Simple: Talk to Merle Haggard. Charm the SOB, just a little. He’s waiting to be asked. Back when Barack was duking it out with Hillary for the Democratic nomination, Joe Klein for Time interviewed the country music legend (here). Klein argues, with justification, that Haggard has his "guitar hardwired to the gutbucket pulse of MiddleContinue reading “How Barack Can Reach Out to Disaffected White Males”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
Green and Conservative in East Tennessee
Interesting post from Kayla Webley of Off the Bus, who reports (here) that East Tennessee is conservative politically — and environmentally. …conservative here implies much more than tight tax laws and low government interference. To be conservative is, well, to conserve. "It’s been interesting living in East Tennessee because I think it is very muchContinue reading “Green and Conservative in East Tennessee”
Obama as a Community Organizer: Left v. Right
Now that a former community organizer is running for the White House, reporters from both the right (Byron York, from the National Review) and, arguably, the left (the Boston Globe) have visited his former stomping grounds in Chicago, and reported on what folks there think about Barack Obama. It’s a case of the dog thatContinue reading “Obama as a Community Organizer: Left v. Right”
The Uselessness of the Instant Expert
David Appell takes Matt Ygleisias, his readers, himself, and the entire blogosphere to task in a memorable rant. He’s got a point: instant experts on any issue can be worse than useless, especially on difficult subjects — such as drought in the Southwest — that require more than an hour’s reading to understand. Why amContinue reading “The Uselessness of the Instant Expert”
“World’s Greatest Polluter” Has Fun
From the Times of London (here) on the unsuccessful G-8 effort to reduce carbon emissions. The G8 summit concluded on a light-hearted note, as President Bush bade farewell to world leaders with the words: “Goodbye from the world’s greatest polluter.” The other statesmen laughed, at first nervously, and then more enthusiastically when they realised MrContinue reading ““World’s Greatest Polluter” Has Fun”
Fire in the Hills
Strange but true: the best coverage I’ve seen of the firest in Goleta and Big Sur has been coming not from the San Francisco Chronicle, not from the Los Angeles Times (although they got some good quotes yesterday), and certainly not from the Associated Press, which has been snore-inducing, but from a reporter from TheContinue reading “Fire in the Hills”
Ventura Pollster: Obama to Win, Landslide Possible
That’s my headline — the editor had a different version, unfortunately
unsupported by what pollster George Barna actually said. Sigh.
Headlines are so often where newspapers go wrong.
Nonetheless, the story itself (here) is well worth reading. Here’s the crux (highly technical journalism term). I’ll post the rest of the story, without the paper’s headline, below the fold.
“Americans sense that something has gone astray in our political
sphere,” he said. “One of the conclusions widely drawn — especially by
younger voters, — is that attacking one’s opponent more and more
viciously as the campaign progresses, or the farther behind a candidate
falls in the polls is a show of self-interest, not national interest.
Add to that the existing perception that McCain represents the old,
tired politics of Beltway insiders, and you get a public that is not
particularly interested in hearing the old man criticize the younger
man, the white man question the integrity of the black man, or the
career politician challenge the newcomer.”
Barna is a mild-mannered man with
graying hair, and he doesn’t speak in colorful quotes, but the pollster
all but pounds the table on this point.
“People are already
concerned that McCain represents the old way of doing business,” he
said. “They don’t want the next president to be a mud-slinger. They
want him to stay above the fray. They’re worried about the future.”
And here’s the invaluable Supertracker composite of polls via FiveThirtyEight (here). You’ll note that the trend (the red line) is above statistician Nate Silver’s projection, which means the race should tighten, but it’s still looking very good for Obama right now.
Fires: Getting Bigger…and Fast
News from Big Sur area is mixed: the Basin Complex fire (detailed here) is still nowhere near under control, and has forced evacuations and the closure of Hwy 1, but its fellow blaze, the Indians Wildland fire, is 95% contained. Pictures from the area are alarming, but the better-known areas are being well-defended. But theContinue reading “Fires: Getting Bigger…and Fast”
McCain: Anger You Can Believe In
California: Dry and Getting Drier
Haven’t blogged about the hundreds of fires that have broken out over the last two weeks in California. The good news is that few of them have grown to be large (with the notable exception of the Basin Complex and Indians Wildland fire in the Big Sur area, which total over 100,000 acres). For more,Continue reading “California: Dry and Getting Drier”
Kit Stolz 