Politirazzi

By Dan

Tonight, Michelle Obama is the keynote speaker at the DNC's Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council Gala at the Waldorf-Astoria. So this seems as good a time as any for me to declare for the first time publicly that Michelle Obama will be the new gay icon!

Move over Liza Minelli, Bette Midler and Hillary Clinton! I predict that over the next eight years, Michelle (Ms. Obama, if you're nasty!) will move into the top spot in the pantheon of gay icons. Madonna, Cher and other first name-only celebs will all pale in comparison to the love and affection that will soon be showered on Michelle Obama by gay males across America!

Her style is second to none and based on what we've seen from other politician's wives in the past, it's a safe bet that Michelle Obama will have no problem being as full throated in support of LGBT equality, as her husband is calculating, on the issue of gay marriage.

(continued)

By Dan

Short on the heels of Tim Russert's untimely demise, comes news this morning of the death of comedy legend George Carlin.

There are no words that I could write today that would adequately describe the impact that watching a George Carlin HBO special had on me when I was 11 or 12. In the wake of the first Gulf War, he did a bit, see below, that crystallized all of the yellow-ribbon mania that had been floating around my NYC suburb full of symbol-minded people!

About a month after 9/11, I had occasion to fly back to Madison, Wis., where I had graduated college four months earlier. This special happened to be replaying on HBO and lo and behold, it was as timely in 2001 as it was 10 years earlier.

Pour some out tonight and enjoy!

By Dan

Rumors abound on the blogosphere and in some more respectable mainstream outlets about Sen. Clinton's imminent departure from the presidential primary. A race she has long since lost any chance of winning fairly.

It's OK, though. I understand as a past (and certainly future) supporter of many losing candidates that it can be hard for people to accept a loss is a loss is a loss. It must be extra-difficult for a Clinton supporter, given she had all the institutional support the wife of a former president could muster from the Democratic party faithful.

Originally reported to be dropping out Friday it seems that at the last minute, she changed her mind and made it Saturday. Here's hoping we don't keep enduring more delays, all the way to Denver, as some of her more vocal supporters have urged.

Enough is enough! This race was over at the end of February and now it just sad, really. Fortunately, the NY Times has Sen. Clinton welcoming reality and not just suspending her campaign but endorsing Sen. Obama to boot!

Happy Days Are Here Again!

By Dan

Cheers of "Barr/Root" went up from the crowd (which sounded like the Hebrew derivation of Barack Obama's name, "Baruch" meaning "Blessed") after the results from the 5th ballot were posted to the floor at this year's Libertarian Party convention in Denver, Colo., when third-place finisher Waybe Allyn Root asked his supporters to throw their support behind a Barr/Root ticket in 2008.*

On the sixth ballot, the Libertarian party chose its presidential nominee. Bob Barr will be at the top of the ticket, after running neck and neck with Mary Ruwart through the first five ballots. During Bob Barr's acceptance speech, he gave a shout out to his campaign staff including the Marijuana Policy Project's executive director, Rob Kampia, who stood on the stage behind Barr, and shook his hand as he walked off the stage. Proving once again that libertarian party politics makes the strangest bedfellows.

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Obama and grandparents

By Dan

Days after Obama gave his historic speech on race in Philadelphia, he went on a local Philly sports-talk radio show and referred to his grandmother as "a typical white person". No sooner had the audio hit the interwebs, than a bunch of white, middle-aged partisan Clinton supporters, added and abetted by the white, middle-aged political punditocracy, jumped all over his statement as a perceived slight to the woman who helped raise him.

"Oh!", they cried, "what if Hillary Clinton had referred to 'a typical Black person?' " Indeed. As if all discussion of race were created equal. As if power dynamics in a multiracial society don't have any mitigating effect on who is able to say what about whom, and what it all means. There is a difference between the two statements, one uttered on the radio, and the other made up in people's minds. And anyone with an open mind can see, Obama loves his grandmothers, both of them!

