The Writer's Poke

At last night's Obama /Clinton debate, Clinton closed strong on a positive note. Not surprisingly, that's what the pundits focused on. "Clinton showed her true side at the end." "Clinton displayed her humanness." "That was the real Hillary." Interesting. Does that mean that for the other 95% of the debate, Hillary was "false," "inhuman," and "fake"? Meanwhile, Barack spent most of the debate purposefully staying on the high road. He remained positive for at least 95% of the debate. So why give Hillary credit for 5% when Barack was doing exactly the same thing for 95%?

Question: How do you attack a good campaigner and a good speaker? Answer: If you're Hillary Clinton and John McCain, and you want to attack Barack Obama, try this: 1. Barack is a good campaigner, but all he has is a message. 2. Barack is a good speaker, but all he has is his speeches. Frankly, I continue to be amazed, even though I know I shouldn't be. What is a political campaign about? It's about selling your message to voters, and traditionally, that's done through speaking. Barack has a powerful message, and he's clearly the best speaker in the campaign. He's careful to say that he cannot do it alone, that he needs everyone to continue to pitch in after the campaign is over. Do you ever hear Clinton say that? No, Clinton claims to be the "solution" to every problem. Don't trust people that claim to have all of the answers. And McCain? If Barack is the "can do candidate of hope," then McCain is setting himself up as the "can't...

I eat alone, and for the past few months, I've done so with Keith Ferrazzi's book Never Eat Alone. Why shouldn't you eat alone? Because if you're not networking 24/7, then you're just falling behind. For Keith, networking is a lifestyle, and he admits that it's not for everyone. He tries to put the best spin on "networking as lifestyle" that he can, but in the end, he simply reminds me of the character from the Bob & Tom radio show, Ken Tarmac. Yes, the book is worth reading, and I'm sure I'll be able to apply some of his advice. Networking will never be my lifestyle, though... http://nevereatalone.typepad.com/blog

In 1992, Bill Clinton was virtually unstoppable. Everywhere he went, masses of people came to hear him speak. Sometimes he'd be hours behind schedule, but people didn't seem to mind. Although I was actually a George Bush supporter at the time, I went to hear Clinton speak in Vandalia, Illinois. The town is about 5000 people, but I would estimate that 10,000 (and maybe more) came out to the Courthouse to hear him speak. After all, presidential candidates don't often travel to Vandalia! Love him or hate him, the man had sizzle. But what does Hillary have? Last week, she loaned her campaign $5 million. Saturday, Obama swept in Washington, Nebraska, and Louisana, and this morning I read that Hillary is shaking up her campaign staff. Her campaign is starting to fizzle. Meanwhile, Obama's movement reminds me a lot of the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign, at least in terms of the excitment he's generating. But Obama isn't all sizzle; the man is filet mignon steak, too. He...

Your moment of zen for today: An Obama victory unifies the Democratic party (and I would argue, the nation). A Hillary victory unifies the Republican party. Enough said.

Hillary's rhetoric is smooth. And, I fear if she says things often enough, most people will start to believe her. She says that she's qualified to be president "day one" and Obama isn't. Look at the facts: Hillary has been elected just twice in her life. She's only been in office 8 years. Obama has been elected to public office four times, with 10 years of total public office experience. Yes, 6 of the 10 years were in the Illinois State Senate, but Illinois is no small state. So, Hillary, where are the other 27 years of experience you claim? I understand that being first lady counts for something, but it's not an elected office. I'm 34 years old, and I've been in school since I was 2, if I include pre-school. Does that mean I can claim 32 years experience in education? And what if Chelsea decided to run for office? Could she likewise claim 28 years experience (she was born in 1980)? By the way, Obama is 46 years old, and he's not exactly wet be...

In chess, white has the advantage. Going into last night, Hillary had the advantage with big leads in New York and California. And when I went to bed last night, Hillary was kicking butt in California -- up 20 points over Obama. But I was happy to see that this lead dropped to 10 points by morning (52 to 42). And while Hillary won the two big states, Obama won just about everything in middle of the country, other than Tennessee. So in the end, last night was a draw. Obama should be able to win the next few primaries. All I'm worried about is Texas. Why he cannot connect well with Latino voters is a mystery to me. Getting a draw from a superior player is in itself a victory. There's no doubt that Hillary is a grandmaster politician, and I would therefore call last night's showing for Obama a victory.

This could be a long night. I'm worried. Obama is my guy, but I have a feeling that Hillary is going to do better tonight. And, I'm not usually wrong about these kind of predictions. The good news is, when I drove to work this morning, there were only two Hillary supporters on the overpass trying to get people to honk for Hillary. Just two. That's rather pathetic. Heck, even when Ron Paul had supporters on that same overpass earlier in the year, there were always at least a dozen of them. Perhaps that means Hillary's support isn't that strong, at least in Minnesota. Keep your fingers crossed. I don't understand why in a country of 300 million people, the only people that we can elect to the office of President are named either Bush or Clinton. We need some new blood!

Talk about six degrees of separation... I'm not sure how much Ted Kennedy and Hulk Hogan agree on, but I do know this: both chaps support Barack Obama for president: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/hulk-hogan (you can see the video here) http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/01/ted_kennedy_end.html And, of course, Oprah supports Barack as well: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/oprah-endorses-obama-2/

The new year has me a bit down. Later this year, I'm turning 35, and I think I'm going to feel it. Granted, I realize how blessed I am. But I feel as though I've somehow "arrived," and while I like it, I feel locked in. That's never a feeling I've necessarily been good at accepting. Is it too late to ride off into the sunset, to find the next adventure? Some day, will I look back and laugh at the idea that 35 is "old"?

Here's Octavia stuffed into a Christmas stocking. This is the photo we used for our Christmas cards this year. I know we didn't get it sent to everyone, so if we happened to miss you, sorry! Consider this Christmas greetings from O, Linda, and Bret.

Fun bathtime with Octavia :)

This would make a good x-mas present, don'tcha think? :)

Click on the picture so that you can read what the latest KFC special in New York is. :)

Probably the best pic of Baby O so far. Had my first migraine last night, but I guess it's worth it.

So, she finally arrived. October 9, 2007 at 7:20 p.m. 8 lbs, 8 ounces and 22 inches long.

Who's your favorite author? Pretty boring question, me thinks. But let's spice it up: Who's your favorite author that you've never read? Right now, mine would have to be Christa Faust. I mean, just take a look at her website. How could you not be a fan of Ms. Faust? http://www.christafaust.com/ Currently, I have two of her books staring down at me from my "must read bookcase." But, honestly, I don't want to read her books. What if I don't like them? After all, sometimes things are better to admire from afar. I just fear that if I open Ms. Faust's books and take a look inside, I might not like what I find, and then where would I be? The last time I loved an author before I actually read anything by them? The author's name: Carlton Mellick III. The book: Razor Wire Pubic Hair . What a great title, what an interesting book cover. He was supposed to be the "modern-day Kurt Vonnegut." Nope, he wasn't anything like Vonnegut, and the des...

Doing a blog is fun, although I'm not able to post as often as I would wish. And, it would be more fun if it were set up more like an interactive discussion board. Sure, people can leave their comments, but they generally do so without leaving their name. That makes their comments seem somehow dirty to me. I don't like to live in the anonymous world of not even knowing the names of the people that I have intimate relations with. This is a blog for lovers, not players. :)

If you were going to have a baby girl, what would you name it? Most normal people would go for something like "Ashley" or "Nicole" or "Elizabeth." Not me. I like the name "Guinevere Octavia Fuller." How would you like to be stuck with that name growing up? :)

I was on Amazon looking up Children's Books, and I ran across an interesting fact. Jenny McCarthy has apparently written (and published) four books -- Louder than Words being her latest release. She also wrote the script to the movie Dirty Love . Not bad for someone that got her start as the co-host of MTV's Singled Out . Why do I mention all of this? Jenny and I are basically the same age, but I haven't published a thing. She's supposed to be a blond playmate airhead (which of course she's not), and she's publishing books and making movies. This cannot stand. If Ms. McCarthy can write books, then darn it, why can't I? Jenny, I accept your challenge. The score is 5-0, but I can catch up!