My Three Songs: 09/14/10

1. Red Rider - Lunatic Fringe
2. Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper
3. Joe Walsh - Vote For Me

Theme: Today's Wisconsin primary elections.  Vote red (Republican) or vote blue (Democrat)... but please vote!!!

Chapter 81.6: Hot Dog and Rice

The Baseball Hall of Fame will have at least two new members. In my opinion, both Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice deserve the laurels they will finally wear. Henderson — baseball's greatest base stealer and the consummate leadoff hitter — was a no-brainer. The only issue for him was whether he actually was finished playing.

Though he turned 50 on Christmas day, Henderson probably could still hit .280 and provide 15-20 stolen bases and score 75 runs if he played in 2009. He was always in fantastic shape and his skills hadn't fallen apart like those of many older players. With more than 3,000 hits, 1,400 steals, and 2,000 runs, his election was a foregone conclusion.

Rice, on the other hand, required all fifteen of the annual ballots before he was elected. In my view, he was one of the greatest power hitters of the '70s and '80s. If you look at his numbers, you see that he was quite productive for at least ten years. The ongoing criticism of him was that he didn't get along well with the media. I just don't understand why that should matter so much.

I could write more (and better) on both these players, and hopefully I will, but if nothing else, I say congratulations to two of baseball's greatest.

Chapter 80.7: President-Elect Obama

All right! You don't have to be a math whiz to see the blue ink on the wall. With Ohio now declared for Sen. Barack Obama, Pennsylvania unsurprisingly going Democratic, and Florida looking ready to go Democratic too, it's time to stick a fork in Sen. John McCain's campaign. It's done.

There's a party in Grant Park in Chicago, and I think there will be celebration throughout much of the United States. Barack Obama is on the verge of history!

President-Elect Obama will have a lot of work ahead of him, and there remains much to learn about the House and Senate races as the night goes on, but short of an unspeakable catastrophe, he has accomplished what many African-Americans never thought possible in their lifetimes.

This may sound silly to some, but I'm proud of America. We're still a nation with deep racial divisions, but at least it can be said now that we have elected a black man president. There's never been a black prime minister of England or a black president of France. Don't even think about Germany in this equation. I don't know for certain, but I'd be shocked if there's been an Aboriginal PM of Australia.

This truly is history. I'm proud to have witnessed it and to be part of this historic vote.

Chapter 80.1: Wet October Surprise?

Perhaps I should have taken our leaky pipe in the basement as a sign. The 2008 presidential campaign seems to have had its October surprise burble up finally. This time it came up through the pipes in Toledo, Ohio, one of the swingingest states in America.

The gist of it is a guy now known for the rest of his 15 minutes as Joe the Plumber asked Sen. Obama about how his plan to tax only those making at least $250,000 will affect Joe's chances of having a successful plumbing business. (Almost uncommented upon has been that Joe isn't a licensed plumber, which apparently is required in Toledo.)

By clogging up the debate with plumber references, Sen. McCain seems to have re-engaged his campaign with at least some of the voting populace. Whether it will be enough to actually sway what few undecideds are out there or reconvert those Republicans who had given up on McCain remains to be seen.

But if you have your Joe the Plumber t-shirts already, I advise you get ready to sell them, because after early November, regardless of who wins, they'll probably be going cheap.

Chapter 79.3: Mind Boggling Collapse

We are living through an incredible moment. The utter collapse of U.S. financial markets is like something out of a futuristic tale of apocalypse, except it's happening now, in real time, with real damage.

The Bush administration probably will go down as the worst in U.S. history because of the myriad debacles — financial, military, political, legal — that occurred on its watch. To be sure, not everything has been President Bush's fault; too much has happened to blame it all on one person. But then again, not everything was Herbert Hoover's fault either. That doesn't mean we have warm, fuzzy feelings for him or his term in office.

Looking back at Hoover's Wikipedia entry, I'm a little concerned that he was also considered a progressive and a reformer. In this election, we have a purported progressive (Obama) and reformer (McCain) and the election is looking razor thin. (What is it about extremely close elections in this century?)

To a financial know-nothing like myself (just because I can do math doesn't mean I'm up on economic theory), it appears that the rich were trying to get richer on risky investments and when many of those investments failed, they weren't able to make good on their outlay of cash. They were over-extended. Much like the American populace.

Let's face it, this world lives on credit. It's not just in America — all over the world. Hell, I think they extend credit on Antarctica! And if a bank were to say, "I know we gave you a 30-year fixed mortgage, but we need our money now," (which probably isn't legal, so I'm not too worried about it happening to me) there's no way I could pay it without having to borrow money from someone else for less favorable terms. I think that's, in a sense, what has been happening on Wall Street.

