Trailhead : Karma Watch

Clinton Tornadoes!

Chadwick Matlin — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 23:45:00 GMT

Fifteen minutes to go before returns start coming in, and CNN decides to tell us about ... tornadoes in Clinton, Ark. Never has weather and politics been such a natural match.

But more important, what kind of omen is this for Hillary? Are the gods conspiring against Clinton's candidacy? Is Mother Nature a sexist for not wanting a woman in the White House? Or maybe this is all some heavenly effort to keep the after-work working-class voters away from the polls so Hillary loses part of her base. Regardless, when tornadoes descend on the town that shares your last name in your home state, it's not a good start to the night.

Another tornado connection: In the 1996 classic Twister, the male lead is played by Bill Paxton. Coincidence? Only if you think it was random that tornadoes touched down in Clinton.

Karma Watch: Dennis Kucinich’s Blessed Love Life

Christopher Beam — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:16:00 GMT

Earlier this week, we examined signs that Hillary Clinton’s karmic tank appears to be running low. Now we know where all that good fortune went: right into Dennis Kucinich's life.

According to today’s marvelous Washington Post profile of Kucinich and his wife, Elizabeth, the couple's relationship has been blessed from the start. A few choice pieces of evidence:

[A lovelorn Dennis Kucinich asks Indian guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar how to find love.] "And his response was, 'Stop looking and then she will appear,' " Dennis says. "And I said, OK, I'm going to stop looking.' I said that. And that afternoon—"
"I walked through the office door," Elizabeth finishes.
"It was about 7:30 at night and I was just sending a message out to the universe saying, 'Where is this woman? If there's anything to be done here, I need a sign.' "
"And at that moment—"
"At that exact moment, I get an e-mail."
Elizabeth looked down at her ring and realized that the silver design inscribed on her blue opal, which had previously looked like just an abstract pattern of triangles, was in fact—if one looked hard enough—two K's, back to back.
"Kucinich and Kucinich," she says. "I thought, 'OK! So I bought myself my own engagement ring!' "
Their days are filled with these sorts of moments, as when they go out for Chinese food and the fortune in Dennis' cookie tells him he has "integrity and consistency." ("Isn't that amazing?" Elizabeth says.) And then they turn the fortune over, and Dennis' Chinese word is hat, and amazingly, Elizabeth just bought a hat before lunch.

It's like all the luck that could have gone into his presidential run has instead been transferred to his romantic life. The opposite of Rudy Giuliani!

Karma Watch: Hillary's Ice Storm

Christopher Beam — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:01:00 GMT

Introducing "Karma Watch," an occasional series examining the karmic ups and downs of the presidential candidates. Journalists aren't in the business of reading tea leaves, but sometimes it's hard not to notice patterns ...

On Friday, a man claiming to have a bomb strapped to his chest took several Clinton campaign workers hostage in Rochester, N.H.

On Saturday, ice storms ripped through the Northern U.S., forcing Hillary to phone in to an event in Iowa where she was supposed to appear.

On Sunday, a Des Moines Register poll showed Clinton trailing Obama in Iowa by three points--the first time Obama has taken the lead there. The senator from New York has since stepped up her attacks on the newly strengthened challenger.

On Monday, the Clinton campaign's press charter plane filled with smoke on the tarmac in Mason City, Iowa. Clinton was on her way to an event at Buddy Holly Place, where the musician last played before his fatal plane crash.