While I wasn’t enthralled with Bill Clinton as president, most of the differences I had with him were, shall we say, personal issues rather than serious policy differences. I disagreed with him on foreign policy. I thought he was amoral. And he was a poor husband to say the least.

But is there any doubt that he’s the most skilled politician of my generation? And probably the shrewdest American politician of any party around right now? That’s why I think that Democrats may be prudent to take heed of these comments of his quoted in the New York Post.
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Steve Antler has an excellent cautionary note on mandates from the last election. It ain’t necessarily so:

Sooner or later those on the other side will notice there were only four elections since 1920 with a lower “mandate” number than that generated by our just-finished election.

I’ve long thought that there’s a perfectly good reason that a smart African American politician would have very great advantages as mayor for a city like Chicago over a politician who’s only been exposed to the majority community. I don’t mean dumb reasons like a racial spoils system or karma. I mean a practical reason.

African Americans are completely immersed in the majority culture. It’s broadcast to them through the television, shouts at them from billboards, and is printed in forty point type on every newspaper. White folks only get the merest glimpse of the culture of the African American community if they see it at all.

Is there an analog to bi-lingualism? Bi-culturalism? Any African American who’s made his or her way outside of the narrow African American community is necessarily bi-cultural in a way that’s hard to duplicate for Americans of strictly European descent. They really understand the African American community and they can at least make their ways around in the majority community.

In his Bleat today James Lileks articulates a variant of this notion that I hadn’t considered:

Sir, speaking as a heartlander who makes it to New York whenever he can, may I kindly suggest you get out of town more often. There’s only one New York, which is why it is so important. But there are a hundred thousand Fargos, which is why they matter too.

As for a “Shoot from the hip mentality and a very concrete interpretation of religion” – well, if you hang around the right corners in New York long enough you’ll probably see a gun battle AND some Lubavitchers handing out literature; this would not make me assume all New Yorkers are gang-bangers or Torah-thumpers. It’s a big country. Please take this in the spirit it’s offered: we watch the news that comes from New York, read the magazines that come from New York, see the shows that come from New York. It’s entirely possible we know you better than you know us. Nu?

CORRECTION: I had mis-characterized Trudy’s contribution. Her Sweet Quickies is a method for setting up a make-it-yourself dessert bar.

This week’s Carnival of the Recipes has a whole passle of recipes from some of the best cooks in the blogosphere. Soup, salad, bread, fish, chicken, and lots, lots, more. This would also be a good time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and I’ve got a few tips about chestnuts for you.

For those of you who are new to The Glittering Eye, please prowl around. There’s stuff about politics, dogs, food, family, and whatever else interests me.

elgato of Swanky Conservative has contributed a pretty, well, swanky recipe for Swanky Fajitas.

Trudy of Food Basics has some Sweet Quickies for us. They’re not what you think—they’re dessert cake bars. Oh, that’s what you were thinking? Then they are what you think.

There’s a Chocolate Icing recipe from V of One Happy Dog Speaks.

bothenook of a geezer’s corner has a killer squash dish for us.

We’ve got a contributor from the Land of Oz! Amanda of Aussie Wife has a rather snazzy salad recipe for us—Snow Pea Salad with Hot Chilli Dressing. Welcome, Amanda!

Amy of Prochein Amy shows us how to make Lemon Broccoli Chicken.

Alpha Wolf of Laughing Wolf has a pair of fish recipes that I could really get into: Herb Poached Cod and Herb Poached Salmon. No word on how much Herb charges, however. 😉

ALa71 of Blond Sagacity has a recipe for Real & Easy Pot Pie that looks good enough to eat.

Cranberries are coming into the markets now as they get ready for Thanksgiving. Looking for something other than cranberry sauce to make with them? Try Cranberry Apple Pancakes from booklore.

Looking for a nice bread recipe? Wacky Hermit of Organic Baby Farm has a recipe for Herbed White/Wheat Bread for you.

Amish Friendship Bread sounds like just the thing from Mary Beth of Random thoughts from Mary Beth.

songstress7 of News from the Great Beyond has just the thing for the cold nights ahead: Potato Cheese Soup.

triticale has a recipe that takes me way back: Sweet Kraut aka Amish Sauerkraut Salad. It must be twenty years since I’ve had that. Now I’ve got a recipe.

sarahk of mountaineer musings tells us how to make the best guacamole not sold at Chipotle.

Brown Steak and Gravy is on the menu from Angela of Fresh as a Daisy.

Now I would probably serve a light red with this but Professor Bainbridge recommends Chardonnay with his .

Karen of Let’s Play Restaurant contributes Oven-Barbecued Chicken and Bean Casserole. This looks to me like a quick and very tasty down-home cassoulet.

There are lots of great recipes here. When you try them out, please report back so we know how things worked out.

UPDATE: And a late arrival from caltechgirl of Not Exactly Rocket Science we have Blasphemous NC barbecue (a.k.a. Crock-Pot Piggy).

Here are a few more interesting statistics on the results of the 2004 presidential election:

3,141	counties, boroughs, and parishes in the United States
2,544	counties carried by Bush (81% of total)
597	counties carried by Kerry (19% of total)
162	counties carried by Bush by 5% or less (5.16% of total counties, 6.37% of counties won)
131	counties carried by Kerry by 5% or less (4.17% of total counties, 21.95% of counties won)

I repeat my contention: Kerry carried a significantly smaller number of very populous counties. And notice the percent of the counties that he carried that were very close. I’m not crowing here. I think the Democrats need to change their message.

Sources: USA Today, Info Please

In an interview this evening with ABC 7 Chicago, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley had a few sharp words for the Democratic Party leadership in Washington, DC, blaming them for John Kerry’s loss on Tuesday. His message: they might want to get out of Washington, DC every once in a while and talk with some Democratic politicians who have some real contact with the voters. I. e. mayors and governors. I.e. him.

I think this is actually pretty good advice but what I think it really means is that the long knives are coming out for Terry McAuliffe.

In his most recent post, Wretchard of Belmont Club notes that there been a relative shift in the population from the states that Mr. Kerry carried to the states that Mr. Bush carried and wonders why. Wretchard and his commenters suggest a number of possibilities including Blue State social attitudes leading to decreased birthrates, possible increased rates of abortion, lower tax rates, and the availability of cheap land.

I began to comment on this question but I found that my comment had overflowed its banks and threatened to drown the thread so I decided to take my comment over here.

There are a few other answers and some of them are not without irony.
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I’ve been saying for some time now that the Red State/Blue State breakdown doesn’t hold water and now, courtesy of USA Today, I’ve got the goods. If you hear a Democratic pol say they’ve got to go back to their base and consolidate their holdings, they’re not talking about states. They’re talking about a handful of very populous counties.

It’s not Red State/Blue State. It’s a handful of blue dots in a sea of red. That’s not a basis for national governance.

Hat tip: Command Post

I’m listening to John Kerry’s concession speech as I’m writing this post. There’s a very discernible tear in his voice. He’s been quite warm, genuine, and gracious. As with Al Gore in 2000, nothing has become his race so much as his leaving it. I really believe that if either of these guys had campaigned with the same tone and emotion as they had in their concession speeches, they’d have won their elections.

UPDATE: Apparently, I’m not the only one who’s thought this way.