By The Company He Keeps...

Porcupine is writing this at 11:30 am on Friday, August 22, 2008. (Note: Due to the genuinely crappy Internet connection available on Cape Cod during the summer, Porcupine has been unable to access the Internet until just now - over 24 hours later. The good new is, Obama has chosen to drag out his selection for all this time - impossibly heightening expectations, but making Porcupine's blog on the matter still germane.)

At this moment, Barack Obama has not announced his choice for Vice President, a decision which will tell us a great deal more about Obama than the person he chooses.

Hillary Clinton? Sen. Clinton is in a unique position – she alone is able to unite BOTH parties. The PUMA Democrats and Democratic women will be better able to unite behind Obama (although there will be some residual resentment of such a Bright Young Thing being promoted over the head of a better qualified woman, doubtless a familiar scenario to many). On the Republican side, any lingering doubts over McCain’s conservative bona fides will vanish at the prospect of an unoccupied Bill Clinton being once again in Washington near the seat of power.

Gov. Sibelius? Choosing a different woman than Hillary will only further enrage the PUMA women, and Obama seems smarter than that.

Obama’s choice comes down to two – the Trusted Older Counselor or the Vigorous Cohort.

Joe Biden is the archetype of the former. Indeed, an inexperienced Governor chose the foreign policy expert and insider as Vice President in 2000, and the selection of Dick Cheney allayed many fears about George Bush’s foreign policy credentials. Porcupine wonders if Obama wants to choose the same path. Further, as one wag said, Joe Biden is the smartest guy in the room – just ask him, and he’ll tell you. Is Obama’s somewhat touchy ego up to partnering with a vice President who may at times appear smarter and more experienced than he?

Tim Kaine is the latter – a popular and vigorous Governor, who would be so grateful for his chance at the world stage that he would never risk outshining ‘The One’, and who would work hard to push Obama’s agenda and ideas with the public. Hardly an ego threat.

Porcupine is of the opinion that it is the Vigorous Cohort who will be chosen, out of deference to Obama's prickly ego, but we shall soon see who comes out that door – Not a Lady, but perhaps a Tiger…

Sunday Summer Sing Along - Early Edition?

The Democratic National Committee's Rules & Bylaws Committee will proceed on May 31 during a much-anticipated meeting to reconsider issues in the Florida and Michigan delegate flap at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel , in Washington, D.C. The decision may determine the outcome of Hillary Clinton's Presidential campaign.

Usually, Porcupine begins the Sunday Summer Sing Along on the first Sunday in July, but thought this song, called Hillary's Plaint, was appropriate for the meeting tomorrow - sung to the tune of the Hank Williams classic, 'Cold, Cold Heart'.

I tried so hard, my friends, to show that I’m your every dream.
Yet you're afraid each thing I do is just some evil scheme
Some memories from my White House past keep us so far apart
Why can't I free your doubtful minds, and melt your cold, cold heart?

Another Clinton, years ago, made your hearts sad and blue
And my campaign is paying now for things I didn't do
Sure, I claim ‘experience’, but that’s just being smart
Why can't I free your doubtful minds, and melt your cold, cold heart?

You'll never know how much it hurts to see you fawn on him
You know Obama’s full of smoke, a mere Progressive whim
Why do you run and hide from facts, to try it just ain't smart
Why can't I free your doubtful minds and melt your cold, cold, heart?

There was a time when I believed that you belonged to me
But now I know your votes are shackled Bill’s memory
The more I try to bond with you, the more we drift apart
Why can't I free your doubtful minds and melt your cold, cold, heart?

Is Grandma Next Under The Bus?

Well, we've finally learned what upsets the usually unflappable Barack Obama - "But at a certain point, if what somebody says contradicts what you believe so fundamentally, and then he questions whether or not you believe it in front of the National Press Club, then that's enough. That's -- that's a show of disrespect to me."

