election 2008 » Undiplomatic

19 November 2008 Charles J. Brown
12:12 am

Schadenfreude of the Day, er, Night

Ding dong, Uncle Ted is dead defeated! AP:

Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in Senate history, narrowly lost his re-election bid Tuesday, marking the downfall of a Washington political power and Alaska icon who couldn’t survive a conviction on federal corruption charges. His defeat by Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich moves Senate Democrats within two seats of a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority. . . .

Tuesday’s tally of just over 24,000 absentee and other ballots gave Begich 146,286, or 47.56 percent, to 143,912, or 46.76 percent, for Stevens. A recount is possible. . . .

Stevens’ campaign didn’t immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment.

I wish I had been in the room when Uncle Ted found out. Maybe he helped calm himself by sitting in that lovely vibrating chair he doesn’t think he owns.

This may not necessarily be the end, however — we still may see a recount.

There is one thing about the story that made me sad, though. Turns out that today is Ted Stevens’ birthday. No, I’m not sad he got the boot on his birthday. I’m sad that it turns out that he has the same birthday as my beautiful daughter.

(Happy Birthday Greta! Don’t mind that scary mean old man sitting in the vibrating barcalounger over in the corner.)

Guest Post: Almost Equal?

Today, at 1:30 pm EST, folks all across the country will gather to protest the passage of Prop 8 in California. To find out about the event closest to you, go here.

I’ve written before about why I opposed Prop 8, and why I’m outraged that it did pass. Rather than do it again, I’ve asked my sister, Vickey, and sister-in-law, Erin, to share their reaction:

We are heartsick. While it is me [Erin] writing this down, I wanted to say the following sums up both of our post-election feelings and experiences, and I am speaking for both of us.

We are stunned by the victory of the forces of hatred. We are stunned at the enormous effort that went into passing Proposition 8, which legalizes discrimination in our state Constitution. Just the money — $70 million — spent by the pro-Prop 8 forces sets me reeling.

We’ve each experienced quite a few responses to Prop 8’s passage. Most feel blasé to me. Many responses were somewhere on the shocked-and-pained continuum, ranging from “Oh wow, bummer.” (sincere pause, followed by well-meaning platitude) “Have you tried that new Thai restaurant?” to a straight friend throwing herself in my arms sobbing, unable to speak. People tell us solemnly that it’s so sad and wrong, so totally out of the blue, but (sock on the arm) we really should keep this in perspective. After all, it’s getting better, isn’t it? More people believe in gay marriage, the numbers prove it. You should be grateful you’ve come so far. You’re almost there. You’re almost equal.

Almost and Equal do not go together, folks. And while we’re at it, why is it separated into gay marriage and straight marriage? Marriage is marriage.

I acknowledge that there is a valid point here — that change involving equality is agonizingly slow. I know these comments are well-meant. I certainly don’t want to imply any disrespect or lack of appreciation for all those people who went out and voted for our rights, and who remain here, trying to cheer us on.

And yet, I feel uneasy. What bothers me is the almost total absence of pain and shock among our straight friends. I can only take this omission to be indicative of at least a partial lack of understanding the fundamental issue of how unequal our rights are, exactly.

I find myself wanting to say to my very loving, well-meaning friend who isn’t quite getting why I’m so sad:

Imagine waking up next to your husband this morning. You’ve been married for 26 years. You have children and grandchildren. Suddenly, your marriage is gone, your right ever to be married is gone, and it’s written into the state Constitution that this discrimination is not only legal, but encouraged. People of opposite genders must be stopped from marrying. It threatens the very foundations of marriage.

How would you feel — besides incredulity at how ludicrous it would be to stop people of opposite genders from marrying?

That’s how it feels to me. How in the world does my (same-gender) marriage have any impact on someone else’s (opposite-gender) marriage? It’s just totally ridiculous and insane.

This was my 81 year-old mother’s baffled reaction to the passing of Prop 8:

I don’t see how your marriage or anyone else’s affects our 60-year marriage except for pride in all four of us.

So I ask my straight friends, how would you feel, waking up to find out that your neighbors voted away your legal rights because you’re heterosexual, and then I said it kinda bothers me? Would you feel. . .maybe a little disoriented? Sad? Angry? Disheartened? Afraid? Would you wonder who, exactly, thought your stable family was a personal threat? Was it one of your basketball buddies? Someone from your kids’ carpool?

