Leave It Behind > Brian Bailey

A Kennedy for Obama

On the night of an absolutely incredible win in South Carolina, a beautifully written, eloquent endorsement of Senator Obama by Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President Kennedy.

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

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.

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Ideas & Inspiration

Each Saturday we share an Ideas & Inspiration post on Family Reads. The weekend seems like a good time for tips. Though our weekends are often filled with errands, it's still one of our few chances to catch our breath and think about how we can do things just a little better, freeing up more time for the things we truly love.

Lori wrote a great post today entitled Library Love, about how to plan for library trips to get the most out of them. It can be a challenge to keep our children well-fed, both mind and body, and she shares some great ideas for keeping lists and tracking down the best books.

Read the full post.

Scoble interviews Rick Warren at Davos

Watch the video. Oddly fascinating.

Republicans in Florida

The Florida primary is Tuesday and could be decisive. If Giuliani doesn't win (and he's currently third in some polls), he is officially finished (as opposed to being unofficially finished for the past 3 weeks). A McCain victory almost guarantees he does well on Super Tuesday and wins the nomination. If Romney wins, the 2-man battle continues indefinitely. Unless Huckabee pulls off a major surprise, he will continue to fade into the distance. Paul can continue to run indefinitely due to the impressive amount of money he has raised, but is unlikely to ever move past the 10-12% of support he has reached in a few of the contested races. Since most Republican contests are winner-take-all as far as delegates go, that doesn't help much.

All of this means that tonight's debate on MSNBC should be intense. It many ways, it may be the last chance for someone to challenge McCain, who's been treated quite well in the debates. These are desperate times for many of these candidates, and that always makes things interesting.

And just to make sure we're all having fun, apparently Hillary Clinton will be sharing her thoughts on the debate live on Twitter. Well, this Hillary anyway: http://twitter.com/fakehillary :)

Too cool!

Our son Ben wrote a review of Dark River on Family Reads and one of the book's authors posted a kind comment!

The book is part of the Warriors series, which he absolutely loves; so much so that he spent his own money on the latest book rather than wait for the library to get it. If you know a 9-12 year old who likes stories of adventure (especially ones involving cats), these books are definitely worth checking out.

I wish I could send him a text message to let him know, but he'll have to wait until he gets home from school :)

When you add it up, Romney is the frontrunner

After Romney's big win last night in Michigan, I did some simple analysis of the first three Republican contests to see how the numbers add up. Even though three different people have won so far, the numbers show that Romney has received the most votes by a large margin (80K more than McCain and 230K more than Huckabee). I also averaged the percentage of the vote they received and Romney wins by 5%.

Here's the vote total and average percentage:

Romney: 443,139 32%

McCain: 361,546 27%

Huckabee: 207,308 20%

Paul: 84,554 8%

Thompson: 50,925 6%

Giuliani: 49,198 8%

I think these numbers are very interesting. First, it shows just how pathetic Giuliani's support has been, considering he was once the favorite. Even the remarkably lackluster Thompson has received more votes. The fact that Paul is well ahead of both of these "credible", "national" candidates is also telling.

Second, Huckabee's support seems much less than his press would indicate and Romney's much more. Though Romney was expected to win Iowa and New Hampshire in addition to Michigan, I believe a case could be made that Romney is the candidate in the best position to win the nomination. Not only does he have the best organization and most money, but the recent shift of attention towards the economy and away from social issues and Iraq/terrorism is a huge help.

South Carolina still presents problems for Romney, but until other candidates start dropping out, the "I'm the alternative to Romney" vote is too spread out (and lackluster) for anyone to knock him out.

If it's Romney vs. Clinton, I'm confident Mayor Bloomberg will run.

My first review

I finally posted my first review for Family Reads today. Up until now, Lori and Ben have been doing all the hard work (13 reviews already). I started with a favorite book from when Ben was much younger, Castle of Books.

One book, two reviews

A fun new thing on Family Reads this morning - our first co-review. Lori and Ben read a fantasy book together and decided to both review it for the site. I love seeing the different perspectives.

Check it out, for no other reason than to see the nearly Cute Overload-worthy co-review icon Lori created.

Papa's got a brand-new bag

My new bag from Timbuk2 has arrived! Check out the flickr set.

This is a customized bag that I had way too much fun creating. With Timbuk2, you can choose the color and fabric for each panel, as well as the bag interior. There's nothing quite like getting exactly what you want.

The Timbuk2 experience was everything I heard it would be. I've always been a fan of their website, but this was the first time I actually used it. Every step is fun; I love how the first sentence in your confirmation email is "Your new bag is gonna ROCK!". So far, it does.

3 looks at Clinton's victory

Maureen Dowd, Can Hillary Cry Her Way Back to the White House (the best piece I have read anywhere)

What was moving her so deeply was her recognition that the country was failing to grasp how much it needs her. In a weirdly narcissistic way, she was crying for us. But it was grimly typical of her that what finally made her break down was the prospect of losing.

Her argument against Obama now boils down to an argument against idealism, which is probably the lowest and most unlikely point to which any Clinton could sink. The people from Hope are arguing against hope.

Peggy Noonan, Who's Crying Now?

Between sobs she is going to try to destroy Mr. Obama. She is going to try to end him. She will pay a price for it--no one likes to see the end of a dream, no one likes a dream killer. But she will pay that price to win, and try to clean up the mess later.

Karl Rove, Why Hillary Won

Rather than sharpen and build on this message of contrast and change, Mr. Obama chose soaring rhetoric and inspirational rallies. While his speeches galvanized true believers at his events, his words were neither filling nor sustaining for New Hampshire Democrats concerned about the Clintons and looking for a substantive alternative.