Unconventional Wisdom

PubDef.net talks to a Ron Paul supporter.

The essentially Libertarian Paul is attracting Internet support reminiscent of former Democratic candidate and current DNC chairman Howard Dean. According to the lead organizer for the St. Louis area Ron Paul group, Tim Blessing, Representative Paul has won over many local apathetic and first-time voters, like Blessing himself, who admittedly voted for Ralph Nader twice, just to support a third party.

“Apathy is a tremendous thing, I’ve found out,” says Blessing. “It’s pretty easy to cure once you find someone or something to inspire you.”

Oh and how about Ron Paul on the Tonight Show…

From The Swamp…

Well, the tension is mounting today as the world waits to see what scripted joke Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul will drop tonight during his negotiated dialogue with Jay Leno.

Paul, whose political passion can come across as strident and pushy on the TV debates, is not known for his comebacks, one-liners, quips or even smiles, although he’s got a big grin on his website.

As we’ve noted before, NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno has become a required stop for candidates to show a more human side to potential American voters when the kids are tucked in and the adults are preparing for bed and have fewer distractions, though it’s actually taped late afternoon California time.

Already this year Jay has hosted John Edwards twice (Jan. 10 and June 25 with Elizabeth), Tom Vilsack (Feb. 15), whose candidacy didn’t last much longer than his program segment, Joe Biden (March 22), Mitt Romney (May 2), Bill Richardson (May 11), John McCain (June 28), Barack Obama (Oct. 17), Dennis Kucinich (Sept. 24) and Fred Thompson on June 12, when he announced he might announce, and Sept. 5, when he actually announced he would announce.

Paul, a former Libertarian Party candidate for president, has, as we’ve noted, a range of non-traditional ideas that have placed him on the flanks of the Republican Party debates. He’s a strict Constitutionalist with outspoken views against the Iraq war and American interventionism. He’s suggested that the U.S. caused the 9/11 attacks by its bombing of Iraq, which drew barbs from other Republicans, mainly national GOP front-runner Rudy Giuliani.

Heh, I guess he had better since he wants to go back to the White House enough to want to be the first gentleman of the United States. If he knows what’s good for him, he had better keep wifey happy if he expects to have a role in a new Clinton White House. The thing is it won’t be his White House.

 BTW, my mom was a big fan of his. When he was leaving office she declared how much that man “loved that job”. Yeah he did then again that could be a problem, you can love it too much.

 Here’s a quote from the Political Ticker…

At a campaign rally in South Carolina Monday evening, former President Bill Clinton defended his wife Hillary from charges made by other campaigns and some political observers that she is too polarizing to win the presidency.

“They continue to say she’s the most unelectable because she’s so polarizing,” Clinton told the crowd gathered at a community center here. “Well they have dumped on her for 16 years. They’d all be polarizing too if the right wing of the Republican party which controls their politics had been dumping on them for 16 years. I’d like to see how those boys would stand up to it. I think the girl’s done pretty well … The more people know her her positive ratings go up and her negative ratings go down.”

Clinton, who spent much of his nearly hour-long speech digging into issues like climate change, health care and the national debt, said his wife is better qualified than any other Democratic contender to step into the White House and lead from day one.

“I like all these other people running for president, and I’m not saying they couldn’t restore our standing in the world, I’m just saying that America gets no honeymoon,” he said. “We have made too many people mad for too long and we need to get this show on the road, she’s the most likely to do that.”

Well dedicated communists are still out there and they’re armed. . .

Communist rebels attacked a village festival in eastern India with gunfire and bombs Saturday, killing a top politician’s son and 17 other people, police said.

About 25 Maoist guerrillas attacked the cultural festival in the remote state of Jharkhand, opening fire indiscriminately on the crowd, local police chief Arun Kumar Singh told The Associated Press.

Among the dead was Anuplal Marandi, the son of the state’s former chief minister, Babulal Marandi, Singh said, adding that the politician was thought to be on the rebel’s hit list after leading a crackdown on them while in office.

Singh said 14 people died at the scene and four others died later at a hospital. Three more people were wounded, he said.

The rebels, who frequently target police and government officials, also threw a bomb into the crowd before fleeing.

Police have launched a manhunt and sealed the state’s borders, Singh said.

The rebels are mainly active in six of India’s 28 states where widespread poverty has fueled a lengthy insurgency by militants demanding land and jobs for agricultural laborers and the poor.

The movement claims inspiration from Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong.

Get her Obama!!!!

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama used the topic of Social Security on Saturday to take a few jabs at his rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois, says Clinton has been ducking the issue of how to ensure Social Security remains solvent for future generations.

He charges that Clinton is following the “conventional wisdom in Washington,” which means that when it comes to dicey topics such as Social Security, “you should hedge and dodge and spin, but at all costs, don’t answer.”

Obama was introduced to the audience at a senior center here by Tod Bowman, a high school teacher from Maquoketa, who says he decided to endorse Obama after Clinton wouldn’t directly answer his questions about Social Security at a recent forum. Clinton spoke with Bowman after the forum, but Bowman was still unsatisfied with her answer.

“I think it’s important we have a president who is willing to level with us,” Bowman said.

From ABCNews.com. If they’re already saying that then she must be doing so very well. Ah well what can we do. It’s still a long time between the primaries coming up. She may look like a winner right now, but that doesn’t make her a winner, yet.

Memo to the Democratic presidential candidates: You can still beat Hillary Rodham Clinton, but you better act fast.

The former first lady looks more likely to win the nomination every day, showing strength in polling, fundraising and setting the campaign agenda.

She’s so strong, in fact, that the race has become about her. And Democratic operatives from presidential campaigns past and present say the only way for any other candidate to win the nomination is to make an even stronger case against her.

“If this were a wedding, we’d be at the ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’ part,” said Steve McMahon, who advised Howard Dean in 2004. “If you’re a candidate hoping to get past her, the time for nuance and veiled references has passed.”

There is always the chance that Clinton could make an error in the next couple of months that would hurt her chances. Some argue that her vote against Iran at a time when anti-war Democrats are concerned about war there has the potential to damage her standing.

But Democratic insiders, including some working on various 2008 campaigns who spoke on condition of anonymity, agree that barring a major stumble, Clinton is all but sure to win the nomination if she wins the opening contest in Iowa. She is polling well in the states that follow, and no one else would be able to challenge her unless an Iowa loss made her look vulnerable.

“If Hillary wins Iowa, she can practically start shopping for a running mate,” said California-based Democratic strategist Dan Newman.

Hmm could the contents of this video hurt the juggernaut that is Hillary Clinton. We’ll see!

This video involves a fundraising scandal with a man who apparently was a felon. Although he had helped create another company (a legitimate one) and had hoped to get President Clinton on board with him. Basically the story turns into one of betrayal and evidence that Hillary may have broken the law.