Interesting story at the New York Times Blog about a 527 group setup in Senator Barack Obama’s name. The problem is, of course, Obama has repeatedly come out against such organizations and officially isn’t too pleased with the group. A position that is not stopping Vote Hope 2008.

527’s are a form of tax-exempt organization named after the section of the tax code which created them. Basically they are political organizations that are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission or by a state elections commission, and are not subject to the same contribution limits as Political Action Committees. An example being the Swift Boat Veterans of 2004’s election cycle, a group privately funded which viciously attacked John Kerry’s war record and operated outside the Bush/Cheney campaign.

I don’t honestly know how much war deferments matter these days. Dick Cheney had five and still was able to openly tell John Kerry he was unpatriotic and allow others to suggest Kerry did not deserve his purple hearts. Bill Clinton before Cheney was still able to become president in-spite of his so called “draft-dodging” and so those still wanting to fight the Vietnam War in American politics seem to have less of a voice then ever.

The latest revelation about Mitt Romney, that he received deferments for academic and missionary work during Vietnam, might not matter directly then. It is, however, a continuation of a counter-narrative. That his varmint hunting wasn’t the grand NRA vision of manliness, that his constant flip-flops represent a potential for mistrust for social conservative and that his years of service in Massachusetts might not equate enough experience to manage a global war.

Republicans are attempting to take a hardline on Iraq & fighting global terrorism. They are reprising the 2004 theme of “voting against us is voting against winning the war”, which might work if the candidate is adept at security issues, it doesn’t stack up so well if the candidate isn’t a credible source on the subject.

Also it doesn’t help he was in FRANCE at the time. Which should rile up some conservatives as well.

Obviously this is one article and shouldn’t be taken as gospel truth, though it is the cover of this months issue and it is an interesting article. When it was reported a few years ago that Senator Clinton had formed a friendship with Rupert Murdoch it was the first sign things might be changing. When you consider the economic picture of the Clinton years though and the economic picture right now, you have to imagine more then a few CEO’s and investors are liking the prospect of a second Clinton presidency that could potentially improve on their already attractive record.

I personally am also working on this premise. There is absolutely nothing offered by John Edwards that would attract businesspeople or investors. If anything his plans could outright scare away those with money. Meanwhile Barack Obama offers slightly more in that he isn’t offering up much in the way of concrete plans at the moment. So it is a chose-your-own-adventure atmosphere at the moment.

However his recent attack on American automakers did seem to raise some red flags recently. So using logic and deduction one has to believe that at least a few business-types are more open to a centrist leaning Clinton over a far-left leaning Edwards and a potentially left-leaning Obama. Now does that mean against a true Reagan-type Republican candidate Clinton will easily walk away with it? No, but primary-wise it might mean a lot.

From the article describing a meeting with Republican Morgan Stanley chief administrative officer Thomas Nides:
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I have to be honest with you, the skeptic in me (which is to say, me) never believes any candidate or entertainment person ever actually blogs themselves. Unless they are Kevin Smith of course. However according to this article Fred Thompson just loves blogging and will continue to do so after he begins the campaign. So how can you not believe a fluff piece with no real news written in Reuters? Exactly, it is nearly impossible so I have to believe Fred Thompson is indeed one of us.

So I will continue going along with this logic as well as the overwhelmingly plausible idea that the voters spoke and handed Hillary Clinton a Celine Dion song as well.

Bad, inaccurate and silly articles and headlines are no doubt going to be the norm for this election. The next in line for todays top spot is the following:

New Yorkers Crowd White House Field

Listen, there are two New Yorkers running, that is hardly a crowded field. Meanwhile there is a third guy who has said he won’t run BUT whom the press is building up as a candidate. Even if he did run, that would be three. There are currently twenty-plus people running. Less than 10% of that field is from NY. That is by no means crowded.

If you are going to count Bloomberg then you have to count EVERYONE ELSE who is rumored to run. Gringrich & Gore etc. At which point you could also make the following headline:

“The Letter G Dominates presidential names”

Once Fred Thompson gets into the race you can also say “Thompsons Crowd Presidential Field”.