EDWARDS DROPS OUT

John Edwards went back to New Orleans yesterday to announce that he was dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination. We think he was a worthy contender, and he would have been an outstanding president. More than any of the other front-rank candidates, he represented the average American. He has not announced his support for any other candidate.

Some people might think we’re sucking up to the former North Carolina senator so he will throw his support to Democratic candidate Carl Perrin. That is not the case. Even though Perrin works for the same constituency as Edwards, the working men and women, the former English professor does not expect any quid pro quo from Edwards.

Nevertheless, if Edwards and Perrin worked together, you have to admit—they would have made a great team.

SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY

Today Democrats go to the primaries to vote for their choice for the presidency. Most of the battle has been between Obama and the Clintons, and that battle has been getting nasty. John Edwards, who was born in the state, has been a distant third in the polls. Some people are wondering if he will be able to remain in the race if he gets badly beaten in the state where he was born. Dennis Kucinich has dropped out of the race, so that puts Carl Perrin in fourth place. Perrin had hopes of doing well in the Palmetto State because he was stationed in the “Dixie” Division at Fort Jackson, SC, during the Korean War. Unfortunately, politics in that state is really dirty. A whispering campaign about Perrin says that his service in the “Dixie” Division at Fort Jackson is nothing. Perrin’s enemies in the state say he is and always was a liberal Yankee. Perrin realizes that without financial resources, he is not going to be able to fight that whispering campaign. He is depending on doing well in the Florida next Tuesday. He knows lot of people in West Palm. That should help.

Meanwhile, on the Republican side, The New York Times endorsed John McCain yesterday. They weren’t enthusiastic about the Arizona senator, but he seemed so much better than his rivals. The paper called former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, “a narrow, obsessively secretive, vindictive man.” Of Mitt Romney, they said, “It is hard to find an issue on which he has not repositioned himself to the right…” The paper said that when Huckabee put religion into the campaign, he “disqualified himself for the Oval Office.”

The problem that the Republicans have in this campaign is that the party is made up of three groups: Business, conservative social values, and national defense. These groups have different interests. Romney appeals to the business group, but a lot of Republicans don't trust him. Huckabee appeals to the conservative social values people, but Wall Street can't stand him. Giuliani is the national defense guy, but conservative social values people don't like him. None of these men has much appeal for Independents. McCain is the only hope the Republicans have, and McCain wants to continue George Bush’s ruinous policies in taxation and national defense.

HILLARY GETS NY TIMES ENDORSEMENT

Today’s New York Times endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. The Times was enticed by Obama’s potential but felt that his promise was still amorphous while Mrs. Clinton has proven her leadership qualities in national security as well as in the domestic area.

The editorial stated that they have enjoyed John Edwards’ fiery oratory, but he has repudiated so many of his former positions that they don’t know where he stands.

Dennis Kucinich, in the meantime, finally showed some good sense by dropping out of the race, which he could not hope to win.

The Times didn’t even mention Democratic candidate Dr. Carl Perrin, who is still in the race. Though the New York Times ignored Perrin, Leisure Times endorsed him:

LEISURE TIMES ENDORSES PERRIN
Because of his service to humanity, his outstanding accomplishments, and his good looks, this newspaper endorses the candidacy of Dr. Carl Perrin. Perrin is the only candidate, Democrat or Republican, who promises to keep beer affordable for the average American.

Perrin is also the only candidate who placed a paid political advertisement in this paper. In the upcoming primaries and caucuses in your state, we urge to vote for Dr. Carl Perrin.

ON TO SOUTH CAROLINA

Romney pulls a win in his home state of Michigan. McCain and Huckabee, who placed second and third in the Michigan Republican primary, headed straight for South Carolina. Democrats didn’t compete in the Wolverine State because it violated party rules by changing the date of its primary.

The next contest is the Nevada caucuses on the 19th, but the next big fight will be the South Carolina primary on January 26. Huckleberry hopes to do well there because of his appeal to Evangelicals. McCain hopes to win because of his appeal to Independents and to the military. Romney hopes to make a good showing after his Michigan win.

On the Democratic side, Edwards has an edge because he was born in South Carolina. Clinton and Obama both hope that their respective wins in New Hampshire and Iowa will give them a boost on the 26th. These establishment politicians could be in for a surprise, though, because dark horse candidate Carl Perrin has something that none of the other Democrats can claim. He has military experience. Not only that, but he served in the Dixie Division at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, during the Korean War. See the picture of him above outside his tent at Jackson. It could be a whole new ball game if Perrin is able to pull off a win in South Carolina.

