Chelsea Clinton gives her Mom a Mother’s Day present (sadly, she’s not a Superdelegate): a message about what a devoted mother she is. She asks us all to sign her card.
Sound bite: “I want to wish every mother out there a happy Mother’s Day. And remember your little girls can be anything they want to be in America when they grow up. Even if it’s to be the second woman President.” (Or maybe vice president….)
Elizabeth Edwards says campaign is theater — and includes her husband’s in that observation — but says once in 10 years, you get to see what a candidate would be like as president when something important happens. That moment in this campaign, she says, came with the Bhutto assassination in Pakistan. She brags that every candidate went for the microphone but not her John, who went for the telephone.
Laura Ingraham talks with Jeri Thompson, Fred’s wife (does her face look oddly frozen to you? find me a wrinkle, find me a muscle that moves). She doesn’t say much but then, she doesn’t speak much.
John McCain’s mother, Roberta McCain, 85, goes on TV and supports her son, who can’t get a word in edgewise.
Sound bite from Mom: “I have a slogan… McCain is the full package. I think that’s an athletic expression.”
On “the age issue,” she says, “Well, it is an issue. I can think of a lot of 71-year-old people who would be too old.” But she says he works hard and doesn’t flag.
“Kucinich TV” has a snazzy new intro — would work for a sitcom once this campaign stuff is over — and a snazzy anchor: Elizabeth Kucinich. But it’s pretty much the same old speech.
The family values folks are having a convention and Mitt tells them he’s all about family values (no gay families, thank you).
Sound Bite: “It’s not just what happens in the White House that matters, it’s also what happens in your house that matters.”
Pro-Choice? Not on your life?
Sound Bite: “I’ll oppose taxpayer funding of abortion. I’ll oppose partial birth abortion. I’ll oppose abortion in military clinics. I’ll oppose funding abortion in international aid programs. And I’ll work to ban embryonic cloning.”
Mitt says a Republican must be a social conservative to win the White House. (And that ain’t you know who.)
Sound Bite: “We’re not going to beat Hillary Clinton by acting like Hillary Clinton.”
In New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton continues courting middle-class voters with a host of family-oriented proposals: paid family leave, extending the family and medical leave act, 7 sick days a year for every American, etc. And how to pay for it? By closing those pesky tax loopholes.
Sound Bite: “Too many Americans today feel trapped between being there for their kids and being there for their employer.”
Last night took place at one of my all time favorite hotels “The Valley Ho” in Phoenix. The Valley Ho is a retro-tastic hotel that is designed in a sleek 60’s décor and makes you feel like an unofficial member of the ratpack (Frank Sinatra used to frequent the spot with Ava Gardner). The event took place on the rooftop of the hotel with the desert skyline serving as a backdrop to the party. It was one of the first official announcements we have made about the blog and there really is no better place to officially kickoff this blogging adventure than surrounded by friends and family. My Dad’s speech was peppered with an abundance of standup comedy. He was having way too much fun cracking jokes at my expense, showing off his “$150,000 screensaver” on his cellphone which has a picture of us at my Columbia graduation on it! My 16 year old sister Bridget was also there (check out our serious picture together) and we spent most of the night dancing together to our favorite Madonna tunes that were being spun by a DJ.
The Edwards campaign knows well the asset it has in Elizabeth Edwards, who’s more of a First Mom to America than Fred Thompson’s or Rudy Giuliani’s — or Hillary Clinton’s — mates. Today, they put out a video with her talking intimately, quietly at the camera — no crowds, no music. She just talks to us. And tries to make us feel guilty. Like a mom. She tells us we can’t wait to make a difference, join the campaign, change the world, all that. “The truth is, we don’t have all the time in the world.” Of course, those words have a different resonance coming from someone who is fighting incurable cancer.
John Edwards wins a Father of the Year award and tells a stirring story about climbing a mountain with his late son:
Uh, would it be untoward to wonder how going on the road constantly even as the mother of your children is battling cancer qualifies one as father of the year? Well, I suppose it was an easy win over Rudy Giuliani.
The five Romney brothers launched a campaign blog complete with RSS feeds for each family member and two YouTube videos, one from Josh Romney reporting that his dad “gave one of the best [speeches] I’ve ever heard” and an introduction from the eldest frere Romney:
I’ll bet Rudy Giuliani is hoping his son does not make any videos or blogs.