The trigger for this was Rev. Jeremiah Wright's remarks at the National Press Club, where he offered his opinion that Obama's increasing attempts to distance himself from the Rev.' s loony ideas was 'just what politicians have to do', i.e., an insincere ploy to lure the white simpletons into supporting him. Porcupine cannot help but observe that the decades of repeated disrespect to the Government, Nation, Italians, Caucasians, President, Jews, Etc. were not enough to push Obama over the edge, but disrespect to him was enough to repudiate the Rev.

Porcupine has long thought that Wright's remarks are not that unusual in 'liberation theology' circles, and that Obama's career as a community organizer may well have deafened him to how offensive these remarks are outside that charmed circle. There are facts, and there is Truth (with an aggressive capial 'T'). It may not be a fact that the Government developed AIDS as a means of decimating the black community, but it is a Truth that they would do something that vile. Hyperbole is routine in Community Activist cirlces, and after a while such rhetoric ceases to shock or offend. Obama is probably telling a sort of Truth when he says that he didn't hear Rev. Wright say such things while he sat in the pew at church - it may be a fact that he said such things, but the Truth is that is faded to buzz, religious Muzak, after a decade or so.

As recently as March 18, Obama spoke of Rev. Wright in these terms (full text of his speech HERE) - "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother - a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe". The politician in him managed a slam at Geraldine Ferraro as well.

If Barack Obama would be the President of the United States, he might have to disavow the segment of the black community which harbors attitudes just as racist as the attitudes he ascribes to his grandmother. The underside of Obama's bus could become a crowded place.

What Do The Simple Folk Do?

"It is true I am amused about this notion of elitist."
Barack Obama, CNN, April 16, 2008

Yes, blogging has changed everything. At a soignee fundraiser, closed to the press, a blogger for the Huffington Post recorded a speech given by a candidate she supports, Barack Obama. These are the words which have casused the great Bitterness Debate -

“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Obama's analysis of the economics of the situation is accurate. Where he falls down, and opens himself to charges of elitism and snobbery, is his odd lack of empathy for working and blue-collar people. Poor people - people he grew up with, met as a community organizer in the Chicago ghetto - he can understand. Indeed, it's the explanation for his long term relationship with a hater like Rev. Wright. Liberation Theology both blames the capitalist government for all the ills of the descendents of slaves, while simultaneously exaulting their natural superiority, which makes it problematic how they continue to be so exploited. No, it's working class people he looks down on as Archie Bunkers.

His words sneer at their affirmative choices. People of all ages and stations have a fulfilling relationship with God. Rural people hunt and fish, and enjoy the forest and stream as a treasure, a balm available to all. They have good cause to be angry that their government will not enforce immigration laws, as they are outbid for painting and roofing jobs to support their family. Some may be bitter, some may be exasperated. But they do not cherish their First and Second Amendment Rights as a crutch; rather, they would go to church or the rod & gun club whether economic times are good or bad - because they like it. They aren't inferior to the people you organized in Chicago, or the hoi polloi you solicit donations from, Senator - they're different.

Simple people, Sen. Obama. It's a regular person thing - you wouldn't understand, Senator.

Now THIS Is Rich!

From Ben Smith's column on Politico:

Harry Smith asked if after the nominating contests end with the South Dakota and Montana primaries on June 3, "Do you want the superdelegates to have some sort of vote immediately so that you'll know months in advance of the convention what the outcome is?” Dean replied: “Well, I think the superdelegates have already been weighing in. I think that there's 800 of them and 450 of them have already said who they're for. I'd like the other 350 to say who they're at some point between now and the first of July so we don't have to take this into the convention.”

An aide explains that July 1 is not a drop-dead deadline: "The point is before the convention, ideally in June."

Dean has been criticized for not taking a heavier hand in ending the bruising contest.
The aide elaborates on the chairman's thinking: "Dean is personally engaged in this process, he's had numerous conversations with over 60 leaders inside and outside of the Democratic Party, to hear their thoughts, get their input and encourage them to help reinforce the importance of keeping the party united behind our nominee in November. ... He does not want to discuss those conversations publicly because in Washington, you can work behind the scenes and not worry about getting credit and actually get something done -- or you can talk about it in the press and not get anything done. But ... he wants to see this resolved before the convention and will encourage the superdelegates to make their choice known once the voters in the remaining states have had their say."

