I'll Do the Driving

Hobbits for Hillary

I find this oddly amusing for some reason:

The Clinton campaign had flown in Sean Astin to shill for Hill. He's most famous for playing Sam, Frodo's erstwhile friend, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

When a major campaign finds it worthwhile to send the narrator from Meerkat Manor to a random county convention in Iowa, its just another sign how badly screwed up the presidential nominating process is.

In the Interests of Equal Time

Ugh.

That's the kind of strategic misstep I'd expect from Mark Penn, not one of Obama's advisers.  Luckily, this election won't be decided on national security absent another 9-11 style attack--in the long run Barrack's recent Kerryesque equivocating on NAFTA is a probably bigger liability than this one random comment--but you still never want your own staffers giving up sound-bytes that can be used against you.

As for going negative on Clinton in general, it probably is smart for Obama to throw a few barbs at Hillary that could be of potential use to McCain in a match-up with her, given that Clinton crossed that line herself with the "red phone" ad.  Sometimes you have to use the threat of retaliation to keep your opponent in check.

I Can Has Caucus?

Probably the right thing to do:

A member of the DNC's Rules And Bylaws Committee--the committee that stripped Florida and Michigan of its delegates for moving their primaries before February 5th--told me that Michigan plans to get out of its uncounted delegate problem by announcing a new caucus in the next few days.

Now the question is WTF to do about Florida? Seems to me the reasonable thing to do is reinstate half of the delegates.  That IMO nicely reflects the fact that it was more or less half a contest (which still makes it 50% more notable than the non-contest in Michigan): every name was on the ballot, but nobody campaigned there.  Furthermore, this doesn't effect the overall delegate math that much.  Yes, it brings Hillary closer, but not so much closer as to make it more likely the superdelegates will decide the nomination without good reason.  Lastly this approach also has the side-effect of making the Democratic "punishment" to the Sunshine State" equal to the Republican, which is useful, I guess (although I am very pessimistic about Democratic chances in Florida this year regardless of nominee).

UPDATE: Hillary continues to lose my respect:

I would not accept a caucus. I think that would be a great disservice to the 2 million people who turned out and voted.

Look, you can make the argument to seat Florida in full.  It's a tenuous argument since Camp Clinton signed off on the DNC rules, but at least everyone was on the ballot.  You can't count the Michigan Primary because, well, it wasn't one. 

Speaking of Political Has-Beens

Geraldine Ferraro argues for superdelegates:

Besides, the delegate totals from primaries and caucuses do not necessarily reflect the will of rank-and-file Democrats.

Let me get this straight.  Primaries and caucuses are not democratic (which may actually be a valid argument, especially WRT caucuses), but 800 well-connected people, only about half of whom even hold elective office, somehow are?

A**hat of the Week: Ralph Nader

Don't get me wrong, the left fringe has as much right to be heard during a national election as any other point on the political spectrum; neither party should be allowed to simply take their base for granted.  However, a presidential election is way too serious an event to serve as a vehicle for personal vanity, something that pretty much describes Ralph Nader 2008. 

Get lost Ralph.  Nobody cares anymore.

DISHONORABLE MENTION: The entire country of Serbia.

A Few Quick Words on the McCain Article

I basically agree with Yglesias' summary:

I think this is about right -- non-reporting of a non-scandalous non-affair aside, the Times story manages to reproduce some not-new information about McCain that most people nonetheless don't know and should.

John McCain's "straight talker" image is in fact 100% crap.  He's got his special interests just like every other politician on either side of the aisle.

McCain #2 Speculation

From the Danbury (CT) News-Times:

Could Gov. M. Jodi Rell be headed for the White House?

Political pundits have speculated lately about Rell, a Brookfield resident, being a potential running mate for Sen. John McCain, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.

...

A New York Post story also placed Rell on a short list of McCain's potential running mates. Others to make the list include billionaire publisher Steve Forbes and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Selecting Rell, who signed a fairly liberal gay unions bill into law, certainly won't help McCain assuage the base.  That said, it may make more sense than first glance would suggest.  At the end of the day a non-trivial percentage of the fundamentalist wing will never trust McCain (not to mention a large percentage of them live in states that won't be competitive if the national race is remotely close), so more can be gained by going after the purple state suburban vote, a demographic that has historically leaned towards the GOP due to economic issues, but has become increasingly Democratic in recent cycles thanks to the Republican Party's sharp turn towards big government social conservatism.  Rell certainly would help in that regard.

That said, I've long thought Pawlenty is the perfect #2 for the GOP.  He's from a D-leaning purple state, the social conservatives love him, he doesn't scare off regular people, proven history as a winner (he managed to get reelected in 2006 despite the rest of the Republican ticket in MN getting absolutely obliterated), and, oh yeah, the convention is right in his backyard.  Only possible hang-up is if the Southern wing demands a regionally balanced ticket--something that is very plausible--in which case Haley Barbour is probably the choice.

As for Forbes, well, lets just say McCain will be getting plenty of Bob Dole comparisons regardless.  No need to invite more by picking another no-longer-relevant supply-sider.

What Hillary Clinton Should Do

Go negative, hard negative--on John McCain.

One of her talking points has been she's the better candidate for what will likely be a down-and-dirty, knuckle-dragging general election.  Prove it.

Another Day, Another Inane Comment from a HRC Supporter

Joel Ferguson, step up to the mic:

"Superdelegates are not second-class delegates," says Joel Ferguson, who will be a superdelegate if Michigan is seated. "The real second-class delegates are the delegates that are picked in red-state caucuses that are never going to vote Democratic."

Now, normally I'd be tempted to give the Clinton camp a bit of a break here because Ferguson is a first-rate a**clown (I'm a fairly partisan Democrat, but I've long had no intention of voting for him next time his seat on the Michigan State University Board of Trustees is up for reelection), and every candidate has his/her overzealous supporters, but this is now turning into a disturbing trend among her most vocal loyalists. 

May I remind y'all, that if we go by the 50-50 2000 presidential election, there are only 20 blue states to 30 red ones.  Completely disregard the red states, and you automatically hand the Republicans a fillibuster-proof Senate majority, among a whole a**load of other undesirable side effects.  Not to mention if D's want to get back to parity on winning presidential elections, some blue states must go purple.

Asshat of the Week: Mark Penn

This idiot is a never ending source of stupid quotes.  I've already taken him to task for this doozy, now he blesses us with this little bit of faulty logic:

Winning Democratic primaries is not a qualification or a sign of who can win the general election.

No, but it is pretty much always a prerequisite.