Tuesday, November 21, 2006

And Then There Were 3 ?

It seems to me that the republicans have only 3 major candidates for President. And, the entire republican field is very weak compared to the Democratic candidates.

There appear to be only 3 candidates who have raised enough money and have the staff necessary to make a serious run. They are McCain, Romney and Giuliani.

I think, as many commentators have said, Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani III is out. He's too liberal and has had problems in the past which may pose problems.

Looking at the communications going on between Romney and Newt Gingrich lately it would appear Newt is angling to be Mitt's running mate.

But as I have already commented my bet is John McCain, who is the republican front runner, probably has already broached the subject of Vice President to Jeb Bush.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Al Gore in Pennsylvania

I said before that I would blog a bit about my experience of working the weekend before the election up in Pennsylvania. I didn’t do it, but then I saw this posting on DailyKos. It was about Al Gore and the idea that he’s running for President and actually would like to get in the race. This reminded me of my experience seeing Al Gore speak and my impressions of that speech.

Gore gave a terrific speech. He had his timing down really well and the crowd was into it. His delivery was really exceptional and he got people thinking about what’s wrong with this administration. People became very excited while he was up on the podium. We are in this packed gym. People are standing all over the place, wall to wall. I remember a few people started to chant and cry out to Gore, “run”, “we need you”, “I am going to vote for you”. At one point, right after one person shouted out really really loudly, “08 is your election”, Gore stopped and looked up, smiled and pointed at the man. Then he smiled and continued on with his speech.

I think Al Gore would really like to run for President in 2008. He’s waiting to see how the field sorts itself out. The DailyKos piece suggests the same thing.

Is Rick Santorum Running for President in 2008?

There was lots of speculation when I was up in Pennsylvania a couple of weeks ago working on Joe Sestak’s campaign. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Senator from Pennsylvania were to run. He’s articulate for his cause, he’s an attractive candidate, he will be able to raise large amounts of money and he now has the time to run. It does take a lot of time to run for President.

Here’s what Oval Office 2008 says about Rick Santorum running!

Is Ohio the center of the political universe for 2008?

Today’s Washington Post has an interesting article on the recent election in ‘06 in Ohio. Check it out here. I found it interesting that 3 potential Presidential candidates have called out to the newly elected Ohio officials to congratulate them on their election victory.

The State of Ohio has long had a significant place in America Election history. It is important and lots of people feel which ever way Ohio votes, so goes the nation. We are in good shape for ’08 because of this election; we won the Governorship and replaced a republican Senator with a great Democrat.

It is no wonder then that Mrs. Clinton, John Edwards and Senator Obama would be calling out to that state and congratulating the victors. But what is significant about this article are the very last 2 paragraphs. It is a must read 2 paragraphs!

Friday, November 10, 2006

Start Your Engines for 2008!

With the 2006 elections now over it is time to consider what will happen for ’08. In talking to people I gather that most folks feel that things will take shape in 3 to 4 months. Two candidates have already made a move.

Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner has decided not to run. He’s looking at Virginia, maybe running for Governor again, or for the next Senate seat. He’s a very capable individual and he probably could also be considered for Vice President. Certainly with Jim Webb’s victory in Virginia this week has put that State on the map as a potential blue state for the 08 contest. Republicans must be worried, now they’ve lost the Governor’s race twice, and the Senate seat held by Allen.

Tom Vilsack, Iowa’s Governor is running for President. He’s from a small state, so my sense is he’ll have a tough time getting attention and having an issue. However, since Iowa goes first in the primary process, he’ll get some good exposure and may make it to New Hampshire and South Caroline, but I would doubt it.

Al Gore is the best positioned major national public figure for 2008. He has the experience, and he’s made a lot of friends by his campaigning all around the country. He’s a winner.

Two losers are John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. Kerry wasn’t permanently impacted by his joke remark but it didn’t help him. Mrs. Clinton is hurt by having the Speaker of the House a woman. Let me explain, many voters will not be happy to see even one woman in charge, let alone two women in the most powerful positions. Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House will have a subtle and negative impact on Mrs. Clinton’s ambitions.

The real losers are the republicans. Republicans have used the Federal Government as a jobs program but that’s about to stop. You’ll see more houses in Northern Virginia, Washington, DC and Maryland going up for sale. There won’t be that many government jobs available to them in the next two years. The lower level republicans, who’ve been living off the political appointment system really since Ronald Reagan won in 1980, will now be out of luck. Some will try and burrow into the federal system, others will look for jobs on K Street, and the younger one’s, who are true believers, will find campaigns across the country to go work for.

Monday, November 06, 2006

My Weekend Helping the Sestak Campaign and Meeting Al Gore

I had an amazing weekend. I went up to see Al Gore campaign for Joe Sestak who’s running for Congress in the 7th Congressional District of Pennsylvania.

Al Gore made a couple of campaign stops and I was fortunate to be able to shake his hand, and like so many others who were there, ask him to run for President in 08. The entire gym was filled with supporters and everyone was screaming and yelling their support so it was probably hard for Gore to focus on what I was saying. But when we shook hands he was very serious and said, “thank you, that’s very nice of you to say”.

Al Gore was there to support Sestak, Robert Casey and Gov. Ed Rendell. All of them spoke but the crowd was waiting for Al Gore. When he walked in the gym it was like the President had arrived! People went wild cheering and yelling. You know, everyone felt good! And Gore speech was outstanding!! He was very funny. I’ll try and blog later about what he said in the speech.

I am hoping that all the Democrats win in Pennsylvania. They are all good candidates! I went door to door for two days after the Gore speech. I was in Upper Darby and Chester, all sorts of other places. People were very supportive. My sense was it was 70% for the Democrats. Voters knew about Curt Weldon’s problems with the FBI. They knew that Joe Sestak was terrific and had a prestigious military background. Nobody gets to be a Navy Admiral unless they are very special.

Let’s hope Sestak wins big, as well as all the other Dems in Pennsylvania!

Friday, November 03, 2006

Al Gore Supports Joe Sestak in PA - 07

And please join Al Gore and Joe Sestak this weekend to show your passion and determination to change the direction of our country. All around the District, we're holding rallies, please come out and show your support:

Rally for the Democratic Ticket in Brookhaven
Bob Casey, Ed Rendell, Joe Sestak
With special guest Vice President Al Gore
Saturday Nov. 4
9:00 AM
Brookhaven Borough Hall
2 Cambridge Road, Brookhaven, PA

Rally for the Democratic Ticket at Cabrini College
Bob Casey, Ed Rendell, Joe Sestak
With special guest Vice President Al Gore
Saturday Nov. 4
1:00 PM
Cabrini College
610 King of Prussia Road, Radnor, PA

A number of "Sestak for Congress" signs have been "displaced" in the last few days. If your sign is missing, or if you would like one, please stop by my campaign headquarters for a sign; a new order has arrived.