i'll tell you, it's tough

i'll tell you who's having a rough week:

1) the PSUV, led by Hugo Chavez. Venezuela had their equivalent of what we call "off-year" elections this Sunday, and while it's true that Chavistas retained a 60%/40% majority in government, they lost regional elections in the two most affluent regions and also lost the mayoral race in Caracas.

2) Republicans: tough rocks, ladies and guys! Ben Smith quotes this hilarious missive from Mike Murphy, the 2000-era McCain loyalist (and Cassandra-like purveyor of a certain well-documented msnbc blooper):

I'm sailing by container ship to Shanghai. The Hanjin Miami, see below. Good way to get away from politics under the new overlords and finish a script I owe. And I've always wanted to cross the Pacific ocean by ship.

With luck... maybe a pirate attack. I'm doing a TIME piece on the trip, so please, tell any pirates you might know to attack. I need something to happen.

In case of emergency, or a winning lottery ticket you may want to share, my trusty assistant ... will be holding down the fort. .... Capt. Chang says I can radio in to check with [her] once in a while if I give him half my daily rice allotment.

And then there's Conservative crisis desperation, Krugman's ur-ethnographic glimpse into the absolute alchemy coming out conservative econo-wonks' pieholes these days.

All in all, what can you say? Not everybody gets to be Barack Obama. Or Robert Rubin. Or Citigroup.

Carolina on my mind

While we're at it, let me toss in a "Me three!" in response to Dave and Wobs.

As most of you know, I recently returned to my home state of North Carolina after more than a decade away. I have a funny relationship with this place. I grew up ashamed to live here and to have been born a Southerner. I remained here as an undergraduate, partly due to a (deeply flawed) assumption/self-delusion that Chapel Hill, being "more liberal" than the surrounding areas, was progressive enough to be tolerable. But I found that experience frustrating and couldn't get out and escape to the left coast for graduate school fast enough. Being in the west was transformative on many levels, including a shift in the way I viewed my "home": Eugene quickly made me realize that Chapel Hill was wishy-washy liberal at best. My Southern shame intensified exponentially in response to assumptions made about me based on my origins and the slight hint of an accent that I still carried--that I was ignorant or a racist, that my education was sub-standard. At times it was a shame mixed with defensiveness, given that Oregon (and later, California and New York) didn't seem to be doing that much better with race relations. Why should those of us born in the South carry the stigma of a problem that seemed to permeate the entire country? But eventually I was able to gain some perspective and distance and see my birthplace for what it was--neither solely responsible for historic or ongoing racism nor innocent enough to merit a defensive from its natives. I was glad to be out and put NC on my mental list of "couldn't force me to live there" states.

But fate is a funny thing...and despite that vow, here I am again. Only, this is not the place I grew up or the place I left. The demographics of the state have shifted profoundly in the last decade. NC has experienced incredible growth, and the new population is considerably less white and more liberal. Changing demographics and the tanking economy (hitting this state is some particularly harsh ways) are just two factors that are changing the political landscape here.

So imagine my surprise to see that my home state is now a pleasing shade of Carolina blue. Obama's chances are looking better by the day and Elizabeth Dole will almost certainly be ousted by her Democratic challenger. It is, in a word, unbelievable.


As if I needed more proof that something profound is happening around me, I found this is my mailbox this morning. Dean Smith might as well be God around these parts (minus the plantation in Durham).

These are amazing times, my friends. I am glad we are all here in this space to witness it and sort it all out together.

State of the Race; or, Why I Wanna Blog About Moosic!

1. Increasingly, the only meaningful "analysis" out there is right here. I'm not sure which OG constituents (besides Ash!) are even living in contested states at this point. In light of that fact, lemme say this: I cannot stop watching the punditry, and I won't stop laughing at and reviling in the obscene television advertisements, but it's clear that what's going to win this race has less to do with the airwaves and more to do with stumping, GOTV, and other "retail" tactics within selected precincts in selected places (OH, CO, FL, NV, MI).
   
