Labels: 9/11, ASCE, Boston Herald, engineering, Homeland Security, Katrina, science, Spending
posted by jimboses @ 8:29 AM
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posted by jimboses @ 8:28 AM
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Hillary Clinton may not realize it yet, but she’s just endured one of the worst weeks of her campaign.
Barack Obama weathered the Rev. Jeremiah Wright affair without serious damage to his nomination prospects. Obama still holds a tiny lead among Democrats nationally in the Gallup tracking poll, just as he did before this whole affair blew up.
Second, Obama’s lawyers successfully prevented re-votes in Florida and Michigan. That means it would be virtually impossible for Clinton to take a lead in either elected delegates or total primary votes.
Third, as Noam Scheiber of The New Republic has reported, most superdelegates have accepted Nancy Pelosi’s judgment that the winner of the elected delegates should get the nomination. Instead of lining up behind Clinton, they’re drifting away. Her lead among them has shrunk by about 60 in the past month, according to Avi Zenilman of Politico.com.
In short, Hillary Clinton’s presidential prospects continue to dim. The door is closing. Night is coming. The end, however, is not near.
Last week, an important Clinton adviser told Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen (also of Politico) that Clinton had no more than a 10 percent chance of getting the nomination. Now, she’s probably down to a 5 percent chance.
Five percent.
Let’s take a look at what she’s going to put her party through for the sake of that 5 percent chance: The Democratic Party is probably going to have to endure another three months of daily sniping. For another three months, we’ll have the Carvilles likening the Obamaites to Judas and former generals accusing Clintonites of McCarthyism. For three months, we’ll have the daily round of résumé padding and sulfurous conference calls. We’ll have campaign aides blurting “blue dress” and only-because-he’s-black references as they let slip their private contempt.
For three more months (maybe more!) the campaign will proceed along in its Verdun-like pattern. There will be a steady rifle fire of character assassination from the underlings, interrupted by the occasional firestorm of artillery when the contest touches upon race, gender or patriotism. The policy debates between the two have been long exhausted, so the only way to get the public really engaged is by poking some raw national wound.
For the sake of that 5 percent, this will be the sourest spring. About a fifth of Clinton and Obama supporters now say they wouldn’t vote for the other candidate in the general election. Meanwhile, on the other side, voters get an unobstructed view of the Republican nominee. John McCain’s approval ratings have soared 11 points. He is now viewed positively by 67 percent of Americans. A month ago, McCain was losing to Obama among independents by double digits in a general election matchup. Now McCain has a lead among this group.
For three more months, Clinton is likely to hurt Obama even more against McCain, without hurting him against herself. And all this is happening so she can preserve that 5 percent chance.
When you step back and think about it, she is amazing. She possesses the audacity of hopelessness.
Why does she go on like this? Does Clinton privately believe that Obama is so incompetent that only she can deliver the policies they both support? Is she simply selfish, and willing to put her party through agony for the sake of her slender chance? Are leading Democrats so narcissistic that they would create bitter stagnation even if they were granted one-party rule?
The better answer is that Clinton’s long rear-guard action is the logical extension of her relentlessly political life.
For nearly 20 years, she has been encased in the apparatus of political celebrity. Look at her schedule as first lady and ever since. Think of the thousands of staged events, the tens of thousands of times she has pretended to be delighted to see someone she doesn’t know, the hundreds of thousands times she has recited empty clichés and exhortatory banalities, the millions of photos she has posed for in which she is supposed to appear empathetic or tough, the billions of politically opportune half-truths that have bounced around her head.
No wonder the Clinton campaign feels impersonal. It’s like a machine for the production of politics. It plows ahead from event to event following its own iron logic. The only question is whether Clinton herself can step outside the apparatus long enough to turn it off and withdraw voluntarily or whether she will force the rest of her party to intervene and jam the gears.
If she does the former, she would surprise everybody with a display of self-sacrifice. Her campaign would cruise along at a lower register until North Carolina, then use that as an occasion to withdraw. If she does not, she would soldier on doggedly, taking down as many allies as necessary.
Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, NY Times
posted by jimboses @ 6:00 AM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Bill Richardson, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 9:53 AM
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posted by jimboses @ 8:07 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, China, economy, Fox News, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, Sean Hannity, USA
posted by jimboses @ 1:28 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 8:21 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Cheney, Democrats, dubya, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, RNC
posted by jimboses @ 2:18 PM
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Labels: Cheney, CIA, computer, dubya, engineering, military, Patriot Act, WaPo
posted by jimboses @ 1:36 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama
posted by jimboses @ 1:36 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Democrats, economy, health care, Iraq, John McCain, Veterans
posted by jimboses @ 12:11 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama
posted by jimboses @ 12:01 PM
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posted by jimboses @ 12:00 PM
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Labels: automobile, chemicals, energy policy, engineering, ethanol, space, Spending
posted by jimboses @ 9:51 PM
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“Clinton, who has frequently described herself on the campaign trail as playing a pivotal role in forging a children's health insurance plan, had little to do with crafting the landmark legislation or ushering it through Congress, according to several lawmakers, staffers, and healthcare advocates involved in the issue.”
FINALLY (!!) the media puts focus on the bogus and brazen and unsubstantiated claims of experience that have been put forth by the Clinton campaign...
So let's see now....
1) She failed in her secretive healthcare endeavor;
2) She didn't really do anything for SCHIP;
3) She didn't really bring peace to Northern Ireland;
4) She didn't really open the borders in Bosnia;
5) She didn't have any security clearances while first lady;
6) She didn'e even have a national security team on her staff while first lady;
7) She claims a speech in China as experience but at the same time disses Obama as merely giving speeches;
What EXACTLY does this campaign have to [claim] as experience?????
Labels: 2008 Elections, Boston Globe, health care, Hillary Clinton, NBC
posted by jimboses @ 12:09 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mark Penn
posted by jimboses @ 12:06 PM
1 comments
Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, effluvia, energy policy, engineering, ethanol, global warming, green, Hillary Clinton, Jewish, science
posted by jimboses @ 11:38 AM
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Labels: BBC, effluvia, medicine, science
posted by jimboses @ 9:40 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, baseball, Bill Clinton, computer, Democrats, effluvia, engineering, Hillary Clinton, Keith Olbermann, science, space
posted by jimboses @ 3:23 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 10:25 PM
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Labels: baseball, computer, effluvia, engineering
posted by jimboses @ 3:20 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 3:07 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 11:28 AM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, CNN, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 10:15 AM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi
posted by jimboses @ 2:45 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 2:28 PM
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"I don't know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice
presidency to someone who is first place," Obama said, drawing cheers and a
standing ovation from about 1,700 people in Columbus, Miss. Saying he wanted to be "absolutely clear," he added: "I don't want anybody here thinking that 'Somehow maybe I can get both'" by nominating Clinton as president and assuming he would be her running mate. "You have to make a choice in this election," he said. Obama aides said Clinton's recent hints that she might welcome him as her vice presidential candidate appeared meant to diminish him and to attract undecided voters in the remaining primary states by suggesting they can have a "dream ticket."
Obama had never suggested he might accept a second spot on the ticket. But until Monday he had not ridiculed the notion so directly, even if he did completely rule it out in Shermanesque terms.
He told the audience that it made no sense for Clinton to suggest he is not ready to be president and then hint that she might hand him the job that could make him president at a moment's notice.
"If I'm not ready, how is it you think I would be such a great vice president?" he said, as the crowd laughed and cheered loudly.
And the quote that was in Rawstory and not Yahoo! (dont know why):
"If I'm not ready, how is it that you think I would be such a great vice president. Do you understand that? ... They are trying to hoodwink you," he said. "You can't say he's not ready on day one, unless he'd be your vice president, then he's ready on day one."
That about raps' er up as far as the rhetorical mudslinging from Hills. She's now flung so much poo that we've come full circle. And dont forget about the tax return stuff - you can look up my previous post on that hypocritical turd.
Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 2:21 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 12:37 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 12:34 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Robert Reich
posted by jimboses @ 12:09 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain
posted by jimboses @ 11:55 AM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 11:51 AM
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Hillary Clinton’s constant touting of her vast foreign policy experience is finally starting to get examined. Suddenly, the scales are falling off the eyes of a willing press corps who are saying, Oh, that’s right, she actually doesn’t have any foreign policy experience. I’m reminded of the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes although one would hope the parallels stopped short of Clinton parading around in public naked; nobody wants to see that.
