Did Hillary Clinton know more about the American voter than Barack Obama does?I'd bet that Clinton is getting a lot of satisfaction from Obama's current ratings. His overseas trip didn't give him any kind of a boost, and the polls show him holding only a small edge over John McCain. RealClearPolitics's poll average today shows Obama only 2.7 points ahead of McCain, and the latest USA Today-Gallup poll shows McCain ahead by 4 points.It's the middle of summer, of course. The public's focus on the campaign has just begun. And the people who were wowed by Obama's Berlin speech were

Senator John McCain is on a roll. First there was the claim that Obama didn't recognize the success of "the surge." And there was the charge that Obama didn't want to spend time with the troops if it couldn't be a photo opportunity, a claim later refuted as false.Then there was the Hilton-Spears ad that exploits the tabloid fame of these two young women and their personal troubles.Obama was getting a little too sure of himself, behaving as if he was already president.Now McCain's campaign manager says that Obama played the race card after comments he made during speeches earlier

If you are under 40, it may be hard to understand the edgy back-and-forth theatre of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. Between the frightening rhetoric from both sides: the brinkmanship, the proxy wars, and the build up and stockpiling of nuclear and chemical weapons, it's a wonder we're here at all. Few people gave us as much insight into the psyche of a totalitarian state as Alexander Solzhenitsyn in "Gulag Archipelago," an account of his life in Soviet work camps.It was a fate Solzhenitsyn endured with an estimated 60 million of his comrades, mostly under

Wondering what billionaire Tom Golisano's up to with his Responsible New York fund? Apparently, whatever he wants. The Buffalo News today has a story detailing Golisano's push for a Buffalo suburb to reduce the size of its governing board. Golisano and his sidekick, former Erie County Democratic Party head Steve Pigeon, plan to leverage the fund to get the board down from five members to three.The story doesn't explain how, exactly, that will work. The fund could bankroll some sort of advertising campaign or provide backing for the petition drive that's under way. He also plans to create another political

First Paris Hilton's mom issued a statement last week saying the ad that Senator John McCain released featuring her daughter Paris was a "frivolous" waste of money. Now Paris has released her own response to the ad.Once again, the girl proves she knows how to turn controversy into conversation about her.While McCain's Rove-school graduates have convinced him that he can win by mockery, he has turned the tire-gauge folly into something expected of playground bullies picking on the nerdy kid with the funny glasses.After Exxon dragged the Alaskan oil spill through the courts for more than a quarter of a

It's one of those funny little things you get to see when you're a reporter: Two candidates send out press releases on the same thing at the same time, trying to beat each other to the punch. That's what happened this morning.� The Alice Kryzan and Jon Powers campaigns sent out press releases challenging their opponents to a series of debates, and both arrived in my e-mail inbox within a five-minute span. The candidates are engaged in a three-way Democratic primary for the 26th Congressional District - Jack Davis is the other candidate.Both included some sort of proposed schedule, including

I don't remember much from that college philosophy course, except that my instructor really, really liked Aristotle. Something else: The end justifies the means, if the means are justifiable. I'd never heard that second part before. I thought about that last night when I was watching - as much as I could stomach anyway - HBO's documentary "White Light, Black Rain. The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."� More than 200,000 people were vaporized - vaporized - when we dropped those bombs on August 6 and 9, 1945. A survivor talked about losing his entire family. The family had been devout

This is not a joke: New York State now has a website called www.dontflushyourdrugs.net/. The name is comical, but the intention is noble. State health and environmental officials simply want New Yorkers to refrain from flushing their unused medications down the drain. It's all part of that newfound awareness we have that the drugs we take are making their way into our lakes and streams.The website spells out a better way to dispose of the drugs: stick them in old coffee grounds or kitty litter and throw them in the garbage. That's still not an ideal solution. The state plans

The sharp exchange between US and Russian representatives at the UN last week was eerily reminiscent of another era. The angry rebuttal to US charges that Russia was acting irresponsibly by attempting to change Georgia's leadership showed how deep Russian resentment of the US has become.The US was told that it was in no position to lecture Russia after invading Iraq and overthrowing Saddam - a country that is nowhere near US borders, and one that posed no immediate threat.It was so direct and utterly undiplomatic - you had to wonder how long the Russians were waiting to throw that

There's a big posterboard with a thermometer on it in front of the Auditorium Theatre, which is supposed to be a symbol that fund-raising for the remaining $55 million for Renaissance Square has officially begun.That's the message that three of the project's leaders - County Executive Maggie Brooks, RGRTA Executive Director Mark Aesch, and Rochester Broadway Theatre League President Don Jeffries put out at a press conference this morning.Absent, however, was Mayor Bob Duffy, who has pressed for operating details and a backup plan. Just yesterday he said that project officials should take a trip to Albany to meet with

