Commentary (and rants) on national and local politics.
I'm just saying... 'Send Them a Message' Voting from The Nation, by John Nichols, 02/09/2004 Name the Democratic presidential candidates who scored unexpectedly strong showings in Democratic presidential caucuses over the weekend?A pair of candidates who are seldom accused of being serious competitors for the nomination, but whose candidacies offer primary and caucus goers opportunities to send real messages: Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton. Just in case you think I'm talking out of my ass sometimes. ;-)
This happens a lot, where I become a defender of someone I don't particularly care for but think is getting an unfair shake. Recently, I've found myself defending Al Sharpton, someone I don't always agree with but whose presence in the Democratic primaries I think is important. Like Kucinich, it's not so much because I think he can win - 24 is the closest America will get to a black President for a long time - but because I believe he forces issues on the table that would otherwise be ignored. And not just issues involving race; he's been an…
Here's one for the conspiracy theorists: Bin Laden was captured (or at least located) a while ago and the Bushies are just waiting for the Democratic nominee to become official before trotting him out before the cameras a la Hussein and kneecapping their "failed war on terror" angle. They're already painting Kerry as another Dukakis-style Massachussetts liberal and are going to skewer him over his state's gay marriage decision which he's too much of a slimy politican to even fully support. Kerry vs. Bush makes the election much closer than it needs to be. On gay marriage, I just don't…
As a kid, I was a big fan of GI Joe. I vaguely remember in the 70s having a couple of the big 12" dolls and the jeep. I think at least one of them even had "real" facial hair. In the 80s, I really got into them when the 3-3/4" action figures came out - Snake Eyes, Grunt, Scarlet, Stalker and Cobra Commander, who you could only get via a mail-in promotion. We shoplifted a bunch of them from the old Caldor's in Pelham every time we went, hiding them in our socks with the cardboard backing that had…
1. Joe-mentum has officially run out of gas. Credit his supporters - as far off the mark as Kucinich's - for having the courage of their convictions and voting for him anyway instead of jumping on the misguided "electability" bandwagon. The fact that he'll have a voice at the convention and Kucinich may not really pisses me off. 2. Kerry's military resume ultimately doesn't count for shit. If it did, Clark would be the front-runner, hands down. If the other candidates only learn one thing from Dean's rise and fall, it should be that you can't run on one issue.…
I really should have my own talk show. Radio or TV, I don't care which! I first mentioned the following possibility on December 10, 2003: The real New Hampshire winner is a former New York mayor Politically speaking, a Bush-Giuliani ticket would solve a lot of problems...Assume John Kerry and John Edwards make up the Democratic ticket, playing on the same populist themes that are serving them well in the current campaign. Set up against Bush-Cheney, the election becomes a war for turnout of the bases, with many in the political middle written off. Put Giuliani in the mix and…
Notes on New Hampshire Other than it being painfully obvious that Joe Lieberman is totally out of touch with the Democratic Party, there was no clear message coming out of little New Hampshire beyond this: it's still wide open. Remember, the Democratic primaries award proportionate delegates, unlike the Republican's and the general election's winner-take-all format. You don't always have to win to win it all. While Kerry won again, he's ill-prepared to fully capitalize on it in the February 3rd primaries. The states voting that day are both more conservative and racially-diverse than Iowa and NH and his being tagged…
