The Morning Delivery 2008-10-06T01:15:39Z http://billlucey.com/atom.aspx Quick Blogcast No Debating Tina Fey's Star Power tag:billlucey.com,2008-10-05:34c90104-1b8a-444d-a6f5-42a2592dda74 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-10-05T18:29:10Z 2008-10-05T16:26:00Z         Tina Fey’s one-woman show continues.
        For the third time this season, the ``30 Rock Star’’ opened Saturday Night Live, playing Sarah Palin, satirizing her folksy appeal; this week calling attention to the Alaska governor’s shallow answers given to moderator Gwen Ifill (played by Queen Latifah) during Thursday night’s nationally televised debate with Sen. Joe Biden  in St. Louis, Missouri. SNL cast member Jason Sudeikis played the Delaware senator.
        If last night’s overnight ratings are any indication, Lorne Michael’s might want to figure out a way to postpone the election until the end of the year.
        Through the first four weeks of its new season, SNL is running 49 percent ahead of the first four weeks of last season in the metered markets. 
        Last night’s show hosted by Anne Hathaway and featuring musical guest The Killers, was the second highest SNL since December 14, 2002, when former Vice President Al Gore hosted with musical guest Phish, according to figures released by NBC.
        Fey reportedly finalized a book deal this week with Little, Brown and Company to write a collection of humor essays.
        Don’t look now, but a special DVD promotion, featuring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin might be right around the corner.
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]]]> McCain Has No Choice: Palin Must Go tag:billlucey.com,2008-10-02:b0767e4a-bd60-48ff-b35a-380c17895d2a Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-10-03T11:23:24Z 2008-10-02T23:55:00Z             The much talked about heavyweight bout between Sen. Joe Biden and Gov Sarah Palin was over before it really began.
        The Democratic vice-presidential nominee KO’d his opponent in the early rounds of last night’s debate in St Louis.
        Despite being well coached during her seclusion in Sedona, Ariz., over the last few days, the Alaska Gov. simply got crushed in addressing the major domestic and foreign policy issues facing this country.
        Other than when Biden credited Gov Palin for taking on the oil companies in getting the windfall profits tax passed in her home state, something Sen. McCain doesn’t support, the Delaware senator pretty much pinned his opponent’s shoulders to the ground; most importantly, Biden’s firm command in discussing major talking points of this election compared with Palin’s general specific-free answers, might have driven the final stake through the GOP’s chances of winning the presidency.
        Barack Obama and John McCain, hopefully, learned a few pointers from the Delaware senator on how to engage an opponent without being smug, elitist, or in Mr. Obama’s case, not afraid to attack an opponent with some swift sharp blows.
        Biden’s most impressive accomplishment last night, other than outdebating his opponent on practically every question, was the way he associated Sen. McCain and George Bush as being indistinguishable, something Sen. Obama wasn’t able to get across with enough force during his debate last Friday in Mississippi.
        Whenever Palin tossed up a McCain strength, Biden batted it down with authority, beginning with the Republican nominee’s assertion, just a few short months ago, that the economy was strong, a statement that belies McCain’s current assessment of the economy.
         In addition, Palin’s claim that the Obama/Biden tax increases would hurt small business owner’s was dismissed as being simply untrue; and on the issue of the danger or lack of clear judgment in Obama’s previous statement in negotiating with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, Biden reminded Palin and the national televised audience that five former Secretary’s of State thought we should sit down with Iran.
        Even on the issue of supporting the security of Israel, McCain's strongest moment during his debate with Obama, Biden went on a tear ridiculing the Bush administration’s policy as being an ``abject failure’’; specifically, in not being able to protect Israel from the Hezbollah in Lebanon.
        The Alaska governor came off like she had been cramming for a final exam. 
        When delivering an answer, her eyes were glued to the camera, as if in a trance, she seemed to be reciting answers from memory, and when at a loss for an answer posed to her by moderator Gwen Ifill, she went straight ahead with a scripted campaign bullet-point, or insisted she get back to another issue,.  ``I want to get back to the energy policy''…``I want to get back to the issue of taxes’’
        When asked about his impression of the debate, Michele Boldrin, Professor of Economics at Washington University in St. Louis, (the host of the debate) responding through an email thought that  ``neither said anything new or even mildly interesting. ``Lots of platitudes and sound bites. ``No concern for real problem. In particular, Bodrin wrote, both gave the impression of either not understanding or not caring about the economic situation. Mrs. Palin, in particular, sounded like she had no idea of what is going with all her rhetoric about "greed" and what not’’.
        Henry Scheele, Associate Professor of Communications at Purdue University, had a more positive assessment of Gov. Palin's performance.
         ``This may have been the best vice presidential debate I have ever heard.  Biden may have scored more points than Palin  from a pure debate standpoint, but Palin was the winner of the contest.  ``She far exceeded expectations, was more likeable and restored confidence in the GOP ticket. ''
        Palin had some brief moments putting up a spirited fight, mostly when trying to connect with average working class voters feeling the pinch from the battered economy, but her performance did nothing to convince voters she’s anymore qualified to be commander in chief should the unthinkable happen to Sen. McCain.
        It wouldn’t be suprising in the least, in fact, if McCain drops Palin like a hot potato within the next couple of days.
        Yes, it would be risky, but McCain really has no choice. It’s hard to imagine many voters pulling the lever for the GOP ticket with such an ill-prepared inexperienced out of touch running mate .
        The former hockey mom, outside the beltway Governor on the bottom of the Republican ticket was an inspiring story for as long as it lasted, but it’s becoming abundantly clear, Sarah has to go.
        -Bill Lucey
         [email protected]

 

]]> Debating Pointers For Sarah Palin tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-30:bd8d9a6c-a260-47ce-be22-a2e0e03dfbc0 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-30T23:01:16Z 2008-09-30T20:41:00Z On Thursday, the highly anticipated vice-presidential debate between Senator Joe Biden (D-Del) and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will take place at Washington University in the St. Louis Athletic Complex. 
        The exchange will be moderated by Gwen Ifill, managing editor of PBS' "Washington Week" and senior correspondent for "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer’’
        Talk about pressure-cookers.  
        If Palin performs better than expected; meaning, if she rebounds from the limp answers she gave to Charles Gibson and Katie Couric, and gives voter’s confidence she has a firm grasp on domestic and foreign affairs, Team McCain might be right back in the ballgame with only five weeks before Election Day.
         If, on the other hand, Palin gets tripped up (again) on her interpretation of the Bush Doctrine, fails to explain the danger that lurks with Russian aggression in the Caucuses, and is unable to clearly differentiate Barack Obama and John McCain’s positions on negotiating with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (a major point of contention during the presidential debate last Friday), then Republican’s might just as well raise the white flag and hand the White House keys to Barack and Michelle.
         When the Alaska governor with her shaky credentials goes head to head against her Democatric rival, she will most likely feel like the 62’ Mets about to take the field against the 27’ Yankees. However confident the Democrat’s must feel, they should be prepared for an unexpected Palin curve-ball or change-up; she did it once during her acceptance speech at the Republican Convention in the Twin Cities, she could do it again when everyone’s expectations will be at their lowest for Tina Fey’s twin.
         During the 1984 vice-presidential debate between George H.W. Bush and Geraldine Ferraro, the vice-president over played his hand, when he told the first woman on a major presidential ticket, ``Let me help you, [Ms. Ferraro] identify the difference between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon’’
        Ferraro immediately took exception to such a condescending remark and shot back, ``Let me just say first of all that I almost resent Vice President Bush your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy’’; that comment whipped the crowd gathered at the Pennsylvania Hall Civic Center into a frenzy and made Bush appear as an arrogant schoolyard bully.
        Similarly, with all of Biden’s foreign policy expertise, he needs to be particularly careful not to show up Palin or hockey moms from coast-to-coast might drop their sticks and land some haymakers at Team Obama, something they can ill-afford this late in the game.
        With the tumultuous 777-point stock market tumble on Monday, Palin has a unique opportunity to rack up some mighty big points by attacking the greed of Wall Street, which if delivered eloquently enough--could spark a populist connection with voters who share her humble roots.
        What’s more, since both McCain and Obama were so fuzzy on which prescriptions to apply to this historic financial meltdown in their debate on Friday, if the Alaska Gov presents a more detailed recovery program, free of platitudes and oversimplifications, her credibility with independent voters might be strengthened.
        Given that so much is riding on Palin’s performance  on Thursday, I asked some experts if they could provide some debating pointers for the Alaska governor.
        Robert Hariman, Department Chair and Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University's School of Communication, offers these tips:   ``Avoid hypocrisy; avoid being mean, oppose cruelty, value wisdom, justice, and compassion; respect public speaking and strive for eloquence;  your audience deserves it.’’
        John Katsulas, Director of the Fulton Debating Society in the Communications Department at Boston College, thinks [Palin’s] ``main goal in the debate should be to convince the public that she is competent to assume the Presidency.  `` After her disastrous interview with Katie Couric, there is considerable doubt about her competence.  ``So, Katsulas added, if she makes any gaffes [Thursday] you can stick a fork in the ticket.’’
        While the Republican vice-presidential nominee has gained significant mileage showcasing her pit-bull with lipstick charm and small town roots, much more will be at stake in her upcoming debate than just personality , according to Bill Benoit, Professor of Communications at the University of Missouri-Columbia who studies political campaign communication. 
        ``Our research shows that presidential candidates who emphasize policy more and character less, than their opponents are more likely to win elections.  ``[We don’t] think that character is irrelevant; Benoit emphasized, for many people character is the most important factor.  ``But policy is important enough to a sufficient number of voters that candidates ought to talk about it quite a bit.’’
        Wayne Fields, Professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis and author of ``Union of Words: A History of Presidential Eloquence’’ (1996), wrote through an email that  ``Palin's challenge is to prove she is educable (is there such a word?  Sounds like a food group).  ``She can't be expected to know as much about national issues as Biden, but she has to prove that she can learn, in fact that she has been learning.  ``The GOP handlers in their strategy of overprotection have limited her "schooling," so this is a special challenge.  ``Unlike earlier VP candidates, she won't--I suspect-- be judged simply by how well she takes it to the Democrats: she has to demonstrate an understanding of the issues.  ``McCain has insisted this is a campaign in which judgment is the central issue; his case rides on Palin now.’’

