Uh, Palin?

Really? Palin?

Oh well, props to my friend Michael, who called this back in January:

Aside from being the hottest governor I have ever seen, she just might be the perfect running mate for the fascist twins Huckabee/Romney... just as evil and perfect for the soccer mom vote. What says change more than a neo-conservative woman as the VEEP? At 43, she's older than the last evil 'up and coming' Dan Quayle... you remember, that guy who hung out at the Naval Observatory during Iraqistan part 1 and got made fun of...

stats on Palin: 90% approval rating, lifetime NRA member, and pro-life. Scary.

My reply, which just shows what a bang-up job Team McCain did in vetting the governor:

Alaska is the home of the most corrupt political class north of Louisiana. I seriously doubt we'd ever see a national candidate from out of their current crop. Not sure if there are any skeletons in Gov. Palin's closet, but it wouldn't surprise me.

She *does* kinda have that Tina Fey thing going on, though, doesn't she?

So Many Lines To Cross, So Little Time

This literally makes me feel sick to my stomach:

Hillary Clinton today cited the assasination of Robert F. Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign to explain why she was remaining in the race despite long odds.

"We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California," Clinton told the editorial board of a South Dakota newspaper. " I don't understand it," Clinton added, alluding to the calls for her to quit.

At long last, have you no sense of decency, ma'am?

I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. Dean.

By edthered at 2008-05-09
Okay, I've been keeping my metaphorical mouth shut these past two months, waiting for the Democratic primary to play itself out, because I found myself on the verge of saying some pretty harsh things about Senator Clinton, and, well, I didn't want to add to the intra-party vitriol when there was a chance she'd end up as my nominee. That, and my wife gave birth to our first child in mid-April, so I've been a bit preoccupied.

Now, however, I can no longer hold my peace. Hillary can no longer win the nomination by any means that won't tear the party apart at the seams (more than it's already been rent asunder). She just can't. Moreover, if she continues to campaign aggressively, and Obama somehow does manage to self destruct before the convention, she's just damaging her own chances of being a palatable savior to Obama's delegates, who would probably page Al Gore to report to the convention floor before handing anything to Hillary.

With her speech this past Tuesday ("Full speed on to the White House!"), Hillary has entered into Norma Desmond territory. Here are a few soundbites you can expect to hear in the near future, as this sad spectacle plays out:

County Fair Livestock Judge: Hey, I know you. You're that politician, Hillary Clinton! You used to be in politics! You used to be big!
Hillary: I am big! It's the politics that got small.
***
Hillary: They took the idols and smashed them, the Kennedys, the Clintons, the Roosevelts! And who've we got now? Some nobodies!
***
[January, 2011, Hillary attempts to convince Joe Trippi to run her 2012 campaign.]
Hillary: Here, I was going to give it to you at midnight.
Joe Trippi: Hillary, I can't take it, you've bought me enough.
Hillary: Shut up, I'm rich! I'm richer than all this new Washington trash! I've got 109 million dollars.
Joe Trippi: Keep it.
Hillary: Went on a worldwide speaking tour. I've got books on Amazon, selling, selling, selling! What's it for but to buy us anything we want!
Joe Trippi: Cut out that "us" business!
Hillary: What's the matter with you?
Joe Trippi: What right do you have to take me for granted?
Hillary: What right? Do you want me to tell you?
Joe Trippi: Has it ever occurred to you that I may have a life of my own? That there may be some candidate I'm crazy about?
Hillary: Who? Some state senator, or shuck and jive artist?
Joe Trippi: What I'm trying to say is that I'm all wrong for you. You want a Rove, somebody with dirty tricks, a real bastard!
Hillary: What you're trying to say is that you don't want me to run again. Say it. Say it!
[slaps him hard across the face]
***
[February, 2011, Hillary Clinton press conference]
Reporter: I didn't know you were planning a comeback.
Hillary: I hate that word. It's a return, a return to the millions of people who have never forgiven me for deserting the campaign.
***
Joe Trippi: Tell her, Mark. C'mon, do her that favor. Tell her there isn't going to be any inauguration. Tell her there are no superdelagate endorsements other than the ones you write. Hillary: It's not true! Mark!
Mark Penn: Madame is the greatest politician of them all.
***
Markos Moulitsas: I understand she was a terror to work with.
Robert Reich: Only toward the end. You know, a dozen press agents working overtime can do terrible things to the human spirit.
***
Hillary: And I promise you I'll never desert you again because after 2008 we'll run another campaign and another campaign. You see, this is my life! It always will be! Nothing else! Just us, the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark!... All right, Mr. Dean, I'm ready for my close-up.

