Welcome to WeeklyWilson.com, where author/film critic Connie (Corcoran) Wilson avoids totally losing her marbles in semi-retirement by writing about film (see the Chicago Film Festival reviews and SXSW), politics and books----her own books and those of other people. You'll also find her diverging frequently to share humorous (or not-so-humorous) anecdotes and concerns. Try it! You'll like it!

Category: Politics Page 25 of 36

Presidential caucuses have been Connie’s specialty in Iowa as she followed the elections of 2004, 2008, 2012 and wrote the 2 books “Obama’s Odyssey: The 2008 Race for the White House.” She also continues to follow politics by avidly reading everything she can get her hands on, including “Rolling Stone,” “Mother Jones,” “Newsmax,” “Time,” etc.

Why Won’t Donald Trump Release His Tax Returns?

Why Won’t Trump Release His Tax Returns?

For the first time in modern history, a candidate running for President on a major party ticket is not releasing his tax returns.

Why not?

The 6 best guesses are courtesy of Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, one of 3 news outlets (the New York Times and the Des Moines Register being the other two) that Donald Trump has recently banned from covering his campaign for various slights or offenses he doesn’t like (it doesn’t take much when you’re as thin-skinned as Donald Trump):

1) The Donald may have Russian business ties.

2) Donald Trump did not pay any taxes at all for 2 years in the seventies. Speculation is rampant that he has not paid his fair share of taxes since then. A 1981 report by New Jersey gambling regulators showed that Trump did not pay any taxes for 2 years in the seventies because he reported negative income—which brings us to number 3.

3) Trump may not be as rich as he claims. He once said he was worth $10 biliion. Others have said he is worth $3 billion. Still others insist he is worth far less than either of those numbers. Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City, is not impressed with Trump’s wealth, saying he is a con man at the DNC.

4) Trump may donate very little to charity, despite claims to the contrary. I’m sure we all remember when he skipped a debate in Iowa to raise money for veterans, but then didn’t donate the money until newspapers tracked down whether he had actually raised and donated as much ($6 million) as he claimed. The tracking down forced Trump to make good on a campaign promise to chip in a large amount of his own and made us aware that the $6 million was actually only $5.6 until the research outed the entire process and showed that he had not put in his contribution until the day after the Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold printed the true story. Farenthold also found that his charitable giving to that point was less than $10,000.

5) He is being audited. This is pure bunk. Richard Nixon released his taxes while being audited in 1973. My husband ran 2 H&R Block locations and says there is no reason that an audit should prevent him from releasing his tax returns, which many others have confirmed.

6) Trump may have Mob ties. This idea has circulated for years. Ted Cruz on “Meet the Press” said, “There have been multiple media reports about Donald’s business dealings with the job, with the mafia. Maybe his taxes show those business dealings are a lot more extensive than has been reported.” (Of course, Trump claimed that Cruz’ father was somehow complicit in the assassinaton of JFK, so…..

In other breaking non-tax-return news, Melania Trump’s website that claimed she earned an architecture degree before becoming a model (she didn’t) has been taken down.

Buzzfeed Buzzes Trump Campaign by Rejecting $1.3 Mill Buy

Buzzfeed Axes $1.3 Million Ad Deal With RNC Over Trump
Image:
Buzzfeed Axes $1.3 Million Ad Deal With RNC Over Trump
[By Cathy Burke | Monday, 06 Jun 2016 01:45 PM]

So read the headline that outlined how Buzzfeed has refused a deal to run ads designed to elect Donald Trump President in the upcoming presidential campaign, for the same reason that they don’t run cigarette ads, “which can also be hazardous to your health.”

It is becoming clearer and clearer in the lead-up to the actual presidential campaign that Donald Trump is someone who can dish it out, but can’t take it, when it comes to criticism. Perhaps this is because he was born a child of privilege and has lived, literally, in a gilded tower.

But whatever the source of his brash, obnoxious, misogynistic, narcissistic, blowhard personality, the thrice-married Donald is not getting an “A” in “works and plays well with others” nor is he winning any Mr. Congeniality contests, nor is he likely to pick up the votes of Latinos as he continues to go after the Hispanic Federal Judge who is overseeing his Trump University case.

