Burnt Orange Report

Genocide, schmenocide.

Ezra over at Pandagon clearly does not understand why I spent so many hours watching Sex and the City.

Jesse, on the other hand (scroll down to the part referencing Hillary Clinton)...

The Dynamic Duo!

Brought to you by Jim D, the GIMP 2.0, and about a half-dozen margaritas. Whoooooooooooo...

(Perhaps the legislature will take up anti-drunken-Photoshopping legislation during the next session?)

I'm listening to a Bruce Springsteen album right now, and the Boss says steal this picture if you want.

This jpeg inspired by the following DailyKos commenter.

I think I'm gonna pass out now.

Texas Tuesdays: Mark Strama

(bumped up, Interview Link added)

It's Texas Tuesdays! And though it will be swallowed up by Kerry's VP announcment, please do take the time to read about today's Candidate: Mark Strama who is running for State Representative in North Austin/Pflugerville in District 50.

The official posts are as follows:

The first is about the Race.

The second is mine about the Campaign Academy (which I'm in).

The third is an interview with Mark Strama.

So read, visit his website, and then donate to one of the hottest Texas House Races in the state. (add .01 for the Internet. Give us something to report back to you!)

It's Missing - Haha

Remember the "exclusive" New York Post story citing Dick Gephardt as Kerry's choice? Well, follow that link now and guess what? It redirects to this address: http://www.nypost.com/missing/missing.htm

Haha. Stupid Rupert Murdoch. Go Kerry / Edwards!

A Very Tight Ship

The fact that nobody, most amusingly the New York Post, knew who the VP was shows that the Kerry camp is running one of the tightest ships in political history. Literally no one knew who the nominee would be and according to Kerry himself there were several others that almost made it that were never even mentioned by the media. Democrats have a problem with keeping things secret- witness the perpetual leakiness of the Clinton Administration- and so this is promising. I think that this ticket is doing all of the right things.

Furthermore, can you name one big bad thing that they've done? Can anyone think of any single monumental blunder or strategic misstep? The fact that he has gone 4 months without fucking up is pretty significant. Gore 86ed Clinton, Clinton had the sex stuff, Mondale picked a crappy running mate, etc. So far Kerry hasn't screwed up anything and he's had a lot of time to do it. He's doing a hell of a job and slow and steady is likely to do the trick.

This Kerry Edwards Ought to be Happy

It might not be much fun to be named Carey Edwards right now. But this Kerry Edwards is one lucky guy. His name is Kerry Edwards, and since 2002 has owned the domain name of his name - KerryEdwards.com. And, it's up for sale. I'd be surprised if he doesn't get six figures from either the Kerry campaign, a Democratic 527, or from some wealthy Bush group.

It's Official

This Guy's Life is Ruined!

And he's my favorite Houston-area afternoon radio personality.

OK, second favorite. After Outlaw Dave on KLOL.

Kerry / Edwards '04!!

It's official, and I'm pleased. If you haven't yet, watch our next Vice President at the Texas Democratic Party convention last month, here. Check out Edward's homepage as well.

If you aren't one of the million plus people on the John Kerry email list, here's what John Kerry had to say this morning:

Dear Friend,

In just a few minutes, I will announce that Senator John Edwards will join me as my running-mate on the Democratic ticket as a candidate for vice president of the United States. Teresa and I could not be more excited that John and Elizabeth Edwards will be our partners in our journey to make America stronger at home and respected in the world.

You are the heart and soul of our campaign. You've shattered records and expectations every step of the way. Every time someone said you couldn't do it, you proved them wrong. Because of your incredible grassroots energy and commitment, I wanted to make the first official announcement of my decision to you -- more than one million online supporters at johnkerry.com.

