Jobs For The New Economy

I saw this guy at the corner of S. Dearborn & Monroe in Chicago Thursday. He was dragging that bundle of assorted cables down the sidewalk in The Loop. My guess is he had been "dumpster diving", or more then likely loading dock diving, gathering them. The enterprising man will likely take his collection of printer cables and cat 5 line down to the local scrap metal yard and sell the lot. I can't imagine how much he will get for it all, but the price of copper is not bad right now. It probably took him less then an hour to collect what I would guess, without insulation is about 7 or 8 lbs of copper, and that is just the current load. I can only assume he has more stashed near by.

I can't imagine that scrap metal reclamation is the best business to be in, but there are worse hustles. So if human resources needs to see you this Friday, you can always do this. Although if you are in The Loop you will have some competition.

Trying To Listen To Every Conversation In The Tea Shop At Once

Are used to it, but then schools like UIC, UFC, and DePaul all have programs that...like for example...connect all the dots...a part of the schools libraries...some how managed to be at least professional...that's very possible...they have to take her seriously...you have to understand that for various reasons...he said it perfectly...this year it's pretty limited...all the services that it does, though...it used to be it was money, it's recurring, telecommunications, telephone lines...What else can I do?...but it sounds like its going away...I told you I didn't think they would...it was kind of at that moment that he would say yes, that moment has passed...Barbara!...it just gets better and better didn't it..I can't wait til tomorrow...only 500 bucks...we heard, I heard...stepping up a little differently...don't send it to the house...I don't know...that is exactly what I was thinking...he put the offer out to me I feel like saying...so much so...what your saying is...what we're going to change the environment in such a way...putting rules around breaking up your own school district...deciding based on the numbers...its weird the balance between new schools and everyday schools...you have to tell him that...where is that going...I know...a new school area...you were talking about February...lets talk about that...but not the Cubs, the Sox suck...we should definitely talk about that definitely talk about that next week...black tea...black tea...solidly spoken...he said something that all of us...9 thousand dollar sale...the other players are minor in scope to Gates...sorry man...I've got his email...other systems can help out too...I know I have given you a lot more to think about, I don't know if I have given you a specific direction.

Chicago, Capital of the Great Lakes. New York City may be Gotham, but Chicago is Metropolis. A spider web of streets stretching out along the shore of Lake Michigan. A mix of old world hand craftsmanship and new world industrialization. Art Deco Roman goddesses perch atop skyscrapers while the serpentine steel L shuttles the cities inhabitants along. If you allow the hyperbole, the Superman of this Metropolis is Barack Obama. (sadly his name is still not in the spellchecker dictionary.)

So much is going on the city right now that I am having a hard time getting a full grasp of things. While, Obama continues to appoint cabinet members and iron out the plans to try and right the listing ship that is our country; the governor is being charged with trying to sell Obama's vacant US Senate seat.

In all of this the Chicagoans I have met seem unsurprised. The city and state have a history of corrupt government. Most of the people I have spoken to only shrug their shoulders at the most recent charges of corruption, it is not so much apathy as it is concern for the larger looming economic troubles.

Across town the Republic Windows and Doors Company is about to shutter its local factory and move operations further inland to Iowa. This can only be a sign of things to come. All along the Great Lakes industrial cities are collapsing under the weight of the unemployed left behind when their companies closed their plants and moved their offices. While it Chicago is surely insulated from a majority of the effects of large scale loss of industrial closure, no one thought Detroit would collapse so horribly either.

Surely the comic book Superman would be given pause at the enormity of the problems we now face. Although he only had to wait until his clever writers came up with some deux ex machina to cure his conundrum. Our superman will have to rely on his own intelligence and the ability to find long term solutions for our problems.

First Impressions

Every so often I go onto my music download site of choice and pour over the new additions. As I peruse the latest offerings I make a list of groups that stike my fancy. It might be the album name, the band name, or the album art, but something catches my eye about them so onto the list they go. I then plug the names into Google and usually I find the bands MySpace band site. Then I give a quick description of the music, a genre, and give them some arbitrary star rating, and a little check if I think I should dl it later. Its a fun way for me to find new bands and it is an excellent time waster when my day at the office is dragging. It looks a little like this.

