Be-Elected
Submitted by Chad on Fri, 05/16/2008 - 10:42am.
Be-Elected
Congress can feel like a jungle in passing legislation. -- Chad In the jungles of Congress, there are two main species: Democraticus hardworkus and Republicanus status quous. Unfortunately, neither of them will ever become extinct. But we are starting to see strange patterns in the Republicanus status quous.
We saw 35 Senate Republicans vote with the Democrats on a $290 billion farm bill. We saw Republicans vote with Democrats to temporarily halt shipments of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
When the Republicanus status quous ruled the jungle between 1994-2006, they never feared about being perceived at not getting lots of legislation done. Heck, they thought shutting down the government was a great idea. They would go into elections not with a cry of "Look what we did" but more like "Look at what we didn't do." And their base loved it.
 Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Chad Rubel 2008 race Congress Democrats Republicans Minneapolis bridge collapse
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Thu, 05/15/2008 - 2:00pm.
Be-Elected
BE ELECTED
by Christine Bowman Some folks still say they don't know Barack Obama. When some say that, the insinuation is that he is "different" or hiding his true self from inquisitive voters. Many have gotten to know Barack Obama by reading his books, watching him campaign, listening to his speeches on TV or YouTube, assessing his work in Springfield, Washington and Chicago. But there is a quicker way to get to know Obama for those who care to. It's the games he plays. Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Obama Poker Basketball Games
Submitted by Chad on Thu, 05/15/2008 - 9:56am.
Be-Elected
picture from here
Hello, Sen. Obama. Hope you are enjoying the Great Lakes State this morning. I realize yesterday was your first full day campaigning in Michigan, and what a day that was. An endorsement from John Edwards must have been a nice treat to have on your first day.
I noticed that you hit the Detroit suburbs and Grand Rapids during your first trip. Good for you. Those are very popular destinations for politicians. Lots of people are there and you've hit the major media markets of the state. For some politicians, those areas may be the only places they go in the state.
Without getting into the delegate and primary mess, you will have to spend much more time in Michigan than in a normal situation. You are very much behind where you should be in terms of spending time in Michigan. Since this is May, and this is your first trip as a presidential candidate, and since Michigan is a hugely significant bellwether state and I grew up in Michigan, I thought I would offer you some pieces of advice.
-- Economy. Everyone will tell you the economy is #1 and they are correct. But do understand that like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana to a lesser extent, words will not be enough. They do need specifics, and I know that you have them. But these people need to feel understood; they have been lied to and lied to for the last 25 years. And quite frankly, their situation is incredibly complicated. The problems aren't just about jobs, but education -- those great manufacturing jobs didn't require a college degree.
Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Chad Rubel 2008 race Barack Obama Michigan racism economy John McCain
Submitted by Chad on Wed, 05/14/2008 - 10:11am.
Be-Elected
pictures from here, here, and here
Russ Feingold, Lynn Woolsey, Dennis Kucinich: why couldn't any of these three be vice president?
Over the last two days, I put together serious analysis over what Barack Obama should consider in selecting a vice presidential candidate. But let's have a little fun, too. Forget the pundits. Forget "oh, that person has no shot." Tell us who you would love to see as the vice presidential candidate.
Think about this: when Republicans choose a VP candidate, they never worry about moving to the center. Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle, Spiro Agnew -- none of them were accused of being a compromise candidate. So why can't Obama pick someone as far to the left as Cheney was to the right? Sure the pundits will slam the pick, calling that person "left-wing" or "liberal." But standing up for integrity might impress the MSM. Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Chad Rubel 2008 race Barack Obama Russ Feingold Dennis Kucinich Lynn Woolsey
Submitted by Chad on Wed, 05/14/2008 - 9:28am.
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John Edwards got 7 percent of the vote last night in West Virginia. This from a candidate that left the race before Super Tuesday.
Good for democracy - selecting a candidate that you want to be president, even if they are out of the race. And given that West Virginia was in the spotlight for the first time since probably 1960, and 7 percent still voted for someone other than Obama or Clinton.
We used to have people who went to the polls in the primary, held their nose, and picked from the people still in the race. And this year, we have better candidates still in the race than we've had in other years. Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama of 2008 versus John Kerry of 2004 or Michael Dukakis of 1988?
Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Chad Rubel 2008 race Barack Obama Hillary Clinton John Edwards West Virginia democracy
Submitted by Chad on Tue, 05/13/2008 - 11:06am.
Be-Elected
picture from here Obama needs to find his "Al Gore" but take the vice president in an Obama direction. -- Chad Yesterday, I took a look at who Obama should not pick for a vice president. But since being only negative isn't productive, I want to give Sen. Obama some advice on whom to pick. But the difference is that I won't tell him who to pick, but how to help him decide.
When people ask me who Obama will pick, I tell them simply, "Obama will need to find his Al Gore."
Bill Clinton was revolutionary in that he picked a vice president that didn't help him in geography or age or any other shallow criteria. Clinton picked Gore because he could take over at any time. Most previous presidents had picked someone where they would seem superior: Gore and Clinton were as equal as any president and VP. The pundits had a field day with Clinton picking a fellow Southerner around his age. But Clinton and Gore had the last laugh.
Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Barack Obama vice president transformative leadership
Submitted by Chad on Mon, 05/12/2008 - 10:13am.
Be-Elected
America's hottest new game is who Barack Obama should pick to be his running mate in November. With apologies to Hillary Clinton (who likely isn't going to get the nomination) and John McCain (picks likely to be boring, almost Dan Quayle like), the focus is on Obama. And there are many places to turn to speculate on who Obama will choose. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, and Kathleen Sebelius are among many good quality candidates. But this is the Democratic Party, where good choices don't often get made. So Sen. Obama, while many people are giving you good advice on who to pick, I will give you advice on who not to pick. (These are my personal thoughts as a BuzzFlash staff member, but do not necessarily reflect the editorial opinion of BuzzFlash.) Technorati Tags: Be-Elected 2008 race Barack Obama vice president not to pick
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 05/09/2008 - 10:26am.
Be-Elected
BE ELECTED
by Christine Bowman Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal columnist, former speechwriter to Ronald Reagan, and author of The Case Against Hillary Clinton (2000) had this to say today: White women have been Mrs. Clinton's most reliable base of support and readiest crutch, the superdelegate said. And maybe they're the only ones who can break through, both to Mrs. Clinton and to the country ... Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Democrats Clinton Noonan Feinstein Boxer Gandy
Submitted by Chad on Fri, 05/09/2008 - 7:21am.
Be-Elected
Bill Clinton's presidential terms brought a lot of firsts, including being the first "classic rock" president. His use of the Fleetwood Mac song "Don't Stop (Thinking about Tomorrow)" in 1992 was inspirational.
On my Indiana trip, I noticed there was a soundtrack during Bill Clinton's stop in Plymouth and Hillary Clinton's stop in South Bend. After the speeches, the soundtrack kicked in.
John Mellencamp - This Is My Country
Tom Petty - I Won't Back Down
Bachman Turner Overdrive - You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
Theme from Rocky - Bill Conti
The artists and titles have great significance. Mellencamp ties into Indiana and the pride in our country. Petty sounds familiar to that audience, and the obvious title for Hillary of not backing down. While BTO is a Canadian group, the title and classic rock familiarity are appropriate for Hillary Clinton's demographics. And the Theme from Rocky obviously is a carryover from the fighter image and the Pennsylvania primary.
Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Chad Rubel 2008 race Barack Obama Hillary Clinton John McCain classic rock John Mellencamp Bruce Springsteen
Submitted by Chad on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 10:16am.
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"Yes! I will vote for Hillary on May 6th!" I attended three events over the weekend in Indiana: Bill Clinton in Plymouth, Janet Napolitano in Mishawaka, and Hillary Clinton in South Bend. Admission was free, as you would expect. While attending the Hillary Clinton event in South Bend, I wasn't even required to give any information, though I had to go through the metal detector and empty my pockets. It was an outdoor event, and I had already seen a bomb squad truck in the area. So going through that process seemed normal. For the Napolitano event, the Obama people did insist I give my name, address, and e-mail address. I explained to them that I was from out-of-state, and they said it didn't matter. But I also didn't get the impression that it was mandatory. However, for the Bill Clinton event, the criteria were something else entirely. We were in line for quite awhile when a Clinton volunteer gave us a piece of paper. We were told we could not get in without this piece of paper. Technorati Tags: Be-Elected 2008 race Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Bill Clinton Plymouth loyalty oath Bush/Cheney 2004
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