Red Star Politics

Glenn Beck is a F#$%ing Lunatic

2009-03-18T00:43:00.000-07:00

Hey look, I found something. Fancy that.

Saw this clip a few days ago, was rather stunned, but it drifted through the cracks of life.

Stewart played it again tonight, and it jogged the ol' memory.

As it says in the title, no ambiguity here, Glenn Beck is clearly mentally unstable. Problem is, he seems to be becoming a conservative force, and is drawing crazy ratings for his radio and Fox News shows.

He is feeding people's irrational fears, on a national platform. Funny thing is, unlike O'Reilly or Limbaugh, I'm not sure if this is feigned or not.

Here is the video of his event from last Friday, 'You Are Not Alone', during which he proved that while people who take him seriously may not be alone, a bunch of paranoid sheep don't make the best gang.

Beck gets emotional about 2:50 in. Check it out and let me know in the comments whether these are crocodile, or genuine :

By the tone of this post, my opinion on Mr. Beck and his methods should be rather clear. Real or not, this kind of crap is dangerous, and feeds the worst parts of a free society.

Really?

2009-03-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

Has it really been over 3 months since I last posted?

Well simple math says...yes, yes it has. Simple math is a friend of mine, went to school together.

Anyways, the reasoning behind this gap is nothing more than a simple lack of fire.

Obama won, and is currently killing it, so there's not too many battles that get me juiced up south of the border.

Up here, kinda the same. Harper is being squeezed so hard by his minority status that he just tabled a budget that could have been written by the Liberals. A fundamental fiscal conservative delving into deficit spending for social programs and arts funding...wow.

Ignatieff is doing a good job so far, but with the economic meltdown going on, no one is really paying attention to politics, especially when the threat of an election is so low. Around the mid-point of this year, after the Stanley Cup is over, the spotlight will go back to Canada's favorite contact sport, and Iggy better be ready to go to bat.

During the void, I've gotten hooked on Twitter (so unendingly interesting), enjoying watching my Vancouver Canucks go on an absolute roll, tonight hitting a 10-game home winning streak, keeping up with the 49ers through another offseason and draft (Trade for Cutler dammit!), and becoming rather obsessed with Lost, the greatest show ever to hit TV.

For the first time in a long time, politics is taking a bit of a backseat. I'm still keeping up, of course, I needs mah fix, but it's not all I'm into for once. My friends and colleagues probably enjoy a move away from the Obamania I put them all through for the last year too :P

I'll come back here whenever I feel something needs to be said, but for now, seems like there isn't much to be said...

The Age of Iggy

2008-12-09T18:58:00.000-08:00

Bob Rae officially dropped out of the race to succeed Stephane Dion as leader of the federal Liberals, clearing the way for his old college roommate (Google it, it's true), Michael Ignatieff to lead the way.

So, here we come to the Age of Iggy. Will it be successful? Maybe, but I think we can all say with some confidence that it will be better than the epic fail of Dion.

There are many things to be done, and little time to do them in.

The Liberals need to get a grassroots fund raising operation moving, or the next attempt to cut of public financing of political parties could simply kill them off altogether.

They have to make themselves relevant to people outside of Ontario/Quebec that are under 35, as they were basically shut out west of the Manitoba-Ontario border. There was a handful of seats, but the West is turning solid blue, and that trend needs to be reversed or at least stunted for the Liberals to have any kind of viability going into the future.

Although, there is one thing that trumps these problems, and that is the prospect of a coalition government. Not surprisingly, as it was controlled by the Liberals, the coalition proposal was rolled out very badly, and the public seems to be turning against it. Personally I think it would be better for Canada, as they would actually govern with other parties and interests in mind other than their own. That being said, the idea of Prime Minister Dion was a large part of what killed the deal.

Now that part of the equation has been erased, I'm still not convinced that a coalition under Ignatieff would be any more palatable to the public.

The Liberals have kind of backed their way into a corner with this one, and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. Basically they have put themselves in a place where they can't really support a budget that doesn't meet their exact specifications, as they've shown the willingness to take this thing to the mat, and if they turned away from toppling the government or voting them out, it would look like the only time they want to take action 'for Canada', is when they would benefit from it. Same goes for the NDP and the Bloc.

The only thing we can hope for is Harper makes some concessions and the Liberals are at least able to credibly say it was a compromise deal. It does look like Harper is striking a more conciliatory tone in the last day or so, pledging to work with the other parties to make Parliament, well, work.

I've heard and seen this show before, so until I see a consensus budget, with input from all parties, Harper's words will still ring hollow to me.

Now, if the Liberals fail, we're looking at a Harper majority, without a doubt. If an election was held today, they would easily go over the hump into majority territory, due to the bungled coalition roll-out.

As I've written on here before, I also think that Iggy basically has the task of saving the Liberals from complete and utter obscurity, which is where they will reside if Harper ever takes the majority reigns.

The bottom line is that Canada needs to work, and every party, not just Harper, but every party needs to cooperate, and govern this land with good faith towards the other parties.

I know minorities are contentious, and the next election is always right around the corner, and policy-making in a minority situation tends to lean more towards electioneering than actual governance, but heading into a recession, and possible depression without the right steps, this is not the time to try and cut a political opponent off at the knees while (metaphorically) Rome burns in the background.

Ignatieff himself is an interesting candidate, just based on the fact that he was out of the country for decades at a time teaching at Harvard, and only returned a few years ago to run for office and the leadership.

I can see this going one of two ways, and it depends on controlling the narrative.

Harper has shown himself to be very adept at this part of the game, and the Liberals have, well, been the exact opposite, tripping over themselves and whining about attack ads when they should have been firing back with vigour.

If Ignatieff is framed as an elitist, Canada-abandoning candidate, out of touch with Canadian interests, this thing is over before it even starts.

The Liberals need to highlight that we're talking about a Harvard professor here, a very intelligent man, and one untainted by previous Liberal scandals and mismanagement.

It all comes down to the message, and if things keep on the same track we've seen, there will be Ignatieff attack ads out there tomorrow. They need to hit back hard, and right away, fighting the negative narrative wherever and whenever they can.

Dion, frankly, was a wimp, and was seen as such from almost the minute he stepped atop the party. That was because of a sustained media effort by the Conservative Party, that the Liberals could not counter for the life of them.

Harper defined Dion.

Ignatieff needs to define himself, or he'll be in the scrapheap next to Stephane and the party very, very shortly.

I Know It's Been a While...

2008-11-28T14:47:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted, even about the epic, dramatic and world-altering election of Barack Obama, so the question begs...why?

Basically it boils down to a lack of time, a lack of a home computer, and a recovery from the orgy of politics I've been swimming through for the last 2+ years.

I can't promise a coherent, regular posting schedule, but I can promise my full effort and weight behind anything I do put out there.

I hope to do a couple pieces on Canadian politics in the coming hours / days, as we look to be on the verge of either a coalition government of Liberals and New Democrats, or yet another election.

There is also the Cabinet picks of Mr. President-elect to mull over, although I will be perfectly honest and admit I don't know who too many of these people are, because their time in the sun, back with the Clintons, was when I was still in my early teens, and not into politics in the least, let alone digging through qualifications for Cabinet picks.

In any sense, I do hope to get more out there more often, but only time will tell.

Election Results Widget

2008-11-04T15:38:00.000-08:00

On the Precipice

2008-11-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

Here we stand on the verge of history, hours away from something that will shape the American society, and by extension, the Canadian as well, for a very long time.

And I'm not just talking if Obama wins. The way I see it, tomorrow either pushes us off that aforementioned precipice, or pulls us back from it.

Western society is kind of teetering right now, with the credit crisis, a possible sequel to the Depression and 8 years of George W Bush pushing us towards the cliff.

If John McCain is able to fraud himself a seat in the Oval Office tomorrow (I truly think this is the only way a McCain victory would come about, and the only way 2 Bush victories did) then the world as we know is done for.

I know you're thinking, but, but, it'll be the same as the last 8 years, what will change?

Well, 8 years was almost too much to take, but people see it as somewhat of an aberration, 8 years that got away from them all, and a new President is what will cure the wounds of the Bush years. If McCain is elected, we will have the same indecisive, ideological, misguided, downright nonsensical leadership that the West has endured over the last 8 years for at least the next 4. At the same time, there will also be the constant horror of President Sarah looming over all of us.

A dash of electoral fraud and a relapse of melanoma = some scary shit happening in Washington.

No one likes to say it, but the US sets the tone for the rest of us, in the G8 and outside, so whomever sits in that big chair does determine a large part of where the rest of the world moves, not just their own nation.

That being said, if McCain is able to get in, it ruins the notion that Bush was an aberration, and I frankly think the world might look for a different guiding light than the one that has led us all since the end of World War Two.

But, anyone reading this probably understands the depth of the dangers a McCain presidency would bring, so I won't beat that dead horse any more.

If Barack Obama wins tomorrow, it is like a blank slate, a new beginning. The sins of slavery will be washed almost clean, if not entirely, and the world will look upon the US with new hope in their eyes.

Pardon the word usage, but it would be a black and white scenario.

As Canadians we now stand on this edge, watching, pained that we cannot affect it in the least, and all we can do is sit, watch, wait, and hope everything turns out the way we, and the rest of the world need it to.

I'll say it again, we don't want Obama, WE NEED OBAMA.

I for one view this race as the defining one for my lifetime, win or lose. It will either make me believe that change is possible, and the son of a single mother, who had to take student loans to get an education and who worried where the next meal would come from can actually shift the world, or it will drop me into a pit of cynicism that I probably won't be able to crawl out of ever again.

For a person that wants to get into this political game one day, and very much fits the points I listed in the previous paragraph, I really need my hopes to be heeded, just this once. I have watched election after election up here, and around the world, where the winner didn't really deserve the prize, where the person who could toss out the most ads or smear the most took the seat.

No one has ever energized me in the way Barack has. I have watched him with apt attention for over 3 years now, and I need to see him win tomorrow. I need to know that the good guy can win the race, that rationality can take hold at a point, that people can do the right thing, and not be scared into doing the wrong one.

Of course, that viewpoint is a tad selfish, and of course I want all of the other dominoes that fall with an Obama presidency. I want healthcare, I want the flow of money to stop jumping into the upper-most tax bracket, I want justice and equality, and I want everyone to have a fair shake at things.

One Canadian blogging about the American elections likely won't change one tiny iota of what is going to happen tomorrow, but this is my two cents nonetheless.

We all stand on the precipice, and we all stand together, but only some of us have the power to pull us all back, or to push us over the cliff into oblivion.

I will watch tomorrow night, as I know many of my fellow Canadians, Americans, and citizens of the world will. We will all watch, holding our collective breath, and wish with all the might we can muster that for once, we can believe, we can have hope, and yes, that things can change.

I will close with the three words that have defined this lanky man from Hawaii and his campaign, who grew up with nothing and came to be so much, who has touched so many of our hearts. They are the three that have carried us all this far, pushed us to blog, cut videos, doorknock, phonebank and donate.

The words we have carried and the words we will carry forward, to give us that hope, and to push us forward to change the world.

Yes We Can.

Are the Liberals Losing This Generation?

2008-10-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

I'm coming to the realiztion that this Liberal leadership race is probably about the most important in the history of the party.

A heavy statement, I know, but here's something even weightier :

This leader will decide whether the Liberal Party lives on past the next 5-10 years, or whether it fades into obscurity.

The reason I say these things is that I don't see anyone in this generation really grabbing onto them as an opposing force to the right wing, which is galvanized behind one party, as opposed to left, which is fragmented among three. The salvation of young people right now, whether they actually vote or not, seems to lie with the NDP, or to a lesser extent, the Greens.

Everyone I spoke to, and almost everything I read over the course of the campaign from those under 30 seemed to be pulling for Jack and the orange crew, followed by May and the Greens. Dion and the Grits as a whole were almost nowhere to be found.

The next leader will have to be somewhat generational, someone able to bridge the gap between old and young as Martin Cauchon promised to be when he bandied around throwing his name into the ring, as they will need to stem the tide of under-30s over to the other two left-wing parties, or the left will simple get more fragmented as younger folk mark their ballots for the NDP and Greens and older left-leaners continuing marking theirs Grit.

We need to pull the left together if we ever hope to be in government again, and a generational fragmentation is the complete opposite direction of that.

Now, while I think age is a concern this time, as no other really has been, it doesn't disqualify in any way those that are somewhat advanced in that category, such as Rae, Ignatieff or McKenna. Experience does not equal an inability to reach out to the youth. It may make it harder, but all that really matters is the substance of your words and actions, not what year it says on a birth certificate.

There needs to be a significant youth outreach, aside from the Young Liberals or any other group already existing. This needs to be a central plank of not just the party, but of the leadership contest itself as well.

We are going to be witnessing a pseudo-election campaign over the next 6 months, and there needs to be a heavy emphasis on pulling youth into the process. An e-campaign, if you will.

Look at Barack Obama. The man has pulled in millions, hundreds of millions in fact, due to his advanced web presence. That presence, along with his 3 million-plus email list, are one of the many reasons why he won the primary and is now pulling away with the general election.

Elections have largely been taken to the 'net, and away from the more traditional sources such as TV, Radio and mailers.

The beauty of the e-campaign too is that it is largely cost-free. Things like Facebook, Twitter, podcasts, etc, cost little to nothing, and make a significant impact on the younger people of this country, as we are all over these services pretty much every day.

Fundraising is also a big concern for the Liberals after being dominated by the Tories, and the e-campaign takes care of that in two ways. As I said above, it's relatively cheap so this kind of outreach won't hurt the overall bottom line that much, if at all, and also, they can raise money online, through the grassroots, while getting them connected and into the party and its leaders.

There is no drawback to a heavy Internet presence, and only leaps and bounds to gain.

People that already identify as Liberals and are not web-savvy are not going to be affected, as they'll likely keep on the same news sources they have their entire lives, which are those traditional ones that Liberals already market to.

Basically, the gist of this argument is pulling the Liberals into the 21st century, and making them seem like they actually can empathize with the issues of the youth voters in this country.

Sure, people in my demo don't vote as much as they should, but that's not a permanent problem, and it is something that is easily fixable. The youth vote is powerful, and if a party can actually go out there and harvest those immense numbers, we are looking at a redesign of the electoral maps from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

It is not simply the 'net though, as there needs to be campus outreaches, people at concerts handing out flyers and buttons, and other activities of the like to get those under-30s thinking about the future of their country, where it is headed, and instilling the belief that they can play a role in that future too, because up until now, I don't think people really have felt all that included in the process.

This whole youth-based outreach business obviously needs to be in tandem with actual policies that help people get in school, get jobs, and lead our country forward, especially as Baby Boomers are moving into their sunset years, and we will all need to pick up that slack left behind in their wake.

The under-30s are going to be the engine of the economy very soon, and if we lose them to the Conservatives, we'll be shut out of power for decades.

The Liberal Leadership : The Race, and the New Political Reality

2008-10-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

With Stephane Dion resigning this past Monday as leader of the Liberal Party, (thank God) it opens up a new race for the person that will succeed him and lead the Grits into the next election, and hopefully further.

There are already contenders floating around, even as Dion's gravestone is still being carved.

Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae, the two from which the last leader should have been chosen, will almost certainly be in the running once again, as their leadership campaign machines are still warm under the hood from the last race. Both of these two, as last time, have even-to-better odds of being the next leader in 2009. Hopefully we don't see another dark horse backroom deal like the one that screwed both of these men in 2006. If they lose, they lose, but Dion pulled 18% on the first ballot in '06 and ended up the leader. That stinks worse than roadkill on a 40 degree day.

Today, Martin Cauchon, a member from the Chretien era, has said he may also consider tossing his hat into the ring, citing the need for a 'generational change'. He is experienced in government, a former Cabinet minister, and is only in his late 40s, well under the 60-plus years of both Ignatieff and Rae. He could have a shot, but with Dion doing so badly, mostly based on his communication skills, I find it hard to believe the Liberals would appoint another Francophone to their leadership. Aside from that, his age and experience would both be tremendous assets. We'll see where that goes, but I'm labelling him as a long shot for now.

There are also some other repeat candidates, aside from Rae and Ignatieff.

Gerard Kennedy, the man that gave us Stephane Dion is likely to run again, as is Martha Hall Findley, who may find herself on better footing this time around than last, as she is now a sitting MP. Same with Kennedy.

They are still considered very long-shot tries and if either wins, I will be stunned, but in that same sense, who saw Dion as viable last time?

The most intriguing of all the candidates, at least in my mind, is Frank McKenna, the former premier of New Brunswick, Canadian Ambassador to the US, and current Deputy Chairman of TD Bank.

He has the cred, both politically and economically to blow everyone else out of the water.

Frankly, he would have done so in 2006 had he chosen to run, deciding instead to step aside, later taking the TD gig.

This race will be shaped by him, and whether he gives it a go this time around. If he does not, I expect Rae or Ignatieff to take the mantle handily.

This seems like very much a re-do of the disastrous 2006 choice, with Dion obviously not around to swipe it this time.

The leadership choice will be made in May of 2009 in Vancouver (yay, my home city) and it will lay the groundwork for the Liberal Party for what I think will be at least the next decade, as two disastrous choices in a row could doom them to obscurity (If Dion hasn't already done so).

The Liberals are in serious need of a kick-start, as they have died as a party in BC, finishing fourth in most ridings behind even the Greens, getting knocked around badly in Quebec and losing ground in Ontario.

They also are very much in need of an overhaul in the way they fundraise, as Harper and the Tories absolutely killed them in the financial race this cycle, allowing them to run attack ad after attack ad and basically assassinate Stephane Dion's character before he really even got rolling.

Liberals can cry all they want about the right wing propoganda machine killing them this cycle, but that is part of the game, and if they can't hold their ground in that part of the game, they will lose every single time.

No one likes attack ads, but they work, and the Liberals need to recognize the reality of the situation.

You can whine, or you can win, and whether it's Ignatieff, Rae, McKenna, Cauchon, Kennedy, Hall-Findley or someone else, they need to go on the offensive as soon as they take the keys, or the Liberals will be looking for a new leader once again in a few years.

The Greens : Breakthrough or Death Blow?

2008-10-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

The much-lamented non-breakthrough of the Green Party to win any seats in Parliament was a bit of a disappointment, but in reality, I would have been shocked if they had.

Judging by the tone of at least Elizabeth May and Adrianne Carr in their post-loss interviews, they seemed to feel the same way.

My view on the Greens is that this was, in fact, their breakthrough election.

Stay with me now.

This was the first time that the Greens weren't seen as a fringe, throw-away your vote party. They were seen as a viable alternative, and they actually made some pretty good gains in the popular vote, and in BC.

In terms of the popular vote, they grew by about 3%, which guarantees them another few million in public funds to run their party for the next few years, and become a more viable force in the next election cycle.

Canadians aren't huge fans of dramatic or drastic changes, and while electing a Green MP wouldn't have entered that territory, it was enough of a change to make people pause, if for no more than this cycle, and also was based on the ridings those prominent Greens were running in.

I wish Elizabeth May didn't run in Central Nova against Peter McKay. I wish Adrianne Carr didn't run against Hedy Fry and Lorne Mayencourt in Vancouver Centre. These are the two highest profile Greens, being respectively their leader and deputy leader, so it was relatively imperative that one of them enter Parliament if the Greens were actually going to be anything more than a bump in the road in Canadian politics.

May chose Nova because she grew up there, which is completely admirable, and the way decisions of which riding to take a crack should start from. But not when it's the Defense Minister who currently sits there, and not when it's a strong blue riding. She came a strong second, partially because there was no Liberal in the riding, but mostly because May is an incredibly gifted orator and politician, and would actually do more for Central Nova than people could ever hope for from McKay.

Alas, it was not to be. And furthermore, May is going to run in the same riding the next time around. Damn.

Here sits the best, most dynamic and intelligent Green Leader we have seen on the national scene, and she is going to again throw herself into what is essentially an unwinnable riding against Peter McKay. If she ran out in BC this cycle, or next, she would likely be sitting in the benches. Instead, she will likely lose, and the Greens will eventually be forced to turn to a leader that actually has a chance of sitting in Parliament, because at the end of the day, that is the only way to do anything you want to do politically in this country. I honestly love Elizabeth May, her candor, her skills and her beliefs, but I'll be shocked out of my shoes if she's ever the MP for Central Nova.

In terms of Carr, this was another missed chance to make an impact, as she was part of the Greens national face, appearing in commercials and having the title of Deputy Leader. She ran in the strongest riding in Vancouver, and finished a distant fourth. No matter what the polls showed, Carr tanked.

Hedy Fry has now won 6 elections, Lorne Mayencourt has high name recognition from being an MLA in the riding, and Michael Byers of the NDP was expected to have a strong showing. Against all this, Carr threw herself into the mix. As with May, a more strategic riding choice could have sent a Green MP to Ottawa.

I see plenty of sunshine around the edges of the shutout though. The Greens finished above the Liberals in almost every BC riding breakdown I saw over the course of last night, pulling significant numbers of votes. There is room to grow, but only at the expense of the Liberals, because at the end of the day, Green ideology is essentially very Liberal in nature, obviously with a heavier emphasis on the environment.

They can take some of the steam out of the NDP as well, but seem to pull in more disaffected Liberals than anyone else.

Splitting votes between the three will only lead to more and stronger Conservative governments, so maybe something like the Dion-May deal to not run candidates in each others ridings could be tried on a larger scale. That is a different subject for a different day though, as is proportional representation, which seems ever more prevalent on the minds of people after seeing the Bloc pull 50 seats out of 10% popular vote, and the Greens pull zero, when their popular vote totals were about 7%.

I understand it is not the best juxtaposition to put these 2 parties together, but when we talk straight numbers, the system we have seems even worse than most people believe it to be.

The Greens are not dead, not by a long shot, and if May stays as leader, and they keep getting themselves into debates, and into the conversation, they will eventually find themselves in Parliament as well.

Election Live Blogging : Fortier Loses Again

2008-10-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

Michel Fortier, the unelected member of Stephen Harper's cabinet, who lost his last race and was appointed to the Senate to be able to serve in Cabinet, has lost again.

Does anyone think Harper will pull the same stunt again for the man he clearly wanted in that seat?

Fortier already resigned his Senate seat to run, so my guess would be no. Then again, who thought Harper would have done such a thing anyways?

Lots more to come from this election night.

