Now that the South Carolina Primaries have been over for a couple of days, the reality is starting to sink in that, despite all their promises, the candidates won't be returning my calls, and I'm beginning to feel cheap and used. They didn't even have the common courtesy to leave taxi-fare on the dresser on their way out the door.
The phone has stopped ringing with robo-calls and surveys making us feel like we really matter, and our mailbox will no longer be full of flyers telling us just how many vicious murderers Huckabee had executed, or how John Edwards was born in a South Carolina mill town, or how change is coming. And we won't be able to go out to eat and see nationally recognized television reporters discussing the various qualities of other reporters' hair (something I actually witnessed last week). Today, I just feel ... common.
I didn't get the chance to go to many more campaign events last week, as most were scheduled at times that I had to teach or had other commitments. No candidates actually made it to my school, though the Other Dr. K got hit pretty hard with campaign events at her school, including one day in which Chelsea Clinton, America Ferarra, Amber Tamblyn, and Keyshawn Johnson were all campaigning for Chelsea's mom, and Chris Tucker (replacing a scheduled appearance by Usher) and Kerry Washington showed up for Obama. The ODK also got to go to a big Obama rally at the local civic center on Friday night, an event I sadly had to miss because of a prior commitment. Pictures of a couple of these events will be appearing in this post later.
And now it's on to Super Tuesday, or Tsunami Tuesday, as some reporters are calling it, with some not inconsiderable insensitivity to those who lost loved ones in such a natural disaster. Meanwhile, this blog will resume its regular content of movie and comics stuff shortly.
Showing posts with label 2008 Presidential Campaign. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2008 Presidential Campaign. Show all posts
Monday, January 28, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Dr. K on the Campaign Trail 4: Now I Feel Like a Real South Carolinian!
I have some left-over campaign stuff from last week to post, but that will have to wait a bit. Today, we got our first anti-Hillary robo-call. I felt left out last week when I didn't get to participate in the pro-Huckabee push-poll that was going on, but now a feel a little better. After 7 years of living in the state, and two election cycles, I finally feel like I've arrived in South Carolina. Here's a transcript I took of the message:
Much of this is the typical anti-Clinton conspiracy theories that have been trotted out for more than a decade now. But the message really goes off the rails when it accuses Hillary of killing a cat. I also think it's funny when "pants" are referred to as "britches."
When I first heard this message, I wondered why the guy from Northern Exposure hates the Clintons so much. According to the Washington Post, however, it's a different Robert Morrow: a Ron Paul supporter and anti-Clinton activist who has pulled this sort of thing before.
I wonder if things are going to heat up like this over the next three days.
Hello. FBI agent Gary Aldrich said that Hillary, on Inauguration Day 1993, was in an uncontrolled and unbridled fury, yelling and screaming profanities, because she was not allowed to have Vice President Al Gore’s office in the White House. Hillary treats people like they’re invisible; can you trust her?
Hillary knew about and helped cover up Bill’s rape of Juanita Broderick. Hillary treats women like they’re invisible; can you trust her?
Hillary hired Jack Paladino to run a terror campaign on Kathleen Willey to keep her quiet about what Bill had done to her. They nailgunned her car tires and stole or killed her pet cat named "Bull’s-eye". Hillary thinks cats are expendable; can you trust her?
After Bill pulled down his britches and exposed himself to Paula Jones, Hillary’s friend James Carville said, “Drag a hundred dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what you’ll find.” Hillary treats women like they’re invisible; can you trust her?
Hillary told Time magazine in June 1996 that she was thinking about adopting a child despite the fact that Bill was having an affair with Monica and Hillary knew he had a whole harem in the White House. Hillary was having her own affairs with Vince Foster, probably Webb Hubbell, and even others. Hillary makes up fairy tales about adopting an orphan child; can you trust her?
This message is from Robert Morrow, on behalf of everyone who has been violated or abused by Hillary and Bill, treated like they were invisible. Hillary sure does say a lot of things, doesn’t she? But can you trust her?
Much of this is the typical anti-Clinton conspiracy theories that have been trotted out for more than a decade now. But the message really goes off the rails when it accuses Hillary of killing a cat. I also think it's funny when "pants" are referred to as "britches."
When I first heard this message, I wondered why the guy from Northern Exposure hates the Clintons so much. According to the Washington Post, however, it's a different Robert Morrow: a Ron Paul supporter and anti-Clinton activist who has pulled this sort of thing before.
