Nevada and Rolling the Dice

It's somehow fitting to see the role Nevada is playing in the Democratic primaries. Former President Bill Clinton said we would be rolling the dice if we elected Barack Obama. Despite the controversy generated by the statement, the argument is valid for a number of reasons.

1) Power changes people. Different people react to power, especially immense power, in different ways. For example, Dick Cheney, though admittedly an arch conservative, was viewed with a degree of respect before he became Vice President. Since then, his efforts to aggrandize himself and the executive branch, combined with his blatant warmongering, and his disregard for fundamental elements of the Constitution, have transformed him into a different person. His character now is repugnant to most Americans.

Barack Obama's youth makes him especially vulnerable to the effects of immense power.

2) Politics is a game of images, and the things people say to get elected may be vastly different from their inner agenda. Presidential candidate George W. Bush said he wanted to be a uniter not a divider. We all know how quickly that promise was discarded.

3) The best barometer in evaluating political candidates, given the two points above, is their prior record. There seems to be an element of calculation, compared to inner beliefs, in Barack Obama's record. For example, he voted "present" instead of yea or nay on many votes while he was a state legislator. You can't vote "present" when you're President. You have to take a stand. That stand is harder to discern than for someone with a record like Hillary Clinton.

So, yes, there is an element of rolling the dice with Barack Obama. I'm not saying he couldn't be a good or even great President, only that it's difficult to render a verdict at this stage.

Barack Obama: Let the Buyer Beware

There is indeed something going in the Barack Obama campaign, but it requires a closer look. The first time I heard him speak since his keynote address at the Democratic Convention, Mr. Obama was giving his victory address after the Iowa caucus. Despite being a committed supporter of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, I must admit I was taken in by his soaring oratory and plea for unity.

As the campaign progressed, and I heard more of his speeches, I came to realize he wasn't saying very much. Yes, the words and sentiments were eloquent, but it was like the old Wendy's commercial, "Where's the beef?" Slowly, it dawned on me that everyone brought their own hopes and aspirations to these rallies, and transposed them onto what Obama was saying. Thus, the speeches served as a template for our individual needs.

With all due respect to Mr. Obama and the historic campaign he is waging, this is a dangerous thing. Even if the messenger is well meaning, the fact that masses of people are flocking to his campaign suggests we, as a people, may be vulnerable to a demagogue. Not that Barack is one, just that Americans are often a little naive. Mr. Obama is exploiting that fact like any good politician who tries to avoid unnecessarily alienating groups of voters by being too specific.

Now, I don't really know Mr. Obama very well, and I prefer Hillary because I know where she stands and her true concern for all Americans. But it is difficult for her to compete against someone who stirs the longing and desparation we all feel at times.

So, here's just a note of caution: Caveat Emptor... Let the buyer beware.

My Year in Review

It seems fitting to conclude this year's My Week in Review blog with an entry titled "My Year in Review."

The blog focuses on three major topic areas: Politics, Religion and Public Relations, and I'll focus on each one in turn.

First, PR. This year has been a productive one for our company, Cut-It-Out Communications, and we've achieved several major goals. These include reaching the level of four major clients on full retainer, changing the company name (from Cut-It-Out Editing) and hiring consultants for a major overhaul of our website, to be completed in January. We've also expanded our offerings significantly, starting a new interactive program for our clients including blogs, online press releases, e-newsletters and online content syndication. We now also provide new structured web pages for client sites, primarily for press releases and forwarding of newsletter articles, so visitors can access the website directly instead of linking to a pdf file.

Religion: Well, our annual Bob Dylan Christmas card stirred the usual praise and controversy. We've also been published on lohud.com (the online site for The Journal News) with a critique of the Religious Right and the issue of immigration. This blog was launched in the second half of the year, allowing an outlet for opinions about the link between politics and true Christianity.

Politics: Cut-It-Out Communications added new clients in the County Legislature and Greenburgh town hall. Support for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign for President took various forms, including a full-page creative word-scramble advertisement in the journal for the Annual Dinner of the Westchester County Democratic Committee.

We're looking forward to fruition in many of these fields in an exciting 2008.

A Bob Dylan Christmas

Apologies for the late post this week. Even bloggers take vacations.

For those of you who didn't receive one, my Christmas card, sent to friends, church members and my company's associates at Cut-It-Out Communications, provides the mixture of politics, religion and common sense central to this blog.

Here is the text:

When You Gonna Wake Up
by Bob Dylan

God don’t make promises that He don’t keep.
You got some big dreams, baby, but in order to dream,
You gotta still be asleep.

Chorus: When you gonna wake up,
When you gonna wake up, When you gonna wake up,
Strengthen the things that remain.

