Another Idea

Question: What do you do if your Presidential campaign is falling apart?
a. Fire every consultant who has made more than a million dollars.
b. Buy a ticket to Aruba and get some rest.
c. Cover your spouse's mouth with masking tape
d. Just tell the public who you really are...if you know

The ‘politicking’ gets more and more complicated. Yesterday Bill Clinton was somewhere, the place doesn’t matter – it was some state -- they all begin to look alike after a few primaries. He was giving a speech about what Hillary would say if she was there. And at some point in the speech he said, “so if you elect me”. The intro was a bit far away from the “elect me” and so it seemed that he was actually campaigning for himself. Maybe he was. Who knows at this point. And is it important? Well, it is to the people who are voting for Hillary in order to get Bill back in the White House. That would be my mother and her 10 friends – maybe there are more. I didn’t mean to minimize my mothers impact on the election. But for those people who are tired of the Clinton team, and had hoped just Hillary was going to be their President, it doesn’t work very well.

When Gloria Steinem wrote her NY Times editorial and said that a woman with Barack’s credentials would not have been taken seriously, I objected to the piece. I still think I was right, but with a caveat. Sure, there have always been issues of electability – people have been talking about that since Hillary announced. Things like, she’s a lightning rod for the republicans. Or she’s too polarizing. And the campaign management problems are evident. It is certainly legitimate to say, if she can’t run her campaign can she run the government? But a campaign is not governing—despite rumors to the contrary. Bill Clinton’s presence should have been a plus but has turned into a negative. And it is true that she can’t she seem to get a break from the media? But I don’t think that the reason is because she is a woman.

I think if Gerry Ferraro, or Claire McCaskill or any female Governor were running, there would notbe the same amount of criticism. It seems to me that the attacks on Hillary are not about the fact that she is a woman. They are personal attacks by a media which has been mistreated or dismissed by the arrogance of the people running a campaign that does not respect the role of the media. It really wasn’t any different during the Clinton Administration. George Stephanopolis, now a credible media person, tried to move the White House press secretary’s office out of the west wing. The media—for reasons good or bad—were in a large part the enemy. Maybe that’s an oversimplification. I’m nothing if not simple.

But the questions of “Which Hillary” is going to be at the debate, is certainly being asked over and over today. And who did that? The fact is that she has been many different people over the last week, so voters are confused about who they may be electing. It should never have gotten to that point. But that’s what happens when the campaign does not have any discernable direction.

In 1992, when Bill Clinton ran against George Bush senior – the good George Bush-- the campaign I ran against the President (yes it was funded and impactful – don’t you hate that word, it sounds like a tooth issue) was designed to illustrate, in a humorous way, why the American public shouldn’t vote for the President. The best way to diminish the importance of a person is through humor, so we crafted a “Witch George Bush” effort which was launched on Halloween. There are those who say if people had ridiculed Hitler rather than ignore him in the beginning, he wouldn’t have come to power. Who knows? Anyway, we had people costumed as witches at all the President's events for the week following the holiday. We were funny. But the question was serious. If the public is not sure about the character of the candidate, or has to ask the question, “when we open the door who will we find behind it?” They will most assuredly be reluctant to support that person – whoever they are. As you can imagine there are many hilarious tales to be told about these adventures – but that’s another blob. The point is, no political person wants to be the butt of a joke – especially on u tube. And you can be sure they are running clips of all the different Hillary’s this week.

And speaking of TV, as my old friend Ed Sullivan said, now ladies and gentlemen back to the shows. Maybe it wasn’t Ed or maybe he wasn’t my friend, or maybe he didn't say that. I can’t remember. But the talking heads, from Mort Zuckerman to Joe Scarborough have come up with great ideas about what Hillary should have said about Obama accusations and how she might have responded to this or that issue. Or my own personal talking head favorite is the answer to the question, “At this point, how does Hillary win?” Then there’s a pause and the inevitable response of the day; which Hillary? This is followed by some empty ideas about how she wins, which among others suggestions always includes —she needs to know who she is. She needs to find a message. She needs to fire her consultants. She needs to wear better colors, higher collars, a different color lipstick. The dissecting of Hillary is so painful to all of us who worked for and respect her that I can hardly watch the process unfold.

Women are excellent managers. And excellent leaders. I know this because some of my best friends happen to be women. And I think to base the success or failure of this campaign around the fact that Hillary is a woman, is to diminish who weare, the fights we fought to get here, and our ability to be great at whatever we chose to do. I among many other competent women could have crafted a successful campaign for Senator Clinton. These mistakes were not about her being a woman. They were, just like with any other person running for any office, about not having good advice, spending a great deal of money unwisely, and surrounding herself with people who had limited vision. At a time when people are looking for something to believe it’s ‘silly’ to think you can win an election by dismissing their ability to have hope for the future.
Iris

What Does a Lobbyist Do

Question: what is the job of a lobbyist?
a. To ingratiate yourself with a lawmaker in order to effectuate change.
b. To give a law maker big donations in order to get them to effectuate the change you want—in order that you keep your job.
c. To brag about your relationship with a lawmaker so everyone (especially the firm you work for) thinks you can effectuate change.
d. Never to say one word about getting a lawmaker to do something that helps your lobbying career.

Let’s talk a bit about the way Washington Lobbyists operate.

If you answered all of the above, you would be wrong. If you answered a,b, and c you’re on your way to a career as a lobbyist, or at the very least you know what you are supposed to do to succeed.

I don’t think what John McCain did years and years ago really matters. Here is a guy who was a fighter pilot in Viet Nam. I think he’s probably the kind of macho guy who likes women. In addition, he and his first wife divorced, while he was seeing his second wife. So we know he has had a least one moment when he may have embarrassed his family—if not his country. Did he do favors for the young lobbyist who has a great gold dress (as seen in the NYTimes)? I don’t think there is a legislator in Washington who has not done a favor for a lobbyist. They don’t call them favors. What the legislator says is that lobbyists present a case for their client and then the legislator makes a decision whether to support it or not based on the merit of the idea. Blah Blah Blah. But there was enough question about what legislators get from lobbyists (money, trips, meals, maybe even sex) that Senator McCain, working with Senator Feingold, tried to change the way lobbyists do business and legislators do favors.

It’s all part of the Washington game that Senator Obama wants to change—and I’m right there with that kind of change. But don’t tell my lobbyist friends, (some of my best friends are lobbyists.) But that is not what this blob is about. As I said, John McCain is a nice guy, macho, older person. I have the greatest respect for him because as a young legislator he was befriended by Mo Udall, an older (Democrat) Representative who later ran for President and for whom I worked and who I loved (not like Monica Lewinsky). And when, years later, Mo was diagnosed with severe Parkinson’s and confined to a nursing care facility, McCain visited him every week. There was no one else who did this. Not other friends or family.

What is much more interesting than if he did favors or had an affair, is why the story broke now and who benefits from it. Supposedly, the NYTimes broke the story now because the New Republic was going to do a story about why the Times was holding their story. That has to be crap—all the NY Times would have to do is say ‘we didn’t have enough substantiation.’ It’s not the Democrats, because they would prefer a story like this break during the General Election. It is premature for a Democratic victory. So let’s think. Far as I can see, only Huckabee has anything to gain with a story like this. We’re not sayin that Huckabee crafted this scenario—Drudge had the story in December – but as a person who believes that people care about character issues and pointing out character flaws is a good way to defeat your opponent, I ask again, who benefits from the release of what appears to be a story not quite fleshed out. Not the Republican Party, although there are those people who don’t believe he is a real Republican nor can he win an election without the conservative base. Not anyone who wants to run for his Senate seat if he loses the Presidential election and has to face another Arizona senate race. That’s much too premature.

