Wednesday, March 24, 2004
This one will resonate...but how loudly?
I'm currently enthralled by Richard Clarke's testimony before the 9/11 Commission. Not long ago, he dropped what will have to be the biggest headline of this proceeding if things continue on the road they're on. After being unnecessarily criticized for promoting his book and an alleged difference between his past testimony and the current tenor of his comments, he fired back in the most elegantly subdued way that "the President has greatly undermined the War on Terrorism." And then he let silence echo for a few seconds. Wow. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but that was a devastating moment in recent American history. When I get back to blogging in the morning, I expect I'll have much more to say about both Clarke's presentation and the media reaction. And I will most assuredly not be alone on that platform.
I'm currently enthralled by Richard Clarke's testimony before the 9/11 Commission. Not long ago, he dropped what will have to be the biggest headline of this proceeding if things continue on the road they're on. After being unnecessarily criticized for promoting his book and an alleged difference between his past testimony and the current tenor of his comments, he fired back in the most elegantly subdued way that "the President has greatly undermined the War on Terrorism." And then he let silence echo for a few seconds. Wow. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but that was a devastating moment in recent American history. When I get back to blogging in the morning, I expect I'll have much more to say about both Clarke's presentation and the media reaction. And I will most assuredly not be alone on that platform.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
The Pre-Season is Over
All of the silliness up to this point in the Dems Primary Battle ends as of yesterday. Kerry got enough pledged delegates last night in Illinois to go with his Super delegates to lay verifiable claim to the nomination. End of story. Everything else harkening back to the horse race that just ended is nostalgia. More than anyone, the Bushies have known this day was coming for weeks. That's why they've hit so hard. That's why they continue to strike and undermine the Dems. That's why so many negative ads are on the air in so many far-flung corners of this country. Alas, conventional wisdom in this election season sucked monstrously. Dean flamed out like the craziest dotcom scheme ever concocted. Edwards and the static in the background amounted to nothing. Kerry was dead, but then fought like a madman and kicked everyone's ass. Yet until you face the machine that is Bush, you ain't got no cred in the biggest political game there is to play. The money Kerry's raising is impressive - that changes the Money Primary's stakes more than any number the Deaniacs rang up in 2003. And even Clinton is now in the fold, angling to raise $10M in the next 10 days for Kerry. TeamKerry pulled in $11.5M since Super Tuesday (that's two weeks, folks - a number that rivals Bush in a sprint even if the bank statements for Bush are much more impressive). So any early pundit-pronouncements of a Bush cakewalk stand to be equally wrong when compared to how little you can compare this race to in years' past.
I predict the Aznar Administration's handling of the post-Madrid bombings will stink up the room that is the EU for some time to come. Can you imagine Bush or Blair pushing a PR-spin that turns out to be tragically-wishful thinking a few days before a major election? The newschannels here would spontaneously combust with the contact-heat streaming from their collective hyperventilation in covering such a debacle. Playing down Spain's upheaval only proves how little our country knows about Europe, or seems to care. The national protests in Spain over the weekend drew between 11 and 12 million people on a single night - more than a quarter of their population. The comparable number here would be 50 million folks in the streets. Now THAT'S a crowd tally I'd like to see.
All of the silliness up to this point in the Dems Primary Battle ends as of yesterday. Kerry got enough pledged delegates last night in Illinois to go with his Super delegates to lay verifiable claim to the nomination. End of story. Everything else harkening back to the horse race that just ended is nostalgia. More than anyone, the Bushies have known this day was coming for weeks. That's why they've hit so hard. That's why they continue to strike and undermine the Dems. That's why so many negative ads are on the air in so many far-flung corners of this country. Alas, conventional wisdom in this election season sucked monstrously. Dean flamed out like the craziest dotcom scheme ever concocted. Edwards and the static in the background amounted to nothing. Kerry was dead, but then fought like a madman and kicked everyone's ass. Yet until you face the machine that is Bush, you ain't got no cred in the biggest political game there is to play. The money Kerry's raising is impressive - that changes the Money Primary's stakes more than any number the Deaniacs rang up in 2003. And even Clinton is now in the fold, angling to raise $10M in the next 10 days for Kerry. TeamKerry pulled in $11.5M since Super Tuesday (that's two weeks, folks - a number that rivals Bush in a sprint even if the bank statements for Bush are much more impressive). So any early pundit-pronouncements of a Bush cakewalk stand to be equally wrong when compared to how little you can compare this race to in years' past.
