Political Potpourri


Florida in his rearview mirror

John McCain won the Florida primary yesterday by five points. It was the first closed primary, so the talk that McCain could only win when independents and crossover democrats could take part is now put to bed.

McCain is not the choice of many of the “establishment” Republicans, for example George Will and Rush Limbaugh. Swallow hard boys and take your medicine.

It looks like Rudy Giuliani will pull out of the race today and some reports say he will endorse McCain.

McCain was all but left for dead a few months ago – just a carcass along the political road to November 2008. McCain’s all the way back and Mitt Romney is in trouble. It is far from over, especially when Romney has a personal ATM. It all depends on how much Romney wants to spend to buy the nomination.

Also, Romney’s sons may have to “deploy” more often from their luxury hotels and serve their country a few more hours a day. Super Duper Tuesday is looking like a fun day.

Grow Up

Speaking of Super Duper Tuesday, the Montana GOP and Lt. Governor John Bohlinger are at odds again. Now the Montana GOP will not let Bohlinger vote in the Republican caucus on February 5, because the ticket in 2004 only listed the top of ticket’s party affiliation and that was a Democrat (Brian Schweitzer). Bohlinger is a Republican and served many years in the legislature as a Republican. On the Schweitzer/Bohlinger campaign website, Bohlinger is listed as a Republican. Note to Secretary of State: Maybe you should change the ballots as there will be more of this in the future.

Anyway, the GOP says Bohlinger can’t vote in the caucus as a state-wide elected official, and he did not sign up as a precinct person to vote either (neither did I).

Special Comment: It’s time for the Montana GOP to grow up just a little. This tune has been played over and over and it’s getting very old. You may win this little battle, but you are losing the public relations war…and voters. We know Bohlinger ticked many Republicans off when he signed on with Schweitzer, but it is time to get over it.

There seems to be a lack of experience and thought put into some of the statements coming out of your HQ and it’s time to unbutton the tent flaps just a hair, and embrace more moderate Republicans and recruit conservative Democrats to win elections.

Stimulate Me

The House passed the stimulus package yesterday 385-35. Seems as though when you get that many House members to agree on anything, it’s a wonderful day. The House bill will cost $161 billion. So, the bill goes to the Senate where Max Baucus gets to play. Baucus wants his own stimulus bill. Basically Baucus wants to give people less money, but spend more ($191 billion) and give rebates to rich people. Some have called Baucus’ ideas on this bill “absurd” and Harry Reid said, “it causes me to want to gag.” Heck, that’s just the senate Democrats! The House Democrats dislike his ideas even more.

(Psst – it’s his reelection year and what’s better than buying votes with taxpayer money?)

Something that has only been lightly reported is that all the illegals in this country who paid taxes will supposedly get the rebates, too. Is this a great country or what? And I thought Christmas was over.

Baucus was not invited to participate in the negotiations. That had to hurt his feelings. Now he’s making his fellow Democrats mad. If he would just suck it up and accept the fact that he’s not as powerful as his press releases contend, the Senate could be voting on the House bill today, and the checks would be in the mail faster. Then we could all be stimulated just a little sooner.

Published in: on January 30, 2008 at 12:21 pm  Comments (2)  

The Haves and the Have Nots

Like many people, I watched the State of Union address Monday night. I try to watch it every year.

As the cameras were panning around and showing shots of the audience I thought, “This is a classic case of the “Haves” and the “Have Nots.”

The “Haves” were the folks sitting inside the House chambers on the lower level – the senators and representatives. Most are millionaires. Many have no idea what “real America” is. As I have written before, most of them are more interested in getting re-elected than helping the “Have Nots.”

The “Have Nots” were most of the people watching on TV from places far removed from the Washington D.C. lifestyle. Yes, I am a “Have Not” – a cast-a-way sort of guy.

I remember Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards telling us that there are “Two Americas.” He’s right, there are two Americas. It’s really too bad that Edwards is so freakin’ wealthy that he can run for President for what seems like the last 20 years. Maybe his “Two Americas” theme would stick better with voters if he weren’t so wealthy.

I thought Bush delivered a good speech, but frankly, Bush has had a rough two terms. I think deep down Bush is a good person, but he surrounded himself with a few people who were not exactly ethical and some who had egos so big they thought they were above the rules.

