Sarah Palin, The RNC Wants Their Underwear Back...

The RNC bought a ridiculous amount of clothes for Sarah Palin and her family during the 2008 Presidential Campaign. $150,000, to be exact.

There is obviously no love lost between the RNC and Palin. No sooner was Election Day over than lips started flapping about her using GOP lawyers as flunkies to bring her even more clothes.

And now that Caribou Barbie could not carry the day, the RNC wants every stitch of clothes back, down to the teeniest foundation garment.

I realize that the RNC is supposed to be a watchdog for profligate spending, but I don't ever recall a guard being sent out to catalog Armani suits.

She is their candidate. If they bought the clothes for her, I think she should have a reasonable expectation to keep them. It was part of the uniform, not to mention that no men have been called on the carpet in such a way.

I mean, really. It's basically used clothing. Gently used (maybe), but still. What are they going to do with used underwear, sell it on eBay?

Super Tuesday: The Rat Race

It went down to the wire last night, with Clinton and Obama duking it out for supremacy.

Clinton got some really big -- and some say really crucial -- states, but she is still behind Obama. By less than 100 Superdelegate votes, but still behind.

The Democratic race has become a rat race. There are so many people excited about this election that the old trends are almost obsolete. People are voting who haven't voted in years.

In order for either Clinton or Obama to be successful, they've got to campaign hard and to the fullest. It's going to come down to the last minute as well in the Presidential campaign, I suspect.
The smart thing to do would be to join forces, but their negative campaigns against each other could be their undoing. Not only would they have to work with someone that they just finished tearing down for the past year, but they have revealed each other's weaknesses to the Republican Party. McCain, who won essentially by default (it was a foregone conclusion, but Huckabee bowed out), could slide in on the skidmarks of where Clinton and Obama have thrown each other under the bus.

McCain? Clinton? Obama? I'm leaning slightly toward Obama, although I have not yet ruled out a Clinton vote, and I even have a lot in common with McCain. Obama is long on rhetoric, but short on actual plans. Clinton has many plans, but her attitude thus far has been indicative of the same weaselly tactics her husband used throughout his tenure as President. McCain, for all of his accomplishments, is still soft on a lot of issues and has been downright silent on the economy.

My vote will probably go to the wire, too...

POLITICS: Wild Cards

This week's politics will focus on the top Republican candidates. Who are they, and what exactly do they stand for?

It's a sad fact of politics that most voters go on "feel." They don't know what the issues are, or what their candidates stand for. On feel alone, McCain seems grandfatherly and concerned about darned near everything. Romney seems cold and just a tad untouchable. Huckabee seems like the guy you'd want to have a party with. Giuliani is the kind of politician that usually wins these elections: a take charge type of guy; however, his take charge attitude when he moved his mistress into the governor's mansion with the wife and kids still living there seems kind of cruel. And nobody seems to be able to get a real handle on Ron Paul, which is why he is somewhere at the bottom of the polls.

Nonetheless, this is what these guys actually stand for on the major voting issues:

ABORTION: For: Giuliani; Against: Huckabee, McCain and Romney (both support in cases of rape/incest), Paul opposes personally, but thinks states should decide unequivocally for themselves.

IRAQ (Timetable for pulling troops out): For: McCain, Paul; Against: Giuliani, Huckabee, Romney.

GUN CONTROL: Supports limits on types of guns and ownership: Giulani; Against most types of limits: McCain, Paul, Huckabee, Romney.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE: All oppose. However, Giuliani supports legal domestic partnerships, and McCain and Paul believe that it should be a state issue, not federal. Romney has supported same-sex partnerships in the past.

HEALTH CARE: Romney is the only one who supports a federal system of universal health care. All others support state-run or market-based reforms for health care, except for Huckabee. Huckabee thinks the current system is irrevocably broken, but does not have any set opinions on either fixing it or offering new solutions.

SOCIAL SECURITY: All except Paul support voluntary diversion of funds into private accounts; Giuliani also thinks that a baseline distribution of funds should exist nationwide.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: Huckabee, McCain, and Giuliani support path to legalization of some illegal immigrants with greater enforcement of existing laws (McCain also supports the building of a fence). Paul and Romney do not.


TAXES: Paul and Huckabee support the Fair Tax; Romney and Giuliani do not, for the most part. McCain says he opposes, but has expressed support for it in the past.

STEM CELL RESEARCH: Huckabee and Paul oppose unequivocally. Giuliani, Romney, and McCain support, but with some stipulations.

That's about a fast recap of the major issues. For more information on your candidates and what they really stand for, do the research. Find out exactly who it is you're voting for.

Don't get hooked on a feeling.

Politics: Versus vs. Running Mate

Right now, we have two powerhouse people in the running for Democratic leader, and they've been running a brilliant smear campaign against each other.

Their political views really aren't parallel. They would unify a party in need of some unification.

And yet... they dump mud on each other every chance they get.

You get the feeling that each of them wants to be the top dog, and that the dream team of Clinton-Obama (alphabetical order) is just not going to happen.

For VP, they'll pick a nice wimpy candidate who will stay in their shadow.

MISTAKE! Whatever momentum George W. Bush could not pick up on his own, Dick "I Target My Friends" Cheney picked up for him. Cheney is not the shy, retiring, quiet-dignity type.

When will the Democrats get a clue?

Yipi-ki-ay!

It's politics time, and people sure are raising a ruckus. It's certainly a shame that the Democratic party has so many strong candidates this year.


That's one thing that the Dems have usually lacked: strong candidates. And by strong, I don't mean intelligent, talented, popular or anything like that.

Strong in this instance means that they go the cowboy way. Usually the Dems have a lot of people who are strong on heart, but limp in the handshake.

This time around, both Hillary and Obama are cowboy material. They both have that can do, will do air about them. Maybe an Obama-Clinton ticket? That would be fun.