Exclusive: Wednesday, May 28

by PRESIDENTIAL WATCH May 28, 2008

See MAP of states from Karl Rove.com showing McCain-Obama match-up CLICK RIGHT HERE.

New Particle Discovered - The Obamon! (Have a good laugh here!)

Ken L. Walker, Nuke-Ranger.com

The Texas A&M Cyclotron Center and the CERN Research Laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland have recently announced the amazing and unexpected joint discovery of a new subatomic particle. Due to its characteristics, it has been dubbed the Obamon. Very little about this particle has been measured so far, but its main attributes seem to be that it has almost no substance coupled with extreme spin. For years, the scientific community has postulated that such a particle might someday appear, but until recently logic has dictated that it could not exist for any measurable period.

Now that it has been discovered (and logic is apparently out the window), it is being lauded worldwide as the most important event since the Big Bang. The major scientific journals seem to have developed a love affair with the particle. No criticism is tolerated, and those who dare question its existence are immediately labeled "anti-Obamonists."

Some evidence suggests that the particle has associated itself in the past with other more stable particles like leptons and muons, hence its true nature was not seen. This gave a false impression that the Obamon was in fact in the main stream of subatomic particles. Upon closer scrutiny, it became apparent that its characteristics are quite different from the typical particle. In fact, it actually appears to have been almost secretly spending time in energy shells with some of the more radical particles such as the volatile and destructive reveron. Read article.

A Talk-Is-Cheap Foreign Policy - Obama doesn't get it.

Anne Bayefsky, NRO.com

Democrats are right to feel upset about President Bush's appeasement accusation. It is their Achilles' heel in this election and they know it. The foreign-policy mantra of the Obama campaign amounts to this: Talk is cheap.

Over the next five months we will see the many tentacles of such a strategy emerge and the comeback "that's political" - as Obama has objected - will be treated with the disdain it deserves. Determining how to deal with the enemies of freedom and democracy is as political as it gets.

Would-be President Obama's first moves concerning the state sponsors of terrorism bear repeating - from now until November 3.

The assumption here is that the leader of the free world sitting down to talk with a leader of the unfree world is like shmoozing with a friend over a cup of coffee about some creep you misjudged on a bad date - where there's no endgame except commiserating for its own sake.

Talking with the enemy, however, is not such an encounter. The goal is to change the status quo in your favor, either by altering the subsequent behavior of your foe or your allies.

Achieving that aim is never cost-free. The buildup to any high-level diplomatic encounter is carefully prepared and highly orchestrated. The event itself will have consequences that need to be foreseen and manipulated. Read article.

If Clinton wins, would Justice Clinton be far behind?

Bill Mears, CNN.com

It is a title that would be sure to bring either fear or cheer to many Americans, depending on your political leanings: Supreme Court Justice Bill Clinton.

That provocative possibility has long been whispered in legal and political circles ever since Sen. Hillary Clinton became a viable candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Now a respected conservative law professor has openly predicted a future President Clinton would name her husband to the high court if a vacancy occurred.

Pepperdine Law School's Douglas Kmiec wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal, "The former president would be intrigued by court service and many would cheer him on."

Kmiec worked for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush in the White House as a top lawyer, but said he has no personal or political "disdain" for Bill Clinton.

CNN talked with several political and legal analysts of both ideological stripes, and while several laughed at the possibility, none would rule it out completely. And all those who spoke, did so on background only.

There certainly would be no legal barriers to such an appointment. Under federal anti-nepotism laws a President Clinton would be barred from naming her husband, or any relative to an Executive Branch position that required Senate confirmation. But the judiciary, as a separate branch, would present no such problems. Read article.

Clinton's seven stages of grief

Boston.com

For most of last year, Hillary Clinton was the clear favorite to be the Democratic nominee -- and very possibly to fulfill what she believed to be her destiny as the first woman to be elected president.

So as Barack Obama moves closer and closer to taking the nomination away, there's a version of the seven stages of grief and loss in the apparent death of Clinton's dream.

Shock. Denial. Bargaining. Guilt. Anger. Depression. Acceptance. Read article.

America's Best Days Behind Us?

Bobby Eberle, GOP USA.com

National pollster Scott Rasmussen has a new survey out which indicates that 47% of respondents feel that "America's best days have come and gone." In contrast, only 39% of respondents feel that "the nation's best days are still to come."

With results like that, it's no wonder that special elections are being won by the Democrats and the outlook for November is not good at all. People are looking for "change," but a closer look at Rasmussen's results shows that "change" may not exactly be what the media portray it to be.

In addition to asking survey respondents about the general state of America, Rasmussen also asked a number of questions to get a general feel of where people stood on the issues.

The national telephone survey found that 62% of voters "would prefer fewer government services with lower taxes." Only 29% favor "bigger government with higher taxes." So, despite the calls from the media and liberals to come up with a government solution for everything (global warming, price controls, and on and on), the majority of American's do not believe in this approach. In addition, 75% of voters "think people who move to America from other countries should adopt the nation's culture." Only 13% of respondents think people who move to America "should maintain their home country's culture." Once again, the media and liberals believe one thing, and the American people believe something else. While left-leaning elitists are calling out to "celebrate diversity," the American people are shouting, "Embrace America!"

