'Some Clinton advisers also said that the focus on Mr. Obama's 'guns or religion' comment was a way to put him on the spot with so-called values voters — in part to offset Mrs. Clinton's baggage in this area. According to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, conducted March 28-April 2 with 1,196 registered voters nationwide, 60 percent of them believe Mrs. Clinton shared the values that most Americans tried to live by, and 34 percent did not. Both Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain fared better, with Mr. Obama performing best — 70 percent said he shared those values, and 21 percent said he did not.' - NYTimes 4/18/08

APRIL 18, 2008
Productivity, Accountability, Base-less Controversies

If my one-man business is any microcosm... I need more than experience and management skills to get results. My resume and self-discipline only get me so far, my talent and motivation take me further. I have to manage AND motivate to produce results. People say to me 'if i had your life, i wouldn't get anything done.' A hardcore pre-planned agenda can set goals so lofty that results can't be realistically measured, while a modest to-do list can quantify productivity. It's a dream to believe that health care, the economy, and Iraq will be fixed, but it's not a dream to believe that at least we can care again. A hard-lined, premeditated agenda is counterproductive. Distrusting voters and disingenuous legislators are weary of blatantly hypocritical politics. The run-of-the-mill unimaginative campaigning ultimately distracts from real things getting done. An itemized plan isn't the only way for an electorate to set their own agenda, engaged enough to produce their own results. Motivation always gets it done. No one else manages or motivates the boss-of-all-bosses. Tough decisions are made with leadership qualities, not based on pre-determined plans or bolstered resume experience.

Historic numbers of small donations are supporting Obama. He's directly accountable to less wealthy voters, without appealing to the lowest common denominator, transparent photo opp's, and brassy talk about walking-the-walk. If politicians were concerned with producing results, they wouldn't assume people are dumb enough to buy the pandering of campaign promises.

Despite the digging for shreds of controversy, they say Obama's still yet to be vetted. This is positive, as his public opinion hasn't been hardened in stone. He's being vetted while constantly on defense. But he doesn't get defensive when defending himself. An effective leader is only being carved sharper out of cynicism, tabloid-style PR drama, and old-time intellectual posturing. He hasn't stooped to blows when presented wide-open opportunities. Since he hasn't attacked maliciously, his opponent hasn't gotten the "vetting" that Republicans will sling. Once he has the DNC nomination, he'll have one less opponent hardening him on the attack, plus the major backing of the DNC media and PR framework. People who've wanted to stay out of the current debate will come out of the woodwork for Barack. 50% of qualified voters still don't vote. This is a massive bank of potential votes Barack's already drawn from, easily busting the old cycle of Democrats who can only muster +/-50% in a general election. Barack doesn't come into the general election with a predestined 50% negative approval rating. When you know exactly what you're going to get from a candidate, you get more of the same. Nothing changes, thus no results.

The GOP has no scruples. They will always play the game dirtier, so nothing will get done by playing the same old way. New people have to be involved. The same politicians won't work, and the same voters won't produce. The election campaigns reflect their Presidency. More and more people will tune out of the process with every 4-year term that turns into the same old ugly dog fight that Democrats will never win. Liberals will always lose, but instead of giving up, they can shift the discourse from intellectual popularity games back to a substantive agenda. The small pockets of radical right wingers don't have enough dirt or facts to keep pegging Barack as a radical lefty. This is same kind of dirt Dem's tried to dig on GW back in 2000, and he got skated through it. We all knew how much of a radical extremist he would turn out to be. Critics try to peg Barack as a radical lefty, just like they tried to corner the Clintons as flag-burners, while one of the most reasonably-minded candidates in history is actually just trying to get us back to a centered happy medium.