Beth Arnold

What the World Needs Now Is More Men Like Paul Newman

This column first appeared on HuffingtonPost.com.  Comments not included here.

by Beth Arnold

The sad news comes that Paul Newman died. Men and women all over this earth mourn for him. It is because we have all looked into his electric blue eyes and seen his humanity -- whether it was in the characters he nailed in his powerful films, or the man who lived and breathed outside them. Whether he was bringing Tennessee Williams's words to sizzling life in Cat on A Hot Tin Roof or Sweet Bird of Youth, whether he was skipping across the screen in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid or making us face our own compassion in The Verdict. He scorched the screen with his handsome face and brilliant performances. More than that: In presenting these characters, he showed us part of him. Paul Newman was genius enough to let us all in. He made our hearts beat faster. He made our worlds grow wider. He made us feel ourselves.

Women of the World Unite!

This column first appeared on HuffingtonPost.com.  Comments not included here.

by Beth Arnold

Dear Sisters (and I mean all you gals out there--no matter how old you are or what party you belong to, whether you work or stay home and care for your children, whether you live in the heart of our country or are flung on the farthest coast),

Even though we all know that women's votes have been important since we got the right to vote nationally in 1920, this year it's suddenly news, spin, or at least a media cycle--that women matter. Our votes matter. Didn't we matter before? Let's just say this year women have become extremely visible, and politicians in both parties and of both sexes have worked the female demographic particularly--Hillary when she finally embraced her womanhood after she discovered that by doing so she could lay claim to a sizable segment of women voters, and McCain after Hillary lost to Obama. Some of Hillary's supporters were fit to be tied and McCain wanted them to think that as their "man" he could be tied into pro-woman submission. McCain took his opportunity since these women had been encouraged to rage against Obama, who was actually the one with real credibility for being on the side of American females.

Can Democrats Learn to Speak Redneck?

This column first appeared on HuffingtonPost.com.  Comments not included here.

by Beth Arnold

Democratic pundits can shout to the Heavens above that Republican nominee John McCain's acceptance speech was old, tired, and boring -- not unlike the candidate himself I will add -- and that it doesn't matter. That what does matter is what the American people heard in his speech last night.

Unfortunately, I didn't find it so flat myself. Not as disconnected and out of touch as I would like to have heard in the vibe he was putting out. I would like to have felt from McCain's Republican beat that Americans would pay him no mind at all. But as easily as Karl Rove got George W. Bush elected before he brought W. and his whole party down, Rove and his Dark Circle are working overtime to spin the Democrats out of control. We all know how easy that is to do. They're already spinning on one of Obama's incredible strengths -- his charismatic, inspiring, and true leadership abilities -- by making fun of it, him, and his followers (just as Hillary showed them how to do).

We cannot give up this powerful and positive ground.