What would you should tell your children? Good luck.

What if, later that morning on TV, you saw Christians, filmed in their churches, celebrating, with tears of joy, that you now can be legally discriminated against? That it’s now legal to hate you and strip you of your place in our common culture?

What if, in a jolt of shock, you recognize that the church on TV is the one right next to yours, the one your church had the joint potluck with last Thanksgiving? The one you combine choirs and services with to create a more joyful worship-filled Christmas Eve? What if you recognized individuals behind the hateful signs and joyful tears: people from that day you prayed together, before you all went to volunteer at the food bank?

How would you feel then?

Like you were making progress?

Would you feel grateful?

Would you feel the winds of change?

Or would you wonder who else hates you? Would you wonder if some of your neighbors don’t believe that you even have the right to be Christian?

Would you wonder if they helped raise $70 million to prevent you from having the same rights as they take for granted?

What would Jesus have done with $70 million dollars? Would he have helped the lepers, healed the sick, fed the poor, purchased the teachers materials to teach with? Would he have provided health care to children below the poverty line?

Or would he have gone to the government of his time and try to force discrimination against, say, prostitutes, into law. With whom exactly did Jesus hang out? Do you think Jesus would have said, “Oh prostitutes, lepers, and tax collectors are fine, but gays. . . .? Gays? Eewww. Or would He have embraced us as His brothers and sisters, fighting for our right, as people disenfranchised from society, to live freely and follow our common God?

I’m not sure which makes me more depressed and sad: the supposed invalidation of our previously legal marriage, or the fact that Americans - Californians - including many people of faith, actually voted discrimination into our state constitution. How shocking is that? Why are more people not deeply shocked that Americans, so proud of the melting pot and equal rights for all, even considered equality a problem?

Please, all of you, close your eyes and go back to your fourth grade classroom. Put your hand over your heart and finish saying the pledge of allegiance you made to your country every single school day:

. . .with liberty and justice for all.

You pledged allegiance to the United States of America, remember? Our pledge does not end “with liberty and justice for some.”

“Brothers Should Pull Up Their Pants”

Greetings from sunny Florida! Had to share this:

I just love the fact that this man is President of the United States.

Leo, Josh, Toby, C.J., and Sam Seaborn: The Obama Generation

Have you seen the website of the “Office of the President-Elect“? Very cool… neither Jed Bartlett nor Matt Santos had anything like this.
Heh. One of the best things about having Charlie go on vacation is that I can unilaterally suspend his Sorkintorium. And so I have.

We have every reason to believe the Obama Transition (and Administration) will be as smooth, focused, and disciplined as the Obama Campaign. And the people chosen to serve will be competent and knowledgeable about their areas of service. (Yes, the Bush Administration has set a low bar.)

So who will fill the jobs in the White House and elsewhere in the executive branch?

Even before the election, Foreign Policy created a number of nonpartisan cabinet “Dream Teams.” Charlie had these thoughts. And I voted for these.

Robert Longley has this explanation of the presidential transition process. MSNBC and Foreign Policy Passport offer the latest speculation on outcomes. Newsweek is offering 2 to 1 odds on John Kerry as the next secretary of state (Richard Holbrooke is 5 to 1.)

But the truly big list belongs to Politico. Their speculation goes so deep it includes chiefs of staff for the VPOTUS and FLOTUS.

So, now that we know who will be living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, who do you think will fill the key jobs in the new administration? And how do you feel about Rahm Emanuel filling the shoes of Leo McGarry?

Use the comment section.

South Carolina, Rahm Emanuel, and Feed Issues

I’m on the road, heading to Florida for a break (Molly and Greta will join me this weekend). Tonight, I passed through Florence, South Carolina, which was the first place I volunteered for the Obama campaign. So I took time out from the twelve hour driving slog to pass by the house that served as the Obama office during the January primary. It’s now empty and (not surprising given Florence’s economy) for rent.

I find it hard to believe that South Carolina was less than ten months ago, and that when it happened, nobody really knew whether Hillary or Obama would win the nomination, and that Edwards still had a marginal chance. What an amazing run it’s been.

