Having relegated the Capital Confidential's voyeuristic political blogging to a brief daily scan, I found this piece by Caleb Johnson of the Keene Free Press a delightful change, here's an excerpt about a recent trip by Hillary to New Hampshire and some Ron Paul too;
She even agreed wholeheartedly with a questioner who said that the government needs to provide free universal college education. But she failed to put forward any ideas for paying for her programs. She criticizes the President for spending money that the country doesn't have, and then in the next breath proceeds to draw up her own spending sprees. Her position on health care was no different. She asserted that the country needs universal health care, provided freely to all citizens. We all need three meals a day too. But that doesn't mean government should pay for it. But again, Clinton put forward no plan for paying for her schemes. . . . . Overall, Clinton's visit to Keene was disappointing. A friend described her performance as “thirty minutes of clichés.”
After such a brutal put down you would think that the Ron Paul article to follow would be as harsh as the Senator's shakedown. I was pleasantly surprised. My own critique of his Free State speech was harsher. Here's Johnson on Paul . . .
Throughout his substantive analysis, Paul was warm and friendly. He was interrupted often by applause, which he handled gracefully. At one point, he told the group, “I love leaving Washington and coming out to speak with the people. I never get applause when I speak in Congress.” The crowd chuckled. If he's making Congress uneasy, that's probably a good sign.Throughout his speech, Paul was never vindictive. He didn't point a finger of blame at the President or at fellow Congressmen. He resisted any temptation to blame the Democrats for all that ails the nation. Instead, he consistently highlighted the fact that these problems have been going on for a long time. They are systemic failures, not the failures of a single person or a single administrator. In a political climate that rewards divisiveness, this too was refreshing.
Guess this makes me one of those 2008 voyeurs.