When you're compared to Kennedy and Reagan (one a conservative turned liberal or vice versa, the other a liberal turned conservative or vice versa), anything can happen.
On Thursday, The Washington Times reported that in 2004, as a candidate for the U.S. Senate, Obama came out for decriminalizing marijuana use. That usually means eliminating jail sentences and arrest records for anyone caught with a small amount for personal use, treating it more like a traffic offense than a violent crime. But in a show of hands at a debate last fall, he indicated that he opposed the idea.
When confronted on the issue by the Times, however, the senator defended his original ground. His campaign said he has "always" supported decriminalization.
It's a brave position, and therefore exceedingly rare among practicing politicians. Which may be why it didn't last. Before the day was over, the Obama campaign issued a statement saying he thinks "we are sending far too many first-time non-violent drug users to prison for very long periods of time" but "does not believe that we should treat offenses involving marijuana with a simple fine or just by confiscating the drug." Recently, he had told a New Hampshire newspaper, "I'm not in favor of decriminalization."
This episode reveals that as a candidate, Obama is more fond of bold rhetoric than bold policies. But it also proves the impossibility of talking sense on the subject of illicit drugs during a political campaign. That course of action would mean admitting the inadmissible: that the prohibition of cannabis has been cruel, wasteful and fraudulent.
If one great communicator -- the eloquent Ronald Reagan -- could build a coalition of disaffected Democrats that swung both of his presidential elections his way, can an almost-great communicator -- the fiery Barack Obama -- build a coalition of disaffected Republicans to swing the Democrat primary election his way?
It's possible, says Brian F. Schaffner, an assistant professor of political science at American University in Washington, D.C...."Obama speaks so often of bringing the parties together and working with Republicans, he seems less polarizing to Republicans than Clinton, who has long been demonized by that party."
The Pew Research Center corroborates Schaffner's inkling. It recently produced a report showing that Obama is perceived as more liberal than Clinton among Democrats, yet is seen as more moderate than Clinton among Republicans.
And there are other reasons that a true red may go Obama:
One Republican who isn't afraid of Obama's liberalism is John Martin, who directs the grassroots Web organization "Republicans for Obama."
A Bronx, N.Y., native who was very active in the Young Republicans in college, Martin, 29, is in law school but serving on active duty in Afghanistan as a U.S. Navy reservist. E-mailing from Afghanistan, Martin said his group has more than 400 members since he last checked and that the Web site's server received so many clicks the day Obama won Iowa that it crashed.
Lisa Kinzer, 30, is another rock-ribbed Republican who's gone Obama. The Norman, Okla., native has been a registered Republican for 12 years. She has nothing against President Bush. But she does have a problem with the GOP's 2008 candidates.
Their bickering over the morality of using torture while interrogating terrorist suspects in an early debate was her turning point, she says, so she went to shop on the Democrats' side and picked Obama -- who she believes stands the best chance of uniting the nation of bringing the country back together "of by "reminding us of what we all have in common, our love of this country and our hope for its future."
Towson University science professor Antonio Campbell is a lifelong Republican -- he even ran as one in Maryland's 7th Congressional District 10 years ago. Yet if Obama wins the Democrats' nomination, Campbell says he will become an "Obama Republican."
"Obama's message reads like Reagan's playbook -- individual strength, faith and behaving in a fiscally competent way," Campbell says.
The ad for the hybrid Chevy Malibu did not make it to air but GMC's Yukon hybrid ad did. Like we said Thursday, the Yukon hybrid ad features the 1976 animated short Sisyphus by Marcell Jankovics. The voice over to the animation says the following:
Why push? Why change? Why grow? Why dream? Questions you don't have to ask yourself when you never say "it's good enough." When you never say "it can't be done." When you never say "never."
Then the text "Introducing the Yukon Hybrid from GMC. Limited Availability" and "50% Better Mileage in a full size SUV is now a reality" appears.
For GMC - :60 Agency: Leo Burnett, Detriot The spot features an animated short by Hungarian animator Marcell Jankovics that was nominated for an Academy Award back in the '70s. The ad--"Why Push?"--focuses on GMC's new hybrid gas/electric version of the Yukon full-sized SUV. The spot also bows a new theme line that will be introduced in a new brand effort next month: "Never Say Never."
The commercial starts with a black-and-white, constantly morphing drawing of a man, alternately muscular, sometimes merely a representation in lines, rolling a boulder up a hill. During his struggles, a voiceover says: "Why push? Why change? Why grow? Why dream? Questions you don't have to ask yourself. When you never say it's good enough. When you never say it can't be done. When you never... say never." The short shifts into images of a white Yukon hybrid and text, noting that the vehicle gets 50% better mileage.
The GMC Yukon Hybrid SUV’s Super Bowl ad will take a sober look at the vehicle and its capabilities. Unlike the comic hijinks of the many other Super Bowl spots (in a Pepsi ad Justin Timberlake hits his groin on a mailbox post not once, but twice), the 60-second spot will trumpet innovation.
