Politics, Government & Public Policy: August 2008 Archives

Oh, that Palin!

Well, she's certainly an exciting pick, but I've got two concerns.

First, does Sarah Palin have the experience to be President of the United States? It's very hard to believe that she does. Even if she turns out to be as brilliant as Barack Obama, brilliance alone is not sufficient for the job. She certainly has done a lot to reform the corruption in Alaska, but she's only just started! She would have been a much more convincing pick if she were just finishing two terms as governor, rather than being midway through her first. I like everything I've read about her, except her level of experience. It makes me nervous.

Second, and related, she undermines McCain's strongest argument against Barack Obama: that Obama doesn't have the experienced to be President. Fact one: Obama wouldn't have been nominated if he weren't black. Fact two: Palin wouldn't have been nominated if she weren't a women. That doesn't mean that blacks and women shouldn't be nominated to the highest offices, but I don't think race or gender should be the overriding factors as they were in these two cases.

Now look, I'm not naive; I understand that the question of governing is only relevant if you can win the election... and Obama's skin color and Palin's reproductive organs help them win. I don't like it, but too bad. Maybe these sorts of "identity" candidates are what's required to get America past its collective guilt over the long-running dominance of white males. If so, maybe that's a benefit in itself. Maybe once we've elected the most attractive tokens we can find, our society will finally banish the spectre of identify politics and be free to promote the most qualified people regardless of race or gender.

*holds breath*

Politico's coverage is excellent. "6 things the Palin pick says about McCain" and "The story behind the Palin surprise".

Last night during his acceptance speech Barack Obama said:

That's the promise of America the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; The fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep.

Ironically, Obama's actual brother lives in a hut in Kenya on less than one dollar per month.

The Italian edition of Vanity Fair said that it had found George Hussein Onyango Obama living in a hut in a ramshackle town of Huruma on the outskirts of Nairobi.

Mr Obama, 26, the youngest of the presidential candidate's half-brothers, spoke for the first time about his life, which could not be more different than that of the Democratic contender.

"No-one knows who I am," he told the magazine, before claiming: "I live here on less than a dollar a month."

According to Italy's Vanity Fair his two metre by three metre shack is decorated with football posters of the Italian football giants AC Milan and Inter, as well as a calendar showing exotic beaches of the world.

This leaves me with the fear that "my brother's keeper" is just Democrat-speak for higher taxes and more government programs. It sounds like Obama intends to be much more generous with taxpayer money than he is with his own money towards his own family.

I love everything I see and hear about Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. I don't know him that well yet because he only gets national media coverage when something extraordinary happens, but still, I'm impressed. Check out his description of how conservative principles are rebuilding Louisiana. Here are the effects:

The rest of the country is starting to take notice. Citing strong fiscal management, three major credit-rating agencies -- Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch -- recently upgraded Louisiana's bond ratings. The Center for Public Integrity noted that Louisiana's new governmental ethics laws regarding legislative disclosure will increase our ranking to first in the country, from 44th. For the first time, U.S. News & World Report ranked LSU in the top tier of its list of America's Best Colleges. And Forbes magazine increased its growth-prospects ranking for Louisiana to 17th from 45th.

Maybe Obama should consider some of Jindal's successes while he's trying to figure out how to "rebuild" America after Hurricane Bush.

John McCain says he hasn't decided on a VP pick yet.

He told KDKA NewsRadio in Pittsburgh in an interview taped Wednesday: "I haven't decided yet so I can't tell you."

McCain, who spoke with the radio station from his home in Arizona, told people late Wednesday that he wasn't going to make a final decision until after he talked with his wife. She has been in the country of Georgia this week and returned late Wednesday.

Translation: I respect and depend on the advice of women when I make big decisions; vote for me, disillusioned Hillary supporters!

Lots of people have been writing about Obama's temple, and there's a lot of speculation about what it represents. I think the obvious answer though is that the stage is a reference to Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech 45 years ago today.

