THEY'RE OFF AND STUMPING!

January 2007

If you get the feeling that the race for the Whitehouse seems to be starting earlier and earlier every four years, you not alone.

With approximately 633 days until the 2008 Presidential election, several political hopefuls have already announced their intentions to seek the nomination of their party. Just over the weekend, Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and Illinois Barack Obama (D-IL) threw their collective hats into the ring.

Some political observers were surprised by Obama’s early announcement. Senator Clinton’s announcement surprised no one. According to a viewer poll conducted by NY 1 News, 86% of those polled said they were not surprised by Clinton’s announcement, while only 14 % were. I wonder where those 14% have been spending their time lately.

Others who have announced their candidacy or who are forming “exploratory” committees include: Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM), former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA), former senator John Edwards (D-NC), and Senator Sam Brownback (R-KA), just to name a few. In fact nearly a dozen Presidential hopefuls have announced their intentions with more to certainly follow. I wonder if a candidate ever formed an exploratory committee and then decided not to run. I don’t think so.

So are these early announcements a good thing for our political system? The answer to that question clearly depends of who you ask. Most political strategists say this is not a good thing for the candidates. However they are quick to add that these early announcements are a very good thing indeed for the voting public.

The reasons are fairly straight forward. The candidates who announce early, have to build state by state campaign organizations, they have to start raising money earlier and raise enough to sustain them through a longer campaign season. Candidates will have to cement their positions on the big issues early on. They will be forced to meet and debate each other in the national spotlight earlier than ever before. Already states like New Hampshire and South Carolina are already scheduling full scale debates for this spring.

All of the aforementioned will force candidates to work harder, faster and smarter than before. It seems clear that this early format is a big win for the voting public. We will be treated to earlier debates, we will have the opportunity to get to know the candidates and their positions well in advance of the first caucus. We will observe how well the candidates do in assembling their campaign teams, which may be a good indicator of their leadership and decision making abilities.

The only negative I see, is that with such an early start, voters may get sick of the entire process well ahead of November 2008. The United States, you know that cradle of Democracy, has one of worst records of voter turnout on the planet. You’ll recall the last year that even war torn Iraq, with all its problems, had a higher percentage of eligible voters casting their ballots than this country has had in a long time.

So why is all of this happening and happening now? Is it a new trend in American politics? Are voters demanding to take a longer view of the candidates? Are we becoming less apathetic toward politics? Or is the answer none of the above?

I would have to go with none of the above, which always served me well on those tough multiple choice tests and here’s why. The 2008 Presidential election marks the first time in more than five decades that either an incumbent President or Vice President will not be running. Suffice it to say that this levels the playing field between the two major parties in that neither will have the “home field” advantage going into the election. The stakes therefore are very high on both sides of the political aisle.

Who is the biggest winner of this elongated campaign season? The news media of course, because for the next 633 days they will be able to fill their papers, magazines and airwaves with something to talk about. Having said that however the big question remains, you be listening? So sit back America, grab some popcorn, and let the games begin!

Lee Degenstein has covered the financial markets for print and broadcast media for more than 15 years. Mr. Degenstein was also the news director and morning anchor at two major radio stations in New Jersey. He has been a reporter/contributor to United Press International, The Associated Press, The Mutual Broadcasting System and New York 1 News. A winner of the Associated Press award for 'best business story' he lives and works in New York City. Mr. Degenstein can be reached by email at: lee723@verizon.net
© Copyright 2007, Lee Degenstein
All rights reserved
www.leereports.blogspot.com

WHY WE LOVE TO LOVE THE MOB

January 2007

I had to make a big decision the other night. The reruns of the Sopranos were debuting on cable’s A&E Network and Spike TV was showing a rerun of The Godfather One. I thank the television Gods for providing us with DVR! I ended up taping the Sopranos and watching the Godfather. After all, as every mob aficionado knows, “One” as its affectionately own, takes precedence over everything else. With my television crisis averted, I started thinking about why we as a society love wise guys and the Mafia. After all, isn’t the mob made up of criminals?

