Podcast 491

Raising The Stakes. Screenwriters have a tool they employ to make movies thrilling. It’s called Raising The Stakes. This is where the hero seems to be winning. The detective is close to solving the case, but suddenly he’ll find his office has been broken into and all the evidence stolen. Or, the guy is about the get the girl, but he sees her with another guy. Raising The Stakes is how viewers are kept engaged up to the last moment when the plot comes to a climax. This is exactly how political junkies should view the latest results from Tuesday Night April 26th’s presidential primary preference polls. Donald Trump’s sweep of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island, the Hillary Clinton’s commanding victories in four of those states over Bernie Sanders raise the stakes. They haven’t won their respective party’s nominations for president yet, but they’re about to. Or are they? Get ready because the mainstream media is about the raise the stakes on you again with the next group of primaries all the way up to the final primaries in June. In this podcast, along with results from all the states for both republicans and democrats, a restatement of my bias in this election cycle; I really can’t stand any of the candidates on either side of the political spectrum, and I am not campaigning for any of them overtly or covertly. I am also not part of the so called ‘objective’ #nevertrump crowd. In fact, I wouldn’t cross the street to meet with any of them. Watch the delegate selection process very closely because the final delegate count is going to be different – maybe very different – from what is advertised on all the 24 hour cable news shows. Watch the Senate races where incumbent republicans are vulnerable (I’ll provide a list in this podcast), because for republicans this is going to have a lot more to do with who the nominee will ultimately be than delegates. If the RNC sees the possibility of losing the senate, there may be some plays called in from the sidelines. Hint; A Trump or Cruz candidacy do nothing for vulnerable republican senators, one of whom happens to be Florida’s Marco Rubio. Remember him? Watch the story lines for the next couple of weeks, because suddenly it’s all about how Trump is inevitable. Again, Raising The Stakes. Chances are this race will go down to the conventions, and there’s still a very good possibility it will be a contested convention on the republican side. On the democrat side, all is not well either. Hillary Clinton may have the lion’s share of delegates and super delegates, but many progressives view Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as sell-outs. There is tepid support for Mrs. Clinton, which might cause her some problems at her convention and in a subsequent general election if she is the nominee. Stay tuned. It’s just getting interesting. Sponsored by X Government Cars and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

Podcast 209

Obama Makes A Move. ‘On The Road’ Podcasting continues on the second leg of the Chicago to Phoenix trip. Iowa, Nebraska and half of Colorado in one day? The travel reverie is interrupted with a speech from the President, and instant analysis. Apparently the US now has a strategy  to “degrade and destroy” the ‘Islamic State’. The strategy – we are told most emphatically – does not include ‘troops on the ground fighting on foreign soil’, but features aid, training and a coalition of Arab states in the region. What is your reaction to the President’s speech? To what degree are the current problems in Iraq the result of his policies. Did he play fast and loose with the ‘facts’ in the speech? Did it feel like a campaign speech? Or, might all of this be a reaction to being stung by the media for actually saying he did not have a strategy just two short weeks ago? Will the speech help the President’s sinking popularity ratings, and democrat prospects for 2014? Most importantly, will the Administration’s plan actually work? The President’s speech sounded erie on scratchy AM radio, from a distant town, while traveling all alone on a deserted rural freeway, passing through Western Nebraska and Eastern Colorado. While it is right and proper for a politician to ballyhoo his successes and downplay his failures, one wonders whether the attempt to ‘degrade and destroy’ ISIS – if it fails – could be the beginning of a substantially more dangerous crisis. Have we seen this pattern before? It sure feels like it. Talking about the same things day after day, outrage over celebrity news, or how sportsmen conduct their personal affairs, while international affairs contain the specter of spinning out of control. Only time will tell. Plus, observations on small towns in Nebraska, Sod Houses, giant tunnels, mountains, and plans for the rest of the trip, where you would live if you could live anywhere…Vail, Colorado would do, in a pinch! Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul