McCain vs Obama?

As you know I have written John McCain off some time ago. My support in prior elections eroded when he tuned from an independent maverick to a religious right ass kisser. He quickly faded, ran out of money and was written off – this was at the very beginning of the campaign.

The fact that he “resurrected” himself and his campaign is just short of a miracle but I think his resurrection was his own personal doing not some young political hot shot like Carl Rove was for Bush. This is a testament to McCain’s ability to think for himself and admit he made a mistake and turn the ship around in mid sail.

He stuck to his support of the war in Iraq and Bush’s “new” surge plan for Iraq even when everyone told him it was suicide to do that – he is now in the lead - a phoenix of a sort.

Some say he is too old (70+) and they may be right; the presidency ages a person very much and if you start out old where can you go but to “very” old. And what about the energy required for the job – hey, that is a factor and we cannot deny it.

You notice that I do not mention Romney at all and I must admit that I just cannot seem to get to like Romney. I think he is a good business person and has a good mind for management. He comes across as un-genuine, willing to say and do anything to get elected (flip-flopper on abortion, etc.)

Hey it will be McCain vs. Obama and Obama will win so get ready for the first black (non-white) president – history in the making.

Bill & Hillary drop the ball big time!

Has Hillary blown it? Many, including my wife think she has. She sent Bill out to attack Osama and Bill does not attack well – he is a lover not a fighter.

The Clintons played the “race” card – very bad mistake. We expect Jesse Jackson to play the race card but not Hillary Clinton; Barack took the high road and won.

I am surprised at Hillary’s misstep since both her and Bill are so very smart politically; maybe they are getting just too old?

Can Hillary recover – I don’t think so. I think Obama is on a big time ROLL and he will be impossible to stop mainly because he is a UNITER (black / white -Republican/Democrat) and that is a powerful message that the country is very open to right now and is ready for after all the dissension Bush has sown in this country and around the world.

His inexperience does not seem to matter like I originally thought it would. Caroline Kennedy and her uncle Ted came out for Obama saying he (Obama) is just like John F Kennedy was; young, inexperienced but charismatic and ready to lead a new America, That is a powerful endorsement and Ted Kennedy said the endorsement was made possible because Hillary and Bill started playing so rough.

Bill and Hillary are just not an attractive presidential couple. Hillary is definitely brusque and hard to like. She is not a great speaker and she does tend a little too much to the left. Obama is staying in the middle for right now where he should be staying.

As Hillary and Bill get desperate, their message will become shrill and desperate sounding like it already had before she started sounding even more desperate.

We have a long time to go and it will be interesting to see how the game is played but Hillary has to change something dramatically to stay in the race.

At this point it appears the country is ready for a black president more than it is ready for a female president. That says something about us but I think it says more about the woman Hillary is or is not.

My brother-in-law who gets his news from FOX exclusively has told me he is voting for Obama. To me it means that Republicans do not have a prayer and that gender bias is still a deciding factor – so there – all based on my brother-in-law somehow representing the male, right wing horde in this country.

Bye John, you should never have run!

John Edwards quit the presidential race today – about time. Quite frankly I did not know why he tried so hard last time and this time. Just because you are good looking and have some money you think you should be president? Well in most cases that is enough; but not for poor ole’ John.

He was a southerner from S. Carolina that could not carry his own state but then again he did not count on a black man running. Most democrats in his state are black and they all went for Obama and actually Hillary more than for him EVEN though he was a populist willing to give everything to the poor and downtrodden.

I think he sounded too much like a rich politician promising way too much and that just did not seem genuine. He also was too perfect, rich lawyer, loving wife with cancer, lost a son to a car accident and subsequently had more children (young). I think many thought he should have stayed home and taken care of his family instead of running for president AGAIN!

Did not like him from the start but maily because he was such a bloody socialist!

Bye Bye RUDY!

What happened to my man Rudy Giuliani? He was leading the pack at the beginning. Republicans were seeing him as the only truly electable Republican candidate. Even democrats liked him for standing up and saying he was always pro-choice and will remain so (no like flip-flopper Romney). I really thought he was a contender.

But obviously he was not smart enough to put a winning team together; he miscalculated badly. He knew he did not have a chance in Iowa with the religious folk so he just skipped it. But he also skipped New Hampshire and South Carolina and put all his marbles in the Florida basket.

If your not in the running, in the news, in front of people – your funds dry up because people think you left the campaign – everybody knows that – why didn’t you?

People tell me that he thought the 9/11 situation would carry him through and it did at the outset but terrorism took a back seat as an issue, Iraq did not matter as much anymore and his claim to fame in 9/11 did not work for him anymore.

In the end his presidency was not to be and he will go into history as someone future politicians can learn what NOT to do in a presidential campaign.

Michigan Primary Day

Today was Michigan Primary Day but really the only options were on the Republican side since the Democrats (except Hillary) took their names off the ballot when ordered by the Democratic Party leaders.

You see Michigan had the nerve to schedule their primary earlier than the Democratic Party rules allowed. I am still thinking how we as a state can teach the Democratic Party leaders a lesson for being so anal; I will come up with something wait and see.

Anyway, I asked around the office who was voting and I did not get a big positive response. I followed up with why not and got the basic – I don’t like anybody on the ballot.

Further questioning brought out an overall disillusionment with all politicians and political parties.

