Barack Obama finally made like Danny DeVito and threw wright from the train on Tuesday. While there are many in the media who are now trying to question what took so long, a more realistic view of the situation shows that Obama did what he had to do in a measured and reasoned fashion.
It would have been easy to give in to the calls for Obama to throw Wright overboard earlier, but that would have been seen as caving in to the public discourse. Obama now has the cover of having let Wright hang himself. Furthermore, Obama is almost a sympathetic figure at this point as having given this person who once was a figure in his life the benefit of the doubt that real people give to each other when judgment is being made outside the public sphere. In truth, this is very much like the measured time that HRC took after finding out that Bill had been sneaking with Sally in the alley before coming out and standing by her man.
That being said, aside from fringe references, this should be the end of Jeremiah Wright. Clearly, this is a man who saw an opportunity to further his own warped vision through the sacrifice of his parishioner and thus deserves to be treated as the kook he sounded and looked like on Monday. Anyone who chooses to tie this clown to Obama at this point is clearly being intellectually dishonest and with intent.
I do think that this has prevented Obama from closing things out next Tuesday. He stood on the doorstep and Wright has now made it almost impossible for Obama to win in Indiana on Tuesday. The polls are continuously breaking her way by 5-10 points and unfortunately I do not see where he can yank these folks back. He also seems to be looking at a slimmer than expected win in North Carolina, at which point I suspect that the pundits will begin trying to stretch this out until the end. Unfortunately, the following week is only West Virginia (where she is torching him) followed by Oregon and Kentucky on 5/20. I am not quite sure how Oregon announces since it is an all mail in primary, but that seems Obama's best chance for a big win after 5/6.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
On Florida and Michigan
It would be an understatement to say that I have had a lot to say about the Florida primary that was held in January. Unfortunately, it seems that what I stated back in February is now coming home to roost as the Clinton campaign is prepared to make the argument that Florida voters showed up because they were passionate about voting in the primary.
The problem is that this is not in fact why voters showed up in January. What drew voters were the slot machine and constitutional amendment increasing the homestead exemption for homeowners that drove up the vote.
What really bothers me here is the disingenuous nature of the Clinton campaign's arguments in both Florida and Michigan. The case in Florida is obviously muddied by the fact that everyone was on the ballot, however in Michigan the case is very clear based on the commitment in writing that everyone made to not participate or recognize Michigan.
However, Clinton is now claiming that Obama removed his name from the Michigan ballot because he knew he would lose, the problem is that there is no evidence to back this claim up. The state has a large African-American population is a neighbor to Illinois and was very likely to be his as much as hers. Not for nothing, in being the only real candidate on the ballot HRC managed to outpoll "Uncommitted" by 55-40, which is hardly impressive when you consider she ran against no one.
It is also of note that Florida's Republican Governor was on TV this morning pushing the Clinton talking points including that Obama (who had bought national cable news advertising time) had been advertising in Florida prior to the vote (a huge distortion).
The problem is that this is not in fact why voters showed up in January. What drew voters were the slot machine and constitutional amendment increasing the homestead exemption for homeowners that drove up the vote.
What really bothers me here is the disingenuous nature of the Clinton campaign's arguments in both Florida and Michigan. The case in Florida is obviously muddied by the fact that everyone was on the ballot, however in Michigan the case is very clear based on the commitment in writing that everyone made to not participate or recognize Michigan.
However, Clinton is now claiming that Obama removed his name from the Michigan ballot because he knew he would lose, the problem is that there is no evidence to back this claim up. The state has a large African-American population is a neighbor to Illinois and was very likely to be his as much as hers. Not for nothing, in being the only real candidate on the ballot HRC managed to outpoll "Uncommitted" by 55-40, which is hardly impressive when you consider she ran against no one.
It is also of note that Florida's Republican Governor was on TV this morning pushing the Clinton talking points including that Obama (who had bought national cable news advertising time) had been advertising in Florida prior to the vote (a huge distortion).
Friday, April 25, 2008
McCain Showing True Colors
While I am no fan of John McCain, I have to say I am surprised how quickly his general election stripes are showing the rest of the country that this guy is one of the biggest frauds of all.
It is honorable what this man did in staying behind with his brothers in arms in the Hanoi Hilton, but that doesn't meant that he is entitled to a free pass for being a typical inside the beltway, on the take fraud who is the best friend of every lobbyist in town.
It is honorable what this man did in staying behind with his brothers in arms in the Hanoi Hilton, but that doesn't meant that he is entitled to a free pass for being a typical inside the beltway, on the take fraud who is the best friend of every lobbyist in town.
NFL Draft
A brief interlude to discuss Saturday's draft and how it looks for my (and some of the rest of your) beloved Miami Dolphins...