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
]]> Tina Fey Red-Hot Again in SNL's Ratings tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-28:38d65cab-47a7-4919-bad6-4259ebf6e574 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-28T20:13:53Z 2008-09-28T17:36:00Z  Saturday Night Live's decision to bump its season premiere two weeks ahead of schedule to take advantage of the political season, paid big dividends on September 13th, when Tina Fey appeared as Sarah Palin, a telecast which was the highest rated premiere since 2001.
    SNL hit another ratings bonanza last night, when former SNL cast member Fey reprised her role as the Alaska Gov. , with guest host Anna Faris and musical guest Duffy.
        According to metered-market household ratings from Nielsen Media Research, last night’s show registered a 6.0 rating, 15-share in metered-market households, topping every episode from last season, except for the show Fey hosted on February 23rd with musical guest Carrie Underwood in the first show after the writers’ strike.
        The ``30 Rock'' star for the second time in two weeks opened SNL's telecast playing the Republican vice presidential candidate, this time being interviewed by CBS’s Katie Couric (played by Amy Poehler) in which the attractive if inexperienced Palin stumbles through the interview citing humdrum responses, while playing up her magnetic sex appeal.
        Unlike most campaign characters, (H.W. & George W. Bush, Bill & Hillary Clinton, Gore,) who can be impersonated by a whole host of comedians, Fey seems to have cornered the market on Palin; her caricature is right on the money, her looks so similar, and her high-pitched cadence so reminiscent of John McCain’s short on details running mate, that it’s hard to imagine anyone else taking a stab at masquerading America’s favorite hockey mom.
        Fey wasn’t the only former SNL cast member making a cameo last night, Chris Parnell returned to play Jim Lehrer as debate moderator mimicking the exchange between Barack Obama and McCain in the presidential debate in Oxford, Miss., on Friday night.
        It was evident SNL didn’t have much time to write the debate material , the segment was short on laughs, and the writers seemed to have missed two key talking points : both candidate’s inability to offer solutions to the financial meltdown, and Mr. Obama agreeing with his Republican opponent a little more than the Democrat’s would have liked.
        NBC wouldn’t comment whether Fey will become a fixture on SNL through the November election, including if viewers should expect her to pop in on Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday," a series of primetime editions that will debut Thursday, October 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET, and on "Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash 2008," which will feature vintage and new material showcasing “SNL’s” presidential satire, airing at 9:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3, the night before Election Day.

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]

]]> Presidential Debate: Split-Decision in Ol' Miss tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-26:59c45448-91bf-4990-ae36-d2835b0efa14 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-27T11:19:06Z 2008-09-26T23:57:00Z         You would never have known by watching Friday night’s debate that George W. Bush register’s a dismal 30 percent approval rating, and that Mr. McCain voted with the president 98 percent of the time; or that after four years engaged in Iraq, we have 4,173 U.S. casualties; or that America is not any more secure since 9/11 as long as Osama bin Laden still prowls free somewhere in the foothills of Afghanistan.
        Time and again, Obama seemed to hold back, not going in for the quick right hook, either because he wanted to appear dignified, (i.e. presidential), or he wasn’t as prepared as he should have been, or that he simply isn’t an effective debater and lacks Hillary Clinton’s pit-bull lunge for the throat combativeness .
        Both candidates opened the debate reciting some lame gibberish how this historic financial crisis would affect their leadership abilities, their clichéd remedies, by the way, never seemed to satisfy moderator Jim Lehrer.
        After those meaningless minutes were over, I kept expecting Obama to expose the deception of McCain’s signature campaign motto. Whatever happened to the Illinois senator’s line that he repeated over and over again during the Democratic debates, that the ``Straight Talk Express seemed to have lost its wheels’’ 
        Never heard it invoked once last night.
        And how could Obama possibly let McCain scoff at the prospect of instituting universal health care for fear the system would be overregulated, when as many as 46 million Americans lack health insurance, while a sizeable chunk of that 46 million can’t afford treatment or prescription drugs.
        Again, Mr. Obama hit the mute button.
        While Obama did tear into the administration’s failed policies in Iraq, he never really pressed the genesis of the war, and expose the Bush administration’s intelligence community for not being able to foresee the insurgency before stepping foot on foreign soil.
        Most damaging for Obama, was his failure to link McCain to the Republican Party or to the Bush administration as persuasively as the Democrats did during their convention last month in Denver, almost as if his Republican opponent belonged to another party. If Obama mentioned that under a Republican administration, the U.S. unemployment rate jumped to 6.1 percent in August, a five-year high, I must not have been listening.
        Most puzzling was the way Obama let McCain get away with his constant smirks, snickers, and telling his opponent he doesn’t understand…or he doesn’t get it.  Obama, according to McCain, doesn’t understand the difference between ``tactic and strategy’’, doesn’t understand the menace that Iran poses to Israel, doesn’t understand ``Russia’s serious aggression against Georgia.’’
        Had Obama been quicker on his feet, he would have flung the phrase ``doesn’t get it’’ back in his opponent’s face’’, by reminding the audience gathered at the University of Mississippi the many issues McCain, the Republicans, and George Bush hasn’t been able to understand or hasn’t been able to get for the last eight years; from Iraq, the economy, energy policy, the displaced work force, to health care. Pick your poison.
            Obama held his own articulating key domestic and international issues facing the country, something undecided voters were looking for, but the Democratic nominee has much to learn (with so little time) on how to take advantage of his opponent’s weakness;  in Mr. McCain’s case, it was his links to the Bush administration.
        And Obama wouldn’t have hurt himself if he called McCain out for his condescending tone (sheepish grins), when the party he belongs to has practically run the country into the ground.
         If this was a heavyweight match, I would have scored it a split-decision; Obama had a little more clarity on some key talking points (taxes, ferreting out the real enemy with our foreign policy, restoring America’s international prestige); but McCain clearly pounced on his opponent by presenting the case that the junior senator from Illinois is too inexperienced for the job, because he simply doesn’t get it.
         Team Obama will be spending, I’m sure, the next couple of weeks trying to counter the ways McCain and the Republicans simply don’t get it, a concept that Obama failed to drive home in Oxford, Miss.
        -Bill Lucey
         [email protected]
 

 

 

]]> Yankees Plan For an October Without Baseball tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-23:08ddd11a-2319-4ff2-87b7-b5b8657db1b6 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-24T22:58:54Z 2008-09-23T22:50:00Z        It’s hard to believe, but with the Boston Red Sox 5-4 win over the Cleveland Indians Tuesday night, which guaranteed them a playoff spot, the New York Yankees have been denied a post-season appearance for the first time since 1993. 
        The Bronx Bombers in the playoffs over the past decade has been about as automatic as Mariano Rivera slamming the door in 9th inning. 
        Derek Jeter, in particular, has no idea what it’s like not to being playing baseball in October. Ever since his exciting 1996 rookie season, the Yankee captain and his teammates seemed to have been born for October.
        So now that the Yankees suddenly find their calendar’s wide open for the month of October, what are they going to do with all this free time?
        As a public service, The Morning Delivery decided to compile a social calendar for the month of October.
        Here then, are a few dates that the Yankees might want to consider.

***

September 19th-November 2nd (Philadelphia, Pa)—Since the Yankees must feel like they are in prison being locked out of post-season play, they might feel at home if they pay a visit to the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, America’s most historic prison. In this exhibit, prison guards (actors really) escort visitors through chain link fences, under guard towers, and past the abandoned vehicles left on the property. If that’s not hair-raising enough, guards then leave visitors alone (with a flashlight) to find their way out in the back hallways of the penitentiary through a dense fog.

October 3rd-November 1 (Hollywood, Ca)
For Yankee team members planning on heading to the West Coast, they shouldn’t forget about the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios HollywoodSM, where amusement park rides turn into menacing twists and turns, something akin to Dice-K’s Gyro ball;  WaterWorld turns into Slaughter World; and the frightening house at 1428 Elm Street from the thriller ``Nightmare on Elm Street'' is recreated.

If the Yankees thought their starting pitching was a joke during their 2008 campaign, they should head west, where NBC will be taping the Last Comic Standing at the Ikeda Theater in Mesa, Arizona on October 4th.

If the Yankees long for some nightlife with culture, they might want to visit Paris, France on October 4th for Nuit Blanch 2008, when for one night all the museums, monuments, libraries, and churches stay open all night long.
District governments, then provide breakfast for all those patrons that stayed awake until dawn.