But it's silly season in politics, so better the partisans and pundits question Sen. Obama's love for his family than deal with the real issues surrounding race in America.

By Dan

Yesterday was Yom Ha'Shoha, Holocaust Remembrance Day, but rather than commemorate the loss of millions of European lives at the hands of Hitler and his allies, this week, Sen. Clinton decided to riff off the famous poem by the German pastor Martin Niemöller, which is inscribed on the wall of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial in DC.

Only in this instance, it isn't the Jews who were wiped off the face of the earth, it's the jobs that once made middle America prosper:

"They came for the steel companies and nobody said anything. They came for the auto companies and nobody said anything. They came for the office companies, people who did white-collar service jobs, and no one said anything. And they came for the professional jobs that could be outsourced, and nobody said anything."

"So this is not just about steel," she finished.

I realize this woman will say anything to any group she can "micro-target" to get elected. After all, she knows what's best for the rest of us. But if Godwin's Law has any application at all to the political process, let's use it now, lest we cheapen the memories of those who lost their lives, not just their jobs.

I've been meaning to right about Rev. Wright and a whole host of other issues that have come up lately, but with all the stupidity floating around the airwaves passing as insightful political commentary, it's hard to know where to start.

Fortunately, in times like these, I can remember that for all the talk about gas tax holidays and windfall profits taxes, there are some people in the world with bigger problems than who's pastor said what to whom one Sunday.

At least I don't live and work in Zimbabwe.
— Dan

... that the Clinton campaign has called the Obama campaign looking to get the two electoral combatants together on the phone tonight. What will they talk about? A joint ticket? Hillary suspending her campaign after Indiana? How to hit back against Cindy McCain's plagiarized recipe-gate? The world awaits...

But remember, you heard this unsubstantiated rumor here, at Politirazzi, first!
— Dan

I'm not a Christian, but I wonder, is this What Jesus Would Do?

South Carolina church displays Obama, Osama sign

— Dan

By Dan

If I weren't already totally gay for Obama (more on gays and Obama in another post), I'd be voting for Ron Paul.



I mean, with CGI like this, what's not to like?

Too bad, I already drank the Kool-Aid.



Who's the real sucker, Gov. Rendell?

Andrew Sullivan says: "Why is it okay to talk about the next generation as "Kool-Aid" drinkers, deluded fools, idiots, suckers ... but fatal to say anything actually sympathetic about the struggling white working classes? The contempt the Clinton campaign has for Obama voters is remarkable. And offensive.

I thought it was starting to get kinda, well, old, all of the late-night comedians jumping on the "Sen. McCain is old" bandwagon. Then I realized, it just depends on how funny the joke is.

I guess this puts the age thing into some perspective. No telling how useful this will be in the general election. But come November, I think this election will come down to "new vs old" and as we've learned from years of "new and improved" products like Tide, new beats old everyday of the week and twice on Election Day 2008. (Unless we're talking about Coke. New Coke was disgusting! But that's the exception that proves the rule!)
— Dan

1) Hillary Clinton will win.
2) 55 - 45 for Hillary.
3) The media narrative will be, "She performed as expected but did not make up nearly enough ground in the pledged delegate count or the popular vote, to make any dents in Obama's lead. Obama looks to be even closer to the nomination now. With only a handful of contests left, the Clinton machine can no longer make any credible arguments to super-delegates as to why they should support her campaign. In the days between PA and NC/IN, signs will begin to emerge that the Clinton campaign will shut down soon after the June 3rd primaries."
— Dan

These closing statements are as bad as the questions have been throughout this debate. I hope it really is the last one. Obama at least mentions "change from the bottom up" and that is honestly the difference between the two. Theories of change abound, but Obama's squares most with mine, and in my experience, with most young people's view of their government and how it should respond to its citizens.
— Dan

The best way to "use" President Bush after he's out of office? Get him to get all his rangers and pioneers and other bundlers to raise money for national priorities, like infrastructure repair.

