Comments on: Quotes of the Day

By: renminbi

renminbi — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:55:55 +0000

The 95% rule apllies election eve-sample size:several hundred.

By: Lexington Green

Lexington Green — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:47:45 +0000

2112 is the first and only chance we will get to vote out President Obama.

Start planning now.

By: boqueronman

boqueronman — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:39:43 +0000

2112? That’s a long time to wait. Besides which all the coastal dwellers will have drowned in the rising sea levels by then. But, at least Washington, D.C. should be only a memory by then.

By: Vince P

Vince P — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:58:35 +0000

How many days before the event is the prediction always correct?

By: renminbi

renminbi — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:42:14 +0000

Intrade gives odds,polls give voting intentions at a specific time-two very different things.At election time Intrade is a very reliable predictor;the favored candidate in each state wins over 95% of the time.

By: frieda

frieda — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:25:40 +0000

Regarding intrade,
they had hillary winning the nomination at 60 , so I don’t buy “intrade” predictions!

By: Eddie

Eddie — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:38:19 +0000

People do talk like this. They’re just in state capitols, not Washington.

Thomas PM Barnett blogged a few months ago about a David Ignatius piece discussing Pennsylvania’s “comeback” led by decent public sector leadership and short-term sacrifice by its private sector pillars to reinvest in future tech and worker ed over the past 20 years. He said something like “this is the grand American experiment, 50 states in 50 directions looking for what works”.
Reading old stuff from Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Michael Lind and Henry Adams, I am almost worrying less about the federal government’s direction and worrying much, much more about states.
Alaska has a great governor with an eye to the future, much like Florida, Kansas, Montana, Connecticut, South Carolina. Then you have states like Michigan, Illinois, Alabama and New York. America’s future depends more on these 50 different governors and their legislators than all the federal government pinheads. If they can get it right more often, we succeed as a nation. Waiting on solid (let alone effective) leadership from the federal government might be a hopeless proposition for the next decade or more. The governors can get it done, just like Sarah Palin is currently.

Regarding energy, I wonder why we’re not developing sugarcane ethanol in some of the Everglades Charlie Crist & Florida just bought from US Sugar. With inefficient corn ethanol down the tubes, we need to seize the opportunity across the board and develop what works in different states.

By: Ellen K

Ellen K — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:43:52 +0000

People do talk like this, but not in public. The media is full of folks who like to cloud issues with extraneous arguments. And the worst problem is that the worshipful attitude toward certain candidates has made their words golden, even when they are based on flawed logic. I watched them build Thunderhorse over a series of years. It takes time. And the sooner we start the better. Contrary to some ignorant folks in Congress’ beliefs, oil is not a migratory beast that can be hunted. For every pumping wellhead, there are ten to twenty dry holes. Having a lease for off-shore is no guarantee that there is oil in unexplored areas, but limiting access to KNOWN oil producing areas is folly. Like it or not, oil is going to be the main fuel source for the next ten to twenty years. We can push alternative sources, but the fact is that they just aren’t up to the levels of production we need now. And BTW, for all those with hybrid cars, once you hit highway speeds, you are using just as much fuel as a standard vehicle. Do you know ANYONE who drives at posted speeds? I didn’t think so. And I am just a lowly high school teacher. If I can figure this out, why can’t those overpaid bigshots in Washington?