Sunday AM News

Kerry and Edwards
George Stephanopolus had Kerry and Edwards on discussing each other's programs. Too bad they weren't in the same room at the same time. It's hard to say who has the better plan - the problem will be pushing them through a congress. I think if folks expect the world to change dramatically overnight because Democrats are elected, they're probably setting themselves up to be disappointed. George did make the interesting point that even if Edwards should win all the rest of the States, it would be hard to beat Kerry. Why? Because in Democratic primaries, unlike Republican ones, delegates are based on a % of the vote. So if they run close, Kerry will get just about as many delegates as Edwards, making it impossible for Edwards to catch up. Of course if Edwards were to sweep the rest of the States, it might be close enough to lead to a brokered convention (which is what happens if neither candidate gets 40% of the delegates necessary to win on the first ballot). In Republican primaries, winner takes all. For more about how all this works, look at Vote Smart's web site.

When it comes to Edwards vs. Kerry, I think it will come down to experience vs non-experience and how the public views those two items. If you think experience is a positive, you'll vote for Kerry. If you think experience means only that politicians have been corrupted too long in Washington, then you'll vote for Edwards.

Nader
Well, of course Nader had to run, didn't he? Guess our write in campaign didn't pull it off. Ralph huffed and puffed about the audacity of the liberals to ask him not to run and basically I couldn't disagree with anything he said, except that he isn't facing reality, no matter how important it is to let an independent run. Are the Dems beholden to special interests just like the Republicans as Ralph suggests? I'm sure they are. Is it going to change soon? I doubt it. But I'll still take the "vision" of the Democratic party over the "blindness" of the Republican party. He obviously does not see a danger of 4 more years of Bush. I personally don't think it's worth risking. It will be interesting to see where Dean's "angry left" supporters go. That probably has MacAuliffe (Dem Nat'l Party chairman) sweating. Ah, politics - endlessly fascinating and frustrating at the same time.

Friedmann goes to Bangalore (India's Silicon Valley) and Meets the Zippies
What are zippies? Find out here. They won't put any zip in your life, I can tell you that! Well not at the moment anyway! Either way, managing this phenomenon (outsourcing) will require a public policy response — something more serious than the Bush mantra of let the market sort it out, or the demagoguery of the Democratic candidates, who seem to want to make outsourcing equal to treason and punishable by hanging. Time to get real.

Quote of the Day:
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Dr. Seuss