I predict the Aznar Administration's handling of the post-Madrid bombings will stink up the room that is the EU for some time to come. Can you imagine Bush or Blair pushing a PR-spin that turns out to be tragically-wishful thinking a few days before a major election? The newschannels here would spontaneously combust with the contact-heat streaming from their collective hyperventilation in covering such a debacle. Playing down Spain's upheaval only proves how little our country knows about Europe, or seems to care. The national protests in Spain over the weekend drew between 11 and 12 million people on a single night - more than a quarter of their population. The comparable number here would be 50 million folks in the streets. Now THAT'S a crowd tally I'd like to see.
Sunday, March 14, 2004
Major Sunday Shifts
Spain is not only in shock over the tragedies of 3/11. They're also about to be floored by the massive turnaround thanks to today's election that has replaced the majority conservative Popular Party with the Socialist Party. I won't insult anyone by acting as though I know more than the last few days' headlines about Spain's internal political struggles. But it certainly appears that the willingness of the Aznar government to go to Iraq and lingering fears about retribution have created a massive popular shift in the course of merely a few days. This will undoubtably be the major international story of the week to come.
Back in the U.S., the big upcoming anniversary this Friday that I'm sure no one in the Bush Administration wanted to be forced into spinning is that of the invasion of Iraq. The WashPost posted a piece today that characterizes just how the Bushies are planning to handle it. Yuck. As if I care about Spencer Abraham showing off Libyan contraband. Nearly equal in terms of distaste, I loathe pondering the counter-spin from the Kerry folks that we must all expect. Somewhere lost in the mix is the fact that six more Americans were killed in roadside bombings this weekend, bringing the troops lost there to 566 (a rolling tally I hate to observe). The media's lost any perceived obligation to report the names of those lost souls "above the fold," so to speak. And with it, we've all already lost so much more.
I should be watching the Badgers play the Illini for the Big 10 men's b-ball Conference Championship. That would be so much more validating. Sports are such a great distraction from the uglier world at large. So screw it - I'll take my own advice. Until tomorrow, I hope the world rests somehow easier, no matter what I expect to transpire in my absence from sitting at the switch.
Spain is not only in shock over the tragedies of 3/11. They're also about to be floored by the massive turnaround thanks to today's election that has replaced the majority conservative Popular Party with the Socialist Party. I won't insult anyone by acting as though I know more than the last few days' headlines about Spain's internal political struggles. But it certainly appears that the willingness of the Aznar government to go to Iraq and lingering fears about retribution have created a massive popular shift in the course of merely a few days. This will undoubtably be the major international story of the week to come.
Back in the U.S., the big upcoming anniversary this Friday that I'm sure no one in the Bush Administration wanted to be forced into spinning is that of the invasion of Iraq. The WashPost posted a piece today that characterizes just how the Bushies are planning to handle it. Yuck. As if I care about Spencer Abraham showing off Libyan contraband. Nearly equal in terms of distaste, I loathe pondering the counter-spin from the Kerry folks that we must all expect. Somewhere lost in the mix is the fact that six more Americans were killed in roadside bombings this weekend, bringing the troops lost there to 566 (a rolling tally I hate to observe). The media's lost any perceived obligation to report the names of those lost souls "above the fold," so to speak. And with it, we've all already lost so much more.
