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What Hillary Forgot to Say

Is it just me, or did Hillary keep a bargaining chip for herself in her speech? For all the positive coverage, what she didnt say tells me so much more than what she did.

She DID talk about herself, using the first person 64 times. She DID endorse Sen Obama, though only mentioning him 2 times. How many times did she mention Sen McCain?

0. Nada. Not once.

This from the woman who can turn a phrase and throw a dagger with a smile on her face.

So why didnt she address Sen McCain? Isnt that what this is all about? Arent her supporters closer ideologically to Obama than McCain? Isnt that really the last bit of capitol she has to spend on this election? Her last bargaining chip?

Tells me she is holding out for something. Not VP. AG? SCOTUS? Sec of State? There's no way she's going back to the Senate without something, cause they aren't waiting with open arms there, either.

So was she running for the country or for herself? Seems like an obvious answer to me.

Sorry Clintons. Your way of doing politics is what we voted against. Now please go home and think about what you've done - and have yet to do.

One of these things is not like the others

Sen McCain is currently holding what I consider a very disingenuous VP vetting process. Its just for the cameras and show the complete racism and pandering the right will gladly undertake, if it helps.

The 3 candidates for VP are Mitt (nee Willard Romney), Gov. Charlie Crist and Gov. Bobby Jindal. Of course Willard is going to be the candiadate, as McCain needs to sell his soul to the radical right. Charlie Crist who bills himself as "The People's Governor," as if this was some dust bowl flashback, scares the bejesus out of me, but McCain cant win without Florida. So that's the politics and the pandering. 

As for the racism, enter Gov. Piyush "Bobby" Jindal of Louisiana. I mean come on. Willard is so white as to be nearly translucent and McCain hates him. But Reagan didnt like GHW Bush, having called him the kind of guy who would get out of the shower to pee.

Crist, while only 52, has snow white hair and the scariest fake tan I have ever seen east of the Olly Girls. Without seeming too cruel, visually it just doesnt work. They look like the Grumpy Old Men ticket and the tan vs the skin cancer guy, would never work in a million years.

 

Gov. Jindal has only been governor for 5 months. 5 months! He's only 37, meaning he is only able to be president by 2 years. His previous experience? 3 years in the House of Representatives. What does he have? He's not white. If the only candidates for VP were white and whiter, how would that look?
Does he have a chance? Not even. Dan Quayle is an elder statesman comparatively. Sen Obama's VP is sure to be a heavy-hitter who will mop the floor with Gov Jindal. But since Condi cant run without making the election about Iraq, Gen Powell wont run that leaves only Alan Keyes - and he's just too crazy.

Footnote: watch Crist's tan. If he starts to dial down the bronzer, that might be a clue. But its still going to be Romney. Thats who the radical right wanted in the first place and he is the embodiment of their unholy money and religion alliance. If only the religious people would wake up and see how they have been used.

Drive By PR

Oh, Kevin James. I love you, you know. But now you know why all press isn't good press.

I will say thank you, though. You showed the absolute core of the rights strategy - conflation fueled by ignorance of those who listen to it. Dana Parino and he should start a School House Rock history course for the right. Watch as she admits to not knowing anything about it, but only days after having shot down the comparison of it with Putin's threats about the missile shield (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ZUx4KuP5c). What else did she not understand but speak authoritatively about, anyway?



That said, he is good to watch because he does not give up or in, even after he is humiliated by his own admission of ignorance of his own point. I love him yelling from the get-go that Sen. Obama and Neville Chamberlain are exactly the same, then admitting he doesn't know what Chamberlain did after being asked 24 times on live television.

Kevin, I do love you and know that's how your overlords and listeners want you to act, but aren't we Americans first? Political parties should come as a result of researched, reviewed or principled stands on real issues. When you start with all the answers and try to frame all the problems accordingly, you don't possess the truth at all. You just show your real intent - hold on to power for powers sake.

I blame the right for starting this - recall the Reagan 11th commandment, speak no ill of fellow Republicans. Can you imagine if a Democrat had tried to equate religion and politics like say, Anne Coulter (who must be so jealous right now) did? The news media swallowed it whole and now equates disloyalty to a political party as some sort of moral weakness.

The elected representatives of the people swear an oath to their constituents, not their party.

And Republicans, your party is over. I will be going back to entertainment speak for a while cause there is going to be just flailing from the right for the next several months and why bother?

Prediction Time

Last December I went out on a limb and endorsed Sen. Obama and predicted Sen. McCain as the Republican candidate. Its time to look again and read the tea leaves.

Who are the VP candidates going to be?

Sen. McCain needs money, youth and religious right appeal. Enter Mitt Romney.

