Saturday was a bad day at the bowling alley in Altoona, Pa., for Barack Obama, who rolled an improbably bad 37:

“My economic plan is better than my bowling,” Obama told fellow bowlers Saturday.

“It has to be,” a man called out.

Obama let everyone know he hadn’t bowled since Jimmy Carter was president — and finished with a score of 37….

Somewhere in all that, I think Obama or the reporter got the facts mixed up. I think his economic plan is reminiscent of Jimmy Carter.

I’m not even sure where the bowling fits in exactly. But as one who spent two years of my life in central Pennsylvania – I even attended a minor league Altoona Curve baseball game once – I can tell you that such abject failure at the lanes is not liable to win you respect in that part of the country.

Byron York over at The Corner agrees. And fellow Samsphere attendee Fred Dooley highlights Barack Obama’s attire, which only underscores the lousy 37 to blue-collar Pennsylvanians: “Dude, take off the tie.”

Apparently, it got even worse for the former parishioner of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as the seemingly friendly media terrain of MSNBC reports that Pennsylvanians are finding his “charm offensive.” Look, there’s no easy way to charm your way out of bowling a 37 in Altoona. I don’t care if your name is Barack Obama.

And to think, 37 used to be my lucky number.

^^^^^^^

Writing Cisco 642-973 data center network infrastructure support gets easier after Cisco 646-223 unified communications express AM, especially if the candidate has done Oracle 1z0-048 database administration as well as Cisco 642-972 Data center application services design or network appliance storage networking NS0-153 as well as planning and designing HP enterprise solutions HP0-D01 for field engineers.

Have I been too easy on Hillary? Not much has seemed worthy of any sort of fresh attention here, but there is something about the combination of Clintons, Leftist ideas, and irony that’s hard to ignore.

According to a detailed report at Politico, paying campaign staffers’ health insurance premiums is not really a priority for Senator Hillary Clinton: nearly $292,000 in unpaid bills, while her opponent Republican Senator John McCain is all paid up. She must think her prescription for government-provided single payer health care has already kicked in. Thankfully it has not, and hopefully it will not.

Meanwhile, Scott Ott at Scrappleface takes the irony to another humorous level:

Ending weeks of speculation, Sen. Hillary Clinton today pulled out of the race for the Democrat presidential nomination, and announced she would endorse Prozac, a prescription drug used to combat depression and obsessive compulsive disorder among other conditions.

The New York senator, who launched her White House bid claiming that she didn’t want to start a campaign “but a conversation” that she was “in to win”, this morning said abruptly: “This conversation is over. I win.”

The former presumptive front runner then promptly inked a $7.9 million deal with Eli Lilly to become the national poster-woman for its flagship antidepressant drug.

A spokesman for the pharmaceutical company said, “If Prozac can keep Hillary Clinton on an even keel after the shattering of her life’s ambition and manifest destiny, think what it can do for those of us who are just feeling a little blue.”

Yes, the Prozac deal would more than cover the back payments for Hillary’s campaign workers’ health insurance, but it also would sure make her look small after railing at the Big Drug Companies day after day on the campaign trail.

Looking small? You’re right. I guess that’s never been much of a concern for the Clintons.

And who knows? Maybe Scrappleface is on to something. Another long look at the poll numbers from North Carolina might be speeding up those negotiations with the Prozac people as I write.

One of my longest, most consistent friends in the blogging world has decided to throw his hat in the ring. Republican Joshua Sharf has declared his candidacy for House District 6.

Since the district is a heavily Democrat enclave, the campaign is much less about personal ambition than principle. Having exposed frontrunning Republican candidate Rima Barakat Sinclair for her anti-Israel Islamist agenda and other suspect credentials, Joshua has decided to petition on the primary ballot to ensure she does not carry the Republican Party banner in the fall.

Apparently, a Republican candidate for Congress learned about Ms. Sinclair’s history and decided to reject her $500 contribution to his heated primary campaign. That’s a strong message, one that I hope Republicans in House District 6 hear. Hey, at least it’s a relatively small universe of voters.

If you’re inclined to help, Joshua writes:

If you’d like to contribute time or, eventually, money, drop me a line here or at my email, jsharf@jsharf.com, and you can be plenty sure I’ll get back to you.

Conservative Colorado GOP leaders who care about what remains of the party’s good name also should pay attention and remember Joshua Sharf.

