This post is one of the few times where I choose to stand on top of my soapbox and let out my frustration with the political universe. What has happened to John McCain? I have fond memories of the principled, strong and independent maverick that captured the imagination of the American people back in 2000. Unfortunately, those days and that John McCain have vanished into thin air. Over the last few days, I have noticed a disturbing trend in Camp McCain: the unforgivable sounds of a schoolyard...

Writer’s Comment: This writer does not have a transcript of Senator Clinton’s speech to reference so forgive any missed quotes. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton really surpassed my expectations tonight. Her speech directly confronted her supporters to put up or shut up. The line I enjoyed the most was when she said “I want you to ask yourself, were you in this campaign just for me…we did it before with President Clinton and the Democrats and we will do it again with President Obama and the...

This drama has not played out its’ final scene yet. I expect the last shoe to drop tomorrow as Senator Hillary Clinton’s name is placed into nomination for President of the United States. Last week I had the opportunity to speak with Will Bower who is one of the core members of the group P.U.M.A. I wrote about their efforts to still elect Senator Clinton a few weeks ago, and I thought he would have some interesting insights into the last-minute maneuverings in Denver. Here is what I have...

A couple of weeks ago, Ed Rendell was trying to stop supporters of Senator Clinton from signing a petition to put her name in nomination. Yesterday, Rendell was all over the media expressing his outrage that Senator Clinton was dissed by the MSM. Is Rendell supporting Clinton or not? Will he vote for her on the first ballot if her name is placed in nomination? Does this guy have a semblance of loyalty beyond political expediency? Inquiring minds are waiting to know…

This year has been a year of political firsts for our country. In the Democratic primaries, we had the first woman to win primaries and the first person of color to win the nomination of a major political party. In the Republican Party, we have a nominee who, if elected, will be the oldest person to take the oath of office for a first presidential term. Obama’s newly minted running mate, Joe Biden, has a first of his own: the first person from the state of Delaware to be placed in nomination...

I really hate it when this contraption actually works. Earlier this week, I wrote the following post on an Obama / Biden ticket which gave a historical perspective on the 1988 election and tried to warn against repeating the mistakes of the past; well, no one was listening because the Obama/Biden ticket is now official. “Bong, Bong, Bong” – does anyone else hear that? That ominous sound is the bell announcing the TKO the Democrats have just given themselves. This year was not supposed to...

Are these two men the best we can come up with for the highest office in the land? The more I find out about Barack Obama and John McCain; the more I want to abolish the two-party system that leaves us with the (lack of) choice we are left with in this presidential election. As a Christian, both Obama and McCain have flaws that I am not comfortable with. In the case of Obama, it involves an issue of public policy that has moral implications. In the case of McCain, an immoral personal decision that...

Are you kidding me? Is this the fourth installment of the “Back to the Future” movie franchise? How did Joe Biden get into the picture to be tapped by Barack Obama for V.P.? Over the last forty-eight hours, I have read dozens of stories of how Biden’s foreign policy experience will help Barack Obama overcome the national security deficit he faces against John McCain. The point is not without merit but in the rush to protect Obama’s flank, the cure is worse than the disease. Simply put,...

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure to appear on “The Brian Wilson Show” on a local FM talk radio station in Baltimore, MD. We were discussing my post from Wednesday discussing whether the use of the “Race Card” is applicable regarding Barack Obama. The post ended with this statement: “I think having someone neutral in our racial dialogue may be very helpful. A leader that can bridge the social divide between Blacks and Whites would be an asset in the repertoire of a President facing these...

John McCain and Barack Obama have different worldviews, wow, that is a cloudburst of new information. Huh? Am I the only one who is not surprised by this “revelation”? As a political scientist, and a seminarian, I understand and appreciate the differences between these two men. However, there is a question that was asked by Rick Warren that is an important one for the direction of America’s foreign policy for the next four years, the question of what to do about evil in the world. When...

I have been stewing over this issue for several months and I have finally put the proper words to the thoughts I have been accumulating. My central thought is that there is no race card in this campaign because Senator Obama does not fall into one of the categories of racial antagonisms in this country. Simply put, he is neither White nor Black; his father is Kenyan and his mother is American. Therefore, by definition, Barack Obama is not African-American; rather, he is an American citizen that...

I received notice that the Obama campaign has finally officially recognized the movement called “Republicans for Obama (R.F.O.)” The formal “leak” was last night by The New York Times. For several months, I managed the press operations for this group and we voluntarily took on the role of the voice crying in the wilderness. I believe I still have scars from the ideological battles I participated in with Laura Ingraham, John Gibson and Neil Cavuto of Fox News Channel. I decided to leave my...