TRYING TOO HARD

During the Iowa campaign most of the candidates pushed themselves to the limit. At midnight on New Year’s Day John Edwards spoke in the town of Atlantic. Then he had stops at 2:15 a.m. and 5:15 a.m. (We wonder how many people were up and about to listen to him at those hours.) This kind of blitzkrieg campaigning left the candidates bleary-eyed and prone to blunders.

Barack Obama mistakenly said the death toll from tornadoes in Kansas last May was 10,000. In fact only 12 died. At one point Bill Richardson said that homosexuality was a choice, when he meant to say the opposite. Mitt Romney promised that he wouldn’t remember Iowans. He meant to say that he wouldn’t forget them. On New Year’s Day Hillary Clinton said people outside were literally freezing to death. No one actually died from the cold weather.

The old guys are showing more common sense about over-extending themselves. John McCain said he tries to get five or six hours of sleep a night. Democratic candidate Carl Perrin goes further. He tries to get seven or eight hours sleep at night and take a nap in the afternoon. That’s why you won’t hear any of those embarrassing gaffes from Perrin.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT

Obama and Huckabee came out ahead in the Iowa caucuses. Huckabee was a blip on the radar just a couple of months ago. But Tuesday night he came from behind to whup Romney but good. Even though Romney has been campaigning actively in Iowa for months and had spent a pile of money there, Huckabee, strongly supported by Evangelical Christians, beat his rival from Massachusetts by 9 percentage points.

Mrs. Clinton took third place in the Democratic primaries, behind Obama and Edwards. Obama picked up a lot of Independents. That will help him when he goes to New Hampshire next week. Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd both did so poorly that they decided to drop out of the race.

A poor showing didn’t put a stopper on Dennis Kucinich’s campaign. He is sticking in there until the bitter end, as he did in 2004.

Dr Carl Perrin didn’t do very well in Iowa either. In fact he came in behind Kucinich. Finishing dead last will not stop Perrin either. “Frankly, I didn’t expect to do well in Iowa,” the former English professor said. “I didn’t have the kind of money that the big guys did. What little I have, I’m saving for the general election in the fall.”

Despite the lack of support for Perrin in Iowa, he is going on to New Hampshire. He doesn’t feel a need to spend a lot of money in the Granite State. He knows that people who graduated from Amherst High School will remember him and vote for him. He also depends on support from classmates at Keene Teachers College (Now Keene State), especially his fraternity brothers from Sigma Tau Gamma. UNH alum are sure to vote for him, as are people who graduated from Rivier College, where Perrin got his master’s degree in 1959. He will have the votes of New Hampshire farmers, who will recall Perrin’s father saying, “I’m just a cow shit kicker.”

Perrin is a cowshit kicker from way back. He smiles knowingly. “This is not the end for me. It is a new beginning.”

THE FINAL HOURS

With just hours to go before the Iowa caucuses, the rankings seem to change by the minute. On the Republican side, the race is between Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney, with the former Arkansas governor ahead 31 to 25 percent. Fred Thompson, John McCain, and Ron Paul are neck in neck for third place.

On January 1, Huckabee called a news conference to show a commercial that questioned rival Romney’s honesty. After showing the ad to journalists, Huckabee said he was not going to run it because he wasn’t that kind of person. He was going to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. The journalists were left scratching their heads and saying, “huh?”

On the Democratic side, it is still a three-way race, with Obama slightly ahead with 31 percent, to 27 percent for Edwards, and 24 percent for Clinton. Still running last among the Democrats is Dr. Carl Perrin.

Perrin had prepared a commercial which said, You can’t provide leadership for the nation by being nice like Obama, or by fighting for it like Edwards, or by working for it like Clinton. You just have to have “it,” something you’re born with, like Carl Perrin.

Perrin decided not to run the ad, though, because he is not going to be drawn into negative campaigning. He couldn’t run the ad even if he wanted to because he doesn’t have enough money in his campaign fund to pay for it.

ON TO IOWA

Mitt Romney has spent millions of dollars in Iowa. Hillary Clinton and her husband have been crisscrossing the state trying to sell her as a warm human being. Christopher Dodd has gone so far as to move his family temporarily to Iowa. John Edwards has been campaigning in the state since 2004. Iowa newspapers have endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain.

And what has Democrat Dr. Carl Perrin done to win votes in Iowa? Nothing. Perrin has done nothing to win votes in the Hawkeye State. And that will be to his advantage. With all their campaigning and political ads and speeches, the front-running candidates are giving the voters of Iowa too much to chose from. And all of those people carry heavy negatives. Clinton is too robotic. Obama lacks experience. Edwards is too anti-business. Giuliani favors loyalty in his supporters over competence. (We already have someone in the White House who matches that description.) Romney flip flops all over the place. McCain has the wrong position on Iraq for most voters. Huckabee doesn’t accept the scientific concept of evolution. (We already have an anti-science inhabitant in the White House.)

