Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

Woo-hoo!

Reposting...

These 'problems' keep cropping up, and they really worry me...how elections go to the loser....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/us/15ohio.html?th&emc=th

How are you feeling this morning, Corey?

Hey Craig-
Is this a surprise to anyone? What reason is there to vote for Rudy- I don't think anyone would really trust him on the right or the left.
Take away the glory days post 9/11 where he was the face of the crisis- what's left?
I think about how my friends are arguing over Clinton and Obama's experience- Rudy seems to have no experience and only ethical problems.

More fodder for thought about who's honorable and who should be our next prez...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/opinion/15sat3.html?th&emc=th

The media and their faux use of the national polls propped up the Plunger. If Shrub hadn't been awol (again) on 911 rudee would have been a has been a long time ago.

This is what you get when your standard for approval is your candidate got the "pee smell" off of NYC street corners

Mitt will be the repug nominee, he'll lose the general election and get to call himself and elder statesman of the party. Rudy will go on to making sleazy business deals on behalf of oil rich sheiks. Huckabee will be Mitt's running mate, they will run under a "party of god" banner. They will lose in a major landslide, perhaps getting 35% of the vote in the general. The role now being played by the ChristoFascists within the GOP will be brought to an end and perhaps, and I only mean perhaps some sense of sanity will return to the GOP.

The CF's would do better to sit out the election and let the goopers lose on their own, it would guarantee their power in the party. They should let the Dole wing of the party be responsible for the lose.

I can live with your scenario, Brian, though I still worry about the 'what ifs'. WHAT IF something happens near next November that 'scares the country' and throws the election toward the right again? WHAT IF Romney/Huckabee were elected? No pun intended...God forbid!

Bill tells Charlie Rose: "It would be a miracle if Hillary wins in Iowa, and I'm not just low-balling you."

So do they want to lose so Edwards will win? I find it difficult to believe for Clinton to be so frank if he thought Hillary had screwed up in Iowa.

dnd
that's a bizarre conspiracy theory floated by true nutjobs

Edwards was always going to win in Iowa.\
Obama will be third.

the same people floating that theory are the same people who said Biden is surging and terra will make Rudee the candidate.

Hillary will come in third in both Iowa and NH, Brian predicts! Guess what folks, it's going to be a while before we know who will win the Dem nod. Edwards will win Iowa, Obama will win NH, the two of them will be battling it out for SC. I have a lot of doubts a black man can win in the deep south. SC is going to be interesting to watch.

The primary stats are much different than the genera
In the SC being black makes you a favorite. 53% of the SC primary voters are black.

Obama will be out after NH

Obama wona't be a serious contenter after NH but the money will keep him in. Young people aren't enough of a constituency to put you in the WH

i watched that entire Rose interview, dnd (a Bill Clinton tour de force, btw) and there was some interesting context to the "miracle if Hillary wins Iowa" line. His point was that he claims to have told her before she announced that she would not win Iowa, that Edwards already had the organizational advantage and Obama had a leg up as neighboring state pol. So his point was that it was a miracle that she is doing so well -- spin, perhaps, but the analysis behind it made sense. Some of the coverage is trying to fit that "miracle" line into the narrative that she's in trouble, but his point was just the opposite -- that it is a sign of her strength that she has any chance to win Iowa.

my prob with your analysis Brian is that I don't see how Edwards winning Iowa propels Obama to first place in New Hampshire

Obama is going to win NH, you are so wrong KC.

seems to me that Obama has to win Iowa in order to win New Hampshire, that not winning Iowa will burst his bubble

one thing i've noticed about the Edwards campaign in NH is that he is working upstate harder than i've ever seen a Democrat do -- it's the most conservative and rural part of NH, but if it works could provide him a margin for surprise off an Iowa victory

I think Obama will take the Inds in NH.

ron paul and mccain are the only two side of the road signs I've seen so far in SC

only the very small but rich coastal area that I've seen, I mean

The only yard sign up in my neighborhood is for Kucinich

regarding your comment about how hard Edwards is working NH. I know every weekend there is at least one bus load of New Yorkers going up to work in NH for Edwards. The loyalty of Edwards base is his ace in the hole.

The independents in NH are not liberals. Edwards has a better chance at them then Obama.

Exactly KC, and Edwards run left to Obama. Edwards needs to come in second in NH, which will bring him into head to head with Obama.

Obama is to the left of Edwards. in terms of voting records

KC Edwards is the liberal of the top tier Dems. Nobody is looking at senate voting records. It's all about message and the "vision" thing right now

to a degree it's hair splitting about who is more liberal but Obama except for Skinny Dennis probably has the most progressive voting record --maybe Dodd.

Also southerners don't do well in NH.

Among the more competitive candidates, Barack Obama is seen as furthest to the left. Thirty-four percent (34%) of Democratic voters see the Illinois Senator as politically liberal (see crosstabs). Twenty-nine percent (29%) say the same about Hillary Clinton, and 26% hold that view of John Edwards. Joe Biden is seen as politically liberal by 25% while 18% say the same about Bill Richardson
rasmussen poll

Craig,

Bill's interview really makes sense if you look back to the assets Hillary originally put into Iowa -- basically enough to finish well, but not looking for a win. It wasn't until the polls really showed her with a solid lead that the campaign started pouring money into the state.

I think this may have actually worked against her since when the tightening came, the added money and people looked like that "desperation" scenario so many of the punditry were spitting out in their we hate Hillary scenarios.

BTW, Matthews did a strange toss off yesterday totally out of context. In a whole hour of Clinton bashing, he inserted one sentence right after showing her commercial, "That's what HIllary is like in person".

Why would someone who spends hours practically slandering the woman insert a throwaway line that seems to say that all the negatives are just hot air?

Bill Clinton was
the only candidate in the last seven
presidential elections to lose both the
Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire
primary and still go on to win his
party’s nomination.

EVERYONE should read the link below. dog's eye view posted this yesterday. It's about the possibility of a DEPRESSION next year. It also predicts the death of the Republican party.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-fraser9dec09,0,3815304.story?track=mostviewed-storylevel

"I'm melting. What a world. What a world."
- The Wicked Witch of the West Wing (1993-2000)

Now would be a good time for Moveon to do something to mix it up. ...they could just quote Hucksterbee who said Shrub has a bunker mentality.

Rudy's campaign to date, as far as I could see, was based on the fact that, on 9/11, he wandered around the streets of NYC with no clue what had happened or what to do about it. It was the police and fire chiefs and the other city bureaucrats who led the rescue & recovery effort that he later took credit for.

Oh I don't think anyone on the left wants to hamper Huckabee's rise to the top, come on he's a dream come true candidate to run against.

KGC: Yeah, I heard that. Huckabee called the Bush admin "internationally isolated & incompetent."

Nash, in Rudy's defense he did rise to the occasion on 9/11, unlike George Bush who was hiding in a bunker.

Here's Huckabee ripping Bush a new one...

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/huckabee-strikes-at-bush-foreign-policy/

I'm feeling better , although I still have an upset stomach. I'm no longer white as a ghost in the face. I tried to do some shopping today. I got myself some things at the grocery store , but I didn't last long. I'm back home to stay for the day.

Notice how when repugs speak it's "Islamic terrorism" when Dems speak it's just "terrorism" . Says a lot about who the two parties are.

Glad you're feeling better corey, the flu sucks.

Brian: You're a New Yorker so you probably know all this. After the first World Trade Center bombing, Rudy got some recommendations, which he ignored.
Rudy...
* Never got the police & fire depts the right sort of radios so they could talk to each other.
* He placed his emergency response center in the Trade Center, which was the WORST possible place to put it.
* After 9/11 he did nothing to protect city workers at ground zero and they are now all getting sick from respiratory disease.

In what weird universe can one run on this record? Even the Republican base isn't that stupid.

Corey: Do you have Flu?

The Republicans are better off with the Huckster as a candidate. It keeps the evangelical movement in place, old style republicans are not going to stay home and if they continue to whip up hatred ..they have an anti gay measure on the ballot in Fla and of course immigration.

It was smart of him to attack Shrubco. What does he have to lose. I wonder if this is the first advice from Ed Rollins.

I'm pretty sure it was the flu. Although I heard that some people got sickm after our Christmas dinner at work a few nights ago. But , I doubt it was food poisoning for me.

Nash I know all that, that's not my point. On that day he rose to the occassion, that's all I'm saying.

KCG,
Bill Clinton didn't really lose the Iowa Caucuses...he didn't really compete here as a deference to Senator Harkin who ran that year. Bill came in third to Harkin and uncommitted. It was also a very different time and I don't think you can compare anything that happened then to the compressed schedule of this cycle

Corey: What to do for flu...
* bundle up
* drink cocoa
* watch old movies (30s-50s)

Corey: I had the flu once. I was so weak, i couldn't get out of bed for four days. I didn't feel bad, just WEAK.
I was also floating in a dreamy state of consciouness.