The appearances on television (one with Jake Tapper this past Sunday was particularly revealing) show a man who continually interrupted his questioner to pivot to the topic of how wronged he had been because the judge handling his case was Mexican, (even though he was born in Indiana to immigrant parents). Trump is like a small grade-schooler who, not having gotten his way, says he is going to “take my ball and go home.” The level of maturity from a man approaching 70 is disturbing and terribly offputting for the average voter.

There are few people who like a braggart. Humble is the goal if you’re running for office. There are fewer still who like a con man, a liar and a huckster whose chief response to being called out is to whine, like the child with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Even Newt Gingrich, Trump’s staunch ally and a name bandied about as a vice presidential running mate, knows enough to flee a burning building, and has denounced Trump’s recent racist remarks. Right now, Donald Trump is a burning building.

Former opponents whom Trump bested in the primaries (Marco Rubio, for one) are coming out of the woodwork to proclaim that they saw this melt-down coming. Others, like Paul Ryan, are trying as hard as they can to tap dance away from the onus of anti-Hispanic sentiment that their presumptive nominee is spreading like grass seed on arid soil.(So much for the “autopsy” report the GOP commissioned after their last big loss that said they should try to be more inclusive and court the Hispanic vote.)

But can the old white male vote carry The Donald to victory, anyway? Well, when George W. Bush won, he carried 58% of the old, white male vote. When McCain lost, he had 55% of this segment of the electorate. Romney got 59% of the white male vote. Right now, in exit polls, Donald Trump is polling 52% of the white male vote. And let’s not forget that Romney’s loss in ’12 was a BIG loss. Onlookers can only hope that Trump’s loss will be even bigger, thereby giving Mitt Romney his “I told you so” moment.(Romney openly denounced Trump in no uncertain terms months ago in winter.)

As far as the GOP is concerned, it is just too bad that Mitt Romney, a decent (rich) human being without the common man touch, didn’t wait until this year to run against Hillary Clinton. She is eking out a win over a 74-year-old opponent not on charismatic leadership and likability, but because the Grand Old Party nominated an orange millionaire who won’t release his taxes (Did he PAY his taxes? Clinton has released her tax returns for the past 33 years.), makes no sense, has offered no real solutions for the problems he points out, and has vilified the press, this is likely to be a drubbing of historic proportions.

The State of Texas is seeking $5.4 million from Trump University to pay back the defrauded students. “And you know this case was turned down by almost every attorney general, from Texas to….” said Trump to Jake Tapper on television on June 5th.

Five different Texas codes were violated, according to the state of Texas. Texas state investigators went undercover inside Trump University to make these claims. Huckster. Fraud. Liar. Bait-and-switch. Infomercials for the 3-day $1,495 course used more high-pressure tactics to get customers to pay $35,000 for more classes. The only business tip? Prey on foreclosure victims. And yet Trump’s attorney says that Donald Trump had his finger involved in every aspect of Trump University. The Texas Attorney General then is the Texas Governor (Greg Abbott) now, so the case was dropped when Trump said he’d leave the state never to return. “No one else,” according to Texas officials, “was going to be scammed.”

Yeah…this is the kind of guy you want leading the Free World—-NOT!

Radio Interviews on June 1st & June 2nd

“Obama’s Odyssey” continues its national radio tour with 3 stops tomorrow and some special pricing.

The stops will be: 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., CT in Centralia, Illinois on WILY-AM with Tootie Cooksey’s “Hotline.”

11 to 11:30 a.m. on WAMV-AM with Bob Langstaff’s “We the People” in Amherst, Virginia.

Noon to 12:16 on KPCL-FM in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Annette Ayoub’s “Day Brightener.”

In conjunction with the radio tour, Volume II of “Obama’s Odyssey” is FREE for June 1 and June 2. Volume I is only 99 cents in e-book format from Amazon. The easiest way to “click through” and get to the special offers (which will expire on June 2nd) is to go to ConnieCWilson.com and click through, although you can also opt to go directly to Amazon and type in the book’s titles (Obama’s Odyssey: The 2008 Race for the White House) and/or my author name, Connie Corcoran Wilson).