Since the front office shelled out $200 million on the Yankees, they might not have made the playoffs this year, but at least they can afford a new set of wheels to wallow in their sorrows during the off-season.
So what better way to search for a new car than at the Paris Motor Show (October 4-19th) where 362 brands from 25 countries will be on display, including a number of eco-friendly electric cars; and an exhibit featuring 40 taxis from 20 cities from around the globe.

For any of those Yankees who might have some closet fetishes, they’ll want to be in the U.K on October 12th, for the London Fetish Fair, where an assortment of sex maniacs in all sizes and shapes, including whipped creamed, rubber-wearing , electro daredevils, chocolate sauced, leather clad, dominant, submissive, bottom, straight, bi, gay--all gather under one roof.
Surprisingly enough, no dress code is required.
FOOTNOTE: I’m not sure if I qualify for having a foot-fetish, but every time I try to strike up a conversation with an attractive woman, I end up sticking my foot in my mouth

I can’t imagine there being any cold-blooded creatures on the Yankee roster, but just in case, mark your calendar for the North American Reptile Breeders Conference, which will take place on October 11, 12th at the Holiday Inn Select Hotel & Convention Center in Chicago for snake and reptile connoisseurs

Of course, the Yankees may just prefer to stay in their own backyard for the month of October, where there will be plenty to keep them busy in New York.  All they have to do is consult the calendar guide provided by NYC & Company

Suggestions: Since this is an election year, the Bombers might want to take advantage of the Crossroads of New York walking tour  on October 4th that explores the social & political history of Union Square, which begins at the Abraham Lincoln Statute by the 16th Street Transverse in Union Square Park.

On October 7th there is speed dating in Manhattan, a venue tailored made for the Yankees matinee idol, Derek Jeter , where men and women can earn up to 20 dates in one evening. 
NOTE:  It's not clear if the Yankee player(s) who strikes out or can’t get to first base is eligible for any parting gifts as a consolation prize.

Finally, what better way for the Yankees to end the month of October than at the  annual Village Halloween Parade where up to 60,000 onlookers pack the streets of the West Village to take in the creativity that goes into the costumes displayed by some imaginative New Yorkers, including listening to the sounds of 53 bands of different types of music, while watching other dancers and artists.
The parade marches up Sixth Avenue, from Spring to 21st Street.

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]

 

]]> Final Game At Yankee Stadium: Last One Out Turn Off The Lights tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-20:db7b2e59-4186-4b8b-9667-92a7a50c5297 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-21T22:47:32Z 2008-09-20T23:13:00Z         After 85 glorious seasons, and 26 World Championships, the curtain is coming down on Yankee Stadium after Sunday’s nationally televised game against the Baltimore Orioles.
        Put away those hankies, and dry those eyes. Even though the Bombers are losing a home and have been denied a post-season appearance for the first time since 1993, they’ll be back next year right across the street in a brand new yard on April 16th against the Cleveland Indians.
        I remember so well my first visit to Yankee stadium, just seconds before the doors to the D Train sprung open at 161st and River Ave, someone yelled out, ``We’re about to enter heaven’’.
        And the wise soul was absolutely right. It was an amazing sight strolling along the boardwalk, seeing Yankee paraphernalia everywhere, bonding with other Yankee fans passing through the turnstiles, gazing out at Monument Park above the perfectly trimmed green grass, and seeing the men in pinstripes taking the field for the first time-- absolutely sent chills down my spine.
        Pass me a hankie please; I’m beginning to well-up. 
        Let me just leave you with a few historical stadium facts as we devour our last hot dog and knock back our last cold one watching Andy Pettite toe-the-rubber in the ``House That Ruth Built'' before the lights go dim for the final time.

***

Old Yankee stadium facts

• Price of the Yankee land: $600,000

• May, 1922: Construction of Yankee stadium begins and is completed in 284 working days.

• April 18, 1923: Yankee stadium opens for business with a reported 74, 217 fans in attendance.

• First player to step to the plate: Chuck Fewster of the Boston Red Sox; first Yankee to bat –Whitey Witt

• Stadium designed by the Osborne Engineering Co. of Cleveland and built by White Construction Co of New York.

• Construction Cost: $2.3 -$2.5 million

• 500 construction workers employed.

• Stadium material: 2500 tons of structural steel; 20,000 cubic yards of concrete, four miles of piping; 500 tons of iron; 1,000 tons of reinforcing steel; 1,000,000 brass screws.

• Yankee Stadium affectionately known ``The House That Ruth Built’’ was a phrase coined by Fred Lieb of the N.Y. Evening Telegram.

• In 1946, the Yankees build a new clubhouse and move to the first base side of the stadium.

• April 15, 1976: A remodeled Yankee Stadium opens.

• The first ever Papal Mass was held at Yankee Stadium on October 4, 1965 with more than 80,000 in attendance.

• Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day: July 4, 1939

• Babe Ruth Appreciation Day: April 27, 1947

• May 30, 1932: First monument dedicated to Miller Huggins

• September 11, 2002: Yankees dedicate a monument to the victims of 9/11 tragedy, making it the 6th monument dedication. Taken together, there are 23 plaques in Monument Park (16 Yankee players or managers, two for Yankee owners and executives, two for public address/broadcaster persons, two for Papal visits; and one Yankee insignia

• Largest single season attendance: 2007-4,271.083

• First error at Yankee Stadium: Committed by Babe Ruth (April 18, 1923) after dropping a ball in the fifth inning.

• First ever wedding at Yankee stadium: Baseball reporter Ed Lucas marries Allison Pheifle.

• April 17, 1951: Bob Sheppard replaces Red Patterson as the voice of the Yankees. 2008 marked the ``Voice Of God’s’’ 58th anniversary with the Yanks

• Mickey Mantle belted 266 home-runs at Yankee Stadium; Red Ruffing won 126 games, both club records.

***

New Yankee Stadium Facts

• Field dimensions: Same as the old Yankee Stadium: 318 feet down the left-field line, 408 feet to straight away center field; and 314 down the right-field line.

• Video Screen: Includes 58’ by 103’ 16 millimeter high-definition video screen, six times larger than the one at the old stadium.

• Seating Capacity: 53,000

• Luxury Suites: 51

• New stadium will have a Martini Bar (approximately 2,600 square feet); Sports Bar (4,900 square feet located in center field and overlooking Monument Park); an outdoor food court, and a Steak House and Grill Room, which will be open year-round

• Art Gallery and Memorabilia store, will display works of world renowned artists, with collectables showcasing great moments in Yankee history.

Source: ``The Yankee Encyclopedia'' by Mark Gallagher; Major League Baseball

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]

]]> SNL's Season Premiere Hits Ratings Jackpot tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-19:a8b8c6ac-553c-4aff-9b84-a138bd20a30c Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-19T18:20:13Z 2008-09-19T15:16:00Z    The national ratings from Nielsen Media Research have been released for Saturday Night Live’s season premiere, and as expected, the show was the number one entertainment telecast of the week (September 8-14th), topping all non-sports prime time events, with a 4.3 rating (17 share in adults 18-49), and 10.2 million viewers overall.
        SNL’s 34th season premiere was hosted by Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps with musical guest Lil Wayne, but the real show stopper came in the opening sketch, which featured ``30 Rock’’ star Tina Fey as Alaska Governor Sarah Palin trying to bond with Amy Poehler as Sen. Hillary Clinton.
     The premiere was SNL’s highest-rated show since February 2, 2002 (10.2 million viewers), when Britney Spears hosted; and the highest rated opener since September 29th 2001 (10.4 million viewers), when actress Reese Witherspoon hosted with musical guest Alicia Keys.
         NBC is hoping to make the most of the presidential season with a special ``Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday’’, scheduled to debut on October 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET, which will run for three weeks; and on the eve of the presidential election (November 3rd, 9:30 p.m.), there will be a special ``Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash 2008’’, featuring fresh material and a look back on the show’s presidential satire.
         NBC declined to comment on whether Fey would return as Sarah Palin in the coming weeks; or even whether Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, who cancelled his appearance last week due to Hurricane Ike, has rescheduled.
-Bill Lucey
[email protected] ]]> Republican Makeover Goes Online tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-18:365ad6d1-882a-4cec-b991-e07e20cfcbc4 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-18T22:53:55Z 2008-09-18T19:48:00Z         You knew it was only a matter of time.
      Entrepreneurs Laura Kurzu, Fess Crockett and Mark Miselnicky hoping to cash in on America’s most popular hockey Mom, have launched a new lipstick line, called….drum roll please!!...you guessed it, `` Pit Bull Mom™ www.pitbullmom.com, a new line of products which is hoping to target today's conservative women. 
        According to their website, products include: ``Pit Bull Mom Lipstick – (Republican Red’’ of course), a ``Pit Bull Mom Logo cap’’, ``Pit Bull Mom Lip Balm’’, and a Pit Bull Mom T-Shirt - Pale N' Pink’’
        “American women across the country have been holding their lipstick in the air as a sign of support for Sarah Palin,” partner Fess Crockett wrote in a press release. “And we felt that the time was right for women everywhere to more boldly display their allegiance through Pit Bull Mom.”
        We’re all holding our breath for the ``Women who wear Tina Fey/Sarah Palin eye glasses’’ ad campaign to launch, as a way of bringing the many issues facing voters into sharper focus.

