Volume 3 Issue 19
March 4, 2004
Knocking Down the Mouse
Eisner gets at least one kick in the ass, Republicans get nervous, and more strange silver in your pockets
So now that Kerry has all but wrapped up the nomination (delegate-wise, Massachusetts delegate have been added in, but Georgia, Maryland, and Minnesota results remain incomplete), the new game to watch will be the Veepstakes, as Kerry tries to get a running mate picked out by May, which gives the press a reason to keep him in the papers during the big lull between now and the Conventions.
So I'm sure we'll be discussing this topic many times in the coming weeks, mostly looking at whatever the candidate of the hour is and his or her strengths and weaknesses. Today's scuttlebutt seems to favor Florida Senator Bob Graham, who himself briefly ran for President last fall. While it may sound like a good idea to pick a popular Senator from a must-win state, Kerry would be good to think twice before picking Graham.
Besides the obvious fun comparison that could be made with Cheney (both have had Heart trouble recently), Graham has one very big monkey on his back -- his presidential campaign. The campaign was by all accounts a disaster, and Graham, who's strange diaries and mannerisms rumoredly took him off Al Gore's short list in 2004, has gotten even kookier with the times, making some outlandish accusations at the Bush adminstration on terrorisim, a subject he previously held great sway over from his Senate work. In fact, since his more widespread visibility during his campaign, Graham's popularity in Florida has declined. Plus, Kerry will really want someone who can lay into Cheney during the VP debate (the only thing VP candidates are good for nowadays anyway), and I'm not really sure Graham is the man. Having him at his side when he is in Florida is great for Kerry, and getting Graham to open his fundraising machine to Kerry will be useful as well, but Kerry would be well served by looking elsewhere for a running mate.
Onto the insanity...starting of course with the very same veepstakes -
Veepstakes: Let the rampant speculation begin!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27410-2004Mar3.html
Maybe he'll pick McCain! That would wrap it up...but can he?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2096568/
Or Bob Graham -
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/8101130.htm
The Head Vetter is a big DC Democrat, but don't expect him to pull a Cheney and pick himself -
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-johnson4mar04,1,575272.story?coll=la-news-politics-national
Reverend Al: Has Sharpton's poor performance in the primaries destroyed his credibility as a Black leader?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2096567/
Bush v. Kerry: Let's hope this continues to refer to an election, and not a court case. Anyway, the race is on -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28576-2004Mar3?language=printer
Bush is even running ads in states he has no chances of winning, like Delaware -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28855-2004Mar3.html
But the content of those ads, including photos of the WTC wreckage and film of a body being carried out, have pissed off many 9/11 families -
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/170291p-148587c.html
The Brits are ready to back Kerry -
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story =497650
GOP Dissent? Bob Novak claims that many Republicans are now resigned to a Bush loss in November -
http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak04.html
Bad John Edwards Photo of the Day:
Yes...I shall drop out of the race and then become VP and then launch my takeover of this dominion...Yessss....Smithers, get me Kerry!
The Mouse Gets It: In the largest stockholder revolt in recent times, 43% of Disney voters withheld their votes from Eisner, forcing him out of his Board Chairmanship, though he keeps the CEO job for now -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28630-2004Mar3?language=printer
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/business/8095479.htm
This is a big corporate governance event, and it probably sent shudders down other big wigs spines -
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/04/business/04place.html
The Unfriendly Skies: American Airlines and their pilots and Airbus Industries are blaming each other for the 2001 crash of an A300 in NYC -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28733-2004Mar3.html
Kidnapping Saga Continues: This story is just custom made for a TV movie of the week -
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/8101627.htm
People...stop screwing with the money, damnit! We're getting new nickels now too -
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/03/04/new.nickels.ap/index.html