When Iowa voters consider the drawbacks of all these candidates, they will naturally think of Dr. Carl Perrin. But what about Perrin? Does he have any liabilities? Frankly, we can’t think of any negatives in Dr. Perrin’s impressive background. We are confident that when Iowa voters go to their caucuses on January 3, they will say, Dr. Carl Perrin loud and clear.

PLANTED QUESTIONS

It’s so much neater if a politician can control a Q and A by planting the questions beforehand. Otherwise some wise guy in the audience is going to try to trip the speaker by asking embarrassing questions on topics about which the candidate has given no thought. People in the audience can derail the whole process and get on their own agenda, so why should a speaker give up control of the situation?

That is what someone on Mrs. Clinton’s staff thought when the candidate was speaking in Iowa last week. When Senator Clinton was speaking at Grinnell College in Iowa, a staffer prompted a college student to ask a question about global warming. When word of the planted question got out, Clinton claimed that she had no idea that the question had come from her own staff. She further stated that it was against her campaign’s policy to do such a thing. The whole thing calls to mind the recent “news conference” where the FEMA deputy director answered “questions” that had been distributed by his own staff. One of Mrs. Clinton’s opponents, John Edwards, criticized the event and compared it to methods used by George Bush.

Another Clinton opponent, Dr. Carl Perrin, sees nothing wrong with planting questions ahead of time. “I don’t know how times,” he says, “I’ve been giving a fascinating lecture on some really interesting topic like the great English vowel when some wise ass asks a question to throw me off the topic. Or they’ll say, ‘Professor Perrin, is this going to be on the test?’ It’s a lot better if you know what they’re going to ask ahead of time.”

IS HILLARY UNBEATABLE?

According to the latest CBS poll, 51 percent of likely Democratic primary voters favor Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama is next with 23 percent, less than half of Mrs. Clinton's numbers. Obama is followed by John Edwards with 13 percent. And let’s face it, Dr. Carl Perrin isn’t even listed in the polling.

At this point it looks as though Senator Clinton has the nomination sewed up. But not so fast there. Four years ago, Howard Dean was in the position that Mrs. Clinton is in now. He was way ahead of his rivals in fund raising and in popularity polls. The same thing that happened to Dean could happen to Clinton. The next few months are crucial. Keep up your support for Carl Perrin, the People’s Choice.

PERRIN AND EDWARDS TO ACCEPT PUBLIC FINANCING FOR DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES

Two major Democratic candidates announced that they would accept public funding for their campaigns. Former North Carolina senator John Edwards said that he had made that decision not because of a shortage of funds but to make a distinction between himself and Senator Hillary Clinton. Edwards has charged that Clinton has accepted money from tainted sources that would make her beholden to them if she is elected. Edwards’ statement also reminded people that Senator Clinton had to return almost $1 million collected by fugitive from justice Norman Hsu.

Former English professor Dr. Carl Perrin also says that he has plenty of funds. His loyal supporters in Maine keep collecting those returnable cans and bottles and cashing them in at recycling centers. Perrin campaign manager Aristotle Mongoose says there is almost $500 in the campaign treasury.

Accepting public funding puts some limits on the campaign. For example, a candidate who accepts public financing cannot spend more than $800,000 in New Hampshire. “Shucks,” Perrin said, “I wasn’t planning to spend anything like that much in New Hampshire. After all, I grew up in the state. That should lead a lot of New Hampshire people to vote for me because I understand the state.”

TRADE UNIONS BACK CANDIDATES

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers endorsed two presidential candidates, one Democrat and one Republican. The union endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton because of her focus on jobs, health care, education, and trade. Since a third of the membership are Republicans, the union also endorsed Republican candidate Mike Huckabee. They liked Huckabee because he was “the only Republican candidate with the guts to meet with our members.”

In the meantime the carpenters’ union endorsed John Edwards because of his “outspoken support for all of organized labor and his focus on America’s working families.” The Association of Fire Fighters endorsed Democratic Senator Chris Dodd. Edwards , Barack Obama, and Joe Biden all have walked in picket lines with union members.

To all of this Democratic candidate Dr. Carl Perrin says, “Well, la-ti-da!” Did any of these characters ever actually belong to a union? Well, Dr. Perrin still has his AFT (American Federal of Teachers) lapel button. He wore it while he was in a picket line marching around the Board of Education in St. Louis, MO. He also belonged to the NEA (National Education Association) and the AAUP (American Association of University Professors).

