August 2008 – Page 2

So Obama picked Biden – what’s next?

The leak beat the mass texting, so thousands of Americans were waken overnight to find out Barack Obama selected Delaware Senator Joe Biden to be his Vice-Presidential running mate. While Biden seemed like the odds-on favorite, it was a pick that apparently makes an attempt to shore up what is commonly thought to be Obama’s most glaring weakness, a lack of experience dealing with foreign affairs. However, the choice of Biden means that neither of the two top Democrats will have executive experience or have spent much time in the private sector – both have primarily been politicians for much of their adult lives. Biden’s political career spans nearly four decades. (The only Democrat finalist who had recent executive experience was Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius.) Nor does the pick of Biden help Obama win a major number of electoral votes. There’s not many polls done in Delaware, but a February poll I found in Hedgehog Report had Obama up nine points, 50-41 – moreover, Democrats control the state’s highest offices. Thus, it was pretty apparent Obama shouldn’t have been too worried about those three Delaware electoral votes – although it is still a close election in the Electoral College too.

Closer to home, Biden’s potential election to the second-highest office in the land would enable the First State to finally garner a spot among those states who have had a chief executive in office. (This with the caveat that Biden is actually a Pennsylvania native but moved with his family to Delaware as a boy.) It also presents the intriguing situation of having Biden on the ballot twice in one election. In a quick reading of Delaware election law, I found no prohibition on Biden being on the ballot as both a candidate for United States Senator and Vice-President; however, there are interesting political implications if he’s elected to both offices. Here is Title 15, Chapter 73 of the Delaware Code, which covers a vacancy in the office of United States Senator.

If the Obama/Biden ticket wins nationally and Senator Biden is also retained, the timing of Biden’s resignation will hinge on whoever wins the race for Governor. The odds-on favorite would be whoever survives the Democrats’ primary between State Treasurer Jack Markell and Lieutenant Governor John Carney, but if presumptive GOP hopeful Bill Lee wins in November Biden would certainly tender his Senate resignation before outgoing Democratic Governor Ruth Ann Minner leaves office so a Democrat could be picked. If you run under the assumption of the Democrats retaining the Governorship, it’s possible that because the Senate term begins about two weeks before the Presidential one, Biden would have the chance to be sworn in as a Senator for another term before switching seats and taking over the spot Dick Cheney has held so well for the last eight years as President of the Senate.

This also could create an outstanding consolation prize for the loser of the Markell-Carney race. More than most states, Delaware seems to have politicians cycle between various offices and certainly Delaware’s Democrats would be mindful that the Biden replacement would be on the ballot once again in 2010 to finish the remainder of his term. (It would give Delaware voters five consecutive U.S. Senate elections since 2010 would have otherwise been the “off” year, as 2008 is here in Maryland.) If they select Markell to become a Senator then the Democrats would have to pick a state Treasurer to finish his term, and then a vacancy would occur in whatever office the new Treasurer hailed from, and so on. One thing Delaware Democrats have is a pretty deep bench of officeholders, mainly from Wilmington and New Castle County. Meanwhile, Carney is not running from cover so he’ll need a job come 2009 should he lose the primary fight.

There’s a tremendous amount of intrigue possible depending on the circumstances, but Delaware voters also have the chance to help end Joe Biden’s political career as well. They could help elect John McCain as President and shock the nation by voting Christine O’Donnell into the United States Senate. I was actually planning on looking at the three major Delaware races from the standpoint of my pet issues, but this breaking news took precedence so perhaps I’ll do the posts over Labor Day weekend. If a Delaware blogger can take interest in a Maryland race, I’ll make up for his lack of attention to his home state and provide my own insight.

Crossposted at That’s Elbert With An E.

Time for refutations

It took him awhile, but ShoreIndie decided to take issue with my argument about oil supplies and needing more exploration to both help reduce the per-barrel price and potentially create thousands of energy-related jobs.

The straw man argument that is provided to prove that there’s a “lack of reason” among conservative bloggers relates in part to two posts I recently did, Overtime inside the Beltway and Response to comment #94462. Well, ShoreIndie wanted a source to confirm that the oil leases which are off-limits have more oil than the areas currently leased by oil companies. The Democrats who sponsored H.R. 6251 claimed that areas leased but not currently explored could produce 4.8 million barrels a day but there’s no total provided. Meanwhile, spokespeople for the oil companies claim that much of the leased area is already “tapped out.”