In an interview with AP's Nedra Pickler, Dean also made it clear he wants to get the show on the road. "There'll be some nasty fights if it goes to convention, and people will walk out," he told Nedra. "But I've also been talking to a fairly significant number of, by and large, nonaligned people about how we might resolve this." Nedra adds: "Dean wouldn't talk in detail about what the plan is, but it likely involves encouraging superdelegates to pick a candidate shortly after the voting ends."

So Chairman Dean wants all the unseemely muss done with, eh? "Ideally in June", he says. Chairman Howard Dean is the rocket scientist who created this problem in the first place!

You see, the party which does NOT hold the White House gets to choose the time of its convention, and the party which DOES hold the White House must hold its convention afterwards. When looking at the twenty-odd announced candidates, Howard Dean saw a great deal of potential for animosity and bad blood on the Republican side, while Hillary Clinton was assumed to be the inevitable nominee of the Democrats. So Chairman Dean himself chose the end of August for the Democrats to hold their convention, forcing the Republicans to hold theirs on Labor Day weekend. It seemed like a good idea at the time - a GOP bloodbath that would rankle all summer.

Be careful what you wish for, Mr. Chairman - the GOP has chosen a candidate, and the stresses on the Democrats caused by your timeline will not be easily mended. For Howard Dean, the architect of disaster to piously intone that the campaigns must cease in June and the Super Delegates must choose at the time invites an obvious question - gee, Howard, why didn't you schedule the convention for then?

Two Minds With But A Single Thought...

...or is it two minds with almost a single thought between them? According to former Congressional candidate and Democratic Party Chair Philip Johnston: "We all said that we could have closed our eyes when Obama spoke [and] it could have been Deval."

Should Sen. Obama become the nominee, the People of the Commonwealth will bear a great responsibility - better acquainting the nation with how talk can be cheap, and how sometimes, when change is what you proclaim when you are unable to accomplish anything, the only change you see is the chump kind.

WHAT 'Macaca'?

Well, Porcupine waitied a while, to give the Globe and Herald their chance to fulminate and breathe fire - but it hasn't happened.

So, an Associated Press story from SIX DAYS AGO appears HERE.

A Louisiana Democrat referred to the parent of the local NAACP leader as 'Buckwheat'. Had a Republican done this, lightning and imprecations would have rained from the skies; as it is, luckily, the Democrat controlled media are there to put this minor story in place for us all. Move along, nothing to see here. Oh, and Congressman 'Cold Cash' Jefferson's daughter also lost a releection bid.

But that Jindal guy, that was just a fluke....

What's-His-Name, that Guy Running for President....

Porcupine has learned why so many of the twenty-odd candidates haven't been able to get their ideas across. Nobody has heard them.


From an excellent piece in Journalism.org, "The Invisible Primary", comes the following statistics -

While Hillary Clinton led in the derby for press exposure (she was the primary subject in 17% of all campaign stories), the largely antagonistic attention of conservative talk radio accounted for most of that edge. Clinton was the focus of nearly a third of all the campaign segments among the conservative talkers studied (the three most popular conservative radio voices, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage). Clinton is not nearly as a popular subject among liberal radio talk show hosts.

The second-most covered candidate, Democratic rival Barack Obama (14% of stories), got a boost in that coverage from being the No. 1 focus of all the candidates from network evening news.

Two Republicans were next in media exposure. Giuliani led among Republicans with 9% of the stories, followed by McCain at 7% and Romney at 5%.

They were followed by former Senators John Edwards (4%) and Fred Thompson (3%), whose level of coverage relative to their party rivals probably puts them in what is best considered a second tier. Interestingly, Thompson, the lobbyist, actor and former Tennessee Senator, enjoyed this level of coverage (and name recognition in polling) even though he did not actually enter the race until
September.

The rest of the candidates would have to be considered not second-tier but third, at least in media attention. None received more than 2% of the coverage.

