Will Hillary's barrage elect McCain?

The Democratic debate in South Carolina Tuesday night (1/21/2008) turned very ugly. One of the “issues” was Obama’s use of voting “present” in the Illinois State Senate when he was dissatisfied with certain aspects of otherwise good legislation.

However, Hillary Clinton has her own explaining to do on her claimed opposition to the 2005 bankruptcy amendments. She didn’t vote present. She was recorded as “not voting.” The only one of 100 Senators not to record a “yea” or nay.” The 2005 Bankruptcy amendments were a consumer disaster. In the House, even Barney Frank voted against them. I think that I heard Hillary say she opposed the Amendments. Am I wrong? Did she duck the vote?

Is that true? She alone among all the Senators, is the one who did not vote on the bankruptcy law that catered to the credit card companies in an attempt to make credit card debt non-dischargeable. Does anyone have an explanation for this? Is her convenient absence one reason why she has such superior fund raising ability? From long experience: a lobbyist WILL tell a legislator, if you can’t be with me, go to the bathroom when the vote comes-up. It happens.

If Obama wants a real issue, and the infighting persists, I suggest he check with the folks in Fayetteville Arkansas where the Clinton regime built a toxic waste incinerator. One of the edges Bill Clinton had in 1992 was his early fundraising from Wall Street. He delivered, they paid. The key to the incinerator binge was the money the Wall Street bond lawyers and underwriters made in the sale of bonds. As I wrote for City Sierran in 1992: “If it’s bondable, it’s buildable. Whether it’s workable is irrelevant.” See http://www.johnklotz.com/burn.htm

Incidentally, the Sierra Club and its allies defeated the mass burn incinerators, which were an initiative by Governor Mario Cuomo and Mayor David Dinkins, both of whom were defeated for reelection in heavily Democratic New York. I am not a Giuliani fan, but it was Republican Governor Pataki and Republican Mayor Giuliani that put a nail in the coffin of both the mass-burn plan and a hospital waste in incinerator in the South Bronx. Was that important. See http://www.johnklotz.com/andy.htm New York City's air quality is now among the best of major cities.

If the Clintons don't get a grip, the only winner in the Democratic debate will be McCain. Hillary’s shrill performance may cut Obama down to size, but it may set up ”nice guy” John McCain for a win, as I expect the polls will be showing. Although McCain has enormous liabilities issue wise, I don’t think they will be able to tag team him the way they are tag teaming Obama. We may notice that the “straight talker” speaks with a forked tongue but it will be a tough sell.

I am for Edwards but as that possibility fades, the only Democratic ticket that will make sense is Hillary-Obama. Hillary’s courting of the Latino power structure may make the need for a dramatic gesture to the most consistent overwhelming Democratic vote - the African-American vote. It’s not that they will they vote for McCain, it’s will they vote in sufficient numbers for a candidate who is destroying their best spokesperson since MLK and Jessie Jackson’s heyday.

Nice guy John McCain may dampen their ardor to vote for Hillary. Somewhere out there, I can also hear Michael Bloomberg licking his chops.

Who's afraid of John Edwards?

There was a spate of bogs and commentary this past week linking Mike Huckabee and John Edwards because of their similar populist rhetoric. To some "populist" is a term of derision, to others, not be, it's not. Now Obama is attacking the suddenly threatening Edwards and Hillary supporters are attacking Obama, masking their Clinton connection by invoking Edwards. Could it be that Edwards who has been lurking in third place in most polls is gaining traction?

The one candidate the elites really fear is Edwards. When you read the fine print in the Obama campaign, especially about heath care, you get the impression that he really doesn't understand that real problem dogging the country is greed and that while the middle class is plummeting to the ground, the "Greed is good" crowd is still soaring - with only a few notable, sacrificial exceptions. Wall Street bonuses set a record this year, again.

The concept that the solution for America's Health crisis is through the HMO's giving-up their greedy ways through reasoning is ludicrous.

Might I suggest one fractured biblical reference to Isaiah: "When the lion and the lamb lay down together, the lion does not awake hungry." [Not original by me. Might have been coined by Jesse Jackson]

Or maybe, as one in who still believes in the sanctity of the ideals of the Declaration of Independence: "My house is a house of prayer but you have made it a den of thieves." [Not a paraphrase]

Come to think of it, that's the kind of language Huckabee is using and if you want to read an insightful dissection of why liberals lose, I might suggest Gary Wills: "Under God: Religion and American Politics." [Please note: NOT George Will]

The debate moment that pushed Huckabee to the forefront, in my opinion, is when he stepped in, took Giuliani off the hook, and answered the question about "Do you believe in the Bible?" by responding in words paraphrasing the Golden Rule and the parable of the Last Judgment and then brushed-off nearly everything else as too complex to discuss. It was a brilliant moment and any Democrat ought to have been able to do the same. I think the only one who could do so honestly is John Edwards.

As for the other Democrats, too many of them are represented by Hillary supporter and consumer sell-out Barney Frank. See the November 6, post that follows. Perhaps the most pernicious aspect of the Hillary campaign is her attempt to hook-up public officials with the lobbyist cartel and “share the wealth.”

There I go again, thinking like a populist.