Last night's Rick Dollinger-Joe Robach debate at Aenon Baptist Church went down about as expected - with no Joe Robach.Dollinger got plenty of questions from the audience and wound up, twice, debating members of the audience. And in a couple of instances, people in the audience wound up debating - or shouting down - each other.Dollinger, a Democrat, is running against the Republican incumbent Robach for the 56th District state Senate seat. Dollinger had challenged Robach to a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate, but Robach declined.During last night's forum - the term "debate" was scrapped once it was clear it wouldn't be a

Brooks administration officials have announced a reorganization of the staff that has to deal with one of the county's biggest challenges: the budget.The administration is combining the finance and budget offices. And Scott Adair has been named chief financial officer.Adair replaces Steve Gleason - CFO since 2004 - who is resigning to pursue other opportunities, according to a county press release. Gleason is the second high-level finance officer to leave the county this year; former budget director Bill Carpenter resigned in June.The changes come at a crucial time: the county is looking at a minimum $29 million budget gap for

Worth reading: Atlantic magazine's three-part pre-election issue, now on the newsstands and online.The fun piece (for this Obama supporter, anyway) is Joshua Green's "The Front-Runner's Fall," detailing the chaos in Hillary Clinton's campaign as she slipped behind Barack Obama during the primary season. In "Reconcilable Differences," Ronald Brownstein assesses Obama and John McCain from the standpoint of which would be most likely to govern - and govern successfully - in a bipartisan way. We're in a period of extreme political partisanship, writes Brownstein. "Its price is a paralyzing inability to confront the most difficult problems facing the nation...." On such

If it's got oil, drill it. If it produces power, use it. And if it saves energy or is supposed to, give it a tax credit. In a nutshell, that's the Republican energy agenda. And its architect, House Republican conference leader John Boehner, was in Rochester today to talk it up."I want to emphasize we have to do all of the above," Boehner said. He spoke during a press conference with fellow Republican Representative Randy Kuhl, who held a fund-raiser this morning featuring Boehner.Boehner and his Republican cohorts have relentlessly pushed for expanded drilling in both the outer continental shelf

If nothing else, Tom Golisano is keeping New York politicos on their toes. Case in point, the New York Times reports that Golisano, a registered Republican, is donating $1 million to the host committee for the Democratic Party Denver convention. That makes him "one of the largest donors to the planning efforts," says the Times. Golisano has always blurred the political lines, even forming his own party to match his ideals. But his efforts to shake up and shape up elections this year have left many in politics and the media wondering what the guy is up to. Golisano has

When Pat Buchanan sounds more and more like a Democrat, it shows just how far to the fringe right the Bush Administration has taken this country during the last eight years.Be thankful to "Old Europe," Buchanan wrote yesterday for not rushing to include Poland, Ukraine, and Georgia in the NATO club, something Bush and company have been pushing for since taking office. If Georgia were already a member, NATO would be in a nuclear face-off with Russia right now. The NATO alliance is based on a solemn commitment to militarily come to the defense of each member. An attack on

During the Democratic primaries, I was obsessing over the polls, unable to resist checking realclearpolitics.com repeatedly to see what was changing. Now I'm obsessing over the vice-presidential picks, going back back back repeatedly to see if Obama has announced his choice, even though I get e-mail news alerts from several national media.Pointless.But you've gotta admit: there continues to be wonderful drama in this presidential-election year.I'm not overly enthusiastic about any of the presumed Obama short-listers. I like them all, but I'd rather see Joe Biden as Secretary of State, and his penchant for being long-winded is the opposite of what

Political musings worth reading in today's online postings:Matthew Rothschild's "Why Obama Is Slipping" in the Progressive. First, says Rothschild, McCain has been effective in portraying Obama as an elitist. Second, "he let McCain appear the champion of the average American on the issue of offshore drilling. Rather than stick to a principled position and explain why it won't help the consumer even as it destroys the environment, Obama vacillated. That won't work. He should have stressed the need to get off oil, not acquiesced in the futile quest to drill more. Instead, he looked wishy-washy.""And whoever had the brilliant idea

It's been a busy week for the county government. First off, the county opened its alternative fuel station on Scottsville Road, complete with hydrogen fueling station. That's important because the county is part of a General Motors program testing a hydrogen-powered vehicle design. County legislators, meanwhile, are considering a referral that would grant towns, villages, and the city access to the station, too.Human Services Commissioner Kelly Reed told a committee of legislators that 931 children will lose daycare subsidies as a result of state funding cuts and the county's subsequent move to toughen eligibility levels. The consensus that emerged from

The ticket's set now, and for me, there's a bit of relief - that Obama's VP decision has been made, and that it's Joe Biden. I worry about his long-windedness, but he is so experienced, so thoughtful, and so bright that it's hard to think of someone better qualified for the position. (And it's no small matter that he's highly qualified to be president.)Now we wait to see how much damage the Clinton camp does in Denver next week.The Clinton folks are wearing me out. Some of them, obviously, wouldn't have voted for any Democrat except Clinton. They're Reagan Democrats,