Orwellian

Bill Clinton goes on at length with the notion that Obama would be a great Vice Presidential candidate with his wife running point as President. Apparently Bill hasn't talked with Hillary.
She claims Obama is not qualified to be President, at least not on Day One. If he is VP then she better hope she doesn't die on inauguration day.

The Clinton's keep saying things that are ridiculous. I wonder if they ascribe to the Rovian point of view that the public are stupid and if you keep repeating an untruth frequently enough it will ultimately pass as gospel?

Obama has finally hit back on this point. Reading his autobiography, I have no doubt that that he can hit back. I also have a compelling sense that he truly does represent something new on the American political landscape. In fact, he embodies all that comprises what makes this country great.

Meanwhile, the Clinton camp stoops to new lows every day. Now, we hear that they are beginning subtle messaging that "committed" delegates aren't really committed but can change their vote. Although I find Christopher Hitchens a lout, he was pungent in this recent remarks, reported in last Saturday's Noonan column in the Wall Street Journal. He believes Hillary will win the nomination because her maniacal pursuit of power and money will allow nothing to stand in her way.

It is Orwellian. Obama is not qualified for President. Obama is qualified for Vice President. Clinton wins the big states. Clinton is the come-back kid.

Just do the math. Obama is ahead by 100 delegates. She can't win.

POSTSCRIPT: During the day on Monday, Howard Wolfson, hapless Clinton mouthpiece, indicated that Obama could be ready for the Vice-Presidency in August, at the time of the convention. It must have been a slight slip of the tongue. I wonder how they will spin it today. If he is ready at convention time for the VP slot, one presumes he is ready to be President. Good work Howie!

Monster

The elephant in the living room! No one wants to talk about the elephant in the living room. Those of us who are friends of Bill’s (not that Bill) learned first hand the power of the elephant in the living room.

Typically, the first person to call out the elephant, in other than a private setting, is attacked and ostracized. Denial is so strong, all the elephant co-dependents rally to the cause. There will be private, off-line, encouragement, but public opprobrium. As we say, “Denial is not a river in Egypt.”

Over time, if lucky, there gathers a storm and the elephant can longer hide in plain sight, in the middle of the living room. Unfortunately, however, the first to point out the elephant is often permanently sacrificed in Denial River.

Samantha Power, whose declaration, however unwitting, that Hillary Clinton was a monster, pointed out the elephant in the living room. She is now the victim of the co-dependent hyenas whose very existence requires ignoring the elephant.

Power said, “She is a monster, too -- that is off the record -- she is stooping to anything," Power told political correspondent Gerri Peev. She added of Clinton: "The amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive."

Samantha Power, originally from Ireland, is undeniably erudite. Using the word, “monster” to describe Hillary Clinton was accurate. That is particularly the case in the UK or Ireland where the term is in more common usage. Someone who does extremely disgusting things can very easily be called monstrous, i.e., “That was a really monstrous thing to do.” “What a monster.”

The litany of the vile and disgusting actions of Hillary Clinton includes:

1) her statement that she and McCain had a life time of experience preparing them for the White House and Obama gave one speech in 2002. (That gave such succor and comfort to the RNC and the McCain campaign. It will rank, historically, as or the most vile acts by this monstrous woman)

2) the comparison by her spokesman Howard Wolfson of Obama to Ken Starr

3) the tentative, almost grudging acknowledgement by Hillary on 60 Minutes that Obama wasn’t a Muslin, “…as far as I know.”

4) the denigration of voters in caucus states and small states by everyone in the Clinton campaign

5) etc. etc.

In my view, Obama and his surrogates should have ridden out the Samantha Power matter and demanded the immediate firing of Wolfson. To this moment, I have not heard anyone ask for Wolfson’s head.

Obama needs to punch back. Samantha Power needs kudos for speaking truth to power and outing the elephant in the living room.

LOL

The New York Times reports this morning that the Republican National Committee has accumulated a long list of urls to use as a part of their attack campaign in the upcoming general election. This is dirty trickster high tech political cybersquatting. If the RNC owns the site, then Clinton or Obama can't use it. The RNC certainly won't sell. And they can point the sites to some repository of negative information.

Some are pretty funny. fauxbama.org is a real hoot. I thought the Republicans were disdainful of the French. norealexperience.com would be a good one for the Clinton campaign to buy to use against Obama during the remaining primaries. Maybe the RNC will loan it to them. The RNC owns hillaryiswrong.com. They also own obamanotready.com.

So, this morning, I couldn't resist going to Network Solutions to see what was available. I got lucky. I now own www.rncsucks.com, www.rnclies.com, and www.gayrepublicansinthecloset.com.

Then, to really cover my bases, I bought www.cindymccaindrugaddict.com and www.hottemperedmccain.com

SNL Bounce and more

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder! I am suffering post traumatic stress disorder. Or, maybe it is battle fatigue. I am so ready for this nomination process for the Democratic candidate for President to be over. I was ready yesterday. I wanted Obama to put the stake through Hillary's heart. But, it was not to be.

Wyoming is Saturday and a sure win for Obama. It is a caucus state and Obama has the ground game down pat. I heard yesterday that in Harris County, Texas, Obama had 9000 volunteers to Hillary's 39. Sounds ridiculous, but it does fit the pattern for her campaign. Phew! Enough of this stuff.

