The Diplomatic Times Review

Can North Carolina Save Clinton's Campaign?

Nick Timiraos, writing in the March 28, 2008, Wall Street Journal Online, said "One key" for Senator Hillary Clinton in her quest to become the democratic presidential nominee to face Republican John McCain in the November 2008 presidential election, "will be to increase her share of the white vote to overcome Sen. [Barack] Obama's advantage to date with black voters" in North Carolina, a state in the southeastern United States.  See "North Carolina Can Change Race Dynamic."

Timaraso said, "Theodore Arrington, a political-science professor at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, estimates Sen. Clinton will have to increase her share of the white vote from about 55%, her showing in a recent poll, to some 75%. He argued that superdelegates will be less concerned with the overall result than with exit polls that show how whites voted."

So, while she's doing all that, what is O'bama doing? Resting on his laurels? I doubt it. This scenario suggests that Obama is relying solely on African-American voters and not seeking the vote of other North Carolinians.

Also, does this mean that Clinton is conceding the African-American vote in the name of racial politics? I doubt it.

Tags: Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, North Carolina Primary, Democratic Presidential Candiate

Detroit News: Bloggers Showing No Mercy for Mayor Kilpatrick

Detroit News columnist Neal Rubin reports in a March 26, 2008, column that, Michigan bloggers are showing "no mercy" for Detroit, Michigan, USA, mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was hit with a 12-count indictment March 24, 2008. The indictment includes eight felonies. Writes Rubin:

At DetroitYES!, the online gathering place for people who care enough about the city to waste their employers' time discussing it, there is newfound respect for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and no sympathy whatsoever for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Or as various posters referred to him, "sick puppy," "megalomaniac" and "fatty."

The more-reasoned citizens do not resort to name-calling, of course, especially when it takes valuable time away from gloating. "I'd dance in the streets," wrote Genesyxx, "but since I work in this building, I might get canned again."

Rubin said, "On days like Monday [March 24, 2008], when news doesn't so much hit as it explodes, dropping in on chat rooms is like visiting barbershops. The difference is that when a white guy with a notebook strolls into a barbershop full of wary black men, they watch their words. "What we say when you're here," I was once advised, "ain't what we say when you're gone." At www.detroityes.com and in the forums at www.detnews.com, there's no need for caution, regardless of race or locale. "These clowns will never learn," wrote Detroitbill at DetroitYES! "Their guilt is unbelievable. Their defiance even more so."

If you want to read the entire post, please see "Bloggers showing no mercy for Kilpatrick."

Technorati Tags: Kwame Kilpatrick,Kym Worthy,City of Detroit,Michigan Bloggers,Neal Rubin

Cost Force Some Papers to Cut Back on Daily Campaign Reporting

Jacques Steinberg reports in the March 26, 2008, edition of The New York Times that, "In the weeks leading up to the 22 Democratic nominating contests [in the United States] on Feb. 5, and in the weeks since, few newspapers beyond The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have sought to shadow the candidates on a near-daily basis."Steinberg notes:

Among the newspapers that have chosen not to dispatch reporters to cover the two leading Democratic candidates on a regular basis are USA Today, the nation’s largest paper, as well as The Boston Globe, The Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Baltimore Sun, The Miami Herald and The Philadelphia Inquirer (at least until the Pennsylvania primary, on April 22, began to loom large).

The Times said, "For firsthand, daily dispatches from the campaign trail, most of the others have relied heavily on reports from the wire services, including The Associated Press, Bloomberg and Reuters; a handful of Web sites; and video captured by camera-toting producers from the television networks and cable news channels."

If you want to read more, see "The Buzz on the Bus: Pinched, Press Steps Off."

Technorati Tags: Newspaper Campaign Coverage,Jaques Sterberg,The New York Times

Should Europe Fear a McCain Presidency?

"It may seem incredible to say this, given past experience, but a few years from now Europe and the world could be looking back at the Bush administration with nostalgia," writes British author Anatol Lieven, "a professor at King’s College, Cambridge, and a senior fellow of the New America Foundation," in the March 24, 2008, edition of FT.com (The Financial Times) "This possibility will arise if the US elects Senator John McCain as president in November."

