My intense distrust of Obama is evident everywhere on this blog. I think he is a fake - worse an untested fake. But now Edwards is having a surge in Iowa. It looks as if his new support is coming from former Obama voters.
Wouldn't it be interesting as hell if Edwards pulled off a victory there next Thursday? I like John Edwards. I am not sure if I trust him. Clinton remains the best candidate to ensure a Democratic victory. All current polling aside - Both Clintons have shown amazing skill at winning the unwinable. Anything that can be thrown at them - has been thrown.
However - John Edwards- provided he has no unknown baggage - would be an exciting nominee. If Edwards can wound Obama in Iowa I welcome an Edwards vs. Clinton tussle.
Caveat: It seems impossible to see where he wins after Iowa. In fact, I would not be at all surprised if an Edwards "scandal" breaks this week.
Barack Hussein "Free Pass from the Press" Obama's man in the field David Axelrod implied that some Clinton vote in the Senate lead to Benazir Bhutto's death. Of course he later "backed away"
This is...
1. ...what assholes, like Karl Rove do. Which makes Obama's team full of assholes. Anyone would have suspected this long ago if they had looked closely. It also proves Obama is no different than Bush was in 2000 when it comes to politics. Obama did NOT apologize for his top advisor's remark.
2. ....proof that Obama's inexperience DOES MATTER. His campaign's TOP BONEHEAD POLITICIZED THE TRAGIC DEATH OF BHUTTO WITH IN HOURS. Not exactly what one wants in a President.Labels: experience, Obama, Rove
I am sort of lost as to why Mike Hucklebee's Christmas ad with the blatant cross apparent to all caused such a ruckus. It was a gesture so obvious it was, in fact, not subliminal . Huclkebee was acting at being subliminal because his voters like to think they are in a on a secret. A secret the HEATHENS don't "get". Proving, again, that Evangelical Christianity makes people stupider.
Hucklebee is in many ways the social conservatives Culmination Candidate. THE PERFECT GOOFBALL. He gestures so broadly to his presumed base that there is hardly a campaign there. Yesterday he shot a bird for the cameras. Nice. This is a gesture to prove his bonifides with the "i shoot birds for fun" crowd in Iowa Here's the deal: "smoke and mirrors" is used when candidates want to hide something. (i suspect Obama is 3/4 smoke and mirrors, to hide that fact that there is no THERE - there.) Most candidates use some deception and distraction. Here's Hucklebee difference - he's not hiding anything. HE IS SMOKE AND MIRRORS. The perfect Evangelical candidate.
Reagan invited the nutters into the GOP in 1980, pitched the liberal Republicans and pro choice crowd overboard once and for all. W. sends signals to his Evangelical base with words like "crusade" (as if these fat TV watching "Christians" from Macon could "fight" anything) and the occasional nod to asking "his true father" in Heaven for advice on the "democrat" congress and Iraq and such. President Hucklebee would simple take this to its logical conclusion. A presidency of gestures making those who most fear death in our culture (evangelicals) feel secure. No action. No decisions. Just gestures. Secret crosses everyone sees. Big game hunting on the Washington Mall. Mass covenant marriages in the White House.
Delightful!!!
With dissension at home and distrust abroad, as American troops continue to fight wars on two fronts, the times call for two essential qualities in the next American president...
The times call for competence. Americans want their government to work again.
The times call for readiness to lead. Americans want their country to do great things again. They’ll regain trust in their government when they see a president make that happen.”
and with that they endorsed Hillary Clinton for President.
Read it all.
The latest Ramussen poll in Iowa has Clinton ticking upward: Clinton 29% Obama 26% Edwards 22%.
so much for the Oprah/ Obama "surge". None of this means a winner is set. In fact, Clinton could well lose given the odd way the caucuses play out. As a Clinton man I want her to win Iowa so I pay attention. But, like the BCS in college football, it is past time to junk a system where massive states with diverse populations are sidelined. IOWA SHOULD NOT MATTER THAT MUCH.
Speaking of big states: Clinton's commanding lead in California is still very much in tact.
