Caroline Kennedy has written a piece for our times, and it captures a time in transfrormation.

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans
A President Like My Father – New York Times

On January 18th, 2008, John McGlaughlin made this statement during the broadcast of “The McGlaughlin Group”:

MR. MCLAUGHLIN:
Issue Two: Super Tuesday. Not since 1928 has a U.S. presidential race been so wide open. Neither party has an incumbent running. Neither party has a front- runner running. Less than 10 months from the November 4 election, the presidential nominations are still up for grabs.That may change on Super Tuesday, February 5, two weeks from this coming Tuesday. Twenty-four states are participating in primary and caucus contests two weeks from Tuesday.

Here they are, blue states and red states. Blue means left wing. Red means right wing. Blue means left of center. Red means right of center.

Northwest. Blue: Connecticut, Massachusetts. Red: None.
Mid-Atlantic. Blue: Delaware, New Jersey, New York. Red: None.
Midwest. Blue: Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas. Red: Missouri, North Dakota.
South. Blue: None. Red: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia.
Southwest. Blue: None. Red: Arizona, New Mexico.
West. Blue: California. Red: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah.

All up a week from Tuesday, February the 5th.
The McLaughlin Group Library : Transcript

Hmm… Where does he get this stuff? Let’s see, he lists Arizona and New Mexico as Red states, true enough that in 2004 Bush took both states, Arizona by 10% and New Mexico by 1%, but both have Democratic two-term governors (Janet Napolitano and Bill Richardson, respectively); Arizona has two red senators, Kyl and McCain, but an evenly split house delegation, 4 apiece, whereas New Mexico has a split senatorial delegation, Bingaman (D) and Domenici (R – retiring) and a 2 to 1 advantage for Republicans in the house. I think both states are fairly purple, don’t you?

How about the others? Colorado also went for Bush by 5% in ’04, but has since come to its senses, with a split Senate, Salazar (D) and Wayne (R, up for election) and a 4 to 3 Democratic house delegation. Gov. Bill Ritter is a Democratic.

Montana elected Democrat Brian Schweitzer as Governor some years back, and this last election sent Jon Tester (D) to join Max Baucus (D) in Washington along with their sole Republican, a Representative.

So, things are looking more Purple than Red or Blue out west right now. Especially when you consider the message in this article from Tuesday’s Las Vegas Sun:

One intriguing outcome of Saturday’s Democratic caucus is that Barack Obama, a Chicago politician whose appeal nationwide is deep among affluent liberals and college students, broke through in Nevada’s mining and ranching counties.

Obama beat rival Hillary Clinton decisively in nine of 14 rural Republican-dominated counties. In Esmeralda, on the state’s western edge, he won 22 delegates to nine for the New York senator.
…

One example of that hope could be found in Shirley Jones, a Republican who said she showed up to Elko’s Democratic caucus because Obama appealed to her more than any other candidate from either party. “I think we need to get out of the Republican mind-set, because they’ve
gotten us into debt,” she said.

At another precinct in Elko, Richard Todd switched parties to caucus with the Democrats and was swiftly chosen to advocate for Obama to undecided caucusgoers. Twelve of Todd’s Republican neighbors in the precinct joined him in changing parties to caucus for Obama. Whitney said newly registered Democrats made up one-third of the voters who showed up in his precinct.
Why rural voters broke for Obama – Las Vegas Sun > Elko Supporter

Food for thought, Purple thought…

The Concord Monitor, of Concord, New Hampshire, has come out with a brilliant anti-endorsement of Mitt Romney. Well worth a read. Here is the tail end of it:

People can change, and intransigence is not necessarily a virtue. But Romney has yet to explain this particular set of turnarounds in a way that convinces voters they are based on anything other than his own ambition.

In the 2008 campaign for president, there are numerous issues on which Romney has no record, and so voters must take him at his word. On these issues, those words are often chilling. While other candidates of both parties speak of restoring America’s moral leadership in the world, Romney has said he’d like to “double” the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, where inmates have been held for years without formal charge or access to the courts. He dodges the issue of torture – unable to say, simply, that waterboarding is torture and America won’t do it.

When New Hampshire partisans are asked to defend the state’s first-in-the-nation primary, we talk about our ability to see the candidates up close, ask tough questions and see through the baloney. If a candidate is a phony, we assure ourselves and the rest of the world, we’ll know it.

Mitt Romney is such a candidate. New Hampshire Republicans and independents must vote no.
Concord Monitor – Romney should not be the next president