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Closing Arguments on the Substance
By Tommy Christopher - Politics DailyWith Super Tuesday imminent, and the Democratic and Republican fields narrowed to a more manageable level, the time is right for me to sum up and flesh out some of the issues that I've discussed in my series of articles "on the substance." So much of this Presidential campaign has been insubstantial, both in the campaigning itself and the coverage of it. This series was a response to that. My original articles explored the candidates' platforms, but there are other considerations that I promised to go over in my summation. As you read this, I ask two things of you. First, judge this article on ...
Huckabee/Colbert '08: On the Issues
By Tommy Christopher - Politics Daily"Fundit" and Farcenist Stephen Colbert has been tapped as Republican candidate Mike Huckabee's running mate, announced the candidate on last night's episode of "The Colbert Report", video below. Anyone familiar with Colbert's own failed candidacy can now clearly see that it was all a charade leading up to this. Did Colbert's donors, chiefly Doritos, know that they were really funding a Vice-Presidential campaign? I don't think so, and that's just wrong. With this stunning announcement, I thought there would be no better time than to examine the substance of Mike Huckabee, and try to figure out ...
New Hampshire: The Substance So Far
By Tommy Christopher - Politics DailyWith the New Hampshire Primary looming, I thought this would be a good time to recap my series of articles detailing the candidates' actual positions and my analysis of them. I had hoped to be finished with all of the candidates before doing this, but time has not permitted it. I will continue the series, and another recap, with whomever is left standing after tomorrow night's primary. I was driven to write these pieces because I found myself complaining, loudly and often, about the lack of substance in campaign coverage. Gaffes, smears, horserace handicapping, hyperbole, oxymoronic ...
Mole: The Substance of Mitt Romney
By Tommy Christopher - Politics Daily"Nice to mole you.. meet you! Nice to meet your mole! Don't say mole..." - Austin Powers It would be foolish to vote for a presidential candidate on the basis of something completely irrelevant to the job, yet there hardly seems to be an article on Mitt Romney that doesn't codify that notion. In truth, our media bandies all sorts of irreleventia about all of the candidates, but none so specifically and unfairly. Do me a favor, do your country a favor, put it out of your mind. Before I get to Mitt's policy positions, let me make a few things clear. I have deep, fundamental disagreements with ...
John Edwards: The Substance of Change
By Tommy Christopher - Politics DailyAs I predicted yesterday, John Edwards' candidacy has a great chance to stun the dullard pundit class, who seem insistent on an Obama-Clinton throwdown. It was nice to see my analysis parroted by Keith Olbermann on Countdown last night. ( See video below) It'd be nicer if he credited me, but I guess that's just the Colbert in him. I'm going to try and finish doing these "Substance of..." pieces before New Hampshire, and perhaps publish a round-up, with my own summation. It's Edwards' turn. I didn't do him earlier because I had published a different, very positive piece on him just before the ...
The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama
By Tommy Christopher - Politics DailyEver since his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, my wife has had a political crush on Obama, pre-dating the so-called "real" Obama girl by several years. The day after the convention, she had an "Obama '08" T-shirt and bumper sticker, along with a "Cheney-Voldemort '08" bumper sticker, rushed to our home. He is an electrifying speaker, a quality that is too easily dismissed by many. In a Democratic Party that has been beset by messaging problems, his brand of teflon charisma can't be overlooked. A lot of people knock him for a lack of experience, but I think experience ...
The Substance of Hillary Clinton
By Tommy Christopher - Politics DailyMuch has been written about the Clinton campaign, both on The Political Machine and elsewhere, much of it focusing on the horserace, the gaffes, straight-up fluff like her laugh, and Gotcha! issues coverage. She has an image, deserved or not, as a triangulator, shoehorning her politics into the political opinion of the moment. Others would say she's being responsive or building consensus. To me, there are a few important qualities that a leader must have. First and foremost, they need to have the right goals. There's no point in electing a great leader who's going to run toward the wrong end ...
If Only: The Substance of Chris Dodd
By Tommy Christopher - Politics DailyIt is a well-known fact that Chris Dodd has my vote as long as he's in the presidential race, but I haven't really dug into his positions, so I'd like to do that now, much as I did with Ron Paul. The format of that story, I think, resonated with people. I'm not sure how much of that had to do with the zeal of Paul's supporters, but it makes sense to me to evaluate a candidate first on what he or she says. If they don't pass that test, there's little point in paying attention to gaffes and scandals and gotchas, oh my! In the law, there's a thing called prima facie, on it's face. If a ...
Ron Paul For President...of What?
By Tommy Christopher - Politics DailyUpdated: Response to commentators at the end. Updated again at 8:47 a.m. 12/31/07.I've watched, and participated in, this primary campaign with an acute feeling of disappointment in almost everyone involved. The coverage has been overwhelmingly superficial, focusing on the gaffe of the moment, or the fund-raising acumen of the candidates, or on conflicting and meaningless polls. Very little attention is paid to anything of substance. I want to know what a candidate's qualifications are, and how to weigh them.Ron Paul is a candidate who has gotten a lot of attention, compared with his poll ...
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