Deja Vu All Over Again

I keep having conversations with my best friend which are nearly identical to those we had four years ago. I am panicked, angry, and vehement about not being further ahead in the polls. He is cool, calm, and thoughtful. I say we should be 15 points ahead going into November 4th. He says its all about the 270 electoral votes, and not to worry. The polling on the ground in those crucial states indicates we will get by with the 270. His theory is that a few points lead is better than nothing, and that momentum is on our side.

This is a smart guy, one of the smartest people I know. Right about most everything, and an enviable talent for getting the big picture. But, I was right to be worried in October of 2004, and I am not seeing anything, yet, that is convincing enough to make me believe this year is wholly different. Save for the more appealing, younger, richly talented candidate, the 2008 Democratic Presidential Campaign continues to lack the punch I believe is necessary to celebrate November 5th.

Take the debate (please!). Obama walked in strong and came out strong. But, McCain walked in weak and came out strong. Obama had at least three opportunities to put it all away, and I mean ALL of it, and he played it safe. Hey, I totally get not combating crazy with crazy, but when your opponent refers to himself as a "maverick" in such a ridiculous manner, you have to pounce and make it memorable. Exhume Bentsen: "I have known mavericks in my life, these are people who speak truth to both power and to the people (fill in the obligatory identifiable crusader, try Richard Clarke, although I may still be the only one who wonders why we do not have statues of him in every park - I'd even be okay with an MLK reference), and you sir cannot embrace George Bush and his tragic policies, employ millionaire lobbyists, and completely embrace the far right wing of the right wing in an election year and call yourself a maverick. You, sir, are no maverick."

[Do you ever wonder why McCain has stopped referring to his maverickness in going after Jack Abramoff? Read this.]

I know, Bentsen did not become VP. But let's remember, he won the debate. Mike Dukakis lost the election. Debates are won and lost on soundbites and playable clips. Obama, of all people, should understand (hell, he's the only candidate of the four who seems to embrace the technology of the last quarter century!) that in a YouTube/Tivo/iTunes world, people don't want the whole pie, just a slice of the good stuff. Have you watched the post debate-coverage? They are struggling to find a representative clip. Barack's answers were too long, McCain's are too confusing (and errant) so for different reasons, they do not get played. Leaving folks to discuss the inability of McCain to look to his left, and the seemingly polite Obama hitch for saying "John is right" before making a contrary point. Hardly the stuff of knockout.

In future debates there are three simple statements Obama can make, honestly, that will be played ad infinitum:
1. Look right into the camera and say “Hey, Osama bin Laden and all other terrorists – be scared of me, ‘cause I’m not taking my eye off of you.” Red meat wins over undecideds and maybe even those Republicans who still feel 9/11 has not been dealt with.
2. Turn to McCain and say “John, I don’t even think you believe half of the stuff that comes out of your mouth.” Humor always trumps grumpy.
3. Play the hits: “Are you better off now than you were 8 years ago?” “It’s not the economy, stupid, it’s that John McCain and the republicans have given us a stupid economy!” That one, by the way, is the punch you missed in the first three minutes of Friday’s event. Going out on the stump the day after the debate (a Saturday when nobody but me watches TV) and pointing out how McCain never mentioned the middle class is a wasted punch that would have landed squarely Friday night.

McCain spent a week handing over the election to Obama, and in the debate literally turned his back to give Barack a free shot. Is it enough to be 3-9 points ahead in the polls? Ask Al Gore and John Kerry. Is it enough to have higher registration numbers than the other party? Ask Al Gore and John Kerry. Is it enough to have a seasoned, smarter, more eloquent Vice Presidential Nominee going after an inexperienced, clueless, dangerous, populist newcomer in a debate? Ask Mike Dukakis.

Here's a lost cautionary tale from SNL

An Open Letter to Sarah Palin

I have decided to try once again to commit some energy to my My Podcast Killed the Radio Star blog. I will be working on posting some cool tunes, video and podcasts soon. But in the meantime, I have been wanting a place to unwind some of my thoughts on the state of the world. The very reason I hate blogs is that they give some the inflated notion that what they are writing is being construed as news, or at the very least, needed. This blog is not news. Nor is it neccessarily neccessary.


