My personal opinions on the presidential race as it stands.

The GOP wasn’t that excited when it was just McCain, but the addition of Sarah Palin has energized the party since she exhibits conservate values.  The more the left writes letters to the editor and talks about her five kids and how women with kids can’t work, the more excited the right will become because they see such criticism to be hypocritical and something that can sway undecided voters to their side.  Having a solid conservative also makes the right feel more confident that McCain won’t do something wishy-washy.

Barack Obama is going for the swing states and electoral college votes.  He’s visited Michigan in an effort to win the hearts and minds of voters in that state where the economy has gone south.  Obama has also made efforts in Indiana — a traditionally solid red state that looks like it will reelect its Republican governor Mitch Daniels by a solid margin.  Obama has also set his efforts on Wisconsin and New Hampshire — they went with the Democrats in the 2004 presidential election.  Obama offices have opened up in Montana and North Dakota, as well as in Indiana.  The plan to win the states that went blue in 2004 and win some red states to gain the electorial college advantage.

It’s an interesting political season now that the polls have tightened up and the candidates are taking risks — McCain with his pick of Sarah Palin and Obama’s red state strategy.

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Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain, Sarah Palin

Will Chicago’s politicial culture become a major issue in the fall, maybe brought to the public’s attention via some shadowy 527 group’s ads?

Is that why John McCain brought up the need to fight against political corruption at a California fund raiser?  Is that why Sarah Palin with her reputation of fighting against political corruption was brought onto the GOP ticket?

Could Chicago’s culture and history of political corruption have been the reason why Hillary Clinton didn’t want to give up without fighting for every last delegate?  Hillary Clinton brought up the Tony Rezko – Obama connections earlier this year in her primary battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.

TMLutas wrote earlier this year that maybe the connections between Rezko and Obama aren’t so obvious for a reason.

Could it have just been a coincidence, maybe a bet on someone who had shown political promise in Chicago during a few years from June 1985 until entering law school in 1988 and greatness in law school?

It might have been all of the news about Barack Obama being the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review that captured the attention of many in Chicago and elsewhere.  Is that how Tony Rezko came to offer Barack Obama a job — unsolicitied — when Barack Obama was still in law school?

Did those contacts over the years with Tony Rezko influence Barack Obama in any way?

Writes TMLutas:

Rezko isn’t an isolated player but rather part of a corrupt machine. “Public Official A”, Rezko’s major political patron, has now been officially revealed to be Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Smart corrupt officials don’t always do simple cash for favor deals, not in a place like Chicago which is crawling with corruption, not if they want to go national and want to be able to pretend to be honest. Smart corrupt officials use middle men.

Can someone rise through the ranks of Chicago’s political world without being caught up in corruption?

Could Barack Obama have been kept away from the messier side of Chicago’s machine on the hopes that he’d rise to a level where he’d be able to help the Chicago political machine via legitimate ways?  Is Barack Obama one of the last clean politicians in a land where there are multiple political corruption investigations being conducted right now?

Until there’s something more, we have to give Barack Obama every benefit of the doubt that he stayed away from all of those interesting characters floating around the political scene in Chicago.  After all, Chicago is the place where Alderman Arenda Troutman was caught on a FBI wire saying “most aldermen, most politicians are hoes.”

Having lived in Northwest Indiana for a while — home of one of the most corrupt political machines in the country, according to Robert Kennedy and the place where every so often the FBI carts away government documents from some politicial figure’s office — always makes me wonder.  Can someone swim in a sea of political corruption without getting dirty?

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Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, GOP, John McCain, political corruption, Republican Party

The Nielsen Media ratings numbers don’t include PBS viewers, so adding them in gives Barack Obama a slight advantage in the total number of viewers.

Writes James Hibberd about the record-breaking number of viewers who turned in for the convention speeches:

If election night is half as close and contested as Thursday’s ratings race, we’re in for a heckuva evening.

John McCain’s speech was watched by more viewers than Barack Obama’s, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The Republican nominee beat Obama’s record-setting convention speech viewership by 500,000 among broadcast and cable networks.

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Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain

First thoughts on Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin’s choice to be John McCain’s vice presidential running mate is attractive on several levels.  Having a female candidate on the GOP ticket was a smart move.  Having Sarah “Barracuda” Palin on the ticket is even smarter.  Sarah Palin is a former basketball player known for her aggressive playing style that also carried over into her political career as a government reformer.

Watch for the efforts to compare and contrast this fall. Chicago’s own Barack Obama grew up learning his political skills in the machine politics of the Windy City with all of its colorful and lovable political figures who always seem to be playing cat and mouse games with the feds. (If they every bring back The Wire, maybe they should have it set in the wards of Chicago). Sarah Palin will be cast as the fighter who broke with her state’s political powers, going against the grain and foregoing some of the spoils that could have been sent her way if she had played along those who wanted a slice of the oil monies and Bridges to Nowhere that that some saw as the rewards for being elected to political office.

But, back to keeping it light. I almost veered into some heavy duty political commentary there.

The picture below is a reason why Sarah Palin was a good choice on John McCain’s part.  Sarah Palin has a cute family — just like Barack Obama’s.  Voters always love seeing kids on the convention stage — especially younger ones.  Sarah Palin has five children, so that’s got to work in her favor with some voters.

Photo: Sarah Palin has an attractive family that voters will love seeing on TV.

But, the cuteness doesn’t stop with the kids. This is also the year of hottie potential First Ladies.

Putting politics aside, one must admit that Michelle Obama will be a fashion trendsetter should Barack Obama win. Should Barack win, it might be fair to say that Michelle Obama will be the hottest First Lady so far in history. But, never despair, Cindy McCain is also a hottie in her own right. Maybe First Lady comparisons with Jackie Kennedy are on point for this year.

Photo: Barack Obama and Michelle Obama

Photo: Cindy McCain & Kiefer Sutherland

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Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Cindy McCain, John McCain, Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin