The Dog Days of Summer

Ok. So the Dog Days of Summer seem to have gotten the Dish down a little. Not to mention that our writers have been working other jobs. But it finally looks like our lives are settling down enough that we can resume our daily (if not more frequent) posting. So to start things off I'd like to give my take on what the last few weeks have been... A reality check for Barack Obama. The celebrity image that brought him thus far seems to be wearing off and Obama's substance free rhetoric is having trouble retaining support as we enter the fall. But don't take my word for it. Even ABC News sees what I'm talking about.

My Apologies

I apologize for me recent lack of posting. I've been taking a little vacation, but I can assure you that next week everything will be back to normal.

Right now thought I want to show you something that's very interesting. This poll from Rasmussen Reports says that John McCain is now preferred on 9 of 14 key issues by Americans. It seems like things are coming around just as I said they would as people are realizing where McCain really stands people like Paris Hilton.

One More Programming Note

In June, I noted that the liberal blogosphere had, really, nothing nice to say about Governor Musgrove, only nasty things to say about Senator Wicker. In reviewing my blog production, I am ready to note that I have erected a few glass walls in my house, while taking to the custom of casting stones.

So, with Ronnie Musgrove Day behind us, here's my promise: I won't say one nasty thing about Governor Musgrove from now until ... Labor Day. I can't make any promises after that, but no matter how mad I get at Cottonmouth, nothing but positive, encouraging commentary over here.

At least for the next month or so.

Equal Time! Equal Time!

A friend who thinks I'm a bit biased in the Wicker-Musgrove race (which, is kind of the point) demanded equal time (though, I cannot say that the friend is anything close to excited about Musgrove).

Noting that I had criticized Governor Musgrove for his decision to skip the Democratic National Convention. I'll just assume he isn't wild about Denver.

In the interest of fairness (and keeping friends) it should be noted that Senator Wicker has yet to make a decision about whether he will attend the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

A key distinction though - yesterday at Neshoba, Roger Wicker expressed his unequivocal support for John McCain. Meanwhile, Ronnie Musgrove said "change" a few times, but not once did he say "Barack Obama." And while Steve Guyton was seen bouncing about Founder's Square proudly displaying his support for John McCain AND Roger Wicker, none of the Musgrove supporters had, apparently, the audacity to hope that the display of Obama signs and stickers would be good for the campaign.

A waste of time

It seems that Senator Obama wasted his time and all the time that the media has spent covering his trip to Europe and the Middle East. A recent Rasmussen Reports poll shows that this trip neither helped nor hurt Senator Obama's standing. It only gave him more air time.

Kaine the Nominee?

CNN is hinting that Tim Kaine is very close to being named the Democratic nominee for Vice President. If this is the case, there is little stronger evidence that Barack Obama is the same kind of power-hungry pol as the rest of them.

As the article points out, he is a one-term governor with no real policy accomplishment during his time. What qualifies Tim Kaine to be a breath away from the Oval Office? He might win Virginia. That's it; that's all.

If this is what the "new kind of politics" means, I want no part of it. Selecting Kaine would certainly be audacious, but it wouldn't make me very hopeful.

Celebrate Good Times

Happy Ronnie Musgrove Day everybody.

Yes, that's right, thanks to a special Proclamation by, you guessed it, Ronnie Musgrove, you can celebrate every July 29 as Ronnie Musgrove Day. We here at Mississippi Dish have come up with a fun list of things you can do for Ronnie Musgrove Day:

1) Proclaim a holiday and name it after yourself (but not today, because today is Ronnie Musgrove Day!)

2) Spend $700 million that you don't have. (Of course, if you celebrated Ronnie Musgrove Day this way, you might get thrown in jail.)

3) Open up a Beef Plant!

4) Visit your friends and campaign contributors in jail. Ask their advice on what Mississippi needs in its next United States Senator, just for old times sake!

5) Shoot a campaign video with your friends from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Interesting History

With speculation regarding the vice presidential nominations smothering all else in the news, I thought a little history might be interesting. This CNN article from 2000 offers thumbnail skethces of the men George Bush was considering in 2000. The most interesting name I forgot is former Missouri Senator and Governor John Danforth.

This 2000 Salon.com article is going to make you roll out of your chair, suggesting that Al Gore pick John Kerry as his running mate, offering this profile of the Junior Senator from Massachussetts:

Kerry is a centrist, progressive Democrat in the same way Gore is, in the same way Clinton is: not in a wishy-washy kind of way, but the kind that manages to combine elements of both.

Also, just another historical reminder for you - as these articles were being written Barack Obama was running for his second term as an Illinois State Senator.

Not Exactly Politics, But...

...Jerrell Powe, the definition of underdog, will play football for Ole Miss in 2008.

You may have noticed that I split time between this little web-gem and The Red Solo Cup. If you're a good Republican, you believe in personal responsbility and appreciate people who make the most of the opportunities given to them. Jerrell Powe has had a long, hard haul and deserves respect for his perserverence.

Wicker Leads in New Poll

Roger Wicker leads a new Research 2000 poll conducted for DailyKos, a liberal blogging service. What interested person like you and I are really looking for is Name ID numbers, but those weren't available in this poll of 600 likely voters. Additionally, Wicker and Musgrove were listed without party identification.

This poll assumed 37% African-American turn-out (or rather, that African Americans would make up 37% of the voting population), up from an estimated 34% in the 2004 election and up from 29% in 2000 according to the Census Bureau. Musgrove, though, outpolled Wicker 75/8 with African-Americans, which seems like a low threshold of support for a Democratic candidate.

The best news is that in the Southeast, where Wicker is least known, he carries a substantial 47-41 advantage over Musgrove. This indicates that Wicker's positive spots on the Coast are working greatly to his advantage.

Here's the poll I want to see: what percentage of folks who plan to vote for Travis Childers will cast their ballot for Roger Wicker in the Senate race?

All I have to say is, "wow."

Obviously TV news is a huge disappointment. The 10 second sound-bite style of media offers no real substance. But today I was flabbergasted at a recent goof by CNN. It seems the news service declared a source as a USC College Republican speaking for the organization, when in fact the student wasn't even a member of the USC College Republicans. Of course, CNN denies any knowledge of this, but it just highlights their disregard for fact checking. Our friends at the California Students for McCain blog have offered plenty of links about this so check it out.

Senator McCain making gains in key states

Recent polling shows that Senator McCain is making crucial gains in several swing states including: Colorado, Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. This Washington Post article offers a more in depth analysis of the poll results.

Great news in Ohio

Today's Rasmussen Reports Poll shows John McCain with a 46%-40% lead over Obama (52%-42% when "leaners" are included). This is great news for the McCain campaign in this swing state.

A Tie?

I know this is going to sound a little absurd, but I just worked out a very feasible scenario in which Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama could tie in the electoral college. I was playing around on Real Clear Politics' Electoral Map and discovered if McCain wins Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and New Hampshire and Obama wins the others, then there will be an electoral tie of 269 votes each. Obviously a few things need to go right and others wrong for both candidates in order for this to happen, but it is entirely possible. Hypothetically if this happened, the Constitution says that the House of Representatives is to select the President with each state having one vote. In this scenario McCain won 28 states to Obama's 22. So, it would seem McCain would be President.

Americans can see straight through the media's biases

A recent Rasmussen Reports survey found that a plurality (49%) of those polled believe that the media is actively working to get Barack Obama elected to the presidency. Just 14% believe McCain receives this treatment. Check it out for yourself; this just shows that the media isn't fooling anybody.