The waiting is over. Weather permitting, baseball season arrives in its full glory today for both of my favorite teams. The revamped Detroit Tigers break spring training camp with high expectations and a potent lineup, but questions about the pitching staff exacerbated by untimely injuries. Rain may delay their afternoon showdown at Comerica Park with the lowly Kansas City Royals.

As for the local Colorado Rockies, 2007 National League champions, the season gets underway in St. Louis. Possible rain showers also are in the forecast there.

Having waited this long, though, what would be another day? Too long. Let’s play ball!

I’m back home from Samsphere in Chicago. Hats off to the Sam Adams Alliance for putting on a great weekend conference. It was an enjoyable and profitable experience – new friends, new contacts, new ideas, new energy. The Right side of the blogosphere got a tremendous shot in the arm, and I hope to do what I can to see that Colorado enjoys some of the benefit.

Speaking of Samsphere, it’s coming to Denver on Saturday, April 19. Whether you’re a new, experienced, or prospective blogger, you won’t want to miss this. Save the date. Details to come later.

Finally, for my regular readers, I invite you to go check out the list of Samsphere bloggers. They represent a geographically and intellectually diverse, not to mention exceptional, talent. Hopefully, you find a new site to bookmark, subscribe, and/or add to your own blogroll.

Updated from Arvada – Gateway Pundit also picked up on this story … Linking to him was the right thing to do, since we were sitting next to each other when we blogged the story separately

Blogging from Chicago…

The longer I’m away from my native Michigan home, the less I miss it. It’s been mired in the economic doldrums for a long time, and the public employee union-Democrat political machine is as corrupt as ever. In a weak and self-interested attempt to save the state government bureaucracy from the effects of economic downturn, the Michigan legislature and governor last fall approved a $1.4 billion tax increase.

Angry and frustrated, the citizens of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance are organizing a recall of state Speaker of the House Andy Dillon for supporting the tax hike. But it appears state employees working on the taxpayer’s dime have been busy harassing the petition gatherers:

A little exercise in self-protection by government bureaucrats and public employee unions. What – did you think they were going to let citizens petition their government in peace? They still have about 3 and a half weeks to turn their signatures in. Three cheers to the taxpayers: I wish them well from afar. Makes me glad I’m more than a thousand miles away from the Michigan government union thugs.

Blogging from Chicago…

The silly publicity stunt known as “Earth Hour” is coming to a close here in the Windy City, while it’s about to start back home in Denver. Instead of participating in this self-absorbed deception, I’m joining Tim Blair in celebrating “The Hour of Power” (H/T Slapstick Politics). Not only are all the lights on here, and the computer running (of course), but so is the television (March Madness) and the room heater. It’s also a good time to recharge the cell phone.

One of my new friends here, Jeff from Louisiana Conservative, also has some advice for liberals who are serious about tonight’s event.

Blogging from Chicago …

In continuing his quest to unravel the mystery of bloggers, liberal Rocky Mountain News columnist Jason Salzman writes:

Most bloggers, like most people who write on paper, aren’t journalists. So their work shouldn’t be held to the same journalistic standards that Denver’s daily newspapers should meet – standards such as basic fairness, accountability, independence and others, as articulated, for example, by the Society of Professional Journalists.

But whether bloggers think they are practicing journalism or not, their blogs should inform people about the information they’re getting.

Who’s behind the blog? What’s the purpose? Does the blogger have a political bias? Is the blogger trying to practice journalism? If so, what are his or her standards?

If the blog is anonymous or allows anonymous postings, it should explain why anonymity is allowed.

Bloggers who provide this information are doing us all a favor because it could help some people evaluate the different types of information they consume. It could help some people understand what journalism is.

I made this argument to Jason Bane, a founder of the left-leaning Colorado Pols blog, and asked why Pols doesn’t have an “About Us” section.

He emailed me that the site used to have such a thing and should probably add one. Similarly, Ben DeGrow of right-leaning Bendegrow.com told me it hadn’t occurred to him to include an explanation of who he is and what he’s doing. After our conversation, DeGrow added this information. [emphasis added]

Yes, it’s true. A couple weeks ago, I introduced the page explaining who I am and what the blog is about. And I thank Mr. Salzman for raising the idea.

But for the sake of clarity, it has long been the policy of this blog to be transparent. Heck, the domain name alone tells you who I am. A quick Google search of my name will introduce you to who I am and what I write about. I frequently allude to many of my affiliations in the course of my writing, but it had never occurred to me to create a separate page until Salzman’s conversation. To continue and enhance the transparency of this website, I decided it could not hurt to add the extra page. So I did.

