17people

I'm baaack,, well at least to stick it the Cheney's

2009-10-31T14:59:00.003-05:00

After a long absence for many reasons (self pity for my employment at the heart of it) I was inspired to share a brilliant bit of journalism.

Filling in for Keith Olberman on Countdown,,, Lawrence O'Donnell absolutely skewered and destroyed both former VP Dick Cheney and his recently very outspoken daughter who criticized President Obama for going to Dover Air Force Base to honor fallen troops who were returned home.

I'm hoping to get the itch to write again,, and could be contributing more on this blog or maybe a new creation sometime soon.

Horoscopes Are Accurate????

2009-03-27T10:27:00.007-05:00

My horoscope for March 26, 2009 in the Chicago Tribune read.

Apply for that promotion or better job. Conditions are right to have more
money come in your direction. Can you put yourself in the right place to
make that happen.

Well I am now in that position as 4 co-workers and I were let go from our jobs yesterday.

It has not been a funny day since but that horoscope made me smile a bit. Maybe this is a moment to do better.

(Click on the picture above for a better view of an entertaining comic appropriate to my current plight)

A Thank You To CNBC

2009-03-12T16:18:00.003-05:00

I owe the financial mega channel,,, CNBC a big thank you.

That thank you would be for reminding me to put The Daily Show back on my scheduled series recordings on my DVR.

See what happened is that the great Jon Stewart took some time off after the election and I was tiring of watching reruns of the show so I took The Daily Show, which recorded every time it was on off my 'Series Recordings'.

Then like many people a few weeks ago I saw CNBC's Rick Santelli now infamous rant against the Obama housing plan. The reaction of the news media,, even lefty MSNBC made Santelli into a hero of the 'everyman'.

I was beginning to wonder if anyone other than Press Secretart Robert Gibbs was going to take Santelli on for his rant.

Well last week, Jon Stewart came to the rescue with a brilliant montage of the bullshit spewed by CNBC over the period of the 'financial crisis'.

Then CNBC's, Jim Cramer (who I have to admit I have enjoyed watching) made a mistake that I can only describe as comparable to the 'heckler at the comedy club'. You know the guy who thinks he's quicker or more able than the comedian who only has the comedian on stage rip him to shreds.

Cramer, playing the role of the heckler,, decided to take on Stewart and for the past two nights has paid a merciless price. Stewart has absolutely filleted Cramer and done so in a way that has made Cramer,, and CNBC look like complete idiots.

To Cramer's credit,,, he is going on The Daily Show tonite to face Stewart in person.

And more importantly than that,, I owe Jim Cramer,, not for stock advice,, but for bringing my DVR back,,, to The Daily Show.

The clips are below for your viewing enjoyment.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Basic Cable Personality Clash Skirmish '09

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Battle

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

A Thought On The Obama Budget

2009-03-04T12:30:00.002-06:00

The $3.6 trillion budget sent to Congress by the Obama Administration has caused consternation in a lot of places. Republicans are railing against deficits as are moderate Dems highlighted by Indiana Senator Evan Bayh who wrote in the Wall Street Journal today that the spending bill should be voted down.

While an admitted liberal I am a big believer in fiscal discipline and a $1.75 trillion deficit makes me very uneasy.

That being said,, I think that the Obama team is handling the budget more strategically than they did the Stimulus Bill. This budget number is an effort on his teams part to strengthen their negotiating position.

In the case of the Stimulus Bill, some believe that Obama went in asking for what he wanted and then negotiated from there and ended up losing some of his priorities like state funding and education.

In this case I think he is following the rather successful method of the Bush 43 administration. Ask for way more than you want,, if you get it,, great. Yet, if you compromise you end up going down to the number you wanted anyway.

17people would not be surprised if this bill ended up being significantly smaller than the $3.6trillion number initially proposed. Obama knows that he can ill afford to end up negotiating to a number that isn't adequate enough to get money into the system. So he is asking for much more than he really wants, but is at the max at what he wants to spend.

Its a negotiating ploy and a smart one. In the end whether he comes down $250bln, $500bln or $750bln, he's going to get what he really wants in the bill.

The final number is and the subsequent effects are all people will remember.

And one more thing to note, being a popular President with a muscle-less opposition Obama has many plays that will work for him.

If Obama makes concessions, he wins by looking bi-partisan, if he passes it without any Republican votes, he wins because they look unwilling to work with him because they are listening to Rush Limbaugh.

The public won't remember or care what the original budget number was as long as people begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

The far more important fact is this... whether it be the budget battle, the stimulus fight, or the upcoming war for health care, the politics are secondary if these programs don't begin to turn around the economic situation that we are in.

17People Returns,,, Cynically

2009-01-19T08:25:00.004-06:00

Had two conversations this morning that surprised people.

Here they are...

1st:

"Did you watch the festivities yesterday?" a co-worker asked me this morning.

"Yeah, those were two good games and that Ravens-Steelers game was outstanding," I responded.

"Ugh,,,, I meant the Obama Inaugural deal they had yesterday on HBO," he responded.

2nd:

"I thought you'd be heading to DC for the inauguration this week. Are you taking tomorrow off to watch it right," a co-worker asked.

"Uhh, no. Not worth the day off to watch and not worth the money to go," I responded.

So by no means am I surprised by either of these questions or conversations, but my responses really seemed to surprise my co-workers.

While there are many metaphors made,,, politics is not sports. The big events are all we see in politics,, but the truth is the real moves are made behind closed doors. Where the money is spent or how the laws are written are never seen by the public.

As a country we get too lost in things like debates, speeches, or pep rallies.

This is the part of politics that really irritates me.

Worthless pageantry like concerts are all fluff.

While I'll sound like a total cynic,, I don't care what school Sasha and Malia are going to or what Church the Obama's are attending in DC or what celebrities are attending the inauguration or inauguration Balls.

I don't care about any of it. I don't care what Obama says tomorrow and I don't care about how 'historic' the moment is.

These are unprecedented times and the country action and results. We now need our government to get its act together and figure out a way to stabilize our economy.

And to be honest, I hope that President Obama doesn't care about it either.

Like many Americans I am more uneasy about my future than ever before. I worry about losing my job and then not being able to pay my rent. It could happen as easily as my company losing a major account, not because we lost the business, but because our customer is cutting back or declared bankruptcy.

On Friday I came across an article which to me encapsulated just how scary our current economic situation. It isn't written by an economist offering theories of a 'doomsday' or 'depression' scenario. Instead it just listed companies that were laying people off. It wasn't just the auto industry, or the banking industry as we have come to expect. It was over 20 companies,, some of which are the best known companies in the world.

Hell, if Google, GE, Pfizer, and Halliburton are laying people off,,, then any company could be in the same situation.

Here's the deal,, I am proud to have voted for, supported, and worked to get Barack Obama elected. I think he has handled the transition exceptionally well and has assembled a first rate team. I believe in him now as strong as I did when I voted for him.

Yet, believing in him or thinking he is brilliant is not enough for me.

I am not part of a cultish group who thinks that the mere presence of Barack Obama is going to fix the country. He isn't a messiah, he isn't a savior. He is a smart guy who is about four years removed from being a State Senator from the South Side of Chicago.

Now he is facing the hardest job in the world, in some of the most trying times in generations. It isn't enough to 'hope' he is the right guy for the job,, he damn well better be the right person for the job.

I'm ready for the 'pageantry' to be over and for our 'lame duck government' to do it's job and work for the American people.

Bottom line, it's time to put up or shut up.

It Feels This Cold

2008-12-22T15:47:00.002-06:00

I'm a Chicagoan through and through, but this weekend is bruuuutal.

Leo McGarry

2008-12-16T13:56:00.001-06:00

I wrote over the past summer...

Think when any of us become a fan of a TV show, sports team, band, whatever, you feel a bond and connection with the people involved. Most of the time you never get a chance to meet or know them as people but you care about them.

Four years ago today John Spencer passed away. Spencer played White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry in President Josiah Bartlett's White House on the TV show The West Wing.

This blog was named after an episode of The West Wing and many of the posts on this blog reference one of TV's greatest show. John Spencer's portrayal of Leo McGarry was a character to whom I related and tried to emulate when I worked on campaigns.

Some people ask me,, 'who was your favorite character on the show?' I always answer it like a parent talks about their kids. "I really love them all, and they could all be my favorite at any time."

The real answer above is true. I loved them all, but it was Leo who was consistently my favorite. He was the guy I wanted to be when I was tossing my lot into the political world. More pragmatist than idealogue, more team builder, than team agitator.

I'll never forget when I interviewed for a job with John Hancock after college to be a financial analyst. I was asked one of those ridiculous questions you get asked in interviews,,, "What is your dream job?"

My answer at the time was "White House Chief of Staff."

The main reason I even knew what this job was,,, was due to The West Wing and how I viewed Leo McGarry.

As those who watch the show are aware, Spencer passed away in the middle of the last season of The West Wing while his character was the Democratic Nominee for Vice President. The story is that if Spencer would have lived, that the Republican nominee Arnold Vinnick (played by Alan Alda) would have won the election.

But after Spencer's death the writers decided to write McGarry's death into the storyline and the Democrat Nominee Matt Santos (played by Jimmy Smits) ended up as the winner of the election.

Considering that I almost named this blog leomcgarry.blogspot.com, I feel that the 16th of December 16 will always be an appropriate day to pass along some of the wisdom of Leo .

While the YouTube video below is not of the best quality it is a great collection of clips and always love watching the reaction of fellow cast members (Bradley Whitford in particular) when he won his Emmy for one of the great episodes in West Wing history "Bartlet for America". Links to other Spencer tributes are listed below.

No (expletive) Surprise

2008-12-10T09:33:00.002-06:00

Talked to some friends of mine from outside my home state of Illinois yesterday who all thought that they would find a reaction of shock, embarrassment, and surprise about the news of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich arrest.

The truth is this,,,

17people and most everyone in the state of Illinois is not the least bit surprised. 'Blago' as he is referred to by many around here is a very unpopular figure in the state (13% in some approval polls) and was a major reason that Illinois considered a Constitutional Convention in the past year (it failed). The Chicago Tribune (a target of Blago) was pushing for a 'recall' mechanism for the citizens of Illinois.

So the black eye for Illinois in this whole deal is this... Why did this piece of shit get elected twice?

17people readily admits to have voted for Blago in two General Elections. In his 1st primary 17people supported former Chicago School Board President and fellow Greek American Paul Vallas. Blago had significant institutional support from his powerhouse Chicago Alderman father in law Richard 'Dick' Mell (who interestingly disowned Blago about 5 years ago).

Also of note in the 2002 primary,,, State Senator Barack Obama endorsed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris against Blago.

When Blago ran in that first General Election in 2002 he was the Democratic Nominee following the administration of a Republican Governor who as most people know,,, is also in jail. That guys name was George Ryan. The last name of the Republican that Blago ran against in 2002,,, also Ryan (Jim Ryan, no relation), but the stigma was there. Bottom line there was no chance the Democrats could have lost that election.

Four years later the Illinois Republican party, still scarred by George Ryan had a bloody primary where State Treasurer Judy Barr Topinka was elected the nominee. Blago had about $17million in his campaign war chest and blasted Topinka, who was not a very good candidate.

What I say about Blago's two elections is similar to what I say about President Bush. Voters, myself included, got what we deserved. Blago has done some good things, like increase education funding and fund children's health care.

However, people I know that know Blago have said his arrogance and borderline sociopathic tendencies make him a detestable person.

Which is why instead of shame and embarrassment, feel like many Illinoisan's like me are glad that the justice department did what they are supposed to do...

Find the bad guys and put them away.

Good riddance Blago.

Obama Economic Team=Stimulus,,, for a Week

2008-12-01T09:15:00.005-06:00

Last week we saw a strong rally for the stock market.

There are a number of factors for this bump, but think that the biggest factor was President Elect Obama announcing a very impressive economic team.

Tim Geithner looks to be a respected and well thought of pick to be the Treasury Secretary. The pick also avoids a messy confirmation that would have taken place had Larry Summers been the choice. Summers considered to be one of the great economic minds in the world will be a part of the Obama Economic team as head of the National Economic Council.

What was most encouraging to me was that Obama's other appointments seemed to be applauded by people on both sides of the political spectrum and attacked by those on both ideological wings. Peter Orszag as Director of the Office of Management and Budget after running the Congressional Budget Office. While a lower level appointee than some it is nice to see someone with impeccable qualifications get an important job like this.

Former Federal Reserve Chair, the brilliant Paul Volcker will Chair the Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Volcker is a Hall of Famer when it comes to his track record and knowledge. He became a bit maligned during the Greenspan time at the Fed, but was one of the few people out there warning of the mess we are now in,,, before it happened.

The economic team is loaded with talent and experience.

Now they need to deliver stability to the economy.

Can't think of anyone else that should be on the team. It's an impressive gathering of intellect and well respected names in the fields they work.

Before getting too excited, I want to hear Geithner speak.

Why do I want to hear him speak you may ask?

The next Treasury Secretary needs to be more than a brilliant economist. He needs to be a sales person and a teacher as well.

This is something we have been sorely lacking during the Bush years. None of his Treasury Secretaries were particularly good salesmen or teachers of the economy during what turned out to be extraordinarily difficult times.

Paul O'Neill and John Snow were flops, and Hank Paulson has taken a beating for his handling of the bailout. 17people thinks we need to see how the TARP act works before burying Paulson as a disaster.

What we have all learned with terms like 'derivatives' and 'leverage' is that the economy is more complicated than we even imagined. Geithner and the new economic team is going to have to BOTH implement policy AND sell it to the public in a way that makes sense.

The public is not going to accept things getting forced on them as much as they have in the past.

It was nice to see that the markets last week responded to the decisions of our next President. He and his transition team deserve some kudos because the 'announcement stimulus' was perfectly timed leading into Black Friday and the biggest shopping weekend of the year.

17people fully expects that we will see many more dives in the markets in the weeks and months ahead. Yet, for the first time in a long time I have faith in the Economic Team leading our country.

There has never been more global economic pressure on an Administration.

One week of stimulus is nice but we could see an even worse economic landscape in 50days time and reputations will not be enough. Obama and his team will need to deliver.

Happy Thanksgiving to All

2008-11-27T23:17:00.002-06:00

In what has been a difficult and historic year I was given some great advice today on my Facebook page to take some time off of politics and enjoy some turkey.

So while I am recovering from a handful of boring football games, a couple pounds of turkey, and my mom's incredible stuffing, 17people wants to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving,, with what else?

A West Wing clip that will never grow old for me. Linked it in last year and will probably have it up next year too.

Mortgage Story of the Year

2008-11-26T14:19:00.002-06:00

Tom Friedman's article today tells a story from a brilliant and stunning article by Michael Lewis, author of one of my favorite books ever Moneyball.

We all have heard stories about how we got into this mess, the following story will do that rare thing of making you laugh and then get angry when you think about it.

Long Beach Financial (then part of now bankrupt WaMu) was moving money out the door as fast as it could, few questions asked, in loans built to self-destruct. It specialized in asking homeowners with bad credit and no proof of income to put no money down and defer interest payments for as long as possible.

In Bakersfield, Calif., a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000 and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $720,000.”

Hypocrisy?

2008-11-24T12:37:00.003-06:00

There has been a lot in recent weeks that I have not written about but today there is something that really irked me.

Read this morning that the US Treasury is infusing $20billion to Citigroup. This is on top of $25billion that the government has already given to Citigroup. So Citigroup has received $45billion worth of welfare from the US taxpayer. Read the 1st line of the article above and you will see what is even worse is that we the people have insured $300billion worth of Citigroups assets.

What really, really makes me mad is that Citigroup got this additional money after they announced last week that they would cut 52,000 jobs.

Thats right, after Citigroup announced that they would fire 52,000 people, the Treasury Department decided to reward them with $20billion.

This disgusts me.

Where is the congressional hearing and oversight?

Where is the Citigroup CEO to rake over the coals the way Congress did to the Big 3 automakers last week?

I implore Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd who told us that the 'Bailout' had 'oversight' in it, to do their job and excercise some damn oversight.

The double standard in our country right now really worries me. The Big 3 Automakers employ a lot more people directly and indirectly than Citigroup does.

But we have limited outrage that when looking at the number the Big 3 have asked for 55% of what Citigroup alone has received thus far in the last 8 weeks. They flew into Washington on Friday and left with $20billion.

Must be nice.

Democrats Lose Their Way

2008-11-20T13:29:00.002-06:00

For the past week I have taken a bit of a sabbatical from my writing to run a whip operation to push House Democrats to make a smart decision. My whip operation did not yield the result I worked for though.

Today is a low point for 17people and the US House of Representatives. The House Democrats replaced the Great John Dingell as the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee with Henry Waxman.

17People has been emailing and calling Congressional Democrats for the past week urging them to support Dingell. My efforts and that of many but it turned out this was not enough as Dingell lost 137-122 in the Democratic Caucus.

This is the kind of move that has to give pragmatic Democrats pause. The entire leadership of the House of Representatives has been taken over by the far left of the caucus. The entire leadership now owes their position to the Speaker of the House and it is worrisome that those who have questioned her have all been removed from power.

I am a liberal and actually to the left of Mr. Dingell on many issues. But that doesn't distort the fact that he is the best man for this job and has been for the past 28 years. No chairman of any committee has passed and written more meaningful legislation than John Dingell and his reward for that was being outflanked by the left wing.

There is no member of Congress I respect more or think would write and manage the best possible legislation that appeals to the widest range of Americans. The Energy and Commerce Committee will be working on with the Obama administration on Health Care, Energy Policy, the 'Green Economy'.

I have learned in my life to try and say as little as possible when I am mad. This will mean I won't have to apologize for more than I need to later. Once I calm down I will write more, but this is it for now,,, this is a bad day for Democrats.

Here's the story from Politico.

Kudos to Goldman Sachs?

2008-11-17T12:50:00.005-06:00

Every once in a while there is a story where a company or individual does something really good and they deserve credit for it.

Yes, you read the title correctly. Liberal 17People is giving Goldman Sachs some positive recognition.

Today on the front page of The Wall Street Journal is that rare story where 17People says something nice about Wall Street. That news is that Goldman Sachs, one of the largest investment banks in the world announced that it's top executive will be forgoing their bonuses for 2008.

Now these bonuses aren't like most of us who if we are lucky get an extra paycheck or a few hundred dollars. The CEO of Goldman Sachs got a $70million bonus last year! The next two guys around $68million each. While these numbers are huge you have to credit them for giving up real sacrifice here.

This news comes on the heals of the sickening news that Citi Group is going to layoff 50,000 people in the near future. I wonder if Citi's executives are making the same sacrifice that the Goldman executives are by forgoing their bonuses.

The Journal said around $312billion was paid out in 2007 in Wall Street executive bonuses. So by taking a year to invest that money into their companies,,, would be a way to save jobs and show the public they are serious about change.

If the leadership of more companies take responsible steps like this I think we will be able to bounce out of this economic mess faster than by having executives continue to put their own self interests ahead of their employees.

Despite the fact that I view Goldman as one of the companies who had responsibility in getting us into this financial mess, 17People gives them our highest compliments for this decision.

Their decision does two important things, it shows the public that someone on Wall Street can do something to be responsible and more importantly puts the pressure on other banks to do the same.

How can other investment banks take huge bonuses upon the heals of this stunning example of corporate responsibility? Hopefully it means they can't.

17People One Year Anniversary

2008-11-17T08:46:00.002-06:00

A year ago I started this blog after watching a Democratic Debate with 9 Presidential Candidates on stage. The direction of 17people has changed based on my moods, interests, and tolerance for the politics.

There have been a dorkish number of references to the West Wing, a handful of movie reviews, a small number of personal stories, a brief arc on my fitness/weight loss regimen, and about five episodes of writers bloc or as I like to refer to it 'writers self loathing' (the most recent bout which ended last week).

17people is no question a left leaning blog and will continue to push progressive ideas and battle conservative stances and candidates I disagree with. As a result of this we have lost some Republican readers over the year. 17People has tried its best to also call out the left and show respect to the right and will make this a big goal of our second year.

This first year was a learning year and hopefully as time goes on some of those Republican readers will come back and argue their points here.

It's ironic that some Republicans have stopped reading my blog considering that in my personal life, most of my friends are,,, strong Republicans. 17People has learned the hard way that it is harder to show understanding and respect for other viewpoints when I write about politics than when I discuss politics.

A smile, a wink, voice inflection are not as easy to decipher in a blog post than in a conversation.

As happy as I am that Democrats control the government this blog will give them no free pass in the year to come. 17People will be a watchdog and if President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, or Leader Reid fail to deliver for the American people, this blog will call them out.

Most importantly,,, 17People wants to thank the loyal readers of this blog for pushing, reminding, and inspire me to keep writing even when I don't want to. Without their support and encouragement 17People could have ended long ago.

Finally, a give away to the sometimes readers of 17People. There are two little known facts about this blog that I get asked all the time which I will attempt to answer here.

Because of a lack of personal confidence,, I have done almost nothing to promote 17People. Think I emailed it out to about 10 people when I started and have not let many more people know since then. So when people ask how many readers I have,,, the answer is I don't know, but maybe as I believe in my writing a bit more I will push 17People to more outlets.

The second and more often asked question is '17People'? What the heck does that mean?

As stated earlier this blog derives a lot of content from my all time favorite television show The West Wing. Went through a lot of ideas and possibilities and came across a clip on YouTube I thought dealt with telling the truth, and more appropriately,,, telling truth to power.

The West Wing was an amazing show which did more than entertain, it educated. It made complex issues a little easier to understand. While 17People the blog will never be as smart as the writing of Aaron Sorkin, that is what I strive to give to my readers.

17People will alert readers to stories and opinions that you may not hear everywhere and to try and explain some issues in terms that are a little easier to understand.

17People, The West Wing episode, was to me about accountability and the pains of telling the truth and why I chose it as the episode to base the title of my blog.

The clip is below, the words are Aaron Sorkins, and they are brilliantly performed by President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), Communications Director Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff), and Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (the great John Spencer).

President Bartlet has just told Toby that he concealed the fact that he has Multiple Sclerosis from the country and his staff.

Stop Talking

2008-11-13T10:06:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, 17people essentially pleaded with Sarah Palin to not overdo her interview schedule before she was able to have a clear and coherent message.

Then last night, Jon Stewart showed what I was trying to accomplish in the brilliant Daily Show clip above.

First of all, if she is trying to connect to 'regular Joe Six Pack Americans' how many of them where high heels and a suit coat while they are cooking chili dogs (check around the 2:36-3:48 mark).

Then at the 4:00 mark of the above piece, Stewart illustrated what I was warning about when it comes to a consistent message. These interviews have absolutely no consistency and when looking at them together, they just get even more ridiculous,, something that given the beating her reputation took, she can ill afford.

The worse part for Palin is that in the interviews thus far have been all about Palin.

I don't blame Palin for this, I blame the interviewers who are obsessed with the 'soap opera' that has become Palin's political existence. They only ask her about clothes, her daughters pregnancy, and moose chili dogs. All 'fluff' topics that do nothing to make people think she is a more serious person who has a political future.

17people hates to say 'I told you so' but this is exactly what I warned about yesterday. Many have to be like me who have been feeling bad for Palin about the awful leaks that have come out against her. She had an opportunity to hit back and make herself look good or even play the 'victim card'.

Instead she came out swinging wildly and today instead of Sarah Palin beginning a comeback in the eyes of the country she is making herself more of a national punchline, as opposed to establishing herself as a respected national figure.

The below clip is from an obvious liberal partisan, but it again illustrates the problems that Palin is creating for herself with this whirlwind of an undisciplined media tour. While often Olbermann stretches things to go after Republicans,, Palin made his job very easy as you can see.

3 Votes

2008-11-13T09:43:00.003-06:00

Today the lead on the Alaska Senate race has spread to an 814 vote lead for Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich over incumbent Ted Stevens.

But maybe the coolest story of the election year was reported last night.

After 41,000 absentee and early votes were counted yesterday Begich took the lead over Stevens through the first 250,000 votes.

That lead,, was 3 votes!!

Not 300, 3000, but 3 votes.

We often think that our votes don't matter, but for one news cycle, until the 814 vote spread hit this morning,, we saw how much our votes really do count.

17People Predictions Breakdown

2008-11-12T12:32:00.004-06:00

After an awful year of misreading polls and making predictions that did not come true in primary after primary,,, 17people redeemed itself by nailing the Presidential election only missing two states and 6 electoral votes. 17people said Obama would get 370 electoral votes (he ended up with 364) and 53% of the vote (he ended up with 52.6%), and said he would win by 6 million votes (ok I underestimated, he won by 8.3million).

If not for overestimating the impact of the Obama ad buys in North Dakota and Montana,,, I'd be the blog being talked about instead of Nate Silvers awesome fivethirtyeight.com.

In 17people's Senate predictions it is too early to tell on my call of 60 which remains a possibility. I stupidly forgot to put the Mississippi Senate race on my battleground list, but would have given it to incumbent Republican Roger Wicker, though I would have said that it would be closer than it was.

17people correctly called easy races in Virginia, New Mexico, and Colorado. Called tougher races in North Carolina, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Oregon, and for a Republican in Kentucky. Also correctly called the runoff in Georgia which will get plenty of coverage over the next month.

As for the two other undecided races in Alaska and Minnesota.

Am genuinely surprised that Alaska is still leaning for convicted felon Ted Stevens. The polls at the end were between 10 and 22 points against Stevens, so something doesn't feel quite right in Alaska. But with 90,000 absentee and provisional ballots to be counted, maybe Alaska can redeem itself and fire Ted Stevens before the US Senate does.

