Voter Fraud Accusations Lay Groundwork for Obama's illegitimacy
The GOP and McCain know that vote fraud accusations will probably go nowhere. They just want to claim later that Obama isn't the legitimately elected President.
Karl Rove on Palin
With all due respect again to Governor...been a governor for three years...able but undistinguished," Rove said. "I don't think people could really name a big, important thing that...done...was mayor of the 105th largest city in America.
Oops, that was Rove addressing speculation that Obama might select Tim Kaine, Governor of Virginia, as Obama's running mate. (Rove on Face the Nation August 10th).
Rove went on to say
"I think he's going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice," Rove said. "He's going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he's going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He's not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president."
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Obama already flip-flopping on Kyl-Lieberman
In Barack Obama's speech before AIPAC today, in addition to saying he would do anthing in his power to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, he also said
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, who Quds Forces have rightly been labeled a terrorist organization. Senator Barack Obama's Spoken Remarks before AIPAC on June 4th 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/us/politics/04text-obama-aipac.html?pagewanted=5&sq=aipac&st=nyt&scp=3which sounds remarkably similar to
that the united States should designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a foriengn terrorist organization...and place the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on the list of Specially Designated Terrorsts. Kyl-Liberman Amendmentyet inconsistent with
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/kyl-lieberman-amendment/?resultpage=8&
Obama opposed the Kyl-Lieberman amendment. Barack Obama's website
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/foreignpolicy/#iran
The Florida & Michigan delegates shouldn't be halved - they should be DOUBLED!
Caucuses are blatantly undemocratic:
1. Many people can't participate due to health, job or other concerns;
2. Support below a certain threshold, typically 15%, is treated as 0%.
Despite this, many people defend caucuses because they reflect the will of the most committed voters.
Who's more committed than the voters of Florida & Michigan who voted despite the fact they were told their votes wouldn't count?
They shouldn't be punished.
They should be rewarded.
Double 'em and add your age.
1. Many people can't participate due to health, job or other concerns;
2. Support below a certain threshold, typically 15%, is treated as 0%.
Despite this, many people defend caucuses because they reflect the will of the most committed voters.
Who's more committed than the voters of Florida & Michigan who voted despite the fact they were told their votes wouldn't count?
They shouldn't be punished.
They should be rewarded.
Double 'em and add your age.
Vice President Brad Henry
You heard it here first.
Obama-Henry '2008
Governor Brad Henry (D-OK)
First elected in 2002, he defeated former Congressman & Seattle Seahawk Steve Largent (R) in a squeaker. Let's face it, anyone who can shut down a Hall of Fame Wide Receiver has got moves. During his first gubernatorial campaign, he barnstormed rural areas and, if he's not exactly pro-cockfighting, he doesn't appear to be anti-cockfighting either (take that Kentucky!)
Re-elected in 2006 with 2/3 of the vote, so he knows how to build support.
<blockquote>An underdog when he won in 2002, Henry has seen his popularity soar because he has worked well with both parties to pass historic tax cuts, raise teacher pay and institute a lottery to benefit education.
The hot issues in this race are immigration, lawsuit reform and campaign contributions.
Istook (the Republican nominee) has criticized Henry for signing legislation that gives illegal immigrants access to in-state tuition at public colleges. Henry said he signed the bill after it received bipartisan support in the Legislature.
Istook also is focused on lawsuit reform and has attacked Henry, an attorney, for taking more than $300,000 from lawyers against any tort reform. Istook said he would create a cap on non-economic damages. Henry said he already signed a number of bills that would keep medical malpractice insurance rates down and improve access to quality health care.
Henry raised more than $3.4 million for his re-election bid. Although Istook raised $1.1 million, he is having trouble competing with a series of four television ads that highlight Henry’s support for gun rights and his leadership in signing the largest tax cut in state history. <a href="http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=151275">Click Here & Scroll Down</a></blockquote>
He's got Democratic Street Cred. When Tom Delay was in the midst of the Texas re-districting plan, Henry gave sanctuary to the Texas Democratic legislators who fled Texas to prevent Texas legislature from having a quorum.
He's said he doesn't intend to run for the Senate in 2008 or even 2010. He's already <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/23/oklahoma-governor-brad-he_n_98156.html">Endorsed Obama</a> after Clinton won the OK Democratic primary.
