By the time we get to Arizona

For Barack Obama irony, if not victory, might await in Arizona. Depending on whose polls you believe, the Democrat could be on the verge of an electoral landslide. He has made significant gains in a whole range of battleground states and now turns his money and attention to Arizona, the home of his opponent, Sen. John McCain. 

I can't say that I blame Obama. The only thing better than a wipe out would be one that includes Arizona. That would be the ultimate poke in the eye, and McCain knows it. Now he has to divert funds allocated to other battles to defend his home turf. 

Here's the irony. If Obama is successful, the state that gave the most resistance to recognizing a Black man, Martin Luther King Jr., could be the state that plays a pivital role in electing the nation's first Black president.

I would find an Arizona victory satisfying since John McCain was one of the politicians who fought the passage of the King Holiday. In fairness, he has since apologized for his actions, but who cares?  Some of the things we see in this campaign expose a mindset that looks like the same old McCain. The McCain who only came around to support the holiday after increasing public pressure, the NFL cancelling a super bowl in Arizona, and an overwhelming 338 - 90 vote in the House of Representatives. When it became apparent that he was on the wrong side of history, McCain got on the bus.

Glad he found enlightenment, but it shouldn't have been that hard. Recognizing an American who stirred the moral consciousness of a nation, earned worldwide recognition for his nonviolent movement for equality and peace, and then gave his life as his last great act of sacrifice should have been a no brainer. Not for Arizona, however. They remained the symbol of an unnecessary battle.

Many from my generation will always remember that time period through the sentiment of Public Enemy's hip hop classic, "By the Time I Get to Arizona." It was one of the defiant and revolutionary expressions of the moment. Thanks to Chuck D, even though we bobbed our heads, we never really forgot Arizona. 

That was then, however. This is 2008. The holiday is official. Chuck D is main stream. Obama is playing offense. A man of color is returning to Arizona, not as part of a movement seeking acceptance, but leading a campaign exacting respect. 

Public Enemy's classic has made the journey with me from my walkman cassette to my iPod touch. Now I'm planning to take it into the voting booth. I'm hoping the verdict on an unfortunate time in American history can be reached by the time we get to Arizona.

Leadership, huh...

It seems like an eternity ago, but it was only June 3 of this year.

Barack Obama was clinching the Democratic nomination, when John McCain took to the stage in a sparsely populated room in New Orleans, La., to launch his first attack. McCain planted himself in front of a puke green background and declared himself, "A Leader We Can Believe In." That decision, as well as practically every decision since, has proved him to be anything but a leader.

Even if you start on the night in front of the now infamous green backdrop, McCain was the spectacle of a follower. His theme, "A Leader We Can Believe In," was obviously cribbed from Obama's "Change We Can Believe In." He littered his speech with derisions of Obama followed by the mocking, "that's not change we can believe in."

There you have it. On his speech to launch the general election, McCain uses a knock-off of his opponent's words as the Republican theme and slogan. Leadership?

The rest of the campaign has not fared much better for McCain, and every bump in the road can be mapped back to an absense of leadership. First, he sputtered around from slogan to slogan, never really settling on one long enough for it to take root. When that approach faltered, he then brought in the Bush attack team who savaged him in 2000 and turned the reins over to them.

Bush's team immediately plunged McCain's campaign into an appalling display of negativity that ran counter to everything he had modeled throughout his career. The so-called leader did nothing.

The pathway continued downward. McCain offered no grand vision, no overriding philosophy, no uplifting message, just juvenile attacks that his opponent was a celebrity. According to McCain, Obama's great sin was that people liked him...that voters would assemble to actually listen to him. Record-breaking crowds gathered across the United States and throughout Europe for first-hand exposure to the message of hope and change. No one was following 'the leader.'

Then came the worst mistake of all. After vetting vice president contenders for months, he held a short conversation with a little-known governor from Alaska. Thirty minutes later, he had a nominee. The leadership virtues of consultation and deliberation, of exercising reasonable judgment, were all casualties to his impulses. It was the Magic 8 Ball at the helm. The leader followed.

