Well I have finally returned after having a stomach virus over the weekend. What a fun way to spend the day! I can tell that no one was eagerly awaiting my return. However one good thing did stem from my stomach virus: I did get to see Texas smash Kansas in Basketball 80-55 which is always nice. Since I have a girlfriend I have had to cut back my 40-60 hours of sports a week to about 2 hours of sports when Texas plays a big game. Anyway onto the not so good stuff.

I heard today that Bush said that Hillary Clinton would win the Democratic primary, but not the presidency. I think at this point it is a pretty much guarantee that she will win the democratic primary the only question is whether America is ready to vote for a woman. I think it would be awesome if Condoleezza Rice were to run. That choice would make everyone person's head in a red state explode. I think if that occurs we might actually have a third party swoop in (Jesse Ventura?) and steal the election. One thing that Bush did say that I agree with was that the Democratic Party was a party against "everything" which I would pretty much agree with.

If John Kerry would have just taken a stand on a couple of issues and acted like he had half a back bone he could have won in a walk. Instead he just griped about how bad Bush was. GREAT STRATEGY. You can not pander to the two coasts and the big city in the middle and hope to win a national election. Every republican knows that the election is won with Texas/Florida and all the red states in the middle. The sad thing is that Hillary Clinton is seen as a "New England Liberal" now and not as a fiscally conservative social democrat from the South. She had better find someone charismatic from the south to be her running mate, or maybe the Democrats would be better off with John Edwards. We have to have someone who can steal some of those red states especially Florida.

Three things the Democrats need to do have a chance at the presidency:

1. Acknowledge that you can be both religious and open-minded, and that secular does not necessarily mean better. America maybe a nation of phonies but we are phony to the core. We say we want religion when we don't, and we reward those who say they are religious. Conservative Christians feel alienated every time a democrat rants about the "religious right." There is no religious right in America. The religious right is America.

2. Abandon the peace at all cost mentality. America is built on Nationalism, and the MYTH of the American Dream. NO American wants America to be seen as a bunch of pussies like the French. People make the mistake of thinking that most Americans are anti-war, they are not, they are anti-limited warfare. They do not understand the Post World War II mentality of try to not hurt anyone during a battle. They believe in kicking the door in and turning the joint into the parking lot if you mess with us. That is why most people respect George Bush (note I am not saying like, or favor). We do not like war but we realize it is a necessary evil, and we respect him for trying to do the right thing. It is easy to quit and abandon your beliefs but it hard to do the right thing and stand up for what you believe in. You do not quit simply because the going gets hard.

3. Develop a system of beliefs or values and stand by them. John Kerry and Al Gore are fair weather politicians who flip/flop to whatever the political flavor of the month of is. The republicans maybe basic as a sledge hammer: tax cuts, big military presence, fight the war on terrorism, etc but people know where they stand. Americans are afraid of change and you can not go around acting like you are trying to change everything all at once (same sex marriage, abortion, racial equality, etc). Each of these terms I just listed frightens most Americans to death and when you say you want to change them they panic and vote Republican. You have to bring them along slowly. Do not try to jump to a constitutional Same Sex Marriage amendment without priming the pump first. You have to take baby steps. Make sure that that we reinstate same sex partner benefits from corporations and move from there. It has to be in baby steps so that they really do not see the change until it has already changed so much that they do not even notice it.

I think that pretty much sums up my thoughts on politics at the moment. I will revisit and revise this post as I think of more things the democrats can do to win in 2008. Peace.