Believe it or not, I do plan to spend a lot less time blogging over the next two weeks. So I won’t be offering much commentary on transition issues. I will say this, however: I’m surprised that none of the wingnuts has noted that Obama, who they so derisively call “The One,” chose Emmanuel Emanuel as his chief of staff.

One other note: we seem to be having a problem with the Feedburner feed — at least I am. It’s not showing up in my Google Reader. If you use Reader or another RSS aggregator, please tell us in the comments below whether you’re still getting Undip.

A big thank you (again) to Midwest McGarry for pitching in while I’m gone.

Thought of the Day

All those “1.20.09″ bumper stickers have taken on a whole new meaning since Tuesday.

Obamamania in China

A montage of Chinese newspapers’ front pages, via Danwei:

Here’s one reporter’s story about what he saw in a pub in Beijing:

Barack Obama’s victory seems to mean something special in China. Four years ago I was in a Hong Kong restaurant on election night, and the only responses were tepid nods and pats on the back. In the packed Beijing bar where I watched the election returns this year the mood was celebratory. I saw the first champagne drinker around 11:30 a.m. When Obama’s win was declared by CNN a half hour later, the room erupted in cheers. A few people began crying.

Remember that Chinese nationalism has led many Chinese tor regard the United States as an antagonist. For average citizens to react to Obama’s win may lead to a shift in that perception. Of course, that probably will not result in a similar change in the Chinese government’s perception.

What’s Next on Undip

As regular readers of this blog know, the past two weeks have seen fewer posts as I’ve spent more and more time working to get Barack Obama elected President of the United States. Now that that task is done (woo hoo!), you might wonder what’s next for Undip.

Over the next few months, we’ll focus on the transition, particularly as it relates to foreign policy. Over the long term, I hope to move the main focus away from domestic politics and back toward the intersection of international politics, American foreign policy, and pop culture. That said, I anticipate that when domestic politics deserves attention, commentary, and lots of snark, we’ll be there.

I also hope to bring on several contributors that will help expand the scope of our coverage and reinforce our mission and vision. I’ll have more on that soon.

In the short run, however, I need a break to rest, recharge, and get my voice back (and in the process, reacquaint myself with my lovely wife and darling daughter). So over the next two weeks, I’ll be stepping back a bit while Molly, Greta and I head to Florida. That’s not to say that I won’t post at all, only that I won’t post very much.

The good news is that a good friend and regular commenter not only will be stepping into the breach over the next two weeks, but also will become a permanent contributor over the long run. I’ll have more on that soon.

And as always, thanks for your passionate interest in and support for Undip.

Perfect Ending

A sense of humor and a sense of history. Very nice.

Prop 8

My joy over the election of Barak Obama is tempered only by the troubling news from California that the bigoted Yes on Prop 8 forces currently have roughly a 450,000 vote lead with 90 percent of precincts reporting.

The only consolation is that, according to the NYT, nearly 3 million absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted. Given the absentee and early voting trends across the country, I continue to hold out hope that it will be enough to make a difference.

To my family and friends in California: do not forget, as Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, the moral arc of the universe bends slowly, but it always bends toward justice. Keep fighting: you will not be denied. I hope that we can all celebrate soon.

Analysis of the Day

The Onion is on the case:

After emerging victorious from one of the most pivotal elections in history, president-elect Barack Obama will assume the role of commander in chief on Jan. 20, shattering a racial barrier the United States is, at long last, shitty enough to overcome. . . .

Carrying a majority of the popular vote, Obama did especially well among women and young voters, who polls showed were particularly sensitive to the current climate of everything being fucked. Another contributing factor to Obama’s victory, political experts said, may have been the growing number of Americans who, faced with the complete collapse of their country, were at last able to abandon their preconceptions and cast their vote for a progressive African-American.

Citizens with eyes, ears, and the ability to wake up and realize what truly matters in the end are also believed to have played a crucial role in Tuesday’s election.

According to a CNN exit poll, 42 percent of voters said that the nation’s financial woes had finally become frightening enough to eclipse such concerns as gay marriage, while 30 percent said that the relentless body count in Iraq was at last harrowing enough to outweigh long ideological debates over abortion. In addition, 28 percent of voters were reportedly too busy paying off medial bills, desperately trying not to lose their homes, or watching their futures disappear to dismiss Obama any longer.

I’m too happy right now to admit the underlying truth that makes this so funny.

The Stakes — 729 Days Later

Here are excerpts from the letter I wrote to friends as well as members of the organization I headed at the time, on the day in 2004 after President Bush defeated Sen. John Kerry. Let us do everything we can to ensure that we do not wake to a similar result tomorrow.

Dear friends,

Today did not dawn the way we either hoped or expected. The initial returns, including a fairly decisive win for President Bush, do not seem to bode well for progressive issues in general and global issues in particular. The challenges we now face are genuine. But they are not overwhelming.

I won’t kid you: the next four years will not be easy. A majority of Americans have decided to travel a path different from the one we seek. But this majority is not a mandate. Those who made this choice did so for what they believed are valid reasons, and not because they are ignorant, evil, reckless, or irrational. We must not demonize those who disagree with us; to do so is to ensure that our message will never be heard by those who most need to hear it and to condemn ourselves to irrelevance.

Instead, we must convince all Americans that a positive vision based on global cooperation can and will trump a philosophy based entirely on fear. The President’s approach may have won support in the short run, but it is not an organizing principle around which he can build a permanent majority. . . .

[I]f we are to succeed, we will have to become passionate advocates and not merely passive defenders. We will have to engage our critics rather than ignore them. We we will have to stand up for what we believe in, and not shy away from opportunities to challenge our opponents’ misleading assertions. We will have to present a compelling case that the United States must reject unilateralism and re-engage the world as a
partner, participant, and leader.

We did not win yesterday¹s battle. But by no means have we lost the war. Our opponents’ margin of victory is not insurmountable, no matter how it may appear in the bleak light of today’s returns. We have only just begun to educate the American people about the need for global solutions. We will succeed. It is only a matter of time before we build a globalist majority in Congress and elect a globalist president to the White House.

So enough about yesterday. Today, our work begins anew. We have 729 days before the next election. Let’s get to work!

Best,

Charlie

The View from the Ground Game

Over the past several weeks, I have devoted most of my time volunteering in the local Obama office in Arlington, Virginia. It’s been an extraordinary experience. Over the course of the past week, I saw hundreds upon hundreds of volunteers come through the door, determined to spend their spare time helping to turn Virginia blue.

Over the past week, the volunteers in this one office made, by my rough count, over 100,000 phone calls. That’s not a typo — we actually hit as many as 20,000 calls in one day, and averaged close to 17,000 calls a day. At one point on Saturday, there were 75 people making calls — in a space made for, at most twenty, and in temperatures that often were warmer than a sauna.

The phone bank was only one small part of the operation: the campaign also ran a full-blown canvassing operation out of about ten homes throughout Arlington. Volunteers went door-to-door, speaking to individuals about Obama and encouraging them to get out to vote. Another team helped put together the literature and then arranged for volunteers to distribute it at metro stations, malls, and other high-traffic areas. Yet another team made sure that everyone was fed, and a smaller group staffed the incoming phones and the front desk.

The end result was extraordinary. In the last few days, the office hummed. Although there were often problems or surprises, the staff and their volunteers handled the challenges and kept the focus on winning.

Tonight was the culmination of that effort. The staff was told to stay in the office until Virginia turned blue. That changed the original celebration plans, which involved going to a volunteer’s house. Instead, we brought the party to the office. Of course, we had no TV there, so everyone gathered around about 4-5 computers to watch the cable feeds, while others checked their blackberries and laptops to get the most up-to-date results.

As we watched, ate, and drank beer, state after state turn blue. Almost simultaneously, the networks called Virginia for Obama and declared Obama the next President of the United States.

And then. . .absolute pandemonium. We cheered, we wept, we drank champagne. We hollered “yes we did” over and over again. Then we hugged and cried some more. It was extraordinary and beautiful — we were in the middle of this completely trashed office, paper strewn everywhere, and nobody cared, because Barack Obama was going to be the next President of the United States.

One more thing: the vast majority of the staff were 25 years old or younger. Most head home next week — to towns across America and all over the world. A few are going to continue their service by joining the Peace Corps and other international relief agencies. First, however, most are going to pass out.

As am I — I’ll be back sometime tomorrow with some details on what comes next.

