If Jose Gomez changes his name – via marriage or simply desire – to Josh George, how do you know he is, or should be counted as, part of the Hispanic voting bloc? Or, if I were to change my name from Ackerman (Is that really Jewish?) to Atkins, how would one know I’m part of the Jewish-American vote?

You don’t. So, why are the commentators – with such serious suits and eyes – telling us to follow the voting trends of these seeming tribes? Seems misleading to me, if not analysis devoid of reliable content.

May the best human win. Amen.

The post What exactly is the ethnic vote? appeared first on Larry Ackerman.

I’m not necessarily a Romney fan. But here’s what I think is going on: Romney has the great, good fortune of not having to defend his presidential track record. Despite his Governorship, he’s a ‘Federal virgin’ – he hasn’t been the president and, so, can get up there and say whatever he wants to say, with little risk.

Obama on the other hand, is wearing his track record on his sleeve, for all to see (taste, touch, smell, feel) and judge. He’s got nowhere to hide. That’s his handicap and it showed last night.

So, what’s the President to do? He’ll never win playing defense, which is how he came across in the debate. Who said, when the going gets tough, the tough get going? Sounds like sound advice, to me.

Mr. President – Get tough. Stop worrying about what you have/haven’t done (and what’s been done to you). Find the fire you had 4 years ago and light it. If you don’t, you run the risk of flaming out.

The post Obama’s handicap appeared first on Larry Ackerman.

I heard Romney’s retort to Obama’s speech about the killings in Libya. It was pathetic…”what, no statement of outrage?” Puhlease…

It’s easy to follow the leader (!) with criticism. Now you have a target. It’s a lot harder to state what you believe, on your own.

People used to call Christmas the “sad season” because so many of us get depressed because we’re “supposed” to be happy – and maybe we’re just not.

This election is the sad season for me. A depressing barrage of “mine’s bigger than yours,” or some such version of how can I best separate me from you?

In short, we’re in the season of catch-up, political baseball. So far, I see no clear winner…but Mr. Romney is doing a good job of playing catcher-up.

The post Romney catch-up baseball appeared first on Larry Ackerman.

Although, I am not a registered Republican, I am a registered American and have been watching in disbelief as the Republican Party has devolved into a playground full of recalcitrant middle-schoolers.

It’s been quite the show watching how each of these seeming adults — Perry, Bachmann, Gingrich, Romney, etc. — have transformed themselves into bona fide adolescents, whose greatest skill seems to be knocking the other guy. One refutes what the other stands for. Another beats that refutation with an attack of her own. And on and on it goes. Welcome to the Refutican Party!

Add up this awful evidence and the only conclusion can be that the Republican Party has lost its way; it has bowed to the whims and fancies of egomaniacs, cutting itself off from whatever its core identity really is.

Honestly, what’s happened — and is still happening  — to the Republicans is disgusting as well as juvenile. Allow me, world, to apologize for the state of American politics; especially, for the dismal, divisive state of the GOP.

Long live PAC money. Dignity is dead.

The post Welcome to the “Refutican” Party! appeared first on Larry Ackerman.