Obama's temple

Lincoln Memorial

Barack Obama has also included both MLK and Abraham Lincoln as two of his heroes on numerous occasions. Naturally Obama wants to visually recreate that historic speech, staring himself in the role of Martin Luther King Jr. QED.

Finally, someone uploaded the video of Joe Biden bragging about his IQ!

Ace explains how Bidens brags are bogus, to boot.

Barack Obama has picked Senator Joe "Big IQ" Biden as his running mate! Maybe Obama is drawn to Biden's deft touch on race relations, and I guess Biden is so impressed with Obama's cleanliness that he can overlook his unreadiness for the presidency.

Amazing. Has Obama completely lost his mind?

So John McCain doesn't know how many houses he owns. Yep, that highlights how much richer he is than the average American. I don't think the information is very relevant to his candidacy, however. I'd be happier if he were a self-made millionaire from private industry than if he were a pauper, but I guess he's somewhere in between those two extremes... like most of us.

I suppose it would be similar to if I were vacationing in Mexico and met a local who asked how many computers I own. Who knows? I'm so rich, I've got old unused computers gathering dust in my closet! Compared to most of the world, the average American has vast wealth. In general, that's speaks well of us and isn't something to be ashamed about.

The implication behind the question is more shameful: that we average Americans should be resentful of McCain's wealth and should punish him for it by voting for Barack Obama.

Looks like McCain hit a homerun. Jolly good.

My favorite parts:

• Obama says that Justice Clarance Thomas didn't have enough experience to be nominated to the Supreme Court. Yes, let's make this election about experience!
• Obama says that the question of when babies get human rights is "above my pay-grade". Uh, aren't you trying for the top job in the land? Whose opinion does matter then, if not yours?
• McCain wants to cut taxes for everyone.
• McCain's toughest decision: deciding to refuse an early release from captivity in Vietnam.
• Obama's toughest decision: not supporting the Iraq War. How was that a tough decision? It made him wildly popular. And doesn't it being "tough" imply that he was conflicted over the matter?
• McCain was smart to name the failure of his first marriage as his "biggest moral failing". It's going to come up, and he was smart to address it first.

I'm glad to hear that McCain's appearance tonight has finally convinced some very smart people that he can actually win the election. As I've been saying all along.

Last week I asked, is Hillary planning a convention coup? If she is, here's one of the many arguments she's making to the superdelegates:

Sen. Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic presidential nominee if John Edwards had been caught in his lie about an extramarital affair and forced out of the race last year, insists a top Clinton campaign aide, making a charge that could exacerbate previously existing tensions between the camps of Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

"I believe we would have won Iowa, and Clinton today would therefore have been the nominee," former Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson told ABCNews.com.

Clinton finished third in the Iowa caucuses barely behind Edwards in second place and Obama in first. The momentum of the insurgent Obama campaign beating two better-known candidates -- not to mention an African-American winning in such an overwhelmingly white state -- changed the dynamics of the race forever.

I'd say there's only a 5% - 10% chance of Hillary pulling this off, but it's fun to watch.

Barack Obama is a citizen of Kenya. Maybe technically he is, or isn't, or both! I'm sure the mainstream media will be investigating the matter thoroughly.

Chicago-based Internet journalist, broadcaster and critic Andy Martin will hold a news conference Friday, February 9th at 11:00 A.M. to announce that U. S. Senator Barack Obama is a citizen of Kenya and became a citizen of Kenya under the Independence Constitution of Kenya in 1963. Obama has never renounced his Kenyan citizenship. He is also a U. S. Citizen.

“For our ‘Obama Week’ leading up to Barry O’s announcement on Saturday that he feels qualified to lead the free world, ContrarianCommentary.com unleashed a worldwide team of constitutional law experts to delve into Kenyan law and the question of Obama’s citizenship. They were also participating in our CIA-style psychological profile of Obama that will be released Saturday in Chicago. And what we discovered was amazing, a political blockbuster,” says Executive Editor Andy Martin.

