Over the past year and a half, I could've written so much more in praise of the Obama campaign. With few exceptions, I confined my YRHT presidential political analysis to skewering his opponents. Other than an aside here or there, I've been incredibly restrained in revealing my optimism about Obama's chance to win the Presidency. But that's not to say I didn't feel it. However, I didn't want to "jinx" him by seeming too overconfident, or by making my best analysis public. (Sorry, I realize that sounds tragically self-important, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a concern.) Honestly, YRHT could've become a raving "Obama blog" for the past year, extolling all his virtues ad nauseum, endlessly forecasting the crucial political dynamics that would enable him to win big on election day. But that would get old and tiresome for most of my readers.
So, out of superstition and excitement, I've held A LOT back over the past eighteen months. A Lot. For example, I have a fairly long post about the "end of Vietnam politics" that I was going to post last Tuesday, but I decided it can wait another week or two. I feel that way about a lot of my presidential campaign analysis. I have numerous drafts of uberlong political posts , that I decided not to publish . Perhaps I'll do so after the election. They won't seem very timely, but I think they'll interest those intrigued with political analysis. Most of the best presidential analysis that I published over the past year was in the comments of otherpeople'sblogs.
Yeah, I know this sounds pretentious, and like I'm being a big tease, but I wanted to explain why I haven't been writing much Obama stuff as election day approaches. I'm saving it out of superstition.
During the past week, with victory in sight, I've been extremely tempted to write some triumphalist posts detailing "Why Obama's campaign is so historic and great". Why this is the end of so many poisonous narratives. But I'm going to put them off for another few days. I'm excited and nervous right now, and publishing any post along those lines prior to Tuesday would make me more nervous and jinx-fearing.
=== So, keeping with what has apparently worked, I will finish this post by needling Nader's recent "official" Youtube campaign advert. Nader, who believes political apathy is one of the biggest crises facing America, approves the following au courant video treatment to inspire the masses:
Now, I do like Nader's running mate, Matt Gonzalez, especially for his advocacy of instant runoff voting, which New Orleans and Louisiana should try. ===
Update: Holy Crap! Just a few days ago, Ralph Nader made Israel's 1967 attack on the U.S.S. Liberty a Presidential campaign issue, and called on McCain to address the attack (which his father helped cover up). Wow. I can't help but think Why didn't Nader drop this political 'bomb' when he had a national audience on Meet the Press? Why wasn't he willing to take such a risk. All hell could've broken loose. (And not to Obama's benefit, either.)
Ugh, that Nader ad was awful. (Maybe that is what Nader thought would get him more attention... create an awful commercial for his campaign and hope that the bloggers around the nation would link to it and say "Hey, look at this horrible ad".)
But hey, at least my "raving Obama Blog" will have only been up for exactly 5 months on Tuesday (and not a year). Fortunately, being that I am a fairly recent blogger, I don't have as many readers to bore with my commentary. ;)
Instant runoff voting is an interesting concept and I don't know why we haven't experimented with it.
One of the more important problems I see with Louisiana voting is the absence of any paper ballot. With the both the old-style machines we used and now with the newfangled electronic machines, the perception exists that some disgruntled official, election worker, or hacker could compromise the election. The simple expedient of giving each voter a paper ballot to drop in a box would give a backup paper trail that Louisiana doesn't have at this point.
How are people supposed to steal elections if there are paper trails? ;)
Actually, I would just like the machines to print out a paper receipt that the voter can verify and then drop in a box. Each machine would have a box. And after inspecting the receipt, it would get dropped into the machine.
And I also support IRV (the "top two" version as described on the wikipedia page).
So when our new Democratic overlord comes to power and delievers us from evil and we have all joined the hive mind you will only make positive posts? you will no longer have snarky demeaning things to say? that you will find only uplifting things to report on?........yea no I didint think so. Obama is no more a political savior than any other political prostitute sure he has a bit more idealism perhaps but that is because he has no experience. I wish him luck but nothing is really going to change.
Had to wait for the coast was clear to say I told you so, huh, oyster?
Sad that you had to wait this long...about 24 hours before the election, against this candidate, in order to peek your head out of your turtle shell...