I should be watching the Badgers play the Illini for the Big 10 men's b-ball Conference Championship. That would be so much more validating. Sports are such a great distraction from the uglier world at large. So screw it - I'll take my own advice. Until tomorrow, I hope the world rests somehow easier, no matter what I expect to transpire in my absence from sitting at the switch.
Saturday, March 13, 2004
The Tragic Trains in Spain
Major internet access problems over the last few days have scuttled much of what I intended to say about the most recent world news. So before my connection craps out, I'll try to mouth off rather quickly.
Don't underestimate just how ugly and damaging the bombing in Madrid were on Thursday. With an election upcoming on Sunday, the Aznar government seems to be limiting the public dispersal of info on the bombers. But everything I've read points to Al Queda. ETA may have some remaining militant extremists, but they've never killed more than a few dozen in an attack (the most damaging way back in 1987). The date of the attack may be circumstantial, but no one can deny the psychological impact of it - 3/11, two and a half years to the day since 9/11. An estimated eleven million Spaniards (out of 42.7M citizens) turned out to protest the bombings. The U.S. has been forced to upgrade commercial train security, which should have been examined years ago. Tragically, a new front has been opened in this so-called War.
The WashPost has a poorly-sourced but dead-on piece this morning itemizing the recent screw-ups of the Bush economic team. The cancelled nomination of Anthony Raimondo being only the lastest and most amateurish gaff. Wherever you place yourself on the political spectrum, there's no disputing that the economic numbers are a very mixed bag as of late. The most damning thing I saw yesterday was that if the long-term unemployed were included in the present unemployment numbers, it would actually be 7.4 rather than 5.6%. That's an extremely large, latently-ugly disparity.
Kerry's rapid response to the first real Bush attack ads came with impressive speed. The big difference this year for the Dems and all those pundits that characterize them for a living - Kerry's willing to fire back. It's gonna get ugly, which will surprise no one. As both sides of this match up loves to mouth off - bring it/'em on.
Major internet access problems over the last few days have scuttled much of what I intended to say about the most recent world news. So before my connection craps out, I'll try to mouth off rather quickly.
Don't underestimate just how ugly and damaging the bombing in Madrid were on Thursday. With an election upcoming on Sunday, the Aznar government seems to be limiting the public dispersal of info on the bombers. But everything I've read points to Al Queda. ETA may have some remaining militant extremists, but they've never killed more than a few dozen in an attack (the most damaging way back in 1987). The date of the attack may be circumstantial, but no one can deny the psychological impact of it - 3/11, two and a half years to the day since 9/11. An estimated eleven million Spaniards (out of 42.7M citizens) turned out to protest the bombings. The U.S. has been forced to upgrade commercial train security, which should have been examined years ago. Tragically, a new front has been opened in this so-called War.
The WashPost has a poorly-sourced but dead-on piece this morning itemizing the recent screw-ups of the Bush economic team. The cancelled nomination of Anthony Raimondo being only the lastest and most amateurish gaff. Wherever you place yourself on the political spectrum, there's no disputing that the economic numbers are a very mixed bag as of late. The most damning thing I saw yesterday was that if the long-term unemployed were included in the present unemployment numbers, it would actually be 7.4 rather than 5.6%. That's an extremely large, latently-ugly disparity.
Kerry's rapid response to the first real Bush attack ads came with impressive speed. The big difference this year for the Dems and all those pundits that characterize them for a living - Kerry's willing to fire back. It's gonna get ugly, which will surprise no one. As both sides of this match up loves to mouth off - bring it/'em on.
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Today's Time Capsule Snapshot
So here's the update for all those in Rip Van Winkle mode: Dean and Kerry are now buddy-buddy. The Bushies are crying foul while snickering about Kerry's "crooked" comment. Top-ranked St. Joe's basketball team lost their first game to lowly Xavier. Spain got hit by their ugliest terrorist attack in a history marred by many such episodes which may have been an Al Queda attack. And everyone in entertainment seem to only care about who William Hung is, how much Mel will reap from Jesus, or what doofus Donald Trump fires last. If I were you, I'd go back to sleep.