At any rate, Clinton’s most recent statement on the matter is finally raising eyebrows:
You know, I was involved for 15 years in, you know, foreign policy and security policy. You know, I helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland. I negotiated open borders to let fleeing refugees into safety from Kosovo. I’ve been standing up against, you know, the Chinese government over women’s rights and standing up for human rights in many different places. I’ve served on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And I was the only senator of either party asked to be on an important task force put together by the Pentagon under this administration to figure out what to do with our military going forward.
Lord David Trimble, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in Northern
Ireland, calls these claims “silly.”“I don’t know there was much she did apart from accompanying Bill [Clinton] going around,” he said. Her recent statements about being deeply involved were merely “the sort of thing people put in their canvassing leaflets” during elections. “She visited when things were happening, saw what was going on, she can certainly say it was part of her experience. I don’t want to rain on the thing for her but being a cheerleader for something is slightly different from being a principal player.”
Another source who should know, albeit one with an obvious agenda in downplaying Mrs. Clinton’s accomplishments, piles on:“She was never asked to do the heavy lifting” when meeting with foreign leaders, said Susan Rice, who was an assistant secretary of state in the Clinton administration and is now advising Obama. “She wasn’t asked to move the mountain or deliver a harsh message or a veiled threat. It was all gentle prodding or constructive reinforcement. And it would not have been appropriate for her to do the heavy lifting.”
Several other observers say much the same thing in that piece. An exception:Former Sen. George Mitchell, who was the lead U.S. negotiator, said Clinton’s visits were “very helpful.” “She was especially involved in encouraging women to get involved in the peace process,” which was a “significant factor” in the agreement, Mitchell said in an interview. [RBE note: this does not exactly sound like Hillary's campaign frame anyways; it almost reinforces the growing - and correct - frame that she didn't do much except be there for show]
Josh Marshall’s post on the subject is entitled “Please.”These are the sorts of puffed up claims that get other candidates held up to mockery and derision. But Clinton is using them as cudgels in her effort to portray Obama as a lightweight with no experience dealing with foreign policy crises. And basically she’s getting a pass. I guess it speaks to the advantages of staying on offense, which can never be gainsaid. But she’s still getting a big pass on this and a lot else.
Hilzoy compiles a blow-by-blow on Clinton’s claims and finds them, to say the least,
strained. Bruce McQuain has somefun, too. Ultimately, I more-or-less agree with Steve Benen on this.Clinton, as far as I’m concerned, is qualified to be commander-in-chief. She’s been a senator for eight years; she’s a bright and creative thinker; she’s served on the Senate Armed Services Committee; and she’s seen various foreign policy failures and successes up close over the last 16 years. If she were president, she’d have my full confidence. Which is all the more reason that I’m puzzled by the style and substance of her campaign pitch. Clinton simply isn’t a Joe Biden-like candidate. Why pretend that she is? And should she get the nomination, won’t this mistake be magnified by an opponent whose background is more extensive than her own? [rbe - emplasis mine]
At the very least, she’s making John McCain’s job easier in November, especially if Obama is the candidate. And, even Clinton pulls off the upset, she has bolstered McCain’s premise, that experience in matters of international security is the top voting issue by which a president should be judged, very nicely.
Labels: 2008 Elections, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 9:13 AM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 8:54 AM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 11:31 AM
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Labels: chemicals, computer, engineering, science, space
posted by jimboses @ 11:59 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 11:58 PM
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Labels: engineering, Food Safety, science
posted by jimboses @ 11:27 PM
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Labels: computer, engineering, Internet, science
posted by jimboses @ 11:25 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama
posted by jimboses @ 8:25 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 11:11 AM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 3:58 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 2:00 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 1:09 PM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton
posted by jimboses @ 12:58 PM
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Labels: media, The Big Picture, unemployment, USA
posted by jimboses @ 10:09 AM
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Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain
posted by jimboses @ 8:46 AM
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I'm a liberal chemical engineer swimming in a sea of right-wingers. My cohorts and I (The Gumbinator, Lemon-Lyman and Johnny K-Street) will post about such things as "green" science and engineering, other engineering/IT and how they may relate to politics and economics, and economic issues such as tax policy and government transparency. Electoral stuff too. Of course, I'll bash the Bushies...
