<p>I will be more happy in 2 years when we elect the first female president.</p>
<p>What? Condoleeza Rice said that she wasn’t going to run for President…</p>
<p>Condi, I assume?</p>
<p>
They all say that at one time or another. Rice is extraordinarily ambitious. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she ran.</p>
<p>…What if Hillary can ride the tide?</p>
<p>Before yesterday, I would have said no way. Not sure now.
Stranger things happened in NH and MA yesterday.</p>
<p>Rice IS extraordinarily ambitious, but I think she has pretty much achieved her ambitions in the past six years. I doubt she would make a good electoral politician (and right now I doubt she could get elected dog catcher outside Alabama). She will be President of Harvard, or something like that.</p>
<p>
I think she’ll be running , too. Away from Congressional subpoenas.</p>
<p>To everybody. O.K… The scoop is that the hearings closest to the President will fill up first. If you want gallery space at the Haliburton/Cheney no-bid hearings I think you may already be too late. ;)</p>
<p>I wanna seat at Abramoff/Rove.</p>
<p>I take back my doubt of the DNC. They are organized. Shocking how organized they are. Contrary to my belief, they have built a grass roots foundation and a roster of strong contenders. And it does have teeth. $9M spent in Missouri? Holy cow. They are re-taking those important governor positions. Were they organized enough to turn the tide without the raunchy behavior of Foley? Not so sure–but they were ready to roll through the door once it opened. Good on them.</p>
<p>But…I’m going to retain my doubt about Hillary. She makes herself unlikeable. I hated the set-up of her speech yesterday–the two speech prompters, the empty platform behind her except for Bill, the stringent tone delievered for the… fluffy equivocating Iraq bluster. Too much Try Hard to Look Presidential to me. Compare that to Pelosi standing arm and arm with Schumer and Emmanuel and a stage full of DNC. She flubbed the “nude Iraqs” but her speech still had force. She embodied the history of the moment. </p>
<p>Man, those teeth are white aren’t they?</p>
<p>
OOOH!!OOOH!! So many choices. I want to see that one , too. Dang. Watch them run them at the same time.</p>
<p>May have to settle for Foley/Reynolds/Hastert, or perhaps Katrina? Then there is still Libby/Rove. Oh, the not-so-secret “rendition” sites abroad? (Probably be closed.) Hastert’s land deal should be a goodie, too. </p>
<p>So many choices, so little time!</p>
<p>Stay the course.</p>
<p>What is curious is how the dems won with candidates that are closet republicans. Some have said that if Webb wins in VA, he’ll be the most conservative Senator from either party, an exaggeration, but not by much.</p>
<p>So, at the DNC, pragmatism ruled. Once, the RNC felt that way, too, until it was taken over not by conservatives, but by the far right and self interest groups.</p>
<p>One way to look at the outcome is that conservatives have won, but sleeze has not.</p>
<p>
It’s the whites of her eyes…
–she can’t blink.</p>
<p>I LOVE it when Sherrod Brown is considered “a pragmatist”. ;)</p>
<p>Stay the course.</p>
<p>Per BBC news this is the population voted</p>
<p>Who voted Democratic/2004/2006</p>
<p>Over 65 - 42%/ 54%
working moms - 45/55
white catholics - 40/52
middle income - 40/50
suburban - 40/48</p>
<p>Who voted republicans/2004/2006</p>
<p>evangelicans - 65%/60%
Other protestants - 50/44
catholics - 45/34
secular - 35/22</p>
<p>Important issues</p>
<p>economy 82%
Corruption - 75
Terrorism - 70
Iraq - 65
Immigration - 62
Values - 58</p>
<p>The “pragmatist” line is a lot of hooey. With the exceptions of Jim Webb and Heath Shuler, incumbet conservative Republicans in the south defeated conservative “pragmatist” Dems almost everywhere, a theme that was repeated, though less universally throughout the country. The big Dem pickups were where liberal pro-choice, antiwar, anti-Social Security privatizing, pro-force the drug companies to negotiate candidates defeated moderate “pragmatist” Republicans.</p>
<p>Simba, moderation in all things. I am content. I had to rein myself in the week before the election because if I really believed what my aggregate of numbers were telling me I would have been downright giddy, which a) is bad form and b) leads to hubris.</p>
<p>I still worry about some of the judicial appointments. I don’t trust Lieberman not to get down on his knee pads and defer to Bush on anything he really wants. However, if the Senate does indeed hold up 51-49 Democratic (note to all you mindless media types: the adjective is “Democratic,” not “Democrat,” regardless of GOP usage), then I think the Judiciary Committee will be something like 11-10 or 10-9 (I forget its size and am too lazy to check) so that if Democrats remain united they can bottle at least the most egregious up in committee and tell Bush to go pound sand if he doesn’t like it.</p>
<p>I don’t know that Hillary will get the nomination though that’s the way to bet if she decides to run. And there’s going to be some internecine GOP blood-letting before it starts to be clear who the GOP nominee will be. I still don’t believe in Giuliani and am increasingly skeptical of McCain’s chances of getting the nomination.</p>
<p>I suspect, for all that the Democrats have the Hill, little of substance will have changed in Iraq by 2008. “Stay the course” is a slogan, “win” is a goal, and there’s no real strategy there because the Iraqi government is fatally weak and there’s no “center” in the Iraqi social fabric to sustain, consolidate, and build towards stability.</p>
<p>“I still don’t believe in Giuliani and am increasingly skeptical of McCain’s chances of getting the nomination.”</p>
<p>I think Giuliani has way too much baggage to make a good candidate. McCain is someone that I think might get a fair amount of crossover votes.</p>
<p>Hey Mini: I enjoy reading your posts and respectfully disagreeing with most. Could you expound a bit on your “stay the course” comment. Are you strictly referring to the war policy and if so, what do you think about today’s press conference. The new definition of “stay the course” is continually re-evaluating strategy, especially in light of the elections. hmmm???</p>
<p>MM, McCain’s tack to the Right as he sets up for a run has been well noted. His reputation as a “moderate” is ill-deserved and will be thoroughly trashed as his statements & votes from the past two years are replayed. </p>
<p>Don’t mistake “maverick” for “moderate.” And one of the most dangerous places to be in America is between McCain and a microphone.</p>