Jumping the shark

Well, I guess I was wrong about Hillary playing nice in the debate last night. It looked like the meds did not kick in until after the first commercial break. Word is Hugo Chavez called and told her to lighten up.
The phrase "jumping the shark" is television jargon that pinpoints when a show is bereft of ideas. It originates from a famous Happy Day's episode where Fonzie is dared to jump over a shark on water skies. He takes the dare, because he is the FONZ and jumps the shark still wearing his leather jacket. This phrase is now used in the pop culture lexicon to describe the exact moment when something has become so preposterous it can only be met with laughter.
Watching Hillary go after the media and the moderators last night with her complaints and whining made it official-Hillary has jumped the shark!
This new tactic of attacking the moderator (forgetting that Russert made his bones in the Democratic party as an aide to Senator Moyniham- D. NY) is stunning. Hillary has now lost eleven contests in a row, she has lost in 26 states and would need to win by fifteen percentages points in Ohio and Texas just to tie Obama. The media and the moderators have done their best to present her as a "real" candidate who still has a legitimate chance. Hillary's lame attempt to name-check SNL and "ask Barrack if he needs a pillow" came across as a pathetic attempt at humor. It now seems that the Clinton campaign, in their attempt to give Obama no credit, are now blaming the media for their eleven consecutive losses and plummeting poll numbers. Hillary is losing this race because she has no charm, no sense of humor, is a person not at ease with herself or the world around her. She comes across as a scolding taskmaster. Last night it looked to me as if Russert was rehearsing his, "it's not you, it's me" speech.

A rogue operative in the Clinton camp?

I guess the Clinton campaign did not have a picture of Obama doing lines with Kate Moss so they decided on the next best thing, a picture of him in Somalian (Muslim) dress. At least Hillary gave the thumbs down to a photoshoped picture of him holding a crack pipe. We should all praise her for showing such restraint.
The campaign puts out a picture of him that reinforces negative stereotypes and spreads fears of a hidden Muslim lurking inside Obama. What is fascinating is how Hillary claims she had no knowledge of this and has never seen the photo. Her camp did say that someone, of the more than 700 workers, did pass this photo on out but, "you know, we're not going to call them in and interrogate all of them."
We are supposed to believe that Hillary, who has run an incredibly disciplined campaign, had no knowledge of this picture? What, a lowly staffer was googling pictures of Obama and just happened to find this photo eight days before the race?
This is about as believable as saying that John McCain has a thing for skinny blondes. (wait a sec)
I predict that Hillary will play nice in the debate and than go negative for the next week. Her sarcasm, angry rants, photo leaks and general negativity will result in big losses next Tuesday. Look for Hillary to dropout of the race next Wednesday and position herself as a "healer" of the Democratic party.

Background of this blog

1. Why is this blog called dole2obama?



I got the idea for this blog from Amina because she encouraged me to write down my political thoughts and predictions. I would sit at home, obsessively watching political coverage and remark, "I bet I am the only young person (31) who voted for Bob Dole in 1996 and changed their voter registration to vote for Obama in 08. This blog will be my thoughts and ideas on the race as it unfolds. I now have a much more constructive outlet than calling my brother or dad up in the middle of the day to talk about the latest news on drudge or what Chris Matthews had to say last night.

2. Why are you voting for Obama?

I am voting for Obama for the following reasons:
1. Iraq
He opposed this war from the start and deserves credit and respect for this unpopular (at the time) stance. He has shown wisdom and foresight in this regard. On a personal note, I was all for this war, way back in 2002, and after six years, feel that we have accomplished little in Iraq.
2. Change
I know that this idea of "change" has become so cliche that even Hillary is now mocking me, which means it must be testing well in focus groups. However, we need new blood in Washington, new ideas, new thoughts and a new perspective.
3. Post-racial politics
Obama did not run as the "black candidate". He ran as a Democrat who happened to be black. For this country to move past our racial problems we need a new generation of leaders who do not race bait or blame others but who are a living example of what you can accomplish in America through hard work.

Test

This is a test, only a test.