I want you to know why I'm excited about running for president with John Edwards by my side. John understands and defends the values of America. He has shown courage and conviction as a champion for middle class Americans and those struggling to reach the middle class. In the Senate, he worked to reform our intelligence, to combat bioterrorism, and keep our military strong. John reaches across party lines and speaks to the heart of America -- hope and optimism. Throughout his own campaign for President, John spoke about the great divide in this country -- the "Two Americas" -- that exist between those who are doing well today and those that are struggling to make it from day to day. And I am so proud that we're going to build one America together.

In the next 120 days and in the administration that follows, John Edwards and I will be fighting for the America we love. We'll be fighting to give the middle class a voice by providing good paying jobs and affordable health care. We'll be fighting to make America energy independent. We'll be fighting to build a strong military and lead strong alliances, so young Americans are never put in harm's way because we insisted on going it alone.

I can't tell you how proud I am to have John Edwards on my team, or how eager I am for the day this fall when he stands up for our vision and goes toe-to-toe with Dick Cheney.

This is the most important election of our lifetime, and a defining moment in our history. With you by our side every day of this campaign, John and I will lead the most spirited presidential campaign America has ever seen and fight to lead our nation in a new and better direction.

Thank you,

John Kerry

Merry Veep

Woke up to find the "Kerry-Edwards" e-mail in my inbox this morning.

Veep Day - just like Christmas, without the screaming kids and having to pick up 7 tons of wrapping paper!

It's Gepwards!

Well, one source says he's seen Kerry/Edwards decals painted on the Kerry plane. I have no idea how creditable this is...

And this source.... well the New York Post has apparently learned it somehow... but again, the New York Post is hardly a creditable news source either.

Cafe Insinuendo

Commenters on several blogs are noting a lot of rumors (example 1; example 2) among flight enthusiasts in the Pittsburgh area that the Kerry campaign jet is getting "Kerry/Edwards" decals put on it tonight in PIT hanger 4.

If you're in da Burgh, you know, go get yerself a picture before dawn.

(Damn I wish I still lived in Pittsburgh, even if the school kids used to make fun of my Tennessee accent. I was cast as the farmer boy in the first grade play.)

Also, readers, subscribe to the Kerry mailing list if you haven't and stay up with your caffeine fix. Scuttlebutt is that the official Kerry Veep Announcement e-mail should be coming down the pipe in the next few hours.

And We Helped

Earlier in the week I had a post up about the Sandlin campaign job posting. Well, now it's down thanks to this last e-mail...

We very much appreciate your help with our search to find good people to work on the Sandlin campaign. We have since filled the field coordinator position, and if possible would prefer to have the spot that is on your site taken down in order to slow the amount of calls we receive. The posting did, indeed, lend itself to several good candidates. Once again the support is, as always, appreciated and we will continue to keep you updated with the campaign.

Veep Plans

The New York Times seems to have the scoop:

Mr. Kerry, said one associate familiar with the plan, intended to begin calling the major candidates in contention around 7 a.m. Tuesday to give them the news of his choice

The first public word of Mr. Kerry's selection is to be conveyed after the phone calls in an e-mail message to supporters who signed up on the Web site johnkerry.com, aides said. More than 150,000 people have enrolled on the site since Friday, when Mr. Kerry first promised to release his decision this way, his spokesman, David Wade, said.

If all goes according to plan, Mr. Kerry will appear at a big morning rally in Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh and announce his choice at about 9 a.m. Tuesday, aides said, before flying to Indianapolis to address a convention of the A.M.E. Church. He will then return to his wife's farmhouse in Fox Chapel, Pa., in the critical electoral turf of Allegheny County, to await the arrival of his new No. 2 for an overnight visit.

At some point Tuesday afternoon Mr. Kerry and his running mate are to appear for a wave to the cameras, which would provide, in time for the evening news, the first post-selection images of the two men together.

[...]

Mr. Kerry and his running mate will fly together Wednesday morning to Cleveland for an outdoor rally opposite City Hall, and then to a park in Dayton for another rally with, it is hoped, thousands of supporters. Both Mr. Kerry and President Bush view Ohio as one of a handful of must-win states this fall.

