Category: Politics

Rove thinks GOP Still Has A Chance

Karl Rove,the genius behind Bush’s 2004 re-election, doesn’t believe the opinion polls about a GOP fall in 2006. Genius once, genius twice? It would be remarkable success for him if he is able to pull off a GOP victory again. Many opinion polls put Kerry ahead of Bush in 2004, so his views on the opinion polls are not surprising. I saw Rove speak the other day (on TV) at a Republican fundraiser. I came away pretty impressed about his speaking abilities though I don’t agree with anything he said.

Talking of speaking abilities, I also caught some of Hillary Clinton’s debate for the NY Senate race. She speaks well and appeared very confident. But she comes across as tough and not necessarily likeable. She is sure to flunk the “whom would you rather have a beer with” test. Surprisingly, she never looked into the camera or at the panel.

RTIA: Finally, A Max Penalty

For the first time in more than a year since the Right to infomation Act was passed by the Infian Parliament, the Chief Information Commission has slapped a maximum fine of Rs 25,000 on Banaras Hindu University registrar, N Sundaram, because he did not make available to an applicant an inquiry report on incidents leading to the death of Yogesh Roy, a student, in January. A great step for forward for the Right to Information movement.

David Kuo: Good timing?

With elections rounds the corner David Kuo, former number 2 in President Bush’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, has chosen to blast the Bush team for abandoning the evangelicals after the last elections. Is this a case of perfect timing for a book release? Is the Bush team really on the verge of loosing a vote bank?

“President George W. Bush is a politician and is ultimately no different from any other politician, content to use religion for electoral gain more than for good works. Millions of Evangelicals may share Bush’s faith, but they would protect themselves–and their interests–better if they looked at him through the same coldly political lens with which he views them….”

Check out the Time mag article.

Is this another case of perfect timing for a book release or Is the Bush team really on the verge of loosing a significant vote bank?

New Rules, Habaes Stripping, Spineless in Washington

President Bush signed legislation giving the investigators a free hand when dealing with terror suspects. Considering the approach of the current administration, this is an understandable and desirable piece of legislation. However, one can’t ignore two related issues — The Perils of Habeas-Stripping, or the completely spinelessness of the Dems in fighting this issue. The Dems have unfortunately succumbed to election year pressures and fears of being labelled as “weak on defence”.

Caifornia Governors’ Debate

Saw the debate over the weekend. Angiledes vs. Arnie. Since this was the only debate, the stakes were pretty high especially for Angiledes. While he didn’t exactly make a mess, Angiledes didn’t come anywhere close to a home run. In fact, Arnie did a fine job of throwing in facts, a joke or two, delaying without looking ackward etc. It would take a miracle to beat Arnie who is well ahead in the polls.

Its hard to compete with a Hollywood star on TV debate. For starters, while Arnie looked straight at the camera, Angiledes was for the most part looking at the audience and not into the camera. Besides, he came across as too detailed and boring. He tried his best connecting Arnie to Bush, Republicans in Congress, etc etc. But ulitmately, it seemed like too tough a battle to overcome the Terminator.