When John Gotti was alive and well and running the Gambino crime family in New York, he was treated like a cult like figure by the public. During each of the Dapper Don’s trials huge crowds gathered outside the Federal Courthouse in New York City chanting “free John Gotti”. Now when you stop to think about it, and take a closer look at Gotti, he spent his life stealing, extorting and murdering, hardly the kind of person one would want to emulate. Most importantly, why we would we want a guy who kills, threatens and steals to be free in the first place?

So why then are so many Americans so fascinated with organized crime and its members? According to one top NYPD official I spoke with, it’s the “everyman” quality of mobsters that attracts people. In the case of Gotti, here is a guy who came from the streets. His favorite pastime was high jacking trucks. From meager beginnings, Gotti eventually rose to become head of America’s richest and most powerful crime family. Gotti was famous for his $2,000 suits, razor haircuts and flashy cars and beating the feds in court. This helped to make him one of New York’s biggest celebrities. His picture on the cover of Time Magazine helped to make him one of the most recognizable people in the country. So much for anonymity!

It has been said that Gotti was not very a good Don, because he broke the two cardinal rules of La Cosa Nostra (our thing). Gotti kept a highly visible profile and the Gambino Crime Family was heavily involved in drug trafficking.

The NYPD official added that when you look lat a guy like Tony Soprano you find that he has many of the same issues in his life that we all have. He has two school age kids who he tries to keep in line, he has problems with Carmella his wife, a terrible relationship with his mother, and he sees a shrink and pops Prozac. Other than the killing, stealing and extorting he could be your next door neighbor.

A criminal defense attorney I spoke to believes that some people are enamored with the mob because of what he calls the Robin Hood effect. The mob in many cases steals from the rich and gives to the poor. It doles out its own brand justice to some, when the legal system does not. It protects those who the system can not protect themselves. There have been many instances where portions of neighborhoods have been cleaned up by the mob when the police have failed.

During the early part of the 20th century, America was being flooded with immigrants from Europe. Who did these many of these immigrants turn to when they had a problem? Often times they turned to the neighborhood “boss” because they had no trust in the police or the system. The mob also provides some of the vices that are wanted by some members of the public like prostitution, gambling and loan sharking.

Many years ago one of the bosses of the Bonanno Crime Family, donated money to a local hospital who was seeking to add a new children’s wing. The hospital actually dedicated the wing by using the Bonanno name. The name of the wing however was eventually changed. Talk about the Robin Hood effect!

To me however, the appeal of Organized Crime is that in the old days it was really organized and was modeled after the Roman legions, with the Generals, the Capo Regime and the soldiers. In many ways the mob was set up like a huge corporation which rarely had losing quarters. There was the Don, the Consigliore or advisor, followed by the Under Boss, the Captains and Soldiers and associates. Corporations have a Chairman, CEO, President, Vice Presidents and the rank and file. While the mob’s mission statement is quite different from that of corporations, it too has its own rules and structure. For many years those rules worked and worked well.

Then of course there is Hollywood and its depiction of the Mafia. There seems to be no end to the number of mob related films Hollywood serves up every year. Movies like “The Godfather”, “GoodFellas”, have become cult classics and are among the highest grossing and most watched films of all time. Rarely a week goes by when one of these films is running on your local cable system.

Finally, and in many ways most importantly, sometimes we just like to see someone or something “get over” on the system. It’s a case of getting away with something without getting caught. The reality, and perhaps the irony of it all, is that the getting away it part, often times comes to an abrupt end either in a long prison sentence, or death and not by natural causes. It all reminds me of my high school quote first uttered by Peter Clemens in “One”, “leave the gun – take the cannolis!

Lee Degenstein has covered the financial markets for print and broadcast media for more than 15 years. Mr. Degenstein was also the news director and morning anchor at two major radio stations in New Jersey. He has been a reporter/contributor to United Press International, The Associated Press, The Mutual Broadcasting System and New York 1 News. A winner of the Associated Press award for 'best business story' he lives and works in New York City. Mr. Degenstein can be reached by email at: lee723@verizon.net © Copyright 2007, Lee Degenstein.
All rights reserved www.leereports.blogspot.com