The Most Liberal Member???

I got into a debate with someone about my blog posting on John McCain's choice for VP and the discussion quickly turned on my feeling that even though I thought it was a brilliant move, that I also felt it pushed me closer to voting for Barack Obama.

The other side pointed out a "statistic" that is often tossed out there by telling me that Obama "is on record as the most liberal member of the Senate, number 2 to (Ted) Kennedy and number 3 to (Joe) Biden."

I keep hearing this on TV as well and my bullshit meter keeps going off every time I hear it. Why? Because in 2000, When Al Gore ran for the White House, the Right often would say, "When Gore was in the Senate he was on record as being the most liberal member of Congress." Then in 2004 I kept hearing, "John Kerry is on record as being the most liberal member of Congress with John Edwards #2."

What an amazing coincidence! How is that that every single Democratic nominee for President just happens to also be the most liberal member of Congress?

I also found it strange that suddenly, this year, no one was mentioning John Kerry. How could he have gone from first to not even mentioned? And Joe Biden, who was never mentioned in 2000 or 2004, is suddenly right at the top?

Then I looked at the stats. The ranking is usually taken mainly from the ADA, "Americans for Democratic Action". They rank all members in Congress on their voting record on liberal issues. Each member receives an LQ rating or Liberal Quotient as a result.

First, it should be said that Fox News and other conservative groups often use the term "Congress" when really in this case it's just the Senate. If you counted the House then none of those mentioned would be anywhere near the top. In 2007 53 members of the house had an LQ of 100% meaning they always voted for liberal issues.

The Senate list is interesting and quite telling:

LQ's of 100%:
Casey, Klobuchar, Stabenow.

LQ's of 95%
Akaka, Bayh, Brown, Brown, S, Cardin, Cantwell, Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Leahy, Levin, Kohl, Menendez, Reed, Tester,Whitehouse, Wyden.

LQ's of 90%
Bingaman, Feinstein, Inouye, Kerry, Lautenberg, McCaskill, Murray, Lincoln, Nelson, Schumer.

LQ's of 85%
Dorgan, Carper, Mikulski, Kennedy, Reid, Rockefeller, Salazar, Webb.

LQ's of 80%
Baucus, Byrd, Conrad, Landrieu.

LQ's of 75%
Biden, Clinton, Nelson, Obama.

Other
Johnson 40%.

Tim Johnson, the Senator that had a stroke, got a 40% because he was absent for most of the year and unable to vote.

The list is striking. First, it shows that the Senate votes together on issues important to the party. Big surprise there right? Of 47 Democrats in the Senate in 2007 30 of them voted for liberal policies 90% of the time.

Now if a member was unable to vote because of campaigning, it hurts their LQ and that explains why Biden, Clinton and Obama are at the very bottom of the list. However, it also is still a statistic and it factors into the overal phrase, "Most liberal member of Congress". You can't just toss out 2007's numbers simply because you don't like them.

Furthermore, I found it hilarious that Ted Kennedy came in at LEAST 31st last year. Pretty interesting resting place for the supposed King of Liberals.

In 2006 Obama's record was 95% (and at least 10th on the list) and in 2005 it was 100%. There's simply no way that 43rd, 10th and 1st (again, those are all the highest in groups he could have been much lower in) comes out to a rating of 1st.

The bottom line is that stating Obama (or anyone else) is the most liberal member of Congress is not only wrong but about as useful as making a case against a single blade of grass for being the tallest one in your yard.

McCain Taking No Chances

I have to give it to John McCain. He's really pulling out all the stops to get into the White House.

The first real salvo was the, I believe, unprecedented ad he ran following Barrack Obama's speech last night. If you didn't see it you missed something pretty unique. The speech ended and one of the first commercials you see is John McCain congratulating Obama on a "job well done". He points out that tomorrow they'll be back at it but for now he can acknowledge the great stride Obama has made. For a moment I thought I was dreaming or seeing some sort of April Fool's joke and I kept waiting for the punchline.

I watched Obama's speech and have to say it was really something. I've been waiting for this guy to grow a pair and go to town on McCain and also give us real details about what he's going to do for us. He did that last night. So here I am thinking, "I can vote for this guy" and then this ad hits. Obama just came off as aggressive and here's meek, magnanimous John McCain looking like your favorite neighbor in stark contrast to Obama. What a masterful stroke.