I mean, they weren't just donating for the access to power, were they?
— Dan

"What are you gonna do about gas prices?" Well, there is probably some truth to the market manipulation argument, but the rest of HRC's answer is beyond lame. She mentions her plan to move to energy independence but doesn't say how.
— Dan

More cops on the street is not the answer! There is nothing that puts civil rights and civil liberties in danger more than a cop driving around alone in a squad car with nothing to do. Certainly cities that haven't seen NYC's drop in crime need help with their local policing, but this is ridiculous! There is a real possibility of joining rural hunters with urban anti-gun advocates, but I doubt HRC is capable of articulating it. Obama appears to be givin' it a try.
— Dan

"You know, I'm going to have to look at what the budget deficit is ..." Wow, that's a smart, nuanced, remark on capital gains taxes. But not raising the social security cap? I wanted to say something nice about Sen. Clinton, for once, but she just made it impossible. Why is there any cap on social security taxes? Yeah, soak the rich!
— Dan

Did Sen. McCain really use scare quotes with his fingers around "hope"? And since when is $200K the cutoff for tax brackets? I mean, I realize this is NYC and $200K ain't what it used to be, but man, can't we go back to having a graduated income tax? BTW, nice work ABC, now that we're talking about substantive issues, my brain is snooze!
— Dan

OMG! Finally a question about how are they going to withdraw troops! And of course, Charlie Gibson can't just leave it alone, he has to add his 35 cents! As far as her answer goes, I didn't hear anything groundbreaking. But any suggestion that the American people can't understand the need to respond to the realities on the ground in Iraq in January 2009, rather than campaign promises made in April '08, is simply absurd!
— Dan

Is it just be or is the voiceover guy on the intro really creepy?
— Dan

I take it back, thank God for commercial breaks, I need a breather! And I agree with Jeff completely, this "debate" marks a new low in MSM campaign coverage. It's been nothing but sideshow issues thus far. I hope we get to the war and the economy, as there's been movement there since the last time we sat for a debate.
— Dan

OH SNAP! Bringing up President Clinton's pardons and Sen. Clinton's punches in one response! Jeter hits a single! Obama just hit his first home run!
— Dan

Oh Lord! Really? The Weather Underground? Is there anything that encapsulates this campaign more than one candidate trying to move us past the nonsense drama of the Hippies v. Vietnam era, while another will keep us mired in it for another 4 or 8 years! Oh and Hillary, you're no where near fully vetted!
— Dan

Does Obama believe in the flag? Are you friggin' kidding me? What's next? Grandpa ... friend or foe?
— Dan

Here comes the Bosnia drama! She says she's embarrassed by it, but that never seemed to be the case. Pivoting to Gen. Clark is a wise move, as is asking voters to simply overlook it. Better than Obama's responses to his "issues"? Perhaps. Will it matter in this election or in the general? Not a lick!
— Dan

Does Rev. Wright love America? Shame on you George Stephanopolous! Does a person who volunteers who an unpopular war, as Wright did in Vietnam, love his country? It's vulgar and obscene to suggest otherwise!
volunteers for an unpopular war
— Dan

Yeah, let's get to Rev. Wright! I can't wait to hear the allegedly unfair questions about Bosnia. Here's hoping Obama does better with this answer than he did with "Bittergate."
— Dan

I agree with Adrian, Obama's first answer wasn't a home run, but I don't think he did poorly. I think it says something about us that we expect home runs every time he steps to the plate. He's a politician, not A-Rod!
— Dan

First time the "bitter" comments are asked about ... other than the intro. Obama does an awesome job of taking his "mangling" by the horns and owning the ideas behind the alleged gaffe. Nice work pivoting the answer to a change message!

