Pardon me, but I don’t understand the starry-eyed response from certain parties to the first set of Democratic Convention speakers, particularly Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama.
First, I couldn’t figure out who Michelle was there to talk about, her brother? Her Dad? Her opening was nonsensical, out of context, like we’d broken in uninvited to a private conversation.
I admire Ted’s courage in facing down cancer, and if his speech had been in support of Hillary Clinton, maybe I would have found it moving and even historic.
But he’s supporting an empty suit, and that’s not exactly blockbuster material.
Category: Uncategorized
Looking Better and Better
As the Blog-o-Sphere cranks up the arguments pro and con, I find myself less favorable to John McCain. Supporting NObama is, of course, out of the question.
I contributed to the Clinton campaign and was generally pleased with her transformation from self-conscious, stolid wonk to empathetic, gracious and passionate advocate for those who were not “born lucky”, to paraphrase Governor Zell Miller before he lost it and became a Republican.
Obviously, I was not impressed with the way Obama and his cohorts (Wright, Pfleger and the boys at MSNBC) acted toward Clinton and her supporters. Many women have been called a lot worse than the “N” word, and it seemed that the Obama campaign legitimized and even institutionalized this misogyny.
If the old John McCain were to miraculously reappear, I’d vote for him in a heartbeat. As it is, Ron Paul, Bob Barr and even Ralph Nadar are looking better and better every day.
By A Hair
The only count that matters in this year’s Presidential election is the Electoral College count, so the latest figures by state at sites like USA Election Polls are a lot more important than popularity contests like Rasmussen, which I think have overstated Obama’s support from the beginning.
Using USA Election Polls’ latest numbers, I did a little analysis this morning and came to the conclusion that McCain is a lot closer to winning than the MSM thinks.
Some of the numbers are old, and they precede the Biden announcement, but as of somewhere around the end of July, McCain would have had 253 electoral votes and Obama, 282, 12 more than needed to win the Presidency.
Taking a closer look, though, there is only a 1% difference between McCain and Obama in 5 states: Florida, Virginia, Nevada, New Hampshire and Montana.
Looks to me like this gives Charlie Crist, the popular governor of Florida, a leg up in the VP selection process.
The other possible choice, assuming he’d be interested, is Mayor Mike Bloomberg, whose background might appeal to Floridians who share his ethnicity.
I would love to see McCain select a female running mate, but Carly Fiorina, who was a lousy chief executive and a worse campaign spokesperson, just doesn’t do it for me. Aside from Condoleeza Rice or maybe Elizabeth Dole, neither of whom are on the short list, there aren’t any Republican women who have attained the kind of stature needed to make a credible candidate.
In any event, Obama’s selection of Joe Biden presents a great opportunity for McCain to solidify the Electoral College math. Provided he picks just about anyone but Romney.
Hmph
Some members of the Macworld community were in a state of moderate dudgeon this week over unflattering comments about the iMac in one of their forums.
I’m floored by this, largely because I thought that technical folk of any age enjoyed intellectual exchange with other bright people who don’t necessarily agree with them.
Gueesss not.
Taking the Plunge
I’ve started the wheels turning on the purchase of my second timeshare, which is not as stupid a decision as it sounds.
This is at a resort in my town, Mashpee, that has an indoor pool, locker room and a small gym, all of which are available to owners throughout the year.
Earlier this year, I did benefit from having a regular exercise program, and convenience is a bit part of that.
A Real Reason to Distrust John McCain
I really don’t care that John McCain couldn’t remember how much real estate his wife owns.
I’m also not overly concerned about the Roe v. Wade bogeyman that has certain progressives in a state of high dudgeon.
It does matter that McCain opposed a bill that would have made it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination.
The bill was crafted in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling last year that a former Goodyear supervisor couldn’t sue the company for pay discrimination because she filed later than the 180 day statutory limit.
Talk about a bread and butter issue of particular interest to women, whom Obama supposedly wishes to court.
Interesting, then, that the Obama campaign don’t seem to want to touch this one with a ten foot pole, even though the Senator from Illinois actually did vote in favor of the bill. They’d rather make a subdivision out of a cemetery plot over the house thing.
Besides the fact that the number of properties that Cindy McCain owns is irrelevant to my well-being, if I were Obama, I wouldn’t be baiting my opponent over anything to do with real estate. An heiress owning a couple of condos strikes me as less of a concern than a cozy land deal between a politician and a convicted felon.
Oh, sorry, that wasn’t “the Tony Rezko that (he) knew.”
Describe Your Emotions
Slate’s Sap-O-Meter: one of the best things to emerge from this year’s Olympic Games.
http://www.slate.com/id/2198301/
http://www.slate.com/id/2198351
Get a Clue
Stupid, just stupid: http://www.barackbook.com/
Why the RNC hasn’t pulled this website is a mystery, when even a grandmother can see how really awful this lame attempt at parody is.
Why Oh Why Oh
In this morning’s NYT, David Brooks puts the blame on the press, or at least a subsection of the MSM, for the otherwise incomprehensible tenor of this year’s Presidential campaign:
“McCain started out with the same sort of kibitzing campaign style that he used to woo the press back in 2000. It didn
Two Weeks to Labor Day, and a Memorial Service
Hundreds of people gathered at the Mashpee veteran’s memorial park this evening to pay tribute to two young soldiers, ages 19 and 21, who lost their lives in combat this past week, and to remember a third Mashpee citizen, a young mother, who was a casualty of the Iraq war almost a year ago.
Incredible for a small community like this one (around 14,000) to have the sad duty of mourning not one but three of its citizens lost to war within a 12 month period.
July was brutal, it seemed like summer would never end, but here we are, two weeks away from Labor Day.
I can’t wait for the tourists to go home. The increased volume of traffic really got to me this year.
If the whole business of being a vacation destination were to go away, it wouldn’t disappoint me. So, we’d have fewer restaurants, not so many summer activities and a smaller tax base. That’s a reasonable trade-off for never seeing another Florida or Connecticut license plate again (the folks from Alaska can come any time they like).