Romney has the connections to the financial establishment (who are going to panic at the prospect of having to stop raping the country) and a resume on Wall Street, though he mostly sold off what others had built. McCain has said he doesn't know that much about economics, so this seems like a no-brainer. The religious right think he is one of them, though oddly. And lets face it, he's decades younger than McCain and there have been plenty of whispers about a shortened or single McCain administration.

Besides, who else is morally bankrupt enough to be a pit bull for McCain and shamelessly pander? Mitt is their man.

The Obama decision is a bit tougher, IMHO. The traditional thinking is out the window. Hillary? Seems like a natural choice ordinarily, but how do you stand for change and then go back to the very era we are trying to move past? At best it would look like a political calculation. At worst, it looks hypocritical and that could ultimately be the deciding factor.

So who?

My votes are going to either Sen Webb or Gov Richardson. Webb has strong military credentials and comes from the South, though also relatively new to Washington. Richardson brings an appeal that has eluded Sen Obama - the Latin Vote - with the added bonus of very strong foreign policy and diplomatic experience.

I wake up smiling at the prospect of Sen. Edwards, but I just don't see it happening. He seems too easy a target for the right smears, but God help me, I love him.

My friend Pat thinks Gen Wesley Clark has a shot and I agree. His success in Bosnia could go a long way to addressing the Iraq problem and many of us forget how opposed the right was to go to Bosnia. This is the guy who made it work. My take is he is too close to Hillary and Bill Clinton.

And to go off on a tangent for a moment, RIP my respect for President Bill Clinton. After Hillary injected race into a primary (WV) she was going to win big, he would have pounced on her had she been anyone else. So long big dog. I will keep my fond memories, though they are pretty much clouded by Don't Ask, Don't Tell and DOMA.

So final thought? Here is the 08 race:
McCain/Romney V Obama/Richardson

NB: Forgot to throw in my wild card prediction: Obama/Hagel
I have this sneaking suspicion that the former Republican Senator from Nebraska (as white and white collar as you can get), outspoken Bush/War critic, respected militarily, environmentally sensitive and reformer Chuck Hagel is going to be the VP candidate for Sen. Obama. Would throw the process completely off its track and send a very strong signal that he means change for real.

Watch this story and remember who predicted it.

Eerily familiar?

Consider this exchange from the end of Primary Colors. Couldnt this be the transcript between Sen Clinton and the electorate? Its been 16 years. We need to move on. This game has corrupted.

Clinton: This is it, Henry. This is the price you pay to lead. You don't think Lincoln was a whore before he was president? He had to tell his stories and smile his back-country grin. He did that so one day he'd have the opportunity to stand before the nation and appeal to our better nature. That's where the bullshit stops. That's what it's all about. Making the most of it, doing it the right way.

You know that there are plenty of people in this game who don't think that way. They'll sell their souls, lie to people, divide them, play on their fears, for nothing. Just for the prize.

Henry: I don't care. I'm sorry, but I'm not comparing the players. I don't like the game.

Clinton: Who can do this better than me? Is there anyone else who can win this election. . . .

Media Bias

Don't think the media has a bias towards ridiculous issues? Watch John Edwards connect with the audience on ISSUES like healthcare, poverty and Jet Skis. If only the media covered issues the 2 man race might be a two man race for the Dems, with Hillary and her tactics long left behind.

And, he's funny! Wish he had stronger foreign policy experience cause he and Sen Obama would be an amazing, uniting team.

Kvetch

Last nights ABC debate? Shameful and the perfect metaphor for this election. I am dying to see the new polls and ultimately results in Pennsylvania. As we have seen in the last few days, Hillary's numbers drop (while her negatives grow) the more negative she becomes and thats all she has left in her bag of tricks. So ABC might have done Sen Obama a favor, ultimately.

How long before the Chris Matthews', Fox News, ABC News, etc. get it? We the people don't want anymore of this unproductive, destructive, petty personality stuff. 45 minutes before Sen Obama was asked a substantive question on an issue about which people care/vote.

And while I am just complaining today, FX's The Riches, which I grew to love last season is really losing me this season. This entire season seems to contrived, Im just not enjoying it at all. Apparently, their writers are still on strike. There is no nuance to the stories and I think I could lie better than Dahlia has been able, so far.

But I love Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard (the lovable lush - we used to buy him shots on Sunset), the son (Noel Fosher - who's kinda hot to me, even though toe headed white trash types are usually my friend Ron's type) and the incredibly brave Aiden Mitchell who plays their yongest son who is most comfortable when dressed as a girl. Oh, and there is a daughter, but the part of a rebellious teenage girl in high school leaves me sort of bored from the get go.