As for Minnesota I wrote last Tuesday it was "the toughest race of the year in Minnesota" and the 200 vote spread with a recount coming,,, proved that out. Minnesota proved to be a state that baffles. Jesse Ventura was an eccentric, if not very bad Governor, Paul Wellstone was one of the most progressive Senators, and this year they reelected the crazy Michelle Bachman.

Perhaps only in Minnesota could Al Franken, unapologetic liberal with a career of politically damaging statements is still a possibility to become that states Senator.

Now I predicted a 33 seat gain for Democrats in the House and missed the boat on that as more endangered Republicans survived than I thought.

The Dems have picked up 20 seats in the House so far with a chance for maybe 4 more which is a big gain, just two years after winning 20+ seats. The Democrats have more than a 75 vote advantage meaning they have much more power than either party has had in some time.

After picking like Mush from "A Bronx Tale" for most of the year, 17people is relieved to have come back with a vengeance this General Election.

Sarah Palin?

2008-11-12T10:38:00.007-06:00

I think that the leaks coming from the McCain campaign about Sarah Palin are disgraceful. The finger pointing and attempts by the 'senior aides' and 'unnamed sources' to tear down Sarah Palin has been baffling to me for the past three weeks, since before the election.

When I worked in politics I heard stories about many high profile people in the Democratic party,,, but to send an anonymous email to Drudge or go 'off the record' to a reporter was something you don't do. Even tell all books like All Too Human by George Stephanopoulos about the Clinton years are looks at as betrayals of your code.

This flood of attacks has to be behind the decision by Palin and her team to overdo the talk show circuit this week.

Monday Night she had an interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News
Tuesday Morning she was on the Today Show with Matt Lauer in Alaska
Today she'll be in The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
Tonight she will be on Larry King.

It's fair for Palin to take advantage of her new found celebrity, especially if you have future political ambitions like she does. Yet she is not going on with a plan or a specific message, she's going in with just her thoughts.

When Bill Clinton was on Larry King, Letterman, The Daily Show, etc, he was on to talk about his Global Initiative. If you turned on any of them you would have heard almost the same thing and he got his message across clearly. Palin in her first two interviews has been all over the place in her answers to questions, which leads me to believe she's winging it and that means she has no recipe for success.

Let's be honest if we saw one thing in the campaign,,, Sarah Palin is at her weakest when she is on the spot talking a wide arrange issues with a tough interviewer.

While Van Susteren is a friendly lead off, the follow up interviewers are not going to be cupcakes. Even Larry King has been hard on Palin. Watch her past interviews,,, she has a hard time delivering a consistent message, and the more she talks on issues that she doesn't know, the more trouble she gets herself into.

Her best impromptu performance was at the debate which was still tough to watch, but she didn't have follow up questions like she will this week.

Instead of taking some time to develop a clear message or game plan to roll herself out post campaign, Palin is heading out blind. Watch this clip and ignore the guy mocking Sarah Palin afterwards.

The one question that Palin will be asked in every interview is if she will run for President in 2012. The answer she gave in the answer above showed she wasn't even ready to answer that question which is unbelievable to me.

There are many mistakes that we make in our professional lives. Celebrities have a tendency to fall into the trap of overexposure, Politicians often suffer when they lack a consistent message, and in everyday jobs or in school we all know how awful it is to be unprepared is.

Sarah Palin can answer D to the mistakes above,, as in 'all of the above' in her post election roll out.

She may come out of this week with better numbers than she had before, but her early interviews are going to do what her Gibson and Couric interviews did during the campaign. Inspire the Right Wing to like her and the rest of the country to roll their eyes at her.

One Week Later

2008-11-11T13:53:00.006-06:00

So after attending the historic Obama Election Night Rally in Grant Park I went into a bit of a writing and personal funk. I started article after article and then one of two things happened. I read something that was exactly as I was writing, or more to the point I hated my writing.

I also asked that awful question.... what if I still worked in politics?

The three regular readers of this blog know these funks come upon me every eight weeks or so and this one could not have come at a worse time for a political blog. To hit a spell of writers depression right after an election that you have been obsessing about for over a year?

Awful timing.

That said 17people will be coming back with a new style of shorter and more frequent links and posts to follow the transition of power and the stories of the Congress.

Yet I can't go forward without writing about the experience and feelings at Grant Park and in Chicago last Tuesday night.

How many ways can you say something was amazing or historic? The rally on Tuesday was a high that is almost impossible to quantify in any appropriate way.

Grant Park and the streams of people flooding the streets of Chicago afterwards was like nothing I have ever seen or can imagine ever seeing again.

The moments and experiences were many for me:

Taking pictures with strangers in the L station because of wearing a 'Yes We Can' shirt
The explosion of cheering in Bar Louie when MSNBC projected Pennsylvania for Obama
The buzz in line to get in the rally when news of Ohio hit
The eruption of the crowd when Virginia was called for Obama once we were in the rally
The boos when states were called for McCain (Like people expected Louisiana to go to Obama? lol)
The sheer joy and jubilation of men and women of so many backgrounds with tears coming down their faces (myself included) upon hearing CNN project Barack Obama President
The respect shown and continued tears during the incredibly gracious and 'Patriotic' speech of John McCain
Then the image of our next President delivering yet another amazing piece of oratory.
The incredible pride and feeling of walking down the middle of the Magnificent Mile in Chicago seeing the vast array of people celebrating a political victory.

There were two things that really hit me.

First, this wasn't a city celebrating a Super Bowl or an NBA Championship. This was people celebrating a political victory. What was more amazing was that it was not just Chicago,, it was many places all over the country. We looked like a country celebrating a revolution or freedom, more than a new President.

The second thing is more personal to me and I would guess many others who have been battled on the ground across the country for the past 8+ years.

A sense of vindication.

Not just because of Obama won, but because the country reaffirmed its vote in the midterm elections two years ago. The voters rather convincingly denounced the eight years of President Bush, neo-conservatism, and most importantly did it at the voting booth and not just in 'opinion polls'.

Too many forget that questioning President Bush wasn't always easy and certainly not as popular as it has been the past 3 years.

For many of us, for quite a few years, dissent from this President on things like tax cuts, the Patriot Act, out of control spending, the Iraq War, etc. was denounced as 'Anti-American' and in some circles labeled even worse.

It felt as though in 2000, 2002, and 2004 no matter how 'right' we may have been or thought we were on issues,,, the Bush-Rove operation kicked our ass in elections.

Having good candidates, or a vision for the country doesn't work if you don't control any aspects of the government. At some point,,, you have to win,, and as a Democrat and Cubs fan,, it was a nice feeling to finally win one.

It started in 2006 when the country saw through the myth that was 'Compassionate Conservatism' and the evidence we have today is a 57+ seats in the Senate, 258+ seats in the House of Representatives, and a progressive Northerner from Chicago in the White House.

Democracy in this country works and if the Democrats can't lead the country in the years to come,, then democracy will fire them in the near future.

17People Election Night

2008-11-04T15:40:00.002-06:00

17People had planned to live blog this evening throughout the night.

However thanks to the best sister around I will be attending the rally in Grant Park for Barack Obama this evening. When she first asked me to go I declined because I thought it would be better to watch the coverage at home.

But I received some great advice this weekend from one of my best friends in politics who said,

"YOU HAVE TO GO! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?"

(If he reads this,,,,, ok, it wasn't in capital letters but for an understated person it came off that way,, lol)

So for those of you that know me, keep an eye out for me in Grant Park, and for those of you who read this blog,,, I will have a full report for you tomorrow.

And a last second plea, if you read this blog or just came across it for the 1st time today, please get out and vote before the polls close.

17People Congressional Predictions

2008-11-04T13:40:00.004-06:00

SENATE

There has been a lot of talk this year about the Democrats getting to 60 Senate Seats after this election. Here is what to watch for this evening.

First the Democrats should pick up four very easy Senate seats in Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, and Alaska. While these should be easy wins, Alaska due to Ted Stevens conviction, three of the Senators being replaced are legendary Republicans. John Warner (VA), Ted Stevens (AK), and Pete Domenici (NM) were easy wins every six years for Republicans so losing these seats is a major power shift.

Those four seats take the Dems to 55 seats and are pretty much locked in my humble opinion unless something crazy happens in Alaska because of Palin being on the ticket,,, who said Stevens should resign.

The next three seats I think favor Dems and feel strongly that they will win against three incumbent Republicans.

- Jeanne Shaheen is up nearly 10 points on the RCP average against Senator John Sununu. I think Sununu is a good Senator but is stuck in the wrong election cycle and Shaheen is a former Governor and very good candidate.
- In Oregon, State House Speaker Jeff Merckley is up 5.3 points according to RCP averages against Gordon Smith. This is a seat Dems didn't think they had a good chance at and Merckley was not their first choice to run, but he should pull this one out on the coattails of Barack Obama who is up 15+ points in Oregon.
- The tightest of these three is in North Carolina where Elizabeth Dole is very surprisingly in trouble. Up until the past week I thought Dole would pull this race out, but with the Obama campaign Get Out the Vote Operation being so strong and a controversial TV ad that backfired it would be surprising if challenger Kay Hagan doesn't pull this one out.

So if these 7 seats go Democratic they will be at 58 seats and have there will be four races left to determine the outcome.

The Democrats have one seat that isn't locked down and that is in Louisiana where Senator Mary Landrieu is in a usual competitive race. The past 4 polls there have Landrieu up 17, 13, 10, and 19 and above 50% in all of them. Being above 50% is key because if she wins with 49% then she will have to compete in a runoff. But Landrieu should hold her seat for another term keeping a red southern Senate seat in the Democrat column.

So that leaves three races to really watch this evening. Two are in very red states that few thought would be in play.

- First though is the toughest race of the year in Minnesota with Al Franken and incumbent Norm Coleman. The parties and Senate Committees have poured more resources into this race that any other. I have long been a fan of Frankens humor, but never thought he had much of a chance to really win this seat. But with Obama looking very strong in Minnesota this should help Franken. This which has an independent third candidate polling over 15% will be a very close race decided late into this evening.
- Georgia. Six years ago Saxby Chambliss beat Max Cleland in a race most Democrats still are angry about. This year Democrats never thought they had a chance in as Georgia has skewed more red in the past 20 years. Chambliss has caught a lot of heat for supporting the bailout and challenger Jim Martin is within the margin of error in many polls. If the Atlanta turnout, particularly in the African American districts is 80-90% for Obama then Martin may be able to do one of two things. Either he could upset Chambliss, or force a runoff if Chambliss doesn't get to 50%.
- Kentucky. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is in serious trouble as I wrote last month. The Democrats followed my advice and Bill and Hillary Clinton made multiple trips to support challenger Bruce Lunsford who is within a couple points of the very powerful McConnell. Just as in Georgia the African American turnout could flip this seat. If in the West End of Louisville the turnout is huge Lunsford could shrink the lead of McConnell and win the race.

So how do I think it's going to go? I think Franken wins in Minnesota, Chambliss loses in Georgia, and that McConnell barely hangs onto his seat. I almost see a sweep, but since Obama had a very limited Kentucky effort I think that will save McConnell.

So that means the Dems will be at 60 seats and have to decide if they go to 59 by how they handle Joe Lieberman.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

This is where surprises happen. The Dems will surely pick up seats in the area of 15-42 and have benefited from a slew of Republican retirements and stupidity from people like Michelle Bachman and Robin Hayes.

I think that John Murtha will survive in Pennsylvania for the Democrats and that overall they will pick up 33 seats. The one thing that can happen in the house unlike the Senate is a blindside and with an 80% turnout expected in some places there will be a few safe incumbents who are voted out of office tonight.

I can't name them, but I expect it will happen to both parties, but to a few more Republicans than Democrats.

While many people only get interested in Presidential politics I am a geek about the Congress and will be very interested to watch these returns come in to see how they effect both the Senate and Presidential campaign.

Come tomorrow sure I will look stupid once again!

At Long Last- Presidential Predictions

2008-11-04T09:42:00.005-06:00

Well at long last the election is here....

As much as I love this stuff like most of America,,,, I am ready for it to end.

Not sure if this is good or not, but for the 1st time in a while I had a good night of sleep and feel pretty confident for Barack Obama.

While 17people has been just awful with political predictions this year,, here is how I think the Presidential election will play out. Have been playing around with the electoral map and while anything is possible see the path to 270 for John McCain as requiring a 'perfect storm' of 11 states or so breaking for him.

That 'perfect storm' has already taken a hit for a simple reason. There aren't a lot of storms as the weather around the country seems to look really nice. Four cities important to Obama vote totals in two states appear to have good weather. Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio both have 60 degree plus weather for all day as does Pittsburgh. The only bump in the weather is some rain in Philadelphia later this evening.

For McCain to win he has to win both Pennsylvania and Ohio. Big turnouts in those four cities make it harder for McCain to win them and he has an uphill climb in Pennsylvania, but I can't call it for Obama because McCain and Palin have worked the state very hard.

Going into this evening 17people has 11 states in the toss up category that count for 141 Electoral Vote. I see Obama with 265 solid electoral votes and McCain with 132 solid electoral votes.

These numbers give Obama Iowa, Colorado, Virginia, and New Mexico but keeps Pennsylvania in the Toss Up Category.

McCain's fringe states in the 132 number include Arkansas and West Virginia, but has Arizona in the Toss Up category.

So the 11 states to watch according to 17people are.

Pennsylvania
Ohio
Florida
North Carolina
Georgia
Indiana
Missouri
North Dakota
Montana
Nevada
Arizona

Of these 11 states McCain leads in the RealClearPolitics Average of polls in 6 states all within the margin of error, and Obama in 4 states (North Dakota has no average I can find). Obama's average in Pennsylvania is up 7.3 which is the biggest of any of these states and up 6.8 in Nevada.

So while not going out on a limb,,,

17people is predicting that Barack Obama will win tonite.

But I do predict a bigger electoral vote total than many others. Last night I almost brought myself to say he would top 400 Electoral votes, but I think that Obama will come up just short in Georgia, Arizona, and either Indiana or Missouri.

So after some contemplation I think that Obama will get 53% of the popular vote and get 370 Electoral votes. I predict a sweep of the big three Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida. Also think that of the 11 on the list above he will sneak out wins in Montana (thanks to Ron Paul) and North Dakota, think he will squeeze out a win in Indiana, and will win Nevada.

That gets him to 370 on the dot.

The reason that Democrats have lost the past two elections to George W. Bush is that they were playing on a very small Electoral battlefield. Gore had no room for error, Kerry had no room for error, and this year the candidate with no room for error, is John McCain.

Call it financial resources, the economy, an unpopular war, or an even more unpopular President, but the Democrats played across the a wider range of the country in this election. They put more states in play.

Many criticized the underappreciated Howard Dean 4 years ago for talking about a '50 state strategy' for the DNC. Even more questioned the Obama campaign for going after Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina so hard from the beginning of the race.

In the end the should the Democrats have a big night,,, it will be because for the first time in years they gambled to expand the electoral map.

Again, 17people says 370-168 this evening and Obama will win the popular vote by 6million votes.

Endorsement Politics

2008-11-03T22:27:00.002-06:00

Have read some things over the past eight years or so that John McCain and Dick Cheney do not get along so well. Think that Dick Cheney's endorsement of John McCain on this final weekend of the election,,,,, proves it.

Odd Decision by ABC/ESPN

2008-11-03T12:47:00.002-06:00

During Monday Night Football tonight on ESPN TV Barack Obama and John McCain will be interviewed at halftime.

This could well be the last national interview before the election tomorrow and Monday Night Football gets a pretty big audience and having Obama and McCain on the night before the election. The interview is taped, but still, it's a pretty big deal.

Probably the last major national audience that either will get so you think that they would give it to a fairly reputable sportscaster.

I thought that they may have the very reputable Bob Ley or Monday Night Football play by play man Mike Tirico.

Who did ESPN/ABC give this interview to?

Chris Berman.

Berman has been with ESPN since it was founded, is a very recognizable sportscaster and probably the most famous on their network. He's a smart guy educated at Brown University, but to say Berman is a clown would be an understatement.

I don't care if the whole interview is about sports or football, but think that putting the potential next President of the United States on TV with Chris Berman when you have so many reputable and serious sports journalists,,, lessens this great opportunity that ESPN had.

The Problem With Voting

2008-11-03T10:12:00.003-06:00

Wrote last week that I voted early and waited around two hours to do so.

One thing that piece failed to mention is that while standing in line to vote,, at number of people had to leave because they just couldn't wait. Some had to get to work that night, others had to pick up their kids, and some just probably got frustrated.

Last evening I was reminded of this in a piece by Rachel Maddow. She called the very lengthy lines at polling locations which she called the equivalent of a "New Poll Tax".

What I liked about what she said was that it was a non-partisan comment. Instead of blaming Republicans she used her show to highlight an issue that we don't talk a lot about.

The video below isn't long but it is worth your time.

The Obama Infomercial

2008-10-29T23:30:00.002-05:00

When I heard that the Obama campaign was buying up half hour spots on the network I thought it would come off presumptous and have the possibility of turning people off.

After watching it, I think the tone was dead on and once again the Obama took advantage of the opportunity they had.

If you missed it you can watch it on the video above.

It was an entirely positive ad that barely mentioned John McCain or Sarah Palin and reinforced his key economic messages to insulate against the attacks of socialist, communist, and redistributionist.

And as we have seen in the debates, positive wins, and focus on the middle class, is where the votes are.

As Sarah Palin often says at her events, its a chance to talk to people 'without the filter of the media.'

This campaign has become the model campaign of our time and this ad and bold move,,, adds to the lore of the campaign that they have run.

17People Voted

2008-10-29T23:13:00.003-05:00

One hour and fifty five minutes.

Approximately 150 people in line as the day ended.

The two people who worked the polls said it was non stop all day, with possibly 2000+ people having voted at that location.

And they told me that the two other locations nearest them were sending people over to them.

And this was early voting.

It was an amazing experience and judging by the political pins on bags and the conversations I heard,, I'd say 80%+ were voting for Obama.

Now I live in Illinois, but I talked to an 85 year old African American woman after she voted whom I walked to her daughters car who had tears in her eyes. Who sat for nearly two hours.

ME: You ok ma'am
HER: I never thought I'd live to vote for an African American for President

It was a pretty amazing experience to hear. This woman had lived through times when what she did today,,, seemed like an impossibility. We didn't talk a lot, but there are few moments I will never forget in my life and that will be one of them.

I live in Illinois and many may say that 'our votes don't count' because Barack is going to win Illinois by 20+ points. Let me say this,,, from everyone I have talked to about early voting, this state is not acting like our votes don't count.

Above all, I was proud to vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden to be our President and Vice President. Also very proud to vote for our wonderful Senator Dick Durbin for another term.

Now I can use my free time between now and the election to do what I can to help deliver a win.

Something Doesn't Add Up...

2008-10-28T19:49:00.005-05:00

So in case you haven't been following....

Their has been unprecedented finger pointing, blame, and name calling going on in the McCain campaign.

This is surprising to me as Republicans are usually the disciplined party. Yet in this campaign,, they have been tearing each other apart in the past week.

Sarah Palin has been taking a beating lately,, and not from Democrats. Instead from 'Senior McCain Aides.'

In the past 4 days they have leaked to the media...

$150,000 was spent on her wardrobe
They have said that she has 'gone rogue'
That she is a 'diva'
And today she was called a 'whack job'

While I think there are serious schisms between the McCain and Palin camps something doesn't add up. Even with hard feelings about the direction of the campaign, this is beyond unprofessional, it is bizarre.

There are many reasons for this but I think it is one of two things.

One, this infighting could mean that their internal numbers are worse than the public poll numbers and they know the race is over and want to get the first shots of blame off.

But I'm not sure I buy that. I know a lot of campaign people, and giving up is not most campaign staffers makeup. You don't dedicate yourself for months and in some cases years, to spend the last week torpedoing your own campaign.

So here is where my paranoia kicks in.....

Are all these leaks the last tactic or 'hail mary' that the McCain team is trying?

Could it be possible they are trying to use the media to exploit these stories and hope that the coverage will be viewed as sexist or unfair towards Sarah Palin.

To attempt to turn Sarah Palin into a sympathetic figure or a victim?

To try and use that perception that to swing women voters back in their direction?

While this sounds and probably is crazy, its one of the ways that Hillary made a big comeback against Obama.

Remember the New Hampshire debate in the primaries. Obama was up 15points over Hillary Clinton when he uttered the ill-timed and delivered 'your likeable enough' line. It cost him New Hampshire and a lot of women turned on him through the rest of the primaries.

The difference is this Obama is different.

He learned his lesson running against Hillary Clinton though and despite Sarah Palin presenting opportunity after opportunity to attack her... he hasn't taken the bait.

Either way, whether it's true dislike between the two or a conspiracy theory contrived by me,, this is the oddest conclusion to a campaign.

Imagine if they win,,, how do you work together when your staffs have been destroying each other?

Get Involved in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District?

2008-10-27T16:33:00.001-05:00

One of the hardest things for me in the writing of this blog is getting to everything that I want to write.

There are many issues, people, and campaigns I wish I had the time to write about and get statements on the record. But since no group or company has bought ads for me through Google Sense I am confined to writing in my free time and many articles get left half completed or never even started.

In the year or so of 17people, there is one article that I began writing a couple months ago that had I finished I would have looked prophetic. The article was about a one term Congresswoman from Minnesota named Michelle Bachman.

A fellow blogger and individual I am so fortunate has become a dear friend of mine over the last year wrote me over two months ago about Bachman and said I should research and write about her.

If only I had, because I would have been way ahead of the political shit storm that Bachman engulfed herself in last week.

It was last week when Bachman went on Hardball and invoked Joe McCarthy-like statements that created a feverish national stir. Bachman’s statements were cited by Colin Powell the weekend he endorsed Barack Obama and were echoed by former Republican Governor of Minnesota Arne Carlson who said her statement helped push him to endorse Obama as well.

For the past couple months I have been occasionally looking into history of Bachman but the Presidential campaign and financial crisis kept pushing the 17people expose on her back. After last week many sites have done in depth expose’s on her which are far more in-depth than I could write.

The biggest problem for me in writing about Bachman involved deciding which of her ignorant statements over the years was actually worth writing here. This is the person who said a pipeline in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge would ‘warm the ground’ for the Caribou. That ‘warm the ground’ statement while exposing her ignorance is better than the many statements she has made which I view as divisive and hateful.

Instead of finishing this piece with a string of Bachman statements that irritate me and mocking and demeaning her as many would expect from me I will take a different path., the path I like to call the Obama path. Instead of getting in the dirt an nastiness and making myself feel good by beating up on Bachman, I will instead keep my temper and worse instincts in check.

Instead 17people will hit Bachman where it hurts, by encouraging readers of this blog to take a role in defeating her at the ballot box. The great thing about the US House of Representatives is we can vote out any of them, every two years.

Last week’s McCarthy statements have done more damage than the endorsements of Powell and Carlson for Obama, they have put her job in jeopardy.

In fact her statements so outraged the public that her opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg,,, that’s right Elwyn Tinklenberg has raised over $1million AND the National Republican Congressional Committee has pulled their support for her campaign.

I strongly encourage you, as I have to give what you can, $5, $10, or more if you can to help defeat Michelle Bachman. Even if you are not from Minnesota, you can make a difference and if you are from Minnesota,,, GET INVOLVED FOR ELWYN!!!!

To contribute to Elwyn Tinklenberg click on this link.

Alaskan Obama Endorsement?

2008-10-27T10:51:00.005-05:00

And the hits just keep on coming.

The latest surprise endorsement for Barack Obama to go along with the avalanche of Conservatives from Colin Powell, William Weld, Arne Coleman, Christopher Buckley, Larry Pressler, Ken Adelman, Scott McClellan, Christopher Hitchens comes the the Anchorage Daily News.

Now I am not sure whether the Anchorage Daily News is a 'liberal' newspaper, but it is the Anchorage Daily News from Alaska.

I just learned that this newspaper, which is the biggest in Alaska endorsed Senator Barack Obama despite the fact that their own Governor was chosen as Vice President for John McCain.

Read the Obama endorsement here.

17People Scolding Democrats

2008-10-24T09:04:00.003-05:00

I received a scathing email the other day from a conservative who said I am hypocritical for not having commented on recent gaffes made by Democrats when I have been subliminally skewering Republicans like Michelle Bachman, Robin Hayes, and Sarah Palin. In all honesty the email was phrased much nastier but this is family blog so I will avoid a direct transcription.

While I am a fierce partisan I think this blog has a pretty stellar track record of criticizing Democrats and to show my independence will address the statements of Joe Biden, John Murtha, and John Kerry.

BIDEN:

So Joe Biden said that they world will 'test' Obama in the first six months of his Presidency. My love for Joe Biden is pretty well stated on this blog and I know he will be a great VP.

Yet my man Joe has a propensity to say some things in ways I wish he wouldn't. He tends to make certain statements more dramatic than they need to be and this one falls in that category.

It's pretty clear to all voters that whomever the next President is will have serious tests already. The state the country is in right now is going to be a serious test and as we learned with the financial crisis,,, a 'test' can come at anytime.

MURTHA:

Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha made a stupid comment about being Western Pennsylvania voters not voting for Obama because the area is racist.

There is something wrong with John Murtha, he is a bigger gaffe machine than Joe Biden is and quite honestly have gotten tired of him for quite some time. A couple years back I respected him for being a strong Democratic anti-war voice when it wasn't popular.

But since that point every time Murtha has been on TV I have held my breath hoping that he wouldn't screw up and 50% of the time it seems like he does. Murtha is now in trouble in his district which was a very safe seat up only 5 points in the last poll.

If Murtha loses he brought it on himself and I wouldn't miss him and his bloviating.

I won't make any excuses for Murtha, but the difference between his statement and that of Bachman and Hayes is that he at least was talking about his own area, his own home. He didn't say the whole country was racist, or that conservatives hated all people who work hard and believe in God.

Sometimes not painting with a broad brush is better than labeling groups of people.

KERRY

Even Republican readers of this blog know that I have been consistent in my blasting of 2004 Democratic Nominee John Kerry and as a result I am not shocked that he has rendered himself an embarrassment once again.

Kerry made an off color joke about the famous 'boxers of briefs' question that was first asked to Bill Clinton I believe on MTV in 1992. Kerry's initial answer was actually kind of funny when he said he considered answering the question 'commando'.

But then as John Kerry is prone to do,,, he just dug himself a hole and that McCain said 'depends'. Kerry's response as to why he said what he did was pretty painful. Jon Stewart had a much funnier take on it last night in part of what he called 'Gaffe-In' . The Kerry part starts around the 3:28 part of the video.

With any luck John Kerry can go help Barack by doing what he did after his infamous busted 'stuck in Iraq' joke before the 2006 mid-term election. What he did that helped after miserably failing to deliver that joke was go back to Massachusetts and not talk anymore.

The Iraq joke was something the Republicans tried to use against the Democrats, the Result was that the Dems took control of the Senate and the House. So maybe a bad John Kerry joke in 2008 followed by his hiding from public life,,, will lead to massive Democratic victory's in 2008.

So please Senator Kerry, just go away.

Poll Of The Day

2008-10-22T09:53:00.004-05:00

Multiple times I have written that I do not care about national polls and care most about state polls. So this morning I was reviewing the polls of the day at my favorite site for non-partisan information, RealClearPolitics.com.

I like to look at the daily polls which come from the various states which I view as a better view of how things work than national polls.

While I rarely see a number that I feel deserves its own blog,,, this one does.

The latest poll in Alaska shows Obama down 11 points. Now double digits and being over 50% is a big lead and a solid state for the Republicans.

However,, this is the home state of the 'most popular Governor in the country' who just happens to be,,,, on the Republican ticket and the worse news for Governor Palin is that the numbers which you can see below show that there is a trend towards Obama in Alaska. A gain for Obama-Biden of six points in the last two weeks.

8/30-9/2
McCain Palin 54

Obama-Biden 35

10/3-6
McCain Palin 55
Obama-Biden 38

10/17-19
McCain Palin 53
Obama-Biden 42

Check the numbers for yourself in this Anchorage Press Article.

Additionally, the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll said that "now, Palin’s qualifications to be president rank as voters’ top concern about McCain’s candidacy".

So Palin is a major concern of the voters nationally, has higher negatives than positives with a W-like 47-38 against, and is seeing her own state's polls tighten.

Is the Palin pick starting to look like a bit of a liability?

In the words of Sarah Palin...

You Betcha!

Urbanathlon and 'My America'

2008-10-21T14:00:00.003-05:00

This post has been in the hopper since Saturday, but needless to say it has grown in meaning to me as some in this country have said some things that have stirred some feelings within me.

The picture above is of an eight foot wall I had to climb over at the 10.5 mile mark of Men's Health Urbanathlon this past Saturday. It was the latest goal that I set for myself in a year of a commitment to taking care of myself and getting into shape.

I wrote earlier this year about the 'Biggest Loser' competition I was in with some friends of mine. Since that time I have embarked on a mission that in many cases is harder than losing weight and getting in shape,, which is maintaining that condition and weight.

So about two months ago I decided to run in and start training for Urbanathlon, a unique race that requires both endurance and strength. The race was 10.5 miles and had multiple tough obstacles at various points throughout the course.

Running the bleachers at Soldiers Field, monkey bars, and the 8 foot wall were just a couple of the obstacles that were involved. (Click on this link to see the course)

I trained hard for this race and it payed off. I ran around 8minute miles, never had to walk, and navigated many of the obstacles with ease due to smart and tireless training. I set a time goal to finish the race and the obstacles (which didn't count in the 10.5miles) in under 100minutes which I am proud to say I did.

I was ready for what was in front of me but when I got to the Marine Hurdles I hit a snag.

These 5 foot tall wooden hurdles proved to be tougher than I expected and even though I had increased my strength and fitness I just couldn't jump high enough to get my body in position to get over the hurdle. The hurdles were on the 31st Street Beach and the sand further limited my already unimpressive vertical jump.

10, 11, 15 times I tried to jump and hold myself on the hurdle (my arms have the bruises to show it) and I was wondering how I would get over those damn things.

"Hey buddy, I'll give you a boost," a voice shouted out.

I had watched many people get a boost over the hurdles as many people could not get over on their own, but the 'boosters' were usually people that couldn't get over the hurdles themselves. It was a bit of a quid pro quo.

The cuts and bruises on my arms caused me to accept this guys offer of help and I got over the 1st of the three hurdles. He then helped three other people with boost's over that 1st hurdle.

I went to the second hurdle and thought I'd be able to get over this one to and as I threw myself up and held onto the top of the hurdle with all my strength,,,, I yet again fell to the sand in failure.

"Wait, I'll help you!" the same guy said as he flung himself over the 1st hurdle with no help.

At this point, I checked my pride at the door and helped the other struggling people over the hurdles as the random guy helped me and accepted his offer of help for the 2nd and 3rd hurdles as well.

I never caught the guys name or saw him again, but I remember thinking it was really nice of him to help me and the others.

It was especially selfless since he obviously didn't need any help getting over the hurdles himself, but he took the time to help others instead of being self absorbed with his 'personal time' for the race.

Up until that point in the race I couldn't say the same thing about myself.

After the hurdles there was about 4 miles and two tough obstacles left in the race including the 8 foot wall in the picture above at the very end of the race.

So as I picked up my pace and hurdled myself over the Taxi Hurdle (yes, an actual taxi hurdle) I only had the wall left to negotiate. This was where all the pull-ups from the last two months would pay off. But before I made my leap toward the wall I saw someone on the wall struggling to hold onto the wall. I ran up and gave the lady bit of a push,, she got herself over the wall and over her shoulder shouted a quick 'thanks'.

I never saw her after that but I can say that I still had to get myself over the wall.

So I jumped into the wall grabbed the rope and got one hand on top of the wall. I started to pull myself up and then all of a sudden I had someone give me a boost. I didn't ask for it, but as I got myself over the wall a bit quicker and easier, I wasn't upset by it.

So twice during this race which I had trained so hard for,, a good Samaritan gave me a 'hand up' and helped me accomplish my goal.

So what has 'grown in meaning to me' as I mentioned in the opening line of this blog?

This race was in "Chicago", the home of the maligned "Chicago Political Machine" by the RNC, my guess is Chicago falls outside the 'Real America' based on the comments of Sarah Palin, is probably 'Un-American' as Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann said, and may be even worse if it is considered 'liberal' like Congressman Robin Hayes of North Carolina said in introducing Palin the other day.

I strongly urge you to click the links in this paragraph if you haven't already.

First off, I love my 'big' city of Chicago so are they trying to make me ashamed of where I live?

It's a beautiful place that has many good people. The help that the two people gave me during the race confirmed that to me yet again. Chicago has amazing culture, architecture, history, and I know there are many hard working loyal people here.

According to the statements and views by the Republicans above * should I assume the people that were 'Good Samaritans' that helped me in my race were from 'small towns' because Chicagoans are incapable of charity?

The statements of Palin, Bachmann, and Hayes are heinous and divisive statements that are the worst of what our country stands for. They go to the comments made by Colin Powell who called out Bachmann and the Republicans for going 'beyond political fighting back and forth' and dividing us.

The ultra divisive language that has been used against 'big city's' seems to have taken the place of usual 'radical right' targets like gays and people that are against guns.

What are those that are pushing this agenda trying to achieve?

I know that some people will criticize me for turning a story about a race into a sermon that is clearly partisan politics.

Yet the run reminded me how great a city I live in and I won't let my city be discarded as 'Un-American' because of our size.

I hope people have the same pride in their city's that I do, whether it is big or small.

The most often used line by Presidents after they are elected is 'there is more that unites us than divides us.' I believe this line is true and that above our personal localities, we are all proud Americans.

Colin Powell: 17People Reader?

2008-10-20T15:31:00.004-05:00

If you missed the strong and eloquent endorsement of that Colin Powell gave on Meet The Press this weekend in favor of Barack Obama you will see yet another example of an intellectual and thoughtful Republican who has tired of the tone, tactics, and rhetoric of the McCain-Palin ticket.

The video of the endorsement part of his speech is below and I hope that my Republican friends who have been angered by what I have written about my disappointment in the path the McCain campaign has taken.

The fact of the matter is that Powell, while not seething partisanship, as I have a tendency to do, took apart piece by piece the McCain campaign. It was a measured, yet if you listen to it, a devastating attack on every aspect of the McCain campaign for the past couple months.

I often wrote during the debates,,, 'it's not just what you say, but how you say it, and equally as important,, how you look when you say it.'

Powell, like Obama in the debates never got angry or heated, but in his endorsement he hammered away harder than anything Obama said during any of the debates.

He blasted as hard as anyone on the qualifications on Sarah Palin to assume the Presidency and more importantly said what her selection says about John McCain's judgement.
He spelled out clearly the fact the the leadership that Obama has shown during the campaign is the kind of cool and steady leadership that we need as opposed to the not so steady reactions of John McCain.
Better than most he tackled the Bill Ayers attacks as what they are,,, 'narrow'

This endorsement has been labeled by some as not a surprise. Rush Limbaugh has even tried to invoke race into it by implying that Powell endorsed Obama because of race.

I urge you to listen to Powell in the video below.

He has been friends with McCain for 25 years and even contributed to him in the primary. What gets me the most though is not that he endorsed Obama, but the strength with which he did so. He didn't jut endorse Obama, he destroyed McCain and the path of the Republican party.

But I have to wonder if Colin Powell reads this blog. Many of his attacks on Republicans and disappointment with McCain were taken straight from these pages and one in particular hit me.

On Tuesday October 14 I wrote that I wish Obama handled the 'are you a Muslim question' stronger. And in fact gave him a line to use.

"I'm not Arab. But so what if I was?"

Go to the 4:30 mark of the video below and listen to what Powell says after he says 'The really right answer is..."

And then listen to what he says after about a soldier that he read an article about. It's moving and it's powerful,, period.

The Road Back to Likeability?

2008-10-17T10:25:00.005-05:00

There is no question that I have been very hard on John McCain in the past couple months.

The rhetoric and tactics of the McCain campaign have pissed more than most Republicans of recent vintage,, like George Bush.

I expected dirty politics from Rove, Cheney, and Bush.

Why McCain's campaign tactics bother me so much is that for years I admired John McCain. Not just for his distinguished service in defending our country, but also for the way he has carried himself as a Senator.

He ran a great campaign for President in 2000, and above all he has been a likeable person. Whether on shows like Letterman, Chris Matthews, or Meet The Press with Tim Russert, I always felt like I believed what he was saying. For much of the past eight years he was a rarity amongst politicians.

The John McCain of this campaign abandoned that mentality in this general election.

He has allowed himself to be 'handled'. There's an old line in campaigns that was most famously used by the Reagan campaigns. "Let Reagan be Reagan" they would say when Reagan had problems.

This strategy was not used by Team McCain in the past 5 months. McCain has been micro-managed and the result has been a candidate who has not been true to his own personality and it has showed throughout the campaign.

But just maybe things are changing after the debate the other night. I think the polls and reactions to all three debates may have finally shown John McCain that he has to be himself the last three weeks of this campaign. That he can't listen to the same people that were puppeteers to President Bush in his two victories.

I also have to say that not taking the bait and invoking Jeremiah Wright after he said he wouldn't has been something admirable. The uncomfortableness of the way he handled the Ayers thing showed me he wasn't buying into what the Hannity's of the world were pushing him to do.

McCain has to get back to being himself. It probably will not just to give him a chance to win, it could very well be too late for that, but more importantly he can find a way to lose with some dignity and respect.

By changing course he can finish the campaign and remind people, even like me, why we liked him in the first place.

Last night was a move in that direction.

I watched McCain on David Letterman and thought he was really good. Letterman asked him tough questions and drilled him good, but McCain was funny and likeable. He didn't dodge questions and while I don't agree with his policies or believe that Sarah Palin was his first choice,, think he did well.

Even better, instead of coming in defensive, McCain did what he should have done and admitted that he 'screwed up' by skipping out on his last appearance.

Then came the Al Smith Dinner in New York City last night.

I have to give both candidates credit,, they were hilarious. Of course depending on who you are rooting for you will say that your candidate was funnier, but in this case I can say I think they both did a great job.

Click here for McCain's speech.

Click here for Obama's speech.

As someone who has been tough on John McCain, I think he had a great day yesterday. Not a momentum changing day, but a day unlike the debates and recent rallies, made him look both likeable, real, and like he was not letting advisors 'handle him'.

My Obama Kentucky Home?

2008-10-16T15:41:00.004-05:00

The picture above is of one of my favorite places in the country. That would be Keeneland Race Track in Lexington, KY. I went to the University of Kentucky and despite being a loyal and proud Chicagoan,, have always considered the state of Kentucky a second home.
Politico.com today and saw the headline "Battleground Kentucky??" my interest was piqued.

It turns out that the Obama campaign is considering an expansion of their targets to include my beloved Kentucky. I have to presume that they have some polling that shows them making some inroads in the Bluegrass State.

Now unless a bigger than expected Democratic wave hits the country I can't see Obama winning Kentucky in three weeks.

Yet I can see him forcing the Republicans to defend it a bit. An Obama or Biden visit to Louisville, or sending the Clintons in a couple times could really send the GOP into a big time defensive mode.

Plus ad buys in Kentucky are pretty cheap compared to markets like Philadelphia or Washington DC (which targets Northern Virginia). The Obama camp could go up with their positive ads and appeal to independents and increase turnout among Democratic voters.

The benefit is that they will be able to do so with little to no counter ads from the McCain campaign. I just can't imagine the McCain team will have the dollars to go on TV in this red state and be able to poach any blue states.

So why do this if he can't win?

There's a second benefit to upping Obama's positives in Kentucky.

The Senate race in Kentucky has gotten unexpectedly close and this isn't any other Senate race.

This race has the Senate Minority Leader, and ironically arch nemesis of John McCain, Mitch McConnell, in his closest election probably since his 1st campaign in 1984. He is facing multiple time Democratic losing candidate, successful businessman Bruce Lunsford.

When you can take out an iconic Senator,,, you gotta do it, because if not, they'll probably die in office. McConnell certainly fits that bill. Knocking him off would be an incredible body blow to the Republicans in the Senate and set off an internal battle amongst Senate Republicans to try and replace him as the top Republican in the Senate.

This race looked to be a sure thing for the Republicans two of the last three public polls have Lunsford trailing but inside the margin of error and both campaigns internal polls, which they released, have McConnell under 50%.

Obama coming into the state in anyway could really rally the base of the Democratic Party which has seen success in recent years winning Congressional seats, almost defeating Senator Jim Bunning with a no-name candidate, and winning the Governorship a few years back.

All I can say is this,, as much as I care about Kentucky and hope that Lunsford wins,,, I'd just assume that the Obama team put their resources into states that they can really win. Then again, this campaign has the resources to play offense and as long as they don't skimp on a buy to win Colorado, Ohio, or Virginia,,, then I hope they can get Kentucky too!

The Final Debate of the Season

2008-10-16T13:11:00.006-05:00

The end of the Presidential Debate Season could not come soon enough.

For me these nights are all consuming. I usually go to the gym before the debate and watch the pre-game on the treadmill. Then I get home and watch the debate in it's entirety, taking copious notes for the next days blog. At the end of the debate my phone starts to ring like crazy with people looking for someone to vent with. After going through a load of text messages from the people I couldn't talk to I then get to watch furiously swithc between networks to get as much of the pundits feedback that I can get.

For this debate I have to say that what I saw did not match what I heard after the debate.

I thought McCain won the debate pretty clearly and would easily be declared the winner by the post debate pundits, polls, and the articles the next morning.

He was more aggressive than Obama and as an old political operative who has been angered by the attacks of the McCain campaign I wanted to see Obama go after him. I wanted to see Obama really take the fight to McCain and deliver a knockout blow.

I didn't think playing the 'cool guy' was going to get him another win as it did the first two debates.

It appears that once again I wanted to hear something different than many people out there.

The polls on all the networks gave Obama overwhelming victories in polls of uncommitted voters.

Even Fox News' poll gave Obama the win.

These results just go to show that the 'independant' and 'fed up with politics' voter are not looking for the bloodsport that people like me sometimes want.

In flipping through the channels I heard uber-conservative commentator Charles Krauthamer of Fox News said that Obama's temperament gave him the win for the night. Krauthammer made a pretty profound statement when he said.

He's a man of remarkable self containment... It's that discipline and self containment which I think is his greatest asset and he deployed it remarkably.

This years electorate is just different than 2000 and 2004 and I think that is why we are seeing the state polls .

I have to say that up to this point Barack Obama has really tapped into what the electorate wants and is looking for in its next President. The lessons of 2008 are to exude the three C's, cool, calm, and confidence and Barack Obama has done this at every turn of this campaign.

During the 270 minutes of debates between the two Barack Obama never let the attacks of John McCain get to him. He didn't cut off McCain, roll his eyes, even his raise his voice.

He stayed on his message and effectively counter jabbed. That's right, his comebacks weren't really punches, they were more jabs which seemed to stun McCain through every debate.

The problem with McCains attacks last night and throughout the debates and the campaign was that they have had little to no focus. He has tried the 'kitchen sink' strategy of throwing everything at Obama.

Obama's cool, measured responses to the slew of attacks has made each of the attacks look smaller than they already were and in the end it is exactly why he is winning this race right now.

BOB SCHIEFFER

Have to give a big thumbs up to CBS's Bob Schieffer. After utterly lackluster jobs of moderating these debates by Jim Lehrer, Gwen Ifill, and Tom Brokaw Schieffer asked questions that made the candidates have to think.

There weren't softball questions for either and I think that his questions and moderating made this debate far more interesting than the previous two.

JOE THE PLUMBER

Can't wait to see what Saturday Night Live does with this gem.

Also, I would encourage everyone to be patient on this 'heartwarming' story that McCain decided to base the entire debate on.

Much like the McCain camp did with the selection of Sarah Palin, the vetting on Joe Wurzelbacher (aka Joe the Plumber) was not very good.

I am interested to see the real story on Joe the Plumber come to light. There are many entertaining rumors about old Joe that are out there.

As we've seen with Governor Palin,, sometimes it's better to do your homework on a person, before basing your campaign on it.

Surprise Endorsement For Obama

2008-10-15T09:52:00.003-05:00

When it comes to conservatism there is one man who can be called the architect of true 'small government' conservatism. That man passed away earlier this year, and his name was William F. Buckley.

One of my regrets on this blog was that I didn't finish a quick article that commemorated his death. While Buckley and I fundamentally disagreed on government I always thought him an exceptional mind. In 1955 Buckley founded the National Review Magazine, which has been the handbook for American Conservatism for years.

So when I read an endorsement for Barack Obama this weekend penned by William F. Buckley's son, Christopher Buckley,, I was pretty surprised. Christopher Buckley, an accomplished writer in his own write, the movie Thank You For Smoking, was based on a Buckley book. Christopher Buckley is also a well credentialed conservative who was writing the article on the back page of the National Review.

As I said, William F. Buckley founded the magazine, so when I saw Christopher Buckley on Hardball last night saying that he had to resign from the magazine he's a part owner of because of conservative backlash and people who threatened and did cancel their subscription.

As you can see in the interview below, Buckley was a bit surprised that they accepted his resignation, but they willingly did.

Here's what gets me, and Chris Buckley made the point below. William F Buckley was the kind of guy that argued with civil discourse. He let his opponents make their cases. Read the link to his sons view of Obama above.

You can disagree with them, but you can't say they aren't thoughtful.

Buckley, along with fellow National Review author Kathleen Parker have received thousands of hateful emails and letters calling them traitors. Parker has been very critical of Sarah Palin, which has caused conservatives to hate her apparently. Yet Parker has not resigned apparently, because while critical of Palin, she has not yet endorsed Obama.

One last thought.

I just wonder if any of the conservatives that criticize Democrats anger at Joe Lieberman for backing McCain are any of the same people that demanded Christopher Buckley resign or be fired for voicing his opinion?

17People Smorgasboard

2008-10-14T09:22:00.006-05:00

There is so much to write about over the past couple days I have not been able to focus on any one thing. Here is my attempt to blurb about what has been going on...

JOHN LEWIS IS RIGHT

Civil Rights Icon, Georgia Congressman, and true American Hero, John Lewis (who shares a birthday with me), said the following over the weekend...

"What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.

"George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

The McCain campaign expressed outrage at these comments and demanded that Obama repudiate them.

Something which he hasn't done yet and I hope he does not do.

The rhetoric of the McCain campaign, Governor Palin in particular, has been disheartening and dirty. Their rhetoric that has taken rowdy crowds and made them even uglier. I noted in the "What's in My Name?" blog some of the awful things that have been shouted by crowds and showed a video of some of the tragically ignorant people that have been there and incited by Palin in particular.

The truth is this... Lewis never called either Palin or McCain racist, he just stated from an expert opinion, that the energy of the campaign and it's followers has worried him. If anyone can talk about what happens when the fires of passion are ignited by the words of politicians, it's John Lewis.

This is what happens when people in your campaign go out and say things like:

"Palling around with terrorists."

This is an awful and disgraceful attack that McCain has not been able to shut down, despite the fact that it is becoming clear that he is not happy with the recent line of attacks.

While McCain has been trying to tone down the rhetoric over the weekend Palin has been has continued spewing vitriol and lies at every turn.

As Politico's Roger Simon writes today it appears that Palin is running her own campaign.

SENATOR McCAIN MISSED THE POINT

Sure that you have seen this but as a point of reference.

I applaud John McCain for taking the microphone from the disturbed woman who made this statement, and was pleased to hear him call Barack Obama a 'decent man', he again missed an opportunity to tamper the down the real bigotry of the question.

The bigotry was the assertion the woman made that Obama was bad because he was Arab.

McCain's response was that Obama wasn't Arab. The words of people matter and the words of a President can cause financial markets to crash and countries to increase the size of their military.

My problem with McCain's reply is that it sounded like Obama was 'decent' because he wasn't Arab.

The United States has many wonderful Arab American citizens and I think it's time that someone has courage to defend them. The McCain statement in this answer had to hurt to Arab Americans who have to want to hear more people in both parties stand up and squash the Arab bias that permeates our country right now.

While I don't think McCain is anti-Arab in any way the fact that he failed to recognize and condemn the anti-Arab sentiment of the statement by the woman in the video was disappointing.

As a country we are too quick to downgrade and show bias against groups in this country. From American Indians, to immigrants, to African Americans, to the Japanese Internment camps, and many more, our fear of those different from us is one the darkest parts of the history of our country.

The Arab's in our country are just the latest group which we feel free to crap on, because of hatred and fear.

For the record I think Obama should handle this stronger as well. If I were him I would answer the "Arab" Question the following way.

"I'm not Arab. But so what if I was?"

TROOPERGATE

I really can't understand Sarah Palin.

The "TrooperGate" investigation, which was authorized by Alaskan Republicans found some irregularities with her behavior.

By no means am I calling this report a version of Watergate or a 'smoking gun' of any kind. Yet the report continues to chip away at her credibility as a reformer.

The report COULD NOT BE CLEARER that she did something wrong, yet Palin was out there yesterday saying she was cleared of any wrongdoing. See the video below from Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Palin really likes to try and show herself as a humble, down to earth, regular person.

Instead she is coming off as delusional and out of touch with reality.

I would have respected her if she blasted the report as partisan politics or a sham. But to say that a report which not only says you broke the code of ethics, but cites the specific code... and you say it clears you of any improprieties?

Like I said, I just do not understand Sarah Palin.

THE PARTY OF REAGAN OR NIXON?

Republicans have an incredible love and admiration for Ronald Reagan. While I have always found this over the top I have really begun to admire the kind of politician that Reagan was after observing the past three elections.

In a wonderful article over the weekend in the Economist the Nixon way is shown pretty clearly. I really recommend this article for Republican readers.

Remember, Sarah Palin said she reads The Economist after saying she read 'all of them' when asked which publications she reads.

But my new admiration for Reagan is that in studying his campaigns, he was tough, but rarely dragged himself into the real dirt of politics.

I think Reagan would have been upset with ads like Willie Horton in 1988, the slanderous attacks against John McCain by George W. Bush, the Swiftboat ads against John Kerry, and the 'palling around with terrorists' rhetoric of this election.

The Atwater-Rove politics of the Republican party have two principles of past Republican Presidents. 1st they attempt to divide and destroy like Nixon,, 2nd they like to say Reagan as much as possible without using the grace and dignity he did.

Reagan may have been a leader I disagreed with the direction he took us, but he seems to have been a respectable person both as a leader and a candidate. I have to say that he ran campaigns with a level of class and dignity that his party has abandoned for 20 years now.

POLLS

Loyal readers know that I don't talk a lot about national polls, but I do take stock in state polls, because that is how the campaigns decide how and where to put their resources. The news a couple weeks ago that McCain was pulling out of Michigan really surprised me as that looked all year like a fierce battleground. Today we see a new poll that has Obama up 16 points in Michigan.

