Clinton/Obama, Voting Machines, W.F. Buckley Jr.

Written pre-"Nobody Asked Me But..." on March 3, 2008.

A strange thing has developed in the last two weeks leading up to tomorrow's primaries in Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island. Yes, there are primaries in Vermont and Rhode Island. It has gone from Bill Clinton's statement that Hillary must win both Texas and Ohio or it is
all over for her, to an unnamed Clinton staffer saying that "Obama MUST WIN all four primaries tomorrow or HE is in trouble.

Huh?

One: isn't this one of the most outrageous bits of political spin you have heard recently? or

Two: are they lowering the expectations of Hillary, in the event she loses any/all of the primaries? or

Three: are they raising the expectations of Obama, that HE MUST WIN all four primaries? or

Four: are they confident with their back room arm twisting in not only capturing many of the super delegates needed, but also in getting the delegates that Obama has "won" in previous primaries to switch their "pledge" from Obama to Hillary? or

Five: all of the above?

It is unfortunate that, in spite of her intelligence, capability, and commitment, she and her staff did not anticipate having to do anymore campaigning past super Tuesday, February 5. They were totally unprepared for not capturing the nomination on/before super Tuesday,and for the assault and level of commitment of the Obama's ground troops, not to mention Obama's inspiring messages catching on with all demographic groups, and not just with the younger voters.

And it is also unfortunate that she is caught up with a partner in ahistorical first in US history: the first viable female candidate and the first viable black candidate for the US presidency. Something's gotta give. They both can't be president. And many voters' hopes of a"dream team" - both on the same ticket - is not going to happen. Too much baggage to contend with no matter who is first or second on the ticket.

Too bad. She would make it exciting and challenging. There would be much more to write about, more hope (than McCain), as well as more things to bitch about. And I would miss her fight, spirit, and her cackle. Seriously. Say what you want about her and her reputation as having a cold demeanor: She has loosened up quite a bit, has shown us a side of her which we did not know; she is so sharp as to keep Obama and all the moderators on their toes.

Gee, this almost sounds like an obituary. Like after tomorrow she is history. You never know. Her and her people may surprise us after all.Never underestimate them.

Much of Hillary's political future rests with the voters tomorrow. And the back room arm twisting.

One of the most under reported stories since 2000 has been the ongoing, and unresolved, problems with electronic voting machines.This is a long and involved problem that is fodder for another day but bears to be "reported" here, in part, because of the primary tomorow in Ohio, an important swing state that has, and will play, a huge part in presidential elections. In Cuyahoga County, Ohio's largest(Cleveland), the election officials have disbanded the electronic voting machines that were installed following the voting debacle of2000 and have returned to the old standby - paper balloting. And after$7 million dollars of investment by the federal and state governments, the machines were declared difficult to use, difficult to train users,unreliable with distorted information, and without a paper trail.

Electronic machines have been disbanded in other areas, including California and Maryland. Others have refused to install them. More have installed them and are just rolling with the tide. A disaster waiting to happen.

Who needs malfunctioning and easily manipulated electronic voting machines when the Democrats already have an election problem - Ralph Nader. But that is a story for another day.

This message is longer than I thought and I want to get to my last thought for the day. Whew. thankfully you say. Don't blame you.

William F. Buckley Jr, whom some of you know of, and others, not a clue, maybe.

Just a quick tutorial: He was considered the founder of today's conservative movement, though his brand of conservatism, in many respects, does not resemble today's version. He was brilliant,extraordinarily brilliant, open-minded, big hearted, loved music(played the harpsichord), loved life (sailed across the Atlantic with several close friends on his yacht, drinking wine and smoking cigars),had a great sense of humor, was extremely generous with his time and money, and when he spoke, whatever your political or religious beliefs were, he commanded respect.

And you had to listen to him.

Does that sound like any conservative you may know or have read about today? Hardly.

Though he founded the conservative movement in the 60s, was the founder and chief editorial writer of The National Review, hosted the long running TV show The Firing Line, the predecessor to today's Meet The Press, he supported gay rights, decriminalization of marijuana,
opposed any anti-semitism, stayed at arms length of Richard Nixon, and although he originally was a supporter of the invasion of Iraq,he became critically opposed to it and was not afraid to admit his mistake in his initial support.

Once again, totally unrecognizable and unacceptable to today's conservatives.

And he had the keenest wit. I was fortunate to have been a live witness to many of his programs and wit. I can remember some of them,tho some of the dates and names are not at the tip of my tongue, or fingertips now.

Here is just a sampling of his wit as I remember it:

He ran for mayor of New York City in 1965, unsuccessfully. As the campaign was drawing to a close, a reporter asked him should he win,"what will be your first act as mayor?" Buckley replied, with a straight face, "demand a recount."

Somewhere in the mid 90s, one night when I tuned in to his Firing Line program, as I did often, he had a guest, whose name escapes me now,who had appeared numerous times before. There they were, sitting in the simplest of chairs on stage, when, after Buckley introduced his guest,
he opened up the discussion with this: "so well, Mr (X), you've been on my program, now, 25 times? Have you learned anything yet?"

Again, with a straight face.

One last bit of wit, close to home. In his later years, he had been spending time in the Boston area. He remarked at one function, a remark just a bit off subject to most, but not to him: "I would prefer to be governed by the first 2000 people named in the Boston telephone directory than by the 2000 faculty of Harvard University."

How can you not love a person like that?

He will be missed. By many. By me. Peace, William.

Peace. Larry.