The other missteps are recent enough to recall with clarity. He careened through the economic meltdown, bouncing from position to position like a pinball. In a final act of desperation, he cast his sailor's honor overboard and began steering his campaign through the mud and sludge directly to the rocky shore.

The passengers aboard the SSS McCain Disaster, sensing their iminent doom, have begun to jump overboard. The captain of the ship plows on...either oblivious to the fact that his crew is deserting him or powerless to do anything about it. Neither being a striking display of leadership.

So here we are...nine days before the election, and news organizations are reporting this his VP nominee is the latest to abandon him. She had always let it be known publicly when she didn't agree with one of McCain's decisions (pulling out of Michigan, not using Rev. Wright to attack Obama, for examples), but we were to see a more brazen display of disloyalty. Campaign staff for both McCain and Palin are going on the record to say that she is out for herself at this point. Ignoring advice from McCain and doing her own thing. And with all this going on, not a word from McCain.

Leadership, huh.

Top 10 reasons to reject McCain

With apologies to Dave Letterman and the Home Office, here are the People's Pundit's Top Ten Reasons to Reject Sen. John McCain:

No. 10 -- After creating signs, posters, commercials, and gazillions of specialty items proclaiming 'Country First,' McCain subjects us to endless recitations of his "I'm a war hero" story. Yeah, you got smacked around for five years. Get some counseling. Enough already.

No. 9 -- Speaking of counseling, after selectively dribbling out parts of his medical records, we learned he hasn't released ANY mental health records. Ok tough guy. You just reminded us that you were tortured for five years and subjected to inhuman cruelties. Shouldn't we get some assurances that you won't literally go cuckoo for coco puffs?

No. 8 -- Cindy Lou? Ok, I'm not mad at you for this one. Crashed three Navy planes, Millions of dollars. Ex wife payoff fund, Millions of Dollars. Marrying a stupid-rich know-your-place Barbie and getting seven houses, 13 cars and your own plane while she stands behind you gazing adoringly? Priceless.

No. 7 -- Insanity: Employing the Hillary Clinton campaign strategy of highlighting your experience, denigrating Obama's positivity, and randomly smearing your opponent yet expecting a different result. Helloooo! Get a clue. We already saw how this movie ends.

No. 6 -- Suspending his campaign to go campaign. In the worst of all stunts, McCain gambled his reputation to try and lead 535 people who had no inclination or reason to follow him and over whom he had no leverage. Stupid.

No. 5 -- No poker face -- Telegraphed to the entire world when he was angry, exasperated and disgusted in every debate. How are you going to conduct serious, hardnosed negotiations when everyone knows how to push your buttons?

No. 4 -- He dissed Dave. Really? You thought it would be a good idea to blow off Dave Letterman to go do an interview on the SAME NETWORK? Really?

No. 3 -- Joe the Plumber. After lifting up Joe the Plummer as the symbol of the poor would-be business owner who can't pay taxes on a quarter of a million dollars, we find out he's not a plumber, his first name isn't Joe, he had no plans to buy a business, he makes $40,000 a year, he didn't pay his taxes, and he's a Republican. Naturally, these revelations are evidence of an Obama smear.

No. 2 -- Remained unacceptably silent when attendees yelled "kill him" and "off with his head" about Obama, then whined that Rep. Lewis hurt his feelings. How do you sleep at night?!

And the No. 1 reason to reject McCain.... (drum roll please)

No. 1 -- We can't take four years of hearing him say "My Friends" without wanting to scream "Kill Him!" or "Off with his head!"

Country First: McCain last

Here's an idea of how McCain could put Country First -- instead of suspending his campaign he should terminate his candidacy.

McCain's erratic behavior over these past few weeks shows that he is almost as unfit for the presidency as his neophyte running mate. It was forseeable that his last stunt would fail. McCain claimed he would suspend his campaign, swoop into Washington to save the bailout deal, and cancel his debate if he couldn't. Later he decided to attend the debate even though he hadn't saved the deal.

He should have known better than to wager his debate performance on his ability to make a deal with 534 people he couldn't control....especially if he couldn't control those of his own party. Now, without the deal, he must pretend that he made progress while he backpeddles on his own promise. Nice.