The Next Two Days: Blogging v. GOTV

As often happens in the real world, I face a conflict over the next two days — my desire to blog the election and my desire to help elect Barack Obama. Since my commitment to the Obama campaign — including my promise to help run the Arlington phone bank — predates the start of Undip, I’m afraid that the blog is going to take a back seat until the election is over.

I think you’ll agree that’s a no-brainer. The last thing I want to do is wake up Wednesday and offer advice to my readers on how they can emigrate to Canada.

But it does means few, if any posts over the next few days as I try to help get out the vote. It also means I won’t be live blogging the results, as I’ll be joining my colleagues in what I continue to hope will be a celebration that includes Virginia going blue.

Since you’ll have more time on your hands (heh), please do what you can to help Barack Obama win. You can find out about volunteer opportunities here. And if you’re on the West Coast — and not planning to go to Nevada, New Mexico, or Colorado to help out there — please consider volunteering to help the No on Prop 8 forces in California. They need 10,000 volunteers on election day to help ensure equality for all.

Nightly Election Open Thread

We did 20,000 phone calls in the Arlington office today (no, that’s not a typo).

Twenty thousand phone calls.

Out of that, we identified over 2,000 Obama supporters we didn’t know about before.

And that’s one office out of many.

Imagine what you could do if you came out tomorrow to help your local office do the same?

Talk amongst yourselves.

Nightly Election Open Thread

Another five hours phonebanking today. Tomorrow, it will be something like twelve.

Instead of talking amongst yourselves, why not go out tomorrow and talk to some undecided voters?

Night of the Living Dead Candidates

It looks like Ralph Nader has hired Mike Gravel as his media consultant:

Rob Zombie meets George Romero? Didn’t Rob Zombie already remake George Romero?

Oh, and has Mike Gravel endorsed anyone? Please, please, please tell me it’s not Obama.

Morning Buzz: Battleground Minnesota

My all-time favorite documentary on politics: hip hop activist Shakademic reports on the 2004 election in Minnesota. Be sure to watch all the way through — he gets Norm Coleman to wear some blinged-out jewelry and teaches Walter Mondale how to scratch.

Really.

Bah Humbug Open Elections Thread

Long day today, the middle part of which was extremely bad. Basically, my Mac Mail program committed suicide, and I spent TWO FREAKING HOURS at the genius bar in my local Apple store trying to get my email back. I eventually did get to work again, but only at the cost of all the email stored on my machine and all the little shortcuts I had set up. I have to say that I’m no longer convinced that only geniuses work at the genius bar, no matter what John Hodgman has to say about it.

Meh. Okay, enough complaining. I did spend the evening phone banking, so not all was lost.

Talk amongst yourselves.

Biden Was Right: Obama Will Face A Crisis (But So Will McCain)

It’s been over a week since Joe Biden said that world events would test Obama in his first six months in office:

“Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama. . . . The world is looking. . . . We’re going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. . . . I guarantee you that it’s going to happen.

The McCain campaign has jumped all over this, running an ad with the tag line, “It doesn’t have to happen. Vote McCain.”

When I first heard about this, I dismissed it as a tempest in a teapot — Joe Biden running off his mouth and the McCain campaign using it to make yet another commercial. But then I began to think about it a little more, and I realized that not only is Joe Biden right, John McCain is delusional if he thinks that his election would prevent the world from testing him.

Over the past fifty years, every newly elected President — with one notable exception — has faced multiple major international incidents in his first year of office (defined as January 20 to the following January 19 for those elected to office, day of swearing in to one year later for Johnson and Ford). Using Wikipedia’s year by year historical calendars, I put together a short list:

John F. Kennedy (January 20, 1961 - January 19, 1962):

Civil war in the Congo
The Bay of Pigs incident
Soviet decision to build the Berlin Wall

Lyndon B. Johnson (November 22, 1963 to November 21, 1964):

Coup in South Vietnam
Gulf of Tonkin incident (and subsequent Congressional incident authorizing war)
China tests its first atomic bomb

Richard M. Nixon (January 20, 1969 to January 19, 1970):

Sino-Soviet border conflict
Secret bombing of Cambodia
Hamburger Hill (major battle in Vietnam)
The “Football War” between Honduras and El Salvador
My Lai massacre

Gerald R. Ford (August 9, 1974 to August 8, 1975):

