How have we not been commenting on Blago and the MN madness or now Richardson and our mutual friend Timmy Kaine?
Seriously, Blago is fantastic. I am looking forward to the Daily Show resuming tomorrow. And hopefully fulfilling my New Year's Resolution -- waking up at 6 am to watch Morning Joe and work out (somehow Joe Scarborough pisses me off just enough in the morning to keep me at a reasonable pace on the elliptical). Both provide immense sources of hilarity in this time.
Blago is just ridiculous enough that, well, I just don't know. Other than ROTFLMAO. Yeah, that's right, I reverted to the late 1990s acronyms. But how can anyone take him seriously? The appointment drama is a tragedy. I think Burris will be seated because of some legal thing Joe can explain. While it would be possible for Reid to make up a reason NOT to seat Burris, it would come off as so un-PC. He'll seat him, but would want to court or someone else to say he has to. In this game of chicken, instead of Reid swerving it'll be like he jumped over the car. Or being like Dalek Caan in the most recent Doctor Who series finale and performing an emergency temporal shift. (Guess what I've been reading besides politics.)
Apparently Franken won. And while working out tonight I saw him on an SNL repeat talking with Michael Jordan. $20 says that one isn't resolved until Februrary, and by the Supreme Court, which will uphold a Franken win using the Bush v. Gore precedent.
And more on Richardson and Timmy Kaine later. Except to say the VA blogosphere seems somewhat split on Kaine.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Just in case...
In case anyone still looks at this: Don't worry, I'm not still crying/formulating a response. Law school has just stopped me from writing. (Maybe) See you in a few weeks
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Results
On the electoral count, so far it seems I was one state off -- Ohio. Assuming Indiana, Missouri, Montana, and North Carolina go R, which does not seem unreasonable.
I'm watching the Obama speech now, and it's generic. Minus the newfound emphasis on the racial dimension of politics. I like it, but given Obama's standard it's nothing exceptional.
I think I'm still on a life high from seeing my students on Franklin Street. Joe, we're old or are getting there. I notice myself moderating my views, from communist to socialist. But on Franklin Street, before the police blocked us off, I saw some of my students. And they were excited about democracy (note the small "d"), and hopefully it'll stick. You and I are political junkies, but I hope these kids stay political.
While watching the Obama speech, the people crying about his election, I finally get the pull of his candidacy. All day I've felt close to crying, and I started out as a Hillary supporter. (For no other reason than she could break a hold in the Senate.) But here I am, behind Obama and hoping nothing crazy happens in the next few days.
I finally get the "hope" message. It's not about policy but about how we, as a collective, can overcome the second dimension of politics, which is so trivial when you get right down to it (even though you are friends with Coggin and Locher who pay more attention to it than they should). As I was told last year, race has always been an issue in American politics that no one has handled well. It's not whether or not we actually overcome the problems, but that we're at least willign to tackle it head-on. One of the problems of growing up in El Paso is that you don't fully realize how much race still plays into American politics. Maybe America can be more like El Paso in that sense as a result of this election.
I also like that the results were called pre-midnight. Oh, newest prediction: stock markets rise world-wide tomorrow.
I'm watching the Obama speech now, and it's generic. Minus the newfound emphasis on the racial dimension of politics. I like it, but given Obama's standard it's nothing exceptional.
I think I'm still on a life high from seeing my students on Franklin Street. Joe, we're old or are getting there. I notice myself moderating my views, from communist to socialist. But on Franklin Street, before the police blocked us off, I saw some of my students. And they were excited about democracy (note the small "d"), and hopefully it'll stick. You and I are political junkies, but I hope these kids stay political.
While watching the Obama speech, the people crying about his election, I finally get the pull of his candidacy. All day I've felt close to crying, and I started out as a Hillary supporter. (For no other reason than she could break a hold in the Senate.) But here I am, behind Obama and hoping nothing crazy happens in the next few days.