2. That's exactly why Joe Biden remains a shrewd (I'm stopping short of saying "brilliant") pick for veep: all gaffes aside, he can stump avec gravitas and "like-ability" in some of the places mentioned above, and that's really all that matters barring major "events." HRC and WJC can and should join in - I'd love to see Bill in NC and VA, en particulier - and I suspect they will. As concerns our current poll, I think the worst thing for HRC's 2012 prospects would be to put a half-assed effort behind Barry. Chalk it up to "enlightened self-interest," but I think we're past the point where she can be blamed for whatever insane supporters of hers are running around making noise. Worse, I think we're adding to a GOP trope by harping on the issue. Not that any undecided voters are reading this, natch..
   
3. Somebody should hi-five Barry Obama for not following McCain into delaying the debates and further "politicizing" the Bail-Out (whatever the eff that's supposed to mean.) It seems like the obvious move in hindsight, but I for one was terrified as of yesterday that he'd cave. I think his calm/cool/collected persona and his willingness to let the Dem congressional leadership lead are as presidential (i.e., 'leaderly') as all get-out - as much as the "race speech," albeit in a different way.
4. McCain is more than on the ropes at this point. There was a really cool conversation with (my guilty pleasure) Chris Matthews on Rachel Maddow last nite that I'd gladly present in lieu of my point, but I cannot locate a youtube. In short, Matthews pointed out that McCain is reaching a point of diminishing returns when it comes to his "maverick" decisions. At a certain point, even the best-intentioned of these left-field, game-changing gestures (supporting the surge, nominating Palin, suspending his campaign) will start to seem less like "leadership" and more like the reckless last gasps of an unstable individual who will do anything to win. Obama need only provide a calm contrast and continue running his race against Reagan/Bush/"the Ownership Society:" if we continue to talk about the economy (and do the "retail" thing mentioned above), we will win. Step one, BHO, is getting the bail-out passed with a bunch of Keynesian strings (accountability, govt. equity, no CEO comp, a new stimulus bill). Let me repeat, as I know this sounds counter-intuitive coming from a left-leaner: the Dems should define the bill, pass it, and own it. This is the time to see if a Keynesian neoliberalism is a possibility, and to tie financial markets' sufficiency to public investment, job creation, etc...This way the Dems could claim the mantle of "fiscal responsibilty" without ceding their (alleged) identification with working America. (note - This should happen at a pace set by Chris "lexdexter's Dad" Dodd, not Hank Paulson et. al. ...why it needs to go down by this weekend is a question you'd have to ask those pigs.)
   
5. Obviously Sarah Palin is sinking fast. All that's left is for Joe Biden to do the yeomen's work of beating her in the debate without seeming like a condescending chauvinist pig. Can he do it? I dunno.
6. Kinda hoping for a macro-level discussion of the race at this point....anybody?
   

Confidential E-mail: Please do not forward.

Dear Friend,

I normally wouldn't be writing to you, but I felt like I had to get some of these FACTS out there, since the right wing media won't tell you. I am writing to you to inform all patriotic Americans about presidential candidate John McCain's real past.

1. You probably know about McCain's time in a Vietnamese POW camp but what they won't tell you is while in Vietnam he was "once considered a model officer and future general, who allegedly went insane and commanded a legion of his own Montagnard troops deep inside the forest in neutral Cambodia. These claims are supported by very disturbing radio broadcasts and recordings made by..." McCain himself!!!! source

2. You may have heard about McCain's wife and her connection to Anheuser Busch and its recent takeover by a major Belgian concern, but what THEY won't tell you is McCain was actually adopted by Belgian parent's and was raised in an evil plot to go back to 1975 and bring back a Dutchman, Johan van der Smut, who had developed a cold fusion unit for a tractor beam. He intends to use the tractor beam to pull a golden meteor into the Earth to strike and melt the polar ice caps and cause global flooding. source

3 Finally, he claims that he is just running for president, but the reporters won't let you in on the secret: he has been quoted numerous times as saying that he plans to "do the same thing he does every day...try to take over the world." but you don't see that in the papers. source

I urge all patriotic Americans to really THINK about these UNDISPUTABLE facts before casting your vote this October. (I have meticuously sourced all claims, so don't let the RWM fool you.)

Sincerely,

EZ