Even if I were to take the Democrats at their word, figures from the federal government’s Mineral Management Service show that there’s 18.9 billion recoverable barrels unavailable to extraction on just the Outer Continental Shelf alone. According to my public school math, areas unavailable would provide that 4.8 million barrels a day the Democrats claim would result from recovering oil on already-leased land for 3,938 days (or 10.7 years). This doesn’t count the billions of barrels available in ANWR or the 1.8 trillion barrels of oil shale on land which is 73% under the control of the federal government but barely leased under research and development leases.

Even worse, in telling me that I “can’t have it both ways” in talking about my post hoc argument regarding the do-nothing Democratic Congress (when it comes to productive energy legislation), he cites a bill which was signed by President Bush on December 20, 2006 – the problem there is that Congress was still in GOP hands at that point. Pelosi and company didn’t start ruining the country until January of 2007. Additionally, even if you take the 30 million or so acres that ShoreIndie cites as recently opened for oil development in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, it’s a small fraction of the 611 million acres off-limits based on the report I cited above. Granted, it’s progress but scant progress compared to the favoritism granted to a number of “alternative” energy sources and regulation overkill in just this bill (all 310 pages of it.)

It’s unfortunate that ShoreIndie doesn’t get the point that it’s not just about oil, it’s about more and better jobs for Americans and maintaining both our high standard of living and our security should there be another energy crisis. And the argument that we’re years away from extracting all of this new oil can be answered by noting that we’re also years away from, as a local example, the Bluewater Wind offshore wind farm (scheduled to go online in 2012) or most other examples of renewable energy. Neither solution is immediate, but already having the economy that’s oil-driven means that we should strive to eventually change over with as little impact on the market and as little government interference as possible.

Shorebird of the Week – August 21, 2008

The story of Delmarva’s success this season has been its pitching. While their ERA is only 6th out of the 16 teams in the South Atlantic League, they’re the only team that has three starters with double-digit win totals. Just behind them is a pitcher who’s collected all seven of his victories in relief, holding down the fort until the bats came around to win the ballgame. Brian Parker has sort of been flying under the radar, but he’s performed well all season and is deserving of selection as this week’s Shorebird of the Week.

Brian is definitely a power pitcher, as he’s averaging over a strikeout per inning (70 in 66 2/3 innings of work) but has good enough command to only have allowed 23 walks and 62 hits in that span, resulting in a solid 1.28 WHIP. Generally he’ll pitch the 7th and 8th innings, setting up the closer – however Brian does have 2 saves this season in three chances.

The tall, lanky righthander was selected in the 19th round of the 2007 draft by the Orioles out of Lewis and Clark College and pitched effectively for both Bluefield and Aberdeen last season (combined 3-0, 1.78 in 30 1/3 innings) before the Idaho native began his first full pro season this year. With his 3.65 ERA this time around, he’s not quite as dominating as he was previously but still seems to be making strides and is probably on the cusp between a promotion to Frederick or starting 2009 back here. The control numbers are in his favor but he was somewhat more hittable in the season’s second half. He also has an unusually high number of unearned runs, which actually made him a little less effective as innings were extended.

As sheer happenstance since I didn’t notice this until I looked up the stats, today is Brian’s 23rd birthday. It’s not everyone who’s picked as a Shorebird of the Week on their birthday, but Parker is fortunate enough to have the opportunity as he continues his bid to make it to The Show.

Coming forward with info

Over the last few days, I’ve had a thread going in my noontime posts about bloggers and their influence on national issues. On Tuesday I alluded to one particular person who sent me an e-mail unsolicited and represents an organization which has goals that are reflected closely by what I write. At the time, I decided not to reveal her name or organization but then I saw another post where she was referred to by name. That made it obvious that she wouldn’t mind too much if I did the same.

The “she” in question is Jane Van Ryan and she works for the American Petroleum Institute. In this video, she asks a number of people their opinions on additional drilling for oil:

Admittedly, I’m sure that’s not all of the responses they received and some weren’t camera-suitable, but the polls do suggest that opinion is on the side of her organization.

Since I had her ear (or in this case eye since I e-mailed her), I also asked her about the impact bloggers have had on her organization:

To answer your question, API has had 327 blog hits since we started corresponding with bloggers about a year ago, and my name has been mentioned on blogs about 160 times. There is an important reason for our outreach: We believe the US will never have a sound energy policy until the American public understands energy – what it is, where it comes from, and why it’s essential to our way of life and standard of living. Our online efforts are aimed at providing facts, not rhetoric, about energy so people can make their own decisions about what makes sense for America.

