10. Miscellaneous News Items of the Week Alright, well there is two. First, Dish Network has decided that I am not to see Verizon's line up of stations. That includes CBS (my favorite evening news, March Madness) and MTV (which has the Real World, etc) and Comedy Central (Daily Show). I am fine at my home because I have Comcast but my girlfriend in Maryland only has Dish. I think this situation is an argument against mass corporate ownership of many media outlets. Second, there is or was water on Mars. Yeah!!! Not sure how that helps us down here on Earth with our many problems but how about we send Bush there so that he can see what happens to a planet when his environmental policies take their toll.
9. Deancentrism and Campaign for America 2.0. First, there is a lot of speculation about next week's announcement. I really have nothing to say except that I think it is wonderful that the positives that defined the Dean campaign live on and can find expression in this new vessel. My only hope is that we can have a massive unified campaign among all of the myriad of groups out there so that we can cover as much ground as possible and I hope that CFA 2.0 is part of that. Second, I have noticed a new phenomenon among a certain few posters here on Daily Kos. It is called Dean-centrism. I noticed in a few threads this week that a poster would be talking about Kerry and his attacks on Bush and another poster would comment in response about how Kerry sucks because of the Dean = Osama Ad in Iowa. (Which by the way is not an accurate description of the ad at all because Dean was not compared to Osama in that ad). It is as if everything that transpires in the current political world is really an attack against Dean and his supporters. Dean withdrew from the race and is concentrating his energies on CFA 2.0 and his family. The primary campaign is over. Kerry will be the nominee. I think those who are still bitter need to find something positive to works towards in this campaign so that they can move on from whatever wrongs they feel were committed in the campaign.
8. Congressional Races. This week we had profiles by BryonUT on the Texas Congressional races and the impact of the second redistricting of that state this decade. We also discussed the NRCC getting behind Diedrich in South Dakota after the apparent Cheney snub last week. MrLiberal gave us profiles on Inez Tenenbaum (Democrat for South Carolina Senate Seat), Jane Mitakides (Dem in OH-3) and Steve Brozak (Dem in NJ-7). Kos discussed New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, where Miles Nelson and others are taking on the evil Neocon thug Heather Wilson. In other news, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell will not run for reelection to a third term. This announcement led to speculation that Governor Owens would run and that Democrats Udall and Salazar would get in the race. Congressman Udall has joined the race, but Owens will not and Salazar is still deciding. Either way, what was a lock for the GOP with Campbell is now an open Open seat. Finally, Rodney Alexander from the LA-5 flirted with joining the GOP this week until Senator Breaux and Senator Landrieu bitchslapped him into reality.
7. Bush Malfeasance of the Week Oh, there can never be just one. First, the Plame affair reignites after news that the federal grand jury will subpoena telephone records from Air Force One. AIR FORCE ONE!!! I know that doesn't necessary implicate the President, and probably is only bad news for Rove, but any mention of AIR FORCE ONE connects this scandal to President no matter how much he denies it. Second, there is this story that Bush refused to target Terrorist Zarqawi in Iraq and Afghanistan, even when he actually had concrete intelligence as to where Zarqawi was, at least three times during 2002 and 2003 because the Administration felt that such an operation would take away from the buildup to the war in Iraq. So wait a minute...the War on Terror took a back seat to the War in Iraq?? I thought they were connected. In fact, I thought the War in Iraq was the War on Terror??? We need to hammer this one home: Bush let a Terrorist go free because of Political Expediency.
6. Kos' Bush Flip Flop article moves like wildfire. I know Kos didn't originally write it, TK actually did and deserves the credit, but that article has appeared on every other blog that I visit plus the Washington Post. It proves the proves our power as an instant Internet War Room for Kerry akin to Clinton's war room in 1992. We are a sounding board. An echo chamber. A think tank. Keep it up Daily Kos members. Response to every Bush attack and post it here. Many influential people read this site and we can really influence this election if we chose to. Congratulations to TK for the article! Keep it up.
