Dolly Strazar, Muhammad Ali, and the next Vice President of the United States [View All]

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I) THE GREAT NATIONAL SUSPENSE IS OVER

Today 448 days after fellow Hawaiian Senator Barack Obama announced his candidacy and 92 days after Senator Obama won the Hawaiian primary with 76% of the vote Hawaiian Super Delegate Dolly Strazar was able to finally able to sort through all of the complex issues of the campaign and decided to announce that she has made up her mind. The entire country eagerly awaited how this DNC representative would go after so much careful consideration. Today we know.

She supports Senator Barack Obama.

Oh and in other fast breaking news the pope is still Catholic and the Junta in Burma doesn't care about the suffering of the Burmese people.

In other earth shattering super delegate news the country was shocked that political world Senator Akaka from Hawaii, DNC Roark from Idaho (Obama won by 80%) and Rep Tom Allen from Maine (Obama won by 60%) all finally made up their minds today and endorsed a presidential candidate.

All for Senator Obama.




II) THE DREADED SPORTS ANALOGY

Nothing is more tediuous than the sports analogy, the fourth quarter - ninth inning - overtime - all evoking the futile attempt to overcome an overwhelming lead with a short clock.

What we are witnessing here however has no other analogy than to what happened on October 30, 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). The rope-a-dope strategy was used by Muhammad Ali to lay back on the ropes while a much younger and stronger George Foreman expelled all his own arm strength pummeling Ali who had his staff loosen the ropes so he could lean back while Foreman hit him. By leaning back into the ropes Foreman had to reach further and further and in the searing heat used up all his strength.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumble_in_the_Jungle
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Ali had told his trainer, Angelo Dundee, and his fans that he had a secret plan for Foreman. Almost right away in the second round, Ali started lying on the ropes and letting Foreman punch him, without any attempt to attack Foreman himself (a strategy Ali later dubbed the rope-a-dope).

As a result Foreman spent all his energy throwing punches (in oven-like heat), that either did not hit Ali or were blocked in a way that would do little damage to Ali. This loss of energy is the key to the "rope-a-dope" technique.
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In the 5th round Ali started hammering Foreman by the 6th and 7th he was teetering and in the 8th Ali knocked him out.
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Some argue this to have been among the greatest demonstrations of strategic planning and actual execution ever displayed in a heavyweight fight. Ali came into the fight with a tactical plan, executed it and achieved an upset for the ages, becoming only the second heavyweight ever to regain a championship.
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III) SENATOR CLINTON COMES OUT WITH A BANG

Senator Clinton showed her Formanesque strength in the primaries by starting with 165 Super Delegates and quickly built that number up to 224 before Super Tuesday. Forty One super delegates from New York quickly jumped on board. Obama sat back and loosened the ropes. Those pesky Hawaiian Super Delegates sure take a long time to do research on their native son. Hawaii has 2 Super Delegates in vacant positions,they haven't even bothered to fill the Chairman and Vice Chairman position. It's not the Eighth round yet.

Idaho super delegates also are very careful to consider an 80% landslide. Maine super delegates don't like to rush anything.

There are still 41 super delegates from states that Obama won by landslides. Not the states he won by 5 or 10 points, landslides.

Just a whole bunch of really carefully minded folks.

DNC Edward Smith just wants to get to know the candidates better. He wants to review their platforms. Ed is from Illinois, where evidently, they are very slow readers.





IV) THE OBLIGATORY CINEMATIC REFERENCE, PICKING THE VP.

Well the Obama campaign has provided us with an amazing demonstration of patience. They did the analysis and planning. And they were patient.

When all of those other SDs were being announced in Dec-Jan they just sat on their ammo. They knew that it is better to come from below. They knew that 40 news cycles were better than 2. They knew that there would be bad days when they needed a bunch of Super Delegates to soften the blow - oh by the way there is a primary somewhere tomorrow. Thursday, more super delegates are predicted with a drizzle to continue to the weekend when add on SDs are expected en masse.

So when it comes to picking the VP, I am glad that there is a team of strategic planners who have shown to be so strategic in their planning that I don't have to worry about it. They are not going to rush into the decision. They are going to factor in every possible angle. They are going to take as much time as ole Ed Smith in IL is in deciding who to support.

Me, whatever they decide that is what I want. Its almost as good as sex. Yes I'll have what she is having:





Who are they going to pick for Vice President? You can listen to all of the pundits, look at the polls, search for the wise DU analysis.

Me? I am going to ask Muhammad Ali.