As a number of you know I was pushing for the Dolphins to pass on the top pick and allow themselves to slide down to a point where they could get better value than what was really available at the number one spot this year. That being said, I do applaud the phins for going out and actually getting the guy signed sealed and delivered before the draft started.
I still think they could have done better passing since they probably could have had Jake Long at number 3,4, or 5, however, at least it didn't cost as much as it would have under the last few regimes.
Expect the phins to be active through the draft and trades, I expect them to pickup a QB to push John Beck who did not impress me as having any of the tools to be a long term solution.
As a number of you know I was pushing for the Dolphins to pass on the top pick and allow themselves to slide down to a point where they could get better value than what was really available at the number one spot this year. That being said, I do applaud the phins for going out and actually getting the guy signed sealed and delivered before the draft started.
I still think they could have done better passing since they probably could have had Jake Long at number 3,4, or 5, however, at least it didn't cost as much as it would have under the last few regimes.
Expect the phins to be active through the draft and trades, I expect them to pickup a QB to push John Beck who did not impress me as having any of the tools to be a long term solution.
State of the Race
So it has now been a few days since PA and now that my annoyance at how the HRC camp continues to try and spin the numbers has started to subside I think I can offer a more clear minded appraisal of where we are at.
While there are a number of people in the MSM, HRC campaign, and sheep that continue to try and make this about everything from the electoral college to who wins what they like to term "important" states the truth of the matter is this is not about who wins the overall popular vote or any other computation that ignores what this is about delegates.
Clearly, people can complain about the setup of caucuses and primaries until they are blue in the face, but at the same time you can say that having a slow bleed for an election process doesn't make any sense either. Can you imagine if in a general election we voted for President over the course of a rolling set of elections?
That would not work, and would clearly lead to chaos. Unfortunately, so does trying to make the same type of argument out of the nominating process by applying general election rules and principals.
Another thing to keep in mind is strategy. Barack Obama has caught a lot of flack for not wanting to stomp on Hillary's head and get things over with. Some have turned to calling this closing the deal, while others have tried to equate this to some sort of general election weakness.
However, what is important to keep in mind is that in running against Hillary, Obama has had to walk a delicate line. We have already seen that happens when the media tone against her Clinton and her surrogates have a great way of spinning it as her being beaten upon as a woman. All one has to do is look at the blowback from the New Hampshire debate where Edwards and Obama were perceived to have ganged up on her. Immediately afterwards she was cast as being this wounded lamb who needed all the woman to unite and show the men that they won't allow that to happen to her. In fact, one has heard similar messages from her every time she has had to go to the well for her strongest backers (women) to come to her rescue. As a result, Obama is really running the only campaign against her that he can without completely losing the women's vote that makes up the majority of the Democratic party.
While there are a number of people in the MSM, HRC campaign, and sheep that continue to try and make this about everything from the electoral college to who wins what they like to term "important" states the truth of the matter is this is not about who wins the overall popular vote or any other computation that ignores what this is about delegates.
Clearly, people can complain about the setup of caucuses and primaries until they are blue in the face, but at the same time you can say that having a slow bleed for an election process doesn't make any sense either. Can you imagine if in a general election we voted for President over the course of a rolling set of elections?
That would not work, and would clearly lead to chaos. Unfortunately, so does trying to make the same type of argument out of the nominating process by applying general election rules and principals.
Another thing to keep in mind is strategy. Barack Obama has caught a lot of flack for not wanting to stomp on Hillary's head and get things over with. Some have turned to calling this closing the deal, while others have tried to equate this to some sort of general election weakness.
However, what is important to keep in mind is that in running against Hillary, Obama has had to walk a delicate line. We have already seen that happens when the media tone against her Clinton and her surrogates have a great way of spinning it as her being beaten upon as a woman. All one has to do is look at the blowback from the New Hampshire debate where Edwards and Obama were perceived to have ganged up on her. Immediately afterwards she was cast as being this wounded lamb who needed all the woman to unite and show the men that they won't allow that to happen to her. In fact, one has heard similar messages from her every time she has had to go to the well for her strongest backers (women) to come to her rescue. As a result, Obama is really running the only campaign against her that he can without completely losing the women's vote that makes up the majority of the Democratic party.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Stephafraudulous phones it in
For those of you who missed it, George Stephanopoulos gave a most predictably softball treatment to John McCain. He didn't ask about his wife's tax returns, claims of adultery, the keating 5, possible violations of campaign finance law this year, or any of the other litany of issues that stand out there which call into question McCain's character. The problem is, unlike the flimsy third party crap that has been dug up on people who know or have donated $200 to Obama, these are legitimate issues that call into question McCain himself.