Since her group represents the people of the American oil and gas industry and one reason I’ve harped on the subject of exploring for domestic resources is the true economic stimulus that would be triggered if oil and gas companies would be allowed to use their profits to create thousands of good-paying jobs in both extraction and refining of crude oil and natural gas, the two of us would have a mutually beneficial relationship if she alerts me to content I find interesting and worthwhile to share and in turn that content brings my readers a better understanding of their point of view.

It’s why I have a number of e-mail sources that I go through. Most of the time there’s something I can use; in fact, if I didn’t already have a full-time gig that pays me pretty well I certainly could find the time to post several times a day just sharing and commenting on those items I do get. In the last month I’ve used material from a number of advocacy groups besides API, such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty, Newt Gingrich’s American Solutions, the Center for Immigration Studies, Vets for Freedom, and Nozzlerage.com. For the most part, I agree with what these groups seek in terms of policy and in turn they’re seeking exposure. (Of course, if they wanted more constant exposure I also accept advertising!) And this didn’t count the overtly political items I also get from the Maryland GOP and Andy Harris’s Congressional campaign.

So perhaps I’ve let out the dirty little secret of blogging – it’s really hard to find original thought. Most of what we do is reaction to either events performed by or opinions of others. I’m probably more adept at adding my opinion to a given piece of information than most (and not just simply reprinting a press release), but the information still has to come to my attention for me to comment on it. It’s sort of like the old parable about a tree falling in the woods – if I don’t see it I’m not going to write about it. And considering that my website is my hobby/obsession, having nothing to write about would be like a chain smoker trying to quit cold turkey. It was a nice little vacation I had recently, but I was ready to get back in more ways than one. Lucky for me nice folks like Jane Van Ryan give me more than enough to comment about.

In the preview, the video wasn’t working properly, so here’s a link just in case. ~~I think there’s an embed issue again.~~ The embed issue is fixed as you can tell, I had to trick WordPress into taking the HTML text properly.

Two views on disability

Having worked in the architectural field for almost 22 years, I’ve gone from doing ink-on-mylar drawings hunched over a drafting table to spending my days on a computer putting together project drawings and specifications, all while having much of the information I need at my fingertips thanks to the internet. All but gone are the days of drawing up plans and running them through an old-fashioned blueprint machine with the special yellow printing paper, sucking in all those nice ammonia fumes.

Besides its computerization and the design flavor du jour, two other changes have radically affected my chosen profession over the last two decades. While I’ve regularly been critical of the movement toward sustainable architecture as an expensive mandate of dubious benefit (readers can browse the “Radical Green” category for some examples), another expensive mandate of dubious benefit came into being in the early 1990’s and is on the verge of being updated in the next few months. In 1990 President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act and changed the way our profession looked at the design of spaces.

I bring this up as an introduction to two recent articles by writer Hans Bader, who toils for the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Both of these look at disabilities in light of the legislation I referred to earlier. The more tongue-in-cheek article was written last week and asks whether we’re all disabled now. In Bader’s case, he points out a recent court decision made insomnia a disability, and since he only gets a few hours of sleep a night that makes him “disabled”, even though he’s otherwise healthy. I probably qualify as “disabled” myself once or twice a month on that count alone. Even moreso, I qualify in that category due to my sleep apnea – I must be in like flint on that disabled classification. Actually I would be, because that particular condition prevents me from doing an activity like camping where there’s no electrical outlets to plug my CPAP machine into. (Never mind I really have no desire to sleep outdoors on the hard ground anyway.)

The more recent and meatier Bader piece talks about the impact of the ADA on building design. He cites a New York Times story which claims 100,000 apartments in New York City alone may have to be renovated because the Justice Department says so. This is in spite of a local ordinance which is stricter than the federal one in many cases.

By hook or by crook, I’m sort of the go-to person in my firm when it comes to the ADA and similar code compliance issues. It’s probably because I’ve been in the architectural field long enough to have these things become second nature in design, but I’ve also sat through a couple seminars on the subject in my time as well. (The most recent one fulfilled a good chunk of my continuing education requirements for maintaining my registration in the state of Maryland; however, that sore subject is a post for another day.) But the problem with making more and more conditions legally considered disabilities is that more and more provisions have to be made architecturally for the new disabilities.

