....Imitating Life

- A young minority democratic nominee for president emerged after a long intensely heated democratic primary.

- Said candidate called on a more experienced long time politician to bolster his foreign policy credentials.

-The republican nominee for president was a longtime senate stalwart looking for one last chance at the Oval Office after years and years of service in representing his western state. 

-Said nominee was known as a maverick amongst his peers for reaching across the aisle on many controversial votes and legislation.

- The outgoing administration was on the verge of a possible millitary engagement with a bullying Russia over the sovereignty and fate of a smaller country in the region desirous of membership to NATO.

- A female candidate was on the short list for VP consideration on the republican side.

I am not reviewing the highlights of this political year, rather I am recapping the plot points of the final season of the West Wing.

The West Wing wasn't just a show, it was an intense political drama, it was an exercise in political education and it was a window into the daily legislative maelstroms that result in the negotiating and framing of international and domestic policy.

With just 42 days left until we elect the next President of the United States, I am always struck at just how ahead of its time it was in foreshadowing the current political climate we find ourselves in today.

Thank you Aaron Sorkin for some of the most memorable dialogue and story lines in television history.

Thank you Tommy Schlomme for the vision to put Aarons words into cinematic acton.

Thank you John Wells for giving the red light on one of the most memorable Series of all time.

Thank you Snuffy Walden for some of the most moving music which contributed greatly to the thematic cohesiveness of the show.

I am a more educated person for having watched the show, and I am a more politically conscious person for having learned from the show.

.....As A gift to my readers and an example of the shows powerful imagery and emotional dialogue, I will conclude this entry with a small portion of a speech given by President Josiah Bartlet, which hppens to be especially pertinent this time of year.   This speech was given just hours after a pipe bomb had gone off at a university killing 44 people.  

"...We did not seak nor did we provoke an assault on our freedom and our way of life.  We did not expect nor did we invite a confrontation with evil.  Yet the true measure of a people's strength is how they rise to master that moment when it does arive.  44 people were killed a couple hours ago at Kennison State University.  Three swimmers from the mens team were killed and two others are in critical condition.  When, after having heard of the explosion from their practice facility, they ran into the fire to help get people out.  Ran into the fire.  The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight.  They're our students and our teachers and our parents and our friends.  The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels, but every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we're reminded that that capacity may well be limitless.  This is  time for American heroes.  We will do what is hard, we will achieve what is great.  this is  time for Americn heroes and we reach for the stars."

Monday Morning Running Back

Fresh off a Sunday morning rich with talk shows, newspaper editorials and pundits putting in their two cents, I would be remiss if I didn't delve into the issues and headlines of the day dominating the political world.

- i.e. does she or doesn't she know what the Bush Doctrine is? Did he support sex-ed legislation for kindergardeners? Has he been slinging too much mud recently?

hmmm I feel like I'm missing someone here......lets see: Palin (covered), Obama (covered), McCain (covered).....oh thats right; did he gaffe when he admitted that Obama made the wrong choice for VP in giving him the nod over her? Biden and Clinton (covered)

So how about I just go through the checklist of all the things I'm obligated to discuss,before digressing into a non political obsession I want to discuss (yes yes there is another).

1) Talk about Sarah Palin in her first interview since being nominated as McCains VP.

Didn't seem very comfortable.  Seems vulnerable to attack on her experience and knowledge of issues. Impressed by Charlie Gibson's interviewing style and professionalism

NEXT

2) Mention Obama coming out with fresh ads attacking McCain. 

Nice to finally see Obama in all his angelic platitudes, coming down to earth and rolling in the political mud (no pun intended) like every politician (regardless how "lofty") eventually does. Afterall mudslinging is as much a part of the world of Washington, as  E=Mc2 is a part of the world of physics. 

NEXT

3) Share thoughts on Hurricane Ike.

I hate to be the one to articulate aloud what most people tend to think quietly, but i'm afraid its my duty in this venue to do so. 

Like many, I stayed up watching hurricane coverage all night -  and as like most, I tend to say things like "I hope its not as bad as expected" OR "our prayers are with the people of the region" AND "lets hope the destruction and damage is limited", blah blah blah - when in fact what  everyone is truly thinking, but are afraid to say out loud is that we secretly want to see Anderson Cooper sent flying by a big gust of wind, Geraldo Rivera being swept up by a surging wave, or Sanjay Gupta getting smacked in the head by flying debris as they all ironically discuss the dangers associated with not heeding the advice of experts who have repeatedly reiterated the importance of fleeing town. 