Given that Oklahoma is tornado prone, he could talk about the importance of improving FEMA and re-emphasize the Katrina disaster. He could also play the <i>Oklahomans don't need to be lectured about terrorism</i> card courtesy of Timothy McVeigh (although he wasn't Governor at the time of the bombings). Since he was born in 1963, he's from the same political generation as Obama (i.e. post-60s).
Here is his <a href="http://www.governor.state.ok.us/issues.php">List of 2008 Legislative Initiatives</a>. Among them are Education, Job Creation, Health Care & Government Accountability. Sound Familiar? For that matter, Education always shows up on the list, and the First Lady of Oklahoma is a former school teacher.
He is pro-death penalty, but unlike Bush, he actually appears to reflect on whether the sentence should be commuted or pardoned. He actually has <a href="http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/DeathPenalty/TorresVOklaGovMess.htm">commuted</a> one defendant's death sentence to life in prison. Besides, as VP, he isn't going to be signing off any executions.
He probably can't bring his state with him, but it looks as if he can help Obama broaden his support with white, working class voters.
Just a thought.
Obama-Henry '2008
Governor Brad Henry (D-OK)
First elected in 2002, he defeated former Congressman & Seattle Seahawk Steve Largent (R) in a squeaker. Let's face it, anyone who can shut down a Hall of Fame Wide Receiver has got moves. During his first gubernatorial campaign, he barnstormed rural areas and, if he's not exactly pro-cockfighting, he doesn't appear to be anti-cockfighting either (take that Kentucky!)
Re-elected in 2006 with 2/3 of the vote, so he knows how to build support.
<blockquote>An underdog when he won in 2002, Henry has seen his popularity soar because he has worked well with both parties to pass historic tax cuts, raise teacher pay and institute a lottery to benefit education.
The hot issues in this race are immigration, lawsuit reform and campaign contributions.
Istook (the Republican nominee) has criticized Henry for signing legislation that gives illegal immigrants access to in-state tuition at public colleges. Henry said he signed the bill after it received bipartisan support in the Legislature.
Istook also is focused on lawsuit reform and has attacked Henry, an attorney, for taking more than $300,000 from lawyers against any tort reform. Istook said he would create a cap on non-economic damages. Henry said he already signed a number of bills that would keep medical malpractice insurance rates down and improve access to quality health care.
Henry raised more than $3.4 million for his re-election bid. Although Istook raised $1.1 million, he is having trouble competing with a series of four television ads that highlight Henry’s support for gun rights and his leadership in signing the largest tax cut in state history. <a href="http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=151275">Click Here & Scroll Down</a></blockquote>
He's got Democratic Street Cred. When Tom Delay was in the midst of the Texas re-districting plan, Henry gave sanctuary to the Texas Democratic legislators who fled Texas to prevent Texas legislature from having a quorum.
He's said he doesn't intend to run for the Senate in 2008 or even 2010. He's already <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/23/oklahoma-governor-brad-he_n_98156.html">Endorsed Obama</a> after Clinton won the OK Democratic primary.
Given that Oklahoma is tornado prone, he could talk about the importance of improving FEMA and re-emphasize the Katrina disaster. He could also play the <i>Oklahomans don't need to be lectured about terrorism</i> card courtesy of Timothy McVeigh (although he wasn't Governor at the time of the bombings). Since he was born in 1963, he's from the same political generation as Obama (i.e. post-60s).
Here is his <a href="http://www.governor.state.ok.us/issues.php">List of 2008 Legislative Initiatives</a>. Among them are Education, Job Creation, Health Care & Government Accountability. Sound Familiar? For that matter, Education always shows up on the list, and the First Lady of Oklahoma is a former school teacher.
He is pro-death penalty, but unlike Bush, he actually appears to reflect on whether the sentence should be commuted or pardoned. He actually has <a href="http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/DeathPenalty/TorresVOklaGovMess.htm">commuted</a> one defendant's death sentence to life in prison. Besides, as VP, he isn't going to be signing off any executions.
He probably can't bring his state with him, but it looks as if he can help Obama broaden his support with white, working class voters.
Just a thought.
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2012: The first thing we do, let's kill all the super delegates
With apologies to Shakespeare.
