Desperate Candidates

The Texas and Ohio Democratic primaries are upon us in a week, with Hillary Clinton needing big victories against Barack Obama to stay in the race, so let's use this lull in the proceedings to catch up on the political scene:

• Losing 11 consecutive primaries/caucuses to Obama has turned Clinton into a desperate woman. With her lead in Texas and Ohio melting like butter on a hot skillet--even the superdelegates are abandoning her--Clinton has resorted to accusing Obama of plagiarizing his speeches (what candidate hasn't done that?), twisting her words on health care reform, and allegedly publishing pictures of the Illinois senator in traditional Kenyan garb (read: Muslim) taken in 2006. But Clinton can't break through. Obama is this year's Teflon candidate, with nothing significant sticking to him. And anyone who does try to criticize him risks getting branded as a racist, since the senator happens to be biracial. That's why he was so calm and collected in comparison to Clinton during Tuesday's debate in Cleveland on MSNBC.
• Obama's wife Michelle made her bid to become the Next Hillary with this statement at a rally in Milwaukee: "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country--and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change". Can anyone tell us what's wrong with that sentence? And why we should care?
• The New York Times reports that John McCain, the apparent Republican presidential nominee, had an affair during the 2000 campaign with Vicki Iseman, at that time a lobbyist for Paxson Communications (now called Ion Media Networks). McCain and Iseman have denied that there ever was that kind of relationship. The article itself dealt at length with McCain's dealings with special interests such as Paxson, even though he claimed not to. But the Times felt the need to sex up the story at a time when the public has moved past such scandals. The upshot is that all the right-wing loudmouths who have been whining that McCain isn't as conservative as they wanted him to be have rallied to his side, at least in this case. Let's see how loyal they really are come November.
• Mike Huckabee is still hanging around, even though he has little chance of overtaking McCain in the delegate count.
• Consumer advocate Ralph Nader is back as a presidential candidate, whether anybody likes it or not. Some people still blame him for giving George W. Bush the White House instead of Al Gore in the 2000 election. This time, Nader's running on the premise that the real issues aren't being discussed because of corporate control of the political parties. As in the previous elections, Nader is not given any chance to win. Still, if you don't want to see a third Clinton term, a continuation of the Iraq war under McCain, or think Obama's too inexperienced to be President, then Nader might be your man.