This could well be the beginning of our Great Depression. If, as some speculate, we are experiencing the end of the "American empire," then we should probably pay close attention to what's going on. Our next major decisions — like who we choose to be president for the next four years — are exceedingly important for today and for our children tomorrow.

Chapter 78.8: McCain-Palin, My First Impressions

Perhaps first impressions is a misnomer, since I'm offering them here a day after the announcement. But I don't mind saying this was my first impression: if disaffected Hillary voters go for the Republican ticket purely because he selected a women to the vice presidential slot of the ticket, then there's something seriously wrong with how people think.

At a certain level, I feel bad for Governor Palin. She's being used like a pawn, though her career after 2008 has just been placed on a higher path. Her selection is so blatantly opportunistic — trying to sway those angry Democrats who were Hillary supporters — that it's beneath the presidency. Does anyone actually think that a person who's spent more time as the mayor of 8,500-strong Wassila, Alaska, than she has as governor of a state with just 670,000 people is ready to step in as president if something happens to the 72-year-old who could be the leader of the free world? Her selection completely undermines the Republicans argument that Sen. Obama is not ready to be president.

Moreover, this selection strongly suggests that the conservatives still run the Republican party, which will only bode poorly for those millions of Americans who ascribe the recent economic difficulties on the conservative policies of President Bush's administration and the previous Congress that followed essentially in lockstep. True, things aren't much better under the current Democratic-led Congress, but I certainly believe there was more debate about things now than there was during the first three-quarters of the Bush administration.

That's another thing I don't like about McCain's selection of Gov. Palin. He's reported to have made the decision based on just a couple conversations. I have enough faith in Sen. McCain to believe he assessed her background and recognized that Palin's conservative stands coupled with her willingness to rock the boat made her a good match for him. But I can't help but think he'd have done more to help his cause by selecting Carly Fiorina as his VP. She's already part of his team as a chief fundraiser and has actual experience leading major corporations. I recognize that Alaska is not exactly some political backwater, but I simply don't think Palin has more experience than Fiorina.

The more I read about Palin, the more I think she could be underestimated, so I'm sure there's a lot more to be learned. But I have to say, it seems to me that the Republicans have conceded that they have little shot of winning the election.

Chapter 78.7: Obama-Biden, My First Impressions

I heard the news today, Oh boy! About a lucky man who made the grade.

With apologies to the Beatles and with recognition that I'm alluding to a lyrical car crash — which is not what I mean to connote — I will say that I'm happy about Obama's selection of Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) as his vice presidential candidate – and with the secrecy in which he made it.

I think it was more than a year ago now that I interviewed a woman who was then newly installed as chief of staff for a Congressman. We had an off the record conversation toward the end when I asked her who she liked in the 2008 presidential race. It might have been early 2007, or perhaps even earlier. "I'm not sure why yet, but I like Joe Biden," she said.

Sen. Biden isn't perfect. Though he's clearly a bright man, he's prone to make stupid comments that can be interpreted in a way other than how he intended. He'll have to temper his sense of humor. While he's a Catholic, he's voted pro-choice; that'll be an issue for many Catholics. I for one do not vote for a president based on a person's opinions on this clearly important issue. But it will likely embarass the campaign when a priest chooses not to serve him communion, just as it did with John Kerry.

But Biden's strength is his familiarity with foreign leader and his experience as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee. I'd been thinking that if he weren't selected for the vice presidency, he'd make a good Secretary of Defense. But I'm pleased with where he is.

The question to be asked of any vice president is whether he can handle the job of president. While no one wants to talk about it much, that is a matter of utmost concern for this ticket, because there are too many wackos out there who won't like the idea of an African-American president. I believe Biden could step in and do the job, though I hope Obama has a strong first term in the office. We're going to need steady hands atop our government for the next several years.

Let the love-fest begin!

I'm sure Sen. McCain also will select a capable partner (though I really don't think it'll be Mitt Romney, regardless of the possibility that it would swing Michigan his way). And this will be an election for the ages. Personally, I have great hopes for a President Obama. I think he'll be a strong leader and decades from now people will look at Sen. McCain as an unfortunate leader who went up against a tidal wave. (Too bad McCain wasn't elected in 2000, they'll say, but that's a discussion for a different time.)

It will be a difficult couple of months ahead, but I'm happy to be pleased with the Democratic ticket. It's been a long time since I felt this good about a presidential team.