The ad aims to show consumers that they don’t have to compromise the advantages of a large vehicle, including towing capacity and space, to get improved gas mileage per the hybrid technology....
Airing the second quarter, the spot, via Leo Burnett, Los Angeles, is called “Why push?” It uses footage from an Oscar-nominated animated film by Hungarian animator Marcell Jankovics.
It opens with a black and white, Picasso-esque figure struggling to push a globe up an incline. “Why push? Why change? Why grow?” narration asks over a steady beat of piano notes. The shot cuts to a white Yukon.
“We did not set out to create a Super Bowl spot,” said Kubitskey. “It’s not a funny spot, there are no talking animals. It’s serious, quiet and emotional. We’re here because it’s upwards of 80 million people. And we feel this vehicle is a poster child for innovation, and we wanted everyone to see it.”
The tagline “Never Say Never,” will carry over to a campaign that launches next month for the GMC Acadia, Yukon and Sierra. There will be different executions for each product.
The Yukon Hybrid, like the Yukon, is a large SUV with an average price of around $52,000—about a $10,000 price premium from the regular Yukon. Marrying the hybrid technology to such a large frame has been called frivolous by some critics because the mile per gallon rating is not vastly improved. But GMC notes in the spot that the hybrid gives the vehicle a 50% improvement in city fuel economy in its 2-wheel drive model, to about 21 mpg average....
The Super Bowl spot will also be seen during the Academy Awards Feb. 24.
And because I haven't posted this video on the blog in the last several hours, I guess I'd better get on the ball.
There are many questions to be addressed in advance of a Republican primary, but one of the key ones that I've touched upon in this blog and the Ontario Empoblog has been the neo-conservative/conservative semantical issues (or, how did we get from Barry Goldwater to George W. Bush?).
There are certain things about conservatism that move me to take a harder stance. A true conservative (or shall I call them paleoconservatives) hold to die-hard conservative principles. We disdain the neo-conservative philosophies that hjave taken hold in government across the board, including the Republican party. Key issues that true conservatives believe in:
We do not want the U.S. military to intervene in foreign affairs for anything other than worst-case scenarios.
Oppose illegal immigration and support tougher immmigration law and enforcement.
We believe in small federal government, with broader state rights
Well known paleocons are Pat Buchanan, CNN’s Lou Dobbs, Syndicated Columnist Bob Novak, The American Conservative’s Scott McConnell
A "social conservative" accepts everything the Bible says. So, social conservatives are against abortion and sodomy because the Bible condemns them. But fiscal conservatives are pro-abortion and pro-sodomy because they don't care what the Bible teaches....
A person is a true conservative only to the degree that he or she accepts and lives by what God says in the Bible.
So what does that make Mike Huckabee? Evangelical Outpost considers:
For the past few months I've been arguing that Governor Huckabee is a solid and consistent conservative....
Yet many conservatives that I respect believe that I am wrong. In the last debate Sen. Thompson even said Huckabee would "bring about liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies." Are they seeing something that I am not?
In a Club for Growth PAC-FreedomWorks event, the nation’s leading conservative organizations will hold a joint press conference to tell South Carolina voters about Governor Mike Huckabee’s liberal economic record. Although Governor Huckabee is attempting to portray himself as an economic conservative, his gubernatorial record and campaign rhetoric tell a very different story.
WHO:
Pat Toomey, former Pennsylvania Congressman and President, Club for Growth Dick Armey, former Republican Majority Leader and Chairman, FreedomWorks Tom Schatz, Chairman, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste Political Action Committee Donald Devine, Vice-Chairman, American Conservative Union PAC
To the point, and the person of Huckabee, he will do damage to the Great Experiment, our democracy in America, because he isn’t a consistent, conscientious, committed Conservative. He is a big government, Nanny State, tax and spend politician – who supports amnesty for illegal immigrants. Huckabee could be right, sometimes, for Social Conservatives. But, he is wrong and weak as a Defense Conservative. He fundamentally doesn’t understand the nature of the World War we are fighting or the global context of international affairs. If he governs like he did as governor in Arkansas, he is not a Fiscal Conservative. All good reasons not to make Huckabee the Republican standard bearer.
Evangelicals need to be concerned about the damage he will do to the Great Commission. If Huckabee is the Christian identity candidate then everything that goes wrong, every foible or failure of his, and every unimaginable consequence that befalls the U.S. during his presidency will be attributed by the nominally Christian, culturally Christian, Liberal Left Christian, non-and anti-Christian Americans (about 55% of the U.S.) to Christianity. That won’t help Evangelicals build the Christian witness and discipleship of the nominally Christian or convert by faith the culturally Christian. It’ll hurt Evangelicals when they engage the Liberal “Sissy” Christians and anti-Christians in the U.S. Culture War.
