Condi for VP?

Apparently, some folks in the chattering class don't think it's impossible. In fact, there's one report that has the Secretary of State actively seeking the gig. It certainly would make an interesting pairing, John McCain and Condoleeza Rice. The question is, would it fly?

First, some obvious politics. If Hillary Clinton manages to wrest the Democratic presidential nomination from Barack Obama, don't think for a minute that some black folks wouldn't gravitate to a ticket with a black person on it. Maybe not a majority, but enough to make people sit up and take notice. Rice has been highly visible the past few years, and adding her to the ticket could make McCain look inclusive. She can't really point to many foreign policy triumphs, but she's been working for George W. Bush, after all.

Ironically, one big negative for Rice happened on the domestic front. During Hurricane Katrina back in '05, she was shopping and taking in Broadway shows while folks in New Orleans were catching hell. Beyond that, little is known about her views on critical domestic issues like the economy, health care, the mortgage crisis, and the like.

Maybe that's just what John McCain is looking for, maybe not. But it sure makes for some interesting speculation.

Welcome to the Garden State

If New Jersey's politics were likened to a sport, it would be rugby. Political players in Jersey often come away from political battles (metaphorically, you understand) with teeth missing and lumps on their heads. In other words, you've been in a fight. Lately, Jersey's politics have taken interesting twists and turns on three fronts. 

New Jersey's senior (in more ways than one) senator, Frank Lautenberg, was called on to run after Bob Torricelli's tenure crashed and burned in an ethics scandal back in '02. The conventional wisdom at the time was that Lautenberg's return to the Senate would be for one term, and then he'd retire (again). After all, he's in his 80s.

So much for logic. Lautenberg's running for a second full term and now the state's Democratic political establishment is forced to choose sides. South Jersey Congressman Bob Andrews has chosen to challenge Lautenberg in the state's June primary. It could be one of the few places in America where a congressional incumbent faces a primary challenge. And rest assured, it'll be ugly.

If that weren't enough, New Jersey got dragged kicking and screaming into middle of New York City's war on traffic. New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to charge motorists who drive into Manhattan's business core. New York's City Council passed a congestion pricing bill, but included in it a requirement that $1 billion dollars be transferred from the Port Authority (a bi-state agency) to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (only New York). That has Jersey's Gov. Corzine hopping mad, mad enough to talk about suing (he's since backed off, a little). Any further explanation of this mess gets much too complicated for a simple blog like this.

And finally, there's Corzine himself. He's an early and ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid. Or is he? In an interview on CNBC, he hedged about whether he'd back Barack Obama if he had the most popular votes at the end of the primary cycle. While saying he backed Clinton, he used the phrase "reserve the right" three times during the interview. That led the blogosphere to shift into overdrive, speculating about whether Corzine's support was wavering. He swears it hasn't, but the damage was done.

So, in a nutshell, that's pit bull politics, Jersey style. We didn't even get a chance to talk about the state's budget woes, but no worries.

Some other time.

So  

Deal, BIG DEAL!

I know we usually talk about politics, but with a little less than three weeks to go before the Pennsylvania primary, the state budget being negotiated and congestion pricing on legislative hold, we thought there are other stories worth looking at, and commenting on.

The ongoing saga of Shawn Carter from Brooklyn, NY has taken a turn that has solidified his status as hip-hop's biggest mogul and dealmaker, ever. As the fabled rap artist Jay-Z, he's about to sign an agreement worth a staggering $150 million dollars. Even more startling is the fact that the deal isn't with a record company.

Jay-Z's rise from self proclaimed Brooklyn hustler to rap star to astute businessman is one to blow away Horatio Alger. If you didn't sit up and take notice when he put up $25 million dollars of his own money to invest in a sports arena in his home borough, you will now. The deal he's reportedly about to make is with concert promoter Live Nation. It's structure speaks volumes about the changing landscape of what used to be called the music business.

This deal is not just about putting out music. It involves concerts, merchandising, and financing for an entertainment vehicle of Jay-Z's choice. It's raised a few eyebrows, because his last album was only a modest success. No matter. Live Nation has already locked Madonna and U2 into deals like this. Live Nation plans to make its money on all these artists wherever and whenever it can. 

Jay-Z has become a beneficiary of the inability of the music business to make money, well, selling music. CD sales are down a third since 2000. Piracy continues unabated because the business ignored digital compression and file sharing until it was way too late. Falling sales made the music business seek revenue from traditional allies like radio. The two are currently in a nasty spat about whether radio should pay for playing music. So what happens? Artists with earning power through name recognition and concert touring are easily the most desirable.

And it all comes back to Jay-Z, who now describes himself as the Rolling Stones of hip-hop.

If this deal happens, who's to argue?  

Cuts, and More Cuts

Many of you may not know this, because it doesn't get the play that a lot of economic news does. The media, broadcast and print, has been going through a cycle of downsizing lately that have some folks in the business wondering when it will all end. Many of those wondering are looking for work at the same time.

Yes, if politicians can convince the rest of America that there's no recession, they'd have a hard time getting those who work in the information business to sign on. Haven't seen your favorite local news anchor or reporter on the air lately? How about your local deejay on the radio? Been missing a reporter or columnist's byline from your paper or magazine? There's a better than 50-50 chance they don't work there anymore.

Sadly, this latest wave of layoffs in media has little to do with competence, or even ratings success. Time was, those were the determining factors in whether a person kept their job. Not any more. As radio and television stations fell into the hands of big operators, their value became inflated. That began a decade ago, and now the chickens are coming home to roost. Even successful outlets are getting rid of talent as they struggle to meet shareholder expectations.

Newspapers and magazines are beset by a slightly different set of problems. The Internet has siphoned off many of print media's traditional advertising base. Here in New York, not one but two free, easy to read papers compete with the major dailies, both broadsheet and tabloid.

The giant sucking sound of talent being cut from media staffs will have an impact on the quality of what you read, see, and hear.

In fact, It's already happening.

Note: Yesterdays entry can be found at markrileywithpoliticsplus.blogspot.com