Borrowing the above line from John McCain, I would like to point out exactly who is responsible for voting against the bailout bill in the United States House of Representatives today. No, it's not a perfect bill, but it is a solution that had been negotiated for over a week, and did in fact contain some necessary home-owner protections and other important provisions that are key to getting the economy back on its feet.
You will know their names. These are the congressmen who voted against the Bailout Plan, most of them because they're running in close re-election races, not because they actually didn't think it was important.
I am proud to say, as a Haverford student, that Representative Joe Sestak (D-PA) buried partisan concerns and stood with the Democratic Party leadership to try and bring some relief to this economic crisis.
Upon this news, the Dow dropped 778 points today, an all-time record, putting the stock market below where it was on President Bush's first day in office.
I'm having trouble with a description of how serious this situation is, so for clarity, go watch The Watchmen movie trailer, and get to about halfway where a dark, deep voice mutters, "God help us all."
Yeah, that's me.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Things I Learned From the First Presidential Debate!
Here are my thoughts (based entirely on what the candidates said):
--> John McCain needs a nicer pen.
--> McCain's repetition of "I didn't win Miss Congeniality in the U.S. Senate" probably implies that he wishes he had more friends.
--> All our companies are going to outsource to Ireland.
--> John McCain seemed eager to hear Senator Obama's "definition of rich," despite his problems earlier in this campaign with defining the mark ($5 million?).
--> A presidential candidate can use the word "festooned," then accuse his opponent of being out-of-touch and elitist.
--> Senator McCain is quite able to describe the Administration's Iraq strategy and make it sound incredibly stupid and inarticulate: "a strategy of going into an area, clearing and holding, and the people of the country then become allied with you. They inform on the bad guys. And peace comes to the country, and prosperity."
--> General Petraeus and Osama bin Laden "have one thing in common." They've both made money from the Bush family?
--> John McCain again put his foot down and declared that he stands firmly against a second Holocaust, a position that surely reinforces how much of a maverick he is.
--> Apparently, a dictator's speech in front of the United Nations doesn't count as a legitimizing propaganda platform, but a meeting with a ruler of another country does.
--> John McCain has a bracelet.
--> "Glasnost and perestroika" - $20 says that there weren't 100 people under the age of 25 watching that debate who actually knew what McCain was talking about.
--> Barack Obama is anti-tea parties, pro-arugula.
--> It's unclear how many people noticed John McCain mutter "horse shit" when Obama accused him of refusing to meet with the Prime Minister of Spain.
--> The evidence of North Korea being the "most repressive and brutal regime on Earth" is that "the average South Korean is three inches taller than the average North Korean, a huge gulag." I believe McCain meant repressive as in physically pushing down on its subjects.
--> Senator Obama, not to be outdone, "also has a bracelet," the difference being that his is in bling form around his neck, and is made entirely of gold.
--> John McCain loves the veterans. Really loves them. And he's going to take care of them. I now can't shake this mental image of John McCain enveloping our armed forces in an enormous hug, and gently kissing them each on the forehead.
--> When not facing the pressures of campaign consultants and advertising requirements, John McCain can, in fact, avoid mentioning his POW experience for approximately 87 minutes.
--> John McCain "knows how to heal the wounds of war," using strategies like coming home and cheating on your wife with a woman 18 years younger than you are.
--> John McCain needs a nicer pen.
--> McCain's repetition of "I didn't win Miss Congeniality in the U.S. Senate" probably implies that he wishes he had more friends.
--> All our companies are going to outsource to Ireland.
--> John McCain seemed eager to hear Senator Obama's "definition of rich," despite his problems earlier in this campaign with defining the mark ($5 million?).
--> A presidential candidate can use the word "festooned," then accuse his opponent of being out-of-touch and elitist.
--> Senator McCain is quite able to describe the Administration's Iraq strategy and make it sound incredibly stupid and inarticulate: "a strategy of going into an area, clearing and holding, and the people of the country then become allied with you. They inform on the bad guys. And peace comes to the country, and prosperity."
--> General Petraeus and Osama bin Laden "have one thing in common." They've both made money from the Bush family?
--> John McCain again put his foot down and declared that he stands firmly against a second Holocaust, a position that surely reinforces how much of a maverick he is.
--> Apparently, a dictator's speech in front of the United Nations doesn't count as a legitimizing propaganda platform, but a meeting with a ruler of another country does.
--> John McCain has a bracelet.
--> "Glasnost and perestroika" - $20 says that there weren't 100 people under the age of 25 watching that debate who actually knew what McCain was talking about.
--> Barack Obama is anti-tea parties, pro-arugula.
--> It's unclear how many people noticed John McCain mutter "horse shit" when Obama accused him of refusing to meet with the Prime Minister of Spain.
--> The evidence of North Korea being the "most repressive and brutal regime on Earth" is that "the average South Korean is three inches taller than the average North Korean, a huge gulag." I believe McCain meant repressive as in physically pushing down on its subjects.
--> Senator Obama, not to be outdone, "also has a bracelet," the difference being that his is in bling form around his neck, and is made entirely of gold.
--> John McCain loves the veterans. Really loves them. And he's going to take care of them. I now can't shake this mental image of John McCain enveloping our armed forces in an enormous hug, and gently kissing them each on the forehead.
--> When not facing the pressures of campaign consultants and advertising requirements, John McCain can, in fact, avoid mentioning his POW experience for approximately 87 minutes.
--> John McCain "knows how to heal the wounds of war," using strategies like coming home and cheating on your wife with a woman 18 years younger than you are.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Big Numbers, Political Failures, and Paulson Finds God (Hint: It's Nancy Pelosi)! 39 Days to Go!
Update (12:20 PM): The debate is on, but apparently, John McCain already won it.
So much to get to, I'm sorry that this entry won't be able to do all these stories justice. Please read the links I attach - they'll give you the information you need.
--> The big story today is the negotiation on the bailout bill. Well, things fall apart. Republicans are definitively against the idea of the federal government bailing out large corporations (it's even written into their platform), so many of them won't be willing to vote for the bill as it stands now. Democrats are largely lined up behind the legislation, even though many of them have serious doubts and want more middle-class protections in it. However, Dems won't be willing to vote for a fairly unpopular bill this close to Election Day without Republican support to protect them. If it's just the Democrats that pass this bill, then the GOP can all vote against it, and then blast the Democrats for passing it in the first place. The Republican Party needs to get on-board in order for this bill to pass - it's no longer about getting 51 votes, it's about political cover.
This comes the day after President Bush held a historic meeting in the Roosevelt Room between himself, Secretary Paulson, Senator McCain, Senator Obama, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid, Minority Leader McConnell, and House Republican leader Boehner. The meeting was supposed to get all hands on deck, but it ended up just emphasizing how far apart everyone is. As the New York Times reports, Secretary Paulson actually got down on one knee and pleaded with Nancy Pelosi to not pull her party's support off the bill. Pelosi remarked, "I didn't know you were Catholic," then continued, "It's not me blowing this up, it's the Republicans." Paulson replied, "I know. I know."
By the way, was anyone else curious why the specific figure requested for the bailout was $700 billion? How does the Treasury Department calculate such a number? Well, a spokeswoman was asked just that, and she explained, "It's not based on any particular data point, we just wanted to choose a really large number." Incompetence, thy name is government.
--> So it sure doesn't seem like John McCain's dramatic announcement that he was suspending his campaign really accomplished anything. In fact, one wonders how he could help the process at all, given that he's NEVER READ THE BILL! Or that he hasn't proposed a single banking bill during this entire Congress, while Senator Obama has proposed five.
And, as it turns out, his campaign is far from suspended. Palin still held a rally yesterday, his surrogates were out in full force, and his campaign ads (which he pledged to take down) are still up in most of the country. Plus, McCain has already instructed TV stations that actually took down the ads to start re-airing them as soon as Saturday!
Thankfully, Senator Obama's campaign has called this desperate move what it is: a cheap political stunt.
The only thing McCain has accomplished is throwing the results of tonight's debate into question. He still won't commit to attending, and will continue to examine the situation based on the results of today's Congressional negotiations (which, and I must stress this, he is not a part of). Obama, although he spent the night in DC to be close to the negotiations himself, is already flying down to Mississippi. It looks like he will go on tonight, the question is if he'll be joined by anyone. I personally think that a two-hour exclusive interview/town hall event featuring Barack Obama, an empty chair, and the entire press corps would be a sight to see, don't you?
I'm still confident that McCain will show. Not because he appreciates the value of having our two potential leaders talk about the issues to the American public, but because he is a shrewd, calculating politician, who no doubt has seen the polling data today suggesting that 3/4 of Americans want the debate to go on tonight.
Also, Mike Huckabee thinks McCain is stupid. Then again, Mike Huckabee wants to be the GOP nominee in 4 years. So, there might be some sort of conflict of interest.
--> By the way, I found the McCain Campaign's suggestion of indefinitely postponing the Vice-Presidential debate to be absolutely insulting. How can they expect the American people to accept Sarah Palin as their VP if they've never ever seen her speak or answer questions?
--> Well, maybe they're justified. After all, two nights of an interview with Katie Couric have certainly demonstrated that Sarah Palin would be better off not speaking at all. Here's her talking about how she can see Russia from her house. Here's her "getting back" to Katie Couric about McCain's lifelong battle for more oversight.