Politics is about compromise. Christian faith is about purity. Politics allows accommodations and exceptions, especially in foreign affairs, to defend the Nation. Christianity can’t divert from the truth, the light, the way of Jesus. Yet, a Christian identity President Mike Huckabee will be just a man bewildered on the world stage – when he must make compromises and take actions that many will not call ‘Christian’. That is if Huckabee got elected.
So we've heard about culture wars and the Great Commission - what about the Sermon on the Mount? Well, there's a proclamation entitled No Moratorium on the Sermon on the Mount.
The job of the peacemaker is "to stop war, to purify the world, to get it saved from poverty and riches ... to heal the sick, to comfort the sad, to wake up those who have not yet found God, to create joy and beauty wherever you go, to find God in everything and in everyone." I heard Muriel Lester say this when I was a senior at McMurray College in Texas in 1951. In a campus-wide address, this perky Englishwoman went on to say a number of uncommon things as she examined the Cold War from the vantage point of the Kingdom of God.
I was profoundly moved. What she said made sense. The Christian faith took on a fresh meaning and relevance. After the address, I heard one professor remark, "That woman sounds like a Communist." I didn't know much, but I did know that was utter nonsense-unless one's definition of Communism covers everything one doesn't agree with.
One of the presidential candidates linked to that blog post.
Let's start with Jeremiah Owyang, who pulled the whole @superbowlads thing together. First, he had a comment about the game itself:
I’m sure my many colleagues at Forrester (Cambridge, near Boston) are throwing fits, but you’ve got to hand it to all the players that was seriously a great game.
Next, Owyang talked about the quantity of responses:
The social media experiment went very well, there are over 2500 responses to the superbowlads account....
It was pretty amazing, every time I refreshed the search tools (terraminds or twittersearch), new responses would appear in rapid order. There were so many responses coming in, (about 625 per hour, or 10 every minute) it was really hard to keep track. I tried to summarize key findings (such as many folks liking X commercial or hating Y commercial), but it became difficult to track.
@oemperor it's overwhelming the amount of data coming in, every time I refresh, the page moves down.
Heck, I couldn't even rate all of the commercials - I was in the middle of tweeting about a commercial and completely missed the Dell commercial, for example.
Owyang also commented on Kingman's - I mean Twitter's - performance:
The twitter application held up ok, although many of the replies did not show up on the replies page in real time, you could use the search tools to quickly see what folks were saying.
Such data is huge for marketers to judge audience reaction. What are the reactions the ads caused? I am sure the demographics of the audience , geographical location , viewpoints were varied and a treasure trove for market research. The only common factor is that the audience consists of Swimmers as Jeremiah Owyang calls early adopters.
Imagine if a market research company had attempted this by inviting people of similar profiles as the Twitter community to watch it in a place there they could instantly get the reaction. Now they just have to search Twitter and analyze this data.
I enjoyed "watching" the non-stop play-by-play commentary being shared by my friends on twitter. And if someone wasn't commenting on a play they just saw or a catch that was or wasn't made, friends were also sharing their immediate reactions when each of the Super Bowl ads aired.
But Pulver was thinking about the future:
I wonder how long it will be before broadcasters adopt an active social media strategy and discover ways to make their broadcasts both more interactive and a more intimate conversation.
Sometime during 2008 I wouldn't be surprised to learn when sports broadcasters create a twitter public timeline for an event and share with the public some of the active commentary being shared by passionate fans of the game.
I don't know if Pulver was aware of the NCAA's restrictions on blogging sporting events. There might be significant resistance to such a loss of control. All we need is for one tweeter to tweet something like
troy aikman just said that the redskins are the dominant team here
Recognize the red flag? Someone just engaged in unauthorized use of the descriptions or accounts of the game. League and network lawyers would be all over that.
But wait - it gets worse.
i'm at shepherd of the hills church for a big screen super bowl party
And yes, the music differs significantly. But perhaps if Larry Ellison is a little more relaxed when Oracle Database 12m is released, perhaps the video will use quieter music...and the slogan "We are enterprise grade."
Or the video may have noisier music and Deborah Iyall will sing at the Cow Palace.
i believe good commercial should emphasize product, which is why i liked gmc boulder ad. suggests strength of truck.
But in truth, the part that blew me away was the music, and the way that it integrated with the animation, then with the truck, then with the messages. (The fact that the messages at the end were in the style of Oracle messages probably resonated with me also.) [LATER: JUDGE FOR YOURSELF.]
But, now that the Super Bowl is ended, I really wanted to know more about the song. As did others:
[---Xaldin---] Sunday, February 03, 2008 7:22 PM whats the name of that song
BC Engineering O==========C Sunday, February 03, 2008 7:49 PM Whats the name of the song and made it. I love that type of music, It's mind elevating.
CorE The Grasshopper (what happened to Myspace?) Sunday, February 03, 2008 7:59 PM What is the name of that song?!!!
Other MySpace users had the answer:
Nick Sunday, February 03, 2008 7:58 PM I was blown away when I first heard the song playing. I knew I'd heard it before, and eventually it hit me. Ulrich Schnauss - Bluemenwise Neben Autobahn From the Album - Far Away Trains Passing By
bryan Sunday, February 03, 2008 8:04 PM The song is by Ulrich Schnauss.... Blumenwiese Neben Autobahn.... took me all night to figure it out!
oemperor : @superbowlads #* etrade baby. do you want that easy access? 2 stars. << (2008-02-03 20:53:39)
oemperor : @superbowlads #* wall e introduces character, but not sure what movie is about. 2 1/2 stars based on toy story intro. << (2008-02-03 20:46:27)
oemperor : @superbowlads #* genesis hyundai. WHY is it better than a mercedes? 1 star. << (2008-02-03 20:44:59)
oemperor : @superbowlads #* jockey shaq cute, but what does it have to do with vitamin water? 2 stars. << (2008-02-03 20:33:55)
oemperor : @superbowlads #* #caprimary now we have a pro casino ad half truth. 1 star. << (2008-02-03 20:02:46)
oemperor : @superbowlads #* #caprimary local ad against gaming propositions same old half story 1 star (pro ads are just as bad) << (2008-02-03 19:56:29)
oemperor : @superbowlads #* underarmour was apple 1984 starring the bad guy. 1 star. << (2008-02-03 18:51:02)
oemperor : @superbowlads #* bud wine and cheese got a lol. 4 1/2 stars. << (2008-02-03 18:49:16)
oemperor : @superbowlads #* diet pepsi max what is love. i'm a sucker for the song. caffeine. four stars. << (2008-02-03 18:47:09)
oemperor : @superbowlads #* audi pointless one star. << (2008-02-03 18:37:42)
oemperor : @superbowlads #* bud lite fire blah two stars. << (2008-02-03 18:36:56)
oemperor : @superbowlads #* ford looked fake two stars. #superbowl << (2008-02-03 18:30:37)
So my highest rated ads were Diet Pepsi Max (What is Love), Budweiser (wine & cheese), FedEx (giant pigeons), Tide (the talking stain), the GMC Yukon (Sisyphus), and Coke (parade).
Obviously, there's been a lot of talk about recent #twittout conditions on Twitter during major scheduled events such as Steve Jobs' speech. Various Twitter representatives have assured the Twitterverse that performance improvements are their number one priority, but that you can't wave a magic wand and have things fixed immediately.
All of us - Twitter employees, Twitter users, what have you - know that the system is about to be tested about 3 1/2 hours from now - 3:00 pm my time, 6:00 pm Eastern time, 2300 GMT - but, most importantly, 4:00 pm Arizona Standard Time - the time that the Super Bowl begins.
In general, there have been a number of questions about what will happen. At 1514 GMT, I asked:
we are having a partial #twittout. items are not showing up on my mobile recent page - what will it be like in 8 hrs when #superbowl starts?
Just wondering - If we all start tweeting during the Superbowl to see if Twitter can handle it, is that like an unintentional DoS attack?
Shashi Bellamkonda wanted to say something that took more than 140 characters to say, so he wrote a post that touched upon the general issue of Twitter reliability. He didn't explicitly talk about the forthcoming Super Bowl, but he did ask the question: "What will it take for Twitter folks to move to a Competitor?"
So, even under normal circumstances, a lot of people will be watching the 'Net and asking the question, Is Twitter Down?.
But these aren't normal circumstances. For better or worse, a LOT of people are going to be watching Twitter at that time to see how it performs.
I've already blogged about Jeremiah Owyang's @superbowlads account that he has set up as a forum to review the Super Bowl commercials in real time. And it sounds like this isn't just an isolated thing that a few twitterers will be playing around with. Jeremiah reveals some additional interest. For example, in resopnse to my question about whether ad agencies will be watching what has been dubbed (by David Armano) as the "Twitter Bowl," Jeremiah replied:
I’m positive some will, as I know several PR people will be participating, and therefore advertising and interactive agencies.
Even though the Dallas Cowboys won't be playing, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's game. I'm interested to see the reaction to the commercials tomorrow, and welcome your comments here.
Beyond that, I saw that Jeremiah Owyang set up @Superbowlads on Twitter to allow the community to rate Super Bowl commercials in real time....
I'll post the Dell (PRODUCT) RED Super Bowl commercial here in this post once it airs tomorrow. We welcome your comments here, and I'll be watching the overall reactions via @Superbowlads in Twitter and the Terraminds RSS feed.
Now I don't know Menchaca's relative position within the Dell hierarchy, or whether or not he has evangelized @superbowlads within his company, but what will the reaction be at Dell if this conversation occurs on Monday morning?
MICHAEL: So, Lionel, what was the online reaction to the ad?
