Liberal Media Elite

Depending on how close you feel to the Obama campaign, you may want to get some Kleenex before you watch this:

Phillip: Yes, I know the chanting is scary. It’ll be okay. It’ll be okay.

If you really want to know who’s in front in the election wars forget the polls and look at two things: 1.) Who the Republicans are trashing, and; 2.) Which candidate is freaking out about outcomes that don’t yet exist.

And so…it’s clear that Ms. Clinton is about to get her ass kicked in Texas.

Exhibit A
The Republican attack poodles are now ignoring her and focusing solely on Obama. Say what you will about Republicans but they do pretty well on the data analysis front when it comes to opposition research.

Exhibit B
The Clinton campaign is already laying the legal groundwork to dispute the election results in Texas. And, you know, Texas hasn’t yet voted. Now…if your internal polling tells you that you’re heading toward certain victory, do you start whining about voting rules? No. You deploy your resources where they are needed. If your internal polling tells you that you’re ahead in a tight race, do you bitch about voting procedures? No…you don’t want to look like a wonky loser and you sure as hell don’t want to send your supporters a none-too-subtle message saying “OMFG we were like a whole light year ahead here about a month ago and now it’s all going to hell.” If, however, your internal polling tells you that said light year lead from a month ago has completely evaporated and you are, absolutely, gonna go down in flames…That’s when you turn the lawyers loose.

And here I was thinking that the projections that Obama could actually win the Lonestar State fell into the category of irrational exuberance. Many thanks to the Clinton camp for putting my mind at ease.

Unfortunately, this does not involve The Tragically Hip releasing another album. More to the point, it’s a potential scandal involving Stephen Harper. (For those of you without Maple Leaf DNA, Stephen Harper is the current conservative Prime Minister of Canada). Here’s all the dirt.

Cliff Notes Version: Allegedly, the Conservative caucus met with independent, although recently wayward from the conservative party MP Chuck Cadman, now deceased, while on his death bed, offering him a $1M (presumably Canadian) life insurance policy for a vote in favor of their pet bill of the day. The Liberals are calling on the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police-aka The Mounties) to conduct an investigation. See the link above for the full story.

I just like any political scandal that involves Mounties.

Matt Gonzales (photo above)—super-hot former San Francisco supervisor and candidate for mayor—has been picked by the Ralph Nader as his running mate.

This is so sad. I hate it when cute idealists make such horrible decisions.

Boo.

Thank the gods of hot liberals that there’s still Scott Kleeb:

Tim Walz. Love the guy. When the nets called it for him over Gutknecht in ‘06 I popped the bubbly. Now since then, he’s let me down a couple of times. Iraq funding. FISA business. But on the latter, I think he knows what he’s doing, and will do it better this time around.

I don’t like that some bloggers somewhere, regardless of how much I respect some of thier work, took to calling him a “Bush Dog” I don’t think it’s effective to start heaping such titles on freshman reps from a very close swing district. But then again, I’ve hung around in that district a few times, even canvassed and phone-banked it. I might have a better grasp on things than somebody who couldn’t point to, say, Caledonia on a map.

(Hat Tip: Master of all things Walz, Ollie)

The Minnesota House’s Republican “leader,” Mary Seifert, is stripping leadership positions from the six GOP House members who voted to override Vice Pres… er… Gov. Tim McCa… er.. Pawlenty. The slash-and-burn technique is parochial to be sure but then, it wouldn’t be the Minnesota House if it wasn’t embarrassingly parochial, would it?

“We’re not taking anyone’s secretaries away. I’m not throwing their computers down the Capitol steps. I’m not severing their phone lines and all the other rumors that are going around here,” said Seifert.

“I’m not shooting their wives or husbands. I’m not starving their pets. I’m not urinating into their best china.”

No, Marty, you’re just pouting.

WJC confuses himself with HRC.

Today in Portsmouth, Ohio, he said, “So Hillary says, in 2005, the United States Congress adopted the Bush-Cheney energy bill, which gave $27 billion in subsidies to nuclear, oil, and gas and coal. The only thing that was justified was clean coal, because countries are going to be using that. We have to figure out how to take the carbon dioxide out of it. The rest of it is waste. If you elect me, I’ll repeal those subsidies. And put them into a strategic energy fund that will create American jobs for America’s future with clean energy.”(emphasis mine)

MMMMM. Dynastic.

Trying to find an English translation… But it’s awesome, ¿no?

Update: Ah ha!

That’s funny: Mark Penn wrote a book with the title “Microtrends. The small forces behind tomorrow’s big changes.” Mark Penn is the guy who received $10 million for consulting, direct mail and other services from the Clinton campaign. The very same campaign that is in deep, deep trouble, because a certain chief strategist missed the microtrend.

Seriously, with consultants like this one, who needs superior opponents in a presidential primary race?

Bill Gates, Tony Blair and President Clinton are among those who have listened closely to Mark Penn.

In Microtrends, you’ll understand why so many influential leaders have sought his counsel.

Penn and his co-author E. Kinney Zalesne argue that the biggest trends in America are the microtrends — the smaller trends that go unnoticed or even ignored. One percent of the nation, or 3 million people, can create new markets for a business, spark a social movement, or produce political change.

Why don’t I think of these things first?

Thank God for digital video recorders. I was watching CNN just now, minding my own business, not really paying attention, when W came on the TV and said this…

You know, one of the things I’ve learned and I suspect the people of Liberia have learned, it’s easier to tear a country down than it is to rebuild a country.

Which, you know, completely stopped me in my tracks. As it did to the good people of Liberia who managed about three confused claps to that line. Because when the planet’s most powerful, arguably least popular head of state starts talking about what lessons he’s learned (and, alas, he’s learned a good many), you listen.

And when that lesson is so stunningly obvious—that is, when the planet’s most powerful head of state reveals it to you like it’s The Secret that it’s considerably more challenging to build schools, repair roads and keep people of different sectarian groups from happily killing one another than it is to simply lob bombs at predetermined targets—wouldn’t you just twist in your chair and want to cringe and run away and bury your face in your hands?

Oh, people of Liberia, you have suffered. You deserve those million textbooks W promised you. Use them well. Be the new China. It’s gonna be awesome.

PS. I also found it sort of weird that W is still prez. I mean, I know he is. But hearing his voice—that pinched, confused, angry, desperate-to-explain-itself, half-yelling, why-don’t-you-just-agree voice—made me more tired and sad and ready to forget than actually angry. It’s like when you forgive a soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend and then realize that having ended the relationship in your head sort of lets you check out and relax and then you’re surprised you share the same solar system as he does.

Keep hitting refresh to see what else he does just for you. It will make you smile.

(Hat Tip: Wendy)

I’ll blog more when I have time but for now let me just mention that it is extremely interesting to be in Southeast Florida on the day that Fidel Castro announces his retirement. Extremely.

Oh. My. Sometimes I can’t wait for the RNC to start:

I know, I know, I know.

I, as the little, vastly under-read blogger, should not be pimping daily kos. Their readership is high enough, they don’t need my help. If anything I could use their help. Unfortunately, some of the user-generated posting over there is superb. (note: I said some) There are three good ones currently on the recommended list. And I will diligently link them. As if they need the help.

First, regarding Clinton campaign strategy: It’s Too Late

Second, regarding why said campaign strategy is as effective as chopping the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring: “Yes, he sure does.”

And finally, a good old fashioned rant-o-justified-indignation: . . .in which I call your butt out

I’ve never listed a must read, but any or all of these make for good reading. (Even if they were posted at the “Great Orange Satan”)

Remember what we’re supposed to do today?

Donate.

That’s a couple of pictures of the first President from Illinois (but not the only, turns out Ulysses Simpson Grant and Ronald Reagan both hail from the Land of Lincoln) to the next. $5.01.

Come on, I know we can all spare five bucks. That’s one fewer beers this week. Oh well.

The campaign has set a goal of 500,000 individual donations by March 4 and as of 1:00 am Central, this February 12 the number stands at 397,286. I hope we can be good for another half dozen or so. (just a head count of known Obama supporters who write or read this blog)

You know what to do.

Really, Hillary Clinton? Really?

Hilarity Ensues.

I really wonder what else Barack Obama has to win and by how big of a margin in order to get that badge of fake Democratic street cred called electability that the pundits are invoking non-stop like they are stuck in the 2004 election cycle. We are talking about the same people who deemed John Kerry electable, and we all know how well that went.

And not that it really matters anyway:

Obama is ahead with 18 to Clinton’s 13 won states in the overall count of states after the talking heads told us it would be over on Super Tuesday. Clinton only won 11 if you don’t count the states where Obama wasn’t even on the ballot (Michigan) or not competing (Florida).

Obama is also leading the popular vote right now with 931 against Clinton’s 882 - not counting the superdelegates, of course. He won these votes from black, Latino and white voters after the experts first told us that he was not black enough to be electable and then too black after the South Carolina primary. And he won after they told us about Clinton and her Latino “firewall” and notwithstanding the room for improvement for Obama on the issue of immigration. He got votes from the old after they told us that his is a campaign driven solely by the young, and he got votes from rural America after they told us his voters are all urban hipsters. He won from Alaska to the Virgin Islands.

He won Missouri after they told us that he can’t win in states that have primaries rather than caucuses because that’s his only strong suit. At times it almost sounded like it’s somehow a lesser accomplishment to win a caucus with strong grassroots support, and only a true victory if it’s a primary.

They said once the contest moves to the national level it would favor Hillary and he came out of Super Tuesday unscathed and won Washington, Nebraska, Louisiana and the Virgin Islands with record turnouts.

He is outfundraising all of his opponents getting money from thousands of small donors after they told us that Clinton with all her connections to big business, Hollywood and the unions had more money than she needed to win the nomination.

They said the demographics of Maine strongly favor Clinton. Yeah well, guess what…

It appears that the race for the Democratic nomination has moved beyond the question of the lesser evil, pardon, electability. The Democrats have a candidate that can do both, motivate the own party base beyond anything people have seen in decades and appeal to enough voters across party lines, beating the current Republican front runner McCain by 3% in the polls.