Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Catchin' Up
Even with multiple swirling political stories worthy of much attention, I'm still floored by a bout of the flu that had me worshipping at the porcelin altar yesterday and all through the night. Too much information, I realize. But I'm starting to feel a bit better, and so I want to comment on a few events from the last few days.
1) The Bush White House defensive on his Nat'l Guard service has switched noticably to the offensive mode. Scott McClellan (the most unimpressive White House Press Secretary in modern memory) started in with charges of "gutter politics" and "trolling for trash" this morning. After yesterday's feeble defense of releasing obviously redacted payroll documents, this tactical shift was entirely predictable. And then Ralph Reed came on CNN's "Inside Politics" earlier this afternoon to attempt to blame Kerry for bringing up the issue. Let's all remember that Michael Moore got this ball off the rack once again when he called Bush a "deserter" in his endorsement of Wes Clark.
2) Dean's now repeatedly stated that he's not getting out after Wisconsin, no matter how poorly he does. For his purist supporters, this looks like backbone when actually this change is merely an unfortunate necessity resulting from allowing an unnamed Campaign worker to send out that overplayed email with Dean's name attached.
3) Clark officially pulled out this afternoon with an extremely classy concession speech delivered in Little Rock. He didn't have a choice - out of cash and out of Southern states for the next few weeks. But by complimenting Kerry, Edwards and Dean by name for the campaigns they've run, he definitely raised his falling Veepstakes odds. More impressive, though, was a segment I saw of Wes Clark being interviewed for an inane VH1 program apparently dedicated to asking the Dem candidates questions about pop culture. Clark got asked to define "metrosexual" - he nailed it better than I've seen ANYONE define that hilarious new entry into the public lexicon.
4) Kerry's performance in Virginia and Tennessee was the surest sign of his momentum these days. With WI polls showing him running 30 points up, only a train wreck will prevent him from rolling through Super Tuesday. Will Saletan did offer up an ugly undercutting article on Slate today (LINK) arguing that recent exit polls undercut his "electability" advantages. The rest of his recent press, however, still smells like a walk to the nomination.
5) Bush gave a speech on WMD proliferation this afternoon before the National Defense University. Yawn. He's obviously doing everything in his power to change the subject from his Vietnam record. I certainly don't agree that his Nat'l Guard service is an important story. But ploys such as this speech will do even less than the offensive tactics described above.
Time to make a piece of toast and nibble on some orange slices. Such is the glamorous life of a flu-survivor.
Even with multiple swirling political stories worthy of much attention, I'm still floored by a bout of the flu that had me worshipping at the porcelin altar yesterday and all through the night. Too much information, I realize. But I'm starting to feel a bit better, and so I want to comment on a few events from the last few days.
1) The Bush White House defensive on his Nat'l Guard service has switched noticably to the offensive mode. Scott McClellan (the most unimpressive White House Press Secretary in modern memory) started in with charges of "gutter politics" and "trolling for trash" this morning. After yesterday's feeble defense of releasing obviously redacted payroll documents, this tactical shift was entirely predictable. And then Ralph Reed came on CNN's "Inside Politics" earlier this afternoon to attempt to blame Kerry for bringing up the issue. Let's all remember that Michael Moore got this ball off the rack once again when he called Bush a "deserter" in his endorsement of Wes Clark.
2) Dean's now repeatedly stated that he's not getting out after Wisconsin, no matter how poorly he does. For his purist supporters, this looks like backbone when actually this change is merely an unfortunate necessity resulting from allowing an unnamed Campaign worker to send out that overplayed email with Dean's name attached.
3) Clark officially pulled out this afternoon with an extremely classy concession speech delivered in Little Rock. He didn't have a choice - out of cash and out of Southern states for the next few weeks. But by complimenting Kerry, Edwards and Dean by name for the campaigns they've run, he definitely raised his falling Veepstakes odds. More impressive, though, was a segment I saw of Wes Clark being interviewed for an inane VH1 program apparently dedicated to asking the Dem candidates questions about pop culture. Clark got asked to define "metrosexual" - he nailed it better than I've seen ANYONE define that hilarious new entry into the public lexicon.
4) Kerry's performance in Virginia and Tennessee was the surest sign of his momentum these days. With WI polls showing him running 30 points up, only a train wreck will prevent him from rolling through Super Tuesday. Will Saletan did offer up an ugly undercutting article on Slate today (LINK) arguing that recent exit polls undercut his "electability" advantages. The rest of his recent press, however, still smells like a walk to the nomination.
5) Bush gave a speech on WMD proliferation this afternoon before the National Defense University. Yawn. He's obviously doing everything in his power to change the subject from his Vietnam record. I certainly don't agree that his Nat'l Guard service is an important story. But ploys such as this speech will do even less than the offensive tactics described above.
Time to make a piece of toast and nibble on some orange slices. Such is the glamorous life of a flu-survivor.
Comments:
Post a Comment
