Paul Krugman

After their victory in the 2006 Congressional elections, it seemed a given that Democrats would try to make this year's presidential campaign another referendum on Republican policies. After all, the public appears fed up not just with President Bush, but with his party. For example, a recent poll by the Pew Research Center shows Democrats are preferred on every issue except terrorism. They even have a 10-point advantage on "morality".

Add to this the fact that perceptions about the economy are worsen­ing week by week, and one might have expected the central theme of the Democratic campaign to be "throw the bums out".

But a funny thing happened on the way to the 2008 election.

Unless Hillary Clinton wins big on Tuesday, Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee. And he's not at all the kind of candidate one might have expected to emerge out of the backlash against Republican gover­nance.

In the next 5 paragraphs Krugmah, a Clinton supporter, criticizes Obama's ideological position, which he describes as lacking in boldness and vision.

<...>

The trouble is that faith in Mr. Obama's transformational ability rests on surprisingly little evidence.

Mr. Obama's ability to attract wildly enthusiastic crowds to rallies is a good omen for the general election; so is his ability to raise large sums. But neither necessarily points to a landslide victory.

In the next three paragraphs Krugman compares Barak Obama unfavorably to Hilary Clinton, emphasizing Obama's inexperience, particularly where it concerns dealing with hostile mass media.

<...>

If Mr. Obama secures the nomination, the honeymoon will be over as he faces an opponent whom much of the press loves as much as it hates Mrs. Clinton. If Mrs. Clinton can do nothing right, Mr. McCain can do noth­ing wrong - even when he panders outrageously, he's forgiven because he looks uncomfortable doing it. Honest.

<...>

If Mr. Obama does make it to the White House, will he actually deliv­er the transformational politics he promises? Like the faith that he can win an overwhelming electoral victory, the faith that he can overcome bitter conservative opposition to progressive legislation rests on very little evidence - one productive year in the Illinois State Senate, after the Demo­crats swept the state, and not much else.

And some Illinois legislators apparently feel that even there Mr. Ob­ama got a bit more glory than he deserved."No one wants to carry the ball 99 yards all the way to the one-yard line, and then give it to the half­back who gets all the credit," one state senator complained to a local jour­nalist.

All in all, the Democrats are in a place few expected a year ago. The 2008 campaign, it seems, will be waged on the basis of personality, not po­litical philosophy. If the magic works, all will be forgiven. But if it doesn't, the recriminations could tear the party apart.

From http://www.faniq.com (February 24, 2012):

Agent Optimistic Pats Will Re-Sign Carter

Carl Poston, the agent of Andre Carter feels optimistic that the 32 year old will be able to sign another contract with the New England Patriots and return for the next season. Carter, who was on a one year deal played 14 games for the Patriots before he suffered a quad injury that kept him out of the rest of the season.

Poston has revealed that Carter is rehabbing well and is ahead of sche­dule in his bid for a successful return from injury. The agent has also re­vealed that preliminary discussions have already taken place and there is a real possibility of Carter's return to the Patriots.

"He's rehabbing. He's in good shape. He wants to play. We're just kind of monitoring and tracking his injury, and when it's time to talk they're going to let me know. I just called them to see what their plans were, to see if they were interested, and I would have been surprised if they said they weren't interested. Obviously they said they were interested, but it's a little premature, a little early, and I understood that. In terms of being a profes­sional and doing my job, I just wanted to kind of call them and see where we stood."

Carter wcrsin pretty good nick in the 14 games that he played in with 22 quarterback pressures, the highest in the team and also had 14 sacks. It will no doubt be good news for the Patriots if Carter returns for another season and maybe he can fulfill his dream of winning the Super Bowl.

Poston was very apologetic and sympathetic towards Carter due to the injury he suffered that put him out of the rest of the season and in turn the Super Bowl. From his words, it seems that he felt for Carter and longed for him to actually have been a part of the biggest game of the NFL season. This is what he said:

"I think that everything turned out the way we wanted, except for the injury.He wanted to go to a quality team and obviously New England is that. He wanted to go to a contender. He wanted to go to a team where he could work well in the system and go to the Pro Bowl. All those things hap­pened. It's just that he got hurt. That's part of the game."

"I hate to put it in football terms, but it's like carrying the ball and you're on the 5-yard line and time runs out. He didn't get a chance to car­ry it over the goal line - in spirit, he did. But I would like to think that if he were healthy, it would have made a difference in the Super Bowl because it was such a close game. I just think that Andre would have made that kind of difference because he is a difference maker."

The fans have certainly been calling for this one. Let's hope that the Patriots sign him quickly.

Tribune-Review. 2009. January 18:

Troubles for Harry?

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 843