January 22, 2008 – Capitol Hill Blue

Dear Uncle Sam

January 22, 2008

by Maggie Van Ostrand

Dear Uncle Sam,

I just heard the best news about you, and it’s come at the right time, what with all the economy talk and general dissatisfaction with things like terrorists, illegals and how much money we owe China. I know it must be very hard on you to hear people saying it’s all your fault that Social Security is almost bankrupt and that Medicare is taking money from other crucial uses like keeping up perks for important Congressmen. On the other hand, I’d like to praise you for doing something wonderful.

Never let it be said…

January 22, 2008

that Bill Clinton is a statesman. He’s the hubristic chauffeur of the Clinton political machine, barreling down the electoral roadway at whomever or whatever gets in the way. A sordid, seedy, lecherous liar behind the wheel, smashing truth and democratic electability at full speed ahead.

Clearly, the once-proud passenger on his highway to hell is gaining valuable “experience” in all manner of dustups, sideswipes, and head-on collisions, never looking back at the moral, ethical, and social devastation left behind.

So much for “Driving Miss Hillary”

Fred Thompson drops run

January 22, 2008

Faltering Republican Presidential candidate Fred Dalton Thompson is dropping out of the race after dismal showings in all primaries held to date. Thompson’s campaign began notifying news media Tuesday afternoon that a statement was imminent.

Thompson, in Tennessee to care for his ailing mother, did not appear himself to announce his withdrawal. Instead, a formal statement was sent out stating that Thompson was, in fact, dropping out.

The former Senator and actor entered the race amid loud hoopla that he was a conservative hope for the party, but his campaign never jelled.

Time to bury the Confederate flag

January 22, 2008

I’m surprised Mike Huckabee didn’t show up in Jena, LA, Monday to goose-step along with a group of fellow white supremacists in a rally attended mostly by media.

The rally that wasn’t seemed tailor made for Huckabee, who faltering Presidential run is turning into the campaign that wasn’t.

Huckabee proved he can pander to hate and racism in pure Republican style last week when he jumped into the debate over whether or not the Confederate battle flag should fly at the state house in South Carolina.

Obama takes on the Clintons

January 22, 2008

Barack Obama wasn’t kidding when he said he would start speaking out more aggressively against the Clintons.

From his first answer at a highly acrimonious debate Monday night, the Illinois senator went after the first couple of Democratic politics with a tenacity he had not shown before in his campaign of hope. He drew quick return fire from Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is pointing her campaign toward Super Tuesday Feb. 5 when more than half the Democratic delegates are at stake.

Rudy trails on home turf

January 22, 2008

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is trailing in the race for the Republican presidential nomination even on his home turf of New York state, a new poll showed on Monday.

The WNBC/Marist poll ahead of the February 5 primaries in New York showed 34 percent of registered Republicans support John McCain, compared to 23 percent for Giuliani. Among Republicans likely to vote, McCain kept his 34 percent support, while Giuliani was tied in second place with Mitt Romney at 19 percent.

McCain on the road in Florida

January 22, 2008

Republican John McCain wooed Cuban-American voters on Monday and banked on the support of their leaders to help his presidential campaign win the state that gave President George W. Bush his narrow victory in 2000.

McCain swept into Miami after his big win Saturday in South Carolina, the first contest in the U.S. South as voters choose candidates for the November presidential election. On January 29, Florida hold the next big Republican contest.

Huckabee cuts back on expenses

January 22, 2008

Battling to stay competitive after his weekend loss in South Carolina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is taking new steps to save money, including no longer scheduling planes and buses for journalists trying to cover his presidential campaign.

Huckabee said he will continue to campaign in Florida on a shoestring budget, but added that he may pull out of the state before its Jan. 29 Republican primary if his prospects look dim.

Democrats get down & dirty

January 22, 2008

Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama accused each other of repeatedly and deliberately distorting the truth for political gain Monday night in a highly personal, finger-wagging debate that ranged from the war in Iraq to Bill Clinton’s role in the campaign.

Obama told the former first lady he was helping unemployed workers on the streets of Chicago when “you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart.”

Moments later, Clinton said that she was fighting against misguided Republican policies “when you were practicing law and representing your contributor … in his slum landlord business in inner city Chicago.”

Obama seemed particularly irritated at the former president, whom he accused in absentia of uttering a series of distortions to aid his wife’s presidential effort.

“I’m here. He’s not,” she snapped.

The one stop election

January 22, 2008

Tired of the presidential campaign already? All those candidates, the incessant debates and speeches, the position papers, the partisan bickering, the uncertainty of it all?

You might want to give Cuba a try. Those Cubans know how to put on a seamless election.

There’s no campaigning, only one party and, to really streamline the process, only one pre-approved candidate for each district. And it’s all over in one day.