Steve Maloney on Political Pistachio

Tomorrow (Monday) at 10 p.m. Eastern Time I'll be on Doug Gibbs's Political Pistachio Radio. I'll be joined by my friend Adam Brickley of Colorado Springs, the individuals who started the Draft Sarah Palin for VP Movement. We'll be discussing Gov. Palin's chances, as well as other possibilities for the V-P choices. The subject of Senator John McCain, whom I support strongly, will also come up.http://www.blogtalkradio.com/politicalpistachio. This week Doug, a fine gentleman, will have on a very important guest, Kathleen Willey, once a strong Clinton supporter and someone who was molested by President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office. Quite a timely guest. She's written a new book on her experience, and I bet it won't be coffee table material in the Clinton household.

Jack Kelly on Obama

The absolute best conservative columnist in PA is Jack Kelly of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A former Marine, a former Special Forces soldier, and a former (one-time) candidate for Congress, Kelly is one writer who knows what he's talking about.

Please read his Sunday column, which you can find at the following: http://post-gazette.com/forum.

The subject is "The Obama Mirage," and the sub-head is: "There's no there there." Kelly is quoting Dame Edith Asquith who, when asked what she thought about Oakland, California, said, "There's no there there.'

Kelly's article begins with these words: "Texas state Senator Kirk Watson had an embarrassing momentthe night the candidate he is supporting for president won the Wisconsin primary. MSNBC's Chris Matthews asked him to name a legislative accomplishment of Sen. Barack Obama."

"'I'm not going to be able to do that tonight,' Mr. Watson replied."

Later, Kelly quotes Tom Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, a supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton. "'Barack Obama is no Muhammed Ali. He took a walk every time there was a tough vote in the Illinois state Senate. He took a walk more than 130 times. That's what a shadow boxer does. All the right moves. All the right combinations. All the right footwork. But he never steps into the ring.'"

Buffenbarger then goes on to say: "'I've got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing trust fund babies crowding in to hear [Obama] speak. This guy won't last a round against the Republican attack-machine.'"

As a card carrying member of said Attack Machine, I hope he's right.

Key Presidential & Congressional Races

Starting tomorrow morning (Monday) at 8 a.m. there will be a new column every day between now and February 6, 2008, the day after "Super Tuesday." I've predicted that Senator Barack Obama will win the New Hampshire primary in a close race with Senator Hillary Clinton. I've also predicted that Senator John McCain will win the New Hampshire -- and that he will finish far ahead of the second place finisher, former Gov. Mitt Romney.

I believe the eventual presidential nominees will be Barack Obama and John McCain. However, I wouldn't bet the house on my own projections. Mike Huckabee will retain his strong support among evangelicals and home-schoolers, who propelled him to victory in Iowa. Mitt Romney has spent tens of millions of his own money and, as the saying goes, "you ain't seen nothing yet."

I also believe the best candidate the Democrats have is Hillary Rodham Clinton, which isn't saying much, because the top-tier Democrats all advocate policies that will be harmful to the nation. Mrs. Clinton may still win the nomination, but if she finishes second in New Hampshire and then goes on to lose in South Carolina, her campaign is in deep trouble. Obama would have all the momentum, and he would be almost unstoppable.

I think that's likely to happen, but at this point, there are few absolute certainties.

Last night, I attended a remarkable meeting that featured former congresswoman Melissa Hart, who is seeking to regain her seat in Pennsylvania's 4th Congressional District. Her race against Jason Altmire is reflective of many congressional battles taking place around the country. I'll be writing more in the weeks ahead about the Hart-Altmire struggle.

If you'd like to learn more about Melissa Hart, you can check her archived appearance on Doug Gibbs's Blog Talk Radio on January 3, 2008.

POLITICAL ACTIVISTS DOING "THE WAVE"

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS COLUMN FOR THE "SARAH PALIN WAVE."

If you're a sports fan, you know about -- and probably have participated -- in something called "The Wave." It's a sports phenomenon that has significant political implications.

