The LA Times’ endorsement of Barack Obama does not come as a surprise. Obama’s meteoric rise in California’s more progressive suburbs – and among Hollywood’s more progressive celebrities – was always a given. For many in the Golden State, particularly younger voters, Obama is this year’s Howard Dean, except with an actual shot at the nomination.
But what is surprising is the rationale my hometown paper gives for ultimately choosing Obama over Hillary:
“No public relations campaign could do more than Obama's mere presence in the White House to defuse anti-American passion around the world,” the editors of the Times write.
I’ve already written about the lunacy of this argument in the Washington Post noting that the people of the Muslim world could not give a damn about the color of the American President’s skin (or, for that matter, the President’s gender). They care only about one thing: what the next President will do to fix the mess George W. Bush has put us in. In this regard, the Times admits there is little that separates Obama from Clinton save “a sense of aspiration.”
I agree with the Times that Obama is a wonderful orator. I get goose bumps when I hear him talk about coming together as one country to fix Washington.
Except that it’s not Washington’s fault the economy is in shambles. It’s the Republicans' fault. It’s not Washington’s fault that Iraq is ablaze and Afghanistan is lost. It’s the Republicans' fault. So maybe a little partisanship is not such a bad thing right now.
Maybe a little of what the Times calls “withering political fire” would actually be good for the country. I know I wouldn’t mind giving the Republicans a taste of their own medicine.
But even so, if we are electing a President based on his or her bipartisanship, it’s hard to think of a candidate who has done more work across the aisle than Clinton. Yet, that’s not what the Times is talking about. In the end, it’s not so much Obama’s abilities that matter, but his life story.
Borrowing Clinton’s own sound bite, the Times argues that, “Clinton is an essay, solid and reasoned; Obama is a poem, lyric and filled with possibility.”
The Times prefers the poem. In any other election year I would agree. But maybe a little prose – something boring but competent – is exactly what we need right now.
-Reza Aslan, 360° Contributor
NEW YORK — Wesley Snipes gambled last week and he won. The actor had been charged with eight counts of federal tax evasion and fraud. He decided not to testify. In fact, the defense opted not to put on any evidence at all. And last week, I called that a big gamble.
But now we know it paid off. Snipes was acquitted of the five felony counts against him, convicted of only three lesser charges. And instead of 16 years in prison, he faces a possible three and likely won’t go there at all.
But here’s why this case matters. It’s not about Mr. Snipes or his celebrity. At bottom, it’s about our taxes. And simply put, we don’t like to pay them.
You want health care? You want public schools for our children? How about a military that can defend our democracy at home and abroad? You like those roads you drive on? Those bridges and tunnels? You want firefighters to put out your fires, police to protect you? Even trash men to pick up your trash?
Then you need to pay your taxes. And that’s the Last Word.
– Jami Floyd, “In Session” Anchor/360° ContributorRead more Jami Floyd blogs on “In Session”
Afternoon Bloggers!
How was your weekend? Catch the game? Just veg out? Regret it's Monday already? Well I hope you rested up, because tomorrow is a big day! ‘Super Tuesday’ is less than 24 hours away… but right now, its time for Beat 360!
For those of you who don’t know, we’ve started something new — Beat 360°.
Everyday we post a picture — and you provide the caption. Our staff will get in on the action too.
Tune in every night at 10p ET to see if you are our favorite! Can you beat 360°? Here is today’s “Beat 360°” pic of the day:
Here is one to get you started:
"Chuck Norris thinks I’m still too old for the job?!? Forget what my 95-year-old mom has to say about it… Ben here thinks Chuck can ‘go fly a kite!’"Have fun with it. Make sure to include your name, city, state (or country) so we can post your comment.
– David Reisner, 360° Digital Producer
Usually, operating behind enemy lines is a sign of strength. John McCain sure hopes so.
"I believe we have every good shot at carrying the state of Massachusetts tomorrow and winning this state and sweeping the East," the Arizona senator said Monday as he campaigned in Mitt Romney's backyard – at a rally at Boston's historic Faneuil Hall.
McCain sees a big Super Tuesday in the offing. But even some allies are a little nervous at a schedule that had McCain spending most of his day in three moderate GOP states: Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. McCain has a big lead in the latter two, and even his own top aides concede Massachusetts is a long shot.
So why not more in the South. Or in the Mountain West.
We put the question to McCain in Boston: "Senator, where is the line between confident and cocky?"
McCain noted that he had campaigned in Missouri the other day, as well as Alabama and some other Super Tuesday battlegrounds. But the did note his superstitions, and did repeated his assertion from last week that he believed he would all but mathematically clinch the nomination Tuesday night.