Paperback “Goodreads” Giveaway Ends in 8 hours

I’m giving away 5 autographed copies of “Obama’s Odyssey, Volume I” through Goodreads, to end tonight at midnight (May 28th). I’ve been mentioning it on the national radio tour I’m on, which will continue on June 1st and June 2nd.

If you don’t mind reading the book as an e-book, on those 2 dates you’ll be able to get an E-book copy of Volume II FREE and a copy of Volume for 99 cents, in conjunction with the radio tour, so that is $30 of paperback books in e-book (Kindle) format for under a $1. (Sweet)

Also, I’ll be at the IWPA (Illinois Women’s Press Association) tent from 10 to 2 on the first day (Saturday, June 11th) of Printers’ Row and from 2 to 6 on Sunday, June 12th. Stop by and pick up the nonfiction or fiction books (30 at last count) for special pricing and have them autographed.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Obama's Odyssey by Connie Corcoran Wilson

Obama's Odyssey

by Connie Corcoran Wilson

Giveaway ends May 28, 2016.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Can Trump Win? Informed Voters Want to Know

I have spent the past three mornings holding forth on radio stations from Seattle (WA) to Burlington (IA) talking about my books, “Obama’s Odyssey: The 2008 Race for the White House.” Naturally, when you’re on morning drive “live” in an election year, eventually the host (or hostess) wants to get around to this year’s presidential race. Sometimes, I beg off, saying that I’m not actively reporting on this year’s race, which is true—sort of.

The truth is that I started out getting tickets to the candidates as they streamed into Iowa for the caucuses and, if you want to make something of it, I saw twice as many Republican candidates as Democratic (i.e., Jeb, The Donald and Bernie Sanders). I don’t like labels. Or incivility. Or being penned up and vilified as “lamestream media,” so I went as a citizen. I quit after some of the press were physically attacked. (I’m sure you’ve seen the same video that I have seen.) Not my idea of a good time to be penned up so that Donald Trump can hurl insults at me, and that is what is happening with the media who are assigned to follow his campaign.

But the on-the-air radio questions just keep coming about this year, which does have some similarities to 2008. For example, the recent outburst in Nevada from Bernie Sanders followers who felt the rules were being unfairly changed is not unlike the threat by Hispanic voters in 2008 on the floor of the Democratic National Convention to walk out if their candidate, Hillary Clinton, were not the nominee. And, at that time, Hillary was a lot closer to Obama’s total than Bernie is at this time during this race.

Ultimately, Hillary herself had to come down off the pedestal she sometimes seems to occupy in regards to we common folk and urge her followers to support Barack Obama. As the song goes, she “knew when to hold ‘em and knew when to fold ‘em.” She folded, and did so with better humor than many, even ultimately taking a position in the current President’s cabinet as Secretary of State.

So, I’m not in the position I was in ’04, ’08 and ’12 to “predict” based on being “on the ground” and out amongst the common folk. But I have stayed abreast of developments. I have watched all the debates. I have read the thoughts of other commentators from Texas to Chicago to New York and all states in between and of all ideologies (last one read: Charles Krauthammer).

I like to think I’m open-minded, independent, fair, unprejudiced and thoughtful about who should and could represent me abroad with grace , dignity, and expertise, which, I feel, has been the case this past 8 years. I was proud to call Barack Obama and Michelle Obama the President and First Lady of the United States of America. They represented America well abroad.

The policies of President Obama did not always coincide with my own thoughts, but what do I know about running a nation? Nothing. I merely observed developments in places like the Middle East and Egypt and said, “What happens when this guy is gone? What happens next?” And I waited for that other shoe to fall, which it has.

What I don’t do is say, “Let’s behave like spoiled brat schoolchildren and do everything we can to obstruct and slow progress. Let’s read Green Eggs and Ham on the Senate floor while our nation’s credit and image abroad crumbles.”

Or, on a state level, let’s go without a budget for a full year and be so lame about Medicaid payments that it takes 555 days to be reimbursed in Illinois, 49th out of the states in the Union.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Green Eggs and Ham as well as the next reader and even have a Dr. Seuss-like children’s book series (“The Christmas Cats in Silly Hats,” 5 rhyming books).