Right now, I’m thankful that we have not been attacked since 9-11, and I give credit to Bush. But my memory goes dim when I try to think of something else. In a few years, we can look back and pass better judgment on Bush and his eight years in office. Of course, we can then compare his work to the person who’s sitting the Oval Office at that time.

One thing for sure, we have seen the gap between the “Haves” and the “Have Nots” grow even wider in this country. It was very evident on Monday night.

Published in: on January 29, 2008 at 12:07 pm  Leave a Comment  

Saddam

Last night on 60 Minutes there was a great segment about the FBI agent who interrogated Saddam Hussein for months before he was turned over to the Iraq authorities. You can watch the story or read about it HERE. The agent, George Piro, did a great job in getting Hussein to open up. He also says his interrogation was done without torture. It took weeks for Hussein to open up, but it was well worth it.

Some interesting information:
-Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1990 because an Emir insulted Iraq during some negotiations
-Saddam never used body doubles
-Most of the WMDs had been destroyed by the U.N. inspectors in the ’90s, and the rest were destroyed by Iraq. Saddam wanted to keep the idea in people’s minds that he had them basically because of Iran
-He did not think that George W. Bush would invade
-Saddam did not like Osama Bin Laden. He did not trust him
-Saddam said it was necessary to use chemical weapons on Kurdish civilians in 1988
-Saddam felt the need to create new WMDs in the future. He had the people there to do it

In my opinion this was probably one of the better stories on 60 Minutes in years. It answered a lot of questions.

Published in: on January 28, 2008 at 10:13 am  Leave a Comment  

Another Marine for McCain

It looks like John McCain has brought in another Marine to help with his campaign in Montana. Former Senator Conrad Burns has endorsed McCain and will serve as Chairman of John McCain 2008 for the state of Montana.

Maybe we’ll hear less from McCain about the earmarks for a grizzly bear DNA study in Montana?

Previously, McCain had selected Lt. Governor John Bohlinger to be his state Chairman. Maybe McCain selected Burns to help him because Bohlinger was out of the country on his honeymoon?

McCain recently picked up endorsements from Florida Senator Mel Martinez and a big endorsement from Florida Governor Charlie Crist. This should help him significantly in the Florida primary on Tuesday.

Today McCain went after Mitt Romney for what he calls a flip-flop on Iraq. He claims Romney was for a timetable to withdraw from Iraq. Of course, Romney denies he changed his stance on Iraq.


Published in: on January 26, 2008 at 7:36 pm  Leave a Comment  

Heartbreaker

Imagine you’re a Senator with almost 30 years of seniority. You’re the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which deals with wonderful and exciting issues like taxes.

In the past, you’ve spent considerable time promoting how “power-full” you are as the chairman and the “power” your committee has.

All of a sudden, the economy is going into the tank. There’s talk of a stimulus package. You sharpen your pencil, get out your calculator, prepare your staff, and wait for the call from your leaders, your fellow Senators and Representatives, or the President. You wait and wait.

But, the call never comes. A deal was made and you were left out. You watch from the sideline. The spotlight missed you. You and your committee are an afterthought. You are basically told to “pass this quickly.” You are just an observer.

To make sure folks back home know you are still a player, you schedule some “spotlight time” by doing an interview on CNN. You send out a notice to the Montana media so you can get noticed – to let them know you are there fighting for all that is good in America – like a few billion dollars in tax rebates.

Your leaders left you behind. How horrible. To compound the problem, it’s your re-election time. Double damn. Luckily, the senator has about $9 million in the bank to blow back up the “powerful” balloon.

It seems this may have happened to U.S. Senator Max Baucus this week, at least according to a story in today’s Billings Gazette, in which we found:

The senator said he was not privy to the negotiations that produced the current bill, although the legislation needs his committee’s approval to stay alive. Baucus did not seem to dwell on that fact.
“We are where we are,” he said. “Let’s just move forward and find a way to get this passed quickly.”

Heartbreaker. Now Montanans may have to remove Max’s photo from the dictionary, where it’s located beside the word “Powerful.”

Published in: on January 25, 2008 at 10:07 am  Comments (2)  

Debate?

MSNBC held a Republican Presidential debate tonight. No kidding. Did anyone watch? The five remaining Republican candidates did little attacking, so it was boring compared to the Democratic debate on CNN the other night. This debate was like a Church service and the Democratic debate was more like watching Ultimate Fighters go after each other in the octagon.

