The importance of running a Presidential campaign

Hillary_Clinton_2008 022608 On the heels of the Frank Rich/NY Times column castigating the Hillary Clinton campaign team, one of the best business law professors in the U.S. explains why the ability to run a large political campaign is an important qualification of a President:

A virtue of our political system as it is operated today is that it ensures that no one can be elected president who cannot run a major organization. This may not be enough – Bush ran two smooth campaigns but has had more trouble running a war. But it should at least be the price of admission.

And candidates should keep all this in mind before they go bashing "big business." If the candidates can’t achieve the same level of competence as the firms they bash in bringing order out of chaos, they should just stay in the Senate and let others do the more important jobs.

Read the entire post. As this Richard Murray post indicates, early voting trends in Texas do not look good for the Clinton campaign.
By the way, did you catch the following Jon Stewart crack during the Oscars?: “Away From Her is about a woman who forgets about her husband. Hillary Clinton called it the feel-good movie of the year.”

"Re"-examination?

HoustonChronicle logo 022608 Kevin Whited over at BlogHouston.net notices a little news you can use from Houston’s leading news source:

The Chronicle ran a correction that was notable for its length today:

An article in Feb. 18 editions repeated charges made by Republican candidate for Congress Dean Hrbacek that a law firm, Williams & Jensen, had ties to Jack Abramoff. The article also cited reports that the firm’s managing partner, L. Steven Hart, traveled with a group of government officials and lobbyists to Scotland to play golf.

After being contacted by Williams & Jensen concerning the accuracy of the article, the Houston Chronicle’s re-examination has revealed that Hart’s correct name is J. Steven Hart, that there is no credible evidence that Hart traveled to Scotland with government officials on one of Abramoff’s trips or otherwise, and, also, that there is no credible evidence that Williams and Jensen has any "ties" to Abramoff or his lobbying activities.

Gosh, given the results of the Chron’s re-examination, where was the research for the original examination performed? Over a beer at the local icehouse?

Going for 13 in a row

Carl Landry It’s quite rare that one of my predictions about the Rockets actually comes true. But after disposing of the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night, the hometown team is going for its 13th win in a row tonight (and their 17th in their last 18 games) against the Washington Wizards at the Toyota Center.

Dave Berri breaks down one of the main reasons for the Rockets’ streak. Turns out that the best NBA rookie from Texas this season may very well not be former UT star Kevin Durant.

Update: As usual, I spoke too soon. The Rockets’ surge just hit a very large speed bump this afternoon. All-Star center Yao Ming is out for the season with a stress fracture in his foot. Dave Berri already assesses the probable impact on the Rockets’ season.