Neglect

I've been sort of neglecting the blog this past week because I really don't know how much of this election I can take anymore. Pardon the astral physics simile but it is like the campaign is moving closer and closer to the speed of light and time is starting to slow down and maybe even go in reverse. It's like the the election is not responding to the the rules of nature like gravity or the laws of motion.

The polls make no sense. How does the addition of Sarah Palin make an Obama voter switch to McCain. Is it only about gender and nothing else? Karl Rove is criticizing McCain for false ads. This from the guy who spread rumors that McCain had an illegitimate black child. Obama is criticized for wanting children to know how to not get molested.

So for a while it's going to be just music from me...I feel like this guy from Get Your War On at the end of the day:

Face Off, Newsweek Style

Newsweek has new contributors as Karl Rove and "Kos" (Markos Moulitsas) have penned their inaugural columns for the magazine. A Cliff Notes version recap.

Rove: Hillary will likely be the Democratic nominee. She is tough, smart and focused. The Republican nominee cannot expect to win just by being "Not Hillary," and must create a narrative about who he is and how he would govern.

Kos: The Bush Record is abysmal and the Democrats need to run on it and club the Republican nominee with it. Unless the Democrats get soap opera-style amnesia, this will not be a problem.

Verdict: I think Rove's article does a better job with dealing with the political realities of 2008. He talks about the Republican will need to show the voters who he is and where he stands, even if his stance is unpopular. He also said that normally Republican issues like crime and welfare won't have much salience in 2008, so the nominee better be prepared to talk about the rising cost of education and health care, which are normally Dem issues.

The Democrat can not run solely as "I'm against Bush." Political campaigns are as much about the future, if not more, than about the past. In some ways, every campaign turns out to be "how can we rectify the failings of the last president." We elected Reagan because he wasn't a wimp. We elected Clinton because he understood how domestic issues affected every day Americans. We elected Bush II because he campaigned as a Clinton-style moderate who would keep it in his pants. So the Democratic nominee will have to show the personal qualities that make him/her different from the current occupant. Simply running against the Bush record doesn't do that.

Kos does not deal with how the nominee can create a narrative of who they will be. The better strategy with the Bush Record is to set up situations where the press asks the GOP nominee, "Do you agree with the Bush Administration on X," and let the press drag down the Republican with the comparisons while the Democrat articulates his/her vision for America. The Bush Record is a good weapon for the Democrats, but Kos' article makes it sound like the only weapon.

Business as Usual -- Blues Traveler

Politician -- Cream

More Anagram Fun

Karl Rove:
Ark Lover

Owen Wilson:
Online Wows

And by far the best one I've found so far:

Britney Spears:
Presbyterians
Betrayers Spin
Nearby Priests

Deo Vindice

With Karl Rove leaving the White House last week, there was another round of talk about how President Bush (like Brian Wilson) just wasn't made for these times and that some distant futuristic America will have the technology to "Get Bush."

This reminds me of Mr. Jeffries from my AP U.S. History class in high school and The Great Seal of the Confederacy with the motto "Deo Vindice" which is "God Will Vindicate."

At least with President Bush, we give God a break and force History to be the judge.

Karl & Kirby

As a life long Twins fan I am experiencing shock and awe this morning: