Perhaps a good sign that the Democrats won’t make the same mistakes they made during the first two years of Clinton’s term: This article in the Wall Street Journal, reporting on an interview with Rahm Emanuel, the new White House Chief of Staff. [Obama wants] real solutions to real problems. And if we do an ideological test, we will fail. Our challenge is to work to solve the actual problems […]
On Election Night, Suzie and I attended the official U.S. Election Night party, which was held at a place called the Cineaqua near the Trocadero. Because of the time difference, the party didn’t start until 10:30 p.m., and was scheduled to go through the night, which meant that we were going to have do so something we hadn’t done in a long, long time, namely, staying up past midnight. We […]
Our internet connection was down today, and I was operating on 3 hours sleep, so the complete post of our amazing, wonderful election night in Paris (including goofy and wonderful video) will have to wait until tomorrow. But I will tell you that I was very, very proud to be an American today. I can tell you that the French view of America and Americans has changed. I can tell […]
Those to the right of the political spectrum should read this post in the Christian Science Monitor to understand why Obama appeals to voters (including me) who don’t necessarily fall within his ideological range. After 8 years of Bush-Rove, we seem to have forgotten that politics can be more than pandering to the fears of one’s “base.” It can be — at its best it should be — about leadership, […]
I went to the office of La Poste on Rue d’Alésia and mailed my ballot on Monday. Even though I am solidly in the center of the political spectrum, this decision was not even a close one. Thinking about my decision, I realize that it was based on three separate but related fundamental notions. Trite and tired and cliched, maybe, but a big part of my decision was grounded in […]
From Paris, the recent “controversy” over Barack Obama’s “lipstick on a pig” remark looks just plain stupid, as does, frankly, the hand-wringing over the co-called Sarah Palin “phenomenon.” As for the former, you can only view the statement one of two ways — either Barack Obama innocently used an expression he’s used before (as has John McCain), or he used it intentionally as a reference to Palin’s statement at the […]
From Paris, John McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin seems bizarre. Step back from the moment-to-moment campaign jostling and ask this question: You are John McCain. You think you will be elected President. Who do you want as your V.P? You’d think that the independent, strong, leader McCain would step up to the plate and give us someone just as solid and substantial as he is, someone who he […]
I was able to watch the debate tonight live, and both candidates performed well, and both came across as informed and competent. But since competence is Ms. Clinton’s keystone, a confidence tie means the edge in this one goes to Obama on that score. Add to that a couple of ridiculous, almost sophomoric moments from Ms. Clinton — the first one her unbelievable plaint about supposedly always being asked the […]
Than did Andrew Sullivan of the Atlantic in this post today. With Hillary Clinton stressing her experience and her constant refrain of being “ready on day one,” he asks what we’ve learned about Ms. Clinton’s abilities during this campaign: Clinton is a terrible manager of people. Coming into a campaign she had been planning for, what, two decades, she was so not ready on Day One, or even Day 300. […]
Ten straight victories for Barack Obama, including a 58% to 41% shellacking in Wisconsin, have left me feeling, well, almost sorry for Hillary Clinton. Unlike Big Bloated Bill, who I always thought lucked into the 1992 Presidency with weak competition in the Democratic primary (quick, name two other candidates — extra credit for those of you who came up with our own current AG Jerry Brown; the others were equally […]