LEADERSHIP CULTIVATION

Pollsters and GOP Lack Walter Cronkite-Like Standard

A few days ago, I opined that any poll of likely voters is extremely unreliable for this 2008 Presidential Election.  It appears that Dick Diver of the DailyKos agrees with my sentiments.  According to Diver, the well-regarded Gallup Poll intentionally changed their polling methodology to favorably skew the bounce that John McCain got coming out of the GOP Convention. The poll of likely voters showed McCain with a 54-44 lead over Barack Obama. That's significant because a poll of likely voters showing an even contest, spells big trouble for the GOP because "likely voters" overlook new voters and Democratic-leaning voters that primarily use cellphones i.e. the young. 

Embellishment of the facts all too frequently have become standard operating procedures for the McCain Campaign. You know things have gotten bad when conservatives take conservatives to task as Andrew Sullivan recently did with Sarah Palin and Karl Rove with the McCain Campaign. Telling the truth is important again?  It appears that the McCain and Palin honeymoon has officially ended.  Now maybe we can talk about things that really matter such as how McCain helped invent the Blackberry.  But seriously, where can we turn to get Walter Cronkite-like integrity. 

Until recently, I thought the place to go to was POTUS '08, Channel 130 on XM Radio. "Politically neutral." Maybe sometimes, but not this morning. Today as I listened to Scott Walterman, host of the "The Morning Briefing", interview Susie Turnbull of the DNC, I was taken aback by the flippant manner that Walterman tried to refute most of what Turnbull had to say about McCain. Turnbull talked about how McCain was making the claim that the U.S. economy was still strong despite the problems on Wall Street.  Walterman spent too much time trying to defend McCain. Walterman acted like McCain's press secretary and awkwardly injected how polls showed that McCain was gaining in New Jersey and even managed to snidely remark how Obama would travel to Hollywood later in the day. "Unbiased".  How do you define unbiased? A like-minded irritated listener emailed Walterman and offered an accurate description of his conduct, "bag of hot air".

So the lesson to the wise, don't sweat the small stuff.  Clueless polls numbers or hot air commentators are definitely small stuff. Seeing beyond the trees is not their strong suit. They lack vision. Don't perish with them and don't let them drain your energy. Instead participate in the only poll that really matters. Vote for real change in November.

The Mass Deception of McCain and Palin

1. Oh, those tricky Republicans.  When Tim Kaine was on the Democratic vice presidential short list, GOP strategist Karl Rove argued that Kaine's experience as a former mayor of Richmond, a small city, along with being Governor of Virginia, a state that actually has people living in it, would not sufficiently prepare him for the Office of President of the United States.  Contrast Rove's assessment of the readiness of Gov. Kaine to his assessment of Sarah Palin.  Although Palin's experience includes being the former mayor of a small Alaskan village and as Governor of Alaska, the largest state in the nation but with a population smaller than most medium-sized American cities, Rove claims that Palin is ready for the U. S. presidency.  Yes Barack, Republicans do think that the American people are stupid.
2. In grand forked-tongue fashion, the GOP plan of mass deception is fully operational.  In addition to double-speak, the plan calls for mocking Democratic successes which their empirical data shows can be very effective.  Just ask John Kerry.  Of course any good GOP plan includes attacking the media which energizes their base.  Their claim that the media is being extra hard on Palin is pure rubbish.   Well after Alaska trooper-gate, and lies about selling an airplane on eBay for a profit, and five colleges in six years, somebody had better take a microscopic look into Sarah Palin's background given that as vice president Palin would be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Belated kudos to Campbell Brown who in Donna Brazile-like fashion, tried to uphold her journalistic integrity.
3. Nonetheless, give the GOP credit for being cocky.  While accusing the media of gender bias, they have the audacity to try to bully Oprah Winfrey another female into featuring Sarah Palin as a guest on her television show.  Yes, I'm referring to the same Sarah Palin that the GOP is trying to shield from press conferences and serious news shows such as Meet the Press.  The GOP knows that Oprah like Hillary Clinton, is as tough an adversary as any man and realize that Oprah will not blink.  However, being the cynic that I am, I see the Oprah ploy as a subliminal attempt by the GOP to inject race into the final weeks of the presidential campaign.  And we all know that next to media-bashing, race-baiting is a GOP candidate-in-trouble strategy favorite. 
4. McCain is in trouble? If you swallow the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde polling data you might miss the fact that the McCain Campaign is in trouble.  When I listen to Rasmussen and Zogby analyze likely voter trends, it's very obvious to me that these guys are everything but objective.  When they include sampling data from young voters who are dedicated followers of the Obama movement, then I might place some stock into their opinions.  To the chagrin of the GOP, I expect a majority of these young Obama supporters to show up on election day.  That's when the GOP will see that despite their negative attempts to turn his popularity against him, being a "celebrity" will be a positive for Obama.
5. So Barack, Republicans do think or at least hope that we are stupid.  But this time I sense that enough people really are tired of the same old politics which have a snowball chance in hell of undergoing any substantial overhaul under a government led by the same old McCain.  Therefore Barack, I'm optimistic that after this election, media pundits will be scratching their heads trying to explain how the United States ended up on the right side of history, despite organized and determined efforts to preserve a culture of more of the same.  I hope the pundits begin by proclaiming an end to a nation of Red and Blue States and hail the rediscovery of the United States.

