“Identity and personality is how we’ve been picking Presidents for a long time. Sometimes it works, sometimes you get George Bush.”
Category: Politics & Elections
Standards
I don’t like living in a war-mongering, arrogant, debtor nation. But I really don’t like living in a nation where ignorant people like this run for president and receive votes.
“I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution,” Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. “But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that’s what we need to do — to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view.”
Playing Telephone with MLK
CJR (Columbia Journalism Review) has a solid piece today on this whole Clinton-Obama-Martin Luther King thing that’s been going on since last Monday (January 7). It’s subtitled “How the press fanned the Dems’ ‘racial tension’.”
The whole affair, more than anything else, is incredibly sad. The two leading candidates of the party that, right now, seems to have the momentum going into the national election will, whoever wins the nomination, make history. We should be thrilled. We should be proud. But the past week’s “racial overtones” coverage reminds us that, however much our political universe has progressed, our media universe is still often one of ‘(sound) bite first, ask questions later.’
Best line of the day, so far
“Mitt Romney Defends Himself Against Allegations Of Tolerance”
Best line of the day, so far
“After spending 91.1% of his money in Florida, Giuliani is seeing McCain pass him in the polls. 9/11”
How do you rate?
Via Hullabaloo, Roger Ailes’s “Political Junkie Year In Review Contest.” Good stuff.
Incapable of good judgment
Hullabaloo has a little story about Mike Huckabee you should read.
“Perhaps they may be of interest as you dig around a little bit and learn more about the corrosively dangerous political and cultural forces that have elevated such an ignorant, vicious, and incapable little man to such prominence.”
Most misogynistic line of the day, so far
“[D]oes it send the signal: is there room in Washington for both a Speaker Pelosi and a President Hillary?”
Yes, only one woman leader at a time please.
We’re not Liberals anymore
We’re Progressives.
Interesting though, that one of the national park shots is of Monument Valley which is a Navajo Nation Tribal Park.
Best line of the morning, so far
“Is John McCain, at 117, too old and cranky to be president? Like, during the White House Easter Egg Roll, would he come outside in his bathrobe and yell, ‘You kids get off my lawn!'”
Most historic line of the day, so far
“Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton celebrates in New Hampshire, where she became the first woman to win a major party primary for President of the United States.”
From the front page of today’s Los Angeles Times.
Pointer via Digby.
What I think happened
I don’t know if reaction to the media treatment of Clinton had anything to do with voter choices yesterday, but I certainly know people in real life who a) don’t want Clinton to win and b) are tempted to vote for her every time they’re exposed to the way she’s treated by the deeply broken monsters in our mainstream media.
kos:
The way she was treated the past few days in New Hampshire was a disgrace, and likely a large reason for her surprise victory. So keep attacking her for bullshit reasons, and you’ll be generating more and more sympathy votes for her. Obama’s “you’re likable enough” was likely worth 2-3 points all by its lonesome self.
Kevin Drum (last week):
I just hate the idea that the fever swamp has been able to turn a perfectly decent liberal woman into such an object of malign loathing. If she loses, then she loses. But by God, I don’t want her to lose because millions of [GOP operative Lisa] Schiffren’s fellow travelers have carried on a 15-year vendetta of sick-minded smears and hatred. Enough’s enough.
American Idol
Hey, so far this election thingy is starting out just like last fall’s college football season. Lots of upsets.
Also, the process makes about as much sense as the BCS.
Best line of the day, so far
“Oh, now I remember. We’re supposed to wait until after voters express a preference to declare a winner of a contest.”
Slicing the New Hampshire Voters
CNN takes a look at who voted for whom and what they think about it via exit polls. Interesting.
Best line of the day, so far
“Like most rich white ladies, Hillary Clinton is very afraid of a black man asking for change”
Hillary Clinton R.I.P.
A solid piece from Functional Ambivalent on the end of the Bush-Clinton era.
