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...Waiting to Exhale

This article ran on Wednesday in Fox and Hounds Daily (http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com).

I didn’t vote for Barack Obama – or any Democrat for that matter – and I feel no remorse about it. So, in terms of my personal win-loss record, yesterday certainly wasn’t one of my most successful election days.

But, I woke up this morning, after the longest presidential race in U.S. history, and feel a sense of “shock and awe.” President-elect Obama’s triumph last evening appears to have lifted a tremendous weight off everyone’s shoulders. I feel it and I know that my family, neighbors and work colleagues do too. People seem friendlier in Los Angeles this morning…more of a bounce and optimism in everyone’s step and stride. I walked down the street to grab a coffee and was amazed and energized to see strangers wearing Obama buttons, pins or shirts stop, hug and say, “We did it.” This should be what politics and political campaigns are all about.

In other countries, power doesn’t easily change hands. Yesterday, Administrations switched as routinely and non-controversially as showering, filling your car up with gasoline or grabbing a sandwich for lunch. As an aside, I relish the fact that Obama’s victory serves as a giant thumb in the eye to the “Old World,” who make great sport of doubting America and our ability to be both a good and great country.

I am surprised that I don’t feel the slightest bit of remorse or misgivings about Senator John McCain’s defeat or President-elect Obama’s resounding victory than I do. No, my Republican friends, I haven’t “drunk the Obama Kool Aid” and I’m not wearing my Barack-2012 button quite yet.

I imagine that my feelings are not unlike many Californians and Americans, so troubled by our country’s direction over the last 12 to 18 months. Change – any change – would be better than what we currently have or what one candidate promised. When a political party – from the chief executive on down – strays so far from the beaten path, it’s difficult to remain eternally optimistic. You can’t be a Maverick and essentially advocate the status quo.

In the coming days and weeks, much will be written about what Obama did right and McCain did wrong. I’ll certainly partake in this evaluation and criticism – it’s both my profession and hobby. But, today is not the time for finger-pointing or “Atta-boys.”

At its core, the Obama’s campaign’s ultimate success was in the candidate’s ability to transcend public policy and political differences. President-elect Obama’s messaging promised hope; his demeanor inspired confidence and steadiness; and, his entire aura made the campaign more about “us” than about “him.” He connected in ways that John McCain never could.

Today is a day for a gigantic exhale – a deep, soul-cleansing, calming breath to re-center ourselves and refocus our energies. Tomorrow, next week and next month, politics as usual will slowly, inevitably, creep back into the public mindset and the difficult task of governing our great but divided nation will fall squarely on President-elect Obama’s shoulders…but, I don’t feel so bad about that reality.

For Obama, the Acorn Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree

This article ran today in Fox and Hounds Daily....

Here’s a troubling pattern for the Barack Obama – one that should scare the pants off of most Americans. Barack Obama, who since his earliest days has been and remains attracted to a radical, activist, left-leaning agenda, has associated himself with some really shady characters and organizations that don’t share Main Street American values.

And, when these ties are exposed, Senator Obama at first attempts to minimize the situation or attack those raising the claims…but when attacking or minimizing proves unsuccessful, Obama casts these “connections” aside and quickly attempts to distance himself.

America first witnessed this with Obama’s handling of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright situation. When statements made by Obama’s pastor of 20-years grew too problematic, the Senator attempted to calm the fury by making a speech about race relations in the U.S. The left fawned over the “chosen one” for his prophetic comments. Main Street America yawned. When the fury over Wright’s “God d*mn America” comments wouldn’t pass, Obama said, “See ya” to his friend.

Most recently, Obama appears to have weathered the storm over his close connections to American-born terrorist William Ayers largely by ignoring them...and the elitist media gave him a pass.

Now, with mainstream newspapers, television, radio shows, blogs and Internet filled with troubling assertions about voter fraud and the inextricable involvement of ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), Obama faces a new and more serious controversy. The Illinois Senator needs to address this issue and his long-time, close ties to this questionable group.

According to hundreds, if not thousands of media reports, ACORN activists have registered the Dallas Cowboys, Mickey Mouse and other notable cartoon characters, and even the dead to vote. Thousands of other instances of voter fraud in key battleground states are now bubbling to the surface. With vote fraud allegations against ACORN in Seattle, St. Louis, Kansas City, Cleveland, New Mexico, Wisconsin and other states, Barack Obama’s ties to ACORN need to be examined and explained in much greater detail.

Will he support his former employer’s suspicious and questionable activities? Will he ignore the situation and hope it goes away? Will he distance himself?

To further complicate matters and to demonstrate Obama’s lack of Main Street values, there’s a YouTube video of a 2007 Obama interview at a community organizing convention. In this segment, Obama promises that community organizations (like ACORN) would be granted unprecedented access to help a “President Obama” set the agenda even before he is sworn into office. That’s a truly scary endeavor for a centrist America given these organizations' radical, socialist-leaning agenda.

ACORN leaders have claimed that they “want a new America.” Barack Obama has gone to great lengths to position himself as a different type of politician. ACORN’s and Obama’s “new” and “different” desires should give all of us pause.

Equally important, Senator Obama’s inextricable links to the most radical of radical individuals and organizations belies his thin claims of centrism...and call into question what Obama truly believes at his core...because that’s where an Obama Administration would end up philosophically and from a public policy perspective.

Give the Obama presidential campaign credit. They have masterfully positioned their candidate in the political center. But, Barack Obama is no moderate. He’s an unrepentant extremist-liberal masquerading in centrist clothing to get elected.

With three weeks, America needs to know the real Barack Obama. It remains to be seen if the McCain campaign is capable of effectively telling this story. Thankfully, ACORN is helping to accomplish this task.

…Looking for Something Positive in The Annual Budget Mess

My latest blog post on Fox and Hounds (http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com.) about the budget mess in California.

November's Dirty Dozen

The following article appeared on Fox and Hounds Daily (http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com) about California's crowded November ballot. Read the article here.

What's Up With the Democrat Convention

So, the latest news is that Billary -- yes, the combo of Bill and Hillary Clinton -- will get two of four days at the Democrat Convention in Denver.

The impact of Senator Clinton at the convention, at least at this point, is difficult to measure. It essentially breaks down into two schools of thought.

First, Mrs. Clinton and her husband power-played a weak Barack Obama into letting them exert undue influence at the convention. Mrs. Clinton lost to Mr. Obama. This much is clear. But, in Clintonland, nothing is as it seems. Mrs. Clinton will undertake great efforts to demonstrate to her supporters -- almost 50% of Democrat delegates and superdelegates -- that her candidacy not a complete waste of time. She hopes to put behind her the fact that she squandered tens of millions of dollars and came up short to a first-term U.S. Senator with less than 200 days experience in the United States Senate. In the end, Clinton could look incredibly strong, the Democrat party divided and Mr. Obama weak and unable, still, to "close the deal.

The second school of thought flips this premise on its head. In this one, Senator Obama shrewdly lets Mrs. Clinton have her roll call vote. Instead of nearing 1800 delegates that sided with her during the hotly contested campaign, Mrs. Clinton's showing is considerably less. Politico is already talking about the New York Senator receiving somewhere between 600 and 1,200 delegates during a first ballot. Such a "showing" would demonstrate Mrs. Clinton's waning influence in the Democrat Party.

We haven't even factored Bill Clinton into the equation. Given his harsh comments about Barack Obama and race, and his criticisms of the news media, anything could happen at the convention.

One thing is for sure, at least the convention will be interesting instead of the pre-packaged PR campaigns that conventions of the recent past have become.

Barack Obama...Chicken for Life

In "The Simpsons Movie," Bart and Homer play a high-stakes game of truth or dare on top of the family home. The loser, should he not undertake a no-holds-barred dare, is branded "chicken for life."

Well, Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama, having ceremoniously turned down presumptive GOP nominee John McCain's challenge to hold an unprecedented number of pre-convention Town Hall meetings is now formally branded, "CHICKEN FOR LIFE."

It appears that the always scripted celebrity, Barack Obama, feels uncomfortable with the rough and tumble world of the town hall meeting, where irregular and unscripted questions -- and non message tested voter interaction -- would rule the day. It's a shame that voters likely won't get to hear him talk about anything in specific or face less-than-friendly questions. Instead, we'll get more of the same...poll-tested platitudes about the need for "change."

