Yesterday, on Fox News Sunday, an interesting idea was proposed: how about having a debate for the spouses of the presidential candidates? How about a Democratic spouses debate, and a Republican spouses debate?

Now, normally my motto is "I watch Fox News so you don't have to," but I have to admit the idea is an intriguing one. Spouses on the left and right have recently been making news sniping at each other anyways, so let's put them on a stage with each other and let the fur fly!

The idea intrigues me for two reasons -- first, I think it'd be great television and would actually get higher ratings than the candidate debates; and second, because the mainstream media would suddenly discover that Dennis Kucinich's wife is the hottest campaign spouse on the Democratic side.

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George Bush's White House has leaked a story (anonymously, of course) to the Washington Post which is truly stunning, and which should concern any citizen who values checks and balances in American government. They are asserting that Emperor Bush has a power usually thought of as "imperial" or "monarchical" -- the power to do anything he wants, then define it as "Executive Privilege," and thereby completely ignore Congress and the Judicial Branch.

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First, to explain the title...

President George Bush was visiting a small business which makes waterproof computer equipment for medical use, when he had some problems typing. From the AP story:

"During the tour, Bush typed on a white keyboard immersed in a pan of water. He wrote: 'G Tro N was the first president.' Clifton Broumand, company president, joked that Bush, who apparently was trying to write 'George Washington was the first president,' might want to practice his typing."

In other news from "G Tro N," D.C., FEMA appears to have been taken over by laywers who care more about protecting the agency's rear end than about U.S. citizens' health.

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As I write this, the United States Senate is many hours into a remarkable all-night session debating how to end the Iraq war. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has called this marathon session to highlight the Republicans' obstructionism on putting together a reasonable plan to end the slaughter of U.S. troops in Iraq. Republicans, of course, decried the all-nighter as merely a political stunt.

They're right. It is just a political stunt. But it's a doozy!

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Just a quick note today to roundly condemn the actions of three unbelievably intolerant protesters in the Senate Gallery.

Last Friday, at Harry Reid's invitation, Hindu Chaplain Rajan Zed became the first of his religion to offer the daily prayer to open the Senate. From the public gallery came bigoted comments from three people who objected to his presence.

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There's a monster battle currently brewing between Capitol Hill and the White House. Democrats need to fight this battle with everything they've got, because (win or lose) it is a battle worth fighting... both for them, and for the country at large. And because (win or lose) it's going to make President Bush look exactly like Richard Nixon, for a long time to come.

The battle can be summed up in one of two ways, depending on your point of view. It could be expressed as: "Does Congress have the right to conduct oversight into the Executive Branch of government?" Conversely, it could also be described as: "What exactly does 'Executive Privilege' mean, and where exactly are the boundaries of the privilege?"

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[This article continues a series begun a few months ago, when I looked at the five Democratic candidates for president who weren't in the top three. This article and two previous articles examine the three frontrunners. This is mostly a critique of their web pages, for informational purposes. Campaign tactics and strategy will be addressed later. The three frontrunners are being profiled in alphabetic order, as I used for the other five candidates.

You can read about the other five in my previous articles (Part 1 and Part 2). The first of the frontrunner articles ran Tuesday, about Hillary Clinton. The second article, on John Edwards, ran yesterday.]

Barack Obama

http://www.barackobama.com/

Barack Obama is trying to run a very optimistic campaign. Although I haven't seen a full speech by him, from all reports he is an impressive orator. He is also positioning himself as the best agent for change in the Democratic race.

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[This article continues a series begun a few months ago, when I looked at the five Democratic candidates for president who weren't in the top three. This article and two others will examine the three frontrunners. This is mostly a critique of their web pages, for informational purposes. Campaign tactics and strategy will be addressed later. The three frontrunners are being profiled in alphabetic order, as I used for the other five candidates.

You can read about the other five in my previous articles (Part 1 and Part 2). The first of the frontrunner articles ran Tuesday, about Hillary Clinton. The last article will take a look at Barack Obama.]

John Edwards

http://johnedwards.com/

John Edwards is sticking with his campaign theme of there being "Two Americas" (one rich, one poor), and wanting to bring us all to "One America."

He's sticking with it, because it's a great idea. It used to be called "Populism" -- the concept of being for "the people" instead of always for the powerful.

But call it whatever you want, he could ride this idea to victory. If (and here's the catch) he can actually get his message out to "the people." Because there are a lot of vested interests -- including Big Media -- who hate the concept of populism with a vengeance.

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[John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson]

Bloomberg.

His name looms large over the presidential race, terrifying both Democrat and Republican alike. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, more than all other names looming out of the misty shadows of this race (Gingrich, Gore, Hagel, etc.), is the one name that strikes fear and trembling into campaign consultants on both sides of the political divide. Bloomberg is their absolute worst nightmare: an independent candidate with such a boodle of cash that he can completely finance his own race and at the same time outspend both the Democratic and Republican candidates -- combined.

Plus, unlike H. Ross Perot, he does not appear to be nutty as a fruitcake.

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[This article continues a series begun a few months ago, where I looked at all the Democratic candidates for president who weren't in the top three. In this article and two more like it, I will examine the three frontrunners, giving them the same treatment. This is mostly a critique of their web pages, at this point, for informational purposes. Campaign tactics and strategy will be addressed later. The three frontrunners are being profiled in alphabetic order, as I used for the other five candidates. You can read about the other five in my previous articles (Part 1 and Part 2).]

Hillary Clinton

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/

Hillary Clinton needs no real introduction to anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past fifteen years. Her campaign is stressing her overall experience, past accomplishments, and her vision for the future. Since she is seen as the frontrunner by many (at this point), she is also carefully looking ahead to her general election campaign as well as addressing Democratic primary voters. This is a tough tightrope to walk for anyone, as in primaries you appeal to the party's base, and in the general election you appeal to the centrists and independents.

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