And it's either Edwards, Vilsack or Gephardt:

Senior Democrats identified the top three contenders for the position as Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri and Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa. Mr. Kerry's aides reported that placards had been printed with at least three versions of the Democratic ticket: Kerry-Edwards, Kerry-Gephardt and Kerry-Vilsack, though they acknowledged that Mr. Kerry could still surprise even them with a different selection.

I guess I'll be getting up early in the morning....

Who would you pick for your team?

Dick Cheney threw the first pitch at a minor league baseball game in Altoona, PA yesterday. Shortly after throwing the first pitch, he had a bit of trouble. The Altoona Mirror reports:

Was it a bad omen for the Bush-Cheney team, which is striving mightily to reverse last election's squeaker loss to the Democrats in Pennsylvania?

In front of thousands of Altoona Curve fans Sunday night at Blair County Ballpark, Vice President Dick Cheney dropped the ball, literally, during a campaign appearance.

A ball off the bat of Curve player Ronnie Paulino, just after Cheney sat down after throwing the ceremonial first pitch, went right through the vice president's hands.

Oops. Meanwhile, John Kerry went one-for-three while pitching over at the "Field of Dreams" in Iowa. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports:

Kerry had just come off the field, sporting a Boston Red Sox cap and a new black Rawlings ball glove, after 20 minutes fooling around in the field, basking in the lens clicks of the traveling national press corps.

Accompanied by a dozen little kids, he waded into the chest-high corn beyond left field and disappeared, mimicking the movie. He played second base. He gently pitched to several pint-sized batters, calling all of them "slugger." He took three turns at the plate, hitting a weak squibber and popping a foul behind the plate that nearly beaned one of his volunteers before he slammed a towering shot into deep left field that required him to circle the bases. "Phew -- I'm out of breath," he gasped as he came off the field.

Easy choice. I pick Kerry.

Photos via the AP

Terrorist Teachers for Kerry

No surprise here, but the National Education Association has endorsed John Kerry with a 86.5% vote:

The National Education Association, the nation's largest union, endorsed Democrat John Kerry for president Monday, the final touch in its campaign to drive up school spending and reshape the biggest education law in decades.

[...]

Kerry, who is scheduled to speak to the 9,000 delegates at the NEA convention on Tuesday, was endorsed by 86.5 percent of them. The Massachusetts senator offers many teacher-friendly promises the union likes, but he also advances ideas the NEA has long opposed, such as paying bonuses to teachers based on student test scores

Of course, this comes as no surprise considering that the Bush administration holds our teachers in the same regard that they have for terrorists:

Although a quarter of NEA members identify themselves with the Republican Party, the union has never endorsed a Republican for president and typically spends $9 out of every $10 it raises on Democrats. Its relationship with the Bush administration has been particularly prickly since his education secretary, Rod Paige, jokingly referred to the union as a "terrorist organization" and annoyed members with how he apologized for the remark.

Edwards?

CNN seems to hint as much:

According to several Democratic sources, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina interrupted his family vacation at Walt Disney World last Thursday to come to Washington for a private meeting with Kerry, without even telling many members of his own staff.

Sources said the meeting went extremely well and that Edwards' stock is rising with Kerry. Edwards was Kerry's strongest rival in the Democratic primaries, but has since become a vocal and visible supporter of Kerry's candidacy.

Edwards traveled to Boston, Massachusetts, to appear at two Kerry fund raisers Monday night, after which he is scheduled to return to Washington.

Charles just doesn't want to say anything more until things are official. I really can't blame him. Regardless, I'll be getting up early tomorrow to check if there's any announcement.

Update: The AP has this story out in the past hour also hinting at Edwards.

Fahrenheit 9/11 Passes the $50 Million Mark

F 9/11 made it past the $50 Million mark on Saturday night. It's managed to have a good weekend (the numbers for the long weekend ought to be out tomorrow) despite all of the Spiderman mania. F 9/11 has also maintained a distant, yet solid second rating all weekend.

