Runoff the mouth

I broke a rule yesterday by talking about the next CNMI Governor in the bar.

Well, it's not a rule actually-- just a good idea when there are a lot of candidates and only one job. The odds aren't good that you're talking to somebody who'd agree with you, which can be bad for business.

I usually won't talk politics in USSP unless someone else brings it up, but I'd just noticed a 'Yes 2 Kumoi' bumper sticker (Y2K Get it?). Perfect. I could make a joke and get a read on his opinion of Ray Guerrero, who's a pretty polarizing man.

I'm sneaky that way. It didn't work. I slipped in a line about every Governor being captive of outside forces like the tourism industry. Guessing (rightly) that he'd voted for Ben Fitial last time, I allowed as how it was a thankless job and it was hard to blame the Governor for events outside of his control.

I'd forgotten he was a retiree*. No mention of Kumoi, and he'd only say 'not this time' about Fitial. He didn't want to talk about other guys like Diego Benavente. All in all, it was another lesson for me about avoiding the subject.

The primary reason for losing an election

So I'll avoid it again. Well, soon anyway: first I want to chuckle about the Republican's and Democrat's (if there are any left locally) primaries. I've been amazed for years that candidates pick their running mate going into the primary.

It's short-sighted logic; you have a better chance of winning the primary but limit your options for the general election. That may have worked in the past when there was more party loyalty. Even then, the losing candidates and their families/supporters often threatened to sit out the election or jump to your opponent.

Picking a running mate after the primary would probably result in a stronger, more 'balanced' (wink) ticket. Then again, anyone who tried it would likely lose, so it will never happen.

Also, everyone's an independent these days, so a runoff election between the top two candidates is almost guaranteed.

* If you're outside the Commonwealth and just happened across this post, the CNMI Retirement Fund is expected to be broke in three, four or five years, depending on who you believe. The government has turned it into a Ponzi scheme by not paying its share in recent years.

Runoff mouth, runoff election

I didn't expect the loopy extremists to stop with the evil fantasies about Barack Obama after he won, mind you. After all, Bill Clinton got a similar hazing when he was President-elect. Still, the volume should have gone down.

Gun sales are up, we hear. Encouraged by the National Rifle Association, squirrel hunters are trying to get one last assault rifle. Just in case. God bless a well-regulated militia.

But what if Obama gets a militia of his own? Yep, Georgia Rep. Paul Broun is worried about Obama's proposed civilian service corps. "That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet Union did." So he's a Nazi, or a Commie. One of those.

The election is over. What's going on? Wait. It isn't? Sure enough, there's a Senate runoff election. In Georgia. Saxby Chambliss, known for his dirty campaign against Mac Cleland, is facing a challenge from Democrat Jim Martin.

Whew, that was close. I didn't want to stop my campaign fixes cold turkey; this will allow withdrawal. Have they taken any polls yet?

Chambliss is reaching for a few big guns of his own: "Republican presidential nominee John McCain was scheduled to return to the campaign trail to stump for Chambliss on Thursday, following up a visit from Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) on Wednesday. The Chambliss campaign also extended invites to GOP stars Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee." (Maybe Palin would take his call if he said he was Mikheil Saakashvili.)

The political wonks are twittering about whether Obama should "risk" his momentum in campaigning for what is likely to be a losing cause. He hasn't committed yet, reportedly. Martin does have Obama's formidable volunteer organization at his disposal.

The question in one-issue elections is always who gets their voters out. Hmm, how about some scurrilous attacks to get out the base?

I know. Let's set off alarms about militias on the border and about businessmen, firemen, Fed-Ex drivers and garbagemen being recruited to 'watch' us. Oops, wrong President.

I wish Al Franken would do one of his meltdowns about this. But I forget; he's trying to be Senatorial these days and facing a recount in Minnesota. Another political fix! A fix of the other sort, Norm Coleman sympathizers are claiming, as his victory margin keeps shrinking. Yeah, Minnesota is right up there with the big cities in political corruption. Hey, it's a claim, it doesn't have to be true. Just ask Paul Broun.

"I'd never seen anything like that ad. Putting pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to the picture of a man who left three limbs on the battlefield -- it's worse than disgraceful. It's reprehensible." --John McCain on Saxby's 2002 ad