Blogging Blue

President-elect Barack Obama may have called Wednesday’s gathering of the three living ex-presidents, the current president, and the future president an “extraordinary event,” but I call it a full house - Democrats over Republicans.

Sen. John McCain’s the candidate of “leadership and experience,” right? If that’s the case, what does Sen. McCain’s comments about Osama Bin Laden say about his leadership?

MJ: You not only have had combat experience in Vietnam, but you were also a prisoner of war. When you look at terrorism right now, with people like Osama bin Laden, do you have any reservations about watching strikes like that?

John McCain: You could say, Look, is this guy, Laden, really the bad guy that’s depicted? Most of us have never heard of him before. And where there is a parallel with Vietnam is: What’s plan B? What do we do next? We sent our troops into Vietnam to protect the bases. Lyndon Johnson said, Only to protect the bases. Next thing you know…. Well, we’ve declared to the terrorists that we’re going to strike them wherever they live. That’s fine. But what’s next? That’s where there might be some comparison.

It’s worth noting this interview was right after the Clinton Administration attacked Al Qaeda in Somalia and Afghanistan. It’s also worth noting that Sen. McCain’s comments came in mid-September 1998, fully a month after President Clinton ordered U.S. military strikes at terrorist-related facilities in Afghanistan and Sudan because of the imminent threat they presented to our national security.

It’s also worth noting Sen. McCain’s comments questioning whether Osama Bin Laden was really the bad guy that he was depicted to be came only a few months after Bin Laden threatened the U.S. on television, saying:

“We do not differentiate between those dressed in military uniforms and civilians. They are all targets.”

Yeah, I guess I can see why Sen. McCain didn’t think Osama Bin Laden was the bad guy people were making him out to be.

H/T to Jim Dallas.

NIGHT 1:
First thought - there’s a reason these folks aren’t speaking in prime time. Boy, there’s some really terrible public speakers in the group, and it makes me wonder how some of these folks got elected to public office.

Next thought - Alexi Gainnoulis (Illinois State Treasurer) might be the exception. He gave a nice speech. Short, but well executed. State treasurer probably isn’t his last stop in public office.

Final though - Michele Obama gave a good speech. It was pitch-perfect and sent the right message. It really went a long way towards softening her image.

NIGHT 2:

First thought - Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle’s speech was passable. His speech wasn’t anything special, but he certainly wasn’t as bad as some of the folks I’ve watched. Rep. Tammy Baldwin wasn’t bad either, but again, nothing special.

Next thought - Sen. Hillary Clinton’s speech was absolutely perfect, and it was in my opinion the best speech I’ve seen her give. She cemented her status within the Democratic Party with this speech.

NIGHT 3:

First thought - Brian Schweitzer’s speech was good, but I was really bothered by his body language. He reminded me too much of a bobblehead, and if he’s going to “take it to the next level,” someone needs to tell him to tone down his body language.

Next thought - John Kerry’s speech was a great indictment of Sen. John McCain. I didn’t think Sen. Kerry had that much fight in him, given how he rolled over and allowed himself to be swiftboated in the last election, but he really surprised me.

Another thought - Now I have to preface this by disclosing that I’ve always been a fan of Former President Bill Clinton, but I thought his speech was spot-on. He was unequivocal in voicing his opinion that Sen. Obama is ready to lead, and hopefully this speech will help put to rest the grumblings about party disunity.

Here’s a clip of President Clinton in action:

Last thought - Joe Biden’s speech was a great example of why he was picked to be VP. Sure, his speech wasn’t as rhetorically powerful as Hillary Clinton’s on night 2, but Biden showed the humility, sense of humor, and wit that this campaign really needs.

NIGHT 4:

First thought - I thought Al Gore’s speech was good but not great. Perhaps if the Al Gore of 2008 had been around in 2000, we would not have had to endure 8 years of President Bush.

Next thought - I liked the video montage of Obama that was shown right before his speech. In my opinion it did a lot to show Obama as more of an “average guy” as opposed to the elitist candidate that Republicans are furiously trying to paint him as.

Final thought - Obviously I think Senator Barack Obama gave the speech of his life. I thought his 2004 convention speech was tremendous, but this speech far surpassed that. I was glad to see Obama lay out some specific policy plans while not shying away from hitting John McCain, especially for McCain being out of touch with average Americans.

Here’s one of my favorite segments of Obama’s speech tonight:

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) introduced a resolution last week in the US House of Representatives to impeach President Bush. The Congressman has many articles in his impeachment resolution, from creating a secret propaganda campaign to manufacturing a false case for the War in Iraq to imprisoning children.

The Democrats in both chambers on Capitol Hill are strongly against any such impeachment resolution. Speaker Pelosi has repeatedly stated that any attempts wouldn’t be welcomed in the House.

Personally, I find it sad when an American President can be impeached for a lie about sex in the oval office, but not even considered for such an act when there’s a complete political disaster in the country - from multiple wars to potential liberties being taken away to many cover-ups.

I find it puzzling when the limits of what’s “fair game” flex back-and-forth depending on the political party.

With that noted, I expect Kucinich’s resolution to not go very far.

QUESTION: Who’s the only President since World War II to preside over an economy in which federal government employment rose more rapidly than employment in the private sector?

Think hard about that question, and when you’re ready to answer, click the link. Read the rest of this entry »

I wasn’t really surprised by Barack Obama’s win in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary, but what did surprise me was his margin of victory, coupled with his better than expected showing among white voters. In the days leading up to the primary, some polls showed Obama likely to get only 10% of the white vote in South Carolina, but he ended up garnering roughly 25% of the white vote, not to mention roughly 80% of the African American vote.

However, what was most interesting to me was a story I’ve seen in a few different news sources, including CNN’s Political Ticker:

Bill Clinton’s aggressive campaigning in South Carolina in the days leading up to the state’s primary may have had a net negative effect among South Carolina’s Democratic primary voters….

Roughly 6 in 10 South Carolina Democratic primary voters said Bill Clinton’s campaigning was important in how they ultimately decided to vote, and of those voters, 48 percent went for Barack Obama while only 37 percent went for Hillary Clinton.

Now I’ve always counted myself as someone who admired Bill Clinton, so I’ve actually been sorely disappointed at how negative he’s gotten out on the campaign trail. I know he’s just trying to do what he can to help Hillary out, but I feel his acting as Hillary’s “attack dog” does nothing but taint his legacy, especially considering the racial undertones in some of his attacks. Considering how it was often joked that Bill Clinton was the first black president, it’s sad to see the damage he’s done within the African American community.