****

        With three active U.S. senator’s and a sitting governor all hoping to land in the White House, the question over who will fill their seats (pending an election) will be hotly discussed, once the presidential election is over.
        Alaska’s succession procedure is fairly straightforward: 
        If Governor Palin becomes the next vice-president, Shawn Parnell, the Lt Governor, would be appointed the next governor of Alaska. Attorney General Tallis Colberg, then, will be appointed Lt Gov
        For the three U.S. Senate seats, the procedure in most states is for the senator to resign his or her seat after the election, at which time the governor would appoint a successor.
        Arizona, the home state of Sen. McCain, is one of the few states that place one stipulation on a successor; which is, the replacement come from the same party.
        When asked who would be appointed to  Senator McCain’s seat, Jeanine L'Ecuyer, Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Janet Napolitano, responding through an email,  wrote``some people have informally expressed interest, but for now - the issue is not before the Governor.’’
        Delaware also isn’t giving any hints as to who would be appointed to Senator’s Biden’s seat. `` It is still far too early at this point for her [the governor] to discuss who might fill Biden’s seat if he is elected VP’’ said Kate Bailey, Communications Director for Governor Ruth Ann Minner.
        No one from Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich’s office returned my call.
        One thing we do know is that should Obama/Biden win in November,  the chairmanship of the prestigious U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee currently held by Sen. Biden would fall to either Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) for the Democrats, or Richard Lugar (R-Ind) for the Republicans, depending on which party gains control of the Senate.
         Speaking of appointing successors, U.S. Senate historian Don Ritchie reminded me of one interesting footnote. ``When President Kennedy was elected president, he persuaded the governor [Foster J. Furcolo] to name his college roommate, Ben Smith, to hold the seat until Kennedy’s brother Edward was old enough to run for it himself in 1962. ‘’

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]

]]> Did Obama Choose The Right V.P.? tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-16:dbd67225-61a8-4310-9085-241b81656fb9 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-17T00:22:10Z 2008-09-16T22:26:00Z         Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Ed Koch, who recently came out in support of the Obama/Biden ticket, agree on one thing.
        They both think Obama made a mistake not picking Hillary Clinton. `` If he [Obama] thinks about it, he would regret not taking Hillary’’ the former New York City mayor wrote in an email.
        Palin, of course, told ABC’s Charlie Gibson, ``I think he's regretting not picking her [Clinton] now, I do’’
        Since the Alaska Governor has been put through the shredder over the last week, beginning with her ABC interview, the blogosphere and op-ed columnists have been raging over Palin’s slim credentials, mostly centering on her lack of foreign policy experience (despite being able to see Russia from her house); but other areas as well: her pending investigation in the firing of her ex-brother-in-law (aka Troopergate), her pattern of hiring friends to high paying jobs in Alaska, as The New York Times reported Sunday; and the Washington Post who reported her most prized accomplishment as mayor of Wasilla was the construction of an ice-rink 
        Still, the latest Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International gives the former small town mayor a 52 percent favorable rating; and a Gallup Poll released Tuesday shows McCain and Obama locked in a dead heat.
        With the Dow Jones plummeting more than 500 points Monday as a result of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, the worst drop since Sept, 2001, the tone of the presidential campaign now presumably turns away from foreign policy (Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East); and places more emphasis on which party is best able to address our economic predicament?
        Historically, the party in power gets their clocks cleaned in the presidential elections during an economic downturn; and 2008 shouldn’t be any different
        For all of Palin’s star-power that she brings to the Republican ticket, with the housing and banking crisis in such dreadful shape, and 2.2 million people having been added to the unemployment rolls over the past 12 months, (a five-year high) 2008 is shaping up to be a classic pocketbook election.
        Which brings us back to whether Mr. Obama made the right call in selecting Senator Joe Biden over the junior senator from New York?
       Obama chose the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee primarily to strengthen his foreign policy credentials; when, as it turns out, Mrs. Clinton (and her attraction to working class voters feeling the pinch of this near recession) might have been just the ticket as both campaigns make their final campaign pitch in addressing how to bring the country out of the grips of economic despair.

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]

 

 

]]> Add Tina Fey as Sarah Palin to the SNL All-Time Classic List tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-14:11aec172-6d18-4f51-ac1d-f0b543e400c0 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-14T23:22:49Z 2008-09-14T17:19:00Z         There was Eddie Murphy poking fun at ``Mr. Roger's Neighborhood'', Dana Carvey as Ross Perot during the 1992 presidential campaign, John Belushi in ``Samuri Night Fever’’, a sketch parodying John Travolta’s blockbuster``Saturday Night Fever’’; and of course, Chevy Chase mimicking the accident prone Gerald R. Ford
        Last night during Saturday Night Live’s 34th season premiere, another classic sketch hit the airwaves when Tina Fey returned to her old stomping ground to play Sarah Palin, a role that the ``30 Rock’’ star simply couldn’t pass up, given her uncanny resemblance to the Republican vice-presidential nominee.
        The former Weekend Update co-host captured the Alaska governor's signature gestures with perfection: portraying her squeaky voice, biting her lip, waving high in the air to adoring fans, as she stood on the dais with Amy Poehler as Sen. Hillary Clinton. 
        Mrs. Clinton's anger in last night sketch rose to a hilarious boiling point at the thought of this 44 year-old hockey mom, who can see Russia from her home, and clueless about the Bush doctrine, being only a heart beat away from the presidency.
        ``Just look at how far we’ve come’’, Fey deadpanned. ``Hillary Clinton who came so close to the White House and me Sarah Palin who is even closer. ``Can you believe it Hillary’’?... ``I can not!!’’ the tight-faced Poehler (head about to explode with anger) screamed out.
        Based on preliminary ratings, NBC knocked one out of the park.
        According to metered-market household ratings from Nielsen Media Research, last night’s curtain-raiser was the highest rated SNL premiere since 2001, when actress Reese Witherspoon hosted with musical guest Alicia Keys, in the first SNL telecast after the 9/11 attacks.
        The National ratings for last night’s show won’t be available until Thursday, September 18th.
        Whether Fey (as Sarah Palin) becomes a regular feature on SNL in the coming weeks up through the November presidential election is an open question, according to NBC. 
        `` Don't know if Tina will return to play Palin. ``We take things week to week’’, an NBC spokesperson responded through an email.
        Initially, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama was scheduled to appear on last night's season premiere, but cancelled due to Hurricane Ike that was expected to slam into the Texas coast on Saturday.
        According to a statement released by the Obama campaign, "In light of the unfolding crisis in Texas, Senator Obama has decided it is no longer appropriate to appear on Saturday Night Live tomorrow evening. ``We will return to Chicago after the morning event in Manchester."
 -Bill Lucey
  [email protected]

 

 

]]> ABC Exclusive Interview: Palin's Wired; Gibson's a Robot tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-12:7f0d93ea-bcab-4ede-893a-4b82f82d91a0 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-13T13:05:33Z 2008-09-12T20:41:00Z             At least Sarah Palin passed the Mudd test in her exclusive interview with ABC’s Charles Gibson.
        The Roger Mudd test, that is, when the country’s most popular hockey mom was able to answer without hesitation if she was ready to be vice-president and why she accepted the number two spot.
        Political junkies remember well the infamous CBS documentary in 1979 on Senator Edward Kennedy, titled ``Teddy’’, in which the Massachusetts senator was asked by Roger Mudd why he wanted to be president? With a baffled look, Kennedy hemmed and hawed before clumsily drifting into a rambling incoherent 350 word answer, which demonstrated to millions of viewers that he really hadn’t thought about why he wanted to be president.
        When asked almost the same question Thursday night in part-one of a three-part interview, Palin without as much as batting an eye, said ``I answered him yes, because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can't blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we're on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can't blink.’’
        The Alaska governor then went on to explain what exactly she brings to the table on the bottom of the Republican ticket, mostly involving her ability to help bring about energy independence due to her diligence as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
        Though Palin’s credentials still appear razor-thin, her reason for wanting to be the second woman vice presidential running mate in U.S. history on a major ticket, however, does appear as earnest as any other candidate when accepting the V.P spot; which is, to help carry the torch for their party when duty calls. If Sarah Palin, in her view, is the best person to help John McCain get elected, then Sarah Palin is ready to be vice president.
        Her interview with the grim-faced Gibson did show she could have used a few more tutorials with McCain’s foreign policy wonks. When asked what the Bush doctrine was, the Alaska Gov. clearly didn’t know the answer, but like any politician, that didn’t stop her from giving what she thought was an acceptable roundabout or a ``blizzard of words’’ response.
        I was almost waiting for the ABC nightly news anchor to pounce on a loud buzzer to let her know she was giving him the wrong answer. Instead, Gibson politely waited for Palin to finish before smugly informing her, ``the Bush doctrine, [..ahem!..] as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense, that we have the right to a preemptive strike against any other country that we think is going to attack us. Do you agree with that?’’
        Oh, that Bush Doctrine? Sorry Charlie!
        I searched the Internet looking for public opinion polls which would have showed how many voters knew what the Bush doctrine really was, but to my disappointment, I couldn’t find such a poll. 
        Clearly, a vice-presidential candidate should know what a major doctrine of the president is, but it nonetheless would have been interesting to know how many other voters had the same glazed look in their eyes as Palin had when asked the stumper of the night.
        I was disappointed; in fact, Gibson didn’t ask Sarah what the S. stands for in Harry S. Truman’s name.
        Lee Sigelman, Professor of Political Science at George Washington University, and author of ``Attack Politics’’ and ``Nominating the President’’ would be ``amazed if more than a single-digit percentage have any clue [of the Bush doctrine]. ``Obviously, the veep nominee isn't among that single-digit percentage’’ Sigelman responded, but warned: ``at some point, her inability to answer such questions -- more generally, her lack of knowledge of major issues -- may come back to bite the Republicans. ``But not yet; they're still basking in the glory of this unexpected development, as she is the media story du jour, just as Obama was for quite a while.’’
        Actually, If Gibson hadn’t been so determined on embarrassing Palin over her interpretation of the Bush doctrine, he could have stopped her in mid-sentence and questioned what she meant when she said ``there have been blunders along the way’’ ``There have been mistakes made. ``And with new leadership…..Stop right there Gov Palin, Gibson should have interjected, ``what mistakes were made along the way?..who was to blame?.. exactly which blunders are you referring to, please explain?
        Gibson’s gotcha moment came at the expense of a missed opportunity; her answer on what mistakes were made along the way could have been quite revealing in distinguishing McCain’s foreign policy from the current administrations
        Palin handled herself more capably in part two of Gibson’s exclusive in discussing the battered economy, pointing out Alaska was the poster child of earmarks before ``killing that earmark, killing that project’’ after stepping into the governor’s mansion
         The star of the Republican Convention regained her pit-bull charisma when dismissing misleading news reports of Troopergate, the banning of books when she was mayor of Wasilla, expounding on her personal views on abortion (which is in tension with her boss’s) her support for guns, and diminishing all the commotion paid over whether a mother of five will still be able to handle the demands of the vice presidency.
        Judging it strictly as a television event, the Palin/Gibson interview lacked rhythm. Even worse, it didn’t seem to flow naturally from one topic to another.
        I don’t recall Gibson ever cracking a smile. He seemed more interested in not giving a soft interview for fear of being labeled ``Softball Charlie’,’ instead of just sitting down and having a casual conversation with the Republican vice-presidential nominee on what her qualifications are, what she’s accomplished in Alaska, and what she views the most pressing problems facing the country to be.
        Instead, Gibson came to the interview too much like a caged lion, too much like a principal calling one his underperforming students into his office, and too much like a programmed robot hoping to catch his guest in more embarrassing ``gotcha moments’’
        A seasoned professional like Gibson should have known that when you ask scripted questions, you’ll likely get scripted answers.

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]

]]> September 11 Seven-Year Anniversay: A Statistical Update tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-09:f4130ca0-2b7a-416f-ae6b-7acb890a6db4 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-09T23:25:18Z 2008-09-09T21:13:00Z   ``Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.’’
    -Sir Winston Churchill

***
        Thursday marks the seven-year anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, when 2800  lives were lost at the World Trade Center (343 firefighters, 23 members of the NYPD, 37 Port Authority police officers, and 2,200 civilians), while 184 more died at the Pentagon building, all coming at the hands of terrorists.
        In remembrance, The Morning Delivery has compiled a statistical update on how one day affected the nation in so many different ways.

• In an effort to combat terrorism after 9/11, President George W. Bush signed into the law the Patriot Act on October 26, 2001, a bill consisting of 342 pages, 156 sections, and giving the FBI and CIA expanded powers to tap phones, monitor Internet traffic, and allow federal agents to obtain business and personal records. The Senate approved the bill (98-1), followed by the House of Representatives in a 357-66 vote.

• The USA Patriot Act is an acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.

• On March 4, 2006, the U.S. House of Representatives passed revisions to the Patriot Act (280 to 138), which placed curbs on the act’s powers, including protecting libraries from government intrusion and creating judicial oversight.

• According to the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, as of September 9, 2008, 414 local, county, and state resolutions have been passed condemning the Patriot Act as a violation of civil liberties.

• Prior to September 11, 2001, The Federal Aviation Administration appropriated $244 million for airport security, including $102 million for Explosives Detection Systems, Trace Detectors, X-Ray Threat Image Projection; and $142 million for Operations (funding for employees salaries, operational travel and routine operating expenses).
As a result of 9/11, The Transportation Security Administration was created and put in charge of all forms of transportation, including airport security.
Between 2002 and 2005, $18.109 billion was budgeted for security by TSA.
As of May 31, 2005, the FY outlays for TSA were $2.861 billion. 
In 2008, the total budget for the department is $ 6.3 billion

• When the Homeland Security Department was created in 2002, $3.5 billion had been budgeted for ant- terrorism measures. In 2004, the budget increased to $36.2 billion, a 64 percent increase from FY 2002 levels, and 7.4 percent more than 2003.
In FY 2006, President Bush requested $41.1 billion for the department, a seven percent increase from the previous year; and on February 5, 2007, the president’s fiscal year 2008 budget request for (DHS) represents $46.4 billion in funding, an increase of 8 percent over the FY 2007 level.

• In FY 2003, New York received $232 million from the Department of Homeland Security; in 2004, $167 million; and in 2005, 298 million.
On July 25, 2008, New York governor David A. Paterson, announced the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded New York State more than $251 million through the fiscal year 2008 Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP), including $144 million for the New York City Urban Area. New York State received an increase of more than $40 million in federal funds over the 2007 fiscal year.

• The Social Security Administration estimates, as of 2008, over $200 million in benefits have been paid out to people affected by the September 11 tragedy.

• According to ``Bowker's Books In Print'' database, in the U.S. publishing market alone, there have been 1,321 books written about 9/11, which includes fiction, pictorial books, and juvenile literature

• According to The Foundation Center, $2.6 billion has been donated for 9/11 victims.

• On Sept. 10, 2001, there were 11,327 firefighters and officers in the New York City Fire Department. The most recent figures available by the department reports there are now 11,500 firefighters and officers.

• According to the New York Chief Medical Examiners Office, as of August 23rd, out of 2751 reported missing from the World Trade Center, 1126 victims or 41 percent have not been identified; leaving 1625 which have been identified.

• On the eve of 9/11, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) budgeted $7.6 million for general security purposes, including its police force.
After 9/11, the agency received $ 591 million for security.
Despite only a fraction of that money being spent by MTA, the agency announced a deal on August 23, 2005, with Lockheed Martin Corp, which called for a $212 million security upgrade, including new video cameras and enhanced monitoring and surveillance equipment.

• Sept 11th also had an impact on the professional sport’s world:
Immediately after the horrific tragedy, Major League Baseball introduced a number of security changes, including prohibiting coolers, backpacks or large bags in any ballpark, increased presence of uniformed law enforcement at all games, and the identification and inspection of all ballpark deliveries.

• This year On September 11, all MLB teams will wear the Stars and Stripes hats that were worn the weekend of July 4. In addition, the Stars & Stripes caps will be authenticated and auctioned on MLB.com, with proceeds going to Welcome Back Veterans

          Who Coined 9/11?
        The New York Times first used the term ``9/11’’ in a headline for a Bill Keller op-ed article on September 12, 2001: ``Correspondent: America’s Emergency Line: 9/11’’

        When asked about the origin of ``9/11’’ Jack Rosenthal, President of The New York Times Company Foundation, responded by email on his recollection of the day.

 ``Like just about everyone else in America, I kept asking myself all day, what can we do. That evening, the answer dawned on me: do just what we do every day at The Times Company Foundation, philanthropy. Why don't we start a relief fund? We already had in place the machinery for our annual Neediest Cases Fund -- 501c3 tax exempt status, phone numbers, online contribution site, credit card phone lines. Let's create a special solicitation of Times readers around the country.
That night, sitting at my laptop in my Manhattan apartment overlooking the Hudson River, I sent e-mails to Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., our chairman and publisher; Rhonda Brauer, our Foundation lawyer; and other executives describing the idea and calling it The New York Times 9/11 Neediest Fund. By morning, everyone had signed on so I did the next natural thing for a former reporter and editor; I wrote it up as a story, as a convenient way to get the information across to the hugely harried Times news department.’’

        The New York Times 9/11 Neediest Fund’s first article appeared on September 13; and according to Rosenthal, the fund raised $62 million with the money distributed within the first 6 months and benefiting 30,000 of the neediest families.

Websites to Keep in Mind

WTC Names: A complete list of the names of the 2,751 World Trade Center victims will be posted on the City of New York's website prior to New York’s Commemoration Ceremony at Zuccotti Park. Names will be read in alphabetical order as they are listed.