LIONEL: Well, Michael...um...Twitter went down, so no one could vote on the ad.
MICHAEL: (expletive deleted)
At this point, I don't think any of us know what is going to happen. Will the switch to NTT America pay off for Twitter, or will they be troubled by the same type of #twittout problem that has been plaguing them for the past few weeks?
Yup, I found the Miami Washington Super Bowl on satellite.
Yes, I know that the Redskins are going to lose.
It's nice to see how clean the TV is. No electronically generated first down lines. No obtrusive graphics. However, I do miss the display of the current score, down, and time remaining.
If the players are smaller than today's players, I can't really tell.
It's 7-0 Miami. Maybe this version will have an alternate ending.
I encourage you to read the May 2007 Weekly Standard article The Sane Fringe Candidate. Both humorous and telling, it describes the story of a candidate who is running for President who doesn't want to sell his soul to the devil. A few excerpts:
A good Reaganite conservative, Cox has tried to be self-sufficient, financing his campaign thus far to the tune of $800,000. After 20 trips, he's been to all 99 counties in Iowa. He's been to New Hampshire 14 times, and South Carolina, 10. He's won a Republican straw poll outright in Aiken County, South Carolina, and finished fifth in total votes among all Republican contenders when three other counties were totaled. And yet, he's lucky if he ever gets mentioned in mainstream media candidate roundups. Meanwhile, doing interviews with the Small Government Times just isn't putting him over the top....
I've spent a fair amount of time around fringe candidates, but he didn't seem like the others. He doesn't own a sandwich board or a megaphone. He never says "blood for oil" when critiquing the war in Iraq. His suits fit, and he has no tendrils of out-of-control ear hair....
Cox, 51, is a self-made man. He finished college in two and a half years "because I was paying for it," he says, adding, "My daughter finished in five years--because I was paying for it."...
In the mid-'90s, he led a group that purchased the Jays Foods potato chip manufacturer, sparing more than 600 local jobs and taking it from a $17-million loss to a $3-million profit in less than a year....
He spent around $200,000 of his own money running for the [Cook County] recorder's job on the promise to eliminate the position as wasteful spending if he won--the kind of idea that used to fire up conservatives back when they were, how to put it, conservative....
The advantage of writing about someone who has absolutely no chance of winning is that you get to dictate terms. I agreed to see John Cox, but told him there'd be some conditions. I would not be manhandled or warded off at crucial junctures by any punk press secretaries. Also, I would be granted exclusive access. He told me nobody wanted access, so that wouldn't be a problem. He added that I'd better get out there shortly, he was having an important press conference on Monday. That would mean I'd have to fly to Chicago on Sunday. But it was perfect weather outside, and I wanted to get some fishing in over the weekend. "Can you bump it to Tuesday?" I asked. "I don't see why not," he said....
Cox feels that none of the current crop of Republicans is actually carrying the leadership mantle of Ronald Reagan. And it's not, he wishes you to know, like he's one of those weirdo Reagan fetishists. Reagan had plenty of faults. "It's not that he was some giant," Cox says. "It's just that he stood head and shoulders above all the other midgets."
Cox feels he can do the same, given the faux-conservative "Rudy McRomney" midgets currently in the on-deck circle. He says he doesn't even necessarily want to be president--he has a great life--he just wants to see the job done properly. "I'm pissed, because I expected something better out of a conservative Republican president. On everything--Iraq, immigration, spending." And many true conservatives he meets feel the same, which is how a no-name like him can win a South Carolina straw poll, a feat he mentions at the slightest prompting, or at none....
[At the press conference] Cox eyes us two journalists, then says, "No need to go there," nodding at the podium. Instead, he pulls up a chair next to us. "It's much more intimate this way," I say, trying to make him feel better. "Most of my gatherings are pretty intimate," he says, with a pained smile. He tells us he is on the South Carolina ballot, and hits the highlights of his platform: how he wants to eliminate the IRS and our disastrous, confusing, punitive tax system and go to a "fair tax" (a consumption tax), how he's pro-life and pro-Social Security reform, how he's anti-spending and anti-corruption. I can't speak for the radio reporter, but to me it sounds pretty good. Though he didn't have to go into all those details. He had me at "eliminate the IRS."
Matt Labash felt so sorry for Cox that he arranged for Cox to infiltrate a 2007 debate at the Reagan Library (to which Cox, the passionate Reaganite, had ironically been excluded).
Before joining up with Cox, I'd told him that I was credentialed for the debate, so he should get someone from his campaign to apply to be my photographer, which Herren had done. The next day--debate day--we arrive early at the press credentialing table. I pick up my lammie, and Dan picks up his, giving it to Cox. Cox and I board the media shuttle bus at the bottom of a hill that runs us up to the Reagan Library. Cox, it appears, will have his day in the spin room.
