emperors II

I can’t help but open this week’s salvo by not only dismissing Senator Brownback from class, but linking to one of the most ludicrous presentations ever made on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Brownback is a politician so he gets to play the judgment game on a more open field than General Pace. In the continuing line of inept and paper-doll CJCSs, Pace fits perfectly behind long-forgotten and meaningless General Myers. If it were only his opinion that were irritating, like Brownback’s, I’d dismiss him as a blowhard. As it is, any military member let alone a CJCS that has gotten this far in a career and doesn’t know or understand what can and cannot be done in uniform, and in an official capacity, is beyond foolish – I’d question his ability to lead. I’m sending General Pace along with Senator Brownback to the dean’s office…see if he can figure them out.

Not much has changed since last week. The biggest shell game for the Republicans is Senator Hagel’s announcement to postpone his decision. The more I thought about it this week the more I think he’ll watch very closely how the Romney / McCain / Giuliani “battle for the base” evolves. If the three manage to split the group into equal parts by the Fall then I think Hagel will give it a go. He just might be able to grab the other 15-20% of the Republicans who aren’t hardcore conservatives, and with that, grab the nomination. The beauty for him would be a general election as the nominee. He’d get the Republican vote, he’d get most for centrists from both parties, and he’d poach a number of Democrats. This whole ‘base’ idea is different for the Republicans because that group of base voters will not, under any circumstances, vote for Hillary. They probably won’t vote for any Democrat. It’s not like the Dem liberal base that has the inkling to wander on occasion and would certainly jump the Hillary-ship for someone like Hagel. I’m keeping him out of the numbers for now because he’s not running as of today.

The Democrats were simply boring this week. All the flash and crashing of the ramparts are gone for now. Clinton and Obama have a chance to wow us now that we’ve gotten over the initial flurry and aren’t much interested. I think they’ll realize around Memorial Day just how stupid an idea it was to jump in, guns a-blazing, this far out. If something is to be said for the week, it’s this: Obama closed the gap during the whole Selma get together. Clinton is NOT good at the humble southerner thing…she should leave that to Bill. In the long run, that singular event isn’t going to make much difference. Governor Richardson is staying quiet but I suspect we’ll hear more from him during this slower portion of the season. He’s in no hurry.

The numbers, with very slight adjustments:

Democrats	My Vote	The Nation
Clinton	20	43
Obama	25	33
Richardson	40	10
Edwards	10	14
Dodd	1	0
Biden	3	0
Kucinich	1	0

'Publicans	My Vote	The Nation
McCain	90	60
Giuliani	5	20
Romney	5	15
Brownback	0	5
Hunter	0	0

Reports from St. Pats forthwith.

T.