I wonder if things are going to heat up like this over the next three days.
Friday, January 18, 2008
The Other Dr. K on the Campaign Trail in South Carolina!
This is the Other Dr. K, and I’m delighted to make a “guest appearance” on Dr. K’s blog to tell you about one of my most recent experiences on the campaign trail. Michelle Obama made an appearance at my university on Monday, and I was lucky enough to be able to participate in the event.
In front of a crowd of approximately 300 people, Michelle Obama delivered an inspiring speech. She started by talking about her girls and how she would like to see a better world and a more promising future for them. As she put it, we are passing “garbage” along to the next generation, and in 2008, we should be able to do better. I do not disagree.
She spoke very eloquently and sincerely. Mrs. Obama pointed out several times that she is not campaigning for Barack Obama simply because he’s cute and she loves him (she married him for that, she said) but that she believes in his commitment and his character.
She did a good job of countering critiques regarding his perceived lack of experience, as made by the Clinton campaign. His experiences—she noted—have come from living abroad as a child, experiencing other cultures, succeeding at an Ivy League law school (leading the Harvard Law Review while there, which is a big deal), and then returning to urban neighborhoods in Chicago to make a difference for those in poverty and in need. She asked: “What would it mean to have a candidate in the White House with those kinds of experiences?” It is, indeed, a very good question. What kinds of “experience” should we value in a presidential candidate?
She also noted that our nation’s social climate is fairly “mean” these days, exemplified by the years of Republican AND Democratic greed (read: take that, Clintons!) that have resulted in so many negatives for middle-class workers just trying to get by and do the best they can for their families. She suggested that real change means getting out of that cyclical paradigm (read: Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton) and doing something different—leading in a way that will evince real change.
Afterwards (her talk lasted 45 minutes or so), I was able to shake her hand briefly and commend her for delivering such an inspiring speech. I noted how friendly she was to all of our college students, pausing to take pictures with them.
Michelle Obama started me thinking about feelings of hope for the future of this country—feelings that I have not had for a long time.
I think we have some good choices this year. Dr. K and I will keep you updated on the presidential excitement this week in SC!
In front of a crowd of approximately 300 people, Michelle Obama delivered an inspiring speech. She started by talking about her girls and how she would like to see a better world and a more promising future for them. As she put it, we are passing “garbage” along to the next generation, and in 2008, we should be able to do better. I do not disagree.
She spoke very eloquently and sincerely. Mrs. Obama pointed out several times that she is not campaigning for Barack Obama simply because he’s cute and she loves him (she married him for that, she said) but that she believes in his commitment and his character.
She did a good job of countering critiques regarding his perceived lack of experience, as made by the Clinton campaign. His experiences—she noted—have come from living abroad as a child, experiencing other cultures, succeeding at an Ivy League law school (leading the Harvard Law Review while there, which is a big deal), and then returning to urban neighborhoods in Chicago to make a difference for those in poverty and in need. She asked: “What would it mean to have a candidate in the White House with those kinds of experiences?” It is, indeed, a very good question. What kinds of “experience” should we value in a presidential candidate?
She also noted that our nation’s social climate is fairly “mean” these days, exemplified by the years of Republican AND Democratic greed (read: take that, Clintons!) that have resulted in so many negatives for middle-class workers just trying to get by and do the best they can for their families. She suggested that real change means getting out of that cyclical paradigm (read: Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton) and doing something different—leading in a way that will evince real change.
Afterwards (her talk lasted 45 minutes or so), I was able to shake her hand briefly and commend her for delivering such an inspiring speech. I noted how friendly she was to all of our college students, pausing to take pictures with them.
Michelle Obama started me thinking about feelings of hope for the future of this country—feelings that I have not had for a long time.
I think we have some good choices this year. Dr. K and I will keep you updated on the presidential excitement this week in SC!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Dr. K on the Campaign Trail 2-Updated
Tonight, at the Other Dr. K's school, we got to see Mitt Romney, hot off his victory in Michigan.
The event was supposed to start at 4:30, but as tends to be par for the course with these things, the show started more than 45 minutes late.
Because of Romney's victory yesterday, the media were in full force, and the candidate's delay was attributed to a last minute CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer.