Here is something, the local ION network is running an hour and a half show entitiled "Understanding the Mormon Religon."

Zoey

All true. One of the interesting things about this race is Obama and Cinton both have a lot of money so even with losses they can stay in. They are not depending on wins to increase fundraising.

And pretty much everything is true in politics until someone defies the convention wisdom. It's been my experience that guts win out over caution almost everytime.

Brian: I now how emtional new Yorkers get about 9/11 but it seemed to me that Rudy was just going around getting good photo ops, cynically exploiting the situation to make himself look like a leader. He should have gone back to his office: that's were he would have been more effective at coordinating the response.

Zoey: According to Huckabee, Mormons think that Jesus and Satan were brothers. I don't know if this is true but it shows the potential for animosity between Mormons and fundamentalist Christians who take this sort of thing VERY seriously. Personally, I find the issue about as silly as the medieval scholars who debated how many angels could dance on the head of a pin.

America 2007: where medieval theological arguments can decide a presidential debate. (How far we have come.)

I don't see it that way nash, and just because I don't support him don't think credit should be withheld from where it's due. And in all candor you have no idea what the feeling was here in NYC as we watched our city going up in flames and our fellow New Yorkers jumping out of an 80 story window, nobody was thinking about photo ops that day. You're being unfair.

By the way, SEVEN angels can dance on the head of a pin, and anyone who says different goes on the rack!
-Archbishop Nash

Oh you christian and your silly Satan issues.

Do we have a poll this week? I missed a lot of posts this week, so if there was word on it, I didn't see it.

I tried to link from here at Craig's cq site, and got "page not available."

No poll that I know about Ed

What the HELL. (Chuckle). This is getting interesting. I should just announce my candidacy and get into the Republican primary race.
-Satan
(At least I know what to do after you lose a war.)

Thanks, Brian

Archbishop Nash,

You must be using Archangels. The numbers increase exponentially if you use Cherubs, although I have to agree the Archangels are better dancers.

FYI...Obama is on C-Span live right now.

The poll is on the right under "links". I don't know if Ran has reset from the last run through, so will have to wait for a message for him when to do another go ahead.

If everyone wants they can put up their picks for the 1, 2, 3 finish in Iowa and New Hampshire. I can do a table, and we will see who the great prognosticators are.

I'm not ready to call the repugs, but I'm ready to call the Dems,

Iowa:
Edwards
Obama
Hillary
(there's reason Bill is out there down playing Iowa. I'm betting they are getting some bad internal poll numbers)

NH
Obama
Edwards
Hillary

Hillary's campaign is in a lot of trouble, they are being crushed by the weight of hubris and never conceived on things turning sour for her and every attempt at a repair job just digs them in deeper. It's amazing to watch. Too many chefs do spoil the soup ya know.

But oh look at the momentum Hillary could receive if she won Iowa after effectively downplaying expectatons.

Dream on zoey and pass me whatever your smokin! One thing that the press hasn't reported on yet but something I'm getting a sense of, there is a lot anger coming at Hillary from a lot of party people. Obama's newest commercial with the former Hillary delegate is really very telling.

Jamie,

You left-coasters must get a different screen than I do. I got to the old poll address by clicking "blogroll" under links on Craig's cq page, but all that stuff is on the left on my screen.

That's where I got the page not available. Then went to ran's blog but didn't find anything there either.

Time to run now. Do some shopping, watch the NFL game in a bar on the hated NFL network, then get home and hope I beat the blizzard that's supposedly on its way.

Craig,
Thanks for providing some context to the Charlie Rose interview. That plays well with what Zoey said about downplaying expectations.

Trippe tapped into it the other day when he went after Mark Penn over Obama! Somethings brewing.

Brian,
I didn't say she was going to win or even that I want her to win so get off your high horse. It has been proven many times that candidates who meet or exceed expectations are rewarded with momentum.

Clinton won't lose both IA and NH.

Edwards won't win NH,will finish 3rd in NH.

Clinton wins NH, SC, and Nevada.

Huckabee breezes to a landslide win in IA, Romney stops the Huck-Express in NH...Huckabee wins in SC, McCain surfaces to capture Nevada.

Sez me.

I agree zoey, it's nice up here on my high horse. I think with Hillary though we've gone past the expectations game, I think we're seeing a revolt. God I'd love tap into Howard Dean's phone right now.

The only thing trippi did was tap into the insane blatherings of tweety..

tweety was all set to attack Clinton over the fundraising charge until he was informed it was Obama doing the fundraising. He is an uninformed nutjob and the only one who believes this crap.

Edwards is the candidate who has no money and the most vulnerable to damage from early losses.
The public funding issue is a real problem is terms of being competitive with the goopers

I'm sorry KC, Trippi was brilliant, major score.

I think if one really believes Senator Clinton's campaign is in ruin then why say third place..why not put in her fouth or lower...after all since you believe all that other happy horsepucky why not subscribe to the Biden is surging meme too.

KC the matching fund does not weigh on the emotions of the primary voters and caucus goers doe. Take money from lobbyists does.

Clintons loyal base will keep her in third.

The Charlie Rose interview of Bill Clinton is on youtube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_45KK8jwJR0

I love the experience argument as there is no one in the dems second tier that doesn't have more experience than Hillary and Obama put together.

dnd as Iraq and Iran weight less on the publics mind expierence becomes a smaller issue. Bad for both Hillary and Rudy, they both are counting on capturing a slice of the "fear" vote.

Brian
IMoney is part of the electibility discussion.
Clinton will not lose her base of support in the Democratic party. These are the folks who vote in the primaries and attend caucuses.
In virtually every state her supporters are the Democratic Party.

I said she'd hold her base, her base isn't big enough to win, and her base is too heavily loaded with beltway types.

You see KC i really think we're at the start of populist voting cycle. That goes against Hillary. Hillary has peaked.

She has Democratic party types
people who put together slate cards and gtov drives
she has a big base of party regulars in each state.

Despite the analysis to the contrary, the Hucksters surge is not due to his "populist" stands. A title he does not deserve. More media baloney

Hucksterbee is a result of none of the above.
The apparent success of the war should help Clinton and McCain.

I've told you what I thought is happening. Time will prove me either right or wrong.

I can't speak for NH but there is a lot of talk around here right now about Edwards and the matching funds not beng able to compete with a money machine like Mitt. Personally, I think there will be other Dem groups who would take up the slack should Edwards be the nominee but there is definite concern.

Concern about lobbyist money...not so much. Most of my activist friends believe we are lobbyists too. I don't know anyone who does not have an agenda or issue that is important to them. This is how they pick the candidate they will support, volunteer for, or donate to.

Besides in my circles it has backfired in the past when Edwards brings up the subject of lobbyists. He has taken money from trial lawyers and they are the biggest lobbying group out there. They definitely have an agenda.

Having had to sue an insurance company to get my benefits, I'm grateful every day for trial lawyers.

Just picked up my mail today, flyers from Hillary, Edwards, Obama, and Richardson. I was beginning to wonder where Richardson was since I haven't heard much about him lately.

How much campaign lit do you recieve a week zoey?

Brian
Thank goodness it is coming to an end. Democrats need to finish the primary season united and not harboring grudges.

I certainly expect us all to unite after the primary season.

KC there is nothing more important than a Democrat winning the white house. And it never has been more important than it is now.

Again as usual Brian you missed the point of my comment. Maybe I should just write in bullet points so you can understand it more easily. I did not say anything bad about trial lawyers. In fact, there are several I call friends, But at least the ones I know would be the first to say they have an agenda and support the candidate that fits that agenda the best.

I predict Obama and his supporters will be sore losers.

Everyone on the gooper side will be a sore loser.

Well we all have our favorite special interest groups. I just think the entire "trial lawyer" is just a bull shit repug talking point to help protect their fat cat supporters from being sued.

Trial lawyers are our protectors, the fact they make a lot of money doing it bothers me not.

I get flyers everyday from one or more candidates. Most of it comes from Hillary, Edwards, and Obama. Sometimes I also get hand-delivered pieces of literature. Besides snail mail I also get numerous emails and phone calls.

I feel sorry for my mailman because there is so much political lit being sent out in addition to regular catalogs, personal Christmas cards, and political Christmas cards from the party and local candidates I have volunteered for in the past year.

EdvB

I clicked on the poll and it seems to have been taken down. I sent Ran an email the other day and it bounced. So I'll do it the old fashioned way.

For the first three races: IA, NH, SC

Who will come in first second and third both Dem and Rep contenders.

I'll put your guesses in a table. Final day for submission the day before the IA Caucus

The DSM Register will be posting their endorsements online sometime tonight for tomorrow's paper. They endorsed Edwards last time.

Tweety thinks they will do it again, what do you think zoey?

not if the girl gang conspiracy has anything to do with it...