Here are my observations:

Mike Huckabee: I like Mike. I like his passion for his faith and he seems more ‘blue collar” than the other contenders. He is lacking funds and this may end his participation. Huckabee has a bright future, but probably not as President in 2009. He is always strong in debates.

Rudy Giuliani: Rudy, what could have been? Rudy may have made a tactical mistake in waiting for Florida to play. His campaign manager will probably never work in that capacity again. He may do better in Florida since many folks already voted before McCain hit his stride. A first or a close second in Florida keeps him alive. Rudy probably finished third in this debate.

Mitt Romney: Romney bothers me, but I don’t know exactly why. Maybe it’s because he is worth about $250 million and I am not. He seems to want to buy the Presidency, but he would not disclose how much its cost the Romney family when asked. He talked more than the others, according to MSNBC, so he received more “ink” from me in this post. He may be too smooth or just too slick. I’ve read about his flip flops and his moving far to the left back when he took on Sen. Kennedy. He seems to have a weak stance on the 2nd Amendment. He supported gun control in the past, like he has abortion, and gay marriage. He has changed his stances to better line up with Conservatives. His comments a few months ago about his sons serving their country by campaigning comparing that to military personnel serving stuck a big negative with me. Heck, he even talked about private accounts for Social Security – which scares senior citizens…and loses their votes. His answers seemed rehearsed. Romney finished second or third in my book.

John McCain: He seemed strongest to me in this debate. He seems to have found his stride. I just feel we would be safer with McCain. I think he would cut the out of control spending. He appeals to independents which would help in November, and in some polls he’s the only Republican who can beat Obama and Clinton in head to head match-ups. But, he’s been there for many years and the system is broken. Isn’t he to blame, too?

Ron Paul: Yes, I agree with Congressman Paul that the Republican Party has lost a lot of folks over the last few years. The big tent is buttoned up to many folks who cannot afford to be players. Congressman Paul always hits on the same issues: The Constitution, liberty, lower taxes, personal freedom, etc., which is not too bad to concentrate on these days.

Published in: on January 24, 2008 at 10:44 pm  Leave a Comment  

The Feud

It all started a few weeks ago when Presidential Candidate John Edwards said, “Tonight, 200,000 men and women who wore our uniform proudly and served this country courageously as veterans will go to sleep under bridges and on grates.”

Edwards’ statement is backed up by the Department of Veterans Affairs: “About one-third of the adult homeless population have served their country in the Armed Services. Current population estimates suggest that about 195,000 veterans (male and female) are homeless on any given night and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year.”

Edwards’ statement is true. In Montana you can easily find a homeless veteran. I’m glad he brought it up so more folks in the United States will see that things are not peachy for veterans.

Then, Fox News talk show host Bill O’Reilly got into the fray when he claimed there were homeless veterans out there, but not many.

No Bill, not many – just around 200,000. Of all the homeless people in America, one in four are veterans, 25%.

The problem with O’Reilly is he dislikes Edwards so much that he lost the meaning of what Edwards was talking about. O’Reilly says one thing and when he finds out it is not exactly correct, he then adds a word or two later to make it “more true.” After his initial remarks, he tried to say Edwards was talking about the economy. Of course, Keith Olbermann of MSNBC’s Countdown, managed to land a few head shots on O’Reilly for his comments. O’Reilly deserved it.

The fact is that many veterans are homeless because they served this country. Something they did, injuries they received, or something they saw or experienced while serving our country changed them mentally and/or physically.

Would some of these veterans be homeless if they never served in the military? Maybe a very small percentage, but not hardly as many.

Nobody in their right mind wants to be homeless. So it’s the duty of the United States of America to do all it can to help these folks be self sufficient. The VA does help, but caring for veterans is a problem that needs full-time attention, not just during election time.

Published in: on January 24, 2008 at 11:54 am  Comments (1)  

Wednesday Potpourri

A long two weeks

The two weeks between the NFL Conference Championship games and the Superbowl is, to say the least, very tough on us sports fans. What’s a person to do?

You can only clean the screen on your TV so much. My remote is ready to go and my chair is in the correct location. It’s too early to buy the food for the party. It truly is a long two weeks.

This weekend would be a great time to have the major college football championship game. I know, I know, in college football, it’s all about the student athlete and not the money.

Politics

Maybe politics will help pass the time before the Superbowl. The field of candidates is narrowing. The Democrats have a primary in South Carolina this Saturday, but it looks like Obama is running away with this state. Then we have Florida on January 29. I think there’s a couple of debates coming up as well.

