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Politics : The Next President 2008 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tadsamillionaire who wrote (1005)	7/7/2007 11:20:36 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 3215

And now for the important news .... URL:http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0707/hamilton070607.php3 By Argus Hamilton jewishworldreview.com \| Al Gore's son was pulled over by cops in Southern California Tuesday going one hundred miles an hour in his Prius. He had marijuana, Valium, Xanax and Vicodin in the car. The Los Angeles Times headline read, Prius Goes One Hundred Miles an Hour. Prince William and Prince Harry held a star-studded rock concert in tribute to Princess Diana Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London. Kiefer Sutherland was one of the concert's emcees. He rents himself out as a scarecrow to keep away the terrorists. Los Angeles police launched a security review of the Hollywood nightclub scene to prevent a terrorist attack. The threat is very real. Last night a Palestinian walked into the Comedy Store with Robin Williams's latest movie strapped to his chest. The Hilton Hotels Corporation was purchased by the Blackstone Group for twenty-six billion dollars Tuesday. One billion dollars of that goes to the Hilton Family Trust. And to think that when Paris Hilton said she met G-d in jail, everybody laughed. Bill Clinton was dutifully humble while he introduced Hillary to an Iowa crowd Monday night. He discussed her accomplishments, not his, and the Iowa audience just ate it up. He hasn't enjoyed a back seat role this much since he drove a 1967 Mustang. Hillary Clinton's head strategist, Mark Penn, was accused in a lawsuit Wednesday of illegally wiretapping a former business partner. It shocked many people. Bill Clinton just made up his mind he will only speak to women on the phone in Navajo Code. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa admitted Tuesday to an affair with Telemundo reporter Mirthala Salinas. NBC is sorrier than ever that L.A. lost the Olympics bid. If Los Angeles got to host the Olympic Games, adultery would be a demonstration sport. The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee asked Americans Tuesday to register their protest against the Iraq war by requesting pay cuts so they don't make enough money to pay taxes. These people will go to jail if they don't pay their taxes. Any illegal alien will tell them that low pay is not enough to get you amnesty.

To: Tadsamillionaire who wrote (1005)	7/7/2007 11:23:38 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3215

jewishworldreview.com Cash cows By Linda Chavez jewishworldreview.com jewishworldreview.com \| Now that the Democrats are raking in more campaign dough than the Republicans, it will be interesting to see if the media demonize the role of money in politics as they have in past elections when the GOP was winning the contributions race. The storyline used to be that money corrupts politics, giving big donors too much influence over who ultimately gets elected. But with Democrats raising $3 for every $2 that went to Republicans in the last federal campaign reporting cycle, the press stories have taken on a new slant. Suddenly, Sen. Barack Obama is a man of the people for having raised $32.5 million, while Sen. John McCain is a loser because he only took in $11 million. The Washington Post reported that Obama's 258,000 donors since January represent more than the combined donor base of the major Republican candidates, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and McCain. But the comparison is meaningless since Obama isn't running against any of these guys — at least not yet. This media about-face is most visible in coverage of the McCain campaign. News stories abounded this week about McCain's money troubles. What once the media treated as a virtue — namely, McCain's reluctance to hustle for campaign cash — has suddenly been turned into his Achilles' heel. There's no question money is an important indicator of a candidate's viability; that's why the presidential money race is often called the first primary. But money isn't everything. Most candidates spend too much money hiring professional campaign consultants, who demand hefty fees and rarely produce what's promised. Sure, money buys exposure through television and radio ads, but ads are never enough to win an election. Candidates win or lose based on whether they resonate with the voters. George W. Bush won the last election because Americans were concerned about terrorism. Voters believed they would be safer with Bush in the White House than Sen. John Kerry. Bill Clinton won the presidency because voters thought George H. W. Bush had lost touch with the people. No campaign ad could erase the memories of the elder Bush looking at his watch during the presidential debates, as if he was bored with the whole process, or his amazement at grocery scanning machines, which made him look clueless about ordinary Americans' lives. Fair or unfair, these snap judgments stick. At this point in the election, most Americans haven't yet formed opinions of many of the candidates. Hillary Clinton is the exception. People either love her or hate her, and the money she's amassed — cumulatively, still more than anyone else — will only go so far in turning skeptics into fans. The one candidate who might actually turn his money problems to his advantage is McCain. He's always run better as an outsider and an underdog. By necessity he's now had to fire many of the consultants that surrounded him when he was the front-runner. But this may allow him to be himself — iconoclastic, sometimes cantankerous, but always honest. And honesty pays in politics. People will vote for someone they may not entirely agree with before they'll vote for someone they think will say anything to please them. Ronald Reagan understood this better than any politician of our era, which is why he won over so many Democrats who might have disagreed with him on a host of specific issues. In the final analysis, the election won't be decided by money, no matter who's raising it faster. The war in Iraq, the fear of terrorism here at home, the economy, frustration with both parties' ability to get anything done, a loss of confidence in government, and other issues as yet unforeseen will determine what drives voters to the polls. And when they cast their votes, most people will be making a judgment call that the candidate they're voting for has the character and skills to make a difference, not which candidate amassed the most money.