Usually I post this on Wednesday mornings...but I was on the road all day.
As per someone's suggestion last week, I will try to be objective in my observations. The rankings are still all subjective.....
TOP TEN ISSUES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK....
10. THE NEXT ROUND OF CANDIDATES.
Herseth, Carson, Knowles et al are asking for your donations. Are they worthy of those donations? There has been much debate about whether the candidates consider us an ATM or whether it is now our duty to donate to even the playing field versus large Republican corporate donors. The debate is not over.
9. ENDORSEMENT MANIA, PART I--AFL CIO ENDORSES KERRY.
And this endorsement will probably help significantly in Ohio. Kerry won Utah, Idaho and Hawaii last night. He better enjoy those Utah and Idaho victories, because he will not win those states in the fall. Satan could be the Republican candidate (alright, we know he already is), and those wonderful people would still vote for Satan (er ah Bush).
8. ENDORSEMENT MANIA, PART II--KOS ENDORSES EDWARDS.
I am not sure that Mr. Edwards is aware of the endorsement, but he should know that this endorsement represents the lack of enthusiam for Kerry on this site and around the blogosphere. And Edwards would be wise to enigineer a Dean endorsement or otherwise tap into the discontent here and elsewhere.
7. ENDORSEMENT MANIA, PART III--DEAN ENDORSES THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND ITS NOMINEE.
Yes, that's right. No, Dean didn't endorse a specific candidate in Kerry or Edwards, but he did say that he would not consider a third party run of his own, and that his supporters should not consider writing him in or supporting Nader. He said that he would be campaigning for the Democratic candidate and that we should all do the same, because ousting Bush is the most important principle. (Seriously he did say these things).
6. EDUCATION SECRETARY PAIGE FINDS THOUSANDS OF TERRORIST TRAINING CAMPS...HERE IN THE U.S.A.
Seriously, my brother and father are teachers. This is an outrage. How dare he call the NEA, which represents teachers, and its members, who are teachers, terrorists? You know, when it looks like it, and smells like it, and sounds like it, you just have to call comments like that for what they are....FASCIST. Even Nazi-esque. What did the Nazis do to have German citizens distracted from their problems? They identified a people and called them the enemy. This is exactly what Secretary Paige has done. He should be fired. He should resign. His career in the public arena should forever be destroyed.
5. MCCAIN-FEINGOLD SOFT MONEY RESTRICTIONS A BOON TO INTERNET GRASSROOTS FUNDRAISING?
Kos started a debate about how the affects of McCain-Feingold, while initially thought to be negative for Democrats, may indeed prove to a positive. For such soft money restrictions forces the DNC and Democratic candidates to look for other alternatives of funding. Essentially they had to look to us. Dean and Trippi recognized this and haranassed the internet and the grassroots potential of the blogosphere into cold hard cash. It worked for his campaign for the Presidency. It seems to have worked for Chandler. It may yet work for Herseth and others. Who can claim credit? Dean and Trippi? Kos, who consulted with Dean and Trippi? Other blogs? Does it matter? The point is that with the DNC and the Democrats turning to us, we have to power to change the party through our Money. It is the oldest principle in politics. Donate and the candidates are beholden.
4. THERE IS A NEW PLAYER IN THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN....
No, not Nader (more on him later). It's President Bush. He arrived on Monday night on the campaign trail not to speak to regular people or his normal supporters, but to Republican Governors (so how is this a campaign speech?) Anyway, without mentioning his name, Bush attacked Kerry on his record of flip flopping. Do you get the feeling that Bush hates campaigning and running for election? I think he feels that it is beneath him and that he should be President because he, his father and PNAC want him to be. I think he feels that he shouldn't have to bother with this petty nonesense of having people vote for you.
3. PASSION OF THE CHRIST.
Many Kossians were discussing the movie yesterday and today. I don't understand those who feel that the movie is anti-semitic. I don't understand how it will somehow convince regular Americans to follow the Religious Right. It's only a movie. Those who believe and want to see it will see it. Those who don't or don't want to see it won't. It will change nothing but the thickness of Mel Gibson's wallet. I hear it is pretty graphic in its violation depictions of the torture and crufixtion of Jesus Christ. Mel Gibson argues that this is truly accurate and that his screenplay is based upon descriptions and passages found in the Bible. Perhaps, but I do not recall the Bible receiving an NC-17 rating.
2. THE HATE AMENDMENT.
I think the tipping point in this election cycle was David Kay's No WMD testimony before Congress. However, the Hate Amendment (and we should call it this or something similar at every opportunity) may be akin to Pat Buchanan's culture war speech at the 1992 Convention. That was when a President named Bush loses normal mainstream America in order to satisfy the Religious Right. There has been some dissatisfaction with Kerry and Edwards' stands on this issue, and indeed that has led some to declare that they will vote for Nader. But I feel Kerry and Edwards actually represent mainstream America on this issue. Many Americans, like myself, are uncomfortable with the idea of gay marriage and may even say they oppose it, but they are also uncomfortable with discrimination no matter who it is directed against. So Kerry and Edwards can say they are against gay marriage but support equal legal rights like civil unions, and many Americans will like that. This might be a lesser of two evils decision for some, but under a President Kerry or Edwards the Executive Branch never endorses such an amendment. That alone is a vast improvement.
1. NADER
Some hate him now. Some say he is the best egotist outside the Republican Party. Some defend his entry into this race as his constitutional right. Some believe that he could be a positive force in being another voice that attacks Bush. Some defend his running in 2000. Some say that he is not to blame for Gore losing the race. There are a myriad of opinions about this man called Nader on this site. Tell will tell how he affects the presidential race this time. Lets just hope that we don't have to blame him again for another four of Bush.
Well...there you have it. Was I objective? It is hard to be objective. Now I understand how hard journalists have it. ;)