McCain's challenge is bold on its face -- 10 town hall meetings. You would think that the former community organizer, Barack Obama, would jump at the opportunity to roll up his sleeves and interact with the common folk. In fact, when McCain first broached the concept, Obama, who was locked in a tight primary with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at the time, expressed interest in such forums with Senator McCain. Specifically, the young, inexperienced junior Senator from Illinois said:

"Obviously, we would have to think through the logistics on that, but ... if I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues before the voters with John McCain, that's something that I am going to welcome."

To make matters worse, in attempting to criticize an effective John McCain commercial questioning Barack Obama's ability to lead, the junior Illinois Senator attempted to slam McCain for not debating serious issues of the day...perhaps Obama should look at himself for not wanting to even debate. After all, if this is such an important election, shouldn't the American voting public be privy to numerous interactions between the candidates...rather than the scripted encounters undertaken by the Commission on Presidential Debates?

Like most of Barack Obama's political and public policy views...they are subject to change, back-sliding and downright waffling. Now, his campaign has political hack Congressman Rahm Emanuel negotiating his presidential debate positioning...which means, that we'll be subject to three highly scripted debates with the mainstream media fawning over Obama, letting him get away with vague, mushy answers and then praising Obama as "visionary," "insightful" and "revolutionary."

Barack Obama...you ARE CHICKEN FOR LIFE.

Obama the Arrogant

This morning, Washington Post reporter, Dana Milbank wrote a fantastic column where the reporter paints a less than flattering picture of Obama...essentially slamming Obama for looking beyond the current campaign and acting like the presidency is already his....or, in other words, being incredibly ARROGANT.

It's amazing to me that someone with less than 200 days in Washington, D.C., with no voting record to speak of, with no real experience has the gaul to act in such a way. Thankfully, the dustbin of history is replete with people who thought and acted like Obama. His downfall will be much more public and much more devastating to the liberal base that so adores him.

Also, and of note, the McCain camp launched another campaign commercial about Obama's celebrity status...complete with images of Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton. It raises the question...Obama may draw big crowds, but is he prepared to lead. It's too soon to tell, but surprisingly for Obama's "rock star status," he isn't sailing quite as high as he should.

This campaign is starting to get interesting.

Obama vs. Obama: Is Barack Safe?

Early this morning, in advance of Obama's big speech in Berlin, radio announcers boldly predicted that the attendance for Obama's speech would come close to 1 million people. Well, results are now in...and it appears that he had somewhere near 200,000 people at his speech in Germany...one-fifth of what was predicted.

What is interesting, though, is Obama's "cult of personality." It appears that the old world is interested in Obama and believe that he is a "rock star." How will this play in the United States -- where people who really matter (i.e., those of us who have a vote in the 2008 presidential election) have to assess whether Obama has what it takes to be president.

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article discussing this very subject today. In it, Gerald Seib and Laura Meckler make the point that the race, to date, is more of a referendum on Obama than a competition between Obama and McCain.

Bad news for Obama. His campaign desperately needs the race to be a comparison between Obama and his so-called plan for change and McCain, who the junior Illinois Senator has tried to paint as Bush III.

Only time will tell if Sen. Obama can "sell" the American people that he is stable enough to lead America and function as an effective commander in chief. But, as GOP pollster Neil Newhouse says in the article, "It's not Obama's race to lose. It's his to win."

Recently, I wrote an article in Fox and Hounds Daily, discussing an innovative and somewhat crazy ballot measure in Arizona. Read the full article here.

One hour of time highlights a larger

In the grand scheme of things, what difference does one hour make?

For the Los Angeles Unified School District's school-aged children, it's one hour out of an otherwise mediocre education experience. For teachers and the union leaders who control them, they believe it's an important statement to make in protest to Governor Schwarzenegger's latest budget proposal.