Chasing Lights
The Saturdays
Models Make Music, Build-a-Pop 1


No Gift To Bring
The Almost
Moaner Droner w/ Occasional Rock, FLAalt Rock 2


Elektrik Massage
Fanger & Kersten
Stretching Out Electronically, Elctro/Ambient 3


You Can't Trust A Ladder
The Myriad
Moderately Rocking, Emo Mouse 2


Elf-Titled
The Advantage
Live From Your Basement, Chip-Rock 2


Together At Last And This Is Our Wedding
Mean Reds
Jump Kick Punch, Punk 2


Tin Cans With Strings
Far
Well Built Rock, Rock 'n' Roll 3


Jumping Hi-Fi Hammond
Jackie Davis
When Is A Hammond Ever Wrong, Ham und Jazz, 3 *


No More Inventions
Gunslingers
WTF Rock, Frenchie Punk Rawk 4 *


Hope Radio
Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters
Bluesy Blue Blues, Git'ar Blues 3


My Romance
Banu Gibson
Born Sixty Years Too Late, Your Nans Music, 3


Maybe I'm Dancing
Owl City
Airy Flairy Pop, One Man Band, 3


The Best Little Secrets Are Kept
Louis XIV
Creepy When They're Happy, Slick Rock 3

Running With The Beast
zZz
Texas Voices And Amsterdam Beats, Acid 3

The Bronx III
The Bronx
Rocking Forward For Us All, Rock n Yell 3


Groovy Booty
Timewarp Inc.
Yeah Just Like That, Funktro 3 *

The Potbelleez
The Potbelleez
Cat Empire Goes Clubbin', Dance 2


So there you have it. If you disagree with any of this, remember its my opinion so its never wrong, cause its just an opinion. And the lil * means its something I will prolly download.

Hope this was helpful or at least entertaining, 'cause it is easy and I will prolly do it again.

St. Paul Fadeaway

Not much is going on in St Paul, Minnesota right now. The city is preparing to host the Republican National Convention, but right now they are still just preparing. The convention kicks officially Monday morning, but with Hurricane Gustav whirling in the gulf and the debacle of Hurricane Katrina hanging over the Republican party, the convention may not start for several more days.

My role has been very limited so far. There have not been many productions in the city, so my time has been my own. Today I'm off to the Minnesota State Fair, and later I will go to the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport to shoot McCain's arrival, and hopefully his visit to the Larry Craig Memorial Stall.

In the meantime I wanted to throw some of the pics up that I have so far.

The incredibly awesome Sponge Bob Square Pants roller coaster at the Mall of America. Lots of fun! And ridden for free thanks to the power of the press pass!




Another view of the Mall of America amusement park. I believe that is a Dora the Explora Ferris Wheel.





One of several large American flags that are painted into the hills along the highways that enter St. Paul. I'm not entirely sure if this is for the RNC or if it is a usual patriotic display.




The road into the Xcel Center looks like a DMZ. Those are some heavy duty 7' iron barricades. They surround the entire center, plus the peripheral areas. They form a 3 or 4 square block perimeter. Its a little creepy. That orange thing there reflected in my shot, is my pass though. As long as I have that the nice men with the automatic weapons just wave me by.


Lucy and Linus Van Pelt say hello. In honor of Peanuts creator and Minneapolis/St. Paul native Charles Schulz, the Twin Cities had a series of these guys made up and painted by local artists. Here we have snowboard Lucy, and Super Linus.

Simply Awesome.

Something To See Here

I've always liked graffiti. Not because it makes a statement about culture, or because it helps me know which gang turf I'm on. I like graffiti because it breaks the monotony of the everyday landscape. Graffiti offers something new and fresh. By the time you get used to graffiti it gets painted over and then along comes another artist to throw their tag up.

Since I live in a neighborhood that is so close to Maryland College Institute College of Art (MICA), I am privy to a fairly large and diverse number of taggers. Most of the tags are just that, signatures. The larger pieces are painted over quickly by the very efficient Department of Public Works(DPW).

The undisputed king of Mt Vernon right now is Cuff Link. They have tagged just about piece of municipal property in the area. The style of the tags has improved noticeably since they first appeared. Here are some of the more recent contributions.


Just "Cuff" and AD, ya know in case you forgot your standing in the Julian/Gregorian calendar. The side of a mail relay box.







The full tag on a mail box. This looks like it was done with an actual paint brush or paint stick of some kind.







A bigger piece on the baement window of a board up.








Another mailbox. The arrow across just to draw your eye back over. I like the light blue on dark blue, very nice color choice. (sorry about the angle the blog has rotated the image for no good reason and I can't seem to change it. Argh!)