The author of America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism notes that, "Over the years the US has inserted itself into potential flashpoints in different parts of the world. The Republican party is now about to put forward a natural incendiary as the man to deal with those flashpoints," Mr. Lieven contends.

If you care to read more, see "Why we should fear a McCain presidency."

Technorati Tags: Anatol Lieven,FT.Com,John McCain,Europe,Bush Administration

Should Europe Fear a McCain Presidency?

"It may seem incredible to say this, given past experience, but a few years from now Europe and the world could be looking back at the Bush administration with nostalgia," writes British author Anatol Lieven, "a professor at King’s College, Cambridge, and a senior fellow of the New America Foundation," in the March 24, 2008, edition of FT.com (The Financial Times) "This possibility will arise if the US elects Senator John McCain as president in November."

The author of America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism notes that, "Over the years the US has inserted itself into potential flashpoints in different parts of the world. The Republican party is now about to put forward a natural incendiary as the man to deal with those flashpoints," Lieven contends.

If you care to read more, see "Why we should fear a McCain presidency."

Technorati Tags: Anatol Lieven,FT.Com,John McCain,Europe,Bush Administration

Politico: Local Republican Parties Are in Trouble

Politico reported March 24, 2008: "At a time when the GOP presidential nominee [Senator John McCain of Arizona] will need more assistance than ever, a number of state Republican parties are struggling through troubled times, suffering from internal strife, poor fundraising, onerous debt, scandal or voting trends that are conspiring to relegate the local branches of the party to near-irrelevance."

If you want to read the entire post, see "GOP state parties are in dire straits."

Technorati Tags: Politico,Struggling Republican Parties,Senator John McCain,GOP Strife

Gordon Fischer Was Right to Apologize to Bill Clinton

Iowa, USA, Attorney and blogger Gordon R. Fischer has rightly come under fire for stating at Iowa True Blue, his personal blog:

"B. Clinton questions Obama's patriotism.  In repsonse (sic), an Obama aide compared B. Clinton to Joe McCarthy. This is patently unfair.  To McCarthy.

"When Joe McCarthy questioned others' patriotism, McCarthy (1) actually believed, at least aparently (sic), the questions were genuine, and (2) he did so in order to build up, not tear down, his own party, the GOP.  Bill Clinton cannot possibly seriously believe Obama is not a patriot, and cannot possibly be said to be helping -- instead he is hurting -- his own party.  B. Clinton should never be forgiven.  Period.  This is a stain on his legacy, much worse, much deeper, than the one on Monica's blue dress.

Fischer has since offered what he calls "A Sincere and Contrite Apology" and "A Sincere and Contrite Apology, Part Two."

After coming under fire, he deleted the offending passage. I took the passage above from a March 24, 2008, post ABC News Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper put up at Political Punch.  As Tapper notes: 

Gordon Fischer, the former director of the Iowa Democratic Party and a senior adviser for Sen. Barack Obama's efforts in the Hawkeye State, is still very much involved in making sure Obama gets delegates as the caucus process continues.

He's also quite fired up about former President Bill Clinton's comments in front of a North Carolina VFW Hall, which the Obama campaign took to be an impugning of Obama's patriotism.

By the way, the Monica Mr. Fischer is referring to is former White House Intern Monica Lewinsky, with whom Mr. Clinton reportedly had sexual relations with in the White House, while he was president. As Wikipedia notes, "The news of this extra-marital affair and the resulting investigation eventually led to the impeachment of President Clinton in 1998 by the U.S. House of Representatives and his subsequent acquittal on all charges (of perjury and obstruction of justice) in a 21-day Senate trial."

It's time for personal attacks against candidates and their spouses to end. Secondly, both Republican and Democratic presidential aspirants need to put a muzzle on irresponsible surrogates.

Technorati Tags: Gordon R. Fischer,Iowa True Blue,Bill Clinton,Monica Lewinsky,Barack Obama,Jake Tapper

Gordon Fischer Was Right to Apologize to Bill Clinton

Iowa Attorney and blogger Gordon R. Fischer has rightly come under fire for stating at Iowa True Blue, his personal blog:

"B. Clinton questions Obama's patriotism.  In repsonse (sic), an Obama aide compared B. Clinton to Joe McCarthy. This is patently unfair.  To McCarthy.