Nice, oyster...Thanks for the heads up on the I told you so...
As for IRV, a comment from Tim (of the Nameless Blog) made me realize the biggest selling point is simply cost-effectiveness. When we go back to the polls (needlessly) this December we should all make this point. IRV would save us $$$.
"So when our new Democratic overlord comes to power and delievers us from evil and we have all joined the hive mind you will only make positive posts?"
Uhh, no.
Go: Maybe my post wasn't clear, but I don't have the slightest idea of what your comment is trying to say.
Obama is the Democratic version of George W. Bush. Woefully underqualified empty suit, gaps in his biography, narcissistic sense of entitlement to the Presidency, pablum about changing Washington, you can't criticize or question him or you're a bad person, pals around with terrorists, and a weaselly machine politician who uses underhanded campaign tactics.
What impetus did he have for moving to Chicago? Why did he join the largest congregation in terms of sheer voters in his entire precinct after he got there?
The man who converted him to Christianity was his pastor only because he had the highest number of voters in his entire precinct. Someone he'd never heard say inflammatory remarks before...SUUUUUUUURE, Barack...LOL...
And what about the pablum of being "responsible" to his family that he talked about in his book? When Aunt LooneyTooney went to his Senate Win Gala, he didn't know she was living in a Boston Slum? How'd he get her address?
I'll bet he didn't know she was living illegally. That she was in violation of federal law, but beyond that...That Aunt LooneyTooney was also on the take, draining the taxpayers not only by living here illegally, but by living in a public housing project at the same time...
This guy's taking in millions writing books and having his wife put on the boards of hospitals and other businesses to rake in a few hundy thou, herself, and he can't get his illegal aunt out of a slum?
Perhaps its because if he did so, he knew he'd be tacitly acknowledging he realized her location and whereabouts, and could get into some political heat because of it?
Yeah, I'm sure glad you guys are so proud of your candidate...The least vetted Presidential candidate in history...
While we're on the subject of vetting, I wonder if Caroline Kennedy & Teddy Chappaquiddick realized that their fair-haired (Well, maybe that's the wrong metaphor) boy they were VP vetting for had considered a close personal friend of a guy who wrote a book and dedicated to the guy who shot and killed Caroline's Daddy Bobby Kennedy?
I'm sure she's let bygones be bygones...I'm sure Teddy & Caroline don't hold Ayers' dedication of his book to Sirhan Sirhan against him now...and the kid he helped vault politically into the Presidency? No big deal, at all...
& I made the statement that he vaulted him politically...and that vault has ended with the Presidency.
I get such a kick out of the "conspiracy" response out of the folks with the RFK deal...Who CARES who did it, Ayers was GLAD the guy who was blamed for it did what he did. There's no way around that...It's like saying, "I'm GLAD that 9/11 happened...Who cares who was actually responsible."
I have no hysteria...I'm not under the impression that our country ceases to function today, or tomorrow, or come January. I'm not under that impression, even if Democrats have 60 Senate seats.
What I am under the impression of is that anytime someone brings up valid points about your candidate, its right wing hysteria.
Never valid points...
I could talk about capital gains taxes, and Charlie Gibson pressing him on it, and after having the facts-both historical and otherwise thrown at him-him responding with "I support an increase out of fairness".
Data shows anytime capital gains is lowered-or even maintained-governmental revenues increase, and there's MORE $ to spend.
Anytime its been increased, there's less revenue collected, and less people you can help with those $'s.
How is increasing that amount "fair" to folks that you could help with the government's dollar?
I haven't understood the logic then, and I haven't understood the logic since then...
You've raised valid points in the past, go, I'm sure. (We'll disregard the embarrassing "Paulson is a Dem" canard you repeated more than once.)
I don't know. You keep bringing up different topics. Save the voodoo economics stuff for another thread. I tackle the subject regularly.
I could give a rat's patoot about Ayers or Obama's Kenyan aunt. Really, what's the point. However, if Ayers dedicated a book to Sirhan , because he admired the way he supposedly shot RFK (and not because he thought he was a framed political prisoner), that is definitely sick sick sick.
But, then, we ALREADY KNEW Ayers was seriously misguided back in the day.