"You hop around the country. You try to get to as many places as you can," McCain said. "But I am trying to be very careful about ...I've seen more than one election go against what the polls show before. And we are guardedly confident we think we can win but that is why we are campaigning hard right up literally until the polls close."
Up to the end includes a hastily scheduled final day trip to California, where Romney also was adding last-minute stops to court voters in Tuesday's most delegate-rich state.
I spent the weekend shooting a story for 60 Minutes, and got back to New York last night just in time to hear people yelling out their windows when the Giants won.
Not being much of a sports fan I initially thought some buildings were on fire, but then realized it must be the game. I’m sorry I missed it.
Tonight’s show is, of course, all about politics. It’s interesting in this election last week already seems like ages ago. It was Wednesday that I moderated the Republican debate at the Reagan library, but that feels like ancient history.
Tonight we are going to show you all the last minute efforts by the campaigns to get out the vote. We have correspondents with each candidate, and we really want to give you a sense of the excitement of the campaign trail. We will be showing you a number of live events, as well as what’s been taking place behind the scenes all day.
So let's hear them - last minute predictions. Will the GOP race end tomorrow night? Who will be the nominee? What about the democratic race?
Let us know what you think, and we’ll see you tonight at 10p ET.
- Anderson Cooper
Blogees-
I am so excited!! Angelina is having twins.
Kidding. Just seeing if you're awake.
Despite the fact that I tried to gargle with my face lotion this morning, I am awake now in the STL airport en route NYC to catch up with HRC. Apologies to the reader who hates initials. I just liked the cadence of that.
So completely jazzed. It's the eve of Super Tuesday.... like Christmas for political junkies. We have no idea what we're going to get but we know it'll be really good.
No clue what we'll unwrap on the Democratic side. If we are to believe the polls (there she goes again with those dang polls) then Obama is on the move nationally which probably means something in a primary/caucus day with almost half the states involved.
Also, he's been on a bit of a roll thru the headlines lately (Caroline and Teddy Kennedy endorsements. Needs-no-last-name Oprah pops up in LA and brings her gal pal, California First Lady aka Mrs. Schwarzenegger aka Maria Shriver on board for Obama. (Aside: Mr. Schwarzenegger aka Governor of California endorsed GOP frontrunner John McCain. Don’t we all just wanna sit around the dinner table chez Schwarzenegger and discuss politics?) Also a Los Angeles Times endorsement for Obama. I know you don’t give a whit about endorsements, but it kept him in the news in a positive way, unless you hate Oprah or the LA Times.
Back on topic- the other hand today is that there are so many states it may tilt the terrain toward Clinton. There's a difference between spending a year in Iowa showing voters who u are and 10 days trying to court voters in almost 2 dozen states. (Also American Samoa–just to give them a shout out) SO, the point is, Democrats know Clinton better.
Also, she's been on the national scene longer than Obama , is married to you know who, and is strongest among traditional dems, so she has better access to get- out-the-vote apparatus. And she leads in most state polls, which is the last time I mention polls for the next two minutes.
Know what I want for Christmas? As close to a tie as we can get... I always wanted Christmas to last more than a day.
Polls.
Kidding just seeing if you got this far.
– Candy Crowley, CNN Senior Political Correspondent
How many times have you said one thing and really felt another?
Well guess what? Voters do it all the time and may not even be aware of it.
It’s referred to as the “Unspoken Truth” and a cutting edge market research firm called Lucid Systems has figured out how to tap into it.
We teamed up with Lucid and gathered eight undecided voters. They let us hook them up to all these gadgets that measure the sweat on their skin and the micro muscles in their face where they frown.
Botox users don’t quality for this test because they can’t frown!
Several times, the voters told us they felt one way but their brain images showed something else.
We showed them both recent California debates and found in one case, a voter told us he liked Mike Huckabee’s stand for the common man but on our graphs his brain flatlined, which meant he wasn’t moved at all.
Another surprise: our group told us they did not like Hillary Clinton’s opening statement, but their brains showed a very positive response.
How does this happen? Lucid taps into the emotional reaction below the level of conscious awareness, which is really what determines our likes and dislikes. So when voters tells pollsters they feel one way, and their brain shows another, it’s not a lie, but an inarticulated truth they may not even be aware of.
It’s really fascinating stuff and you’ll get to see a lot more of it tonight on AC360. You can see for yourself why this new technology could change elections in the future.
Let me know what you think.
– Randi Kaye, 360° Correspondent