Month: February 2008

Dear Senator Clinton:
Living in a Cape Cod town that has a long history of racial diversity, I evaluate people based on the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.
Thus, I’ve been taken aback by the power of guilt in propelling Barack Obama to national prominence. As many have said, if someone with the same credentials as Obama, but named Mary or O’Shea, had attempted a run for the Presidency, they would have been ridiculed at best.
Maybe everyone should have the opportunity to fine-tune their judgment skills by living in a town like Mashpee, MA.
Meanwhile, I was proud to note that your support on Cape Cod came from the middle class towns, like mine. I’ve had enough political domination by the wealthy, including the Kennedys and the Kerrys, not to mention the Oprahs, thank you very much.
It is said that Obama’s support comes from the intellectual as well as the social elite. I’m a college graduate and a software developer and as such, have been trained to be objective, disciplined and analytical.
After listening to the debates and reading the background material on the websites, I’ve made two contributions to your campaign, based on your intellect and knowledge of course, but mostly on the content of your character and your past performance as a public figure.
I may not agree with all of your positions on the issues, but I trust you not to fold when times get tough, as they do for every President. I don’t have the same confidence either in McCain or in Obama: one is fragile and the other seems shallow and manipulative.
I’ve heard it said that having a brown President would enhance the stature of the United States in the world. I think that’s nonsense: does anyone really believe that the UN has been more effective and enjoyed greater prestige under Kofi Annan than Dag Hammarskj

Not much of a Super Tuesday for the children’s crusade.
Of the 13 states that Obama won yesterday, 8 out of 13 are solidly Republican and likely won’t be in play for the Democrats anyway this November: Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, Kansas, Alabama and Georgia.
On the other hand, Hillary Clinton thumped Obama pretty good in Massachusetts (56 to 41%), which tells you something about our skepticism if not outright cynicism about the judgment of our mainstream mass media, governor and senators.
Meanwhile, reeling from the Clinton victory, the media seem desperate to spin her success into something negative. That Clinton won California and New York, not to mention the biggest surprise of all, Massachusetts, is ignored by their trumpeting that she took “only” 8 states as opposed to Obama’s 13 – but 8 of the states in Obama’s column won’t go Democrat anyway in the generals.
Yesterday, Clinton won 584 delegates to Obama’s 563. The jury is still out on the remaining 534. The split would have broken more decisively for Clinton if the Democrats had a “winner take all” rule, since she carried most of the states with the largest populations.
Clinton has 845 delegates; 2,025 are needed for the nomination.

January went by like a shot, and considering that we were in the middle of a snowstorm a week ago today, it was nice to be able to do outside activities this afternoon, including the transfer station run we’d postponed and a visit to the Falmouth playground with James after his impromptu overnight.
The sales, marketing and consulting people at the office, including the CEO, dressed in Patriots shirts on Friday. My football pals have a lavish Super Bowl party planned, with shrimp, steak tips and fixings.
The spill-over of communal activity has made this a festive weekend.
Go, Pats. RCP for poll junkies; go, anyone but The Pretender.