Finally getting around to watching "It Might Get Loud" doc with Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White. A wonderful tribute to roots guitar.
Across the Twin Cities, across Minnesota, there has been felt a disturbance in The Force, as if millions of delegates cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.Or, to be yet more accurate, not silenced, but rather replaced with an agenda that is not supportive of our presumptive candidate for president, Senator John McCain.
Activists of the local Republican Party in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Congressional Districts have been all aflutter of late over the hijackings of their conventions by the followers of a candidate who refuses to say "Uncle". To quote another great line from another great movie...this time Gladiator..."People should know when they are conquered."
Enough! The way to defeat this niggling nuisance is not to haggle with these invaders over their conduct. Rather, the way to silence them is to change to subject to that which is of prime importance; John McCain's campaign. McCain has already swept aside all of his Republican challengers. Where is it written that he has to conquer again an opponent who is already dead?
"They'll be national delegates, but at the end of the day, that doesn't change anything because John McCain is going to be our nominee,"
I realize that we've got a long campaign season ahead of us, but the McCain campaign has to begin now to do a better job to explaining to activists why John McCain will make a great president. Right now, the spotlight is on Iraq and McCain's foreign policy strengths. But according to polls, Iraq is not what is on most Americans' minds right now; "It's the economy, stupid."
Still, with General Patraeus testifying before Congress tomorrow, McCain's campaign has to know that this week is a time to capitalize on Iraq for all it's worth. Much hay can be made with voters when they see the stark contrasts between McCain and the two Democrats who vie for the White House. Take note, Ron Paul supporters; your guy isn't even in the equation. Surrender. Resistance is futile.
Immediately after the spotlight has gone dim on Patraeus's testimony before Congress, McCain needs to pivot and address domestic issues such as the economy, illegal immigration, energy resources, taxation and other issues that matter to regular Americans. Few members of Congress have worked so hard to battle pork than John McCain;
The new national hero, on the other hand, for not inserting one penny of pork barrel spending is the Republican Party's presumptive nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. As a longtime staunch opponent of such earmarks, McCain may be expected to raise the subject of such special spending if Clinton becomes his Democratic opponent in the fall's general election.
He may also bring it up if his opponent is Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who may be a freshman senator but still isn't shy about inserting special earmarks into legislation cataloged by the taxpayer group's annual report. He accounted for 53 special earmarks, totaling almost $97.4 million.
This includes about $402,000 for a juvenile delinquency program at the Shedd Aquarium and $383,000 for another ethanol research plant.
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who still technically is in the GOP race, has campaigned against large government seeping into the lives of American citizens. However, according to the Pig Book, that didn't keep him from proposing eight pork-spending bills totaling $22 million, including nearly $4 million to alter a Galveston bridge.
