DNC chair

On a political topic, DNC polls may be unscientific but it seems to be showing the same results: Dean in first, Frost in second, and Fowler, Rosenburg and Webb distant thirds. Roemer has really never taken off and is in the bottom of every one I have seen. Fowler and Rosenburg seem to pick up some as a second choice.

It seems to be basically between Dean and Frost unless Howard screws up again, in which case Fowler or Rosenburg will pick up most of his votes. Roemer won't even make it past the first ballot. How many DNC puppets has the establishment been through in the last couple months? I would say they are on at least number 3 with Frost as "their guy" but 90% of that support is from his fellow Texans or other Southners. Fowler's best shot is to find a way to knock out Frost and then talk in the biggest drawl as possible (he is from South Carolina after all) and be their second choice.

Rosenburg's? Keep hoping that Matt Stoller can work his magic for him. Best of luck Matt; I hope you are liking D.C. and that you found a nice apartment.

Nevertheless, the race is still wide open and the results are scientific enough for someone to bet money on, but Dean is in the driver's seat again. He seems to be an early riser.

from the National Journal's Hotline:

First Choice for DNC Chair

Dean 31% (58 votes)
Frost 16% (30 votes)
Roemer 4% (8 votes)
Fowler 4% (7 votes)
Webb 2% (4 votes)
Rosenberg 2% (4 votes)
Leland 1% (1 vote)
Refused 40% (75 votes)

Second Choice for DNC Chair

Frost 11% (20 votes)
Dean 9% (16 votes)
Fowler 7% (13 votes)
Webb 7% (13 votes)
Rosenberg 6% (11 votes)
Leland 2% (4 vote)
Roemer 2% (3 votes)
Refused 58% (107 votes

Last Choice for DNC Chair

Roemer 16% (29 votes)
Dean 11% (21 votes)
Rosenberg 6% (12 votes)
Frost 4% (7 votes)
Fowler 4% (7 votes)
Leland 3% (5 vote)
Webb 2% (4 votes)
Refused 54%

Finally feeling organized

Just when you think you are on track and your life is in order, more stuff piles on the plate. I need to bake a cake, do homework, play basketball, and go to a church potluck tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Bob Shrum has gone into exhile at NYU, Howard Dean and his ex-chair Joe Trippi are at odds, and Simon Rosenburg gathers steam. The DNC race is now Dean and everyone below him. Roemer is starting out with using the 9/11 comission as his spring board. He even made the "o" in his last name the red white and blue ribbon of 9/11 (which was the lamest ribbon by the way...oh and there are too many riboons these days anyway. It is like Watergate, every scanal has to have -gate at the end and every cause has to have a ribbon.) Very classless, Tim. Even his fellow Hoosier and ex-DNC chair Joe Andrew is going for Rosenberg.

All this makes for interesting conversation. I wonder if any polling has been done for the race, because I would be currious how much support they all have. I am sure Dean will make it past the first ballot, but who will be on it with him?

WH 2008-- one less already

With the entry of Dean to the wide open DNC race, and his upsequent announcement that he will NOT run for president in 2008, things are already looking up for Democrats.

Two reasons. First off, Dean is a frontrunner and will push the candidates in a reformist direction, no matter who wins. Personally, I think there are too many reformist canidates, who will drain from each other the votes they need. This would have the terrible result of keeping Shrub et al rich, happy and in power.

I would be happy with Rosenberg, Fowler, or Dean. But I prefer Fowler, but not by much. I would not be happy with Wellington Webb, Roemer, or Frost. I hate them about equally but I guess Roemer is the absolute worst.

The good thing is that if any of my three win, Clark and his ilk are better off. The Clintons are worried that the DNC is spinning out of their control, since Terry is leaving and not exactly beloved but praised. So they asked Clark to run, rumor has it, and he said, "Thanks but no thanks, I am running for President." To me, this sounds plausable and means that Clark is not a Clinton monkey which will mean that he will get less Clintonista support next time but accordingly get more Deanic type support. This means a bigger initial splash and who knows when people actually vote. Actual voters didn't really help Dean.

I don't know who Edwards should support, other than his old lackeys. Hillary isn't going to run, and Rove really made up her mind for her with this finance investigation. As for Bayh, he wants one of the dreaded three, particularly Roemer since he is from IN.

The amazing lies of politicans

Ohio's Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell (R), the guy who was Bush's Ohio campaign Chair and had the role of officiating the election in November "sent a fundraising letter" for his '06 campaign for Governor "that was accompanied by a request for illegal contributions." A pledge card included in the mailing said "corporate & personal checks are welcome," but corporate donations "are illegal" in OH. Blackwell spokesperson Carlo LoParo said any corporate donations will be returned. Fundraising coordinator Jeff Ledbetter "blamed a printer for the mistake, saying it used a template for an issue committee, which is allowed to accept corporate donations" (AP, 1/9).

You know, that is about as believable as Jessia Simpsons' sister blaming her lip snycing on the band playing the wrong song.

Blackwell did everything in his power to disenfrancize people who would be more likely to vote for Kerry than Bush, and slow walked the certification of the electors to prevent any challenge of the results beyond Jessie Jackson and John Conyers' publicity stunts. It is clear that he is not fit to be in charge of the state's elections if he can't even follow the rules and certainly therefore not fit to replace Gov. Bob Taft (R). How very shameful.

Phew!

Last night, after hours on hold, we finally got the airfare part of our Honeymoon taken care of. It was the one thing that my Fiancee had delegated to me and I nearly (and partially) blew it. Last week, I had contacted my parent's travel agent that arranged our Costa Rica trip last Christmas, but she told us on Friday that she couldn't find any flights to New Zealand or Europe via my frequent flyer miles.

So I called first on Saturday and got an incomp guy who disconnected us while checking on flights. So Christina talked the next time we got a hold of a real human. Maybe I am too vauge or something. The only choices left were Oslo or Edinburgh on the way in and Hamburg and Stockholm on the way out. So we chose Oslo to Hamburg. This way, we will start in Norway, go through Sweden, then Denmark and end in Germany.

I am already excited and we don't until June 19th. The only major bummer is how much time we have to spend in Newark for our layover. Sorry Garden Staters, but I hate New Jersey. After reserving our spots, we went to Barnes and Noble and got some good guide books from folks like Rick Steves' Scandinavia.

For lunch on Friday, I went to Cucina with my mom. After hanging out with her, going through all the lawyers in town I could harrass for a summer job, I think I caught her bug that has made her miserable since the Fiesta Bowl. Classes start tomorrow, wish me luck!