Blogcritics Author: Krutic A

Ten Points of Attack for McCain

Krutic A — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:36:21 EDT

A blueprint for McCain/Palin for the next debates
Modern day debates have devolved into one line zingers and memorable attack lines instead of actual policy discussion. People's attention spans are too small to digest a 90 minute discussion on issues. It was evident that while interesting, the first debate was disappointing due to its lack of memorable lines or a clear winner. Sen. McCain...

Hillary's Last Swing

Krutic A — Sun, 8 Jun 2008 16:59:03 EDT

When it comes to politics, Obama is still no match for the Clintons
Barack Obama's historical achievement was no doubt the biggest news story of the week. However Hillary Clinton did not fade away into the night as many had hoped. Instead she took one final swing at Obama and it seems to have connected. This is her way of showing that she is a force to reckon with and her core base won't just roll over and...

Advantage John McCain

Krutic A — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:46:03 EDT

The Democratic infighting has given John McCain and the Republicans a great opening - will they capitalize on it?
By winning the Republican nomination John McCain surprised the pundits who widely believed that the Democrats would settle on their nominee long before the Republicans would. This change of dynamic is unexpectedly good news for McCain and the Republicans. While the Democrats are busy fighting each other, McCain runs a risk of being old news. He can...

Hillary's VP Smokescreen

Krutic A — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:48:34 EDT

The Clintons dropping hints about a 'dream ticket' with Barack Obama. Here's why that strategy is putting Obama in a tough spot.
In a recent campaign event Bill Clinton told reporters that Hillary was 'very open to the idea' of Barack Obama as her running mate. This followed Hillary's statements to the news media that a joint ticket "may be where this is headed".This may sound like good news to Democrats who want this so called 'dream ticket'...

Satire: The Great Obama Sale

Krutic A — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 02:29:08 EST

Come one, come all! There is something for everyone! We will do anything and say anything to please you... guaranteed!
Welcome, voters!It is the great Obama Sale! You are guaranteed to find something for everyone. We believe in pleasing everyone, so come on in!ARE YOU:Against NAFTA?Then you will be happy to know that our candidate has all intentions to end NAFTA if it isn't renegotiated to get you your job back! For NAFTA?If you are not in a state like Ohio...

It is Now or Never for Clinton

Krutic A — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:42:30 EST

There are many weaknesses in Obama's candidacy, and the Clinton camp has to exploit them to stay in the race. Here's how they can do it.
It seems like Sen. Hillary Clinton has become a footnote between Sen. Barack Obama's victory speeches as he steamrolls through yet another string of victories in the Democratic primary. The Clinton camp was expecting these losses in February, and they come as no surprise to anyone. However, Clinton needs to stay relevant in the campaign. She...

Why Clinton Is Stronger After Super Tuesday

Krutic A — Thu, 7 Feb 2008 02:48:45 EST

The appearance of an Obama victory on Super Tuesday may be nothing more than an illusion if you look at the details.
If you paid any attention to the news leading up to Super Tuesday it was clear Obama had the momentum with a string of celebrity and union endorsements. Clinton was shown to be at least even if not behind in polls in California. There was no doubt about who won the state tally on Super Tuesday. Barack Obama won thirteen states to Clinton's...

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

The Democrats' Insurance Policy

Krutic A — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 02:43:37 EST

There are few things in politics more frustrating than being technically in control and yet being unable to influence policy. The Democrats these days face that feeling of helplessness over Iraq. They were counting on a chain reaction. They assumed that once they won the elections in November 2006, President Bush would be without the crutch of the Congress and hence would cave in over Iraq. Instead, far from achieving their goal of bringing the troops home, the Democrats are fighting to keep more troops from going to Iraq. This is certainly not what they expected or wanted. This helplessness is leading them toward the fight that the Republicans want - the fight over funding. The Democrats know that if they were in control of the Iraq policy today there is nothing they would or could do differently. However they simply cannot concede that point unless they have a political death wish. The recent non-binding votes in the House and the Senate, however meaningless, are the Democrats' way of attempting to assert control. The Democrats want to try and appease or at least pacify the anti-war faction that includes a lot of liberal interest groups and blogs. There are some in this faction that would actually like the US to loose in Iraq in the hope that it would influence future foreign policy in terms of military action, and not to mention that it would embarass Bush and the Republicans. The Democratic Congress obviously does not want the US to lose, but they have to appear to accommodate this faction considering the influence it has over the grassroots movement. This faction is actively pushing for a vote on funding. If it succeeds, then the Democrats will be in the terrible dilemma of wanting to appear to support the troops while at the same time being perceived as taking away their safety.The most plausible reason for this non-binding vote is to hedge their bets for the future. If the surge does not work and the Bush administration does decide to bring the troops home, the Democrats get the ultimate advantage in politics - the position to say, 'I told you so!' and they would have a vote to prove it. This silly non-binding resolution has only one real effect. It is an insurance policy for the Democrats running in 2008.The reason the Democrats have not gone so far as to hold a vote on funding, is that they also want an insurance policy if this surge actually does work. In that case, they would have the opportunity to say that their continuance of funds was because they always believed in Gen. Petraeus' ability to achieve the goal. They can also suggest that the non-binding vote was a reason that the surge worked because the non-confidence vote against the President forced the administration to change tactics which ultimately led to success in Iraq. This type of posturing to get political advantage is as old as the Congress, but in this age of instant communication it could send the wrong messages to the right people and right messages to the wrong people. Iran and Iraqi insurgents and militias would love nothing more than for the Congress to fight Bush over troop withdrawal. They want the Congress to cut funding so the troops would have to withdraw. If this does happen then Iraq and the Middle East will look far worse than anything we see today. It is the Democrats' responsibility to ensure that this does not happen in their zealous quest to embarrass Bush and gain future political advantage.

Krutic is an independent consultant working as a Marketing Analyst for various Fortune 500 companies. He is an avid follower of issues related to politics, finance and foreign policy. Other interests include investing, football, movies, and dining out. He has a degree in Economics and is from Chicago, IL but currently based in Charlotte,NC.