9-11 tribute, NYC Fire Dept

September 11 Memorials and Dedications by State

NYC Freedom Tower:

September 11: A Memorial: CNN

World Trade Center Investigation Plan from the U.S Department of Commerce

The 9/11 Commission: An Audio Chronicle: NPR

World Trade Center: Statistics and History (From The Skyscraper Museum)

September 11 News Archives

A Summary of News Coverage from September 11, 2001 (From Internet Archive)

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
September 10, 2008

]]> Is Sarah Palin A Beacon For Other Women? tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-07:67cce674-6879-495d-ace8-2113487d6ae4 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-08T08:30:04Z 2008-09-07T21:06:00Z         Now that a small town governor, who won a mayor’s term with 660 votes not so long ago running on the platform of ``roads and sewers’’  before being elected the first female governor of Alaska in 2006, has soared to a presidential ticket (only the second woman in U.S. history), the question is being asked how much of an inspiration Sarah Palin, 44, has become to other women?
        In other words, are we likely to see in the near future, other PTA moms, members of small town city councils, follow the same path as John McCain’s running mate in running for higher offices, such as governorships , state legislatures, and the U.S Congress?
        Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College, Marion Just thinks ``Palin has shown that a woman can have lots of young children, even children with problems, and still run for high office.  ``Her example may encourage higher aspirations among other women governors (all of whom, by definition are outside the Beltway), such as Jeanne Shaheen (current New Hampshire candidate for the Senate), Montana's governor Judy Martz (who was once the state's Miss Rodeo), Janet Napolitano (first woman reelected governor in Arizona), and Kathleen Sibelius (who has played a role in the Obama campaign).’’
        Others aren’t so convinced ``Palinmania'' will be such a boon to other women seeking higher office if she fails to pass the scrutiny of the press in handling some hot-button issues in the coming weeks, particularly during her highly anticipated debate with Joe Biden Jr., Oct. 2nd at Washington University in St. Louis.
        Pippa Norris, Professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University , observes there``are also serious questions about this particular choice of candidate, notably her complete lack of national and international experience, irrespective of her gender. ``And the nomination of a female candidate is not necessarily positive for the broader issues and policies which women care about and where they have distinct social needs and concerns’’
        Considering Palin’s foreign policy experience shows nothing but blank spaces on her resume, Stephen Biegun, a former George W. Bush National Security adviser, along with economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, and others, have reportedly been putting the vice presidential running mate through a grueling``boot camp’’on some of the more prominent foreign policy issues she’ll likely be asked by an inquisitive press corp.
        One thing is for certain: the Alaska governor will be stepping into the ring against a seasoned prize-fighter when she debates the Delaware senator, who in addition to 35 years as a legislator, is the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
        Palin can ill-afford a misstep, similar to Gerald Ford during his debate with Jimmy Carter in 1976, when Ford said: `` There is no Soviet dominance of Eastern Europe’’, a huge blunder which the press was quick to pounce on.
        Karen Beckwith, reached on her cell phone, thinks Palin’s lack of foreign policy experience might be the least of her problems in the coming weeks. The Professor of Political Science at Case Western Reserve University and co-author of a new book: ``Political Women and American Democracy’’ thinks in addition to her lack of foreign policy credentials, Beckwith argues, Palin will have to contend with some of her own shaky domestic issues, such as ``earmarks (in which it’s been widely reported Palin hired a Washington lobbyist in obtaining $27 million in earmarks for Wasilla), before she gains secure footing in being considered a legitimate candidate.''
        After such a dazzling speech in St Paul Minn. during the Republican Convention, many were quick to compare the hockey mom with the pit-bull aggression to the star power that came to Mario Cuomo and Barack Obama after their keynote addresses in 1984 and 2004.
        The jury still seems to be out whether the youthful Alaska governor is yet in the same league as the former New York governor and the Democratic presidential nominee; or even whether she should be considered presidential timber four and eight years from now. That question will depend largely on how well she holds up to further media scrutiny in the coming weeks, and how the McCain/Palin ticket fares in November. As Professor Beckwith points out, if McCain gets crushed by Obama, Palin might be just a one-hit wonder. On the other hand, if McCain wins and his age becomes even more of a concern four years from now, Palin will in all likelihood be the new darling tapped to lead the Republican ticket in 2012.
        All things considered, whether Palin’s rise to the presidential ticket was too hasty; or has ignited a much needed spark to the Republican Party not seen since the Reagan Revolution, you can’t help but marvel how so many voters that don’t ordinarily get excited about politics, have embraced the Alaska governor as a beacon of hope for a new breed of public servants.
        Dianne Bystrom, Director of the Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University is encouraged by the Sarah Palin story. `` I hope her candidacy and the story of her small town roots etc. encourages more women to run for political office from both political parties. ``Even women who don't identify with her political views may indentify with her experiences as a wife and mother living in small town America. ``Frankly, Bystrom wrote through an email, women of both parties and from different backgrounds and political views need more encouragement to seek political office at all levels of government.’’

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]

 

 

]]> John McCain Accepts Nomination; Falls Short on Solutions tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-05:6b85d1ac-882e-4f07-8a0b-97358ef2034c Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-05T23:04:47Z 2008-09-05T00:46:00Z         Sen. John McCain’s accepted his party’s nomination looking stiff and with words sounding a bit choppy; quite a contrast from Sen. Obama’s flawless delivery and gripping speech just a week ago at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
        But with the country engaged in Iraq, Republicans are banking that this election will be decided not by flashy speeches, but by which party has the nation’s trust to take the baton from George W. Bush during perilous times.
        Except for a couple of brief references, McCain stayed clear of going head to head with his rival, Barack Obama. Still, the question of whether his opponent has the trust and competency to satisfy voters will be a theme Republicans hope to drive at over and over again through November.
        Obama’s lack of military experience contrasted with McCain’s decorated war heroism, his belief in putting ``country first'’ is an argument the Democrats will have to contend with if they hope to reclaim the White House in November.
        McCain really didn’t need to attack Obama that much last night, now that  ``Sarah Barracuda'' has been tapped as his running mate. Gov. Palin has been designated the new attack dog, as she demonstrated Wednesday in convincing fashion. 
        In the coming weeks ahead, when the campaign intensifies and the campaign ads get nastier, the Alaska Gov. will be the one doing the punching, unleashing sharp jabs, making sarcastic remarks, and delivering punishing body checks to her opponents, (just like any hockey mom would do), while McCain emphasizes his Father Knows Best appeal and war and legislative experience.
        The road will not be an easy one. The party of Lincoln has a lot going against them. An unpopular president (with a dismal 30 percent approval rating); the economy in shambles, a nominee who might be too old to effectively lead the country, with a running mate who hasn’t yet been battle tested during the heat of a campaign.
        While watching McCain slowly grind his way through his acceptance speech, like he was in a dentist’s chair (briefly interrupted by an anti-war demonstrator), it’s clear Palin has become a bigger story than her boss, which can’t be a good thing in the long run for a few reasons:

• Palinmania might take attention away from McCain’s central message; that of being the courageous war veteran who has the experience to lead this nation in time of war.

• Palin’s youth and growing popularity with small town America, and the way she has roused a new breed of voters, might make McCain look like he’s caught in a time warp.

• Palin will be under so much scrutiny in the coming weeks that her inexperience, particularly in foreign policy, will be overshadowed by her thin resume as a mayor and governor.

        Already, Palin upstaged McCain with her stunning speech Wednesday night. Both during Cindy and John McCain’s speeches last night, the Alaska governor received the loudest roars of the night after being introduced. 
        In fact, The mother of five has become so popular, voters might feel cheated if they don’t get the opportunity to hear from the hockey mom on the campaign trail, almost as if McCain is getting in the way of her inspiring story.
        Meanwhile, other than making a case for himself as a proven war veteran, who ``would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war’’, the Arizona senator failed to present a strong enough domestic package Thursday night in pulling the economy out of a near recession; and what to do about health care and the 44 million Americans without insurance, what do about the housing crisis and record number of foreclosures, what to do about the rising unemployment rate, while consumer confidence continues to tumble. 
        There will, I’m sure, be lots of spirited dialogue about the so-called ``cultural wars'' between Republicans and Democrats, especially with Palin now on board, discussing abortion, guns, and the meaning of what defines a true patriot, but a McCain/Palin ticket will have hard time convincing voters to return the Republicans to the White House unless they come up with a detailed economic plan that emphasizes more than just job training and the menace of pork- barrel  projects by a spend thrift Congress.

