Politics and Superdelegates dominate again ...

Today’s Buzz ...

from tonight’s Anderson Cooper 360°:

Words Matter: But does it matter where they originated? Does it really matter if one candidate pairs the phrase “Just words?” with a few often-used historical phrases, such as “I have a dream” or “We hold these truths to be self-evident”? Does it matter that more than one candidate for public office may have used that phrasing in campaign speeches? Or is a well-timed accusation of plagiarism, which clearly isn’t plagiarism, enough of a diversionary tactic to win the Wisconsin Primary? The goal of diverting the media’s attention on the eve of this primary certainly was achieved. It’s interesting that panelist Bay Buchanan noted the ongoing use of the phrase “Take Back America” by Hillary Clinton, which was first used by Pat Buchanan in his 1996 Presidential bid. I doubt that Senator Clinton received any kind of approval from Mr. Buchanan to use his phrasing, which is opposite from MA Governor Deval Patrick’s encouragement to Barack Obama to use this tiny cadence which Patrick invoked during his gubernatorial contest. All in all, we’ll have to wait and see – and trust in the judgment of Wisconsin voters.



The remainder of Candy Crowley’s report focused on the closeness of tomorrow’s primary – a statistical tie – and the fact that the Clinton camp is doing whatever possible to slow the Obama momentum, while emphasizing a “solutions” strategy versus a “speech” strategy.



Political Panel – Part 1: David Gergen, Bay Buchanan and Keith Boykin (Daily Voice Editor) all weighed in on the current Democratic kerfuffle, with Gergen stating that “Obama made a mistake but it’s not plagiarism”, Buchanan stating that “Obama did not plagiarize” and Boykin adding that it all “isn’t a big issue”.



“Read my lips” – again: Former President Bush endorsed John McCain today, on the heels of McCain’s pledge that there would be “no new taxes” in his administration. Some of us have at least vague memories of how that pledge worked (NOT) for Bush 41. And there are many forces at work to circumvent the success of a second try at this promise. Tom Foreman noted that: (1) the war, (2) the economic stimulus package, (3) retirement entitlements to an increasing number of baby boomers and (4) interest on the national debt – are all working against any President’s plan to not raise taxes.




Political Panel – Part 2: While Bay Buchanan held fast to the belief that John McCain could keep his tax promise, David Gergen and Keith Boykin didn’t necessarily agree. I do think that Boykin stepped a little out of his league, though, when he maintained that John McCain wasn’t paying attention to and didn’t necessarily care about the current problems of the middle class. Both Bay Buchanan and David Gergen opposed the notion. All I’ll say is that hopefully, we’ll never have to really find out.

Superdelegate pay-offs?: David Mattingly took a closer look at a report from the Center for Responsive Politics that shows about $900,000 being donated to the campaigns of various superdelegates from the Obama ($700,000) and Clinton ($200,000) camps. These donations were made prior to both announcing their own candidacy (note the $4,200 Obama donated to Clinton’s 2006 re-election), and the standard line is that candidates are “building relationships” through this support. And although no one wants to use the phrase “bought-off votes”, there is a definite pattern from those receiving money from both candidates – the delegates tend to side with the candidate who donated the most money. Interesting ...



Jason Rae – Part 2: We first met superdelegate Jason Rae last Tuesday during the primary coverage. He’s a 21-year-old junior at Marquette, and is in a superdelegate slot through being elected to a state-level DNC position. I didn’t realize that over half of this increasingly important group are DNC members, who are not publicly elected officials. That disturbs me, as I feel that there’s a greater potential for lack of accountability – to the public at large. And a couple of Jason’s comments also disturb me – about how superdelegates should vote for the party’s best candidate (i.e. – how is that determined?) and also his justification for the extra value given to these votes – that superdelegates are “charged with deciding what’s in the best interest of the party”. I’m not really convinced that his justification is going to override the “one person, one vote” equality theme that also seems to be gaining some momentum, in reaction to the “power play” that superdelegates may be able to levy at a brokered convention this summer.



Jessica Baty interview: Investigative reporter Abbie Boudreau had an extended version of her interview with Jessica Baty that began airing this past weekend. Jessica is the girlfriend of NIU shooter Steven Kazimerczak. It’s sad to watch her pain, although I’m also reminded of the pain being experienced by all the families involved in this tragedy. She and Steven had been a couple for two years, and lived together for the past year. Jessica is certain that there were no ‘signs’ that she saw that would foretell the violence that Steven would be capable of. She said that he was “haunted” by the Virginia Tech shootings, and either ironically or purposefully ended up purchasing ammunition and a gun holster from the same web dealer that had sold guns to VT shooter Seung-Hui Cho.



Thanks for visiting – updates posted as needed – have a terrific Tuesday!!