And now, as the Washington Post reports, it turns out that she's far from the reformer that she claims to be (I saw "it turns out" as if we didn't know this already - still it's nice to have even more proof). She has accepted $25,000 in gifts as Governor of Alaska, despite having made "a crackdown on gift-giving to state officials a centerpiece of her ethics reform agenda."
--> This of course, all comes after Washington Mutual because the largest bank to fail in this nation's history, as it was seized by the federal government and then bought up in large chunks by JP Morgan.
Sorry, there's no happy/funny anecdote at the end of this story. Serious times call for serious entries, and unfathomable levels of sarcasm and anger.
The debate tonight can, as many events do, change everything. Do watch. It's gonna be a blast.
So much to get to, I'm sorry that this entry won't be able to do all these stories justice. Please read the links I attach - they'll give you the information you need.
--> The big story today is the negotiation on the bailout bill. Well, things fall apart. Republicans are definitively against the idea of the federal government bailing out large corporations (it's even written into their platform), so many of them won't be willing to vote for the bill as it stands now. Democrats are largely lined up behind the legislation, even though many of them have serious doubts and want more middle-class protections in it. However, Dems won't be willing to vote for a fairly unpopular bill this close to Election Day without Republican support to protect them. If it's just the Democrats that pass this bill, then the GOP can all vote against it, and then blast the Democrats for passing it in the first place. The Republican Party needs to get on-board in order for this bill to pass - it's no longer about getting 51 votes, it's about political cover.
This comes the day after President Bush held a historic meeting in the Roosevelt Room between himself, Secretary Paulson, Senator McCain, Senator Obama, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid, Minority Leader McConnell, and House Republican leader Boehner. The meeting was supposed to get all hands on deck, but it ended up just emphasizing how far apart everyone is. As the New York Times reports, Secretary Paulson actually got down on one knee and pleaded with Nancy Pelosi to not pull her party's support off the bill. Pelosi remarked, "I didn't know you were Catholic," then continued, "It's not me blowing this up, it's the Republicans." Paulson replied, "I know. I know."
By the way, was anyone else curious why the specific figure requested for the bailout was $700 billion? How does the Treasury Department calculate such a number? Well, a spokeswoman was asked just that, and she explained, "It's not based on any particular data point, we just wanted to choose a really large number." Incompetence, thy name is government.
--> So it sure doesn't seem like John McCain's dramatic announcement that he was suspending his campaign really accomplished anything. In fact, one wonders how he could help the process at all, given that he's NEVER READ THE BILL! Or that he hasn't proposed a single banking bill during this entire Congress, while Senator Obama has proposed five.
And, as it turns out, his campaign is far from suspended. Palin still held a rally yesterday, his surrogates were out in full force, and his campaign ads (which he pledged to take down) are still up in most of the country. Plus, McCain has already instructed TV stations that actually took down the ads to start re-airing them as soon as Saturday!
Thankfully, Senator Obama's campaign has called this desperate move what it is: a cheap political stunt.
The only thing McCain has accomplished is throwing the results of tonight's debate into question. He still won't commit to attending, and will continue to examine the situation based on the results of today's Congressional negotiations (which, and I must stress this, he is not a part of). Obama, although he spent the night in DC to be close to the negotiations himself, is already flying down to Mississippi. It looks like he will go on tonight, the question is if he'll be joined by anyone. I personally think that a two-hour exclusive interview/town hall event featuring Barack Obama, an empty chair, and the entire press corps would be a sight to see, don't you?
I'm still confident that McCain will show. Not because he appreciates the value of having our two potential leaders talk about the issues to the American public, but because he is a shrewd, calculating politician, who no doubt has seen the polling data today suggesting that 3/4 of Americans want the debate to go on tonight.
Also, Mike Huckabee thinks McCain is stupid. Then again, Mike Huckabee wants to be the GOP nominee in 4 years. So, there might be some sort of conflict of interest.
--> By the way, I found the McCain Campaign's suggestion of indefinitely postponing the Vice-Presidential debate to be absolutely insulting. How can they expect the American people to accept Sarah Palin as their VP if they've never ever seen her speak or answer questions?
--> Well, maybe they're justified. After all, two nights of an interview with Katie Couric have certainly demonstrated that Sarah Palin would be better off not speaking at all. Here's her talking about how she can see Russia from her house. Here's her "getting back" to Katie Couric about McCain's lifelong battle for more oversight.
And now, as the Washington Post reports, it turns out that she's far from the reformer that she claims to be (I saw "it turns out" as if we didn't know this already - still it's nice to have even more proof). She has accepted $25,000 in gifts as Governor of Alaska, despite having made "a crackdown on gift-giving to state officials a centerpiece of her ethics reform agenda."
--> This of course, all comes after Washington Mutual because the largest bank to fail in this nation's history, as it was seized by the federal government and then bought up in large chunks by JP Morgan.
Sorry, there's no happy/funny anecdote at the end of this story. Serious times call for serious entries, and unfathomable levels of sarcasm and anger.
The debate tonight can, as many events do, change everything. Do watch. It's gonna be a blast.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
New Post Coming, Exciting News
Lots has been going on the last two days, but change is coming - change in the form of my next entry.
In the meantime, I would like to announce to any of my loyal readers that I will now be contributing to a second blog: hcdemocrats.blogspot.com, where I will serve as one of the bloggers for Haverford's College Democrats. It'll probably feature condensed, less sarcastic versions of things I report here, but it may sometimes highlight things I don't get to here.
So, if you just can't get enough of my political trepidations here, feel free to journey inside the Haverbubble and join me there, too.
In the meantime, I would like to announce to any of my loyal readers that I will now be contributing to a second blog: hcdemocrats.blogspot.com, where I will serve as one of the bloggers for Haverford's College Democrats. It'll probably feature condensed, less sarcastic versions of things I report here, but it may sometimes highlight things I don't get to here.
So, if you just can't get enough of my political trepidations here, feel free to journey inside the Haverbubble and join me there, too.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Bartlet Speaks, Palin Doesn't, and McCain Piles Voters Into His 13 Cars And Drives Them to the Polls for Early Voting! 43 Days to Go!
--> Today, voting begins. You seem shocked. I know that many of you are merely waiting until the EDC clock strikes 0, but some of you (especially our loyal readership in Virginia, Kentucky, and Georgia) can start early voting today. Experts expect record amounts of early-voting this year, as much as 1/3 of the electorate, which is great because long-lines in densely popualted urban areas are always thorns in the side of the Democratic GOTV effort.
--> In earth-shattering, election-strategy news today, the Obama Campaign announced that it was pulling out of North Dakota. That's right, Obama's 11 field offices will be shut down, and workers redeployed to Minnesota and Wisconsin. I personally think it is fool-hardy to forfeit the 3 electoral votes of the home-state of the winning contestants of both Cycle 5 and Cycle 7 of America's Next Top Model, but more and more the electoral map is looking like it did in 2004. Obama has expanded the map to a certain degree, and will probably come closer in places like Georgia and North Dakota than any Democrat has in awhile. However, the only remaining Red States that Obama is targetting are Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, and Indiana. Still not a bad list.
--> Continuing our theme of surprising news items, today John McCain's chief strategist Steve Schmidt attacked the New York Times for being biased. I'm just gonna pass on this. I think from now on, whenever a Republican operative attacks a credible news organization for printing facts (which tend to hurt their side of the debate), I'm just going to post this:
--> In more irrelevant, why-on-earth-is-the-media-focusing-on-this news, it turns out that John McCain owns 13 cars and Barack Obama owns one (a hybrid at that). To make matters worse, two of McCain's cars are foreign-made. To play devil's advocate here, more Americans own foreign-made cars than American-made. So maybe this is a sign that John McCain understands average Americans better than Barack Obama.
(and yes, this is the only picture I could find of 13 cars - sue me)You know, I have an idea. Let's just evaluate these candidates on their positions in determining how much they care about ordinary Americans. Barack Obama wants to cut the taxes of 97% of Americans, ensure that everyone has access to healthcare, and recruit an army of teachers so that every American child can go to a public school and get a quality education. John McCain wants to cut taxes for the wealthy and the huge corporations, deregulate healthcare just like the economy has been deregulated, and has no education plan whatsoever. Hmm, I wonder who actually cares about ordinary Americans...
--> Andrew Sullivan notes that it's been 24 days since Sarah Palin became the potential next Vice-President of the United States, and she still hasn't give any sort of press conference or had plans to hold one. This is unprecedented in modern American politics, and I'd be surprised if it wasn't a matter of time before lots of people start wondering, "What are they hiding?"
Maybe she's getting help from this lady:
--> The focus of this coming week will be preparing for the debates, the first of which is on Friday. In the most cliched anecdotes this article could provide, Obama will prepare by playing basketball, and McCain will prepare by taking a nap (so that's what he was doing during the State of the Union).
However, the article does point out something very interesting. Obama's advisors are training him on how to provoke McCain. This is exactly what I would have suggested as well. Obama needs to go into that debate with a laundry list of vicious lies and smears that McCain's campaign has used against him. In one of these debates (not necessarily the first one), the moderators will almost certainly address the negativity surrounding this election, since the attacks have become an issue in themselves. Obama needs to take that opportunity to hammer McCain on all he's said about him, and then ask, "Have you no shame?" If a direct questioning of Mr. Former-POW's political honor doesn't get McCain (known for a hot temper) to lose his cool, nothing will. If McCain has any sort of minor meltdown in any of the three debates, this election is over, and he'll do everything he can to prevent one. It would also be a completely justified question.
