Can We Expect an October Surprise?

The election is 52 days away. I'm hearing more and more talk of an "October Surprise" (defined as an event that occurs just in time to swing a Presidential election).

Earlier this week, ABC reported that the McCain campaign is worried that the Troopergate investigation into Sarah Palin's alleged abuse of power may be turned into one that will harm their campaign.

To be honest, I don't think the people who have fallen in love with Governor Palin would give a hoot over this. After all, these are presumably the same people who re-elected George W. Bush, despite evidence that he lied to the nation about weapons of mass destruction and diverted our military from capturing Osama bin Laden and eliminating Al Qaeda in Afghanistan so we could start an unnecessary war in Iraq. Next to that, bullying a public servant to fire a former in-law seems trivial.

But over the last few days, I've been hearing lots of speculation about an operation to capture Osama -- timed just right to be the kind of October surprise that could keep the GOP in power for another four years.

As NPR reported today, the opening salvo was a raid last week by US Special Ops in Pakistan, "part of a three-phase plan, approved by President Bush, to strike at Osama bin Laden and top al-Qaida leadership."

Of course, this is very good news - especially if we can do some real damage to the terrorists' ability to launch more attacks in our country and others.

But you have to wonder about the timing.

According to the Los Angeles Times, new Predator technology that is enabling the drones to accurately identify the precise location of their targets (even when they are inside buildings) has existed for quite some time, and may have had more influence on the "Anbar Awakening" than the so-called "surge."

The Times reports that plans similar to the one being implemented now have been around since 2003.

I wonder. Are the folks within the Bush administration finally listening to Keith Olbermann?

Today's LA Times features an opinion piece about such an October surprise, by Tim Rutten, who warns that capturing bin Laden at this late date could swing the undecided electorate firmly into John McCain's camp... or not:

"If a military technology heretofore monopolized by operations in Iraq finally brings Bin Laden to answer for his crimes, Obama and his supporters can argue that the war in Iraq delayed the day of reckoning in Afghanistan.

"That's the thing about suprises, no matter the month: The consequences are as unlooked-for as the event."

Donna Schwartz Mills is happy that her home town newspaper is still capable of breaking important news stories.

Got $27? Make Political Change.

We're all about change here at MOMocrats.  We like making our opinions known and our voices heard, in case you couldn't tell! 

It seems to be working -- things are growing here in our corner of the political blogosphere.  But sometimes, whether we like it or not, words aren't always enough in our system to see the change we want.  Sadly, those who give the money ultimately have a bigger say than those who don't.

So I've started a revolution at my place and my fellow MOMocrats agreed to let me talk about it here, as well.  So, I'm inviting everyone to dig out their change, check under the sofa cushions and in the pockets of those jeans you haven't worn for a while and see if you can put together $27.

$27.

That's my new mantra.

Several months ago, I read Melinda Henneberger's book, If They Only Listened to Us: What Women Voters Want Men to Hear. As she was promoting her book, Henneberger quoted a statistic in one article that if every woman who voted in the 2006 national elections had contributed just $27 to any presidential candidate or party, we would pour $1.3 billion dollars into the political system.

Mm-hmm.  That's billion with a 'b.'

Dee Dee Myers is Ready to Rule the World. Are You?

I have long joked that things would be a lot different when I'm King of the World.

Public places would have more "rest" facilities for women since the lines are always so much longer than for the guys. Men would be required to do half of the child care for their own kids and every employer would have on-site day-care facilities.

And while I'm at it, I'll hire Clive Owen and John Cusack to clean my house and cook the meals!  Hey, it's my fantasy, right?

I do believe there is plenty of truth to the argument that loads of things would be better if women ruled the world. Dee Dee Myers has beaten me to the punch in bringing this discussion to the main stream media.

Eight Reasons Elizabeth Edwards Should be First Lady

I decided to finally sit down and read Elizabeth Edwards' book Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength From Friends and Strangers.

It's really the sub-head of the book title that made me pick this book up because isn't that what we all try to do?  I don't know about you, but there are just many times in life when I need a little extra strength or support and I'm trying to learn to take it where I can find it.