So here's the update for all those in Rip Van Winkle mode: Dean and Kerry are now buddy-buddy. The Bushies are crying foul while snickering about Kerry's "crooked" comment. Top-ranked St. Joe's basketball team lost their first game to lowly Xavier. Spain got hit by their ugliest terrorist attack in a history marred by many such episodes which may have been an Al Queda attack. And everyone in entertainment seem to only care about who William Hung is, how much Mel will reap from Jesus, or what doofus Donald Trump fires last. If I were you, I'd go back to sleep.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Mid-day Postings
I'm not one to normally agree with William Safire. I seldom get past a few graphs in his NYTimes columns and I never read his NYTimes Mag column on lexicon because I hate how often he infuses his supposedly astute perspective with obvious political bias. That's my take, so sue me. But I entirely agree with today's column trashing the Ashcroft Justice Department's attack on doctors and hospitals that provide abortion. Since I don't aim to in any way misquote him, the following exerpts are important for anyone not up on the issue and too lazy to click on the above link:
"Justice issued subpoenas to hospitals in several cities across the nation for the medical records of hundreds of women who had undergone abortions. After hospitals protested that the order flew in the face of federal and state privacy laws, Justice offered to allow the individual names to be blotted out. In Chicago, Northwestern Memorial argued in court that patients would not trust such redaction of their records — copies of which would pass through hundreds of hands — to keep private such an intimate procedure.
The judge quashed the subpoena, but Justice is appealing. "Congress created a zone of privacy relating to medical information," says Chicago Congressman Rahm Emanuel. "Who would have thought the first one to violate it would be the federal government?" Medical records contain dates of treatment, doctors' names, prescriptions — all clues to identity. Who would not be deterred from going to a hospital that meekly passed along those records?"
And he brought it home with the following:
"A balance must be struck between protecting all of us and protecting each one of us. I don't trust Justice or the C.I.A. to strike that balance. I have more faith in the courts and Congress, and — if he would remember his stand on personal freedom — in George W. Bush."
Put that in your pipe and smoke it. So to speak.
Also important from today's news, the USA Today analyzes a recent poll that shows the US electorate more divided than ever seen in Gallup's polling history. As I'd love you to hear in my best ValleyGirl accent - "like, duh-uhh. I'm so sure."
I'm not one to normally agree with William Safire. I seldom get past a few graphs in his NYTimes columns and I never read his NYTimes Mag column on lexicon because I hate how often he infuses his supposedly astute perspective with obvious political bias. That's my take, so sue me. But I entirely agree with today's column trashing the Ashcroft Justice Department's attack on doctors and hospitals that provide abortion. Since I don't aim to in any way misquote him, the following exerpts are important for anyone not up on the issue and too lazy to click on the above link:
"Justice issued subpoenas to hospitals in several cities across the nation for the medical records of hundreds of women who had undergone abortions. After hospitals protested that the order flew in the face of federal and state privacy laws, Justice offered to allow the individual names to be blotted out. In Chicago, Northwestern Memorial argued in court that patients would not trust such redaction of their records — copies of which would pass through hundreds of hands — to keep private such an intimate procedure.
The judge quashed the subpoena, but Justice is appealing. "Congress created a zone of privacy relating to medical information," says Chicago Congressman Rahm Emanuel. "Who would have thought the first one to violate it would be the federal government?" Medical records contain dates of treatment, doctors' names, prescriptions — all clues to identity. Who would not be deterred from going to a hospital that meekly passed along those records?"
And he brought it home with the following:
"A balance must be struck between protecting all of us and protecting each one of us. I don't trust Justice or the C.I.A. to strike that balance. I have more faith in the courts and Congress, and — if he would remember his stand on personal freedom — in George W. Bush."
Put that in your pipe and smoke it. So to speak.
Also important from today's news, the USA Today analyzes a recent poll that shows the US electorate more divided than ever seen in Gallup's polling history. As I'd love you to hear in my best ValleyGirl accent - "like, duh-uhh. I'm so sure."