While Cuff Link is the most prolific tagger in the neighborhood they are not the only artist around.
Heist, here on a parking meter in silver paint pen, has a good number of tags up. They have been in decline lately though. I believe that they have moved on to bigger and better art projects.






I haven't gotten this one deciphered just yet, but they are an up-and-comer. Sntaks (syntax) is my best guest, but clearly here they love you, and me, and everyone else too. With the swish of a Sharpie they now claim this traffic light control box.





In addition to traditional tags in Sharpie and pain, graffiti artists use the sticker to bomb. Its more expensive to produce, but the speed of placement makes getting caught a much lower risk. I don't know how the sticker slapper ranks in the graffiti world, but my guess is they "ain't as street", as their pen and paint brethren. Just the same they do make for some good finds.

There are two seperate stickers here. Arab is the lower one. I believe they are affiliated with a local rapper. Ride's sticker above it is actually a really nice piece. The sticker is actually reflective. I guess they wanted to make sure that the sticker was seen noon or night. The cost of making this sticker probably explains the scarcity of them. I believe I have only seen two in my area. These are both on the side of a mail relay box.



Here is that Ride sticker again without the flash. It looks pretty normal.








Cuff Link will not be confined to pen and paint, oh no, they will do stickers, too. A low slap to a light post. Probably done casually as they were walking past and no one was the wiser.






Another up-and-comer, this one in the sticker category, and my personal favorite for placement I present the incomparable Tophat!

America!

Oregon is beautiful. Surrounded by mountains, and a stones throw to the ocean. A gorgeous state. I had forgotten how much I loved it out here. I really have to come back when I am on my own time, and with someone who would enjoy it as much as I.
The flight into Portland goes past Mt Hood, and is stunning, alas no photo! But I grabbed this in the car on the way to Eugene. Purple Mountains Majesty in the horizon.



Small town America where the flag still means something.










Sometimes that something means junk you need to do something with. I hope they dispose of that thing properly.



In Oregon you have a week to vote, and all elections are done by "absentee" ballot. You just drop the ballot in one of these nice boxes. You do so at your leisure, not only on the first tuesday of the first full week after the first new moon of the third financial quarter before 7pm, rain or shine, no excuses. So you know a bit more small 'd' democratic. Note Los Cabos in the background, some say they make the best chili verde for miles around. It was delicious.


And now some wild flowers...

On The Road Again...

I am leaving again to head out on the road. Its a long trip, six days, and I am looking forward to, and dreading the trip at the same time.

The tour begins in Baltimore, then a hop to SLC, and a hop to Portland then a drive down to Eugene, OR. Our first shoot is Saturday in Eugene. It, and all the other shoots, involves interviews with disabled Iraq War vets. Sobering to say the least.

My next leg will take me back to Portland, then a flight to Oakland. Oakland will be our second location, then Tuesday its off to San Antonio would-be-thieves of the New Orleans Saints. There we will do the last interview Wednesday, and I will visit the Alamo. Thursday its back home again.

I don't know if its not seeing Amy for so long, the importance of the trip for my job, a subconscious desire to not leave my house, or the heat, but I have not slept tonight. I leave for the airport in a few hours. I will definitely be sleeping on the plane.

How Do You Quit?

This has to be the question that Sen. Clinton is asking herself tonight. She is way behind in the delegate count. She has been badly beaten in North Carolina. What should have been a runaway win in Indiana is now declared "too close to call" at 11:10 EDT. There are only three small primaries remaining in Kentucky, South Dakota, and Oregon. Barring a miracle, she can't win the nomination in August.

So how do you look at your campaign staff, your die hard supporters, your family, women everywhere, and say, "We fought hard, but now its time to quit,"? I don't know, but Sen. Clinton must be thinking about it because it might be the only choice she had left.

******
"too close to call"

At about 11:05 or so EDT time CNN declared the Indiana Democratic Primary too close to call. I would like to make a call, too. That call is shenanigans! Yes, I'll say it again shenanigans!

CNN is a 24 hour news network. They will continue to carry coverage of the primary throughout the night and into the morning. They don't go off the air, ever. Why on earth would they call an election too close? So the newspapers can make their print deadlines thats why.

Tomorrow your daily will likely carry a headline of Sen. Obama winning North Carolina, and Sen. Clinton leading in Indiana but saying it was too close to call. In reality the votes in Indiana will have been tallied and the winner will be declared, but CNN will have covered the collective asses of all dailies on the east coast by running a story that the elections is "too close to call."