State polls are where the real interesting and encouraging numbers are for supporters for Obama and why I think there has been such anger and frustration from Republicans.

In the last week alone Obama has expanded his own electoral opportunities and put McCain in a much more defensive position than I ever expected.

2004 TIGHTLY CONTESTED BLUE STATES:

- Wisconsin which John Kerry won with just 5000 or so votes has had three polls in the last week. Two had Obama up 10 points and new poll today had him up 17!
- Minnesota which is always pretty close though reliably Democrat was supposed to be closer with the Republicans hosting their Convention in St Paul has broken hard for Obama. This is one of two states where McCain has outspent Obama. Today's poll had Obama up 11 and while one recent poll had a 1pt lead that seemed to be the outlier of two other polls that had 7 and 14pt Obama leads.
- Pennsylvania. This seems to be where McCain is making his stand but its hard to see why. In the last 8 days there have been 7 polls in Pennsylvania where Palin and McCain have been campaigning almost every day. The leads for Obama in those 7 polls; 15, 13, 14, 14, 12, 13, 15.

RED STATES IN PLAY

I thought the 50 state strategy was nuts and going to cost Obama but what we are seeing is that coupled with the financial crisis, Bush blowout states are increasingly looking to be in play.

- Indiana, very Red State has had three of its last four polls have the race within the margin of error and Sarah Palin will be making a trip there in the next couple days. One poll has a 7pt McCain lead, another has it a dead tie.
- North Dakota! Thats right North Dakota which gave Bush a 24point win four years ago and had McCain up in the polls by 15 three weeks ago had a poll come out that gave Obama a 2pt lead. Yes in the margin of error, but unreal that this state may be in play.
- Virginia and Colorado. The last four polls in Virginia have all gone to Obama though the trend is that the race is getting tighter. The last three polls in Colorado have all showed Obama with a lead outside the margin of error and the lead may be expanding from +6, +6, to +9.
- Georgia. This looks to be a solid McCain state, but the trend is looking to close in favor of Obama. In Mid September McCain was up between 13 and 18 points. Recent polls show that Obama is down from 3-8 points.
- North Carolina. A big Obama target for months may well be the closest of all states this year. The last 4 polls have two leads for McCain inside the margin of error (+2, +3), one lead for Obama oustide the margin of error (+5), and one dead tie.

21 days until the election but if half of these polls are accurate then Obama has a real margin for error and ability to play real offense while McCain has to defend his own states.

Florida and Ohio, where the last two elections were decided you may be asking?

The polls are pretty close, but in Ohio since October 1st there have been 11 polls. 9 of 11 have been in Obama's favor. Five of those 9 have been leads of 4 pts or more oustide the margin of error.

In Florida there have been 6 polls since October 1st. ALL 6 polls have been in Obama's favor, 4 of the 6 have been outside the margin of error. Even more encouraging for Democrats is that two of the three biggest leads in those poll are Fox News Polls.

******* All polling data gathered from Real Clear Politics, Battle Ground State Polls.

What's in My Name?

2008-10-09T16:42:00.004-05:00

My friends, I have kept a deep, dark, and embarrassing secret from you.

This admission is so damaging that it will surely crush my future political ambitions.

My revelation to you all is this,,, my middle name,,,, is George.

I can hear the attacks from my future opponents now.

Can we really trust a man whose middle name is the same as George W. Bush’s first name?!
How can you talk about change and reform,,, when your name is George?
George? How can we be sure that’s not a Muslim name?
George? My George Foreman Grill never worked!! Did yours?!
George!?!?! I’d rather his middle name was Hoover,,,, or Hussein!

The root of my middle name comes from within my family, but surely I can’t trust the people to understand that.

My middle name will inspire such anger that mobs of people go to political rally’s of my future opponents and shout awful, hate filled things when they are told my middle name.

Face it… the last eight years have ruined it for those people with the name George.

When it comes to all things George, Americans are saying,,,

“Never Again”

HOW DUMB DO THEY THINK WE ARE?

OK, my little satire aside.

Are we as a nation really so stupid that we will judge people based on their middle name? Or for that matter their first or last name?

Apparently some Republicans think that we are this ignorant?

Twice in the past couple days Republicans that have introduced John McCain and Sarah Palin have drawn loud cheers by emphasizing the middle name of Barack Obama, which in case you were unaware, is Hussein.

Barack Obama was named after his father who was Barack Hussein Obama Sr. How many people do you know named after their father or mother?

By the logic of some people out there we should think that sharing a name with a bad person means that you are also be a bad person.

The worst part about this is the implications and inferences being made by the McCain and Palin team. Saying that Obama ‘pals around with terrorists’ is the kind of thing that incites people. If you think I am overreacting see the video of the crowd leaving a recent rally of theirs at the bottom of this post.

In 26 days though we are going to turn the page with a new voice, a new vision, and hopefully provide, as he says, "Change We Can Believe In".

I hope the people in the video below will even come around.

Beware, if your a fan of Obama, this video is only going to depress you. But hopefully it motivates you to take a role and help get Obama elected.

Not Fit For TV?

2008-10-09T09:17:00.002-05:00

Just received a campaign from the "We" Campaign which focuses on alerting the public and pushing for action on climate change.

You've probably seen their ads on TV in the past few months.

The ad above was recently rejected by ABC TV. When I received the email and opened the link I thought, maybe they really did or said something offensive or risky in this ad.

Think by watching the ad you'll agree its effective, but in no way innappropriate.

Click on the link below and you can send a message to ABC telling them to put this ad on the air.

http://www.wecansolveit.org/page/s/ABC

Debate Recap: 'That One',,, Won

2008-10-08T09:03:00.005-05:00

You know every election year people get all excited for the debates, and almost every year, they let us down. We keep expecting and hoping for a singular moment or exchange that we will remember for years.

Yet that never seems to happen and last night was no exception.

Though in the history of debates, last night was one of the more odd debates I have ever watched.

The oddities in this debate all came from one man,, John McCain. As has been his problem throughout this campaign his message last evening had no focus or direction.

And more than that McCain once again looked totally out of sorts and uncomfortable.

Here are just some of the McCain oddities:

I was surprised that the disdain John McCain was skewered for in the first debate,,, he carried over to last night. It wasn't just the dismissive 'that one' line, but in watching these debates McCain can't even fake respect for Obama.
His 'home loans' plan was a 'new idea', but one that appeals to liberals. There is also some who say this is already in the bailout bill. Plus, if he really believes this,, why didn't he push for it when he 'suspended his campaign' to lead the bailout negotiations?
Where was Bill Ayers? You and your VP slam Obama on the stump for four days based on his association with Bill Ayers, and you never bring it up? You don't go after him to his face. Why did they bring Ayers up this weekend if they weren't going to use it in the debate?
You still don't say 'middle class' once or hardly say your opponents name at all? Even Sarah Palin had the wherewithal to talk to the concerns of the middle class and ask if she could call him Joe.
In an answer to who his Treasury Secretary would be, the first name that McCain mentioned was Warren Buffet. Yes, Buffet would be a great Treasury Secretary but has slammed McCain's tax and economic proposals. Buffet thinks the rich should be taxed higher.
We have heard how 'Town Halls' are John McCain's best format. Yet McCain looked very uncomfortable throughout the debate. He had uncomfortable in exchanges with Obama, even with moderator Tom Brokaw, and at one point calling a questioner by the wrong name in the middle of an answer. Not to mention McCain's aimlessly wandering around the stage was just plain bizarre.
While he attacked Obama, he never really tried to knock him off balance with any real zingers. There wasn't a set plan of attack that had any kind of traction.

McCain's odd behavior goes back to a point I have been making on this blog for the last month, that John McCain hasn't been able to become one with the McCain campaign to clearly define himself.

It all goes back to that quote I used from the West Wing about three weeks ago from a Presidential Candidate.

"Years I've been looking forward to this campaign. I never imagined it would look like this."

McCain has to be crushed by what his campaign has become and the fact is that he let it happen. He lost control of his own campaign when he abandoned people like former aide Mike Murphy on NBC and threw in his lot with Karl Rove disciples like Steve Schmidt and Tucker Eskew.

This is what happens when you become the candidate who will say anything, do anything, or take any position that is politically convenient for you at the time. Democrats saw how this works when John Kerry was the candidate four years ago.

When you aren't consistent,,, over the long run, you get burned and his message coupled with the economic crisis is drowning the McCain campaign.

As for Obama, he once again was rock solid throughout the debate. He had a grasp of the issues and unlike the first debate he didn't get stuck on defense. Obama was the more aggressive of the two candidates in going after his opponent. On health care, on diplomacy, on spending, on Pakistan, on Iraq, Obama scored points time and again.

But the story of the debate wasn't Obama, or how Presidential he looked and sounded, though he did. The story was how John McCain went into a debate he had to win, and came to the debate with nothing.

While most debates are easily spun by the pundits of both sides, it was nearly unanimous across the board with few exceptions that the clear winner of last night was Barack Obama.

Follow the Example of Barack Obama

2008-10-07T13:22:00.004-05:00

Heading into the second Presidential Debate this evening there are many pundits out there who are saying the strategy of the McCain campaign is to raise doubt on the character of Senator Barack Obama by bringing up William Ayers, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and demanding an investigation into his donor list.

I think this is just part of the strategy but not the McCain camps ultimate objective.

Let's be totally honest here,, William Ayers and Jeremiah Wright are old news. They have been brought up before and they're not exactly game changers. Want proof,, just ask the Clinton campaign.

This is a time as I noted yesterday with the economic situation dominating the landscape.

By the way the market fell 508 points today, so the politics of destruction would seem like a rather tone deaf move for this evenings town hall debate?

The McCain camp isn't stupid so changing the subject with re-tread stories can not be their real strategy hear to get a game changing event to go their way.

So what is their goal with the current mudslinging?

Personally, I think it's to cause Barack Obama and Democrats to lose their temper and trip into a reprehensible statement. To have a prominent Democratic figure saying something really off color would dominate the news cycle for 24-48 hours .

Maybe they're trying to get Joe Biden or Michelle Obama to lose their tempers and cause the Obama campaign to have to pivot onto defense for a couple of days and disavow a principles remarks.

The first and biggest problem with this strategy is that Barack Obama is too smart, smooth, and disciplined to fall into this trap personally. As long as he doesn't say something really stupid the blow to the campaign would be minimized. Barack Obama looks pretty unflappable thus far.

Joe Biden and Michelle Obama are certainly passionate people with a tendency to let their emotions get the best of them. Yet they are surely being coached on what pitfalls to avoid. It's possible one of them slips up, but still find it unlikely.

So if the Michelle doesn't say something about 'baking cookies' and Joe Biden doesn't call Sarah Palin a 'floozy' then what Democrats have the profile that Obama would not be able to brush it off?

Here's the second problem with the McCain strategy. The only other Democrats that are high enough profile to swing a Presidential news cycle by saying something offensive are the Clintons. Yet, the Clintons have shown no willingness to get their hands dirty in this race and aren't going to impugn their reputation to defend Obama.

The third problem is that while they are throwing these accusations out there, Obama is winning undecided voters by focusing on the economy. He's focusing on the issue that voters overwhelmingly rate as number one right now.

So why am I bringing this up?

The past couple days have had some very tough and nasty attacks from John McCain and Sarah Palin. These attacks are making Democrat, myself included, rather angry.

It's important though for us not to lose focus as supporters.

What I vow to do is to follow the lead of the man I hope will be the next President,, Barack Obama.

I was not a early supporter of Obama's Presidential Campaign. There have been times I have been thrilled with him, times I have been irritated with him, and times I wanted him to get in the face of the Republicans.

But his read of the electorate and his own temperament has been spot on much better than me. I have been so impressed and proud and dignity he has shown during the campaign, in particular the past couple week.

He has been a leader and an example for both Democrats and the country.

There are four weeks to elect him and we need to get it done. Here's how we do it.

Just as Barack Obama and Joe Biden have showed in the debates and for the past couple weeks, we all need to raise the level of civility, common sense, and intelligence in our actions.

Obama and Biden have shown Democrats can act like adults, instead of a spoiled bully on the playground.

Obama and Biden have shown in tough times they can act and govern with a calm hand in tough times as opposed to an erratic, spastic way.

Obama and Biden have showed people they are the ticket that wants to bring the country together with a message of hope and ideas instead of a message of divisiveness, attacks, and ideology.

The high road is the hard road and many ask how can we take this route and still win?

The answer is simple,,, by outworking the other side.

As supporters we need to be positive and pro-active and hit the pavement to ensure victory.

Volunteer for Obama or a local campaign.

Talk to your friends, family, and co-workers to make sure they are informed and make sure that they vote. Check and see if there is early voting in your area, and get it out of the way.

Put a yard sign up, put a bumper sticker on your car because every little bit helps and in a democracy,,, change is pushed through by us.

The way that we lose is to assume victory. As an old political worker we hate polls that show big leads. They make our job harder.

Why?

Big leads, lead to complacency and in elections, complacency kills. If everyone votes,, Obama will win. If Democrats think they have this in the bag, it will be far to close.

Let us be the party of ideals and values in this election, and not rise to the bait of hatred, bigotry, and zealotry. The kind of zealotry that we have seen in just the past couple days by supporters of McCain and Palin.

At McCain and Palin events over the past couple of days supporters of the candidates have been heard shouting "terrorist" and "kill him" when they are talking about Obama.

It's understandable why Democrats, Independents, even Republicans would hear this and want to react with vitriolic anger and disgust. I have talked to moderate Republicans are cringing with embarrassment.

Instead of acting on anger,, lets put that energy into winning and because reacting to score political points,,, will not take us where we want to go, either as a people, or as a country.

Come November 4th, we need to get more votes and that is something we can effect and something I have decided to participate in,, not just comment on.

More on the plans for 17people to help Obama and Biden turn out the vote,,, in articles to come.

Cubs/Sox,,,,, Ugh

2008-10-07T08:52:00.004-05:00

For my entire life Chicago baseball pundits and fans have always longed for a year when both Chicago teams would make the playoffs.

In 2008 after 102 years both teams made the playoffs. Excitement was high on both ends of town.

The Cubs looked as though they were a team that couldn't be stopped after amassing the best record in the National League with 97 wins.

The Sox had a season which they exceeded expectations and made the playoffs in exciting fashion having to win a playoff game 1-0 to even make the playoffs.

As we all have learned in Disney movies,,, be careful what you wish for.

The Cubs and Sox both sucked.

If I can thank my team for anything is that the way they lost at least was quick as possible.

Instead of a pain like 2003 was where the Cubs were 5 outs away from the World Series. A Series which still gives me nightmares this loss was different.

This loss was like ripping off a band-aid. It hurts at the time, but is better in the long run.

If nothing else, it gives me more time to focus on politics!

Ugh.

Its the Economy Stupid(s)

2008-10-06T14:46:00.004-05:00

Despite many attempts at misdirection, outlandish statements, and negative politics,,, there is only one issue that controls this election,,, the economy.

Today the economy is once again the story of the day, and it will remain so for the next 29 days of the election and probably the next 18-24months.

A strong finish on Wall Street couldn't keep the Dow Jones from finishing under 10,000 points for the first time in over four years.

Yet the day on the campaign trail started with reaction to Sarah Palin's 'palling around with terrorists' comment about Barack Obama.

Instead of taking the high road the Obama camp went after the McCain's history of palling around with felons,,, namely the Keating 5 with a new website,, KeatingEconomics.com.

While I don't think hitting on the Keating 5 is the tactic I would've taken,,, yet,, the saving grace for Obama is that the story of the Keating 5 has many similarities to the problems we have today with the economy.

The economic nervousness out there is why people don't care as much about the frivolous attacks that so dominated our recent elections. Democrats, myself included, have used the term, "Rove-Style Politics" a lot this year.

Here's the thing,,, Rove-Style Politics aren't working this year.

Because issues and not personalities are front and center.

That's right,,,, I said issues.

I had some personal confidantes tell me when I started this blog that 'people don't care about issues' the way that I do. That pointing out, issues, was 'out of touch'. That voters care about which candidate they best 'relate to' and not about their positions.

Well guess what?!

In this election,, it appears that the issues matter.

Bill Ayers, Thomas Muthee, Jeremiah Wright, and Charles Keating are not going to determine this election in the end,,, Barack Obama and John McCain's vision for America will.

The American people expect these campaigns to be prepared to talk about the economy for the next 29 days.

Biden-Palin Do Their Job

2008-10-03T09:17:00.005-05:00

At the conclusion of the much anticipated debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin my cell phone erupted with calls and texts. The responses I got from my focus group of friends and family was all across the board.

The overall consensus was that both Biden and Palin did better than expected.

For those that were hoping Sarah Palin would crash and burn,,, they didn't get their wish, as she represented herself awfully well.

For those hoping Joe Biden would provide a gaffe along the lines of 'FDR speaking on television' or would bully Palin,,, they also didn't get their wish.

In the end the VP Debate can be summed up like this...

If you had a candidate you probably think they won.

Here is why I think Joe Biden won.

First off, while he got a little to wonkish on policy here and there, he did so in a way that isn't elitist. Biden comes from a blue collar background and I think that comes out in his delivery. He also was incredibly effective at linking John McCain to George W Bush.

I do feel he was too cautious early in the debate and allowed Palin's charm and her well delivered jabs to rule the beginning of the debate.

However, he closed the debate strong and feel the tide turned when Sarah Palin bragged on her history of taking on the oil companies in Alaska. This is where 'Sedated Joe' became as Bill Maher calls him, 'Joey the Shark.'

He didn't attack her, yet instead cleverly showed how the Obama ticket wants to do what she did in Alaska with regards to oil companies. Then he showed how Palin's accomplishment is diametrically opposed to the McCain tax plan.

From this point on Biden just pounded away at John McCain and tied him directly to not just George Bush, but Dick Cheney as well. While she kept saying it was 'looking back', she wasn't able to distinguish a difference from Bush other than saying "Maverick" over and over again.

Biden's precision attacks came with very little defense coming from Palin. I think Palin was solid on her talking points, but was not very effective at responding to the stream of specific attacks on John McCain's record and this was the biggest difference in the debate for me.

Biden adapted to what was being said, while Palin stuck to a pretty set script.

The post debate polls showed that Biden won pretty clearly which surprised me. I felt the 'perception' would be a tie. Early this morning, it hit me why both Biden and Obama have had such strong poll numbers in the two debate.

This election is so different than the past two.

Democrats in the past two elections have had the same positions they do now on issues like taxes and the war. But in 2000 and 2004,, those were not pretty unpopular positions in the country.

In 2004 a phrase like 'waving the white flag of surrender' would have resonated through an overly macho country. In 2008, this kind of statement falls flat on over 60%+ of the people.

As early as 6 months ago arguing that raising taxes on people that make over $250,000 was always a tough sell. In light of the financial crisis we are in,,, this sounds much more reasonable and necessary.

At long last the Democrats are not just on the right side of issues philosophiacally,, they have the popular support on issues they have typically have gotten beat up with.

Yesterday I wrote that both candidates a tightrope to walk,, and the winner would be the one that kept their balance.

To my surprise, they both kept their balance and did their job.

BIDEN

Readers of this blog know that I love Joe Biden and have been a major advocate for him for quite some time.

While he was not the flashiest selection as VP,,, he is exactly the kind of experienced voice we need in the White House.

Communicated with four people in the last 15 hours who are all Republicans. Three of whom are the 'undecided' voters that the campaigns are talking to, and another of them is definitely voting for McCain.

Each of them made very strong statements about how impressed they were with Biden. A couple of them felt Palin won the debate, but even they said that Biden did not lose the debate.

One said, "I didn't really care that much for Biden much heading into tonight. I like him a lot more now."

Another texted me, "Now I know why you like him so much."

A third instant messaged me this morning who is voting for McCain said, "I thought Biden was smooth and Palin was all over the place."

This debate unlike the first one had that signature moment and it was from Joe Biden. A moment that I think it touched a lot people.

This is when he got choked up talking about the tragedy that beset his family over 30 years ago when his wife and daughter were killed in a car crash and his two sons were seriously injured.

A friend of mine who is a father called and said about the moment in the link above that Biden 'won him over.'

"I didn't know about what happened to his family, that made me look at him different."

Biden had a fine line to walk last night and had to be careful to not come off as a bully, while still showing a firm grasp of the issues. He had to keep his temperament in control when Palin came after him time after time.

He accomplished this with flying colors.

The only person who could have stayed in with her any better would have been Hillary Clinton, but ask yourself this. Had Obama taken Tim Kaine or Evan Bayh, would they have been able to be as smooth and professional as Biden was against Sarah Palin?

It's debatable, but I don't think they could have.

The fact that Joe Biden is the 4th biggest draw in the 2008 Presidential Election illustrates the distorted way we look at elections.

True, he may not be a heroic POW, a history making hockey mom, or the 1st ever African American nominee for President. However, Joe Biden is an exceptional man who has served his country with dignity in the Senate for over 30 years. A guy who doesn't appear to have forgotten where he comes from.

I'm proud of Joe Biden's performance last evening. More than ever I respect that Barack Obama felt comfortable enough to put him on the ticket considering his experience far outweighs his own.

32 days to go.

Too Low of Expect-Palins/Leo/Cubs

2008-10-02T16:03:00.002-05:00

VP Debate

Count me as one of those (maybe few) who is concerned about a strong Sarah Palin performance in the debate this evening.

Yes, you read that right, I fear that Sarah Palin may have a very good debate this evening.

On this blog I have done what I have wanted Democrats to do, to essentially dismiss Palin and instead take on the new and unimproved John McCain.

I have viewed Palin as a distraction and if you go through 17people, despite wanting to many times, have not blasted away at Sarah Palin. While I have mentioned her, Palin has not been the focus of any article since her convention speech.

About a month ago, soon after the Palin selection I had dinner with some family. At the time, Palin’s star was high and Democrats were getting nervous. Deep down, I was getting nervous too.

Despite that nervousness I made the statement to ‘just be patient’ about Palin. I had read everything about her I could get my hands on and felt there was enough in her past to take the shine off of both her selection and the phenomenally successful roll out of her candidacy by the McCain campaign.

It turns out her checkered past has taken a backseat to her own words and prescence. The Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric interviews have been gifts that keep giving to the prospects of Barack Obama and the writers of Saturday Night Live.

Yet, in politics we love comebacks,,, and after imploding with Katie Couric, Sarah Palin,, desperately needs a comeback.

Whether that road to a comeback begins or blows up tonight, depends on her walking a tight rope.

I expect her to attack Biden and Obama with a couple of well delivered, prepared zingers. She has proven to be a great deliverer of prepared lines. This isn’t a put down to her, any speech writer or comedian knows,, delivery is the key to any attack.

She attacks in direct ways, that rarely come off as shrill, shrewd, or mean. This is different than many women who have run for office and criticized for this over the years.

The ‘tightrope’ I mentioned is that she has to avoid a ‘you can see Russia from Alaska’ kind of answer, or a replay of the ‘Supreme Court’ debacle. Any Alaskan-sized gaffe,,, and she will lose what little credibility she has left.

The Couric and Gibson interviews cause us all to expect a major gaffe?

So why am I nervous about Palin having a strong debate?

Well, there are two reasons.

First, she’s a good debater. I’ve watched the YouTubes of her past debate performances and she handled herself well and was very composed.

Yes, she starts at a significant experience and knowledge disadvantage to Biden, but no one expects her to have mastery of issues like he will. So this means she has a wider margin of error on the answers she will give, as long as she doesn’t step all over herself.

The second reason for my nervousness is that unlike Gibson or Couric, her counterparts in this debate have been neutered heading into the evening.

Biden cannot be as aggressive as he was in the Democratic Primary Debates where he showed top notch debate abilities. He is a quick witted and aggressive debater who has to be mindful of being too in her face.

Plus he is going to be bated by her. He can’t be so laid back that he shows no spine, but he also can’t be the attack dog that he has been for the campaign or else he will be accused of beating up on her.

Additionally, the moderator of this debate, the eminently qualified and professional Gwen Ifill has become a target of Republican fire.

Ifill, long respected as one of the best in the media business is writing a book about African American politicians which is titled, "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama."

This book was announced in July, yet Ifill is labeled as the latest of the press who is being labeled as ‘in the tank for Obama.’

If Palin gets a tough question and bombs, the spin-meisters will say Ifill was unfair. If she asks Biden a question he hits out of the park the Right-Wing spin will say he ‘knew what was coming.’

As for me I think Ifill will do fine and I hope she asks them both very tough questions. That is what her job is and what we as a nation need her to do. But if she was going to write a book with the name 'Obama' in the title,,, she probably should have recused herself from the debate.

But then we would have lost the best interviewer we have left without the great Tim Russert.

This was always going to be a difficult debate for Joe Biden, but with expectations so low for Palin and the new controversy around Gwen Ifill it has become even more difficult. The pressure is on him to stay in control, no matter what she comes at him with.

The fact is that both of these candidates are walking a tightrope in this debate and which ever one keeps their balance,,, wins.

POLITICS IMITATES,,,, THE WEST WING YET AGAIN

Once again the 2008 Presidential Campaign is mirroring the fictional election depicted in the sixth and seventh seasons of The West Wing. In a 7th season episode appropriately titled “Running Mates” the Vice Presidential Debate was the focus of the show.

In the West Wing scenario it was the Democrats who had real concerns about the performance of VP nominee, Leo McGarry (RIP John Spencer). McGarry had been performing abysmally in debate preps and the campaign started to panic.

The Santos campaign talked about some tactics as to how to deal with a possible McGarry implosion. The tactics ranged from, cancelling the debate to what they settled on,, lowering expectations.

