'Today, McCain economic adviser Carly Fiorina bluntly stated that neither John McCain nor Sarah Palin were capable of running a major corporation (she said the same of Barack Obama and Joseph Biden). A top campaign adviser said Fiorina will be punished for her candid opinions:

"Carly will now disappear," this source said. "Senator McCain was furious." Asked to define "disappear," this source said, adding that she would be off TV for a while - but remain at the Republican National Committee and keep her role as head of the party's joint fundraising committee with the McCain campaign.

McCain and Gramm were prime movers behind killing health insurance reform in the 1990's

Not sure we want to go there.

There was one more person who was involved in killing Hillary's healthcare plan in the 90's.

It's Democrat Jim Cooper (D-TN).

From a 1994 NYT article

It has also become a pocketbook issue for Mr. Cooper, and whatever the fate of his health plan, he is already a winner.

In less than a year, the mild-mannered Democrat from the most rural House district in Tennessee has become the toast of health care providers and insurance companies, which have channeled tens of thousands of dollars of contributions to his campaign for a Senate seat.

Mr. Cooper is only one of the many politicians benefiting from the fund-raising frenzy set off by the national dialogue over health care.

Since drug companies, hospitals, insurers and doctors have so much at stake in the legislation that may emerge from the Congress, many are investing all they can in lawmakers whose proposals would be most favorable to them -- or the least damaging.

They are showering millions of dollars in donations to members of Congress with prominent roles in the debate, like Mr. Cooper, whose plan is the alternative to President Clinton's proposal most often preferred by business because it neither requires employers to provide coverage nor limits insurance premiums.

And guess what. Jim Cooper is Obama's healthcare spokesperson - check here.

Mike Lux wrote this about Cooper & his Obama connection.

Cooper, a leader of conservative Dems on the health care issue, instead of working with us, came out early and said universality was unimportant, and came out with a bill that did almost nothing in terms of covering the uninsured. He quickly became the leading spokesman on the Dem side for the insurance industry position, and undercut us at every possible opportunity, basically ending any hopes we had for a unified Democratic Party position. I was never so delighted to see a Democrat lose as when he went down in the 1994 GOP tide.

Unfortunately, he came back, like a bad penny.
It is such a huge mistake for Obama to use a guy like this to defend their position on health care. The signal it sends to reporters, organizations, and activists like myself who know something about the old health care battles is that Obama truly doesn't care about comprehensive health care reform or universal coverage, and that the health care package you would propose if President would be a conservative, pro-insurance industry bill. The campaign ought to be trying to reassure folks who care about this issue, and using a guy like Cooper does just the opposite.

Fourth: your stump speech is too long and discursive. It shouldn't last more than fifteen minutes, it should focus on your agenda, not today's news story, it should feature short, declarative sentences, and it should leave no doubt about what you care about the most. Right now, regrettably, few Americans believe that you feel real passion about their economic plight and are willing to wage a tough fight on their behalf. It's your job to convince them otherwise, and you don't have much time to do it.

September 17, 2008

The Sept. 14-16 Gallup Poll Daily tracking update shows Barack Obama with 47% support among registered voters, and John McCain with 45%; although not a statistically significant lead for Obama, this marks the first time since the week of the Republican National Convention that McCain has not held at least a slight edge.

I predicted this yesterday. It's happening even faster than I guessed.

Still, it's not a question Democrats should be jumping up and down in glee about -- since Democratic candidates rarely arise out of the business sector. I happen to agree with Carly -- political leadership and public service take very different skills, require very different experience than what is needed to be CEO.

The arguments that criticize politicians who have "never signed a paycheck" and/or make better management claims for any dummy with an MBA and powerful connections (like Bush) don't work in Democrats favor. No one here should be cheering the idea that public service experience is lesser than business experience.

First . . . "he wasn't fired . . . he quit"

Second . . ."Ok he was fired,  but it was nothing to do with him refusing to fire Sarah Palin's ex Brother in Law as a State Trooper".  There was no pressure from Palin or her administration on that issue.

Third . . . "ok . . . busted,  there was pressure but that isn't why Monegan was fired".

Now  . . . . drumroll . . .  the reason he was fired ISNT because he wouldn't fire her ex brother in law . . . in fact it's because he was pushing for funds for a program to tackle sexual assaults and rape in Alaska.  Sarah Palin was worried that this would impact on her earmark requests with Ted Stevens in the Senate.