Strategic mistake will haunt McCain in November

Supporting offshore drilling is a very bad idea and a huge strategic mistake for McCain for the following reasons:

1) Regardless of their party affiliation, many Americans cherish our few remaining wildlife refuges and do not want to see them destroyed.

2) Others cherish the big bucks generated by pristine coastal real estate and tourism

3) He aligned himself with Bush

4) He is advocating an idea that does not have consensus among members of the Republican Party

5) The idea shows zero creativity in resolving an important issue, our dependence on oil.

If he is running a campaign based on "Change" adopting the position of exploring alternative ideas and/or investing in new technologies would have been a better strategic move.

3 CEO's with ties to the mortgage crisis were paid $460 million over past five years.

The three companies combined lost more than $20 billion in the last two quarters of 2007, as investments related to subprime mortgages fell apart and the stock price tanked.

Why things need to change:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/06/news/exec_comp/index.htm?cnn=yes

David Plouffe just sent out this email...

Our projections show the most likely outcome of yesterday's elections will be that Hillary Clinton gained 187 delegates, and we gained 183.
That's a net gain of 4 delegates out of more than 370 delegates available from all the states that voted.
For comparison, that's less than half our net gain of 9 delegates from the District of Columbia alone. It's also less than our net gain of 8 from Nebraska, or 12 from Washington State. And it's considerably less than our net gain of 33 delegates from Georgia.
The task for the Clinton campaign yesterday was clear. In order to have a plausible path to the nomination, they needed to score huge delegate victories and cut into our lead.
They failed.
It's clear, though, that Senator Clinton wants to continue an increasingly desperate, increasingly negative -- and increasingly expensive -- campaign to tear us down.
That's her decision. But it's not stopping John McCain, who clinched the Republican nomination last night, from going on the offensive. He's already made news attacking Barack, and that will only become more frequent in the coming days.
Right now, it's essential for every single supporter of Barack Obama to step up and help fight this two-front battle. In the face of attacks from Hillary Clinton and John McCain, we need to be ready to take them on.
The chatter among pundits may have gotten better for the Clinton campaign after last night, but by failing to cut into our lead, the math -- and their chances of winning -- got considerably worse.
Today, we still have a lead of more than 150 delegates, and there are only 611 pledged delegates left to win in the upcoming contests.
By a week from today, we will have competed in Wyoming and Mississippi. Two more states and 45 more delegates will be off the table.
But if Senator Clinton wants to continue this, let's show that we're ready.

Image Matters.

Why is it assumed that if you are a woman the only criteria necessary for picking a candidate is gender? I am the “demographic” that is supposedly squarely in Hillary Clintons corner and am here to report I am sick of her tactics.

Maybe I would believe in her even though she flip-flops on issues. Maybe I would forgive an appalling financial report on how she managed to burn through $130 million (and lose all those races). Perhaps I would b-list my concern over reports that the special interest groups in Washington, who “own her” but are maxed out on their contributions, are devising (illegal?) ways to continue funding her campaign so they protect “the status-quo” in Washington.

Maybe, but I cannot swallow her latest strategy of “slinging mud” to see if anything will stick. The image of her pointing and shaking, taking offence at very same advertising tactic her campaign has used, made me cringe.

I began to wonder if what she is saying even matters so I watched last nights debate without sound, focusing on body language only. She gives off very hostile, sarcastic vibe. She rolls her eyes and makes faces. There is nothing relatable about this woman.

If there is a positive, relatable ‘image” of a powerful woman, one that is universally acceptable, it is one of poise. Did Clintons inability to maintain poised under pressure tank her campaign? Is it possible that whatever she may be saying doesn’t matter because people feel uncomfortable? Clearly, they do. Why doesn’t she get this? Why didn't the highly paid (10 million!) Howard Wolfson tell her? This is PSYC 101 stuff.

Overnight, the Obama campaign exceeded one million donations. No matter where you stand, you can’t deny this is a great accomplishment. On the surface, who would have thought he would succeed? This has been an amazing experience for many people, he has rallied the masses, convinced many of us that we do matter, that we can have a role and make a difference.

GW has been the worst US president in memory and there are SO MANY things we need to fix. Isn’t it wonderful to know that people are open to change, that they do care. I think it is time for the nay-sayers to consider that the Obama strategy has worked, that right now, he is exactly what we need.

Want to inspire a nature lover?

Want to help save the plants in your community?

Join Project Budburst and help monitor the natural areas in your community by recording and reporting the exact dates of when native plants bloom, when flowers peak and leaves unfurl.
Project BudBurst is ideal for teachers and students, families interested in participating in a science project, scouts and 4-H groups, gardening clubs, botanical gardens….anyone or any group with an interest in contributing to a socially and scientifically relevant research study.
The project is a national garden partnership that is trying to learn more about the characteristic of local climates so they will be able to better predict the long-term effects of climate changes on plants.
Last year children in Illinois under the age of 12 led the nation in participation. Enrollment information and a complete list of plants to monitor are at:

http://www.budburst.org/

Uno is #1!

Never met a Beagle I didn't like.
Meet Uno - Winner of Best in Show at the 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden in New York

Game On or Game Over?

Does Clinton have a spin doctor? I have been searching the news for evidence of some effort that Camp Clinton is attempting to neutralize the fabulous press Obama is getting.

Nothing. No news. Doesn’t she have something interesting to say?

Various media are quoting party super-delegates as suggesting that the Clinton campaign does not appear to have a short-term game plan. The New York Times reported that several Clinton super delegates, whose votes could help decide the nomination, said they were wavering in the face of Obama’s momentum, that she had boxed herself into a must-win position in the Ohio and Texas primaries on March 4.

Clinton will have “a major ad buy” over the next few weeks, but I believe that the free press has a far bigger influence on shaping public beliefs. How much influence will the media have on the outcome of the March 4th primaries? Clinton has indicated she will back out of one of two scheduled debates (good free press!) because of comments made about her and Chelsea by MSNBC commentators.

In addition to “no money” “personal loan” “firing of Solis-Doyle angers the Hispanic community” “Mike Henry & subordinates forced out to pacify Hispanic community” stories, we have headlines including:

Obama is gaining with women voters, a critical demographic of Clinton and overall his margins are growing wider and wider.

She is a poor sport: In televised speeches, for the second election night in a row, Hillary Clinton failed to acknowledge or congratulate Obama after he won the day in dominating fashion.

She is a hypocrite: While she vows to fight for the “voices” of Florida and Michigan voters, she states in the media that voters in Washington, Nebraska, Maine and Louisiana aren’t really important, that the Obama sweep didn’t matter. Now we can add the good people of Virginia, Maryland and DC as “not important”. Perhaps next week the fine people of Wisconsin and Hawaii will be classed as “not mattering” by the Clinton camp.

It should be noted that some of these states are, in fact, important Blue states.

She is not a good financial planner: It is being reported that the reason her campaign ran out of money was that they assumed all along that Feb 5th would lock her in, and spent accordingly.

Negative is the only way she knows how to play: There is a hint of the return of negative jabs coming from the Clinton camp. It will be interesting to see how nasty she is willing to get to reach a personal goal, if party leaders looking for unity (against McCain) will step in, and how the public will react.

Meanwhile Obama is moving forward. “Momentum” aside, clearly recent moves are an attempt to unify the party and he continues to be veiwed as a decent person, running a decent campaign.