DC Resident To Florida And Michigan: Tough

Via Sullivan comes word of the incredibly predictable cry from the governors of Florida and Michigan: Save Our Delegates!

You know what, guys? There's actually precedent here. And I don't mean 100-year old precedent, I mean last election cycle precedent. That's when the District of Columbia, in an attempt to draw attention to the fact that those of us who live here have no voting representation in Congress, moved up its primary into January.

Can you guess what happened? No? Okay, I'll tell you what happened: The DNC told us to stick our primary where the sun don't shine. So you know what we did? Instead of crying on about how everyone should kiss our Big State asses, we did the responsible thing and held a caucus in February. Was this ideal? Not at all. In fact, it ended up costing me the opportunity to vote, because I was stuck at work. Oh well, those are the breaks.

The second-class citizens here in DC had to deal with the consequences of our political elders making a bone-headed attempt to move our primary up. The politicians running the shows in Michigan and Florida had the benefit of this very recent example of consequences when they made their decisions, and chose to ignore it. Now they're complaining like grounded teenagers that the curfew was "unfair." Too bad, those were the rules. They're not particularly fair, but they were made very clear from day one of this campaign. You want your delegations seated? Fine, schedule yourselves a caucus, or a real primary, not one that violates the rules. It's what the District had to do, and if you think you're somehow so damn special that the rules don't apply to you, you can go choke on a hanging chad.

NYS NOW: Still Crazy After All These Weeks

Woo-hoo! It's always a good day (or evening, in this case) when my inbox is graced with a Marilyn Fitterman press release:

Mr. Obama's experience and education can't hold a candle to that of Hillary Clinton, who has had the opportunity to actually live and work in the White House for eight years, and to work in the Senate for six years. Damn it, how much more should one have to know to be able to run this great nation of ours?

Hey, yeah! Say, how'd that health care reform work out? Oh, too soon? Seriously, Hillary didn't even have a security clearance when she was first lady...how can you put out a press release railing against sexism and misogyny, and in that very same press release, claim that being the wife of the president qualifies you to be president more than being a state senator?

Plus, education-wise, it's pretty damned snobby to say that a J.D. from Harvard "can't hold a candle" to a J.D. from Yale: ooooh, big difference...plus, and having gone to law school myself, I can say this with certainty, law school does pretty much nothing to prepare you to be president, aside from maybe artificially inflate your sense of self esteem. You know, assuming that Hillary's time as First Lady evens out Obama's time as an actual, you know, elected state senator, then according to Ms. Fitterman, Obama's four fewer years in the U.S. Senate mean he "can't hold a candle" to Hillary's experience"...and if that's the basis for your campaign, then good luck against McCain in November.

I'm not saying she wouldn't make a better president, I'm just saying that statements like this from your supporters don't really help.

New Primary Boogie

Please don't dominate the rap Jack
If you got nothing new to say
If you please don't back up the track
This train got to run today

* * *

One way or another
One way or another
One way or another
This darkness got to give.

The never-ending primary campaign rolls on today...and, regardless of the outcome, will keep on rolling through Pennsylvania. Which wouldn't be so bad, if the MSM election coverage wasn't so Drudge-influenced it resembles the work of TMZ and Perez Hilton more than that of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite...and of course, the blogosphere ain't much better.

Not that the campaigns themselves are much help, either.

In fact, I'm not really sure why I pay attention at all...

At any rate, here are some predictions, for posterity:

Clinton wins the overall Texas vote by a few points - say, 52% - 48% - but because there are more delegates allocated to districts in cities like Austin and Houston, ends up not netting more than one or two delegates. She'll carry Ohio by about 8-10 points, but again, only net maybe 5-10 delegates. Obama will win big in Vermont, netting 5 delegates. Hillary will win Rhode Island by, say, 55-45, and net 3-4 delegates there. Overall, Hillary will come out of the day netting 5-10 delegates...which, of course, only reduces Obama's lead to around 90-95...and of course, Obama will make up all of those delegates in North Carolina.

I don't see how Hillary can win the nomination at this point without things getting ugly at the convention, but I don't see why she would (or should, really) bow out before Pennsylvania. I just really, really hope she doesn't continue down the "McCain has more experience than Obama" route, since, you know, I'd hate to have to watch clips of her in McCain's campaign ads next fall (probably already too late for that, sadly).