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.