I had to be in Orange County today, so I had dinner at Pei Wei in Lake Forest tonight with my cousins Lisa & Dar.

When I drove back to Hollywood, I decided to stop by the Kodak Theater (home of the Oscars) where tonight’s Democratic Debate was held.  I thought I might catch Barack having a milkshake at Johnny Rocket’s or Hillary shopping for lingerie at Victoria’s Secret, LOL.  I was also hoping to run into Anderson Cooper before he hit the gay bars in West Hollywood but he was probably tied up.  

The streets were still blocked when I parked, and Jimmy Kimmel was celebrating his 5 year anniversary show across the street from the Kodak.  The network crews were readying themselves for the 11:00 news broadcasts and I took a few photos:

When no one was looking I went around the police tape and waited by a locked service entrance until a CNN worker came out.  I stuck my foot in the door and slipped in quietly (no Secret Service in sight).

These are the same stairs Angelina and Brad will be climbing in a a few weeks

I went into the theater and took a few photos, and asked one of the guys who was disassembling the stage to take my picture in the candidate’s chairs.  He gladly obliged.

The stagehand took a picture of me in 2 chairs, but the the one in Hillary’s chair didn’t come out.  Is this a sign I should vote for Obama on Tuesday??

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The Kodak Theater gave us a Kodak moment — a post debate embrace that included beaming smiles — that transcended the two hours of talking that preceded it. This was the first time the two leading candidates were alone on the stage, and the first time that you could see the two of them running together. The most engaging part of the debate had to be the extended, sometimes contentious, exchange over Iraq. It was the most effective sequence for Obama, and the most important for the country – bringing Iraq off the backburner, placing it front and center, and highlighting the significant differences not only between Obama and Clinton but also between the Democrats and the Republicans.  Read more…

A week from yesterday will be Super Duper Tuesday in the U.S. and voters in California and 21 other states will go to the polls to choose who will be the likely candidates for arguably the most important election of our time.  Whether you believe that cliche or not, this is certainly an crucial battle.  George W. Bush has decimated the economy, and few realize how much worse the subprime crisis is going to impact the global economy.  My quandary, as of today is who to vote for now?

I was prepared to vote for John Edwards next Tuesday, knowing full well that he was not going to be the nominee.  As long as he was still in the race though, I was going to support him.  Now that he’s withdrawn, I have to choose between Obama (BHO) or Hillary (HRC), neither of whom I’m prepared (yet) to support.  I just bought Obama’s book “Dream From My Father – A Story of Race and Inheritance” to learn more about the man and his past, but have only gotten through 3 chapters, and doubt I’ll have time to finish before Tuesday.

Now, just today we’re learning more about Monday’s announcement by Ted Kennedy to support Obama.  More important even than that I thought, was Caroline Kennedy’s endorsement of Barack.  I did think it odd a few weeks ago when Hillary was praising Lyndon Johnson for his Civil Rights triumphs.  “Wasn’t it John F. Kennedy who shepherded the Civil Rights Act of 1964 before his assassination?”, I thought to myself.  Yes, it was, but it was LBJ’s “experience in parliamentary politics and the bully pulpit he wielded as president in support of the bill”, that got it passed so quickly.  JFK’s civil rights record turns out to be a little fuzzier than I had originally thought.  That said however, I can see how Teddy Kennedy might be pissed off at Hillary for distorting his brother’s perceived legacy.

Reading Caroline Kennedy’s op-ed piece in the New York Times, seriously made me take a closer look at Obama though.  It also made me curious about civil rights and how LBJ & JFK really felt.  Because of this, I started researching Lyndon Johnson’s presidency and found these fascinating FREE audio clips on iTunes (only available to iTunes users in the US I fear) that illustrate what a truly different time that was.  It the following clip, President Johnson calls the widow Jackie Kennedy on December 2, 1963, a couple of weeks after her husband was assassinated and she was still living in the White House.  Take a listen: