When politics stops being surreal the fun will have completely left it and we’ll be left with Joe Lieberman talking about (shudder) POLICY! Please, the rest of the four years can be left to serious things. For now, please let me have Howard Dean freaking out, Al Sharpton being a blowhard, and Dennis Kucinich setting his hair on fire. Which he hasn’t done in ages–it’s about time he did.
You’re confusing him with Ralph Perk, his predecessor as Cleveland mayor. Kucinich pulled off the great feat of making the city government look even more comical, then George Voinovich stepped down as LG to fix the mess and got himself a Senate seat out of it.
Perk once opened a convention of metallurgists by cutting a magnesium ribbon with a torch. Some sparks got around his welder’s mask and reached his head, and, well, ever notice how fast polyester catches on fire? The TV footage of the fire extinguishers in operation was hilarious because he wasn’t hurt, but he did have to make an emergency visit to his “barber”. In another story, Perk’s wife once skipped the official reception for President Ford because it was her bowling night. But hell, that probably *gained * Ralph votes in Cleveland, though.
The overemphasis on Iowa and New Hampshire, though understandable for political junkies, and critical for marginal candidates to get traction, as they say, is kinda stupid. How anyone expects to get traction in Iowa or New Hampshire this time of year is a mystery to me. Perhaps Hawaii and New Mexico should kick things off.
I think Iowa and New Hampshire shape the race to an extent (Mosley-Braun, Gephardt so far), but not dramatically. No matter how much a politician claims to have momentum, unless said politician also has access to the ballot boxes, it can all disappear overnight. Someone like Edwards just can’t wait to get out of New Hampshire even if he finishes third. Dean probably needs a strong second or he’s dead. Oh, crap, now I’m doing it.
Clark campaigning anywhere makes about as much sense as going to a retirement center and wearing a stupid hat while making sloppy joes. Politics in action. I’m actually defending Clark. Politics involves going to strange out of the way places and doing strange things in order to appear normal.
What he did is no different than the parade of politicians before him. Potential caucus voters in Iowa were barraged with multiple phone calls a day from some campaigns. That’s as bad as owing them money. You’d think Iowa had 35 electoral votes.
Rush is a big, no longer fat, hypocrite. I can’t listen to him any more without thinking he should be in jail if karma really worked.
Hi, Guys!
I just stopped in because I was intrigued by the title of this thread, “Rush Limbaugh Was Right.” On the theory that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, I thought it might be novel to see about what the great scion of the EIB Network might be right. As I might have imagined, it was nothing important.
Carry on.
You might like to read this from Derrick Jackson, a black columnist for the Boston Globe: “The Day I Wanted Limbaugh To Be Right”.
Turns out it’s just that Jackson’s a Packer fan who wanted it to be confirmed that Donovan McNabb sucks during their playoff game. But it’s something. And maybe Limbaugh *was * right about that, too.
As a matter of general principle, i agree with you.
As a matter of practical politics, however, i don’t know how you can blame the Democratic candidates for wanting to appear like “just plain folk.” Especially considering that so many Americans cited Bush’s “just plain folk” appeal as a key reason for preferring him over Al Gore.
Did you see the focus groups they interviewed on TV after the Presidential debates in 2000? Almost every slack-jawed dimwit they spoke to had nothing to say about policy issues, but was only concerned that Gore seemed “smug” or “distant” or “cold,” and that Bush seemed “friendly” or “down to earth” or “someone you could have a beer with.” Bush himself went out of the way to plpay up these differences, during and after the debates.
After hearing responses like that, i sometimes believe that the American people get the politics they deserve.
Wait a second. There were 11 votes for Bush, and 15 for Democrats. Where’d the 7 extra votes come from? Also, where’d you get your information that all the registered voters are not registered as Democrats (I couldn’t find anything)?
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http://www.thebalsams.com/uploads/first_in_nation_2004
I’m not so much complaining about the candidates – they need to do what they need to do. I’m complaining about the system that makes them do it.
Maybe the U.S. should just scrap the primary system all together and organize a live reality show called “Political Survivor.” Candidates would be divided into teams and forced to perform thoroughly irrelevant tasks. In fact, let’s make it a cross between “Survivor” and “Fear Factor.” Hands up, everyone, who want to see Joe Lieberman eat a bug.
At the end of every show, people all across America can call a 900 number and vote one of the candidates out of the race. All proceeds will be be split between the two remaining Republican and Democratic candidates and used to fund the actual presidential election.
It’s entertainment. It’s campaign reform. It’s entertainment and campaign reform!
Linky no worky.
Anyway, I understand where you’re coming from. It’s just that I don’t understand how there can be more votes than people in Dixville Notch:
15+11=26
Your quote suggests there are 24 people living in Dixville Notch, 5 of which are children. Maybe many of them used to live in Chicago?
In other news, Kerry won Coxton’s Accounting, Dean won Peckersburg Black Book, and even though she dropped out of the race, Carol Mosley-Braun won Carpetmunch Gap.
Whaddayamean, “now”?
Whaddayamean, “now”?
Re: the 11 mystery votes
Are voters in Dixville notch allowed to vote in both the Republican and Democratic primaries? That would explain the extras.
I’ll SWAG and say the other 11 live outside the town itself but still inside the voting district.
Let’s give our friend a break and assume his information was simply out of date.
The element of illusion has a long, long history in US politics. In the election of 1840, William Henry Harrison, the Whig candidate, was portrayed as a log cabin bumpkin, who drank hard cider all day and had cow shit between his toes - and this from his supporters! It was an effort to appeal to the common man (today’s Joe Sixpack). In reality, Harrison was the territorial governor, lived in a mansion in Vincennes, came from the wealthiest family in the wealthiest state in the country, and hadn’t seen military service in decades. The voters ate it up and elected him. He, of coure, was stupid enough to give the longest inaugural address in history in the middle of a freezing cold storm. He promptly caught pneumonia and was dead within about a month.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.