Both have already been floated around tonight's debate. Some have said Palin shouldn’t show because of a ‘family emergency’, others said she should drop off the ticket, and above all expectations have been lowered.

In the West Wing, Leo himself sent an anonymous email to Republican blogger's saying he was tanking in the debate prep.

What did the Wall Street Journal report this week?

That Palin ‘bombed’ in two mock debates.

Think McCain was trying to lower expectations?

So here’s my third reason for being worried about Palin doing well tonight…

In the West Wing,,, Leo won the debate.

CUBS

I'm obviously not a happy camper today.

Feel bad for Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster who has been so great all season long. Last night he didn’t have it. The team owes it to Demp to give him another opportunity to pitch this postseason.

As for how I reacted…

No, I didn’t drink myself into a stupor, punch a wall, or act a fool.

Instead I dragged my very upset self to the gym, got on a treadmill and ran 6.5miles.

Maybe Cubs losses will help my fitness?

17people Overload

2008-10-01T10:20:00.002-05:00

There is just too much going on right now.

Tonight my beloved Cubs start their path to hopefully end their 100 year drought of not having won a World Series. While I write and have passion about politics, the Cubs have my stomach in knots.
The financial crisis is still prevalent though a bailout package seems to be gathering support on both sides.
The election is in crunch time. While polls are looking good for Barack, anything can happen and I'm worried about McCain hitting a 'Hail Mary' between now and election day.
The VP debate tomorrow has me worried. (MORE ON THIS TOMORROW)

The Cubs did me a great favor this year. They wrapped up the National League Central Division title a few weeks back as well as home field advantage in the playoffs. What this meant was that I have been able to not have to worry about them.

With the playoffs here and the first series against the Dodgers,,, that is about to change.

The Cubs playoff run will seriously eat into my time to watch Hardball, Countdown, O'Reilly, etc.

Something else crazy has happened in Chicago, for the first time in over 100 years both our baseball teams are in the playoffs. The White Sox made the playoffs after winning a one game playoff against the Minnesota Twins last evening in a thrilling game.

So,,,

The Cubs and Sox have a once in a century occurrence
Henry Paulson calls this financial crisis a once in a century occurrence
Barack Obama is the 1st African American Nominee in the history of the country

2008 is one hell of a year..

BIGGEST LOSER:

Readers of this blog know how much I enjoy the TV show, The Biggest Loser. I have not been able to squeeze in my thoughts on this season onto 17people yet as a result of too much going on in politics.

This season has been great already. The 1st couple weeks are the toughest to watch because the people on the show are going through the toughest time they have in the initial adjustment of changing their lifestyles and habits.

Trainers Bob and Jillian seem to be the most heartless, mean, and tough people ever. Your heart can't help but break for the people who are getting screamed at and are literally crying in pain.

Last night's episode was another example of why this is such an enjoyable, heartwarming and important show. The guy who was eliminated last evening, Jerry, was according to the doctors on the show one of the least healthy individuals ever on the show.

Hopefully other people will see this one time 380lb police officer whose daughter didn't think he'd be around to walk her down the aisle when she gets married. The strides he made on the show are inspiring and will surely extend his life.

Below is the 'where are they now?' section at the end of the show which shows where Jerry has gotten to so far. This guy couldn't walk 2 blocks when he got to the Biggest Loser Campus. See how he is doing today in the video below.

Don't Think Crossing My Fingers Will Stop What Is About to Happen...

2008-09-29T13:12:00.007-05:00

The House of Representatives voted NO on the bailout bill today.

I hope that the people I have talked to and the experts that have said that we need to do this 'bailout' are wrong.

That not passing this bill will no create a major recession or a Great Depression, but I don't see it.

It looks like a bi-partisan killing of the bill with about 133 Republicans and 95 Democrats who have voted against it. I think these people have made a big mistake, but we will have to see what happens.

Currently,, we are down 500 points at the time of this writing.

Couple of well known stocks at the time of this blog.

Apple: Down $23
Google: Down $36
Goldman Sachs: Down $23
Fifth Third Bank: Down 36%
National City Bank: Down 52%

POST SCRIPT:

Well Americans like to be a part of history, and we get to be part of that today. The single biggest point drop in the history of the Dow Jones.

777.68 points.

The NASDAQ fell 9.1% to under 2000pts.

Wachovia is the latest major institution to fail and be talen over by one of the three strong banks. They were taken over by Citigroup. Seems like Bank of America and JP Morgan are the other two solvent banks,,,, for the moment.

And the experts are saying the credit markets are getting even worse.

Tomorrow ends the quarter and earnings reports are about to be announced. The unemployment rate is going to be announced this week with a number sure to increase from 6.1%.

Where's the end of this? 17people has no answers, but CNBC will be on my TV more than it ever has before the next couple of days.

Other Perspectives/Prophecy

2008-09-29T09:42:00.003-05:00

Every once in a while I like to post some videos and articles that I feel are worth your time to take a look at.

Especially in light of this financial crisis. There are a bunch of smart people who have written and said some brilliant things about the mess that we are in. I will post a few of them below.

But before I do, let me say that I think Congress has done pretty well in crafting this bailout plan. They took the 3 page 'Paulson Document' and have made it a much better plan. It's a terrible thing that they have to vote for,, espeically considering the nearly trillion dollars in bailouts that have already taken place.

But I give credit to both parties in Congress for coming together and getting this bill done. That includes the House Republicans whose intervention I think added some strength to the bill when it comes to Wall Street having to kick in to make up the losses of taxpayers should there be any.

Now I just hope that the bill passes with 300+ votes in the house and isn't something that anyone plays games with. Should that happen,, I think we will see a bigger drop in the market than we are currently seeing.

So here are some things I think you'll enjoy.

1st is a rant by Jim Cramer of Mad Money who does a good job explaining what will happen if the Congress does not act and takes on economists and Alabama Senator Richard Shelby. Cramer is a bit of a nut and his ranting and raving make some people think he isn't a serious guy.

But I will say this, in an era, and I mean the last 30 years, where we haven't had anyone other than Bill Clinton be able to really explain economics to non-Wall Street people, Cramer has become that voice.

Click on this link to see Cramer talk of what he calls the 'investment in America plan.'

2nd, is an article from the Baltimore Sun by Cynthia Tucker. A Republican talking point over the past couple days has been to blame the "Community Reinvestment Act" (CRA) of 1977 (when Carter was President) that expanded credit opportunities to minority community's bears the blame for this crisis. This is being used in an unfortunate way and Tucker clearly lays out why.

The article focuses very little on what is really to blame, deregulation of the past 10-12 years, but shoots a whole in the theory that the CRA is to blame.

Click on this link to read this very interesting article.

Finally, is a speech that was given in 1999.

It was by a Congressman I have written about many times before whom I greatly admire, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee John Dingell.

This speech was given to speak against a deregulation bill titled Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. This bill deregulated banks that allowed them to team up with investment houses and insurance companies. Companies like Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros, and AIG.

Only 57 members of the US House of Representatives voted against this bill, so the blame lies with both parties and President Clinton signed it so I'm not even pointing a finger a President Bush here.

But for the record, Dingell,, who is the longest serving member of the House was called 'out of touch', 'anti-growth', and protectionist when he gave the speech below.

Turns out he was two things, prophetic and 100% right.

Keep in mind this speech was in 1999!

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the remaining time for purposes of closing.

Madam Speaker and my colleagues, I think we ought to look at what we are doing here tonight. We are passing a bill which is going to have very little consideration, written in the dark of night, without any real awareness on the part of most of what it contains.

I just want to remind my colleagues about what happened the last time the Committee on Banking brought a bill on the floor which deregulated the savings and loans. It wound up imposing upon the taxpayers of this Nation about a $500 billion liability. That is what it cost to clean up that mess.

Now, at the same time, the banks by engaging in questionable practices wound up in a situation where the Fed and the Treasury Department had to bail them out also at the taxpayers' expense. But it did not show.

Having said that, what we are creating now is a group of institutions which are too big to fail.
Not only are they going to be big banks, but they are going to be big everything, because they are going to be in securities and insurance, in issuance of stocks and bonds and underwriting, and they are also going to be in banks.

And under this legislation, the whole of the regulatory structure is so obfuscated and so confused that liability in one area is going to fall over into liability in the next.

Taxpayers are going to be called upon to cure the failures we are creating tonight, and it is going to cost a lot of money, and it is coming. Just be prepared for those events.

You are going to find that they are too big to fail, so the Fed is going to be in and other Federal agencies are going to be in to bail them out.
Just expect that.

With regard to the privacy, let us take a look at it. We are told about all the protections for privacy that you have here. If you want to have a good laugh, laugh at it, because here is the joke: The only thing the banks are going to be required to say with regard to what they are going to do with regard to your privacy, and this is everything, from your health to your financial situation, to everything else, is ``we are going to stick it to you.''

The privacy that you are going to have under this legislation is absolutely nothing. And what is going to drive that is going to be a simple fact, and that is that the banks are all going to be competing with the most diligence, and the
result will be that those protections are going to be manifested in a race to the bottom.

Consumers, investors and the American public will have no protection to their privacy whatsoever under this bill. The only thing the banks have to say and the other institutions have to say is ``we are going to stick it to you.''

Vote against the conference report

One Debate Down

2008-09-27T00:24:00.004-05:00

Look, if you came to this debate recap expecting me to say that John McCain won the debate,,, you'd be wrong,,, but 17people will be fair,, so please read on.

Overall this was one lame debate. It could have been so great, but Jim Lehrer was not on his game tonight and despite one of the best debate formats we have ever seen that encouraged the candidate to talk and challenge each other,,, one of the two of them wanted NOTHING to do with the other.

More than that though,, the debate was boring, tedious, and above all inappropriate for the time and situation that we are in.

How did this debate did not talk solely on the economy? This is the issue of the time, this is what people are losing sleep over, and its not like there are not two other debates to discuss foreign policy.

As an Obama supporter I was hoping that foreign policy would be pushed or not discussed at all. That is McCain's turf and with Obama gaining on the economy, I didn't want the subject to change.

Yet, I underestimated Barack Obama as I actually think this ended up playing into his hands.

But I'll start where the debate started,, on the economy.

John McCain very effectively changed the conversation of the financial crisis that we are in during the debate.

He turned the financial crisis into a discussion on earmarks and government spending. Two areas he is strong on that are easy to talk about and easy to rally support for.

Spending and earmarks however, have NOTHING to do with what has happened on Wall Street recently. Lack of regulation, transparency, corruption in the private sector and banking industry are the causes.

John McCain deftly changed the subject and was able to hold his own.

Now I will say this, the longer the conversation is on the economy right now, is still a net plus for Obama. I think pundits have been too hard on Obama for the economic section. Though he still does not have that crystal clear message that would put him over the top.

Here's where I give you the point the pundits missed, at least the ones I saw. No analyst mentioned Obama's steadfast commitment to talking about health care. He must have mentioned this issue three or four times which is a lot for him as he doesn't repeat every answer like John McCain does.

Pushing health care in these debate is a MUST issue for Obama. It appeals to that middle class voter that Hillary Clinton was so effective at reaching. Bill Clinton said this week Obama has to get the people who voted for Hillary and health care is the one issue that will both get them and her and her people working harder for him which they need to do.

Health care is Hillary's issue and it is the issue of the populist part of the Democratic Party and the best news for the undecided or moderate voter,, Obama's plan, is much more moderate and easily implemented.

On to the foreign policy part of the debate...

When it comes to foreign policy this has been Obama's biggest deficit in the polls and the minds of others between him and McCain. The 'Commander in Chief' test Joe Biden called it afterwards.

Whether you agree with him or not, Barack Obama clearly passed this test. He knew the issues, he knew the players, and he eloquently elaborated where he stood on complex issues in these difficult times. He sounded like a Commander in Chief while standing next a great war hero and experienced voice on foreign policy.

More importantly he didn't back down on issues geeks like me care about. Like holding true on diplomacy,,, even with Iran. I wish he pounded him harder on the 'bomb, bomb, Iran' Beach Boy knockoff McCain did earlier. Like holding McCain accountable for pushing us into Iraq in the first place as opposed to acting as though 'the surge' is the only part of the war that counts.

Foreign policy is McCain's deal, his expertise, and Barack Obama more than held his own.

While I am more of an issues geek, I have also learned the hard way in politics that its not always what you say, but how you say it. Additionally in debates,, it's how you look, when you say what you say, and how you react when you listen to your opponent.

I remember being certain Al Gore won that first debate with George Bush in 2000. You may remember this debate because it was the 'sigh' and 'makeup' debate. While Gore grasped the issues and spoke much better, Bush won the 'impression test'.

He looked better and less arrogant and it gave people who watched, the impression that he won the debate.

In this debate, Obama clearly won the 'impression test'. McCain looked utterly uncomfortable the whole debate. Obama on the other hand looked calm, in control, and actually looked at his opponent.

One of the goals of this format,,, which was one of the better debate formats that I have seen was to get a more free flowing discussion. McCain, wanted nothing to do with Obama, and I think it's gonna hurt him on a night he was overall very good.

This is a big surprise to me considering that McCain has been crying for 'Town Hall Debates'.

If Obama did those town halls, would McCain look at him then?

And one final note. Some pundits criticized Obama for saying he agreed with McCain or gave him credit for too many things he agreed on.

Then I thought about a speech I heard this summer that had the following lines in it...

The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn’t a cause, it’s a symptom.

Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us.

I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again.

Instead of rejecting good ideas because we didn’t think of them first, let’s use the best ideas from both sides. Instead of fighting over who gets the credit, let’s try sharing it.

The man who said these lines,,, John McCain,,, in his acceptance speech at the RNC.

This debate performance showed none of the bipartisanship, deference, or class that he did in that speech.

The first debate was long and not that entertaining, but I felt going in a tie was a win for Obama and I really believe that in next couple days the polls and reaction will be slightly in favor of Obama which means it was a very good night for the Democrats.

When You Consider the Alternatives...

2008-09-26T08:55:00.004-05:00

Two days ago I wrote:

It's time for the legislative branch who has been far too minimized in recent years to reassert itself. This is their chance to show that the representatives of the people can work for the people.

This hasn't happened.

As someone who follows Congress closely, this is an utter mess.

The problem for us as citizens is that this is about a subject that makes our heads spin when it is explained to us. And it makes us angry when we think we are paying for corporate malfeasance.

I don't know if the revised 'Paulson Plan' will work or is right.

I have read the one page House Republican plan and don't quite understand how tax breaks and less regulations on Wall Street will work either, but am not going to criticize it either.

I know that a lot of Americans, myself included are furious that we are in this position. It's maddening that the public has to step in to bail out companies that's own greed and irresponsibility created this problem.

Yet, from everything that I read, not acting with a plan comparable to the Paulson plan,,, which has been improved a great deal to include the 'provisions' that both Senators Obama and McCain have asked for will free up the credit markets so that the economy can move as opposed to recess.

Both Republicans and Democrats are pissed at this plan because it requires taxpayers to take on a huge risk. $700billion for banks, insurance companies and investment houses is nuts.

They are both getting calls from angry constituents at a clip of 200 or 300-1 against.

This blog often quotes and references The West Wing and yet again a lesson from that show applies today. There was an episode that had to do the US signing a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Something that 82% of Americans were in favor of.

President Bartlet responded to that 90% number by saying (paraphrasing for now) official quote will be up tonight.

Honestly, this is one of those situations I could a damn what the people think. The complexities of a global arms treaty, the technological, military, diplomatic nuance,,, it's staggering Toby. 82% of the people can't possibly be inspected to make an informed opinion.

Aaron Sorkin through President Bartlett's words ring true in our current situation. You can replace the military and diplomatic nuance, with terms like derivative, illiquid assets, mortgage backed securities.

The result of this mess in Washington right now will cause many people to blast Washington and Congress,,, and it will be deserved.

But we all need to keep in mind that our system of a Democratic Republic. It's what makes us different.

In that same West Wing episode,, called ironically,, "The Lame Duck Congress", President Bartlet closed the episode by saying...

You know we forget sometimes, in all the talk about democracy, it's a Republic. People don't make the decisions, they choose the people who make the decisions. Could they do a better job choosing? Yeah. But when you consider the alternatives. . .

I plead with Congress again.

Rise above partisanship and Presidential politics and find something that works.

Because while it's 300-1 against right now, if the stock market falls 1000 points on Monday and no business can get credit,,, we'll be racing next week when we have a bigger gun to our head than we do right now.

Due to the Financial Crisis,,, I Suspend My Blog??

2008-09-25T09:14:00.004-05:00

In light of the financial crisis, the uplifting speech by President Doomsday last evening, and the latest publicity stunt by John McCain,,,, I have decided to suspend my blog.

We are a single track nation that can only handle one thing at a time and I think we should all suspend our daily lives to focus on is this singular issue, the economic crisis.

In addition to suspending my blog I resolve to go nowhere, quit my job, go on a hunger strike, and cancel my appearance on the David Letterman show and say I am immediately heading to Washington, only to instead conduct an interview with Katie Couric two blocks away.

Wait!

Before I suspend the blog I need to get some talking points out to my fans so that this 'suspension' plays well in the press. Maybe I could borrow the talking point's the "Campaign First" McCain crew sent out to surrogates after 'suspending' the campaign to 'put the 'country first.'

I mean seriously, can John McCain think of a few more publicity stunts to pull out before the campaign? If he is looking for some more ideas for publicity stunts maybe he should check out this link.

I'd like to remind Senator McCain that the President of the United States has the weight of 300million people on his/her shoulders. It's their job to 'prioritize' what's going on, project calm and instill confidence.

If you are going to conduct a stunt and cover it in the veil of righteous sanctimony you should make sue you can't get caught, oh I don't know, campaigning with the press.

Like McCain did last night when he called to cancel cancel on David Letterman and said he was heading back to Washington?

Instead John McCain got destroyed by Letterman last night who found out that instead of heading back to Washington as he told Letterman directly that he would,,, he went down the street to conduct an interview with Katie Couric. The video from the Letterman is at the conclusion of this article. He was in rare form.

Letterman expressed anger because he was lied to, generally people don't like that.

The question I have begun to ask myself in the past 10 days is this.

Has John McCain changed his stripes in order to win the Presidency?

Did John McCain change his stripes to become the "Maverick" that we thought he was in recent years?

I'm beginning to think that in this election,,, the flip-flopping, say anything, knee jerk reactionary methods,, is the real McCain.

A Unified Congress,,,, Against Bush

2008-09-24T09:38:00.005-05:00

Wrote the other day that I didn't like the way the $700billion+ bailout was being forced and rushed by the Bush Administration.

The 'rush' and Bush bullying has done one unexpected thing.

That would be a unifying us in a way we haven't been in quite some time.

That unity is between Congressional Democrats and Republicans who are both outraged at this proposal of the Bush Administration.

One of the things I learned since writing the other day was that the proposal from Secretary Paulson for the $700billion,,, was a whopping 3 pages long.

3 pages?!?!?!

I've written more about The Biggest Loser on this blog than three pages.

Yet, Bush and Paulson expect Congress and the American people to give them access to $700billion to bail out corrupt and irresponsible companies, based on a 3 page document that makes the Treasury Secretary a Kingmaker.

The irresponsibility and arrogance of Bush and Paulson to propose this bailout plan with no oversight or accountability derailed the quick action we needed.

Why would Bush and Paulson not propose a comprehensive plan that included oversight, transparency, safeguards, and equity for taxpayers?

There is no reasonable answer to this question.

They should have acted in the best interest of the American people and demanded accountability but instead tried to bully the Congress and scare the American people. This time it doesn't appear as though it will work and the result is that the Congress is having to write the bill from scratch.

Had they made a serious and comprehensive proposal, we would be much closer to a resolution than we are right now.

Every time I think that this administration can't be any worse, they find a way to prove me wrong.

Bush has had an incredible chance to finish his lost Presidency by acting with responsibility and leadership. He could have reassured and demonstrated to people that despite the election to replace him being 6 weeks away,, that he is the leader of the country.

Instead he is hiding behind his Treasury Secretary who is now taking a beating.

Here's the problem with the whole thing.

The Congress needs to act. This isn't a faux economic threat, it's for real.

Thanks to this being an election year and a lack of leadership in the White House,, this financial crisis is being used for political gain. By Democrats to blame Bush and by Republicans to separate from Bush.

They can't afford to act like him they need to come up with a solution that will begin to solve the problem.

The result of 'no action' could be disastrous for all of us.

Yet the result of 'wrong action' could be even worse.

It's time for the legislative branch who has been far too minimized in recent years to reassert itself. This is their chance to show that the representatives of the people can work for the people.

Let's see real bipartisan work on the hill from both parties where they come up with a bill that holds Wall St's feet to the fire, makes the taxpayers equity holders in the companies they bail out, and doesn't include unneccessary earmarks and pork.

The President has decided not to step up, the Congress of the United States needs to.

A Trillion Here, A Trillion There

2008-09-22T14:39:00.004-05:00

“This is no time for partisanship, we must join to move urgently needed legislation as quickly as possible without adding controversial provisions that could delay action,” said President George W. Bush in a recent White House statement flanked by the Fed Chairman, Treasury Secretary, and SEC Chairman.

There he goes again.

This is the modus operandi of the Bush administration. Wait until things are so bad that action must be swift,,, and then force legislation down the Congress and the people’s throats.

There is nothing that the Bushie’s enjoy more than using the fears of the American people to drive a wedge between Democrats in Congress and the American people.

We’ve seen this tactic before.

Whether it was with the Patriot Act, the Department of Homeland Security, or the resolution to authorize the use of force in Iraq, President Bush executing the Karl Rove playbook has used the bully pulpit to force his will without time for thought, strategy, or real debate.

These were all critical and serious decisions that were used as political weapons and rushed to turn into law.

Rational thought, logical planning, and long term strategy were all removed from the process in order to pass legislation or create departments to try and achieve a short term political victory.

What have been the results of this strategy?

- The Patriot Act gutted the civil liberties our country was founded.
- The Department of Homeland Security became a bureaucratic nightmare that helped lead to the mess of Hurricane Katrina
- Don’t get me started on Iraq.

So how does this apply to the current situation?

In addition to the statement that I started this article with,,, the President also said…

“There will be ample opportunity to debate the origins of this problem, now is the time to solve it.”

Now is the time to solve it?

Wouldn’t a pro-active approach, say a year or so ago, have prevented us from having to ask Congress to approve spending $700billion or more in a week’s time?

This $700billion that the President says we have to ‘quickly approve’, does not include the roughly $800billion that have already been guaranteed to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bear Stearns, AIG.

So that means that because the banks, creditors, and investment houses were all consumed with Gordon Gecko like greed and corruption,,, we the taxpayers have to pump $1.5-$2.0trillion to bail these bastards out.

This $700billion plus dollars they are asking for now, also does not include the money that other failing industries are going to ask for in upcoming months.

That’s right people, the companies that have failed already, like the Banks and Investment Houses, are just the 1st in line for Government bailouts. The airline industry and automakers are next, and who knows who will follow after that.

So here’s my beef with the President and the Treasury Secretary’s latest plan.

Why should we accept the plan from the administration on face value?

This is an administration that has missed the mark on most everything it has decided to get involved in, yet now we should just ask no questions and be happy to spend close to a trillion dollars of taxpayer money to bail out institutions that’s own greed and malfeasance have put their futures at risk.

This isn’t $50 or $100 a taxpayer we are talking about. Say there are 200million taxpayers in the US, and the final tally for this part of bailout is around $1trillion. That would balance out to around $5,000/taxpayer. Ask the ‘middle class’ if they could spend 'their $5,000' on something more important than corporate welfare.

Honestly if you include all the bailouts and loans, and government taken over operations, the bill is going to be closer to $2trillion. That means $10,000/taxpayer!!!!!!

People all across this country have seen their retirement accounts go down, their mortgage rates and transportation costs go up and are now being told that it is their responsibility to bail out corrupt billion dollar companies from their own mistakes to the tune of thousands of dollars per taxpayer.

Not just their tax responsibility, but that their money should be spent ‘quickly’ and without ‘Controversial provisions that could delay action,’ as the President said.

What are these controversial provisions?

1. Limiting CEO and Executive Pay: The thought here is that if a company has been mismanaged and applies to have the government buy their assets that the boards and executives of those companies will not be able to get multimillion dollar bonuses because of the bailout.
2. Providing Relief to the mortgage holders and homeowners of America: The thinking that it’s unfair to bail just the lenders and the banks and not the people that were victims of predatory lending or irresponsibility of the lenders and credit agencies.
3. Appointing a panel of experts or a ‘Czar’ to manage the holdings: The current plan gives almost soul power to the Treasury Secretary to the $700billion and what to buy and sell of the assets they are buying. Some smart people like Warren Buffet are proposing a team of experts or an independent ‘Czar’ of this program. Michael Bloomberg’s name has been floated for this post. Especially considering the Treasury Secretary will not have this job in just about 4 months.

Now I have never claimed to be a financial expert, but these provisions seem to be reasonable to consider and at least we should discuss these provisions.

Deep down I wish all the executives of these institutions, whom make Enron look semi-responsible, were allowed to go under and that we taxpayers didn’t have to give them one dime.

Yet the potential catastrophic effects on the markets, both here and abroad, has made me come to grips with the fact that we indeed have to act soon.

But what exactly is ‘quickly’ as the President said?

We may not have another chance to really turn things around in both the short and more importantly, long term. We need to do so with a way that looks past the just the anxiety of today and attempt to think logically for the long term prosperity of our country.