Counterfeit philosophies have polluted all of your thoughts.
Karl Marx has got you by the throat,
And Henry Kissinger’s got you tied up into knots. [Chorus]

You got innocent men in jail, your insane asylums are filled.
You got unrighteous doctors,
Dealing drugs that’ll never cure your ills. [Chorus]

You got men who can’t hold their peace,
Women who can’t control their tongue.
The rich seduce the poor, and the old are seduced by the young. [Chorus]

Adulterers in churches, and pornography in the schools.
You got gangsters in power,
And lawbreakers making rules. [Chorus]

Spiritual advisors and gurus to guide your every move.
Instant inner peace,
And every step you take’s got to be approved. [Chorus]

Do you ever wonder just what God requires?
You think He’s just an errand boy,
To satisfy your wandering desires? [Chorus]

You can’t take it with you, and you know it’s too worthless to be sold.
They tell you, “Time is money,”
As if your life was worth its weight in gold.

There’s a man on a cross, and He be crucified for you.
Believe in His power,
That’s about all you gotta do. [Chorus]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Hillary

With all due respect to David Letterman, please see below the top 10 reasons to vote for Hillary. Unlike Mr. Letterman, however, these reasons are serious because they address a very serious topic, the future of our country.

10. Hillary knows what it's like to live in the fishbowl of the White House and has learned how to be circumspect in her words and actions. Some people misinterpret this talent as running a tightly scripted campaign.

9. Hillary gets rave reviews for her performance as a U.S. Senator. Despite initial misgivings by many New Yorkers, she humbled herself in the Senate, worked hard and listened to Senators with more seniority. The result: she was re-elected to the Senate in a landslide and universally acclaimed by New York Democrats and Republicans alike.

8. Her closest advisor is Bill Clinton, who, despite personal weaknesses, created the most properous economic climate in decades when he was President.

7. Hillary has perseverance and grit, essential components of the job description for President. She handled the Lewinsky affair with uncommon poise and determination.

6. Hillary understands the health care system in the United States better than any other candidate, and this is one of the most important issues facing our society today.

5. It would be good for our country for a woman to be elected President.

4. Hillary has deplored the excesses of the Bush administration, from suspension of habeus corpus to waterboarding, and has pledged to reverse them.

3. Hillary understands the importance of dialogue and listening, in general, and especially during crisis situations.

2. You can trust Hillary to work for her beliefs because she has done so her entire life.

AND #1

Hillary is most likely to win in November, and our country can't afford four more years of a Republican administration.

Things Get Interesting

Political junkies really got their fix this week. Of course, anyone with even a passing interest in politics knows a week can be like six months in any other profession. That's why it's so preposterous to predict who the next President will be.

Anyway, Mike Huckabee is the toast of the town, and, even though I'm a staunch Democrat, I must admit he's cast an impressive penumbra over both Parties this week. My interest, as a Pentecostal Christian myself, concerns his willingness to think independently and not pander to the Religious Right. He says, powerfully, that life does not end at birth, something the anti-abortion movement seems to forget. A true Christian should address poverty, adequate healthcare, affordable housing, etc., in addition to protecting the fetus.

Also, Mr. Huckabee refuses to pander to the hating, nativist, anti-immigrant crowd. He defends the immigrant as a human being, something the rest of his Party seems to forget.

Mike Huckabee's meteoric rise obscured a major development in the other Party, namely Barack Obama's rise to number one in the opinion polls. I don't think personally that he would make a good President, mainly because of his inexperience. With Hillary, I know what I'm getting, and she's been an activist since her days at Wellesley.

So, let's see how the frontrunner dynamic plays out next week. There may be a slight falling back as the new stars receive increased scrutiny from the press and their opponents.

Hostages for Hillary

Politics is notoriously hard to predict. Bill Clinton got a shot at the Presidency in the first place because no prominent Democrat wanted to run. George Bush was a glorious victor after Desert Storm, and his approval rating was in the 80 percent range. Who knew he would be dragged down by the economy and his failure to keep his vow, "read my lips, no new taxes."

So, when someone asks you to make a forecast about the next President of the United States, you should remember that a week can be like a year in politics.

Well, yesterday we had a wrench thrown into the Presidential campaign. Some misguided soul strapped highway flares on his body to give the appearance of a suicide bomb and waltzed into a small Clinton campaign headquarters in Rochester, NH, demanding to speak to Hillary and holding some of her staff members hostage.

As we all know, noone was hurt, but I think the incident, terrible as it was, played in Hillary's favor. Her obvious concern for her staff, her emotional yet in control response immediately afterwards, showed her full panoply of feelings. She handled the situation with poise and responsibility. How unlike the way our current President responds to a crisis.

Her speech was so good that Bill O'Reilly did not even cover it. He made some fleeting reference to the situation and then went on to another story, even having the gall to make a jibe about how much Secret Service protection Hillary gets herself.

Whether Hillary's aplomb and superb crisis management affects her poll numbers remains to be seen. However, it is a wake-up call to us all about the volatility of politics and the world we live in.