If the papers can't keep up with a 24 hour news cycle then they will have to fail and fold. Rather then having CNN c.y.a. figure out how to get the front page deadline extended on a more regular basis and cheaper. Maybe even run a damn extra if need be.


*********
a miracle

The miracle that could put Sen. Clinton ahead at the convention would be DNC head Howard Dean declaring a re-running of Florida's and Michigan's primaries. This won't happen for two reasons. One these states will be barred from the convention because they tried to push their primaries ahead and become more important. By allowing them to re-run now it makes them the most important primaries, ever. This would completely negate their punishments.

Second, I think Howard Dean hates the Clintons. I can't prove it, but I recall there being some bad blood there after '04 and his appointment the the DNC Chairman seat. No way is he going to do anything that helps a Clinton get the nomination.

Slack

Pics from Pennsylvannia

The Capital Building in Harrisburg, site of the April 20th Obama rally. The staffers the next day said about 7500 people attended, my guess was about 3,000; but I am really bad at estimating crowds. This pick was taken about one hour before the event so don't judge the numbers by it.


The rally ballroom. Nobody here but us chickens.

The Spew.

Is It Over Yet?

The atmosphere outside the Park Hyatt on Broad Street downtown Philadelphia is like a circus. Obama supporters crowd the media strip waving signs and banners, chanting and carrying on. It is hard to tell if they are trying to garner support for their candidate or jeering the Clinton supporters who are arriving at their post poll party.

The media is here in full force. Dozens of satellite and microwave trucks line the street, spewing cables, and equipment cases onto the sidewalks and side streets. This is big, but how big is anyones guess.

If Sen. Clinton wins commandingly then she proves to the super delegates that she is a viable winner for the nomination convention. If Sen. Obama wins the state then he would expand his lead and could begin to put real pressure on Sen. Clinton to bow out of the race. While both of these outcomes are possible they are unlikely.

The most likely outcome right now is that Sen. Clinton wins the state by 4 to 6%, while Sen. Obama wins the major cities, particularly Philadelphia by a commanding lead. If things play out this way then both candidates will continue to campaign. Neither able to deliver a death blow to the other they will slog through Indiana, North Carolina, and the others until August.

Since I am at the Clinton post poll party, then Clinton will win tonight. This is not based on an science, but my own track record. I have only covered winning candidates on primary night so far, Clinton in Columbus, Huckabee in Little Rock and Des Moines, and Romney in Michigan. Each night the victories were suprises, even Romney's since I really thought he would lose his own home state. Maybe my lucky streak will end tonight, but the exit polls show Sen. Clinton is in the lead and Obama has already left the state.

Tell a friend.

The Keystone Kerfuffle

Three days from now the citizens of Pennsylvania will cast their ballots and decide who they would like for the Democratic nominee for the 2008 presidential election. This is it. The big one. No one thought things would go on this long and no one in PA at least expected to have their votes count so much.

If I had to guess, I would say the mood is upbeat, but the Clinton and Obama campaigns have begun to slow. The last several Obama speeches have been lacking in the energy that was so prevalent in his earlier events. Clinton too seems to be struggling. Her press has gotten much worse since the Texas/Ohio primaries. The fatigue has extended beyond the two democratic candidates, the press and public are both becoming bored.

Despite the Gibson/Stephanopoulos shenanigans at the recent ABC sponsored debate, the media as a whole is growing bored with the on going campaign. To be fair though, they have focused on the campaign for longer then they have focused on anything else in recent history. Now though it seems they would like to get Obama the nomination and move on to the presidential campaign.

Polls put Clintons lead here in PA at less then 10% and Obama closing everyday, but she seems likely to win. With the fatigue what it is though, I expect the media to begin to apply more pressure to the loser to step aside. I don't know what that will mean to Obama, since up to now he has been the media darling, while Clinton has faced the brunt of the step aside suggestions.

Clearly if Clinton wins in PA she would definitely have a very strong case going into the convention. Even with a win here though Clinton is unlikely to win any of the remaining primaries with the possible exception of Indiana.

Unless there is a dramatic upset Tuesday and Obama manages a win in Pennsylvania the media and public are going to have to get over themselves, because it seems they will have to deal with campaigning until June 3's final primaries.

Tell a friend.

