Let the Games Begin!

All About Clinton

Senator Clinton gave an incredible speech tonight at the DNC. Incredible in many ways - she highlighted her years of service, her race for the White House, and her passion for healthcare. However what was ALSO incredible was the lack of endorsement for Senator Obama. True, she did mention his name 10 times - but what she did not do is make any observations or provide any details regarding WHY he should be President - except for the fact that he is the DNC nominee.

Nothing about his background, experience, qualifications - not one peep. In fact, Hillary spoke more about Michelle Obama and John McCain than she did Obama. She questioned his ability to lead in the primary race - and did nothing to quell that criticism tonight. Not one line about I have come to know Senator Obama during the past 18 months, and I have developed a great respect and fondness for him. Nada. Wouldn't it have been great if Clinton would have addressed these issues - it would have certainly debunked this new McCain ad:



As long as we are at it, what is with the McCain bashing - 4 more years of the same stuff that we have seen for the past 8 years? Is that really the best the Dems can come up with? Last I checked, McCain routinely broke with the Republicans - why do you think so many Repubs were not happy when he received the nomination. Also, Senator Clinton and Obama are both Senators - if they did not like the past 8 years then why didn't they pass some legislation that would change it? Last time I checked the Democrats controlled Congress. They have over-ridden the President's veto before (the recent Medicare bill comes to mind). So why not pass some legislation dealing with oil prices or health care? The House Republicans stayed in session over the August recess to try to get something done on energy and were ignored. The President can only do so much - nothing was stopping Congress in passing some legislation aimed at lowering gas prices.

Oh my what a night- we will see what happens tomorrow with the roll call vote. Rumor has it that Senator Clinton may attempt to cut short the roll call vote - however many of her supporters are not happy with this plan. They are urging Clinton to let the roll call be fully completed, so that their votes can be counted.

The Hillary Divide Continues

Hillary Clinton Supporter - Mad as Hell!



New McCain Ad:

Joe Biden (D-Amtrak)

So much for standing for 'CHANGE'. Obama counterdicted his campaign message of CHANGE when he selected Senator Biden to be his VP running mate.

The six-term senator from Delaware, is the the sixth-longest-serving senator. In Senator Biden's freshman senatorial year in 1974, before I was alive, Biden was named as a "Face for the Future" by Time magazine. Surely he is a Washington insider - one who is corrupted by the politics in D.C. - after all MBNA Corporation - the credit card giant (now owned by Bank of America) has contributed more that 214,000 dollars to Mr. Biden. Which is an interesting dynamic considering Senator Obama's tough stance against lobbyists and Obama's vow to target credit card companies if he is elected. Obama has stated that he will set up a five-star rating system and establish a consumer bill of rights to guard against unfair practices by credit card companies.

So Senator Biden - clearly a Washington insider - right?
NOT SO FAST... Enter Amtrak...

Apparently Biden does not have a residence in D.C. Instead, every night he takes an Amtrak train home to Wilmington so that he can eat dinner with his family. Yes, it seems that we will be hearing a lot about the Amtrak train - and how that makes him a regular joe - and not a Washington insider.

"He's not a creature of Washington," stated Linda Douglass, an Obama spokesman. "He's goes home on the train, eats dinner with his family, he's the epitome of a regular guy," she said.

In Springfield, Illinois Obama repeated the talking point stating that, "He never moved to Washington, instead, night after night, week after week, year after year, he returned home to Wilmington on a lonely Amtrak train."

A quick visit to the Amtrak website shows that an Amtrak train from DC to Wilmington takes between 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 35 minutes. The prices for a ticket for coach class ranges from 59 dollars to 129 dollars.

Vice Presidential Choice? McCain should pick Clinton

Hey Senator McCain- want to win this election hands down? Pick Hillary.
A McCain/Clinton ticket would be unstoppable - and would be far more appealing than an Obama/Biden ticket. You have reached across the aisle in the past, why not do it one more time.

Election 2008 - Divide and Conquer

Lots of exciting events happening in the political world in the past few days. First, the 3am text message that announced Senator Obama picked Senator Biden as his running mate. The 'official' announcement was made in Springfield, Illinois and provided a plethora of photos, clips, and sound bites.

The announcement in Springfield also provided two interesting "Opps" moments.
1. Obama slipped and announced Biden as the 'the next President of the United States"


2. Biden introduced Obama as Barack America


Senator Biden is an interesting choice for Obama - it seems that the two are at odds on a series of issues. For example, Obama has routinely been anti-lobbyist - saying that he will not accept contributions from lobbying groups. However, Biden's son, R. Hunter Biden, is a federally registered lobbyist with the law firm Oldaker, Biden and Belair. Additionally, Senator Biden has collected over 200,000 dollars this year alone from registered lobbyists.

Mere hours after the announcement the GOP launched an ad featuring Biden involved in this exchange with ABC'S George Stephanopoulos:

ABC's George Stephanopoulos: "You were asked is he ready. You said 'I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.'" Sen. Biden: "I think that I stand by the statement." (ABC's, "This Week," 8/19/07)

Also of interest, check out this Daily Show video from 2005


The Great Clinton Divide

There is a great divide in the democratic party - many loyal Clinton supporters are furious with the Obama camp - Why? Consider the following:

1. Hillary was not even vetted as a VP option. She was never asked to disclose medical, financial, or donor information to the Obama camp - a process that is routine when considering vp contenders. Pretty unbelievable considering she received 18 million votes.

2. The announcement of Obama's vice presidential pick via text message at 3am resinated as a cheap shot at Clinton. The 3am text is widely seen as 'pay back' at Clinton for her now famous campaign ads that asked who you would like to answer the "red phone" in the White House at 3 AM when there is a crisis?

3. Convention Conflicts - Over 1,500 loyal pledged delegates for Hillary Rodham Clinton will attend the convention, however the most anti-Obama delegates have been denied admission. Wednesday will be an interesting day to watch - Clinton's name will be placed into nomination (under a deal hammered out between the Obama/Clinton campaigns). Senator Clinton is urging the delegates to be unified and vote for Obama however some of the Rogue Clinton Supporters are simply not listening
"We know she's not going to win, but this is extremely symbolic for me to cast a ballot for a woman for president," Therese
Murray, president of the Massachusetts state Senate and a prominent Clinton supporter said.

4. The roll call vote has been viewed as a real problem, so much so that the Clinton team has developed a "whip team". The “whip team” consists of a 40 member team that is supposed to keep Clinton supporters from getting out of control. Apparently the whip team has now decided to assign each state a whip to prevent any problems during the roll call election.

5. An organization called 18 Million Voices Rise Hillary Rise, is calling on Clinton supporters to join a march and gathering celebrating Clinton's achievements and the 88th anniversary of women's suffrage on Tuesday, the second day of the DNC. This will be interesting because many of the Clinton supporters are still unhappy with the perceived sexual discrimination from the primaries.

6. A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll published last week found that only 52 percent of the 18 million people who voted for Mrs. Clinton in the marathon Democratic primary had so far decided to vote for Mr. Obama in November. Twenty-one percent said they would vote for Mr. McCain, while 27 percent had not yet decided. One in three of the group said they found Mr. Obama "arrogant and cocky."

7. The folks over at www.hillarygrassrootscampaign.com and obamacrimes.com are going to great lengths to ensure Clinton gets a spot on the ticket.
(Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania – 08/21/08) - Philip J. Berg, Esquire, filed a lawsuit in Federal Court today, 8/21/08, Berg vs.
Obama, Civil Action No. 08-cv-4083, seeking a Declaratory Judgment and an Injunction that Obama does not meet the
qualifications to be President of the United States. Berg filed this suit for the best interests of the Democratic Party and the
citizens of the United States.“Eighteen million Democratic Primary voters donated money, volunteered their time and energy,
worked very hard and then not only supported Senator Clinton, but voted for her and often recruited other supporters as well.
The basis for his challenge has to do with the citizenship of Senator Obama.

8. Why not take this opportunity to ignite the base? Instead of picking Clinton, which would have ignited the Democratic party - and, in my opinion, created a significant force to be reckoned with - Obama went with Biden. ABC reports that Senator McCain holds a 2-1 lead over Obama as more knowledgeable on world affairs and as better suited to be commander in chief, according to an ABC News-Washington Post poll released Sunday. The same poll, which gave Obama a slight 49 percent to 43 percent lead, found that three-fourths said the addition of Biden would make no difference in their vote, while the remainder were evenly split on whether it would make them more or less likely to vote for Obama.

News Media

The Center for Media and Public Affairs recently conducted a study focusing on the number of jokes about each candidate.