Looks like another Conservative minority, with little movement seat-wise.

The question tomorrow morning may not be who won, but why we just spent $300 million dollars on what amounts to the status quo.

There wasn't much need for an election, outside of Harper's bare ambition for a majority, and it looks like he will not get it yet again...

The World Changes This Fall -- For Better or Worse is Up to Us

2008-10-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

The electoral maps are shifting like crazy right now, with Obama booming and Harper falling, and I couldn't be happier about either one.

Economy, economy, economy. The one issue people care about, here, and down South. The one thing that affects everyone, and the one thing that Conservatives and Republicans lose on every single time.

Whenever the economy starts to trend down, people turn to the left to resurrect it.

The most striking example, and one that has an immense parallel to today would be FDR's election in the midst of the Depression. The New Deal came along after he stepped in, and revolutionized the way the government does business, and the values of an entire nation.

The same opportunities lie bare right now in the US, and even to an extent here.

Stephane Dion is no FDR, and at best a poor man's Obama, but his Green Shift would bring a dramatic, future-reaching change to the Canadian economy that is desperately needed right now.

I am not comfy with the thought of Dion being the face of Canada, but on his policy proposals alone, the man will change us for the better. Not to get too far deep into the Green Shift, but as I have ranted in the past in this space, and others, flipping our economy to be Green-based, with innovations and Canadian-made green technology that we can then go sell and market abroad would make us akin to oil powers in today's age, like Saudi Arabia. It will create green collar jobs, and we will then be on the cutting edge of technology the entire globe will be using in a few decades. We will control patents, and be able to provide our economy with a stable, renewable, clean base for the next ten generations, as opposed to the dirty, fluctuating and unstable footing we and the previous few have stood on.

Ok, Green Shift / carbon tax rant over.

In terms of Obama, there is nothing overarching like a Green Shift, but with promises to invest in those very same technologies in the US, like wind, solar, etc, he is also putting his country on the same footing, and looking to the future, not staying mired in the present and past of carbon-based economic models.

That, along with ambitious healthcare proposals, ending the war in Iraq, giving the middle class back their country and taking it from the 1% that George W let it be consolidated into will fundamentally change how Americans see their country, and therefore the beliefs that country reflects, and it can only be viewed as for the better, because it cannot get any worse than it is right now.

In the face of the economic issues that he helped to propagate, Johnny Mac has really done nothing but flounder and flip flop his way through the last few weeks, watching his polling numbers sink almost in tune with the stock market.

Now we have William Ayers on the political map again because of it, as Johnny figured out he simply cannot win on economics, and desperately needs a change in subject. This crap was tried and failed badly in the primaries, and it will do so on this stage as well.

McCain is behind in several key states, and even some that should be on lockdown. All the so-called battleground states, like Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, Nevada, all show 10+ leads for Obama in the polls, something that cannot be explained away by margins of error, or anything else other than he is WINNING.

Plain and simple, he is winning, and only electoral fraud or god forbid, assassination is going to stop this man from sitting in the White House January 20, 2009.

On that front, the McCain-Palin ticket is beginning to race-bait, starting a few days ago by inciting crowds to a frenzy, to the point where they have yelled out, 'Kill him', 'terrorist', and 'Off with his head', obviously referencing the junior Senator from Illinois. Is it just me, or is this seriously dangerous territory to be running on? The noble maverick-y candidate has clearly lost that honor he touts so frequently, if he ever really had it in the first place. Clearly the memories of the sting of George W's baseless attacks in 2000 have faded away, replaced by a hunger to win at all costs.

Obama is projecting out at 350+ on some electoral maps, and at least 300+ on some of the less ambitious or gutsy pollsters (270 to win). Nate Silver over at FiveThirtyEight.com, the single best polling site out there, has Obama winning 9/10 times in his electoral predictions, which all through the primaries proved to be about as rock-solid as can be.

It has never looked better for the good Senator in the 20 months he has been in this game, and I have a sneaky suspicion that trend will continue on through November 4.

Back to Canada, before we close.

Harper's poll numbers have been dwindling in the past week or so, down to the point where Dion is nearing the margin or error.

My belief is that his drop is two-fold. First, people are watching him brush off the economic crisis as nothing more than background noise, while watching the economy of the country where 80% of our exports go completely tank. If they have issues with liquidity, and being able to buy anything, let alone import our lumber and other commodities, who do you think is going to feel the pain first?

Harper has shown little to no leadership here, repeating over and over that the Canadian economy is strong. Platitudes and words are all well and good, but I want contingency plans, I want clear visions of what we can do if the US gets into really serious trouble. We get nothing but essentially this : 'Nah, don't worry about it, we're cool'. That doesn't suffice from a Prime Minister.

The second of those two folds is Dion, who has been coming on strong, starting in the English debate, where he actually showed he has the chops to stand toe-to-toe with Harper on the issues of the day.

I find this is what worried people, and myself, the most about a Dion government, that he would be a little weakling drip. I think he has shown that's not the case, and the only thing left is whether people get on board with the Green Shift, which is not a foregone conclusion by any sense.

Dion still has a communication problem, and with a complex, tax-shifting policy, that is a serious issue. I still don't think he will end up being Prime Minister, but if he can stem the Conservative flow to a majority, he's good in my books.

Jack has run strong so far, but he will never be PM with that orange albatross around his neck. Same with Elizabeth May, except hers is tinged Green. Both of these two are more effective communicators, and better leaders than Stephane Dion, and yet, they chose parties that can never actually govern.

Ideological people are great, and the people that end up really caring enough to effect change in the end, but at some point, you have to see the only path to 24 Sussex is a little red / blue road, not orange or green.

We are days away from Canada's choice, and about three weeks from the US's. This is special ground my friends (sorry to steal the line Johnny ;)), and this time in politics will be talked about and studied for a long time into the future.

Game-changing, ground-breaking, paradigm-altering races.

I'm just glad I'm around to take it all in.

Meeting Elizabeth May, Peter McKay , and Discussing Charter Rights

2008-10-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well, it wasn't me, but it was my significant other, Lindsay.

She lives on the East Coast, in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, home of St Francis Xavier University, which she attends, and also the site of the local candidates debate for the riding of Central Nova last night.

In this riding, the very impressive Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is trying to wedge herself and the Greens into Parliament by knocking off Nova Scotia native son and Defense Minister Peter McKay.

At first glance, this does seem, frankly, insane. Going up against a Cabinet Minister, from a town within the riding, who is running for the party that has had an iron grip on the seat for decades, etc. But, all that outsider, fringe party, insurmountable stuff is getting turned on its head. May has a shot, and she showed why last night.

She was smart, on the ball, rational and reasonable, just like she was in the Federal debates last week. The crowd, chocked full of university students, was fully on her side, as the Liberals aren't running a candidate in the riding, and the NDP candidate is completely and utterly out of their league with two such strong and notable candidates.

She runs her campaign out of Antigonish, and clearly has a good chunk of the town on her side, just based on the amount of signs populating lawns. The riding is not just Antigonish however, as it covers a wide area, but May has more of a chance of knocking out McKay than any Liberal or NDP member has done so far.

After the debate, Lindsay got a chance to speak with both McKay and May, and got a chance to bring up the question to McKay that had gotten cut from the actual debate due to time constraints.

A little background before unleashing the whole story. The Nova Scotia Conservative provincial government has new regulations in place that force those that have taken prescription drugs for a disorder such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder to declare those conditions and the drugs taken on their driver's licenses.

The government says it is due to safety concerns over people driving under the influence of medication, but that is a little hard to swallow with no evidence that these kinds of people have been a danger, or the drugs taken will impair driving ability.

So, basically what is in place now will force people to either admit to the public record their private medical conditions, or simply ignore treatment to avoid having to do so. Neither of those jives with my values as a Canadian.

I smell a Charter violation there, and so did Lindsay. So she decided to pose the question of the viability of such a law from a Charter standpoint to the one and only Peter McKay.

Now, while provincial and federal parties aren't specifically aligned together (In BC they couldn't be more of a separate entity), apparently on the East Coast it is much more of a central party than translates policy from the top down.

So, talking to a Cabinet member of the ruling Conservatives federally can very much have an impact on the Conservative party provincially.

She posed the question, they went back and forth and debated for 10-15 minutes, and then, the shining light appeared.

Peter McKay admitted the law was a violation of our Charter Rights, and pledged to do what he could to affect some positive change on the matter.

McKay went against his own party, and conversed with a constituent on a personal level. I admire that, and I have a lot more respect for the man now than I think I ever have. Up to this point, he seemed nothing more than the guy that was jilted by Belinda Stronach and sold his soul to Stephen Harper to unite the right.

They exchanged email addresses, and he also gave her some links and contact information for the provincial and federal health ministers, so that she could run down some of the details on her time.

Obviously, that doesn't mean the law is repealed, or that it will be tomorrow, but there is a commitment on record from a very powerful minister to the effect that it should be. That my friends, is a pretty big deal.

I want to congratulate Lindsay for standing toe-to-toe with a very seasoned politician, and winning him over in the end. That's not an easy task, especially when that politician resides in the spin and negativity of the right wing.

Just so you know I'm not fakin', here's the pics of Lindsay and Elizabeth May, and with Peter McKay

Presidential, Federal, Municipal, Oh My! - Election Tidbits From All Sides

2008-09-15T23:34:00.000-07:00

There are so many elections and races going on right now, it's hard for the most fervent political fans to stay with everything that comes across the wire.

There are exciting races happening everywhere.

There is obviously the US Presidential elections, covered ad nauseum, the still-blooming federal election here in Canada, and for those of us in the Vancouver area, as I myself am, there is also the very intriguing Mayoral race to follow.

Whew.

First up, Vancouver Mayor.

I like the energy Gregor Robertson and his youth have brought to the campaign, and I have actually signed up to volunteer for him. He scored a huge boon yesterday when COPE and the municipal Green Party agreed to run a unified left wing slate against the NPA, and when COPE more importantly, chose not to run a candidate of their own, and instead back Robertson straight up.

That's huge, because a divided left wing is what handed Sam Sullivan the keys to City Hall in the first place three years ago.

Furthermore, I flat out disrespect the way Peter Ladner came into this race, sweeping the NPA's nomination away from Sam Sullivan, a man who just based on personal story, let alone being the sitting Mayor, deserves to run and defend his record. He will not get the chance to do that and has since stepped away from politics. It was a dishonest and immoral way to jump onto the main stage for Ladner, and simply, his whole campaign just feels dirty because of it.

Federal Election.

Dion is tanking, badly. He is running last in the province, and a shocking poll out today shows the Greens actually running second (!) to the Conservatives, and furthermore, they are only 2 points behind, 26%-24%

That is flat out amazing. Contained in that link is also the incredibly bad news for Dion and the Liberals, that they are running dead last in BC. The NDP support is flagging as well.

The real story in BC and across the country it seems, is with the Greens. This comes from a number of factors.

a) People don't really like Stephen Harper.
b) People think Stephane Dion is a drip, and they don't trust him.
c) Jack Layton comes off as a used car salesman.

People want some change, but they have nowhere to turn. The Barack Obama syndrome run amuck.

Jack can try to be Barack all he wants, and he can say the word change as many times as it can get past that 'stache, but he simply does not have the gravitas of the man across the 49th parallel.

There is no one fresh, except for Elizabeth May and her slate. She is benefiting from apathy with not one party, but three, and four if you count the Bloc, which I don't.

There has never been such a bland slate for a somewhat-fringe party to pick up gains from, but by God, this seems to be it. The Greens should do well this cycle, barring some unforeseen game-changer.

Harper is doing okay for the campaign he is trying to run, which is the 'make Dion look like shit' strategy. Dion is doing a lot of the job for him, but Harper is countering anything positive about the Liberals very effectively.

Bland, uninspiring campaign so far, except May, she is performing wonderfully.

Presidential Elections.

I honestly feel myself being a little soured towards the Presidential campaign right now. Firstly, the strict partisanship that everyone has aligned into, which completely squashes any kind of independent thought outside of what flows from Obama and McCain, which is then disseminated by talking heads and surrogates a thousand times over.

Secondly, I am a very rational person. I take everything, break it down, follow it to its logical end and go with it, and any time that doesn't happen, for me, is cause for a headache. McCain's lies, distortions and illogical explanations and justifications for those lies and distortions has caused me to reach for the aspirin too many times over the past few weeks, starting with the Palin nomination.

Mostly, it is her bare incompetence, but also the reasoning surrogates come up with as to why she isn't incompetent, such as, foreign policy - Russia is close to Alaska / energy (?), denials of the Road to Nowhere, especially after explicit evidence was found and distributed that she supported it, the whole Troopergate debacle that has now had about four different explanations, and the family rights anti-abortion advocate who says how happy she is for 'the choice her daughter made' when she wants to strip that very choice from those in the same situation.

And to see everyone lap it up has just kind of turned me off. McCain got a bounce out of it and is still running even with Obama in a lot of swing states and nationally. That honestly infuriates me. I cannot see how people can compare the two, on ideas, substance, actions, words, anything, and not see McCain is as transparent as a piece of saran wrap. It's like no one can see the incredibly grave risks posed by a McCain presidency, or they simply don't care.

The financial collapse of today has finally turned the attention off of lipstick and pigs and onto actual issues, which is a nice change of pace, and also completely out of McCain's comfort zone, which mainly consists of his POW time.

There are too many negatives with McCain, and so many positives with Obama, I'm not even going to attempt to fill the space. It would take the whole night.

I didn't mean to rant on the US race, but sometimes, you just have to go with what's going, and that went.

Bottom line, good news for Gregor Robertson, bad news for Dion, good news for May and the Greens, and bad news for anyone with a rational mind, and prone to headaches induced by right-wing talking points.

Election Tidbits - Greens Shut Out, Harper and Layton Fast Out of the Gate, Dion Lags

2008-09-09T02:48:00.000-07:00

It looks like Elizabeth May and the Greens are going to be shut out of another leaders debate. The decision was made today by a group of Canadian television broadcasters who actually run the debates on their airwaves to only host the Conservative, Liberal, NDP and Bloc parties for the two debates slated for early October.

Unlike all the other times, this time I actually feel they should be there.

They are a legitimate national party now. They are not viable to form any kind of government, but neither is the NDP or the Bloc. They are running candidates in every single riding across the country, except one, which is a product of the ill-advised deal Stephane Dion made with May to not run candidates in each others ridings. (This works just fine for May, but as May herself is running against Peter Mackay, Dion might be thinking twice about not being able to run a candidate against the Foreign Minister) Also, as of the dissolution of Parliament, they actually had a sitting MP, as the near-disgraced, now-cleared but shunned by his former Liberals MP Blair Wilson had switched to Green stripes.

Maybe the Greens should have been let in last time, or the one before, but this time around, they have national prominence, and cannot be denied. More importantly, their main party issue should be injected into our national discourse in a major way.

May and the Greens are taking legal action to hopefully force their way onto the national stage. They've been doing a damn good job of it for over a decade now, and I hope the trend continues sometime in the next few weeks.

-------------------

Jack Layton and Stephen Harper really jumped out of the starting blocks of the national campaign today, hitting hard on issues and trying to define their opponents, campaigns and themselves.

Stephane Dion on the other hand, has had more of a...slow start on the race.

His campaign plane will not be ready for another few weeks, even though this election had been on the horizon since the moment he sat for the first time as Liberal leader in Parliament. He is to be on a bus tour for the time in between, and began today with a rally in Montreal.

As you can see from a 24 Hours review of the event here , it didn't seem to lack too much punch and enthusiasm.

This is going to be a tough campaign for Dion just based on the issues (Green Shift), let alone having to battle problems with energizing his Liberal base and the electorate. This is a very uphill battle, and Dion started with a thud.

Harper, on the other hand, has been issuing election-style commercials for a few weeks now, and peppering Canadian mailboxes with fliers about leadership, the environment, crime, and all the other issues of the day. They have a big head start on the hearts and minds campaign, as the Harper commercials have been effective, showing ordinary people praising Harper's policies, and the man himself.

On a side note, I saw the first Liberal ad of the campaign, and it was highly unimpressive. It didn't seem to have a clear point, didn't convince anyone about the Green Shift, throwing out a bunch of cliche lines about creating jobs and making our economy stronger, without offering specifics. It closed with a very bad, grainy shot of Dion saying something about why he respects Canada. I say again, THUD.

(Note: I searched for a good 20 minutes trying to find the Liberal Party's ad on YouTube, but could not, and ironically, every search with the keywords 'liberal' 'party' 'election' 'ad' 'Canada' '2008', etc, ended up pulling up the Stephen Harper leadership commercials for the first 3-4 hits. Dion is losing the viral campaign already, and with this generation possibly going to the polls, that is a very necessary chord to hit)

Layton gave a fiery speech in Vancouver today, hitting the Conservatives hard on their environmental and social policies. Jack is trying to be the Canadian Obama, preaching about being the candidate of 'change', and right away, it seems to be working for him. He has the populist cred to run this kind of campaign, and with him paying no attention to Dion and all his attention to Harper, in a year where people seem to be largely apathetic towards Dion, and not entirely comfortable with Stephen Harper having a majority, he could steal a lot of left-leaning voters.

I honestly think we will end up in another Conservative minority government, but if Dion flubs, or people are not comfortable enough with him, or Jack, then it could lead to a big Conservative slide.

Jack has opportunities, so does Harper, and the Liberals are just trying to hang on.

Ahhh, feels like 2006 all over again.

I do also think this will be Dion's only election as leader, and he will be subtly, or not so subtly, pushed to the side after the almost assured loss. I think everyone that leans left of Bush in this country (Which would be the type of policies Stephen Harper in a majority setting would emulate to the fullest) is just hoping he doesn't blow it and condemn us to absolute rule by the Conservative Party, and then we'll move on to someone more capable of winning an election. Someone like Michael Ignatieff or Bob Rae, two men who should have been the last two in the leadership contest before Dion and Gerard Kennedy pulled their backstage deal to swipe the leadership away.

That aside, I have heard many people say in this cycle they will not vote Liberal or NDP, they will simply vote non-Conservative. Whatever works in their riding to ensure that seat is not held by a Conservative MP is what their vote is pointed towards. That concept will likely decide the makeup of our next Parliament more than anything the leaders have to say over the next 5 weeks, because with the polls showing a near tie amongst the Liberals and Conservatives, not many opinions are likely to change in just over a month, no matter how heavy the rhetoric and how prosperous the policy proposals are.

Republicans Seem to Like 'Time Since' Counters, Here's One For 'Em

2008-09-05T00:07:00.000-07:00

We've all seen these countdown clocks. Time since Obama has been to Iraq. Time since Obama agreed to appear on Fox News and hasn't, etc.

I have an idea for a counter for the Democrats.

The time since Sarah Palin has been the Republican Vice Presidential nominee and has failed to hold a credible media appearance.

As of the publish of this story, at just after midnight PST, we are currently at 6 Days, 15 Hours and 40 minutes since Sarah Palin was officially introduced as McCain's VP.

Besides a fluff piece gone wrong with US Magazine , there has been nothing. Sarah Palin has been in a cocoon, being tutored and prepped by the finest of neocon strategists.

No press pools, no taking questions, no sit-downs with Brian Williams or spots on The View, nothing. She has been in virtual seclusion.

I think this shows just how little confidence McCain has in his pick to actually, y'know, answer substantive questions about her views on the issues of the day. As no one knows the views of someone who could be President in January if Johnny Mac drops, this might be a tad important to assure voters about the solidity of your ticket and your future administration. Call me crazy.

Apparently not though, as diaried earlier here , it looks like Palin isn't going to be available to beat this counter anytime soon, or even at all before November.

There might be a few heavily glossed, manufactured appearances, but no real journalist-to-politician situations, as apparently it's just too dangerous.

Is Johnny Mac and the right really planning this kind of strategy?

This is just plain weak, and it will make Palin, and McCain consequently, look shaky as all sin, shady, and untrustworthy.

The only way I see this kind of blackout ending is if there is a serious fuss made, and I think this clock can serve, if only tiny, a bit of that purpose.

I do think the media, after they get over caving to the McCain campaign's attacks against them over the honest reporting of the numerous Palin scandals, will begin to clamor for time with Palin, for sit-down interviews, press availability, anything, whether it be on the Straight Talk Express, the Straight Talk Private Jet, or the Straight Talk Hovercraft.

There should be pressure out there, but it doesn't mean we don't have to apply it too.

I'm not really a tech guy, so I can't create an actual clock, or something to that effect, but nudge, nudge, I'm sure there's someone in the Intertubes that could help out with that one...

6 Days, 15 Hours and 40 minutes since Sarah Palin was introduced as VP, and has failed to give a credible media appearance.

Start the counter people, I have a feeling it's going to run for a while.

Cross Posted on Daily Kos under the name Red Star

CNN Blinks and Fawns Over Palin - Pundit Live Blog Mishmash

2008-09-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

I only had to watch about 5 minutes of post-speech coverage to see that yes, CNN has blinked. They have bent over for McCain AGAIN, and seem to be backing off Palin's numerous, and I mean NUMEROUS scandals.

The speech was light on the economy, and national security policy, but full of down to earth, real person rhetoric, which the stadium audience ate right up, and the so-called experts are now also scooping up heartily.

Ahahaha, Alex Castellanos just said that Palin is essentially the lead character in an 'Annette Benning movie', where the 'woman fights the good ol' boys network, wins, marries Michael Douglas, falls in love and lives happily ever after'. Castellanos is a longtime street fighter Republican, and this is how he, and the majority of his party see a pivotal woman's story playing out on the largest stage possible. This is the kind of respect that anybody but the rich and the pedigreed receive with this party. Anything else is pandering. Remember that.

Campbell Brown seems to have been put in her place as well, stating more than once how fantastic the speech was after nailing Palin's record to the wall yesterday. Wolf Blitzer, the man of the all-mighty beard, called the speech not only a home run, but a grand slam. John King, as always, is doing his best to not seem a strong partisan Republican, which, as always, is not going well. He even pulled out the Magic Screen to illustrate how many states George Bush won in the last election, as if that map has any bearing on this game-changer of an election.

Roland Martin is sllllllaming Palin right now for criticizing community organizers, saying they are the people who fight on the streets, and for people, and it should be a major talking point for Obama and Biden going forward. I agree, it could be huge, as those same organizers have great influence over generating people to go to that voter booth and cast a ballot. Who is that ballot going to be for, the campaign that mocked, or the campaign as essentially came from its roots? Nice, simple equation there.