Throughout the primary season, Senator Hillary Clinton has said time-and-time-again that she is a tough fighter who will not surrender until the very end. In about two weeks, we will see how many rounds she will be prepared to go in order to become the nominee of the Democratic Party. In my columns, I have been consistent in my opinion that this race between Clinton and presumptive nominee Barack Obama is far from over. To this day Clinton has not ended her campaign, it is still merely suspended...

2008 may be a banner year for players switching political teams in hopes for a victory in November. This is a regular occurrence in sports. Late last night, Brett Favre got traded from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets. While this has raised an eyebrow, and will definitely be a good story for a few days, most people will forget the details of the Favre saga by the end of the football season in February. In our era of hyper-partisanship it is rare for people to jump from one political...

Last week, in an unprecedented action, the House of Representatives voted to pass a non-binding resolution to apologize for slavery and Jim Crow laws that were used to keep African-Americans from using their political rights for almost a century after the Civil War. As an African-American, I am pleased and perplexed by this vote and wonder who stands to gain from this warm and fuzzy moment. The sponsor of the bill, Representative Steve Cohen, represents a majority African-American district and is...

When the top news story of the day is that your campaign has snubbed the traveling press corps; your campaign is not having a good day. The McCain campaign has been under assault over the past day or so because of accessibility issues between their candidate and the national press traveling with McCain. There is always a two-edged relationship between the President, presidential candidates (their staff) and the press. My colleague at Towson University, Dr. Martha Kumar, describes the dynamic between...

As a budding internet journalist, I have a love – not so love relationship with my PC. For those of you who make your living interfacing with this lovely piece of modern technology, you know exactly what I am talking about. I found this clip on YouTube and it is “Family Guy” at its satirical best; appreciating the world we live in while poking a bit of fun at it. Enjoy.

I usually only post once per day but this video really is a dichotomy of everything that is John McCain. He needs to derail Obama’s momentum but has almost a split personality on how he wants to accomplish his goal. Earlier this week, McCain targeted Obama as a “celebrity” although his own website took the reference off recently. Now, the McCain campaign is portraying Obama as the second coming. There are a few points in the video to make note of… 1) The music in the background...

Here is a Happy Friday memory jogger for everyone. About twenty years ago, a Democrat candidate with limited military experience went up against the former head of the C.I.A who literally (and figuratively) shell-shocked him. So far this week we have had the “Celebrity” issue and the “Race Card” comments from the McCain camp…do you really think another Michael Dukakis moment is not going to happen? A hint for Obama: stay away from Tanks…or any other vehicle that...

Can someone get John McCain’s video production staff on the line for me? I think they owe me a byline on their latest ad attacking Barack Obama. Last week, in the aftermath of Obama’s German speech, I wrote a column entitled “The Political Pop Star” whose last line made a connection to the current negative connotation of celebrity in our society and it reads: “Initially, pop stars are interesting to watch and attract a lot of media attention. Unfortunately, some of them go crazy and act...

In one of his blogs this week, Jack Cafferty of CNN asked the ominous question, “What happened to the Clintons?” Well, I for one can’t wait for the fireworks to start at the Democratic National Convention. For those of you who think Hillary and Bill Clinton are going to peacefully surrender to Obama, I’ve got some Eskimos who are looking to buy some ice. For the first time in over three decades, I will be glued in front of the television for the first three days of the convention. ...

John McCain would have made a good president. Unfortunately, his sense of timing has not matched up with the electoral mood of the country. The wrong place, wrong time phenomenon is not unique in American politics, just ask Senator Ted Kennedy, whose numerous runs for the White House met with defeat. In 2000, McCain ran up against the party mechanism in their coronation of George W. Bush. In 2008, after morphing himself to become the Republican nominee, McCain faces the shadow of an unpopular...

In two polls released today, Barack Obama has widened his lead over John McCain to the widest margin of the general election. I have as much faith in polls as I do that Santa Claus is real and that there is an Easter Bunny; however the polls do shine a light on two issues that should worry the Republicans going into the fall election. First, the Gallup poll of a nine point spread is pretty consistent with the Research 2000 poll spread of twelve points. The only significant difference is that the...

Thank God for YouTube. I just finished watching Obama’s Berlin speech (all 30 minutes of it) and besides the high number of people in attendance (over 200,000), I was concerned by a couple of comments in his speech that are questionable from a historical context. About 1/3 of the way through the speech, Obama made this statement: “The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand....

Yesterday I touched on the change in direction of Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, in his support for Senator John McCain. For those of you who missed it, here is what Dobson said about supporting McCain only 5 months ago: “I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has at times sounded more like a member of the other party…Given these and many other concerns, a spoonful of sugar...