I have said for years that the US needs a statesman as president, not a politician. The Dems started this process with an excellent field of candidates and among those were some that were statesmen. But unfortunately, those are falling by the wayside and the normal politicians are emerging as the leaders of the Dems. By that I mean it is all about ego and power and influence, nothing about the issues and the problems that Americans face everyday. Americans seem to be leaning to the experience, Hillary has the experience–not legislative experience, not legal experience, but rather political experience. You can see that by the way that the campaign is going. Hil and Bill are resorting to half truths, dirty tricks, etc. yes this is politics as usual. So much for change if she wins the nomination and the presidency.

The Clintons have turned this into a race issue, by the comments that their surrogates have issued and Hil, herself mentioning slum lord in one of her comments. Bill even goes so far as to say he has never lied about Obama and yet all pundits catch him in the lies. This is politics as usual. It is Win at All Costs, that is not the change that Hil keeps saying she wants to bring to Washington.

Obama has fallen into their trap, they are turning him into a black candidate, not the universal candidate that he wants to be. If he wins SC, it will be spun as because of the black vote. If the Clintons win this ego trip and get the nomination, then you will be giving the presidency to McCain if he is the Repub nominee. And you will have further polarization, something that Hillary has said that we need to end. With her and Bill, polarization will continue and the democratic party will stay divided. She is not the uniter, especially with Bill being her tag team partner.

Bill is quickly losing all respect that Dems have had for him over the years. Apparently it is worth it to win the presidency at any cost.

Recently, Joe Scarborough of MSNBC’s Morning Joe has said that the American voter is extremely excited about the election season. Personally, I think he has a stand that he seems to be pushing on the viewing audience. He seems to be pushing Huckabee and/or Romney on his viewers. He gets upset when the MSM does not jump on the Romney bandwagon. That’s enough about my personal belief on this matter. As I have said, Joe thinks that the election cycle is very exciting for the voter. He says that they (voter) really want change and that if it is true then they have a wealth of candidates to choose from this time.

Choices? What choices? The voter’s choices of Washington insiders, lots of these or a wealthy business man or a Bush-esque mayor or a preacher or ……..my point is all the real choices have been eliminated either by lack of support or by the media deciding who the candidates are to be. I am sorry, but I do not see the choices that Joe seems to see.

Let’s look at Romney, is he truly the frontrunner? If you look at the delegate count, then yes. But at the same time you must take into consideration that his wins were in two states that he was running virtually unopposed and in a state that he was considered the favorite son. In states where he had to compete with the whole field of candidates he has not done so well. I say if he retains his delegate lead after Florida then I will consider him a front runner.

Is McCain the Repub Front runner? In delegates no he is in second place, but if you look at his election results running against the Repub field then he is closer to a front runner than Romney. Once again, Florida will decide who is the front runner. If you want to know for sure, then I ask that you wait until 30 Jan 08 and your question will be answered.

Now that the media has successfully eliminated all but the three top candidates from the primaries, you would think that there would finally be a debate that focused on the issues. Think again! CNN, “the best political team on TV”, their words, not mine, hosted the SC debate and they showed that they are just as disgusting as any of the other outlets. Wolf Blitzer, the debate moderator was about as worthless as tits on a boar, he was never in control of the debate.

Almost immediately Clinton and Obama started for each others jugular. They went back and forth with he said, she said, Bill said; attacking each others integrity and voting records. Edwards had to chime in and remind Blitzer that there were three people in the debate. Very little was talked about the top 2’s issues. Edwards did well by trying to inject “real” issues into the debate. The best line of the night was by Edward’s when he said, “this squabbling willnot help children get health care…..”

The media got what they wanted–a bullsh*t knock down argument about each other and not the issues. Nothing was said by Clinton or Obama that would have helped the voter understand their positions on issues. The dumbest question was ask to Obama if he thought Bill Clinton was truly the first black president. Obama’s answer was humorous and absolutely worthless. There was too much time spent on the issue of race and not issues.

Ok so now you want to know who I think won and lost the debate. Winner was Edwards, because he was the only adult on the stage. The loser was two-fold: First it was CNN for co-sponsoring a worthless two hours of personal attacks and the voter because they learned NOTHING about the issues.

This was a good example of why the media should NOT be allowed to be involved in the debate process at any cost. Debates are for the political education of the voter, not to teach them the proper way to personally attack an opponent. CNN needs to apologize to the voter for the debate and their lack of any actual moderation.

This analysis is from McClatchy News–I put this in so that when I rate the latest debate–to see if the advice was taken.

McClatchy Newspapers

What the three candidates will aim to accomplish in tonight’s debate:

Hillary Clinton

To score points: In Clinton’s strongest debates thus far she has mastered the facts, calmly disassembled criticism and attacked her opponents in just the right spots. Clinton did all of those things in a nationally televised debate in Nevada last week. Post-debate observers were near unanimous in praise of Clinton’s effort, deeming her the winner. Clinton has also scored points when she injected humor or levity into these debates.

She wants to avoid: Clinton’s weakest debate moments have come when she has been pressed to explain some of her positions, whether it’s driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants or some of her votes on the Iraq war. In those moments she has come off as overly defensive and, at times, not completely forthright. This being a Martin Luther King Jr. Day debate hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, race matters will be a focus. Clinton wants to avoid a replay of the controversy that erupted out of New Hampshire, where she offended some black voters with comments interpreted as disparaging of King’s contribution to civil rights.

She can claim victory if: She escapes inevitable attack without being hurt too badly and speaks to the women voters she needs to win South Carolina. A McClatchy-MSNBC poll released last week showed Clinton trailing Obama slightly among women.

