Sunshine!!!!

Ah, a day filled with sunshine! I took advantage to walk a “slightly longer than 5 mile” course in 1:06; not that bad given the still cold temperatures and the wind. This was after a yoga class; Kathy taught it and, well, she is your basic “lovable but full of “no judgment, no competition” stuff.

I am not quite 100%; (too much information is to follow, but remember that this is my workout journal): I am not draining quite so much and my cough is all but gone; I am still draining some. I still get minor “hot flashes” from time to time; I’ve been told that it takes 4-5 weeks to fully recover.

I’ll have lots of training to do at the end of the month. But this week I’ve walked 30 miles (so far) and swam 3050 yards; not great but better than I was the week before.

Politcs (what else?) I’ve read HRC’s “Living History” and BHO’s “The Audacity of Hope” and “Citizen McCain” (about McCain and campaign finance reform). I’ve also listened to the abridged version of “Woman in Charge”. I’ll now tackle the unabridged version of the latter book, a biography of Obama, and McCain’s autobiography. I might reread Barbara’s copy of Living History (my ex yoga teacher still has my copy) and read “Dreams from my Father” (Obama’s 1995 work).

Maybe I’ll better understand what makes these people tick.

Another resource: 2008 Democratic Convention Watch What is most interesting is that they keep track of superdelegates. They show who is going to vote for who, and how they get their information. Note that this (assigning superdelegates to a candidate) is a murky process at best. For example, they assigned Barbara Boxer to Clinton. But look at what they based their assignment on:

Barbara Boxer, one of the state’s best-known superdelegates, has confused some by her stance. Boxer does not plan to endorse Clinton or Obama as long as both are running. But even though she has not thrown her support to either candidate, she does plan to vote for Clinton at the convention because Clinton won the California primary. Saying “the will of the voters is paramount,” she hopes the superdelegates do not decide the nominee at the convention.

This is a very different thing than, say, a Senator or a Governor outright giving a candidate an endorsement. But this tracker puts Boxer in the Clinton column (which, IMHO, is a reasonable assignment).

Currently The rout is on in Wyoming. with 78% of the caucus vote in, Obama leads 59-40 which should result in a 2 + 1 = 3 delegate pick-up. Obama is up 53-39 in Mississippi (primary next Tuesday) so things are looking good there. My next phone bank might be there (tomorrow afternoon, or perhaps Pennsylvania ) though that state will be huge challenge for us.

Update: 91% reporting and it is 58-41, Obama. I feel a bit good as I did make some Wyoming calls, though, to be honest, they weren’t that fruitful.

Hillary Clinton-John McCain contrast

Well, if she wants to make that contrast, I’ll make one too.

Note: this is Midshipman John McCain with his father, Captain (later to be Admiral) McCain.

side note: here is a much less distinguished Annapolis graduate:

What are John McCain’s sons doing?

This September, Senator John McCain’s youngest son, Jimmy, 18, will report to a U.S. Marine Corps depot near Camp Pendleton in San Diego. After three months of boot camp and a month of specialized training, he will be ready to deploy. Depending on the unit he joins, he could be in Iraq as early as this time next year, and his chances of seeing combat at some point are high. Of the 178,000 active-duty Marines in the world, some 80,000 have seen a tour in Iraq or Afghanistan, and 25,000 are now bearing the brunt of some of the worst fighting in Iraq. About 6,000 Marines have been wounded there, and about 650 have been killed. “I’m obviously very proud of my son,” says the elder McCain, “but also understandably a little nervous.” [...]

Note this is a 2006 article.

In some ways, though, Jimmy is breaking with tradition. His brother Jack, now 20, has just finished his plebe year at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather went before him. And McCain, the Navy aviator and keen interservice competitor, has been known to crack more than a few jokes at the Marines’ expense. McCain says he doesn’t read much into Jimmy’s decision. “I know that he’s aware of his family’s service background,” he says. “But I think the main motivator was, he had friends who were in the Marine Corps, and he’d known Marines, and he’d read about them, and he just wanted to join up.”

McCain says his son’s service won’t change his position on the war, and claims it won’t even affect how he feels about it. “Like every parent who has a son or daughter serving that way, you will have great concern, but you’ll also have great pride,” McCain says. But it will be hard to ignore. If Republicans retain control of the Senate after November’s midterm elections, McCain is due to become chairman of the Armed Services Committee in January, a position he has long aimed for. There he would have day-to-day responsibility for oversight of the war.

Fortunately, his son has come home from Iraq safely.

GOP sources said Republican presidential front-runner John McCain told a meeting of House Republicans in Washington his son has arrived home from Iraq.

Three Republicans at the private event said the Arizona senator, who has been mum about his Marine son on the campaign trail, received a powerful standing ovation when he told the House Republican Conference his son, Jimmy, had arrived home from Iraq with his unit, CNN reported Thursday.

