Our link-fest offering readers links to blog posts from websites of many different viewpoints. Linked posts do NOT necessarily reflect the opinion of TMV or its writers.
Where Is The National Guard? New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson asks a question that has started making the rounds of progressive talk shows: in natural disasters such as California, are there sufficient National Guard on hand at home? A key quote:
But as someone who believes the war in Iraq is a complete disaster and that we need to get our troops out now (www.getourtroopsout.com), I look at the natural disaster in California and feel compelled to also ask President Bush and every candidate who thinks it is okay for our troops to remain in Iraq until 2013 or longer – where is our National Guard?
It is a sad irony that yesterday, the very day I sent fire crews to California, 300 more New Mexico National Guard members were sent to Iraq. Just when we need them most at home, more of our brave men and women, true public servants, are sent away to a war we cannot win.
So talker Glenn Beck had his comments from the right, and now Richardson has his from the center-left. However, frankly, right now Californians are worried about other teenie-weenie things such as where they will be a week or a month from now…how quickly can they collect on their insurance…when electricity will be fully restored…how many businesses are shut down and how many homes are lost. A debate over “if there were more National Guard here instead of in Iraq would it have made a difference” will be mostly hypothetical. And predictable.
On The Other Hand, Richardson is getting praise for another stand.
And A Candidate Whose Campaign Has Gotten Little Praise Recently IS Praised: Real Clear Politics says Fred Thompson may not be the media darling but his campaign is making headway.
I think that the answer has to do with a subject I have been discussing for the last few weeks. I have argued that there are two campaigns. On the one hand, there is the perpetual campaign – which is reducible to each party’s attempts to win the daily news cycle. On the other hand, there is what I have been calling the real campaign. This is the quest for votes during the few weeks before Election Day.
The value of the perpetual campaign is that it sets the agenda for the real campaign. It is a show put on by candidates for the benefit of leaders of political constituencies, donors, and media personalities. Doing well in the perpetual campaign gets you noticed, and therefore gets you a spot in the real thing. The trouble with the press is that it treats the perpetual campaign as an end. It is not. Instead, it is a means to an end – namely, a shot to win the voters over. Candidates who excel in the perpetual campaign get the money and the attention that is necessary to make appeals to the voters during the real campaign.
Jay Cost argues that the media are the arbiters but Thompson is making real headway and he writes:
So, he has the talent. And he has the brain trust. But he is still not dazzling the arbiters. In light of this, I would suggest that Thompson’s missteps might be intentional. His rule breaking has been purposive because he thinks it can get him the traction he seems to be getting.
This IS entirely possible. There is an almost tiresome procedure for American political campaigns. A candidate could come in under the radar – radar owned by the folks who tell us who is ahead, who has a REAL chance (for instance, the pooh-pooh Ron Paul). ‘But what if a candidate knew how “the game” worked and worked to circumvent “the game?” The question is whether Thompson is circumventing the game or doesn’t know how to play it yet.
A Soldier’s Lament in song.
What Would Reagan Do? Is the real issue “what would Reagan do?” Or is it “how can we say he’d do what he suggested he wouldn’t do?” Apparently, by just saying it is what Reagan would do..
What Makes You Laugh? I mean, besides our serious posts here at TMV? This guy wants to know.
A Famous Controversy About A Journalist Making Things Up now seems to have a smoking gun — or is this big stuff and it’s a smoking nuke?
Is Rudy Giuliani A Turncoat? The issue comes up due to THIS. Yes, Matilda, there are people in American dense enough so a) they will vote against a candidate who doesn’t like their baseball team b) if they’re a candidate they will think they are fooling any person (or a head of cabbage) by such a clearly you-know-what kissing statement. We can’t wait until he comes to San Diego to proclaim himself a great Padres fan.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.