Put another way, of the more than 1,700 campaign stories examined from January to May, Tom Tancredo, Sam Brownback, Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee each were the focus of fewer than a dozen stories. The second tier Democrats fared only slightly better. There were five stories about Chris Dodd, 28 about Bill Richardson, one about Dennis Kucinich, and 41 about Joe Biden. For most, their coverage peaked the day of their announcement and went downhill from there.

How dominant were Clinton and Obama as newsmakers? Together, these two candidates commanded essentially the same amount of coverage as all the of the GOP hopefuls combined.

So, in a sense, we have nobody but ourselves to blame. Conservative pundits talk about the Democrats and Liberal reporters talk about...the Democrats.

The entire piece is worth reading, and is a good objective display of how conservative ideas and principles have tough sledding in getting exposure - even if at least half of the country agrees with them.

The Glob Mis-Explains It for You Once Again!

From the (alleged) Political Intelligence column of the Boston Glob comes speculation about the possiblity of genuine, brokered conventions -

Rudy Giuliani is leading in the national polls, but is followed closely by Fred Thompson. John McCain appears to be resurging. And Mitt Romney, while fourth in most national surveys, is leading in Iowa and New Hampshire. (Glob Chagrin!)

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is well ahead in the polls and could wrap up the nomination well before the Democratic convention next August in Denver. So Judis says that if Republicans can't settle on their nominee until the convention, that could help Democrats, who would have a head start in coalescing around their standard-bearer.

"It's the Republicans, not the Democrats, who are looking at a political nightmare in 2008," he writes.

Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor at 10:04 AM

Mr. (?) Rhee - it isn't the REPUBLICANS who are looking at the political nightmare of having to justify Hillary Clinton as the Party's Official Nominee and Philosophical Standard Bearer!

Sunday Summer Sing Along - 2007 Finale!

As always (this is the second time, so Porcupine can now declare it to be 'always'), the Grand Finale of the Sunday Summer Sing-Along for 2007 is a recapitulation of the Red and Blue Alternaton for this summer's edification -

A Ditty for Deval - HERE

A Melody for McCain - HERE

A Ballad for Barak - HERE

A Roundelay for Rudy - HERE

A Hymn for Herself - HERE

A Fandango for Fred - HERE

An Elegy for Edwards - HERE

A Hoedown for Huckabee - HERE


So, Adieu, my friends, until the 2008 round - Porcupine expects ample scope for the art of parody to present itself as the election year advances!

Sunday Summer Sing Along - 2007 - Number 7!

This week, Porcupine considers the petulant candidacy of John Edwards - Senator, former Vice Presidential Candidate, and talk show host in touch with the dead (no, not that last bit...although he DID run with John Kerry) ... to the tune of 'Send In the Clowns' from the Stephen Sondheim show, 'A Little Night Music'.

I know I’m Right
I Know You’re Wrong
Just Get Me Elected
We’ll Get Along.
Pollsters are Clowns
Just Media Clowns.

I’m From the South
Speak for the Poor
Forget the Haircuts
And High Class Couture
Reporters are Clowns
Republican Clowns.

Just When I Had Bush in My Sight
Finally Knowing I’d Hang His Mistakes on the Right,
Making My Entrance Again with My Usual Flair
Sure of My Lines,
No Voters were There.

Obama’s a farce
Clinton I fear
I thought that Dems Want What I Want
Sorry, not clear.
But where are the clowns?
Those Progressive clowns
Don't bother, they're here.

John Kerry Lost
I Was Vee-Pee
I Took the Second Place Slot
So Now You Owe Me
So where are the clowns?
Those Democrat clowns -
Well, maybe next year….

Sunday Summer Sing Along - 2007 - Number Three!

ESPECIALLY for Porcupine's good friends at Blue Mass Group -

Obama Magic Has Us In Its Spell,

Obama Magic That We Love So Well!

His Speechifyin' Tingles Down Our Spine,

His Lack of Record Strikes Us All Just Fine!

He Is The Savior We've Been Prayin' For

Since It Looks Like We Can't Get Al Gore

Round and Round We Go,'

Down and Down We Go,

Deep In The Spin,

Lovin' His Spin That We're In,

'Cause Obama Magic's 'bout Love!