The ironic part is that the Dems have been living this sort of approach from day one but McCain gets major points because it sticks out against the rest of the rhetoric we've been hearing from him. The Left has gone to great pains to praise McCain at every turn possibly past the point of comfort for many and yet that starts to get lost because of this ad.

And of course the biggest move of all is in picking Alaska's Governor, Sarah Palin, as his running mate. It's a totally shocking move with all the right thinking behind it if she has the right stuff. Palin brings every possible benefit to the table with few exceptions. She's younger than Obama. She's attractive. She can play the "Change" game well. As a woman so she's going to appeal to a lot of women voters. She's from the oil state. She's going to make Joe Biden look like Methusela. In their debate all eyes will be on her. She also offsets Biden's "average guy" storyline. She becomes almost as historical a choice as Obama. No matter who wins now a major barrier will be broken.

I have to give it to McCain. They realized that Obama would come out punching at the convention and that he'd have the chance to ride high after it. They had to figure out how best to impact that possible advantage and these two moves could not have possibly been any better.

Three Girls and a Hired Gun

We saw Woody Allen's latest film, "Vicky Christina Barcelona" this past weekend and it was a very enjoyable affair.

Woody writes dialog better than most writers out there and this film was no exception. It's my favorite Allen film since, "Hannah and Her Sisters" which remains my favorite of all his works.

The stars include Scarlett Johannson (Christina), Rebecca Hall (Vicky), Javier Bardem and later Penelope Cruz. To be blunt, that's an awful lot of sexuality in one film. Everyone pretty much thinks Johannson is the current "it" girl. I've always thought she was cute but now take issue with the view that she's some sort of 10. In this film she looks great but in my view she's blown out of the water by Rebecca Hall. My first response to her was, "Who?" She played Christian Bale's wife in "The Prestige" and that's about all I can say I've seen her in. There she looked pale and plain. Here she lights up the screen.

Then there's Bardem who I last saw in a completely different role. He won the Oscar for playing the psychopath in, "No Country For Old Men". The amazing thing here is how transformed he is from that role. He was so completely devoid of any hint of sexuality in that role while here he looks like Adonis. Have to admit he's one sexy, good-looking guy.

About halfway into the movie you get to add in Penelope Cruz to the mix. My oh my. Cruz has been a favorite of mine from the first film I saw her in called, "Belle epoque". In it she played the youngest of four sisters and she was easily the least attractive of the four. Imagine that!

If that wasn't enough in the way of attractive people for you then add Patricia Clarkson too. She may be older now but she's still as hot as they come.

Phew..... Okay enough with the testosterone and on to the film. It's essentially the story of two good friends who get an offer to spend the summer in Spain. Once there they meet up with a very forward but intriguing guy, and later, his insane ex-wife. It's a fairly standard story for the most part with some typical Allen-esque twists wound in. Some parts are a bit far-fetched but that's okay. In the end it's a really fun experience for those who like their fun with a little intellect on top. It's been a while since I've seen a movie of this type and it was a very enjoyable break from the typical films I've been seeing lately.

It's Biden And A Huge Roll Of The Dice

I went to bed earlier on Friday than usual and woke up to a text message on my cell phone at 3:18am that Senator Joseph Biden was the choice. The Obama campaign had promised that those who signed up for text messaging would be the first to hear the announcement of Senator Barrack Obama's running mate. The reality is that the news leaked out a few hours prior to that but that's really a non-issue.

First things first, I have grown to like Senator Biden quite a bit the last few years. Biden seems to have experienced a re-birth of sorts since his failed bid for the White House in 1987. I've noticed a major change in his attitude and approach in the last 5 years. Biden speaks incredibly frankly at every opportunity. He doesn't mince words, sugar-coat anything or propagandize these days. I'm hoping this doesn't change during the next 9 weeks until the election.

Now, to the main point, the choice of Biden for Vice President doesn't make a lot of sense to me. On some level I can see it but not entirely. Biden isn't going to out-shine Obama and give the impression of legacy. We don't yet know if he'll do what Senator Joe Lieberman did in 2000 and run for both VP and the Senate at the same time. Biden has been a lock in Delaware every 6 years.

At 65 he'd be 73 at the conclusion of a successful administration and highly unlikely to run for President himself. Thus this could be his final curtain call on the political stage should the ticket win in November.