If I were a reporter this is where I would focus my attention. Speculating about whether or not the staff tried to keep them apart or warn of the improprieties, or appearance of impropriety is just silly. It’s no smarter than when the a senior Clinton White House official called and suggested, because of the appearance of impropriety, (little did we know), I hire Monica Lewinsky at USIA. I refused and suggested they just fire her. ‘Well,’ I was told, ‘they couldn’t because her family were important funders.’ So they sent her to the Defense Department and wasn’t that a wise decision.

Anyway, let’s talk about the only important issue with regard to John McCain and this election. How much pancake make-up does Cindy McCain apply. And further, wouldn’t it be easier to just apply real pancakes.
Iris

The Thief of Words

Factoid: The President’s speech writers salary is generally paid by Random House or an equally large publishing company in order to avoid any accusations of plagiarism when they write their memoirs.


Several months ago I got up the courage to leave “the rock” Key West, and travel to Washington, DC for a visit with Iris (my co-author)and David Burnett. The highlight of that trip was a tour of places Iris frequented when she was working with the White House. It was then that I began to see the depth of her love for this country and the concern about who the leaders will be.

The first stop, was her favorite ice cream shop where she would take her staff almost on a daily basis for their noon pick-me-up. But they were working 14 to 18 hours a day so I guess that time was well spent. The second place she took me was to the Lincoln Memorial and that’s where she revealed that there were many, many nights when she would visit old Abe and sit on steps and reflect about what a wonderful country we lived in. As we walked inside the memorial she whispered to me, (you see there is a sign that reads “Silence Please” which only we respected but because there was so much tourist chatter about who was going to stand in front of Abe and who was going to take the pictures. She guided me into the room to the right and pointed to the walls inscribed with some of his words.

Yes, words. And I read them, all of them and as we walked out and down the steps I said to her, “Iris, this whole country needs to hear those words again.” Then I told her that I had four grown children and I wished I had brought them here when they were young enough to understand why we consider Abraham Lincoln a true visionary. I even suggested to her that she should make flyers of those writings and have the Democratic National Committee pass them out at every rally or speech their candidates attended.

Hell, they should be printed on the front pages of every newspaper in the United States.

But then, wouldn’t that put all the speech writers, campaign workers, and strategists out of work?

Enough of that, now on to the second memorial, the FDR, as in Franklin Delano Roosevelt, once again I told Iris my children would have no idea what FDR stood for, another mistake on my part I guess. Anyway, as we walked through his expansive memorial of statues and inscriptions I felt myself going back in my childhood. My parents were raised in the era of the great depression, soup lines and governmental work programs. We didn’t have welfare but we did have what was called, Relief. Which was food subsidies. My father was so proud that he never took the monthly trip to receive these handouts, but he was no fool and sent me. I really didn’t want to leave that memorial. I felt once again the pride I carried as not only a citizen but a veteran. Now I could go on and on and just write some more melancholy stuff so I’ll just end this by saying: What happened to our country, how could we have forgotten these great men who uttered such great words that moved us through wars and depression into greatness? Did someone put into effect a law or a ban from using these words under penalty of plagiarism or being called a thief of words. I guess there must be such a law because I never hear anyone repeating them anymore. I just hope somewhere down the line someone doesn’t put covers over those inscriptions with the warning, “No Trespassing!”

As we were walking back to her car she kept blowing her nose and wiping her eyes and I asked her if she was OK and maybe we should go get some ice cream and said she'd love that. Then she explained her eyes were watering because of her allergies. I stopped, took her by the arm and said, "Look around Iris, it's the dead of winter, there isn't one thing growing within a hundred miles."
Clay

Long Running Drama

We have invited people we think are smart and funny to be guests on this Blog. And here are some musings from our incredible WebMaster, Christian Coulon

Question: Which movie or TV show starring a Presidential candidate would you most love/hate to see?

