Devastated

OK. So maybe I'm being a little melodramatic, but I am seriously bummed bordering on upset that John Edwards suspended his presidential campaign today. It caught me totally off-guard. I didn't expect him to win the nomination, but was expecting him to be in it at least through Super Tuesday and honor his pledge to stay in it through the convention. I believed it especially after Noah left to head up a signature-gathering campaign in Indiana. Just yesterday I received an e-mail asking for money so they could hit a specific dollar amount by the end of the month (thankfully, I held off on that donation).

Of the top three Democrats, he was the one with the vision and the policy knowledge to work through the details and put thoughtful answers to many of the key issues facing our nation out there. Unfortunately, he was completely overshadowed by Sens. Clinton and Obama. I think when Obama threw his hat in the ring, he was to this election what John Edwards was four years ago - the fresh face touting change. As an African-American, he also brought a "rock-star" quality that frankly John didn't have.

The article I read on CNN.com indicated that he wasn't getting enough media exposure to be competitive on Super Tuesday. That was definitely the case - all the major news outlets were essentially ignoring him and focusing on Sens. Clinton and Obama. They tried to downplay the money issue, but lets face it - he didn't have the money to spend on TV advertising so average Americans really weren't exposed to him. By ignoring him, the mainstream media made it a two-person race because a race between a woman and an African-American garners more ratings, sells more papers and drives more Internet hits than a three person race between a woman, an African-American and a white Southern man.

Isn't it ironic that John got more media coverage today than in the last two months?

I know I'll end up voting for a Democrat in November. I know that because John was able to set the debate, Sens. Clinton and Obama plans on a lot of issues are essentially the same. There are some minor differences in there.

On a different note, Ralph Nader is considering another White House bid. I hope he gets a visit from Gov. Howard Dean, MD and gets a good beating. It's because of Ralph Nader in the first place that we've had to endure the last seven years.

PS - On our way to LA this past weekend, when we stopped at a Starbucks in Baker, someone with Nevada plates had a vanity plate "4 Bush 2" I am all for supporting your candidate, but limit it to some bumper stickers and yard signs. Don't pay the money for a vanity plate - that'll be with you for years unless you pay to switch it.

First goal achieved!

I used to get nervous about getting on the scale. However, today I got on the scale at the gym with my trainer for a set of measurements. I have met my first goal!

We recalculated my plan with some new goals, and I think they are ultimately do-able. We are going to focus on some weight loss, but also maintaining Lean Body Mass and hopefully building some.

I'm so excited. It makes me happy. One may even say happy-ful!

So pretty

First, let me say that it's freakin' cold out there today! The rain that moved through definitely cleared junk out of the air. But it's still cold.

This being said, I'm used to seeing snow on Mt. Charleston. However today, there was snow on the Sheep Mountains just north of my house and most of the Spring Mountains west of town had some snow on them. I know it created some havoc for folks coming in from Pahrump, but this doesn't happen that often so it's a nice little treat.

Step away from the blog...

Hi. My name is Ken and I have a problem. I have recently been told that I am a political snob, and have agreed that this, indeed, the case. I have little to no tolerance when people do not have the same level of knowledge that I do and do not do the same amount of research that I take the time to do.


At the same time, I also have no tolerance for people that want no part of the process. These are the people that we elect to make decisions on how to spend our tax dollars. That people aren't interested in that drives me absolutely nuts.


I also need to stop reading JohnEdwards.com's blog and the comments on the Las Vegas Sun's website. I get all fired up. I just need to step away from the blogs, that's all.


Oh, and here's a picture of John Edwards and I from an appearance last week in Las Vegas.


I wonder if they have a 12 step program for people like me.

So I've been busy...

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. Again, it was one of those things where I was wanting to blog, started a half a dozen posts and then ditched them.

It's been a crazy, but absolutely amazing couple of weeks. How so? Let me count the ways.

First, as many of you know, I was both a Temporary Chair for the Nevada Democratic Presidential Caucuses and a Precinct Captain for the John Edwards for President Campaign. I've spent a lot of my free time since the beginning of the year canvassing my precinct (I got lucky and had a small precinct - just four communities) trying to make sure folks knew about the caucus and to try and sell them on my candidate. Unfortunately, I was finding a lot of support for Sen. Obama, some for Sen. Clinton and some for my guy with a chunk of undecideds. I definitely got to know my neighbors and I'd say it was a good experience.

Caucus Day was insane. With such a small precinct (200 or so registered Democrats) turnout was projected between 20 and 40. Eighty-four people showed up. It was impressive. No one expected that many. It was a little chaotic as folks were trying to either figure out of find their precincts. Unfortunately, John wasn't viable. I'm still kicking myself a little bit (I'll get over it soon, I promise) for not making a deal with the Clinton people to ensure our viability so we could have gotten a delegate, but oh well. It really wouldn't have made a difference statewide.

With all the campaign appearances this week, we saw John twice. Once at the Egg and I. We met Madeline Stowe from Last of the Mohicans and his national campaign manager Rep. David Bonior. Keds and I were interviewed by NPR. Keds actually made it on the radio. we had pictures taken with the Senator and made in on the Channel 8 News. We went to a pre-debate rally that was cool, but we left with a little less of our voice. We saw John again at a town hall meeting in Henderson with Madeline Stowe and James Denton from Desperate Housewives. I sat behind the Senator, and made it in a couple of shots, again on Channel 8. Finally at the "after-party" on Caucus day I met Jean Smart, of Designing Women, 24 and Samantha Who? fame. I got my picture taken with her as well.

This past Sunday was Keds' birthday. On Saturday, we had a group outing to Samba at the Mirage. It's her favorite restaurant and a number of our friends were there and she had a blast. Then it was back to our house for some fun with our new Wii. On Sunday, I took Keds to a movie and dinner. Then back to the house for Costco Birthday Cake.

In the middle of all this, we got to see some out-of-town friends. Shawn was here for a few days from Reading. She stayed here and it was good to visit. Keds' friend Marc from Phoenix was here and he came by for dinner on Monday. My friend Darrell was here from Nashville, and we had dinner with him Tuesday night. Oh, and did we mention we had two guys from the Edwards campaign staying here? They really just used us as a place to crash, but that weren't intrusive. This being said, we'll be happy to get our house back.

Sorry for the marathon post. I'll try and post a little more often so I can keep the posts more manageable. For those of you that caucused, how was your experience?