Yes, We Did

Yes We Can

A leader we can believe in.

No, He Can't

Parody is the sincerest form of mockery...

Experience vs Inspiration

For years, the Democratic Party has nominated good, experienced candidates - who failed to inspire.

Mondale: Strong on substance, wooden in inspiration
Dukakis: Strong on substance, wooden
Clinton: Yes! Inspiration!
Gore: Incredibly strong on substance, inspirational in real life, put in a lock-box by his consultants and mocked mercilessly by the media
Kerry: You get the picture.

Reagan got people to cross over and vote for him despite their disagreeing with him on policy. He inspired.

We know that on issue after issue, from abortion to economics to Iraq to torture, the majority of Americans actually agree with us.

Wouldn't it be nice for a change to nominate someone who inspires people to vote for the candidate they actually agree with?

(There's more...)

I've been pretty much an Edwards supporter since 2004. I still think the wrong guy was at the head of the ticket that year.

With Edwards out, I've had to take a good look at the remaining choices. And it seems to come down to a choice: Experience vs Inspiration. "Ready on Day 1" vs "Yes We Can".

Now we have a choice between Clinton II, who we already know will not inspire the opposition to cross the line and vote for her.

And we have Obama.

Substance? The man is a sitting US Senator who, before being elected to public office was involved in grassroots community organizing. He's not the cypher some would like to make him out to be.

Governors have an executive advantage, of course. Bill Clinton was a governor who had put through policy initiatives in a small state. But it was not his policies and initiatives that made him Presidential timber, but his inspirational ability

Bill Richardson is out of the race, despite having a great resume, because he is not a great communicator.

You select a plumber based on "substance" because you know he's the guy with his hands on the pipes. You can choose a guy for CEO based as much on inspiration as on resume, because the CEO sets direction. For everything else, you have managers and bookkeepers.

It's the same with a President. We've seen time and again Democrats put forward proposals that are just and fair and far-reaching, only to have them shot down because we couldn't build a coalition of support behind it.

After years of nominating guys with good resumes who went down in flames in the general election, I'd like to see someone inspirational get the nomination.

Yes We Can

I've come around to Obama.

In part, this video is why. The man is an inspiration. And we need that in these times.

Huckabee Scares Me

Because of all the Republican Presidential contenders, Mike Huckabee has that "Nice guy I'd love to have a beer with" thing going on.

The media - when they've been paying attention - have just eaten this guy up. Give them an excuse for a "come from behind kid" narrative, and we could have yet another election cycle where the media give the Republican a love-fest pass on all scrutiny.

Update: It's happening already.

"1. As governor of Arkansas, Republican Mike Huckabee enthusiastically worked to free a serial killer from prison because the rapist and murderer-to-be had become a cause celebre on the right.

2. Today Gail Collins of the Times wrote a column saying that Huckabee, while he'd make a terrible president, is a nice guy who essentially made just an error of compassion in freeing the serial killer."

Brad deLong has more...

More Subpoenas for Doolittle

The Sacramento Bee and the AP (via TPM) are reporting more subpoenas for CA-R Congressman John Doolittle.

Rep. John Doolittle said Thursday that the Justice Department has issued subpoenas to him and five of his staff members seeking records going back 11 years...

In a release issued by Doolittle's office, it said that the Justice Department has assured the five staff members that they are merely witnesses. Left unanswered is the question of what Doolittle's status in the investigation is, and whether he has become a target in the on-going investigation related to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff that would mean an indictment is near.

It's bad timing for Doolittle, who just yesterday was complaining when a watchdog group named him to their list of Most Corrupt Members of Congress.

(More...)

It appears Doolittle is going to attempt to make this into a "separation of powers" issue: the mean ol' executive (via the Justice Department) shouldn't have the ability to kick around Congresscritters.

Now, granted, considering the way things have been going, it's not a bad line to take. God help us if the Unitary Executive ever decided to use its powers to go after random Senators the way Rove appears to have gone after the former Governor of Alabama...

"These efforts raise serious constitutional issues going to the very core of our separation of powers created by the Founding Fathers," [Doolittle attorney David] Barger said.

The Constitution prohibits the executive branch from using its law enforcement powers to interfere with legislative business. Barger said he and Doolittle would "be vigilant" to ensure Congress' independence is "vigorously protected." Any court challenge would go before a federal judge, but the documents would be sealed.

It's possible that the subpoenas may be too much of a fishing expedition, reportedly asking for nearly all legislative documents for the past 11 years. The AP notes that,

in the case of LA-D Congressman Jefferson, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that FBI agents trampled on congressional independence during the raid. Even though they took only documents relevant to their bribery investigation, agents also reviewed legislative documents, which the court said was unconstitutional.

Ironically, it was just last week that the Sacramento Bee reported on a possible motive for Doolittle sticking it out and going for another term: if he's reelected, it bumps his pension by $16,000 a year.

The Roseville Republican is under pressure to retire from Congress. The pressure is coming from members of his own party who think that his embroilment in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal has rendered him unelectable in his Republican-dominated district.

Doolittle has responded by branding some of his harshest Republican critics as "weasels." He has said he is not quitting when the current term ends in December.

"I will not step aside," Doolittle said in a defiant telephone news conference earlier this month. "I am running again. Period."

But with Doolittle up to his eyeballs in corruption charges, it's going to be tough for him to beat Charlie Brown this time around...