Ever since the Iraq War became a sort of non-issue the fire went out and now the economy has taken the war’s place as top issue and that does not generate the same emotions as the war did.

In Michigan, it is between Romney and McCain. If Romney does poorly here, he may as well hang it up since he was born and raised here. Many say he is just full of bullshit saying what people want to hear but not really meaning it. McCain on the other hand is projecting himself as a straight, honest shooter not afraid to tell you the truth.

The prime example was the jobs Michigan has lost in the auto industry. Romney is telling us he will get those jobs back and McCain is telling us those jobs are gone forever and we need to re-train for other jobs – who do you think is closer to reality?

I voted for Giuliani but he didn’t even campaign here or anywhere else for that matter. He is hoping Florida will give him momentum but we are told he is out of money and has asked his people to work for free for now. He has no momentum and that is why he is not taking in any donations; people feel he has already lost.

He was leading nationally as a Republican – what the hell happened? McCain fired his advisors and is now a front-runner – who is running Rudy’s campaign?

Oh well – lets wait till after 8PM to see who won.

Back from sunny Marco Island, Florida

Just got back from a week in Marco Island, Florida, where the weather was a welcome change from the freeze in Michigan; temperatures were mid 80s and sunny.

Had a great week with the grandson, the in-laws from Scotland and friends from Manchester, England. They wanted to know how our political process worked and I had trouble trying to explain the mess we call our political process. Tonight I am awaiting the results from the Michigan primary.

CHANGE is what the people want!

Well as predicted the yahoos in Iowa caused a number of candidates that probably should never have run for president, to quit the race.

Another big story out of Iowa is that apparently “race” no longer matters. That may seem like the case but in my mind and I would venture to say, in many people’s minds, Barack is not a “black American”, he is an “African American”.

I realize this may be confusing but Jessie Jackson and Barack Obama are not alike at all except maybe for the pigment of their skin. Barack’s father was from Kenya and his white mother from Kansas (?). Tiger Woods is also different with Asian and American Indian blood in him. Black Americans called Barack “not black enough” because of his different parentage and upbringing.

I hope “race” is no longer a factor in politics or anything else for that matter but I don’t think it is totally dead just as sexism (Hillary) is not totally dead either and WILL play a role in the election albeit hopefully a small one.

The other buzz word or theme coming out of Iowa is “CHANGE”. You can take this to mean “no more of the same shit we have now”. Huckabee, the ole’ Gomer Pyle type, was preaching un-Republican ideas and Barack was preaching change in the sense of “can’t we all get together for a united America?”

Hillary got the message and so did everyone else – its all about change and not partisan politics as usual. Every candidate is now adjusting their message because today, the polls show that change is what the people want.

Both Detroit newspapers are saying McCain is the man to lead the GOP and I may have to get over my previous disdain for the man because of his flip-flops and take another look at him. McCain, to me, was an independent and I liked that about him but then I felt he changed. Maybe his now fired handlers were handling him wrong along the Rove / Christian method. Now maybe the old John is back.

New Hampshire is populated by a bunch of independents who have voted for McCain in the past; they may again. What happens to Hillary if Obama wins N.H.?

I hope you all see why I am for reforming the primary method in this country; you cannot allow a narrow slice of our population dictating who stays and who goes – you need the candidates to test their message on a larger slice of our population to see what the people really want and who the people really want.

IOWA caucus - big deal!

Well let’s get into the political campaign right away in the New Year.

The whole Iowa thing just pissed me off and I know I have spouted off about it for some time but the arrogance or greed of those yahoos in Iowa; hell it is not even a primary but some but some stupid-ass gatherings in barns all over the state.

I really don’t care who they pick it; is all about how the media portrays their picks as some form of revelation. Candidates have actually bowed out of the race because they did not do well in Iowa – why?

My own paper, the Free Press in Detroit basically said Obama will be president because he won in Iowa!

What is this crap about “momentum”; can you compare the yahoos in Iowa with the twits in New Hampshire? What about us in Michigan and the people in Florida that wanted their voices heard but were silenced by both parties – what is going on here?

The way we select candidates for president in the primaries needs to be changed immediately or we will have jack-asses like Huckabee thinking he is somehow presidential material with momentum.

Michigan is poised to challenge the current primary system and so is Florida – encourage your politicians to go for the change!

On another political trend for change; what about those states that are passing laws that mandate they give their electoral votes to the guy or gal that has won the national popular vote and not to the candidate that has won the popular vote in their specific state. Hard to understand - I will have more on this fantastic movement soon. Remember Gore won the popular vote but Bush won (?) the electoral vote.

Change the primary system!

Saturday, January 05, 2008

To: The Detroit Free Press
Re: “Obama”, Jan. 5.


I was disappointed but not surprised to see the Free Press splatter the name Obama over its front page just because a handful and I do mean handful of farmers from Iowa favored Obama over the rest of the Democratic candidates. These few undiversified Iowans get to pick our presidential line-up because papers like the Free Press give them and their opinions an undeserved importance. Our primary system must be changed to give more Americans a voice in choosing who runs for president.

Bring on 2008 !!!

Had a great time bringing in the New Year 2008 but we have a good time every New Year. Right after midnight we had a major snow storm which made driving home a little dicey but 4-wheel-drive Explorer saved the day again while rear-wheelers just spun out.

Lets see what 2008 has in store for us!