I'm sure we can all agree that the 2008 primaries have gone off without a hitch, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
With that in mind, here are some suggestions for improving the primaries next time around:
<ul>
<li>Abolish the super delegates - if the super delegates are going to follow the pledged delegate leader, what's the point; if they're not going to follow that, it leaves the aroma of a smoke filled room</li>
<li>the number of pledged delegates for each state will be 10x the number of Congressional Representatives that state has; that way the number of total delegates stays about the same as it is now, but they are distributed in a manner that reflects each state's population</li>
<li>the pledged delegates are allocated among the candidates according to the percentage of the vote each candidate received across the entire state; the winner of the state gets the benefit of rounding</li>
<li>abolish caucuses, with the possible exception of Iowa for sentimental reasons - I don't care if they're cheaper, they're less democratic</li>
</ul>
I'm undecided if the primaries should be opened or closed.
I'm also don't really have any proposed scheduling rules, other than I would tend to favor purple or blue states over red states. Thus I would probably move South Carolina farther back in the primary schedule. If the desire is to have an early state with a large African-American population, may I suggest Maryland instead? According to the 2000 census figures, the percentage of African Americans in South Carolina and Maryland is 29.48% and 27.72% respectively.
I'm sure we can all agree that the 2008 primaries have gone off without a hitch, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
With that in mind, here are some suggestions for improving the primaries next time around:
<ul>
<li>Abolish the super delegates - if the super delegates are going to follow the pledged delegate leader, what's the point; if they're not going to follow that, it leaves the aroma of a smoke filled room</li>
<li>the number of pledged delegates for each state will be 10x the number of Congressional Representatives that state has; that way the number of total delegates stays about the same as it is now, but they are distributed in a manner that reflects each state's population</li>
<li>the pledged delegates are allocated among the candidates according to the percentage of the vote each candidate received across the entire state; the winner of the state gets the benefit of rounding</li>
<li>abolish caucuses, with the possible exception of Iowa for sentimental reasons - I don't care if they're cheaper, they're less democratic</li>
</ul>
I'm undecided if the primaries should be opened or closed.
I'm also don't really have any proposed scheduling rules, other than I would tend to favor purple or blue states over red states. Thus I would probably move South Carolina farther back in the primary schedule. If the desire is to have an early state with a large African-American population, may I suggest Maryland instead? According to the 2000 census figures, the percentage of African Americans in South Carolina and Maryland is 29.48% and 27.72% respectively.
Rules of Thumb for selecting Obama's VP
Every year people suggest informal rules for deciding who should be MVP in the major leagues. These informal rules, boiled down, amount to saying that the MVP is the best everyday player on the crappiest team to make the playoffs.
With that cautionary warning, or irrelevant tangent if you prefer, here are my suggested rules of thumb that Obama should use in selecting a VP.
1. No Senators - an all-Senator ticket is too inside the beltway and undercuts the message of change. Besides, a Senator from a red or purple state puts a seat at risk; a Senator from a blue state is superfluous.
2. At least 5 years younger than McCain - it's hard to argue that McCain is too old if the VP is McCain's age. This rules out Sam Nunn. He's only 3 years younger than McCain (plus, former Senator)
3. Elected to state-wide office. By default, this means
Governor due to Rule No. 1. There are other statewide offices (Lt Gov, Treasurer), but it's hard to argue that a state Treasurer is qualified to be President. This rules out Wesley Clark (or, for the more oddly minded, Colin Powell). A Presidential election isn't the time for campaign training wheels.
4. Democrat - Sorry, I do not think an Obama/Hagel is a good idea. Too many differences in basic policy.
5. Completed at least one 4-year term of office, or 2 2-year terms of office. Otherwise, it just underlies the experience issue again.
6. Can't be an IL resident - Constitution prohibits it - rules out Gov of IL.
7. Can't be foreign born - Constitution prohibits it; rules out Gov of Michigan (damn Canadians!)
So where does that leave us?
Keep in mind, I know little, or nothing, about the following politicians. This is just offered in the spirit of Sports Talk Radio (part BS, part half-serious, part thinking aloud).
1. Gov Janet Napolitano (AZ) - although I don't think she should be selected merely because this might, maybe put AZ in play. To be blunt, she should be selected if she can help pull in women and Hispanics in general, but not the state of AZ in particular.
2. Gov Ruth Ann Minner (DE) - Does a Delaware politician bring any benefits to a National ticket?
3. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (KS) - I know a lot of people are high on her, but I don't think Obama needs to Kansas connections; besides, does he really want to spend time talking about prison rape because Sebelius's son marketed a game about prison rape and used the governor's mansion as a mailing address for it.
