history where I can say the black guy with the middle name Hussein is the more electable Democrat. The other point is the meritocracy of Obama, a guy who really made himself, who's to say what Hilary Rodham would have become, corporate titan?, senator from Illinois on her own volition? Dunno, but lets say the election of her husband as President certainly vaulted her into the public light and a possible building of a Clinton dynasty.

YOU GO THIS WAY, I'LL GO THAT WAY
So I don't mean to dismiss the Huckabee campaign here, in fact he seems to be doing fairly well in some of the southern states. Mitt's a moving target here as he tries to carve himself into a Reagan suit in a weird silence of the lambs fashion. McCain tries to keep up some Conservative "cred" when he actually can't wait to kick Dobson down a flight of stairs and draft Rush Limbaugh into Scudbusting service. It's not that McCain isn't a conservative bastard, he just wants to do it by his own angry man rules, with a little spice of mavericity.

McCain, of course hopes to win quick, and not have to run and pander to every right wing kook. Again, in something I though would never say or type, Bill Bennett has got it nailed, he fears this, he fears that the Republican rift will lose those folks who helped to build the Republican power base, those who had become disaffected with the leftist control of the Democratic party and the perceived celebration in the Democratic party of big government and a lack of self reliance. The party for most Republicans is not the party of the neo-cons or the theo-cons.

Governor Romney has the bankroll to keep it going and likely will spin his victories in 2 of his 4 homestates on Super Tuesday as a kick off for the rest of his campaign as the real conservative in the race. Seems like Muffy and Billy Weld have both resurfaced for Mitt's Massachusetts renewal speech, best part of the speech is a large group of yankee republican engaged it call and response. The focus is now totally on the economy and those fat cats in Washington. Wow, now that was inspirational.