5. The Jobless Bush Economy. This week we learned that February only produced 21,000 jobs and the vast majority of those jobs were government jobs related to the tax season and hence will disappear in a few months. Further, the government revised down the January number from 112,000 to 75,000. All of this after Bush boldly proclaimed that his economy will produce 300,000 jobs a month this year. In related news, I love how Bush and the White House tried to distance itself from both its jobs projections and the economic report that stated that job outsourcing was a good thing. The White House said that Bush did not see or sign those reports. "Umm, Scott, then why is his signature on the report?" Further, Rove himself has said that the economy needs to be producing at least 200,000 jobs a month for several months before the fall election so that the rebound in the economy feels "real" to the American people. I wonder how real those reelection chances feel now.
4. Martha Stewart. Am I the only one that has a problem with this verdict? They couldn't get her on Insider Trading on the sale of the InClone stock. They couldn't get her on SEC violations with regards to her own company's stock. They got her on conspiracy between her and her broker. So they quickly prosecute a powerful Democratic woman and will probably send her to jail. Meanwhile, Ken Lay remains free and has yet to go to trial. Where is the justice in this world? First thing President Kerry should do is order his AG to bring indictments quickly. I'll be honest; I would have done the same thing as Martha in selling the stock once I receive a tip. Where we differ is that I would have never gone to the prosecutors and then lied to them. That was just inviting trouble. Here is a free tip: Never volunteer to speak with Prosecutors unless you are certain that your version of the truth and theirs are the same.
3. VP Sweepstakes. My top five: 1) Edwards, 2) Richardson (no matter what he says), 3) Gephardt, 4) Warner, 5) Clark. Kos and others have talked about a wide variety of other candidates. Max Cleland seems to be a consensus front-runner here. I just don't see it. And, I know this is politically incorrect, I don't think America is ready for a severely handicapped Vice President, especially when we are running against the heartless thugs in the White House right now. You just know the Republicans will use it against us. I know I know, Roosevelt was a handicapped President. Bob Dole ran for President and his arm was basically paralyzed. But Bob Dole's injury was not readily noticeable and there was no TV and there was a cooperative press during Roosevelt's time that never photographed him in a wheelchair. Furthermore, on legitimate grounds, I don't see why Cleland would make a good VP. He only served one term in the Senate and was easily defeated by Chambliss in 2002. So I doubt his political skills. His personality seems to be the same as Kerry and his Vietnam background is the same. So Cleland would be a Rhyme choice instead of a Balance choice. This year, I think we need a Balance choice.
2. Polls This week's polls:
PEW--K48, B 44
GALLUP--K 52, B 44
USA TODAY--K 52, B 44
ABC/POST--K 53, B 42
The Most promising poll was the Gallup, where it classified states into Red, Blue or Purple (Swing states). Kerry has a 55-42 lead in his own Blue states, and Bush has a very narrow 50-47 lead in his own red states, but ....here is the shocker...in the swing states, Kerry leads Bush 55-39!!! Wow. Yeah, yeah I know it's early, but I am with DemFromCT in that these polls do matter. It is like Chinese Water Torture. The steady drip drip of these polls has their affect on the campaigns and the American public.
and finally....
1. The Long Anticipated Bush Ad Campaign. Is this what we were all afraid of??? I believe their first shot, the 9/11 ads, were an unmitigated failure. They received bad press on that ads and many Americans, including firefighters and 9/11 families, feel the use of images of the wreckage (graveyard) and a body being pulled from the rumble (someone's loved one) was callous and at best inappropriate. Yeah, people are talking about the Bush campaign, but not in the way Rove and his minions of darkness expected. So they changed themes to Kerry is a flip flopper while Bush is a steady leader. Cue Kos and the Bush Flip Flops. The Bush campaign is adrift without any issue getting traction. I love it.
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