But back to the subject of this year’s election.
The Koch Brothers have let it be known that they are sitting on their wallets this election cycle. They didn’t like the way their money went down the tubes in 2012 in support of Mitt Romney and they are sitting this one out. Mitt, himself, has made it perfectly clear where he stands on the issue of a President Trump and has only recently given up the effort, forged with political commentator Bill Kristol, to find a third party candidate. Neither Bush ex-President will support Trump after the graceless, classless way he “dissed” brother Jeb. The Republican Governor of Ohio (and third place presidential candidate), John Kasich, in an interview, admitted that he does not know if he can support the presumptive Republican nominee, and this year’s convention is being held in his all-important swing state of Ohio. [In another article, I’ll repeat some wisdom from today’s Chicago Tribune, quoting Trump delegates, but let’s stick to the topic.]

On the question, “Can Trump win?” I would be the last person to say “Never ever.” He will win if good people sit on their hands and do not vote, just as Auschwitz would never have happened if the good people of Germany had stood up and said, “This sort of action is wrong; this sort of behavior is not right. It is reprehensible and it must stop.” That happened in some countries, quite famously, as in Denmark, where all citizens began wearing the Star of David and 99% of their Jewish citizens survived, but obviously collective resistance to something so obviously wrong did not happen enough to save thousands of lives. And I’d like to save thousands of lives that might be disrupted if the wrong person has his (or her) finger on the button. I don’t want the nuclear codes in the hands of a reality TV star with few other qualifications for national office. And the thought of Sarah Pain OR Newt Gingrich serving with him is no longer laughable; it is just sad.

Trump might win if some sort of national emergency were to take place on U.S soil in the run-up to the election, which, alas, is always a threat. He might win if thinkers don’t outnumber disgruntled voters so fed up with politics as usual that they will try almost anyone or anything else, even a guy as polarizing as Donald Trump. And, let’s not forget, he’s a BRAND! He’s on TV. He fired Gary Busey and Li’l John! He refused to remove his surname from his new hotel in downtown Chicago and proved he had negotiated the right to have it appear in letters that are overwhelmingly high. (It doesn’t bother me, aesthetically, but there are those who become apoplectic discussing the downtown Trump Tower building.)

It’s an interesting bit of information that the GOP, after its sound defeat in 2012, did its own internal survey and found that as a party it should be more welcoming, more inclusive, less old and white, if they wanted to win future elections. Like the country of Germany (average citizen’s age: 46), which is growing old and not replacing its youth at a fast-enough clip, the GOP has grown old and white. In 2008 there were 36 black GOP delegates in St. Paul at the RNC, which Conan O’Brien joked at the time “means that there are now 37 African Americans in the state of Minnesota.”

All joking aside, there are books out now with titles like “The Browning of America” and those books take a good look at how the Hispanic vote has swelled from 12% in ’08 to something like 32% now. African Americans go for the Democrat in the race 84% to 9% according to an NBC poll released on May 17th. Latinos go for the Democrat 65% to 28%. Independent voters prefer Hillary to The Donald 44% to 36% and moderate voters say they prefer Hillary 53% to 39%. Women are slowly coming around to Hillary’s side, with a 15 point advantage, but that is largely erased by the 11 points Trump gets from adult white males. Those with just a high school degree like Trump, which is somewhat inconsistent with the later fact that voters who make less than $50,000 a year express a preference for Hillary, while college-educated voters prefer the woman who has been First Lady, Secretary of State and a Senator from New York (not to mention wife of the Governor of Arkansas).

When asked about Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and trustworthiness, poll respondents picked The Donald as more trustworthy 63% to 34%, which should give Paul Ryan some insight into (a) why the ticket lost in 2012 and (b) why Americans, in general, are down on politicians.

But can Trump win? Radio talking heads don’t like to hear a reasoned response based on reality, but the reality is that Trump should be creamed by Hillary in a general election. She is possibly the best qualified candidate to come down the pike in the last 50 years.