Joe Biden Will Be A Nightmare for John McCain and GOP

For months the GOP thought that Hillary Clinton would give them the most trouble as their 2008 Democratic presidential rival.  That was before Barack Obama outperformed everyone's expectations and proceeded to win the Democratic nomination instead. Suddenly, the GOP came to the realization that Obama was really the most formidable opponent and that Hillary was the easier prey.  The Clinton dynasty had been weakened and the GOP smelled red meat.   They now wanted Hillary to stay in the mix.  So they activated a plan to instigate Hillary into the number two spot on the Democratic ticket as the VP. Why not?  They could still run the same campaign ads that they produced months ago in anticipation of Clinton being the nominee.  

In the meantime, they decided to follow Karl Rove's advice to redefine Obama and makeover John McCain.  So the GOP promoted the Clinton storyline of Obama not appealing to working class white voters. Obama is an elitist.  Obama is weak on foreign policy.  Obama makes great speeches, but they are only empty words. Attack, attack, attack. Poke your finger in Obama's chest and dare him to fight back because it would violate his personal oath to run a civil campaign.  Gleefully bait Obama to respond forcefully, because then you could proclaim that "he is no different from the rest of us."  This is one instance where being the same has its benefits. 

However, true to form the GOP miscalculated.  They violated a basic tactic of war.  Never back your opponent into a corner without giving them an escape route.  Because with no way out, the cornered tend to fight back with more tenacity.  Or they call for backup.  Well, Barack Obama chose both options.  As John McCain said, Obama became "testy" and he also placed a call for backup to his colleague, Joe Biden.  You know Biden's reputation. Salt of the earth. Strong with working class Americans, strong with Catholics, strong with foreign policy and one who loves a good fight.  And unlike Obama, Biden possessed no handicap to play nice.  Biden has more than enough gut punches to go around and like Donna Brazile tearing into a GOP pundit, he won't hesitate to use them.   

The GOP must be thinking that they can't catch a cold.  "Curses, foiled again!". What's a body to do?  Maybe they will take the advice of the "brilliant" GOP talking head who recommended that McCain ignore Biden and keep hammering away at Obama.  You know, as in close your eyes and pretend that Biden isn't really there and maybe he will go away.  After witnessing Joe Biden in action today, somehow I don't think that strategy will have much success.

The Revenge-Seeking Wrath of Rev. Wright

The 2008 Presidential Campaign has dispelled more than its share of commonly held beliefs. Before this campaign, it was widely held that overly negative politics filled with innuendos, inaccuracies, distortions, racial overtones and flat out lies were exclusive to Karl Rove and the Republican Party.  That was before we witnessed the campaign tactics that the Hillary Clinton campaign used against Barack Obama. 

Then there was what I coined the "gold-toed roach killer syndrome" which I erroneously thought was largely unique to southern White voters.  It's where white voters are so motivated by their prejudices against Black people, that they support political strategies that equally harm their own race as along as they believe that they can stick it to some Black people.  It's the old roach caught in the corner scenario where the wearer of that gold-toed roach killer boot, with immense satisfaction, places the extremely-pointed toe of their boot squarely into the roach's body cavity.  You can also call that the highly successful red-state strategy.

I used to think that hell-bent on destruction tactics also were unique to Republicans and some southern state White voters, but that was before Hillary Clinton ran her selfishly-motivated strategy to win the Democratic Presidential nomination by any means necessary, even if it means destroying the Democratic Party. What an educational experience this has been!

Now that brings us to Rev. Jeremiah Wright.  With the insincerely stated motivation of defending the Black church, Rev. Wright is running a gold-toed roach killer campaign to destroy the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama.  Rev. Wright has become bitter and is displaying a lot of characteristics that run counter to Christian principles.  He wants revenge, but the Bible teaches us that "revenge is Mine says the Lord".  The Bible tells us that "we must decrease so that God can increase." 

So what does Rev. Wright do?  He participates in a Pharisees and Publican-like campaign of praying in the public square with his high profile appearances on PBS, at the Detroit NAACP Convention, and at the National Press Club.  Again, I think the Biblical response to this type of self-promotion, is that it's not to please God, but to instead find reward amongst men.  "Decrease so that I may increase".

Now for all the pundits who have asked the question about the influence of Rev. Wright on Barack Obama, I think you have your answer.  Barack Obama.  His actions more like Rev. Jeremiah Wright or more like Jesus.  Rev. Wright shows us why we should always follow God instead of putting our trust in mankind.  I think that Obama understands this basic Christian principle.  Give any human being enough time and they will eventual fail you.  Why?  It's because we aren't perfect.  Only Christ holds that unique status.

Well Rev. Wright has built some provocative speed bumps on the crossroads to change, but the destinations points remain unchanged.  Do we want real change or do we want to continue with the same old divisiveness of 51% to 49% politics?  Do we want the constant gridlock between people who refuse to find common ground that benefits the common good? Robert Frost asked the same type of question when he wrote these thought provoking words. "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Which road will America take? That's a decision that shouldn't be influenced by the actions of Rev. Wright.  I think that Rev. Wright is angry that Barack Obama was strong enough to choose the road less traveled.  Barack Obama shouldn't have to make the journey alone.

John McCain Prepares to Follow Karl Rove's Gameplan

In what now seems like the distant past, I dissected Karl Rove's Gameplan (in Newsweek) for the eventual Republican nominee.  At the time I was a Hillary Clinton supporter, but since have seen Barack Obama emerge as the better candidate.  However, the game plan for John McCain remains unchanged.  McCain is set to activate step one of the Rovian plan, "re-introduce himself to the American people". Read the full story here.  There are more steps pending.