So, what is happening. Everyone, except for Hillary voters, have read Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point. I think there was a tipping point for Hillary and it came with the settlement of the writer's strike. It is unfortunate that the writer's strike didn't continue throughout the spring. If it had, then the lemmings in the media would have continued on their hapless way, and Hillary would not have enjoyed what I am calling the "SNL bounce."

Everyone knew that Obama was doing better with and was better liked by the media than Hillary. That was no secret and no surprise. The media folks like to be cool and hip. Fear and loathing on the campaign trail is all about hip. Obama is hip. Hillary can't even imagine hip.
With the settlement of the writer's strike the trend setting television shows got their groove back and could, once again, be players in setting the tone for the cognoscenti dialog.

So, with writer's unblocked, Saturday Night Live struck with a hilarious bit on the Democratic debate between Clinton and Obama with a slavish press hanging on every Obama word. In that one moment, the press was found out. And, in a phrase, Tina Fey gave cred to being a bitch.

There was only one response for the media. They had to now eagerly pick up and run with Hillary's ever negative campaign and go on the Obama attack to prove the SNL perception incorrect. The press never likes to be found out. They only report. They never like to be exposed as active participants.

In addition, the SNL bit gave Hillary a throw away line in the next debate when she wondered if they should ask Barack is he needed a pillow. And, for the first time, it provided a characterture of Obama. SNL transformed him from a elegant patrician striding across the stage to a big-eared dweeb.

So, there you have it. A press back on its heels providing ink to Hillary's increasing negativity and giving voice to her campaign's come back kid charade; a female candidate secure in her bitchdom; and an classy gentleman made into a feckless dweeb. A tipping point.

I don't know if any of it matters, but my Obamaniacs are sure stirred up. And we are suffering battle fatigue. It is a little bit like the hangover from too much alcohol and too many drugs after a big rock concert weekend. Any of you remember those?

Hillary Abandons Democratic Party

What is she thinking? I just watched her on YouTube. Here is her quote:

"I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. Senator John McCain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002."

Hillary, I swear to God, that if you keep this up, and if you somehow win the nomination, I and many of my Democratic friends will vote for McCain or maybe Ralph Nader.

Hillary, this approach of yours really sucks!! You should be ashamed of yourself. In the last week you have run a fear based, Rovian/Atwater style negative Republican campaign.

What is your end game? You cannot conceivably obtain enough delegates, under any plausible scenario, to "democratically" win the nomination. So, Hillary, what is the strategy? What is the end game?

From the War Room

I am hunkered down in the war room today. I am switching screens between various blogs and have MSNBC on in the background. As we used to say on ranch, "I'm as jumpy as a fart in a frying pan."

I haven't seen any exit polls yet. Turnout if very high. Hillary is piling it on, and in the process, providing grist for the RNC and McCain for their attacks on Obama during the general election.

Governor Bill Richardson was interviewed yesterday and took issue with Hillary's red telephone ad. He also praised Obama's judgment and his internationalist background. That appears to be a tell to me. I guess Richardson eating nachos with Bill Clinton during the Super Bowl didn't swing the deal for Hillary.

By the way, what is the deal with Hillary's cheeks? If you saw her on The Daily Show last night, wearing that perpetual grin, anyone had to wonder if she was stashing nuts.

Texas and Ohio

I wish Texas and Ohio (and Rhode Island and Vermont) had voted a few days ago. I am nervous. As a fervent Obama supporter I am nervous about tomorrow’s primaries. Part of my nervousness is because, as a left coaster, I don’t really understand Ohio or Texas. I understand Vermont and Rhode Island but they don't get much attention tomorrow.

I hope for a decisive victory for Obama. I fear that Hillary Clinton will hang on to fight another day. Even though she has no mathematical chance of achieving enough delegate votes to secure the nomination, she will stick in the race awhile longer – at least through Pennsylvania – that is my fear.

She will stick in the race, because there is always the chance of a major gaff which provides the miracle to give her the nomination. Romney holds the same hope regarding McCain. (Romney, while out of the race, has not released his delegates. He would have a better shot than Huck-a-Buck, if McCain were to implode). She will stick in the race because there are those who hope that Michigan and Florida can count.

Obama has momentum. Momentum, in politics and in life is a fragile thing. Clinton is hitting Obama hard. Is she hitting him hard enough to make a difference – I hope not. Obama is so very cool, and he is a complete gentleman. He is so at ease in his skin.

Hillary is bashing away at his coolness – not directly, but indirectly. She suggests that the country does not need cool under fire, but rather the intense heat of her experience.

Her 3AM ad, for example, is making the point that she is tough and ready for the dangerous call. I found it interesting that, in the ad, the phone rings 6 times before she answers. And then, she is dressed and wearing makeup and jewelry and those Clark Kent reading glasses for the 3am call. Maybe she was up at 3AM checking on Bill. Trying to find out where he is.

And, now the late breaking news, that the comedian Rush Limburger is urging his listeners to vote for Hillary in Texas. His motive: Hillary will beat up Obama and McCain and the RNC won’t. He wants the Republicans to win in November and hopes that Hillary can soften Obama up a bit before the Republicans have to take him on directly.

Wouldn’t it just be the ultimate expression of the Clintonista hubris: Hillary loses the nomination and in the primary process, so damages Obama and the Democratic cause that the Republicans win in November?