The race heats up a bit...

A few random political thoughts this Saturday morning…

I wish the Democrats would have been able to last through the convention as it would have quite the show we as Americans have not seen in years. IT would have shed more light on what in the past was a fascinating political process…

Obama has a real choice in front of him. Does he pick Hillary to be a running mate? If he does pick her is he alienating his own supporters? If he does not pick her, is he alienating Democratic party members that so much believe in Hillary? If he picks Hillary, what does Bill mean to the whole thing? The drawbacks of the primaries going on as long as they did was create a divide in the Democrat party and only the future will determine the width of that divide and the time it takes to close it up.
Other issues with picking Hillary – neither of them have ever lead anything. Hillary only elected office experience was in the Senate which she only really spent about two years doing before she was running around the country campaigning for this election. Obama is no different as his Senate record has no real political accomplishment that the public can deem his own work. Obama’s opponent has only congressional experience but a long history of getting work done which will be promoted during the race.

Another challenge in front of Obama is the limited number of people who don’t know what his vision for America is right now. Even after all the campaigning against Hillary much of it was words and not much else. We as the electorate have been told “Change” but that in the end will mean nothing. What do you tell the people who think there is nothing wrong with the US?

He has spoken about how he will treat the Iraq situation but in the end, the American people will want to know how their security will be maintained from Al Quada as well as other terrorists. Based on his series of comments, the American people for sure don’t know where he stands on this one. Something as equally important is how he will deal with Iran, North Korea, and to a slightly lesser extent, Brazil. Will he sit back and wait for an attack inside US borders?
Domestically, he will be looking to reversing Bush Taxes. This will not be a simple task due to a few reasons. One tax revenues are the highest they ever have been in our country’s history. Next, no one knows what Congress will look like when the next President goes into Office next January. Lastly, will the electorate want to hear from both candidates on how they will address spending?

People will look to Obama to see what he will do to save the economy. (Your author will not stop here to explain why people should not be looking at him or McCain to save the economy)Will he be looking to do a tax rebate again next year? Will he do anything with the sub prime mess? Will he rescind Sarbanes Oxley allowing businesses to operate with less restrictions and let them focus on their core business tasks?
Only time will tell how Obama chooses to handle the heavily focused upon health care issues. He has gone back and forth on what he deems will be the solution. He has stated at one point every American should have health insurance. He has since backed off from that statement simply stating something needs to be done.

Obama has a lot going for him whether it be the reinvigorated black voter supporting him or Young America looking at him to provide the vision they don’t believe they have been given in their life time. He speaks to those who have been going through hard times and gives them hope for the future.

McCain is a tough opponent for Democrats especially this go round. The Democrats have spent so much time pulling the carpet out from their opponent in the primaries they forgot to look to see who is on the other side. It has not been since Reagan that the Democrats have run against such a moderate Republican. Clinton in his years was lucky to some extent when he ran against the conservative Dole as well as Bush Sr. Both those candidates were favorites with conservative Republicans but did not translate well to the moderates as well as independent voters. Saying all that, Clinton barely won those elections, walking away with less than 50% of the votes.
McCain’s challenge will be appeasing to the conservative Republican who has quite never warmed up to him after all these years. At the same time, he will have to somehow distance himself from the Bush presidency which this country has so much disdain for right now. Playing this balancing act, he will have to also reach across the aisle to let Democrats he has a plan for this country that will fit their ideals.
Will Democrats value his military experience and believe in some way he will best for national defense? Will conservative Republicans be wary of what he will do with taxes?

Lastly, who does McCain picks as his running mate? His choice will be watched just as much as Obama since McCain is no spring chicken. Is it important someone is picked who can win the next election? Should be pick a former opponent like Romney? Should he pick someone that is a minority for his ticket?
Regardless of how flawed the process is and how gut wrenching the last few months have been we can now start taking the election of 2008 take shape. The games will begin and only time will tell who is making the right choices or simply at the right place at the right time.

Another City Letter

Dear City – There are plenty of things baffling me right now on how your run your operation. The first thing is telling me my sidewalk needs to be replaced and oh by the way me the citizen that already drops a ton of money to you for property taxes relative to the land I own will need to flip the bill. This is despite there being no issue with the cement and it is simply uneven with what you as the city poured a few years back linking one house to another one. You tell me it is a hazard and I can’t figure out how it could be unless you are walking in the dark dragging your feet like a knuckle dragging cave man. You will undoubtedly get a visit from this citizen on that issue.

If that is not enough, I was diligent last weekend and was cleaning out the garage. While this took place, I discovered a fair amount of plastic bags – already bagged up but just sitting there serving zero purposes and a good amount of empty non-refundable bottles. This is all in addition to a fair amount of newspapers already bagged up but no place to go. Why ids that the case? You do not provide a recycling service with trash pickup. I am far from Mr. Green but this is 2008. Are you not twenty years late on offering such a service? Sure I can drive a few miles down the road and use the “recycling center” but that seems kind of cheap and lazy for a city your size. I do the responsible thing and put the recyclable items in the car. Come to find out I get there you will NOT accept plastic bags nor will you accept green glass. WTF! A fruitless trip that caused me to bring back well over half the garbage that needs to be recycled and might consider throwing away in the trash. I would love to know the rationale over the green glass as well as the plastic bags. I will figure out which department that is the day I stop by to discuss the cement.

You can rest assure if I was paying much more in taxes I would be a thorn in your side through several different methods.

Until next time – Midwest Gent

Note to all - Why does everything need to be an all out effort to get anything done in this world? It seems as time goes on the tasks grow as well as the time it takes to complete the tasks. The worst part is none of these tasks are really that outstanding other than the human factor involved with them putting up the psychological barriers. Who benefits from such barriers?

Growing up is a pain but a touch spring does a lot to help out

It has occurred to me I have not blogged in a few days and much of that has to do with life moving at a very rapid pace. This is one reason why when my life is “boring” I do not complain. Those are the moments you sit back and listen to “calmness” of things as you move past them in this life.

The first weekend of March is gone and I am wondering per usual what the hell happened to January and February. For all the commentary about how long winter is, it does seem to go by very fast. When I was younger it seemed like those two months dragged incredibly slow and the spring would NEVER come. That is not the case now. When you are a “grown-up” there are things always having to be done. One did not have to organize all their paperwork for taxes. They did not have to figure out which tasks would have to be done in the house before the warm weather began and they had “no time”. Nope – the euphoria ended from the holidays and time passed by making days feel like months and minutes feel like days. If you have any “grown-up” drama in your life, it even moves faster.

I have a few tasks that remain incomplete but with good reason. I hope to get them done in the next few months so I can begin some warm weather tasks. This brings to mind that when you become a “grown-up”, everything you need to do cost some amount of money. Your life becomes very calculated and it becomes a game of chess. Every move you make must keep in mind the opponent as well as figuring out where you want to position all your pieces.

Saying everything there, for sure what happens in this life are those moments of bliss. This weekend it was when I was driving around with the sunroof open and turning on the radio to one of the beacons of spring. I will be writing something soon about that beacon of spring. Right now it is like a pot of water moments before it starts into a rolling boil. A few bubbles here and a few over there but there is no doubt the rolling boil is coming. Not a person in my town regardless of how they feel will be able to deny it. It will consume us and the expectation will be nothing but euphoria. It will cross all barriers - age, race, income levels, and any other divide that comes to mind. Is it possible I am overstating it? Possibly but I think most people failure is not an option. We will just have to wait and see.