I was surprised how many people were there that I recognized from the Edwards event on Sunday. I guess that a lot of them are going to these things for the same reason I am, which is simply to see the different candidates.
Probably because of the media coverage, the Romney campaign had a pretty elaborate set-up, dominated by two big signs.
I thought this "To Do" list was kind of funny--you could pretty much generically apply this list to any candidate (though Romney and other Republicans use "Strengthen our Families" as a euphemism for something else). Personally, I prefer pulled pork over cut pork, but that just may be a Southern thing.
And I have no idea what the heck #11 means.
Feel free to fill in numbers 14 and 15.
As we were waiting for the event to start, one of the Other Dr. K's students came to her with an emergency: they needed some different music to pipe in through the speakers during the delay. The Other Dr. K happened to have her iPod with, so she and the student went back stage to set things up.
She then had to make some hard choices. She couldn't just hit "Shuffle," as the possibility of the iPod landing on some hardcore gangsta shit was too likely (This, by the way, is not true. But she does have a lot of Kanye West that some attendees might find "inappropriate".). She also didn't want to give Romney her U2, and, really, who needs to see another politician enter a rally to a U2 song?
Instead, she chose her Coldplay mix, which was innocuous and inoffensive enough for the event and crappy enough that no one would really care about associating their music with a Republican presidential candidate.
I started to imagine what I would do if it were my iPod used for this event. I would probably pop in my Clash mix, specifically focusing on London Calling. I think "Clampdown," "Guns of Brixton" ("When they kick at your front door, how're you gonna come? With your hands on your head or on the trigger of your gun?"), and "Death or Glory" all would be tellingly appropriate here.
When Romney finally arrived, he was led in and introduced by South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint.
Romney also brought with him his youngest son, daughter-in-law, and their 20-month old toddler. And, in typical fashion, he pimped out that baby right away, having the kid shake hands with the crowd.
Romney's speech was heavily laden with personal stories and anecdotes. Because he doesn't have the compelling rags to riches story that Edwards has, he has to rely more on his father's life for that narrative. He began telling a story about how his father was born in Mexico. But then, to show that he's still tough on immigration, he explained that his grandparents were, in fact, Americans (maybe they were just there for a quick trip to interview some landscapers).
In an interesting move, he made no real references to his Republican opponents, but he did go on the attack against Democrats, which seems to indicate that he's changing his rhetoric to sound like he's the nominee running a national campaign. For example, when he tried to explain his "Health Insurance for Everyone" plan, he said more about how it wasn't like Hillary Clinton's plan than he did about what the plan actually was.
.
I did shake the candidate's hand on his way out, so now that's two handshakes I've received from presidential candidates so far.
Here's one last shot of Romney's campaign bus, "The Mitt Mobile." I point this out only because, coincidentally, that was also the nickname I gave my '72 Fury in college. Go figure.
The only other Republican I might get a chance to see this week is John McCain, who will be in town Friday morning. Ron Paul was scheduled to be here Friday afternoon, but he has since cancelled the event. Once Nevada is over, we'll get hit with the Democrats for the following week.
The event was supposed to start at 4:30, but as tends to be par for the course with these things, the show started more than 45 minutes late.
Because of Romney's victory yesterday, the media were in full force, and the candidate's delay was attributed to a last minute CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer.
I was surprised how many people were there that I recognized from the Edwards event on Sunday. I guess that a lot of them are going to these things for the same reason I am, which is simply to see the different candidates.
Probably because of the media coverage, the Romney campaign had a pretty elaborate set-up, dominated by two big signs.
I thought this "To Do" list was kind of funny--you could pretty much generically apply this list to any candidate (though Romney and other Republicans use "Strengthen our Families" as a euphemism for something else). Personally, I prefer pulled pork over cut pork, but that just may be a Southern thing.
And I have no idea what the heck #11 means.
Feel free to fill in numbers 14 and 15.
As we were waiting for the event to start, one of the Other Dr. K's students came to her with an emergency: they needed some different music to pipe in through the speakers during the delay. The Other Dr. K happened to have her iPod with, so she and the student went back stage to set things up.
She then had to make some hard choices. She couldn't just hit "Shuffle," as the possibility of the iPod landing on some hardcore gangsta shit was too likely (This, by the way, is not true. But she does have a lot of Kanye West that some attendees might find "inappropriate".). She also didn't want to give Romney her U2, and, really, who needs to see another politician enter a rally to a U2 song?
