Image of Gabby Giffords from source, Think Progress
Joe Heck has been a politician in Nevada for as long as I can remember, and I've been here for over 18 years. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses. But he hit the jackpot in the 2010 GOP wave election, defeating freshman Congreswoman Dina Titus (who was swept back into congress in the 2012 election), and is now a two-term US Congressman. My take on Heck was mildly negative, for admittedly shallow reasons: he is a Republican, and he reminds me of a sister wife, minus the upswept hairdo. I don't know why, maybe it was just his photo on his campaign signs. Anyway. . .
My negative opinion of Heck has gained a little depth since my original assessment. I've since heard Heck several times in interviews and call-in segments on local Las Vegas talk radio. And from what I've heard, Heck is Meet the Press ready, with canned GOP answers for every question. Sure, the answer may not fit the question to a T, but it is guaranteed to match whatever the talking points of the day are. And now, Heck may have said too much to one of those local hosts, a blowhard named Alan Stock. I think Heck may have gotten to conversational, too comfortable in the right-wing echo chamber.
[Excerpt] Congressman Considers Gabby Giffords A ‘Prop’ For Gun Regulations
Congressman Joe Heck (R-NV) on Tuesday agreed that he considers former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), who was a victim of an assassination attempt two years ago, a “prop” in the debate over gun regulations. . .
Now that we're on day 6 (or 10, counting the days between) of the conventions, I'm glad to say this stage is over. I anticipated President Obama's speech, but my brain is full, I want a couple of "no politics" days somewhere in here before the election! And, truth be told, days 1 and 2 of the DNC were hard acts to follow. Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton raised the bar so high, day 3 was bound to feel a little slow.
Of course, nobody better say one negative word about former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords saying the Pledge of Allegiance. If you do--and I say this as an atheist--you're going to hell. [Story continues below]
I missed a rather large chunk of the convention due to work and exercise on Thursday. So, I missed speeches by Caroline Kennedy, Scarlett Johanssen and Eva Longoria, though I plan to catch them in the next day or so (so much for politics-free days, I guess). I came in on Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, who was very feisty, and on message. Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist--now apparently a converted Democrat, or close--gave a nice speech that endorsed Obama while jabbing a finger in the eye of the party that he says left him.
John Kerry's speech was great, showing much more fire and spirit than I remember from his run in 2004. It was like he was getting his revenge or something, really zinging Romney, Ryan and the Republicans. . .oooh, RRR? Does that work out to 666 in some numerology thing? Never mind, moving on. . . Dr. Jill Biden was lovely and eloquent, which is great because she opened for her husband.
Joe Biden. . .sigh. . .oh, Joe. So earnest, so eager, so long. Joe said "literally" too much when he meant "figuratively" Joe wandered off script a few times. The material of his speech was fine, there was nothing wrong with his message. But I've really never been a fan of his style, and I think it slowed down the whole proceedings. Or, maybe that was the idea? [Story continues below]
The showcase for the night was of course President Barack Obama, his acceptance of the nomination, and his pitch to the country for reelection. By anybody else, this speech cooked. But from Obama, it was just very good. It wasn't lofty like Michelle's speech, and it wasn't a barn burner like Bill Clinton's. I think by design it was necessary to scale it back from the soaring rhetoric from 2008.
As Obama said--and I know it's going to infuriate conservatives--he's not a candidate anymore, he is the President of the United States. He's not a blank slate as he was (and as Romney is), and can't base the entire speech on hope and change. He had to ground this speech, and build it upon the notion of continuing hope and change begun, but not yet finished. So, necessarily, this couldn't be the spiritual high we all got from Invesco Field in Denver the last time. And though his speech didn't top his wife's, and didn't top President Clinton's. . .he still blew Mitt Romney's speech out of the water. No contest.
Rep. Gabby Giffords returned to the House for the vote.
Image from source, MSNBC
Good. I mean bad. I mean good? How about meh? It still has to pass the Senate and then President Obama has to sign it. But after that--at least after this weekend's Sunday shows--maybe we can stop talking about this. I'm very glad I'm going home to Ohio for the better part of a week. Hopefully, when I return there will be other things to talk about.
[Excerpt]
House passes bill to prevent US default
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed bitterly fought, compromise debt-limit legislation Monday night that would prevent a U.S. default on its obligations but at a cost of deep cuts in government spending. . .
