Entries for February 2008

Former Sen. John Edwards can end any real suspense over next Tuesday's Democratic primaries in Ohio and Texas by backing Barack Obama.

In the wake of 11 straight losses in primaries and caucuses by Hillary Clinton and defections by some key superdelegates, Edwards could settle the outcome.

The former presidential candidate and vice presidential nominee in 2004, Edwards has won only 50 delegates or so. He probably can't deliver all of them. But his endorsement of Obama would weigh on labor voters in union-heavy Ohio.

In case you haven't heard, Ralph Nader is running for president. This is no political joke.

The onetime honorable champion of consumers in the 1960s has already besmirched that legacy. He is now a bitter loner on an ego trip with little backing.

At 74, if Nader lives long enough, he will become another Harold Stassen of American politics. Stassen, in his youth a golden boy of Republican politics in Minnesota and beyond, became a subject for comedians when he ran for president so many times that no one counted anymore.

Voters of all stripes should be more concerned about Sen. John McCain's chumminess with lobbyists in Washington than over any alleged romantic ties to a female lobbyist eight years ago.

The New York Times story, subject of a controversy, is still important because the senator from Arizona has been so outspoken with his attacks on special interests. He's almost holier-than-thou on the issue.

A former aide of McCain's was the apparent source who told the newspaper that the lobbyist in question, 30 years his junior, was told to stay away from the senator in 2000. It was when McCain was running against George W. Bush in a bitter GOP presidential primary.

McCain denies being warned about the woman's presence. And he denies any romantic ties to the lobbyist.

However, the lobbying issue won't go away so easily.

Even the appearance of any impropriety could be a problem for McCain. Early in his Senate career, he was one of the Keating Five. The senator was so contrite that he issued a mea culpa to many reporters in the capital. That took courage because most politicans will never admit error.

So far McCain has handled this situation without losing his well-documented temper. McCain is known to have exploded at colleagues in the Senate, including some in his own party. He readily admits to losing his patience at times.

McCain should take some good advice from an anger management expert who told him in this week's National Journal to just "take a deep breath."

As the campaign gets even more tense in the months ahead, McCain may have to take that deep breath quite often.

Although voters rank the worsening economy as their main issue, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should not be forgotten.

Even allowing for hyperbole, presumptive Republican candidate John McCain argues that our forces may be there for 100 years. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates thinks we may need a presence in Afghanistan for the next decade since we mostly are alone there now.

So which one—Brian McNamee or Roger Clemens—failed, shall we say, to tell the whole truth in the court of baseball?

Consider which one has the most to lose. That's Clemens, the "Rocket," one of the most successful and feared pitchers in the history of the game.

This extraordinary record holder, one otherwise destined for the Hall of Fame, could lose his reputation or perhaps worse—a ticket to the fabled hall in Cooperstown. He would lose endorsements, as if he needed the money.

It is already apparent that the Republicans are going to play the fear card in this presidential campaign against the opposition.

Speakers at the Conservative Political Action Conference, including President Bush, sounded out the theme to the wild cheers of the right-wing faithful of the party.

Why, one may ask, is Rep. Ron Paul staying in the presidential race?

The onetime Libertarian candidate for president in 1988 apparently isn't going anywhere soon. He barely scratches in the primaries and caucuses but hangs in nevertheless.

Paul's loyal followers have raised an impressive sum of money on the Internet. And when the media fail to mention his name in stories, those followers call to complain bitterly about it.