Check out a new poll today here.
Finally: I repeat what i have said all along: An Obama victory based on early states is the worst thing that could happen to the Democratic Party. There is no evidence whatsoever that Obama could take 10 months of the media being fed by GOP attack machine. Beating Alan Keys, going on a book tour, and missing 80% of your votes in the Senate does not make a President. The best way to elect a Republican in 2008 - a very Democratic year - is to nominate Barack Hussein Obama.
my response to a screamer on americablog that "clinton can't win" is below. i am so fed up with the obama thumpers and their hatred of Clinton.
i went on in the comments section and figured it was a post for my own blog. Here it is:
.W. - you repeat FOX NEWS nonsense about clinton like a champ. this meme that she "can't" win must stop. it is a lie.
poll after poll after poll says hillary CAN and does beat every GOP out there in November. personal distaste is not a campaign strategy. McCain is the best guy they could run against her. Google "state by state polls" and read up on the head to heads. Clinton has 340 or so electoral votes against the strongest GOP right now. it means only one thing: people will vote for her.
the real question should be : can obama beat any GOP? people should really be asking themselves if obama can withstand 10 months of Fox news assault. maybe. I see no proof of it so far. if anything he is prone to stumble when pressed. beating alan keys in a blue state is not exactly inspiring. on the other hand Clinton won a majority of the GOP vote in upstate NY in 2006.
"progressives" are a minority. that is a fact that the Left forgets every 4 years like clockwork.
clinton has proven again and again that she can beat back the right wing hordes.
what the general election will really be like is not all oprah and stadium shows and happy talk. obama will be put on the spit and roasted.
I am not saying he can't take it. I AM saying he has no track record of taking it. the swiftboating of obama will be brutal if he is the nominee. clinton.too. but the clintons know how to handle it.
Obama's electability after 10 months of assaults on his experience is a legit concern for democrats. i want a dem. to win badly.
and Rove is not giving advise to obama via magazines because he likes him. He is doing it because he fears clinton more.
How much whining have you heard from the Right about their candidates? They're like a desperate 35 year old woman searching for Mr. Right. Who is most Reaganest? What they love about Reagan is that he was a genial guy who did bad things but people still liked him. Sure, he dismantled all the programs that Jimmy Carter put in place to avoid the energy crisis we're in now but what a sweetheart. The adage that a "rising tide raises all ships" to justify his tax cuts for the wealthy has been disproven by Katrina.
The Evangelicals whine because they don't have the perfect candidate. They actually did - Sam Brownback - but he couldn't win. Maybe he could have done better if they actually followed their "faith" and backed him. But no, he wasn't electable. Lots of principle there.
The fallback guy? Huckabee. We'll see how much traction the rapist story gets but their real problem with Huckabee? He is a liberal in spending. My goodness, he increased taxes during his tenure as governor to insure children. Where's the Christian spirit in that?
If the right really wanted to win they'd go for McCain. But as stated in an earlier post, he makes them feel bad about themselves because he actually fought in a war. They prefer faux heros. President Bush in his Mission Accomplished flight suit works for them.
Guiliani? Are you kidding me? Marriage number three to his mistress? His kids hate him? Having the police hide the expense of driving his mistress out to the Hamptons? Can you say, "Greasy?"
They're going to have go "Big Love." Oh, so sad for them. They'll have to accept that someone can flip flop on the issue of abortion. Kind of a big issue to change your mind about. Mandated health insurance for Massachusetts and now criticizes the Democratic candidates for using his plan as a blue print. And as one Christian preacher said on NPR: For years I've been calling Mormonism a cult and now I have to tell people to vote for him. (Actually Mr. Preacher, you really shouldn't be telling your congregations how to vote but that's another story.)
It's so hard for the right, their primary clock is ticking with no Gipper in sight.
 OBAMA USING DIRTY TRICKS IN IOWA AND NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Desperate to win at least one state before the Feb 5th - Super Duper Tuesday - Obama is using negative push polls and other slime tactics to upend Clinton.
link here.