A. Anything Chuck Norris with Mike Huckabee as the good natured but doomed sidekick
B. A Fist Full of Dollars starring Barack Obama as Clint Eastwood and Mitt Romney as the suspiciously eyebrowed villain
C. The Godfather with John McCain as the Godfather, Rudy Giuliani as Councelieri, (wait switch that) and Mitt Romney as 'Sonny'(wait, switch that any way)
D. Robin Hood starring John Edwards instead of Kevin Costner
E. The whole red and blue crew as the Republic Council in Star Wars, with Barack Obama as the Luke Skywalker discovering his blood relationship to Darth Vader played by Dick Cheney (yeah you've heard the last part before so subtract 5 from originality)
F. Scrubs starring Hillary as Eliot, John Edwards as J.D. (J.E.?), and Barack as Turk
G. Dr. Strangelove with Arnold Shwartzenegger as General 'Buck' Turgidson and Ann Coulter as Dr. Strangelove

Hillary's statement that 'you campaign in poery but you govern in prose' would take her further if Barack's speeches rhymed in couplets:

Let's bring people together
On the war we said never

I'll still be friends with Hillary
After I get tough with Billary

Hillary could also have said is her campaign is TV while Barack's is a movie.

Hill and Bill are from, of, and for the TV generation. Like a sitcom their drama is a result of their all too human character traits, and external forces figure second. But they're a big popular show: ER, The Simpsons, Bat Gat. They're no daytime soap, (although they borrow a plot line now and then). The are a well respected, if long running program. The smiles are still radiant and the lines are still clever. But they're into the 11th season by now and they don't look like they're enjoying it as much as they used to.

Meanwhile Barack Obama is starring in the role he seems born to play. It's like The Lion King were it an intensely serious adult drama. His words might be poetry but his themes and ideas are long and deep and serious like a film. He is the most presidential and dignified political presence some of us have ever seen, and when he gives a victory speech it's like my 22 inch screen starts to grow, the lights go low, and someone passes the popcorn.

This political season is the best entertainment going because of Barack. Even if he doesn't win (yeah right) I'll always feel like I've seen what a real president should look like and be. It's like he's destined for the role, and like it was written for him. For some of us, whether Obama fails or succeeds will determine whether we're watching a heroic or tragic drama.

The trailer for Barack Obama is playing every day now. It's playing during "The Clintons" prime-time spot. It looks like it's gonna live up to the hype after all. Everyone's wants to see it. If they don't release it because a Hollywood Dynasty flipped the jealous switch there's gonna be some seriously ticked off people.

But Americans watch a whole lot of TV. "The Clintons" have been running a long, long time. They're begging us to keep watching and not ditch them for the big new show. If they go off the air we'll feel bad and we'll miss 'em. But will we take a chance on a big movie night anyway? Hell yes! We can stay home and bathe in the warm mind numbing glow of the TV set any day.

Christian

Super What?

How can the average person identify who the Super Delegates are at the DNC convention?

a. They all will be wearing large flashing badges imprinted with a rhinestone S similiar to the Superman logo.
b. They will be escorted at all times by a scantily clad young lady carrying a very large crystal bowl that reads: Tips Appreciated
c. By the look like Secret Service agents surrounding and providing them with personal security.
d. Anyone that Geraldo interviews, will be a Super Delegate, anyone.

My new interest in politics is driven by the similarities between Wall Street and the Democratic National Committee. It all began when I heard about close-hold covert operations, not unlike the military’s special operation command, that are an integral part of both the DNC and Wall Street.

I bought a copy of the WSJ, (just love acronyms) and searched the business opportunities section and found exactly what I needed. A highlighted classified ad that read: Internship Opportunities with the DNC: With the 2008 Presidential Election ahead, the DNC is an exciting and busy place. This enriching experience in politics is an opportunity to get an insider’s view of the Democratic Party and to make valuable life-long connections.

