http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/ 15 en Copyright 2008 Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:07 -0400 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.36 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped, The presidential nominee isn't necessarily the one who picks the vice president, is he/she? If I recall, wasn't Lyndon B. Johnson sort of forced on John F. Kennedy? Is there a committee of some sort that picks a VP it thinks will "round out" the president? -- Mary Toombs Dear Mary, These days, the selection of the vice presidential candidate is the sole prerogative of a party's presidential nominee -- and that's a good thing. It would be a terrible mistake to go back to the days when the vice presidential selection was not an intensely personal decision by the presidential nominee, which may be why Sen. Edward Kennedy recently sought to quiet talk of forcing a "dream" (whose?!) Obama-Clinton ticket. In the earliest days http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/05/vp_or_vip.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/05/vp_or_vip.html Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:07 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped, If all Democratic superdelegates, including the uncommitted and those who have already endorsed a candidate, voted for the candidate who received the most popular votes in the primary or caucus of the superdelegate's home state (as opposed to the nation as a whole), which candidate would have the most delegates? Dean A. Barclay Dear Dean, I have a better hypothetical for you: If my 3-year-old son held a race between two of his favorite cars, and he called the red one Obama and the blue one Clinton, and the red one won, but then he decided to make it a best-of-three series.... Actually, it's not a better hypothetical. But I won't indulge you on your superdelegate/Electoral College approach, and not because it would entail a http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/05/drop_out_already_hillary.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/05/drop_out_already_hillary.html Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:02 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped, Before the arrival of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright onto the scene, my prediction was that Barack Obama would win the nomination but take the VP slot on a Clinton-Obama ticket as part of a four-year deal -- because each knows that neither can win the election without the other. Hillary Clinton needs the votes of blacks and the Starbucks crowd, while Obama needs the support of Dunkin' Donuts customers and women over 50. Now, after Wright's vindictive and effective tirades, some distrust has tarnished Obamamania. Which is all the more reason for him to take a close backseat to Clinton. America needs a few years to see that good things can happen even with Obama playing second fiddle. I try to keep my personal likes http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/05/why_clintonobama_wont_work.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/05/why_clintonobama_wont_work.html Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:01 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped, I am a longtime Obama supporter. My best friend is as well, but hasn't been for as long, and I think she is losing the religion, so to speak. What I mean is, she is just about ready to throw in the towel and tell everyone who will listen to support Hillary. The reason? She figures four more years of Republican control of the presidency will result in food riots in Beverly Hills and $8.50-per-gallon gasoline -- so let the Republican Dirt Machine beat the stuffing out of Clinton in the fall. Then Obama can come back against McCain in 2012 as the "I Told You So" candidate. Whaddaya think? -- Richard Lampe Dear Richard, Stumped has been plenty tough on Hillary Clinton, and I http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/05/im_for_obama_in_2012.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/05/im_for_obama_in_2012.html Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:02 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] My editors inform me that they are having e-mail server issues, so Stumped didn't receive any actual questions for today. I'd like to think it's because all those angry Hillary Clinton supporters crashed the server in response to my last column. In any event, today is like the day the substitute teacher shows up and class can do whatever it wants. Here are a couple of timely questions I'd like to see asked myself, and one from a friend. Dear Stumped: Do you think President Bush should attend the Olympic Games in light of the protests surrounding China's Tibet policies? -- Stumped Dear Stumped, An excellent question. At the risk of sounding ridiculous, I will say this: The Bush administration has smartly created some leverage for itself http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/bush_deserves_the_gold.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/bush_deserves_the_gold.html Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:01 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped, I have a lot of issues with the news media's coverage of this campaign, but they can all be reduced to one question: What did Hillary Clinton do to you to deserve such treatment? -- James E. Hilton Dear James, I respect Hillary Clinton's tenacity, and I think it's time to acknowledge that she has earned the No. 2 spot on the ticket. She would make a tremendous running mate and a capable vice president, ready to take over as commander-in-chief at a moment's notice. So I urge John McCain to look no further: Given how much damage Clinton is causing the Democratic Party and her zealous devotion to attacking Barack Obama, Clinton is your ideal running mate. Talk about a historic ticket! What did http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/hillary_clinton_gop_heroine.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/hillary_clinton_gop_heroine.html Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:01 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped, Endorsements come in all styles and sizes, from Kennedys to Chuck Norris. I realize they usually don't make a difference, but do you think that one stands out this election cycle as particularly noteworthy or influential? Ted Kravis Dear Ted, I understand that Hillary Clinton has Osama bin Laden vouching for her (or something like that) in new ads in Pennsylvania, but I am still going to have to go with Dan Rooney's endorsement of Barack Obama. All of us black-and-gold fanaticos know that the Rooney family, owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers, is infallible when speaking about all things unrelated to the skills of one Kordell Stewart (if you don't know what I am talking about, consider yourself lucky). Hasn't the family endorsed every winning http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/obamas_pennsylvania_surprise.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/obamas_pennsylvania_surprise.html Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:00:01 -0400 Stumped is away from his desk, contemplating the defining issues of the 2008 election, including the definition of the term "defining issue." He will be back next week, just in time to assist Pennsylvanians with any last-minute decisions. Please send your questions to stumped@washingtonpost.com. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/programming_note.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/programming_note.html Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:01 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped: Although invading Iraq was a mistake, pulling out hastily may only compound it. How, exactly, do Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton propose to withdraw American troops from Iraq while preventing a civil war and the ensuing instability in the region? If, in the final analysis, the conclusion is that things were better before the invasion, then the pullout will definitely mark the beginning of the end for America's leadership role in the world. -- Carl from Caracas Dear Carl, This week's testimony on Capitol Hill by Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker once again made clear that it is easier to criticize the status quo, and the Bush administration's past decision-making on Iraq, than it is to offer a wise exit strategy for the http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/the_democrats_iraq_dilemma.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/the_democrats_iraq_dilemma.html Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:03 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped, As a Reagan Republican, I have a very difficult time supporting John McCain, who seems to me only a less dangerous version of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. What can I do to be more enthusiastic about my candidate? I will be supporting him in the fall but am not very excited about it. Sincerely, Chris Glover Dear Chris, I have a three-word answer for you: Supreme Court justice. If you are a conservative Republican worried that John McCain is only a conscripted "foot soldier in the Reagan revolution" (as he likes to say), rather than a zealous field marshal in the cause, you need look no further than One First Street Northeast for reassurance or even excitement. Only three of the nine justices -- http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/overcoming_my_mccain_misgiving.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/overcoming_my_mccain_misgiving.html Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:02 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped: Why do you think that Democrats get roasted for "memory lapses" while Republicans do not? For example, in his vice presidential nomination acceptance speech in August 2000, Vice President Cheney spoke of flying over Arlington by helicopter and being emotionally touched by its "crosses row on row." Headstones at Arlington aren't cross-shaped, but no one called him a liar. Yet when Hillary Clinton remembers her trip to Bosnia as being dangerous but gets the details wrong, she's a liar. I'm sure her trip to Bosnia was dangerous, and she probably was lectured about potential snipers in open spaces like airport runways. I recently had the experience of being absolutely certain that an event happened a certain way, and would have sworn to it on a http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/how_hillary_is_worse_than_chen.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/04/how_hillary_is_worse_than_chen.html Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:01 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped, The man goes on the radio, on a program broadcast across state lines, and tells people in Ohio and Texas (and now Pennsylvania) to switch their affiliation from Republican to Democrat so that they can vote for Hillary Clinton, then turn around and vote for John McCain later in the general election. The idea is that Clinton is easier for McCain to defeat than Barack Obama. Isn't this horribly cynical? Is this what we send soldiers to die for? To defend our right to such idiocy? What does the FCC think of this? Does Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" break any election laws, state or federal? Thank you, Tony Madejczyk Dear Tony, Let me change the names to protect the guilty. But when I was in http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/03/can_rush_save_hillary.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/03/can_rush_save_hillary.html Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:01 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped, Is Hillary being rude at this point, acting like a dinner guest who's overstayed her welcome? Or do you think she still has a chance to become the Democratic nominee even though the arithmetic is on Obama's side? And will Bill Richardson's endorsement of Obama help him with voters? -- A new reader Dear New, I wrote a column advising Sen. Clinton to take a bow and exit the stage once she lost the New Hampshire primary (which she won), so I have become reluctant to call this contest over until the proverbial fat lady (or trim superdelegates) sings. The race remains very close, and while she faces an uphill battle, there are still a lot of variables that could break her way and give http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/03/how_hillary_can_still_win.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/03/how_hillary_can_still_win.html Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:01 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped, I'm watching the American primaries from abroad, in Portugal. One thing that puzzles me is this: If Sen. Barack Obama's mother was white and his father was African, how come Sen. Obama is considered black instead of white, or mixed? Is the darker skin color so strong as to prevail in labeling people? Why? -- Nuno Gouveia Dear Nuno, First, let me say I have fond memories of Portugal, particularly the tranquil town of Evora, which in my book is the greatest place on earth to take a nap. Must be something in the air. Moving right along: Part of the answer is historical. There is something in America called the "one-drop rule," instituted mostly in the South after the Civil War, which holds that http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/03/obama_great_speech_wont_matter_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/03/obama_great_speech_wont_matter_1.html Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:01 -0400 [Need personal advice of a political nature? Or political advice of a personal nature? Send your question to Stumped. Questions may be edited.] Dear Stumped, Main question: Why does Barack Obama win every caucus against Hillary Clinton? Corollary question: Why does Clinton win almost every large-state primary? -- Dean A. Barclay Dear Dean, I myself have been stumped at the ease with which Obama has claimed most of the caucuses, to a point where the Clinton campaign fell into a pattern of dampening expectations by saying, "What do you expect, it's a caucus," as if they were the Miami Dolphins being asked to play in the snow in December. What's surprising is that no one anticipated the Clinton juggernaut to be outhustled in contests that place a premium on organization. If I'd told you a year ago that Clinton would be the underdog in caucuses because she was up against http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/03/obamas_caucus_conundrum.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2008/03/obamas_caucus_conundrum.html Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:00:01 -0400