So I predict that John McCain is about to make a "come back" Not Much of one mind you - enough to keep him in the GOP race for a lot longer than expected. It is a sorry state that he has sunk so low that he is fighting Ron Paul for support in N.H. - or is this a statement about the strength of Ron Paul?
Whatever. McCain could be the last one standing after the Mormon fall out falls out, Rudy is thrown to the wolves for good, and Thompson falls asleep for good. (I very much want him to nod off during a debate.) And what to make of this Hucklebee character? I think he is for real. He is charming AND full of creepy right wing nonsense. He could fool a lot of believe into thinking he is not a nutter - which the GOP base loves - they love to be lied too. Makes them get all cocky - "look at us WE ignore reality!!! and you crazy liberals can not MAKE us Think!!"
This is Bush's real secret - he allows the fear based Christians to ignore reality.
So who knows - they could choose Hucklebee over McCain.
I predict John Edwards could take advantage of the Obama/Hillary fighting. Or at least he should. Up to now, Obama has damaged Edwards much more than Hillary. It baffles me that he has given Obama a pass. Edwards should have attacked Obama a long time ago. It's odd to me that he did not see his real threat this year. Clinton did not take away anyone from Edwards. Without Obama he would be the one nipping at her heels.
I also predict that the "who is this guy - REALLY? - voter queasiness - is about to set upon Mr. Barak Hussein Obama.
Or that Hillary is holding on to some damning information - and it will "leak" soon. Hillary will beat Obama - fairly or unfairly.
About this time in 2003 Dean was ahead in Iowa. Gore had just endorsed him (Oprah has stepped into that role this year.) and the Democratic Establishment was going about quietly weakening his under girding - it was long over before he came in third in Iowa.
The same thing is about to happen to Obama. He may even win Iowa but it is over shortly after that. Something stinks back there. I predict we are about to find out what it is.
As I peak oiler - I am beyond pessimistic about our future as a society. I am so pessimistic, in fact, that doom has become a form of entertainment for me. But I do want good news as well. I look for it. Beyond people being good to one another as they deal with human created suffering - there ain't much to crow about. I see almost no reason for optimism. We humans are in wild overshoot mode on a planetary scale. Part of that overshoot has been aided by voracious fossil fuel consumption.
So I watch oil developments closely - and here is one worth noting - Brazil may have made a monster oil discovery off it's lower Atlantic coast.
When asked to comment of the massive discovery the Brazilian Prime Minister said "God is Brazilian" Which, as a general theory of everything, I find appealing - and it does seem to be backed up by much observable and anecdotal fact. The Western God, does seem to have an appetite for environmental destruction, a history of brutal slavery, and often plays dress up and has big parties. Let's face it - The Girl From Ipanema is the perfect muzak for the escalator ride to heaven.
The estimated amount of recoverable oil would make Brazil a major player in the world. None of this diminishes my sense of doom or fascination with peak oil. Oil depletion continues to play out exactly as predicated. Including the oil being discovered now. What peak oil states is that 50% of the oil is now gone and that what is left is going to be difficult and expensive to obtain and use. It never states that we won't find more oil. Desperate times bring on.... etc etc.
Plow deep enough into the deepest waters and we may find Atlantis, Jimmy Hoffa, and Glenn Beck's soul, too.
Cheap oil is over. The best we can hope for in America is that the fall out from our 90 year oil bender is a humane, thoughtful transition to a less wasteful society. That means the suburbs and WalMart and Big Macs, and multinational salads from Whole Foods, and cheap anti-biotics, and a cultural life driven by drivel and morons - is gonna have to go.
The worst that can happen is Mad Max, essentially. I think we will end up somewhere in the middle - leaning toward Mad Max. I have no reason to believe the NASCAR, self induced Diabetes, Torture is Good Walmartians are going to suddenly give up their KFC and Lawyer Foyers in the Exurbs - and become thoughtful, healthy and GREEN.
The Brazilian discovery is interesting news. If about 7 more of these massive fields are discovered in the next year - i might think twice about Peak oil.
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