--> And finally, Maureen Dowd and I are clearly on the same wavelength. Two of my last three entries have mentioned my firm conviction that no one would be able to handle our current political situation better than Former President Josiah Bartlet, fictional creation of Aaron Sorkin (scribe and resident-genius of The West Wing). Thus, Maureen Dowd did what I of lowly-blogger stature could not - she dialed Sorkin's number, and asked him WWBD? (What Would Bartlet Do?). Sorkin responded, and the result is a must-read.
--> As a special bonus, your quote of the day:
On asked about her brilliant performance as Sarah Palin on SNL:
"I want to be done playing this lady Nov. 5, so if anybody can help me be done playing this lady Nov. 5, that would be good for me." - Tina Fey
Friday, September 19, 2008
Terrifying Reality!!! 46 Days to Go!
Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT): "We are literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system, with all the implications, here at home and globally."
Congressional leaders met last night with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. They were informed that, in order to avoid an imminent financial catastrophe, as much as $1 trillion would be needed.
The measure would essentially work like this:
We the taxpayers, in order to form a less chaotic union, establish good credit, insure mortgages, provide for the economy, promote welfare of our banks, and secure the blessings of not-losing-your-house to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish a multi-hundred-billion dollar program to allow the federal government to basically buy all the bad mortgages off of every financial institution in the country.
It would be the biggest federal bailout in human history. It also reflects a bizarre occurrence, where one of the most conservative, free-market Presidents in American history is taking a step that smells distinctly of Marx and Engels. As Jonathan Martin cleverly notes, "We're all Socialists now."
It would also completely derail any plans that either Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain have - you know, just in terms of little policy details like spending and taxing. This changes everything - quite possibly hinders the ability for Obama to invest $150 billion in green technologies or to begin working towards universal healthcare. Also makes McCain's trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy even more ill-advised.
For context on how the two candidates must be feeling right now, go watch the West Wing episode "The Cold" (season 7), when President Bartlet sits the two candidates (both oddly reminiscent of Obama and McCain) and explains to them his plan to send 150,000 soldiers into Asia. When the financial reality of this plan hits them, the Republican candidate remarks, "I can say goodbye to my tax cut. Your education plan is certainly off the table."
The very news of this potential bailout sent stock markets around the world skyrocketing - Britain and China apparently saw their biggest gains in history.
I'll be back with a fuller post later this evening or tomorrow morning. I just felt that I should throw my two cents about this situation into the pot.
Congressional leaders met last night with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. They were informed that, in order to avoid an imminent financial catastrophe, as much as $1 trillion would be needed.
The measure would essentially work like this:
We the taxpayers, in order to form a less chaotic union, establish good credit, insure mortgages, provide for the economy, promote welfare of our banks, and secure the blessings of not-losing-your-house to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish a multi-hundred-billion dollar program to allow the federal government to basically buy all the bad mortgages off of every financial institution in the country.
It would be the biggest federal bailout in human history. It also reflects a bizarre occurrence, where one of the most conservative, free-market Presidents in American history is taking a step that smells distinctly of Marx and Engels. As Jonathan Martin cleverly notes, "We're all Socialists now."
It would also completely derail any plans that either Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain have - you know, just in terms of little policy details like spending and taxing. This changes everything - quite possibly hinders the ability for Obama to invest $150 billion in green technologies or to begin working towards universal healthcare. Also makes McCain's trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy even more ill-advised.
For context on how the two candidates must be feeling right now, go watch the West Wing episode "The Cold" (season 7), when President Bartlet sits the two candidates (both oddly reminiscent of Obama and McCain) and explains to them his plan to send 150,000 soldiers into Asia. When the financial reality of this plan hits them, the Republican candidate remarks, "I can say goodbye to my tax cut. Your education plan is certainly off the table."
The very news of this potential bailout sent stock markets around the world skyrocketing - Britain and China apparently saw their biggest gains in history.
I'll be back with a fuller post later this evening or tomorrow morning. I just felt that I should throw my two cents about this situation into the pot.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Federal Government Takes a Page From Lenin, While McCain Takes a Misused Page From Lennon! 48 Days to Go!
--> Today, the bleak economic situation took an even steeper downturn. The Dow Jones is already down more than 300 points (as of 1 PM), AIG shares are selling 44% lower, Morgan Stanley is down 15%, and the Mets are down .5 games (I know, I know - not entirely related to Wall Street).
This all follows from the surprising and dramatic announcement yesterday that the Federal Reserve will be purchasing an 80% controlling stake in AIG to prevent complete, worldwide economic disaster. Even more surprising is the fact that this is a Republican, conservative government. George W. Bush and his pals are known for railing against socialized-anything, and believe very strongly in the free-market system. Thus, for them to nationalize a major private corporation, a step reminiscent of the Russian Revolution in 1918, is very indicative of how serious this situation is. By the way, other cases of U.S. nationalization:
In other words, this is serious. Barack Obama and John McCain agree. They've spent the last two days talking about nothing but the financial crisis.
--> Barack Obama released an impressive, two-minute television ad today, in which he speaks directly to the camera, without gimicks or graphics, to carefully explain what he plans to do in response to this issue. Can we please stop saying he doesn't use specifics?
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Senator Obama's campaign, though, even as the latest tracking polls show the momentum beginning to swing back to his corner. The Senator's press release on the AIG bailout mistakenly referred to the company as American Insurance Group, instead of American International Group. Of course, this is a typo, and not a policy-relevant one at that. However, I had to try and find something to ridicule his campaign for, because I don't want to be too heavy-handed with the McCain campaign, otherwise they'll cry, "Sexism!" or "Liberal Media!" or "POW!" ... or something.
--> The Associated Press printed an interesting critique on McCain's campaign strategy, which seeks to portray him simultaneously as an experienced Washington hand and as a Washington outsider who's going to shake up the system. It's really quite impossible to be both, but like we've pointed out before, the McCain campaign isn't too concerned with "facts."
--> And speaking of facts, apparently John McCain and Al Gore do have something in common after all: both of them invented something. But while Gore has the audacity to claim the creation of something as vast as the internet, McCain is content to merely take credit for the Blackberry. That's right, the candidate who can't send e-mail is apparently willing to claim responsibility for the Blackberry, according to his top economic advisor. Douglas Holtz-Eakin waved his device around as he declared, "You're looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create." Miracle, eh?
And on the first day, McCain created the POW backstory, so that his character could be tested in a properly patriotic fashion. And McCain said it was good. And on the second day, McCain created the slew of vicious lies and attacks on his opponent, fully knowing that most Americans would never fact-check those ads. And though the pundits did shriek with rage, and the liberals did weep, Steve Schmidt said it was good. On the third day, McCain created the Blackberry. And though he tried to rest for a little while after that, McCain spent the next 4 days trying (and failing) to figure out how to use the Blackberry, finally deciding to merely ask his wife to use Google for him.
Because no hilarious statement by a McCain campaign operative goes unmocked, Ben Smith received a message from Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton signed, "Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld, a miracle made possible by John McCain."
--> Given an opportunity yesterday to mock two of his favorite targets, Barack Obama and Hollywood celebrities, simultaneously, John McCain spouted off against Obama's scheduled $11 million fundraiser hosted by Barbara Streisand. McCain insisted, "Let me tell you, my friends, there's no place I'd rather be than right here with the working men and women of Ohio." Then, seeing how well that line had worked, McCain pulled out his acoustic guitar and sang, "A working class hero is something to be." Because we all know that John McCain loves hippies.
And, like all champions of the working class, McCain then got on his wife's private company jet, and flew to Miami where he hosted a $50,000 per plate fundraiser, and generated $5.1 million for his campaign.
More hypocrisy, lies, deceit, and political intrigue to follow in my next post. Do I know what it'll be about yet? Of course not, but I feel that it's a fair assumption that I'll have some more ammo in that vein within a day or two.
This all follows from the surprising and dramatic announcement yesterday that the Federal Reserve will be purchasing an 80% controlling stake in AIG to prevent complete, worldwide economic disaster. Even more surprising is the fact that this is a Republican, conservative government. George W. Bush and his pals are known for railing against socialized-anything, and believe very strongly in the free-market system. Thus, for them to nationalize a major private corporation, a step reminiscent of the Russian Revolution in 1918, is very indicative of how serious this situation is. By the way, other cases of U.S. nationalization:
- federal control over the nation's railroads during World War I (then returned to private ownership after the war)
- the Tennessee Valley Authority of FDR's New Deal
- Amtrack
- nationalization of the airport security industry in response to 9/11
- and most recently the buyouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
In other words, this is serious. Barack Obama and John McCain agree. They've spent the last two days talking about nothing but the financial crisis.
--> Barack Obama released an impressive, two-minute television ad today, in which he speaks directly to the camera, without gimicks or graphics, to carefully explain what he plans to do in response to this issue. Can we please stop saying he doesn't use specifics?
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Senator Obama's campaign, though, even as the latest tracking polls show the momentum beginning to swing back to his corner. The Senator's press release on the AIG bailout mistakenly referred to the company as American Insurance Group, instead of American International Group. Of course, this is a typo, and not a policy-relevant one at that. However, I had to try and find something to ridicule his campaign for, because I don't want to be too heavy-handed with the McCain campaign, otherwise they'll cry, "Sexism!" or "Liberal Media!" or "POW!" ... or something.
--> The Associated Press printed an interesting critique on McCain's campaign strategy, which seeks to portray him simultaneously as an experienced Washington hand and as a Washington outsider who's going to shake up the system. It's really quite impossible to be both, but like we've pointed out before, the McCain campaign isn't too concerned with "facts."