Let’s take my condition to the extreme. I’ve only run into one place where plugging in my CPAP was an issue, and the solution was unplugging the alarm clock in my motel room and asking the front desk for a wake-up call at a certain time. But wouldn’t I have a case that my disability required not just an outlet dedicated for the machine close by the bed, but one which is connected to a backup power supply because I need the machine to overcome my medical condition and get the proper amount of sleep, even if the power failed for some reason? Imagine the cost of retrofitting millions of domiciles around America if that were placed into federal regulations. And having done an architectural job renovating parts of a well-known area nightclub in response to legal action brought against the owner of that particular property, I’m well aware that with the right circumstances there are trial lawyers more than happy to take any case I could come up with if I believed my rights had been violated. It’s small wonder that one joke in my profession is that ADA truly stands for “Attorney’s Dreams Answered.”

In most respects, accessibility for the vast majority of the disabled has been addressed with the original ADA regulations. As I said earlier, those have pretty much become second nature for design and with Baby Boomers getting older and taking advantage of Medicare benefits to snatch up accessibility aids like power scooters, it’s likely that some provisions will need to be numerically increased to account for the larger population who depend on these devices, such as the number of accessible stalls in a toilet room or van-accessible parking spaces. But there needs to be a limit placed on just how far the regulations go, as it’s almost impossible to design a public space that truly accommodates all people regardless of disability in a cost-effective manner.

Regardless of the new regulations, the provisions which exist in current law that need to be retained are ones where spending to comply with accessibility regulations is prioritized in favor of accomplishing certain common accessibility goals first, then less important ones completed if funds remain available to do so. This also establishes a budgetary cap which dictates that only a certain percentage of the price needs to go to accessibility renovations and allows for exempting items which would exceed that percentage. Similar exemptions are also in place for changes which would disrupt the building structurally or damage the historic character of a building undergoing renovation.

I think both Bader and I agree that these regulations need to be reined in rather than expanded; unfortunately the trend with almost anything that comes out of Washington in this day and age is to go the opposite way. Having glanced through the 300-plus pages of the revised ADA regulations, I can vouch for the fact that there’s no exception in this case either.

The rump convention

Since I’ve made this a theme of sorts, I decided to bring up a true internet phenomenon today – the 2008 campaign of Presidential hopeful Ron Paul. The guy who used all the tricks of the internet to raise millions for a campaign which barely registered when it came to actual votes has moved on to form yet another net-based organization called the Campaign for Liberty. Their big opening event (the Rally for the Republic) could be construed as a thumb to the eye of the GOP establishment, seeing that it will be held in Minneapolis concurrently with the Republican convention.

I’m not saying this to disparage the effort – after all, I signed up to be a member of the Campaign for Liberty because there are a lot of Ron Paul’s ideas I do agree with. (He and I just don’t see eye-to-eye on combatting terrorism.) I do happen to think that the GOP is more amenable to these principles for the most part and it will be interesting to see what if any interaction occurs between the two sets of conventioneers.

But there are going to be some unique quirks about this Campaign for Liberty shindig, particularly as it will feature as much entertainment as political speeches. (It’s great if you’re into country music, to me not so much.) I had to chuckle when I saw the part about Ronvoys, though.

For those who are dying to go but can’t afford plane tickets or gas, they have come up with a low-budget way to get to Minneapolis via van or bus called a Ronvoy. There are ten Ronvoys which will stop in various cities to get to the Rally, with the closest one to us here on Delmarva starting in Washington, D.C. and stopping in Hagerstown, MD. So I wouldn’t expect these folks to be a strain on the limousine business in the Twin Cities, unlike the situation in Denver.

And with an eclectic guest list of speakers, I’m sure the participants in the Rally for the Republic will have plenty to think and talk about as they make their way back home. Certainly the C4L site will have an array of video and blogging from the event, and it may make for more interesting stuff than will come from that other convention in town. (Hey, I tried to liven things up at that one, but everyone probably assumed I was a Ron Paul supporter anyway.)

It’s yet another source of blogging fodder that I’ll be getting in the future, one of many such organizations trying to be like me and make a difference.

Using plastic to pay for plastic

Or you can write a check, too. But I ran across a post on an engineering magazine blog (of all places) that has found perhaps the most mundane of problems (at least when compared to warfare, starvation, and the like) while advocating the same old left-wing solution to assist in solving it.