NEXT

4) Discuss Wall Street melt down. 

I Feel bad for the everyday investor and employee who is suffering as a direct result of Lehman's mistakes, but shamefully can't help but get a sense of glee when seeing an executive walking out the Lehman door with his box of personal belongings just 6 months after he deposited that most recent 10 million dollar bonus check.!

OK, I think I officially covered my responsibilities as a political blog. 

Now to the real important topic of the day: 

Much to the dismay and intense disagreement of others, I think these charges against Orenthal James are trumped up and bogus!  

Robbery? Burglary? Kidnapping? Intent to cause harm with a deadly weapon?....are you kidding???

Immediately after he left the hotel room (after taking back his personal belongings that were stolen from him), the "victims" were on tape laughing and joking around about how much money they were about to get by selling their stories to the tabloids.  Every single one of the "victims" has a wrap sheet longer than Mike Piazza's home runs at Dodger Stadium in his rookie year. Yale Gollanter's cross of these shady characters will be something to watch!

On a more serious note: 

We are going through the type of financial crisis the likes we have not seen in many years. How is it possible that neither candidate can come out with a comprehensive plan or even an attempted solution for fixing things?

They Say Obama is really really smart, they say McCain is really really experienced.....yet now in their first presidential test, when either has golden chance to break away, they are both dropping the ball on this profound opportunity.

hmmm.....Nader '08?

 

State of Confusion

So we finally get the polls that "matter" in the swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. So what can we conclude from this...?

Nothing!

I'm sure you've all heard of the saying "As goes Pennsylvania so goes Ohio" OK, if you have heard of the saying, you're not a completely honest person, as I just made it up.  However the principal behind it remains true.  The voting demographics in rural PA, along with the middle class city of Pittsburgh mirrors in many ways the blue collar demographics of Ohio.  Therefore one would assume that if the Palin factor in PA has helped rally the blue collar's and the conservative base translating to a 5% point jump for McCain in the crucial swing state for Democrats, a similar trend would occur in the crucial swing state for the Arizona senator in Ohio.

So......did the age old Politichai adage hold true?

ummm not quite.

Despite the polls turning in McCain's favor in Pennsylvania, he lost crucial ground in Ohio, where he went from a virtual tie to being down 50-44%.

What can this odd variance in the poling be attributed to?

I mean aside from Sarah Jessica Parker starting to sport a Barack & Roll jacket across Manhattan.

Simply put.....jobs!

As recent economic news has come out placing unemployment in this country at 6.1% or the worse its been in 16 years.  The question becomes what candidate's economic policies favor the middle class and would help unemployment?  

In order to answer this question, lets look into their plans.

Obama favors a plan to lower taxes to the middle class, while raising taxes for the wealthy and corporations. Some could argue this tax relief is vital for the middle class who are suffering from tough economic times.

The McCain economic plan takes on a different approach.  Give tax cuts across the board, including the wealthy and corporations. In the hopes of stimulating those companies benefiting from the tax cut so that they can begin to flourish again and cut into the unemployment rate, thereby stimulating the broad economy.

Perhaps the differences in opinion on how best to approach this labor problem represents the differences in the polls with regard to two of the states most affected by this problem.

In a similar poll taken in Florida, McCain went from a slim 2 point lead to a more comfortable 7 point lead.....Can this swing too be tied to the unemployment numbers? Unlikely seeing as how I was just in Florida and can attest to the fact that everyone is old and retired.  

hmmm.....

Must be McCains sexy tan.

The New York Boast...?

Now that I have shared a brief glimpse into my particular and sometimes peculiar passions in life, namely sports and politics, I may as well add another secret obsession to that list; The New York Post.  Those whose knowledge of the paper is limited and peripheral in nature, tend to look at it as a tabloid. However for someone who reads it on a daily basis,  with its editorials and rather large NY footprint, the Post is an insightful source for local, national, and even international news.  To say nothing of their uncanny ability to stay at the forefront in exposing corruption on a multitude of levels across the city and state; most recently of course and perhaps most notably, the Charlie Rangel tax evasion scandal. It is for this reason that today I feel a sense of shame and embarrassment as a proponent of this paper.  