4. Gov. John Baldacci (ME) - Sorry, I just don't see it. Hannibal Hamlin he's not (actually, I have no idea if he is or not)
5. Gov John Lynch (NH) - Can probably do more for the ticket running for re-election as Governor than being part of the ticket itself.
6. Gov Bill Richardson (NM) - Don't have anything to add that hasn't already been said
7. Gov Mike Easley (NC) - recently polls show that Obama needs help in NC. A Southerner might help in general (although I'm uncertain how much he would help put the South in play).
8. Gov Brad Henry (OK) - who knew that OK had a Democratic Governor. Bonus, he's an Obama supporter.
9. Gov Ted Kulongoski (OR) - Not sure that Obama needs any help here.
10. Gov Ed Rendell (PA) - insert comment here
11. Gov Phil Bredesen (TN) - started and ran HealthAmerica Corp, but I don't know if HealthAmerica has any skeletons in its closet.
12. Gov Jim Dole (WI) - once again, I'm not sure Obama needs help here
13. Gov Dave Freudenthal (WY) - Wyoming! Good one!
If you know of anyone else who meets the criteria, such as a recently retired Governor, please add that person to the list.
With that cautionary warning, or irrelevant tangent if you prefer, here are my suggested rules of thumb that Obama should use in selecting a VP.
1. No Senators - an all-Senator ticket is too inside the beltway and undercuts the message of change. Besides, a Senator from a red or purple state puts a seat at risk; a Senator from a blue state is superfluous.
2. At least 5 years younger than McCain - it's hard to argue that McCain is too old if the VP is McCain's age. This rules out Sam Nunn. He's only 3 years younger than McCain (plus, former Senator)
3. Elected to state-wide office. By default, this means
Governor due to Rule No. 1. There are other statewide offices (Lt Gov, Treasurer), but it's hard to argue that a state Treasurer is qualified to be President. This rules out Wesley Clark (or, for the more oddly minded, Colin Powell). A Presidential election isn't the time for campaign training wheels.
4. Democrat - Sorry, I do not think an Obama/Hagel is a good idea. Too many differences in basic policy.
5. Completed at least one 4-year term of office, or 2 2-year terms of office. Otherwise, it just underlies the experience issue again.
6. Can't be an IL resident - Constitution prohibits it - rules out Gov of IL.
7. Can't be foreign born - Constitution prohibits it; rules out Gov of Michigan (damn Canadians!)
So where does that leave us?
Keep in mind, I know little, or nothing, about the following politicians. This is just offered in the spirit of Sports Talk Radio (part BS, part half-serious, part thinking aloud).
1. Gov Janet Napolitano (AZ) - although I don't think she should be selected merely because this might, maybe put AZ in play. To be blunt, she should be selected if she can help pull in women and Hispanics in general, but not the state of AZ in particular.
2. Gov Ruth Ann Minner (DE) - Does a Delaware politician bring any benefits to a National ticket?
3. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (KS) - I know a lot of people are high on her, but I don't think Obama needs to Kansas connections; besides, does he really want to spend time talking about prison rape because Sebelius's son marketed a game about prison rape and used the governor's mansion as a mailing address for it.
4. Gov. John Baldacci (ME) - Sorry, I just don't see it. Hannibal Hamlin he's not (actually, I have no idea if he is or not)
5. Gov John Lynch (NH) - Can probably do more for the ticket running for re-election as Governor than being part of the ticket itself.
6. Gov Bill Richardson (NM) - Don't have anything to add that hasn't already been said
7. Gov Mike Easley (NC) - recently polls show that Obama needs help in NC. A Southerner might help in general (although I'm uncertain how much he would help put the South in play).
8. Gov Brad Henry (OK) - who knew that OK had a Democratic Governor. Bonus, he's an Obama supporter.
9. Gov Ted Kulongoski (OR) - Not sure that Obama needs any help here.
10. Gov Ed Rendell (PA) - insert comment here
11. Gov Phil Bredesen (TN) - started and ran HealthAmerica Corp, but I don't know if HealthAmerica has any skeletons in its closet.
12. Gov Jim Dole (WI) - once again, I'm not sure Obama needs help here
13. Gov Dave Freudenthal (WY) - Wyoming! Good one!
If you know of anyone else who meets the criteria, such as a recently retired Governor, please add that person to the list.