The blog is called Critical Path and the writer in this case is William Angelo. I’ll reprise the phrase that pays:

You can always appeal to people’s sense of outrage – and many people take environmental degradation seriously. But the people that do aren’t the problem and they have many other fights. And you know the old saying, out of sight, out of mind. We’ll worry about it tomorrow. So how about the best incentive of all – economic? We can use a carrot and stick approach. We could make plastic substitutes socially responsible by rewarding firms that do not produce or use plastic products. Perhaps tax or regulatory breaks that help the corporate bottom-line. Then we could also mandate a user tax on all plastic products at every transaction point – starting with the manufacturer to the merchant to the consumer – and use the proceeds to pay for a global cleanup. Money is the universal language – make users pay and perhaps give a refund for recycling. Even some dolt litterbug can understand that. (Emphasis mine.)

I probably should have left this slide just in case Martin O’Malley or one of his minions is reading monoblogue, but they’ve probably already thought about this tax themselves. Angelo’s complaint is about the tons of plastic which finds its way to our oceans and is harmful to marine life. Yes, it is shameful but for centuries mankind has used waterways as a conveyance to get rid of waste products, so this is nothing new.

However, Angelo’s approach is already law in a number of states where, in an effort to cut down on litter, deposits are required to purchase various products which are packaged in disposable bottles or cans, with the deposit ranging anywhere from a couple pennies to a dime. But there’s still plenty of litter strewn across the landscape despite the fines states could collect from scofflaws if they’re caught. And while the heaps of trash we Americans toss out has created a cottage industry for some who endeavor to pick up the recyclable portions in order to make a few dollars at the recycling center, a lot of garbage eventually finds its way to storm drains, ditches, and other waterways. Thus you have Angelo’s complaint, where he compares parts of the Pacific Ocean to a “giant non-flushing toilet bowl.”

On a personal level, I’ve probably tossed out a fortune’s worth of aluminum cans in my life but I otherwise tend to take advantage of the county’s recycling center just down the road from me. I’m sure that some portion of my tax bill goes to subsidize the effort since most of what they collect isn’t worth a whole lot unless you measure the waste in tons. What’s sort of sad is the amount of trash I walk by to take my recycling items there, much of which isn’t in a category the county will take. This is where we all can improve our efforts and be a little more conscious of what we use and use up.

Leaving aside another argument retailers have about the bottle and can collection areas which some states require for return of items being a draw for bugs and rodents to their stores, the case I make against a tax such as Angelo suggests is to ask who collects it? He envisions a “global clean-up” but to me the only group with such worldwide governmental scope is the United Nations, and the last thing we Americans need is to enact a tax for their benefit given the black hole the billions we already donate to the UN seems to end up in.

Once again, I think common sense should prevail. Just don’t litter – take a little pride in your surroundings, people. Simply being a little more sensitive to what you toss out where will go a great distance in solving the problem. Obviously one can’t eliminate the problem in full (accidents do happen, like the plastic cup at the lakeside picnic being blown into the water by a gust of wind) but using common sense is a lot cheaper than yet another tax that government can raise at will.

Fan mail with a twist

I’m beginning to sense that I’m building a theme with my midday posts this week, that of the blogosphere’s influence on political discourse in America 2008. It wasn’t intentional but I’ll let it ride for awhile and see where it goes.

The e-mail in question almost seemed like one of those which went to hundreds of bloggers, but it was personalized enough that I thought maybe it was legit. Just in case, and since I didn’t necessarily get permission to share the full contents, I’ll omit the name of the person and the organization. Let’s just say it’s one I agree with to a large extent and I appreciated the information the writer forwarded to me (which is commonly available in this case, maybe the info won’t be so common in the future.) I’m sure I’ll use this particular citation somewhere in a future post.

I’m writing to you today because I recently discovered your work on Maryland Voice and Monoblogue and I found the commentary very interesting. Since energy has emerged as a key issue in this election cycle, I thought I should introduce myself and make myself available to you as a resource.

I’m (withheld) and I work with (an energy-related organization.) I noticed you often focus on policy issues, I thought you might be interested in (a) document that addresses some of the political comments made about the industry recently. (Indeed, I was sent a nice link – stuff I suspected but didn’t have the numbers for.)

Although most members of Congress are in their home states on recess this month, the energy debate is still going strong. Therefore, please let me know if you ever have any questions about energy issues. I’m happy to provide statistics or put you in touch with one of our industry experts.