Jeffery Toobin is making a point that I thought of during the speech as well, that Palin came off smug and sarcastic for a large chunk, kind of ruining her sweet hockey mom image.

He also cited the lie about her opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere, the lie about Barack Obama raising taxes, when taxes will fall for, he said 80%, Obama says 98%, of the middle class and the only increases will be for people making over $250k a year.

Lastly, making the most of his two minutes on the air, he said how Sarah Palin has in a sense lost the innocence around her, that she showed that she's a tough fighter tonight, and the Obama campaign will be less hesitant in the future to go after her. I like the fact that she came out that way, as absolutely no one likes to see a major leader be soft and weak in the face of pressure, but she, and McCain sure as hell better not cry smear campaign or character assassination or sexism any more. No one that goes out there and delivers a speech like that can ever again be portrayed as weak, or a victim, implicitly or not, ever again.

This thought made its way around the round table and seemed to get everyone's acquiescence. Excellent, no more sexism, Palin-is-the-victim memes. Well, at least for right now, I'm sure they'll be back in full force whenever they are on the defensive again, like say tomorrow, when the next scandal breaks loose about Alaskan independence, or women's rights, reproductive, contraceptive, or educational. She has a checkered past and no policy stands to speak of, and that will be an issue, speech or no speech.

Oops, Dana Bash just slipped and said "we", when referring to Republicans. Smooth, and clearly shows how independent her journalism is, if her words and actions didn't show that enough.

Wow, in a shocking act of actual journalism, Blitzer is stating McCain doesn't have executive experience, and has been part of the 'Washington establishment' for more than the last 25 years. Castellanos blew it off by again hitting the POW theme (Good lord, can that be referenced again, I think I forgot what happened) and it then was passed over, but still, nice to actually see some honesty flowing around.

Christ, Campbell Brown has pulled a complete 180, now defending Palin, on sexist grounds, against a statement by Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader for issuing a statement saying that 'shrill, partisan attacks do not change the fact that McCain-Palin is four more years of failed Bush Cheney policies. Wow, Dana Bash agrees, there's a surprise. Nice how a few minutes after saying Palin will be attacked now, saying she opened that door, the first attack that rolls off the wire after the speech is ripped to shreds, portraying Palin as a victim of sexism.

That's it, that's all, I'm done with CNN for the night. Republicans give me a headache, and watching Guiliani go two minutes without referencing 9/11 was almost enough to shock me into a seizure even before the mind-numbing right-wingness of Sarah Palin barracuda'ed (Heh) onto the stage. Twenty minutes of praise for the campaign that embarrassed the network and made them all look like shit not even 24 hours ago is enough to make me flick off for the night.

Live Blogging the Palin VP Acceptance Speech

2008-09-03T19:41:00.001-07:00

She's kept it pretty 'down home' so far, talking about humble roots, her family, her husband, introducing her and her family to the world, as most know literally nothing about her.

She just dropped what is honestly a very good dig at Obama, explaining that being the mayor of a small town is 'like a community organizer, with actual responsibilities' Snap!

She's now bringing up the 'bitter' comment, which Guiliani did too. She's painting Obama as an elitist, and McCain as a straight talking good guy. She just made a comment about how John McCain is 'the same person wherever he goes'. I wonder if she knows about McCain's switching out of the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers in his POW story of the mental trick he used during interrogations based on whatever state he's in at the time?

There seems to be an image behind Palin now of a fiery explosion. Nice symbolism guys. No need to tie her to y'know, a bomb or anything, as it's not like she's fighting the image of being a bomb as a candidate...

Now she's saying she opposed earmarks and pork. Weird how Alaska ranks first in earmark money and Palin was cited by McCain at least 3 times in her term for unnecessary earmark diversion to her state. Let's also toss her connection to Jack Abramoff into the mix, as we seem to be on an anti-Washington establishment theme here. Real true reformers here guys and girls.

Oh, and she just repeated her 'thanks but no thanks' lie about the infamous 'Bridge to Nowhere', which she campaigned upon in her election as Governor, fought for, then kept money intended for the bridge after Washington killed it. Now though, it went down with her rejecting federal funds. Well, about that little nugget of a lie Sarah, thanks but no thanks.

She's actually discussing policy now, instead of taking shots and giving a bio, saying that the Alaskan oil pipeline will essentially solve America's foreign oil dependency. Yea, maybe after drilling in the pristine Alaskan National Wildlife Preserve, which she supports fully, by the way.

Geez, again they are going after Obama for 'not having a record' when he's spearheaded dozens of bills fighting against nuclear proliferation, government transparency and other major issues, going across the aisle to do so. Message to Republicans, stop beating this dead horse, it's just going to backfire.

Now apparently Obama again lacks specifics, even though he went line by line through his plan last Thursday in front of 75,000 in person and almost 40 million at home, listing off exactly how his policies will be laid out and paid for, and exactly who they will benefit. But I guess facts and statements aren't really applicable, this is the RNC after all.

She's also hitting a Libertarian kind of theme (Or maybe it's that Alaskan Independence streak, who knows), saying that more controls will be coming from Washington under an Obama Administration. Yes, that is true, and I must ask Gov. Palin, has the deregulation and 'freedom' of the past 8 years has really worked out all that well?

Here comes the 'hard facts' on Obama as a tax raiser. This is in spite of the fact that 98% of families will be getting tax cuts under his tax plan, and only the richest would see an increase. 'Hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes' under Obama she says. Well, when the top two percent control that much, then yea, it could be a number like that. But lets keep letting the gap between rich and poor grow larger, that's definitely a better idea Sarah.

I must say though, she seems very comfortable up there, very smooth, doesn't seem nervous, and is very down to earth. I know that's what they're trying to push, and I know she didn't actually write the speech, but she sure is reading it well. Almost like someone who used to be a sportscaster (Oh wait, that was what she studied in college, wasn't it?).

This is quite a hard-hitting speech though, and she is delivering it well. This is very much what Palin needed to do tonight, which was essentially her first platform as a national politician.

She just mentioned McCain was a POW for about the 27th time as well. She's basically saying McCain should be President almost as a reward (!) for being a POW. Apparently his POW experience also counts as foreign policy cred now too (Well if being geographically close to Alaska counts, I suppose this could too). Never mind of course McCain's POW colleague Phillip Butler said McCain should actually be disqualified from running because of the physical and mental strain of his POW days. McCain's judgment because of his POW status counts...not this guy.

The speech is over, she ended with another McCain is a POW mention. Shocking. The whole Palin family, secessionists and baby-mommas in a row, are now on stage, and Palin is holding her son Trig, in a nice family moment.

Johnny Mac is on stage now, saying only a few words, thanking Palin and saying he is sure he made the right choice.

They're switching over to the pundits now, and I'm interested to see if they will heed to McCain's criticism earlier today about their supposed 'smear campaign' (read: truthful journalism) about Sarah Palin. Will they fawn, or will they break it down honestly?

We'll see, and I'll try to be back for an end of the night recap later.

It was about as good as the Republicans and Palin could have hoped for, as she hit all the points, introduced herself well, and slammed Obama in a few new and interesting ways. Interesting night, we'll see how it plays out in the news and the polls.

I was just about to publish and realized that I need to add something else.

CNN is bullshit. Plain and simple. They never once broadcast the closing pledge of allegiance and national anthem during the DNC, and yet here it gets full coverage. Who comes off as more patriotic of the parties then? Nice and classy, as CNN always is. Oh and now, they're keeping the main feed on the stage for 'Raising McCain', a pro-McCain country song performed by John Rich. Real objective guys, thanks for showing your true stripes.

Federal Election in October All But Assured After Harper and Dion Meet and Decide They Cannot Play Nice

2008-09-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

Along with the attention-grabbing US election, it looks like Canadians are also going to go to the polls this fall.

Stephane Dion came out of a meeting with Stephen Harper at 24 Sussex Drive this afternoon and announced to reporters that there was going to be a fall campaign, because he wouldn't give Harper a "blank cheque to govern".

Everyone seems to be on board this time, unlike the near misses in the past.

Dion has been Liberal leader for almost 2 years now, and apparently has been backed into enough of a corner to have at least the appearance of growing a set. Harper seems to be more than willing to violate his own fixed election date law that sets our next federal election for 2009. Jack Layton responded to that move by saying essentially that if Harper wants to quit his job he'll be first in line to apply for it. Gilles Duceppe has pledged to hold a confidence vote, with or without any support.

So here we are folks, ready to mark ballots again.

The competing themes will be leadership from the Conservative side, and the Green Shift policy put forth by Dion.

I would go over the NDP and Bloc approaches, but those haven't changed much. For the NDP, bitch about anything that gets traction, and for the Bloc, bitch about not getting enough support from Ottawa even though you want to separate entirely. Oh, and the Greens, how could I forget? Bitch about the environment and run your leader against one of the highest profile Conservatives in a safe, deep blue riding. Smmmart.

I've actually been meaning to write about the outreach I've been seeing in my mailbox from the Conservative party for a while now, so this seems as good a spot as any to do so.

I have now gotten 4 separate mailers from the Conservatives, about Strong Leadership, Youth Crime, Senate Reform and Clean Air.

They are all stacked with facts, figures, policy standpoints, and imagery that is thought-provoking. Me and my fiancee had a separate conversation each time one of them came in the mail, sparking conversation about the Conservative stances. On leadership and Senate reform, I found myself on the Conservative side of things, which is an odd sensation to say the least.

I do think Harper is a stronger national and international player for Canadian interests than Stephane Dion would be. I don't care for Harper's policies when it comes to free trade and relations with the Bush Administration, but I can take some good with the bad, especially when compared with Paul Martin's Panderbear foreign and domestic policies.

On the Senate, I've been on the reforming train for as long as I have understood the Canadian political process. In no modern democracy should we have an unelected, highly paid, patronage-infested body, which serves almost no purpose other than to rubber stamp. The Senate as is, is nothing more than a money pit which lends itself to cronyism, as all members are essentially there as a reward for a career of party loyalty. This does not jive with a functional democracy. There does need to be a check on Parliament, as we cannot have one sole elected body, especially with a majority government, as that setup is essentially a dictatorship anyways.

We need a Senate that represents all areas of the country equally, with 2 or 3 members for each province, with elections that run opposite Parliamentary cycles.

That is plain and simple, but Dion does not agree, as the Liberals have a heavy majority in our unelected chamber, due to being the governing party an overwhelming majority of the time in Canadian history. Most Canadians are on the side of reform, some on abolishment, but I do not see too many advocating for the status quo on this one.

I'm not saying I agree with the information as a whole, and definitely not on punishing our youth harder as opposed to rehabilitating them, or that Harper is on the right side of the climate change argument, despite his attempts, but the point is they are providing information, and the Liberals are not.

The Conservatives have also debuted a series of commercials to define Harper as a strong leader for Canada, and surprisingly, they don't take shots at Dion, they're simple record pieces on Harper to show people he is the best leader for Canada right now. They are with ordinary people; blue collar workers and soccer moms, listing with emotion and certainty the Conservative accomplishments since in power, and how those accomplishments helped their daily lives and made them feel safer.

Harper does still have a sizable 'creepy problem', as shown in the closing seconds of the ad, when he is sitting down, perched forward with his elbows on his knees, wearing a sweater, and smiling into the camera. It doesn't seem normal, and honestly, it gives me the willies. All in all though, he is in people's hearts and minds more than Dion, by a long shot.

Dion, as detailed in a previous article, available off the right side of this page, has a serious communication issue, as even after 2 years, most Canadians don't know or trust him enough to mark Liberal in their riding come October.

There are of course areas that will remain Liberal until the day this country dies, but there are a lot of battleground-type areas available for either side, with the NDP spoiling a race here or there.

BC is a big toss up, with a left-leaning, green-based ideology perfectly suited to swing Liberal. I've lived here my whole life, and I still cannot understand why the majority of BC seats are as blue as the sky. Partially it is a symptom of the incompetent provincial NDP party, as people have trouble dividing federal parties from their essentially unaffiliated provincial brethren.

But aside from that, it comes down to delivery, to speaking to people's concerns everywhere, not just in Southern Ontario and across the St Lawrence seaway.

Harper can and will nab Alberta easily, but with a concerted effort, a few of those seats further West can swing the other way.

Dion must spend the next two months connecting with people, traveling coast to coast and convincing them that his Green Shift is the way to go for the country.

The Conservatives have spent almost their entire time in power trying to build up their cred on green issues, but it all has rung rather hollow, leaving Dion the opportunity he needs to kick the door in to a serious electoral advantage. Dion needs to hit that note, and hit it hard, convincing people not only is his plan the way to go, but that environmental issues are the most pressing of our time. His whole policy book is built around the Green Shift, so people need to see the environment as above their pocketbook, because that is where the Green Shift is going to hit them.

Dion has said the Shift will be revenue neutral, but that isn't the kind of language that people are going to get in line with everywhere, especially with Harper hammering home the fact that it is a tax increase, leaving aside the incentives and tax cuts elsewhere. As I have said previously, the Green Shift is not an effective campaign strategy, although it is likely a great governing strategy. Hard truths are not easy to campaign on, especially when you have communication and trust issues with the electorate.

The Conservatives are hitting home with their mailers and ads, and Dion needs to jump on this before it is too late. Leadership will be the question, as it always is, but Dion's supposed test of leadership will be defined by how people view the Green Shift. If they don't agree, then Dion and the Liberals are in serious trouble, and Harper might get the majority government he so craves.

We'll find out in the next two months what the Canadian people see as the best road forward, and during that time, we will also see the most dynamic and important US Presidential election ever held.

For pols, such as myself, the fall season isn't going to be about new shows, it's going to be about policy proposals and politics at the highest levels. It's going to be busy, and I'm going to be loving every minute of it.

McCain Taps Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (???) for VP

2008-08-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, McCain has officially sold the last shred of his soul.

He has chosen the 44-year-old, scandal-ridden, Governor of Alaska for all of 2 years Sarah Palin as his running mate.

She is largely unknown, because she hasn't really done a thing. She was the mayor of a 6000 person village three years ago, and now she's supposed to be ready to step in for the 72-year-old with a history of cancer at any moment as President of the United States. To quote Wayne, of Wayne's World, 'Chyyya...ruhight'

This is a straight pander-pick, in a couple of different ways. Firstly, she is a staunch conservative, anti-choice, and a creationist, for the Roves and Huckabees of the right wing. Secondly, she has a vagina, which of course means that all disaffected Hilary supporters will swing over to vote for a woman, basing absolutely nothing on policy, and everything simply on matching reproductive organs. Right-o.

This shows some serious desperation on McCain's behalf to make some sort of energetic splash with his pick, to stifle the wave Obama is riding after his speech of a lifetime last night and his bang-on pick of Joe Biden as his running mate. This really does nothing to help him, and simply casts some serious doubt on that 'judgment' he's always harping on as an edge.

Also, as an added benefit of choosing someone with less of a resume than the Democrat who you lambaste for not having enough of a resume, McCain has effectively ended the 'experience' meme against Obama, and really showed how off-base it was to start with. I think that was ended last night anyways, but this is the nail in the coffin.

I'm just trying to sort out all the negatives here, too many to count.

Biden is going to rip her to shreds too in surrogate battles and the VP debate. He has more experience and political skills in his pinky than she does in her whole career.

A lot of people are comparing this to the Dan Quayle pick of '88, as Palin is completely out of her league and her depth, and that was also a mega pander of a pick by HW Bush. I think this comparison is dead on, as Palin really brings nothing to the table besides her age and gender, which is not all that should be on the docket of someone who is a heartbeat from being President.

All in all, I'd say this is about the best news possible. Pawlenty would have brought a lot of credibility as a Governor to the table. Romney would have brought name recognition and a bevy of cash, even Lieberman can stand on his own two feet based on his experience and record, but nope, lets shelve all these experienced, qualified candidates, and just choose the best right-wing woman available. Good job Johnny.

I'm just sitting her shaking my head, and thinking how much has changed since yesterday morning. Obama passed the commander in chief test with a speech of a lifetime and McCain made the biggest error of his political career.

Wow, what a change a day can make.

The Obama Speech

2008-08-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

That was simply amazing. It was the best speech by a politician, or by anyone for that matter, that I have ever heard, hands down.

He did everything he needed to do, hit every area he needed to hit, and dropped more than one notable, time-enduring quote.

It started with a biographical video beforehand that was so deeply personal it let everyone know exactly who Barack Obama is and where he came from. He alluded to this in his speech as well, and I'm paraphrasing here, that his upbringing was not that of any celebrity, taking a shot at that particular and ridiculous narrative, and hopefully putting it to bed for good now that people understand his roots.

It was about his mother, his grandparents, his childhood and his romance and marriage to Michelle. His work in the streets, eschewing a life on Wall Street or in a prestigious law firm. His career in the Illinois State Senate, where he made his first mark. It was a complete picture of the man Barack Obama, and then Senator, candidate and future President Obama walked onto the stage.

He hit McCain on everything. His ties to Bush, voting record, his temperament, (which I found to be particularly outstanding, as that is one of my bigger fears of a McCain presidency, the fact that that hothead is going to have his finger on the button), domestic policy, Katrina, everything. And the beauty of it all was it was not done in a petty way, or a cheap way, but in a calm, rational, respectful way, which always has more resonance than say, the Rush Limbaugh, battering you to dust style of politics.

It was a strong, tough speech, and it showed the fighter that Obama is, which should allay some fears about his perceived weaknesses against McCain's supposed strengths of judgment and leadership skills.

He hammered McCain on Iraq, Afghanistan and the War on Terror, saying, "John McCain said he would follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell, but he won't even follow him to the cave that he lives in." Wow.

Then there was the domestic issues, where he clearly defined every single major policy piece he is laying out. That was the major worry of many, that there was no details, but that cannot be said now.

There was a lofty promise as well, that the United States will not be dependent on oil from the Middle East within 10 years.

10 years! Amazing.

He also made it very, very clear that the ads McCain is running stating he is going to raise taxes on the middle class are completely false, stating flat-out that 95% of middle class families will get a tax cut, and under McCain, those cuts would go to corporations and oil companies. Great contrast.

Tax credits for hybrid vehicles, to the producers and the buyers. $150 billion into renewable energies like wind and solar power.

Most importantly, a vision for the future, not a continuation of the past.

And all on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech.

Even the most Republican of the CNN 'pundits' are lauding the speech. Alex Castellanos, who is a straight-up Republican street fighter, said that whomever didn't get chosen to be the Republican VP is "a lucky Republican". Whoa, THAT is some serious praise.

Do you really think John McCain is going to be able to compete with that one week from tonight? No way in hell. Word is he is still trying to give away tickets to his 10,000-strong VP announcement in Ohio tomorrow. The 75,000 tickets for this speech were gone within hours, and were actually being sold (The tickets were free by the way) on Craigslist for upwards of $1000/pair. I'd call that an enthusiasm gap.

Barack Obama inspires me like no other politician I have ever seen. I know I will be talking about him to my children and grandchildren the way people talk about Kennedy, and in Canada at least, Pierre Trudeau. In the video that kicked off Obama's time, there was a quote that I'm going to carry with me for a long time, that is going to define a lot of what I do with my life, and a lot of what Barack Obama has done with his.

"You see a situation, and you think, well that's not right, someone should change that. Then you realize that no one is going to change it unless you do."

Perfect.

Fox News Reporter Greeted with Chants of "F**k Fox News" After Venturing into Anti-War Protest in Denver

2008-08-25T03:52:00.000-07:00

Just had to put this up. It's too beautiful for words.

Well, except three words...

The fun begins about 1:30 in.

Obama-Biden - A More In-Depth Look

2008-08-25T02:02:00.000-07:00

My VP allegiance has swung a bit during the build-up, but in the last week or so, I found myself pulling hard for Joe Biden.

I was a Sebelius fan for a while there until I became convinced that she alongside with Obama, would be prime targets for a 'no experience' line of attack from the McCain campaign, and would compound Obama's biggest problem, his lack of experience.

Quick note, I don't think experience should be a huge issue in most elections, this one especially. I think every leader, when they sit behind that desk for the first time, is a bit daunted by the challenges that lie in front of them. The best thing for any leader to have isn't necessarily a long resume, but good judgment to confront those challenges in ways that progress the nation.

Anyways, I'm getting a bit off point.

Experience is an issue with this electorate though, as they are not all simply clones of myself, and so Obama not choosing someone with one of those long resumes could be an issue, shake people's confidence in what his administration would really bring to the table, etc.

So you go with experience, easy, there are plenty of people in and out of Washington that can fit that bill, right?

Problem is, when you base your whole campaign on a theme of sweeping change and eliminating the lobbyist culture and scuzzy politics of Washington, D.C., picking someone with experience is also problematic. (My what a tight rope to walk!)

So as we see, walking that rope deftly, as always, Obama has chosen a 33-year Senate veteran who, for those 33 years, has never held a residence in Washington, and never had time to fall under those special influences. A person who takes an Amtrak train every day to and from DC from his home state of Delaware.

Watching Biden and Obama on stage together Saturday, and hearing them speak only confirmed all the positives I saw in the past few weeks with the idea of this ticket.

Most of the response to Biden from the media, and the party, seems to be fairly positive, with Gov. Ed Rendell saying, "He speaks our language", and Gov. Ted Stricland quoted, "...his humble Pennsylvania roots give him a deep understanding of the challenges facing Ohio families."

There are of course the Hillary supporters who are threatening to jump ship again to the (incredibly misogynistic) John McCain, but after the convention, where the Clintons will be getting two nights to speak, and Hillary's name will be placed in roll for the nomination, showing her the respect she does rightly deserve, hopefully a chunk will see the light and come back.

Joe Biden has an almost unparalleled level of experience with foreign policy issues, grew up in a small Pennsylvania factory town, made himself into a multi-term powerhouse of a US Senator, has pushed legislation to fight violence against women and fills in all the areas Obama seemingly lacks on that ever-important resume.

He has a silver tongue and whipcrack of a wit, and he seems to have no bones about taking Republicans to task. I frankly think that McCain will have to factor this into his choice, as if he picks someone safe with relatively little charisma, who isn't quick on their feet, Biden will embarrass and destroy them come the VP debate and subsequent interactions between the campaigns.