On a day when the campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain have decided to suspend their squabbles and politicking and to appear together at a solemn yet hopeful ceremony at the WTC sight, this was a chance for the paper to show unity amongst the citizens of this country on  a bipartisan level and amongst the residents of this city on a local level.  I'm sad to say the Post failed miserably on both accounts.  A day when the remembrance of the tragic events of 9/11 is the clear priority, the Post squandered this remarkable opportunity.  Instead they chose to once again revisit the pig and lipstick political soap opera with nothing else but a big front page  picture of....well......you guessed it, a pig in lipstick.

What compounds this mistake other than my blog of course is that every other paper in NY was able to discern between right and wrong today.  The NY Post clearly got it wrong, while the Daily News, the NY Times, the Metro and AM New York all got it right.

On a personal note, this city has done a lot for me and I can only hope that the strength and the unity and regeneration you see in this city on days like this serves as a microcosm for what this country can and will do going forward regardless of who wins.

Pol's and polls

OK I admit it, I watch a lot of news and read a lot of papers.  In doing so, all I hear about these days (other than pigs and lipstick) are polls polls polls.  The Gallop Daily Tracking is my favorite....as if we don't have enough polls (every obscure state university, every newspaper and every network has their own poll) Gallop feels we need one everyday!!!

Aside from being inundated with these polls that vary and waiver more than Lucy Ricardo in a restaurant looking at a menu (OK I need to work on my analogies), they are focusing on the wrong information.

We don't need to know about the national polls, we don't need to know what percentage of likely voters nationwide are voting for one candidate or another.  Afterall have we forgottenthe lessons of 2000 that the popular vote is not what matters in this country?  We need to have state by state polls....and more specifically we need to have them in the swing states!

For the last 48 hours all NBC News and its affiliates have been touting is their NBC Wall Street Journal Poll, only to reveal that the race is in a virtiual "dead heat" (Obama 47 McCain 46).  

Don't give me a poll that touts the popular vote, give me one that tells me which way PA is leaning, or Nevada and while we are at it, how about Michigan, Colorado, and New Hampshire...and lets not forget the two states that decided the 2000 and 2004 elections respectively, Florida and Ohio.

For the record if you haven't had your fill of insignificant meaningless polls, Obama is leading 64 to 14 percent in an average of all polls in........ the crucial swing continent of Europe.

....my only question is why are 22% undecided?

Over Olbermann

Ahhh Monday, what a day!

-An NFL double header

-Obama on Fox News with O'Reilly

-Obama on MSNBC's Countdown.

Well at least two of the three offered some television drama.

The battle on the grid iron was often interchangeable with the spirited exchanges found on the O'Reilly show....but of course the highly ballyhooed interview with Olbermann, ummmm not so much.

Thanks to my girlfriend's DVR (and subsequently much to her dismay), I was able to go back and forth between the two "interviews" (and I use that word loosely, as no definition for "interview" found anywhere in the world, including wikipedia could cover O on O's puff piece) in order to create my own humorous, journalistic parallel universe in which the contradictory context of the interviews would make for great fodder in the writing of an episode of the twilight zone.

Among Olbermann's tough, hard hitting questions?

(And I'm paraphrasing here...)

1) "McCain and Palin are clearly lying in their commercials, do you plan on calling them out on it?"

2) "McCain and Palin are clearly lying in their stump speeches, do you plan on getting tougher in confronting them?"

3) "The McCain economic plan is clearly a horrible one, how do you plan on getting that message out to voters?"

4) For those of us who have been sick and tired of the last 8 years under Bush, have you thought of using the word "enough" more often to link McCain's campaign with Bush's presidency?"

5) "Seeing as how The Rachel Maddow show (shameless plug for his fellow liberal cohort with whom he forced MSNBC to give a show to while simultaneously firing a notable newsman to provide her with his time slot) is premiering tonight she asked me if I would ask you a question: Do you think you could mobilize your advisers and staff to find racial statements made by any Republican so that you could throw it back in McCain's face in the form of a 527 ad?"

(For the record, as much as I tend to exaggerate in life, sadly no embellishment was needed here, just boiling down all of Olbermann's characteristically long-winded fluff, to the actual questions he posed to Obama)

Is it just me or is his partisanship void of any journalistic integrity?

It is clear that MSNBC as a network is slightly left leaning, but come on! (For those not yet convinced, this O on O love fest is a three part series, so feel free to tune in tomorrow....or just check my blog for the highlights...)