Battleground Dispatches for Sept. 21
27264
Here are today's Battleground Dispatches Ã¢ÂÂ a roundup of what is going on right now in the year's hottest races, based on reports from local and national media.
718744
Rice slams Huckabee criticism of Bush 'bunker mentality' foreign policy ... Romney rails against earmarks in budget deal ... Edwards says his supporters will caucus ... Tancredo aide backs Thompson's candidacy ... Judge tosses out part of suit against Huckabee over Arkansas hard drives
353126
roundup Plus: EA to take World Cup soccer to Xbox...IBM chalks up two health care wins...Vonage users dial 311 for city info.
204649
McCain promises to work with Democrats if he wins GOP nomination, presidency ... Clinton revisits law school days and child advocacy work ... Romney campaigns coast-to-coast on way to Super Tuesday finish line
174537
TOMORROW AUTO RACING 8 a.m. -- Formula One: Italian Grand Prix qualifying, Speed 2 p.m. -- ARCA: SK Hand Tool 200, Speed
536808
roundup Plus: Slashdot dips into politics...IBM releases low-cost Unix servers...Former Cisco exec joins Red Hat board.
700637
TODAY AUTO RACING 1:30 p.m. -- NASCAR Nextel Cup Ford 400 qualifying at Homestead, Fla., Speed Channel 3 p.m. -- NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Ford 200 at Homestead, Fla., Speed Channel COLLEGE BASKETBALL/MEN 5 p.m. -- Marist Classic at Poughkeepsie, N.Y.: Northeastern vs. Birmingham Southern, WRBB-FM (104.9) 7 p.m. -- Coaches vs. Cancer Classic third-place game at New York, ESPN2 7:30 ...
497730
SATURDAY AUTO RACING 7 a.m. -- Formula One: Turkish Grand Prix qualifying, Speed 8 p.m. -- Nextel Cup: Sharpie 500, ESPN, WWZN
351312
Huckabee bags a pheasant in Iowa ... Obama promises to watch over veterans' health care ... Giuliani's doctor says he's in good health ... Edwards shores up NH support ... Poll says George W. Bush, Hillary Rodham Clinton are the man and woman most admired by Americans
763910
TODAY PRO BASKETBALL 7:30 p.m. -- Celtics vs. Utah at the FleetCenter, FSN, WWZN (1510) 8 p.m. -- Denver at Miami, ESPN 10:30 p.m. -- Phoenix at Seattle, ESPN BOXING 11 p.m. -- Ebo Elder vs. Courtney Burton (lightweights) at Santa Ynez, Calif., SHO COLLEGE FOOTBALL 8 p.m. -- Division 1-AA championship: James Madison vs. Montana at Chattanooga, Tenn., ESPN2 ...
89717
You can do a pretty good job of following the politics leading up to Tuesday's New Hampshire primary from television in rain-soaked California. CNN has an excellent program running all afternoon called The Ballot Bowl. The format is really simple. They have cameras following the candidates and they're broadcasting their town hall stump speeches. They're authentic, based on my experience in the campaign for the 2004 New Hampshire primary. The NY Times has an excellent resource (no RSS feed apparently) that lists the candidates' schedules. It's also possible to import the schedule into Google Calendar as an overlay. ABCNews is hosting two 90-minute debates, one for each party, tonight starting at 4PM Pacific. Tomorrow Fox News is hosting a controversial Republican debate, which the Republican Party has withdrawn from because they won't let Ron Paul participate. He's polling third among the Republican candidates in New Hampshire. For once the Republicans got it right.  In the very limited time betw Iowa and New Hampshire there's a lot of action and drama. Romney all of a sudden is shamlessly the candidate for change. There was an Ahmadinejad moment when I thought for sure he was doing parody, but he was serious. He's changed his attire, but his pitch is still the sleazy VP-Sales who got promoted to CEO. Change change change, I can change too, just watch. Please die now. I don't think anyone stands for Romney.  Giuliani and Thompson are still nowhere to be seen. Edwards is doing a good job of keeping the game on. McCain is earnest and honest, but he's old and small and tired.  Obama has the aura of a front-runner and Hillary seems to believe that if only Iraq were still the big issue she would be where Obama is. Even so, according to recent polls she's likely to win New Hampshire. A lot of my friends on Twitter dismiss Huckabee, and to be clear, I could not vote for a Republican this year, no matter who their candidate is, but he is a fantastic American personality. Elections are all about feelings, not policies or positions or even records as the pundits insist. Who you vote for is a function of how you feel about the country and the world in relation to yourself. The candidate who comes closest to validating your feelings is the person you vote for. I think we'll tire of Obama quickly, and we're already tired of HIllary. I think the rational choice for each party, although many disagree, is Edwards and Huckabee because each of them tap into the well of frustration Americans feel about everything. But my guess, which will probably certainly turn out wrong, is that the Dems will nominate Obama and the Reps will nominate Huckabee, and Huck will win.  PS: After writing this, I wonder if George Lakoff would agree. I think I've just used a very Lakoffish process, unwittingly.  PPS: I went to UW-Madison. Bucky Badger is the school mascot. Our favorite cheer and T-shirt said Fuck em Bucky! It occurred to me the same slogan would work for Huckabee. PPPS: Obama? Yo mama!
106576
Romney tries to motivate high schoolers amid final day on Michigan stump ... Huckabee tells Mich. supporters he understands struggles of working-class people ... McCain says he would retool job training programs as president ... Racially tinged disputes heat up between Clinton and Obama
123664
SATURDAY AUTO RACING 8 a.m. -- Formula One: French Grand Prix qualifying, Speed 10 a.m. -- Busch Series: Camping World 200 pole qualifying, Speed
696091
McCain challenges idea of trouble with conservatives, picks up nod from Bauer ... Clinton says replacement of campaign manager reflects need for more staff ... Huckabee brushes off calls to abandon GOP presidential race ... For Obama, a weekend of wins, momentum, even a Grammy
277705
Romney says economic focus that won in Michigan can play in the South ... Obama says he'd change approach to drug war ... Huckabee backs away from hiatus on immigration ... Clinton says preparation for president should be more than inspirational speeches ... With Southern contest looming, Thompson goes on the attack ... Edwards tells Nevada to start 'sea wave of change' by supporting him ... Florida rallies for Rudy ... McCain looks to appeal to South Carolina's reservists, retired military
708634
Rice slams Huckabee criticism of Bush 'bunker mentality' foreign policy ... Tancredo aide backs Thompson's candidacy ... Judge tosses out part of suit against Huckabee over Arkansas hard drives
126448
Edwards seeks to wrest change mantle from Democratic rivals .... Economy, health care slip past Iraq as top issues ... Romney goes after McCain in New Hampshire ad campaign ... Thompson urges candidates to take a deliberate approach on Pakistan