Hopefully, Keith Olbermann with get his shot at this fraud sometime this year, though I won't hold my breath.
Hopefully, Keith Olbermann with get his shot at this fraud sometime this year, though I won't hold my breath.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Back From NAB
Ok... NAB once again showcased a wide variety of technologies pointing towards the further convergence and migration of the media to more IP based delivery models. However, it is important to note that the signs are prevalent that the technologies are starting to focus more on the delivery and distribution of this content to the end user (homes) and not just on the production and transmission benefits.
In the world of pro-sumer and smaller field production cameras the variety continues to improve with Sony now offering a nice swappable lens version of its offering. Panasonic continues to improve the storage capacity of its P2 cards, keeping in line with the increased capacity of SD chips. Canon's line still is my personal favorite as it seems the best suited for a wide variety of applications.
In the world of pro-sumer and smaller field production cameras the variety continues to improve with Sony now offering a nice swappable lens version of its offering. Panasonic continues to improve the storage capacity of its P2 cards, keeping in line with the increased capacity of SD chips. Canon's line still is my personal favorite as it seems the best suited for a wide variety of applications.
Monday, April 14, 2008
You Tube Page Up and Running
I have posted a bunch of videos that I have made over the last couple of years up on YouTube. If you haven't seen me on the Golden Nugget waterslide, or the John Tuttle for Congress spot now is your chance. For the rest of you, I have posted the last run of the Hurricanes onto the field at the OB and a beautiful sunset over Haiti in which the sun disappears into the ocean in 1:30.
I will try and get more up in the future...
http://youtube.com/user/penndaly
I will try and get more up in the future...
http://youtube.com/user/penndaly
Back from Hiatus
Ok... sorry to have been away for the last month or so, had to buckle down on some other issues and frankly I had kind of reached a boiling point on a few things that perhaps were better left unsaid...
Anyway, I am watching Obama give his remarks in Pittsburgh with regard to the latest made up flap over the so called "bitter" comment. This guy is truly a rock star.
I know that the pundits and surrogates are running around saying this is a huge general election issue, but I believe this is a sign of just how out of touch this group really is. While no one wants to admit that they are "bitter" as a person, I believe that most people outside the inner circle of Washington would say that they are bitter when it comes to what they feel they get out of Washington.
As a democrat I look at my frustration with my party leadership in Congress. How many times have I wanted to throw something because I saw them caving or taking yet another meek stance when it seemed that the public was behind them to be stronger. Closer to home I can give the example of my own Rep, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz who is Hillary's Florida Co-Chair and a DCCC (Dem Cong. Campaign Committee). Not only has DWS been the leader in blocking a revote in Florida (something HRC is for), but she also has refused to help the 3 democrats in Miami-Dade who are running to replace the trifecta of worthless (worthy of another post) because she values the long relationship she has had with them.
I don't even think I have to go within a country mile of drawing the Republican examples to the light, but Iraq, Terri Schiavo, torture, privacy, and a couple of hundred others quickly come to mind.
I do think that you will see the Republicans try to use this in the Fall. However, if Obama sticks to the type of line that he is today, that the people in Washington are the ones who are out of touch because they don't understand the true frustration and disillusion that the rest of us who are not "insiders" are feeling.
Anyway, I am watching Obama give his remarks in Pittsburgh with regard to the latest made up flap over the so called "bitter" comment. This guy is truly a rock star.
I know that the pundits and surrogates are running around saying this is a huge general election issue, but I believe this is a sign of just how out of touch this group really is. While no one wants to admit that they are "bitter" as a person, I believe that most people outside the inner circle of Washington would say that they are bitter when it comes to what they feel they get out of Washington.
As a democrat I look at my frustration with my party leadership in Congress. How many times have I wanted to throw something because I saw them caving or taking yet another meek stance when it seemed that the public was behind them to be stronger. Closer to home I can give the example of my own Rep, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz who is Hillary's Florida Co-Chair and a DCCC (Dem Cong. Campaign Committee). Not only has DWS been the leader in blocking a revote in Florida (something HRC is for), but she also has refused to help the 3 democrats in Miami-Dade who are running to replace the trifecta of worthless (worthy of another post) because she values the long relationship she has had with them.
I don't even think I have to go within a country mile of drawing the Republican examples to the light, but Iraq, Terri Schiavo, torture, privacy, and a couple of hundred others quickly come to mind.
I do think that you will see the Republicans try to use this in the Fall. However, if Obama sticks to the type of line that he is today, that the people in Washington are the ones who are out of touch because they don't understand the true frustration and disillusion that the rest of us who are not "insiders" are feeling.
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