What really caught my attention was the phrase “valuable life-long connections.” My whole life I wanted to belong to some organization that had valuable life-long connections. Sure I tried the Salvation Army, The John Birch Society, The Culinary Union and Alcoholic Anonymous but they all sort of fizzled out or just became plain boring and not to my liking.

I sent a letter of inquiry to the address indicated and within three days I received a Fed-Ex envelope or should I say package. In it was an application and booklets that were over an inch thick.

The first document was a request for my personal financial statement. I left it blank because all I had was my veteran’s disability pension and that hardly covered the cost of my subscription to the WSJ. They also wanted my D&B Report and credit rating. I didn’t know who D&B was so I left that section blank. I sent the info back, along with a small check to cover research expenses. I took that money from my pet’s food allowance. Next was a release of my rights under the Freedom of Information Act. That worried me a bit but what the hell, I’m sure being a “one for all and all for one” kinda organization they “could forgive and forget” some indiscretions in my past. And again, I had to send a check to pay for the inquiry they had to submit to the FIA agency. That money came from my food allowance.

Then there was also a confidentially statement which they wanted me to sign before I moved on to the next level. Oh yeah, I had to send a small sum to cover the printing and postage. So I opted to cancel my WSJ subscription and used that money to cover this cost.

Lastly, they wanted my insights and opinions on what would make the DNC reach its goals of global leadership. I didn’t have any except I wanted to live my remaining years in luxury, or at least a small dwelling. But I had to send something, so I enclosed an old CD of Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Re-visited. And yes another pittance to cover expenses and editing of my statement. I wondered if they could get in trouble if they edited Bob Dylan’s songs.

The last thing I had to do was read the several dozen pamphlets they sent to start my career in the DNC. Information on becoming a political pundit would be forthcoming in another packet. And yes another check which came out of my beer money. That one hurt, but I figured what the hell, it’ll pay off big time for me and I certainly could sacrifice for a little while.

So off everything went and as I left the post office I began to play a game of “what if” and before I got back to my bunk under the bridge I saw myself becoming a “super delegate.”

It took two weeks to get a reply and all that was in the envelope was a short note along with my checks. They were all marked Account Closed 2002.
Clay

What Were They Thinking

Question:

If you had to choose among the following campaign slogans (we will not use names but we will tell you they have been used in the past by political opposition teams) which do you think would come closest to a slogan that might be used about you, by your opponent.
a. Hey ---- your tie is open

b. Hey ---- your eye is open

c. Hey---- your lie is open

d. Hey ---- your fly is open

There isn’t a place he goes where there aren’t thousands of people. Usually the overflow people stand outside and he comes out with a bullhorn to say hello. It must be the rhetorical flourishes.

What were the Clinton people thinking when they decided not to organize for the caucuses. They had years to put organizations together. A year ago Obama wasn’t even thinking about the race, and maybe because he had so little money he determined that they needed to take the “old’ political tactic of building organizations, while the Clinton team determined that they would be the candidate after Feb. 5, so they could just do media. Or maybe Mark Penn, whose company made 4 1/2 million dollars for strategy and media buys, decided that strategy would make him rich – so why should he build organizations. They would have plenty of time to do that during the general elections.

And why would they make a big deal of Patty Solis’ departure? First of all, she’s not departing. Second of all, she was always more of a fund raiser than strategist. Third, Maggie Williams didn’t suddenly appear on the scene, she’s been in place for a month, and an advisor forever. Is there a fourth? Yes, there is always more when you most expect it. Why would you get rid of the one person who was accessible, and keep all the people who have made bad decisions and continue to be isolated from the reality of what’s happening?

Does Senator Clinton not understand that when she tries to demean Senator Obama by taking a pot shot about his speaking ability, by indicating that she could do the same but she would rather people know about her 35 years of dedication to helping children, it doesn’t make her any more likeable or for that matter, electable. Clearly people want to be inspired by what a candidate says.

