Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Take Five

1. Seeing Hillary Clinton (and, by extension, Bill) twist and sway in the wind is a thrill to behold. For this alone, I consider this election year a success.

2. Even if you don't like Barack Obama's politics how could you not like him? In that sense, he is a bit like Ronald Reagan.

3. Huh? Doesn't a "50 percent chance" mean one out of two, in other words basically a coin flip? That's actually a pretty high probability as these things go, no? What am I missing here?

4. Republican voters tend to be happier because they draw from a "happier"--or, perhaps, more content--demographic. That's one reason why they're conservative: they kind of like things the way they are, at leat partly because it's working for them. Just my opinion anyway. There are certainly other factors at work, though, and the receding is not to imply that there's something wrong with that attitude. Perhaps thing sare working for them because they're doing the right things in life which others might try emulating.

5. I'm hearing some talk about having J.C. Watts as John McCain's running mate under the theory, I suppose, that he's black, and will serve as a counterweight in that respect to an Obama-led Democratic ticket, if that happens. I think this sort of thing has a high potential for backfiring. It will look like McCain just stuck him on there because he's black, which, frankly, wouldn't be far from the truth. It would look like the worst kind of cynical tokenism and would only bolster Democratic prospects. McCain just needs a VP with whom conservatives can be happy and who doesn't otherwise weaken the ticket. Someone who could bring his or her state into the GOP column wouldn't hurt either, but I'd consider that a bonus.