Mr. Salzman’s concern about the transparency of bloggers is admirable and appropriate. But how many Old Media columnists have separate pages that publicly disclose where they are coming from in the level of detail I have added – if at all? A fair question.

The most thorough reporting on Republican Presidential candidate John McCain’s stop in Denver yesterday can be found at Slapstick Politics.

In one key passage El Presidente writes:

So when the Democrats and the left target Senate candidate Bob Schaffer for comments he made about Sen. McCain last year that appear critical, ask them how they will handle their party’s own squabbles, name-calling, and vitriol. If Schaffer can’t offer his opinion and then change/modify/alter it, then it will be tough (even for Democrats) to see either Obama or Clinton offering their support for each other, once the nomination is decided. And the attacks we’ve seen between those two this primary season make any tension between Schaffer and McCain pale in comparison.

Expecting most of Colorado Lefties to engage in this kind of thoughtful self-criticism is probably overly optimistic. They’ve sure got the mud flying now, hoping the rest of us won’t notice.

Here’s a story that has been out there for months – a story that has not received the attention it deserves, a story I regret not having taken heed to earlier. It’s a travesty, really, the story of Paul Jacob and the Oklahoma 3:

One of our most cherished rights is to petition our government. If there’s a problem, we want our representatives to know so they can fix it. Imagine, however, if a top law enforcement official denied this right to citizens. Imagine he arrested them, threatening them with fines and imprisonment. Imagine it’s being driven by partisan politics. “Not in my America!”, you say? Let me introduce you to Paul Jacob and the Oklahoma 3.

Charged with a felony for exercising the right to petition the government? You’ve got it. Several months ago, the Wall Street Journal penned an editorial: (more…)

NewsMax is hosting a poll to help John McCain choose a Vice Presidential running mate. Fellow Colorado blogger Steven Nielson (welcome back!) will be disappointed to learn that there is no way to vote for Sarah Palin.

I went with South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, but thought about choosing Mitt Romney – who I supported for almost 3 weeks until he dropped out less than 2 days after so many Colorado Republicans cast a vote for him in the February 5 straw-poll. The two former rivals campaigned together today in Utah.

Warning about the NewsMax poll: Participation automatically puts you on their email list, and the only way to find out the poll results is by waiting to receive an email. Fifteen minutes after I cast my vote, I’ve yet to hear anything. Maybe I’m not on their mailing list, after all.

My Independence Institute colleague Jessica Corry has a column up at Politics West about a Denver event last night that she says holds out hope for re-uniting key wings of the old Reagan Republican coalition. Former Owens adviser Sean Duffy and Colorado Family Institute president Jim Pfaff were two of the panelists:

Duffy calls himself a “pro-life, pro-gay” Republican, jokingly claiming that he’s been kicked out of the Republican Party multiple times only to come back for more abuse. You may remember him as the right-hand man of former Gov. Bill Owens, a conservative Republican. “At the end of the day, as Republicans, we should all just want the government to leave us alone,” he told me.

And Pfaff, while frequently identified by his ties to Focus On The Family’s Dr. James Dobson and his commitment to “life” issues, says he wants to work with Duffy and other libertarian Republicans to begin rebuilding the Republican Party in the West after years of Democratic gains. In the last few years alone, five traditionally Republican Western states have elected Democratic governors. Pfaff is passionately eager to work through differences because he says he wouldn’t want to live in a pro-life socialist America. Socialism, he says, ultimately leads to a loss of all freedoms.

While pleased to see some shared purpose between these two men and the blocs they represent, Jessica is frank about the challenges, too:

The problem is huge. Republicans are facing an identity crisis of immense proportions. And social issues like gay rights and abortion are only the beginning. With George W. Bush at the helm, the federal government has maxed out our collective credit cards to continue funding the expansion of entitlement programs and an unpopular — but difficult to end — war.

For Republicans taking a stand against such reckless governance, they risk getting slapped with an “extremist” label. It’s no wonder so few of them are willing to stick their necks out.

I would add that there’s a difference between the issues of the global war on terrorism and the battle of Iraq on one hand, and federal government entitlement spending and fiscal irresponsibility on the other. Even though we face the consequences of some earlier tactical mismanagement in Iraq, the former is a difficult but necessary burden. The latter is unnecessary and of Republican officials’ own doing.

And therefore fiscal responsibility, limited-government issues should be the tie that binds a Republican coalition looking for rejuvenation. That the issue of victory vs. surrender has sadly become (to some extent) such a partisan divide should only provide greater motivation.