The Wave occurs when people throughout the stadium – section by section -- stand up and raise their arms. The effect is to make tens of thousands of people behave in a way that resembles the rise and fall of an ocean wave.

It sounds like an exercise in silliness, but increasingly researchers studying human behavior and leaders have studied The Wave. They believe that it exemplifies a situation where the actions of the few – the people who start The Wave – end up influencing the behavior of the many – nearly everyone else.

To perceptive researchers, that sounds suspiciously like something similar to management and leadership. In fact, The Wave is a metaphor for those things.

Leadership -- in society, business, and politics -- means getting people to act spontaneously to influence others. It also means having them work in concert to achieve an end.

The Wave occurs because people want to do something that helps the home team win. In politics, “the home team” is a candidate who wants to win and needs popular support to do so.

The Wave occurs when a few people start a movement. Quickly, people throughout the stadium being reacting in the same way – and influencing the actions of others near them. Soon, the people throughout a stadium are moving in unison.

Recently, I’ve written about a number of “wave-makers” who are assisting in the Russell Campaign. One of them is Pennsylvanian Melanie, a highly social and insightful restaurant worker.

There's also Cindy in New Mexico, who posts on the extremely popular site named ThePinkFlamingo. She's a professional writer who has a huge following and is directing many people to Russell's web site.

Another one is "Samantha West," a businesswoman who lives in Texas and is vigorously raising funds for Russell. Also, there’s “Jenn of the Jungle,” a Californian with a popular show on BlogTalkRadio and someone who recently interviewed William Russell. Douglas Gibbs of Political Pistachio radio has strongly supported Russell and had him on his show. As you've probably noticed, I'm a Pennsylvanian trying to "Make Waves for Russell."

Another extremely important figure in the Russell camp is Brad Marston from Massachusetts. He’s devoting most of his current energy to supporting John McCain’s effort to win the Republican presidential nomination – but he’s also a solid supporter of Russell.

The following is an e-mail Brad recently sent to "1,000 of his closest (political) friends":

"Political muscle is built by talking to one person at a time. That is why I am reaching out to you today. This e-mail is going out to over 1000 people because I talked to 10 people who in turn, talked to ten more people. Help us make it 10,000 people simply by forwarding it on to your friends, family and contacts."

"So, 'What have you done today to make you feel proud?' It is a line from one of my favorite songs, 'Proud.' Another lyric is 'We need a change...Do it today...I can feel my spirit rising!' I think that says it perfectly. We do need a change."

"To make it happen, we need you to JOIN US ! We need you to DONATE , whether it be time, talent money or some combination thereof! Let's all end each day knowing 'I did something for the future of this nation I love so much. I did what I could to elect John McCain and I am proud of that.' If you can do that, I would be both proud and grateful. And so will the hundreds, perhaps thousands more who join us."

Sincerely,
M. Brad Marston
National Chair
McCainVictory08

Brad started small – like “The Wave” – but has quickly built a strong base of support for his candidates. His e-mail above has gone to 1,000 people. He’s asking each of the recipients to contact at least ten friends and political allies. In fact, I’m doing just that in this column.

Do you want to change the political outlook? If so, you need to emulate people like Brad, Melanie, Samantha, Cindy, Jenn, Douglas, and others. Someone like Brad is potentially influencing the votes – and contributions – of tens of thousands of people.

And that translates into real political clout!

Note: If you'd like to join Bloggers 4 Russell, please either leave a comment or send me an e-mail at: TalkTop65@aol.com. Thanks!

THE SARAH PALIN WAVE!

Hey Palin fans,

This showed up on Instapundit this morning:

"THE SARAH PALIN JUGGERNAUT is gathering steam!"

The link will lead you to yesterday's endorsement of our movement by Charleston (WV) Daily Mail columnist Don Surber, which is big news in itself.

Instapundit is one of the biggest conservative blogs on the entire net (probably THE biggest); and if they call you a juggernaut, you're a juggernaut.

-- Adam Brickley,Founder, "Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President"palinforvp.blogspot.com