"The study covered all jokes between Jan. 1 and July 31 in late-night monologues by Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, David Letterman, Stewart and Colbert. The center found that the network shows broadcast 169 jokes about Obama, compared with 428 about Bush. McCain drew 328 jokes. Clinton, who dropped out of the presidential race amid much political news in early June, still drew more than twice as many attempted yuk lines -- 382 -- as Obama."

Candidates Take on Religion

Last night both candidates participated in the Saddleback Civil Forum, hosted by Saddleback Church which is a Southern California mega-church. The candidates were both given an hour and asked essentially identical questions. As a neutral observer, I must say that one candidate clearly out-shined the other.

McCain had clear, concise answers - often quick to answer. Whereas Senator Obama's answers lacked substance and were often non-committal. For instance, when does life begin - McCain - at conception Obama - that is above my pay grade. Further, Rev. Rick asked the candidates to name 3 people that they would rely on in making decisions. McCain came out the gate with 3 right away, whereas Obama rattled off six or seven names. Given all the hype that Obama has been given, I was really expecting him to better articulate where he stood on positions and not be so "campaign stump" sounding.

Now some talking heads were quick to point out that Obama has been on vacation, and off the campaign trial the past week - so he was still in the process of getting back into the game or 'warming up'. However, while it is true that Barack Obama has been on vacation in Hawaii this past week, please do not think that affords him any sympathy in my book. With the economy in the shape that it is currently in, I hope he realizes how privileged he is to not only travel all over the world, but also to have the finances to vacation in Hawaii for a week. I tell you what, this Senate gig must be a pretty good deal. I mean how much have Senators Clinton, Obama, and McCain actually been 'to work' over the past year. I wish my employer gave me unlimited vacation days.

Just as kind of a side note, and I know that I am off-topic here, but with the condition of Senator Kennedy and the absenteeism of Senators Obama, Clinton, and McCain - I have to wonder what the founding fathers would think. If the President is incapacitated, or unable to do his job for whatever reason, there is a strict sound policy of secession. It seems to me that there should be a similar result in the Senate. I mean isn't it kind of absurd that Senator Kennedy is ill, so now Massachusetts losses half of its representation - or Senator Obama is off parading around Europe, so Illinois is only represented by Senator Durbin. Just seems illogical. There should be some kind of alternate system. Why punish the citizens just because their Senator is off running around the world, or deathly ill. Food for thought.

Winner: McCain

Smart Bike DC is Here!

Up and running, err.. pedaling... That is right, SmartBike DC is now LIVE.. For 40 dollars a year, you can become a member. According to the website, www.smartbikedc.com , 40 dollars a year buys you unlimited rentals from 10 different bike stations. It seems like the rental period is limited to three hours, and you can return your bike at any SmartBikeDC station - a feature that I wish zipcar offered. If the bike is not returned after 24 hours, then SmartBikeDC charges you around 550 dollars for a replacement bike. Locks and helmets are not provided with the bicycle rental, and bikes can be rented from 6am- 10pm, but can be returned 24 hours a day. So much for grabbing one of these and 'drunk bicycling' home after a long night in Adams Morgan.

Let the Games BEGIN!

What an amazing opening ceremony tonight in China! I have to admit, not much can keep me on my seat glued to the television for almost five hours - but China's take on the Olympics did just that. As I watched the broadcast in high-definition and in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound I literally had chills down my spine.

Not only was China's display impressive, but also impressive was the United States athletes, who emerged to thunderous rounds of applause and cheers. I thought seeing President Bush in China supporting the athletes was a very nice touch. As an American I felt proud of my country, and as a human being I felt proud of being part of the the human race - hopefully the spirit of unity will continue the next 16 days but we shall see.. As reported tonight, it looks like the Georgia/Russia situation is growing increasingly tense with each passing hour. Only time will tell.

Kentucky Woman!!

Neil Diamond concert tonight here in DC and boy are the Diamond fans out and about

So Long Chicago!

Back to D.C. I go, but so long and thank you for all of your amazing food and your lack of humidity! See you again soon!

Batman in IMAX!

While back in the Chicago-land area, I decided to take in the new Batman movie. Everyone I spoke with raved about the movie and everyone suggested I see it in IMAX. So I did just that. What a great movie. The acting was super, and the fact that the movie was shot in Chicago made it even better. I highly recommend you see this one, before it leaves the theaters. Rating: Two thumbs up!