Putting the "Pain" in Campaigns

Many presidential candidates go for broke, literally and figuratively, while campaigning for our votes. They will simply do and say whatever it takes to convince us they are the ones we should be spending our vote on. It's a time-honored tradition and, of course, this gets ugly.

For the Clintons, this is business as usual. Their view is a lot of blood will be spilled in a campaign, go for it and clean up the mess afterwards. Obama has slowly been drawn in to the negative campaigning. Seeing Bill Clinton slam Obama is uncomfortable. Here's an ex-president who I thought did a decent job in the White House. Here he is talking smack about a guy I find sincere and likable, to say the least. It's, well, unbecoming of an ex-president, and is tarnishing my image of him. And when I see Bill trashing Obama, or watch Hilary and Obama go after each other at debates, its that uncomfortable feeling one gets being at a restaurant where a couple is arguing loudly. Hey, knock it off or take it outside.

I guess my real beef is that this is taking over the focus of the democratic primaries. There's such a lack of respect for the voters that the candidates themselves have turned it away from a civil debate about issues to a catty popularity contest. Many politicians, i.e. The Clintons, will sum this up as "just politics" and we'll all forgive each other at the convention. I think it has a longer, more damaging effect. I also think it shows their true colors and should act as a red flag for voters. If they have the capacity to be this slimy on the campaign trail, they'll be this slimy in the Oval Office. Do you want a candidate who speaks about what they stand for and demonstrates it by walking their talk, or do you want a WWE Smackdown? You can't have both.

"We have got to understand, this is not about us personally. It's about what we are trying to do for this country."

John Edwards said that. He's running for president, too, by the way.



THE BS NEWS QUIZ OF THE DAY

Yesterday, I asked...

"According to a poll commissioned by 20th Century Fox, the favorite movie weapon of all time is the what?"

No one, absolutely NO ONE, thought it might be "Kill Bill's Samurai Sword," "Indiana Jones' whip," or "James Bond's Walther PPK gun"
- I guess they're all too conventional. And that whip looks and sounds cool, but you need a lot of space and accuracy to get any use out of it.

100% got it right with "Star Wars' light saber"

According to The Press Association, the Star Wars' lightsaber has been named the favourite movie weapon of all time. The Jedi's blade beat James Bond's gun and Indiana Jones's bullwhip in the poll. Other weapons in the top 10 include the samurai sword from Kill Bill and the bow and arrow used in Robin Hood, the survey of 2,000 film fans commissioned by 20th Century Fox found.

As for me, this is my favorite movie weapon...