“Under the Independence Constitution of Kenya, Obama became a Kenyan citizen on December 12, 1963. He has never renounced his Kenyan citizenship. On his senate web site, Obama tap dances around his own dual nationality when discussing his father. Obama obviously knows, because his father told him, that he also held/holds Kenyan nationality.

The devil is in the details. (At least that commenter knows enough to know the true answer isn't clear-cut. Public opinion will likely rule the day... but which way will it fall?)

(HT: Gateway Pundit.)

Everyone knows that Barack Obama will be spending the next week in Hawaii on vacation... but what if he decides to keep going east west and makes an appearance at the Olympics instead! No one would see it coming (except me) and he'd yet again get loads of free press and visibility on the largest international stage of the season.

Just remember that you heard it here first!

This is one of my favorite election years ever.

Denis Keohane explains how Obama may be letting the nomination slip from his grasp while Hillary is nurturing her long odds and hoping that a lightning strike may still hand her the Dem's nomination.

Buyer's remorse seemed evident and growing among many Democrats toward the end of their primary season when Obama lost again and again to Clinton, even as the delegate math was by then stacked in his favor. That remorse was put on hold (but apparently not resolved) by Obama's seeming to secure the nomination and the subsequent popular boost he enjoyed at first. But lately the candidate with a difference has had a hard time living up to his promise to be a new kind of politician.

According to RealClearPolitics, Obama has 1766.5 pledged delegates, 352 short of the 2118 needed to secure the nomination. He also has 463 super delegates, which puts him over the top -- if they hold. If a combination of Clinton campaigning and nervousness can cause a hundred and twenty or so super delegates to sit out the first ballot, Obama does not get the nomination on the first ballot and perhaps not at all. After that first vote a great many pledged delegates and all the super delegates are free to vote as they choose. ...

After accepting the party's decision last June to seat the delegates from Michigan and Florida but with half votes, only days ago Obama said he wanted the delegates to have full votes

Obviously, he said this believing he has won the nomination and that pandering to voters in critical general election states is of more importance.

If the party goes along with Obama's request, it reduces the number of super delegates who would need to sit out the first ballot for Obama to be denied the nomination, opening the way for Clinton! Ouch!

This is proof that the man should not be negotiating with Ahmadinejad. If he cannot think strategically and recognize his vulnerability to a last minute ambush at the convention, he would be eaten alive in big league world affairs.

And of course, if Florida and Michigan have their delegates counted, then their "popular votes" should count too, right? Which would make Hillary the "popular vote" leader, not Obama. Which would give the superdelegates even more cover for a switch to Hillary....

It's not a likely scenario, I admit, but isn't it fun to think about?

(HT: Instapundit, of course.)

Here's the video.

In a bold and entertaining move, House Republicans have decided to stay in the Capitol after the Democrats adjourned for their five week vacation.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats adjourned the House and turned off the lights and killed the microphones, but Republicans are still on the floor talking gas prices.

Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, arguing that Pelosi's refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling is hurting the American economy. They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m., and they are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess. ...

Democratic aides were furious at the GOP stunt, and reporters were kicked out of the Speaker's Lobby, the space next to the House floor where they normally interview lawmakers.

"You're not covering this, are you?" complained one senior Democratic aide. Another called the Republicans "morons" for staying on the floor. ...

This message was sent out by Blunt's office:

"Although this Democrat majority just adjourned for the Democrat 5-week vacation, House Republicans are continuing to fight on the House floor. Although the lights, mics and C-SPAN cameras have been turned off, House Republicans are on the floor speaking to the taxpayers in the gallery who, not surprisingly, agree with Republican energy proposals.

That was four hours ago, and apparently the protest by Republican lawmakers is still in full force. Here are part two and part three of Politico's excellent coverage. Think you'll see this on the mainstream media tonight?

Bravo for the House Republicans.

The wife and I will be making an appearance on CNN this evening during the 5pm EST hour. The topic of the interview was the phony NRSC survey we received in May. Hopefully the interview isn't edited into a hit piece; like I told the producer, I really want an effective Republican Congressional delegation.