Elizabeth writes so gracefully and eloquently about how she has done that in her own life, from the time she was a small girl living in Japan when her father was stationed there in the military to her husband's campaign for the White House with John Kerry to her diagnosis with breast cancer.

Aside from the message of her book that I've taken to heart, her words often made me laugh as I recognized myself, and my friends, in descriptions of herself.  It occurred to me that this is the type of "regular" woman we need to have some influence on our country!

So, here is a short list, taken from Elizabeth Edwards' own words, on why I think this down-to-earth mother, wife, daughter, and professional should be the next First Lady of the United States:

1. She likes meatloaf.  Elizabeth, I make a darn good meatloaf (just ask my dad -- it's what he always wants me to make if he comes for dinner).  So next time you're in town, stop by and I'll throw one in the oven!

2. She's a song geek.  One of my favorite things to do if I'm cruising down the highway is to crank the tunes and start singing.  Elizabeth has what must be the song compilation of all song compilations -- she's been collecting lyrics for car trips since her children were little.  She made copies of her special book for the reporters on the campaign trail when her husband ran for vice-president in 2004 so they'd have something to do on the bus!  I'm sure the current crop of reporters covering John Edwards' race this time have become intimately familiar with it!

3. She shops at Target.  I have a feeling that wouldn't change if she lived in the White House.  After all, you can order online.

4. She buys matching pajamas at Target for herself and her girlfriends.

5. She's just as happy with a burger from Wendy's as she is with fancier food.

6. She likes Lawrence, Kansas.  OK, that's one that's probably peculiar to me.  But as a grad of the University of Kansas Law School, I had to include it!  Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!

7. One of her favorite children's books is Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.  (Hmmm, meatloaf, burgers, meatballs -- do I see a theme here?)

8. Most importantly, and more seriously, she has an amazing sense of hope.  If I had a fraction of the hope and optimism she does, I'd be a happier person.  But on a larger scale, wouldn't it be great to have a little of her brand of infectious optimism in the White House?

Matt Bai's The Argument

Last Sunday night, I found myself wandering around a toney art gallery in San Francisco, surrounded by a Who's Who of NetRoots types, young-ish, earnest-looking bloggers and people who hang with bloggers.  Despite being a co-founder of MOMocrats, I am not that plugged in to the whole Netroots thing, so I didn't know who most of them were.  The only one I recognized was Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, "Kos" of The Daily Kos.  The only reason I recognized him was that I saw him on The Colbert Report a while ago.

Somehow, I received an invitation to attend a book signing for Matt Bai's new book, The Argument:  Billionaires, Bloggers and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics. I thought it was going to be a panel discussion or some kind of reading from the invitation, but it turned out to be a cocktail party with the author and some of the people he mentions in his book.  Instead of a panel discussion, it was more of a "salon" style event, with people milling around, and eventually focusing on Bai when he got up to speak and answer questions.  Not exactly my normal scene, since I had to quickly change out of the shirt I was wearing before I left the house, which was covered in pumpkin guts from the neighborhood Jack-o-Lantern carving party.

Bai was introduced by Gina Cooper, who organized Yearly Kos Convention, which recently changed its name to Netroots Nation. Bai started out by thanking the organizers of the event and pointed out that some of the people mentioned in the book were in the room, including Markos.  Markos make a point of shouting back, "I don't read books!"  as if that were some kind of blogger badge of honor.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Bai's fascinating book.  Bai seems to have genunine affection for Markos and the other netroots, and they come across much more favorably than the billionaires referenced in the subtitle, who just come across as self-important, unfocused jerks.

The premise of The Argument is that many people are disenchanted with the way the Democratic party has evolved in the past twenty years, and a few groups and individuals are emerging to take charge of the party and the message it portrays.  "The Argument" should really be called "The Agenda" since apparently, the argument is really about what agenda or ideas the Democrats should be putting forward.  This resonated with me, since I have gotten sick of the tone of the ranting on both sides of the aisle, which seem to be moving closer and closer together policy-wise, but shouting different rhetoric.  Democratic politics of late seems to be mostly reacting to whatever the Republicans are up to, without giving much of an alternative other than, "not that."