--> And speaking of facts, apparently John McCain and Al Gore do have something in common after all: both of them invented something. But while Gore has the audacity to claim the creation of something as vast as the internet, McCain is content to merely take credit for the Blackberry. That's right, the candidate who can't send e-mail is apparently willing to claim responsibility for the Blackberry, according to his top economic advisor. Douglas Holtz-Eakin waved his device around as he declared, "You're looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create." Miracle, eh?
And on the first day, McCain created the POW backstory, so that his character could be tested in a properly patriotic fashion. And McCain said it was good. And on the second day, McCain created the slew of vicious lies and attacks on his opponent, fully knowing that most Americans would never fact-check those ads. And though the pundits did shriek with rage, and the liberals did weep, Steve Schmidt said it was good. On the third day, McCain created the Blackberry. And though he tried to rest for a little while after that, McCain spent the next 4 days trying (and failing) to figure out how to use the Blackberry, finally deciding to merely ask his wife to use Google for him.
Because no hilarious statement by a McCain campaign operative goes unmocked, Ben Smith received a message from Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton signed, "Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld, a miracle made possible by John McCain."
--> Given an opportunity yesterday to mock two of his favorite targets, Barack Obama and Hollywood celebrities, simultaneously, John McCain spouted off against Obama's scheduled $11 million fundraiser hosted by Barbara Streisand. McCain insisted, "Let me tell you, my friends, there's no place I'd rather be than right here with the working men and women of Ohio." Then, seeing how well that line had worked, McCain pulled out his acoustic guitar and sang, "A working class hero is something to be." Because we all know that John McCain loves hippies.
And, like all champions of the working class, McCain then got on his wife's private company jet, and flew to Miami where he hosted a $50,000 per plate fundraiser, and generated $5.1 million for his campaign.
More hypocrisy, lies, deceit, and political intrigue to follow in my next post. Do I know what it'll be about yet? Of course not, but I feel that it's a fair assumption that I'll have some more ammo in that vein within a day or two.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Disaster for Wall Street While McCain Insists the "Fundamentals of [My Campaign] are Still Strong!" 50 Days to Go!
Today, to an extent, I feel like Edward Norton here at the end of Fight Club.
It's admittedly really hard to focus on politics today. With all hyperbole set aside, America is now facing its biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Today, Lehman Brothers, a prominent securities firm, filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch narrowly avoided complete annihilation by selling itself to Bank of America for $50 billion. In addition, AIG, an "insurance giant," warned that without $40 billion from the Federal Reserve, it may only be able to survive a few more days. This all comes on the heels of the collapse of Bear Stearns and the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
This is that game-changing moment I was warning about all those months ago when this blog started. For all the punditry and predictions that fly around the media during a campaign, it can all go up in smoke when something like this happens. John McCain and Barack Obama can't control the financial markets, but to a large extent those markets will now control their campaigns, and to an extent the results of this election.
--> One important point of note as we head into this crisis, neither Obama nor McCain have really spent much time talking (at all, let alone in detail) about the financial situation in this country, nor have they spoken about what they plan to do about it. Neither of these candidates is an economist (where's Jed Bartlet when you need him?), and it's likely that neither of them really understands the complexities of the market without their advisors walking them through it. Still, they both have a narrative to tell, and will try to frame this crisis within the way they want to play this race.
Obama blames much of this current crisis on eight years of failed leadership - with a lack of consumer protection, loosened regulation, and encouraging enormous CEO bonuses while not protecting middle class Americans. McCain, on the other hand, attacks government bureaucracy and promises to use his new favorite phrase, "shake up Washington," as much as possible when describing what he and Sarah Palin are going to do.
Just an aside here, this is how I'm starting to think that John McCain and Sarah Palin view the federal government:
However, John McCain immediately went out on the stump today, and demonstrated why economics are considered his Achilles' Heel. He argued that despite today's news (and despite the fact that our current situation is very difficult), "THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR ECONOMY ARE STRONG." Team Obama pounced immediately on what would be considered a gaffe from any other candidate, but from John McCain is merely his economic policy. Biden, speaking in Michigan, said, "But friends, I could walk from here to Lansing, and I wouldn’t run into a single person who thought our economy was doing well, unless I ran into John McCain."
And what perfect timing that this would come the day after a McCain economic advisor prints an op-ed in the Washington Post arguing that everyone is exaggerating the current financial crisis, and that people should stop freaking out.
Or, for that matter, mere days after Alan Greenspan argued that the United States can't afford John McCain's proposed $3.3 trillion (not a typo) in tax cuts for the wealthy without cutting just as much from spending. McCain has indeed proposed ways to cut spending: limiting earmarks and pork-barrel items in Congressional legislation. That is indeed a good start, except that all those programs have TOTALED $171 billion since 2001. Oops.
Out-of-touch is once again the order of the day:
7 houses...he thinks.
"Nation of whiners."
Tax cuts for the wealthy that we can't afford.
"I don't know much about the economy."
Voted with Bush 90% of the time.
"Divorced from reality."
If this financial crisis does put the focus of every voter back on the economy, look for Barack Obama to gain significantly on McCain (and most likely surpass him) in the coming days and weeks in tracking polls. Of course, that could all change at the presidential debates. McCain's mission there will to make Obama look inexperienced and unsure of the facts about the markets. If he gets Obama to slip up or say that he doesn't know something, it'll reinforce all the doubts people have about Obama's readiness. Thus, if Obama takes the lead thanks to this crisis (and it is truly bizarre to think about a devestating financial situation in callous, political terms), he could just play defense at the debates (at least on economic issues). On the other hand, it would be in his best interests to keep firing away at McCain over his complete disconnect from the problems of average Americans.
--> This all comes right after McCain's campaign repeatedly took an elbow to the face from the media all weekend. They were called out for blatantly lying:
- first for an attack ad claiming that Barack Obama sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate to teach sexual education to kindergarteners, although the bill was merely to warn kids about the dangers of child predators
- then for continuing to claim that Sarah Palin fought the Bridge to Nowhere
- then it turned out that Sarah Palin never actually "visited" Iraq, she only stopped at the border...oh, and she also never really visited Ireland - that was a fueling stop
- then it was discovered that the McCain campaign had been exaggerated those figures of enormous crowds at the McCain-Palin rallies lately
- also, it was discovered that Sarah Palin was the earmark queen of Alaska...before she was against them.
--> McCain's ads have actually strayed so far from the truth that Mr. Political-Ethics himself decided to weigh in, and mention that they weren't exactly 100% accurate. That's right, KARL ROVE is concerned with the truthfulness and decency of John McCain's campaign. This is the guy who said, ""Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers."
--> On the lighter side of things, a publishing company sends the McCain campaign a letter offering the Senator one-on-one tutoring in computer literacy from Abby Stokes, author of the book, Is This Thing On? A Computer Handbook for Late Bloomers, Technophobes, and the Kicking & Screaming. One wonders which of those three categories McCain fits into.
--> And on the even lighter side, Tina Fey appeared as Sarah Palin (or possibly the other way around, I really can't tell the difference) on SNL Saturday night (while Amy Poehler played opposite her as Senator Clinton). During the season premiere of 30 Rock, I'm going to start a stopwatch to see how long it takes before Alec Baldwin confuses Tina Fey's character with the Republican vice-presidential nominee. I'm setting the over/under at 17 minutes, although based on recent plot developments, it might take longer than that before they're in the same room together.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Off to New York for the Weekend!
And speaking of New York, a certain Democratic nominee and a certain Republican nominee were there yesterday (clearly wanting to beat me to Columbia's campus in case I came fully armed with the truth - which I always am). Check out what Columbia's own premiere bloggers had to say about the event, which focused on WE-CAN'T-GET-ALONG-BECAUSE-YOU-KEEP-LYING-ABOUT-MY-RECORD...I mean, service.
EDC shall return, stronger than ever, on Sunday.
By then, I expect Sarah Palin to be a skid-mark on the underpants of society.
EDC shall return, stronger than ever, on Sunday.
By then, I expect Sarah Palin to be a skid-mark on the underpants of society.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
No Post Today
Today, as both the candidates can actually agree, is not a day for politics, but instead for reflection.
You can watch John McCain and Barack Obama talk about service at Columbia University, tonight at 8 on CNN (and possibly other channels).
You can watch John McCain and Barack Obama talk about service at Columbia University, tonight at 8 on CNN (and possibly other channels).
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Mr. Personality & Ms. Gongeniality, Bridges to Who-Knows-Where, And My Hair Falls Out One Poll At a Time! 56 Days to Go!
Sorry for the delay, folks. I've been a little bit over-extended lately, but I'm hoping that this will get me back on track. However, I'm sure that my delay is in some part due to...
--> Post-RNC polling. Yes, yes, I know that they don't mean much. Voters have short memories, and McCain's bounce will fade just like Obama's did. But what if it doesn't? 4 years ago, the RNC changed the dynamics of a race that Kerry was leading all summer, and I'm afraid that it may have happened again. Tracking polls show McCain leading anywhere from 1% to 5% ahead of Obama.
