Smoke and mirrors, anyone?

It appears as though both candidates/parties have decided to start gaming the abortion issue. The Democratic Party today tweaked its platform to "strongly" support a woman's decision to have a baby. How very noble of them. On the other side, John McCain has said he is entertaining the idea of a pro-choice VP pick. How very open-minded.

All this does is add yet another chapter to a debate that will never end using pawns that make no difference. How many Democrats actually ever get around to reading their party platform? Furthermore, it's painfully obvious that neither party has followers who support or follow the party platform 100%. This latest change is just cheap lip-service to try to steal some pro-life votes over to Obama. Obama, in the meantime, has not changed (and doesn't yet have to change) his position on abortion or Roe v. Wade.

McCain's latest veep-tease is similarly useless. No doubt a significant part of why he made the statement is to keep this marathon fascination with he VP thoughts somewhere on the media radar. But I've never known any VP to have any influence in the thought process of the White House, the Supreme Court, or the party with whom they are affiliated. A pro-choice pick would only be an appeasement to persuade America that, hey, McCain reaches out to everybody.

I hope that Americans see both of these tricks for what they are (cheap, mindless pandering) and dismiss them by day's end. Republicans hate abortion and the choice of women to have one. Democrats care nothing for the useless proletariat that disagrees with them.

Of course, if nothing else, drawing a few of the other team's players over to your side has at least one advantage: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

I now have a website.

Check it out here.

I'm still trying to get some good content on there, but at least it's sort of up and running.

Kudos to J.R. for talking me into it. And kudos to godaddy.com for calling me and actually talking me into a cheaper package.

I'm Gonna Go Ahead and Call It: Mike Pence

Mike Pence for Vice President!
If ever there were an election year story, it is brewing in Washington right now. The stand by House Republicans is momentous, and it comes at the same time that most pundits were saying something will, must, happen to define the election season. The time has come. Energy problems (and, more importantly, energy solutions) will be the trademark of this election. And one man has been rather prominently displayed: Mike Pence.
The Congressman from Indiana has just about everything going for him. He has solid conservative credentials. McCain desparately needs some of that in his campaign right now. With both McCain and Obama teetering with base support, a McCain/Pence ticket could be the first to jump out and solidify a party voting block.
Pence also has something else that McCain desparately needs: "the look." Obama has risen as much on his look as he has on anything. But it's gotten him quite a long way. The flowing speeches, that distinguished gaze, the look of a man entering his prime, all these things play heavily to Obama's favor in a culture that bases 99% of a person's content by what they see on the outside. Pence can bring in the well-spoken, distinguished, prime look that is currently missing from the Republican campaign.
Something else about VP credentials that is always a must: the candidate must have an attack mode. Few have been more notorious in attack mode and heat-seaker than Dick Cheney. But it happens with every VP candidate in every election cycle. It's something that turned me off about John Edwards in '04. The shift from kind, gentle, Southern hopeful to Democratic attack dog was too blunt, too blatant. He couldn't even leave Cheney's daughter out of it.
Mike Pence has already shown both his ability and his penchant for going on the offensive. This latest moment is history is but one example. In my time on the Hill, he was always one of the more recognizable (once you knew who he was), vocal, and solid Congressmen. To put it simply, he was and is unforgettable.
I'm not sure if he thinks it will be a risk to jump into this particular campaign or not. I don't know if he's flying high enough on McCain's or anyone else's radar screens. But at this moment, I'm putting Mike Pence on my ticket. He's the best thing for the Grand OLD Party, and the time is now, right now.

I'll let you know my Dem pick as soon as I get a feeling. This is quite a feeling today.