Hillary Clinton: wins dead person’s endorsement

Workout notes 3 miles on the treadmill (38 minute walk), some light yoga on my own. Last night I was up from 12:30-2:00 with a coughing jag; it went away.

Politics I’ll let others do my talking today.

You may have heard the joke that a few “dead people” ended up “voting” for LBJ. That is Texas politics! (no, Illinois politics isn’t any better…)

But now, the dead even endorse people, if you believe the Clinton campaign:

Ok, O might do a bit of pandering, especially to religious types:

But the person I got this video from explains:

It’s a nice video, but the Barack Obama clips don’t belong there. Is he pandering? Yes. Is he abusing religion? Not at all. He’s using rhetoric to play to a crowd.

Mike Huckabee, on the other hand, is completely serious when he talks about changing the Constitution to “meet God’s standards.”

Ok, fair enough. I am not holding my breath and waiting for an openly agnostic candidate.

Why are Obama’s speeches more effective than Hillary Clinton’s? (on the average; I admit that there are those that like Clinton’s speeches more). A writer (Bob Harris) takes a shot at this question.

As far as this nonsense that Obama’s speeches lack substance:

If the Obama campaign is a cult, it includes a remarkable number of notably ungullible, notably non-follower-type people. His advisors and supporters include many of the nation’s most distinguished economists, legal scholars, and political scientists. It includes a striking number of policy experts and elected politicians who worked closely with both Clintons.

Senator Obama’s personal qualifications do not call to mind the towel-snapping frat boy who now occupies the nation’s highest office. Senator Obama has taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and was president of the Harvard Law Review, two notable non-starstruck arenas of personal advancement. He has held elective office longer than Senator Clinton has. The two hold very similar policy positions and would employ many of the same experts in the next administration.

When you look past the position papers, I don’t see that Senator Clinton has the surpassing record of legislative mastery she claims to possess. I don’t see that she has greater substance as a manager, either. Hard-nosed journalist Joe Klein notes that Obama has run “a smarter, more rigorous campaign.” Based on the campaign, “Obama has proved himself the best executive by far.”

Today the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal , the largest paper in Wisconsin, endorsed Senator Obama. Its editorial board concluded:

The Obama campaign has been derisively and incorrectly described as more rock tour than political campaign and his supporters as more starry-eyed groupies than thoughtful voters. If detractors in either party want to continue characterizing the Obama campaign this way, they will have seriously underestimated both the electorate’s hunger for meaningful change in how the nation is governed and the candidate himself. In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board on Wednesday, the first-term senator proved himself adept at detail and vision. They are not mutually exclusive.

Speaking for myself, I have some very practical reasons to celebrate Barack Obama’s ability to inspire people behind progressive causes. You have a better chance of being a fine candidate and president if you have this talent than if you don’t. Charisma isn’t necessary in a candidate, any more than height is necessary to win an NBA championship, but it helps. Hillary Clinton has had four years as the dominant front-runner to make her case. Although she began with every advantage, she has not done this as well as Senator Obama has.

This is only partly due to his superior eloquence and electability. It also reflects the reality that he is offering something important that Senator Clinton cannot.

Keep in mind that Obama is very popular with intellectuals and academics; I’ve pointed out that he handily won the Cosmic Variance straw poll, which included Republican candidates as well (the last numbers I checked: Obama 39 %, Other 24%, Hillary Clinton 15%, John Edwards 12%, Giuliani 3%, Huckabee 2%, McCain 2%, Romney 1%, Gramps 1%.)