I look forward to continuing to read your blog and hope we can stay in touch.

When I looked into this further, I found out that Maryland Voice is a republishing blog, which is why I hadn’t heard of it. It’s sort of like one of those enterprises that exists solely as a place for someone to place advertising hoping to make big money. However, my blog is real and I’m glad the person in question agrees with me. I look forward to having him (or her) as a source.

It got me to thinking about the number of new organizations which have sprung up in even the last year or two as the internet becomes more and more pervasive as an information source. Before, someone who wanted to begin a new advocacy group had to somehow scratch up the funding to advertise in the mainstream media and let themselves become known. Now they can do the same thing for essentially free on Youtube. Even better for them, there’s a happy marriage brewing between bloggers who are always looking for new and interesting content and those outfits which can provide it. In my case, I’m happy to give a hand when my aims and the group’s goals are congruent.

With all that clutter, though, there is a danger of dilution. Too many groups with the same message become competitors rather than allies and the infighting can be damaging to the cause as a whole. The organization in question for this post probably isn’t going to go away soon, but other startups in energy-related fields could go from low-budget to no-budget rather quickly if the issue is solved. It’s something we all need to keep in the back of our minds.

In the meantime, I appreciate the fan mail and am glad this person reads my thoughts on a regular basis.

Moving an old storyline

On my homepage this evening I happened to notice this AP story by writer Barbara Rodriguez. Just in time for school to get back underway, she describes an effort by a number of college presidents to foster a renewed debate on the age to purchase and consume alcohol.

It was actually a story I touched on about 5 1/2 months ago in an article called Sticking up for Amendment 10. In that case, the state of Vermont was planning to study the impact of changing the drinking age, with opponents citing both the increased risk to young adults and the prospect of losing about $17 million in federal highway funding as reasons to continue with a drinking age of 21.

On the other side, I opined that the state should be able to determine its own drinking age if the Tenth Amendment were being properly followed. But for decades the federal government has used its power of the purse as a hammer to get states to pass laws that may not be in the best interest of or necessarily supported by the public at large, but simply the pet issue of someone in Washington. One case in point relates to the drinking age issue – the .08 percent blood-alcohol limit was the crusade of onetime Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, who lost a daughter in an auto accident caused by a drunk driver. While it’s an event no parent should have to live through, one man’s tragedy does not give him the right to overturn the Founders’ intent.

In fact, the drinking age statement by the college presidents and their nascent movement, dubbed the Amethyst Initiative, dosen’t specifically call for the repeal of the 24-year-old National Minimum Drinking Age Act; just an honest debate on the subject. And I suspect that even if the federal act were repealed and the issue brought back to the state level most would opt to maintain the drinking age at 21.

It’s unfortunate that the AP story didn’t extend itself to either that portion of the debate or follow up on Vermont’s earlier efforts. However, it served for me to reopen the call for the federal government to loosen its grip on its absolute power, and I’m hoping this baton is picked up by some of those same Congressmen who are taking part of their recess to convince the few in America remaining who don’t think we should explore and drill for oil that regulations on that aspect of our government need to be relaxed. While many of them seem to understand what federalism as intended by our Founding Fathers really means, the effort also needs to be made to educate the public on states’ rights as well.

Since the AP story didn’t do that, I took it upon myself to show that this new group can be much more useful than it may appear on the surface. All it would take is these same college presidents to make it part of a primer on the proper role of government – unfortunately I’m not seeing that happening.

It wasn’t a townhall, but it was McCain vs. Obama

Earlier in the campaign, GOP Presidential hopeful Senator John McCain challenged Democrat standardbearer Senator Barack Obama to a series of townhall meetings as a way for Americans to compare and contrast their approach to issues. In doing that, two things were obvious: John McCain felt that he could clean Barack Obama’s clock in that style of debate, and his campaign probably felt as if they were the underdog going forward. This is particularly true given the “drive-by” media’s fawning coverage of the Obama campaign – playing up the highlights and glossing over the gaffes and misstatements.

While the pair were not on stage together, fellow blogger Bob McCarty recounted his observations on a candidate forum held at the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. Dubbed the Saddleback Civil Forum, moderator and church pastor Rick Warren questioned both candidates for an hour apiece. It was an opportunity to compare and contrast each candidate’s approach without the full time constraints of a formal debate.