Thus I concur with Jessica’s conclusion:

Conservatives and libertarians should follow the lead of Pfaff and Duffy, putting aside their differences on social issues to elect viable candidates dedicated to protecting the working families and small business owners who suffer most when government spending expands. Now, after years of watching Republicans falter, here’s something I can toast to

One final notice: Hoping for a Republican electoral victory this fall primarily on the backs of Democrat failures and in-fighting will not be a tremendous – and will barely be a desirable – outcome. What we should long to see is not a slower creep to the Left but a stop and a turn back to fiscal sanity. And that hard work is done in the trenches.

The Tax Foundation’s yearly “Tax Freedom Day” report is out (H/T State Policy Network Blog), and the results as usual are not startling. The average taxpayer both in Colorado and nationwide has to work until April 23 to pay off their share of the tax burden:

This year’s Tax Freedom Day falls three days earlier than in 2007. Fiscal stimulus rebates and a projection of slow growth in 2008 are the principal reasons for the earlier celebration. However, if the large projected deficit for 2008 were counted as a tax in the current year, Tax Freedom Day would fall on May 3.

“Government continues to dominate the American taxpayer’s budget,” said Tax Foundation president Scott Hodge. “Americans will still spend more on taxes in 2008 than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined.”

In 2008, Americans will work 74 days to afford their federal taxes and 39 more days to pay state and local taxes. Meanwhile, buying food requires 35 days of work, clothing 13 days, and housing 60 days. Other major categories are health and medical care (50 days), transportation (29 days), and recreation (21 days).

Unfortunately, the Democrat majority in the Colorado state legislature is doing its best to make it even worse for taxpayers in 2009 (H/T Rocky Mountain Right):

But Rep. Amy Stephens, the GOP caucus chief, said majority Democrats want to spend right up to the 6 percent budget growth cap, while taxpayers are tightening their belts for a looming recession.

“We believe it puts a squeeze on Colorado families at a time when we’re headed into a recession and foreclosures,” she said. “We’re growing government far more than we’re growing Colorado.”

Republicans called for reining in overall spending and instead investing in improving the state’s congested and decaying transportation system, Stephens added.

GOP lawmakers kept hammering majority Democrats for adding 1,334 full-time state jobs after a new forecast predicted a nearly $700 million nose dive in state revenues over five years.

Add that into last year’s unconstitutional property tax increase pushed through by Democrat legislators – and signed by Gov. Bill Ritter – and it looks like Tax Freedom Day for Coloradans will come even later next year.

The Center for Union Facts’ campaign to pay the 10 worst teachers $10,000 each to retire, over at Teachers Union Exposed, has picked up some colorful entries in the past couple weeks.

How about “The Drunk Gunman”?

This week’s featured nominee pulled up, drunk, to the drive-thru window of a fast-food restaurant. After ordering, he became angry that he wasn’t getting his food fast enough, so he took out a gun and started waving it at restaurant employees. After his arrest, he pled nolo contendere to all charges and was sent to jail. His students, meanwhile, were told he was caring for an ill family member; now out of jail, he’s back in the classroom with his job intact.

Or “Teaching to the Test”:

Two years ago [nominee] was caught in an internet chatroom, sitting at her desk, while the children were left to do whatever they wanted. The only punishment for this offense was to be moved from teaching one grade to a lower grade. One year ago angry parents paid a surprise to [nominee’s] class; she was playing solitaire on a laptop while the students were wandering around the classroom with no guidance. Her punishment was to be moved again into a lower grade. This year, [nominee’s] students began telling their parents that all they had to study for their tests was THE ANSWER KEY that [nominee] gave them!! Instead of teaching the kid anything about the questions and what the correct answers to the question are she was making them memorize the answer key (A,D,D,B,A,C… etc).

Know any bad teachers whose jobs are protected by union-supported tenure laws? Go ahead and submit your entry today.

How delighted I was to see this headline in the Grand Junction Sentinel Political Notebook: “Hillman open to future electoral bids.” Former Senate leader and former interim state treasurer Mark Hillman is one of Colorado’s strongest, most articulate, most principled, and most genuinely down-to-earth conservative leaders:

“I’m not ruling anything out, but at the same time I don’t get up in the morning trying to figure out how to torture myself by running for office,” Hillman told Political Notebook.

That’s what we need: the kind of leader who doesn’t live for the ambition but is willing to step up and run in spite of the “torture.” I haven’t told Mark this personally, but I would be glad to see him run someday. Hope he is led to make that decision when the time is right, and hope that time isn’t too far away.