Today we saw images of McCain scuttling around the halls of Congress trying to talk members into a going along with the latest proposal. How unpresidential. How often do you see a president running around the halls of congress trying to talk members into a deal? If he wanted to look presidential he would summon them to his own meeting. Oh that's right, they wouldn't come. If you can't be in control of the meeting, you don't look like the president.

McCain seems to be more comfortable trying to work deals in the halls of congress. He should stay there.

Charge it to my head but not to my heart

Two weeks and two conventions later, this much is clear — Democrats love with their heads and Republicans love with their hearts.

How else do you explain Democrats working themselves up into a lather by repeating a litany of facts and stats to point out all the failures of the Right? Or the Republicans who gather to worship at the altar of 9/11, claim America as their exclusive own, and celebrate an anti-abortion neophyte as their next best hope? It's clearly a head vs heart phenomenon.

I admit that I'm biased. I do my political thinking with my head. I enjoy a little heart on the side, but I vote based primarily on what my head thinks. That's why I was completely miffed that a major party nominee could give an acceptance speech that paints no vision of the future, that offers no specific prescriptions for the nation's ills, or that looks longingly backwards while trying to convince us that they are the party of the future.

We can cede the hero argument to John McCain. John, 40 years ago, you were the man. You were a bad ass's bad ass. Lord knows not many of us could continue flipping the bird for five years at people who were treating us like a doggie chew toy. For me that would get old quickly. You win that argument hands down.

Forty years later however, you run under a theme called "Country First" that only talks about you the individual. Republicans are frothing and crying, and I'm scratching my head. You pick a running mate whose primary qualification seems to be that she is a spunky hockey mom of five kids with quirky monosyllabic names.

Speaking of running mates, how do you nominate someone and keep them from granting a single interview for a full 10 days now? How are you going to stare down Vladimir Putin when you can't even do a soft shoe with Wolf Blitzer?

How? Because she is an anti-abortionist. It seems a Republican could nominate an axe murderer as long as he/she was committed to overturning Roe v Wade. Speaking of the he/she story, how do you do you nominate a woman and laud it as a giant step forward for women and then have conventioneers wearing buttons that say "I'm voting for the hot chick from the cool state?" Isn't that one step forward and three steps back? That's like saying "I'm voting for the night-Black guy from the sunny state." Doesn't strike me as flattery.

Finally, if fighting your own party is such a great thing, why are you with them in the first place? What's wrong with a guy agreeing with the party he has chosen. Isn't that the point?

Of course these are all head arguments that only prove that when it comes to the Republicans, my heart just isn't in it.

Inside the mind of McCain

It was the middle of the week, and news media the world over were gushing over Sen. Obama. A sullen Sen. McCain summoned his staff to discuss what must be done.

McCain: This is unsatisfactory. He is on TV acting like he understands foreign policy. This is MY issue. He is over there stealing MY issue. I am NOT happy. Obama was supposed to go with us, so we could have images of me tutoring the youngster. How did we lose control?! Now he's speaking in Berlin for God sakes. Berlin!!! I need my Berlin. Get me my Berlin!

Sycophant staff member: Senator, you know there is a Berlin in Ohio. If you recall from the primary election, they don't like his kind in Ohio. We could go there and be "with the people."

They all chuckled at their wit.

McCain: Great idea, my friend. Where will we go in Berlin?

Sycophant staff: A German restaurant of course. You get Berlin AND Germany And you look like you understand ordinary people. It's brilliant.

McCain: You might be on to something. Then we could go to Paris, Wisconsin. We could trail his European cities with their American counterparts. That'll show him. We'll belittle Obama for speaking to 200,000 people. After all, this isn't a popularity contest.

The staff shuffled nervously. After all, this was not good TV. But the boss was happy, so they all went along.

Sycophant staff: Great idea, senator. This will make a tremendous impact. Your best idea yet! High five!

Oops!

The buck stops there

In the end, it's a question of leadership. Will you lead or be led. Do you have real accountability, or do you shift it to others.

The test of leadership, viewed through these questions, leaves doubt about Pres. Bush and Sen. McCain's fitness to lead. Specifically, their insistance that Gen. Petraeus' judgment be followed without question or debate, does not strike me as leadership. A true leader asks the right questions of his subordinates, and as the leader, makes a decision for which he or she is held accountable. Just the opposite is happening in Iraq.

