First news about Romney is disappointingto be sure. (clickable)

John McCain, Rudy Guillani, Tommy Thompson, Duncan Hunter, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Bill Frist, Sam Brownback, Chuck Hagel and Newt Gingrich

are the ten so far on the GOP side who would seek to hold the presidency for the Republicans. brownback, Hagel, Huckabee,Hunter, Thompson and Romney are relatively unknown which makes their early announcements necessary and somehwat interesting. The other names in this list are known entities and hopefully their early announcements will mean their early demise.

In these earliest days of the campaign season ( the new one, already) voters would be wise to learn all they can about the newcomers in the field. The same old- same old need not be our future.

All of us in both parties should take the early position: "WE WANT SOMEONE ELSE!!!"

"There's no way to count, or to measure the cost" (see link)

dreadful

Patti Davis has an interesting perspective on the Bushes (click link)

Patti Davis is Ronald Reagan's daughter- in case anyone is wondering.

Tom Vilsack (D- Iowa), Governor is first of many to throw his hat into '08 ring

Ths is the information available on his own web site.

Governor Tom Vilsack was elected Iowa’s 39th Governor in 1998, the first Democratic governor of the state in more than 30 years. He was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2002.
During his campaigns for election and re-election, Governor Vilsack promised to strengthen Iowa’s communities, transform the state’s economy and strive for excellence in education. Through 21st Century innovation, an old fashion work ethic and collective, bipartisan support, those promises have been kept.

Under Governor Vilsack’s leadership, the state has a record number of employed Iowans, has made significant investments in Iowa’s education system, has increased the number of Iowans with health care coverage, and is now a world leader in renewable energy. The governor has achieved these results while eliminating three state departments, reducing the total number of state employees, and providing targeted tax relief to working families without raising overall taxes.

Governor Vilsack will leave office in January of 2007 having changed the landscape of Iowa through his Administration’s success in numerous fields:

Governor Vilsack has worked to create better paying jobs, increase personal wealth,
hold down unemployment and build a quality work force that is ready, willing and able to compete with anyone anywhere.

In 2004, Vilsack created the Iowa Values Fund, a $500 million, 10-year program that is transforming the Iowa economy. In just two years, the fund has invested in businesses that will create or retain over 30,000 jobs, and will leverage more than $7 billion in capital investment in 83 of Iowa’s 99 counties. The average wage of these jobs is more than $37,300 per year, well above the state average. He also launched the Vision Iowa Program which has had a significant positive impact on 188 communities through investments in education, cultural, and recreational attractions. Vision Iowa has utilized over $270 million in state funding to attract $2 billion in total investment, creating 14,000 jobs and attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists to the state.

Governor Vilsack has worked to create lifelong opportunities for learning in Iowa. From expanding access to high-quality preschool; to ensuring adolescents are held to higher standards of achievement he is ensuring the youth of today will be ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

The Governor has also led the effort to reduce class sizes in the early grades of elementary school and increase teacher salaries. As a result, Iowa’s fourth-graders placed among the best in the nation in math and science progress and an eight-year decline in reading test scores was reversed, with improved scores in each of the last three years.

The Vilsack Administration has worked cooperatively with schools, medical providers, businesses, faith-based organizations and other entities to expand health care coverage to more than 90,000 previously uninsured children. Iowa is now a national leader in children’s health care coverage, with 92% of all Iowa children having health insurance.

In addition, they have worked to make long term care more accessible, provided for comprehensive mental health care coverage, and reduced the cost of prescription drugs. As of today, 18,000 previously uninsured adults between the ages of 19–64 will receive health coverage due to policies enacted by the Vilsack Administration.

Governor Vilsack has focused on making Iowa a world leader in the renewable energy industry. During the past eight years, energy generation capacity has increased 20%, with a nearly 300% increase in ethanol production in the past five years. Iowa now leads the nation in producing ethanol and biodiesel, and is third in the nation in wind energy production. Due to the governor’s initiatives, Iowa not only feeds, it also fuels the nation.

While Governor Vilsack has led Iowa’s government from the statehouse in Des Moines, he has also promoted the state on the national level through his leadership in numerous national organizations. Governor Vilsack is the chair of the Democratic Leadership Council and is the former chair of the Democratic Governors’ Association, the Midwest Governor’s Conference, the Governors’ Biotechnology Partnership, Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG), and the Ethanol Coalition. The governor is also a member of the National Governors Association Executive Committee.

Prior to being elected governor, Governor Vilsack was an Iowa State Senator (1992-98) and the mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa (1987-92) as well as managing a private law practice with his father-in-law. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, orphaned at birth, and adopted in 1951. He received a bachelor's degree from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York in 1972, and received a law degree from Albany Law School in 1975. Governor Vilsack is a devoted husband to First Lady Christie Vilsack and a dedicated father to sons Jess and Doug.

Tom Vilsack has built a long list of accomplishments during his eight years as governor of Iowa. He has brought Iowans from all political persuasions and all walks of life together to help change the landscape of Iowa, creating successes that all Iowans can share in. Governor Vilsack has built a solid foundation of progress in Iowa that will ensure countless opportunities for a brighter tomorrow.

A strong Governor is perhaps the best chance for the Dems to take back the White House. This has always been the case. The immediate word on the street is that people do not know who he is. Fair enough, but that was true with Bill Clinton in 1991 when he announce his candidacy against (at that time) a highly popular GHW Bush. It was also true when the current occupant of the office announced his candidacy. I am looking forward to learning more about him.

I hope he has the intestinal fortitude to stand up to two years of being called 'embarrassingly liberal' and out of touch and 'just wrong for America'.

Let the fun begin!!

A big sea change in Minnesota and across the nation

apparently failed to capture the governor seat in Minnesota. One must ask why.

I believe there are three reasons for this :

Tim Pawlenty is non-controversial as far as Governors go. After all his predecessor was Jesse Ventura. I liked Ventura's governance better but he was a blowhard who constantly drew a spotlight to himself in a negative way. It would have been extremely difficult for anyone to look bad by comparison and Minnesotans like things to be quiet.

Pawlenty is a supposed powerhouse for the future of the Republican Party ( I don't get this at all) and a possible contender for the VP spot in '08 (watching he and the fluffy Senator trip over each other at the 'o8 GOP convention in the Twin Cities will almost be wort the hassle of having these hoards stiffed shirts around for a week.

Mike Hatch has tried and failed in bids for the Governor seat in Minnesota more times than I can count. Like Mark Dayton in the US Senate, and GHW Bush in his presidency, he has failed to express what he would do if he ever won. It is not enough of a goal to simply attain and hold the office.

Between Hatch and Hutchinson there was a strong majority who opposed Pawlenty in his re-election. Perhaps that, along with the elected Democrats who will surround him as he conducts state business will moderate some of his more extreme aspects.

What is the future of Joe Lieberman?

We know that this man believes himself to be somehow entitled to the presidency. We also are seeing his ever growing frustration with the Democratic Party.

We also know that 73% of the Republicans in his state are voting for him in this election and that he has accepted campaign funds from Republican insiders.

His senate seat could be the spoiler of any dreams Dems may have had for a senate majority. Imagine a 49/49/2 split with Joe choosing to caucus with Republicans.

Then, sometime after the first of the year we can expect Mr Lieberman to announce his candidacy for President as a Republican.

There are two possibilities that could come about as a result of such a move that would make for an incredibly strong Republican ticket (with a claim toward centrist attitudes).

The first, senario has McCain negotiating early with Lieberman to stay out of the race and remain as an inependent in the senate until such time as McCain chooses him as a runningmate.

The second, is Lieberman vies for and wins his new party's nomination with the likes of Karl Rove working in the background. In order to follow through on a theme that Dems have completely lost their center Lieberman taps Norm Coleman of Minnesota as his runningmate and fulfilling his dream to be vice-president.

That second senario would not bother me because it would keep Coleman from running for reelection to a senate seat he never should have held.

As I pipedream these senarios I can not honestly come up with the Democratic ticket that could give them a run for their money. I do not buy the conventional wisdom that Hillary is even going to run, let alone win the party nomination.

The unfortunate reality in all of this is that converts tend to become extreme ideologues (see again Norm Coleman). The 'centrist' message would be a false one but there are a large number of folks out there who would be suckered into it.

New polls show

Klobuchar over Kennedy by 20%, Hatch over Pawlenty by 12%- can't find word on recent polling between Wetterling and Bachman but I am ever hopeful for that race too.

Sometimes people will ask the stupid question, "What's so great about Neil Diamond?"

here are some stats recently posted about his career as Sony publicizes a rerelease of his CD "12 Songs".

"12 Songs" is the 14th Neil Diamond album to reach the Top 10, the 20th to hit Top 20, the 31st to make Top 50 and the 45th to break into the Billboard Top 200, placing the artist at #6 on the all-time list of male vocalists with the most Top 200 albums (after Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, James Brown, and Willie Nelson).

If you haven't heard it yet, give "12 Songs" a listen. It is worth tracking down and purchasing.