Holy shit. What a week. Excellent speeches and few momentous surprises made for a great capstone to the 2008 primary season. It was History occurring before our very eyes. Ancient curses condemning us to live in interesting times aside, I am happy to have witnessed it.

I watched Hillary Clinton's speech with interest and an open mind. Still, she left me feeling as though her speech was less about her supporters and her party's candidate for the presidency than it was about her own aspirations. The only saving grace was that she did not insert an ounce of discernible invective or slight against her former opponent into the speech. In short, she went through the motions and did the bare minimum for the Democratic party and Barack Obama.

Bill Clinton's speech was good. Not great, but good. He went significantly further than Hillary in voicing his support for the Obama/Biden ticket, and after his comments and posturing on the primary campaign trail I think he needed to; if only to reposition himself as a valued former president and elder statesman instead of a feckless shill. One commentator summed up his speech by noting that President Clinton's speech went after the current administration, and by extension the McCain campaign, as only he could. Clinton attacked the status quo with a litany of contrasts between his own tenure as president and the present debacle of governance we now endure.

Joe Biden followed with a show stopping acceptance speech. Introduced by his son, Captain Beau Biden of the Delaware National Guard – soon to be deployed to Iraq - who also serves as Delaware's Attorney General, Senator Biden took the stage fully formed following one of the best character introduction pieces of the convention. I'm not thrilled with all of his policies as a Senator, but the man delivered for the party and for Barack Obama, and I believe he will make a dogged and tenacious Vice President.



As good as these speeches were, all of them paled in comparison to the oratorical masterpiece that was Barack Obama's acceptance speech. I've mentioned in previous posts that I've been a political junkie for a good portion of my life and have never, ever, seen anything like this speech. Not even in the history reels.

I watched the speech coverage on MSNBC. Chris Matthews and Kieth Olbermann are as explosive and unpredictable as they are intelligent and interesting in their analysis, and I was floored by their reactions to the speech. Matthews has suffered slings and arrows from media critics for his exuberant praise of Obama's rhetoric and style in the past. Too often, it would seem to some, Matthews allows himself to listen to the speeches of our would-be governors not as a newsman, but as an American. And the night of Obama's acceptance was no exception.

Following Obama's speech the entirety of MSNBC's analysis and commentary was conducted off camera as we were inexplicably treated to views of the crowd milling about during the inaudible closing benediction and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's adjournment. The reason for the odd camera work during what should have been the pièce de résistance of MSNBC's Democratic Convention coverage, the culmination of their long running primary season coverage, was that Matthews was emotionally unable to appear on camera. The man was stricken, as many who heard the speech were, with patriotic fervor. You can actually hear the tears in his voice as he chokingly delivers his summations of the key moments of the speech.

It was that good.



But how did it play at home? If the anecdotal evidence I've collected over the past few days is any indication, Barack's speech hit home in a big, big way. One friend confided that his father, an apolitical man in his 60's who has never voted in an election will be going to the polls in November for Obama. Another, an independent who is a daily listener of conservative talk radio, told me that Barack Obama was definitely growing on him. That might not sound like much, but believe me that sort of sentiment is nothing short of catastrophic for the GOP come November.

Labels: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, bill clinton, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden

I'm all for political gamesmanship. Beyond rhetoric and ideology leaders must be ready and able to out manoeuvre there opponents. During the campaign season - and particularly now with just a week to go before the all important Texas and Ohio primaries - we can get a sense for how a prospective candidate's administration would get things done in Washington should we choose to elect them.

Case in point: The Clinton campaign has taken to circulating a photo of their opponent Barack Obama dressed as a Somali Elder during a five nation tour of Africa. The image depicts Senator Obama in traditional garb as is a common practice for foreign dignitaries. For their part, I imagine the Clinton campaign is attempting to seize upon the CNN and MSNBC stories that question Senator Obama's patriotism. Stories which repeat rumors and falsehoods as fact in their headlines and leading paragraphs, only to set the record straight deeper - far more so than most readers care to venture - in their articles.

"Last summer, [Senator] Obama was photographed by Time magazine at an event in Iowa standing with his hands folded during the national anthem. His primary rivals Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson appear beside him, with their hands on their hearts...It has been repeatedly reported that the moment came during the Pledge of Allegiance, but that's not the case."

It's well played, but nasty, and ultimately reaffirms my belief that Senator Clinton knows no bounds. She will stoop to any level, and do anything necessary to win. Our nation has dabbled with a Lord of the Flies president. We have made our deals with shady characters to "get the job done." We have learned that expediency at the cost of virtue is a loosing proposition.

Plus, who can fault the guy for wearing ceremonial dress? It's polite. It's diplomatic. And everyone does it.

Labels: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Hillary Clinton, Patriotism

Immunity for telecommunications companies who illegally assisted the Bush Administration in collecting data on US citizens has passed the US Senate.

Senator Obama voted to uphold the law and deny immunity for unscrupulous corporations.

Senator Clinton did not believe that our civil rights, or the standing law of the land was worth the trouble of voting.

In a previous post I described my attempt to share my concerns with a fellow Maine Democratic Party member about Hillary Clinton's stance - or lack thereof - on the issue of warrantless wiretaps.

We know telecommunications companies have been illegally forwarding records of our phone calls, emails, and web traffic to government agencies without judicial oversight. We do not know where this information is stored, how long it will be stored for, or who has access to it. Unfortunately, our government has a very poor record of safeguarding our personal data. Ask a veteran. Won't someone please get me off the AARP mailing list?

