Sunday, June 01, 2003

No matter your age, race, or political persuasion, it is fun to add cutesy details to your web page. Woody 10:22:26 PM    comment []

Arkansas has Purty Trees And we have pictures on our blog... 9:46:02 PM    comment []

Poetry aside, it's probably time to give an assessment of the nine Democratic presidential candidates. At least three are easily dismissed as serious candidates. Al Sharpton must realize that he is towing a lot of baggage, and is probably just running to maintain his national profile. Dennis Kucinich is screwed because no one can survive changing their position on abortion at virtually the moment that they decide to run for President. The fact that he is a low-profile progressive who needs to bank on his integrity makes this albatross around his neck even bigger and stinkier. Carol Moseley-Braun has a thin resume and an unengaging personality. (Other than that, she's a peach.) Joe Lieberman and Bob Graham are positioning themselves as smarter, saner versions of Dubya. This might appeal to some people, but there's no way they can develop the kind of loyal following that they would need to take on the GOP machine. Furthermore, I am sure that I am not the only Democrat who is nervous about Bob's weird diaries. The electorate does not seem to be in the mood for a charmingly quirky President. I hesitate to go here, but I also think that Joe's overt  religiosity will hurt him with secular liberals, as well as some Christians. Howard Dean has good progressive credentials and the executive experience that has been good for presidential candidates in recent years. (Bush II, Clinton, Reagan, and Carter were all governors, albeit in the Sunbelt.)  Unfortunately,  he is the governor of a small state. A very small state. With slightly more than 600,000 people, Vermont has a smaller population than metro Omaha, Nebraska. (Even Arkansas had 2.4 million people when Clinton ran in 1992.) I just don't  see how he can stand up next to a sitting president and look like he is ready  for the big time,  especially in the context of the War on Terror or War Against  Nuclear Proliferation or War for Democracy or whatever the heck this is. This leaves three Democratic candidates whom I think I have a decent chance:  John Kerry, John Edwards, and Dick Gephardt. They each merit their own post. Woody 2:17:54 PM    comment []

Candidate Haiku #6 by W Dennis the Menace he made Cleveland even worse flip-flopper to boot ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These haikus are getting harder to write as I go along. Any fool can scratch out a poem about Al Sharpton, but "Create a haiku about Dick Gephardt" could be on one of those spoof Final Exams from Hell. I was intrigued when I found out about the Official Howard Dean Weblog. On its face, the idea of a blog seems rather inimical to the requirements of a presidential campaign. Blogging is supposed to a free-flowing and spontaneous. Presidential campaigning is about not saying anything that offends anyone or that could make you look like an ass even if it was wildly distorted and/or taken out of context (e.g., inventing the Internet). Alas, the Howard Dean weblog is actually written by and attributed to his aides. Moreover, to put it delicately it is a bit dull. To choose a rather random example: Mason City is not only the home of the grandmother and aunt of the Dean Campaign's Stephanie Schriock (Stephanie gets big points for getting two people to show up at an event!), but it is also the home of Meredith Wilson, the composer of the Music Man. The Meredith Wilson museum is located right across for the library where we had a meeting. I slipped out of the meeting and took a quick swing through the museum. If you liked the movie, you'll like the museum. We also visited a local favorite spot, Dairy Queen, where we had lunch/dinner. Our order: a blizzard, two twist cones, and a milk shake. This was our daily allowance of dairy on the food pyramid! Well, that is a heck of a lot of dairy! Kind of a risky scheme, don't you think? But I suppose that a politician from Vermont can never eat enough dairy. Now that I think about it, why are they eating at Dairy Queen? Isn't Ben and Jerry's good enough for them? We got a digital piano. Never had a lesson, but I can already play Beethoven. Dun-dun-dun-DUH... Woody   10:13:09 AM    comment []

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