But, as I wrote in “Obama’s Odyssey,” way back in 2008, voters told me then (p. 78 of Volume I, on sale today for 99 cents in e-book format), “I won’t vote for Hillary, no matter what.” “Why?” I asked the voters. They told me they don’t “like” her. An Austin writer (reprinted in the Friday the 13th Chicago “Tribune”) Cheryl Wilhelm said that Hillary just doesn’t act like she likes them much, either, so, she says, the feeling is mutual. She went on to say that you don’t have to be a political analyst to know that this spells trouble. Hillary does not have Bill’s gifts as a campaigner. It was evident in 2008 and it is even more evident in 2016. Some of my friends complain about her cackle, her screech, her clothing, her hair. Nothing the woman does or says pleases them. They don’t “like” her. If a national catastrophe strikes OR the smart and educated voters stay home (including Bernie’s supporters, if they refuse to cross over), Hillary could have trouble, because she is not going to get votes because people like her so much and, if nothing else, the recent Kentucky near split should prove that. (Not to mention her loss in Oregon)

Voters did “like” Barack Obama, and still do.

Do voters “like” Donald Trump? And if so, why?

He is brash, obnoxious, overly orange, thrice-married (with in-laws who are card-carrying Communists), overly smitten with Russian leader Vladimir Putin while undersmitten with our traditional allies, the British, (who even considered passing a bill to ban him from the country). He is, as Vanity Fair likes to describe him, “a short-fingered vulgarian.” We don’t even know if the man paid the taxes he owed or is worth anywhere near what he claims, as he has not released his tax returns, something that Clinton has released from the past 33 years.

Sure, it’s nice to hear some honesty from the debate stage, but are we hearing honesty from the stage? What is Donald’s take on abortion or Muslims today? He changes views more frequently than most people change their socks and one astute columnist noted that, like Obama in ’08, Trump is essentially a blank slate with no political record onto which the voter can project his or her own reality.

And is it really necessary to use disparaging nicknames to put down political opponents? Names like “Little Marco” and “Lyin’ Ted” are new to the political process in public, if not in private. (The last person to use nicknames for everyone, George W. Bush, called Karl Rove “Turd Blossom” and was similarly denigrating to others, which they did not appreciate; it’s a sign of a troubled ego.) Usually, the candidate on a debate stage at least attempts to show deference to his or her rivals, but The Donald is rich (or so he says), smart (or so he says) and anything he touches will turn to gold, (as is evidenced by pictures of his personal residence, wherein nearly everything was gold-plated, as though decorated for a Roman orgy.) “It’ll be HUGE!” he says, while wearing his made-in-China red baseball cap.

So, what do I think is going to happen THIS time around to and for the candidate (or candidates) sadly lacking in the “Q” factor, as broadcasters call it?

There are 2 possibilities:

1) If there is a national emergency of some sort, it will all be blamed on the present administration (even though Obama will probably go down as one of our better presidents, probably even one of our great presidents–opening trade with Cuba, passing Obamacare and still trying to achieve the goals he set out in 2008 in the face of unbelievable disrespect) as he saved us from the brink of collapse during the sub-prime mortgage scandal.) Everything could blow up in HRC’s face if that emergency happens.

It is worth noting on the negative side that no Big Bankers went to jail to pay for that economic sub-prime mortgage mess, and I agree with those who have dubbed our Middle East policy “feckless.”

2) Voter turnout will be pathetic and that could be disastrous. This year’s flawed candidates seem so bad that many obituaries are cropping up with lines like, “She chose death rather than having to vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump,” or “In lieu of flowers, please do not vote for ____________.” (Fill in the candidate you would not like to see win.)

But talking about using nuclear weapons in Europe, building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico which THEY will pay for, deporting 11 million illegal immigrants, banning ALL Muslims and generally acting like old white men in an isolationist pose that no longer works in the days of the Internet is equally “feckless.”

The Donald says he will “make America great” again, but he has no specifics as to how he might do that. He doesn’t even seem to know the names of leaders of other countries or where those countries are. It is doubtful that he understands the intricate process by which a bill becomes law. He has announced Supreme Court nominees at a time when the current do-nothing Congress won’t move forward in conducting hearings for the nominee of the sitting president, a questionable act and yet another example of disrespect. (Hear the guy out; you can always vote against him!)

