Pakorakorner

It is a widely accepted rumor that Senator Hillary Clinton is being considered for Secretary of State. There have been follow on rumors that she is ready to accept the job. Meanwhile, there has been no shortage of analysis over whether this was the right move or not on the part of the President-elect. Some argue that their personal animosities from the primary days are unlikely to make her effective on the job. While this argument has its merits ...

The Republicans appear to have hit the panic button. There are plenty of signs of this. Some are having nightmares imagining President Obama in charge. The Republican talk radio circuit seems to have only Ayers to talk about. Sean Hannity is getting desperate. The McCain team seems to have completely run out of ideas that they had to resurrect the Ayers issue  -- something the Clintons tried and failed to gain traction on. As their ship appears to be sinking McCain and ...

The first debate was an overall disappointment. As I think back to the debate, the only lines I recall are "Senator Obama doesn't understand" and "John is right". Despite the change in debate format where each participant could question the other, neither candidate  chose to avail of this opportunity. So much for modern day debates. As always the first question that pops to mind after a debate is "Who won?". The truth is, its hard to say because there was no ...

Country First: The partisanship and divisive mindset of the Republican party was evident starting with very theme of this convention. The Country First theme automatically implies that the opponents are not patriotic and don't put their country first. There is also an implied assumption that only the Republicans put their country first. Ironically, despite John McCain's desire to distant himself from the President, this theme signifies a continuation of the "you are with us or with the enemy" rhetoric ...

Senator Barack Obama agreed to be interviewed by Bill O'Reilly. Fast-talking, aggressive, cut-and-dry answer seeking, conservative Mr. Bill O'Reilly against the charming, suave, liberal and "nuanced-answer-giving" Obama. How cool is that for an interesting match-up? The interview is appearing in four parts. Here is the first part that aired on Thurs night. The rest will be aired Mon through Wed of next week. Obama did very well in this first segment. Firstly, there were no gaffes. Secondly, he appeared calm and collected and ...

The first time I saw a picture of Sarah Palin, I must admit I thought it was an ad for eyeglasses! (and I am not making this up). I read that she a was a former Alaska state beauty pageant queen (No offense to Sarah Palin, but here is an example of an American beauty, Miss Teen USA from South Carolina). Selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate served as a tactical move to counter the media waves being generated ...

The selection of Senator Joe Biden appears to be a pragmatic move, one that is likely to bolster Senator Obama's chances of a victory. Experience, ability to reach out to the white working class (Hillary voters) and foreign policy expertise -- seem to have been the key reasons for selecting Biden. The conventional wisdom is that even if the VP does not hugely help the ticket, he or she shouldn't hurt the ticket. At the moment Biden is unlikely to ...

I happened to watch live the back to back one on one sessions of the two Presidential candidates with Rev Rick Warren at the Saddleback Church, CA. Senator Obama took questions for an hour followed by Senator McCain. The format was interesting in a number of ways. Firstly, the questions were quite different from those asked by conventional TV channels. There were hardly any follow on questions (which has its positives and negatives). On the flip side, the ...

Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif have finally decided to temporarily bury the hatchet and go after their common enemy, President Musharraf. After few attempts on his life and playing a cat and mouse game with the terrorists (for several years) while simultaneously keep the democratic process at bay, Pakistan's magic man Musharraf enters a new seemingly challenging phase in his political life. This time like many other times in the past seems like the end of the ...

Check out this new ad for Obama from MoveOn.org