Speaking of Fahrenheit 9/11... one of the projects I was working on this week was voter registration outside showings of the movie. We registered 30-40 voters and handed out many more voter registration cards to people outside the Dallas County Young Democrats and Dallas for Kerry.

Update: Greg finally saw the film, and as he expected, didn't like it. Most of Greg's objections to the film are understandable. I don't think that anyone will deny that the film is basically made as anti-Bush propaganda. But, I'd also argue with anyone who suggests that F 9/11 is bad for Kerry. Both Greg and Richard Cohen suggest that the movie is more likely to turn off potential swing voters than it is to get people to question their vote for George W. Bush, because the film is so overwhelmingly biased against Bush. I disagree. Most Democrats who see the movie come out of it even more motivated to help elect John Kerry. Did I buy into every charge and attack that Moore made in the film? No, of course not. But overall, it's entertaining in a way that softens the hard-hitting rants that might turn some people away. John Kerry is not mentioned once in the film. In fact, the film attacks Senate Democrats for not allowing debate on the certification of the 2000 election. It attacks Tom Dashle and Dick Gephardt (the potential Vice Presidential nominee) for their support of the war in Iraq. As long as Kerry distances himself from F 9/11, he ought to be fine. His only problem is if he embraces Michael Moore (a la Wes Clark).

Gephardt?

The Veepstakes Rumors are all over the place. Gephardt's not my first choice, but Kos has some good insight for anyone who might be a little depressed with a Gephardt pick:

There are a lot worse choices than Gephardt. And a defense of the guy will be forthcoming sometime Monday, whether he is our veep nominee or not.

But a sneak preview -- Gephardt might not the most exciting choice, but he gives the Republicans zero ammunition. And that fits in nicely within Kerry's strategy.

Kerry may be boring, and he may not be inspiring, but he's given Rove absolutely no new material to work with. That's why the GOoPers have had to trot out 10-year-old b.s. to try and smear Kerry. Our guy has said just about nothing that can be turned around and used against him by Bush/Cheney 2004.

Kerry's team is operating under the C.W. assumption (correctly, IMHO) that a reelection battle is a referendum on the incumbent. Hence, they are fully expecting Bush to do himself in, leaving Kerry as the only alternative by the time November runs around. It may not be an exciting strategy, but a sound one nevertheless.

Gephardt as veep would be a natural extension of that strategy.

Conservatives Report on Dem Confab.

This report from Gary Polland of the Texas Conservative Review... some interesting thoughts...

Now for the answers to questions TCR has been asked: a.. How were you treated? Mixed, many Democrats recognized me and were impressed we were covering the convention, others like Chris Bell said your Editor was "spying" and some came up to TCR and started attacking your editor, Bush, Perry, DeLay and the GOP.

b.. Is the state Democratic Party still on life support? It depends. The convention attendance was up from 4500 two years ago to 8000 in Houston with 70% new delegates. The grass roots seem to be on the way back. The elected officials, especially the legislators for the most part, are spoiled brats who can't deal with being in the minority. Some Democrat's vilified Representative Sylvester Turner for accepting the Speaker Pro-Tem and working with Speaker Craddick. The State Democratic party leadership is dazed and confused with a dismal record of fielding candidates.

c.. Why did Chris Bell just before the convention file an ethics complaint against Tom DeLay? It's just politics. After unsuccessfully running against DeLay in his primary that he lost to African American Democrat Al Green, Bell is a politician looking for his next opportunity. He sponsored a reception for delegates at the convention and got a coveted speaking spot for a defeated candidate. Bell's plan is to run statewide - Senate, Governor or whatever. TCR wonders if you can't win as an incumbent in a Democratic leaning district how can you win statewide?

d.. What is Dr. Richard Murray up to? Murray is smart - he understands the GOP came to power via advancing powerful ideas. At the convention he was circulating plans for a private funded think tank to develop issues, do polling and network to advance the Democratic Party. This means he D's are going to join the battle of ideas at a time where the state GOP is
losing its focus. More on this in a future issue.