The issue at hand is that this past Friday, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) teachers staged a "walk out" to protest the money allocated to public education in Governor Schwarzenegger's current budget. The Governor's proposal would provide a $193 million increase over last year's $56.6 billion in education funding. The UTLA believes its teachers "must" protest, despite the proposed current fiscal year funding increase, because the revenue increase doesn't keep up with the so-called cost of living. These "cuts," (only cut in government budgeting) will necessitate some tough choices.

Let's leave aside the fact that the state's education funding is on auto-pilot, thanks to ballot box budgeting, and that public education consumes almost half of the state's budget annually.

What's even more troubling is that each and every year, our failing public schools receive more and more money...and results fail to materialize.

Next year, so our education leaders and public school apologists promise, results will materialize. More money will make a difference, they cry continually. Yet, large bureaucratic school districts remain intact - the LAUSD is the poster child for a large, bloated district - and test scores continue to decline. Any attempts to require accountability are fought at each and every turn by powerful and well-monied teachers unions and the Legislators who support them.

The business community and the people of California need to wake up. We have succeeded in creating and empowering an education bureaucracy that is more interested in maintaining a strangle-hold on our public schools and, in turn, allowing the teacher's unions to elect politicians to keep them in power. Educating our children and demanding results runs a distant second. Shame on the UTLA. Shame on LAUSD teachers. And, shame on the example they're setting for their students.

The one-hour of lost time really means nothing. LAUSD students will sit in cafeterias, on athletic fields or in auditoriums. But, Friday's 60-minute protest symbolically means much more. It highlights the fact, that despite billions of dollars, our public schools have failed multiple generations of attendees. The costs to business and to the future are incalculable. It is the parents and children of our failed public schools who should protest!

Edwards endorses Obama

John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator who ended his quest for the Democratic nomination in late January, endorsed Barack Obama for president Wednesday at a rally in Michigan. Edwards, who ran a populist campaign emphasizing poverty and economic inequality, could help give Obama the kind of support he needs among working-class voters. Obama and Hillary Clinton worked hard to get Edwards' endorsement. Edwards had dropped hints in recent days about his preference, saying that Obama was "clearly the nominee" and slipping in a TV interview that he had voted for "him" in the North Carolina primary a week ago.

Edwards tangled with Clinton during the early debates, saying "you can't just trade corporate Republicans for corporate Democrats." But he held back from endorsing Obama, questioning his experience.

Edwards was the party's vice presidential nominee in 2004. He finished second in the Iowa caucus on Jan. 3. His campaign ran out of steam when he finished a disappointing third in the South Carolina primary on Jan. 26.



Edwards has 19 pledged delegates won in three states: Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. They are not obligated to vote for Edwards or Obama. Obama previously won the endorsements of former candidates Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich.
Look for Clinton to exit after last primary. Her overwhelming victory in West Virginia notwithstanding, Hillary Clinton will likely exit the Democratic race shortly after Montana and South Dakota voters go to the polls on June 3.

That's the reading from political watchers, who say that while the New York senator's dominating performance over front-runner Barack Obama in West Virginia's primary will give Democrats pause, it isn't enough to keep Clinton's rival from going over the top in delegates.

Regardless of whether Clinton scores another big win next week in Kentucky, as expected, Obama should win Oregon the same day. Clinton will probably take Puerto Rico, while the Illinois senator is seen prevailing in Montana and South Dakota.
"At that point, she'll really have nowhere else to go," said Matt Klink, vice president for Los Angeles-based Democratic strategist Cerrell Associates. Obama remains 141 delegates away from securing the nomination with 1,885 in hand, according to counts from The Wall Street Journal; Clinton has 1,717. Both figures include superdelegates who have committed to the candidates.

Klink also believes that Clinton should let the primary process play itself out. "She owes it to the people that supported her," he said, adding that the race has been good for the party, despite appearing to divide Democrats. "People are excited. They're motivated. They're turning out."

Nevertheless, Klink commented that Clinton's convincing victories in white, working-class states highlight the shortcomings of the Obama campaign and what he'll need to do to defeat presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in November.

Margie Omero, president of Democratic consultant Momentum Analysis, said that Clinton can stay in as long as she wants, but has to figure out the best time to go and still get what she wants -- forgiveness of campaign debt, a say in the party platform or even the vice presidency.