In Montana, the Republicans are having a Winter Kickoff in Billings this Friday and Saturday. A few family members of the Presidential candidates are stopping by to say a few words. A son of Mitt Romney will be there serving his country.

Since Fred Thompson dropped out, many think he would be a good Vice Presidential candidate. Others think he may throw his support behind John McCain. Still others don’t care.

I think a great running mate for John McCain, if he makes it to the big show, would be Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT).

Veterans

Note: Thanks to a faithful reader, it was pointed out to me that I spelled Secretary Peake’s last name incorrectly (Peak). I have corrected the error. The Western Word regrets all errors and will strive to correct them as soon as possible. As for my opinions, well…they are mine.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake will be coming to Montana to take a look at the VA system here. Peake is a highly decorated retired Lieutenant General from the Army. I read that he served as a platoon leader in Vietnam and was wounded twice. Of course, a politician is taking credit for Peake coming to Montana.

The VA Mileage reimbursement for veterans has still not been raised. It was pushed by Senator Jon Tester, but he could not get it completely done. Now, Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming is taking up the cause, again. Enzi and former Senator Conrad Burns pushed for the increase at least a couple times I remember, but it was blocked by the other party from getting done. It should be raised to the same rate as all federal employees get.

Published in: on January 23, 2008 at 10:29 am  Leave a Comment  

Happy Trails

Many readers may remember the 2006 elections becoming the YouTube election with all the video cameras stuck in the candidate’s faces 24/7 trying to catch them saying or doing something that could be used against them.

In Montana, the Montana Democrats used the camera often, especially in the Tester/Burns race. They posted their findings on YouTube, replaying them in slow motion for that “special” effect. Of course, the Tester supporters loved it. I remember reading about their big catches on the Tester Time blog.

It seems Tester’s former Communications Director, Matt McKenna, who also worked in the same capacity on Tester’s campaign is having the tables turned on him. McKenna went to work for former President Bill Clinton a few weeks ago as his Communications Director to help elect Hillary.

The former President took a nice snooze that is being played all over the Internet, as well as on CBS News. It’s been, to say the least, a bumpy ride for the former President recently. It also means it’s been a bumpier ride for McKenna.

Happy Trails to You, Matt McKenna.

Published in: on January 21, 2008 at 9:04 pm  Leave a Comment  

Mac is back – Clinton wins Nevada


You could hear the cheers “Mac is back” from South Carolina tonight as John McCain won the South Carolina primary. Mike Huckabee finished second.

Shortly after McCain gave his speech, I received this e-mail from his campaign:

Now that John McCain has won both the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, he has passed the historical test for Republican candidates and is on course to win. He has the momentum, the drive, and is the only candidate that is ready to lead on day one – and he will!

I believe this win will give McCain some momentum going into Florida on January 29, but some reports are saying that around 40% of the voters have already cast their ballots in Florida. This might be good for Rudy Giuliani, as he has staked his whole campaign on Florida and the February 5 primaries and caucuses. He’s been in Florida a lot.

McCain leads in many polls in Florida, and he leads in many national polls in head to head competition with Clinton and Obama. Many folks may vote for McCain because he appears to be (at this time) the one Republican candidate who can win against the two top Democrats.

McCain may really “do away with earmarks, period” if he makes it to the White House. It might not be too bad of an idea to put a Veteran in the White House, too.

The second place finish must be tough for Huckabee, who is from the South. It was also a tough time for Fred Thompson, who probably will finish a distant third and Mitt Romney fourth.

Romney took Nevada today to give him a little sunshine on a cloudy day. It was mostly Romney and Ron Paul who campaigned there. Ron Paul finished a distant second to Romney in Nevada.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton took Nevada. Shortly after her victory, I received this e-mail (I subscribe to most of the candidates e-mails):

Have you heard? We just won the Democratic caucuses in Nevada. You have done so much to make winning moments like this possible. Thank you!

People across the country are placing their faith in our campaign, especially those hardest hit by the recent downturn in the economy. We can’t let them down. We’re working together to bring about change, and America is responding to our efforts.

Many folks thought Obama would do better there. The Democrats next primary is in South Carolina on Saturday. Obama leads in the polls there.

So Saturday was a great day for political junkies like me. On Sunday, we can take a day off from politics and watch the AFC and NFC Championship games. Life is darn good with politics and football!

Published in: on January 19, 2008 at 9:31 pm  Leave a Comment  
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