But he is unhappy about the whole arrangement. It demeans him, he feels. I tell him to get with the program. His look is all wrong. For one thing, he's wearing American eagle suspenders over a crisp, white dress shirt. If he wants to pass for a journalist, he can't go around looking patriotic. "Put on your suit jacket," I tell him. As we arrive at the Library and walk through its gates, I give him more pointers on how to pass for a reporter. "If you see anything free, especially a drink, take it," I say. I hand him a prop reporter's notebook, and tell him if anyone asks why he's not holding a camera, since he's supposed to be my photographer, tell them he's taking mental pictures.
As I leave him at a courtyard buffet table, where journalists are inhaling raspberry sugar cookies and iced tea (the bar doesn't open until later), I turn to interview some elderly docents, who give me details on the Library's architecture and vegetation. I watch out of the corner of my eye, as Cox, on his cell phone, walks across the lawn. He might as well be wearing a neon "imposter" sign: His posture is too good, his clothes are too pressed, he is way too distinguished-looking and silver-haired, like Blake Carrington out for a stroll--really un-journalist-like. He disappears from my radar. Minutes later, when I find him again, he is standing next to a burly security goon outside the gate. I ask him what happened. "Umm, the guy came over and found out who I am." I ask how that could've happened. Not a single person had recognized him since we'd been there. "I told him," Cox says unapologetically. "I'm not going to lie to anybody."
We are bounced from the debate before it even begins.
This story is followed by one of the most impressive sentences that I have ever seen from a journalist:
As we ride past the fringe-sters on the curb--Ron Paul supporters wearing dolphin suits to illustrate Mitt Romney's flip flops, guys in "Stop Chemtrails" hats, etc.--Cox grows reflective....
A few months later, Cox put together a music video.
It’s GOP fear-mongering meets cheap ’80s hair band rock.
My favorite part is where the video has several pictures of key Republicans and Democrats on the Hill and that of a storm trooper from the film Star Wars. I’m. Not. Kidding.
I’ve seen 7th grade A/V class productions better than this.
Unfortunately, the Right's Field unintentionally drummed up support for Cox from the all-important Led Zeppelin wing of the Republican Party:
Wait, what!? “cheap ’80s hair band rock?!”
Anyone who calls The Mighty Zep “cheap ’80s hair band rock” loses all credibility.
John Cox has raised the bar for supreme YouTube awesomeness. This is postmodernism at its finest. This is what we’ve been waiting for!
Left by Jed August 8, 2007 at 5:07pm
By October 2007, Cox had moved to a stairway to Iowa, unfettered by other Republican candidates who didn't bother to court the black women at Sisters on Target.
It was a tough crowd Saturday night - at least for the sole Republican who spoke at a dinner for Sisters on Target, a nonpartisan alliance of black women, in Des Moines.
Three Democrats attended: Joe Biden, a senator from Delaware; Hillary Clinton, a senator from New York who is the Democratic front-runner both nationally and in Iowa; and Barack Obama, a senator from Illinois.
The night started off well for Republican businessman John Cox of Chicago. He got a laugh when he said: "I'm not a celebrity. You won't see me on 'Law & Order' tonight."...
But Cox apparently was a little ahead of his time. Remember the questioner in the Hollywood Obama-Clinton debate a few days ago who talked about having Bushes and/or Clintons on the national ballot for 30 years? No one really complained about that question a few days ago, but they certainly weren't pleased when Cox raised the same issue a few months back:
He ran into trouble when he gave his reason for running for president: "Because for 20 years we've had nothing but Bushes and Clintons in the White House. With all due respect to Senator Clinton, she's a lovely lady, but I think in a country of 300 million people we ought to be able to do something better than Bushes and Clintons."
That was met with murmurs of displeasure and scattered, weak applause.
"Yeah, he messed up. Not going to vote for him," said Artelia Hoffman, a retired teacher aide from Des Moines. "He might as well sit down."
But while Cox turned people away for raising the issue, guess who raised the issue and got away with it?
Obama said nearly the same thing minutes later.
"There are a lot of good candidates in this race, and I admire them all, but the fact is that we've been hearing the same thing from Republicans and Democrats for the last 30 years," he said. "The question is not who can say the right words but who will have the judgment and courage to act on those words, even when it's inconvenient."
Never heard of him? Neither have we, but NewsMax says John Cox is the shit. Why? Because he is awesome and will return the Republican Party back to the people who suddenly got sick of Dubya a month ago, after six years of catastrophe and more gay abortions than ever.
Dude doesn’t have much (or any, actually) name recognition....
Is this the new century’s Ross Perot? Crazy rich guy from out of nowhere dispatched to do away with another failed Bush White House and hand it over to a Clinton?
Cox should just call himself John Perot just so everybody understands exactly how it works. Jesus ....
I think his stands on the issues look good, but he must have something wrong with him to keep him so dry in financial contribution money that we have not even heard of the man.
