This is what Desperation looks like

The sports metaphor is so horribly overused, so let's add to the pantheon.

Football
When your team is down by 2 scores with 2 minutes to go, you start with the trick plays and the Hail Mary passes. There is a reason we have seen the Doug Flutie pass a million times.

Baseball:
This is a little different, because when a team is down by 6 runs going into the 9th inning, they often just try and get the game over with. But if they have a whiff of a chance, you often see guys trying to hit a 6 run homerun.

Hockey
Pulling the goalie (also a sexual reference which is not applicable here)

The Clinton campaign pulled the goalie yesterday:

This is what class looks like

I've always been a Yankee hater and I always will. But I have also always had a soft spot for Andy Pettitte, especially after he suffered outrageous treatment in the press by Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, who publicly threatened to trade him (right - a then under 30 year old lefty!) in the middle of a subpar season. His performance in Game 3 of the ALDS against my team, the Indians, was staggering, and he didn't deserve his fate that night.

Today he made a public statement about the allegations of him using HGH. And unlike the bellicose and defensive Roger Clemens, Andy was nothing but class. A real person takes responsibility for their actions, and Andy did just that today.

Life in the Snow isn't so bad

I got to spend a little chunk of time today in our very snowy, hilly yard on a very cheap sled with Grace today. We traversed every possible hill that was negotiable on our property without killing ourselves and she even made a snow angel for me as an exclamation point on our little outing.

Sarah got a much needed break from the brand new testing of limits phase of our daughter's life. I'm not used to being ignored so easily. But the deprivation of the toys seems to have an effect. I'll keep you posted.

Weekend at Barry's

There has been so much talk, even by people who get paid A LOT of money for their opinions that while Obama might have a good February, Hillary had her firewall in Texas & Ohio on March 4th. This is her 2nd or 3rd firewall. Even Rudy only had one.

What they never mentioned that this race, which has not lacked for drama, has lacked one important ingredient: momentum. Neither candidate has been able to put together a string of victories that would create a dynamic change.

This weekend may be the beginning of that change. If Tuesday goes like the polls are saying, Obama will have run off a string of 8 wins in a row, with Hawaii & Wisconsin to come. The March 4th voters of Texas & Ohio (and of course Vermont) will see those results as well. Polls taken in those states after Tuesday will be very instructive for both campaigns. Don't expect Hillary to have a double digit lead any more.
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Another interesting side story of the weekend is the Rasputin like campaign of Mike Huckabee. He too had a great weekend, and with the obvious shenanigans in Washington State over the missing last 13% of the votes, it will provide an excellent story. Just when we think the GOP race is over and the Democrats are in disarray, an election breaks out and the stories reverse. Strange weekend.

McCain will be the nominee, but these kinds of bumps in the road will not serve him well as he tries to get a jump on beating up the democrats.

Lastly, Bush got in on the action by taking a swipe at Obama today. Got to love that if you're Obama. Not so much if you're Hillary.

Hillary's Millions

I have no problem with a candidate spending their own money on their campaign. It's their money after all all.

But think about this. Bill and Hillary Clinton are rich because Bill was the President for 8 years and in the wake of that he has been able to rack up huge fees for speaking and book writing. Hillary has written several books that, if she were not a first lady, would never have sold (for a comparison, please see how many copies Barack Obama's book sold before he got into the Senate).

This has the potential to look like is that the Clintons are using the money they made from being President and First lady to buy the Presidency a second time. That is why the loan to the campaign is a big deal. It becomes circular. Using the power of the Presidency to attain more Presidential power.

CNN has the rookie team on

They have pundits on discussing Super Tuesday who have never been seen outside of cable access. Never seen any of them.

Well, to be fair, it is 2:30AM

Obama makes a play for the Golden State

This my theory about tonight's debate. Perhaps it is a happy accident, but I bet not.

Obama has made the decision that if he wins California then he will win Super Tuesday. He will likely win most of the south and perhaps Missouri, Idaho & if he is really lucky, Connecticut. (Massachusetts is probably out of reach).

What is the biggest prize on Tuesday? California. Obama made a play for the Golden State tonight in a big way. His team is aware that whoever wins there will control the narrative going forward. The clock is running out for Obama but he made his case to California voters explicitly and in code.

My prediction: whoever wins California will be the nominee.