Obviously it could be argued that the natural advantage went to John McCain because he went last, but Barack Obama also had a crack at making a good first impression. But I really brought this into the light because here was a newsworthy item that didn’t get a lot of play since it wasn’t held under the auspices of a television network or newspaper – rather, it was held in a religious setting. And had it not been for a blogger, I wouldn’t have become aware of the forum being held in the first place; still, millions will not have this piece of information known to them when they cast their ballots in November.

I’ve always operated under an assumption, that being when a voter is as well-informed as possible he or she will tap the touchscreen next to the candidate who is more conservative. It’s why I despise campaigning thirty seconds at a time on television – of course, I know that this method reaches the most people in the most efficient manner but 30 seconds is far too little to make more than one or two points and in most cases these points are simply negative ones toward the candidate’s opponent. (Yes, I make a lot of negative points toward liberals too but given the team that’s in charge, it’s necessary to point out their shortcomings. Where I do sometimes fall short is not providing sound alternatives, but once you have a pretty good understanding of how I write you should be able to figure out the overriding themes of limited government and enhanced personal freedom relatively well.)

The one issue I do have with the internet is that there’s almost too much information on a lot of things which aren’t necessarily important to how a candidate will perform once elected. On the other hand, it’s much better than the vacuum created by the thirty-second commercials, and I encourage everyone who’s interested to take an hour or two and do the research.

However, the first step in this process is internal. About this time last year I selected a Presidential candidate I liked, but first I had to decide the issues which were most important to me. There’s still time to complete that process before November and if monoblogue can be a help in making a decision, I’m happy to oblige.

Pictures from a show

Unlike Joe Albero and Salisbury News, I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures for public consumption at the Wicomico Home and Farm Show. (I’d link, but wouldn’t it be more fun to wade through 14 other articles on 14 different topics to find the right one?) There’s really only three photos which you really need to see in my estimation, and each has a story that I’ll assist in telling.

I’ve been here for four WHFS events, and for at least the last three the Wicomico County Republicans have placed up a booth similar to this. (If you don’t believe me, you can go here and here. Those detractors of mine may get a chuckle out what I was tossing in the second link.) In spending my teenage years in a rural area, I know that farm country is generally Republican country so it’s no surprise that we cater to our base of people who derive their incomes from agriculture.

We finally received the McCain yard signs which people clamored to get, starting with the Delmarva Chicken Festival in June. I don’t have the exact numbers, but at least during my shifts we gave out both Andy Harris and John McCain items out regularly. I’m suspecting things were even quicker during the evenings while I was away.

So let us contrast this with the other side of the political coin, shall we?

What you’re seeing is the sum total of the Democrats’ participation in the WHFS, insofar as I can tell. No one worked their table on a regular basis when I was present, although Jim Ireton did come in briefly first thing Friday to find some of our items on his table. I half-jokingly told him someone was trying to send him a message, but he huffily said something in the vein of us not showing respect. Well, Jim, kids don’t always show respect and when I asked around that was who folks blamed for hanging around the vacant table. I realize you’re not necessarily in your element when much of the surroundings is geared toward those who farm and their active 4-H offspring, but I was disappointed the Democrats chose not to add more to the process – particularly with their Congressional candidate who’s billing himself as a moderate.

Moreover, Frank Kratovil made me into a liar, since I didn’t check his Saturday schedule beforehand. He opted to stay closer to home, and apparently won’t necessarily be an adherent to the man at the top of his ticket who vowed to campaign in even the reddest of areas. (Or, as Barack Obama so famously gaffed, all 57 states.)

However, I can vouch for his opponent making the rounds Saturday:

Yes, State Senator Harris was holding court right at the main corner, talking with a number of would-be constituents about the issues important to them. The conversation I overheard while taking this picture just happened to be along the same lines as the subject of a recent post, as private property rights are so very important in the agricultural field. By taking away the freedom to use land as one wishes, they are essentially stealing value from the owner, just as if an armed robber kicked in the front door of his home and took the landowner’s other worldly possessions.

With that, another Wicomico Farm and Home Show has come and gone, and I’d like to thank those who assisted with manning our booth. Maybe it wasn’t the most exciting task, but having our faces in the place should pay dividends later on.

Word parsing exercise

While I was working our GOP booth at the Wicomico Farm and Home Show, things were a little slow. Friday afternoon just after the show opens isn’t exactly prime time for engaging voters, so between opportunities to talk to the electorate I had a little bit of fun with some literature I picked up from the table of our Democratic Club cohorts – in this case it was for their Congressional standard-bearer Frank Kratovil.

