Thursday is here again! The skies above are clear again!

One thing I have a pretty good record at is judging a vote at meeting.   Be it by a show of hands or a voice vote.  That was not a two-thirds vote to amend the platform last night at the Democratic convention.  It was not even close, and shame on them for pulling such a move.

The top echelon Dems spent Tuesday night and most of the day Wednesday defending the platform for the omission of any reference to "God" and deleting the position that Jerusalem is and would always be recognized as the capital of Israel.

It seems that no one bothered to follow Duval's advice and get a backbone.

I am not going to sit here and chastise the Dems for the platform as originally passed.  It was theirs to establish, they did it.

Quite frankly, had it been left as is I wouldn't even have bothered.  A platform is not necessarily representative of a candidate.  

the fact that after actually approving the platform, after having supposedly read it, and well after attacking the other party's platform, one would think you would have had your ducks lined up.  Apparently not.  I listened and read about the flap all day.  In fact I thought the removal of "God" would have fallen on mostly deaf ears, because when you read exactly what was changed, I don't get the issue that was raised.

The new Jerusalem position I didn't completely agree with, but I understood the explanation.   

But I got to tell you, the move to amend it that was credit card commercial material. Priceless!

One day after passage, it gets amended.  After blasting Romney over the Republican platform on the issue of abortion, the Republicans were only too happy to slam the "Godless" Dems and point out the new "Jerusalem" issue.

It didn't take a lot of heat to get the Dems back into the kitchen to rewrite the platform recipe.  In fact, neither did the re-write apparently need a lot of Democrats either.  Actually, I think all it took was someone to count the potential loss of Jewish votes in Florida.

Pretty much takes a lot of wind out of the flip flop argument against Romney.  It also establishes the fact that Sen. Durbin not only looked the fool over defense of the original platform, and the cries of much ado about nothing, but was made the fool by his own party when it pulled the rug out from under him.

Apparently principals matter so long as they don't cost you votes.

And that vote, shameful. The people's party so long as the people agree with the party.

In the words of Wolf Blizter, "What an embarrassing moment."

I told you yesterday it was in my opinion essentially the Dems election to lose.  They seemed to be trying hard at it, all the way until the closing act that is.

And about those 4.5 million jobs, you would think that after all that was said about it Tuesday night, and the various fact checking from numerous sources, someone might have altered the line a bit.  Rather than rehash the info, see the CNN site about those 4.5 million jobs.

And when you hear the claims from either party, check out FactCheck.Org.  Quite frankly the stuff coming from both sides is absolutely ridiculous.  To me, if for no other reason than to get you thinking, this is a once a week minimum site, preferably the day before you vote or start hammering a particular statement.

I am not sure why either party wants to win the White House so bad.  

Be it Obama gets re-elected or Romney pulls a win, the next four years will make or break whichever party takes that office.  

That time will truly change the course of politics in this nation for a generation to come.  

Back to the DNC.  The night's headliner was former President Bill Clinton.  The opening act for Clinton, none other than Elizabeth Warren.  

"If no one gets a free ride" is now the mantra, well I am all for that.  I suppose we have to figure out just what that means though.  Because I take the phrase quite literally.

I was just a bit underwhelmed all night to be blunt, until Clinton came on that is.

Measured up to Bill Clinton, Warren should have opened for Pelosi about three hours earlier.  She had a chance there to be a shinning moment.  Wedged between Fluke and Clinton, she came off more as the party's filler, rather than its newest star.  

She noted early on it was her first national convention, and it showed.  

If I thought for one moment she was a Progressive made from the mold of Theodore Roosevelt, who's Presidency she invoked, I would be on her bandwagon in a heartbeat. But she is not.  

If I thought for a moment she was a Democrat with half the political skill and savvy of Bill Clinton, I would be on her bandwagon.  She is not.

But opening acts for head liners are the opening act for a reason.  The fact that the DNC moved Fluke into a prime slot at around 10:00 P.M. occurred for a reason too.

Whatever bump Obama gets out of the convention, it is going to be a direct result of Clinton.  If Obama wins re-election, last night's nominating speech will be a big reason why.  It was not just a rousing speech, it was a blueprint for victory.  

Clinton handed off the winning game ball to Obama last night, and assuming he doesn't fumble it he can carry it across the goal line despite blockers like Warren.  But in many ways it comes from the playbook of a former head coach.  Will the present one be willing to execute it; and, with the game having changed a whole lot in the years in between past and present management, will there be enough faith that it will still work?

Call it "Back to the Future", call it an ace in the hole, call it what you will, but there is no denying it was effective.  Time will tell whether it will have any lasting effect.

If the Dems were smart, they would call the DNC game early, pack it up and go home before anyone else can mess things up.  

While the venue has changed, the rest of the DNC is in fact going to happen.  The present gentleman holding the actual office of President will be speaking; and, despite the rhetoric and endorsement from Clinton, the difference between his Presidency and that of Obama's are significant.

I haven't written off Obama politically or personally.  The Presidential race for me is still undecided.  

In my mind both candidates are getting some completely undeserved attacks, and some that are in fact well deserved.  While some may find this hard to believe, I am warming up to the national health care policy.  

The biggest fear I have is one party in control of the national legislature and the White House.  I really do fear that.  I don't think either candidate is as far leaning as the extremes of their respective parties; but I am also of the opinion that neither has the "brass" to rein those extremes in.

I don't see the GOP losing the House, and the Senate is still up in the air.  Again time will tell.  With two months to go there is more than enough of it to sink plenty of ships.

As good as Clinton's speech was, he won't be the headliner in the weeks to come.  The debates I think are really going to decide this one, just as I think the same applies in the Mass. Senate race.

Locally, well locally at the present moment the thing for all is to remember the primary election is being held today.  While some may feel there isn't much to get excited about, there are significant races depending on your party preference.  Registered Democrats must vote Democrat.  Registered Republicans must vote Republican.  Unenrolled get to vote either way.  

Been hearing turnouts predicted in local communities in the 20% to 25%.  If that happens, all the better.  I don't see it.  Being wrong about turnout is one thing I definitely wouldn't get upset about.  It is such guess work to begin with that I put it in the realm of long term weather forecasting.  

Polls open at 7:00 A.M. and close at 8:00 P.M.  Plenty of time to get there at some point during the day.  

The Standard Times yesterday and the Fairhaven Neighborhood News this week each had/have pieces on the turbines and electricity and money.  Might be worth your time to take a gander.