POLITICS AND NATURE

What happens when the people give a primary and nobody comes? Michigan held its primary today, with Hillary, Dennis, and Mike Gravel on the ballot. Early indications show turnout to be low. It's easy to understand why people don't go to the voting booth when their votes won't matter to anyone. Michigan is barred from the Democratic national convention due to its leadership moving the primary up too far, in essence, they broke the rules and like the aberrant child, they have been placed in a time out. Given this fact, Kucinich may do very well and Mike Gravel may get more than 1% of the vote or whatever he's gotten.

Gravel is like the mad hatter, spewing deranged nonsense to the chagrin of those forced to share a stage with him. Dennis is trying to get people aroused by the insanity of war and the injustice of it all. He doesn't need a realistic plan because no one takes him seriously.

The real action for the Dems is down in South Carolina; Edwards is somewhat of a favorite son there...he's from North Carolina, so he has a chance of coming out good. At the very least, he will take many votes away from Obama and prove a boon for Hillary's campaign. Nevada has a caucus on Saturday where the folks will give someone a boost leading up to the big day February 5.

Republicans have a stake in Michigan, at least McCain and Romney. Romney's dad was the governor and he was born there so he's banking on his roots...and his bank account. If Romney loses, he'll spin it as just another "silver" and he'll tell everyone who will listen about his "gold" in Wyoming. A McCain win means he'll gain some momentum going into the South. 

Some group called Veterans against McCain are handing out fliers accusing the former POW as a traitor and all sorts of other vile crap, just like they did to him in 2000 and certain groups attacked John Kerry in 2004. It seems its about time to lower the anti-American rhetoric but the sins of the past exibit themselves clearly on present generations. People will spend their entire lives unhinged over Vietnam and anything to do with it. Hopefully, this is not the end result of our adventures in the Middle East now. But, politics can be dirty. It would be nice to hear some on the right wing defend McCain and tell people not to pay attention to these self proclaimed super patriots.

In any case, McCain and Romney are in a close race in Michigan, partly due to the lackluster support of either of them and a widespread panic among the voters. According to CNN.com, Romney is ahead of the rest of the pack with the number of committed delegates so far. He has 24, Huckabee has 18, and McCain has 10. A loss for Mitt will be devastating, but people have come back from important losses before and he's got the cash to stay in if he thinks he should. McCain will spin it positive either way. He wins, its obvious. He loses, well it was close and Mitt is from Michigan. Rudy is still waiting for Florida and Thompson yawns while waiting out the opportunity to leave the race and go home. It looks like Duncan Hunter is still in the race but it is very hard to find any information about him.

Most of the nation has moved on and they're waiting for their own primaries to come. In the meantime, I would wager people are weighing the options, talking about the race around the water coolers, and Republicans are less self righteous than they used to be when Bill Clinton was president. There's a bit of pie on their faces due to the reckless and horrid abuse of power which has defined the Grand Old Party leadership over the past seven years. More on this later. And, I will have a complete analysis of the Democratic debate this evening in Las Vegas. I'd like to be in Vegas. If anyone wants to help me cover the election from a closer vantage point, feel free to click on the donate button and give a couple bucks to a struggling writer. If not, at least enjoy the articles and keep coming back.

I'm getting closer to getting a book finished and stay tuned to Politics and Nature for information about how to be among the first in the nation to receive an autographed copy.