However, Biden brings an awful lot of baggage with him as a running mate. For those who weren't alive or don't recall what happened in 1987, it was a mess. Biden couldn't get out of his own way in his first run for the Presidency. Seemingly every week another major scandal broke about his past. He was accused of plagiarism not once but at least twice. He then was caught in a lie about his grades in law school having claimed to have graduated in the top half of his class when he'd actually finished very near the bottom. He followed that up with a lie about having earned several degrees when he only had one.

He didn't handle any of these issues well digging a deeper hole every time they came up. He finally had to abandon his run in disgrace and nearly vanished from view for the next several years. To be blunt, many were surprised the gaffes didn't cost him his entire political career and it did have an impact in his next Senate campaign.

Biden is also, as the press has pointed out, a virtual gaffe machine. His incredible frankness results in comments that are often easy fodder for opponents to latch onto.

Mark my words--the Republican party will have a treasure trove of material to go after Biden with. In fact there's so much here that I'm not sure there's even enough time left in the campaign to make the most of it all.

For those reasons I really don't get this choice. I'm glad to see Biden finally get a chance after his re-invention of himself but Obama didn't seem to need this sort of challenge. He's going to need to cross his fingers and start praying that Biden can control himself for the remainder of the campaign. There's going to be enough past material to fend off without adding any new issues to the mix.

I also really don't see what Biden brings Obama that he couldn't find elsewhere. Okay, Biden can now deliver Delaware for the ticket. Uh.... Delaware? It was already a given to go for Obama. Even if it didn't it's still just Delaware. Biden is Catholic and that's one area where Obama has been polling very poorly. However, I'm not sure this choice is going to make a huge difference there. I can't see piles of Catholic's who were unsure about Obama suddenly changing their mind because Biden is on the ticket.

Biden does have a great deal of both foreign policy experience and experience in general but we have little sense of the role Obama plans for his VP. Will he get the chance to really leverage that experience or just be a figurehead?

Biden has also stated during the primary season that Obama isn't ready to be President but I just don't see that proving to be a big deal after an initial use of it by the Right. It'll be easy for Biden to address that one by saying he's changed his mind after seeing how Obama has handled the campaign since those remarks.

The biggest impact I see with all this might simply be in Obama's hard-fought branding of this campaign being all about change. How much change can there be when you pick a running mate who has been in the Senate for 35 years?

At least now we're getting down to the final pieces of the puzzle for this election and once Senator John McCain makes his choice we can finally get to within sight of the finish line. Also, adding Biden means we're likely to have a much more colorful finish than what we'd otherwise have experienced.

Tropic Thunder is One Fun Storm

We saw the comedy, "Tropic Thunder" this weekend. It's the latest movie starring Ben Stiller (who also directed). It also stars Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black and a host of other noted personalities.

The basic storyline revolves around a movie shoot that focuses on trying to get the very best performances from some difficult movie stars by dropping them into a truly violent territory and filming the results. The catch is that the stars don't know it's real.

The fun starts "before" the movie begins. I won't ruin the joke here but it's quite novel and solidifies the feeling that you're in for a fun ride right from the start.

The main concern I had was that the concept might not hold up for a full movie. As if on cue, after the initial opening scenes the movie started to dull. Thankfully it then picked up again and pretty much kept up the intensity.

The acting is decent and Robert Downey Jr's role is notably hilarious. The cameos are surprising and plentiful throughout.

It's far from a perfect movie but it is a wonderfully funny experience.

Tell No One About Encounters At The End Of The World

Saw two films this weekend again. The first one is a French movie that is marketed here as, "Tell No One".

The story is about a pediatrician who loses his wife in a brutal murder and then has to cope with the consequences of it. He has difficulty getting over it and even "celebrates" the anniversary of her death with her parents.

The movie is quite interesting and rather deep. If you see it be prepared to play very close attention. The movie also feels much longer than it is which isn't usually a good thing. In the end you'll be quite compelled by the journey as long as you like a details-heavy storyline.

The second movie is the documentary, "Encounters At The End Of The World". This is a movie about life at the South Pole's McMurdo station. When I say that, I mean it more than you probably take it. The movie touches all aspects of just how boring life can be there and it translates into a bit of a slow movie. The synopsis suggests a lot of stunning visuals and I just didn't find them here. There are a couple but nothing I haven't seen before. The director, Werner Herzog, does a good job here and really comes through with some hilarious narration but it's not enough to make this film a winner. The movie is best when it points out the quirks of the station but then falls flat when it goes beyond that point.