The Debate

I am just amazed at how bad of a speaker Barack Obama can be. Maybe he is the one going senile?

BROKAW: We've run out of time. We have this one-minute discussion period going on here. There are new economic realities out there that everyone in this hall and across this country understands that there are going to have to be some choices made. Health policies, energy policies, and entitlement reform, what are going to be your priorities in what order? Which of those will be your highest priority your first year in office and which will follow in sequence?

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Obama: Health care is priority number two, because that broken health care system is bad not only for families, but it's making our businesses less competitive.

And, number three, we've got to deal with education so that our young people are competitive in a global economy.

Education?

And we can do it, but we're going to have to make an investment. The same way the computer was originally invented by a bunch of government scientists who were trying to figure out, for defense purposes, how to communicate, we've got to understand that this is a national security issue, as well.

The military created the computer in order to communicate?

Despite all that, I was able to go to the best schools on earth and I was able to succeed in a way that I could not have succeeded anywhere else in this country.

What is wrong with the rest of the country?

We haven't been doing enough of that. We tend to be reactive. That's what we've been doing over the last eight years and that has actually made us more safe.

An interesting endorsement of the Bush administration.

Now, Senator McCain suggests that somehow, you know, I'm green behind the ears and, you know, I'm just spouting off, and he's somber and responsible.

Green behind the ears?

He Wasn't Looking at His Watch

Overall the debate wasn't that exciting. I thought McCain did well, but probably not enough to make a significant change. The point where Obama had to look to see whose bracelet he was wearing was pretty cringe inducing though.

Wesley Clark: Then and Now

Now I have characterized the Democrat's previous attacks on John McCain's military service as poorly thought out, but this one is downright idiotic, not to mention offensive:

Because in the matters of national security policy making, it’s a matter of understanding risk, it’s a matter of gauging your opponents and it’s a matter of being held accountable. John McCain’s never done any of that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands of millions of others in the armed forces as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee and he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded wasn’t a wartime squadron. He hasn’t been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn’t seen what it’s like when diplomats come in and say, `I don’t know whether we’re going to be able to get this point through or not. Do you want to take the risk? What about your reputation? How do we handle it publicly?

Now as Bob Shieffer points out, Barack Obama doesn't have this experience either. But what has Wesley Clark said on the importance of military experience before in those running for president? Well, we know, because he gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, the entire theme of which was how John Kerry's relatively limited military experience made him qualified for president:

John Kerry has heard the thump of enemy mortars.

CLARK: He's seen the flash of the tracers. He's lived the values of service and sacrifice. In the Navy, as a prosecutor, as a senator, he proved his physical courage under fire. And he's proved his moral courage too. John Kerry fought a war, and I respect him for that. And he came home to fight a peace. And I respect him for that, too.

(APPLAUSE)

John Kerry's combination of physical courage and moral values is my definition of what we need as Americans in our commander in chief. And John Edwards with his leadership and extraordinary intelligence, he's going to be a great member of that command team.

Now of course, none of this counts.

Bizarrely Obama himself gives a weak response, trying to draw some absurd non-existent parallels:

For those who have fought under the flag of this nation – for the young veterans I meet when I visit Walter Reed; for those like John McCain who have endured physical torment in service to our country – no further proof of such sacrifice is necessary. And let me also add that no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for supporters on both sides.

Excuse me? Has criticizing Obama's extensive military experience been a major campaign issue, and I just haven't realized it?

Is This a Good Strategy?

Let's see, McCain grandfather was a 4 star admiral, his dad was a 4 star admiral, he was a captain who spent 5 1/2 years as a POW, one of his sons was a naval aviator, one of his sons is at the Naval Academy, and another son is a Marine Lance Corporal who just got back from Iraq. So let's attack him for being out of touch with military families, yeah, that's the ticket. As my cousin Bill Bennett says:

Second, do the Democrats really want to try to lecture family McCain on how they should feel about returning home and being in the battlefield? The entire McCain bloodline, up and down the generations, is defined by being in the battlefield and away from home. Do they really want to tell a man who turned down early release and spent five and a half years in a POW camp that he is insensitive to the desires of returning home? Do they really want to tell a man whose father and grandfather are military heroes that the most important thing is returning home? Do they really want to tell a man whose own son has signed up and fought in Iraq about the importance of coming back home?

Gas Tax Politics

I am a McCain supporter, although not as enthusiastically as I was in 2000, but he is by no means immune from criticism. Senator McCain, although known for his independence, and rightfully for the most part, is still susceptible to populist silliness. In this case, both he and Hillary Clinton are proposing a gas tax holiday too offset the high price of gas, with Barack Obama opposed.