Instead, she chose her Coldplay mix, which was innocuous and inoffensive enough for the event and crappy enough that no one would really care about associating their music with a Republican presidential candidate.
I started to imagine what I would do if it were my iPod used for this event. I would probably pop in my Clash mix, specifically focusing on London Calling. I think "Clampdown," "Guns of Brixton" ("When they kick at your front door, how're you gonna come? With your hands on your head or on the trigger of your gun?"), and "Death or Glory" all would be tellingly appropriate here.
When Romney finally arrived, he was led in and introduced by South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint.
Romney also brought with him his youngest son, daughter-in-law, and their 20-month old toddler. And, in typical fashion, he pimped out that baby right away, having the kid shake hands with the crowd.
Romney's speech was heavily laden with personal stories and anecdotes. Because he doesn't have the compelling rags to riches story that Edwards has, he has to rely more on his father's life for that narrative. He began telling a story about how his father was born in Mexico. But then, to show that he's still tough on immigration, he explained that his grandparents were, in fact, Americans (maybe they were just there for a quick trip to interview some landscapers).
In an interesting move, he made no real references to his Republican opponents, but he did go on the attack against Democrats, which seems to indicate that he's changing his rhetoric to sound like he's the nominee running a national campaign. For example, when he tried to explain his "Health Insurance for Everyone" plan, he said more about how it wasn't like Hillary Clinton's plan than he did about what the plan actually was.
.
I did shake the candidate's hand on his way out, so now that's two handshakes I've received from presidential candidates so far.
Here's one last shot of Romney's campaign bus, "The Mitt Mobile." I point this out only because, coincidentally, that was also the nickname I gave my '72 Fury in college. Go figure.
The only other Republican I might get a chance to see this week is John McCain, who will be in town Friday morning. Ron Paul was scheduled to be here Friday afternoon, but he has since cancelled the event. Once Nevada is over, we'll get hit with the Democrats for the following week.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Dr. K on the Campaign Trail
As a politics junky, I have to say that one of the benefits of living in South Carolina is that every four years, we get more than enough opportunities for face time with the presidential candidates. Lately, however, I've been one step behind in getting such opportunities, as I only hear about the local events after the fact.
For example, on Wednesday, I missed the opportunity to see Fred Thompson at a local diner, and I was really hoping to get the chance to have him autograph my copy of Die Hard 2: Die Harder.
So, this weekend the Other Dr. K and I decided to get proactive about this and find out when the various candidates were coming to our area. Helpfully, local newspaper websites have started to list candidate appearances in the state.
Not that any of that research mattered, as yesterday, we got several phone calls from the Edwards campaign, inviting us to a campaign stop at a local barbecue restaurant today.
We got to the restaurant about 45 minutes before the event was supposed to start, and the place was already packed. Turns out that the first 100 people who showed up for the event got a free meal. This information was not communicated to me in any of my contacts with the Edwards campaign, however. As anyone who knows me can attest, I don't pass up opportunities for free food, and there are few things I love more than barbecue.
Campaign staffers asked us and a few of our friends, some of whom are political science professors, if we would be interested in going outside to meet the bus, and we agreed to do it. This turned out to be a good decision because we not only got good handshake opportunities with the candidate, but we also got some good camera time with the local news and C-SPAN. Plus, my camera takes better pictures outside than inside.
I especially like this picture, not only because it shows what a darn handsome man John Edwards is, but also because the bus's open door obscures the first two letters of the last word in Edwards's campaign slogan, and I have the sense of humor of a twelve-year-old.
I would totally vote for a candidate who fought for America's middle ass.
We both got to shake the candidate's hand as he entered the restaurant, and then we went inside to hear the speech.
This particular campaign speech was not new to us--it mainly adhered to the same speech he gave following the Iowa caucuses, with references to individuals who have had problems with the current health care system, but also including his "born in South Carolina" spiel as well. It's a good speech, and despite the fact that he must be giving it a couple of times a day, he does so with sincerity and conviction.
One thing that struck me about the speech, however, is how it began, with a series of positive statements about Barack Obama. Several of us, including the poli-sci profs, wondered if this could be an early sign of Edwards jockeying for the VP spot on an Obama ticket.