The criteria for admission to the [Iowa] debate, according to the Register, were that a candidate must have filed papers with the Federal Election Commission; that he must have publicly announced his candidacy; that he have a campaign office in Iowa as of October 1; that he have at least one full-time paid staff member in Iowa; and that he score at least one percent support in the Register’s October poll.
Keyes has indeed filed the required papers. He did announce, in September, that he is a candidate. And he scored two percent support in the Register’s October poll, although he showed zero percent support in the same poll in November. As far as having a campaign office and at least one full-time paid staffer, well, that’s where things get a little fuzzy....
“It’s a question. How many paid staff in Iowa?”
Keyes had had enough of such details. “You are working, I guess, for the elites who want us to believe that campaigns are about money,” he told the reporter.
“Do you not wish to answer the question?”
“No, I want you to understand that you don’t have the right to dictate our political process. It belongs to the people, not to you. And money doesn’t buy votes.”
I jumped in again. “Ambassador, I’m going to ask you one more time. Have you personally been doing campaign events here in Iowa in the last few months?”
“I have had several campaign events here in Iowa, but I will not define those events as you do,” he said.
“In the last few months?”
“I don’t define those events as you do. And I don’t think you have any right whatsoever to establish yourselves as the arbiter of what constitutes an event. I will do that in a way that reflects the best needs and purposes of the people who are working with me. Because as I see it, every time somebody comes forward and takes the pledge, that’s an Iowa event.”
Alan Keyes ought to be in the game and in serious consideration by conservatives everywhere. From what I understand, he still needs help securing spots on various state ballots, so if you want to measure the other candidates with a man who, in my opinion, seems to be a reasonably complete package, then I think we should at least help him get in the game.
This writer (Citizen Phil) then proceeded to analyze the other candidates (with the notable exception of John H. Cox, or for that matter Tom Tancredo):
Senator McCain seems to have a good handle on defense and the war, except for his understandable sensitivity to the rough handling of certain prisoners. I only wish he would remember that he was a "good-guy" when he was a prisoner, as opposed to the "bad-guys" from whom we need information. Senator McCain also has trouble knowing who the enemy is in the Senate, from time to time. It's the liberals John… stay away from them!
Mike Huckabee seems to be on my page regarding abortion, marriage, and matters of faith. To hear various pundits express an icky-fit about whether a cross intentionally was placed in his ad, just about makes me break out in hives. The "thing" was indeed a bookshelf. Huckabee would likely swear that he is not a woman too, even though he probably has man boobs. Perhaps he should be crucified for that as well. On the down side, Mike Huckabee seems to have a problem, knowing when and how best to criticize a sitting President. That shows a lack of judgment that I would expect from the loony left.
Duncan Hunter seems to be a fine fellow, but true or false, I get the impression that he is driven by a single issue, and that would be illegal immigration. There is just so much more on our plate than that, and I need to feel that my President has his hands on all the knobs.
Mitt Romney really makes you feel good while watching him speak. He is very articulate, well groomed, and obviously cool under fire. I really do not believe his Mormonism would be a problem, but the purity of his conservative blood might. The fact that under his watch, same-sex marriage flared up out of control in his state makes me cringe. Just the idea that the most liberal state in the Union could tolerate him enough to elect him Governor… makes me clinch my…. oh, you know what I mean. Mitt may be a little bit too smooth to earn my trust.
Fred Thompson is one of my favorites. He speaks with authority, and what he says sounds well reasoned and generally wise. Unfortunately, he comes across as if his fire is a bit too regulated. Up against a bile-spitting democrat contender, who will cover their ineptitude with bald-faced lies, I am not certain Fred will sell as well as he needs to. I also would like to see Fred take a more direct stand on fixing the abortion affliction.
Ron Paul has many good things to say, and conservative may be hard-pressed to disagree with too much of it. Unfortunately, he does not seem to comprehend the idea that in this modern day and age, it is extremely important that we make our defensive stand well away from our shores. Ron also seems to have attracted certain folks to his camp, such as those who are incensed that the likes of Alan Keyes, Barack Obama, and Joe Lieberman are allowed to hold public office.
Rudy Giuliani has proven to be an effective leader. You cannot deny that he did a great job cleaning up New York, making it a better place to live and work. He also did a good job after the terrorist attacks, and whether you like him or not, he put a good hard face on the city for the world to see. There is just a lot of liberal social baggage on his cart though, and I do not want my President to be fighting me on moral principles.
If you're interested, ontheissues.org has collected short statements from Keyes and Cox.
Last month I noted that California Secretary of State Debra Bowen had published, way back on November 29, 2007, the "Official Certified List of Candidates" for this Tuesday's election. As a reminder, the 11 Republican candidates on the ballot are as follows:
Sam Brownback John H. Cox Rudy Giuliani Mike Huckabee Duncan Hunter Alan Keyes John McCain Ron Paul Mitt Romney Tom Tancredo Fred Thompson
What I didn't mention at the time was that the certified list also included websites for the various candidates. I figured I'd visit these websites and get a feel for what the candidates (or, at least those candidates who have not withdrawn from the race) are saying.
