John McCain

Presented without comment, because, well, I think this pretty well speaks for itself:

Has anyone made a video of Obama misspeaking? Could it even faintly compare? I'm betting not.

Yeah, I know, I know. We can all think of several reasons to consider McCain a troll. But I mean this in a slightly different sense. As pointed out by the ever-fantastic Elizabeth of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, whose olfactory delights are an ongoing obsession fascination of mine:

On McCain's "Blog Interact" page, where the candidate's supporters can find recommended blogs of all ideological stripes, the campaign is actually awarding points for trolling.

Here's the text from said page:

Help spread the word about John McCain on news and blog sites. Your efforts to help get the message out about John McCain's policies and plan for the future is one of the most valuable things you can do for this campaign. You know why John McCain should be the next President of the United States and we need you to tell others why.

Select from the numerous web, blog and news sites listed here, go there, and make your opinions supporting John McCain known. Once you’ve commented on a post, video or news story, report the details of your comment by clicking the button below. After your comments are verified, you will be awarded points through the McCain Online Action Center.

McCain's site helpfully points out a few sites his supporters might go troll, and lists talking points that are decidedly lacking in "points," i.e. the insipidly generic "John McCain will put the national interest ahead of partisanship, he will work with anyone who sincerely wants to get this country moving again."

This, my friends, is trolling. Running around posting your agenda without any intent of actually joining in the conversation? Purposefully posting to sites with a contradictory point of view without, again, any interest in discussion? Trolling. Which is unacceptable on several levels — not least because it suggests something deeply unpleasant about how McCain wants to engage with those who disagree with him: with blanket statements and talking points, without any regard for the conversational topics at hand or any interest in listening. Just pour it on until it sticks.

But hey. At least — as we all know by now — McCain is aware of the internet.

Tip o' the hat to Feministing for this one.

Not that I'm personally interested, but HELLO? Yes.

Pic of Hillary Clinton by Marc Nozell; pic of Barack Obama by Center for American Progress Action Fund. Both from Wiki Commons.

OK. I was surprised and, I gotta admit, pleased that Hillary Clinton won in Ohio and possibly in Texas (BlueOregon argues that it was a tie and the Austin American-Statesman says that actually, Obama may have won more delgates).

Why?

Because so many people are taking an interest in the race. Come on, when I was in Iowa for the caucuses, more than twice the number of Dems turned out than had ever turned out before. Here's a quote from a Texas story about the race:

The Democrats' enthusiastic turnout could be expected, given the high-profile status of the race between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois as the Texas' March 4 primary approaches.

For Democrats, shut out of the White House for nearly eight years, the nomination of a female or black candidate will represent a historic moment.

Yep. And that means both candidates need to be viable for as long as possible. Of course, it can lead to bullshit like this and this, but my hope really is that the Dems continue to be energized. And you know what? There's a lot, a lot, more interest in and coverage of the Dems than of McCain right now. Even with that Bush endorsement. How can this be a bad thing? Name recognition, repeated photos of the candidates — and there is the prejudice people feel about McCain being too old.

Of course, a lot of people disagree with me for excellent reasons.

What do you think?

Hmmm, old Republican white guy runs for President and turns out very horny. If this sounds familiar to you, down boy, you're not the only one: