Where do the Dems go to school?

In that YouTube/CNN debate on 7-23-07, one question asked the candidates if their children went to public school or private school.  The idea behind the question was that if they chose private schools, they were somehow less qualified to be President.

In reality, the Democrats support public education.  They seek to improve it.

On a practical level, those who have used private schools had legitimate reasons.

Clinton:  Chelsea would have never had an privacy at a public school in Washington D.C..  Until they moved to DC, she did attend public schools.

Obama:  He was teaching at a private school.  I assume that meant his children either received a  free or discounted tuition.

Biden:  At a time when he’s dealing with the sudden death of his wife, you would be hard-pressed to criticize his decision to accept help from his sister, who worked at a private school and volunteered to ensure his children had a ride to and from that school each day.

Despite their children being in private schools, these candidates opposed the idea of taking funds away from public school in favor of private ones.

Hannity and….no, its just Hannity

On Fox News at 9 p.m., you can tune in to watch Hannity & Colmes.  Sean Hannity typically dominates the conversation and Colmes, who is quick to say he represents a liberal viewpoint rarely makes a good argument to oppose Hannity.

This post is inspired by a recent segment.  On their way to a commercial, they always give a quick preview of what’s coming up later in the show.  Both members of the show took the opportunity to report that Barack Obama favors sex education for kindergarteners.  The pictures on the screen were more intriguing that their words.  This pictures consisted of a woman unrolling a condom over a cucumber.  Whoa there Fox!  Aren’t ya going a bit overboard with the dramatics?

It turns out that Obama actually just advocates for teaching young children the difference between acceptable touching and unacceptable touching.  He wants to teach children to report instances of inappropriate touching.  I was shocked that he didn’t advocate giving condoms to the 5 year olds after the preview I saw!!!

Family Research Council attacks Dems

The Democratic Candidates for President met with Planned Parenthood this week and advocated their pro-choice beliefs.  Aren’t you shocked?  Democrats are supporting a woman’s right to make her own decisions.  Democrats believe abortions should be, to quote Sen. Hillary Clinton, “safe, legal and rare.”

On Aug. 9, the Democratic Candidates will participate in a forum put on by the Human Rights Campaign and LOGO to discuss issues important to the homosexual community.  The candidates will all tell the audience that they do not believe in gay marriage.

These two campaign forums has the Family Research Council upset!  How dare these Democrats campaign for votes!  How dare they seek endorsements from groups who represent large voting blocs!

I suspect that when the GOP candidates seek the endorsement of Tony Perkins and James Dobson, the Family Research Council will be pleased.  The FRC is just another group that has influence over a large group of voters.  What would happen if all ten GOP candidates told the FRC that their number 1 issue didn’t matter to them.  Thats exactly what happens when the Democrats go to the Human Rights Campaign.  They have to stand there and say, “I disagree with you on your most important issue, but I am still here and want your vote.”

Leaving His Party Behind

The President has announced his intention to veto a Health Bill that is supported by his fellow Republicans in the Senate.  Even conservative Senator Orrin Hatch is supporting the bill.

In the bill, the Senate is attempting to expand health coverage to an additional 3.3 million children.  President Bush supports the current S-Chip program, but is not comfortable with the proposed expansion.

This is just the latest issue where the President finds himself at odds with his party, immigration being another.  Will the war be the next?

What’s wrong with John Cox?

You might not know it, but John Cox is running for the GOP Presidential nomination.  I don’t support his candidacy, but I am wondering why he is excluded from everything.  The GOP debates allowed for ten candidates, many with less than 1% poll ratings.  Why not allow one more?   The Washington Post has an election coverage section that covers presidential candidates.  The GOP coverage includes Gilmore, a man who’s dropped out.  They also include non candidates like George Pataki and Newt Gingrich.  I don’t support Cox, but a piece of me feels bad for him!

Attacking Michael Moore

In a race with eleven Republican candidates and eight Democratic candidates, one would think that candidates would stick with drawing distinctions among themselves and point out he downfalls of other candidates.

Instead, Mike Huckabee has taken to attacking Michael Moore. Michael Moore is fat. He knows it. I know it. He’s been in the public realm for years, so we all know it. That is what Huckabee wanted to point out in his latest criticisms of Moore.

