I keep hearing that the Obama candidacy is a test of whether or not America is ready to elect a black man. The first presidential candidate I ever supported was Shirley Chisolm, both black and female and not very successful, so I’ve been ready in one way or another to support a black or a woman since 1972. I must say that Obama excites me less than Chisolm did and Clinton is not even in the same league (suffice it to say that it is virtually inconceivable that Chisolm would accept at face value administration pronouncements on weapons of mass destruction and then turn around and give a right-wing president carte blanche to make war at his whim and pleasure). Thirty-five years later, I find the whole “electability of a black man” canard laughable, especially when people say “The South will never vote for a black man.” Wake up people! It makes no difference in the general election what the South thinks of Obama’s race. If Obama wins the nomination, the only thing that will matter with respect to race is whether or not Northern racism will keep Obama from the White House; Southern racism, real or imagined, is irrelevant. The reasons for that are today’s history lesson:

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Popularity: 17% [?]

1. Yes vote on Public law 107-40 authorizing the use of military force anywhere and against anyone closely or remotely associated with the September 11 terrorists. The text says that this law does not supercede any requirement of the War Powers Resolution, limiting the president’s ability to use military force, but it effectively gave a blank check to the president, allowing him to attack anywhere he pleased. This is an unforgiveable breach of the public trust in the legislative branch to maintain a system of checks and balances and no less so because not a single senator had the backbone to stand up and say that the resolution was too broad and too vague.

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Popularity: 12% [?]

I do not need a politician to stand up for civil rights, the rule of law, international treaties signed by the US and the US Constitution when it’s popular. I need them to stand up for those things when it’s difficult.
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Popularity: 16% [?]

This is an interesting one from Compete.com. They really know who liberals and conservatives like among the current crop of candidates. Compete.com have some sort of web tracking software and they are watching YOU. Okay, maybe not you, but they grab information from ISP, volunteer panelists and people who install their toolbar (and why would you do that?). They say their data is “normalized” which I’m guessing means that they use the ISP data to correct for the bias inherent in the other sources. Anyway, what they have been able to do, apparently, is find out what percentage of visitors to websites for candidates read liberal blogs and which ones read conservative blogs. Then they calculate a ration of liberal/conservative to see how liberal or conservative the visitors to a candidates website are.

The interesting thing here is not that Dennis Kucinich has the highest ratio (most liberal), or that Fred Thompson has the lowest ratio (i.e. most conservative). The telling stat is that Hilary Clinton has the lowest score (most conservative appeal) of any Democrat and, scores even lower than Ron Paul, the ultra-libertarian fringe candidate. What does this tell us? Probably not much that we couldn’t predict, but it is a fun chart to ponder. Have a look at it at:
Compete Candidate Analysis

I have to say, having heard Ron Paul interviewed, even when he’s spouting some ideas to which I am deeply opposed, he is the only candidate who seems to say what he really thinks. That will, of course, ultimately count him out (never say what you really think), but it’s nice to hear, agree or not.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Government by organized money just as dangerous as government by organized mob

– Franklin Roosevelt, October 31, 1936, quote in Michael Beschloss, Presidential Courage, p. 87

Popularity: 7% [?]

I just want to do a scientific poll of how interested voters are in actually voting. The question is whether or not your non-vote can be bought. In other words, how much do you value your right to vote. If I were to offer you something really good, like a Snickers bar or a Starbucks latté, would you forego your right to vote in the 2008 presidential election?

Popularity: 7% [?]

The current field of candidates has me so depressed. I must admit that the prospect of a woman or an African-American is compelling, so much so that the first presidential candidate that I ever supported was Shirley Chisolm, who would have killed those two birds with one stone. The problem is that, unlike Shirley Chisolm, I don’t really admire Clinton or Obama (okay, I hate Clinton and am uninspired by Obama).
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Popularity: 5% [?]

According to the principles established by the Nuremberg trials, you and I are probably in the clear with respect to charges of crimes against humanity or war crimes, but perhaps our political leaders are not. Could those principles be extended to all taxpayers who fund war criminals? It might sound obvious or absurd depending on how you view the issues, but it’s not an easy question.

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Popularity: 13% [?]

I’m reading the somewhat disappointing book Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989 by Michael Beschloss. I’ll have to do a complete review, but in brief, the disappointing part is that in most episodes, I get to the end and think “Oh, it’s over.” Somehow it reads a bit like a core dump and the storytelling could be much more compelling. That said, there are interesting tidbits here and there, such as a brief discussion (a couple of sentences) regarding the Ludlow Amendment, which would have dramatically changed the way the US went to war.
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Popularity: 8% [?]

For quite some time now, I’ve had a Bush countdown clock on my website (the javascript kind, I mean, though I also have some links there for buying the physical kind). Even back when Bush’s approval ratings were way above 60%, I was (at least for a while), number one in Google for “Bush is evil” and I already had my inauguration 2009 countdown clock spinning down on every page.
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Popularity: 13% [?]