The names I’ve seen bandied about for potential VP (Chris Christie notwithstanding) are has-beens (Newt Gingrich? Sarah Palin?), know-nothings, or both. They are like the cast of “Dancing with the Stars.” One such name mentioned, Joni Ernst from Iowa, was just elected in the northwest corner of the state, Steve King’s bailiwick, where conservatives gather and give him term after term, despite his reactionary views and some stupefyingly dumb things he has said and done. She barely has her political feet wet, but she does have bad hair akin to Donald’s, so there’s that. [They could form a “Bad Hair Club.”]

So, since we are now talking about the Steven Kings of life, let’s end with the words of THE writer Stephen King, “Donald Trump is an entertainer, a carnival man, a buffoon. His followers are white, scared, and angry. He will never be elected, not as long as minorities, liberals and educated people vote. But he has certainly exposed the ugly underbelly of conservatives in America today.”

Specific Times & Stations for Radio Tour

It was pointed out to me that potential listeners would not know, from my previous post, what station to tune in to (if they happened to be in cities ranging from Ocala, Florida to Minneapolis, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington.)

So, here is a more specific update by station and show and time for May 18th, Wednesday, only. There will be an additional 5 stations on May 19th and then it will jump till June 1st.

Don’t forget: on May 18, 19, 20 and June 1 and 2, you would be able to download BOTH “Obama’s Odyssey” books for a total of 99 cents, because of the radio tour. Volume II will be totally free and Volume I will only cost 99 cents (normally $4.99) for the dates mentioned here.

Wednesday, May 18:
1) Harrogate, TN, WCXZ-AM with Tom Amis in the Morning from 7:30 to 7:40 a.m.
2) Willmer, MN, KWLM-AM with Bill Dean’s The Morning Brew from 7:50 to 8:00 a.m. (*Note: Bill Dean once attended the Mason City, IA, auctioneer college.)
3) Charleston, SC, WTMA-AM with Charlie James from 8:06 to 8:16 a.m.
4) Minneapolis, MN, KBEM-FM, with Ed Jones from 8:40 to 8:50 a.m.
5) Charlotte, NC, WSAT-AM, with Buddy Poole from 8:50 to 9:00 a.m. (*Note: Buddy is now General Manager of the station, but he owned it up until 2014.)
6) Lexington, KY, WMST-AM, Dan Manley’s Mid-Mornings on Main from 9 to 9:30 a.m. (*Note: this is a full half-hour on Kentucky radio. Yee haw!)
7) Hartford, CT, WJJF-FM with The Lee Elci Show from 9:40 to 9:50 a.m. (*Note: Lee used to play pro baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals.)
8) Ocala, FL, WOCA-AM, Larry Whitler’s The Source from 10:05 to 10:15. (*Note: This is a Fox News Outlet).
9) Festus, MO, KJFF-AM, Matt West’s The Morning Magazine from 10:30 to 10:40 a.m. (*Note: Festus, Missouri, is just south of St. Louis, I’m told.)

Thanks to all the radio hosts and wish me luck at those hours in the morning!

“Obama’s Odyssey” (Vols. I & II) on Radio & Specially Priced

For all of you who, like me, are watching this year’s presidential race with mouth agog, I thought I would remind you that my book about Hillary Clinton’s last run for the presidency, [when she was soundly beaten by the upstart Barack Obama], is going to be on a national radio tour of 18 major markets, starting tomorrow, May 18th.

In honor of my dragging myself out of bed and speaking to morning drive talk show people from coast to coast (list to follow), I’ve lowered the price of Volume I of “Obama’s Odyssey” (e-book only) to 99 cents for the dates May 18, 19, 20, June 1 and 2 and we are giving Volume II away absolutely FREE during those same dates. (Normal price: $4.99 in e-book; $14.99 per book in paperback).