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
]]> Sarah Palin Takes Center Stage: A Star Is Born tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-04:cd73ec63-00fc-4a33-b245-5bcc3b9cd375 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-04T11:01:00Z 2008-09-04T01:00:00Z      If John McCain loses this election, he will almost certainly fade into the sunset, never to be heard from again.
        The same can’t be said for his running mate.
        Like Ronald Reagan speaking at the 1964 Republican Convention; and  New York Gov. Mario Cuomo’s memorable keynote address at the 1984 Democratic Convention in San Francisco, a star was born Wednesday night at the Excel Energy Center in St Paul, Minn.
        Even if Obama/Biden win in a landslide, America will remember the first time they fixed their eyes on Sarah Palin and the words and the fire that flowed from her lips.
        After five relentless days of the media digging up bits and pieces of her life, (troopergate, a teenage daughter pregnant, husband charged with DUI), Palin finally was given the opportunity to let America do their own vetting; and based on the pounding cheers and persistent chants that erupted during her 34 minute speech, America liked what they heard.
        The Alaska governor had an awfully tall mountain to climb last night.
        Unlike Joe Biden, who everyone knows like the back of their hand for the last 35 years, no one really knew who Sarah Palin was except through the buzz from the Internet and profiles slapped together by major news organization over the past week.
        The vetting process will almost certainly continue. The press will surely scour her closets for more skeletons and report on possible conflicts of interest; and her opponents will undoubtedly question her foreign policy experience, but at least for one night, Gov. Palin silenced her critics over whether she has the right stuff. 
        When ``Sarah Barracuda." first stepped to the podium, displaying a weak wave, with a tight smile, you almost got the feeling you were about to listen to a student government speech from your local high school gym.
        But after introducing America to her version of the modern-day Von Trapp family (Bristol, Willow, Piper, et al) and then dressed down her opponent, her words seemed to increase in intensity, her lips tightened, and you got a sense she’s fought a battle or two in her lifetime, and her road wasn’t always an easy one.
        Delegates crunched together in the Twin Cities and those sitting in their living rooms must have thought they were watching a microcosm of themselves: a hockey mom, sons in the military, husband belongs to a Steelworker’s Union, sister and brother-in- law just opening a service statition, a mother of five, including one with Down Syndrome.
         Sarah Palin’s life seemed to be the same life led by millions of other Americans, only she’s been mayor of Wasilla and is Governor of Alaska; and now wants to be the next vice president of the United States.
        The most significant slice of Palin’s speech aside from striking a populist cord with Republican delegates was the way she not only answered questions about her qualifications, but nimbly turned the tables on her opponents and questioned their credentials.
        Specifically, the Alaska governor sarcastically compared her stint as mayor to Senator Obama’s time spent on the South Side of Chicago as a community organizer. I guess the only difference, Palin deadpanned, is ``mayor’s actually have real responsibilities’’, a zinger that sprung party members to their feet. Later, Palin ridiculed Obama for authoring two memoirs, but not authoring one constructive bill in the U.S Senate.
        Watching this hockey mom, former PTA mom, now Gov. mom, attack her opponents in a chic pit-bull manner, made you feel like you were watching Jimmy Stewart in ``Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.''
        Line after line, it was one small town American story after another, the way she got rid of the corporate jet after being elected governor, doing her own cooking instead of having a chef, driving herself to work etc. 
        A large chunk of voters, without question, must have felt for the first time in quite a long time, maybe the first time in their lives, they weren’t listening to a wily politician spewing out the same old company line, but were hearing words from a real person for a change, who understands their concerns, feels their pain, and who will be their``friend and advocate in the White House’’
        Whether this hockey mom that has hopped on the Straight Talk Express makes it to Washington to ``shake things up'' will be the talk of the town in the coming months ahead

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
]]> Republican Convention: Two Mavericks Save The Night tag:billlucey.com,2008-09-03:229588fd-1b53-450a-94c3-042e57cb07ff Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-03T07:05:35Z 2008-09-03T00:25:00Z         While starting to watch live video feeds from the Republican National Convention last night, I thought I stumbled upon another Ken Burns epic documentary.
        There was so much nostalgic film footage of past party titans like Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan that I was expecting Shelby Foote to appear, but then I remembered the distinguished novelist and Civil War historian has long since gone to his grave.
        Watching First Lady Laura Bush, whose never been known for her public speaking skills, trying to attest to her husband’s character, sounded stale and trite as she repeated the same old tired Bush  accomplishments: education reform, Supreme Court justices…. ``let’s not forget George Bush has kept the American people safe’’ a line which was met with a subdued but respectful ovation.
        Mrs. Bush, I thought, would have done much better sketching a picture of the man no one really knows, such as the president’s emotions being Father of the bride to his daughter Jenna , the burden the president carries, daily, watching young men and women putting their lives on the line in Iraq and Afghanistan, who were his heroes growing up?
            George Bush’s (beamed via satellite at 9: 53 p.m EST) from the White House, didn’t display much more energy than wife Laura’s.  He tried to inject some salesmanship behind the McCain candidacy, saying ``he’s ready to lead the nation’’ and saluting his maverick streak.  ``John McCain is an independent man who thinks for himself’’ Bush said. 
        The 43rd president looked every inch like a man who will go down as one of the least popular president’s in history.  His speech lacked flash or rhythm. What’s worse; it looked like he was delivering a press briefing, instead of rallying fellow Republicans, which could have been realized had he been dressed in his signature jeans or speaking in a fire-side chat setting.
        The party really didn’t get going until 10:08 p.m., when Fred Thompson wandered out and started belting out a rustic testimonial to McCain and why he should be elected president.
        First, in descriptive detail, the former Tennessee senator spoke about McCain’s heroism, about the beatings and cracked ribs while being held captive. ``His bones may have broken, but his spirit never was’’ the Law & Order star said, as delegates assembled at the XCEL Energy Center finally began to spring to life
        Thompson was especially effective making a strong case for McCain’s maverick status, and war heroism, while tearing into Obama, without once mentioning his name.  
        Compared to the Democratic nominee’s junket to Iraq, Thompson reminded Republican’s, ``McCain was in Iraq eight times’’, and not for publicity, a clear shot at Obama’s media-frenzied trip to Iraq in July. 
        Attempting to weaken the significance of the Democrat’s historic moment in nominating the first African-American to a presidential ticket, Thompson retorted ``history making in that he [Obama] is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for President’’, words that revved up the restrained crowd and made it sound like a convention again.
        Joe Lieberman was the last up before calling it a night. And the former Connecticut Democrat turned independent spoke to McCain’s independence in putting ``country above party'', a dominant theme Republicans hope to drive home through Thursday.
        Lieberman, much like Thompson, didn’t mention Obama’s name when he said that ``eloquence is no substitute for America, not in these tough times’’, a clear swipe at the Democratic nominee being rich in rhetoric, but lacking in substance.
        By far, the best slap of the night was when Lieberman compared McCain to Bill Clinton as a president who worked with Republican’s in getting legislation passed. Obama, by comparison, Sen. Lieberman told cheering delegates, `` never crossed the aisles'' during his short time in the Senate with a sprit of bipartisanship.
        The way Hurricane Gustav wiped out the opening night of the convention, the tidal wave that followed with revelations of Gov. Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter's pregnancy, and the lifeless energy evident during the first few hours of the convention, you got the feeling things were quickly headed for a disastrous nose-dive.
        The convention was saved, ironically enough, by a couple of mavericks in their own right:  Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman.
    -Bill Lucey
     [email protected]
]]> Republian National Convention Preview: John McCain Completes Hat Trick tag:billlucey.com,2008-08-30:9def1b81-27a3-4460-a3ac-90b6ad9a7f68 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-09-03T07:58:15Z 2008-08-30T21:49:00Z         To counter the stellar performances at the Democratic National Convention by Bill and Hillary Clinton that culminated in Barack Obama’s dazzling acceptance speech on Thursday, John McCain pulled off a hat trick of his own by selecting Alaska Gov. and ``hockey mom’’ Sarah Palin as his running mate. 1.) It showed the Arizona senator’s maverick streak has returned in picking an anti-establishment, outside the beltway unknown; 2.) He strengthened his conservative base, by choosing a candidate who opposes abortion, is a member of the NRA; and has supported an amendment that bans same-sex marriage in her home state; 3.) Selected a woman, a young one at that, 44, who might be able pull in a portion of the 18 million who voted for Sen. Clinton.
If you consider 60 percent of Democratic voters are women, picking Alaska’s first female governor makes perfect strategic sense.
        Palin, who drives a pick-up truck to work, is the mother of five, with a highly regarded track record in confronting oil companies, and is married to a man who works on the oilfields on Alaska’s Arctic coast, not only brings a fresh face to the ticket; it recharges the lethargic Republican Party, who after watching the Democrat’s make history in nominating the first African-American to a major ticket, made history of their own, by putting a woman on the Republican ticket.
        The downside, of course, in choosing someone as young as Palin with less than two years of experience as governor in a state with a population of 660,000, and a former mayor of Wasilla (population 9,780), centers on the many questions that will be raised about her lack of understanding in world affairs, which takes on added importance when you consider McCain, 72, if elected, will be the oldest commander-in-chief ever to occupy the Oval Office.
        Nonetheless, James W. Muller doesn’t necessarily buy into this ``lack of experience’’ canard that has already been wrapped around the Alaska governor. ``As mayor of Alaska’s fastest-growing city and then as a popular governor who commands support from 85% of the state’s voters, the Professor of Political Science at the University of Anchorage, notes ``she [Palin] has thirteen years of executive experience—more than Obama, Biden, or McCain put together.’’
        Unquestionably, Palin’s familiarity of foreign policy will be severely tested in the coming weeks and months ahead and even more so during the vice-presidential debates when she squares off against the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair with 35 years of legislative experience: Joseph R. Biden Jr.
        The combative Delaware senator could very well make confetti out of Palin, by exposing her weakness in front of millions of television viewers if she fails to grasp what’s at stake in Iraq and Afghanistan, the menace of Russia’s new assertiveness in the Caucasus, and how best to deal with China as a formidable global power. It could make McCain look downright foolish having selected such an inexperienced candidate if she falls flat in the debates.
        On the other hand, if the youthful governor surprises everyone with her grasp of foreign affairs, a swath of independent and disheartened Republican voters might think twice about voting for Obama, knowing that if something should befall McCain, the country would be in competent hands.
        One corner of the globe Palin has a personal interest in involves Iraq. Her son, Track, who enlisted in the Army last year, is scheduled to be deployed to Baghdad in September. Biden's son, Beau, by the way, an Attorney General in Delaware and a member of the Delaware Army National Guard, is also scheduled to be deployed to Iraq (October 3, 2008), which should at least make for an interesting exchange between the two candidates on the theater in Iraq.
        It’s almost laughable the way so many have criticized McCain’s selection of Palin as being an act of desperation, that forced him to launch a ``Hail-Mary’’ pass.
        Well, guess what? McCain is desperate; therefore he needed to inject some razzle-dazzle into his campaign in order to slow down a surging Obama/Biden ticket which undeniably caught fire with a vast majority of American voters after a flawless convention.
        Let’s face it; despite some polls showing McCain and Obama within 10 points of each other, after eight years of George W. Bush botching everything from the war in Iraq to leaving the economy in such sad shape, nothing (and no one) is really going to save the Republicans from losing the White House in November. 
        Palin just makes the election a little more interesting. What’s more, by selecting the first woman on the Republican presidential ticket, McCain has opened the door (intentionally or unintentionally) for a new breed of Republicans, who will replace (four and eight years from now), the old tired establishment, and especially the outdated mantra of post-9/11, which candidates like Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney championed on the campaign trail without much success.