Best line of the day, so far (though it is a dreary day)
“The best moment [in the Republican debate Saturday night] came when the subject of health care arose and it became very clear that not only do none of these guys — with the possible exception of the Huck — have any plans to cope with the problem, they don’t see much of a problem there to begin with. They are cultish in their devotion to some sort of strange absolutist concept of ‘individual choice’ unfamiliar to anyone who’s dealt with an insurance company at any time in the past 50 years.”
The role of political reporters
Glenn Greenwald takes another look at what’s wrong with the boys and girls on the bus:
But I’m not focusing on the accuracy of horse-race predictions here, but instead, the on the fact that the traveling press corps endlessly imposes its own narrative on the election, thereby completely excluding from all coverage plainly credible candidates they dislike (such as Edwards) while breathlessly touting the prospects of the candidates with whom they are enamored. Their predictions (i.e., preferences and love affairs) so plainly drive their press coverage — the candidates they love are lauded as likely winners while the ones they hate are ignored or depicted as collapsing — which in turn influences the election in the direction they want it, making their predictions become self-fulfilling prophecies.
It’s just all a completely inappropriate role for political reporters to play, yet it composes virtually the entirety of their election coverage.
Verrrry Interesting
From a more detailed discussion at Group News Blog:
Executive = Declarations: bring forth, generate something new, lead.
Manager = Requests: please do x by time y with condition of satisfaction z.
Worker = Promises: deliver competent performance in a domain, over and over.And never the twain shall meet.
Let’s walk it back to our Presidential candidates.
One speaks in declarations, inspires, leads.
The second requests you elect him to fix problems, lobbies for a change so he can fix the system.
The third talks of her competence and experience, promises she will do what she’s always done, and has the policy plans and papers to prove it.Leader. Manager. Worker.
Link via Discourse.net (Michael Froomkin)
Best line of the day, so far
“We’re here in a gym in Derry, watching Barack Obama, who is for Change. I was for Change when I got here, but then I had to wait like two hours for Obama to arrive, so now I’m not so sure I’m for Change. Now I am more for Punctuality.”
He Can’t Vote
Jill, official oldest daughter of NewMexiKen, reports that somehow, Guiliani has gotten to the four year olds.
I was watching the video of Obama’s victory speech [Thursday] night and I got a little misty. Aidan came in and wanted to know what was up. I explained that pretty soon Georgie Bush wouldn’t be president anymore, and other people were trying to be president, including this guy, Obama. I said that I like him because he believes we need to help people and change things in the USA.
Aidan cocked his head and asked, “Will he keep us safe?”
Best line of the day, so far
“Political analyst ponders if America is finally ‘colorblind’ after Obama’s Iowa win. Possible… or it could be that we are still misogynistic, your pick.”
Best political observation line of the day, so far
“If her campaign disintegrates she will no doubt feel unfairly trashed. But she can’t blame a vast right wing conspiracy this time. Her problem right now is that a lot of the people who really, really don’t like her are Democrats.”
I’m told I’m fickle
And I guess I am. I preferred Bill Richardson for the Democratic nomination. He is the strongest anti-war candidate and I still believe he is the most experienced, if experience matters. But his campaigning has been ineffective, downright embarrassing at moments, the opposite of what a candidate running on experience needed to demonstrate.
Then I wasn’t sure about Obama or Edwards. I was influenced considerably by Paul Krugman’s negative take on Obama, that the Senator is too conciliatory, that he is, for pete’s sake, using Republican talking points at times. I thought this post at Corrente was valid. But I had liked Obama’s The Audacity of Hope very much.
Edwards clearly is the strongest on domestic issues, and arguably has pushed his fellow Democrats in the correct directions — universal health insurance, for example. But Edwards just can’t seem to get real traction.
I admire Hillary Clinton. Perhaps she should have been running for office all along instead of Bill. But I don’t want another Clinton. The 90s are over; I don’t care for the country to relive them.
So my loyalties have been changing; I have been fickle. I may continue to be fickle. But today …