When all these educational unions kick in with their endorsements, the Perrin campaign will be on a roll.

BOOK DEALS

Presidential candidates are picking up a few extra bucks with book deals. Hillary Clinton comes out ahead with an $8 million deal for “Living History.” Barack Obama has earned almost half a million for “The Audacity of Hope.” John Edwards got a half million dollar advance for “Home.” Even Dennis Kucinich earned $1700 for his 2004 book “A Prayer for America.”

John McCain leads the Republicans with book income of $335,000 in the last two years. Mike Huckabee and Rudy Guiliani each made almost $150,000 from their books.

Democratic candidate Dr. Carl Perrin has authored several books. In addition to some textbooks, he wrote “So You Want To Be A Writer,” a book for aspiring authors. That book is available through Amazon.com.

He also wrote “RFD 1, Grangely,” a collection of humorous stories about Maine. “RFD 1, Grangely” is out of print, but a few copies are still available directly from the author. Just email Perrin at grammaticus1@gmail.com

If any publishers want to offer Perrin a nice advance, you can reach him through the gmail address as well.

DEMOCRATIC WEAKNESSES

Realistically there doesn’t seem much chance of a Republican winning the White House in the next election. The disastrous six and a half years of the Bush presidency have made the public eager for something new. However much the Republican candidates try to distance themselves from the incumbent, voters cannot forget what a mess the Republicans in the White House and in Congress have got us into.

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination is almost sure to become the next president. The Democrats have a bunch of strong candidates, but all of the front runners have serious deficiencies. Hillary Clinton is ahead in the polls, but a lot of people of both parties will be voting for “anyone but Hillary.” Although she is highly competent, she doesn’t come across as a warm, honest person. It would be risky for the Democrats to nominate her.

The candidate in second place, Barack Obama, is more of a crowd pleaser than Mrs. Clinton, but his resume is thin. Mrs. Clinton herself has suggested that Obama is naïve and lacking in experience. He is particularly lacking in foreign relations experience. He got our Pakistan ally all in an uproar when he said he would send American troops to the Pakistan/Afghanistan border area to root out the Taliban.

The third of the front-place troika, John Edwards, appeals to the more liberal wing of the party, but he is quite a way behind Clinton and Obama in national polls. He doesn’t have much more experience than Obama, and like him, lacks in foreign relations experience. Also he spends too much on haircuts.

Admittedly Carl Perrin is at the very bottom of the polls. A lot of people don’t even know who he is. But that is changing. Dozens of people every day read this blog and spread the word about Perrin’s unique qualifications. We can’t imagine anyone wanting to vote for “anyone but Perrin.” Everyone likes him. He has a lot more experience than the whole lot of them put together. He spent a half a century trying to teach college freshmen the difference between “there “ and “their.” Sometimes he even succeeded.

Perrin has lots of foreign relations experience too. In his decades of teaching he had dozens of foreign students, so he has an insight into the way people from elsewhere think. Also people from around the world write in to his Grammar Doctor web site every week to ask questions about English grammar.

It’s time for a change. It’s time to elect a Ph.D. president of the United States.

FOX IN THE HENHOUSE

Democratic candidate John Edwards believes that the Fox Network is already too influential in American politics. He wants to stop Rupert Murdoch from gaining control of the Wall Street Journal, although it seems too late to do anything about that. Edwards was the first to decline an invitation last March to take part in a debate on Murdoch’s Fox News Channel.

Murdoch and his news empire have been negative to liberals and Democrats in general. Nevertheless, Murdoch and his News Corp. have contributed to some Democrats, including more than $20,000 to Hillary Clinton. In a swipe toward Mrs. Clinton, Edwards called on other Democrats to refuse money from News Corp. executives and to return any money they had accepted.

Democratic candidate Dr. Carl Perrin agrees completely with Mr. Edwards. He is not going to accept any contributions from Murdoch’s empire, and if they had donated any money to his campaign, he would send it back.

IS HILLARY THE ONE?

According to the recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would beat Republican favorite Rudy Guiliani in the general election. Forty-three percent of Democrats favor Hillary over other candidates. Obama was a distant second with 22 percent. In June he was at 25 percent. Edwards slipped from 15 percent to 13 percent.

Women are more likely than men to have a positive image of Mrs. Clinton, but older women and married women are more likely to be skeptical about her. Forty percent have unfavorable views of her. Both men and women think she does not say what he really believes. One third of Americans would be “less likely” to vote for her because she is a woman.

