How Obama Can Reach Across the Aisle.. For REAL!

An old tradition in politics, namely with the first 5 presidents, was that the Vice President would be of a different party than the President himself. This is something we haven't seen in a long time in this country and, in the time of divisive politics, I see nothing but good if one, if not both, of the nominees from both parties did this.

But if Obama really cares about "Change", then he would be wise to list a Republican as his Vice President.

Such an act would not be "treason" to the Democratic Party, but a step forward. It would show that this "change" he seems to want isn't just a slogan but an actual fact. He has already stated he wants a diverse cabinet; why not start at the top?

So let's get it out of the way; I want him to tap Ron Paul for his Vice President. Ron should be president, but in the eyes of many, his policies are too radical a change for America. At the same time, many Ron Paul supporters think Obama is simply using "Change" to get elected and won't do anything to help America once he's elected. People have said that hearing Obama speak gave them goosebumps. To me, hearing Ron Paul talk about economic stimulation, nuclear disarmament, and preaching common sense politics while running as, of all things, a Republican... well, that just plain made me faint!

Ron Paul as Obama's VP ensures a check and balance system of everything. It means that they would limit the government while making sure that everyone got what they needed from it. It would mean that the bickering in the House and Senate would not be too bad as both parties would have allies in the White House at the top. It could, in fact, be the best thing to happen to America in the last 40 years in terms of politics.

How Will Ron Paul Win?

Second Place.

Ron Paul supporters far and wide kept an eye on Nevada this past Saturday as we watched the returns start to come in. The only Republican to purchase TV ad's, the only Republican to actively work his butt off and win the state, the only man who had a real concrete plan on making sure America became strong again... Ron Paul came in second. A distant, but strong, second, to a Mormon in a Mormon state with 14% of the vote, to Mitt Romney with 51%.

Disappointing? Not at all! It's about 2 weeks before Super Tuesday, when a good estimate of 25 - 45% of all likely voters in the country would have made up their minds on who they would want to be their nominees. To this point, Ron Paul has not won a single state. Although, neither have Fred Thompson and always-last Rudy Giuliani.

No, in fact, the only people who have won states have been a businessman (Mitt Romney), a liberal-Republican turned Neo-Con (John McCain), and a psychopath (Mike Huckabee). And, admittedly, they all make good points at times about the economy and quality of life. They just plain suck when it comes to solutions. So, now that Florida is racing ever so closer, about a week from now, does Ron Paul stand a chance?

Now, mind you, I am a STRONG Ron Paul supporter. I have him in my top friends on MySpace, I have his yard sign on my yard and his button on my backpack, and Ive done 3 pro-bono designs to support him (albeit on merchandise I'm selling myself). So it is with a love and respect for the only person on earth who has made me swoon over an economic policy and ending needless wars (I feel faint), or the only man period who has. Damn, man crush... I've got one. But I still love women, don't get me wrong. That said, Ron Paul can still win this election.

Obama. Now, now, stop the boos for a second and hear me out. Ron Paul and Obama have 1 thing in common; they both have a large youth movement following that has translated into internet success. The problem is that Obama's supporters, while not even close to being as passionate, smart, or clever as Ron Paul supporters (who have basically turned this campaign into their own), Obama supporters are doing the main thing that counts; They are out there VOTING IN BIG NUMBERS. If Ron Paul wants to win, he has to win one state by Super Tuesday. Period.

I don't want to make it so do-or-die, but lets face a sad fact; the media sucks. They aren't respecting Ron Paul or his campaign, and if you hear anything about him coming in second in Nevada, your lucky. You would think that coming in second for any candidate would be worth noting, good, bad, or otherwise. Ron Paul winning Florida means one thing; He has what it takes. Nevada should have been just that; a shot in the arm for the Ron Paul campaign and a way to show that, yes, he CAN win a state. Instead, it may not show he won a state, but it shows that he has a LOT of pull! Right now, he needs to start advertising like crazy in Florida. Bus ads, TV ads, radio ads, skyscraper wraps, billboards, hell, tattoo the Ron Paul Revolution logo on people's heads if you have too, RON PAUL MUST WIN!

The question is how?

The grassroots efforts have been great, but it isn't translating into votes. Democrats aren't being converted in time and Republicans aren't being told that, yes, a REAL Republican is running who wants to save money and, more importantly, the USA, for President who can win! Instead, a malaise is falling over that we are going to have to pick from 6 people who don't know jack (3 dems, 3 reps) and just want to bend America over and, as George Carlin put it, "provide customer service"!

It boils down to Ron Paul and the revolution to admit that, yes, in this case, the revolution MUST be televised. Otherwise, who's going to believe it happened?

My Feelings on the New Hampshire Primary

Once again, a cartoonist sums up my idea nicely. Tony Auth of The Philadelphia Inquirer did this cartoon.

Going into Tuesday, I was afraid for Democracy. I was afraid that we had lost our way. Instead of having a primary process to weed out the weak and protect the strongest candidates, we instead simply publicized that the candidate that would be picked was, instead, just who the media wanted to win. After the Iowa Caucus, it seemed that was exactly what was going to happen.

In this case, the "Golden Boy" was Barack Obama, the 2-year-old Senator from Illinois. Ever since his upset of then-media darling Hillary Clinton, who was all but officially dubbed "President" at this point, the media were on him like flies on honey, calling his campaign "a message of hope and change" that was nearly "derailed by Clinton and Huckabee". That is actually a quote from Reuters. You can see it here. And people laugh when I tell them the media is biased.

So after preliminary polling showed Obama with a 10 - 15% lead (which, they later admitted, they didn't do enough of and too fast to get a story) was terribly, terribly, TERRIBLY wrong and Hilary Clinton was the winner, the media began it's spin once more and decided that the people of New Hampshire were, in fact, lying racists. The reality, though, is that they're not. Instead, you have an electorate that either said, "No, your not going to tell me who to vote for, I'm an adult who can make up my own god-damn mind!", or they enjoyed The Simpsons Sunday and decided that, yes, they were going to screw around with the overall media and instead pick someone else and keep this interesting. Or, even better, they just liked their candidate

The other news is that John McCain won New Hampshire. It's amazing, considering the fact that he was all but dead in June of 2007 and next to no one had any faith left in him. The fact that he has pretty much sided with Bush in terms of the war, and the "surge" working, helped him gain in the polls. It's interesting to note that most Independent Voters actually did vote for John McCain as well.

Mitt Romney finsihed Second, but despite that, he is still in First Place in the Republican ticket with the most votes and delegates. Not being reported, but I don't know why. It's interesting because now the media is trying to get him to drop out if he doesn't win in the next battleground, Michigan.

On that same note, Senator Obama is currently beating Clinton in terms of delegates and votes. He will not be in the ballot in Michigan, along with John Edwards, so it should be an easy win for Hillary and she will be in the lead again. My question: How will this effect Dennis Kuchinich, and could he, the lone GOOD Democrat, pull off a major upset and, if not win, get more than enough to come in a MASSIVE second?

Ron Paul finished in 5th again, narrowly losing to Rudy Guliani. Disappointing to some, but not Ron Paul! Ron has been spending his money wisely and is doing everything he can to make a MASSIVE showing on Super Tuesday, when Ron Paul strongholds such as California and New York vote. This could make it interesting! GO, RON PAUL, GO!