Question 2

NAFTA gets the call for the second question.

Wow, what a baby ... "I get the first question all the time ... I'm not complaining, I just find it curious." Good grief; what's next? Hillary is really hurting herself with this attitude.

She says she didn't have a public position on NAFTA during the Clinton Administration because she was part of the administration. I would challenge her on that -- didn't we just get done talking about the public position she had on health care when she was part of the administration?

Speaking of that first question, 16 minutes on health care ... how'd those "reasonable time limits" work out for you, Brian and Tim??

"We do need to fix NAFTA; it's not working," Clinton says.

(There is a "manufacturing caucus" in Congress? That's a new one on me.)

Obama hits Clinton again on NAFTA, saying that it isn't accurate to say that she always opposed it. He is measured but assured. He is just aggressive enough, pressing her enough without going overboard. He had good reasons and gave a thorough answer.

Round 2 to Obama.

Question 1

Straight out of the gate, Hillary is asked about the difference in tone between the candidates' love fest last week and her temper tantrum on Saturday. She is talking about the "tactics" used by Obama's campaign and calls them "disturbing."

"It's important that you stand up for yourself," she said. She says "it's unfortunate" that Obama says she would require people to have health care even if they can't afford it.

Hillary is taking care to maintain an even tone during her response. This is key to her not sounding too strident while challenging Obama.

Here's the question about the Clinton campaign leaking the Obama-Africa picture. She is asked to state unequivocally whether her campaign is responsible for the leak.

"We have no evidence of where it came from," she said, adding that she believes it is clear from previous similar incidents how she would respond if it was shown that her people were responsible (she has fired or accepted the resignations of people who have done similar things, attacking Obama outside the auspices of the campaign).

Obama plays the statesman and addresses the hot topic of the picture with one sentence, saying that he takes her at her word and he leaves it at that. This is a brilliant strategy because it completely takes the wind out of the sail on the issue while allowing him to stay above the fray.

Now he's on to health care ... they are back to the same points they bickered about for three questions on Thursday.

Obama seems to suggest that Clinton "whines" about tough politics. That was kind of funny.

I appreciate that health care is one of the biggest issues in the campaign, but this kind of wonkishness doesn't help the average voter at all. Ten of the first 13 minutes of this debate are lost to details that are causing average voters to tune out right now. Make the broad point and move on.

Here goes Hillary again. Let it go, Hillary. Make the point and let it go. She is closing in on the strident tone. It makes her go from sounding intelligent on the issue to just plain stubborn ... which is unfortunate, because she really is very well versed on this issue -- perhaps she is the most well-versed politician in this issue in the country today. It's too bad that that's being lost in her mismanagement of this issue in the debates.

Obama is missing an opportunity to make her look worse and make himself look better by continuing to respond.

Candidates, there's a lesson in this mess you're watching now: You don't always have to have the last word -- just the best one.

Moderators

They are going to try to enforce some "reasonable time restrictions" on the candidates?

Good luck.

Debate time

Hey folks,

Sorry for the delay … I was setting up at home and realized that the wireless router was down, apparently due to the power outage here this afternoon. (At least we’re not in Florida … some 4.4 million were without power for several hours this afternoon after an “incident” at a nuclear power plant on the East Coast.)

But we're up and running, and not a minute too soon. If I knew how to post music here, I would be playing, "LET'S GET READYYYY TO RUMMMMBBBBLLLLLLLLLLE!!!!"

"Judgment Day"

Found this during 20-minute layover in Nashville:

http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/02/26/march-4-will-determine-whether-clinton-will-go-forward-or-not/

To use a poker phrase, Hillary Clinton in "all in" on March 4.

Think it's coincidence that the campaign would acknowledge this on the day of the big debate in Ohio?

On to B'ham!
Sent wirelessly via BlackBerry from T-Mobile.

Homeward bound

Good morning, readers,

There was snow in Kansas City last night and it's a "balmy" 21 degrees here, but there's nothing cool about what's going on between the Democratic presidential candidates today.

The hottest political news centers around the controversial release by Hillary Clinton's campaign staffers over the weekend of a photo of Barack Obama wearing traditional African garb during a trip to the continent in 2006. There is tremendous fallout from the move, which Clinton herself denies having known anything about in advance. The barbs have flown between the camps since Saturday as the candidates' surrogates have seriously ramped up the rhetoric, and it sets up the potential for a NASTY debate tonight in Cleveland.

Brave yourself for television anchors to deliver unavoidable and annoying clichés that will tie the winter storms in the Midwest to the political "storm" brewing in Cleveland.

Blech!

Whatever tonight's debate will be, I guarantee this: It won't be boring! Look for national press traveling with the candidates to do their best to pour fuel on the fire between now and the debate at 8 CST.

I'm in the airport in Kansas City awaiting my flight home. I'll post when I get settled back in Auburn, which should be late afternoon.

So it promises to be one of those news-heavy days. I hate to turn off my phone and lose access to the news for three hours! Thank goodness XM makes POTUS '08 a free channel ... I can catch up on the way home from Birmingham!
Sent wirelessly via BlackBerry from T-Mobile.