It seems strange to us that the Democratic front runner has so many negatives. Forty percent have negative opinions about Mrs. Clinton. The majority of men and women don’t think she says what she really believes. (We already have a president whose word we can’t trust!) One third of Americans would be “less likely” to vote for a woman.

It is time to give serious consideration to a candidate who doesn’t have all that dubious baggage. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who has a negative view of Dr. Carl Perrin. You can believe what Perrin says—most of the time anyway. We’ve never heard anyone say he or she would be “less likely” to vote for a man.

You can make a difference. Support Carl Perrin for president.
Wall

LET'S NOT EXCLUDE ANYONE FROM THE DEMOCRATIC DEBATES

KUCINICH CHARGES EDWARDS LACKING INTEGRITY

Dennis Kucinich attacked John Edwards as lacking integrity, saying that the former North Carolina Senator is “whispering, trying to rig an election.” The attack came after Edwards suggested privately to Hillary Clinton that the Democratic debates would be more serious if they were limited to smaller groups. Edwards evidently felt that with 21 candidates on stage, the process was becoming unwieldy.

Edwards later protested that he was not suggesting that anyone be excluded from future debates. Rather, he thought that the debates would be more productive if all the candidates were divided randomly into groups of four. That way the debates would be more productive and no one would be left out.

No one, that is, except Dr. Carl Perrin, who has not even been invited to any of the debates. Perrin would welcome an opportunity to debate any of the other candidates. He is particularly interested in hearing their position on cheap beer.

CAMPAIGN FUNDS

IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT MONEY

John Edwards came in third among the leading Democratic candidates in money raising for the second quarter of this year. He pointed out that the amount of money raised was not what determined who would represent the Democrats in the next presidential race. Three years ago Howard Dean raised a lot more money than anyone else before the primaries, but John Kerry won the nomination. Edwards went on to say, “Among the three of us, I’m the underdog. I’m fighting. I like that place. It’s always worked very well for me. That’s the story of my life.”

The former North Carolina senator went on to say that he would have $40 million, plenty of money to run in the early primaries. They could make all the difference in choosing the nominee.

Democratic candidate Dr. Carl Perrin agrees with Edwards completely. Perrin is way behind Edwards in fund raising, even behind Dennis Kucinich, but Perrin has a volunteer staff, made up of friends and relatives. They are making contacts and spreading the word. Although Perrin doesn’t have much cash in his campaign fund, his supporters in Maine are collecting returnable bottles that will really swell his treasury. A lot can happen in the next year.

IS ANN COULTER A CLOSET DEMOCRAT?

IS COULTER A CLOSET DEMOCRAT?

Every time Ann Coulter says something nasty about John Edwards, he uses her statement to raise more money for his presidential campaign. When she referred to him as a faggot, the comment helped Edwards raise $300,000. Already emails to Edwards’ supporters are including a clip of the exchange between Coulter and Elizabeth Edwards on “Hardball.” The debate, if you want to call it that, has raised more money for the Edwards campaign than any previous appeal.

We just wonder. Doesn’t Ann Coulter know how much her comments contribute to John Edwards’ campaign fund? Is she doing on purpose? Does she want to help Edwards? Is there some kind of a quid pro quo—Coulter helps Edwards raise funds; he helps her sell books? Is she a—gasp—closet Democrat?

Whatever her motivation, Democratic candidate Carl Perrin wishes that Coulter would say something nasty about him. She can even call him a faggot if she wants to. He could use the money for his campaign.

WILL PERRIN BE VICE PRESIDENT?

The candidates are going at it hot and heavy. McCain suggests that Romney is “pandering for votes.” Edwards questions the leadership of the two Democratic senators, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, particularly in reference to the war in Iraq. Obama fires back by saying he was against the war from the beginning, while Edwards voted for the war when he was a senator. Edwards is hitting hard at the two Democratic front runners. If he is able to push them aside and become the Democratic candidate, who will be his running mate?

Speculation naturally falls on Dr. Carl Perrin as the vice presidential candidate, but Perrin says “fugetaboutit” to that. “If John Edwards and I run together,” Perrin says, “I should be the top half of the ticket. After all, I am older than John. We can see what happened the last time the vice president was older than the president. Cheney just took charge of everything.”

Anyway, Perrin is interested in the job only if he can still get his afternoon nap while the vice president does most of the work. Obviously that wouldn’t work if he were the veep.

Perrin concedes that Edwards is a fine young man, even though he spends too much on haircuts. Nevertheless, Perrin is not sure at this early stage whom he will name to be his running mate after he wins the nomination.