A Couple More Things

Mitt Romeny is a blue blood. His family is deep like the Kennedy's or Roosevelt's. His family has been in government for some time. There are claims of polygamy in the tree, since his family has been in the Mormon church since at least 1843 (This is the year Miles Park Romney was born, and since he was born in the Mormon town of Nauvoo, IL I assume he was there as a Mormon) it is not all that unlikely, maybe fact, but I am too lazy to check it right now, wow I feel just like a real news reporter.

Mitt Romney also named his son Tagg.

Michigan Minute

This is coming so late that it is hardly worth posting, but something is better then nothing.

Michigan was make or break for Former Governor Mitt Romney, and make he did. John McCain managed an admirable second place rolling along after his New Hampshire win and Huckabee in the rear. Romney needed the win in Michigan because it is the state of his boyhood home. His father George was elected three times as Governor. George also ran for president, but his bat shit insanity kept him from getting the Republican nomination. Yeah, thats the plot of the Manchurian Candidate in case you didn't quite get it.

Mitt needed the win in Michigan so badly that rumor was a loss there would have led to him leaving the campaign trail altogether. Not sure how real that was, but he won so it doesn't matter.

McCain, though impressed me. He stood in front of crowds in Michigan, a state with a 7.4% unemployment rate, and said, "Your jobs, are gone, and those jobs are not coming back." Needless to say that is a tough sell, but credit is due, cause its the truth and you gotta have some big balls to say it. It was this type of character that make McCain so likable among independent and swing Democrats. If he manages to carry on well he is probably the only candidate in the Republican field who could win the White House in '08.

Whatever Happened to Momentum

The shift of focus from Iowa to New Hampshire happens so fast that most candidates are already in New England before all the Iowa votes are counted. The successful in Iowa at least wait until after they give their victory speeches before they leave, others never even show up in the state to see the results, and it is not without reason that they leave Iowa so quickly.

The caucus process has large flaws for both parties. The Republican straw poll is non-binding for the delegates who go to the Republican Convention, and the Democratic Caucus skews results in favor of two or three front runners, and leaves other candidates appearing to be unelectable. These flaws are exasperated by mainstream media over-simplifying the results. Whether you agree with the importance of the Iowa caucus or not the end result is irrefutable, and candidates who win head off to New Hampshire buoyed by the results or trying to unchain themselves from them.

The Zogby/Rueters/CSPAN tracking poll puts Clinton in a slight and shrinking lead, while Huckabee is so far in third that see appears to need a miracle to win. Over in the Manchester Union Leader's Suffolk poll the Dems appear the same while Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee is in 5th place trailing Ron Paul!

Where is the momentum? Got me, but I can tell you that Huckabee is in big trouble right now. He is currently dragging Chuck Norris around New Hampshire, and I just watched the former governor actually introduce the action hero! Huckabee introduced his prop! Not very presidential.

Caucus Night

The scene is Theodore Roosevelt High School in north west Des Moines, Iowa. Thousands of voters gather to cast their vote for the nominations of both major parties, and it is a zoo.

Voters queue up in the halls to register both to vote, some for the first time, and to change party affiliation, which is allowed right up to tonight. The process is chaotic but the voters remain upbeat, despite the wait.

Into the caucus rooms they pile. I am in a small cafeteria with over 400 people. Three hundred and seventy five voters, ten caucus officials and a score of print and video journalists. The Caucus chair takes the microphone and begins with a poorly received speech about the political viability of Iowa voters and the caucus system. His speech is the vocal reflection of the nervousness about the shift in Iowa's importance. It seems the caucus goers don't care, they just want to get started.

Another parliamentary motion and a new caucus chair is nominated. Despite an obvious vote of confidence for the nominee the current chairman demands a vote count. The crowd boos him down and the new chairwoman takes the floor. The former chairman sulks away yelling, "Now you're in for some real problems." Bitterness aside the caucus is ready to begin.

Each candidates supporters are assigned an area in the room to stand. The the voters have 15 minutes to align themselves accordingly. During the first alignment voters can choose any candidate they like. Depending on the number of voters each candidate gets here will determine the overall viability of the candidate, and whether he or she will remain "on the ballot" in successive alignments.

The voters move quickly to their locations and favorites quickly become apparent. My estimations before the count are Edwards, Obama, Clinton, Richardson, Biden, Dodd, Kucinich, and undecided. Each candidate has an organizer whop attempts to get an accurate count of their voters. It appears insane but they count hands or have the voters sound of one, two, three...