If you don’t know much about either book, you can see me explaining my light-hearted approach to political coverage in a YouTube video that was shown on Chicago television. Simply go to YouTube and type in Connie Corcoran Wilson. You’ll see a picture of Joe Biden, one of the many politicians I tracked through the snowy wastelands of Iowa (and elsewhere) for close to 24 months in 2008.

My 1,000 articles were “hit” over 3 million times by Yahoo readers, and I was named Yahoo Content Producer of the Year for Politics. The books came later—not until after July 14 of 2014, when the Content Contributor Network I served for 10 years was dissolved to employ Katie Couric, instead. ($10 million for Katie; $0 for us).

The company informed us they were not going to maintain the servers to keep the thousands of articles from those of us in the Content Contributors’ Network up on the Internet.

So began MY Odyssey of hiring public school teachers who were off work in the summer to assist me in getting my articles down off the Internet before they would be trashed. And, once down, it seemed as though there were too many pictures–especially unused ones still in my pictures file— for just one book, so I divided the campaign up into 2 parts: 1) The run-up to the conventions, when various candidates jockeyed for position to be their party’s nominee and,
2) The campaign itself, right up to and through the Inauguration.

Volume I has 67 blog posts from the field, with only 27 photos. Volume II has 60 (sixty) previously unpublished historic photographs taken all over the country and within the DNC and RNC, town hall meetings and the Ron Paul Rally for the Republic, with 27 accompanying articles.

My appearances on various radio stations began with a small station in Brownwood, Texas at 7:10 a.m. Tomorrow, 9 stations will speak with me, as follows:

1) Harrogate, TN, WCXZ-AM, Tom Amis in the Morning
2) Willmer, MN, KWLM-AM, Bill Dean’s the Morning Brew
3) Minneapolis, MN, KBEM-FM, Ed Jones
4) Charleston, SC, WTMA-AM, Charlie James
5) Charlotte, NC, WSAT-AM, Buddy Poole
6) Lexington, KY, WMST-AM, Dan Manley, “Mid Mornings on Main”
7) Hartford, CT, WJJF-FM, Lee Elci, “The Lee Elci Show”
8) Ocala, FL, WOCA-AM, Larry Whitler’s “The Source”
9) Festus, MO, KJFF-AM, Matt West’s “The Morning Magazine

On May 19th, Thursday, I’ll be chatting with:
10) Burlington, IA, KBUR-AM, the Steve Hexom Show
11) West Chester, PA, WCHE-AM, Geoff Harris
12) Seattle, WA, KORE-FM, Ken Johannessen
13) Minneapolis, MN, KLTF-AM, Ron Specker’s “Party Line”
14) Yuba City, CA, KUBA-AM, Moe Howard

Then, I’ll be silent (and sleeping in) until June 1st, when I’ll be heard on:
15) Centralia, IL, WILY-AM, Tootie Cooksey
16) Amherst, VA, WAMV-AM, Bob Langstaff’s “We, the People”
17) Albuquerque, NM, KPCL-FM, Annette Ayoub’s “Day Brightener”

If you’re anywhere within listening distance of these stations, tune in. If you’re not, I recommend the YouTube video, which I may post here momentarily.

And, regardless, please consider downloading (or is it uploading?) a FREE copy of Volume II of “Obama’s Odyssey” on the days it is free (May 18, 19, 20 and June 1, June 2) and a 99 cent copy of Volume I on those same days.

Anyone who knows my aversion to early mornings knows I won’t be doing THIS again any time soon, so get them while you can!

Blog Tour Ongoing for “Obama’s Odyssey” (Vol. I)

Right now, there is an ongoing blog tour for the first volume of “Obama’s Odyssey,” complete with some giveaways for a free copy on some blogs.

Originally, the tour was to kick off as I returned from Cancun (April 23), but apparently it started while I was out of the country, so I will attempt to find the dates and blog links to report to you, but, in the meantime, go out to Amazon, type in my name (Connie Corcoran Wilson) and check out the 6 new reviews for Volume I (which is the only one actually “on tour” currently).

I will be doing a radio interview with a Texas station this coming Thursday morning at 7:40 a.m. and the book is currently on the shelves of Book People, the largest independent bookstore in Texas, in Austin on Lamar Boulevard.