So, I'd like to say I told you so to the little old lady in the red hat. We have Senator Clinton to thank - at least in part - for what may happen should our identities and personal information be stolen, sold, leaked, or lost from this corporate-government information sharing database. I wish you the best of luck reclaiming your identity, repairing your credit, getting off a no-fly list, or re-entering the country after a holiday abroad unmolested by over-zealous border security agents.

Cheers!

Labels: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, tia, warrantless wiretaps

I arrived at Portland High School at 1:30 in the afternoon today. As the snow began to fall and the chanters began, I took my place in the swelling crowd. I was cold and soaked through when I actually got into the school at 2:30, but I had it good. Others were still in line outside as late as 6:30.

I knew what to expect: Long lines, overworked volunteers, and crazy people who were apparently my neighbors. Good times. What I didn't expect was the hate.

I found myself in line with a small gang of grandmothers. They were complaining about the crowd, and tsking the fact that the party hadn't held the caucus in the Civic Center. Typical gripes really, and nothing I hadn't heard from others in the crush of would-be voters, but then it got nasty. It started with a sneering jibe at the folks – mostly young Obama supporters – waiting in an opposing line to register to vote. "If you were so enthusiastic to vote, why didn't you register before today," one of them muttered to her coven. This was meet with general approval before she turned to me and noticed my "Obama for ME" sign.

She was a grandmother in a red hat complete with tell tale purple accessories. "You're on the wrong side," she said, her Hillary sticker proudly displayed. I welcomed the recognition, and readied myself for her pitch, it was a caucus after all, but I wasn't expecting the curve. "He's a Muslim you know."

I'm not sure if my eyes actually popped or not, but she backtracked quickly with a: "That's what I hear." Even after six years, I'm still not used to the racism/xenophobia I encounter here in Maine. It's a quiet racism. Insidious. But I dropped into posture quickly and shot back. "Actually he's a Christian. Not that it would matter to me even if he was a Muslim." Now it was her turn to be shocked...and she was...for about a nanosecond. Then she asked what I knew about this guy anyway, and exactly where did he get his money from?

I in turn asked about Hillary's stock trading record with Tyson Foods and Walmart, but this only pushed her Bill Oreilly buttons and caused her to breathlessly demand that I answer her question. Who is this Obama guy? Where did he come from? Was he a Republicans plant?

I tried to take the wheel of this train to crazy-town and explained that I support Barack Obama because of his platform. Specifically his pledge to open government, and his science and technology policies as endorsed by the EFF. Attempting to explain the EFF to a red-hat wearing racist crone is a good time. I highly recommend it if you have the means. At any rate, she promised me that the good folks up in Aroostook County would never vote for a black man, and that Obama didn't have a chance in Maine. That's where the line ended and we parted ways.

By 8:30 tonight, our votes where cast and counted. In my precinct I'm happy to report that the final tally was 374 for Obama and 104 for Clinton.

Barack Obama carried the great state of Maine.

Labels: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, maine

Last week in South Carolina the eight announced hopefuls (I'm still pullin' for you Ali G!) for the 2008 Democratic nomination met to "debate." This fat honkin' slice o'political theater has been re-run on MSNBC several times since, and has been edited and condensed in Daily Show soundbite-montage-style in various forms online (If history were written using only tidbits of viral marketing one might think former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel dominated the event).

I'm an election geek, so I was looking for the basics: Tie color, lighting, stage position, camera angles. Throughout the campaign process, top candidates from both parties are trained, poked, and prodded to take full advantage these near subliminal elements which in aggregate add to the publics estimation of that indefinable yet all important quality of appearing "Presidential." Take stage position for instance (supposedly random, by the way):

The Right Wing
Richardson (Gov-NM)
Dobbs (Sen-CT)

The Center/Mainstream
Edwards (Sen-NC)
Biden (Sen-DE)
Obama (Sen-IL)
Clinton (Sen-NY)

The Left Wing
Kucinich (Rep-OH)
Gravel (Sen-AK)

The mainstream media is once again attempting to short circuit our electoral process by choosing our front runners for us by emphasizing Obama and Clinton. Personally I didn't see anything in the debate that excited me about any of the candidates beyond the fact that none of them are the current Administration. In that light, my pick for the top two clear winners of the first debate are: John Kerry (Sen-MA) and Al Gore (former USVP)!

Both are smart enough to realize that it's ridiculously early to even announce candidacy, never mind hold a staged and manipulated debate. Both have also won Presidential elections in the past. These two facts alone put them head and shoulders above the rest of the field.

Labels: 2008 Election, Al Gore, Barack Obama, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Mike Gravel, operation lockbox

America is at a crossroads. Expect this trite but true little bit of rhetoric to be a central theme in 2006. The message will be pounded in the brains of the American voter by every Democrat worth their salt from now straight through until November 2008.

Some have already started preaching the word, but not everyone appreciates the strategy. After all, if the DNC makes the case that the upcoming elections are not between the right and the left, but rather between the past and the future, what will become of all those Dems who have gone along for the ride this far? Aren't they part of the past? I'm looking at you Hillary. Sorry, but 2008 isn't your year.

Aside from the sour grapes, I think this is a winning strategy. Using the future as a launching pad for the elections is brilliant. Don't polarize the nation with a debate on abortion. Shit the neo-cons and their fundy pals are trying to roll us back to arguing evolution. Responsible science initiatives (i.e. breaking that "oil addiction"), and a firm stance on consumer rights with regard to digital media are issue that the average American can understand. Gas tanks and iPods.

Lets get this one right. We may not have another chance.

Labels: 2006 mid-term election, 2008 Election, Hillary Clinton, neocon