I may be wrong, but we may only have one shot at doing this right.

I for one want to be sure that our government gives some strategic long term thought, and takes a certain level of care to make sure companies don’t abuse this system. You know the way they abused the system to get us into this mess.

So back to how long a time ‘quickly’ is.

If Congress takes an extra couple days or even a week before spending a trillion taxpayer dollars, then so be it.

If the world markets suffer an extra day or week in the short term, that may be the price we all pay to ensure long term success.

This is our money and our economic future, the Congress and administration better make sure that they do it right and not blow this opportunity to set us on a new course.

That new course, by the way, a much more socialized government.

The President is right we need to act soon.

Yet, if anyone should know the effects of faulty planning one would think it would think it would be the man whose piss poor planning led to the debacle in Iraq.

I plead with the President, Treasury Secretary, and Congress...

Don't rush too fast, please do it right.

Obama and Bartlett?

2008-09-22T14:28:00.004-05:00

I received about 20 emails this weekend on my personal and 17people email account.

17people@live.com for those who don't know how to reach me.

Every had the same thought. An article by Maureen Dowd in the New York Times that put and email she received from 17people hero Aaron Sorkin that put forth an imaginary discussion between Senator Barack Obama and fictional President from my beloved West Wing, Jed Bartlett (pictured above).

Here's the link to the article,, it's a good read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/opinion/21dowd-sorkin.html

As a tough critic of anything West Wing, I am jealous that Dowd can just email Sorkin while I just get to quote him. He hit the chord of Bartlett better than ever.

A tear comes to my eye as I try to imagine President Bartlett saying most everything, especially him being a smartass with high-level humor and satire.

Telling Obama that it's ok to be smart and it's dumb to try and not be smart.

A brilliant family member of mine said this would be a great SNL skit. Bring Martin Sheen and Barack Obama in and have them act out this conversation. Think that would be awesome.

There are many great fictional exchanges including the Bartlett rant at the end, but my favorite was right at the beginning about the Republican Convention.

BARTLET I meant the Republicans. The Us versus Them-a-thon. As a Democrat I was surprised to learn that I don’t like small towns, God, people with jobs or America. I’ve been a little out of touch but is there a mandate that the vice president be skilled at field dressing a moose —

What Matters May Finally Matter?

2008-09-17T14:20:00.011-05:00

As I write this the NYSE fell 451 points today, it fell 500 on Monday.

Mega financial institution Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and is having a large part of its assets bought by the British Bank, Barclays. It was last trading at $.13/share. A year ago it was over $60/share.

AIG, one of the largest insurers in the world, is the latest of $800 billion of bailouts from the Federal Government this year, with an $85billion loan guarantee.

All of a sudden, 'lipstick on a pig' doesn't seem so important.

I watched some of the 7th season of the West Wing over the historically rainy weekend we had in Chicago. This is the season there was a fictional Presidential election that has many similarities to this campaign.

One line struck me that I heard the fictional Republican Nominee Senator Arnold Vinnick who was almost written as McCain.

"Years I've been looking forward to this campaign. I never imagined it would look like this."

My guess is that John McCain deep down,, thinks the same thing.

- He wants to really talk straight and rip his party, but has to do so in a way to keep his party together. He can't afford to aggravate the 20% out there who still believe in George Bush. Why? Because those 20% could be the difference in the election if enough of them stay home.
- He is now the second most wanted and interesting figure on his own ticket. He made a VP selection in order to perform a publicity stunt instead of taking who he really wanted, a true Maverick pick like Joe Lieberman or Tom Ridge.
- Not to mention his VP continues to lie about her record with regards to bridges, teleprompters, EBay, and many other things when nearly every independent analyst says she is not being truthful.
- She also is now not cooperating with an investigation about abuse of power that she said for months she would.
- He has seen his campaign lie a little, lie a lot, and then lie some more. The "Straight Talk Express" is no more. He has mostly ads, that have nothing to do with issuers. He ran an ad quoting the non-partisan group, FactCheck.org, that FactCheck.org said was inaccurate.

And then reality hits this week. Bankrupctys, billion dollar bailouts, and already around 800 points off the NYSE.

Rightful fear, anger, and concern have hit the nation.

None of the bullshit and Republican smokescreen matter. Worse for McCain, his team made 'lipstick' the issue in the week leading up to this.

In non-scary times, that may work. With 401k's becoming 200.5k's in three days, spending money on 'lipstick' falls very flat.

"The fundamentals of the economy are strong," said John McCain after a 500 point drop on Monday.

In response he gets hammered by Obama, Biden, and virtually anyone with a brain and his response...

The "Fundamentals" of the economy he now claims, means the American worker and saying the economy is weak means that workers are weak.

Well the problem with this statement, just like his bullshit righteous indignation over 'lipstick on a pig',,, is that John McCain repeated this statement many other times. McCain has used the 'fundamentals' statement no less than 22 times. If you don't believe me see the video below.

Again, where's the Straight Talk?

Presidential campaigns are very fluid. The last two weeks, McCain was killing, but it set him up for a fall. This week Obama is winning each day.

Right now,, the voters are less concerned with who they 'relate to' or who they want to BBQ with.

With any luck, we'll stay focused on the issues, let the winner of this election be the one who has the best ideas.

17 People to Return Tomorrow

2008-09-16T09:20:00.002-05:00

Know that a lot has gone on from Sarah Palin interviews to Saturday Night Live to real economic fears.

17people has been hard at work on some non-political things and wil return tomorrow.

As always thank you to the readers, contributors, and emailers who have checked in and support 17people regularly.

A Tribute To Heroes

2008-09-11T08:22:00.005-05:00

September 11, 2001.

We all know where we were that day, and if you talk to anyone about it,, you are bound to hear a story about what they were feeling, who they were worried about, or what was going on in their lives that day.

Today's a somber day, a day of remembrance, and a day to forget about politics. I have sat in my office or house each of the last seven years watching the coverage, or watching YouTube tributes and remember that day. It's hard day to focus, it's a day I think we are all easily moved to tears.

My tradition every 9/11 is to watch the DVD of "A Tribute to Heroes".

It was a powerful two hour telethon that raised over $30million for the victims of the attacks.

An incredible opening 5 minutes with Bruce Springsteen (before I was a huge fan of his) singing an acoustic version of the never heard before "My City of Ruin", followed by Tom Hanks telling a tale of the heroism that took place on Flight 93 always grip me right off the bat.

In between the powerful musical performances were the extraordinary stories of just some of the many heroes of 9/11.

Every year I watch this, I think it will impact me less because it's another year removed. Yet each year my eyes fill with tears, my heart aches for the families who lost loved ones, and I am so proud of the courageousness of my fellow Americans.

Below is the first 20 minutes or so of a Tribute to Heroes from September 21, 2001.

John McCain was Better Than This Once

2008-09-10T22:35:00.004-05:00

I expect more from John McCain than we are seeing.

This is a man whose signature issue 8 years ago was Campaign Finance Reform.

This is a man who was slandered worse than anyone in the past 20 years of political campaigns when the Bush campaign destroyed him in South Carolina in 2000.

But as was pointed out in a comment on a blog article McCain now has some of those people that slandered him,, currently on his pay role. In fact the person who may have been most responsible for those 2000 South Carolina primary, Tucker Eskew, is now working directly with Governor Palin.

We heard John McCain at the convention talk about a different kind of politics, changing the way things are done in Washington, and for years talk about the need to clean up our campaigns. Remember, the line at the end or beginning of campaign commercials,,,

"I'm Candidate X and I approve this message"

That line is a result of the McCain-Feingold bill. I remember John McCain saying in interviews that this meant candidates had to stand by their ads, and if they were bad, or misleading, they would 'pay the price'.

Today, John McCain finally lost me. I have tried to see the old McCain, the Maverick, but his campaign released two ads today that are ridiculous. His convention speech, which was generally upbeat and positive doesn't stand the smell test of his two ads today.

Now above everything else that I have written on this blog is that this election has to be about issues. That we have real problems, too many for me to write in this article.

Yet the McCain team has gone from being the victim of the Rove-Bush politics that said he had a black child in South Carolina in 2000, to using similar strategies.

It's very disappointing to me, because as someone who stood up for John McCain in 2000 and in years since, I never thought he would stoop to this level. It's a flip flop of his values, and it's dragging this campaign into the mud.

Everything they've done recently has worked so these ad's may end up being effective, but I think these ads, and the distortions and ugliness of them, may backfire. Maybe not, but I usually put faith in people.

The first ad claims that Obama authored a bill that said we should teach kindergarten kids sex education. It's a false claim, instead it was a bill that talked about teaching young kids what they should tell their parents, when older people touched them. It was designed to give kids lessons to prevent potential sexual abuse.

How do I know this, because this is not an original attack. Team McCain stole this from Obama's 2004 Senate opponent, Alan Keyes, who tried the same lie of attack ('lie of attack', like that?). Obama is a parent of two beautiful little girls, to try and label him as someone pushing sex on kids!

John McCain was once better than that.

The second ad surrounds the 'lipstick' comment Obama made yesterday. It was a comment he made about John McCain. Yet the McCain campaign responds with an ad saying Obama said 'lipstick on a pig, is still a pig' about Sarah Palin.

Here are the video of Obama. I think people can see this for themself and make their own minds up. This is not an issue of any consequence so watche these three clips, Obama's original statement, the McCain ad, and Obama's subsequent response.

The only editorial comment from me before these clips is this...

The ad was a web ad, this means John McCain, never had to say, "this is John McCain and I approve this message."

Don't Ignore What Matters

2008-09-09T11:28:00.007-05:00

Had an IM conversation with a friend of mine today who after we lamented the poor starts of our fantasy football teams told me the following. For anonymity's sake we'll call him OLM.

OLM : talking about woulda's
OLM: the stock market!!!
OLM: UGH
Me: UGH
Me: i hear ya
OLM: wow man
OLM: im taking a bath on EVERYTHING

It hit me soon after this point of our conversation what this election is really about, real American's well being.

I say this because soon after the above exchange we got into a 20 line discussion about what a joke Sarah Palin is. The Palin pick 9 or 10 days later, is serving as what I feared it would.

She's a smokescreen for what really matters. It even caused McCain campaign manager Rick Davis to say,,,

"This election is not about issues," said Davis. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

The focus needs to be on the IM conversation above and not on the soap opera that is the Palin nomination.

I wrote after Bill Clinton's speech that his messaging is always way better than the Democrats and it's time to go back to Clinton basics.

"It's the economy stupid."

I follow stocks from afar, but people are hurting, 401k's are shrinking, everything that is supposed to be up,, is down,, everything that is supposed to be down,,, is up.

This is what matters, this is what the Democrats have to stay focused on like Barack Obama tried to do with Keith Olbermann last night. The answer to every question should be 'McPalin economics are the same as George W. Bush's.'

In this country,, pensions are a thing of the past. We overwhelmingly rely on the stock market and 401k's to accumulate wealth. If not the market, many are invested heavily in real estate, and that market is almost scarier than the stock market.

So the effect this recession is killing all of us in the pocketbooks right now whether we know it or not.

The Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac bailout was probably necessary, but if the housing market gets worse,, the taxpayers will pay the bill as always.

When I first started following politics it was 1992 and Ross Perot was on TV with his charts talking about the national debt. After turning things around in the 1990's under Clinton and the Gingrich congress (that's for you BKA) we made headway in paying down our debt.

Now after 6 years of single party rule, two years of a Democratic controlled chickenshit congress, and above all the 'have your cake and eat it to' Presidency of George W. Bush, we now have to fear what the future of our economy holds and what happens when our debts come due.

Sarah Palin interviews, liberl or conservative media bias, political process stories,,,

In a different year these might be issues of importance, but this year is different, we have to know what these two tickets are going to do to ensure our futures or if we are going to all be learning Mandarin or Hindi because the Chinese and Indians have lapped us in the world.

POST SCRIPT (3:05PM):

OLM just instant messaged me

"down 275 today"

Shit, and Democrats are worried about Palin interviewing with the media. Talk about the economy and take the message of the election back.

Time to hold these candidates feet to the fire on the economy.

Period.

Convention Hangover

2008-09-08T09:31:00.005-05:00

After an intensive couple weeks of politics with the ill conceived idea of back to back conventions,, I am drained from writing and watching anything politics. I watched half of Joe Biden's Meet the Press interview yesterday and couldn't focus.

The result will be a week or so of shorter blogs while I wait for Obama or Palin to say something that fires me up.

Here is what we can say for sure though.

The Democrats decision to have their Convention the week before the Republicans really ate their 'bounce'. The party that gets to go last has the advantage and after the more hopeful message of Denver, the Republicans played it right to blast away and have McCain come in with a more 'unifying' speech at the end.

The publicity stunt of the Palin VP pick also did it's job in the short term to eat into the Dem's convention boost than in years past.

The Palin, I mean McCain convention has apparently given McCain a solid boost heading into this week with a 54-44 lead in the latest Gallup poll.

Those who have read this blog know I talk very little about polls as I just don't believe in them that much. As someone who used to work campaigns I have worked the ground where the polls had us down the night before the election by 3 points and we won by almost 20 points. Have seen polls the day before the election that had us up 15 points and we won by only 5.

Presidential polls carry even less weight for me. We see a 1, 3, or 10 point spread nationally and but as Al Gore learned, the national vote doesn't mean shit. You have to win states and this year there are more states that are up in the air than ever before.

But I for one, am worn out from the last two weeks and want to see all the candidates have to face tough questions and scrutiny the rest of the way.

The conventions were great theatre and watched by millions which encourages me that we may actually have a genuine big turnout.

The race is on and it's gonna be one hell of a ride.

Initial McCain Speech Thoughts

2008-09-04T23:42:00.002-05:00

What an uncharacteristically unfocused convention by the Republicans. Now for the record I think conventions are overrated and mean very little in the grand scheme of things. As long as you aren't so negative you should be able to recover from most anything. But after a convention you should come out with a clear message. The Republican party's message was clear, they really like drilling, and the only real excitement they have for their ticket right now, if for their VP nominee.

Let me start out by saying I feel bad for John McCain. For many years until his transformation from Maverick to typical politician the past 2 year I have respected his politics. I didn't agree with them, but as a Democrat I didn't need the video last night to respect what his service meant to the country. I've always and still do respect it. That service however has never really been a factor by the faithful of his own party for the past 8 years who always wished he fell in line with them. It was Karl Rove who spread rumors about him having a 'black baby' in South Carolina in 2000.

Now McCain has fallen in line with them and they still haven't embraced him.

Yes their were people choked up during the harrowing and powerful tale of his awful imprisonment as a POW, but their was tepid enthusiasm for the vast majority of the rest of his speech.

John McCain, a man who has wanted to be the Republican nominee for President since 1996 when he deferred to friend Phil Gramm should have had the joy of a great culmination this week and he didn't get it. By choosing Sarah Palin to appease the radical religious right wing of his party he made the McCain convention into the Palin convention.

In the end the pick may get him closer to the White House, but if he gets there he better watch his back, because the people that are going to come after him are his own party who apparently really want Sarah Palin, someone they hardly know to be the face of their party.

As for McCains speech, I have written here before and many have said, big speeches are not McCain's strong suit. His personal story was too buried at the end of a speech that my guess had many people turning the channel in the middle of it.

His two biggest non-Palin applause lines.

Drilling: Followed by the delegates shouting their favorite phrase of the convention.

"Drill, baby, drill."

They shouted this during Rudy's speech, Palin's speech, and McCain's as well. Let's just say I think that independent voters are more impressed and in line with "Yes we can!", than 'drill baby drill.'

The other line the audience seemed to explode for was when he said "help bad teachers find another line of work."

Now I'm not for bad teachers either. But you have to respect people that go into teaching and the Republican party is now going to fire bad teachers? Exactly how are they going to do this? Is the 'bureaucratic federal government' going to go into your child's classrooms and determine who the bad teachers are. Or are low standardized test scores going to determine a good or bad teacher?

As was the case with the whole week, the Republicans did and said nothing to lay out a plan or vision. McCain wasn't super negative, but as opposed to the tried and true strategies of Rove and Bush, their wasn't a coherent, simple plan that their troops could take to the streets.

They are running a campaign of as Peggy Noonan said yesterday, about narratives. Rove knew this is never enough. Even those that think the how much you want to 'have a beer' with the candidate determines elections, the candidates have to relate to people on things that effect them.

While 'No Child Left Behind' is a failed plan in my opinion, it was an incredible talking point as patronizing as it was.

If the McCain camp thinks 'Country First' will hold the same weight I just think they are four years too late for that message.

The Palin speech was a nasty attack job, but the enthusiasm in the room was palpable. McCain tried to be a bit of a healer, a bit of an attack dog, and a bit of a Maverick last night. The problem with trying to be too many things is that you don't really come off as any of them.

I appreciated his respectful comments about Obama and his supporters, but then he undercut it in typical kinda snide, kinda arrogant McCain.

His attacks on Obama didn't really carry the weight or convincing power behind them that even Joe Lieberman showed earlier in the week. This had been the critique of Obama before he hit his grand slam in his speech last Thursday.

Finally, he did attempt and rhetorically tried to divorce himself from the past eight years of corruption and mismanagement by the Bush administration, but 'Maverick' McCain used to have real passion behind it. This speech was done in more code and lacked real fire.

The speech overall lacked fire and it's because McCain is a candidate in an identity crisis.

He has won his nomination, but lost his convention to his VP pick.

He wants to speak to voters he has had for years, independents, but has had to walk the line to appease those in his party that have never trusted him.

It should have been the week of McCain, a celebration of his Independence and heroism, and instead it was a week about an unknown politician from Alaska, a cloud of a failed leadership by an unmentioned, bumped out of prime time President, and the result is a week not about John McCain.

FIREWORKS?

There were more than a few smartass comments made by Republicans criticizing the stage that was set up in Denver for the historic and powerful Barack Obama speech last week. They criticized the 'foam Greek Columns' mercilessly.

Yet the Republicans had their own odd and cheap stage trick.

Did anyone else notice the screen on stage after the speech that started showing fireworks?

I mean a foam Greek Column or watching TV to watch fireworks on a,,,,,, giant TV?

Brilliant

2008-09-04T23:10:00.001-05:00

God Bless Jon Stewart.

Republicans doubting the Palin Pick

2008-09-04T10:43:00.002-05:00

Today I came across this video of Republicans Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan who were on with NBC Political Director, Chuck Todd. Their segment ended and went off camera. Their mic's were 'hot' as they say in the business.

For the record they didn't know they would be heard, but much noise was made when Jesse Jackson made comments about Obama talking down to black people, so 17people must be fair and show what some REPUBLICAN's really think about the Palin pick.

Republican Convention Night Two

2008-09-04T09:01:00.003-05:00

I sat down and watched the RNC on DVR last night the same way I did the DNC last week.

And as a brawler, that's what I have been waiting for!

No one does kneecapping like the Republican Party. Something I have always been jealous of, I wish my party could veil itself in 'values' and then rip people apart.

Let me start with Sarah Palin.

I thought she gave an excellent speech. Her delivery was much smoother than I expected considering the short time she had to prepare. Unlike my guy Joe Biden, she didn't step on any lines either and got the maximum bang for her buck. It was a skillful speech, and I think she touted the positives of her experience very well.

To steal a Republican talking point, it was an impressive performance from a young, eloquent, and engaging figure.

The issue I had with her and for the entire night was the snide and nasty nature of the evening.

The Republicans are crying sexism and elitism for any critique of Palin which is good strategy. A good strategy until you turn the night into a character assassination of your opponent.

When you fire away like they did you better be prepared to take return fire.

And for the record, if every attack against Palin is sexist, then wouldn't it be fair to call the demeaning of Barack Obama racist?

Let's open up the record of Sarah Palin. Obama has been through the ringer of debates and interviews since he won the Primary in Illinois in 2004. We have made decisions on him as a nation. Some worship him, some are not sold on him, and some hate him. There are many other views people have of him positive and negative.

Digging into her history is what the media is supposed to do. This is what the Republicans wanted the media and a special prosecutor to do to Bill Clinton.

As Obama has stated and I echoed yesterday, going after her family should be off limits. Yet her statements in favor of things like 'The Bridge to Nowhere' before she was against it, is fair game. Her leaving Wasilla $22million in the hole as Mayor is fair game.

If they are so enamored with her, they should say 'bring it on'.

This is the Vice Presidency, the person who could become President!

We should know where she stands.

We should know where she came from and what she believes.

Blaming the media is just an old political trick. Democrats know this trick better than most, as my buddies, the Clinton's, perfected it. Yet the media is supposed to dig and let's be honest, as a nation very few of us know much about Sarah Palin.

There are two questions that have to be asked though after the past couple nights.

First, when is a Republican going to say by their logic, Sarah Palin has more 'executive experience' than John McCain?

Second, when is a Republican going to mention George W. Bush? They bumped the President out of prime time for Joe Lieberman and I didn't hear Palin say Bush once.

Negativity works in politics, but last night flashed back to Palin's political hero, Pat Buchanan. His legendary hateful 1992 speech was what flashed through my mind with Giuliani. Having him go that negative before her was a bad move. I had 20 texts from friends and family, Republicans and Democrats, who said they changed the channel.

To have Palin follow with condescension against a profession I guess we are supposed to mock now, 'community organizers', was overkill.

In the end it will fire up both bases and turn off the moderate voters.

But that was the point of the Palin nomination. It isn't the Hillary voters, it was done to appeal to the Evangelical voters.

The Dems spent their Convention drawing differences to John McCain, but overall went out of their way to be respectful to his service. The 'values' of the Republicans have thus far not included similar respect towards the careers of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

So it is feeling a lot like more of the same after all?

Palin Family Values?

2008-09-03T14:07:00.002-05:00

Just over three weeks ago I wrote the following about John Edwards.

More importantly, I feel for the Edwards children that they have to go around their friends and classmates with everyone knowing about their dad's terrible mistake. They never asked their dad to run for office or become a celebrity. Many families have issues like this that are never known publicly.
The Edwards kids are the truly unfortunate victims to their dad's mistake. What
I am saying is that I can care less about John Edwards political career. Yet am madder than hell about what he is putting his family through.

Today my thoughts go out to the latest child victim of their parents political ambition, Bristol Palin.

Bristol Palin is a young girl who like many other kids, made a mistake. I know some would jump on this statement, but yes an unplanned pregnancy at 17 is a mistake.

Since her mother decided to join the Republican ticket it is safe to say that Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan will have less paparazzi following them because the picture everyone will be angling for is that of Bristol Palin.

The tabloid media, both national and international are going to make this kid's life miserable.

So I am left to ask. Is Sarah Palin naive in thinking the media won't mercilessly stalk her daughter? Or is she just incredibly selfish and only concerned about advancing her career?

The answer to that question will come out in the next 9 weeks.

I don't think poorly on Palin for her daughter getting pregnant. Yet, I think Palin is selfish for subjecting her daughter to what is going to be an awful media intrusion. For deciding to leave her daughter for at least 9 weeks during the pregnancy.

A good friend and great blog contributor wrote me an email yesterday and said something I have heard many parents say in some form or another..

"Your job as a parent is to protect you kids. That's like, your main job, your most important job."

Sarah Palin forgot this when she accepted the offer from John McCain and her daughter is about to pay the price.

For the record, I think the TMZ's and National Enquirers are all pieces of crap and any unfair or crude coverage of Bristol Palin will be condemned on this blog. Barack Obama has already said that 'kids are off limits' but lets not pretend we don't know what is coming for Bristol Palin. A tough situation of being pregnant is about to be much worse because of her mother's now nationally prominent position.

The reality is anyone who thinks that it won't turn Bristol Palin's life is going to be turned upside down is delusional and it could have been avoided if her mother put her family first and not her political ambition.

I have already heard people say, 'this judgement is a double standard for women. A man wouldn't get this kind of scrutiny over chasing his dream.'

To this I say, bullshit. I would criticize any man who decided to join a ticket under the same circumstances.

For the record I would also loudly criticize any man who decided to leave his wife with their 4 month old baby to run for Vice President.

Another little known act of Palin selfishness is the fact that people don't seem to realize the actual grind of a campaign. There is almost nothing as tough as running for national office and your time is consumed talking to reporters, talking to crowds, and travelling.

Yet Palin's newborn son is about to have an absentee mother for the next 62 days. Where is the values crowd criticizing this? She either won't see baby Trig (I have to admit a very cool name) or take Trig with her on the buses and planes as she travels to 2-3 states daily.

You can't call it bad parenting that caused Bristol Palin's pregnancy, but it's a selfish parental decision that is about to turn her kid's life upside down.

After tonight's speech Palin will surely be lauded as impressive and her performance and selection as that of a 'game changer'. As all these speeches have been. People in the crowd will be crying and say they just saw history.

Yet for me I will see just another politician who put their own life ahead of that of their family.

Republican Convention Night One

2008-09-03T11:34:00.002-05:00

Let me start by saying I thought it weird that the Republican Convention was scheduled for Labor Day in the first place. But I give the RNC credit for cancelling the first night of the convention in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.

So to last evenings coverage. I watched NBC's coverage and was surprised at how bad things came off. I don't know if this happened on other telecasts but when President Bush spoke they only had the White House feed. I mean there was NO crowd reaction to his speech that you could hear. So on the screen was President Numnuts pausing for applause that the viewing public could not see.

The Bush speech was expectedly lame and uninspiring. But it was an incredible slight that the sitting President of the United States was not only given a non-Primetime speaking slot, that he preceded Fred Thompson and a Democrat.

