US 08: Who said what

* Click image to enlarge

Word cloud graphic came from the stables of The New York Times.

It is interesting to note that during the Democratic Convention speech Obama used his opponent's name 78 times and spoke about God 22 times.

While during the Republican Convention speech McCain used his opponent's name 25 times and mentioned God 43 times.

The word cloud also gives lie to a recent Obama statement, supported by Biden, that McCain and Palin failed to mention issues affecting middle class Americans.

Amazing Grace...........

With 21 candidates standing at the Clarence Valley local government election, one would think that there would be an embarrassment of talent to choose from.
Sadly this is not the case when one looks at those standing for the first time or standing again after an initial unsuccessful attempt.

However, along with Janet Purcell, Grace Clague is an exception to this dismal field of wannabes.

Grace, an indigenous mother of three from Brushgrove, shone with quiet sincerity when she made a commitment to protect the cultural and economic values of the Clarence River.

She also impressed with her understanding of the financial realities of local government and the need to develop federal and state relationships which can facilitate funding outcomes.

Grace acknowledged that Clarence Valley Council's current differential rating system needed to remain in place and be fine tuned according to changing circumstances.

Reported in The Daily Examiner last Saturday she stated:
I support borrowing strictly controlled levels of finance to spread the cost of very expensive infrastructure, such as water supply, between current and future residents.

Grace Clague gets an 8 out of 10 on my ballot meter.

Frank Sartor can't understand why he's lost out - should we tell him?

Frank Sartor thinks that the current situation, which finds him without his title of planning minister and off the new NSW Rees Government front bench entirely, is all a big mistake.

He told The Age yesterday:

Mr Sartor said in nearly 17 years of elected office, he had made many contributions to the City of Sydney, of which he was former lord mayor, and the state of NSW.

He pointed to his "transformation" of Sydney, the establishment of the Cancer Institute of NSW, the Water and Energy Savings Fund - now the Climate Change Fund, the smoking ban in pubs and clubs and difficult planning reforms.

What Frank Sartor doesn't understand is how the average voter thinks.

While everyone either approves or disapproves of state policy initiatives across a broad range of community concerns, it is the politics of their own streetscapes that brings individual passions to the fore.

When Crankie Frankie stripped away the rights of residents and ratepayers to have any effective say in most local development decisions, he crossed a bridge to far.
One which is likely to cost Labor at the next election.

Premier Rees is obviously hoping that with Sartor gone, NSW voters will forget about those draconian planning reforms.

He is perhaps being overly optimistic, especially in coastal electorates where development pressure is fast stripping local identity away and leaving behind a generic 'retirement and tourism zone'.

Brendan Nelson stuns this mullet

Federal Leader of the Opposition Brendan Nelson was on the ABC TV The Insiders program yesterday morning.

A minute or two into the interview he left me looking like a stunned mullet accidentally beached on the living room carpet, when I heard him calmly suggest interfering in state politics to the extent of finding the means to call an early election in New South Wales three years ahead of the end of this government's term.

Here is what he said:
"Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson says he will examine the constitutional arrangements in New South Wales to see if there is any chance of an early election."

Brendan, that strange hairstyle you sport must be eating through to your brain.
It is not up to any federal pollie to look for ways to wreck a state government or to assist others to do so, no matter how deeply concerned that political lowlife allegedly feels.