"The newspaper's editorial board, which makes the endorsements, operates separately from the newsroom. Even David Yepsen, the Register's esteemed political columnist, claims not to know what will happen. In a town that consumes political information like popcorn, this is the best-kept secret around.

Those sifting for clues make hay out of the fact that Sen. Hillary Clinton's camp publicly feted the paper's editorial staff at a local eatery recently and that Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware was called in twice for interviews. David Axelrod, chief strategist for the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, sat in for his candidate's interview with the board a week or so ago. "It went well -- or at least I think it did," he said. "They're absolutely inscrutable."

Political operatives credit the paper's endorsement with raising the campaign of then-obscure North Carolina Sen. John Edwards in 2004. He went on to place a strong second in the Iowa caucus and won a spot on the presidential ticket. But history may not repeat itself. Even Edwards aides say it is unlikely he will win the prize this time around.

Since 2004, the paper's editorial board has undergone heavy turnover. That six of the seven in the group are women hasn't been lost on political observers, who wonder if this might give Mrs. Clinton an edge.

But speculation tilts heavily toward Mr. Obama, who opposed the Iraq war from the beginning. Some think the Register prefers to back candidates who aren't establishment favorites, a description that may apply more to Mr. Obama. After all, everyone likes to play kingmaker."

Modify slightly.

Everyone have your IA both Dem and Rep picks in before the Caucus. Then we will do NH but you can put them in at anytime. Then we will do NC. That will take care of the earliest contests.

Jamie, here are my predictions so that I may be on the record to eat crow later. Incidentally, the entrails of chickens were involved in this process…

IA D's:
Obama
Edwards
Clinton

IA R's:
Huckabee
Romney
Thompson

NH D's:
Obama
Clinton
Edwards

NH R's:
Romney
McCain
Giuliani

SC D's:
Obama
Clinton
Edwards

SC R's:
Huckabee
Romney
Thompson

Dexter and everyone else, Please make your picks according to format with as many of the picks as you want to do now.

Dem IA, first second and third

Rep IA First Second Third

Dem NH First SEcond Third

Rep NH first second third

Dem NC First Second Third

Rep NC First Second Third

Are people really showing up to see Chuck Norris?

I would not be suprised if the Register picks Obama and Huckster but I really don't have any idea. I had a mole in the room last time but not this time. If I hear anything concrete before it is posted I will let you know.

I could also see the Register picking someone from the 2nd tier of Dem candidates. They like an underdog...it sells more papers.

The History channl is re-running 1968 now if you missed it before.

"I could also see the Register picking someone from the 2nd tier of Dem candidates. They like an underdog...it sells more papers" zoey

the Biden surprise

I think the register will endorse mcCain.for the goopers an Clinton for the Democrats.

Ah, I just throw in when I feel like it...I can't predict anything but the obvious, like Huckabee winning in IA.

With pundits saying "Webb could emerge at the Convention..." and "Thompson is a viable threat...", well...I'd rather just wait and see.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh...and I ain't so happy today...those "Dexter" episodes from ShoTime Channel on AOL TV?
Pay per view.
Fuhgeddaboudditt.

Great post, as always, Craig.

BTW, how on earth can you stand to be in the same room with Chris Matthews, the Archie Bunker of Lazy-Boy Chair journalism?

KCG,
You may be right about McCain...they seem to have a soft spot for him. He doesn't have much support though and hasn't really done the hard work of campaigning in the state which the Register likes to reward.

I wonder how badly it could hurt Hillary if they endorsed her. It raises those expecttions back up and I don't know if that would help or hurt. I will be interested to hear what the non-activist (but possible and likely caucus-goers) have to say when I get back to work on Monday.

Pat Buchanan drives a Lincoln Navigator.
I pulled up beside a Lincoln Navigator today here in town, and glanced over , which I never do...and the driver was a dead ringer for Pat Buchanan. I did a cartoon-like double take...the Navigator had Virginia plates...really weird! A celebrity look-alike in the same model vehicle...odd.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But don't ever be surprised to see Britney Spears at the gas station at 3 in the morning...that WILL be her!

Dexter,

If you have an itunes subscription, you can download the Dexter Show.

I spoke to tweety in person in January of 2004...what an absolute jerk. It was hard to get close to him,his head was so big. I met Craig the same night and there was no comparison. Craig was perfectly charming and well, cuddly, I guess.

Zoey
I guess historically the odds are against Clinton since they endorsed Bradley and previously Paul Simon.