McCain said his son had reported encountering improvised explosive devices at every turn when he first arrived in the country seven months ago but has since seen the security situation improve to the point where he was able to hand out soccer balls to the locals, the sources said.

So, no, I don’t like McCain’s stance on the war. But he walks the walk.

So, what is Chelsea Clinton doing?

Oh yes, she is insulting voters on the campaign trail.

The question was one she had heard before, but this time it was asked in downright hostile terms.
“Has your mother shown any remorse for the fact that her vote cost Iraqis a million of their lives?” a student asked Chelsea Clinton on Monday at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Ms. Clinton replied: “She cast a vote based on the best available evidence. Perhaps you had clairvoyance then, and that’s extraordinary.”

Gee, she is only 28; there is still plenty of time for her to serve in the military.

Anyway, this is a contrast that HRC probably doesn’t want to be made, but she opened the door.

Experience

Finally, the mainstream media is examining this “experience” claim.

Surrounded by military leaders in a Cabinet-style setting, Hillary Clinton on Thursday said she has “crossed the threshold” of foreign policy experience to serve as commander in chief.

Supporters of rival Barack Obama fired back immediately, arguing that the former first lady’s trips abroad hardly constituted a practice run for managing global crises.

“She was never asked to do the heavy lifting” when meeting with foreign leaders, said Susan Rice, who was an assistant secretary of state in the Clinton administration and is now advising Obama. “She wasn’t asked to move the mountain or deliver a harsh message or a veiled threat. It was all gentle prodding or constructive reinforcement. And it would not have been appropriate for her to do the heavy lifting.” [...]

In other words, her name has indeed been around for a good long while. But..

In Clinton’s case, she may well have exercised influence on foreign policy that is hard to document because she had a unique opportunity to offer private counsel to her husband, President Bill Clinton.

But while Hillary Clinton represented the U.S. on the world stage at important moments while she was first lady, there is scant evidence that she played a pivotal role in major foreign policy decisions or in managing global crises.

Her campaign tried to bring up stuff about Northern Ireland and Macedonia, Bosnia and Rwanda, but

But her involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process was primarily to encourage activism among women’s groups there, a contribution that the lead U.S. negotiator described as “helpful” but that an Irish historian who has written extensively about the conflict dismissed as “ancillary” to the peace process.

The Macedonian government opened its border to refugees the day before Clinton arrived to meet with government leaders. And her mission to Bosnia was a one-day visit in which she was accompanied by performers Sheryl Crow and Sinbad, as well as her daughter, Chelsea, according to the commanding general who hosted her. [...]

Despite lengthy memoirs by both Clintons and former Secretary of State and UN Ambassador Madeleine Albright, any advice she gave on Rwanda had not been mentioned until her presidential campaign.

She talks about her Women’s Rights Speech in China (a good thing). But is this preparation to manage a global crisis?

Still, Rice questioned whether that trip amounted to the kind of preparation for a global crisis that Clinton has claimed.

“How does going to Beijing and giving a speech show crisis management? There was no crisis. And there was nothing to manage,” Rice said.

Hat tip to Chumley at the Daily Kos.

I find it odd that she takes Obama to task about being “only speeches”, when in fact, that is pretty much what she has to offer.

Insulting the Voters
At one Clinton supporter feels that they have been insulted by the media. Ok, maybe that is true. But the Clinton camp insults us all of the time.

Here is their latest:

And here we go again.

One Clinton aide yesterday derided Mr Obama’s victories in “boutique” caucus states rather than the hardscrabble terrain of the rustbelt, saying: “Obama has won the small caucus states with the latte-sipping crowd. They don’t need a president, they need a feeling.”

Really, why don’t Clinton and McCain get a room already? They’re all using the same arguments.

Even if those arguments are so darn stupid.

The rust belt is (from west to east) the states bordering the great lakes: Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Of those states that have had a real contest, Obama won two (WI and IL), Clinton won two (OH, NY), IN and PA is pending, and MI is still trying to figure out how to have a real contest. Not exactly dominant

And what the heck is up with the “latte-sipping” crap?

Here’s the map, Obama states in Blue, Clinton states in Red (because she and her campaign have fallen in love with right-wing McCain frames). (And yes, I’m giving Clinton Texas and Nevada for winning the popular vote in those states, even though she ultimately lost them in delegates):

That’s why Obama is the far stronger national candidate. He respects the entire country, not just a select few “pre-approved” and “sanctioned” Clinton states.

Ahhh, just to relive some of the “Clinton’s camp greatest insults hits”, review one of my old posts.

But here is a golden oldie:

You know, those who feel that they are entitled sure get a bit pissed when things don’t go their way, don’t they?