The Ticket's weekend web wanderings

Some weekend web findings:

This is one of our favorite websites of all time, besides Top of the Ticket, of course. It's a wonderful video museum of television commercials from presidential campaigns as far back as 1952, which is even before Lindsay Lohan was born.

Back then, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the wartime hero and university president, took on Gov. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois for the first of two drubbings the general would administer to the gracious and eloquent Democratic governor.

Hint: If you watch the ads in sequence election by election, you may notice life is getting rougher in the political arena. You can even get a rare glimpse of two notorious campaign ads: Lyndon Johnson's little girl daisy ad from 1964 that implied Barry Goldwater would start a nuclear war and George H.W.Bush's Willie Horton ad from 1988, an ad which, by the way, was broadcast only one time. But that was enough.

Students of politics have noticed how much Sen. Barack Obama has improved his debating skills in recent months. No longer, for instance, does he....

hesitate to turn toward his opponent and speak to her directly. But he still makes rookie mistakes. Remember the recent Democratic debate that got so heated between the Illinois freshman and what's-her-name from New York?

Read the revealing three-part transcript carefully and you can see how skillfully Hillary Clinton deflects or dodges attacks or charges into another area that allows pursuit of her own message. Then notice how earnestly Obama seeks to answer every charge, which not only prolongs the time devoted to negative things about him, but eats up precious time he needs to devote to his own message. Touchdown: Clinton.

Speaking of the Clintons, our friends over at the Smoking Gun have uncovered some fun staff memos from the Goldeneye Resort in Jamaica where the former and possibly future first couple spent a long Easter weekend a while back. We learn, for instance, that they both like red and white wines and fish and spicey foods and privacy but NOT shellfish. And they're not big on chocolate desserts.

There goes the coveted chocoholic vote.

Anyone interested in blackmailing David Gergen, who has sold his communications expertise to every president of every party since the early 1900s or something like that? Jeff Jarvis over at BuzzMachine has posted an entertaining video of Gergen trying to dance.

In preparation for tomorrow night's State of the Union Address, likely the last by President Bush, Jon Ward of the Washington Times has written a very useful review of all Bush's previous SOTU speeches in digest form.

One of the world's funnier bloggers, Howard Mortman of Extreme Mortman, has a mocking commentary on Sen. Clinton's proposal to establish a whole series of government blogs to open up government. As a true contrarian blogger, he raises the question whether government employees can honestly blog about their own agency? Oh, and then he points out, that anyway the Bush administration already has government blogs.

The folks over at Zap2It have an interesting game set up, figuring out which actor/actress could best play which presidential candidate.

Feel the need to check on Rep. Ron Paul's impressive fundraising that's still outpacing his better-known Republican competitors? Watch the spinning fundraising dial here and witness the crossing off of photos of all the GOP candidates who are now former candidates while Paul and his legions of no-name supporters keep chugging along under the radar of most media.

Or if you just want to annoy the PETA-types, shoot some kittens.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[bkusz]

McCain never met a Bill or a War he did not like. He admits to being part of the problem in the Republican Party in the past, to bad he could not have figured that out BEFORE the election. The man has not a clue about economics and all the people he named that are his advisors already work for the economic genius Bush. So McCain knows nothing and is going to rely on the same people that have been running the show for the last 8 years? That’s economic genius for you. As well intentioned he may be he is certainly is not the brightest bulb in the bunch. With the U.S. heading for rough economic times does anyone really want this man President? Scary thought..
What do John McCain and Miss Teen USA South Carolina have in common? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu-tg1kQ8dk

Huckabee wants to do to the Constitution what sharia law does for Middle Eastern government. Taxes? All of a sudden (during election) he becomes the great anti-Tax man. How convenient, to bad he could not have figured that out before the election..

Romney as McCain called the kettle black is truly the "Candidate of Change" (Changing sides) can anyone say flip-flopper?

Rudy... Can anyone say 9-11 a hundred times fast without a lisp? In reality this is all Rudy has to run on. Not to boot his past leadership shows a authoritarian style of governing.

Ron Paul.. With the whole GOP against him he is definitely an underdog and with his radical idea of following the constitution and strengthening the dollar he is on a rocky road, on the other hand most Americans love an underdog..

[DIANNE MOEN]

I support Dr. Ron Paul. I am sorry that you consider me a "no name". Yes, I support Dr. Paul under the radar of most media, but that is not my choice. In fact, I have no control over it at all. However, please note that I have a name. MSgt Dianne Moen, USAF Retired. Mrs Dianne Moen, divorced mother of two ---never on welfare. Mom- mother. Gramma D- Grandmother. Ms Dianne Moen, homeowner, taxpayer and voter. Thank you. Dianne ( the nice lady next door)

[Alex T]

Trevor Lyman, the man behind Ron Paul's record-breaking fund raising days, has set up a new website at http://fiftyoneyears.com/ to raise $5 million on Paul's 51st wedding anniversary.

Thank you to Malcolm for your continued coverage of the Paul campaign.

[DenisL]

We each seem to have our own major issue(s) that make their choice for President seem like the best one. The economy is a big one for me. McCain did not know about the "Working Group on Financial Markets" in the last debate. This is VERY scary if he is elected. My question is: Would someone tell me why we should NOT elect Ron Paul?

Ron Paul has raised more money than the rest in the 4th quarter & is spending it! $20 million in the 4th quarter. $3.5 million so far this quarter. And it was all from individual donations averaging less than $100. No PACs. Unlike the others he is beholding to nothing but the Constitution.

The rest, with Richardson and Kucinich out, seem to be talking crazy talk (or did last week, who knows what the Democrats will say next week!) about our military adventures in the Middle East. Military spending is connected to our current economic mess. Additionally, no one else seems to understand the problems with the economy, inflation, and out of control deficit spending. Inflation is going to eat us alive, as it has already started to do so. Do you really believe that the REAL inflation rate last year, the rate that was used by the government for Social Security check increases this month, was 2.3%? Just look at the price of gold up 30% in 2007, now at an all time high and getting higher!

One can not talk about tax cuts without ALSO talking about cutting spending. We have a $9 trillion debt (nearly double since 2000) that must be paid so we can afford Social Security and Medicare. The interest payments will go sky high when we begin to fight inflation with higher Federal Reserve bank rates.

And we must stop inflation or everyone's life savings will go down the tubes, along with the middle class, like what has happened to the middle class in most countries south of our border. And do not forget Universal Health Care, which is coming down the tracks right at us, unless Republicans begin to understand the seriousness of runaway deficits and inflation. And start educating the country. A Democratic President will surely not fight inflation like Volcker and Reagan did!

Please vote Ron Paul and save the country from bankruptcy abroad and at home!

[K.W. Crosby]

" tomorrow night's State of the Union Address, likely the last by President Bush, "

LIKELY the last??? What are you trying to do, put me in the hospital?

(A few presidents have chosen to give outgoing State of the Union messages in their last few weeks in office, since the traditional speech dates are close to Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.)

[MiddleAgedLady]

People forget the reason this country was created. Check out Ron Paul, and you will remember what you learned in elementary school. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to recognize that our government has become too big, too NOSY, too CONTROLLING!!! Please people think for yourselves. Research. \

www.RonPaul2008.com

[madison]

you know, anybody who doesn't make mistakes and is calculating like the clintons makes me very nervous.

[colleen]

Ron Paul is the only "real" candidate. No one else even comes close on foreign and economic policies and protecting our personal freedoms. Check it out, we could be a very prosperous nation again with Dr. Paul as president! VOTE FOR RON PAUL 2008!