Top Ten Things I Want to Say to Sarah Palin (and notice, NONE of the following refer to her gender, overpopulated family’s lack of traditional conservative “family values,” barbaric hunting practices, can’t-wait-to-see-him-in-a-foreign-diplomat-receiving-line-son-in-law, not-so-much-on-the-U-part-of-USA-husband, her very own Rev. Wright, or Tina Fey’s sexist, soundless, portrayal*)

*I will cover those in a separate letter. This one is about experience, governance and policy – the three things that matter most when choosing a National Leader.

10. “Hold Me Accountable.” I want a National Leader who deals in Straight Talk™. So if you say “Hold me accountable,” and then refuse (or urge others to refuse) to participate in an investigation launched PRIOR to your being plucked from obscurity, and approved by an overwhelming majority of your own party, because now you say it is “partisan”…then you are lying. Which is the opposite of Straight Talk™.

9. The word is “nu-cle-ar.” Not “nu-cu-lar.” I know that’s how George W. Bush pronounces it; but yesterday he also said Wall Streeters who break laws will be “persecuted.” Can’t we all at least agree that our National Leaders should have some ability to speak without reading? I know you all hate that darn Department of Education and teachers are just thorns in your sides, but American children deserve both when their National Leaders resolve to be mediocre.

8. Which leads me to My Least Favorite Lie. When you told a group of Ohioans at a fundraiser that the teleprompter broke during your RNC speech, forcing you to look upon the Ohio delegation and speak in an impromptu manner from your heart, you were not at all telling the truth. And what makes it a more outrageous lie is that you could have just said, “Having the Ohio contingency in front of me gave me the strength to make the biggest speech of my life blah blah blah” and that would have just been disingenuous and a little smarmy. Instead you chose to be completely cynical. The fact is the teleprompter never broke. Hundreds of people could see it the entire time you read from it.

7. The Problem With Not Knowing The Bush Doctrine (its not what you may think). Yes, I knew what the Bush Doctrine was when Charlie Gibson asked you the first time. In fact, I thought it was a great question. It is easily the most significantly articulated dictum of foreign policy in our time. So, you didn’t know what it was. Okay. But then quickly the defenses came. George Will said he didn’t know what it was. Lie. And if it’s not a lie, how sad for every viewer who ever watched him report on foreign affairs or ask questions of guests on a Sunday morning. Can conservative “journalists” really ask questions or comment about a subject and then flush it completely out of their memory? I believe Tim Russert knew the Bush Doctrine – even if he didn’t he at least read up on it before asking a question. Can you imagine somebody with all of your foreign policy experience not at least reading up on it before the biggest interview of their life? And the others, like McCain flack Tucker Bounds, claiming that every primary debate candidate had to have it explained before answering as well. That, now, is my real problem. First, I doubt every candidate had to have it explained (wouldn’t your party at least want to suggest McCain knew?) But if that’s the case, as say the right-wing spin peddlers, that it was articulated in the Primary Debates – then shouldn’t you have been watching? I mean, you are running for the same office essentially. How about a newspaper? Or Time? Or Hannity and Colmes? I’ve been to Alaska’s best cruise ports. All those towns had t.v., newspapers, and magazines.

And yes, by taking that cruise to Alaska, I have put myself in running for either Secretary of Transportation, or Mayor of Skagway.

6. The Mayor of Simpleton** . Be a proud Mayor, but don’t equate it with anything more than what it is. I meet nearly once a month with the Mayor of a small city much larger than Wasilla. Like yours, our city also has a strong City Council which shares in governance with the Mayor; often directed by the City Manager or Administrator. The Mayor is a great guy. He is, however, in no way prepared to govern the State of California. We already have an Actor in place doing just fine…er…well, he’s trying. But the Mayor of My Small Town should be proud to speak at high school graduations (although he does not get asked), and should settle land and water use disputes, although the entire Council does that. So when he leaves office, even if for some strange reason he brought in millions of dollars in congressional earmarks, or takes the credit for any budget windfall or loss, he will not be equating his multiple terms with national power. He won't call himself a "Maverick reformer" for telling the Elks to be more like the Rotarians. Nor should you.