***
Footnotes about Republican Conventions

• In 1896, the Republicans became the first party to endorse women’s suffrage.

• Today, GOP stands for ``Grand Old Party.’’ But the original meaning in 1875 was ``Gallant Old Party’’; and later ``Get Out and Push’’, when automobiles were invented.

• The 1940 Republican Convention held in Philadelphia was the first to be broadcast on television by NBC using an AT&T coaxial cable

• The first Republican national convention was held in Philadelphia on June 17, 1856: John C. Fremont of California was the party’s choice for president; William L. Dayton of New Jersey received the nod for Vice President.
 
• The Republican convention held in Chicago on June 8, 1920, marked a historic moment when women for the first time, were permitted on the floor as delegates. And a new term had entered the political lexicon: `Smoke filled room’’, according to convention historians, was used for the first time as way of describing delegates deadlocked at the Blackstone-Suite 408-10-- before deciding on Sen. Warren G. Harding of Ohio in the early morning hours.

• When the Republicans gathered in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 10, 1924, it marked the first national party convention to be broadcast on radio by 15 stations nationwide. It was also the first time a woman was elected to the national committee.

• On June 26, 1944, Republicans prepared a civil rights plank that called for an investigation into the treatment of blacks in the military, a proposed constitutional amendment that would eliminate the poll tax, laws that would abolish lynching, and the establishment of a Fair Employment Practice Commission.
Thomas E. Dewey became the first Republican to accept the nomination in person.

• August 29, 2004: On the eve of the Republican Convention, more than 100,000 people took to the streets of Manhattan protesting the administration's war in Iraq. Four nights later, George W. Bush tells a cheering crowd inside Madison Square Garden after accepting his party's nomination ``that we will build a safer world and a more hopeful America and nothing will hold us back."

Origin of the Republican Party

Republican Party (1854): The party was born in response to antislavery forces angry with the passage of Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854, which allowed citizens in those two territories to allow slavery if they voted for it.
Horace Greeley, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, coined the name Republican Party in a June 17, 1854 issue of his paper.
Between the years 1860 and 1932, the Republicans were the majority party; 56 of those years occupying the White House; 50 years controlling the House of Representatives; and 60 controlling the Senate.

***

Websites to Keep in Mind:

2008 Republican National Convention


Contributions to John McCain’s campaign (by state) through 7/31/2008 by the FEC

Governor Palin’s Biography(State of Alaska website)

Women Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates (From the Center For American and Women and Politics Eagleton Institute of Politics)

Republican Convention: Facts & Figures (Minneapolis Convention & Visitor’s Bureau)

Statistical Facts about St. Paul (and Denver) from the U.S. Census Bureau

John McCain vs. Barack Obama on the issues (From America.gov)

Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speeches: 1880-2008 (from The American Presidency Project)

Minneapolis Visitor’s Guide

Minneapolis Saint Paul 2008 Host Committee

Political Experts: University of Minnesota


-Bill Lucey
[email protected]

]]> Obama Ready For Prime Time tag:billlucey.com,2008-08-29:ac244925-3740-4ae5-b631-89af95a05ffb Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-08-29T01:25:20Z 2008-08-29T00:13:00Z      Barack Obama came, he saw, he conqured.
        The Democratic nominee addressing the packed mob at Invesco Field at Mile High, picked up right from where Bill Clinton left off Wednesday, which is, making the case for change.
        Obama mentioned the word ``change’’ 15 times during his 41-minute acceptance speech last night.
Change was the essential Democratic message to the American people over the past week; specifically, the failed policies of George W. Bush and the need for fresh leadership.
In Mr. Obama’s own words, America need change because:

• ``Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists, who wrote it’’...

•     Change bankruptcy laws

• ``Change because the Bush administration has strained our ``old alliances’’ in the international community

• ``Change we need doesn't come from Washington’’ Obama said, ``Change comes to Washington.’’

        An extension of the ``change’’ theme was linking the Republican presumed nominee to the failed policies of the Bush administration. ``John McCain voted with President Bush ninety percent of the time’’ Mr. Obama reminded cheering Democrats. 
        In another line, Obama took the opportunity to mention McCain once said the economy has made ``great progress’’ under the Bush administration. And toward the end of the speech, the Illinois senator noted the ``Bush-McCain foreign policy’’ has ``squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.’’
        It was a well crafted speech full of patriotic fervor with the aim of returning America to its roots: traditional values through hard work, ``dignity of work’’, and reminding Democrats they come from the ``party of Kennedy and Roosevelt’’, and the need to restore the ``American spirit.’’
        The speech was deliberately decorated with red white and blue themes in anticipation of the Republican Convention (beginning Monday) in which the party will nominate a war hero, and a party which has traditionally played up the patriotic themes to the point of nausea. 
        Obama was dressed in a blue suit, sporting a red tie, and wearing a white shirt. And yes, he was wearing an American lapel pin; at least it looked like he was.
        When he was through, the stage where Mr. Obama was speaking resembled a scene from  the motion picture``Yankee Doodle Dandy’;  fireworks soaring through the air, a large American flag on the stage, all four of the Obama’s hand-in-hand, with most in attendance waving their hand-held American flags. All that was missing was Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps dishing out apple pie.
        This was, of course, all perfectly orchestrated by the Democrats to shoot down the Republican’s tendency to paint them as lacking in patriotic credentials.
Obama, for example, challenged McCain to agree that patriotism has no party. ``So let us agree that I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain.’’ Obama said.
        Another traditional perception that the Democrat’s are nothing but tax and spend liberals, was shattered by Obama, promising to cut taxes for 95 percent of all working families, while eliminating federal governments that are wasteful or no longer work, usually a promise made by Republicans.
        So after watching the Democrats taking away all their bread and butter themes, Republicans must be scratching thier heads wondering how Team Obama was able to rip a page out of their own playbook.
    -Bill Lucey
    [email protected]
]]> Bill Clinton Knocked One Out of the Park in Denver tag:billlucey.com,2008-08-27:863abc82-1b79-4d7b-ae8d-824449d346e9 Bill Lucey's Opinions 2008-08-28T15:31:17Z 2008-08-27T23:51:00Z           ``Please stop!….Please sit!….’’’
           Opening words spoken by former president Bill Clinton to the raucous ovation he received at the Pepsi Center last night in Denver.
            The former president proved in convincing fashion why he is the better half of the Clinton’s. 
            Hillary delivered a forceful compelling speech on Tuesday. In fact, it might have been her best speech yet, but it didn’t really compare with hubby Bill’s, who electrified the crowd with his sage advice and command of the podium, as he worked the packed Convention Center like he was a Principal conductor of an orchestra: the tempo, rhythm, and harmonization were perfectly in tune before building to a crescendo.
        Clinton’s speech was part nostalgia (of his White House years), part validation (of Barack Obama ready to be president), but mostly it was a hard repudiation of the Bush years, and the danger that lurks if John McCain is elected
        The former president pushed all the right buttons: ``Katrina and cronyism’’, ``third term is not the charm’’, ``badly strained military’’ ``rebuild America and restore leadership’’ all phrases that charged the American flag waving crowd into a frenzy.
        But the most important lines of the Clinton speech was his convincing endorsement of the Democratic nominee. 
        ``Barack Obama is ready to be president’’, Clinton yelled. Later, he reminded the crowd, in 1992, about those naysayers who said he was too young and too inexperienced to be president, but they were wrong because he was on the ``right side of history’’. And ``Barack is on the right side of history’’ as well, Clinton roared, words that sent Democrats at the Pepsi Center over the top and put to rest any questions about division between the Clinton’s and the Obama’s.
        One thing that struck me during Mr. Clinton’s gripping speech was they way he’s completely out of his element as a mere bystander or second banana.
        Unlike when he was stumping for Hillary, his face often looking as red as a fire engine, finger wagging at the press, the former president last night looked relaxed, confident, regal, and very presidential.
        Immediately after the speech, ABC’s Sam Donaldson (via webcast) correctly observed that it was a good thing the 22nd amendment was passed (limiting a president to two terms) or Obama might be in trouble.
**
        While watching Joe Biden deliver his acceptance speech, it occurred to me 2008 might be the first presidential election in which the election is settled by who the vice president is.
        Biden with his distinguished 35 years in the U.S. Senate was selected primarily to put some more pop into the ticket as experienced enough in foreign affairs.
        With John McCain 71 years-old, voters will be looking for a vice president who has the experience and understanding of the international arena, much like Biden has, but also somone who is younger and capable enough to carry the torch should McCain die in office.
        I always thought the office of the vice president ``wasn’t worth a bucket of warm spit’’?
        -Bill Lucey
        [email protected]
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