Four More Down, Who Cares How Many to Go
Kerry swept the South yesterday. Yawn. The only news was that he will need to go through a number of other primaries - at least well into April - to reach the 2162 delegates he needs to secure the nomination. Oh, and Bush wrapped up his Party's nod. Double yawn. Turnout is dropping, media coverage of these contests has disappeared from the front pages across the nation, and people are focusing more and more on the head-to-head in November. The General Election is in full effect already.
The Log Cabin Republicans have had enough and are receiving plenty of free media coverage of their anti-Amendment ad. They juxtapose images of the civil rights era with shots of happy, healthy gay couples. All held together by a long, thoughtful debate answer by Cheney in 2000 where he states as eloquently as any Democrat the prevailing mainstream opinion - the Feds should butt out of the debates going on in the individual states. Ouch.
Dean's reported to be meeting with Kerry today in D.C. to discuss an endorsement. Edwards will do the same tomorrow. Kerry undoubtably wants Dean's donor list, but that's probably the only thing he won't get from his former rival. You have to wonder what sort of pressure is being put on Kucinich and Sharpton to play nice and back off their promises to ride their respective minature ponies all the way through Boston in July.
The AP has trotted out an inevitable parallel story that I'm sure will surprise no one - Bush has had a number of contributers stay overnight in the White House. Not many celebrities of note, unless you think golfer Ben Crenshaw fits that bill (he doesn't). Regardless, Republicans have only themselves to blame if this story has any legs whatsoever (and it won't) because their scrutiny of Clinton made it a requirement to release such a list to the public.
And the ad wars from the 527 groups also heat up today with the Dems getting a triple-threat buy out there from groups beginning today. The RNC is crying foul and threatening to return fire with buys from supposedly still unformed groups. Yea, right. As if either Party would be caught flat-footed in this newly invigorated area of political jousting.
Kerry swept the South yesterday. Yawn. The only news was that he will need to go through a number of other primaries - at least well into April - to reach the 2162 delegates he needs to secure the nomination. Oh, and Bush wrapped up his Party's nod. Double yawn. Turnout is dropping, media coverage of these contests has disappeared from the front pages across the nation, and people are focusing more and more on the head-to-head in November. The General Election is in full effect already.
The Log Cabin Republicans have had enough and are receiving plenty of free media coverage of their anti-Amendment ad. They juxtapose images of the civil rights era with shots of happy, healthy gay couples. All held together by a long, thoughtful debate answer by Cheney in 2000 where he states as eloquently as any Democrat the prevailing mainstream opinion - the Feds should butt out of the debates going on in the individual states. Ouch.
Dean's reported to be meeting with Kerry today in D.C. to discuss an endorsement. Edwards will do the same tomorrow. Kerry undoubtably wants Dean's donor list, but that's probably the only thing he won't get from his former rival. You have to wonder what sort of pressure is being put on Kucinich and Sharpton to play nice and back off their promises to ride their respective minature ponies all the way through Boston in July.
The AP has trotted out an inevitable parallel story that I'm sure will surprise no one - Bush has had a number of contributers stay overnight in the White House. Not many celebrities of note, unless you think golfer Ben Crenshaw fits that bill (he doesn't). Regardless, Republicans have only themselves to blame if this story has any legs whatsoever (and it won't) because their scrutiny of Clinton made it a requirement to release such a list to the public.
And the ad wars from the 527 groups also heat up today with the Dems getting a triple-threat buy out there from groups beginning today. The RNC is crying foul and threatening to return fire with buys from supposedly still unformed groups. Yea, right. As if either Party would be caught flat-footed in this newly invigorated area of political jousting.