--> And the Republicans are good at this game. McCain's campaign has clearly seized on the focus that will win them this race: personality over issues. Apparently, they've realized that McCain's policies are anything but those of an "original maverick." Thus, they've settled on a personality contest: McCain the POW versus Obama the "What's a Community Organizer?". Obama has more popular (or in the context of this race/reality: better) plans than McCain on just about every issue: bringing the troops home, focusing on Afghanistan/Pakistan, increasing funding for charter schools, merit pay for teachers and higher accountability of teachers who stay in the classroom, working towards universal healthcare, a massive investment in green technologies and programs to train our veterans in those industries.
If this race is about the issues, McCain loses. This country is sick of the way that Bush and his party have run our government, and people are looking for a change. McCain has to emphasize that he is a better man than Obama, and someone who can better relate to "the people" (which would make sense as McCain probably has more neighbors with his 9 houses than Obama does). So, he just has to talk about how he's going to "shake up Washington," talk about his POW experience...oh wait, people have stopped listening. At this point, McCain stops talking, takes a seat, and brings out Palin.
--> Because if this is a personality contest, there's really no better person to have on your side than a pit bull in lipstick/Ms. Congeniality (haven't quite figured out how those two go together). But Palin has indeed closed the enthusiasm gap - people seem to absolutely love her, seemingly more than the guy at the top of the ticket. She even has her own action figure (NOT A DOLL!). Unfortunately, it would appear that Palin's bragging about her record is as fake as her doll looks.
--> In the McCain/Palin Campaign's latest (and lyingest) video yet, they tout McCain and his Trophy-Running-Mate as people who will shake up Washington. "He fights pork-barrel spending. She stopped the Bridge to Nowhere." Sadly, it would appear that this wasn't exactly the case. Palin, who was much to her own cerca-2008 chagrin appears to have been far from the governor-crusader against pork that she now claims to be, apparently was for the bridge before she was against it. Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post writes, "She endorsed the remote project while running for governor in 2006, claimed to be an opponent only after Congress killed its funding the next year and has used the $223 million provided for it for other state ventures. Far from being an opponent of earmarks, Palin hired lobbyists to try to capture more federal funding." This truly is change you can believe in, if only in the same sense that you can close your eyes, clap your hands and shout, "I believe in fairies!"
--> But wait, the McCain/Palin Blatant-Lies Express continues trecking forward. The Washington Post reports that Sarah Palin, during her first 19 months in office, charged a government allowance intended to cover travel expenses for state business for 312 nights. Unfortunately, those 312 nights were spent in her own home. The taxpayers of Alaska paid Sarah Palin to stay almost a full calendar year in her house. Then again, I would certainly pay Sarah Palin and John McCain $16,951 to spend the next 4 years in Wasilla, Alaska.
--> Meanwhile, Senator Joe Lieberman (something-CT) today discovered that the throngs of adoring fans he saw in Minnesota don't accurately reflect the opinions of everyone around him. When he returned to Capitol Hill, he was greeted by the resignation of his legislative director (who makes $120K per year). Considering that he didn't appear to have any solid employment plans, it would appear that he just got sick of his boss making an ass of himself. Luckily, Lieberman himself will be looking for work again in just 4 years.
--> And because this whole entry has been angry and relatively morbid, I urge you to check out this video - wait til the ending when Senator Norm Coleman tries to explain what he thinks of his fellow Republican, President George W. Bush.
By Friday, I promise you a much better entry. Namely, I'm going to write the speech that Obama should give were he ever given a chance to speak directly to the American public between now and Election Day.
Also coming up on EDC, I'll be previewing each of the Presidential (and Vice-Presidential) "debates," and suggesting questions that Senators Obama and Biden should use to cross-examine McCain and Palin (but probably won't use).
Today, of course, is primary day in the state of New York for local races. In particular, I noticed that the 102nd State Assembly District has a terrific candidate running for the Democratic nomination. Best of luck to him!
--> Post-RNC polling. Yes, yes, I know that they don't mean much. Voters have short memories, and McCain's bounce will fade just like Obama's did. But what if it doesn't? 4 years ago, the RNC changed the dynamics of a race that Kerry was leading all summer, and I'm afraid that it may have happened again. Tracking polls show McCain leading anywhere from 1% to 5% ahead of Obama.
--> And the Republicans are good at this game. McCain's campaign has clearly seized on the focus that will win them this race: personality over issues. Apparently, they've realized that McCain's policies are anything but those of an "original maverick." Thus, they've settled on a personality contest: McCain the POW versus Obama the "What's a Community Organizer?". Obama has more popular (or in the context of this race/reality: better) plans than McCain on just about every issue: bringing the troops home, focusing on Afghanistan/Pakistan, increasing funding for charter schools, merit pay for teachers and higher accountability of teachers who stay in the classroom, working towards universal healthcare, a massive investment in green technologies and programs to train our veterans in those industries.
If this race is about the issues, McCain loses. This country is sick of the way that Bush and his party have run our government, and people are looking for a change. McCain has to emphasize that he is a better man than Obama, and someone who can better relate to "the people" (which would make sense as McCain probably has more neighbors with his 9 houses than Obama does). So, he just has to talk about how he's going to "shake up Washington," talk about his POW experience...oh wait, people have stopped listening. At this point, McCain stops talking, takes a seat, and brings out Palin.
--> Because if this is a personality contest, there's really no better person to have on your side than a pit bull in lipstick/Ms. Congeniality (haven't quite figured out how those two go together). But Palin has indeed closed the enthusiasm gap - people seem to absolutely love her, seemingly more than the guy at the top of the ticket. She even has her own action figure (NOT A DOLL!). Unfortunately, it would appear that Palin's bragging about her record is as fake as her doll looks.
--> In the McCain/Palin Campaign's latest (and lyingest) video yet, they tout McCain and his Trophy-Running-Mate as people who will shake up Washington. "He fights pork-barrel spending. She stopped the Bridge to Nowhere." Sadly, it would appear that this wasn't exactly the case. Palin, who was much to her own cerca-2008 chagrin appears to have been far from the governor-crusader against pork that she now claims to be, apparently was for the bridge before she was against it. Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post writes, "She endorsed the remote project while running for governor in 2006, claimed to be an opponent only after Congress killed its funding the next year and has used the $223 million provided for it for other state ventures. Far from being an opponent of earmarks, Palin hired lobbyists to try to capture more federal funding." This truly is change you can believe in, if only in the same sense that you can close your eyes, clap your hands and shout, "I believe in fairies!"
--> But wait, the McCain/Palin Blatant-Lies Express continues trecking forward. The Washington Post reports that Sarah Palin, during her first 19 months in office, charged a government allowance intended to cover travel expenses for state business for 312 nights. Unfortunately, those 312 nights were spent in her own home. The taxpayers of Alaska paid Sarah Palin to stay almost a full calendar year in her house. Then again, I would certainly pay Sarah Palin and John McCain $16,951 to spend the next 4 years in Wasilla, Alaska.
--> Meanwhile, Senator Joe Lieberman (something-CT) today discovered that the throngs of adoring fans he saw in Minnesota don't accurately reflect the opinions of everyone around him. When he returned to Capitol Hill, he was greeted by the resignation of his legislative director (who makes $120K per year). Considering that he didn't appear to have any solid employment plans, it would appear that he just got sick of his boss making an ass of himself. Luckily, Lieberman himself will be looking for work again in just 4 years.
--> And because this whole entry has been angry and relatively morbid, I urge you to check out this video - wait til the ending when Senator Norm Coleman tries to explain what he thinks of his fellow Republican, President George W. Bush.
By Friday, I promise you a much better entry. Namely, I'm going to write the speech that Obama should give were he ever given a chance to speak directly to the American public between now and Election Day.
Also coming up on EDC, I'll be previewing each of the Presidential (and Vice-Presidential) "debates," and suggesting questions that Senators Obama and Biden should use to cross-examine McCain and Palin (but probably won't use).
Today, of course, is primary day in the state of New York for local races. In particular, I noticed that the 102nd State Assembly District has a terrific candidate running for the Democratic nomination. Best of luck to him!
Friday, September 5, 2008
EDC Special Edition Guest Report: Harrison Live(ish) From Denver!
Readers of Election Day Countdown, it gives me great pleasure to welcome Harrison Garcia to the staff as our first on-the-scene reporter, covering the insanity that was the Democratic National Convention. He deserves more of an introduction than this, but I think we'd all be better served to let him do the talking. So without further ado:
Democraroo 2008: Jammin for Change!
Headliners to include Barack Obama with the Change Orchestra! Joe Biden! Special acoustic set by Al Gore, Michelle Obama, Billary Clinton, and the Senate Funkadellic!
Headliners to include Barack Obama with the Change Orchestra! Joe Biden! Special acoustic set by Al Gore, Michelle Obama, Billary Clinton, and the Senate Funkadellic!
As I packed up my guitar and headed for the lite-rail home on Friday afternoon after jazz ensemble, I couldn't help but notice how the campus of the University of Colorado at Denver, a place literally across the street from the now-infamous Pepsi Center, was starting to change. Construction crews started walling us in with barricades that stretched across the entire campus. Guys in black suits were driving around in large, black SUVs with the kind of attitude that says "Don't fuck with me, I'm in the Secret Service." And that was just the beginnining.
All this past summer, Denver had been buzzing about the arrival of the DNC. At first, it was mostly just talk about how to volunteer, good concerts happening because of it, and how careful you needed to be because of the beefed-up police force.
Restaurants downtown started hiring people like mad, anticipating the rush that was no-doubt going to befall them. (Working at an Indian restaurant in the spring/early summer had shown me that Denver is really a city that relies heavily on conventions coming to town to increase business; usually, the restaurant was insanely packed during any kind of event at the Convention Center, yet fairly slow any other time, even on a weekend).
