VoteVanAllen.com is live!

I mentioned in a previous post that I was running for County Board. Late last week after much work we finally launched the full VoteVanAllen.com site.

We've been getting lots of praise for the site design. Even better, it's allowed voters to connect with me in ways I had only hoped for. Offers to volunteer and requests for yard signs are coming, which is exciting and humbling at the same time. Thanks for your support!

Dave for County Board!

OK, I have a few minutes . . .what better time than at 2:30 in the morning? What's been keeping me so busy is that I've decided to run for County Board. Pretty cool, eh? I think so!

Could there be a better way to serve my community? Read all about it at VoteVanAllen.com

Hillary vs. Obama

Have you put any thought to the politics involved in the 2008 presidential race on the democratic side? On a personal note, looking back 10 years from now, I think 2008 go down as the year that I finally cared enough about the race that I paid attention to it before the parties actually chose their candidate.

What's interesting to me is how hard the democrats are fighting over getting their preferred candidate nominated. Granted, everyone wants their candidate to be chosen as their parties' candidate and eventually as our nation's president. But what's more important? The party or the candidate?

In a day and age where party platforms dominate individual politician's views, I'd say partisan politics have a lot to do with an individual's vote. I wish it weren't so, but until we see a legitimate 3rd party, it will continue to be so. Case in point: as of late, the biggest difference Hillary could spar with Obama on was on the issue of universal health care for pets. That's right, pet insurance. For the social conservatives out there that support Obama, you have to ask yourself this question: is Obama pro-choice, or is he just supporting the democratic party view? I digress . . .

If Hillary gets nominated, at this point, it appears that it will be due to her influence with the Superdelegates. Is that what the democratic party wants? The so-called party of the people will have in effect chosen their people's candidate based upon what the entrenched, established politicians chose for them?! Businessweek.com had a good article on this very topic. What are her chances to win the presidency if she gets the nomination? Due to her polarizing personality, I think McCain will clearly have the best shot at the White House.

What if Obama wins his party over and becomes the democratic nominee? After this bitter fight, does he have the charisma to overcome the bitter taste Hillary supporters might feel to earn their vote? Will the 50% who have supported Hillary actually put their confidence in and vote for Obama? Now that's a loaded question! There are so many levels you could answer that question on . . .

Then look at McCain. You'd have to believe that he is only growing stronger in the minds of voters as they watch Obama and Hillary fight for their party's nomination. Especially in the minds of moderates and independents. I believe, in the end, that Obama, Hillary and the democratic party will have divided themselves and their constituents (at least for the 2008 presidential vote) and that McCain will be the ultimate beneficiary of the democratic party's disorganization. Look back over the past 8 years at Bush's public approval ratings. Who would have guessed that any Republican, much less McCain, would have a chance at the White House? Maybe he's the ideal Republican to front the party during such tough times?

The the other question everyone is looking for an answer to right now is who "old man" McCain's running mate will be? He's won his party's nomination and has several months to go before the Republican National Convention. How is he going to keep his name in the news when there is no real news to report? (By teasing the press!)

Getting past all of this, what's the social conservative to do in an election like this? Hope and pray that McCain chooses the right running mate . . .

Huckabee is not a throw-away vote

I was listening to an interview of Mike Huckabee on NPR today and it made me want to stand up and agree with him. As of today, McCain and Romney both may have more delegates pledged to them, but the race is still very early.

There's a great post on Wikipedia that explains all of this very well. As of Tuesday, 1/29, after McCain's Florida victory, only 208 delegates have been pledged or are projected to be pledged. It takes 1191 to win the republican nomination, and no candidate has more than 100 so far.

According to the Wikipedia post, they estimate the score to be McCain (97), Romney (74) and Huckabee (29). RealClearPolitics.com has the score much closer with McCain (93), Romney (59) and Huckabee (40). McCain is ahead by a good margin because he won all 57 delegates in the winner-take-all Florida primary.

There are 2172 republican delegates yet to be assigned. For all of the states who haven't had their primaries yet, why should we allow the 7 states who've completed their primaries already to limit our choice of presidential candidates?!

Dave's word on . . .

Here begins a stream of posts that may seem to be out of place. Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to research a lot before I make a decision. I also tend to have very selective memory retention.

Since I've spent many hours becoming literate in a variety of things, I thought this would be a good forum to share that knowledge with others and also use it as a reference for myself.

With this blog, you'll notice going forward that I'll be adding posts on things I have researched in the past or am currently researching. This includes things like personal finance (life insurance, annuities, IRAs, mutual funds, etc.), technology, cooking/recipes and where (and sometimes how) to find good deals. Stay tuned!