While the popular appeal of this is, of course, strong. Heck, I don't like having to pay $3.50 a gallon any more than anyone else. The economics though, doesn't make any sense. What does a tax do to the demand for a good? It is a first quarter micro question. The answer is that it raises, the total sale price of a good, decreasing the quanitity demanded, while decreasing the amount received by the producer. So if the goal is to lower the price of gas, you should actually raise the tax. Eliminating the tax will just increase demand, and thus the real price.

Of course Obama, also showing a complete lack of understanding of economics proposes a "windfall profits" tax on oil companies, which will do nothing more than discourage future production, and bizarrely target domestic producers, while benefiting foreign companies, in comparison to a tax paid at the pump.

Pat Buchanan Goes Nuts on McCain and Free Trade

I was never much of a Pat Buchanan fan, even before he became a crypto-fascist. But this rant on McCain, the Boeing tanker deal (or lack of) and free trade, is idiotic even by his standards.

The contract could run to $100 billion and is a body blow to Boeing in its duel to the death with Airbus. Two-thirds of all air-to-air refueling tankers are used by the United States. The contract gives a 30-year lease on life to the expiring Airbus A330 and means early death for Boeing's 767, the U.S. model for the tanker.

Oh yeah, because monopolies protected from foreign competition ripping off the government by bribing their employees makes for much better economics and government.

For a good article on why Boeing really lost the deal see the National Review.

The sordid story of the Boeing lease deal took what may be its final turn on February 29, when the Air Force announced that it will buy 179 tankers — nearly twice as many — from Boeing’s rival, Airbus. The deal is valued at $35 billion (for perspective, $26 billion in 2001 was worth $31 billion in today’s dollars). McCain is proudly touting a government estimate of $6.2 billion in savings for the taxpayers that ultimately resulted from his aggressive investigation. Democrats are attacking him for blocking Boeing, one of the nation’s top corporations in both congressional lobbying and campaign contributions.

Wesley Clark: Then and Now

I have never liked Wesley Clark, now I like him even less. This is the guy who ran for president, entirely on his military record, and now he is saying that McCain, who in addition to being a genuine war hero has a distinguished 20 year record in the Senate, is not as qualified as a housewife to be president:

In the national security business, the question is, do you have — when you have served in uniform, do you really have the relevant experience for making the decisions at the top that have to be made? Everybody admires John McCain's service as a fighter pilot, his courage as a prisoner of war. There's no issue there. He's a great man and an honorable man. But having served as a fighter pilot — and I know my experience as a company commander in Vietnam — that doesn’t prepare you to be commander-in-chief in terms of dealing with the national strategic issues that are involved. It may give you a feeling for what the troops are going through in the process, but it doesn't give you the experience first hand of the national strategic issues.

If you look at what Hillary Clinton has done during her time as the First Lady of the United States, her travel to 80 countries, her representing the U.S. abroad, plus her years in the Senate, I think she's the most experienced and capable person in the race, not only for representing am abroad, but for dealing with the tough issues of
national security.

What did Clark have to say about the importance of military experience in 2004 though?

Clark, a retired Army general, paid tribute to Kerry's military service in the Vietnam War and said he would do everything he could to help the senator from Massachusetts win the Democratic presidential nomination and then the White House.

"Sir, request permission to come aboard; the Army's here," a smiling Clark told Kerry, a decorated former Navy officer.

Keep in mind that Kerry spent less than 4 months in Vietnam, and weaseled his way out at the earliest opportunity, McCain spent nearly 6 years, and turned down an offer for early release out of principle. Hat tip to Hot Air.

McCain in Michigan

I have not been following the presidential campaing too closely, but especially on the Republican side it is getting interesting. I am rather amused how the media jumps from candidate to candidate declaring them the new frontrunner. Many have accused McCain of being some sort of media darling, with some legitimacy admittedly, but now Romney is in the limelight with much being made of him victory in Michigan. Hell, it is his homestate. The polls even show how much of a factor this was:

Forty-one percent of people who voted in the GOP primary said Romney's Michigan ties were important to them, according to exit polls.

Only 39% actually voted for Romney, so apparently even some of those who thought it was important still did not vote for him.

In the bad news column, Thompson and Giuliani came in at a scant 4 and % respectively, below even fringe candidate Ron Paul. Stick a fork in them.

John McCain at the Debates

I met John McCain at a book signing in 2000, and heard him speak. He really has a great sense of humor. I haven't decided who I am voting for yet, but I would not be disappointed to see him win.