But as the event drew closer, it became increasingly obvious that this wasn't just going to be your average convention of dentists or pharmacists. Just a week before the convention, it was leaked by a reporter (who had just snuck in and started taking pictures) that the Denver Police had built a facility to hold protestors.
A day later, they released a statement that said they had been planning to tell the public. Sure......
I also heard from a friend that the city was not just expecting politicians and protestors, but also a group of business-people very closely associated with politics: prostitutes.
Having signed up to volunteer for the Democratic Party Welcome Committee, I received an email that sent me to a hotel just one block from the 16th Street Mall (an outdoor pedestrian mall that is the heart of downtown. I, like many residents of downtown-Denver, spend a nice chunk of time down here, as there is literally one of every kind of store/theater/restaurant/attraction. I also often play guitar on the sidewalk, as there is nothing requiring you to have a permit to play. More on that later...)
The email said that the city was expecting more than 50,000 visitors and $160 million dollars in additional revenue. While the entire city of Denver itself can best be described as sprawling, the actual "downtown" part of the city is about 10 city blocks. 50,000 additional people. You do the math...
And it felt like it. On Monday morning, I went down to the 16th Street Mall with my guitar, knowing that this was the best time to cash in on my ability to strum and sing loudly. Stepping out of the lite-rail, I couldn't help but feel a bit homesick for New York City. I had to re-employ my abilities to weave through an extremely large and diverse crowd while holding a guitar case; I never have to do that in Denver.
Busking proved to be the best way to really get to see everything that the DNC had to offer. I saw guys in suits with haircuts that cost no less than $300, followed by an entourage of people in suits with far less expensive cuts. In addition to the police forces from literally every Denver suburb walking around, I could see SUVs with swat-gear-wearing men hanging off the sides cruising around at regular intervals.
As you may have expected, the protests were many. Due to intense security restrictions that meant that any un-credentialed (regular) person couldn't get within 5 blocks of the Pepsi Center and the actual convention, most of the protesting happened either at Civic Center Park (on one end of the Mall) or in the streets of the city itself; this meant that the protests were witnessed by the people, not the politicians. Groups of protestors paraded down the street at least once an hour, each one holding up a huge banner that held their particular issue on it. At one point, a group of about 5 Bible-thumpers began to scream into a megaphone and parade around with signs that told us we were all going to Hell. They were quickly surrounded by swat-team members that seemed unsure of exactly what to do other than just stand there and look threatening.
(Alex Kane, a mutual friend of EDC who stayed at my house while here on assignmetnt, was one of the few journalists in Denver covering only the protests. Check out the articles he wrote, as almost all of the mainstream-media focused only on what was going on inside.)
I played alone for a few hours before being joined by my friend Chris on the djembe. As we jammed along on the sidewalk, all sorts of people came by to record us on either film or video; news crews, tourists, and just plain curious folks all seemed to want to capture the sheer insanity that was this event. At one point, a group of hippies that must have been tripping came up to us and started dancing as if we were the Grateful Dead. It was then, as I looked up and down the street, that I realized that the DNC was just a really big fesitval.
And no festival would be complete without some great merch. Even a week after Obama's final speech, there are still tents and tables set up downtown, making a killing on Democrat-themed t-shirts, buttons, hats, stickers, and yes, even dolls.
Throughout the week, I saw many hilarious and interesting t-shirts. In the true spirit of democracy, I'm asking Ben to start a poll at EDC so that you, the people, can pick the best shirt of Democraroo. (Editor's Note: The poll will be added along with this entry -go to the right-hand column - Ben would also like to point out that Harrison is clearly still channeling the spirit of Skip Champion.) I've narrowed down the choices to three (automatic honorable mention goes to all the Obama shirts that are being made int eh same exact style as the Tupac and Biggie shirts that get sold at every t-shirt store in America...also, I give credit to whoever thought of this). Editor's Note: I actually have a poster with that design - it was issued officially by the Obama Campaign on St. Patrick's Day weekend, and we had them all over our campus. There's one hanging above my laptop as I type.
1. Barackstar: Energizing the Economy
(It managed to combine two of my loves: Obama and energy drinks. I apologize that I was not able to find a picture of the actual shirt, but imagine this one exactly, except with the words BARACKSTAR: Energizing the Economy and Obama's face where the star is.)
2. Brush that dirt off your shoulder
(speaks for itself, really)
3. Obama in the AC/DC logo.
My personal favorite (and the one I bought, as you can see). By the way, this was a gig we did the night before the convention started at a theater on the west side of town. It's interesting to note that the entire rest of the city was pretty much unaffected by the convention; most of Denver feels a lot like a suburb, and this attitude was mostly undisturbed.
(Special thanks to my roommate/band mate/incredible friend Mike Golas for the b&w pictures.)
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When not soaking up the vibe of this city or practicing the guitar, I volunteered at the info desk of the Oxford Hotel, just 3 blocks from the barricade/entrance to the convention. I had the pleasure of working with a very nice lady named Karen, who had already put in a day of work before I came and started. She had the entire city down as far as which celebs were staying where: turns out that the Oxford was host to Al Franken, Richard Dreyfus, and the entire Kennedy family (apparently, she had found out, the master suite was officially unoccupied, which can only mean that ol-Ted himself must have crashed there). At one point during one of our shifts, we debated for about 10 minutes as to whether a man standing on the other side of the room was James Carville. I still think it was...
On the last day of the convention, we were sitting at the desk, scheming of how we could get tickets to see Obama speak at Invesco Field. Just that morning it had been officially announced that Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow, and the Yonder Mountain String Band (one of my favorites, and one of the best Colorado-based bands around) were going to be playing, as well. We started dialing through a list of numbers we had been given in case of an "emergency," in the hopes that we could get in touch with someone that could hook us up.
Karen decided to go talk to the hotel staff, while I kept talking to the voicemails of differnet offices. Miraculously, one of the concierges had gotten two passes from someone as a thank-you for a good week of service. Since he was working that night, he gave them to us. We abandoned our post and immediately got on the shuttle to the event.
The rest is really hard to describe in words, so I'll just send you over here.
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Overall, the DNC was an incredible experience for everyone who was lucky enough to find themselves a mile high. I'm extremely pleased (both for the city of Denver and for the Democratic Party) that the protestor violence was as low as it was, and that the convention as a whole went off without too much drama. Life in Denver is pretty much back to norma;l; the barricades at UCD are down and we're back to school, and the 16th Street Mall is back to its usual moderate foot-traffic.
Politically, I feel that the DNC was a really huge success for the Democrats. The party-line now seems to be that everyone needs to get behind Obama, simply because we need to have a Democrat in the White House (there were buttons that said "Hillary supporter for Obama. As anyone who even remotely followed the primaries and their aftermath can tell you, tha t pretty much sums it up); it seems as if most of the infighting is now gone, and the party is really unified. Obama's speech definitely did show him as a strong candidate that won't take shit from McCain anymore; it seems as if he's going to win over the independents/stragglers by painting McCain as Bush Part II (or Part III, if you think about it), which is totally logical both from a strategy standpoint and from a, well...., logical standpoint.
Considering the news of the past week (her daughter is pregnant? Really...like...really?) and the actual comradery that the DNC stirred up, I feel confident in Obama to get this thing done. I'm also very curious to see what, if any, party-line ideal emerges from the RNC.
We now return to our regular programming.......
Amazing work, Harrison. If anything else remotely political comes to Denver, be sure to let us know. This actually goes out to all of EDC's readership - if you know of an event heading your way that has any relation to this year's presidential or senate or house or governor's races, feel free to contribute an account of your experiences/thoughts. Hint hint, Columbia students.
All this past summer, Denver had been buzzing about the arrival of the DNC. At first, it was mostly just talk about how to volunteer, good concerts happening because of it, and how careful you needed to be because of the beefed-up police force.
Restaurants downtown started hiring people like mad, anticipating the rush that was no-doubt going to befall them. (Working at an Indian restaurant in the spring/early summer had shown me that Denver is really a city that relies heavily on conventions coming to town to increase business; usually, the restaurant was insanely packed during any kind of event at the Convention Center, yet fairly slow any other time, even on a weekend).
But as the event drew closer, it became increasingly obvious that this wasn't just going to be your average convention of dentists or pharmacists. Just a week before the convention, it was leaked by a reporter (who had just snuck in and started taking pictures) that the Denver Police had built a facility to hold protestors.
A day later, they released a statement that said they had been planning to tell the public. Sure......
I also heard from a friend that the city was not just expecting politicians and protestors, but also a group of business-people very closely associated with politics: prostitutes.
Having signed up to volunteer for the Democratic Party Welcome Committee, I received an email that sent me to a hotel just one block from the 16th Street Mall (an outdoor pedestrian mall that is the heart of downtown. I, like many residents of downtown-Denver, spend a nice chunk of time down here, as there is literally one of every kind of store/theater/restaurant/attraction. I also often play guitar on the sidewalk, as there is nothing requiring you to have a permit to play. More on that later...)
The email said that the city was expecting more than 50,000 visitors and $160 million dollars in additional revenue. While the entire city of Denver itself can best be described as sprawling, the actual "downtown" part of the city is about 10 city blocks. 50,000 additional people. You do the math...
And it felt like it. On Monday morning, I went down to the 16th Street Mall with my guitar, knowing that this was the best time to cash in on my ability to strum and sing loudly. Stepping out of the lite-rail, I couldn't help but feel a bit homesick for New York City. I had to re-employ my abilities to weave through an extremely large and diverse crowd while holding a guitar case; I never have to do that in Denver.
Busking proved to be the best way to really get to see everything that the DNC had to offer. I saw guys in suits with haircuts that cost no less than $300, followed by an entourage of people in suits with far less expensive cuts. In addition to the police forces from literally every Denver suburb walking around, I could see SUVs with swat-gear-wearing men hanging off the sides cruising around at regular intervals.
As you may have expected, the protests were many. Due to intense security restrictions that meant that any un-credentialed (regular) person couldn't get within 5 blocks of the Pepsi Center and the actual convention, most of the protesting happened either at Civic Center Park (on one end of the Mall) or in the streets of the city itself; this meant that the protests were witnessed by the people, not the politicians. Groups of protestors paraded down the street at least once an hour, each one holding up a huge banner that held their particular issue on it. At one point, a group of about 5 Bible-thumpers began to scream into a megaphone and parade around with signs that told us we were all going to Hell. They were quickly surrounded by swat-team members that seemed unsure of exactly what to do other than just stand there and look threatening.
(Alex Kane, a mutual friend of EDC who stayed at my house while here on assignmetnt, was one of the few journalists in Denver covering only the protests. Check out the articles he wrote, as almost all of the mainstream-media focused only on what was going on inside.)
I played alone for a few hours before being joined by my friend Chris on the djembe. As we jammed along on the sidewalk, all sorts of people came by to record us on either film or video; news crews, tourists, and just plain curious folks all seemed to want to capture the sheer insanity that was this event. At one point, a group of hippies that must have been tripping came up to us and started dancing as if we were the Grateful Dead. It was then, as I looked up and down the street, that I realized that the DNC was just a really big fesitval.
And no festival would be complete without some great merch. Even a week after Obama's final speech, there are still tents and tables set up downtown, making a killing on Democrat-themed t-shirts, buttons, hats, stickers, and yes, even dolls.
Throughout the week, I saw many hilarious and interesting t-shirts. In the true spirit of democracy, I'm asking Ben to start a poll at EDC so that you, the people, can pick the best shirt of Democraroo. (Editor's Note: The poll will be added along with this entry -go to the right-hand column - Ben would also like to point out that Harrison is clearly still channeling the spirit of Skip Champion.) I've narrowed down the choices to three (automatic honorable mention goes to all the Obama shirts that are being made int eh same exact style as the Tupac and Biggie shirts that get sold at every t-shirt store in America...also, I give credit to whoever thought of this). Editor's Note: I actually have a poster with that design - it was issued officially by the Obama Campaign on St. Patrick's Day weekend, and we had them all over our campus. There's one hanging above my laptop as I type.
1. Barackstar: Energizing the Economy
(It managed to combine two of my loves: Obama and energy drinks. I apologize that I was not able to find a picture of the actual shirt, but imagine this one exactly, except with the words BARACKSTAR: Energizing the Economy and Obama's face where the star is.)
2. Brush that dirt off your shoulder
(speaks for itself, really)
3. Obama in the AC/DC logo.
My personal favorite (and the one I bought, as you can see). By the way, this was a gig we did the night before the convention started at a theater on the west side of town. It's interesting to note that the entire rest of the city was pretty much unaffected by the convention; most of Denver feels a lot like a suburb, and this attitude was mostly undisturbed.
(Special thanks to my roommate/band mate/incredible friend Mike Golas for the b&w pictures.)
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When not soaking up the vibe of this city or practicing the guitar, I volunteered at the info desk of the Oxford Hotel, just 3 blocks from the barricade/entrance to the convention. I had the pleasure of working with a very nice lady named Karen, who had already put in a day of work before I came and started. She had the entire city down as far as which celebs were staying where: turns out that the Oxford was host to Al Franken, Richard Dreyfus, and the entire Kennedy family (apparently, she had found out, the master suite was officially unoccupied, which can only mean that ol-Ted himself must have crashed there). At one point during one of our shifts, we debated for about 10 minutes as to whether a man standing on the other side of the room was James Carville. I still think it was...
On the last day of the convention, we were sitting at the desk, scheming of how we could get tickets to see Obama speak at Invesco Field. Just that morning it had been officially announced that Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow, and the Yonder Mountain String Band (one of my favorites, and one of the best Colorado-based bands around) were going to be playing, as well. We started dialing through a list of numbers we had been given in case of an "emergency," in the hopes that we could get in touch with someone that could hook us up.
Karen decided to go talk to the hotel staff, while I kept talking to the voicemails of differnet offices. Miraculously, one of the concierges had gotten two passes from someone as a thank-you for a good week of service. Since he was working that night, he gave them to us. We abandoned our post and immediately got on the shuttle to the event.
The rest is really hard to describe in words, so I'll just send you over here.
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Overall, the DNC was an incredible experience for everyone who was lucky enough to find themselves a mile high. I'm extremely pleased (both for the city of Denver and for the Democratic Party) that the protestor violence was as low as it was, and that the convention as a whole went off without too much drama. Life in Denver is pretty much back to norma;l; the barricades at UCD are down and we're back to school, and the 16th Street Mall is back to its usual moderate foot-traffic.
Politically, I feel that the DNC was a really huge success for the Democrats. The party-line now seems to be that everyone needs to get behind Obama, simply because we need to have a Democrat in the White House (there were buttons that said "Hillary supporter for Obama. As anyone who even remotely followed the primaries and their aftermath can tell you, tha t pretty much sums it up); it seems as if most of the infighting is now gone, and the party is really unified. Obama's speech definitely did show him as a strong candidate that won't take shit from McCain anymore; it seems as if he's going to win over the independents/stragglers by painting McCain as Bush Part II (or Part III, if you think about it), which is totally logical both from a strategy standpoint and from a, well...., logical standpoint.
Considering the news of the past week (her daughter is pregnant? Really...like...really?) and the actual comradery that the DNC stirred up, I feel confident in Obama to get this thing done. I'm also very curious to see what, if any, party-line ideal emerges from the RNC.
We now return to our regular programming.......
Amazing work, Harrison. If anything else remotely political comes to Denver, be sure to let us know. This actually goes out to all of EDC's readership - if you know of an event heading your way that has any relation to this year's presidential or senate or house or governor's races, feel free to contribute an account of your experiences/thoughts. Hint hint, Columbia students.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The Cautionary Tale of a Surprise VP Choice From an Obscure State! 62 Days to Go!
Ladies and Gentlemen, the last few days have been a lesson to anyone planning on running for president/running a presidential campaign on why it's important to pick a running mate who's been properly vetted. So today, EDC brings you a special treat: our first (and perhaps last) installment of
Fun Facts That You Probably Didn't Know About Sarah Palin Before She Became the Vice-Presidential Nominee - and Now Make You Question McCain's Judgment (or FFTYPDKASPBSBTVPN-ANMYQMJ for short...ish).
--> The big news, of course, is that Sarah Palin's 17 year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. MSNBC's political blog greeted its readers with the headline: "Bristol Palin Pregnant - Right Now," as if we would assume "pregnant...5 years ago." Bristol apparently came to the decision by herself to keep the child and marry the father. It was really good to hear that she has the love and support of Governor Palin and her family, because anyone put in that situation deserves nothing less. At least this pregnancy puts to rest rumors that Governor Palin's latest child was, in fact, Bristol's and that Sarah had faked the pregnancy to cover it up.
The media initially had a field day with this news, even though it should be a relatively private matter (although it was always unlikely to be so in that sort of political environment). Palin even made the covers of both US Weekly and OK!, although not exactly in a flattering way.
Obama, meanwhile, spoke to the press and condemned their attention to this issue. He made it very clear that this has nothing to do with the election, and candidates' families are off-limits, and even drew on his own experience as the child of an 18 year-old, single mother to warn the media against pursuing this story so far. This certainly will make it harder for the GOP to accuse him of fanning the flames.
This story does, however, bring up the Republican ticket's sex-education views. Palin, in a 2006 survey, stated very clearly that she believes in abstinence-only sexual education. Hmm, that seems to have worked out well.
--> Then there was the story, later proven false, that Sarah Palin was once a member of the Alaskan Independence Party - a group whose "ultimate goal" is a popular vote to potentially allow Alaska to secede from the union. So this seems to clear up why the Conservative base loves Palin - she would have clearly symphathized with the Southern right to secede during the Northern War of Aggression. However, it seems that her husband was once a member.
--> Of course, there's her infamous "Troopergate" scandal. Basically, Governor Palin ordered Alaska's public safety commissioner to fire her ex-brother-in-law. When he refused, she fired him. The Republican-controlled state legislature is in the process of a $100,000 investigation into this firing, and whether or not she abused her executive power. The results of this investigation could be pretty interesting for the McCain Campaign. Of course, they still have about an hour to drop her from the ticket without agreement from the RNC. Once she's officially nominated by the Republican Party, McCain can't make that decision himself.
There's lots of other stuff to consider about Palin; there's the actuarial likelihood that McCain dies in office, a survey suggesting that former Clinton supporters aren't as blinded by rage as I thought, a Republican strategist belittling McCain's choice as being a failure, and the admission (an unsurprising one at that) that Palin was not very vetted before being asked to be McCain's running mate. In fact, she was only interviewed by McCain's top vetter the day before McCain asked her.
However, I have a ton of reading to do tonight, and a super-duper-special-secret-exciting-awaited post to prepare for publishing tomorrow. Be warned, it may be the highlight of EDC's 2008 Election coverage so far.
Fun Facts That You Probably Didn't Know About Sarah Palin Before She Became the Vice-Presidential Nominee - and Now Make You Question McCain's Judgment (or FFTYPDKASPBSBTVPN-ANMYQMJ for short...ish).
--> The big news, of course, is that Sarah Palin's 17 year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. MSNBC's political blog greeted its readers with the headline: "Bristol Palin Pregnant - Right Now," as if we would assume "pregnant...5 years ago." Bristol apparently came to the decision by herself to keep the child and marry the father. It was really good to hear that she has the love and support of Governor Palin and her family, because anyone put in that situation deserves nothing less. At least this pregnancy puts to rest rumors that Governor Palin's latest child was, in fact, Bristol's and that Sarah had faked the pregnancy to cover it up.
The media initially had a field day with this news, even though it should be a relatively private matter (although it was always unlikely to be so in that sort of political environment). Palin even made the covers of both US Weekly and OK!, although not exactly in a flattering way.
Obama, meanwhile, spoke to the press and condemned their attention to this issue. He made it very clear that this has nothing to do with the election, and candidates' families are off-limits, and even drew on his own experience as the child of an 18 year-old, single mother to warn the media against pursuing this story so far. This certainly will make it harder for the GOP to accuse him of fanning the flames.
This story does, however, bring up the Republican ticket's sex-education views. Palin, in a 2006 survey, stated very clearly that she believes in abstinence-only sexual education. Hmm, that seems to have worked out well.
--> Then there was the story, later proven false, that Sarah Palin was once a member of the Alaskan Independence Party - a group whose "ultimate goal" is a popular vote to potentially allow Alaska to secede from the union. So this seems to clear up why the Conservative base loves Palin - she would have clearly symphathized with the Southern right to secede during the Northern War of Aggression. However, it seems that her husband was once a member.
--> Of course, there's her infamous "Troopergate" scandal. Basically, Governor Palin ordered Alaska's public safety commissioner to fire her ex-brother-in-law. When he refused, she fired him. The Republican-controlled state legislature is in the process of a $100,000 investigation into this firing, and whether or not she abused her executive power. The results of this investigation could be pretty interesting for the McCain Campaign. Of course, they still have about an hour to drop her from the ticket without agreement from the RNC. Once she's officially nominated by the Republican Party, McCain can't make that decision himself.
There's lots of other stuff to consider about Palin; there's the actuarial likelihood that McCain dies in office, a survey suggesting that former Clinton supporters aren't as blinded by rage as I thought, a Republican strategist belittling McCain's choice as being a failure, and the admission (an unsurprising one at that) that Palin was not very vetted before being asked to be McCain's running mate. In fact, she was only interviewed by McCain's top vetter the day before McCain asked her.
However, I have a ton of reading to do tonight, and a super-duper-special-secret-exciting-awaited post to prepare for publishing tomorrow. Be warned, it may be the highlight of EDC's 2008 Election coverage so far.
Monday, September 1, 2008
RNC Halts Plans as McCain Avoids the Politically Destructive Fury of Hurricane Bush! 64 Days to Go!
It's good to be back on a semi-normal type of posting. The live-blogging was fun, but I ultimately prefer a chance to, well, think about my thoughts before I write them. I'll be sending some questions over to Harrison about the DNC in a couple days once I have my thoughts straightened out, or if he'd prefer he could write up a piece himself just detailing his experiences. In the meantime...
--> The big story the last couple days, outside of Sarah Palin, has been Hurricane Gustav bearing down on New Orleans, a storm that many fear will be more destructive than Katrina itself. Thus, for fear of being seen as political plutocrats who eat cake while New Orleans drowns (again, that is), the GOP has all but canceled the first night of their National Convention. The below picture, just for the record, is President Bush celebrating Senator McCain's 69th birthday, dated August 29, 2005.
Canceling the convention was the right move, ethically. All our elected officials, on both sides of the aisle, should be focused on doing what they can to help the people of New Orleans. Senator Obama's campaign is certainly doing its part, as the campaign is planning to tap its massive database of volunteers and donors to urge them to send money, supplies, or even volunteer their time to the areas hit by Hurricane Gustav. This is a great idea, and it really is a pragmatic use of a political resource.
On the other hand, canceling the convention was, in no uncertain terms, a political decision. Republicans were worried about the photo-op of them celebrating during a hurricane. Perhaps more importantly, McCain gets to avoid a half-hour speech by President Bush praising him (thus, a half-hour of Obama attack ads now gone to waste). And of course, the hurricane is seen by many GOP strategists as an opportunity to paint McCain as the candidate who "puts his country first," apparently because he is more willing to interrupt hurricane preparations and go take a photo-op on the Gulf Coast than Barack Obama. In fact, McCain's campaign manager already attacked Barack for making a statement against McCain/Palin's stances against equal pay, saying that it wasn't appropriate during a natural disaster.
Whatever.
--> Speaking of out-of-touch, a new New York Times/CBS Poll of Republican delegates demonstrates that while 90% of Democratic National Convention delegates believed that the economy is in recession, a full 72% of Republican delegates believe that we are not in a recession. I suppose that makes sense, given that Republican Convention delegates would be expected to share the economic vantage point of their candidate: they don't know much about it.
--> Of course, Republicans aren't the only ones who play political games with hurricanes. Just ask former DNC National Chairman Don Fowler, who was caught joking that the hurricane hitting during the RNC was clearly a sign that God wants the Democrats to win this year. Eesh.
--> But now lets turn to the hottest political story out there: Sarah Palin (easily the hottest, ahem, story of this presidential campaign).
People are still freaking out about her on both sides. Democrats are thrilled that John McCain scoured the country and found literally the least-qualified Republican to run alongside him. Most Republicans are thrilled, and since the announcement McCain's fundraising has skyrocketed. Political analysts are split, however; Pat Buchanan for one called the choice "the biggest political gamble in all of American history."
--> More interesting, to me at least, was this quote:
"I'm not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative."
Normally I would think that this quote is, at best, a tepid version of what I and many people have been saying for days. But, this quote happens to come from none other than the mother-in-law of Sarah Palin.
I'm sure there's some sort of mother-in-law joke I could make here, but frankly the quote itself is funny enough.
I'm actually gonna halt this post here; there has not been much going on lately, in part due to the impending hurricane. I'll be praying for the people who have not evacuated New Orleans, and those living in the surrounding areas that may be hit.
--> The big story the last couple days, outside of Sarah Palin, has been Hurricane Gustav bearing down on New Orleans, a storm that many fear will be more destructive than Katrina itself. Thus, for fear of being seen as political plutocrats who eat cake while New Orleans drowns (again, that is), the GOP has all but canceled the first night of their National Convention. The below picture, just for the record, is President Bush celebrating Senator McCain's 69th birthday, dated August 29, 2005.
Canceling the convention was the right move, ethically. All our elected officials, on both sides of the aisle, should be focused on doing what they can to help the people of New Orleans. Senator Obama's campaign is certainly doing its part, as the campaign is planning to tap its massive database of volunteers and donors to urge them to send money, supplies, or even volunteer their time to the areas hit by Hurricane Gustav. This is a great idea, and it really is a pragmatic use of a political resource.
On the other hand, canceling the convention was, in no uncertain terms, a political decision. Republicans were worried about the photo-op of them celebrating during a hurricane. Perhaps more importantly, McCain gets to avoid a half-hour speech by President Bush praising him (thus, a half-hour of Obama attack ads now gone to waste). And of course, the hurricane is seen by many GOP strategists as an opportunity to paint McCain as the candidate who "puts his country first," apparently because he is more willing to interrupt hurricane preparations and go take a photo-op on the Gulf Coast than Barack Obama. In fact, McCain's campaign manager already attacked Barack for making a statement against McCain/Palin's stances against equal pay, saying that it wasn't appropriate during a natural disaster.
Whatever.
--> Speaking of out-of-touch, a new New York Times/CBS Poll of Republican delegates demonstrates that while 90% of Democratic National Convention delegates believed that the economy is in recession, a full 72% of Republican delegates believe that we are not in a recession. I suppose that makes sense, given that Republican Convention delegates would be expected to share the economic vantage point of their candidate: they don't know much about it.
--> Of course, Republicans aren't the only ones who play political games with hurricanes. Just ask former DNC National Chairman Don Fowler, who was caught joking that the hurricane hitting during the RNC was clearly a sign that God wants the Democrats to win this year. Eesh.
--> But now lets turn to the hottest political story out there: Sarah Palin (easily the hottest, ahem, story of this presidential campaign).
People are still freaking out about her on both sides. Democrats are thrilled that John McCain scoured the country and found literally the least-qualified Republican to run alongside him. Most Republicans are thrilled, and since the announcement McCain's fundraising has skyrocketed. Political analysts are split, however; Pat Buchanan for one called the choice "the biggest political gamble in all of American history."
--> More interesting, to me at least, was this quote:
"I'm not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative."
Normally I would think that this quote is, at best, a tepid version of what I and many people have been saying for days. But, this quote happens to come from none other than the mother-in-law of Sarah Palin.
I'm sure there's some sort of mother-in-law joke I could make here, but frankly the quote itself is funny enough.
I'm actually gonna halt this post here; there has not been much going on lately, in part due to the impending hurricane. I'll be praying for the people who have not evacuated New Orleans, and those living in the surrounding areas that may be hit.
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