John Edwards

To score points: Edwards, who is trailing badly in South Carolina and whose best showing so far has been his second-place finish in Iowa, needs to bloody Clinton and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. He needs to capitalize on every opportunity to attack. If Clinton and Obama spend the night going after each other, Edwards job will be made easier.

He wants to avoid: Edwards has at times been dubbed the angry candidate since he’s turned up the heat on the campaign trail. Edwards needs to debate in attack mode, but he also needs to stay balanced. Edwards has done a good job of casting himself as the candidate most attuned to the economic woes of the poor and working class. His populist messages have been fairly well received. Edwards’ message is more timely than ever, given the economic news of the past three months. Edwards wants to seize on every opportunity to attack Clinton and Obama.

He can claim victory if: Post-debate commentators are talking about Edwards’ consistency of message, his aggression and how he managed to zing both Clinton and Obama.

Barack Obama

To score points: Obama must sound decisive and look presidential. South Carolina is an extremely important state for Obama. South Carolina voters have to decide if he’s electable before they cast a vote for him. To do that, he must match Clinton’s mastery of issues, show candor and display the personality that has made him a hit on the campaign trail.

He wants to avoid: The hesitant Obama from last week, who seemed to have to search for too many answers and, at times, looked indecisive. Obama is the black candidate in a debate that will have some focus on issues that affect black America. His answers to those questions will be closely scrutinized by voters. Obama must avoid sounding too soft on civil rights issues, something that might alienate undecided black voters.

He can claim victory if: He matches Edwards on economic issues, matches Clinton on foreign policy issues and wins on domestic issues where his message of hope has been most resonant.

By now I hope everyone knows about the fact that Dennis Kucinich was eliminated from the Nevada Democratic debate. First he was eliminated by MSNBC, then a judge ruled that they could not eliminate him once he had been invited, then MSNBC brought in their high powered corporate lawyers and took it to the Nevada Supreme Court, where it ruled in MSNBC’s favor and that they could exclude Kucinich from the debates.

In my years as an activist I have seen this type of crap play out numerous times. There are three ways that a candidate can be marginalized by the MSM. 1–discrediting the opposition by making it look ridiculous. 2–isolate the opposition by given only isolated coverage. 3–limit the amount of exposure that the opposition is allowed to get. All three have been used against kucinich. What? In one debate the only candidate that was asked about UFOs was kucinich and his answer got him ridiculed by the msm. Second, Kucinich was NEVER given the exposure on msm as say Huckabee, thus marginalizing Dennis’ message. And lastly, the candidate is given little chance to put forward his/her stands on the issues. This was used against Kucinich at the Nevada debate.

After watching the Nevada debate I can understand why MSNBC and the other democratic candidates did not want Dennis there. Yes, I said the other Democratic candidates! If they were not part of the plan, why did they not speak up to have Kucinich included in the debate? MSNBC brought up Cheney’s energy bill, the War and others. All of these Dennis was opposed to and his record confirms this. However the big 3 were flip-floppers. If Dennis had been included then the corporate candidates would have been exposed as the frauds they really are.

I find this sad that the candidates would not come to the aid of Kucinich. These are the same people that are always saying that the American people are getting a raw deal from the other side of the political spectrum, yet they play the same game, by the same rules that the Repubs play by. Are these the people you really want in control of Washington? Never mind, do not answer that for the answer is obvious. Enjoy the president that the corporations pick for you.

Recently, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews made a comment about Hillary Clinton that turned the media into a ravenous beast. He was crucified daily about this comment What would the outcome possible be?

Matthews made a comment about Clinton’s win in NH, to the tune of, “she got support because her husband messed around”. (A Paraphrase). That in itself was not the most intelligent thing he could have said and the sharks circled for the kill. The problem is, and I watched the Morning Joe segment that this quote is from, and Matthews said a lot more than that one statement–it was taken out of context, as usual. Actually, Matthews made the point that Hillary was a strong person and that she has worked hard in Congress and is a good candidate. He also made a good case that she will always get a sympathy vote because of her handling of her husband’s indiscretions. That is not a criticism, but rather a fact. Everybody, but mostly women, will have her stand on that situation in the back of their minds and it could influence their vote. This does not take anything away from Hillary, for she is an excellent candidate. All Matthews did was point out a fact and the crap he had to face because of telling the truth, smacks of censorship.

Matthews went on his show, Hardball, and had to clarify what he said and attempt an apology. He seems to speak well and I think it is just his way and style of talking. IMO, I do not think he needed to apologize for anything he said. I understood what he meant and so did many others, but the politicos had to turn it into something it was not. With that said, I sincerely hope that he was not forced into making the statement and apology on his show.

Later in the week, Matthews was on the Tonite Show with Jay Leno and he was talking about the Republican party and compared it to Iraq. He said that the party was tribal, that Huckabee and Thompson were the Shi’a, the fundamentalists and that McCain and Rudy were the Sunni, the moderates and that Romney was the Kurd. IMO, an excellent analysis. You would think that with his problem with the Clinton statement, the Repubs would be all over him for this comment. But to the contrary, all is quiet on the Repub front. Maybe Coulter should play the part of a Repub Steinem…I jest..the less she says the better the country will be.

Once again, the primaries and campaigns have taken front stage in the news. Which means we, as news consumers, are actually getting more usable news than normally.

Let us look thru the refuse
Is there news
We could possibly use?

1–More people killing their kids

2–Weather, weather, everywhere!

3–Colorado inmate sues sheriff dept because he was injured trying to escape–he claims they were negligent.

4–Man robs bank on crutches in new mexico.

5–Princess Di is still dead! Regardless of what you have heard,

6–Finally, Pelosi is making change in Washington–the menu in the House cafeteria.

7–Even more plane, train and car crashes.

That is about it for last week–maybe this week will be different–but do not hold your breath.

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