I finally get the "hope" message. It's not about policy but about how we, as a collective, can overcome the second dimension of politics, which is so trivial when you get right down to it (even though you are friends with Coggin and Locher who pay more attention to it than they should). As I was told last year, race has always been an issue in American politics that no one has handled well. It's not whether or not we actually overcome the problems, but that we're at least willign to tackle it head-on. One of the problems of growing up in El Paso is that you don't fully realize how much race still plays into American politics. Maybe America can be more like El Paso in that sense as a result of this election.
I also like that the results were called pre-midnight. Oh, newest prediction: stock markets rise world-wide tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Senate
Whoops, forgot about that one.. Just copying and changing what Joe says as I see fit
- AK - D Beigich over Stevens. Jenn says scandal will dominate
- GA - Run-off, followed by D victory because of existing Obama infrastructure
- CO - D Udall
- KY - R McConnell. We won't know for a while though.
- LA - D Landrieu. That one's been over for a while.
- MN - D Franken. All I've learned from having an advisor who studies MN politics is they get wacky. Really wacky.
- NH - D Shaheen. Jenn says look at the vote in Dixville Notch to see NH is going to be a D blowout.
- NC - D Hagan. Took me a while to get to thinking she'll win, but the latest insider numbers I heard of have Hagan up 3.
- OR - D Merkeley. Obama coattails
- CT - Lieberman. Why did I once date a guy who worked for him, seriously? What was I thinking as a freshman?
- MS - R Wicker. Same with GA. Huge black turnout comes into play. Only difference is that with the lack of Obama infrastructure in MS, the R wins.
Some comments on Jenn's last one
OK, so I can't function at all today and just read her posts after saying I wasn't going to.. oy.
I think race is a factor as well, and I think that Jenn might be right about the undecideds. But I would also knock 3-5% off of Obama's numbers, depending on the state. But I don't think its a race thing as much as its just popular thing to go for the guy who is winning.
Also, the key to factor in is how much Obama looks establishment now and how, ironically, some people may actually see Mac as a Maverick. They see "underdog" and think "maverick." I could have pushed a few more swing states to Mac had his numbers been a bit stronger this week to really make an upset look like a closer chance. Americans love that story of a heroic comeback (see Bill Clinton circa 1992, all the Rocky movies, any sports movie, etc).
Finally, something tells me that Palin may be more of a factor. ENPR says that PA is only in play because of her and I think that's right. I think the numbers to watch here are her TV ratings. I don't think that many Americans are tuning in to her debate and appearance on SNL because they hate her. I don't consider her convention speech as a factor, as it was her intro... although pulling a Barry-like audience says something too.
But as we all know, Americans will vote for the people they want to see more of (see every reality TV show). Hence Barry's over-saturation could prove costly. If Palin has resonated at all, Mac can take it.
If they don't win, I want Newt Gingrich as RNC head until 2010, and Palin after that. (Newt if they win or lose)
I think race is a factor as well, and I think that Jenn might be right about the undecideds. But I would also knock 3-5% off of Obama's numbers, depending on the state. But I don't think its a race thing as much as its just popular thing to go for the guy who is winning.
Also, the key to factor in is how much Obama looks establishment now and how, ironically, some people may actually see Mac as a Maverick. They see "underdog" and think "maverick." I could have pushed a few more swing states to Mac had his numbers been a bit stronger this week to really make an upset look like a closer chance. Americans love that story of a heroic comeback (see Bill Clinton circa 1992, all the Rocky movies, any sports movie, etc).
Finally, something tells me that Palin may be more of a factor. ENPR says that PA is only in play because of her and I think that's right. I think the numbers to watch here are her TV ratings. I don't think that many Americans are tuning in to her debate and appearance on SNL because they hate her. I don't consider her convention speech as a factor, as it was her intro... although pulling a Barry-like audience says something too.
But as we all know, Americans will vote for the people they want to see more of (see every reality TV show). Hence Barry's over-saturation could prove costly. If Palin has resonated at all, Mac can take it.
If they don't win, I want Newt Gingrich as RNC head until 2010, and Palin after that. (Newt if they win or lose)
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