Obama has Oprah; Hillary has ...

... Ellen!

CNN political producer Peter Hamby reports that super-cool talk show host Ellen DeGeneres made a surprise appearance via video uplink at a Hillary Clinton rally in Washington, D.C., Monday night.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that I LOVE Ellen's show. It is hysterical -- especially when she calls Gladys! Check out Ellen's web site for more, including a video of her doing a neat card trick!)

The audience was made up of mostly college students from George Washington University, and Clinton was quite obviously making a run at Obama's supposed lock on young voters. But this event was a "low-dollar fundraiser," and one has to wonder why Clinton held it in DC instead of at any college campus in Texas or Ohio (Austin or Columbus, anyone?).

Maybe Clinton was wondering, too; something had her distracted. As she was working to get the crowd whipped up, she told them, "We're going to win Ohio and Michigan!"

Huh?

"... Wait a minute, Ohio and Texas," she said when the cheers died down. "We already won Michigan."

Oh, OK.

You can read the rest of the post here.

Incidentally, Ellen's web site lists Hillary Clinton as the scheduled guest for today's show, and she has included a note that she is trying to schedule appearances by Barack Obama and John McCain, as well. Check your local listings and tune it in!

The "Quiet Revolution"

President Bush delivered a report to the National Governors Association today on the "Quiet Revolution," his administration's efforts to support faith- and community-based organizations with federal funding increases.

If you haven't heard about the "Quiet Revolution," you're not alone. But it isn't for the government's lack of trying.

Here are some eye-popping facts and figures on the effort, from a blog by the Baltimore Sun's Mark Silva:

In 2006, a voluminous report from the White House today finds, the government distributed $2.18 billion to faith-based organizations delivering social services around the country -- a level of annual spending on this initiative that the Bush administration had reached a couple of years ago. And in 2006, the government distributed $12.56 billion to not-for-profit organizations. All told, some 15,000 secular groups and 3,000 faith-based groups benefited.

You can read the rest of Silva's post here , or check out the government's Faith-Based and Community Initiatives home page (and read the report itself) here.

Ralph Nader on aging

In an interview with Fox News Channel's Martha McCallum this afternoon, Ralph Nader was asked whether his age -- he will turn 74 this week -- will be an obstacle to his presidential campaign. McCallum pointed out that Nader is older than McCain, who would already be the oldest president if he is sworn in next January.

"Age is nothing more than the erosion of one's ideals," Nader said.

I love that quote. It is so true. How many 70- and 80-year-old idealists do you see running around out there?

I appreciated Nader's fresh perspective on aging.

McCain and matching funds

For you hard-core junkies out there, here's a primer from The Politico on the complaint the DNC will file against presumptive GOP nominee John McCain and his attempts to withdraw from the federal presidential matching fund system.

For the rest of you, here's the deal: McCain took a $1 million loan from the feds in January because he was low on cash ahead of Super Tuesday. The money allowed him to stay competitive, and it also allowed him to be automatically placed on the ballot in several key states. But it came with a catch: candidates who use matching funds must agree to a $54 million spending cap in primaries -- and McCain has already spent at least $49 million.

I know, you're thinking, "He has the nomination just about wrapped up. Why would he need to spend any more money?" And you'd be right -- if Republican rivals were the only ones attacking McCain. The cap hampers McCain's ability to effectively respond to incoming Democratic fire up until the GOP convention in September.

McCain would need approval from the Federal Elections Commission to withdraw from the matching-funds system ... but "a partisan dispute between the White House and Senate Democrats has left the FEC without a working quorum of commissioners in place," The Politico reports.

Who says politics is boring???

Obama's security

I'm sure you have heard quiet conversation among your friends and co-workers about the possibility of an assassination attempt on Barack Obama. Almost everyone I talk to mentions such talk, either because he is the first black candidate to have a real shot at a nomination for president or simply because he is marketing himself as an "agent of change." People just seem to think that something terrible is more likely to happen than not.

Obama's presidential run bears so many similarities to that of Robert Kennedy, it's impossible not to make the connection. So the quiet -- but persistent -- murmuring has given rise to this New York Times article about the speculation and the steps the candidate and those around him have taken to avoid catastrophe.

Forgive me in advance for linking you to the New York Times, but it is the first story I have seen to address this subject.

Hillary's sarcasm

If you haven't seen it, here's the link to the tape of Hillary Clinton mocking Barack Obama.

Forget whispers; it's an all-out scream campaign

Barack Obama has managed to this point to effectively quell mainstream skepticism about his religious background. The whisper campaign about it -- "He is secretly a Muslim," "His name rhymes with Osama," and "After all, his middle name is 'Hussein,' y'all" -- have prompted Obama to post a separate page about it on his web site.

But desperate times call for desperate measures. Witness the latest actions of Hillary Clinton surrogates, who are circulating a photo of Obama dressed as in traditional Somali garb:

The photo was taken in 2006 while Obama was on a five-country tour of Africa, according to the Drudge Report.