His personal story, aside from all the success in the Senate, is also very inspiring.

He overcame personal tragedy with the death of his first wife and young daughter, two weeks after he was first elected to the Senate at age 29, and then proceeded to commute every day from DC to care for his two sons in the decades following. One of those sons went on to be the Attorney General of Delaware and is shipping out to Iraq in the coming months.

I'm sure more will be said about Joe Biden in the coming months, not all of it good, as with nearly every politician, he has his flaws, but he was by far the best VP choice out there for Obama to make.

VP picks can be dicey, especially for someone who has no scandals to their name for Republicans to hammer upon. Obama is essentially tying himself to Biden, and everything that comes with him. I don't forsee any problems, but I don't think anyone saw Rev. Wright coming either.

I'm sure I'll take up many more pixels talking about Joe Biden, but for now, I'll keep everything simple.

When the microphones went cold on Saturday in front of the Old Capitol Building in Springfield, Illinois, I was struck with the simple thought that this election was over, and that Joe Biden was that final piece of the puzzle to winning this thing and convincing people that Obama does have the skills, and the team, to get the job done.

Obama-Biden Will Be the Ticket to Win

2008-08-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

It's been leaked.

Joe Biden will be Barack Obama's running mate for the 2008 election.

It's been confirmed by the AP, DKos, HuffPost, and CNN.

No time for links and such, but Joe Biden will be introduced, and the much-fabled text message sent out, tomorrow morning.

Obama-Biden '08 sounds damn good to me.

Biden to Georgia a GOP Monkey Wrench for VP Timing?

2008-08-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

I was thinking last night while reading some speculation over when Barack Obama is going to choose his VP, that Joe Biden's trip over to Georgia is going to really mess with the timing of a pick, especially if that pick is, as I hope, Joe Biden.

His presence was requested by Georgian President Saakshvili but it still smells a tad fishy to me.

There's been far too many Diaries already posted on the merits of Kaine, Bayh, Sebelius, etc, so I won't get into anything in that regard, but what I will say simply is from the group that is apparently shortlisted, Joe Biden would be, by far, the best choice available in my humble opinion.

Now, with the Olympics winding down on Sunday of this week, and the Democratic convention opening a week from today, Obama is running out of time to choose, at least if he wants to get 2-3 days of positive (hopefully) spin before the Olympics ceremonies overshadow anything political.

The convention is already going to dominate the news, so that isn't the place we would see an announcement, if we're talking pure publicity, which should always be part of the conversation.

So, the way I see things, the nod should come, at the latest, on Wednesday, giving at least two days of solid coverage, effectively removing John McCain from the news cycle until after Obama gives his 75,000-strong acceptance speech next week.

With all of that said, Joe Biden, the strongest VP choice available, is not in the country to stand with Obama, appear on stage or in front of microphones, hug, look good as a team, etc, etc, that would come along with such an announcement.

Biden isn't gone forever, but he likely won't be back until Thursday at the earliest, which isn't ideal time-wise.

I think I've gone far enough into this Diary without covering the actual title, so here goes. Georgia just had the US get its back over the war with Russia, hard. Georgia owes the current leadership in Washington a lot, and I think Mr. Bush might be cashing at least some of his chips with Saakshvili right here and now.

With the election being such a 'horse race' in the minds of many, despite so many reasons why it should not be, every little jab, stall tactic or delay is important. If Obama loses a day of publicity over his VP pick, so much the better for Johnny Mac, and for the Republican Party.

Obviously there is no hard evidence here, and I have no quotes from George, McCain or Saakshvili to point towards this hypothesis, and with Joe Biden's serious foreign relations cred, I can understand why he was the pick, but it's all just very convenient.

Maybe it's Saakshvili soaking up his 15 minutes on the international stage as much as possible, using his newfound ironclad allegiance with the US to show his own people how strong of a leader he is, cavorting with the US Secretary of State, and along with Lieberman and Graham, three heavyweight US Senators, who knows for sure.

Of course, no one knows who Obama is going to pick, and it could be Bayh or Kaine anyways, but I just hope if it was set to be Biden, that the announcement timing doesn't alter the decision, because while the VP pick is important for so many other reasons, the timing, and the control of the news cycle that one gets out of such a high profile choice is really what counts at this time of the year.

I don't think Obama would really toss Biden into the dumpster alongside the Superticket (sorry Hill) simply because of a scheduling conflict, but in the minutiae-heavy Presidential race we find ourselves in, every little tit or tat counts.

Cross-Posted at Daily Kos under the name Red Star

Russia and Georgia - Squashing the Narrative

2008-08-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

I've been struck more than once by the utter hypocrisy of the US, and leaders around the world in their response to the Russia-Georgia war.

George W Bush was quoted as saying that invading a sovereign nation in the 21st century was 'unacceptable' (Blogger's note : Was the Iraq War in the 21st century? Someone remind me when that started). Former UN Ambassador and certified nut John Bolten said Russia was trying to re-create the Soviet Empire. John McCain jumped into this narrative as well, accusing Putin and Medvedev of wanting to reform not the Soviet, but the Russian Empire.

Wow.

That is some serious and heavy rhetoric.

I wonder why then that these kind of words were not tossed around say, back in the summer of 2006, when Israel launched their own little 'destroy the thorn in our side' war with Lebanon?

Or maybe in 2002, when the US was prepping for their 'thorn in the side' war with Iraq?

Squashing long-standing enemies seems to be so en vogue in this century of ours, that Russia's war in Georgia is fairly in-line with the example world powers have set over the last eight years.

To say that this is Russia's war, that Russia started, also seems to be the most popular way to frame the conflict in the West.

The basic timeline is this : South Ossetia is a breakaway province that wants independence, Georgia attacked South Ossetia to try and regain its grip over them, after a small terrorist attack by South Oseetia rebels, and Russia rolled in in an attempt to stabilize.

Now, from there, Russia has certainly been opportunistic, looking to squash the country, and a leader, that has been opposed to them for a while now, and who is very pro-US. They have bombed airports, bridges and civilian housing complexes. These are tragedies of course, but were they viewed as tragedies when those airports, bridges and bodies were Lebanese, or Iraqi? Of course not.

I want to make special note of the Lebanon conflict, because it mirrors this one in many ways. A small group, Hezbollah, kidnapped a few Israeli soldiers on a cross-border raid. While Hezbollah is headquartered in a small tract in Lebanon, a strip along the Israeli border, the entire country was razed with missiles, gunships and a ground invasion. It was collective punishment for allowing Hezbollah to exist in their nation. We all knew this at the time, and yet, there was nothing but support for Israel, that they were defending themselves, and were only fighting defensively, etc.

Now, in the very same sense, Russia is protecting it's territorial integrity by warring with a party on its border that has instigated a conflict. And yet, Russia is seen as the aggressor in this case, and Israel the victim in theirs.

It's all PR, it's all spin, and it's all about the false narrative that Russia is the new threat to everything that is holy and good. The Cold War worked brilliantly for those who use the politics of fear, and with under 90 days until the US elects Mr. Bush's successor, this feels like a rehash of that, with a dash of terrorist ties and a pinch of misplaced self-righteousness.

Think of a situation like this : In Mexico, along the US border, there is a group that wants independence, and they are prepared to fight for it. They run border raids across into the US, they attack Mexican interests. Mexico tries to stamp them out, but the US feels they need to protect their security as well, and of course, they feel they can do it better than any Mexican ever could, so they roll in to put out the rebellion, and then see the opportunity to shape the country in their image.

I know this isn't the perfect example, but it is an elected government, on the border of a world power, whose internal machinations have spilled over their own borders, and have sparked an international incident.

Vladimir Putin has been steadfast in his rejection of the disingenuous criticism from around the globe. He called out George as well, questioning why it was okay for the US to execute Saddam Hussein for gassing a few villages tens of thousands of miles from the US borders, but a war of aggression on Russia's border was not cause for a response.

I don't agree with Russia's actions here, so please, don't get my point confused. I am against any conflict like this, like Iraq, like Lebanon, like any smaller nation that gets stomped by a larger power for doing something that power saw as 'unacceptable'. What I am attacking in this piece is the hypocritical narrative laid out.

The US seems to also be stoking the flames of the war a bit by airlifting Georgian troops out of Iraq, where Georgia has the largest military contingent apart from the US and Britain, right into the conflict zone back home.

Understandably, Putin was a tad incredulous as to why a supposed ally would hamper another major allied power's efforts so directly, but, the main handbook on US foreign policy seems to still be 'do as I say, not as I do'.

There are also now whispers here and there of WWIII (Rush Limbaugh), and the fact that Russia has provided plans and built reactors for Iran seems to be at the top of the news again.

I'm not really sure just how WWIII would start, seeing how the US doesn't have the forces outside of Iraq to be able to even perform peacekeeping in Georgia, let alone fight Russia in an all-out war. That would likely require a draft, which is a different theme for a different article.

Funny thing is, the timing on these stories, and the expansion of the anti-Russian narrative is just immaculate, almost like state media, trumpeting the President's message for all the people to hear.

The bottom line is this, Russia's actions, while not desirable, are within the boundaries that have been set for international conflict of this kind. The US set the precedent of a world power having the justification to invade another sovereign nation based on their own suppositions, and nothing else. Israel continued this line in 2006 with Lebanon, and now Russia has its turn at the plate.

No one is in the right, or no one is in the wrong, the US doesn't get to play both ways on this one, they've gone too far to have that right any longer.

Barack Obama Passing on Town Hall Debates is a Mistake

2008-07-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama said during his interview with Tom Brokaw that he is moving away from the Town Hall debates idea floated just after the Democratic primary ended, and sticking to three traditional moderated debates instead.

My question is, why?

It is plain to see who has the oratorical edge, who is better on their feet, and who has the issues advantage in this election.

So why are we not looking to hammer McCain and make him look ridiculous on a grand scale? It doesn't have to be anything like getting to the Republicans level and attacking him, I just mean airing out all his flip flops, bad policies, and GWB-like qualities with an audience at home watching.

Can't you see McCain getting flustered in that type of setting, showing that anger we've all heard numerous stories about? I sure can, and I don't know why Obama isn't pushing for it. He doesn't have to attack McCain, he just would have to poke at him enough for Johnny to implode on himself like a dying star. Kind of like the last week has done. Barack did nothing but show why he would be a more effective Commander in Chief, and it riled McCain into making almost a baker's dozen of horrendous mistakes, gaffes and outright lies.

The debates he came off best in during the primary season were the informal ones, where both people sit, either behind a desk or on stools. In the podium debates, he seemed to lose a bit of his gravitas. Now he is the one advocating those as the only method of direct interaction with McCain until November.

Maybe he doesn't want to be paired with McCain in the sense that he could be seen as the big black man dominating the old white guy. Who knows. Or it could be plants in the audience with fluff questions like the flag pin, or attack questions about Rev. Wright or him being a Muslim. Maybe he fears being seen as a snob or an elitist while McCain turns up the good ol' Straight-Talkin' charm.

In short, maybe Obama smells a setup.

This is about the only rationale I can see for not putting himself and a lesser opponent together in a free-wheeling environment.

I don't doubt that Obama will do well against McCain in the traditional debates, but he could do so much more with even one Town Hall.

It just seems like a missed opportunity, where McCain could have been very much exposed, within an hour or so, for the liar, flip flopper and Pander Bear that he is.

I don't know, maybe I'm missing some sort of strategic play here from the Obama camp, but to me, Town Hall debates seem tailor made for a huge Obama advantage.

Cross-Posted on Daily Kos Under the name Red Star

Anti-Media Media

2008-07-25T00:59:00.000-07:00

As I was watching The Daily Show tonight, I was thinking about how more than ever, it seems there are some media types that have really started to tee off on the ridiculous coverage of this election, and the insipid nature of the state of journalism as a whole.

John Stewart usually devotes at least the first segment of his show, every single night, to lambasting McCain, and the media by proxy. I know Stewart has always had an 'edge', but it seems like after the writer's strike ended, he was filled with a different kind of fire, and I like it.

Keith Olbermann is a prominent member of the so-called 'MSM' that seems to be trending harder and harder against the media as a whole, calling out CBS, BIG TIME, for the jimmied up editing of the McCain interview the other night. Also of course, there is his long battle with Bill-O from a certain news channel that Nas protested today for, gasp, racist and biased coverage.

These are two examples of the 'Anti-Media Media', who are a part of mainstream news or pop culture, who consistently criticize others in their own medium.

Rachel Maddow and Arianna Huffington would be another two who are bucking the trends of modern journalism for the pure sake of rationality and truthful coverage.

It's like journalism died around these people over the last few years, and they are kind of standing in the ruins, contemplating just WTF happened.

Without these few, the Hannity's, Limbaugh's, Blitzer's and Katie Couric's of the world would be considered all too normal. (Well, maybe not Hannity)

Lightness breaking into darkness, Jedi vs Sith, pick your metaphor, you get the gist.

Of these, only Olbermann can truly be considered mainstream, with a nightly show on a major network, but the others do their part to squeeze the tiny bits they can into the narrative that is being told.

John McCain might get a largely free ride on his now daily idiocy, but with a handful of names fighting for the issues and reporting the stories that others won't, the ones discussed here and on hundreds of other communities, we may just be able to sneak a little bit of this truth thing into the argument.

With McCain's frequent flubs, there are dozens of opportunities to nail him to the wall. 9 times out of 10, he's probably going to slither past, but every now and then, as with the CBS interview, he's going to get hit, and we have the members of the Anti-Media Media to thank for that.

Cross-posted on Daily Kos under the name Red Star

Finally! : After 5 Years, UN Takes Action on Sudan

2008-07-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

Sudan has been something that has horrified anyone that even had a cursory understanding of the situation for over 5 years now.

Now we have found out what everyone suspected all along, that the Khartoum government was sponsoring and planning the genocide from its highest levels. A high level commander in the janjaweed militia now says that their actions : raping, pillaging, killing and burning villages in the Darfur region, was straight from Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

We all knew this was likely the case, but now there is confirmation, and as this person spilling the beans is a high level commander, it just makes the information carry that much more weight.

There were two other major news pieces on Sudan this week as well.

There is now evidence to confirm that China has played a significant role in aiding the genocide militarily, as Chinese military vehicles have been spotted in use on both sides of the conflict. Leaving all moral conflicts aside from helping this sort of movement along, this contravenes a 2005 UN ban on military aid to the Sudanese government. With a recent move to 'not anger China', this will likely go to the wayside, but in the larger sense of the court of public opinion, China's direct support for the Darfur genocide is now on record.

Also, the UN War Crimes Tribunal is likely going to try the leaders of the African nation for war crimes at the Hague for their role in the slaughter.

So, after 5 years of inaction, while it was the cause celebre of the celebrities and non-body hair shaving activists everywhere, we have some solid results on Sudan.

None of this means the genocide will stop, as this news isn't a major change of pace from what we already understood about the conflict. But what it does mean is that countries, such as Canada, can take action now, with hard evidence showing the crimes of Khartoum.

Being bogged down in Afghanistan may prevent us from really stepping up, it just makes it harder for Omar Hassan al-Bashir to continue to deny help from the African Union or the UN to stop the violence.

Sudan is a complex situation, and it will require a lot more than words and empty threats to make the changes that are needed. I think the same is true for Zimbabwe.

The western world largely turns a blind eye to continent as a whole, and only slightly turns a head when millions are dying in horrible and savage conditions. This conflict and the new details about it, seem to have finally broke through and reached a point where people really give a shit, and are prepared to take action.

I hope so, and I hope the war crimes charges stick, I hope China is censured, and I hope we never have to discuss this kind of topic ever again.

But then again, when have 'millions displaced, hundreds of thousands killed' ever really made a meaningful difference in the future?

Remember Rwanda? We said never again. And then we let it happen again.

We need to act. It is just that simple.

G8 Summit : Loooowwwerred Expectaaaatttions...

2008-07-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Environment Minister John Baird dampened expectations for wide-ranging deals on basically anything at the upcoming G8 Summit in Japan.

There are too many to list off, but climate change and the world economy are the two heavy hitters right now. Environment, at least, is getting pushed back before it evens begins to take hold as an issue, with Baird stating we all have to wait about 18 months, until Fall / Winter 2009 in Denmark, where the next major UN climate change conference will be held.

Yasuo Fukuda, the PM of Japan and host of the summit, wanted to set an agenda to halve greenhouse gases by 2050, at the very least. This was immediately rebuffed by the US, as always. Fukuda declined to say specifically if the US was blocking a deal, but if they weren't Baird and Harper probably would have made the ol' college try themselves.

There are other opportunities for climate change discussions, Baird stated, saying essentially that Canada could build momentum at the G8 for Copenhagen in '09. This seems like the usual right-wing 'stall on climate change until we're out of power' routine, but there are actual opportunities for discussion here, as emerging economic powers like China, India and Brazil will be attending, with a contingent of African nations as well.

I see nothing meaningful coming out of these meetings in terms of climate change, because the biggest polluter, the US, is seeing it's most unpopular President out of power this year, and his final months will not be spent on climate change. They will be spent trying in his own halfassed way to broker peace in the Middle East in Israel / Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond.

Nothing else matters, and nothing else will be accomplished before the US inaugurates its next President.

On the global economic front, there is more ideological games to be played, as the conservative leaning leaders are pushing deregulation and free trade as a way to shore up flagging economies. As has been shown with Mr. Bush, who deregulated the financial industry at home and signed free trade deals with anyone that would scrawl their name next to his, conservative ideology no longer applies, and never really did.

As with climate change, with Bush riding out of power, nothing will be accomplished. The US will continue bungling around, maybe send out another rebate cheque and bomb Iran before November. That's about it.

The last thing on the docket, apparently, is Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe, one of the more successful despots there has been in Africa, in terms of keeping his iron grip on power even with one of the worst economies in all of human history. I'm sure many have heard and read about the one man elections and intimidated opposition dropouts. There seems to be a video out now as well, which shows vote rigging in the election held a few weeks ago. Why there was vote rigging in a one-man election I don't know.

The point is, and Harper actually said this the other day, to have 'one voice' from the G8 criticizing Mugabe, and further pressuring him to either step down or allow foreign intervention to have free and fair elections, where Mugabe would likely get trounced.

That may be an easy way to show progress in this G8 Summit, because in place of all the things that actually matter, such as war, economy, climate change, HIV, etc, etc, we are going to get an empty threat to a dictator who likely will ignore it and continue in power until he dies.

Awesome.

As the title says, these guys really know how to do Loooowwwerred Expectaaaatttions... :

........................

Maybe I'm a tad cynical this morning, and this piece may have been a little more biting than intended, but seeing inaction in the face of so many challenges is rather aggravating. And when I get aggravated, like Hulk, I SMASH....well not really, I write political articles, I don't really smash a thing.....

Dion's Delivery Failure -- And No, I'm Not Talking Emails Here

2008-07-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

As you can tell by the last article I posted up, I am in favor of a carbon tax to address the problems of climate change.

Now, this support of the BC plan does not mean I support the idea across the board.

Here we come to the point of this post, which is Stephane Dion's proposed federal carbon tax. It has been hammered from the start, much like the BC Liberals plan, from all sides. There is a reason why though, and it points towards a huge part of Dion's overall problem as Liberal leader.

Delivery.

The BC Liberals delivered their carbon tax with hard-set plans to offset the tax through tax cuts and dividend cheques. It hasn't quelled the furor, but when people actually get down to it, and look at their paystubs, hopefully the message finally hits home, and I don't have to convince person after person, some who I view as extremely bright, that the carbon tax is not akin to Satan rising up from the depths of Hell to swallow children.

That aside, Dion did not deliver his carbon tax in any way that would have been palatable. He introduced it flippantly, without a plan to show why it would be revenue neutral, and has been shooting himself in the foot with the details ever since.

There are some plans in place now, with hard prices per tonne of carbon ($10 in the first year, rising to $40 by the fourth year). There will be tax increases of around $15 billion on the highest fossil fuel consumers and carbon emitters, and it will be offset by around $15 billion in tax cuts, which trickle mostly to lower and middle income families who will feel most tightly squeezed by the new rules.

From CBC.ca :

A 1.5 percentage point rate reduction for the lowest tax bracket (the first $37,885 of taxable income), to 13.5 per cent from 15.
A one percentage point rate reduction for the second-lowest tax bracket ($37,885-$75,769), to 21 per cent from 22.
A one percentage point rate reduction for the bracket between $75,769 and $123,184, to 25 per cent from 26.

There is also set to be a supplement of $1225 to low income families with kids under 18, by the fourth year, there will be a $350 child tax credit every year, and rural taxpayers would receive a $150 dividend cheque every year.

Dion predicts a family of four with an income of $60,000 / year will actually end up saving $1300 a year under these types of programs, even though their fuel costs will have risen.

Dion has also pledged that gas prices will not rise due to his new tax, which I personally find to be the most troubling part of the whole idea. Basically the justification for this belief is that oil and gas companies are already making tremendous profits off our backs, so they wouldn't translate the new tax over to the pump.

If I may, let me just say, bullshit. Absolute bullshit. The large oil and gas producers have already translated higher costs of oil down to us, at a rate higher than what the actual cost of a barrel of oil is rising. They have shown no remorse in raping everyone at the pump up until now, so where is the belief that they will magically stop? This tax is targeted to make their industry more expensive to run, and eventually either force them to diversify or die. If I'm in that position, I'm probably not going to be too peachy about going along and making the plan easier to swallow.

Gas prices will likely rise nationally, and Dion will have to account for it, or risk losing the whole argument up front.

The most major part, as with BC, in selling this kind of plan, is to make it 'revenue neutral'. Ah, there's that lovely buzzword again. He has pledged to make it so, and to have the Auditor General do a review every year to ensure that commitment continues to hold water.

Dion has said flat-out that within four years of his new system, costs for a regular, median household in Canada would rise $225-$250. Home heating costs will jump up to 8%. But as those increases will be offset by tax cuts, we're all good right? Wrong.

The most vocal critic of this plan has obviously been Stephen Harper, who is a much better communicator and politician than the BC carbon tax's main opponent, Carole James of the NDP. The fact that Harper can communicate his opposition, and basically Western Canada's opposition to Dion's plan so well may doom it from the start. Harper can deliver his ideas, Dion cannot.

I may not like Dion's style, but he seems to be rather ballsy when it comes to something he believes in. He has said flat-out this tax will hurt Saskatchewan and Alberta most (Alberta obviously, but Saskatchewan due to a high number of coal-fired power plants) and now he is touring there to sell / convince skeptics. If nothing else, this may push Dion's timid and tepid image to the back burner a bit.

The carbon tax. Yes, we need it. Yes, it will help us in the end, even though it may be painful now. Yes, BC, and Canada can be world leaders in green technology.

The problem is that it is long term. Our politics, mindsets, society, is all instant. Instant gratification, quick money and real-time results is what we thrive on, and it is not what the carbon tax gives us.

This is why, in the end, I am labeling Dion's ideas good, but his delivery of them as absolutely craptacular. The carbon tax is something you push through when already in power (see Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals), not something to campaign upon. You campaign on those short-term, positive sounding ideas that sell you and your government to the people, then you start the wide-ranging, long term policies once in office.

This is fairly fundamental in our politics, but it is something Dion doesn't seem to grasp.

It's all about the message, where, when and how it is communicated.

In short, my friends, it is about the delivery, something Dion needs to learn if he has a hope in hell of selling his carbon tax, and the Liberals as a whole to Canada.

The Carbon Tax -- Don't Let Politically Motivated Opposition Spoil Our Path to Environmental Leadership

2008-06-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

I've heard a lot tossed around the last few weeks about the carbon tax that Gordon Campbell and his BC Liberals crammed through the Legislature with minimal debate. Of course, I think that debate should have been allowed to continue, but probably for different reasons than one would assume.

I am fully and completely for the carbon tax.

There, I said it.

Everyone hates it, and I can understand why with the way the whole debate has been framed by the media and opponents, but I'm here to tell you why this is a good thing, and why it will make BC better, provide jobs, and stabilize our economy for decades.

Ok, bad news first. Yes, your gas prices will go up.....by a whopping 2.4 cents. Gas is already rising 5-7 cents a week as is, so realistically, the uproar over that portion of the carbon tax is a little overblown.

The main problem I can see is with heating. This is going to be more of a cost impact than anything seen at the pump. An average house in the suburbia around Vancouver is already paying far more than they should to heat their homes (because Gordon Campbell sold our public Gas utility to an American conglomerate, who has since doubled, and will soon triple the rates).

This is where what seems to be the most popular new term in Canadian politics comes into play: 'Revenue Neutral'.

Obviously the meaning of the term is that even though it is a tax increase, the government will not be collecting any new tax dollars off of it, as there will be cuts and dividends in other areas. It is a tax shift. You have already seen the $100 Carbon Tax dividend cheque in your mailbox if you're a BC'er, and there is more to come in the form of tax cuts.

We are still paying the same amount of money overall, and all the revenue collected from that extra 2.4 cents a litre is going to be directed towards developing alternative fuels, green technology, and breaking the province, the country, and maybe even beyond from our addiction to fossil fuels as a whole.

There is a bigger picture than just at the pump here people. We are doing our part to ensure that in a decade or two, there doesn't even need to be a pump at all.

Directing huge chunks of money towards these technologies means there will be plenty of new 'Green Collar' jobs created as well. Think of what we can do with all that money and people power put to good use.

Imagine if we can bridge the gap and actually become a world leader in green technology? We can sustain ourselves in the new world we are seeing the edges of today. The world is moving green, and if BC can be on the forefront of that, we can make ourselves, and Canada, into serious powerhouses.

The other day, I read that within 7 years, Mercedes-Benz will no longer be producing cars that run off of gasoline. 7 years! Unbelievable. This is the world we will be living in soon, and by taking this brave step, and being the first in North America to introduce a carbon tax, Gordon Campbell and his Liberals have taken BC down a potentially prosperous new path.

The NDP, provincially, and federally actually, now that Stephane Dion has introduced his federal carbon tax, are opposed, saying that everyone shouldn't be hit, and any taxes on carbon emissions should heavily target corporations and companies who are the worst offenders. I am more than fine with that, but it doesn't mean people driving SUVs and H2's and cars from 1973 shouldn't be hit as well. This is an 'across the board' problem that needs to be dealt with, you guessed it, across the board.

I find it odd that a party so focused on environmental initiatives as Jack Layton's would take a stand against something this progressive and dedicated to the movement away from fossil fuels, but with him, and with Carole James here provincially, the issue isn't really the carbon tax, it's that they both need some kind of uniting issue for their parties to draw in votes in quickly approaching elections.

Provincially, Carole James didn't have a leg to stand on, and did not have a single uniting issue, until now, with this carbon tax. Same goes for Jack. So while they will push on, decrying that the Liberals, provincially, and nationally, are hitting ordinary Canadians with a tax increase, their words will likely never ring so hollow. Both have betrayed their ideological beliefs for political posturing.

It is by no means the first or last time something like that will happen in politics, but for me personally, as someone that has voted NDP every time I have marked a ballot, it is especially disingenuous.

I just hope the larger picture is seen in this whole debate, because if the argument is going to be framed as just a jump in gas prices, the larger message, and the larger plan as a whole, will be lost, and 10-20 years from now, we'll be watching another country taking the mantle (and the revenue) as the place to go for green.

Hillaryis44.com Has Gone Over the Deep End

2008-06-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be an educating trip to look over at the extreme Hillary camp after her concession speech yesterday, and see their viewpoint on the general election going forward.

The main extreme pro-Hillary, anti-Obama site has got to be Hillaryis44.com, especially after mydd.com has united behind the choice of the Democratic Party, as they are, in the end, Democrats. The Hillaryis44 people have been saying they were going to not only vote for McCain but try in an extremely proactive way to disrupt and derail the Obama campaign in the name of Hillary.

But now that Hillary has stepped aside, and endorsed their most hated foe, the Hillaryis44 people have gone down a different, far more disturbing track.

Now, the main message is that the Democratic Party has betrayed its roots.

Yes, you heard it right, the Joe Lieberman argument is in full steam.

The main message in the first page is a diatribe by a self-described former 'Reagan Democrat' named Taylor Marsh, who goes off on Obama for betraying the Democratic Party :

I’m an American first. I will not support my party no matter what, or someone in my party who is doing what I believe is horrendously destructive things to the ideals I hold dear.

I have no intention of stuffing my beliefs back in a bag in the name of party unity. On this I stand with the Founders who weren’t all that crazy about political affiliation. I have absolutely no intention of backing someone who believes Republicans were the party of ideas for the last 10-15 years.

As a Reagan Democrat, I know that dog whistle, baby, and I’m running in the other direction. Someone who takes Democrats for granted in order to reach out to independents and Republicans to get the Democratic nomination holds no sway over me. It’s also not my job to unify the Democratic party.

So apparently betraying everything the Democratic Party stands for and voting for the Republican in the fall is a way to...protect the Democratic Party's values? Huh?

His last line is a doozy :

I’m a proud Democrat, but I’m an American first. If you want unity you’ve come to the wrong place.

Hmmm, can I get some extra Lieberman sauce on these sour apples?

And as a final coup de gras, this is what convinced me that these people have literally lost it :

...a few words of advice to Hillary: If you lie down with dogs you wake up with fleas.

They are now attacking the woman they so fervently worked for because she has the gall to try and swallow her pride, admit her defeat and unite the Party to defeat the Republicans in the fall.

This line also came about a paragraph after this :

November will come soon enough and we will vote for Hillary; No one else but Hillary. We will encourage others to do the same.

We won’t be alone in that decision- vote for Hillary - Not Big Media, Not Big Media Tool Obama. We will also NOT vote for any candidate who endorsed Obama over Hillary during the primary season. We will encourage as many Democrats as possible to follow our lead.

You love Hillary and the Democratic Party so much that you will not only will you work against a Democrat in the White House in the fall, you will also work to prevent a Democratic majority in the House and Senate. Awesome guys, thumbs up.

I wish Hillary had directly called out this sect of her supporters in her speech yesterday, which was actually my motivation for thinking it wasn't up to snuff, and told them in very distinct terms that going against Obama and the Democratic Party is a betrayal of everything she has stood for in this campaign. Hopefully she will soon enough, but with the mood already at this level, and threats already being tossed out there, I don't think it will matter.

These types of sites, as well as 'Hillary Clinton Supporters for John McCain' need to be completely ignored, and not flamed, cited, or referenced ever again. This is the reason why I am writing this diary, not to increase their hits or start a war like mydd and DKos experienced. Not to divide, but to unite, against this kind of nonsensical crap, just as my candidate would do, and just as their former one did in the end.

Cross Posted on Daily Kos under the name 'Red Star'

Barack Obama, 2008 Democratic Party Nominee for President of the United States

2008-06-05T23:28:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a little late with this, but as anyone can tell by the lack of posts, I've been busy.

On Tuesday night, we all witnessed a piece of history. We watched something unfold that even 3 months ago you probably would have said was impossible, and for the entire history of the United States, was impossible.

A black man will lead a major party into an election, with a very good chance of being the first man of color to actually take the mantle of President.

I remember the night that Obama won the first primary in Iowa, I was watching the results roll in on CNN and heard Wolf Blitzer say this about the historic victory that started the tidal wave, "This is only the first contest, and this doesn't mean a thing." I was taken aback, but it set a good standard for the quality and class of the media so far in this cycle. Next came Rev. Wright, Flag Pins and Ayers, and attempt after attempt to drive this campaign towards the meaningless gutter issues, by the classy media and an even classier Hillary Clinton, who was all too eager to go dirty the second she faltered.

But through it all, Barack Obama was never tripped up, he never strayed from his values, no matter how tempting it must have been to take shot after shot back at Hillary and really blow her hypocrisy and lying into the mainstream argument. He was class all the way. He gave her the benefit of the doubt, he let things slide that could have killed her early, and he re-directed things back to the issues whenever possible.

He never got that courtesy in return, but it didn't seem to matter. From the start Barack Obama didn't take lobbyist and PAC money, and he hasn't to this day. While John McCain sold his Maverick values for a staff full of lobbyists and Hillary sold her soul to anyone that would cash a cheque, be it corporate interests or not.

McCain so far, frankly, has looked well out of his depth, and like a complete fool during the free time he enjoyed in the last few months while Democrats were still battling. Mixing up Sunni and Shia Islam 4 separate times, saying the US was down to pre-surge levels in Iraq when they are not, flip flopping on things we had as a hallmark, like opposition to torture, the list goes on and on.

If anyone caught his speech on the night Obama clinched the nomination, you know how terrible he is going to look when put toe-to-toe with Barack. If you haven't seen it, well, gosh golly, I happen to have it right here :

McCain has challenged Obama to a series of 10 Town Hall-style debates across the country. I have heard the yay and the nay arguments on this, the nay being that McCain just wants to suck off Obama's star power, and get larger audiences than he has now, but I think the positives of making McCain look like a fool in real time outweigh anything he might gain.

The Obama camp has said they would like more of an open style than what the McCain campaign has designed, which of course would be ideal, as McCain isn't very good on his feet (or actually that good reading off a teleprompter, see video above). Even if they can't get that kind of forum, I think anything where McCain has to stand side-by-side, or on stools, or behind podiums with Obama is already a win in my books, because every single time, McCain will look like shit, guaranteed.

I think the real race for the Presidency just ended, as McCain should be like high school football next to the Super Bowl we just watched unfold. Hillary was ten times the campaigner and the opponent John McCain ever could be. They both would have walloped him in the fall.

I would like to salute Hillary Clinton, because she did break a glass ceiling for women, just as Obama broke it for minorities. She did receive millions of votes, even if she didn't win the popular vote, as she is claiming, as you cannot count a state where Obama wasn't on the ballot, and then not count caucus states where estimates are half a million people or more participated in.

She had moments where I wanted to throw my shoe at the TV, like during the ABC debate/debacle when she said Ayers was a legitimate talking point, or when she tacked "Not that I know of..." onto the end of an answer that should have been unequivocal about Obama being a Muslim, or when she said on more than one occasion that McCain and her had passed the leader test but Obama had just made a speech in 2002.

Her surrogates, and her husband stirred the race pot, subtly, and not-so-subtly. She let the campaign be run by a man that didn't understand the modern campaign, and bungled even management of an old-style campaign, Mark Penn. She disparaged states, didn't count others, and basically took February off and let Obama take the momentum, which he never gave back.

She was groundbreaking, but she made her share of mistakes, and had the misfortune of running against the most dynamic and powerful candidate since JFK.

When these campaigns were launched, it was seen as an inevitability that she would be the nominee. I knew of Obama earlier than he hit the mainstream and was a fan instantly, never thinking he would actually do this thing. It's an amazing feeling to watch someone, support them to your wits end, defend them like family even though you've never met and don't even share the same citizenship, and then have them pull off the most unexpected political victory in history.

So, hats off to Hillary, and I hope she doesn't fade away. She should stick in the Senate and help Obama pass Universal Health Care, there's the legacy she's looking for. Maybe the governorship of NY? Or a higher post in the Senate? Either way, she will not be President, and I don't mean now. This was a one shot deal for her, and that is why she fought so hard.

She will be 68 years old when Obama's theoretical two terms end, leaving little space to run again. Also, she has probably put many voters off her for a very long time. Hillary will fade to the background after Saturday, when she is officially ending her campaign, endorsing Obama and advising her supporters and donors to do the same.

The Democratic Party is Barack Obama's to lead now. He has started, instructing the DNC not to accept lobbyist funds, and pulling rogue 'Democrat' Joe Lieberman, by the hand, over to the corner in the Senate chamber to talk some sense into him for supporting McCain so vocally. That is what a leader does.

It will only grow from here, but a movement and an election that will shape this generation, my generation's future, is fully under way.

It began during Barack Obama's stirring speech on Tuesday from the site where the GOP will hold their convention in the summer. I was standing at my patio door, thinking, as I did during the Philadelphia speech on race, that I should remember where I was when this all went down, so that I can tell my kids what it was like to watch President Obama on his road to the White House.

Hillary Invokes RFK's Assassination as a Reason Not To Drop Out

2008-05-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

She has simply lost all shame. She is stating, for the national media and anyone nutjob watching that she's readily available to step in if, y'know, Barack Obama gets, y'know, ASSASSINATED.

Some may say this wasn't what she was going for, and since she made these comments, she has tried to explain them, halfways retracted them, then got mad at the media for taking them 'out of context'. Hillary says she was just referring to long nominating contests stretching into the fall, but even this is shoddy.

Bill Clinton did have the nomination wrapped up, he was just waiting to be rubber-stamped, much in the same way McCain is the 'presumptive' nominee now, so toss that out. Also, there have been much closer and politically relevant races than RFK's back in '68. There was the other Kennedy, the man who should have been President, Ted Kennedy, and also Gary Hart, who both ran campaigns almost up to the Convention to secure their spots.

I know she brings up Bill constantly, and that's fine, they're married and all, but I wish she would do it with a little truth. With Bobby Kennedy, I just think it's ghoulish, uncalled for, and frankly shows her judgment is not up to snuff to be Commander in Chief, period.

CNN's Bill Schneider : Obama Too 'Exotic' For Kentucky Voters

2008-05-20T23:33:00.000-07:00

He just said this live on the air, in between shiny clips of Hillary's 'victory' speech on the night Obama clinched a majority of delegates.

This is now the second primary in a row where I've watched CNN and been utterly appalled by what I heard said on the air. Last time it was the alleged fraud and 'old school Chicago Style Politics' when a county close to Illinois posted their results a few hours late.

Now it is an outright slur right on Live TV.

Obama is too exotic? I turned to my partner and went, 'did he just say that?' and we both kind of sat there stunned while Wolf Blitzer segued onto the next spot.

I've come to expect the worst from most news networks, especially CNN, but I thought we could maybe keep this to some biased issues and language. But nope, we're going to move right to the GOP's under the radar message this fall, that Obama doesn't fit into the 'values' of everyday people, that he is an elitist, exotic and extreme liberal.

I really should stop watching the results on CNN, I know this, but I think that magic screen that John King plays with is hypnotic...

Cross Posted on Daily Kos Under the Name 'Red Star'

Obama and the Teflon of Rationality

2008-05-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

This is why Barack Obama will be sitting in the White House nine months from now.

This man is like no other politician I've ever seen. No matter what kind of ridiculous kitchen sink attacks come at him, he holds a press conference and calmly makes reasoned and logical arguments that make the other side look petty, stupid, and just plain wrong.

You cannot doubt the sincerity of his words, but you sure as shit better doubt the hypocrisy of John McCain's.

I don't think the GOP quite understands yet what they are going up against in the fall. Not Al Gore, and not John Kerry, but Barack Obama, the once-in-a-generation candidate that is going to blow them, and their tired, out of touch 'distraction issues' out of the water.

Hell, this kind of crap was put On Notice wasn't it?

Cross Posted on Daily Kos under the name ' Red Star '

McCain-Clinton - The New Dream Ticket

2008-04-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

With all the talk of a Dream Ticket on the Democratic side dying away, as it should, my mind got to wandering about another match made in heaven that seems to be emerging.

No, not Gore-Obama, I'm talking about John McCain and Hillary Clinton.

Blasphemy, you say?

Well, yes, but as they have been coordinating their messages lately, it almost seems like Obama is running against a McCain-Clinton ticket right now.

I know there isn't a realistic shot of a McCain-Clinton ticket here, both parties would throw the two square out on their asses. But, they seem to have no trouble unofficially cooperating to drag Barack Obama's name through the mud.

Now with McCain, the motivation is easy, Republican nominee-Democratic nominee (presumptive on both accounts**).

But why is Hillary tearing down a fellow Democrat and building up a, supposed, Republican foe?

This is one of the mysteries of the day right now, with the only clear theory being she wants to utterly destroy Obama, even if it costs Democrats the White House this fall.

With all these kind words bandied around by Clinton to McCain, it's a little hard to see her coming back in the fall and campaigning for the Democratic Party against him.

Hillary seems to be swinging more and more 'Rove-ian' with her campaign as she sinks deeper and deeper into the hole her lies, and Mark Penn, have dug underneath her.

Watch this short video, where Clinton is giving a lot of praise to McCain, and taking a lot of talking points from not only just McCain, but Bush, and even Cheney, all while criticizing a fellow Democrat. Some of the quotes are taken a bit too ambiguously for my taste, but the meaning is clear for the majority of them.

If she is elected, what changes? The mindset is the same. There might be large differences in domestic policy between a Bush administration and a HRC administration, which I would gladly welcome, but is the price of maintaining the aggressive stance of the Bush administration worth it?

There still will be a hard-line approach, and the threat of an attack on Iran looming. Obviously ditto for McCain.

Comparing the two, their seemingly high respect for each other, and how they seem to really synch up nowadays, uttering the words 'elitist' and 'out of touch' like a toddler that just learned how to say them, John McCain and Hillary Clinton don't just sound like the new Dream Ticket, they sound like Best Friends:

Also posted on Daily Kos under the name 'Red Star'

Barack Obama responds to the 'Bitter' Criticism

2008-04-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama again today proved why he is going to be giving a brilliant Inauguration speech as President about 9 months from now.

He is smart, level headed, and he is honest with people. He responds to the 'elitist', 'out of touch' criticisms from the multi-millionaires with this down-to-earth speech in Steelton, PA.

For all those that worry Barack Obama is going to be stripped apart by the Republican attack machine this fall, that video should show you that he's more than ready to bob and weave and jab around it all the way to the White House.

Watch Hillary's head nearly split in two

2008-04-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

We Should Not Boycott the Beijing Olympics

2008-04-08T15:30:00.000-07:00

It will only hurt the athletes, no one else. It will not affect the situation in Tibet, or convince the Chinese leadership to stop what they are doing. It will only make the gap between us larger, as the Chinese will not want to lose face on the international scene. Trade and other human rights issues would end up harder to solve in the future, and for what?

It is a selfish ploy that uses athletes that train harder than all others, that have a stage once every 4 years, some only once in their life, maybe twice if they are extremely lucky.

We should not be taking away the dreams and goals of these men and women for political points.

I'm fine with the protesters right now causing havoc on the Olympic flame's route to China, because that is free and open protest, no matter how much brutality the police seem to be showing the protesters who do step up.

What did this kind of approach do in Moscow 1980? Not too much. Some would say it started the dominoes that ended the Cold War, but it wasn't, it was just a lost cycle of athletes used by their government to make a point.

If you want someone to blame, then blame the IOC for awarding the Games to China in the first place, as their human rights abuses have been well known for a long time now. We were fine with it when these Games were awarded, when China's brutality was behind closed doors, but now that it is out in the open, we want to make sure no one thinks we condone this sort of thing, at least not if its captured on film.......

The Olympics are one of the few, if not the only place where nations can actually come together in genuine good spirit and compete, without politics playing a factor.

I'm all for opening a dialogue on China's abuses, because they are very numerous and terrible, but not through the athletes, it's simply not fair.

UPDATE : Stephen Harper has declared we will not boycott the Olympic Games, for the very reason I stated here, that it would do nothing but harm the athletes. Kudos Stephen, which is something I may never say again.

Bilateral Civil Assistance Plan

2008-04-06T22:20:00.000-07:00

There was an agreement signed on February 14, 2008, between U.S. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, and Canadian Air Force Lt.-Gen. Marc Dumais, commander of Canada Command, that essentially ended Canada’s stint as a free and independent country.

It is called, as this article is entitled, the 'Bilateral Civil Assistance Plan'. What this agreement does is allow American troops to operate on Canadian soil in times of civil emergency, and vice versa. I can't think of a circumstance where the US would ask us to step in, but with the depleted numbers of their own National Guard due to the war in Iraq, maybe it is a possibility.

Either way, this kind of agreement, signed with smiles, as you can see if you like by clicking on the title, which will take you to the US Northern Command site, is dangerous in so many ways I'm thinking if I should check and see if there's a word limit on Blogger before I get really into this.

We're losing sovereignty, straight up. I don't know about the rest of you, but watching the US operate on the world stage for the last 8 years doesn't instill too much trust in them not abusing this agreement and taking it in ways it was never originally intended (see, Original UN Iraq Resolution)

Who defines this 'emergency'?

Say for example, the Canadian Prime Minister is assassinated, everything is in chaos, we have no clear number 2 because of a ridiculously outdated political system, the US steps in to 'lend assistance' during the crisis. Bingo Bango, we've got a 'friend' who won't get the hell out of our country.

