Archive for: November, 2006

WaPo’s Short List

Nov 10 2006 Published by under Candidates, Democrats, Elections, Politics, Republicans

Chris Cillizza over at the Washington Post has his “Top 5″ picks for potential presidential candidates. I think he’s pretty much got it right on the Left, but the candidates on the right make me very nervous.

On the Democrat side, I think it’s going to come down to Hilary and (assuming he makes a serious effort) Obama. Obama actually makes me nervous because he has that sort of Kennedy mystique going, he’s young, he’s appealing to Independents as well as Dems, and doesn’t seem to be carrying a lot of baggage.

I can’t see Edwards making much out of a run since people still associate him with the loser effort that was 2004. Bayh would normally be the good alternative to Hil, but Obama will likely take that role. Finally, Richardson gets a lot of good press and kudos for his resume, but he’d be a disaster as a candidate. He’s been using the state treasury as his own personal piggy bank in NM and has a bit of a Clinton-esque problem with the females.

On the GOP side, I just don’t see anyone I can get very hopped up on. McCain could win a general, but I can’t see him making it out of the primary. I saw too much hate mail about him directed to the ABC PAC inbox and he wasn’t even a candidate we were supporting.

Giuliani has way too much “essplainin’ to do”. He’s a liberal Republican from the Northeast – not exactly the guy you want as a standard-bearer after getting your ass kicked for abandoning fiscal discipline.

If that leaves Newt, Huckabee and Romney, I’m feeling pretty unhappy with our chances. Newt may have redeemed himself in the eyes of the party, but there are a lot of voters who only pay attention every four years that are going to dismiss him outright.

Huckabee’s big selling point seems to be his appearance in all those Subway ads… What? That wasn’t him?

Finally, you’ve got another Republican from the Northeast – this time from Boston – who also happens to be a Mormon. Now, I don’t think there is anything wrong with being Mormon. My brother is. He converted. I just don’t see a lot of crossover appeal between Romney’s Mormon religion and the tolerance for that religion typically displayed by the religious right.

I know the Mormons have made great strides in the last 30 years trying to convince the rest of the world that they worship Christ, too. I, however, still know far too many born-again Chirstians who tell me the LDS is a cult. If a staggering number of the people in your party’s biggest voting bloc think you’re the equivalent of David Koresh, you’re going to have a hell of a time winning the South.

All of this makes me pretty uneasy. The Dems have a guy that I’m pretty confident could win the job walking away while the best we have to offer is three or four guys we’d have to hold our nose to vote for and one or two who are unlikely to pass muster for a broad swath of the party.

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Death Of A Legend

Nov 10 2006 Published by under Miscellany

If you’ve never spent much time at Bullfeathers (a little bar/restaurant across the street from the RNC) you have never experienced one of the greatest food treats known to man – The CapCor Burger.

The CapCor burger is a heart attack waiting to happen. It’s a big burger patty, topped with cheese, a ham slice and slathered with barbecue sauce. There simply are very few burgers better.

Unfortunately, it also seems to be extinct. I stopped in last night to have drinks and a bite with friends, only to discover it’s no longer on the menu.

Join me in mourning the passing of a great burger.

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NM-01

Nov 08 2006 Published by under Craziness, Democrats, Elections, Politics, Republicans

Last night, and into this morning, I was reminded of the 2000 Presidential election. As New Mexico was called for Gore, retracted, called for Bush, retracted, and sat in the undecided column, a friend asked what the hell was happening in New Mexico.

I had left the state party just over a year earlier and was actually surprised by her question. I replied, “I’m not sure what you mean. With Florida flopping back and forth like a dying fish, I guess this is your first experience with this sort of thing. In New Mexico, it’s just how we do things.”

I went on to explain that the media love to be the first to call races, and in their excitement they generally forget that the state GOP pushes absentee and early voting and pushes it HARD. In 2000, there were nearly 60,000 absentee ballots cast.

That also creates the unintended side effect of creating a massive problem with what they call “hand tallies.” You see, when an absentee ballot is run through the reader, and doesn’t count correctly, it is rejected and must be counted by hand. Two volunteers (theoretically one GOP and one Dem) sit on either side of a table and read off every race on the ballot, and the selection the voter made.

As one reads, the other records. There is no way to verify that the selection read by one is the same as the vote recorded by the other. I’ve seen cases where both the reader and the recorder were switching the votes – only to cancel each other out and end up with the correct vote being cast.

It’s a bizarre process, and I thank God the balance of power in the House doesn’t hang on NM-01. It would be a long time, as it will in Virginia, before we had a resolution. In New Mexico, that’s just how we do things.

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A Day Late and 100 Million Bucks Short, Don

Nov 08 2006 Published by under Craziness, Government, Jobs, Politics, Republicans, The President

Judging by the speed with which the Administration announced both the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld and the nomination of Robert Gates to replace him, I’m wondering why they couldn’t have done this… oh… maybe a week ago… It seems like that might have been helpful…

Look, I understand loyalty. It’s admirable. You should have your friend’s back. This, however, passed from the sublime to the absurd some time ago. The loyalty shown to Rumsfeld may never be equaled on this planet again.

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Politics & Technology Policy – Together Again

Nov 08 2006 Published by under Bloggers, Democrats, Elections, Miscellany, Net Neutrality, Politics, Republicans, Technology, The Internet

Now that the dust is settling on the election, one big question remains – what does this mean for legislation. I’ve spent a lot of time talking about Net Neutrality over the past year. It’s been a big burr in my saddle (sorry for the cowboy colloquialisms, but I spent the last few days hunting deer in New Mexico and am having trouble shaking it off).

The flip of Congress from Repub to Dem control should make Net Neut a hot issue again.

The Dems, who had supported a much stronger net neutrality provision in both the House and Senate versions of the telecom reform legislation, were stopped short by the Republicans who – in a brief flash of respect for their small government roots – opposed expanding the role of government on the Net.

Now that the Dems appear poised to take the reins of both houses, the possibility of the Senate passing the telecom package in a lame duck session is dead. It’s likely Congress will reconvene in a week, pass a CR and split town for the year. What happens in January is anyone’s guess.

I suspect we’ll see a new and improved Net Neut bill early next year for one simple reason – the Democrats owe the bloggers. The left wing blogosphere has been hopped up like a monkey on crack over three things this year – winning control, the Iraq War and passing NN legislation. I suspect the Democrats in Congress will move a bill as a way to say thanks.

They won’t say that, of course. They’ll couch it in terms of consumer protection, despite the fact that no consumer – as of yet – has actually been impacted by anything the bill seeks to address. It’s likely the content giants on the pro-NN side (Google, Yahoo, etc.) will start doling out large checks almost immediately to win passage.

One thing is almost certain, the era of big government has probably just arrived on the Net.

(Disclaimer: While I work for the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, this post should in no way be construed as an official position of the Association. Thoughts in this space are mine and mine alone and do not reflect the views of my employer.)

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