Cyprus
Mayaguez incident
Fall of South Vietnam
State of Emergency in India

Jimmy Carter (January 20, 1977 to January 19, 1978):

No major crisis

Ronald Reagan (January 20, 1981 to January 19, 1982):

Israel’s attack on Iraqi nuclear facilities
Gulf of Sidra incident (U.S. and Lybian planes clash)
Assasination of Anwar Sadat,
Martial law in Poland

George H. W. Bush (January 20, 1989 to January 19, 1990):

Lockerbie/Pan Am 103 (technically, this happened before Bush was sworn in, but the determination of who was responsible took place during his watch)
Tiananmen Square massacre
Fall of Berlin Wall and collapse of Communist rule in Eastern Europe

Bill Clinton (January 20, 1993 to January 19, 1994):

Somalia
World Trade Center bombing
North Korea withdraws from the NPT,
Attack on Iraq in response to ttempted assassination of G.H.W. Bush by Iraqi agents
Yeltsin uses tanks on Russian Parliament

George W. Bush (January 20, 2001 to January 19, 2002):

U.S.-China dispute over American spy plane
9/11
War in Afghanistan

So it is not uncommon for new Presidents to be tested by world events. In fact, early crises are the rule, not the exception. The only President in the past fifty years not to face multiple crises in his first year was Jimmy Carter — and we all know how well he did with foreign policy.

For argument’s sake, let’s remove relatively minor crises like the Soccer War or self-inflicted ones like the Bay of Pigs. In fact, let’s limit the list to incidents that involve another country or terrorist group “testing” a new President. Here’s what we end up with:

Kennedy: Soviet Union (Berlin Wall)
Johnson: North Vietnam (Vietnam War)
Nixon: North Vietnam (Vietnam War)
Ford: Cambodia (Mayaguez incident)
Reagan: Libya (Gulf of Sidra incident)
Bush I: Libya (Lockerbie), China (post-Tiananmen sanctions)
Clinton: Somalian insurgents (Black Hawk down episode), terrorists (WTC bombing), Iraq (Bush assassination attempt)
Dubya: China (spy plane incident), al Qaeda (9/11), Afghanistan (the Taliban’s refusal to hand over bin Laden and other al-Qaeda members)

In other words, other than Carter, every President has been deliberately provoked by someone over the course of their first year in office. The notion that McCain somehow would be an exception to the rule defies the reality of the past half-century.

Or to put it another way, new Presidents don’t get tested because of their youth or inexperience — they get tested because they’re new. The key question isn’t whether there will be a crisis, but rather how the new President will respond.

Obama’s Closing Argument

Take time to watch Obama’s close. Yes, it’s thirty minutes, but it’s worth your time.

Huckabee Did It Better

One jokey Chuck Norris political commercial is hilarious.

Two jokey Chuck Norris political commercials is just painfully overdone.

You gotta give the NRA credit. They just locked up the 14-year-old World-of-Warcraft-playing Barrens chat trolls for John McCain.

Nightly Politics Open Thread

I can’t decide if I’m a whack job or a diva.

Talk amongst yourselves.

Cheese-Eating, Uh, Champions of Freedom

It looks like a certain French leader has started drinking McKoolaid instead of champagne.

French President Nicolás Sarkozy is very critical of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama’s positions on Iran, according to reports that have reached Israel’s government. Sarkozy has made his criticisms only in closed forums in France. But according to a senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate’s stance on Iran as “utterly immature” and comprised of “formulations empty of all content.”

You know that Bush and McCain are desperate when they turn to the French to try to pull off an October surprise.

Memo to Matt Groening: no more cheese-eating surrender monkeys. From now on, they are to be referred to as brie-loving champions of freedom.

Odious. Hateful. Sick.

This is un-freaking-un-FREAKING-believable. And sick. And hateful.

You know what makes it even worse? It’s sung to the freaking Barney song:

I love you,
You love me,
We’re a happy family,
with a great big hug,
and a kiss from me to you,
Won’t you say you love me TOO!

I love you,
You love me,
We’re best friends like friends should be,
With a great big hug,
And a kiss from me to you,
Won’t you say you love me too!

I’m not the biggest Barney fan, but give the big guy credit — this is deliberately ambiguous in order to be as inclusive as possible.

