Wednesday, January 14, 2004
If you care about American politics, you have my sympathy. You - we, for that matter - have a serious problem, akin to nasty sexual tastes or a healthy bout of long-term alcoholism. Luckily for us, our fix is at hand. Election 2004, featuring the New Hampshire Primary before the whole show goes primetime soon thereafter. Iowa comes first and may this year be even more important. But I live in Vermont and I can't justify hauling my unemployed ass to the Midwest just for commentary sake. So to break the bottle on this ship, I'm launching my commentary with 2 weeks until NH. What I offer may not be all that different than some of the fringe politico-hooey you read on the web. That's the risk of life in this medium. Yet I'm confident that if you give me a chance to tell my story, I'll grow on you. Think friendly fungus.
First, some background. I've worked with one of the campaigns although I've always considered myself a journalist/writer. Like many of you, I read the crap out of the daily news and I can spout current affairs stats like a leaky bucket. I've moved around the country a bit - small town Wisconsin, the Twin Cities, Seattle, Dallas, Vermont. In so doing, I've seen enough of the country to realize that I like being a citizen even with all the messes this nation continues to make. Next stop - San Francisco, as of this upcoming summer. But until that time, you can bet your last greatly weakened dollar on the fact that I'll be here offering up my view of this year's Election with renewed focus. I'll even give you friendly odds.
So where do we start? Let's just set aside all the favorable and damning press delivered this past year in the form of the Punditcracy's handicapping. Dean raised oodles of cash that would have otherwise gone to NPR by harnassing a hydra-headed, far-too-cheeky web operation. Lieberman is the nice guy everyone secretly despises. Kerry ran through 2003 like a blind, one-legged leper, but may have found his footing just before sprinting to the finish. Edwards really does have nice hair. Sharpton's a hoot, but just unhinged enough to do real damage to any cause he chooses to support. Mosley-Braun's struggling for legitimacy, feebly so. Kucinich is the lovable flake in the race, even more out of touch than ever. Gephardt's as exciting as shopping for new tires. And Clark's scary smart even if he doesn't appear to blink more than once a minute and always on command. This all brings us around to Bush - the most amazing fluke in the history of geopolitical disasters. All the vitriol directed at him ain't that far off the mark. For the time being, however, I'm gonna ignore that 800-pound gorilla and pay some attention to the other monkeys rattling the cage.
There's a million better sources for news - I should know, I surf through them incessantly. But to add some traffic to their respective causes, I'll give a connotated sampling in my next post. Check back often - I'd hate for you to miss something. I pledge to make it worth your while.
First, some background. I've worked with one of the campaigns although I've always considered myself a journalist/writer. Like many of you, I read the crap out of the daily news and I can spout current affairs stats like a leaky bucket. I've moved around the country a bit - small town Wisconsin, the Twin Cities, Seattle, Dallas, Vermont. In so doing, I've seen enough of the country to realize that I like being a citizen even with all the messes this nation continues to make. Next stop - San Francisco, as of this upcoming summer. But until that time, you can bet your last greatly weakened dollar on the fact that I'll be here offering up my view of this year's Election with renewed focus. I'll even give you friendly odds.
So where do we start? Let's just set aside all the favorable and damning press delivered this past year in the form of the Punditcracy's handicapping. Dean raised oodles of cash that would have otherwise gone to NPR by harnassing a hydra-headed, far-too-cheeky web operation. Lieberman is the nice guy everyone secretly despises. Kerry ran through 2003 like a blind, one-legged leper, but may have found his footing just before sprinting to the finish. Edwards really does have nice hair. Sharpton's a hoot, but just unhinged enough to do real damage to any cause he chooses to support. Mosley-Braun's struggling for legitimacy, feebly so. Kucinich is the lovable flake in the race, even more out of touch than ever. Gephardt's as exciting as shopping for new tires. And Clark's scary smart even if he doesn't appear to blink more than once a minute and always on command. This all brings us around to Bush - the most amazing fluke in the history of geopolitical disasters. All the vitriol directed at him ain't that far off the mark. For the time being, however, I'm gonna ignore that 800-pound gorilla and pay some attention to the other monkeys rattling the cage.
There's a million better sources for news - I should know, I surf through them incessantly. But to add some traffic to their respective causes, I'll give a connotated sampling in my next post. Check back often - I'd hate for you to miss something. I pledge to make it worth your while.
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