Time and time again, we hear Bush and McCain say that they are following the decisions of commanders 'on the ground.' You have never Bush or McCain say that they took the commanders advice and made a decision that was counter to the recommendation. A true leader wants a recommendation from subordinates, but has a broader view from which to make decisions.

The advice of one subordinate can't be the right decision every time or the subordinate becomes the defacto leader. When challenged about a decision, Bush and McCain always defer to Gen. Petraeus as the one who should be held accountable.

This week we experienced a refreshing change when Sen. Obama visited with Gen. Petraeus and emerged from the meeting with a different response. Obama said he appreciated the general's advice, but his decisions would be based on a broader set of inputs. Leadership. I'll take your advice, but the decision is mine.

This is important because the Pentagon and military establishments are notorious for pushing their bosses in directions that favor the military. You can't really blame them. If your boss asked you how you were doing your job and what you wanted to do next, I'm sure the answer would be somewhat favorable to you. It's human nature. That's why a true leader shouldn't make decisions based on a single source of information. Obama gets it, and the concept confounds Bush and McCain.

In their minds, Gen. Petraeus should be responsible for making all the decisions and that's the problem. The buck stops there.

McCain's Sedona Survivor? I vote for 'Bobby' J

While most Americans are spending Memorial Day at picnics and barbeque's with friends and family, Presidential hopeful John McCain is spending the weekend with what looks like the Survivor: Sedona Republican VP edition.

Among the contests are America's favorite Republican governors, Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Charlie Crist of Florida, and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

The first two I understand but Bobby Jindal?! Jindal is the 36-year-old second generation Indian immigrant who recently swept his way into Louisiana's highest office. Apparently he is highly thought of...as the conservative publication Human Events gave gave him this glowing report.

I'm not sure if John McCain is looking for any advice, but I say pick Jindal. Pick Jindal!

Is there any other one candidate who so effectively neutralizes practically every argument John McCain could have against Barack Obama? Experience? Gone. Jindal was just elected as governor of Louisiana just eight months ago and has barely had time to learn his way around the mansion, much less build up a track record or any achievement.

How about age? Can't say Obama is too young any more, Jindal is 10 years his junior. TEN full years. There are grad students all around the country who are older then Bobby Jindal.

Oh yeah...the people won't vote for somebody who isn't a white man argument? Poof! "Bobby" Jindal is an Indian American of Punjab decent. He was born in Baton Rouge, but he is clearly not going to fool any of our Appalachian friends who are known for their 'tolerant' views.

Think Republicans will have fun with the name Barack HUSSEIN? Bobby's real name is Piyush Jindal. So much for the name game.

We could go on and on. I'm not sure who's been voted off the island out in Sedona this weekend, but I'm rooting for Bobby J. With him on the ticket, McCain might be forced to abandon the usual Republican shenanigans and focus on something entirely different.

Issues.

Isn't there a 1-900-number I can call to vote for my favorite contestant?

John McCain's bearings

One commentator called it "the most wince inducing moment of the campaign." He might have been right.

While retaliating to a John McCain statement that Barack Obama is the candidate of Hamas, Obama bristled that John McCain had "lost his bearings."

Not wanting to be left out of the victimhood game that seems the enthrall all the candidates this year, McCain's campaign shot back that Barack Obama was poking fun at McCain's age.

Later at a press event, while McCain was defending his comments, Joe Lieberman stepped to the microphone and volunteered this: "I just want everyone to know that I checked John McCain's bearings this morning, and they are just fine."

Wince. Yuck!

This is the guy who brought us Jomentum, just for a bit of context.

Awkwardness aside, if I were fighting the perception that I was too old for a job, I wouldn't want to do it by putting out the message that someone has to check my bearings for me. I'll check my own bearings, thank you very much. I'm young enough to do that.

But Joe Lieberman thought it would be cute to say he checked John McCain's bearings. That gives me a visual that I just didn't need. What two consenting adults do in the sauna when nobody is watching is their business. I don't need to hear about it at a press conference.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. :-)