This 'n that for a Friday Morning.
The husband of US Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mi), Tom Athans, is described by the Detroit News as "the co-founder and former CEO of the liberal-progressive Democracy Radio" and "was executive vice president of Air America."
Ok. Stabenow is a liberal Senator so the fact that she is married to a liberal activist - pro-abortion, pro-women's rights, and all that - should not be a surprise.
But here's the paragraph which makes this piece Mullworthy. It seems that Athans
"was stopped Feb. 26 by undercover officers investigating a possible prostitution ring in a room at the Residence Inn near Big Beaver and Interstate 75. Athans paid a 20-year-old prostitute $150 for sex in the hotel."
Putting aside, for the moment the onomatopoeian name of the town involved, it may be there emerging a "Spitzer Rule:" The more liberal the public figure, the more likely he is to pay for sex.
Ok, you caught me. I didn't think the story was such a big deal but, I really did giggle at the name of the town.
The WOW fundraising numbers that Sen. Barack H.(!) Obama put up yesterday ($40 million raised in March to about $20 million for Sen. Hillary R.(!) Clinton) obscured some numbers which were just as interesting.
The Gallup organization has been conducting nightly tracking polls following both the Obama-Clinton primary race as well as general election matchups between either of them and Sen. John McCain.
As summarized on the RealClearPolitics.com polling page, through Wednesday night, Obama and Clinton were at 49-46 for the second straight night - essentially a tie. That three-point spread matches the Rasmussen Poll tracking which has them at 46-43.
Now to the general election matchup. McCain leads Clinton by two percentage points (47-45) and McCain leads Obama by one (47-46) in the Gallup numbers.
But Rasmussen has the potential general election numbers with McCain leading Clinton by five percentage points (47-42) and leading Obama by seven percentage points (48-41).
The CBS/NY Times poll, to complete the circuit shows each Clinton or Obama beating McCain by five percentage points, but even that isn't all good news for Obama. According to the analysis by Adam Nagourney and Megan Thee: "Obama's support among Democrats nationally has softened over the last month - particularly among men and upper-income voters."
How to account for the disparity? You should treat polls like judges used to treat Olympic figure skating scores:
Everyone knew the French and the East Germans were cheating so they threw out the highest and the lowest scores and then averaged the rest.
Same with early polls.
National reporters are beginning to pick up on the fact that GOP senior political hacks don't much care who the Democratic nominee is. From a Reuters piece by John Whitesides:
"Originally people thought Hillary would be better to run against only because she generated so much ill will among the Republican base," said Republican consultant Rich Galen.
"But I don't think professional politicians on the Republican side have a rooting interest anymore because it doesn't matter. We can beat either one. We just wish the election was tomorrow," he said.
A quote which I pulled off the Internet by random chance.
Bill Clinton, campaigning in Altoona, Pennsylvania (oh, how the mighty have fallen) spoke about those who are urging Hillary to get out of the race. From the AP's Beth Fouhy:
"They're telling you, 'Oh don't worry, this doesn't matter, and it's OK if we disenfranchise Michigan and Florida, we got this deal under control. You guys just be quiet and go away,'" Bill Clinton said.
"Let me tell you something. I've been in politics a long time. People don't tell you your votes don't count unless they do."
Uh …
With Clinton/Obama raising money at a $60 million-a-month clip; with Iraq still dodgy; with the Fed Chairman telling Congress that "a recession is possible," either Clinton or Obama should be leading McCain by 25 percentage points.
Why, then, have the Democrats in Washington put away their tape measures and stopped putting in their bids for corner offices in the Executive Office Building?
Because Americans consider their vote for President on a completely different intellectual and emotional plane than any other public office.
Americans, it appears, are extremely hesitant about trusting Hillary or Barack with the keys to the country.
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