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Tony
John Kerry's flirtation with writing off the South in his bid for the presidency this fall may be coming to an end. The Massachusetts Senator and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee began a campaign swing through the South that included a lunchtime meeting with Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (a possible Veepstakes winner) yesterday.This is a good sign for Democrats, who risked losing any chance they had at Southern Congressional seats, particularly in the Senate, if Kerry's campaign decided not to pursue southern voters. It's also good news for Kerry, who would have faced tremendous difficulty cobbling together a winning coalition if he chose not to compete in the South. Not only would he need to capture every state that Al Gore won in 2000, but he would also have to pick off one of the red states, no small task against a sitting president. Complicating matters even more is the prospect that a non-southern electoral srategy could put Kerry on the wrong sides of a number of issues (particularly cultural issues) that are as popular in suburban Ohio and Pennsylvania as they are throughout the South.
Kerry aides indicated yesterday that their focus on the South could result in a southerner being put on the ticket. This would probably be a wise move on Kerry's part, as the last Democratic ticket to win without a Southern was in 1944 (Roosevelt - Truman, for the curious).
Kerry has an advantage in the upcoming election that Democrats haven't had in a long time. The liberal base is energized and focused on winning, and has been willing to put some differences aside in their efforts to oust President Bush. If Kerry takes advantage of this and doesn't let Bob Shrum whisper in his ear too much, (and with the economy still struggling) he just might have a fighting chance.
Tony
On the trade to Baltimore:
YEH, THEY BACKSTABBED ME AGAIN, BUT I AIN'T GOIN AWAY LIKE THAT, I'LL FIGHT THIS N COURT IF I HV 2! MY RIGHTS WERE VIOLATED! AS 4 AS I'M CONCERNED, I LEFT MEMORIES N SAN FRAN BUT MY HEART IS N PHILLY!Responding to criticism about his behavior:
U MUST HV HAD A RUFF ENCOUNTER, IF SO, I APOLOGIZE! I TRY 2 LIVE MY LIKE A REGULAR HUMAN BEING REALIZING THT I MUST ENCOMPASS WHT COMES MY WAY DUE 2 MY OCCUPATION! I'M REALLY NT A MEAN PERSON @ ALL, DEPENDS ON THE SITUATION! SO WHAT IF PEOPLE CRITICIZE ME, I CN TAKE IT, @ THE END OF THE DAY I GO HM 2 MY FAMILY & FRIENDS! BTW, THEY TALKED ABOUT JESUS AS WELL!I love it. And it only gets better...
The Baltimore Ravens are among several NFL teams negotiating with seven-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Warren Sapp, sources familiar with the talks said yesterdayMarc
"Howard Stern does have the right to say whatever he wants anywhere, but he doesn't necessarily have the right to say it on that station if the people who run the station don't want him to," Kerry said while campaigning in New York, where Stern's show is broadcast.Kudos to Kerry for not caving in to the lunatic left on this one.A questioner at the town hall meeting in Brooklyn asked Kerry to stand up for Stern's right to say what he wants because the Republican-led government is repressing his right to free speech.
Kerry said he disagrees that Stern faces repression.
"If you are working for somebody and they have a set of rules, that's the deal," Kerry said. "And it doesn't mean he can't go out and say it somewhere if somebody else wants to have him say that."
Marc
It was an episode of "The Morrow Report" about the impact of Proposition 13 on California public schools (Prop 13 limited property taxes and required supermajorities to raise them). The message was essentially "raise taxes or the kids get it" - a message delivered by ACLU lawyers, journalists, and leftist non-profits.
So here we have a perfect example of the liberal cocoon at work: a program funded by rich liberals, quoting rich liberals in order to persuade the rich liberals watching the show, who can tell their rich liberal friends about it, and they can agree that "everyone" knows taxes are too low.
Liz told me about a coalition meeting she attended full of union types and liberal non-profits. Someone from the teacher's union said, "Governor Ehrlich has abandoned his responsibility to raise taxes." This is what passes for common sense inside the cocoon.
Marc
Marc
Long time Redskins radio announcer Frank Herzog has been ousted from the booth, according to today's Washignton Post. Herzog, who has been broadcasting Skins games on the radio since I was born, will be replaced by 46 year old Larry Michael, who has been doing pre- and post-game shows for the Skins since 1996. Herzog's partner's, former Redskins players Sonny Jurgensen and Sam Huff, will remain in the booth. Reports are that the move was not initiated by the Skins, and was instead a station decision.With everything that has happened to the Redskins in the past few seasons (i.e. Spurrier, Snyder, Bruce Smith, Deion etc.), this thing has really got me pissed off. Was Herzog too old and ugly for the fucking radio? Were the listners clamoring for a younger, sexier play-by-play man? No. In fact, most fans are understandably outraged by this move, myself included. This was the best local radio booth in the NFL. It's going to be really sad when we're all old men and we don't have any legends left, because they will have all been replaced before they had that chance. Herzog had a chance to be among those in the sports broadcasting pantheon: Harry Carey, Jack Buck, Chick Hearn. Now, he's just another old guy who got bounced from his job because his overwhelming competency just wasn't sexy enough.
I don't think I even need to say this, but: Orndoff Principle, anyone?
Tony
Marc
To be fair, this is a policy with bipartisan support. Clinton did the same thing the last time Haiti went down the tubes. Utterly shameful.
Marc
From today's Washington Post:
Additionally, two of Kerry's biggest fundraisers, who together have raised more than $400,000 for the candidate, are top executives at investment firms that helped set up companies in the world's best-known offshore tax havens, federal records show.
Tony
Finally, a high-ranking government official has come right out and stated the obvious. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, in testimony given to the House Budget Committee yesterday, said that Social Security benefits that have been promised to future retirees must be cut in order to deal with a ballooning long-term federal defecit. Greenspan urged Congress to consider spending cuts before tax increases, although he noted that both would probably be necessary in order to deal with the impending budget crisis. Although Greenspan again urged that current retirement benefits should not be cut, he listed two specific ways in which Congress could cut spending: gradually raise the retirment age to reflect the increased life expectancy of Americans, and linking cost of living increases to something other than the Consumer Price Index, which many experts believe over-states the rise of overall prices.Hopefully we'll look back on this testimony as the beginning of a long and sometimes painful (but nonetheless neccessary) reexamination of entitlement programs in this country.
Tony
Marc