Now many have given kudos to Fred Thompson and I thought he was pretty good overall, but NBC cut in and out of his speech so much that I couldn't get a real flow of it. He also needed a bottle of water, because the poor guy sounded like he was choking to death through the parts that I saw.

Then came Joe Lieberman. I am disappointed with Joe Lieberman. When he was defeated in the Democratic Primary in 2006 I actually gave money to his independent campaign. It was a small donation but despite his war stance I always respected Joe.

The truth is I still respect Joe, but am disappointed in his remarks last night. Advocate for McCain all you want, he's your friend and I respect the loyalty. But to attack Obama who was always so complimentary to Joe (calling him his mentor a few years back) was bad form.

I was reminded that while I like Joe's demeanor he is an underwhelming presence on the stage. The fact that the Republicans had him as their 'Prime Time' slot last night was an odd choice. Maybe it works, but I think they wasted last evening.

Not to mention the excitement in the stadium was pretty dull the whole evening. Much of the upper deck was empty and while Thompson and Lieberman were good, they were very forgettable.

The truth is this, this has become the Palin convention pure and simple. While expectations were low for Biden as he was 5th on the list of must see speeches last week, all the pressure of this convention is squarely on Sarah Palin this evening.

The Paper Maverick

2008-08-29T17:31:00.003-05:00

John McCain made a splash by naming little known Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in Ohio. But a splash is about all he should get credit for as the John McCain I used to respect so much and have always viewed as a true independent thinker used his VP pick to retreat into the kind of expediency of typical politicians like the ones he claims to be different from.

There has been a lot of reaction to this pick. Some are calling it brilliant, some a risk, yet above all people are asking is Palin ready to be a heartbeat from the Presidency. If anyone asks this question about a VP pick, that means its a failure in my eyes.

In the inspiration for much of this blog Aaron Sorkin's West Wing, this situation came up once when they were debating replacing the sitting VP on the reelection ticket. Fictional President Bartlet said he would replace VP John Hoynes because of four words.

"Because I could die."

The VP job gets a lot of flack because much of the job is ceremonial and there are very few Constitutional responsibilities. Yet, the one most important responsibility is to be ready to assume the Presidency.

Above all McCain is getting credit for two things. First, keeping a secret exceptionally well and second, stealing some of the spotlight from the incredible Obama speech the night before. Americans deserve more from their Presidential Candidates than those that can keep secrets on Richard Branson-like publicity stunts.

Palin is a mysterious and intriguing pick who has and will continue to generate a lot of interest. That initial buzz will provide some that people will want to learn about and has the cover, or mirage of being a bold and Maverick-like move.

This move was not at all about being a Maverick, this move was a knee jerk reaction to the incredible convention that the Democrats staged in Denver. This was a desperate pick for a candidate that had spent much of the last month gaining ground. It goes against everything that caused me for years to say I could vote for John McCain.

McCain got the label Maverick by standing up to his own party, by putting his values and judgement before those of his party. In choosing Sarah Palin he abandoned that judgement in order to gamble both his candidacy and if he wins, his Presidency on a person he met only once before choosing her.

Now since I have graduated college I have worked on four campaigns, two advertising agencies, and my current employer. At none of those jobs did I ever have to go through less than three interviews. In some of them I have known the CEO's of the company since I was 14 years old. They viewed their companies or campaigns as too important to really make sure I was the right fit.

John McCain took the process so seriously that we learned last night that he had his most serious conversation with her the Thursday before the Friday announcement. With Hurricane season upon us do we need to be reminded of bad political appointments (Mike Brown) and that qualifications actually matter when it comes to jobs as important as FEMA, the Vice Presidency, or dare I say the Presidency.

People can always tell me that I follow issues more than most people and that most Americans want to relate to the candidates. But this is our country, is it too much to ask that our candidates thoroughly interview the person who would take over the Presidency should something happen to them.

As you may notice I didn't respond to this pick until today. My initial reaction was anger at McCain and I try to not write when I am angry. But anger that McCain has failed in his first test, picking someone of non debatable qualifications who would be able to succeed him.

My second bit of disappointment in him is that the Maverick went against what he really wanted to do. In the past couple days it was clear that he really wanted to take loyal soldiers and eminently qualified candidates in Joe Lieberman or Tom Ridge. Yet the radical right mistrusts McCains pro-life credentials so much that they threatened a floor fight against them because despite the fact they both would be qualified VP's they aren't for criminalization of abortion.

Again the ideology of the Republican party dictates the day.

The courageous McCain then sold out his own beliefs and judgement and made a decision that kissed the ass of the James Dobson, Rush Limbaughs, and Richard Lands of the Republican party. These are the people that don't appeal to the moderate or independent voters of this country and the people McCain made his 'Maverick' label by taking on.

The Republicans, and Joe Lieberman can say 'Maverick' all they want this week, but this pick is just the latest sell out move of the artist formerly known as 'The Maverick' John McCain.

Yes We Must,,,, WIN!

2008-08-29T08:58:00.006-05:00

If you didn't see the speech of Barack Obama last evening it is one of the rare 'must see' moments in politics. 84,000 people flooded Invesco Field and saw our next President.

Watch the speech by clicking on this link.

It was powerful, it was moving, it was a game changer. While Obama has had his lead chipped away as of late and questions have been asked if he had the strength to stand up to attacks, he answered all those questions and then some.

Obama showed the country last night he is going to take the fight to the Republicans on his turf, on their turf, and on our behalf to take our nation out of the darkness of the Bush debaccle for the past eight years. He has put the Republicans on notice, this is not 4 or 8 years ago, we are not afraid of your attacks anymore.

While I voted for Barack in the primary, I have had a hard time really embracing him at any point of the election. There has been a disconnect for me. I have wondered if someone with more experience should be our choice. I have never bought the JFK or RFK comparisons, and I am a different voter, rhetoric doesn't appeal to me. Actually governing to help people is what I care about.

Seeing this convention has me on board and its time to start fighting harder for Barack Obama to be President. Not just his speech last night which was great. This convention reminded me why my 401K has shrunk, why my money is going less far, why my country has been damaged in the eyes of the World. It reminded all of us, where Barack and Michelle Obama come from, and where Joe Biden comes from.

They may not have lives we relate to today, but their upbringings resonate, and unlike windsurfers or $500 haircuts, it can't be painted that these guys don't care or are out of touch.

For two elections, we let our fears guide us and we let bullshit cloud our judgement. We had candidates who were smart and brilliant men allow street fighters to knife us in the gut. This convention we said as Barack said last night, "Enough".

We saw Michelle Obama, and said, there's a first lady. We saw Joe Biden, and thought, he may not be a huge vote getter, but he is the right person to be VP. We heard Hillary and Bill Clinton tell us of the importance of getting back to a time when our country grows for all of us, and uses the words 'responsibility' and 'accountability', not as slogans, but as ways of governing to lift us all up.

It is important to note, last night is just one speech. There are 9+ weeks to go and anything can happen either way. There will be four debates with a lot on the line for both sides. Conventions don't win elections, but they can lose them, and the Democrats sure as hell didn't lose the election and certainly got a big boost positive for them going forward.

This election is about the future of the country and Barack Obama is that future.

***** As was mentioned by Brian Williams last night, there was a Sorkin-esque tone to the speech last night. Less President Bartlett and more President Shepherd from The American President. Below is the brilliant last speech of that movie.

Convention Night Three:

2008-08-28T08:19:00.003-05:00

The third night of the Democratic National Convention was another strong night for the Democrats. I can't call it a monster night for them, but it certainly was a very good night for them. It was the night they took off the gloves and hammered the abomination of the past eight years of darkness of George W Bush. I was thrilled to hear Bill Clinton, John Kerry, and Joe Biden finally start to draw lines of distinction and hammer away at John McCain.

They were tough, they were clear, and most importantly they all did it with respect and did not have the ugly hatred and crassness that is usually reserved for the Republican Convention. This convention has really been a lot like 1992 where the lines of difference have been drawn, people have been alerted to the economic failures by another Bush, and the youth, diversity, and promise of the Democrats have been on showcase.

In 1992 the Republicans followed with a hate fest led by the likes of Pat Buchanan who spewed irrational ugliness against Democrats, Hillary Clinton in particular. It backfired and we'll see how the Republicans come back next week. McCain has come back by going negative so how they go positive in a convention they have to let George Bush speak at will be a tough needle to thread.

If Barack's speech in front of 80,000 people at Invesco Field in Denver this evening is the home run he is so capable of hitting, the Dems will be in great shape and put the Republicans in an awkward position in Minneapolis next week.

NOMINATION BY ACCLAMATION:

The Democrats orchestrated quite a show during the Roll Call vote of delegates. The speeches of the state party chairs were long winded and agonizing (like some people say this blog is), and then rumors started swirling of New Mexico deferring to Illinois who would defer to New York.

Mayor Daley spoke for Illinois. I mention this for three reasons, 1st he said the 'home of the 2008 World Series between the Cubs and White Sox; 2nd, he's the best Mayor in the country and my Mayor, and 3rd, because no one wants an Obama victory more than Daley. Chicago is fighting to be the host for the 2016 Summer Olympics and an Obama victory would greatly enhance the chances of Chicago to win the bid.

Daley passed to New York where Hillary Clinton was walking to the convention floor with a posse of the New York Congressional Delegation. In an appropriate and well scripted move, Hillary Clinton, she of 18million primary votes, who fought tooth and nail until the last possible moment, moved to nominate Barack Obama by acclamation.

Symbols, gestures, and actions matter. I though Hillary walking to the floor like she was a WWE Wrestler rushing the ring unexpectedly was a bit over the top, but you can't under emphasize the fact that Clinton made the effort and motion to the delegates on the floor of that convention.

JOHN KERRY

Democratic, enemy number one, of this blog has been John Kerry. Last night John Kerry reached out to me and many other Democrats and showed what we wished he was four years ago.

His speech on the election was full of some of the best lines of the evening. Too bad he has fallen from importance so fast that almost no one even pays attention. Click on this link to see the Kerry speech. This speech was full of the 'red meat' Democrats have been begging for and from the guy that considered putting John McCain on the Democratic ticket in 2004. See it by clicking this link.

This John Kerry would have won four years ago. My favorite lines...

"They misread the threat and misled the country"

"Talk about being for it, before you're against it."

"To those who still believe in the myth of a maverick instead of the reality of a politician"

BILL CLINTON

At the end of the first paragraph of Bill Clinton's speech last evening, the 1st paragraph after a three and a half minute raucous standing ovation, he said "I love Joe Biden".

Well, after that speech by Bubba, I can say, "I love Bill Clinton."

The man is the best we have ever seen in drawing contrasts and making things simple and clear to understand. Embedded above is his speech from last night and if you watch it you will say, 'THAT MAKES SENSE!!

Bill rocked the house and the rumors that he would be booed were ridiculous. The struggles of the Obama campaign have made people appreciate the brilliance of Bill Clinton on the campaign trail. The result was the biggest ovation of the Convention thus far.

Did he lose his shit during the campaign a couple times?

Yes, but he was defending and fighting for his wife. As I wrote a number of times during the primary, it is easier to be the candidate than the spouse of the candidate. To see coverage go against your spouse is gut wrenching and Bill over reacted a couple times, but he did what a husband should do, advocate and defend his wife.

I felt he was clear in his support for Obama, even better than Hillary was the night before. His speech was less powerful and poetic, but it was a better campaign and convention speech.

The question will now be if the Obama campaign does what the Kerry campaign didn't. Take the Clinton speech and use it! Don't feel the ego to have the message be totally yours, because the Clinton messaging is 99% better than that of the Democratic party.

They also have to embrace Bill Clinton and travel with him. Both Biden and Obama should never go a week without an event in a swing state with Bill Clinton, because he is still "The Natural" when it comes to campaigning, and without the anger of defending his wife he will be better than ever. An Obama loss would stain the Clinton legacy and reputation. Their speeches were great, but now they have to deliver on the campaign trail.

JOE BIDEN

This is the speech of the night I think fell flatter than I would have liked. Reading the text of the speech it was great, but Biden stepped on it at a couple key points.

Yet the overall presentation was a B+/A-. The intro video telling the story of Joe Biden was fantastic (will post here as soon as I find it). And the intro of his son (embedded below) was a moving story that had half the convention in tears. The Biden narrative really carried the night and covered the weaknesses of the speech.

Unfortunately Joe Biden did not kill it like I hoped he would. However, this is exactly what I feared when I wrote "Anyone Want to Pick a VP?". Delaying that pick meant that Biden had little time to work and fine tune a convention speech. He hasn't been on the trail for more than a week and is in the spring training of the Obama-Biden ticket.

They probably started the writing the convention speech last Saturday. They most likely fine tuned it up until Tuesday night and the result was that Biden had far too little time to work on it to get up there and nail it. There was a great deal of importance on this speech and Biden did really good, but not great. If Obama made the choice a week earlier, Biden would have had his legs underneath him and some practice and I think he would have been much better.

Look at the speeches by Bill and Hillary Clinton. Don't kid yourself that they were written in the last week. They had been working, practicing, and finetuning them for weeks. That is why they hit them out of the park.

Now I don't give Biden a total pass, he has to take some heat for the performance too. He needed to hit the Cheney line better and should have been a little smoother on the call and response at the end of the speech, but considering the way they rushed the announcement and the speech I thought he did pretty well.

Couple a B- delivery with an A speech and and A+ intro and narrative and Biden still had a great night.

Just like Bill Clinton, 'I love Joe Biden' too. Yet, he could and should have been better.

Now is the time for Barack Obama to deliver. The stakes are higher than ever, he needs to nail this speech...

HRC= Home Run Clinton!

2008-08-27T09:46:00.007-05:00

Like many Democrats there were two speeches at this convention I have truly been looking forward to. Neither of them had a speaker whose name was Barack Obama. Instead as it so often is the Democratic Party the anticipation was all about the Clinton's.

Hillary Clinton took to the stage last night and showed her best side. A feat that she has not always done throughout this race. At times she has showed her defiant side, her self pity side, and her bear knuckles brawler side.

Last night she showed the side of her that would have won her the nomination had she consistently stuck to it. The performance last night was big for the Party, big for Barack Obama's chances, and most importantly for her, will solidify herself as a political force for years to come.

She was passionate on her issues, steadfast in her commitment to Barack Obama, and very sharp in her attacks on John McCain. It may have been the best speech I have ever seen her give and it was exactly the tone and speech she needed to give. She couldn't be an attack dog on McCain, but she couldn't give him a free pass either.

Some are saying her line, "I cannot wait to watch Barack Obama sign into law a health care plan that covers every single American", was a slap at Obama's health care plan. Let me ask this. Had she not pushed her signature issue and passed on it wouldn't she be getting slammed even worse? If I were a loyal Hillary supporter and she didn't mention Universal Health Care I would have thought she sold out her core belief for unity. She didn't give in on her issues and I respect that more than if she came out and gave a fluff speech.

Keep in mind,, her issues were always General Election issues. In retrospect this is probably why she lost to Obama, but her core issues are the ones he needs to win in November.

Now I am not going to say everything went perfect last night. Bill Clinton mouthing the words 'I love you' was just plain odd. He is fascinating to watch, and I am in the minority who believes he really loves his wife but it was sooo cheesy. Bill Clinton is a fascinating figure though and I thought the point by Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann was dead on. "There is no one more interesting to watch do nothing than Bill Clinton."

Additionally, I just didn't get all the people the cameras found I just ask,, really? Crying during that speech never crossed my mind. As good a speaker as Hillary has become, I don't think she was tear worthy, just the same way I wrote in February about people fainting during Obama speeches.

And finally, to the die hard Hillary supporters that are saying they won't vote for Obama because they feel 'she got screwed.' You can do whatever you want, but you should listen to your candidate.

"Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hangs in the balance. I want you to think about your children and grandchildren come election day. Think about the choices your parents and grandparents made that had such a big impact on your lives and on the life of our nation.

We've got to ensure that the choice we make in this election honors the sacrifices of all who came before us and will fill the lives of our children with possibility and hope. That is our duty to build that bright future, to teach our children that in America there is no chasm too deep, no barrier too great, no ceiling too high, for all who work hard, who keep going, have faith in God and our country and each other.That is our mission Democrats!"

It was a great speech with wonderful writing and it needed a big time delivery. Hillary hit it out of the park.

I'm a baseball fan way before politics and look at the convention this way thus far. Michelle Obama led the game off with a triple off the wall. Hillary drove her in with a two run homer. Now the Dems have their two 3 and 4 hitters (always the best in any lineup) to come out and win the game.

No disrespect to my guy Joe Biden, but in recent times there are not two better speakers than Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. This is Ruth and Gehrig for the Democrats.

Hillary Clinton laid a challenge to them last night and I think they're going to bring it the next two nights!

HILLARY INTRO VIDEO

Hillary was introduced by her daughter and the video below. I thought this was really, really good. I greatly enjoyed it and think if you have daughters, it is the kind of thing you should share with them.

Like her or not, what Hillary Clinton did will change the way we view women candidates and owe her a great deal of gratitude for that. She may have lost, but she went for it like no woman ever has before.

Even tough guy me who doesn't cry during wedding toasts or faint during speeches got choked up with the video below. I'm not a father yet, but I thought of two of my best friends three daughters Keira, Reagan, and Caroline whom I love to death and my crazy little Goddaughter Lilly while watching this. Noone has to say 'suuuure you can be President' to any of them anymore, and not mean it. Hillary Clinton moved the cause for all women forward despite what her irrational haters will say.

When those four little girls are old enough to understand, I want them to see this video and talk to them about the 2008 campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton. How she nearly blasted through that last great glass ceiling, and paved the way for women to go toe to toe with the men and make us all truly think about a woman in the White House. (Ironically, none of the parents of the 4 little girl I named,,, would have voted for Hillary, lol)

Convention Night One

2008-08-26T09:04:00.005-05:00

I am not a big believer in conventions impacting elections but the Democrats had as good a first night as they could have hoped for. The opening of two weeks of 'Political Infomercials' started with something old, ended with something new, and hopefully will help kick start the Democrats to cover the electoral map in blue.

Ted Kennedy made a not so surprising appearance where he basically came from a hospital bed to ignite the crowd of true blue Democrats like only a person with the name Kennedy could. There was a wonderful video tribute to Kennedy by Ken Burns that led into Caroline Kennedy's introduction of her uncle.

It certainly wasn't the Kennedy of old and the impact of the brain tumor was evident, but certainly not as bad as I thought it would be. The best line of the speech to me was the fact he said he would be in the Senate next January after an Obama election. I sure hope the Liberal Lion is back and healthy for many more years.

The headliner of the night was the potential next first lady of the United States of America, Michele Obama. I think it was so refreshing to see a new, young face on the stage at the convention. While Barack has talked of hope and change, his recent speeches have lacked the fire and power he had earlier in the campaign. This changed last night when Michelle Obama took the stage. It was a wonderful and hopeful speech where I really felt I was looking at someone who would be an incredible 1st lady.

Michelle Obama has the intelligence and strength of Hillary Clinton without that steely edge which turned so many people off. She has the warmth and likability of Laura Bush without being so boring you felt like you would fall asleep during her speech.

The introduction by her brother, Craig Robinson was excellent. The stories of Michele and her brother growing up on the Southside of Chicago, making it to Princeton, and seeing them control the stage at the Democratic National Convention in 2008 is rather compelling.

Above all, the Opening Night in primetime was less about 'politicians' and more about people and think that will play well in the end. Yes Kennedy is as well known a pol as there is but the story was the impressive bother sister duo of Craig Robinson and Michelle Obama.

I have been slipping away from this campaign and the Obama campaign the past couple months. Yet that is a common thing over the summer for most people and the old belief is that the election doesn't really get started until Labor Day.

Well Obama has had a big week or so. He got great buzz leading up to his VP selection, made a great choice in Joe Biden, and then had his wife hit a home run to lead off the convention. A very high bar was set for Cindy McCain to follow.

The problem many believe for Barack is he has to cross his fingers now as the next two nights of the Convention go very heavy Clinton with Hillary tonight and Bill tomorrow. I believe though that in the end the Clinton's are going to deliver big for the Democrats and Obama. I view the Clinton's following the feel good and wonderful story of Michelle Obama as just what the Democrats need.

To ensure victory in this election, the Dems need to go on the attack and Hillary and Bill are better at this than anyone. It would have been bad form and poorly timed for Michelle Obama to do the attacking, but her appearance has to be in prime time so getting it out of the way early was good strategy.

Two strategists I respect a great deal, James Carville and Paul Begala both are begging for attacks at the convention and I agree to an extent. Yet I don't think it needed to be last night. Let people talk today about Michelle Obama and how she would make a great 1st lady. Then have Hillary, Bill, and Biden remind the American people what an abomination the past eight years have been and how McCain will be an extension of that. They need to fire people up, talk about gas prices, corruption, Republican fiscal irresponsibility, and say Bush-McCain-Cheney as often as possible.

Then Barack has to come in and close this Convention with a big time speech. It isn't a speech where he can afford misspeaks or things that will be mocked. It needs to be a speech that inspires and that is a taller order than people realize. This will be the biggest speech he gives in this election and the importance cannot be understated. He needs a big bounce off this convention and fouling off this speech will haunt him heading into McCains VP pick and the Convention.

The convention got off to a great start for the Dem's, but they are not in a position for a 4 day feel good fest. Hillary needs to unequivocally throw her support behind Obama, let women know the importance of losing, and start the attacks on McCain. Bill's speech will be the highlight and knowing him he will draw the distinction between Obama and McCain better than anyone, then Biden will show his toughness and experience. I have confidence in all of that.

The question will be, can Barack bring 'it' on Thursday?

The Pick is Joe Biden

2008-08-25T08:17:00.006-05:00

In a recent IM (Instant Message) discussion with one of my dearest Republican friends I said that if Obama picked Joe Biden as his running mate it wouldn't really excite me. With the recent struggles of the Obama campaign I was starting to lean towards him taking Hillary Clinton and felt that was the only choice he could make that would create excitement and get him votes.

I committed the mistake many pols make, I started to panic when I shouldn't have and thought he needed a VP with a big contincuency like Hillary with women, Evan Bayh with Indiana, or Tim Kaine with Virginia. These three all have more flaws than Biden. The election has to be about Obama and by picking Hillary the election would have been all Clinton, all the time. Bayh is a good guy, but boring and wouldn't have brought any gravitas to the ticket. Kaine I really liked and think he helped in Virginia, but Kaine would have been the pick if Obama were up 15. Obama needed experience on the ticket and I like the spin that Biden hasn't been changed by Washington.

I am ashamed of my negative recent feelings about Biden. He is a man I really respect. Last November I was talking to a friend and said if I could have financially, I would have quit my job and gone to work for Biden in Iowa. Joe Biden has been my favorite Senator for some time and a man I have always admired and identified with. When I hear Biden talk I usually think two things. 1st, wow, that's what I was thinking. 2nd, Joe, wrap it up!

After the Iowa caucuses I concluded my blog post by writing the following about Biden.

And to Joe Biden, one of my favorite Senators and the person I would have voted for, you deserved better. The intelligence, experience, and eloquence of Joe Biden is an important voice for this country and hope he gets strong consideration for the VP slot on the ticket for either Hillary or Obama as they and the country would both would greatly benefit from this true statesman.

I should have stayed more firm in my support for Biden throughout the process, but am excited to have him on the ticket today. The biography or 'narrative' of Joe Biden is even more compelling than I knew. He appears to be a family man in a business that doesn't lead to that being an easy thing to do and his 'blue collar' roots are deeper than I realized and I respect that.

I read the other day that he can't stand the 'limousine liberal' crowd, and that spoke directly to liberals like me. We that can't stand people who talk about helping the poor or struggling, but want nothing to do with them in their neighborhoods or life.

I watched him on Saturday and was energized about the Democratic ticket in a way I haven't been in,,,, well,,, ever. I was reminded about why I love Biden so much. He delivers clear attacks without sounding like a complete jerk. Plus I know I'm the minority, but I think it's great that he is so incredibly qualified.

I went back to the 1st ever blog on this website where I reviewed a Democratic debate and here is what I wrote then.

Edwards is no longer my candidate. Last night I decided to leave one guy who probably won’t win the nomination for another guy who definitely won’t win the nomination. Joe Biden proved to be the smartest, most thoughtful person on the stage. Biden was the clear winner of the debate when it comes to issues.

He was concise, clear, funny and eloquent on actual issues. Biden was passionate talking about education, brilliant in illustrating an Iraq strategy,made sense out of the messy situation that is Pakistan, and flashed his credentials on the Senate Judiciary committee when the story of the next Supreme Court justice came up.

My concern with Biden is that he is too old school to do well in the era of sound clips. I feel he is too much like me on this blog, "why say 10 words when 100 will do?". We are at a time when it's time to be more detailed and stop treating the nation like we all have ADD?

I have always identified with Joe Biden in a way I have with almost no other politician. I have always viewed myself as a 'common sense liberal' and think that is what Biden is. We are unionists who put real blue collar issues, above all and are willing to mix it up for what we believe when most Dems are chickenshits on hot button issues. Whether it be true education reform, not the lame ass 'No Child Left Behind', or the intelligent, non-macho, foreign policy Biden can and will go toe to toe with everyone.

Personally, I feel a connection to his work ethic and values instilled by humble, hard working parents. We also both went through a scary unforeseen medical condition. I bet that Biden's 1988 aneurysm was the kind of experience that even in his 40's gave him a toughness that those who haven't had an experience like that totally understand.

As I already stated, we also both can't shut up and sometimes lose arguments and attention by rambling. We may win on content, but not on conciseness. Though as I try to do on this blog Biden uses humor and self deprecation as often as possible, though that humor is used sometimes too much for our own good and faar too often, not that funny.