The US has plenty of fingers in plenty of friendly pies, and it will be over my dead body before those fingers are in ours. I know we have been bought out piece by piece by US companies, our culture is dominated by that from the South of us, and our current government panders to the Bush administration like an underachieving child to an overbearing father, but US troops, in our streets, 'keeping the peace' is more than I could handle.

That is just one of many different scenarios that would be made out to be justifiable in such a circumstance, as any logical and realistic person knows the US would love to have our resources and space for their own uses. We have always resisted them at every turn from complete and utter domination, but this agreement sets all that back dramatically.

We have laws in place to preserve 'Canadianism', culturally, requiring so much Canadian content on our radio and airwaves, but is that really enough?

The most troubling aspect of this entire agreement, leaving out everything mentioned, is that it was never even brought up in the House of Commons, let alone debated and passed by a plurality of elected members. The same goes for the US Congress. Not a whiff of this passed through there either. And it was not released to the press, and was actually suppressed by the Canadian government from coming to light.

This is a major treaty, changing the way we define our borders and how we allow other nations to operate within them. This fundamentally alters Canadian sovereignty forever. And no one knows it even happened.

I will be lobbying my Member of Parliament, Bill Siksay of the NDP, to at least raise this issue in the House, and have the Prime Minister and the Conservative government answer for their actions and their secrecy. I recommend you do the same if you at all care about maintaining Canada as a free and independent nation. Links to each party, where you can find your MP, and for US readers, your Member of Congress, are located on the right side. We need to raise this issue now, because it seems like our governments are completely unwilling to.

Find Your Member of Parliament

Find your Member of Congress

Compare and Contrast

2008-04-04T00:30:00.000-07:00

I was just reading another article about Barack Obama's 'problems' regarding controversial (To say the least) sermons of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. What I've been thinking and waiting for ever since this story broke, was when the story of John McCain's controversial pastor John Hagee was going to be blasted all over the airwaves.

And then........nothing...

Nothing about how Hagee called the Catholic Church 'The Great Whore', who called Hurricane Katrina 'The judgment of God against New Orleans', who said the Catholic Church collaborated with Hitler during WWII to exterminate the Jews, or who said the Qua'ran stipulates the murder of Jews and Christians.

Are these on par with "Goddamn America!" and 9/11 as "Chickens coming home to roost", I'd say so. In fact, I'd say it far surpasses the statements of Rev. Jeremiah Right.

Unless you've got your blindness-inducing patriotic glasses on, I think most can agree with all the death and destruction the US has wrought upon the world, 9/11, however it actually played out (INSIDE JOB!) it was certainly chickens coming home to roost. It was deserved, and frankly, the US deserved 10x more.

I'll never wish death on another human, not even Bush, Cheney and company, and I do not condone the thousands of deaths on that day, but the simple and plain fact of the matter is that the US populace had it coming.

Place Hagee and Wright side-by-side. At the very least, they must be placed in the same category. At the most, Hagee should be decried as a acidic hate monger for his statements about Jews, Muslims, Catholics, and almost every other definable group that he feels doesn't meet up to his moral standards.

Wright, on the other hand, is also horribly offensive, widening racial divides instead of healing them. But his words were born from a generation of fire hoses, civil rights marches and battles for equality. Wright was shaped by this, and it shines through in his passionate sermons now.

Hagee has nothing like this to define or somewhat justify his views, actions and words. He is simply a bitter, hateful man.

And yet, who gets plastered over the news hourly, gets debated, slandered and insulted, called un-American and racist? Wright, and by extension, to an extent, Barack Obama.

Who gets the attention or blame for Hagee? Certainly not Hagee, as he pulled in over a million dollars last year, making him one of the highest paid evangelists out there. And it sure as hell isn't John McCain, who is getting the freest and easiest ride I think I can remember from any political candidate, while Obama gets killed at every turn for the slightest miscue.

Things like John McCain confusing (or not even understanding) the different Sunni and Shia branches of Islam and trying to connect Sunni al Qaeda with Shia Iran goes completely under the radar, unnoticed. But Obama not using the proper word to denounce the un-sought endorsement of Louis Farrakhan dominates a debate for a good 20 minutes.

To go even further, McCain not only didn't denounce Hagee, as Obama was nearly pressured to do to Wright before he gave the speech of a generation on race relations, he sought after and graciously accepted the endorsement, even going so far as to say, "I’m very proud to have Pastor Hagee’s support."

Can you imagine the firestorm if Obama had said that about Farrakhan, or even about Wright, whom he said he disagrees with, but loves like a family member? If he had of done so, I think we all know without a doubt that Barack Obama would not be competing for the Democratic Presidential nomination, he would be sitting at home in Illinois.

The media has never been, never will be, and honestly is not expected to be fair and impartial. That is a perfect worldview in an imperfect world. What they are expected to do, is at least give some semblance of neutrality and integrity, and report issues, statements and controversies somewhat equally. Hell, I'd even take a 90-10 split right now.

I do think it is going to get much harder on McCain, as he is still in his honeymoon period as the nominee, and Hillary and Barack are still cutting each other apart bit-by-bit. Once Hillary can finally put her ego to bed, we can move on with Obama-McCain, and hopefully something, anything will be brought up about Hagee, his not understanding Sunni v Shia Islam, breaking campaign finance laws that he helped to craft, following in lockstep with the disastrous policies of George Bush. and so so many other things...and lest we forget the Keating 5.

Compare and Contrast Hagee v Wright, and the media coverage and slant of McCain v Obama, and tell me who you think is getting the fair treatment so far in this cycle...

Straddling the Fence on Smoking

2008-04-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and I am a smoker. I also work in the city, in an office, with tight little old-style streets outside.

The reason I'm sharing this is not so that all several of you that have clicked through my thoughts on here can come and shower me with praise. I mean, that would be great, but I'm not expecting anything. The reason is because on March 31, 2008, Vancouver essentially became a city where smoking in public is no longer allowed.

They haven't made smoking illegal, or anything like that, far too much tax revenue is derived from cigarettes to make them completely unavailable. This is a point I'll come back to, because it's central to the whole idea of what we're talking about here.

The new law put in place stipulates that the following are now illegal, and I'm quoting right from the Government of BC's website here :

- Smoking in all indoor public spaces and work places, with exemptions made for the ceremonial use of tobacco by Aboriginal people;
- Smoking within three meters (15 Feet) of public and workplace doorways, open windows or air intakes;
- Tobacco sales in public buildings including: hospitals and health facilities, universities and colleges, athletic and recreational facilities, and provincial government buildings; and
- Display and promotion of tobacco products in all places where tobacco is sold that are accessible to youth under 19.
- Unless prohibited by municipal regulations, smoking will still be allowed on the outdoor patios of restaurants and bars, as long as that patio area is not substantially enclosed.

In Canada, between 63 and 79 per cent of the price of cigarettes is tax (CBC). The government, both provincial and federal, collect huge tax revenues from smokers, and yet make it nearly impossible for them to use the product they are collecting for.

Such blatant and opportunistic hypocrisy would almost be laughable, if it didn't negatively impact so many people's lives in such a way. I’m all for not displaying cigarettes, not selling them in government buildings, and not having smoking rooms inside bars and clubs, but a 15 foot restriction is simply unworkable and ridiculous.

I have always prided myself on being a polite smoker, someone who has this habit, but doesn't annoy others with it. Someone who blows smoke away from whomever I happen to be with, whether they are a smoker or not. Not smoking around kids, especially babies, and not smoking inside. This is the kind of behavior we need to be focusing on.

I in no way want to make smoking out to be safe or friendly. It is horribly addictive, harmful, and secondhand smoke is most certainly very damaging. I do want to point out though that it is a choice that we smokers in the world make, and it is perfectly legal, and available every ten feet, in every little shop.

It's like offering out something in one hand, then trying to swat the person away with the other hand when they try and take it.

The Government of BC and the Government of Canada need to get real on this issue, and stop playing both sides of the fence by looking tough on tobacco and smokers, while the entire time collecting millions from us. It's all political, just like everything else, but this goes a little bit far in my opinion.

We haven't even started to look into other substances also taxed to the gills that are very harmful, such as alcohol. The costs of medical care for those affected by their cigarette addiction is certainly higher than that of alcohol abusers, but nonetheless, it is the same idea. The government sells, promotes and taxes a very harmful substance, and then tells people they shouldn't really be buying it or using it in the first place.

If say, smoking was outlawed tomorrow, a huge black market would spring up, and there wouldn't probably be too much of a noticeable shift in supply. It would just be much harder to acquire, and harder to use, and would drive smoking rates down dramatically. Obviously this isn't going to happen, but it's about the only way that Gordon Campbell, Stephen Harper and their respective parties pass the hypocrisy test.

We've seen the effects of prohibition before, with alcohol, and obviously it's not a viable, real solution, but all I'm asking is for the ruling parties to stop acting so righteous about the whole issue as 80% of the price I just paid for my daily pack is bulging out of their coffers.

Now, excuse me, I have to go and stand in the middle of the street to have a smoke, as in this part of town, it’s about the only place that's 15 feet from a door, window or vent.

I certainly feel like I'm safer and society is better off by having millions do the same, don’t you?

The Phantom Campaign

2008-03-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

The fragile House of Cards that was Hillary Clinton's campaign is really starting to crumble now.

I say was in such bright bold, red letters because in every aspect except the media desiring a dramatic narrative, or a civil war-inducing superdelegate coup, the Democratic race is over.

The reason her campaign is really crumbling now is because of the rash of, er, um...lies that are being uncovered lately about statements she has made, in some cases multiple times, in the past.

The obvious one is the Bosnia deal. I would think everyone would know by now, but with that overwhelming need for a narrative, this story is inexplicably getting swept under the rug. For the uninitiated, Hillary has told a story at least 4 times on record stating that back in 1996 in Bosnia, she was on a diplomatic trip, and had to land under sniper fire and "run to their vehicles for cover". She said the greeting ceremony that was supposed to be held on the runway was canceled, and they were all in mortal danger.

Problem is, that's utter bull. I could see this type of thing flying if there wasn't, say, video evidence to the contrary, which, in the YouTube age, is readily available to anyone who wants to see it. There were cameras everywhere, a CBS news team on the flight with Clinton as this all supposedly unfolded. There was a ceremony, there wasn't any sniper fire, and no one was in mortal danger.

Why she would choose to blatantly and utterly lie over something so insignificant and easily verifiable, I don't know. But the fact remains is that she did, and it is a glaring mark on her credibility.

There are other things that have come to light after the release of her schedules as well, such as, she never really seemed to play a major role in any initiative that had any legs, and actually was in favor of NAFTA, after blustering all over every manufacturing state in the country that she was against it and would try to reform it.

This would have been fine if she said something like, 'times have changed, it needs a re-do', but no, opposed from the start, even though there's really no point in staking such a claim. Pattern?

There is a great story at the link below about an initiative called 'SCHIP', that dealt with healthcare for children, that apparently was opposed by the Clinton White House, which Hillary now takes credit for on the trail. Full credit to Boston.com for the story.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/14/clinton_role_in_health_program_disputed/

All of the problems with her credibility in the past, coupled with this information, as well as Barack Obama's dominant and impossible-to-overcome delegate and popular vote lead, polls showing she will be stomped in states Obama would not, and a shortfall of cash, Hillary Clinton is simply running on fumes.

And the two entities that can stop this phantom campaign are two I mentioned up at the top of this piece.

First, the media needs to stop pretending Hillary Clinton isn't the Mike Huckabee of the left. Period. An interesting story of the battle between Hillary and Obama isn't worth ripping the Democrats in two and handing John McCain a huge advantage in the fall. Or maybe, for their owners, and their interests, it is. Not the time to go into corporate media controls here, but it is a valid argument, and McCain has been getting an easier rub from the media than either of the Democrats.

Second, the superdelegates and elders of the Democratic Party, the Al Gores, John Edwards-type figures really need to step up and call this race now, and make it clear the coup-by-delegate strategy isn't going to fly come Denver. Bill Richardson took the first step of this tier when he came out for Obama last weekend, being called a Judas in the process. It took guts to go against the Clintons, but it showed the rest of the superdelegates and everyone else involved in the process that it can, and should be done, and done quickly, before the damage she has already done becomes irrevocable.

Media Bias and Double Standards

2008-03-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

I've noticed some things happening in the last few weeks that are a little bit off. There have been gaffes and very evident truths that the media seems unwilling to report on fully, or even at all.

In regards to gaffes, I'm speaking of course about John McCain, who said not once, not twice, not even three times, but FOUR TIMES that al-Qaeda is being brought into Iran to train up and then being shipped back to Iraq to kill Americans and Iraqis.

There are a few minor problems with this statement, especially because McCain is positioning himself as the be-all and end-all candidate on foreign policy and national security credentials. This shows a fundamental lack of understanding about not only the Iraq problem, but in a larger sense, the entire cultural divide between Western and Islamic societies and countries.

The two different branches of Islam, Sunni (al-Qaeda) and Shia (Iran) see each other as heretics, almost on a level with the US, and hate each other just as much, or maybe even a little more, than the invader.

So to say that Sunni Muslim extremists are going into a Shia-dominant country to train is beyond ridiculous. How can McCain make such an error, especially after multiple corrections by his good buddy Joe Lieberman and his own staff? McCain made the mistake once in an interview before leaving for Iraq and was corrected. He then said it again while making a speech in Iraq, and was then corrected (embarrassingly) right in the middle of everything by Lieberman. He apologized right away and said he had misspoke. But then over the next two days he said the same words again, that al-Qaeda was going into Iran to train and it was a threat to US security.

I am a 24 year old Canadian with a bit of college under by belt, no military or government experience, and I know this full well. I was shocked listening to his speech to hear it, and to think that I had a better understanding than one of the Presidential candidates on international relations. Wow....certainly doesn't inspire too much confidence in the man's game, now does it?

When McCain doesn't understand (or even take the time to listen to) the simplest of cultural divides and the delicacy in which they must be handled, he's showing full-out that he's not the most experienced candidate, or the most well positioned to help America rebuild its image around the world. Never mind everything he has said about 'not understanding' the economy, or the fact that his entire campaign is being infused with money and run by corporations and lobbyists.

John McCain simply doesn't get it.

I feel like we've already been introduced to a war-mongering, poll-ignoring moron....Oh, right...

Third Bush term? Sure sounds like it....

Can anyone imagine if Obama or even Clinton were to drop such a line even once? Jeez, probably couldn't turn the dial without hearing a nut job like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity blitzing them for a lack of understanding about foreign policy and general incompetence.

Where are these calls for McCain...?

I think I hear crickets........

The Very Definition of Hypocrisy

2008-03-09T14:42:00.001-07:00

Hillary Clinton has been floating the idea of the Dream Ticket, with her and Barack Obama jointly going against John McCain in the fall, ever since she scored wins in Ohio, Rhode Island and the Texas primary last Tuesday.

And yet, at the same time, she derides him for not being prepared to be President.

The VP slot is for someone who can take the reigns of power at a moment’s notice and make quick decisions and take action if necessary. If a sitting President was, for whatever reason, removed from that seat, it would certainly be some form of a crisis situation, something to an extreme that even an elected sitting President may not have to deal with.

So she thinks Obama would be fit for that type of circumstance, but not fit to be electable to the seat itself.

This is nothing more than Hillary Clinton trying to position herself in the media as the person best suited to be the nominee, even though, as of today, over 600,000 more people, representing 150 more delegates have said they prefer Barack Obama.

It is an arrogant and conceited position to take, basically saying this would be the option she is going to push for come the convention, when she will attempt to get the party elders to nullify everything that has happened up to this point.

I hope the media and the voters can wake up to the fact that Hillary Clinton is very much like Mike Huckabee for the Democrats, as she is all but mathematically eliminated from this race, but blindly soldiers on, despite everything staring her in the face that she has already lost.

Someone in the form of a Bill Richardson, or a Nancy Pelosi, or even maybe Al Gore, needs to step in and call this thing for Obama, and eliminate the idea that Hillary has a viable shot at this nomination without using a backroom pressure deal to get it done.

We'll probably see this thing at least go on to Pennsylvania, where maybe Barack can put this all to bed without having to get messy at the convention, but I have a bad feeling Hillary is going to go so negative between now and then that Obama will have more than a few chinks in the armor once he gets to actually take on John McCain in November. When Clinton is going around saying her and McCain have the experience to do the job and Obama doesn't, that damages him much more than if McCain simply says it, and it gives the old man plenty of fodder to sling at the young reformer come the general election.

I don't know if the rumors being thrown around about Hillary sabotaging Obama so she can take another swing at the Oval Office against McCain in 2012 are true, but I sure hope they're not, because that is a horrible thing to doom hundreds of millions of people to just to be able to serve your own ego and ambition.

A Logical Plea for, well...Logic

2008-03-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

Hillary Clinton is on a path that could lead to the Democrats actually losing what should be the easiest election they have ever fought. They are running against 7 years of disaster, and yet, can't seem to get this train rolling to knock everything back into line.

And that's because Hillary Clinton has tied the train to a post at the station, stubbornly refusing to believe the gigantic set of flashing lights in front of her, showing the impossible delegate count she must overcome.

She is looking over to that smokey room, that one at the Democratic convention, where she hopes to drag her and Barack Obama all the way to, bloodied and ready for the Republican pickings, just so she can try to score a backroom deal with party leaders, subvert a drawn out and, what's the word...ahem, democratic (!) process to choose the party leader and likely next President of the United States.

Unless Hillary Clinton can score margins of victory of about 23% over every single caucus and primary left, she has no shot of catching Barack Obama's delegate total. Especially after he won Wyoming today. It was only a two delegate gain, but its one more state out of play to gain on him, and another he has the distinction of saying he's won so far.

Let's be honest here, if Hillary Clinton really gave a damn about the Democratic Party or her country, she would gracefully step back and accept what is staring her straight in the face. Unless she causes a fissure in the Democratic Party by somehow squeezing her way into the nomination chair, she is doing nothing but giving John McCain fodder and hurting Obama’s chances in every state they are campaigning in from now until she does drop out of the race.

It's not just for the sake of the democratic process. This is important, but there are other things at stake, even if we want to throw a year and a half of campaigning out the window for a few hours of Clinton intimidation in the convention rooms in Denver.

Barack Obama is simply more electable than Hillary Clinton, especially in areas Democrats haven't been popular in for decades, sometimes even, well, ever. The states he have won have generally been Republican strongholds, and Hillary has racked the big states, like Ohio, the Texas primary (but not caucus), California and New York, but lets be honest, states like the latter two, are not going to suddenly turn red because Barack Obama is the nominee. They were both very narrow losses, and both would be more than expected to continue their blue ways for some time to come. Same goes for the entire northeast. But there are places that Obama is making breakthroughs in, that Hillary Clinton has no chance in doing.

I was reading an interesting piece over at Daily Kos earlier today, and I want to give them all the credit in the world for the statistics below, as they came directly from the piece, I just wanted to share them here. Please visit the original as well, as Daily Kos is a fantastic website for politics, and you can find the link to it over on the right side.

These stats deal in hypothetical polls of an Obama-McCain match up and a Clinton-McCain match up.

Idaho, it's the difference between overcoming a 13-point Obama deficit and a 36-point Clinton deficit.

In Colorado, it's the difference between overcoming a 6-point Clinton loss, and riding a 9-point Obama victory.

In Alaska, it's the difference between overcoming a 5-point Obama loss, and a 22-point Clinton loss.

In Nebraska, it's the difference between a 3-point Obama loss, and a 27-point Clinton loss.

In New Hampshire, it's the difference between an 8-point Clinton loss and 2-point Obama victory.

In Oregon it's the difference between a 5-point Clinton loss, and an 8-point Obama victory.

In Texas it's the difference between a seven-point Clinton loss, and a 1-point Obama loss.

In Wyoming, it's the difference between a 33-point Clinton loss and a 19-point Obama loss, and same thing in Montana, it's the difference between a 20-point Clinton loss and an 8-point Obama loss.

These are extremely important statistics, as it shows Obama does have national, 50 state appeal, and Hillary Clinton is as polarizing and unpopular with Independents and Republicans as was predicted before this campaign started. It also shows that Obama is on a quick path to whooping John McCain come November, with his millions of new voters, excitement and hope on his side, and McCain with nothing more than a bill for an endless Iraq war, and no idea in hell of how to stop us from slipping into a 30s era depression.

Hillary Clinton has labeled Obama's victories in the states he has won as basically completely unimportant, as he did not carry any large states outside of Illinois, his home state. As I said above, Obama would carry the large states without a doubt, and may lose so-called swing states like Ohio, and possibly Texas, but where he makes in-roads will more than off-set those losses, and I think after this election, there won't be, as Barack has said on many an occasion, red states or blue states, but just united states.

But just look at those numbers...Obama is down by 1% in Texas...TEXAS! A black Democrat is well within the statistical margin of error, with a real chance of carrying Texas.........TEXAS...unbelievable.

All conventional wisdom goes out the window this cycle. There are no more strongholds for Republicans if Obama is the nominee, but they become even stronger if Clinton is.

Obama has a chance of running an actual 50 state campaign and giving the Democratic Party the infrastructure, ground game, and credibility to compete in these states for years to come. Should we really give up such a chance of a generation, even a lifetime, simply to fulfill Hillary Clinton's ego driven march towards a nomination that is already realistically filled by another?

People must force Hillary Clinton to halt her damaging and spiteful campaign against Barack Obama, because clearly she doesn't have the shame, or sensibility, to do so herself.

False Hopes, False Promises, and Distorted Numbers

2008-03-05T22:22:00.000-08:00

There is much false hope and bravado being thrown around right now in the Democratic race. After last night, where Hillary Clinton scored big comeback victories in Ohio, Rhode Island and the Texas primary (although they are still counting the caucus votes, which account for 1/3 of the delegate total for the state, so counting Hillary as the 'Winner of Texas' might be a bit premature...CNN!). Barack Obama carried the smaller Vermont, leaving him not completely outpaced on the night.

Now the false hope I spoke of is coming directly from Clinton and her crack team of advisers, calling this the victory to end all victories and saying basically that we might as well call the election now, because Hillary managed to score 2 1/2 primaries after Obama rolled up 12 in a row.

The reality of the situation is that Clinton, last night, didn't resurrect her campaign, she merely got a stay of execution. Obama is still ahead by roughly the same amount of delegates as before the day began, and after the Texas caucuses are actually finished counting their ballots...28 hours and going now, argh...he may even come out with a net gain in delegates.