They might endorse Thompson instead of McCain but I don't think it's going to be either Romney or Huckster.
I guess they could really go out on a limb and support Ron Paul.

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Craig you old teddy bear!

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=mobile

the register will be happy to text you the endorsement if you want to be among the first to know

Sorry Craig. I have a thing for men in flannel shirts I guess, but only in the winter. Flannel in the summer is just too weird.

I see lots of Fred 2008 bumper stickers here in Nashville....but the only yard signs I see are Ron Paul.....

Any Grant is my new hero....She was on Paula Deen's holiday special and told a story of once when her family had 75 guests for a holiday dinner. She threw together a pan of cheese grits without much close attention. When it was baked, she noticed that there were black specs throughout. One of her sisters (or someone) told her the grits had to have had bugs. She said, "Well, I'm gonna throw some cracked pepper on the top and serve it anyway."

The boy who delivers chinese food is about to become my hero!

What time is the register supposed to release the endorsement?

They haven't said what time they will announce the endorsements.

At Jamie's suggestion, John Tanner (DoJ, racist) has been added to The Culture of Corrupters List.

tt

Iowa dem: Edwards, Clinton, Obama
Iowa rep: McCain, Huckerbee, Ron Paul

NH dem: Clinton, Edwards, Obama
NH rep: McCain, Romney, Ron Paul

SC dem: Clinton, Edwards, Obama
SC rep: Romney, McCain, Huckrabee

sheer guesswork......

Thick slices of pumpernickel slathered in butter.
Smoked sausage.
Sauerkraut.

Achtung!

Dinner.

Careful, after a dinner like that you might have the urge to invade Poland.

Are we placing bets?

tt

I'm really getting to like the young guy in red on the top right.

tt

more about the huckleberry kid and animal abuse.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/78241

yo soy Horsedooty!

Dexter: "Thick slices of pumpernickel slathered in butter.
Smoked sausage.
Sauerkraut.
Achtung!"

Oh my gawd that sound fabulous!

Politics = 'Everybody lies'.

tt

*L* @ tt...So what do you think? Will his ideas change the world?

Tip Toe

Not sure where Ran is so I'm putting everyone's guesses about IA, NH, and SC in a chart.

You can do them all now, or just do IA before the Caucus and the others later before those elections.

Evening all.

Corey: so glad you are on the mend.

Dex: yum. Sauerkraut on the side or with the sandwich? Will you share?

Was out at Arlington Cemetery today to lay wreaths for friends and family; place was packed with pedestrians scooting about placing wreaths donated by a charity. Two truckfuls of wreaths.

Think I saw Joe Louis (boxer's) grave. If so, he has Clark Clifford as a nearby eternal neighbor.

Have to catch up with your posts. Ciao for now.

Endorsement news:
Globe goes for Obama

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/15/for_the_democrats_barack_obama/

Globe also endorses mccain

Dog:
I yelled Achtung! to alert everyone to the kraut & stuff!
Just sausage and kraut on a plate with a platter of pumpernickel , all smeared up with butter. Of course you can have some! ---Store-bought apple jam-filled cookies for a last course...I was bad and ate all the homemade chocolate chip cookies. My wife brained me with a cast-iron skillet for that caper! No problem, we have lawyers in Crawford's house here!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you follow dog's lead and go to Arlington National Cemetery,chances are you'll visit the Kennedy gravesite.
Just a few steps away lies Vance Hartke, my fave all-time US Senator.

and Clinton gets the IRegister's nod-
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071215/NEWS/71215016

Forgive me for this very tired joke:

"You say they buried Nixon twelve feet down? "

Yes, because deep down, he is a very good president.

Ok...I twisted it...it is really about "lawyers". But I don't wanna get banned!

Kathy...I suspected that.
Just as I suspect Clinton will win the whole thing.

A White Russian for The Dude!

http://hydepark.hevre.co.il/Upload09/D4BB9508E23A4ED1ABC5D35A2ECFF5A3.jpg

for dog: This is Joe Louis's fist...It is outside JLA in Detroit.
And yes, it has been very controversial.

http://www.rivalfish.com/rivalroom/uploaded_images/JoeLouisFist-783792.jpg

Dex , remember when someone threw white paint all over the fist a few years ago? I am crashed out on the couch tonight.

Yep...and that sculpture has been catching hell ever since it appeared there.

waiting to hear who Des Moines Register endorses.