Oh. Wait. Barney is Purple. Just like Tinky-Winky. You know that that means, don’t you? Gay. Gay. Gay. Gay. Gay. Mr. Rogers? He wore a cardigan. And Captain Kangaroo spent all his time with Mr. Green Jeans, who secretly had a red bandanna hanging out of his back pocket. Bert and Ernie? You betcha. Big Bird? Don’t even get me started. Oscar the Grouch? A welfare queen, if you get my drift.

I don’t ever again want to hear Christian fundamentalists tell me that they are concerned for the welfare of their children. This is nothing less than cynical exploitation.

They should be utterly ashamed of themselves.

Stop the hate — vote no on Proposition 8. Help Equality California by voting here.

Hat tip: Open Left

Political Litter: Why I Hate Yard Signs

Every four years, there’s a lot of back-and-forth about yard signs. Do they work? Are they worth the time? Will someone freaking remember to take them down after the election is over?

I’m not a big fan. They require too many hours and too many volunteers to get them posted everywhere. All too often, opponents’ supporters run around and take them down in the middle of the night (the weasels). Unless, of course, the candidate is incredibly stoooopid. Then he does it himself, and during daylight hours:

[Johnson County, Kansas] Commissioner John Toplikar has been charged with theft in connection with the theft of campaign signs belonging to his rival, Calvin Hayden. Over the weekend, Hayden campaign worker Teri Atwell captured the theft on video.

My biggest gripe about what is really little more than political litter is that people get all freaked out over the other candidate having more yard signs than their candidate. I’m on the Northern Virginia listserv for Obama supporters, and every day, there is at least one person complains that there are more McCain yard signs than Obama yard signs. And this is in an area that is probably going to go 2 to 1 for Obama.

In reality yard signs are more a sign of the industriousness of a candidate and his/her supporters than actual support. Do people really think that someone will be driving down the road and go, “oh, hey, John McCain has a nice yard sign — maybe I should vote for him!”?

Let me offer an even more specific example. I live in Virginia’s 8th Congressional district. The incumbent, Jim Moran, has been in office for one million nearly eighteen years. In the 2006 Republican primary, Tom O’Donoghue and Mark Ellmore faced off to take on Moran. Ellmore plastered Arlington County with more yard signs than all the other candidates for all other races combined. The final result? O’Donoghue won 70 percent to 30 percent, and then went on to lose to Moran by more than a 2 to 1 margin.

This year, Ellmore is the Republican nominee (apparently O’Donoghue had had enough of being squashed like a bug). Guess who has more yard signs? Ellmore. Guess who is going to win by as big as, if not bigger margin than he did two years ago?

If Ellmore matches O’Donoghue’s percentage two years ago, he will have managed, in two elections, to get 30 percent in a primary and 31 percent in the general. Good thing he spent all that money on yard signs. They really seem to be paying off.

One more thing about yard signs and Jim Moran. Back in early Septembere printed up a bunch of yard signs (still far fewer than Ellmore) and then got Obama volunteers to put them up. The signs his name on the bottom, Senate candidate Mark Warner’s name in the middle, and Barack Obama’s name on top. Moran’s logo takes up nearly half the sign, Warner another third, and Obama is barely squeezed in on top. The effect? You can see Moran’s name from about 50 yards, Warner’s name from about 20, and Obama’s only when you’re on top of the sign (assuming you are still reading the sign at that point).

What a twit. Moran is going to win 70-30, and he can’t give more space on his sign to his party’s nominee for President, who, at the time that Moran had these signs printed, was in a dead heat. The ego of sitting Members of Congress knows no bounds.

Going to Camp

When Sarah “Whackjob” Palin was asked about reported divisions between John McCain and her, here’s what she had to say:

John McCain and I, and our camps, are working together to get John McCain elected.

And our camps? Aren’t you all in the same camp? I don’t think that even Joe “the Gaffer” Biden would be dumb enough to suggest that he and Obama were in different camps.

I used to work in a camp. It was fun. Maybe they can hire the Sarahnator to teach BB guns to 6th graders after her sad pathetic excuse of a campaign is over.

Morning Buzz: The Vet Who Didn’t Vet

Another fun independently-produced video:

It’s a cross between Schoolhouse Rock and JibJab.

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts

Related posts