We now know that people don’t seem to care about experience or they are not buying the kind of experience she has. We also know that Bill Clinton can’t be controlled – if he wants to talk fantasy – we all finally see that the fairy tale is about him. We know that Mark Penn and Terry McAuliffe have an agenda that does not necessarily reflect Hillary’s best interest and we know Chelsea is in Wisconsin because they have pretty much written off that state. What a terrible thing to do to your progeny. Maybe she’ll spend a weekend there.

And what are they thinking to send Hillary off to Texas and Ohio and whatever other hinterlands, rather than stay in Virginia, DC and Maryland and face the music. It just looks like she’s running away from the inevitable. It just seems like she has thrown in the east coast towel and has moved on, hoping that in other parts of the country the people who are supposed to vote for her will actually do so. But look at the exit polls (which I hardly ever do): Obama won with white males in Virginia-- that is amazing. And young women (they now need to think ‘old’). The Potomac vote, as they call it, was not supposed to be for Obama. Yes, we all knew DC would vote for him, but it was never clear what Virginia and Maryland would do. And they have done what they rest of the country may do. Right now Obama has 63% of the vote in Virginia. And tomorrow I may tell you what happened in Maryland.

Here’s the thing. Hillary never expected to be in a contest and Barack never had anything to lose. She is not well served by the people who are giving her advice and he is very well served by the people who want to be inspired. It’s not like anything any of us have ever seen. In 1972, we rallied around McGovern because he was an elected voice for our anti-war cause. The campaign was young and we didn’t have the support of mainstream Democrats. But we were inspired to vote and to make a difference. This is not the case with Obama. Mainstream Democrats have endorsed the man and his vision. Young, old, black, white (brown is slow to come), Jews, Christians, Moslems, and Buddhists. (You get the point). People. Just people, have decided that they want a real change. This is not about ‘changing things for 35 years.’ It’s about a vision for the future and looking beyond who the Democratic party is today. It’s about what the Democratic party will be tomorrow. They do not want Bill Clinton and the Clinton drama back in the White House—this is too important an election to reduce it to marital politics. Oy vey. (That’s Jewish for ‘oh my oh my’). I don’t pretend to know where this election will go—although I could pretend, and it would be pretty entertaining. I just want Hillary to get rid of the people who have led her astray, and to make this into a real race for the future.
Iris

Thinking While Drinking

Questions:
If there is an unusual natural disaster your first thoughts will be:
a. What actions do I need to take to protect my approval rating.
b. Should I look into the possibility of forming a sub-division that focuses only on catastrophes which have never been dealt with in the past. Things like: Flocks of
wild chickens running around helter-skelter infecting everyone they come in contact with a deadly virus. Perhaps appoint someone to be the Official Chicken Catcher.
c. If there is the possibility of massive injuries and death due to the illegal imported Snake Fish and Killer Bees, should I suggest that citizens have stocked their homes with duct tape because it could converted into bee paper, just like days of old. Or should I suggest the use the Killer Bees as bait for the Snake Fish, after all using they will greatly reduce the cost effectiveness of eradicating both threats..

If there is a normal natural disaster such as an earthquake, flood, hurricane or tornadoes, do I tell the public:
a. It is just Mother Natures way of expressing herself.
b. There but for the Grace of God go I! and let it work itself out.
c. The only possible assistance from the Federal Government will be a National Day of Prayer.

Maybe I’m missing something but when I was in elementary school math, 207 was more than 140. The media in their wisdom has determined that Huckabee is in second place in the Republican race. What are they talking about? By all counts he’s in third and further, there aren’t a whole lotta states left for him to win a big evangelist vote – the evangelists are running out. The Little Baby Jesus is not happy. David said, given the choice of having a beer with any of these candidates, Hukabee is the only Republican with a real sense of humor (Romney’s family practical jokes and McCain’s occasion sneer, don’t count). Note: It doesn’t matter I was wrong in my prediction and (breaking news) Romney has discontinued his campaign, so David won’t have to have a drink with him.

