Dews Tuesday Potpourri

Well damnit at least slightly MORE liked him anyway!

Let me be the first to welcome Senator Franken, regardless of the legal wrangling still to happen from the Coleman camp...

If there ever were a reason for me to go back to the Hill, Franken (and Warner) would be those reasons, so who knows, maybe I'll be reporting from there again soon.

This of course raises some fairly significant advantages for the Dems in all facets of Congress as their current advantage now rises to 59 senators, one short of the mystical "filibuster proof" majority, but I'm sure there are some moderate/more liberal senators that will be more then amenable to this new administrations needs (Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, I'm looking at you here...).

The interesting case that still has yet to totally play out (but should a bit later today), is the situation with Illinois Senator (well, Blagojevich appointee anyway) Roland Burris and whether the new Democratic majority have the chutzpah to back up their threat of actually blocking his ascension to the seat...

The biggest question mark though of this new political majority for the Dems, is whether they will buck their recent history and actually DO something with it. They have a chance to do something special within the first 100 days of Obama's term not seen since the 73rd Congress enacted 16 major laws during Mr. Roosevelt's First 100 Days.

My guess is that republicans need not worry that their standard way of doing things will be threatened any time soon... The various factions within the Democratic party will show just how inept they are at coming together for any meaningful or lasting legislation very soon, don't you worry...

(This posting brought to you by copious amounts of cold medicine, so take that as you will...)

Dews Super Tuesday thoughts...

Wow, what a strange and interesting turn of events last night was huh?

On the one hand, you have an increasingly obvious candidate in McCain on the GOP side that can't seem to win the GOP states, but on the other you have Clinton and Obama dicing up the electorate (with Clinton still holding a lead despite what the Media seems to be telling us in some not-to-subtle ways).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of Clinton (Hillary anyway), but does anyone else find it just a bit suspicious that despite her victories last night all you could hear was how much more traction Obama "seemed" to be getting and how much better his chances are going forward then Clinton's because of this "momentum" he apparently got?

On the Democratic side, it certainly seems like the Media has already anointed Obama the Democratic candidate regardless of the reality of the situation, but by all means feel free to chime in and point me where I should be looking to think otherwise.

On the GOP side, I gotta say I don't think McCain is nearly as strong a candidate as people are making him out to be. He is supposed to be the "staunch independant" mind running for the nomination, but he has a long list of enemies he's accrued over the years that have done their damnedest to rally conservative America away from his campaign.

That being said, doesn't McCain have to pick Huckabee now as his running mate? Is there any other way for him to win the states that the GOP has no business losing (ie, the south and midwest)? There is no way Romney would get the nod, being the only person hated more by the GOP establishment (and being richer then God of course), so I'd have to believe that Huckabee is the only way McCain can solidify the base at this point. Question is, would Huckabee take such a job? He certainly has the opportunity to be the voice of Conservative America after this election, whether as a Radio host, or maybe even a third party candidate (viable one at that I might add), so why hitch a wagon to a guy that doesn't share your views?

Really shaping up to be a fascinating finish though for us political geeks... Looking forward to the continued media spin on Hillary and whether it does finally give Obama that edge he needs to finish strong.

That is all...

S.C. Dems vote to keep Stephen Colbert off primary ballot

The South Carolina Democratic Party voted 13-3 to keep Colbert off its primary ballot. That is, without a doubt, the single most disappointing thing the S.C. Democrats have probably ever (I know nothing about the S.C. Dems, mostly because I didn't know there were any; consequently they could be much more disappointing than this).

Look, Colbert might be a comic, but at least he's using his comedy to point out the stunning retardedness of our political process and conservativism. How can this not advance the S.C. Dems' political goals? Can you imagine him on a stage with Hillary and Barack while in character? It'd be hilarious, and voters of all stripes would tune in. That means more people listening to Democratic ideas (between Colbert jokes). And you folks blew it down there in South Cackalacky.

If you want to complain, shoot an email to their executive director, Joe Werner: jwerner@scdp.org

Calling Al Gore

Democracy for America is running an informal poll of it's members to see who they would pick for the Democratic nominee. Big news? Not really, unless you mention that Al Gore is winning as a write in candidate. You can find more info on DFA's website.

Depending on how you look at this, this could mean one of two things. Either Al Gore has resurrected his political career to become the man, liberally speaking, or the Democratic field is so lame right now that the Tin Man himself can poll better them him by just using a couple books and one persuasive Power Point presentation.

Regardless of whether he's the man or the Tin Man, there's a chance that it won't even matter. As David Brooks wrote, the Republicans are so caught up in becoming more conservative than the next guy that they're leaving their roots. With Dems like Hillary, according to Brooks, quickly trying to show the middle and lower classes that they have plans for middle class ascendancy, the Republicans are in a bit of trouble.

In my own naive mind, I like to think that this presents the perfect storm for a strong Democratic revivial. We have a weak President; a Republican party that's ideologically inbred (meaning so lacking new ideas that it's boring and idiotic), and therefore weak; and a nation that wants change. My hope is that the Democrats have the guts to pick a good candidate, not an electable one. Not someone who's going to say the right things so much as the person who has the right ideas.

We'll see.