Yesterday I went nuts, extolled Mark Shields for his gut instincts and got turned on to Al Giordano's prescient Kerry post
here on dKos and his
website...much thanks to wegerje...
for today's madness please read below...
#1. If you want a break from all the campaign stuff (and you aren't as addicted to the NYT as me).... here are two articles that will blow your socks off. The
first by N. R. Kleinfeld is some of the best writing in a newspaper I've ever read... it's about a doula and his friendship with a dying man.
The second is by Joseph Kahn and documents labor conditions in China. It's brilliant and important. Signing on to NYT is easy, free...and hasn't resulted in any spam for me...yet....
#2: All this "poll jockeying" in the diaries is driving me nuts. Esp. with the tricky headlines that have a "made you look" aspect that's just insulting after awhile.
However, when the poll jockeying turned into "weather one-up-manship"...uh...I stopped paying attention...friends, not even the Buddha knows if it's going to snow in NH.
#3. We just witnessed a huge surprise in Iowa...the resurgence of John Kerry.
Would someone explain to me what he stands for in five sentences?
Here's what I can see from my biased POV:
a) a healthy number of voters see him as a safe candidate
b) per Al Giordano...he has strength with women voters....
c) it seems to me...he has some strength with the "vet" aspect of the male vote...if the scuttlebutt from Iowa is true.
d) it may also be that the assesment of many Dems is that this election is not "winnable" outright, that 2004 will not be a year to reinvent our Party...which is largely the rationale for the Dean campaign.
And hence, we need the stongest candidate for capitalizing on Bush's mistakes while safely holding down the Democrat fort...
e) finally, I think the critical question at this point with Gep out and Dean weak in Iowa is this:...is Kerry's win in IA proof that he can run strongest in the heartland? We NEED MI and PA and MO and a strong showing in OH and FL...
#4: I like Clark. I don't watch TV...but when his voice comes on the radio...
I like him.
I did see Edwards on some TV news interview...and you know what...I kind of liked him too.
Does anyone "like" John Kerry? What's his appeal?
#5: What is all this diarist vitriol against Edwards and Kerry?
The undocumented innuendo in the diaries about "finger flipping" and "push polling" is really confusing me. And these same diaries are flashing by so fast that alot of this stuff just sits out there uncontested. I mean, on one level, if this stuff is true ...um, it's significant...but the same side of my brain says.... are we being "push polled" here on dKos? (wouldn't that just be like Karl?) And what should we do about it??
#6: What a Dean loss in IA and NH would mean...
Well it would mean alot of things.
a) It would mean Dean didn't win IA and NH....no snowball...
This really turns the tables on Howard...and I think puts him in a position where he would have to change the rationale of his campaign.
Howard Dean might become a larger, more potent version of Dennis Kucinich. A strong candidate, offering a differing point of view who runs more to offer an alternative and bring/keep his wing of the party in the process, than with a reasonable chance of being the nominee.
b) Joe Trippi is not a Jedi...and neither is Al Gore.
Dean losing both IA and NH would be bad news for these two. They were not so much "out on a limb" here...as "way out on a limb"...
Gore because he endorsed really early...and against tradition. Trippi because he, more than anyone, created the expectations that really made IA seem a devastating blow.
c) Dean losing both and Kerry wining both...
is almost like John Kerry winning the nomination right there.
Clark could compete against another insurgent...esp. with his contrast to Dean....but he is much weaker against Kerry. It would be very hard for an outsider to take the nomination from as strong an insider as Kerry.
About the only thing more shocking than Kerry winning IA and NH would be Clark or Dean finding a way to beat Kerry for the nomination...well, Al Sharpton winning the nomination would beat that, but....
#7 I still think that John Edward's positive, popular groundswell must be driving Karl Rove nuts....
it's not so much his chances as his methodology. Staying positive and honing a strong optimistic domestic policy message is the way we will beat GWB...
Which reminds me of a diary entry I posted awhile ago....
Stay positive
It's about America, stupid!
Get them to the kitchen table.
It's still true I think.
peaceout, Kid Oakland