Saturday, January 19, 2008 "Today we end this campaign"
We started this campaign a year ago right here, in San Diego Harbor, against the backdrop of American Naval power. We launched a campaign emphasizing a strong national defense, enforceable borders and restoring the industrial base of America.
Today we end this campaign. The Nevada caucuses reflecting only 2% of the vote for me. I ran the campaign exactly the way I wanted to, and at this point not being able to gain traction in conservative states of Nevada and South Carolina, it's time to allow our volunteers and supporters to focus on the campaigns that remain viable.
It's time for me to gear up for 2008's defense bill that will be put together over the coming weeks. There is work to be done in the areas of troop protection and new capabilities to be deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. And over the horizon, the emergence of Communist China as a military super power will require a new emphasis on U.S. capabilities in undersea warfare, space, and long range air-power....
McCain Gets Two Major Endorsements From Gov. Schwarzenegger and Mayor Giuliani
The underlying theme is interesting. Note the use of the "Governor" and "Mayor" (i.e., not Washington) titles. Apparently the maverick chafes at his Washington establishment role.
Yes, it reflects Paul's monetary policy, and yes it's a subliminal tweak at Mitt Romney's continuous Olympic references. But I'm starting to think that Paul and Huckabee are competing for IRS Commissioner, not President.
Uh oh. Sounds too much like "Big Mo" to me. Perhaps Romney's running for Vice President. And to be fair, the second message on his home page refers to his economic stimulus plan.
Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people.
Well, if I were basing my vote on the strength and...um...gravitas of the home page message, I'd vote for Duncan Hunter in a heartbeat. His home page message wasn't glib soundbite, a list of a bunch of links, or a fundraising plea, but instead stated Hunter's beliefs about our country.
However, all of the candidates except Brownback submitted candidate statements. Here are excerpts from the six candidates who, as far as I know, are still actively in the race.
Huckabee:
I am running for President because I believe that the American dream is still alive, and right now our country needs a leader who can lift the nation up and optimistically address the challenges we will face.
Cox:
The past 20 years have seen only Bushes and a Clinton as President. During that span, our government has added trillions of debt, failed to reform a broken tax system, failed to fix Social Security and Medicare, failed to deal with illegal immigration, watched health care costs explode, done nothing for education but spend money with few results. We have turned over control of government to the corrupt who make money from public service while selling out our principles and piling more debt on our children. If you are tired of these failures, I suggest you support my candidacy for President.
Paul:
I am Dr. Ron Paul, the champion of the Constitution.
McCain:
I believe our nation’s best days are ahead and remain committed to an America with a strong national defense, a smaller, more accountable government, and a robust economy.
Romney:
I am running for President because I want future generations to live in an America that is safe and prosperous and free.
Keyes:
The sovereignty of the American people is being destroyed. To address this crisis we must restore our moral sovereignty, beginning with the truth that all people are endowed by God with certain unalienable rights, starting with the right to life itself.
One of the reasons that I rarely refer to my employer by name is because, as far as my employer is concerned, I am not an official spokesperson for said employer. While I have spoken on behalf of my employer on occasion, it has been in very limited circumstances. I am certainly not authorized to speak for my employer in any and all circumstances, and the few of you who know who my employer is are very well aware that there's been a lot of news going on here lately - news which all employees have been officially instructed to keep mum about.
So you can guess where my employer stands on this whole Web 2.0/social networking thingie.
Needless to say, other companies have embraced social networking more closely. Or, perhaps it's accurate to say that PORTIONS of other companies have embraced social networking more closely.
A good portion of my readers are aware of the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). OTN has taken the lead in evangelizing use of various social networking technologies with people outside of Oracle, ranging from footing the bar bill at blogger meetups to setting up several networks to allow those interested in all things Oracle to communicate with each other.
Yet it's helpful to remember that we (or at least I) don't know what's going on inside of Oracle's hallways, and what type of resistance is being found within. Justin Kestelyn's recent post on the internal "Marketing 2.0 Leaders Summit" hints at the obvious - the number of Oracle employees who have fully embraced these types of two-way interactions is somewhat less than 100%.
I was pleased to have an opportunity to meet Charles Phillips, who took the time to speak with each group individually about their learnings. It was also nice to hear acknowledgment that OTN has been on the leading edge in this area for some time, and that it's time for the rest of the organization to catch up.
This demonstrates a truth about organizational behavior. Even if you have enthusiastic proponents such as Kestelyn (plus Jake, Julio, Marius, et al), and even if you have influential sponsors such as Phillips, you cannot change an entire organization overnight.
All politics is not local
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I write about ESRI in this blog on occasion - most recently, in March 2016.
And ESRI just made the news again - not a local news outlet, and not a geo
news...
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