[ Posted Monday, October 27th, 2008 – 14:29 UTC ]
You know, I don't necessarily believe so, and that's a sad reflection, isn't it? It's a sad reflection on how little stock we seem to put into character in politics. It's going to be a tight race, but Stevens could still win this thing. Stevens has been around so long, and we do have a very partisan situation up here in Alaska, where evidently some are willing to accept representation irrespective of a conviction. I think some people will se
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[ Posted Friday, October 24th, 2008 – 16:21 UTC ]
But strategically, it started falling apart almost immediately. After marveling at the crowd size for a few days, something became painfully obvious -- Palin was merely repeating her convention speech over and over again, with very few changes. Sure, it had been a great speech (if you're a Republican, that is) at the convention, but after a week or so it was wearing a little thin. And if John McCain had shut the door on the media regarding his interviews; when it came to keeping Palin away from the media, he not only shut the door, he barred it, locked the keep, lowered the portcullis, raised the drawbridge, released the moat monster, and started boiling oil on the parapets.
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[ Posted Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 – 16:37 UTC ]
Barack Obama may have just forever changed a sincerely ugly dynamic in American politics that has existed since before I was born -- the old Republican refrain which questions the patriotism of Democrats. They've been beating this drum for a long time, which is why it would truly be stunning if Obama manages to put it to rest once and for all. From McCarthyism to post-Vietnam "Democrats hate our troops" nonsense to silly games about flag-worship to a few days ago, this has been a favorite weapon to use against Democrats: They're not patriotic. They're not real Americans. They don't love their country. They blame America first. In fact, they hate America. Unlike all us America-loving Republicans.
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[ Posted Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 – 16:02 UTC ]
Which reminds me, what the heck is John McCain doing in Pennsylvania? He must be counting on one whopping big Bradley Effect there, because almost every poll I've seen says he doesn't stand a chance in the Keystone State.
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[ Posted Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 – 17:21 UTC ]
But still, what would have been said if this was at an Obama rally? I bet this doesn't even make the national news tonight. And that is one honking big double standard.
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[ Posted Friday, October 17th, 2008 – 16:23 UTC ]
And now we find ourselves a few weeks out from Election Day, and things are looking pretty good for Democrats everywhere. It's been an exhausting campaign, and I don't think anyone can argue that the Grateful Dead lyric I used as this week's title is inaccurate. It has been a long and strange journey indeed.
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[ Posted Thursday, October 16th, 2008 – 17:49 UTC ]
As usual, I don't really have much of an opinion about who "won" the debate last night, because I think such designations are inherently subjective. I can see both sides thinking their candidate "won" the night last night, in other words.
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[ Posted Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 – 16:09 UTC ]
This week's word is going to be "insurmountable." Look for it coming from the lips and pens of pundits everywhere in the next week. Because while mainstream media journalists are obviously trying to portray this race as a lot closer than it really is (better ratings that way), if Obama can just hold on to the leads he has right now -- not improve them in any way, just hold them -- then Election Day viewing parties nationwide may be over before anyone's even finished their first beer.
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[ Posted Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 – 15:33 UTC ]
I've been saying for a while now that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki holds the upper hand in the game of "chicken" he's playing with George Bush over negotiating a Status Of Forces Agreement (SOFA) for American troops to legally stay in Iraq past the first of next year. Now it appears both sides are pretty close to admitting that there will be no agreement, and that they had better start talking about some sort of short-term arrangement, which would allow whoever America's next president is to take over the negotiating table.
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[ Posted Monday, October 13th, 2008 – 16:11 UTC ]
For those interested in the backstory of the octopus-like reach of the VECO corruption investigation, there is currently no better inside look at the entire mess than the amazing new book Last Bridge To Nowhere, by author Frank Prewitt. Prewitt has a unique perspective on the entire mess, since he was the F.B.I.'s "Confidential Source #1" throughout the evidence-gathering phase of the long-running investigation. Codenamed "Patient," Prewitt spent countless hours documenting sleazy deals, payoffs, bribes, and other shenanigans; often wearing a wire and taping encounters to provide court evidence.
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