Character and Numbers, Round 17X

First, the numbers:

Since Mississippi went Obama -->

Pledged Delegates: Obama up by 150 - 160 depending on whose numbers you believe (and believe it or not, all of Ohio isn't in, and he pulled a few more in California as just last weekend they certified the results)

SuperDelegates -- Hillary up by 38, about to fall to 37 once Eliot Spitzer resigns. (And dammit, I lost the pool, I had 2:30 yesterday afternoon).

Total Delegates -- Obama up by 110- 120

Popular vote -- Obama up by close to 700,000

HHHMMM -- Seems we have an actual front runner…..

So now let's return to character.

Building on yesterday's dual definitions of "interesting to watch" and "of high moral standing" à

Let's start with CNN. Each network picks the stock photo they use to put up of candidates with the returns. On CNN they have great photos of ALL the candidates EXCEPT John McCain -- for some reason they picked a photo that makes him look like a caricature of the devil. In addition, they SERIOUSLY messed up their delegate counts.

Then on to Eliot Spitzer. The more news that comes out, the more appalling the whole thing is. My favourite tidbit was learning that while working in the prosecutor's office, he called FROM the office, to get a call girl. AMAZING.

Today's winner is a tough call between Geri Ferraro and Hillary Clinton. Who to pick for the greatest lapse of character? And in all honesty, I find this so appalling that there is no room for humour here.

Should we pick Geri Ferraro for saying Obama got where he is just because he is black? Not that she said it, but that she unapologetically believes it. When Paterson takes over the NY governorship later today or tomorrow, he will be the fourth black governor in our country's history. EVER. (You should be easily able to list 2 of the 3 others, the third you'll have to look up.) To get somewhere in politics, blacks need to be special. They need to work harder to achieve the same ends as whites. With the exception of Wilson Goode, John Street and Marion Barry, they need to be exceedingly competent. HOW DARE SHE denigrate someone who has put together an exemplary organization, out-raised every other candidate in history in total dollars and number of donors, and put forth a message we haven't heard since JFK?

Then again, what do you expect? Let's remember that Geri's parents were indicted for gambling when she was a kid. The indictments were dropped because her dad died. Her husband was indicted and pleaded guilty to a host of fun things including not paying his taxes, taking money from a women's and orphan's fund, renting warehouse space to pornographers, and a bunch of real estate issues. Geri herself was cited by the House for personal improprieties in the use of her campaign funds.

So OF COURSE this is the kind of person Hillary picks for her finance committee. It DOES pay to learn from the best…..and if you go back and read the time line of Geri's problems with her husband John Zaccaro's tax returns DURING the race, you'll see immediate parallels and understand why Hillary won't release HER tax records -- mostly because she files jointly with Bill. (Geri and John filed separately).

Or should we give the lack of character win to Hillary?

In EVERY situation, be it a political campaign, or a business, a group (PETA, Sierra Club, even the KKK) or even an extended family in some ways -- each individual is in some ways responsible for his actions. And if Geri wants to be a racist crook -- that's her business. In certain ways, if she does her job, it MAY be acceptable to an employer.

But it is true that 100% of the time -- tone, guiding principles, honor, and character come top down. If you run a business, a political campaign or a family it is incumbent upon you to set the framework within which people operate. Many years ago, I took a job doing consulting work in D.C. The major client was the US DOT. I worked there for 6 weeks and was asked to do something that indicated that the company was basically stealing money from government contracts. I was raised right, and I live on principle, so I went to the owner of the company, assuming that he didn't know what my immediate boss was doing. He explained to me that I was young, naïve, and didn't know how the system worked -- that government contracts were tailor made to be "used in the best interests of the people who know how to work them". I quit. 3 people were indicted. The company tone was that it was all right to steal.

Hillary Clinton has set a tone that says it is okay to lie, cheat, steal, rip the party apart, and appeal to fear. In certain ways, she is the Richard Nixon of our time -- don't believe me? She recently said that "AS FAR AS I KNOW" Barack Obama is not a Muslim. She knows he's not. We ALL know. But the line she used is a take on something Dick used to say all the time: "Well, OTHER people would say "x", but not me, I wouldn't say "x"" -- he got to make the accusation twice, shrug and wink. And folks, if Hillary is the Dick of our time, Geri could easily become her Bebe Rebozo.

And so, while I'd like to award lack of character to Geri or Hillary, it actually goes to the media. Certainly I'm not the only one who knows Geri's past, nor can see the Nixonian parallels -- so how is it that they don't bother mentioning it? Is collective memory that short?