What I decided to do for this post was place the original message, one sentence at a time, in regular font and what he really meant to say in italics. So here goes. It’s done tongue-in-cheek to an extent, the trick is figuring out where perception meets reality.

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“I’m running for Congress because I believe Washington isn’t working for us – too many professional politicians who put partisanship and special interests ahead of the public good.”

I’m running for Congress out of the First District because I couldn’t win a seat from my home county – how many white guys win anything from PG anymore? Oh, and when I say Washington isn’t working for us I’ll not tell you that most of it stems from my party being in charge of Congress. And besides, partisanship and special interests are only bad when it’s not my party or the special interests I favor – unions, trial lawyers, and radical, anti-capitalist environmentalists. The public good is what we tell you it is.

“It’s time for new leadership and a new direction.”

You’ll definitely agree with that statement in two years if I’m elected, but I plan on being one of those entrenched incumbents after I get the media even farther in the tank for me.

“I believe in an America that works for everyone, not the privileged few; an America where we all pull together to forge a stronger, safer, and more prosperous future for all of us.”

Don’t you like how I play the class envy card twice in the same sentence? By stronger I’m referring to a stronger hold on your life by DC bureaucrats, where it will be safer to assume I’ll be re-elected and more prosperous for all of us who are my trial lawyer and government union friends.

“As a prosecutor, I make decisions based on facts and law and right and wrong, not partisan politics.”

That’s why I’m trying to get out of the law enforcement gig and into creating laws.

“As a States Attorney on the Eastern Shore, I work directly with law enforcement officers and citizens to make our small towns and rural communities safer.”

So when I move to Washington I’ll work with my liberal allies to make all of our government jobs safer.

“I focus on problem solving, not party affiliation.”

But that will come to a screeching halt once Nancy and Steny set me hip to the real rules in that town.

“I will exercise those same leadership qualities in Congress.”

It may take me about four or five terms to get high enough on seniority to do that, but I’ll work to keep a Democrat majority by fooling you people enough to keep all of us here. Just keep reading the mainstream media and whatever you do, don’t believe a word you hear on Fox News, talk radio, or those pajamas media people on that internet. Maybe we’re sort of stuck with Fox News despite our efforts to demonize it, but we’ll get rid of talk radio once we restore the Fairness Doctrine; the internet will be next.

“I will work to restore fiscal responsibility and to end the war in Iraq so we can focus on building a stronger economy for small businesses and families, affordable health care, immigration reform, energy independence, restoring the Chesapeake Bay and improving educational opportunities.”

I’m going to raise your taxes and pull the military out of Iraq in the hopes that the Islamofascists don’t exploit our weakness, that of having only one party in America believe that our nation should be a beacon of freedom in an oppressive world. Then we can focus on giving out as many government goodies as we can to some small businesses and families who we deem fit to receive them, take over health care so that it can be run as efficiently as your local drivers’ license agency – at three times what it costs now, allow all the immigrants who want to come in and give them amnesty even if they were illegal, dump huge subsidies into alternative energy sources that are years away from being reality but give ourselves an excuse to tax oil companies some more, enact more regulations on landowners around Chesapeake Bay and other bodies of water with desirable property around them so they have no choice but to sell us their land for pennies on the dollar, and do everything in our power to prop up the teachers’ unions by denying parents as many alternatives to the public schools as we possibly can. It’s an aggressive two years’ work, but if you elect enough of us Democrats who talk like “moderates” but walk in lockstep with the fringe lefties here inside the Beltway, we can easily accomplish all those tasks.

**********

There. I think it’s a little long for a single sheet of paper, but when you figure out the true meaning it goes to show how much obfuscation there really is on that side of the aisle. Truly, what most politicians say is a series of platitudes, and this was an attempt to meet platitude with attitude. Betcha someone on the other side does something similar with Andy’s words – but at least he has a legislative record to go by and Frank Kratovil doesn’t.

To close out this post, if you’re in the Wicomico County area, you can come see us at the WHFS over at Winterplace Park (just off U.S. 50 on Hobbs Road). Andy Harris is scheduled to be there sometime between 10 and 12, and my wager is Frank Kratovil will stop by sometime too. It’ll be fun, trust me.

Crossposted on Red Maryland.