e.. What is the mood of the Democratic grassroots? Angry. It's interesting, four years ago our GOP base had it with Clinton-Gore. Four years ago, the non-fiction best-seller's list dealt harshly with them, our talk show lines were full of Clinton-Gore haters and our base was highly motivated to get back the White House. If you were at the convention, you would know we are 180 degrees from where we were. Anti-Bush books are best sellers, a Bush-bashing movie is number one at the box office, the Democrats everywhere want to win bad and anti-Bush T-shirts were top sellers at the convention. TCR believes angry voters show up to vote.

f.. Did you have any culture shock moments? Yes, while interviewing the representatives of the Gay and Lesbian Democrats. TCR asked about T-shirts they were selling - one says "I do" and the other " I can't" - I'm sure you know the meaning - so we asked what "appeared" to be a woman what about Massachusetts and "she" said that doesn't help transsexuals. TCR believes that will be next if we let them legalize gay marriages.

g.. Any special interests that showed up at the convention that were no shows at the GOP convention? Oh yes! Start with our union "friends" - the TSTA (teachers union), the Plumbers union, Texas AFL-CLO, UAW, and then the liberal lawyers, and candidates - like Peter Brown (running again for Houston City Council as) a "nonpartisan" candidate.

h.. What remains the Democrats biggest problem? Their problem is still quotas and non-mainstream special interests. The National Convention delegates still are divided by race, gender, sexual orientation etc. TCR counted forty-five (45) separate caucuses meeting - from such odd groups as the Secular Humanist caucus, Progressive Populist Caucus, Lesbian, Gay, and bi-sexual, and transgender caucus, Medical Marijuana Caucus, and every race based group you can think of including three different Hispanic caucuses! These many caucuses get in the way of unity and divide the party.

i.. Any closing thoughts? Yes, the Democratic Party reminds us of the GOP in the late 70's, growing and expanding and eager to get in power. They have a way to go - with pro-gun, pro-life and pro-fair tax and others. There was much more diversity than our convention which may portend a recognition by some Democrats they are out of touch on some issues and need to be accommodating. A Democratic Party that mutes difference with the GOP on core issues, while speaking to its traditional base could be "back" sooner than we believe. The lesson to be learned is we need to work hard to stay on top. See our last issue for ideas on what the state GOP needs to be going.

And his predictions of the Republican Statewide's Dance...

Governor Rick Perry (I) Kay Bailey Hutchison Carole Keeton Strayhorn Secretary Don Evans

U.S. Senate
Kay Bailey Hutchison (I)
David Dewhurst
Any GOP Texas Congressman

Lt. Governor
David Dewhurst (I)
Greg Abbott
Carole Keeton Strayhorn

Attorney General
Greg Abbott (I)
Robert Eckels

Comptroller
Paul Bettencourt
Susan Combs
Matthew Dowd

And his background...

Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who recently completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his ninth year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last three years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant and can be reached at (713) 621-6335.

Fahrenheit 9/11, And a Parable

Well, the good folks over at the Galveston Premier Cinema decided to pick up Fahrenheit 9/11 this weekend, which spared me the headache of driving all the way to Houston to see this year's winner of the Palme d'Or (why else do you think I'd go see two-hours of Bush-bashing? wink nod.)

I'll just go ahead and join the throngs of reviewers who felt (a) moved by Mrs. Libscomb, (b) concerned about the "My Pet Goat" footage, (c) somewhat confused about the Saudi stuff and (d) highly disturbed by our singing Attorney General (the guy that lost an election to a dead man).

But at anyrate, if by-gummit this is supposed to been a scathing indictment of the tragedy of the last four years, it seems to me to have lost itself, drowning in the sea of mendacity that is the Bush White House. Is it not simple enough to remind people that, nearly three years after 9/11, we don't have bin Laden in custody? George W. Bush has always had a slight problem in producing results. Getting bin Laden was, is, and always be the bottom line here in the cosmic balance-book.