I have to give the chutzpah award of the week to Hillary and Bill Clinton. Only they could be running second in the primaries (number of states won, number of delegates won, total popular vote) but be generous enough to offer the vice presidency to Sen. Obama. This is beginning to remind me of the current administration who like to create their own reality (remember, wrong is right, down is up, the moon is made of green cheese because we say so, the surge is working etc). I guess the Clinton strategy is that if they say this often enough, a lot of people who live in states that haven't held a primary yet, and haven't been paying too much attention, will assume Hillary is winning the race and will vote for her. Reverse psychology? I loved her red phone ad, though. When I saw that and thought about it, you know what my answer to the question of who I would rather have answering that red phone at 3 a.m. would be, even today? Colin Powell. He really allowed his reputation to be damaged by the current administration, and frankly, he allowed himself to be snookered by the neocons. But having said that, Powell understands more than most that our soldiers aren't toys, and despite his debacle as Sec. of State, I still have complete confidence in his judgment and clarity of thought. In my opinion, when Sen. Obama begins looking for a running mate, I would suggest to him he look at Colin Powell. I think Powell would welcome an opportunity to redeem himself and restore his reputation. But I've been wrong on more than one occasion just today, let alone during my lifetime.

Ohio and Texas Primary Results

My observations are my own and not that of my three Australian Shepherds who may or may not agree. In my opinion, the longer the Dems drag out their nominating process, the more it works to the advantage of the Republicans and the more likely it is we'll be addressing John McCain next year as "Mr. President". Sen. McCain will spend this time building his war chest and getting copies of the Dems attack ads against one another, while Clinton and Obama spend their war chests flailing away at one another. In a year in which the perfect storm was building to the disadvantage of the Republicans - Iraq, housing industry collapse, $4 a gallon gasoline, the economy in the tank, the loss of civil liberties - leave it to the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight (i.e. the Democrats) to fumble away their opportunity to retake the White House. If the stakes weren't so high, it would actually be funny to watch. That's not to say Sen. McCain won't make a fine president. I just think the problems facing our country requires a long and serious discussion between the two major party candidates as soon as, and for as long as possible. My opinion.

A thought-provoking book to read, no matter what your political party preference/affiliation, is Al Gore's The Assault On Reason. Although the book itself is a polemic against Bush, the points Gore makes about the changing landscape of American politics and the inherent dangers that entails makes for very interesting reading. He really had a couple of crackerjack researchers. It is an interesting book to read particularly while the presidential primary debates unfold in both parties, particularly the blurring of religion and politics by a couple of the candidates in the Republican debates. As an observation, I wonder if the Dems are sowing the seeds of a fall defeat with their internal bickering. Is Bill Clinton hurting or helping Hillary's candidacy? I thought the Republican candidates civility in last nite's debate in Boca Raton was very refreshing. I thought all of the candidates, except perhaps McCain (who had memory problems about what he's said in the past), had a good nite. It's hard to listen to Ron Paul and not like a lot of what he has to say. I thought Romney looked and acted very presidential, Huckabee is a gifted speaker and thinks well on his feet (his line about the UN headphones was funny), and I thought Giuliani did well also. I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the South Carolina Democrat primary tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Cats, Hillary and Obama

What do the Cats, Hillary, and Obama all have in common? They were all winners last week!