At some point, though, Clinton could hurt the party by staying in too long, and not just in the presidential race. "The longer she stays in, the harder it is for Democrats running across the country," according to Omero.

Meanwhile, Obama took his plan to boost the U.S. manufacturing sector to Michigan on Wednesday, a day after losing West Virginia's Democratic primary. Obama didn't campaign in Michigan ahead of its primary in January, and the state's votes didn't count due to a dispute with the Democratic party about the timing of the contest. (Clinton won 55% of the Michigan vote.)

Clinton is calling for votes from Michigan and Florida to be counted toward the nomination. But as she struggles to catch Obama, her rival is training his firepower on McCain. "When John McCain came to Michigan in January and said that we couldn't bring all these [manufacturing] jobs back to America, he was right. But where he's wrong is in suggesting that there's nothing we can do to replace those jobs or create new ones," Obama said in a speech at Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich.
The senator said that he will create a $150 billion fund aimed at advancing clean energy and "green-manufacturing" jobs in the United States, put in place a startup fund worth $1 billion a year for small and midsize manufacturers and kick-start the building of new fuel-efficient vehicles, among other things.

Michigan has gone Democratic in every presidential election since 1988, but just barely. On Wednesday, Obama reached out to one of the state's traditional demographics: auto workers. "I'm running for president to make sure that the cars of the future are made where they've always been made -- right here in Michigan," he said.

Obama is expected to receive endorsements from three former Securities and Exchange Commission chairmen Wednesday, his campaign announced.
William Donaldson, Arthur Levitt and David Ruder are expected to join former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker in endorsing Obama.

Obama wins by not losing debate; surges in Texas

It appears the Democratic senator from Illinois didn't do anything to hurt his status as the party's frontrunner for the presidential nomination in Tuesday night's debate in Cleveland, Ohio. Obama and rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., traded a few jabs, with Clinton more aggressive than she was last week in Austin, Texas.

But Obama didn't do anything to hurt himself, says Greg Valliere, chief strategist for the Stanford Group. "On points, I think she won. But he didn't stumble," Valliere said. "There was nothing there that would turn the outlook around." Matt Klink, vice president at Democratic strategist Cerrell and Associates in Los Angeles, concurs.
"By not losing, I think Obama wins," Klink said. "Nobody pulled away or separated themselves." Obama and Clinton sparred on subjects ranging from health care to the North American FreeTrade Agreement. The two went at it over recent public statements between the two camps, and even addressed the circulation of a picture of Obama in traditional Somali Muslim garb taken on a recent goodwill tour.

It seems nothing can stop the Obama juggernaut now, as he has pulled ahead of Clinton in Texas, the biggest prize in next Tuesday's critical set of primaries. An average of polls assembled by RealClearPolitics.com shows Obama now with a narrow lead of slightly more than one point in the Lone Star State, a region that Clinton was able to claim as her domain just two weeks ago. Clinton also is losing ground in Ohio, another delegate-rich state up for grabs on

Tuesday. She held a comfortable, double-digit lead just two weeks ago, according to the Rasmussen Report, but that has been whittled down to 5 points.

Host complains about McCain

It seems presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain, D-Ariz., has yet to distance himself from the talk- show host who made a number of controversial remarks in Ohio this week. Bill Cunningham, a local radio personality, was quoted by CNN as saying: "John McCain threw me under a bus - under the 'Straight Talk Express,'" a reference to the name for the candidate's campaign bus. McCain repudiated comments made by Cunningham about Obama at an Ohio rally, as part of a warm-up act for McCain. Cunningham repeatedly included Obama's middle name, Hussein, in references to the candidate as he criticized his stand on meeting with world leaders should he win the White House. "All is going to be right with the world when the great prophet from Chicago takes the stand, and the world leaders who want to kill us will simply be singing 'Kumbaya' around the table of Barack Obama," Cunningham said.

McCain was quick to try and distance himself from Cunningham, saying it would never happen again at one of his rallies. Cunningham then took McCain to task for not attacking Democrats and instead "attacking conservatives like me." He vowed not to support McCain in the general election.

The exchange could be just the opening chapter in a struggle for the moderate McCain as he tries to win over the hearts and minds of conservative Republicans.