So I am reading the recent issue of Time with Hillary on the cover, and will get back to you on that maybe tomorrow. I rented Sicko tonight, and will give that a spin, then if I am sober enought to read... I'll finish the rag and gather my words..

 In the mean time, I ran across this blog that has posted some pretty exceptional Rejected Campaign Slogans.

As some of you may know, my wife Bethany has MS. I was stumbling around the web looking for sources to begin the study of the candidates view of universal healthcare, when I found this ad. It is probably the closest image of how she feels, and re-inforces my desire to support a candidate that will support stem cell research and funding, and provide better strategies and laws for healthcare. I never really paid that much attention to it all, as we were always pretty healthy. But once I began to see what the cost of our healthcare for her was, and what it is doing to us financially, you are damn right I am paying attention now.

Anyway...

Let's face it, there are jobs in America, especially in California where I live, that do not pay enough money for me to even think about doing it. And those jobs have been providing some level of income to illegal immigrants. And yes, there is extreme abuse by employers in regards to pay levels, work conditions and benefits, and those conditions ripple out to housing, healthcare and education concerns as well.

The immigration issue will be is a swing issue in the West.  Do we build the wall to keep illegal Mexican Immigrants out of the US? (Insert whose gonna built it joke here). I dont want to see a "wall" built, but I would like to see a different type of security employed at the border. I am not certain what that is yet. It confusing. Do we require and provide US identification cards for non-US citizens, such as drivers licenses or work permits? What about foriegn nations here for education reasons who need to work but are not here to establish a home? And if we close the gate to the southwest fence, who is going  to make my Pico de Gallo?

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So I sat thru the debates last night. 5 pm PST on CNN. It's been a long time since I have done anything like that.  But I was prepared! First, I filled a bucket glass with ice, 4 fingers of tequila, 1 fresh lime, squeezed and topped with soda. Then with my TiVo controller in hand I was ready!

Once we got past the "photo ops" and the whole pagentry of the gig...  

Right away I was pretty amazed at how much time was given to Clinton and Obama, but as the night progressed, and the other candidates had a chance to speak, it was clear that I have a bunch of catching up to do on the other guys. For example, I liked Sen Joe. I would like to have him over for dinner. I would like to play foos ball with him. I like his straight forward approach to answers. He seems unapologetic about his views. Seemed to stand on his record of action in the Senate and had a cool confident air about him. He knows these nominations are heavily weighted in favor of Clinton and Obama and was able to insert that in his dialogue from time time to time. I felt he answered well, to the point of the question, and stopped talking when his time was up, even in mid sentence. Of all the candidates I was most impressed with him in this forum and plan on learning more about him.

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Um... What?

Caucusing is easy.

“If you want to win the presidency of the United States,” Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, said, “you have to win the West.”

And tonight on CNN (5p PST), the Democratic candidates will be on task for a debate, and writers are saying that this is a place for Hillary to "fix her blunder" in the previous debate regarding her inconsistencies about driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

My TiVo is fired up and ready to go. 

So I would assume, based on my point of view at this particular point in my life that I align pretty squarely in a Democratic camp. Noting that, It is pretty easy for me to begin my research in this party. And to me... three is a crowd.

I see this as a two person race for the Democratic ticket. Obama vs. Clinton. Now, I think that Clinton has an obvious lead in the early polls. She has already exhibited that she has a  very strong, very active platform to work from. She is the candidate to beat. And if I was Barack, I would shift my focus not on the Clinton battle front, but the Edwards platform. Sweep his feet out from underneath him, dis-enfranchize his small, but vocal voter base, and bring them into the Obama camp. And it shouldn't be that difficult to do.

This isn't new news to anyone, but don't forget that I am just starting out on my search for the right person.

My first task will be to explore John Edwards and his political platform. If I am gonna toss him from the bus, I better be right. 

Ok... so let's get the housekeeping  out of the way. I am a married , white male. I am the creative director for a media company. I am 43 years old and live in California, in a small beachfront community. We have a combined gross income around 175k. My wife is a research associate working in San Francisco. While I seem to be blessed with good health right now, she has recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. We own a small condo. Well, the bank owns it. We both have university degrees. We have 2 pomeranians and a cat. We love music, food and walks on the beach cocktails until last call. We own a couple of MacBook Pros, an iPhone and a few iPods. We have no kids, but sometimes really, really want them.

So why is all this crap important? My hope is that you will see some of your life in our life, and the dialogue here will become more relevant to you, as the issues that we will be looking at will affect (effect?) you in the same ways. My wife has a disease. So the candidate's platform for healthcare, stem cell research and insurance will be extremely important to us. We live in California. My world is very different culturally than those living in Alabama. So my opinions will be varied. Duh.

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