"Could we possibly have a nominee who hasn't won any of the significant states — outside of Illinois?" Chief Strategist Mark Penn said. "That raises some serious questions about Sen. Obama."

This is the Clinton strategy - diminish the importance of any state and demographic that chooses an option other than Hillary. She didn't win South Carolina, it doesn't count because of the Black vote. She didn't win Iowa, Washington, etc... well, those are merely caucus states, they don't count (which would knock Nevada out of her column by that metric).

Now it's the latest wins don't count because they're not from significant states.

So if you don't live in California, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or New York, not a woman or Hispanic - you just don't matter to the Clinton campaign. That's democracy at work.

What's the next filibuster from the epic fail tank? "If you vote for Barack Obama, the terrorists win"?

Labels: Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Indecision '08, politics

Usually on this occasion designed to play on the emotions of the unattached, I spend the day curled up in bed with a pint full of pistachio gelato in one hand and a remote trained on Bridget Jones's Diary in the other. However in the '08, I'm taking a different approach. Maybe it's the arctic thaw of my last love affair gone bad that's finally dissipating ever so slowly, but the premise of facing the post-ides of February without wanting to reaching for sauvignon blanc to soothe a splintered ego counts as progress. So, maybe hope really does spring eternal. If Gary Coleman of all people can get hit with Cupid's arrow in between shifts at the Fox Hills Mall, who am I to write off romance completely?

So rather than pity the lucky lasses who'll be getting crimson bouquets courtesy of FTD and their spines realigned after dark (no, I'm really not bitter. Don't believe me? Okay, maybe just a smidge), I'm in a sentimental state of mind to give props to those couples from then to now who still give me a reason to believe in the power of the L-word.

It's for Claire and Cliff.
Will and Jada.
Denzel and Pauletta.
Forest and Keisha.
Nicole and Boris.
Grant and Tamia.
Angela and Courtney.
Bill and Camille.
Ruby and Ossie.
Betty and Malcolm.
Coretta and Martin.
Barack and Michelle.

Labels: love, relationships, Valentine's Day

If you live in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California or any of the other 22 states that are holding primaries and caucuses tomorrow, please get out there and let your voice be heard. I hope you'll consider picking Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for the 44th United States Presidency. There's a golden opportunity within our grasp. We can finally have a major impact in choosing this party's nomination. Let's not let it go to waste.

Weighing the choice before us isn't merely boiled down to identity box demographics. It's whether we choose to take a step forward with a clean slate or regress back to the entrenched politics of the status quo.

The only endorsement that really matters is the one you give when you go into the voting booth. Nevertheless, if a respected voice gives a convincing reason for their choice of a candidate, it's something worth considering. The following shortlist have provided compelling cases for Obama much better than I can:

• Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), former Democratic presidential nominee
• Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), legendary liberal lion, a champion of women's rights, labor, the environment and social justice
• Tom Hayden, former CA state senator, anti-war icon, author of the Port Huron Statement
• Gov. Janet Napolitano (D-AZ)
• Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA)
• Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
• Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS)
• The Los Angeles Times
• Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles, CA), highest ranking Hispanic in the House of Representatives
• Kate Michelman, former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America
• The New York Observer
• Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA)
• Maria Shriver, first lady of California
• MoveOn.org
• Yale Daily News
• The Harvard Crimson

But I don't expect anyone to take third party's stamps of approval at face value, but solely on the basis of what the candidate themselves have to say. So stripped of all artifice and celebrity cache, please take some time out to listen to Sen. Barack Obama speaking with the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle on the challenges and solutions needed to put this country back on the road to recovery and redemption. I hope his words inspire you as much as they did me.

Labels: Barack Obama, Indecision '08, politics, Super Tuesday

"I came in like a lamb. But I intend to leave like a lion..." - Sade, Bullet Proof Soul

And how fucking sweet it is. After 17 long years of wandering in the wilderness of championship draught, New York is back at the top of the pigskin heap. Baseball remains my first love, but I can't front like I wasn't yelling from the top of my lungs and running around my living room as if the spirit of Jeff Hostetler was hovering over U. of Phoenix Stadium. On a personal note (the team used to be one of my corporate accounts), I was so proud to see the classy tributes to both Wellington Mara & Robert Tisch. The first time in a long time that the tagline "don't believe the hype" need not apply. I'm still trying to decide which will rank highest on my highlight reel for Super Bowl XLII. Among them will be:

• The bat mitzvah of Eli Manning to a global audience.
• All-American whiner Tom Brady eating Astroturf. Five times.
• Junior Seau coming out of retirement only to remain ringless.
• David Tyree's catch on 3rd and 5 from the 44. Holy. fucking. shit.
• Plaxico Burress proving that unlike Randy Moss, he can unequivocally put his money where his mouth is.
• Gratuitous shots of Osi Umenyiora. (Operation: Selita Ebanks Must Disappear is in full swing.)
• Defecating on the prospect of 19-0 in the most heartbreaking of ways.

Stomaching 2 Red Sox World Series wins, a sickening stranglehold the Patriots had on the league and the resurgence of the Celtics was the equivalent of Chinese water torture. There's no hatred like New England hatred and their deal with the devil for prolonged multisport dominance was driving me batshit crazy.

But thankfully the balance of power has shifted (if only for a fleeting moment) back in its rightful order. Celebration in the Big Apple, desperation in Beantown. Knowing that whenever Massholes reminisce on what could've been in the days, weeks and months ahead, they'll always know that perfection was derailed at the hands of the evil underdogs from Gotham. Little tidbits like that just perk my nipples up at full salute. Payback's a bitch I'd like to have a drink with.

P.S. Feel free to go fuck yourself, Tiki Barber.

Labels: football, New York Giants, playoffs, Super Bowl

Talk about campaigning in poetry. While Britney Spears is bouncing around a padded room in the latest chapter of her ongoing march to Crazytown, it's almost heartwarming to see bleeding-heart camera hogs channeling their star power for a common purpose. Inspired by Barack Obama's New Hampshire concession speech, an all-star lineup headlined by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am have joined together in a 4-minute music video set to those very words.

• It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
  Yes, we can.
• It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.
  Yes, we can.
• It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
  Yes, we can.
• It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land.

I don't even care that the relentless beauty shots of Scarlett Johansson reek of Velveeta because I don't have an ice box where my heart used to be just yet. Yes we can.

Labels: Barack Obama, Indecision '08, music video, politics