The Clinton staffers were apparently trying to make the point that mainstream media has glossed over religious issues where Obama is concerned. "Wouldn't we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it were HRC?" one is quoted as saying.

But the Obama campaign dismisses that argument as smoke and mirrors meant simply as an excuse to display the photo. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe called the move "part of a disturbing pattern" and blasted it as "the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election."

Did I mention that MSNBC will host the two Democratic candidates in a debate in Ohio tomorrow night at 8 p.m. CST?

So ... coming on the heels of Hillary's finger-jabbing temper tantrum Saturday, this incident has the potential to, as Emeril would say, "kick it up a notch."

Grace at the Oscars

Two of the best moments at the Oscars have come during winners' acceptance speeches.

The first was delivered by Marion Cotillard, who won the award for best actress in a leading role. "There really are angels in this city," she said as she accepted the Oscar.

The second came from the best moment host Jon Stewart has had tonight: Bringing Best Original Song winner Marketa Irglova back out on stage to say a few words after her fellow winner, co-writer Glen Hansard, took up all the time allotted for acceptance with his remarks. Stewart brought Irglova back on stage when the show returned from commercial break, and she delivered the following remarks:

"Hi, everyone. I just want to thank you so much. This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we're standing here tonight, the fact that we're able to hold this, it's just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible. And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don't give up. And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are. And so thank you so much, who helped us along way. Thank you."

Hansard and Irglova won the Academy Award for their song, "Falling Slowly," from the motion picture Once.

Orange ribbons on the red carpet

Activism (or "slacktivism," to George Carlin) has given rise to a veritable rainbow of ribbons for dozens of causes. (Click here for an interesting Wikipedia table that deciphers some, like "responsible use of public lands for the benefit of all recreationists," for you.)

One political cause in Hollywood was seen on the Oscar gown of Best Actress nominee Julie Christie tonight.

Christie wore an orange ribbon in support of the campaign to close the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. You can read more about the orange-ribbon movement here and here.

Quote of the Day

Speaking of Hillary Clinton, she delivered the quote of the day while campaigning in Providence, R.I. Hitting again on her insistence that Obama is more style than substance, she said:

“Now I could stand up here and say, let’s just get everybody together. Let’s get unified. The sky will open, the light will come down. Celestial choirs will be singing, and everyone will know that we should do the right thing, and the world will be perfect. Maybe I’ve just lived a little long, but I have no illusions about how hard this is going to be. You are not going to wave a magic wand and have the special interests disappear."

I love sarcasm; don't you?

Special Oscar notes

Here are a couple of observations from the first couple of segments of the Oscar broadcast:

• First of all, WHERE IS ELLEN? Ellen DeGeneres is the host by which all others are judged, in the mind of this viewer ... well, Ellen and Billy Crystal. Jon Stewart ... just isn't funny.
  
• The first segment of the show left me wondering whether it was written before the writers' strike was settled. Really, how difficult is it to list every actor who's been nominated?
• The only really funny moment of the first half hour was Stewart's line about Away From Her, a movie "about a woman who forgets her own husband. Hillary Clinton called it the 'feel-good movie of the year.'"
• Stewart's line about the election ("Have you all studied the candidates, gotten to know their positions on the issues and decided which Democrat you'll vote for?") fell flat ... maybe it's because the assembled masses thought Stewart was giving them a lecture about civic responsibility.

So far -- BLAH.

Nader jumps in

Well, if Mike Huckabee wants to save some dough on the campaign trail, he should call Ralph Nader.

Nader made his fifth candidacy for the presidency official today on NBC's Meet the Press:

Nader makes it five

Huckabee and Nader should travel together. They wouldn't have any shortage of things to discuss, and they would both save money along the way.

I thought that Nader's book, Civic Arousal, was sold out more as a result of its title than because of his popularity. But then my friend Amy told me that at one point today, Nader was the No. 1 search term on Google.

There are signs, though, that Nader isn't exactly ready for his closeup: The lead headline on his web site, "Stop importing dangerous drugs," was updated on Feb. 22.

Huckabee on SNL

GOP still-a-candidate Mike Huckabee appeared on Saturday Night Live last night as part of the Weekend Update segment. If you missed it, you can see it here:

Huckabee misses his cue

I thought it was mildly funny -- enough so that going on SNL wasn't a mistake, anyway.

"The best person in the world"

There was a time in my life when I believed that voting should be compulsory in our country. Regular readers of my column know how I feel about the responsibility of Americans to participate in their government.

But I no longer believe in compulsory voting -- and it's because I feel the way I do about the responsibility of Americans to participate in their government.

I know; that doesn't sound like it makes much sense, right? Well, check out this link posted by my celebrity-expert friend, Amy.

Check out that video, then ask yourself: Are you comfortable with the idea that that girl could be making an impact on national security, tax policy, health care coverage, immigration reform and a whole host of other issues facing the United States?

I've come to realize that although every American should care about their country the way this girl cares about Paris Hilton, that isn't going to happen ... so we should just cross our fingers and hope that she's too busy watching "The Hottie and the Nottie" to make it to the polls on Election Day.