HRC's response is to talk about her granddaddy working in a factory in PA...I think somewhere John Edwards is talking about being the son of a mill worker.
— Dan

Hillary not eager to get the first question about putting the other on the ticket, a la Gov. Cuomo's recent op-ed.
— Dan

Always nice to "consult" the owner's manual by quoting the Constitution at the beginning of each segment! Classy, ABC!
— Dan

Oh man, maybe I should long for the cable networks after all. Oh well, there's always post-debate spin on MSNBC and CNN.
— Dan

Obama gets to speak first, while HRC gets intro'd first ... is there a double-standard? Will Hillary bemoan her media coverage? Methinks she will ...
— Dan

Here we go ... Who knew you could have a Democratic Party debate and not have it on CNN or MSNBC? Personally, given her astronomical negative ratings can''t see how HRC can go 100 percent negative without hurting herself more than Obama.
— Dan

Regardless of whether we see fireworks tonight between the candidates, the blogosphere is already erupting with a "fight" between authentic blogger Al Giodrano, over at Rural Votes and quasi-MSM blogger Ben Smith of Politico.
— Dan

Clinton at Coughlin High School in Wilkes-Barres, Pa. (Chris Bohinski, Flickr)

Anti-youth posturing has hit a new low (or high?) in this campaign as Bill Clinton tells a high school gym full of people that young people support Obama because we’re so easily fooled.

“I think there is a big reason there's an age difference in a lot of these polls," he said. "Because once you've reached a certain age, you won't sit there and listen to somebody tell you there's really no difference between what happened in the Bush years and the Clinton years; that there's not much difference in how small-town Pennsylvania fared when I was president, and in this decade."

Sorry, to break it to you, Billy, but young voters are quite capable of remembering your time in office — some of us, even fondly — and we still don’t want to support your wife in her quest for your third term as president. How can that be, you ask? Perhaps it has something to do with the way you and your wife so thoughtlessly throw what you see as disposable parts of the Democratic coalition under the bus, anytime you think it will help you make inroads into some group of centrists. (Paging all gay folks, remember DOMA? ... But that’s a post for another time!)

You can’t have it both ways, Mr. President! President Bush may be a moron, but allow me to paraphrase him here. When it comes to young voters, “You’re either with us, or you’re against us!” You’ve already shown us which side you’re on. So that begs the question, why are any young people supporting The Clintons in this campaign?
— Dan

By Dan

At 28 years young, Chelsea Clinton is a big girl now. Gone are the days of her awkward phase (and the gentle ribbing she received because of it, from Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey on SNL) and so too, the coddling by the media she had previously enjoyed, should also be gone!

At the height of the impeachment scandal 10 years ago, we can all understand why a teenage first child is off-limits to the media’s scrutiny. But 10 years later, when you’re traveling around the country as a surrogate for your mother’s campaign for president, every topic should be on the table. Sure, when the subject turns to Monica, we all expect that Chelsea’ll have some pithy response at the ready. But she’s already being given a pass by avoiding questions from the media, as a rule. And the media’s gone along like sheep, just like the press corps did during W’s first term.

There may not be anything that can be done about the press, but why in the world should she be granted an additional “pass” by her target audience, young college students? I get that sometimes college kids can get a little personal and perhaps you’d rather focus your limited time on the policy differences between your mom and Sens. Obama and McCain, but as a surrogate, you’re there to answer the questions posed to you, so, pretty please Chelsea, with sugar on top, can you stop telling us which questions you will and will not answer, and just answer the questions you’re asked?

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By Dan

I think there's one kind of endorsement that matters most in politics, and it's the same kind of endorsement that matters when you're picking a new restaurant to try or a new movie to see ... Your friends! The people you trust to give you their informed opinion. If there's one thing about the Obama campaign that's been underappreciated, it's the viral effect of taking the Trippi/Dean approach to internet organizing and fusing it with Facebook-style recommendations from friends, and wrapping it all up in a campaign that uses the same fonts everywhere it goes, lest you get confused who's going to bring you change with a capital C.

Peer pressure … it does exist. When you see all your friends, well, the ones whose opinions you actually trust, are all supporters of one candidate, and have that candidate's shirts