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How Ben Stein Destroyed Intelligent Design

Now, I’m no big city lawyer. But, while the scientist/rationalist side of me could not object more strenuously to Ben Stein’s “documentary,” Expelled, the lawyer side of me is giggling like a schoolgirl. And here’s why.

(Author’s Note – this is a long post! Skip to “Now, until Ben Stein came along…” if you know what intelligent design is.)

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Scorched Earth Primaries

So, here’s the problem. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are stellar candidates, and the Democrats are lucky to have them. The protracted primary campaign season may not even be all that bad – after all, America is being saturated with pictures of individuals, one of whom we hope will win in November. And all publicity is good publicity, right?

Wrong. I’m all for a vibrant primary debate, but it strikes me that some of the partisans on either side of the Clinton/Obama divide are taking the struggle a little too personally, and losing sight of the eventual victory we hope to secure. In short, there’s a right and a wrong way to campaign: if we hope to win in November, neither Democratic candidate should be attacking the other on an issue that may hurt that person, if he or she wins the nomination, in November. We do not want to hand ammunition to John McCain.

Let’s examine some of the rhetoric. Recently, Barack Obama commented that McCain would be a better president than the most recent George W. Bush. Hillary quickly fired back, calling into account Obama’s liberal credentials, and holding him accountable for failing to hit upon what must be a Democratic mantra – that McCain is just an older Bush.

Good. Primaries ought to be about refining our image, and putting our differences with the Republicans on show. But, simultaneously, Hillary has been pounding Obama for his (notably numerous) verbal gaffes. Bad. Yes, this increases Hillary’s chances of victory, but it also increases McCain’s chances of victory if Obama gets the nomination.

Hillary needs to be looking far enough ahead to stay off topics that make Obama look unelectable. It ought to be a general rule of thumb that, in a closely contested, important election, candidates from the same party ought to stay away from subjects that wound their fellow Democrats viz. the Republicans. While this may narrow the field of attacks, it’s a matter of party discipline, one of the key components of national victory (as Karl Rove has taught us all).

So, to Mrs. Clinton (and her supporters) – your victory over Obama may be important to you, but is it important enough to jeopardize a Democratic victory in November? The answer ought to be a resounding “no.” Scorched earth primaries are bad for the Democrats, and consequentially, bad for America.

P.S. The picture is from a site a friend and I drew up, called “Pollcats,” which “lolcaptioned” pictures of political candidates. I’m still a fan.

The Pennsylvania Primary: Predicting the Spin

Throughout the campaign, a very hyperactive press has tried to affirmatively predict and steer the nomination process. The unity has been remarkable. Prior to Hillary’s win in New Hampshire, she couldn’t win; she was finished. Then she was the inevitable victor… until Obama’s winning streak, when Hillary’s retirement was either imminent or (in my eyes at the time) overdue.

Obviously, reality has been no barrier to the 24-hour news networks trying to talk the future into existence by repetition. I’m expecting no less after today. The message for a long time has been that, not only must Hillary win Pennsylvania, but she has to. Now, it’s looking like she will, but not by a huge margin, and not by the margin predicted so long ago. So what will the news networks do with that? Without a decisive event, either way, what will the spin be?

If I had to bet – and I just may – I think the spin will be for an Obama victory. After all, if he stays at or around 45% in Pennsylvania, he’ll have shown he can fend off serious gaffes and still maintain his appeal. He’ll have his massive war chest intact. And he will have “beat the spread.”

But that leaves us precisely in the status quo. With time slipping away until the general election, an increasingly divisive primary, and Hillary, who has said time and again that she won’t quit. There will be no resolution in sight, and no impetus to make one happen.

If that’s how the media goes, it’s time for a behind-the-scenes deal to wrap this up.