As an active volunteer for McCain Youth 2000 and someone who felt thoroughly disenfranchised by the Republican Party at the time, I am happy to see Sen. McCain finally get his victory lap. Unfortunately this victory lap is 8 years too late.

I welcome the political fight in the fall, and regardless of who receives the democratic nomination in August, the nominee will be running against a candidate who for independents and some democrats is extremely appealing.

Most independent-minded individuals remember how McCain 2000 stood up against evangelical figures, how he campaigned for his party's nomination from the center, how he energized a youthful, moderate base. Sadly however, McCain the 2008 model has actually gone backwards. This model is showing it's age.

John McCain will always be considered one of this country's greatest heroes. I long respected his ability to see his mistakes and correct them. I've also noticed how the republican machine has worn him down, beat him into a small, bitter version of his previous self. People forget just how awful the Bush people were to the McCain people. It was a mess and our man McCain would never forget it. Until he realized that, like Bush, he couldn't be his own man in the party of Lincoln.

I've stopped shedding (metaphorical) tears, but I do offer this unsolicited crumb of advice to the senator from Arizona: Don't run as a candidate seeking to govern for two terms.

If I were your top and most trusted adviser I would tell you to stay positive and fight hard. Keep the punches about facts, steer clear of typical republican sound bites and prepare yourself to have a very full four-year term. More on that a bit later.

I'm happy for Sen. McCain. The republican field was a rodeo of lesser-evils. He will prove to be hard-to-beat in November and will keep the polls close. His best hope for victory will be to see primary-weakened Hillary at the top of the Democratic ticket. If Obama the golden calf wins the nod, McCain's got as much of a chance as an ice cube in hell.

Labels: 2008 Election, Primary, Republican Party

I could draw my explanation out, but regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination fight, and I still predict Sen. Barack Obama, the polls between the Democratic nominee and the John McCain will be close. They'll be close right through to election day.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's because Clinton is a woman, because Obama is black and because McCain is old. Call me crazy, but it's going to be a battle of the lesser-risks for most Americans, and no poll regardless of the science or the sample behind it will ever accurately show what the actual electorate is thinking.

I get calls all the time, usually for free vacations or herbal supplements, but I think that polling is inherently flawed. Polling that takes place in a market research firm in front of a double-sided mirror isn't any more accurate, no matter how many cameras are recording the participants' reactions.

There are two things in life that have no science, love and politics. Any attempt to apply scientific methods to either yields nothing but enlarged egos and broken hearts.

Labels: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Editorial, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain, Politics Aside, Polling, Primary, Republican Party

It's all my fault. I have been seduced by the promise of a completely different and improved America. I've been blinded by the Great Hope. I've fallen pray to lofty rhetoric. I've fallen victim to my utter disgust for the politics of the 1990's. I've been mean. I said something this morning that I shouldn't have said, in a tone I shouldn't have taken.

It was around 10:30 this morning and I had already been to the Merrimack Diner and listened to the local radio personalities talk with various politicians passing through. (Katie Couric among many other news celebs passed through.) I was in the frenzy -- I'm still in the frenzy. I felt totally connected to the political current pulsating through this state.

As I walked up Elm street away from Granite, I just wanted to see the parade of political animals who I could capture with my lens. I heard ABC News had a big tent up the street so I walked a bit then stopped to take a look at my camera screen. I was just playing around. My fingers were cold and so was my coffee.

This couple came walking towards me covered from head to toe in Hillary stickers and yard signs. It was truly a sight to behold.




I captured their image from behind before I asked them to turn around. As I was snapping pictures of their front side I said one of the dumbest things I could have said in my position as a blog-journalist: "You know Hillary's not going to win. Obama's going to kick her ass."

Yes, I said it. I'm not proud of it, but it came out of my mouth. It was an out-of-body experience almost. I knew that as I uttered that vile two-sentence statement that I have doomed Obama to lose today's primary. A couple standing to my right admonished me with their eyes, shook their head and walked away. I knew right then that Obama's fate is sealed.

I guess we'll have to see, but I finally saw the Clinton undercurrent that has been pulsating beneath the surface. And with the rip tide of Hillary's tear show, I'm all the more convinced that today's prophecy is true.

Labels: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Justin Schuck, Katie Couric, Manchester, Merrimack Diner, New Hampshire, Palace Theater, Politics Aside, Primary