Well Jake Rienhart's rodeo is over for this year. Tonight he tied with two other fellows for second and third and fourth with a time of 4.8 seconds for his run. That will pay him $16,923.07.

he came in to the rodeo winning $55,264.98 and with this week he has won $72,188.05. Things could have been better but they could have been a lot worse.

yo soy Horsedooty!

GD.

Des Moines Register endorses Hillary Clinton.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Presidential-Endorsements.html

OK, follow up question:

how many times has Des Moines Register Endorsement been predictive of the Iowa caucus winner?

And yes, plead guilty to sheer laziness for not looking it up myself. (But Jamie and KGC have such atomic age research skills!)

The Des Moines Register endorsement proved a key boost for Edwards in 2004, resulting in a second-place finish. Additionally, the Register's endorsement has proved influential in three of the last four cycles; they backed caucus winner Walter Mondale in 1984 and second-place winner Paul Simon in 1988. In 2000, the Register's endorsed Bill Bradley who lost to Al Gore.

Just finished watchin "American Perspectives" on C-SPAN with Michael Dukakis as the guest. It was very thoughtful and interesting on a whole host of subjects.

One pleasant remark: "Romney is a fraud and he was a lousy Governor".

well when I wrote the last update about the daughters friend they had not updated for tonights rodeo. Jake won $23,886.21this week and total for the year $79,151.19. Not bad for a WNFR rookie.

yo soy Horsedooty!

Jamie, I'll do my prediction after the caucus.

Ah, Peter Maxx, what an artist.

tt

"after the caucus"

20/20 Hindsite?

Make that Hind Sight

another example of Gov Huckleberry Hound's judgment with funny looking parole and clemency hearings.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/12/15/519110.aspx

yo soy Horsedooty!

The Register endorsed John McCain, too.
Jamie...did you know what Dukakis reported? NIXON tried to get Universal Health Care in 1971...passed the House , like 330-70 of the voters on the floor that day...sent to Senate...and the southern Senators filibustered it to death! NIXON!! I was in the Army then and never heard a damn thing about it.

Dukakis also said Bush43 is the worst prez in his lifetime.

AND I say EVER !!

Des Moines story:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-12-15-register-endorsements_N.htm

At a loss on what to fix for Christmas dinner this year? Try this thing:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=502605&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow

Yes, Jamie and then I can say I knew it all along.

tt

That's a HUGE turkey.

I've learned of the Turducken since I moved here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turducken

Not quite as fancy.

tt

just looking at that gives me gas.

yo soy Horsedooty!

John's dad with some rye whiskey:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05E91pgKCx0

The Vatican Rag, for Rudi:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f72CTDe4-0

send the marines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHhZF66C1Dc&feature=related

Lehrer on songs satire and boosh:

Lehrer has commented that he doubts his songs had any real effect on those not already critical of the establishment: "I don't think this kind of thing has an impact on the unconverted, frankly. It's not even preaching to the converted; it's titillating the converted... I'm fond of quoting Peter Cook, who talked about the satirical Berlin cabarets of the '30s, which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the Second World War."[1] In 2003 he commented that his particular brand of political satire is more difficult in the modern world: "The real issues I don't think most people touch. The Clinton jokes are all about Monica Lewinsky and all that stuff and not about the important things, like the fact that he wouldn't ban landmines... I'm not tempted to write a song about George W. Bush. I couldn't figure out what sort of song I would write. That's the problem: I don't want to satirise George Bush and his puppeteers, I want to vaporise them."[2]

the beatles and the press about "bigger than jesus" flap with a dash of viet nam and sho biz........

disc jockey Tommy Charles.......B'ham, right Pogo? Doug Leyton and Tommy Charles........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1CidMWUfbw&feature=related

Dex: have you seen the U-tube "F'ing Short Version of the Big Lebowski" ?

Good Morning Gang.....

I'm housebound today.... along with my eastern brethren.... BIG blizzard going on..... supposed to get ice on top of lots of snow this afternoon..... hope our power holds out for the Patriots game.....

I'm predicting that Clinton will be the Dem nominee......
don't want to go state by state...... want to enjoy the show without any emotional baggage......

looks like I might watch some of the Sunday shows...... Rick and I can't get out for our usual Sunday brunch...... but then.... I could always stick my nose in a book...... currently reading "Pillars of the Earth" (Oprah book).... having lots of fun with it...... at almost 600 of it's 900+ pages..... set back in the 1100s..... oh the subterfuge and politics that went on back then!

Wait! DSR's editorial board can be bought for a free dinner? Ain't politics grand!

I know newspaper's endorsements carry weight, but it baffles me why they do.

Dexter,

Though I knew about Truman by name because at the time my dad was in the Army, I first became aware of politics enough to have an opinion with the 52 election. That is how long I've heard about universal healthcare.

Virtually everyone coming out of WW II thought it was a good idea and it was at that time that England first adopted the NHS, so it doesn't surprise me that Nixon was for it. Unfortunately Eisenhower coming on the heels of Roosevelt and Truman owed his presidency to the money men and they hated the idea of "Socialized Medicine". This then became part of the Republican ethos as the cold war deepened.

It has taken us until now to finally convince the American public that it might be a good idea to consider again. The rubric of "best medicine in the world" has started to fall on deaf ears now that the public has been exposed to having the most expensive health care with the poorest results for the money.

oh..... I forgot to say who I think the Repug nominee will be....

ok..... after much consideration.... they will decide none of the current bozos fits the bill and nominate Reagan's ghost..... and Gomer Plye will be VP.....

seriously..... I don't know.... none of them appeals to me..... and apparently, there's no consensus on which one appeals to them.....

I'm just gonna watch and see what happens......
and of course..... as always..... I'll enjoy the ride...... :0)

Oh great....here we go again....

HuffingtonPost:

Florida4Marriage sounds like the worst boy band of all time, but it turns out it's not. It's a Republican front group, run by a personal injury lawyer, to lure gay-hating boobs into the voting booths next November.

Florida4Marriage, and its chairman, John Stemberger (a recognized leader in rental car accident law) are the people behind Florida's new Marriage Protection Amendment, and yesterday they finally got the signatures they need to put it on the 2008 ballot.

So come on down! And while you're in there, marking the magic X that proves you're not a homo -- and that your life wasn't a squalid waste of everyone's time, because at least you got yerself hitched -- why not also vote for a Republican president?

Something for you. Something for the GOP. It's a get-out-the-vote win/win.

Anti-gay amendments are the Happy Meal toy of Republican politics.

Julia,

$800 per person Christmas dinner is a bit outside my budget.

So here's what we have so far for Iowas

Brian Edwards Obama Clinton
Jamie Clinton Obama Edwards Romney McCain Huckabee

Mad Mustard Obama Edwards Clinton Huckabee Romney Thompson

Sturgeone Edwards Clinton Obama
McCain Huckerbee Ron Paul

Renee Clinton Final Nominee
Tiptoe Just gets To Be Right

Rep Julia Carson (D) of Indianapolis dies at 69

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071216/SPECIAL21/712160384

Actor singer Floyd Red Crow Westerman also passed away.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7724819?nclick_check=1

dnd

"I know newspaper's endorsements carry weight, but it baffles me why they do." Many voters who consider it their duty to vote, but who are not particularly caught up in politics enough to analyze the candidates depend on a trusted source for a recommendation.

This is why the far right started distributing cards to the church goers as their "religious" duty to go to the polls. It has given them a leg up for years though has less force now that so many people have caught on that it was a fund raising source for the groups putting out the cards.

My favorite Tom Lehrer wasn't political

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXx2VVSWDMo&feature=related

Jamie,
You of course are correct. But my feeling is that one's duty is not only to vote, but take a few minutes to see where candidates and ballot measures stand on issues, and see how they agree with one's own opinions. Otherwise one is vulnerable to being duped into voting for someone who's ideas you generally wouldn't support.

Ok, I'm climbing off my soapbox now...

dnd,

At that's how we got George. There are a lot of people voting who shouldn't be allowed out of doors much less into a voting booth, but up until now, the system usually manages to be self correcting.

I'm not completely convinced that we will get past this presidency without something almost permanently destructive happening.

and my other favorite Lehrer - The rather licentious Alma

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgTL71yZ3Mo

as usual tweety continues his anti hillary campaign and I guess they did the promotion for it before Clinton got the Register endorsement. Now he looks like a spoiled child who is throwing a tantrum.

Obama also bought dinner .
DND you are joinging Tweety in your irrational hate of Clinton

Renee

When you finish the 900 pages of The Pillars of the Earth, you still have another 900 to go with the sequel "World Without End". I'm about a fourth of the way through and I'm starting to think of it as "book without end". It's really good, but rather impinging on my life.

dnd: "Otherwise one is vulnerable to being duped into voting for someone who's ideas you generally wouldn't support."

That's what's happening with a lot of the Ron Paul supporters....people only hear no income tax and get out of Iraq....