Monday, March 08, 2004
Truly Unbelievable
For anyone who watched the Dean documentary on CNN last night, I have only one comment to add to the ether. The Campaign was impressive from the point of view of the young and previously uninvolved. But it wasn't history with a capital "H" nor was it of similarly grandiose import. It was hype - the first American dotcom Campaign. Or at least it was all about the hype surrounding Joe Trippi - the Guv hardly utters a line without Trippi being in the frame throughout the entire hour. Anyone looking for a new "Journeys With George" will be sorely underwhelmed. Even though CNN's embed did a kick ass job of capturing all the emotional highs and lows.
One of the consistent attacks by the GOP in these early days of the head-to-head with Bush is directed at Kerry's "military" record. Putting aside his voting record in the Senate, this means Kerry's time in and out of Vietnam. On face value, that would seem like a ridiculous and dangerous path for the Bushies. But drawing attention to Kerry's involvement with the anti-war movement as a decorated vet may form an unkind and undeserved impression for many that remember that era with disdain. Joe Conason has a great piece on this attack angle on Salon today (be prepared for their irritating "free day pass registration" required to view it). Anyone the least bit interested in how to best respond to this wrongly framed "oppo" (opposition research) will surely enjoy the always well-researched Conason's analysis. The final couple paragraphs juxtaposing Colin Powell's own precariously unfavorable Vietnam experience are especially enlightening.
For anyone who watched the Dean documentary on CNN last night, I have only one comment to add to the ether. The Campaign was impressive from the point of view of the young and previously uninvolved. But it wasn't history with a capital "H" nor was it of similarly grandiose import. It was hype - the first American dotcom Campaign. Or at least it was all about the hype surrounding Joe Trippi - the Guv hardly utters a line without Trippi being in the frame throughout the entire hour. Anyone looking for a new "Journeys With George" will be sorely underwhelmed. Even though CNN's embed did a kick ass job of capturing all the emotional highs and lows.
One of the consistent attacks by the GOP in these early days of the head-to-head with Bush is directed at Kerry's "military" record. Putting aside his voting record in the Senate, this means Kerry's time in and out of Vietnam. On face value, that would seem like a ridiculous and dangerous path for the Bushies. But drawing attention to Kerry's involvement with the anti-war movement as a decorated vet may form an unkind and undeserved impression for many that remember that era with disdain. Joe Conason has a great piece on this attack angle on Salon today (be prepared for their irritating "free day pass registration" required to view it). Anyone the least bit interested in how to best respond to this wrongly framed "oppo" (opposition research) will surely enjoy the always well-researched Conason's analysis. The final couple paragraphs juxtaposing Colin Powell's own precariously unfavorable Vietnam experience are especially enlightening.
Sunday, March 07, 2004
A week gone by...
Maybe it's the fact that Kerry's expected Super Tuesday romp offered little in the way of surprises. Maybe it's that Spring seems to have come a bit early to Vermont. Maybe I just got tired of the forum for a few days and needed a break to charge up the analytical juices. Whatever the reason, I'm back to reorient my postings for the months and months of political/cultural jousting ahead of the Nation.
Not many people are paying attention any longer and the campaign office is largely cleared out, but the Deaniacs are still looking forward to March 18th when the Gov will be giving a speech intended to reintroduce the Campaign's mission for 2004. Until that time, there's a CNN documentary on the Dean Machine (a ridiculous moniker) airing tonight at 8pm EST. Some of the bloggers like Mathew Gross and Carl with a 'K' that worked with the campaign have already commented on being pleased with the rough cut they've seen. Aside from that, almost all the coverage has shifted into General Election mode - lots of backgrounders on Kerry, plenty of matchup polling, handicapping of the money race from here on out. In short, the race is just beginning but already I'm somewhat bored by the subjects in play. But if the polarized rhetoric generated by the entirely manufactured Gay Marriage debate is any indication, we ain't seen nothin' yet.
