It Was The Internet's Fault

And you thought Governor Howard Dean was a bad candidate. Wrong! He was done in by the Internet! (link via Instapundit)

A Kausian Challenge

Now that he's the nominee, will Senator John Kerry fire DNC Chairman and Special Interest sleazeball Terry McAuliffe? It would seem a fair test of Kerry's "new" populism. Of course, it would put him in direct conflict with a certain Chappaqua resident, who likes the fact that Mr. McAuliffe controls the DNC checkbook.

Over to you, Mr. Kaus.

John Kerry's Big Day

I'm obviously not a fan of Senator Kerry, but there's no denying his accomplishment. Today's the day he wins the nomination. He faces an uphill task. Unseating a popular incumbent is never easy. But he has what he has always dreamed of having: a real shot at the presidency of the United States of America.

Shareholder Value

Time Warner Kinney Parking is moving into new offices near Columbus Circle in New York City. The CEO's office is being built out at a cost of $25 million. This is what they call at Time Warner Kinney Parking creating shareholder value. You can wait the rest of your life before you'll read about this complete boondoggle in Time or Fortune, or hear one word about it on CNN.

Dishonest Media

One of the themes of the blogosphere has been that "big media" are dishonest. That what is reported in the papers and aired on television is often not even proximate to what actually happened. Instapundit post two links on his site that are perfect examples of this. The first link is to Roger Simon's site. The other is to Little Green Footballs (you have to scroll down a bit to the photograph).

Click on both the Simon and LGF links. Remember these two pictures when you watch the news on TV or read The New York Times. If you think big media are objective, you're out of your mind.

Is It Too Late? And: How Deep?

Democrats seem intent on jumping off the cliff with Senator John Kerry. Why? I don't know. It may be a "birds on the wire" phenomenom; one flies off and suddenly they all fly off. It may be that Democratic voters have decided that he's the best they've got (I don't think this is true, I think Edwards is a vastly superior candidate). It may be that Democratic voters have found something in John Kerry that the rest of us can't see. But barring double defeat on Tuesday (in VA and TN). John Kerry will be the Democratic nominee.

He's a nightmare of a candidate -- moody, self-important, indecisive, self-righteous, self-important and incredibly thin-skinned. He's also boring -- mind-numbingly, run-out-of-the-room, can't-stand-it-anymore boring. And he's a gloomy bastard. And he's a transparent phony. Slavering over special interests has been the John Kerry way in Massachusetts for as long as anyone can remember. That's the way politics works; important interests get special attention. Kerry claiming otherwise isn't just false, it's absurd. He asks us to believe that the earth is flat.

It is now jello-ed conventional wisdom that President Bush is "clearly vulnerable" and "in deep trouble." Let's put it this way: his troubles are less deep if John Kerry is the nominee. And anyone betting against "jello-ed" conventional wisdom in this election cycle has already made a lot of money.

Perhaps the Most Compelling Reason Yet to Vote for Bush

Our neighbors to the north hope he loses. But then, what would one expect? Their national anthem is a beer commercial.

Scene Setter

There's a firehouse primary in Michigan today and the Washington State caucuses as well. Kerry is expected to win both. The Dean numbers in Washington will be interesting, particularly in King County (Seattle).

Tomorrow it's the Maine caucuses. Tuesday, the Virginia and Tennessee primaries. All this is neatly packaged by Dan Balz and Vanessa Williams.

The crazy general has been disturbing the Ashram somewhat, invading the personal space of Senator Edwards in Tennessee. But you'll be pleased to know that no negative advertising has appeared. Ommmmmmmmmmm.

How Did Kerry Beat Weld?

Here's The New York Times view, from an ex-Boston Globe reporter. It's the Kerry narrative; the story as they imagine it. And so it is worth reading.

I covered the race for The Boston Globe. The key dynamic was controlling how the race was understood by the electorate. It was in Weld's interest that it be seen as a Massachusetts race; the popular governor against the stiff senator. It was in Kerry's interest that it be seen as a national race; the good Democrat against the evil Republicans.

For some reason, it took Kerry and his crack team of consultants 9 months to figure this out, which is why they trailed in all the polls until mid-October. Once they successfully nationalized the race, Weld was a goner. Clinton defeated Dole in Massachusetts 61%-28%. Kerry beat Weld 54%-45%. Massachusetts is the second most "nationally Democratic" state in the country.

The most interesting thing (to me) about the race was that the Weld campaign had nothing to say for the last three weeks. They just coasted along on bad ads and bromides. They appeared to have no understanding of the dynamic that was doing them in.

Which Polls Are Best?

The two most reliable polling organizations in the country right now are the Gallup Organization and Opinion Dynamics. Gallup does the polling for CNN and USA Today, Opinion Dynamics does its work for the Fox News Channel. You can find Gallup data here. You can find Opinion Dynamics data here.