But aside from playing the numbers game, and Hillary and Barak are pretty much in a dead heat when you look at the numbers. However, I still think the most fascinating thing about the campaigns is the rhetoric/message each candidate delivers. The election night speeches were a perfect example. Both Senators declared victory, “I got more states, I got more numbers, I got a bigger headache, I have a bigger 'tuchas' and like that. And they both talked about change, but in such different ways.

Hillary told us how she she’s the future with sentences that started “I see...”. Based on everything she has said she genuinely believes that you cannot change the world without the experience to know how to do it. And having staffed the Government after Bill Clinton’s victory, she isn’t wrong.

Barack did his, “Yes we can...” speech. The ‘we’ is appealing because it says that we’re all in this together. I can’t do it alone. (People want to be part of a group. It’s brilliant). In fact, at one point he said something like, We are the people who we are waiting for. In other words, no one is going to make change alone—it’s a team effort and you are all the team. He feels that Washington is a mess and you can’t fix it with thinking out of the box about how business is done. Experience is overrated. (Who knows).

It is possible that I am reading into what they both are saying and making it my own (but you know it’s always all about me), and I don’t get it. I know it is impossible to change the bureaucracy overnight and without experience and at the same time But I like the thinking out of the box route. And speaking of thinking out of the box (yes I know this is a literary leap, but worth making), I met a fabulous guy today. Don’t make that other leap-- I am still seriously committed to the husband, but this was a professional marriage I’d like to make. His name is Justin Krebs and if you go to http://drinkingliberally.org , you will get a taste of what he has done. And speaking of tastes, one of the organizations he helped to create http://eatingliberally.org– the other being http://laughing liberally.org. If you go to Cosmopolity.org you can see all the things he has done.

On their drinkingliberally.org site, which was their first, they explain that the idea was to find a way to “Raise your spirits while you raise your glass, and share ideas while you share a pitcher.” The idea was to give “Liberally gives like-minded, left-leaning individuals a place to talk politics.” Justin graduated from Harvard and decided that he wanted to work on a great many projects and, in order to do this he couldn’t work on any one of them for more than six months. (He’s my kind of guy, but I said I was never going to do anything for more than four years—the Presidential cycle. He was smarter). First he worked in Hillary Clinton’s Senate race, next in the parks advocacy movement. Then with a friend Matthew O'Neill, he collaborated on Speak Up New York! - a state-wide youth civic engagement program that won special commendation from the Society of Professional Journalists. Next he developed all the “liberally” organizations. Oh and at the same time they were drinking liberally they created The Tank, a space for performing and visual arts in Manhattan. Whew! But what I think is the best thing about what he has done, other than building a creative, worthwhile, humorous, civic minded, empire (yes, it’s pretty amazing), is that they think face to face communication is the best way to do anything political. Unlike MoveOn, org, they use the website to exchange information (sometimes by linking to other blogs) and promote events. They do not advocate for or endorse any candidates. He did say (without indicating a candidate preference), that when the Senate voted to censure MoveOn, Hillary voted against it and Barak didn’t vote. Instead, they want people to get together, have fun and exchange political ideas.

The more I write the more I love the whole concept. It’s like politics used to be before you had a computer and a cell phone and you didn’t need to ever see another person or hear a voice. He has successfully combined the use of today’s technology with the concept of old fashioned retail politics. Every person who wants to see the potential of a what can happen when you know people need to have a place for conversation, while at the same time thinking out of the box, should click on at least one of his sites. It's a little about thinking while drinking.
Iris

Run Hither and Thither

Question:

If someone were to ask you if you were capable of diplomacy, which answer comes the closest to what you would respond:
a. No, but I did have attention deficit disorder for a few years.
b. Yes, and after I mastered it I moved right on to the cha cha.
c. That’s synonymous with mediation isn’t it. Or was it medication? Whichever, I take mine on a regular basis.