Some have said Biden in arrogant, yet its a different kind of arrogance. It's more a disdain for people who are full of shit. When many Democrats whimper away from fights on wedge issues, Biden calls people out for their stupidity and does so effectively. It's not always what you want to hear, and when you hear things you don't want to and they are right, people call them arrogant.

In the end Biden in the right choice for Obama. He brings needed experience to an inexperienced candidate against a very experienced Republican. He likable guy who will help in Pennsylvania and as I wrote the other day has a narrative people will connect to. Plus Biden is the best debater in the party and when it comes to being the running mate the VP Debate is the most important moment. The bar will be set high for Biden, but if it is Pawlenty or Romney, I think it will be the moment of the campaign to watch him carve them up.

Obama could have made a more flashy choice, but in the end he made the right choice and should they win, I believe we will be a better country with Joe Biden as our Vice President.

Anyone want to pick a VP?

2008-08-19T09:27:00.003-05:00

I realize that in the old days VP's were picked at the conventions. Even in my favorite ever TV show, The West Wing, then Governon Bartlett picked then Senator Hoynes at the convention as shown in John Spencer's Emmy winning performance in the brilliant episode Bartlett for America.

Yet in recent years the VP choice has happened earlier and earlier. The Democratic Convention is only about a week away and the Republican convention is about two weeks away.

What is the delay?

I think the problem is that as in recent years there is not going to be an excitining or particularly newsworthy selection. Evan Bayh, Tim Kaine, Mitt Romney, and Rob Portman are not the kind of names that will excite anyone.

The only way Obama really makes a splash is to take Hillary Clinton, which is an unlikely scenario. Though I would say if Obama took John Edwards now,,, that would certainly create a buzz.

The only way McCain really makes a splash is to take General David Petraeus in my opinion. Taking an African American or woman for McCain would be a good move, but I don't see it being a big mover for him one way or another.

Unless Michael Phelps is under consideration there are very few names outside of Clinton that would create a considerable buzz. I think people will end up liking the choices of both, but there is always a thought that VP is going to make a difference, win a state, or help in a region of the country, but that has not been the case since LBJ joined JFK's ticket in 1960.

So if the VP isn't going to be exciting, why do I think that they should have already made their selections?

The answer is two-fold. 1st, it doubles there coverage ability. Surrogates like Caroline Kennedy or Chuck Norris are great, but to have the future VP and his/her spouse working the country is a benefit.

Opposing partisans may not have liked Lynne Cheney or Tipper Gore, but to be able to send even the spouse of a candidate on the campaign trail is quite a draw for advance staff and field organizers.

The visual of the team that will run the country is also a powerful image. The youthful look of Clinton and Gore together served them well against George HW Bush in 1992 and Bob Dole in 1996.

While I consider Cheney the equivalent of the Emperor in Star Wars, to have an experienced voice and face with the untested Governor Bush gave that ticket more credibility.

The second reason is that one of the bounces a candidate gets from the VP is the telling of their personal story. We learn about their history, all their successes, their spouses, and families.

If the VP choices end up not being a household name like Romney or Clinton, the nation is going to have to learn about the person that would be a heart attack away from the nuclear codes.

Yet once the convention hits, the race becomes a 60-70 day sprint and the time for telling nice stories and narratives goes away.

I have spent no time discussing the VP's because I think it's an overrated and hyped part of Presidential politics when it comes to decision making. But both campaigns have missed an almost two month window to get their running mate on the trail and into the minds of the American people.

The longer they wait, the better the chance you see the tense tickets of running mates that don't like each other like Obama-Clinton or McCain-Romney.

Dark Knight Yet Again-- Bigger, Better, In IMAX

2008-08-13T10:07:00.003-05:00

So last evening I took my cousin and his new bride to see my latest cinematic obsession, The Dark Knight.

It was the second time, ok the third,,,,,, maaaaaybe the 4th time I have seen the movie. Each time I go I see something different or read something that I want to go and check and out and this experience was different for another reason. I'd go see it again, I think it's just that good. Plus this time I noticed the mayor's eyeliner and the Illinois license plates that said Gotham.

This time was different,, I saw the movie at an IMAX theatre. The Dark Knight marks the first time a director used IMAX cameras to film parts of a traditional theatrical release. Other movies have been shown on IMAX screens but none have used the IMAX cameras for a couple reasons. you can see in the above featurette.

I do not remember having been in an IMAX theatre since I went to one on a field trip in high school. As I entered the theatre and saw the screen you have to be in awe of the screen itself. The IMAX theatre at Navy Pier boasts a 60ft tall by 80ft wide screen with 440 seats.

That's right, the screen in six stories tall!!!

Even more cool, when you leave the Theatre and start walking back towards Michigan Ave.,,,, you are essentially entering Gotham City. The Batman tour essentially began at that point.

"I think that's the building of the last scene."

"See Hotel 71 over there? That's Bruce Wayne's Penthouse."

I wrote in my review of the movie that the unspoken star of the movie was Chicago. The IMAX experience furthered that belief for me. The shots of the Chicago skyline and city with the IMAX cameras were breathtaking and added more depth and power to the movie.

The opening scene of the movie starts with an aerial shot and you get that feeling that you are flying over the city and get that feeling you are falling. The Joker's henchman then zipline over a street in Chicago and the whole thing felt and looked so different because of the IMAX resolution and size.

That opening scene by the way is too easily forgotten after the non stop action the rest of the movie, but may be one of the best of the whole movie and most clever as well (see picture below).

Now it's important to note only around 30-40 minutes of the movie were shot in IMAX, but even the non-IMAX shots are improved and magnified.

If your one of the 10 people out there who haven't seen this movie yet,,,, you gotta go, but if you can,, see it in IMAX. It's worth the few extra bucks and is how the movie should be seen.

For the record the 7:00pm and 10:00pm shows at Navy Pier,, SOLD OUT!

Edwards Disappointment

2008-08-11T12:05:00.004-05:00

Have had a couple emails about John Edwards come in asking why I've been so quiet in commenting on this. First, I've been kind of quiet in general. Second, I've been in a bit of a personal funk of sorts. Seems like since my weight loss competition ended I lost a bit of purpose.

Feel like I have started a ton of blogs and then just discounted them as bad or left them unfinished. A bit of a case of writers block and a bit of a case of the 'stuck in a ruts'.

The regular readers of this blog know that I think highly of John Edwards. One of the better and most sincere articles on this blog was "17people's Tribute to John Edwards" written after he dropped out of the race in January.

My reason for connecting with Edwards hasn't changed with his admission of his affair with a former campaign staffer. He fought for and brought the issue of poverty to the national campaign and forced both Obama and Clinton to address the issue in the primary. The poor and homeless in this country are forgotten and treated as inferior not just by politicians, but by too many people. In recent years this has become an issue that fires me up more than anything and Edwards spoke to my passion on the subject and it related to me.

We both may not have been poster boys for the impoverished and homeless. Like Edwards I come from a solid family that never worried about shelter or food. Well our parents might have, but we didn't. Yet it didn't mean that we didn't care about their plight.

I admired Edwards for this stand and his consistent dedication to the cause. I hope he continues to fight for it in the years ahead, but think that the effect of his adultery will lessen his credibility to do so.

Watching and reading about Edwards admission of guilt has made me very disappointed and angry with him and above all made me feel for his family.

What he did was shitty. When you run for office and know the intense scrutiny you are under why can't you control your urges? Edwards is just the latest to let his lesser judgement get the best of him.

I am most upset because of my immense respect for Elizabeth Edwards. I think she is a total class act and feel she would have been a wonderful 1st lady. My heart goes out for her that her personal life is now being dragged through the media.

More importantly, I feel for the Edwards children that they have to go around their friends and classmates with everyone knowing about their dad's terrible mistake. They never asked their dad to run for office or become a celebrity. Many families have issues like this that are never known publicly. The Edwards kids are the truly unfortunate victims to their dad's mistake.

What I am saying is that I can care less about John Edwards political career. Yet am madder than hell about what he is putting his family through.

Yet, the way Edwards handled his admission deserves some credit. Did he deny the reports initially calling them 'tabloid trash'?

Yes.

But his admission was the classiest we have seen in some time.

Unlike Eliot Spitzer he didn't force his wife to stand by him in public.

Unlike Bill Clinton, he didn't deny the news both in public and to his wife. If reports are true, Edwards admitted the affair to his wife long ago before the '08 campaign.

His adultery was a mistake, but he handled his admission like an adult.

While it sounds crass I am very thankful that this news came out before he was offered the Vice Presidency. There were a lot of rumors in recent months that he was on the short list to be Obama's running mate. This news hurts the Democratic brand a bit, but it's impact is far less because the ticket didn't already say "Obama-Edwards".

Hell, if I had my way, Edwards would have been the nominee.

The USA is a forgiving country and comebacks are very common. I don't know where John Edwards will pop up, but its a shame that a guy who showed political courage in taking on one of our country's biggest and most difficult problems, is going to be known in the short term as just another 'typical' politician you can't trust.

Great

2008-08-11T09:16:00.005-05:00

If you haven't seen the 4x100 meter Freestyle Relay that took place at the Olympics last night, watch the video here. The above video is just the last leg of the relay, but the whole race was a spectacle to behold.

There are moments in athletics that get people talking and this race is an example of just that. The word 'great' is used far too often in our vocabulary to describe everything. This race was great.

I was at my parents house last evening and the three of us were going crazy rooting for the Americans. The phenomenal call of the race by Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines added to the excitement. Couple that with the bad blood that had been developing between the French and American swimming teams. Before the race Alain Bernard of France said about the American Team, "We are going to smash them".

The race was full of history breaking performances. The previous world record was beat,,,, by five of the 8 teams. The US won, by .08 seconds. The 100m freestyle world record was broken by the leadoff swimmer for the Australian team. In the same 100meters Michael Phelps set an American Record with his leadoff leg. Cullen Jones who swam the third leg became just the second African American to win a swimming medal. Jason Lezak who swam the incredible Anchor Leg of the race swam the fastest 100m relay leg in history.

And it was all done on the biggest stage in swimming at the Olympic games.

17people will post the entire race video once I am able to find it for public use, as it is one of those moments that was too much fun.

Cheers and Jeers of the Opening Ceremonies

2008-08-09T17:49:00.002-05:00

I have heard a lot of people say that the start of the Olympics mean little to them.

For me, the Olympics is a big deal. I remember as a kid watching track and field, swimming, and gymnastics with my parents and always enjoying it so much. Especially the summer games, and this year has many intriguing stories to follow and athletes to cheer for. Whether it was rooting for Carl Lewis, Edwin Moses, Greg Louganis, Matt Biondi, or Janet Evans I often got excited for events I didn't know very much about.

Then after two and a half weeks I forgot about these athletes and their sports for four years. It doesn't make sense, but during the Olympics I really care about a sport that isn't baseball or college football.

I have not had many kind words to say about the government of China since the inception of this blog. Yet last evening I was at a bar in Chicago rooting against the White Sox and having dinner and I suddenly was entranced by the show the Chinese put on last evening in the opening ceremonies.

The rather packed bar of 20 and 30 somethings were quite a focus group to hear their thoughts and reactions. When the US team walked into the stadium the bar erupted with cheering and chants of "USA, USA". I thought that was pretty cool that in between 'Jaeger Bombs' and trying to hook up the bar was interested in the Olympics.

But there was a reaction I enjoyed even more. The drunks of Chicago booed the hell out of President Bush when he came on the screen.

Who says the young don't know anything?

The Olympics are part of history, and as a Greek I am always proud when the Greeks lead the procession of country's as the home of the Olympics.

I encourage you to watch the Beijing games and hear the amazing stories of the athletes of the world. While the Olympics are far past the days of pure amateurism, the athletes of these sports get one chance to perform and win. Hundredths of seconds determine their success or failure.

Think about training for your sport,,,,,,,, every day for your entire life. And then having just ONE chance every four years to capture the attention of the world. That's the story of most Olympic athletes. This is their chance,,, take some time and watch it unfold.

My Cable Guy(s) Story

2008-08-04T08:40:00.004-05:00

In the span of our lifetime everyone has certain stories that we share with others. If you want to get a rolled eye reaction from most people around bring up what happens when you have your cable provider show up for a service call.

We all know the way it works. You have an inexplicable problem with your cable and call for help and the company tells you when they can come out and correct it. Not just the day that works for them, but the 3 or 4 hour window that they will be out in.

My cable guys turned up and hour and a half later than the 3 hour window they gave me. Also instead of just one guy coming out, there were two. I'm not sure about you, but I never feel very comfortable with people in my place that I don't know, but I live in a 1 BR apartment and there aren't many places to hide.

They installed a new cable box they then said they had to wait for the information to download or the server to upgrade to recognize the new box.

This process created a unique scenario as the time they had to wait with me was 30 minutes long. The station that came up when they installed the new cable box was Encore. A movie channel I don't even subscribe to.

Playing on Encore at that moment is brat pack movie Sixteen Candles.

Do they change the channel?

No.

So for the next 30minutes I am sitting in my apartment with my TWO cable guys both of whom were big enough to be offensive linemen for the Chicago Bears,,,, watching Sixteen Candles.

Better yet, they loooved it. They were cracking up and making fun of Molly Ringwald to the point I was starting to laugh.

Eventually the new cable box was ready, though I think they stayed a few minutes extra to see the scene where Anthony Michael Hall shows off Molly Ringwald's panties to his fellow 'geeks.'

Cable Guy 1: Your all set, just play the HD On Demand for 60 seconds and everything will be fine.
Me: Really you guys should come back next week, maybe watch some "Pretty in Pink"
Cable Guys 1 and 2: Uggggghh

Best part of the whole deal is after I watched the HD On Demand thing I learned that my HBO, Showtime, MLB Package (yes I have a siick cable deal) and HD channels,,, none of them were working.

All this meant was I had to get on the phone with Comcast wait on hold for 15minutes and have them send a signal to my new box to make it work.

The Future of Travel

2008-07-31T09:31:00.002-05:00

I was talking to my grandmother last evening and she was telling me about her and my grandfathers upcoming trip to San Francisco. They live in Boise, Idaho and made their reservation 2 months in advance.

The cost per ticket was around $450 each. It's an hour and half flight. Factor in the fact that they both are checking a bag (a $25 fee for each) and their flight is now almost $1000 between the two of them.

Now if they were trying to make a last second trip this weekend I could see the tickets being more than $400, but with two months notice?

Air travel costs are getting out of control and the alternative to drive is becoming equally as expensive thanks to fuel costs. How are people supposed to get around quickly these days?

I have had two out of town weddings this year and the only reason I was able to go to the one in Idaho was because I had miles. The ticket would have cost over $700! With miles it was much cheaper, but it also meant I had to fly Boise-San Francisco-Chicago on the way back. The other one I caught a good window and ironically the day I landed in Louisville oil prices went up $11/barrel.

So what is the solution? Air travel can't become a thing for the rich or else the airlines will go out of business. They need volume and even many wealthy people don't want to fly 1st class all the time. As already stated, driving is becoming less attractive to people as the time to go cross country is prohibitive and with gas prices, filling up you car 4 or 5 times is gonna cost you big.

Yesterday I talked of the 'Big Idea'. I would like to hear Obama or McCain bring this idea to the campaign. High speed electric train like they have in Europe. Even the most die hard SUV driving American I have talked to over the past 15 years of my life that goes to Europe raves about the train system there.

Train travel in this country has been dieing on the vine for years. The oil and auto industry have both lobbied to kill train travel and get train tracks torn up to have highways in their place. They have very effectively made the purchase of a car a necessity for a great part of the country.

The question is who will gamble and lobby for this kind of travel to come to America? What venture capital group will look to raise billions of dollars to lay the track, lobby congress, and have the trains and stations built?

Some may say that we have Amtrak already. Well I put in a trip check for New York to Los Angeles, a common trip amongst businessmen. The length of that trip? A mere 61+ hours! This obviously doesn't work for most travelers.

Now here is why I think this is such a concern and problem for the country. When it comes to driving we can buy cars with higher gas mileage, or that run on natural gas, hydrogen powered, or even electric.

Yet when it comes to air travel I have been able to find little information about 'alternative energy air travel'. Not to mention when it comes to air travel, safety has to be priority one and I don't know many people that would raise their hand to fly in a plane powered by something other than jet fuel without years of testing beforehand.

As I wrote yesterday, we too often look at today as the only problem. I see air travel becoming far too expensive for most people. If that happens our country will have to find a way to allow people to get around or else the effect will truly rattle our economy like nothing we have ever see before.

The Big Idea

2008-07-30T09:20:00.002-05:00

One thing that has left our country's political leadership is the, 'Big Idea'. Our leaders at one point had big ideas to try and improve and take our country to higher levels of innovation and change. In the past 20+ years the 'Big Idea' has gone the way of tax cuts and cost of living adjustments for Social Security.

- FDR led us out of the depression and created Social Security.
- Eisenhower led the development and advancement of our highway system.
- JFK challenged us to go to the moon. (Seen in video above)
- LBJ pushed for the Voting Rights Act and passage of Medicare.

We now fight to suppress science in the way of stem cell research and have let issues like gay marriage and abortion distract us from issues that will truly endanger our status as Americans as the leader in the world economically and creatively. We spend money without accountability and have a debt that is out of control. We focus on today's problem and rarely look forward to tomorrow.

Now we have two Presidential candidates who are battling over,,,, well I'm not really sure what they are fighting the election over. Both spend a lot of time apologizing for and throwing their respective surrogates under the proverbial bus. They both spend time blaming the other for oil and gas prices. But I don't hear any big ideas from either.

Obama the candidate is an idea, but what his ideas are I don't really know. Is a person enough to turn around a country that has major issues? Hopefully, but I doubt it.

17people didn't comment on Al Gore's speech to become energy independent in 10 years a few weeks back, but this blog's respect for Gore is well documented.

Is the Gore challenge bold and audacious?

Hell yeah it is. But this is America, land of the free and home of the brave. Shouldn't we be the ones to lead the world on this? Since when are we the country who is afraid?

The rhetoric has to stop and the time is now to act. We now have Al Gore to push for change. My fear is that we really need him to have a more prominent role, like the one he just may have won 8 years ago.

17People Get Healthy!: General Tips

2008-07-28T11:39:00.003-05:00

After a long weekend and a distraction from Michael Savage, 17People’s series on health and wellness continues today with big picture goals and tips for getting healthy and in shape.

In my personal turnaround, I read and tried a whole slew of training and eating methods. There is not a single plan that will work for every person and such it is up to the individual to tailor their plan to fit to them.

If you are just a few pounds overweight, you don’t need to train like someone who is 30-40 pounds overweight to get your desired results.

Readers of this blog know how much I love The Biggest Loser and that show was a great reference and tool where to get some strategies and tips. I also can not talk enough about my favorite magazine Men’s Health which has complete workouts, exercises, diets, and tips to borrow and incorporate into your life.

One lesson that we Americans have learned from the Iraq War is that proper planning and strategy is key. Getting yourself healthier from whatever stage you are at requires strategic and effective planning.

What I am saying is don’t let a Donald Rumsfeld plan your personal wellness plan. You can’t assume anything and have to realize that to get yourself into better shape, or to drop pounds it’s going to be hard work. There’s no easy way to get in shape and you have to commit to take care of yourself.

Personal well being is NOT ‘one size fits all’.

Despite what you see on TV there is no meal plan, pill, or operation that guarantees you will lose weight or improve your wellness. Even the much publicized ‘gastric bypass surgery’ has mediocre results if you ask me.

First of all it has some dangers and failures that result in real problems, like death. Second, you only have to look at Notre Dame Football Coach Charlie Weis, a famous gastric bypass patient who has put much of the weight back on.

Below are my general thoughts and tips as to how to change up your life and get healthier. It’s a long piece broken down into many subsections which hopefully makes it easier to get through.

If your goal is to lose weight, find a partner or group to do it with. As just written last week, my recent 37 pound weight loss came as the result of a ‘Biggest Loser’-like contest amongst my friends. Without this I don’t think the results would have been as profound.

Why? I feel to have ‘accountability’ to someone other than yourself, is an incredible motivator. Getting on the scale in front of another person or two, is accountability that stuck with me throughout the entire week between weigh-ins.

We both would say that we were nervous every Monday we got on the scale. There was no elimination, fine, penalty associated with a bad weigh in. Success both felt good personally and served as encouragement and a motivator to the other person.

In addition to the accountability of being on a scale each week, to simultaneously lose weight with others gives you a sounding board and built in support group. It’s not like you need a ‘sponsor’ like exist in AA, but it’s nice to share successes, struggles, and tips with someone who is doing the same thing you are.

Let others involved in your daily life know what you are doing. Accountability and support exist if you lose weight with friends, loved ones, or maybe with your personal trainer. To increase the pressure and accountability let other people that see you regularly know what you are doing. The more people that know what you are trying to do is added motivation to not fail and stick to your plan.

Don’t obsess about pounds. This was probably my biggest failure of the contest. So much is made of weight and pounds lost, but the final goal is to be healthy. If you are eating right, and exercising, the pounds are going to come off.

If you get on the scale one week where you worked hard and ate well, yet only lost a half pound. Don’t freak out, it doesn’t mean you haven’t made yourself healthier.

I once had a personal trainer for a couple sessions. He gave me a very good tip that I should follow better. He said to ‘judge your success on how your clothes fit’. If your shirts are hanging on you better or your pants go on easier, that’s a great sign.

Remember, unless you are way overweight, pounds lost is just part of what you are trying to do. Also a very key distinction is for those who are exercising and lifting weights. Lifting weights builds muscle and muscle is heavier than fat, yet having more muscle means you are going to be healthier.

Don’t let a week or two of slow weight loss weeks change your eating to a less balanced diet to drop weight.

Don’t use Body Mass Index (BMI) as the soul barometer of success. One measurement of weight is BMI. You can calculate your own by clicking on the following link. Yet BMI is a flawed system to me and many others. It is based strictly on height and weight. It doesn’t take other factors into account like muscle mass or body type. There are people who have wide shoulders, muscular big bases (legs, hips), which means their weight is gonna be heavier than a naturally thin person.

Yet BMI gives everyone of a certain height the same ‘ideal weight’ range. I still have 4-5 pounds to get myself to that ‘ideal weight’ number. Use BMI to track your progress, but don’t feel as though you are a failure if your BMI is not under 25. Especially if it means you reduce your muscle gain or start eating like a bird.

Don’t be afraid of food. The biggest mistake made in dropping weight is to essentially starve yourself into a lower weight. I like to refer to it as the Survivor diet from the TV show. People who watch that show see contestants lose tons of weight from the very slight diets they eat on the abandoned islands they live on.

One of the reasons we made the contest four months long was that it meant we had to really change our habits, diet in particular, to promote actual change instead of a quick fix.

You can’t be afraid of food and expect that you will be healthy. It’s more about eating the right foods, and drinking the right fluids to get yourself healthy.

My friend I lost the weight with has said throughout the process, ‘A weight problem isn’t like alcoholism or a drug problem, you have to eat’. While this sounds obvious the reality is to get yourself healthy, there is no ‘cold turkey’ when it comes to food like there is with tobacco, booze, or drugs.

The Survivor Diet or the Cast Away diet is not a ‘sustainable’ method for weight loss. Finding a way to eat right, and still enjoy eating will allow you to remain healthy for the long term.

Balance in life is the key to long term success. Other than the competition the biggest reason for my ability to transform myself, was my current job. I work for a company now that is challenging and demanding, but also affords an actual balance in my life. My campaign work weeks of 100+ hours and my advertising work weeks of 80+ hours are a thing of the past. I know longer get home after 8 or 9PM anymore meaning I can eat and workout earlier.

It has become a macho thing to work and work and work in the US to the point that we don’t take vacations or that our desks become the place we spend more time than anywhere else. It is too often a test of wills where people try and stay longer at their job in order to impress their bosses or co-workers. Yet, in the end it means you are more likely to grab fast food on the way home and less likely to go to the gym.

Success at work is important and you should work hard, but if the cost of that is your own health, what is the real long term benefit?

It doesn’t end when you hit your target weight. I have been asked quite often recently what my target weight is or what I am going to do when I get to that point.

Here’s the reality, many people that lose weight gain it back and then some. I should know, I have done it before.

My plan this time around was to find every which way possible to not just lose weight and exercise, but to truly change my metabolism so I can not just maintain my current weight but continually improve my health. Many of these plans are coming in future blogs.

In the business world ‘continual improvement’ is often talked about and companies strive for ISO ratings to show off to customers and clients. Yet as athletes or people we often get to a weight goal, or run a marathon, and act as though that’s the end of the game.

A better analogy would be an election or a campaign, when you win the election that is just part of the equation. Governing and implementing your plans is what you worked so hard to win the election for.

So when you lose weight or train to get in better shape why should it end at that point.

Having screwed up and ballooned back up in weight before, I am more focused than ever to continue my physical improvement. I may be allow myself a couple more pieces of bread, but my training will continue to be intense and my eating will continue to be responsible.

It’s a fact that as we age, we are predisposed to lose muscle and break down. We can either let this happen or slow it down or reverse it by making a commitment to both exercise and eat healthy.

How many people in their 30’s and 40’s do you see on various medications for their health problems like blood pressure, cholesterol, pain, or whatever ailment or affliction they heard on some awful ad on TV.

If you could avoid popping pills and subsequent side effects to keep you healthy wouldn’t you?

A healthy weight a lifestyle does not guarantee you’ll be healthy but it improves your odds.

That’s my goal and I hope that readers of this have the same goal.