October Campaign 2016 News

Hillary Clinton is testifying on Benghazi in front of a House select committee today, and after having watched it on CNN, I found it to be BOR-ing.  Hillary isn't going to gain or lose anything from this testimony, and for that matter neither are Republicans; when it's over, both sides will spin their takes on the matter and folks will react accordingly.  So what?

With Joe Biden now out of the presidential campaign, the corporate media are touting Hillary as the big beneficiary of his decision not to stand for the land's highest office, saying that potential Biden supporters will now run to her like pigeons flocking to the mighty Quinn the Eskimo. Interestingly, an article in the Los Angeles Times that said as much also indicated that some voters might give Martin O'Malley a second look, and the guy who runs the "Ready For Martin O'Malley" page on Facebook posted a link to it for that reason. . . but by the time I read it, the O'Malley reference had been taken out.  That tidbit is even more interesting.       

In the meantime, Marty is going out for more free media.  After a solid appearance on "The Daily Show" with the show's new host Trevor Noah, he appeared on "The View" to show off his musical skills and, as a joke, played Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood," written as a swipe against Hillary Clinton supporter Katy Perry, in honor of Mrs. Clinton. O'Malley had been encouraged by some in the media to play and sing some Taylor Swift songs on the campaign trail rather than play and sing current artists who don't sell millions of records. Apparently, he chose the wrong song.  Playing a song about a real-life cat fight was a joke only to those who appreciate O'Malley's ironic wit, and there aren't that many of us who do; many people who heard his cover of the song thought it was creepy.  One snarky female commentator, writing on a women's gossip page, said that O'Malley proved once and for all that the only place a white man who plays the guitar in public belongs is in hell.

Hmm . . . Eric Clapton.  Jeff Beck.  Jimmy Page.  Joe Walsh.  Stevie Ray Vaughn.  If they all belong  in hell, then hell ain't a bad place to be.  (White guys with guitars, in today's pop world, are mostly condemned to purgatory.)

Don't count Marty out.  He's quietly organizing in Iowa, a caucus state.  Unlike a primary state, a caucus state is all about not how many people vote but how many people show up and can be persuaded to support a candidate.   If O'Malley can use a good ground organization to raise his stature in the Iowa contest, he can literally come out of nowhere and do well in New Hampshire the following week.

And remember . . .

P.S. Paul Ryan as House Speaker????

Yes, it would be great if we had a Led Zeppelin fan as Speaker of the House.  But not this Led Zeppelin fan.  If he's the next Speaker, a lot of us will get trampled under foot.