"When Joe McCarthy questioned others' patriotism, McCarthy (1) actually believed, at least aparently (sic), the questions were genuine, and (2) he did so in order to build up, not tear down, his own party, the GOP.  Bill Clinton cannot possibly seriously believe Obama is not a patriot, and cannot possibly be said to be helping -- instead he is hurting -- his own party.  B. Clinton should never be forgiven.  Period.  This is a stain on his legacy, much worse, much deeper, than the one on Monica's blue dress.

Fischer has since offered what he calls "A Sincere and Contrite Apology" and "A Sincere and Contrite Apology, Part Two."

After coming under fire, he deleted the offending passage. I took the passage above from a March 24, 2008, post ABC News Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper put up at Political Punch.  As Tapper notes: 

Gordon Fischer, the former director of the Iowa Democratic Party and a senior adviser for Sen. Barack Obama's efforts in the Hawkeye State, is still very much involved in making sure Obama gets delegates as the caucus process continues.

He's also quite fired up about former President Bill Clinton's comments in front of a North Carolina VFW Hall, which the Obama campaign took to be an impugning of Obama's patriotism.

By the way, the Monica Mr. Fischer is referring to is former White House Intern Monica Lewinsky, with whom Mr. Clinton reportedly had sexual relations with in the White House, while he was president. As Wikipedia notes, "The news of this extra-marital affair and the resulting investigation eventually led to the impeachment of President Clinton in 1998 by the U.S. House of Representatives and his subsequent acquittal on all charges (of perjury and obstruction of justice) in a 21-day Senate trial."

It's time for personal attacks against candidates and their spouses to end. Secondly, both Republican and Democratic presidential aspirants need to put a muzzle on irresponsible surrogates.

Technorati Tags: Gordon R. Fischer,Iowa True Blue,Bill Clinton,Monica Lewinsky,Barack Obama,Jake Tapper

What Accounts For Obama's Campaign Success?

"How can one account for Barack Obama's truly astonishing success in reaching for the American presidency?" asks Michael Silverstein in a March 23, 2008, post over at The Moderate Voice. See " Obama’s Success: Voters Finally, Truly, Mad As Hell… According to Silverstein:

It isn’t his speechifying. He’s an excellent speaker, but Jesse Jackson in his time was better. It’s not his personal story, which though in many ways inspiring, can’t match the heroic realism of John McCain’s. It’s not his stands on issues that are not noticeably different from Hillary’s. Nor is it the populist edge that has creeped into his campaign in recent months. John Edwards was way out front in this respect.

"No," Silverstein maintains, "it all comes down to that one word that appears in bold letters on all his literature and just over his left shoulder at every speaking engagement. Change."

The promise of genuine change is why I voted for Obama in the Illinois Primary. Clinton is too establishment to be an agent of change.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama,Hillary Clinton,John Edwards,Jessie Jackson,John McCain

Economics and the U.S. Presidential Race

J. Brooks Spector, "a senior visiting lecturer in international relations at the University of the Witwatersrand" in South Africa and a former U.S. Foreign Service officer, asserts in a March 23, 2008, column in The Sunday Independent of South Africa:

A year ago, most people thought this election would be a referendum on Iraq, but America's growing economic difficulties have now made the economy an even bigger concern for American voters.

Moving in right behind the economy is a growing clamour for health care reform, fuelled by rising medical costs and the inevitable gaps in coverage - even for those who have medical plans and health insurance (and nearly 50 million Americans do not). Concerns about the economy and health care are usually issues that help Democratic Party candidates win elections.

Spector said, "These economic concerns also have important foreign policy aspects, however. One is growing support for protectionist trade policies that supposedly are a shield against the continuing loss of manufacturing jobs in America, even though some experts argue automation and increasing productivity are as important for job losses as competition from nations such as China or Mexico."

Spector recently spent time in the U.S. and talked with several informed observers about the U.S. presidential campaign before returning to Africa. If you want to read more of his views on the subject, see "Economics takes a front seat in US race."

Technorati Tags: U.S. Presidential Campaign,U.S. Economy. J. Brooks Spector,The Sunday Independent,The National Political Observer