Volume 4 Issue 7
January 21, 2007
California Dreamin?
The presidential field keeps getting bigger, Arnold figures out a way to get involved, and Zeus makes a comeback
As the Presidential Primary field heats up with the addition of at least 3 new contenders this weekend, most of the focus is on fundraising, which is the important bellwether of a candidate's performance during the next few months. However, once that part is done and the field is stabilized, it will be up to the voters to decide, or at least some of them in states with early Presidential Primaries such as New Hampshire and Iowa. Of course, in the past, there has been some complaints that these states were getting an unfair advantage, so this year Nevada and South Carolina have been thrown in for good early measure as well.
But, enter the 800 lb gorilla, in the form of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California who in the past month or so has unveiled a set of programs and policies almost on a New Deal level. The latest is an idea to move California's presidential primary up from June to early February, where it would proceed all but the earliest nominating contests.
California's argument is that it is a big and important state and should be heard early in the nominating process, but moving California up so early in the process could substantially change the way the nominating process takes place, and should be given serious thought. As past readers of the Swamp know, for the last 2 presidential cycles I have spent time in New Hampshire before the primary, working for Bill Bradley in 2000, and as an observer and writer in 2004. From those experiences, I think California should lay back and let the little guys get their moment in the spotlight this time.
If California moved up it's primary, the early part of the presidential contest would stop becoming about who has the best ideas and the ability to communicate with people in a small state setting, but rather who had the best political advisers and ad teams to run commericals and made-for-TV events. You can't win in New Hampshire and Iowa on commericals alone, you need to get out and meet the voters - going to civic group meetings, having bad coffee in living rooms across the state. It's probably the last way that politicians and citizens get to interact. And the people in states like New Hampshire take this seriously as well - many spend a lot of time studying the candidates, and turnout is quite high.
In recent years the discussion has been on how to reduce the negative influence of money in politics, and having an early primary in California is not the answer. With 55 electoral votes, and a large part of national fundraising, California already has a big role in choosing a President. Let's keep the system as it is and make the candidates have to face the voters face-to-face, not running attack ads in big media markets and being isolated from the people.
Look Who's Running for President: Richardson is in -
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/us/politics/21cnd-richardson.html
Look Who's Running for President 2: Sam Brownback becomes the first officially declared candidate on the GOP side. Brownback will probably be the most right-wing candidate in the race this year, and his chances should not be underestimated -
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/us/politics/21brownback.ht ml
The Agony and the Ecstasy: Dems should be happy with two strong candidates like Clinton and Obama running for their party right? Not if you are a party big wig forced to decide between the two -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/20/AR2007012001606.html
Bad John Edwards Photo of the Day:
John Edwards prepares for a duel in Iowa.
A Message from the Seattle Tourist Board: 9-year old Semaj Baker doesn't like living in Seattle. So that would explain why he lead police on a 90mph car chase last week, and then escaped and stowed away on a Southwest Airlines flight to San Antonio. Yay for Transportation Security!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/18/AR2007011801681.html
He's Back! A group in Greece is trying to gain access to ancient temples so they may practice their religion - which would be praising Zeus. Good to have him back after 2,000 years...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/01/21/ancient.gods.ap/i ndex.html
Art Buchwald 1925-2007: We lost an American original this past week, as Art Buchwald passed away at 81. Buchwald is currently most well known for his failure to die from kidney failure after 6 months in a hospice, after which he simply checked out and went back to work, but he is important as the first widespread columnist who was able to ridicule the goings on here in the Nation's Capital. As Buchwald himself said recently, "There was always something absurd to write about - and in recent years there has been so much it's been hard to choose!" As such, he is the grandfather of political satire with a point, which has lead to things from the Daily Show to this blog.
Of course before Buchwald was a big political columnist, he was a nightclub and society columnist at the NY Herald-Tribune's European Edition. There, he became the defacto man to see in Europe, and entertained folks from Grace Kelly to Elvis to Audrey Hepburn in Paris and the Continent. The best Buchwald story I remember is how he got that first job as a 23-year old college drop out. He went to see the executive editor about doing a nightclub column, and the editor promptly threw him out of his office. Two weeks, later, when the editor went back to the states for a vacation, Buchwald called the assistant editor and mentioned that he'd been talking about doing a nightclub column. The assistant loved the idea, and when the executive editor came back in 6 weeks, Buchwald was already there. As David von Drehle's piece below says, he truly was one of the last great American dreamers in a nation that seems devoid of dreams these days. Rest in peace.
The Post obit - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/18/AR2007011800616.html
Von Drehele's tribute - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/18/AR2007011801062.html
The Trib on one of it's own - http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/18/news/web.0118buchwald .stout.php