The Patriots lost. I am heartsick. And I am in New York so the horns are blowing and the drunks are throwing up—but they are happy. My kids are suicidal – they live in Boston. My grandson spent the day dressed in his NFL sweat pants and his Bruske
T-shirt. These are personal important issues that momentarily distract me from politics, but only momentarily.

I had lunch the other day with a wonderful old friend from USIA- that was the public diplomacy Agency that was reorganized into the State Department-- virtually rendering the United States without a public diplomacy effort. Why, you may ask yourself does that matter? Because public diplomacy is all about people talking to people (all the organizations, educational institutions, press, public affairs) rather than political (the governments) diplomacy. So these were the people who spoke the language, did the press work, and handled all the exchanges of ideas and information. In other words, they actually knew what was going on in other nations. Once the State Department took it over it was relegated (stupidly) to nonexistent. Anyway, my friend, who would rather be water boarded than be involved in politics said “So who do you think should be the Republican choice for VP?” I said “the governor of Florida or maybe Lindsay Graham” He said, “that was not thinking strategically.” He went on. “What about J.C. Watts.”

What about J.C. Watts. Black, handsome, articulate, conservative, rich, astutely political. Brilliant. I wish the idea had been mine. If any of the Republican candidates determined that J.C. Watts was their choice for VP. It renders the Democratic firsts, (female, black), immaterial—or at least, not so unique in terms of 'change’. Oh my. What to do?

The candidates are all over the place, they may even be in two places at once. David (crack photojournalist) is with McCain, oops Clinton, no, Obama. This means David is in two places at once. For the candidates, this National Primary is very much like the last day of the general election. You wake up in one place and for the next 24 hours you do skitter across the country with quick stops in as many places as you can. And, because of the dynamics of campaigning, things change (there’s that word again), all the time—including the schedules. Right now, in all the political strategy sessions, the powers that be are still making decisions about where to go for the next two days. You can be sure the field directors in every one of the primary states is screaming that they absolutely have to have the candidate in their state, or they are screaming not to send the candidate because they don’t want to be distracted by having to deal with candidate events—they just want to concentrate on get out the vote. And the way these decisions are made is critical. Where do you take the plane/candidate. During the Hart campaign, as an old example, there came a time when the people on the plane didn’t even bother to call the strategists—they just took the plane to wherever and hoped there would be people in those places who could organize and attend the events. It was a little disconcerting not to know where the candidate was, and there came a time when we just hoped he was someplace.

And almost as important, who do you send out as surrogates when the ‘principle’ can’t be there. Look at what’s happened with surrogates and at the message the presence of each surrogates sends. Yesterday, Oprah, Caroline Kennedy and yes, Maria Shriver appeared at a single event in California. Strong women who have strong voices with strong opinions. At the same time, Bill Clinton was across town trying to mend fences with Black preachers. It had the appearance of a little desperation. Kind of like, “I screwed up big time so I better try to make it better or my wife will really be pissed off.” It’s a difficult time for the Clinton’s because they never expected to have to deal with this kind of a challenge. It would be interesting to see, based on all the polling information, how the schedule has changed over the last couple of days based on each new concern. My guess is that the McCain schedule has remained fairly constant, Romney is staying in the west. Huckabee is only making appearances in southern states and Obama and Clinton have remained in flux. Which most importantly means David is fluxing and we have no idea where he is. Where in the world is David Burnett. I guess we’ll find him after Tuesday, but who knows.

Anyway, there is no joy in bean town today. And probably there won’t be joy tomorrow, or until the season begins next august. That being said, I don’t think February 5th will determine who the Democratic candidate will be. But I do know that whoever it is, someone will be as unhappy as the Patriots are today.
Iris