There is also a giveaway ongoing until May 28th on Goodreads for Volume I in paperback.

As soon as can, I will post the blog tour links for this timely book, but you can see many of the reviews posted behind the Amazon listing.

Obama’s Odyssey: Vol. I-FREE E-book for Amazon Review

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Get A FREE E-book of “Obama’s Odyssey” thru March 5th

Obama_cover vol2ObamaIf you would like to read a FREE copy of Volume I of Obama’s Odyssey, in exchange for an Amazon (and, perhaps, Goodreads) review, simply claim your e-book copy from Reading Deals. Here is the information:

We have created a new landing page specifically for your book, so that people who are interested can join our Review Club and start reading and reviewing your book. Here is the link:

http://readingdeals.com/free-review-books/obamas-odyssey-the-2008-race-for-the-white-house-vol-i-by-connie-corcoran-wilson

You can promote this link to your mailing list, as well as on your social accounts like Facebook and Twitter. We’ve made it easy for you with this link below which will fill out the Tweet for you:

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We will also be adding your book to our Twitter queue and we will be tweeting this landing page to our 80,000+ followers to help generate more interest and more reviews for your book. You can follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/reading_deals

So, there’s that.

vol2Obama

In addition, I will be speaking “live” on Monday, February 22nd at the Root Room in Chicago from 6 to 8 p.m. about the 2 volume “Obama’s Odyssey” book, chronicling my coverage of the 2008 presidential election. I’m flying in from Texas to do so.

The entire odyssey began, for me, with articles on my own blog and on Associated Content, which became Yahoo.  I posted over 1,000 articles, focusing on entertainment and politics. I began covering the caucuses because I had recently retired and it was boring. So, a sixty-something Iowan went off on an adventure, hiking at least 15 miles a day, it seemed, and having a variety of once-in-a-lifetime experiences, which I didn’t write in book form until Yahoo kicked back the articles to the members of the Content Contributors Network in order to hire Katie Couric for $10 million. (Yahoo recently announced another big lay-off of its employees—something like 170,000—, as the Katie Couric thing isn’t working out too well, apparently.)

My coverage of the Iowa caucuses began to pick up interest as the caucus season heated up. My posts on Yahoo were “hit” roughly 3 million times. Some of my predictions (like the one, in advance, that Obama would carry Iowa) were quite controversial and generated a lot of debate.

After the Iowa caucus articles appeared, I was contacted by my editor at Yahoo, Tim Skillern, and asked if I would consider going to Denver to cover the Democratic National Convention and to St. Paul to cover the Republican National Convention.

“We’ll get you inside,” Tim promised.

I think my response was, “Heck! I’d pay YOU for that, but you’ll have to find me some place to stay that is less than $500 a night.”

Hence, I ended up in a room within a house of Yahoo bloggers, all in their twenties, sleeping on an air mattress. There was no closet in the room, which did not bother me, but the lack of a chair eventually caused me to take one of the dining room chairs and struggle upstairs with it, so I could crawl over to the chair and use it to help myself up from the on-the-floor air mattress. (The door knob was taking a beating!)

And all of it ended with me being named Yahoo’s Content Contributor of the Year.

I will be talking about my adventures in Denver (inside) and St. Paul (inside) and at the Belmont Town Hall meeting in Nashville (inside) and following Rudy Giuiliani around in Florida and talking a good friend into covering the Nevada caucuses, plus the unforgettable experience of attending the Ron Paul Rally for the Republic in Minneapolis at the Target Center as a member of the press.

My anecdotes about my personal experiences [falling down the hill outside Invesco Field while following the Fox News Team (“One More Reason to Hate the Fox News Team”)] or being detained by the police outside the “Rage Against the Machine” concert in downtown Denver, or attending various state parties after the day’s work was done are highpoints of my life. There are many funny stories among them.

I will be talking about Volumes I and II from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Root Room in Chicago (5203 N. Kimball Ave.). This presentation will be filmed and streamed “live.” The live streaming will be able to be viewed on Amazon’s Kindle Fire channel and here is the link to learn more about how that works: http://www.meetup.com/authors-showcase/about/

 

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