By the way. Stop feigning insult when somebody points out the size of your town, and then turn around and make speeches extolling your virtues as a small-town hockey mom. You are being vetted for the first time by Americans. They wonder if your management experience equals the types of challenges you might face as President. Your small-town virtues aren't policy ideologies, nor are they serious answers to the difficult questions that face this Nation. They are silly platitudes which give us no insight as to how you might run a Country. Many Presidents have come from small towns, but it was not their ABUNDANCE of values or LACK of ideas which got them elected - it was their ability to articulate how those values affect their ability to craft policy.
**right-click to download the XTC track

5. Seriously, having victims of rape pay for their own rape kits is, like, so Cruella DeVille. But since that seems a sexist comparison…how about: It is so Sadaam Hussein? Now, this may seem unfair. But you are campaigning as an experienced leader. If that is true, you should answer questions from the public. As a parent and family person like you, I kinda believe you do not agree with this policy. If we are to believe the assertion that you are strong on sexual assault and domestic violence issues, and you ran Wasilla, then since we have nothing to go on but your local media, we must also be allowed to conclude that you are a weak manager either unaware or unable to stop this ridiculous practice under your purview. So which is it? Is this the question that keeps you sequestered? So many to choose from.

4. Did you blink? You told Charlie you didn’t blink when McCain called you and asked you by phone to be his veep pick. Yet you told Hannity that first you had to pass it by the family. Why should answers be different when they are a week apart? I understand that politically, a week is like a year for somebody else in National politics, but either you are being disingenuous to your family or the ABC viewing public. Neither of which seems fair.

3. Blind Faith. So let’s say I looked past every rookie gaffe and ignored subpoena. Let’s say I found you charming and folksy enough to handle “’nü-klē-ər” proliferation talks with Iran, or accept the hypothetical premise of “’nü-klē-ər” war with Russia (your lowest moment in my opinion). What I cannot seem to believe is that a multiple-college educated person like yourself would stand by while your running mate (although I did appreciate how you and Freud tried to bury him by announcing the Palin-McCain ticket!) appears to be so absolutely unfit to govern. His choice of you should make you wonder about his capacity to be the most powerful person on the planet. Plus, he has made up more untruths about you than…well…you! You know more about energy than anybody else in America. Did you at least chuckle? You never allowed for earmarks as Governor. Now, on that one you may just still be confused at to what that means, so I’ll let it go. And, my favorite: Her son is in the Alaska National Guard. You know that he isn’t, right? And that you’d have absolutely no authority over him if he was thanks to…wait for it…the Republicans in Washington and George Bush (Obama voted Aye as well). Your boy is in the Army. You chose his moment of deployment to make a political speech incorrectly linking Iraq to 9/11. Seriously, they have newspapers up there. I have seen them.

2. God’s Will. It is not God’s Will for there to be war. It was not God’s Will for you to be Governor. It was not God’s Will for the Alaska Pipeline to be built. Stop the Extremist Fundamentalism that you so want others to fear. We do not live in a small town anymore. The U.S. is a big city in a bigger metropolis. It is diverse, it has problems, and it has more than a million ways to show faith and patriotism. Stop going to church if all you get from it is political capital. Stop going to church when the leaders of your church tell you something you (should) know is absolutely untrue. If you want to lead My US of A, then you gotta want to respect ALL of it.

1. You Are No Jimmy Stewart. Nor Are You Remotely Abraham Lincoln. Listen, I know you like George W. A lot of people did, and some still do. He was the guy you wanted to have a beer with, unlike that stuffy ol’ Al Gore and that boring John Kerry. Those jerks, with their big words, global idealism, and Ivy-league education (yes, I know Bush went to Yale part-time) talking down to Americans with their know-it-all-ness. But here’s the thing. America is a proud nation that wants to be respected in the World. We want our leaders to have a command of the same language they want to make every child and immigrant speak. So stop saying the economy needs “fixin.” Stop referring to voters as “guys and gals.” Finally, Stop telling American children and those uninformed parents that lying is fine, as long as you say ‘Thanks…and No Thanks.”