A Liberal Lion, A Big Dog and a Lame Duck

The two big stories today are the endorsement by Teddy Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy of Barack Obama and W's last State of the Union. On MSNBC, the after speech commentary was as much about the former as it was the latter. Score one for the Liberal Lion (Teddy) over the Lame Duck (W).

First, I must admit I didn't watch the speech. I can't watch much of W at this stage. It takes him about 2 sentences to send me into a swearing rant aimed at no one that accomplishes nothing beyond scaring my cats. It is better for me and the kitties not to watch. I see highlights. I watch the "post-game." I read the news stories. I don't watch. The initial reaction of the talking heads was that the speech was pedestrian at best. The words "same old" followed by ideas, phrases, themes, etc. filled the airwaves and early writings on the speech. More war. More tax cuts. I was left wondering who would make the first joke that the speech was so poor because W's speech writing staff had joined the writer's strike in Hollywood. Maybe W should have returned to the original tradition of just sending the Congress a letter on the State of the Union.

More TV commentators wanted to talk about The Teddy and Barack Show from earlier in the day. That event was much more exciting and Teddy, who has been in the Senate as long as I've been alive, was a feisty old liberal today. Teddy is no longer the symbol of new ideas for a new generation. He is still a symbol of the liberal heart of the Democratic Party that dreams of using the power of government to serve the least amongst us. And Teddy mustered some of the old fire today in his speech and be aimed it right at the Clinton campaign and its top surrogate, "The Big Dog."

For those of you who don't know, Bill Clinton is known as The Big Dog among Democrats, particularly among liberal bloggers. It is a term of endearment for the most powerful campaigner in the party. Even Clinton's most vehement enemies admit that he is a powerful force on the campaign. Hillary Clinton has sought to use that force for her presidential campaign. After she lost Iowa, you started see a lot more of Bill. However, the South Carolina primary campaign coverage included a number of stories that there was concern among Democrats that he was being too much of an attack dog against Obama.

Obama has no one to match Bill on the campaign trail and Teddy and Caroline's endorsement doesn't change that fact. I do tend to agree with those who see Teddy as possibly the voice to assure those voters among the Democratic base who have hesitated about Obama. I suspect you will see Teddy's voice in ads and his face at a few events aimed at the older Democrats, particularly women and Hispanic Democrats and those Democrats with less education and less income. These subsets of Democrats have shown more trust in the Clinton name and record to date and have been part of Hillary's winning formula in the two states she has won. These Democrats may have some of their fears about Obama assuaged by assurances from Teddy. Teddy's efforts for Obama will not mean the Big Dog will be silenced or that Hillary is in "big trouble." But Obama does now have a powerful surrogate who leads older Democrats in particular to stop and listen for a moment. Obama will have to follow through on any openings the connection to the Kennedy still provides. He must find ways to adjust his message to fit a short campaign in 22 states. Obama's message and organization has shown power in Iowa and S. Carolina where he had time to build some connections with voters. The campaign over the next week is now about the short bursts of attention of 30 to 60 second ads and TV news stories. Whatever platform of attention a Teddy Kennedy or anyone else can provide must lead enough of those Democrats that have leaned to Hillary to reconsider and then make the change toward him. We'll find out how he's doing on Feb. 5th.

As for the Republicans, Florida appears to be a two-man race between Romney and McCain. I am wondering if early voting could tip the scale. Did enough early voters already choose McCain to keep Romney at bay?

As the temperature here once again heads below zero for several days. I'll use politics and football to distract me from the cold.