Quick Hits As We Wait For May 6th

As we wait for the next 'make or break' set of primaries in Indiana and North Carolina (we'll believe it when we see it, by the way), here are some quick hits and random observations for your edification.

Rev. Wright, The Gift That Keeps Giving
Jeremiah Wright has broken his silence in an interview with Bill Moyers set to air Sunday night on PBS. Is this good for Barack Obama? From the snippets I've heard, no. Wright is unrepentant and says of Obama's response, ..."he did what a politician does...". Ouch. The only way this could help at all is if Moyers can present a positive portrait of Wright that makes folks say, 'oh, wow, I didn't know that". For example, I shocked a conservative Republican friend of mine when I pointed out that Wright's church is UCC, (United Church of Christ), the same umbrella church of very waspy New England Congregationalists like my friend. But let's face it, while this interview may break PBS viewing records, most people will only hear the snippets of it and won't watch it.

On the other hand, the North Carolina GOP is giving Obama a preview of the kind of 527 style ads he can expect in a general. It highlights, big surprise, Rev. Wright. Check it out, and the response advocating the appropriateness of the ad. Jesse Helms lives!

You Heard It Here First
I hate to brag, but to prove the point that informed citizens can compete with pundits, a day before the Times ran this article analyzing the politics of race in the Democratic Primary, I had said that it was obviously a problem for Obama. I hadn't read this article, either, that reveals some numbers.

Seriously?
It's one of my girlfriend's favorite expressions when she can't believe someone has the chutzpah to do something inappropriate and think it's perfectly fine. And since she's a Hillary supporter, it's appropriate that I use her phrase to register my disgust for Clinton's foray into 'fuzzy math'. Now Clinton is saying that she has actually registered more votes than anyone in the history of Democratic Presidential primaries. Of course, she's counting Michigan, when she and Dennis Kucinich were the only ones on the ballot. And she counts Florida, where no one campaigned. Again, this is an old political trick. Throw rubbish into the air and get people to watch it fall to the ground so that they won't look at what's right in front of them. This is Hillary at her worst. Whether it works remains to be seen. The fact is, it demeans the intelligence of the electorate when she puts forth this balderdash. It also reinforces the notion that she will say anything and do anything to get elected.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, has to more forcefully call her on the carpet for this kind of thing. When asked about it, he gave a very tepid response instead of saying, "Look, she's desperate, and she's making stuff up again." This isn't being negative, it's being truthful. Hillary Clinton cannot be trusted to say or do anything that isn't wholly in her self interest. That's a real problem when you're President.

Why We Consider All Sources
This is why we read all sources of political info regardless of political slant. Check out these two very good editorials from the Wall Street Journal. The first is on the Clinton Library , the second on McCain and taxes. This last piece contains the capitalist's credo on taxes and for all you liberals out there, it just makes sense. Whether you like it or not.

Uh Oh
The non-partisan Pew Research Center has noticed a downward trend in overall interest in the Democratic Primary. People blame the increased negativity of the campaign. No doubt, we are getting to the tipping point before this turns from a phenomenon to 'politics as usual'. Read the study here.

The questions are many. Is Obama hampered by Rev. Wright? Are Hillary's tactics good or bad? Is McCain's economic vision going to play? Talk about these or anything else by clicking on 'comments' below, bypassing the Google sign up and hitting the nickname or anonymous button.