At best, Hillary only picked up ground by no more than a dozen. And when the one leading the way is up by about 150...that's just not math that's going to work in your favor. Especially when these two states, Ohio and Texas, held the biggest chunk of delegates for the rest of the string.

Clinton will need to pick up somewhere in the neighborhood of 65% - 70% of every single contest left, and then she make squeak out a narrow delegate victory, but unless we find out Obama has a coke and hooker fetish, that in no way is going to happen, even in the rosiest of circumstances.

What the political heads are talking about now is Hillary going for a momentum type victory at the convention and getting the superdelegates to overturn the will of the primary and caucus voters and make her the nominee because, I guess, they know better than a plurality of the general public...? I can't even begin to imagine the cries of subversion of democracy if that were to happen.

So basically, it comes down to this. Hillary in no way can become the Democratic nominee unless the will of the people is suppressed for a candidate that has more connections within the Democratic Party than the other one on the ballot. this can't happen, and the heavyweights of the Democratic Party hopefully recognize this as well, because it will lead to nothing more than a divided party, and a disenfranchised electorate, who will feel, rightly, that the last year and half we have spent on this marathon, rollercoaster of a campaign will be for absolutely nothing.

Powerful members of the Democratic Party, such as Bill Richardson, have said whoever is ahead in the delegate count come the convention should be the nominee, because it was the will of the voters of their party. Obama is also rumored to have more than 50 superdelegates he is waiting to unveil at the right time, although the results yesterday may temper that a bit, if not for more than a week or two.

I think this campaign is really set to get dirty now, as Obama has come out swinging today, questioning why Clinton has not disclosed her tax returns, as he has, questioning what she has to hide. I think he is set to go on the offensive like he has not done this campaign, and I think it is time to do so. I don't like that this campaign is going into the gutter, but honestly, Hillary Clinton took this thing there in the first place, and he needs to sling some mud back at her.

Obama took a beating going into Ohio and Texas, and it cost him big time. It cost him the chance to wrap this thing up once and for all. It won't happen again. Obama has shown the ability to grow, change, toughen and adapt during this campaign, at an amazing rate, and I expect him to do so now as well. This race is only still on because Hillary Clinton thinks she can pull off a miracle and grab more than 2/3 of the vote the rest of the way. Well, all I have to say about that, is that Mike Huckabee thought the same thing...

There is one more thing, a growing controversy about the Clinton campaign darkening Obama's skin and widening his nose in a recent television ad. There is blatant proof, that I will post up here shortly, and its work that could not have been done accidentally, or relatively quickly. It would have been a concerted effort, by the Clinton campaign, as it was an official ad, to make Obama appear 'blacker' to the American public. That, my friends, is not change, that's Karl Rove style bullshit.

John McCain Wins GOP Presidential Nomination

2008-03-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

John McCain has secured the Republican nomination for President, officially.

He reached the magic number of 1191 today, mainly via the Republican delegates in Texas. They propelled him over the top and into the seat, knocking Mike Huckabee, possibly the most lovable Republican ever, out of the race.

I'll take this opportunity to congratulate McCain as well, as he has overcome tremendous odds to get to where he is today. Even six months ago, he was broke, running fourth and fifth in the polls, and on his last legs. Until he opted into the matching funds campaign that he is now violating, blatantly, and was able to secure a loan with it as collateral and get himself back into it. He's turned his back on his principles and his stances to get to where he is as well, as most of the positions he took during his time in the Senate have been reversed in the last 2 years or so.

Most notably, Bush's tax cuts to the wealthy. Voted against it twice, said he couldn't in good conscience vote for something that harmed the middle class so much. Now supports these cuts as a permanent part of the Tax Code.

He has ties to lobbyists, not just monetarily either, who basically run his campaign nowadays, he has violated the campaign finance law that he was a CO-SPONSOR for, the controversial acceptance of the endorsement of John Hagee, certified nutjob and hater of the Catholic Church. He has had numerous scandals just in the last few months, leaving aside things like the Keating 5 (Look it up, insider trading, five Senators involved, everyone went down but McCain).

McCain is going to be a tough candidate in a national election, as he is a street fighter, but I really think with everything he supports, plus the big elephant in the room I didn't even mention, the Iraq War, he is going to go down in flames this November, and whomever wins the Democratic nomination after what looks like a protracted fight, will be able to coast to the White House.

He is traveling to Washington tomorrow to get the blessing of George W. Bush at the White House, have some pictures taken and a nice press conference. Apparently it slips past the logic of McCain and his organizers that Bush has an approval rating hovering around 20% right now, so he might not be the man you want shaking your hand, agreeing with your policies and giving you his blessing to continue on with his legacy. But hey, a sitting President is a sitting President right, no matter that 80% of the country thinks he’s doing a terrible job.
I'm going to do another post on the Democratic races tonight, which are as tight as can be, but for now, John McCain gets his moment in the sun, before he is eclipsed by the tidal wave of crap gathering behind him.

Desperate Times...

2008-02-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

As the old saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures, and Hillary Clinton is in those times, and taking those sorts of measures.

She held a press conference this morning roasting a campaign mailing from Barack Obama , saying it contained 'lies' about her positions on NAFTA and a portion of her Healthcare plan. She compared Obama to Karl Rove, of all people, and said he, not her, was playing the dirty politics of the past, and betraying his message of positive hope and change.

Isn't this the same woman that accused Mr. Obama of plagiarism last week, trying to drag him through the muck before the all-important March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas?

Baseless plagiarism charges aside, the first basic problem Hillary has seems to be that the flyer states she supported NAFTA when it was signed in the early 90s, but doesn't now. This is completely true, as Hillary was a whole-hearted supporter when she was First Lady. She says now that NAFTA needs to be reformed, and as a Canadian, I couldn't agree more. The middle class, blue-collar workers especially, have been getting ripped by this treaty for around two decades, and I think it needs a serious revisiting. But back in the 90s, Hillary wasn't running for President, with blue-collars as her core base. She sure is now though, and now that she needs that support, NAFTA is evil. Sure wish she had felt that way in the first place.

Second is that Clinton says her Healthcare plan is being misrepresented. It has to deal with the fact that her plan forces people to pay for insurance even if they can't afford it, and will garnishee wages should the insurance not be bought out of free will. This, also, is true, and something Hillary Clinton nodded along with just this past Thursday, during the Democratic debate. I don't think penalizing people for not having the financial security is the right way to go, and falls along the same lines as the 'No Child Left Behind' program, where schools are fined and punished for not having test scores high enough. You don't penalize to make the situation better, you step in and make the situation better so you don't have to penalize in the first place, which is what

Barack is doing by attacking the prices of insurance so it is more affordable for regular people. He states that the problem is not that people don't want to have insurance; it’s that they can't afford it, and if it is more affordable, people will cover themselves adequately.

I am completely for universal healthcare, and as a Canadian, I do see it as an inalienable right, but it has to be a slow progression, and they can't just implement a Canadian-style system one day out of the blue. I think Obama's plan gets to the core issue, and Hillary's is pointed towards saying that everyone has coverage, even if it makes life harder on the average American to do so.

My own opinions aside, I have enclosed a link here to a video of the speech Hillary made this morning, so everyone can see what desperate measures in desperate times really look like.

You may have to watch a short ad first, and the video is about a minute and a half.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/23/clinton.mailings/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

The Final Democratic Debate before Texas and Ohio

2008-02-21T18:01:00.000-08:00

The last Democratic debate before the huge, monumental primaries in Texas and Ohio, that will likely decide who will be the nominee to go against John McCain this fall.

I've watched the entire debate so far, just past the hour mark now, and I have to say, Barack Obama is hammering Hillary Clinton to the ground. He is coming off inspiring and rational, and she is coming off as petty and divisive. This is purely my view, of course, but there is this sense, watching the debate, that we are all watching a man that is going to take on John McCain and win in November, and a woman who is desperately trying to revive something that's clearly already dead.

Hillary Clinton has tried to put a smile on the entire time, even when she was booed by the Texas crowd, but she is desperately grasping at straws, and it's showing more than ever.

As a quick example, the issue of Obama's alleged plagarism of a Deval Patrick speech was brought up. Barack, in his few minutes, explained logically that it was two lines, which were given to him by Patrick, and that the issue itself was pointless in the face of so many other issues, and to harp on it was part of the divisive politics of the past. Hillary got her response and did nothing but hammer at him for plagarism. Petty, pointless, and divisive.

Again, as they are debating healthcare, Barack is laying out his plan in a rational, coherent way, and Hillary is nitpicking and seeming to become very angry up on stage. Both candidates have completely overridden a question about experience and have returned to a debate about healthcare. They are both very passionate and into this debate, which I love, but all in all, so far, Barack Obama has a distinct advantage, and Hillary Clinton is grasping desperately to something that simply isn't there any longer.

I'll be back later on to recap the debate in full...

Wisconsin, Hawaii, and McCain

2008-02-20T09:38:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama swept both Wisconsin and Hawaii, his home state, last night by rather large margins. In Wisconsin, he beat Hillary Clinton by about 20 points, and in Hawaii, he blew her out of the water by about 40. Now as I said above, Hawaii, being Obama's home state, was expected to give him a crushing victory, but Wisconsin is a bit of a different story. It was sort of a harbinger of things to come for Hillary, as a lot of Latino and blue collar voters swung Obama's way. If this trend continues through Ohio and Texas on March 4, Obama will have the delegates to finally secure this nomination, even though as little as 6 months ago, he wasn't seen as having a viable shot at anything.

This is fairly amazing, but without Ohio and Texas, it doesn't mean too much. Obama has won ten straight primaries/caucuses by convincing margins, but if he doesn't pull off at least one of the two March 4 states, all will be for naught.

John McCain, on the other hand, took one more step forward on the path to the Republican nomination, as he also won Wisconsin, and Washington State last night, leaving him within spitting distance of the magic number he needs to finally push Mike Huckabee out of the spotlight and let it shine unto him and him alone. McCain is going to have problems against whoever he faces, and it will be a serious uphill battle to convince voters they aren't getting 4-8 more years of Bush's failed policies, even though those policies are essentially what John McCain has put forward so far. It'll be interesting to see whether he softens these as we move towards November, but he needs the base of the Republican Party to congregate behind him so badly that he may even go more right-wing to do so before it is all said and done.

A few things of note:

- Huckabee, I think, by staying in the race for so long after he clearly has lost, has completely played his way out of a VP slot on McCain's ticket. It likely wasn't going to be him anyways, but after this growing embarassment and distraction he is becoming for the Republican Party, I don't think he's going to be too popular of a man when McCain comes a'callin.

- McCain is really starting to jab at Obama as well, calling himself the experience candidate, as he has done all along, but calling Obama, not by name, out on his lack of experience. He hasn't done the same thing with Hillary though, leading me to believe her fortunes are a lot worse off than we are all led to believe. McCain is attacking the person he feels he will have to go against in November, and that person is not Hillary Clinton.

Hillary and the Giuliani Strategy

2008-02-13T21:35:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama is surging, and Hillary Clinton is losing ground fast. So she has decided to employ the same strategy, or let me correct myself, disastrous strategy, of Rudy Giuliani. She is going to sit back, bide her time and let Barack Obama sweep through everything that isn't Texas and Ohio.

This is dangerous, and as we found with Rudy, prone to failure. If you let the other candidate grab all of the momentum the way Hillary is right now, and as Rudy did in the months leading up to Florida, you run the risk of getting run right out of the national landscape. When you run out of the delegate counts for long enough, and your opponent gets to make flowery victory speeches with thousands of cheering supporters while you justify the losses by saying tomorrow will count more, it can really kill the positive news stories, which every candidate needs as much as anything else. Rudy became a non-factor in the Republican race, as he let Romney, Huckabee and McCain steal his thunder, leaving him with nothing when the chips were actually counted.

Obama is about to win two more primaries this coming week, in Wisconsin and Hawaii, as he has pulled ahead in the polls, just as he's pulled ahead in the polls in the last month. He is rising, and the more time Hillary lets him build and build, the brighter his star is going to shine. When Texas and Ohio do roll around, on March 4, where she is currently leading, and where there are more blue collar and Latino voters (with whom Hillary has done very well) she could very well pull ahead in the delegate count, even if Obama seems like a surefire candidate by that time.

Barack did do very well winning over Latinos and blue collar workers in the primaries he won in Virginia, Maryland and D.C., so maybe this is a beginning towards winning over those voters, as well as everyone else that is already sliding to him. Hillary has managed to maintain her lead in the Latino, blue collar and women voters so far, but this could be the beginning of the end of that as well.

An endorsement by John Edwards for either of these two, likely Obama, if anyone, would mean a huge swell of support among blue collar voters, as Edwards would have been their man had he still been in the race. Obviously it's not a dead-set correlation that what Edwards says, people will do, but if they respect him enough to have wanted to vote for him, they will respect his opinion, and a good chunk of them could slide over to Obama, giving him the rise in Texas and Ohio that he needs to break this election wide open.

February is going to be interesting, and I think this strategy of Hillary's...frankly, its going to fail, and when political science classes look over this election in the future, as they will, its groundbreaking in so many different ways, they will see this strategy near the end of the Democratic nominations as one of the greatest political miscalculations in history.

Count on it.

Romney...seemed so perfect didn't he?

2008-02-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

Oh Mitt Romney. Such a quick and smooth tongue. So witty and seemingly-personable. Such perfect hair, and teeth. Former Governor of Massachusetts, and rich. Make this man President, right?

I mean, he sounds like a Presidential candidate, like every single one we've seen, maybe even a little better. He's got George Bush-style policies with the ability to form a coherent sentence, and get everyone in the room laughing as he does.

Mitt was the epitome of what the US seems to like in their Presidential candidates, and that was pretty much what killed him in this campaign. Much the same as the John Edwards campaign, Mitt was perfect for a Presidential run, for all the reasons I've mentioned above. Mitt's problem wasn't running into two ground-breaking, once-in-a-generation candidates, as Edwards did, but that people were craving something different, and the a-typical politician just was not their cup o'tea this election.

Romney was also burned by a bit of the loose tongue. And when I say loose tongue, I mean, lying. Mitt is the kind of politician that plays to whatever crowd he is in front of, and when he was running in Massachusetts as a Republican, he obviously had to soften some of the right's more extreme views to be able to have a hope in hell of winning. And he did, coming out pro-abortion, pro-gun law, and not as a tax cutter.

But now, these kinds of views are problems, and so are biting attack ads that include bits of info that aren't quite, what's the word...truthful. Mitt had trouble with both of these things, and it, to an extent, doomed him as well.

So did his religion, as he is a practicing Mormon, and while it helped him take Utah, with a whopping 85% of the vote, there is a real divide with this religion and the mainstream, which I think also caused him problems. not as many as a lot of people predicted, but it didn't help. For example, Mike Huckabee, former priest, won the fundamentalist states. If Mitt's not a Mormon, those states could easily go to him.

A lot of factors contributed to Romney's fall from grace. I've been watching his campaign rise from its beginnings, and I honestly thought, with the man's pedigree, money, look, everything, that he would be the nominee. Even when he was running back in the polls, I was telling everyone to watch out for this man, who was a slicker, more composed and intelligent George W. Bush, and would follow the same type of policies, the failed neo-con policies of the current administration. He would probably have been alright economically, as he is a very successful businessman that turned around the Salt Lake City Olympics and has amassed a huge private fortune, but there's too many other drag-downs that killed his campaign.

Lastly, he had a real cocky sense around him. He was that kid in high school that drove the slickest car, had all the clothes and the girls, and someone most of us weren't, and most of us couldn't relate to. I wish Mitt Romney the best of luck, as he is an intelligent, composed, and well-put together man, but it seems his Presidential aspirations may have to be set aside. For a man that really looks the part, in the end, it seems he can't really fill the role.

Super Tuesday, and the Aftermath...

2008-02-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in reporting the final numbers. I had an aggravating connectivity issue that took a while to solve.

Anyways, it looks like on one side, we came out with a clear nominee after the super primary, and on the other, the waters became as muddied as possible.

John McCain will be fightinig on until November, it seems, as he dominated Super Tuesday, winning the large chunk of states and delegates, and jumped about 400 delegates ahead of his nearest rival, Mitt Romney. Romney got hammered, losing the states he needed to have any shot, the ones with conservative bases, to Mike Huckabee. Huckabee played a magical spoiler for Romney, and really handed the campaign to John McCain.

Romney has since dropped out of the campaign, and rightly so. It would have been a waste of money from this point out, with almost no chance of him coming back from the blow Super Tuesday was to his campaign. I'm going to do a whole post in a bit on what happened to Mitt, the man who walks, talks, and looks just like a President, and yet, seemingly won't be.

Onto the Democratic dogfight, which is basically where this campaign is headed from this point out. On the day, Hillary pulled only a handful more delegates than Barack Obama, and squeaked out a narrow victory in California, the richest state, delegate-wise, of them all. Barack won a lot of not tradionally Democratic states, which bodes well for his range of support, as it shows he can walk the walk and pull in independent or even Republican-leaning people to vote for him come November.

What can be thanked for Barack's share of the delegates is the proportionate way the Democrats assign them to their nominees, as even though Hillary won the big population states, like California and New York, Obama still pulled a big portion over to himself. The Republicans, who operate on a winner-take-all type of system, ended up with their clear winner in John McCain, whose margin of victory in the states he won was around the same as Hillary or Barack in the states they won. But he got 100% of the delegates from each state, which gives him the crushing majority he holds now.

Hillary and Barack will be doing this dance for at least another month, maybe even more, maybe all the way to the convention a few months from now. This can only be viewed as bad for her and very good news for him.

Hillary has been slowly trending downwards and Barack has been slowly trending upwards over the last year or so. The curve has really accelerated the past month, with Obama catching up to her in almost every national and state poll, after being down by 20+ just months ago.

Hillary will really fight until the end, as she thought she was going to coast to this nomination, coast into the White House on a Democratic victory and a big 'Hell No' from the US on continuation of Bush-style leadership, but now this young upstart has come out of nowhere and stolen her nomination and her Presidency out from under her.

There is a better chance for Democrats (and sanity) in the US with Barack as the nominee. Its been said a million times, and I'm going to go there again. Hillary has too many negatives to win a national campaign. She can't grow the party to new voters, and some Democrats dislike her so much they will simply not vote, or will turn to a liberal type of Republican, as John McCain is. if 47% of potential voters say they will never consider voting for you, you're going to have a problem winning a plurality.

Obama also has higher numbers against McCain than Clinton does, beating him in almost every demographic and overall by 5-10 points. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is up and down, and within the statistical tie area against McCain nationally, winning ir losing to him by 2-3 points in every major poll taken.

Obama has also raised almost $40 million since the turn of the year, and $8 million alone in the 48 hours since the polls closed on Tuesday. He has at least $20 million still on hand by estimates, and will have all of that going forward to dominate the airwaves in the remaining states with his message.

Hillary, on the other hand, just lent her campaign $5 million of her own personal money to keep it afloat, and there are reports her top advisors and staffers will go without pay for the next month to give them some extra money to throw around. Hillary still has $20 million in her back pocket for a national campaign, but she might want to think about unleashing some of that now, or else there won't be a national campaign to run.

John McCain's job got much easier after Tuesday, as he can pretty much kick back, consolidate, work on unifying the Republican Party behind him (no easy task, I know, but easier when you don't have to fend off Romney) and begin to chip away at both of them. It's a virtual month or two headstart on the national campaign. He'll need it too, as Republicans are going to be a tough sell, but would be much easier against Clinton, and a lot harder against Obama.

I'll leave you with one thought from one of the most brilliant and hated political strategists the US political world has ever seen, Karl Rove. Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not promoting Rove and his brand of divisive political strategy, but it wins elections. He gave two elections to George Bush that the man had no business even being in, let alone winning. With Bush, Rove has proven his mastery, he can even put this man into the White House, twice. But the thought that I wanted to highlight was that Rove wants Hillary to win this nomination, wants it even more than a tradional conservative nominee on the right. He wants this because he knows Hillary is a much easier campaign opponent than Obama. She has skeletons, and a large list of negatives. Barack has less skeletons, and less negatives, and has a groundswell of support.

Rove would love it if Hillary Clinton won, which should tell all of us left of Hitler than Obama is the best chance to save the US in the coming election.

I will, of course, be here throughout the rest and far beyond, and I hope you will be too, because this is shaping up to be the election of a generation, and one that will affect the US, and the world, for a few more generations after that.

Huckabee takes Alabama

2008-02-05T19:30:00.000-08:00

Mike Huckabee has taken the Alabama caucuses, giving him 48 additional delegates.

Big win for Huckabee, as it shows he can still pull votes and be an influence at the convention when the eventual winner gets the crown placed upon his head.

Breaking: Barack Obama has won the Minnesota Democratic caucuses, with 88 delegates on the line. They will be divided proportionally amongst the two, but Barack will get about 2/3.

Mitt Romney is speaking right now, declaring he will go on and lead his campaign right into the Republican National Convention, to win the nomination.

With the kinds of numbers we've seen here today, it doesn't seem likely that's the case.

Barack wins Kansas and Conneticut

2008-02-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama has taken the states of Kansas and Conneticut, giving him over 100 more delegates in the count.

These two go along with the other states he has carried: Alabama, Illinois, Delaware, Georgia, North Dakota.

Obama is staying in this race, and along with the numbers he is expected to get in California, should be able to make a strong challenge for this nomination with Hillary Clinton.

More to come...

Updated Delegate Numbers

2008-02-05T18:59:00.000-08:00

The Democratic Magic Number to win the nomination is: 2025

Through Super Tuesday as of 7pm PST:

Hillary Clinton - 299

Barack Obama - 219

The Republican Magic number to win the nomination is: 1191

Through Super Tuesday as of 7pm PST:

John McCain - 309

Mitt Romney - 135

Mike Huckabee - 54

Ron Paul - 6

As you can see, the Democratic side is still a dogfight, although Hillary has scored serious points in the Northeast. California will still play a big role, but this race is looking to go past today, barring some massive unforseen event.

On the Republican side, McCain still looks to be pulling away, although Mitt Romney did just as expected and won the Utah primary a few minutes ago. Huckabee is still running strong, but he's still not a viable candidate for the Presidency. At this point, he's fighting for a spot on a ticket, and it's not the lead one.

Breaking: McCain wins Oklahoma, with 41 delegates added to his count.

Breaking: Barack Obama wins North Dakota, with 21 delegates coming his way.

Hillary gets New Jersey and Massachusetts

2008-02-05T18:50:00.001-08:00

Hillary Clinton has pulled out New Jersey and Massachusetts, where she overcame the high-profile endorsements of the Kennedys, Kerry and Governor Deval. Hillary had gotten the endorsement of the mayor of Boston, which looks to have put her over the top. This is a blow to Obama, he was expected to win here.

Hillary also looks like she is going to pull a lot of Pennsylvania as well, leaving Barack a little shorter in the Northeast than he had probably expected.

Clinton has pulled hundreds of delegates from the two victories in the Northeast, leaving her leapgrogging ahead in momentum and delegates. There is still the mega-primary of California later on tonight to report, but Hillary has moved ahead as of now.

Obama wins Alabama, Huckabee showing strong

2008-02-05T18:32:00.001-08:00

Barack Obama has won Alabama, with over 2/3 of the vote, reports CNN. He is also leading in Idaho, North Dakota, and Minnesota.

Obama is matching Clinton step-for-step and state-for-state. This is increasingly looking like it will continue past today's vote.

Huckabee is still winning Georgia, although Romney is doing well in the urban areas, and McCain is doing well in the military areas. Votes are still being counted, and not much is changing right now. It will be down to the wire here.

Huckabee is also winning in Missouri and Minnesota, and it looks like Mitt Romney's chances fade every time another breaking result pours in.

McCain takes big win in New York

2008-02-05T18:20:00.000-08:00

John McCain has won the delegate rich New York primary, netting him an additional 101 delegates over and above the number listed below.

McCain is looking like a sure-fire bet to be the Republican nominee, and is running long and away from Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. Time to start looking into VP nominees, and Huckabee is looking to be a strong candidate to fill that role.

I will be putting another column up in the coming days about VP candidates for these nominees, in the case of McCain, or potential nominees in the case of Obama and Clinton. Something to look forward to.

Delegate Count

2008-02-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

The Democratic Magic Number to win the nomination is: 2025

Through Super Tuesday as of 6pm PST:

Hillary Clinton - 279
Barack Obama - 210

The Republican Magic number to win the nomination is: 1191

Through Super Tuesday as of 6pm PST:

John McCain - 208
Mitt Romney - 99
Mike Huckabee - 54
Ron Paul - 6

As you can see, the Democratic side is still a dogfight, and likely will be past today.

On the Republican side, McCain looks to be pulling away, and Mitt Romney needs to pull out some delegates quick, or else he will be out of this race by tomorrow morning. Same goes for Huckabee.

Hillary wins new York

2008-02-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

Hillary Clinton has won her adopted state of New York, whom she represents in the US Senate. There are no numbers yet on the vote, but it looks like Hillary has taken 3/4-2/3 of the vote, leaving her with a large chunk of the 200+ delegates up for grabs in the second-most populous state.

All of the other states reporting at 6pm have no clear winner, even in John McCain's home state of Arizona. Surprising that McCain didn't pull his own state so overwhelmingly that it wasn't immediately available to call, as Hillary did.

Tennessee is still up in the air, but it looks like John McCain may have put another state into his pocket.

Clinton is also ahead in early numbers in Massachusetts, which is a tad surprising with all the high-profile endorsements Obama has gotten from the state's politicians like the Kennedys, John Kerry and the state's governor. This could be big for Hillary, from a PR standpoint, as Massachusetts doesn't have a powerhouse amount of delegates, but if Hillary wins, she will have done so in spite of the Democratic establishment in the area turning against her.

Breaking: Barack Obama pulls Delaware, with all 23 delegates going to him.

McCain takes Delaware, big results up soon

2008-02-05T17:47:00.000-08:00

John McCain has won the winner-take all contest in Delaware, with Mitt Romney finishing second, and Huckabee third, CNN is reporting. McCain appears to be pulling away, with Romney only pulling Massachusetts, Huckabee with West Virginia, and McCain with all the rest. His delegates and momentum are growing, and Romney may not be able to keep up.

Also, within 15 mins, large states on the east coast, such as new York, will be closing their polls.

Results on those as soon as they happen.

Hillary and Huckabee both take Arkansas

2008-02-05T17:30:00.000-08:00

Not too surprising of a move, but Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee have taken the respective votes in the state of Arkansas.

Both were expected to win. Hillary based on Bill's long governorship and their continued favorability in the state. Huckabee was a popular Governor of this state for over ten years, so his victory was nearly assured as well.

Breaking: Hillary Clinton takes Tennessee as well, with about 54% of the vote, with 3% of the polls reporting.

Huckabee is also growing as the poll results roll in in Georgia. He is 5% up with about a quarter of the votes counted.

More on the states as the results are rolling in.

McCain carries New Jersey

2008-02-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

John McCain has won the populous primary of New Jersey over Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee, by a large margin.

McCain is over 60 delegates ahead now over Huckabee and Romney so far in the Super Tuesday polling.

Also, in a breaking result, Hillary Clinton is taking New Jersey by a 2-1 margin over Barack Obama, although these results, as with the above, are very early.

Multiple State Results - Illinois, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oklahoma

2008-02-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

It looks like Barack Obama has won his home state of Illinois, as predicted, and in the same state John McCain has won on the Republican side. McCain has also carried Conneticut, and Mitt Romney has taken his home state of Massachusetts. Hillary Clinton has taken Oklahoma.

More reports on numbers in a bit, but I thought I'd report these early numbers on wins in the Republican and Democratic primaries.

Obama Wins Georgia, GOP still too close

2008-02-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

It looks as though Sen. Barack Obama has won the Georgia Democratic primary. Early exit polls from the state, which just closed its ballots as of half an our ago, show Obama taking 2/3 of the vote among Democrats in the state who turned out the primary. Early results show Obama with 66% of the ballots cast, with Hillary taking the rest. Of course this is early, but Georgia is very rich with delegates for the one who takes the lion's share of the vote, and it looks like Obama right now.

The Republicans are still fighting it out in the state, with each of the three main candidates pulling around 30% right now, with Ron Paul pulling the rest. This is a surprising turnout for McCain, as Georgia is quite a conservative state, but he seems to be pulling a large contingent of the military vote, which is strong. Huckabee is picking up the Evangelical vote, and pushing Romney's numbers down amongst conservatives. The one who comes out the winner will pick up a big chunk of delegates, as of course, the Republicans run a winner-take-all campaign. Apparently McCain has spent a large percent of his time over the last two days in the northeast, in places like Massachusetts and New York, which surely cannot help him in the conservative southern states where he needed as much face-time as possible to convince these people that he was their candidate, strong conservative credentials or not.

By staying up north, where any Republicans would likely choose him anyways, McCain has neglected a large contingent of folks that make up the Republican electorate, and if he does go on to become the party's nominee, he may regret not giving the South more attention at this stage in the game. People don't have short memories when it comes to this sort of thing.

I'll stick with this and anything else, as the next polls close in just about 45 minutes...

John Edwards, An Obituary

2008-02-05T14:26:00.000-08:00

Oh John Edwards, so much promise, so much heart, and so many sound and defined policies. And yet, gone so soon...

Edwards is a man who is perfect for the Presidency. He grew up with almost nothing, so he remembers how a majority of people in the US now live. He's self-made, and he has the right priorities, such as Universal Healthcare programs, fighting a war on poverty and taking on corporate interests in Washington. Great, right? All good things, and issues people can get behind and feel good about getting behind.

The only problem is, that John Edwards never had a hope in hell of winning this nomination.

When he started his campaign, the widely held belief was that Hillary Clinton was the de-facto nominee, even before the process started. Edwards was going to position himself as a new-age candidate, and Hillary as someone of the old guard, a Washington insider. And that is exactly what he did.

Only problem is that there was someone else who blazed in and took up that mantle. Pretty plainly, it was Barack Obama that knocked Edwards out, and nothing more.

Edwards had great goals, great policies, he was from the South, which is always a good thing for a Democratic nominee, and he was well-liked and respected by his colleagues and the voters. But Barack just had so much more right now that the country is craving.

Edwards' other problem was that he was beginning to become an also-ran, running and losing the nomination in '04 to Kerry, then losing the general election as the VP nominee, and now running in a deep third place this cycle. He started to take on the air of someone that had a great vision, but just couldn't close the deal.

I think John Edwards would make a fantastic President, and he still may one day, but unfortunately, he was running in the wrong year. Against two powerful, groundbreaking candidates, he barely got a sniff, and he deserved so much more.

From launching his campaign in the 9th Ward in New Orleans, to ending it in the very same place, then walking off to the background to build a house for Habitat for Humanity, John Edwards was a good man, and a good candidate, but just came along at the wrong time, and miscalculated his chances this time around.

Give it a decade, maybe a little more. Edwards can do more work for the poor, the disaffected, make a difference outside the political process, as Al Gore has done. Love Al or hate him, he has brought attention onto Climate Change, and that is a plus. Edwards can do the same, he can make the change he so desperately wanted to by entering the race in the first place, then come back around when the Clintons, the Obamas, even the Gores of the landscape have passed, and win himself the position he so richly deserves.

I have a confession, I'm in love with a Republican

2008-02-05T12:50:00.000-08:00

Well, a Libertarian, but that's just extreme Republicanism anyways. The one I am currently in love with would of course be the premier libertarian on the scene today. Ron Paul.

Watching the Republican debate the other night, I was struck by how on the ball and committed to the real problems facing the US today this man is, and how doggedly he has tried to get his voice into this debate.

While Mitt Romney and John McCain were squabbling over the context of Romney using the term 'timetable', and what that term would mean, Paul interjected himself into the debate, with real ideas not about whether to withdraw from Iraq or not, but that they shouldn't have gone in the first place, that they should be debating whether the US should be interventionists or isolationists, the economy, healthcare, education, tax reduction and y'know, things that matter to the regular, everyday, middle class voter. Y'know, the same ones that will make up 40-50% of the electorate?

Now while I'm not a libertarian, and far from it actually, I always love seeing someone so committed to their cause state their argument so plainly and rationally in the face of pettiness. I don't think any of the Republican nominees would be the right choice, but out of all of them, I think Ron Paul would probably do the best job. He wouldn't re-write the US Constitution to include more religious references (Huckabee), double the size of Guantanamo Bay (Romney), or keep the US in Iraq for a “hundred years” (McCain).

He would stop the US from being the world police, he would stop stomping all over 90% of the country to benefit the top 10%, and he would make things a lot more workable for the majority of Americans.

He would also do plenty of things I'm not in favor of, such as cutting taxes. There wouldn't be supportive government programs such as universal healthcare, which should be a pillar of democratic society, as a representative government is in place to benefit the citizens, or Social Security. Education would likely become less subsidized, instead of more-so, as is needed.

Libertarians put the burden on the individual to provide for themselves in a free and open market, but that market simply isn't there, as workers are not valued as prized and important components, but numbers to generate profits. I'm not going to get into a whole diatribe about corporations and the working person, but all I will say is without a fundamental overhaul of the way the US economy is structured, which is towards the rich, everyone from the middle-class down will not have the resources to make these kinds of free and open choices that they need to survive, such as medical insurance, money for post-secondary education, and retirement security. This is the reason the US economy is in a downturn. The Bush administration has put too much emphasis on the individual to secure their own futures, without giving them the ability to have the resources to do so.

If Ron Paul gets elected (fat chance, I know) he would likely bring about the kind of change necessary to make a Libertarian-style system work, but it would be a long, tough road, and I'm not sure the US electorate has the stomach to weather that kind of storm and let the government that set them on that road stay in power. It’s always the short-term fix that wins elections, not sound, long-term policies that will bear fruit after a long slogging.

Libertarianism, and Ron Paul by extension, are long slogs, and while it possibly could turn out for the better, and Ron Paul is a strong and determined man who I have a lot of respect for, people don't have the stomach for it.

Ron, we could have been beautiful, and some place in my political heart, I'll always have a place for you, but for now, I think its best if we go our separate ways...

Huckabee wins West Virginia

2008-02-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

Mike Huckabee has won the West Virginia Republican convention, with a slim majority of the vote over Mitt Romney.

W. Virginia votes on a plurality-majority type system, much as it would in the national elections, and if no one garners 50% support in the first round, they rangle behind the scenes and vote again.

This happened, with Mitt Romney winning the initial vote, but not a full 50% majority. Huckabee ran a close second, and McCain was a distant third, as this is an overwhelmingly Christian conservative state.

So McCain, at this point, saw a political opportunity and shrewdly threw his supporters behind Huckabee, to deny his closest rival Romney a big opening victory on Super Tuesday. Huckabee is going to play a role in the race from this point forward, but I don't think anyone believes he is going to take the crown overall. All McCain did here was take 18 delegates away from Mitt Romney when they both roll into the Republican National Convention.

Smart, very, very smart, and I respect the move. It's power politics at its best, and I applaud McCain for doing so.

Huckabee is looking good as a possible VP nominee to McCain, as he gives him the Christian conservative vote, as well as a strong number 2, that ran third nationally all through the race. This could be the start of a ball rolling on that type of ticket nationally, but that might be getting a bit ahead of everything.

For now, Huckabee has scored a good PR win, McCain denied his nearest, and only viable rival the delegates and PR he so richly needs, and Romney, well Romney gets nothing out of the deal, except out-manuevered...

I'll be back with more updates as they hit the airwaves.

Super Tuesday is here!

2008-02-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

The political Superbowl has arrived people, and I'll be watching and reporting as the polls roll in.

With such rich delegate states as California, New York and Illinois up for grabs, this day could define what is turning out to be an Presidential election that will shape all of our lives for a generation.

On the Democrat side, Clinton and Obama are in a virtual tie nationally, and in California. Both are leading their home states, Barack his actual home state in Illinois, Hillary her adopted one in New York, and both will likely score big victories. It is not a winner-take all type vote, as the Republican party runs, so we may very well come out of this hugely important day still at a standstill as to who the Democratic nominee. Barack seems to have more resources and more momentum on his side, so if this race goes further, the downward trending of Hillary and the upward trending of Barack will likely continue. Hillary wants this race to stop today, but I don't think that's going to happen, and the longer it goes, the more Barack has the advantage.

On the Republican side, the country is really being split. The Christian, right-wing conservatives are having to choose between someone who is unpalatable in a general election but has good conservative 'value' positions, Mike Huckabee, and a man that no one seems to trust, but is seen as the only alternative in a national campaign to John McCain, Mitt Romney. McCain is running ahead of them both nationally, but his conservative positions don't really get the motor turning as much as Huckabee and Romney do. Huckabee is mainly a spoiler now, but he could easily 'Ralph Nader' this race away from Romney by pulling in the Christian conservative vote away enough to let McCain slip by on his national security credentials.

This is an amazing and interesting race, and like I said above, one that will decide all of our fates for a generation. Will the US renew themselves, elect a progressive leader that will change the world's opinion of the lone superpower, or will they doggedly stay with a Bush-style politician, and leave their standing with the world as low as it is right now?

This affects us all, Canadian, American, Afghani, Iraqi...I could name them all. The US sets the tone for the world, and they are electing the man or woman that will set that tone for at least the next 4 years.

Vote smart, vote well, vote with a future in mind, not with just a single issue. Vote overall, and vote for the person y0u think will change the US, and the world, for the better when they are done sitting in the Oval Office.

Best of luck, go change the world today....

2008-01-31T17:05:00.000-08:00

Apathy anyone...?

2008-01-29T19:22:00.000-08:00

We are facing a rather large political crisis in Canada...Apathy.

I know this isn't a new problem, but its one that seems to be affecting a growing number of people, and its not even confined just to my generation anymore.

The Liberal and Conservative parties are in a virtual tie right now, both hovering around 30%, with the NDP at about 15%, the Greens right behind them and the Bloc polling at about 40% in Quebec.

I think this is due to the leaders of these parties, and the fact that not one of them inspires me to do a thing politically, and I already have a deep investment in the process. What does this mean for the rest of the folks in this country, the uninitiated ones looking for something, or someone, to grab them and make them want to get involved?

Apathy...that's what...

The polling I mentioned above has barely moved a tick since the time Stephane Dion became leader of the Liberals in late 2006. Dion is easily the most ineffective federal leader the Liberals have ever had and is pretty much a sure bet to be the first Liberal leader never to sit in 24 Sussex Drive. His poor command of the English language, as well as possessing the personality of a KFC wetnap may have something to do with this.

Stephen Harper on the other hand, is a very shrewd politician, and I give him respect as such, but he has done nothing to move ahead of the drip his only political competition has served up, leaving him and his party languishing in minority status, probably for a long time. If he is unable to capitalize on the absolute gift that is Stephane Dion's incompetence, what is going to happen when the Liberals get a capable leader? Someone like Michael Ignatieff, or Bob Rae would blow him out of the water. Stephen Harper is a smart man, with policies that I simply don't agree with, but he can't inspire anyone or anything.

Jack Layton, while I absolutely love his candor and personality, gives off this air of a used car salesman. This is something you've probably read before, because its been said numerous times before, but I honestly think that if Jack was a Liberal, he'd be sitting at Sussex right now, and not with a handful of seats and dwindling time in the spotlight. Jack has the ability to inspire, but the NDP does not, as people see it as a waste of a vote, and a completely un-viable party federally. Jack's going into his fourth election, and while he has grown the base and support of his party, and brought it back from also-ran status, it will never be viable in a federal election, and that's all that really matters at the end of the day.

Elizabeth May. I like her passion, but the Greens, bleh, maybe in two or three decades they'll have a dozen seats, but now, with their leader running in an almost un-winnable riding against Peter McKay, the leadership structure falling apart and resigning, they don't have a shot. They're seen as a joke, and who's inspired by a joke?

I look down to the US, and I see a man like Barack Obama, who inspires me immensely, and I don't even live in his country, or vote in his country. The men and women that do run my country, the country I do vote in and the country which I hope to someday play a hand in running myself, don't have a tenth of what Sen. Obama has. A politician like him, up here, would have an absolute field day.

So what're we left at the end of the day folks, a dud, a robot, a used car salesman and a hippy idealist...any of these inspire you, or are you feeling rather...what's the word...

Apathetic...?

The Kennedys and the Endorsements

2008-01-29T18:43:00.001-08:00

The Kennedy's are as close to royalty in the US as you can get. And no matter what, no matter how far we are from the JFK era, their voice, and their opinion matters, and is heard by millions upon millions of people.

So when Caroline and Ted Kennedy come out and support a Presidential candidate, people listen. And I'm not quite sure if you've heard, as it hasn't at all been blasted across every news channel and website, but the Kennedys have thrown their rather hefty weight (no pun intended Ted) behind Barack Obama.

This is another big name, big ticket endorsement for Mr. Obama, along with the likes of John Kerry, Patrick Leahy, Governor of Arizona Janet Napolitano, Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick, and Governor of Kansas Kathleen Sebelius, who delivered the Democratic response to the State of the Union speech last night. These are powerful figures, and throw the Kennedys on top, and you've got a tsunami of weight behind you.

There is a problem that I can see with so many important Democratic stalwarts backing Obama, and it stems from his main campaign issue, change.

The issue of change seems to be all that can be talked about during this race. Who's changed things in the past, who's prepared to make change happen in the future. Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes, as sung by David Bowie, is all people seem to care about, and rightly so. Eight more years of the Bush-style status quo could leave us ready to collapse.

Barack does seem best suited to bring the important and groundbreaking change to Washington, as he has not been in the town long enough to really be pulled in by the subversive undertow of it all, but are endorsements from people that have done little more than maintain the status quo for decades really what he needs to prove he is the right man for this type of job?

I do think that Obama getting these types of nods is important, as the main problem people have with him isn't the substance of his words, as it is with most politicians, but the amount of experience he brings to the table. If Americans are hearing that people they already trust, such as the Kennedys, trust this man to run the nation, lots of those fears begin to evaporate.

It is a very shrewd political move for Obama to make, as he knows he needs to allay fears of his inexperience by having lots of familiar faces shake his hand and take a picture. But he has also loaded his staff with new faces, people that can bring a fresh perspective.

I do believe in the long run these endorsements will do Obama a world of good, as long as they don't start to make people disbelieve the message of change that he is bringing.

South Carolina Caucuses

2008-01-26T17:11:00.000-08:00

Well it looks like Barack Obama has won the South Carolina caucuses, and quite handily too. There was a lot of talk before this ballot that the black voters in South Carolina were going to play a big role in determining the winner of this contest, and also would set a tone for the rest of the race, in terms of race.

Hillary and Barack have been jockeying for the support of this minority group almost throughout their entire campaigns, and both see that support (rightly so) as vital to winning the Democratic nomination and the eventual election in November. Black women have supposedly had the toughest choice, as there are two groundbreaking candidates that they can both sympatize with.

Now, as a white male, I understand I may not be the best person to talk about these kinds of factors in terms of voting, as I obviously don't grasp what its like to be a black woman, but I hope and figure that more goes into the process than someone's skin color or gender when it comes time to choose the man or woman to lead the US out of the George W. Bush disaster and restore faith in the US around the world.

Just to make it straight, I personally think Barack Obama is the only person, man or woman, in the race that can do that.

This win in South Carolina today shows a lot of things. Namely, Barack Obama has the support of the black community, at least in this state, as he secured 80% of the votes from those considered African American and is also polling up to 20% higher nationally than Hillary among this group, last I saw. Another large point to make here is that he can also make in-roads with white, southern voters. This is big, because it means that even in the South, where racism still runs hot, a black man can secure the votes to take one more step to the Presidency. That is a big deal, and one I hope the rest of the people out there that base their vote on someone's color or heritage will listen to. The world is passing those by that still hold these types of prejudices, and the faster, the better.

Barack Obama means change, and today, we saw that change put into action. Only Super Tuesday remains in front of us, and in about 10 days, we're going to answer the question of whether a black man can actually be a viable candidate for the Presidency.

Welcome

2008-01-26T16:47:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Red Star Politics, your spot for news on Canadian, US, and World political events.

Visit us regualrly for updates on anything and everything politically relevant, from US Presidential campaign news, to Canadian Parliamentary updates, and anything else of interest that pops up around the globe.

I hope you enjoy my unique brand of political commentary and I encourage anyone and everyone that visits to comment until you're blue in the face...enjoy...