Following the speech, we went back outside, hoping for an opportunity to get a picture with Edwards. As we waited, I spotted Joe Trippi, Edwards's campaign advisor and former advisor to Howard Dean, standing by the bus.
I approached Trippi and asked him how things were going. He shrugged and said, "Oh, okay"--not the kind of response that exactly inspires confidence. I then asked if I could get a picture with him, explaining that I really admired the work he did on the Howard Dean campaign.
Though he was a good sport about the picture, his reaction could best be described as nonplussed, or perhaps it was just the humility of someone who is used to being "the man behind the man..."
This picture will also be useful for spotting me in the crowd if you happen to be watching C-SPAN's coverage of the event.
That ended up being the best I would be able to get, as Edwards was pulled away to talk to the press just as I was about to get a picture with him. I also chatted up some of the campaign staff, who explained that this was their last stop for the day as they headed off to Myrtle Beach for more events tomorrow. This kind of surprised me, as it was still early in the afternoon, and Myrtle Beach isn't too far away.
We'll see what the coming weeks offer for more candidate visits. The Other Dr. K is going to get to see Michelle Obama tomorrow at her school, but there's nothing lined up so far at mine.
For example, on Wednesday, I missed the opportunity to see Fred Thompson at a local diner, and I was really hoping to get the chance to have him autograph my copy of Die Hard 2: Die Harder.
So, this weekend the Other Dr. K and I decided to get proactive about this and find out when the various candidates were coming to our area. Helpfully, local newspaper websites have started to list candidate appearances in the state.
Not that any of that research mattered, as yesterday, we got several phone calls from the Edwards campaign, inviting us to a campaign stop at a local barbecue restaurant today.
We got to the restaurant about 45 minutes before the event was supposed to start, and the place was already packed. Turns out that the first 100 people who showed up for the event got a free meal. This information was not communicated to me in any of my contacts with the Edwards campaign, however. As anyone who knows me can attest, I don't pass up opportunities for free food, and there are few things I love more than barbecue.
Campaign staffers asked us and a few of our friends, some of whom are political science professors, if we would be interested in going outside to meet the bus, and we agreed to do it. This turned out to be a good decision because we not only got good handshake opportunities with the candidate, but we also got some good camera time with the local news and C-SPAN. Plus, my camera takes better pictures outside than inside.
I especially like this picture, not only because it shows what a darn handsome man John Edwards is, but also because the bus's open door obscures the first two letters of the last word in Edwards's campaign slogan, and I have the sense of humor of a twelve-year-old.
I would totally vote for a candidate who fought for America's middle ass.
We both got to shake the candidate's hand as he entered the restaurant, and then we went inside to hear the speech.
This particular campaign speech was not new to us--it mainly adhered to the same speech he gave following the Iowa caucuses, with references to individuals who have had problems with the current health care system, but also including his "born in South Carolina" spiel as well. It's a good speech, and despite the fact that he must be giving it a couple of times a day, he does so with sincerity and conviction.
One thing that struck me about the speech, however, is how it began, with a series of positive statements about Barack Obama. Several of us, including the poli-sci profs, wondered if this could be an early sign of Edwards jockeying for the VP spot on an Obama ticket.
Following the speech, we went back outside, hoping for an opportunity to get a picture with Edwards. As we waited, I spotted Joe Trippi, Edwards's campaign advisor and former advisor to Howard Dean, standing by the bus.
I approached Trippi and asked him how things were going. He shrugged and said, "Oh, okay"--not the kind of response that exactly inspires confidence. I then asked if I could get a picture with him, explaining that I really admired the work he did on the Howard Dean campaign.
Though he was a good sport about the picture, his reaction could best be described as nonplussed, or perhaps it was just the humility of someone who is used to being "the man behind the man..."
This picture will also be useful for spotting me in the crowd if you happen to be watching C-SPAN's coverage of the event.
That ended up being the best I would be able to get, as Edwards was pulled away to talk to the press just as I was about to get a picture with him. I also chatted up some of the campaign staff, who explained that this was their last stop for the day as they headed off to Myrtle Beach for more events tomorrow. This kind of surprised me, as it was still early in the afternoon, and Myrtle Beach isn't too far away.
We'll see what the coming weeks offer for more candidate visits. The Other Dr. K is going to get to see Michelle Obama tomorrow at her school, but there's nothing lined up so far at mine.
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