In addition, 75% of voters "think people who move to America from other countries should adopt the nation's culture." Only 13% of respondents think people who move to America "should maintain their home country's culture." Once again, the media and liberals believe one thing, and the American people believe something else. While left-leaning elitists are calling out to "celebrate diversity," the American people are shouting, "Embrace America!" Read article.

Koch: I May Back McCain

Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com

Former New York City Mayor Edward Koch, one of the country's most prominent Democrats, says he may cross over and back Republican Sen. John McCain for president.

In an exclusive Newsmax interview, Koch says McCain "has no equal" when it comes to opposing Islamic terrorism. Though Koch says he disagrees with most of McCain's positions on domestic issues, he could support him because of his strong national security credentials.

Koch carries significant weight with many Jewish Democrats in New York and across the country. He also has a history of playing the maverick and crossing party lines.

He has backed several New York Republicans, including Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg for New York City mayor, Al D'Amato for the U.S. Senate, and George Pataki for New York governor. In 2004 he endorsed his first Republican for president, George W. Bush. Koch actively campaigned in several states, including Florida and Ohio.

Bush won both states. Read article.

Carly Fiorina: McCain Is 'Perfect Enough'

Ronald Kessler, NewsMax.com

As chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Company, Carly Fiorina coined the term "perfect enough" to goad the hidebound, overly cautious company to embrace change and innovation more quickly.

Now, as the Republican National Committee's "Victory Chair," Fiorina is pushing John McCain for president. She says conservatives who are skeptical about him need to look at the broader picture.

"When people strive for perfection, they frequently don't make much progress," Fiorina tells Newsmax. "So what I said in my book ‘Tough Choices' is, if you're focused on making progress, if you're focused on making the right choices, then perfect enough is usually better than perfect. And in this case, no candidate for president is perfect. John McCain is perfect enough."

Fiorina signed on with the McCain campaign 15 months ago, and she stuck by him last summer when almost everyone counted him out. She doesn't need a job. She left HP with $21 million. But Fiorina sees this election as a critical one for the country and is devoting herself full-time to articulating what she sees as McCain's long-term vision. Read article.

The Limits of Talk - Obama's Foolish Foreign RX

Rich Lowry, NY Post.com

their litany of US presi dents who met with hostile dictators, supporters of Bar ack Obama cite John Kennedy and his meeting with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna in 1961. They leave out how it went.

The earnest, young president wanted to forestall any possibility of misunderstanding and to win Khrushchev's commitment to the international status quo. The blustery, risk-taking Soviet premier wanted to bludgeon Kennedy into making concessions that would further the Soviet goal of global revolution. With such clashing objectives, the two leaders didn't exactly hit it off.

When Kennedy thought he was being accommodating, Khrushchev thought he was being weak. He pocketed rhetorical concessions by Kennedy and demanded more. Afterward, Kennedy called it "the roughest thing in my life."

Kennedy adviser George Ball later said that Khrushchev had perceived Kennedy as "young and weak Kennedy confidant Gen. Maxwell Taylor thought Khrushchev concluded he could "shove this young man around." Vienna was the backdrop for Soviet assertion in the Cold War flash points to come.

So when President Bush characterized trying to talk adversaries out of their hatreds as appeasement, Obama and his supporters reacted as if he had been skewered to the core. The Obama Doctrine had been attacked! On foreign soil!

They countered that the act of talking is, in itself, not appeasement. True enough. But neither is talking a substitute for strategy. Read article.

Are Political Spouses Fair Game?

Jennifer Rubin, Pajamas Media.com

A tip for presidential hopefuls: if you want your husband or wife exempt from scrutiny, sending them on the campaign trail as your surrogate or making them a key advisor isn't a good idea.

We have barely established the nominees for the presidential general election battle, but the ground rules are very much up in the air. Not for the candidates, mind you, but for their wives.

It would seem odd that Obama could claim the benefit of his wife as spokeswoman, surrogate and explainer-in-chief of his personal charms, yet plead that she be exempt from scrutiny. Moreover, we seemed to be entering an Alice in Wonderland of rules since the DNC had just recently criticized Cindy McCain for refusal to release her tax returns.

So what to make of all this? Neither of the presumptive nominees offers "two for the price of one" as Bill Clinton did, and yet wives have become fixtures on the stump. It is not always obvious what is fair game with regard to spouse scrutiny and what is not. Read article.

Oh Yes, He Will Make Us Better

Kathleen Parker, Townhall.com

Obama was commenting on a GOP Web ad that highlights Michelle Obama's comment, made at a rally in February, that she was proud of America for the first time in her adult life. When asked about the ad Monday during an interview on "Good Morning America," Obama said Republicans were welcome to pick on him and his track record, but not his wife.

"If they think that they're going to try to make Michelle an issue in this campaign, they should be careful because that I find unacceptable. The notion that you start attacking my wife, or my family . is just low class. . Lay off my wife, all right?"

Love that. You could almost hear those bowling pins toppling as Obama's testosterone surged, while Michelle was almost Nancy Reaganesque sitting by his side. Of course, Michelle Obama is manifestly capable of defending herself, but it's refreshing to see a man come to his damsel's defense.

Even so, hard-core feminists who switched allegiances from Hillary Clinton to Obama must have had to Botox their faces to keep their eyes from rolling out of their sockets upon hearing "lay off my wife."

They were already in fetal recoil from Obama's earlier "sweetie," offered to a female reporter at a campaign stop in Detroit. When ABC's Peggy Agar asked him a question about how he was going to help the American autoworkers, Obama responded:

"Hold on one second, sweetie. We'll do a press avail."

Be still my beating heart. Read article.

Left in Church: Deep inside the Wright Trumpet.

Stanley Kurtz, NRO.com

Despite current attempts to rewrite history, Obama was close to Wright for years, and fully entangled with him, both theologically and politically. Pfleger's influence over Obama, whose work as a "community organizer" had him in frequent contact with South Chicago's churches, is second only to that of Wright. Obama has worked on a great many political causes with Pfleger, and Pfleger was a key early backer of Obama's failed 2000 bid for a seat in Congress.

Despite Obama's distancing efforts, Farrakhan has expressed strong support for Obama. Obama was apparently at Farrakhan's Million Man March, although his precise attitude toward the march is in dispute. Jeremiah Wright co-wrote a book (based on a series of sermons) in defense of the Million Man March, and constantly speaks highly of his regard for Farrakhan. So whatever his own relation (or lack thereof) to Farrakhan, Obama was not discouraged by the fact that his two key religious mentors and political supporters were arguably Farrakhan's closest Chicago allies.

The full story of Barack Obama's relationship with Jeremiah Wright has yet to be told. It is already evident, however, that Obama's recent attempts to minimize that relationship are smoke and mirrors. Obama leans left - far left. He is not the moderate, bipartisan figure he claims to be. That is what his history reveals. The mentors who knew Obama best supported him because of their confidence that, given the inevitable political constraints, Obama's success would best advance their shared hard-left agenda. Read article.

Obama's Economic Vision

Steve Elliott, Fire Society.com/blog

Obama's view of your economic future: "We can't drive our SUVs"

Buried in the sea of Obama's largest crowd (what Drudge calls the "Obama Mass") is the economic ramifications of his latest pronouncements on global warming:

"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times . and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK That's not leadership. That's not going to happen."

Let's break that down. First, under an Obama administration, "we can't drive our SUVs," which begs the question: "What precisely qualifies as an 'SUV'? Is my family minivan an SUV? Perhaps any vehicle that doesn't deliver 30 miles per gallon will be a banned 'SUV.'

Let's move on. " We can't. keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times." My home was set at 70 degrees last night and my office is at 72 degrees all day. I think it's been proven that air conditioning actually does increase productivity. And why pick on '72 degrees'? Why not 76 degrees? What is morally acceptable in this new Obamaworld?

As we continue, our economic future under Obama looks even worse, because Obama establishes that the real moral authority for what we do as Americans is set by foreign authorities. Read article.

Oh, THOSE Legitimate Claims

Powerline Blog.com

We noted here Barack Obama's conciliatory attitude toward terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah:

The U.S. needs a foreign policy that "looks at the root causes of problems and dangers." Obama compared Hezbollah to Hamas. Both need to be compelled to understand that "they're going down a blind alley with violence that weakens their legitimate claims."

We noted the futility of the "root causes" approach when applied to Islamic terrorists, and wondered what "legitimate claims" Obama thinks Hamas and Hezbollah are pressing.

I suspect that if Obama were ever pinned down--not an easy task, given Obama's slipperiness--his answer would be, in substance, that Hezbollah's and Hamas's "legitimate claims" are the grievances of the Palestinians, and, apparently, Israel's other neighbors, like Syria. Obama's willingness to talk to leaders of terrorist states and to take a more understanding view of terrorist organizations is directed toward "trying to bring about some kind of settlement in the Middle East between Israel and its many neighbors."

Put aside the question whether and to what extent the Palestinians, Syrians, et al. have "legitimate claims" against Israel. Obama's implicit willingness to recognize Hamas and Hezbollah as spokesmen for those claims, whatever they may be, is the recipe for a disastrous policy on the Middle East.

It suggests that when Obama advocates a "realist" approach to the region, what he means, like so many others of the "realist" school, is that the "root cause" of Islamic violence is the existence of Israel (or, put another way, its efforts at self-defense), and that the U.S. should therefore appease radical Muslims by selling Israel down the river.

Obama's willingness to recognize Hamas and Hezbollah as the legitimate representatives of Middle Eastern Muslims is of a piece with his treatment of terrorist-supporting Hassan Qazwini as a legitimate leader of American Muslims. Read article.