My estimation is a little off as the Richardson group and the Edwards group are so close together their members blend in. Obama is clearly their first alignment leader, but Edwards is a strong second. The Edwards supporters cheer. With 80 members they have easily cleared the 15% mark needed for viability and will now be a player in the second round where they stand to pick up members from the less popular groups.

Obama's camp holds 112, and Clinton's 61. Richardson's camp comes 4th with 45, only ten shy of viability. Biden and Dodds people begin to discuss where they will go as they are many short of contention and the Kucinich people, almost immediately cast their lot with Obama, even before the second alignment is called.

The organizers report into the chairwoman and the second alignment is announced. Five minutes is given to re-align. The Edwards group is closed off from most of the delegation by the Richardson group, whose organizer is standing on a table above the din calling on his members to petition with the nearby Biden and Dodd groups to pitch in with them. He recounts and is still short. Recounts a second, then a third time. The Edwards people remain quiet out of respect for the Richardson effort, but finally it is too much. The begin to yell and wave the Richardson supporters over.

The Richardson leader concedes, he takes a substantial group with him to Obama, (rumor has it Richardson had directed his supporters to do so if they did not have enough votes). Another group mergers with the nearby Edwards group and they erupt in cheer.

In the opposite corner, the Obama camp has swelled to a massive amount. They begin chanting "What do we want CHANGE! Who do we want OBAMA!" Meanwhile the Clinton group is conspicuously quiet and inactive. They add on a few new members but there is little attempt to convince any of the voters to join them. Their lack of effort shows as they only increase by a 13 members by the final count. The Clinton supporters are so lethargic they make no attempt to challenge Obama supporters who poach the fringes of their camp trying to convince the Clinton waverers to come to Obama's side.

The second count is in and the Edwards camp is overjoyed, they have increased to 116. Clinton's lack of effort is shown in her week 74 voters, and the Obama camp, which now occupies nearly half of the cafeteria has the remaining 186 voters.

Big cheers erupt from Edwards and Obama groups, but again the Clinton's remain quiet, perhaps stunned by the result.

The chairwoman takes the floor and recalls order. She assigns the precincts 6 delegates according to the second and final alignment results. After which the hall quickly empties. Only a few die hard political activists remain. They will be voting on the platform committee members which are arguably more important then the nominating delegates themselves.

As I leave I here a BBC newsman remark, "Hell of a way to pick a president." Maybe, but it sure makes for good TV.

Almost

It's less then 48 hours until the caucuses start, and things are about as clustered as they ever were. The Dems are still bunched into what amounts to a three way tie with Edwards gaining points today, and the Repub candidates remain in the same positions with some slipping by front runner Hukabee and gains by Romney and McCain. These numbers come from the Zogby/Rueters/CSPAN tracking poll released this morning.

As I said in my last post, turnout tomorrow will be the key. I recently found out that the Iowa Republican National Committee does not do any "Get Out the Caucus" promotion. They rely completely on local caucus organizers to get folks out. The lack of effort by the GOP shouldn't be seen as ennui after all their caucus is really a "straw poll." The republican delegates in Minneapolis are not bound to vote for anyone in particular by the Iowans they represent. Instead they look at the results of their straw poll and use it as a guide.

Meanwhile, the Iowa Democratic Party is expecting a record turnout. Currently the weather is forecast uses bitterly cold to describe caucus night temperatures. Last night I walked less then a block when I realized my gloveless fingers went numb. The Des Moines River which flows pretty swiftly past my hotel has been slowly freezing over during the past few days. The weather has come up as the biggest concern for caucus attendance.

***

Thursday the Des Moines Register released its final tracking poll placing Obama in a the lead.

***

Mac McKay appeared on the Washington Journal and made a very interesting comment. "The smartest thing Hilary could do would be put his (Obama's) name behind her, and run as Clinton Obama '08....A lot of Republicans I have talked with are scared of that."

I can only assume that Mr McKay is not as conniving as to boost for a Clinton/Obama '08 ticket because he has some super secret plan to take them down. I think that this ticket would actually be trouble for an already troubled Republican Party. Also he made this comment just after he said, "We want Hilary Clinton, because we can beat Hilary Clinton." I think that the Republicans do feel that they can beat Hilary in '08. I don't think they can beat anyone in'08, but I do think they would love a chance to beat her up and might even manage to keep the election close if she gets the nomination.

***