May 5, 2008
A Game-Changer, No Doubt (Ryan J. Davis)
Hillary Clinton and I finally agree on something. No, not her Republican gas tax plan, but that Tuesday's North Carolina primary is going to be a "game-changer."
Over the weekend in Kinston, N.C., Clinton said, "This is going to make a huge difference in what happens going forward. The entire country — probably even a lot of the world — is looking to see what North Carolina decides."
This statement echoes Clinton surrogate George Stephanopoulos, who at the end of March said that unless Clinton wins North Carolina he didn't "think it could happen" for her. Even USA Today gave the front page to a story called “Why the Democratic race could end in North Carolina,” referring to the state’s primary as "a pivotal final showdown." > Read More
Post a Comment (9) Permalink TrackBack EMail This Post
Share this post
What's This April 29, 2008
Smiles and Slurs (Ryan J. Davis)
Disturbingly, most of my gay friends seem fine with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) campaign using racism to win votes. What will they think now that she's stood next to North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley (D) while he used a gay slur, basically calling Obama a "pansy"?
Now, I know from spending many recesses in middle school being called a pansy that it's just a subtle way of saying “faggot.” Clinton stood by while Easley made that comment, smiling away. Speaking to a prominent gay journalist friend of mine this morning, he expressed his frustration with her campaign. "Hillary doesn't care about the gays. It's that simple. We're a political tool, like everything else in that family's orbit." > Read More
Post a Comment (13) Permalink TrackBack EMail This Post
Share this post
What's This April 9, 2008
The Vanity Campaign (Ryan J. Davis)
It’s very hard to take Hillary Clinton seriously these days. Yesterday, I received three e-mails begging for donations to her broke and seriously mismanaged campaign. I feel sorry for her donors (not the defense contractors or pharmaceutical executives, but the real people) having to continue to throw good money in after bad. In the market, we call that "averaging down."
Her e-mails have a pathetic tone, whining and complaining over being "outspent" in Pennsylvania. Hillary, you're running a vanity campaign now. You need to take some of that hundred million dollars you're worth and spend it on ads. Nobody is going to donate to a campaign that can't win — it's a terrible investment. This is your campaign now, you have to personally fund it. Ask Mitt Romney to join your campaign as a vanity adviser. I doubt he'll charge you $14 million like Mark Penn did.
Post a Comment (4) Permalink TrackBack EMail This Post
Share this post
What's This April 2, 2008
A Faded Franchise (Ryan J. Davis)
Hillary Clinton said yesterday in Philadelphia, "When it comes to finishing a fight, Rocky and I have a lot in common. I never quit."
She's a lot like Rocky, all right, but less the original masterpiece and more the desperate fourth sequel, “Rocky V.” By the fifth film the increasingly irrelevant Rocky Balboa was resorting to having classless fights in the streets, far from his gallant championship days in the ring. Plots like that made audiences grow quickly tired of the faded franchise. > Read More
Post a Comment (3) Permalink TrackBack EMail This Post
Share this post
What's This March 31, 2008
Hillary's Hoodwink (Ryan J. Davis)
I finally understand why Hillary Clinton is obsessed with health insurance mandates. As a blog over at the Baltimore Sun is reporting, the Clinton campaign failed to pay its health insurance premiums for months, racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to its providers.
The deadbeat campaign is nearly $9 million in debt. It’s left a string of unpaid bills all over the country, from Ohio to Iowa. This has put a real-world hurt on the small businesses her campaign has hoodwinked. > Read More
Post a Comment (12) Permalink TrackBack EMail This Post
Share this post
What's This March 12, 2008
Barack Obama: The Musical (Ryan J. Davis)
So I've even gotten into the Barack Obama video action. A few of my New York theater friends and I put together this video to show our support of the Illinois senator. It's written by Joe Drymala, Howard Dean's former speechwriter, whom I met on the campaign.
Hey, when Stevie asks you to sing along, you sing along.
Post a Comment (5) Permalink TrackBack EMail This Post
Share this post
What's This March 10, 2008
A Winning Coalition (Ryan J. Davis)
It’s a tad telling that McCain supporter and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is absolutely beside himself when it comes to helping seat his state's Democratic delegates. Of course Gov. Crist, who has been mentioned in the press as a possible vice presidential choice for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), would rather see Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) as the Democratic nominee. He's no dummy.
Appearing on “This Week” Sunday morning, Crist said, "The Democratic National Committee should come to the common-sense conclusion that the right thing to do is to honor that vote, recognize that vote, and seat those delegates." I wasn't aware that we'd given Republican governors (who support Republican candidates in the general election) a voice in the Democratic Party's nomination process. My, aren't we inclusive? > Read More
Post a Comment (1) Permalink TrackBack EMail This Post
Share this post
What's This February 26, 2008
One is the Loneliest Number (Ryan J. Davis)
Hillary Clinton, on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," implied today that she has been treated differently in this campaign because she is a woman. While I know sexism exists and is a sad part of our society, I challenge the notion that somehow it's easier for an African-American candidate than a female one.
There are 14 female U.S. senators: Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). There is a single African-American senator, Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who is only the third elected since Reconstruction. > Read More
Post a Comment (19) Permalink TrackBack EMail This Post
Share this post
What's This February 18, 2008
The Hillary Handicap (Ryan J. Davis)
When Connecticut Democrats united to defeat incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman in their party's primary in 2006, there was no question he deserved to be unseated. Lieberman had been a rubber stamp on Bush's reckless war policies for years. When he was not satisfied with the election's results, the lifelong Democrat vainly started his own political party — entitled, shamelessly, “Connecticut for Lieberman.” After winning reelection he continued his scary slide rightward. He endorsed Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in the Republican primary and Lieberman was ultimately stripped of his Democratic superdelegate status. Which is one less superdelegate for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.). > Read More
Post a Comment (3) Permalink TrackBack EMail This Post
Share this post
What's This February 12, 2008
Let Florida and Michigan Vote (Ryan J. Davis)
Two things seem very clear to me. The first is that the Democratic Party can't justifiably seat the delegates from the prior Florida and Michigan contests. The other is that it's fundamentally unfair to exclude voters from any state from having a voice in their own party's nominating process.
Seating the current batch from these states goes against the agreement made by the Democratic National Committee with various presidential campaigns. Because of this agreement, Clinton was the only major name on the Michigan ballot. Obama and Edwards, honorably, had their names removed. (Which alone should be enough of a reason not to seat Michigan's delegates.) The decision against Florida came too late to have the names removed from the ballot. So the candidates made an agreement not to campaign there, which was generally adhered to. > Read More
Post a Comment (26) Permalink TrackBack EMail This Post
Share this post
What's This