The silly media-criticism debate surrounding the first Bush campaign ads has been going on for days and most of it has been utterly predictable. The deliberate choice to use bleak images from 9/11 admist all the gauzy bunk that typically make up non-issue ads is a textbook approach (ponder in comparison the "it's morning in America" ads that Reagan used to such great effect in '84). My take is that the ads are wonderfully produced, intentionally empty of real meat, and totally appalling for Dems. Not at all unexpected for a first buy (even if this one cost Bush/Cheney $10M in 17 states). The resulting free media replays must please some short-sighted strategists in the Bush camp. But to specifically use the fleeting image of firefighters carrying a flag draped coffin of assumedly a fallen brother is in such bad taste that I can't imagine who aside from the truest of Bush supporters would be swayed by such reminders. Don't get me wrong - I can see the validity in both sides of this argument for the most part. But until Bush gives his one-hour of conversation (not testimony, mind you) to the 9/11 Commission, this debate of whether Bush should invoke discussion of his actions with regard to that national tragedy will go on and on and on. My favorite absurd defense of the ads came from Rudy Guiliani - "He did such a good job it would almost be false advertising not to include images of 9/11." That's so laughably stretched I can hardly hold my water, so to speak.
There's so much else going on in the world aside from political baseball, though. Spring training is under way - as I get older I find myself more attached to the seasonal cycle that is Major League Baseball even if the Milwaukee Brewers (my still lingering choice of small market poison) are a cruel joke yet again this year. The NCAA Basketball tourneys are almost here. And that's just a small piece of the sports world.
Maybe it's the fact that Kerry's expected Super Tuesday romp offered little in the way of surprises. Maybe it's that Spring seems to have come a bit early to Vermont. Maybe I just got tired of the forum for a few days and needed a break to charge up the analytical juices. Whatever the reason, I'm back to reorient my postings for the months and months of political/cultural jousting ahead of the Nation.
Not many people are paying attention any longer and the campaign office is largely cleared out, but the Deaniacs are still looking forward to March 18th when the Gov will be giving a speech intended to reintroduce the Campaign's mission for 2004. Until that time, there's a CNN documentary on the Dean Machine (a ridiculous moniker) airing tonight at 8pm EST. Some of the bloggers like Mathew Gross and Carl with a 'K' that worked with the campaign have already commented on being pleased with the rough cut they've seen. Aside from that, almost all the coverage has shifted into General Election mode - lots of backgrounders on Kerry, plenty of matchup polling, handicapping of the money race from here on out. In short, the race is just beginning but already I'm somewhat bored by the subjects in play. But if the polarized rhetoric generated by the entirely manufactured Gay Marriage debate is any indication, we ain't seen nothin' yet.
The silly media-criticism debate surrounding the first Bush campaign ads has been going on for days and most of it has been utterly predictable. The deliberate choice to use bleak images from 9/11 admist all the gauzy bunk that typically make up non-issue ads is a textbook approach (ponder in comparison the "it's morning in America" ads that Reagan used to such great effect in '84). My take is that the ads are wonderfully produced, intentionally empty of real meat, and totally appalling for Dems. Not at all unexpected for a first buy (even if this one cost Bush/Cheney $10M in 17 states). The resulting free media replays must please some short-sighted strategists in the Bush camp. But to specifically use the fleeting image of firefighters carrying a flag draped coffin of assumedly a fallen brother is in such bad taste that I can't imagine who aside from the truest of Bush supporters would be swayed by such reminders. Don't get me wrong - I can see the validity in both sides of this argument for the most part. But until Bush gives his one-hour of conversation (not testimony, mind you) to the 9/11 Commission, this debate of whether Bush should invoke discussion of his actions with regard to that national tragedy will go on and on and on. My favorite absurd defense of the ads came from Rudy Guiliani - "He did such a good job it would almost be false advertising not to include images of 9/11." That's so laughably stretched I can hardly hold my water, so to speak.
There's so much else going on in the world aside from political baseball, though. Spring training is under way - as I get older I find myself more attached to the seasonal cycle that is Major League Baseball even if the Milwaukee Brewers (my still lingering choice of small market poison) are a cruel joke yet again this year. The NCAA Basketball tourneys are almost here. And that's just a small piece of the sports world.