Despite being ridiculous, at least this claim is true. Huckabee goes on to say that Michael Moore is part of the problem. I cannot speak to the health insurance that Moore currently holds, but I would bet that he does not ask for government assistance. I think he’s made enough money to pay for his own health care. If the standard is now how much health care one requires, how far down the line can we go before talking about VP Dick Cheney. This argument by Huckabee is just absurd.

Second, Huckabee claims that Moore says that Havana, Cuba has better health care than America. He makes this claim without actually watching Moore’s new film, which may explain why he is so flatly wrong. I haven’t seen the film either, but I believe that Moore was making the point that the US is offering “enemy combatants” in Cuba better health care than some Americans receive. This is a far cry from saying that Cuba has better health care than the United States.

While I never agreed with Huckabee on his issues, I used to believe that he was a respectable man. I commend him on his ability to improve the quality of his life by losing 100 pounds. However, his attacks on Moore are baseless and are only designed to rally the base and improve his struggling campaign. As reported in The Washington Post, Huckabee raised jut $764,000 in the second quarter and currently has $437,000 on hand.

Some may see a parallel between this situation and John Edwards’ attempts to raise money off of Ann Coulter. I would just like to point out that Ann Coulter personally attacked Edwards and he was responding to that attack.

The Fred Thompson Niche

The opening for Fred Thompson is created by the pitfalls of the top 3 GOP contenders.  Rudy Giuliani is pro-choice, and has been historically more liberal than most conservatives are comfortable with.  Mitt Romney has a YouTube problem.  Clips from Romney’s Senate and Gubernatorial campaigns directly contradict his current abortion stances.  His views on campaign finance have also been altered.  Regardless of whether or not these conversions are honest, some conservatives remain skeptical.  McCain’s campaign has found itself of the wrong side of 2 huge issues: Iraq and immigration.

With these shortfalls, an opening for Fred Thompson, a charismatic man with a conservative record in the Senate, was created.  As news of his lobbying efforts for a pro-choice organization surfaced, some media outlets dismissed the impact of this by saying, “Well, Rudy and Mitt are doing well despite the concerns over their positions.”

In my opinion, this argument just does not work.  Thompson’s viability depended on him filling a niche.  Now, he is looking more and more like the candidates who the electorate remain uncomfortable with.

Thompson still is able to portray himself as a “daddy figure.”  His Hollywood characteristics will serve him will.  His ability to inject humor, a la his video response to Michael Moore, will also be a benefit to his candidacy.  However, time will tell whether or not Thompson can withstand the scrutiny that comes with being a presidential candidate.

SCANDAL, SCANDAL, SCANDAL

Hillary Clinton and John Edwards were caught discussing how they would prefer that they had fewer candidates to compete against!  Who would have ever thought that a candidate would prefer not to have members of their own party running against them?!  I bet these lower level candidates, like Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich would prefer that Hillary Clinton and John Edwards drop out of the race.

In my opinion, this conversation caught by Fox News is a non-story.

Second Casualty of the campaign

Since Gov. Tom Vilsack’s pullout on the Democratic side, all of the presidential candidates have been holding on despite some low fundraising totals and poll numbers.

Gov. Jim Gilmore of Virginia is the latest to give up his bid, citing an inability to raise the necessary funds to  advance his conservative message.  Gilmore did not rule out a future run for office, most likely the Virginia Senate seat if Warner steps down.  Gilmore has already shown his ability to win a statewide Virginia race, but Virginia may be leaving him behind.  Since Gilmore’s tenure, the voters in Virginia have elected Tim Kaine, a Democrat, into the Governor’s mansion.  Also, Jim Webb, another Democrat, was able to best George Allen for the Senate seat in ‘06.

Despite these successes for Democrats, President George Bush won the state by 8 points, 54-46 in 2004.  Since then, northern Virginia continues to grow and we shall see the effects of this growth in 2008.

What this blog is all about

I am new to the world of blogging but am interested in many things. As I learn more about organizing this blog, I hope to have sections for Election 08 coverage, various local political races, Supreme Court Coverage and maybe even some book reviews. I am sure this will change as I get going.