And it begins.....

It's less than four weeks until the big day, and back by popular demand by at least one enthusiastic poet, we begin again with the definitive election event of the year:  HAIKU DEATH MATCH 2012!!!   

The rules remain the same as 2008; Every day, submit your best Nipponesque assemblage of 5/7/5 syllabligisms and The Judge will decide on a daily basis which entry is the most creative, provacative, but totally appropriate Haiku in each 24 hour period ending each midnight. 

The winner each day will receive a $5 Starbucks gift card. 

Due to the challenging economy, we need to treat the dates from now until midnight on Tuesday October 22 as the "Pre-Season;" kind of a warm-up period.  We will start rewarding the gift cards after midnight on Wednesday, October 23.

To get started, here are the first two entries from last season's Grand Prize Winner "Babs:"

House of Mystery

Eyes deceived, false perceptions

Romney's right at home

Dog rides on the roof

Mitt's plan for us no better

Terror and loose bowels

LOL- Pretty good, eh?  Can you do better?  We'll see.........  

Replay Official Reverses Call!

In a stunning turn of events, the Replay Official reversed the decision on the winning entry and awarded a $10 Starbucks Card to Barbara Worlein (dba "Princess Sunny Bunny") after a heated late evening debate yesterday. The Princess was visibly stunned but obviously beaming with pride in her gracious acceptance speech to a small but supportive crowd at The Haygeman Magnolia.

Red? Blue? Maybe Purple.

Red and blue combine
to make purple, but there's
still pure red and blue

Found this amazing map HERE, it's a little more than halfway down the page. Interesting take on graphical statistics.

Just because the contest is over doesn't mean you have to stop writing haikus!

Tony; when are you going to come get your prizes?

Winners Tonight!!!

Barack may have won the Presidency, but the coveted Election Haiku Big Prize goes to Tony Medina for the following ditty:

stupid voters sigh
airhead woman wink wink wink
undecided why

that was submitted way back on day #2.

Thanks to all of you who contributed, and to all you voters.

And congratulations to Barack Obama!

Here's The Winners; Vote For The Big Winner

Winning Haiku #1 by Andrew Smith

Tanning beds burn skin
Extreme cold freezes brain cells
Half-baked Alaskan

Winning Haiku #2 by Tony Medina

stupid voters sigh
airhead woman wink wink wink
undecided why

Winning Haiku #3 by Jim Gearhard

Plumber speaks his mind
Obama doesn't like it
Media goes plumber hunting

Winning Haiku #4 by seventenths

Plumber full of shit
non-plumber actually
you'll get a tax break

Winning Haiku #5 by Barbara

Sarah smiles and winks
Undecided voters blink
Joe Sixpack holds key

Winning Haiku #6 by Scott Walker

Powell endorsement
takes the Commander In Chief
question off table

Winning Haiku #7 by Matt

Caribou barbie-
Neiman Marcus loves you so.
Wasted campaign dough.

Winning Haiku #8 by Scott Walker

Both legal to run
Obama born Hawaii
McCain Panama

Winning Haiku #9 by Tony

Endorsement abroad
al Qaida prefers McCain
Damning with faint praise

Winning Haiku #10 by Cliffhanger

SNL BS
Is the same as CNN
Liberal jibber

Winning Haiku #11 by Andrew Smith

Frumpy Senator
Embrace your Inner Diva
Campaign must "go rogue"

Winning Haiku #12 by Tony

Speaking over fray
Obama Infomercial
Falls on deaf and dumb

Winning Haiku #13 by Cliffhanger

Maple leaves are red
Violet blossoms are blue
Choice is black and white

Winning Haiku #14 by mo

The voting begins
Republicans look ahead
Palin in oh-twelve

That's it' two full weeks of fun. Select your favorite 5 in the voting box on the right, by 8:00 PST. Top vote getter wins a $50 gift card for either Tempero do Brasil or Cafe Lago. Yum!

If you're in the running, send website to your friends and family and see if they vote for you!

Awesome!!! Last Winner is "mo"!

What a great collection, guys. Thanks for the effort.

Today's winner is "mo"!!!

The voting begins
Republicans look ahead
'Palin in oh-twelve

So now, I'll post all the winners in the next entry, and I'll open the voting for the Big Prize At The End.

Must Be Getting Close

The back and forth between Cliffhanger and Tony was fun to see today.

Good thing these guys don't take everything personally!

Read all the posts from yesterday; most entertainment on this blog for a while.

The Winning entry for Sunday is....There isn't one! No one got anything in before 1:00 toeay.

So all the ones from Tony and Cliffhanger are in the mix for TOMORROW at 1:00. The LAST DAY before the big kahuna.

ONE MORE DAY to get your haikus in the mix for the BIG PRIZE AT THE END.

POST BELOW!!!

Saturday's Winner: Cliffhanger!

Cliffhanger penned this somewhat truism to win yesterday's Starbucks card:

Maple leaves are red
Violet blossoms are blue
Choice is black and white

The choice truly is between two polar opposites.

Just found out Obama and Cheney are distant cousins.

Palin is now campaigning without McCain's name on her posters.

Last night Cliffhanger told me it doesn't matter to him Palin's been found guilty of abuse of power and lied about it.

Two days left to get into the big contest, you literati.

Post Your Saturday Haikus Here

Enter them as Comments below this post.

ONLY SATURDAY, SUNDAY, AND MONDAY LEFT!

So far, we have:

From Tony:

Spring forward fall black
Truely blue republicans
October surprise

From Cliffhanger:

election upon
those who are right in voting
mccain and palin

From Tony:

Polling trend steady
Undecideds wait for light
Tuesday end beckons

I must confess, the other day when I was too busy to do this, I totally missed one from Andrew that I thought was pretty good:

Mailed in my ballot
Hope nothing changes my vote
Like, if Joe decides to run

Friday Haiku Winner

I was very tempted to award the coveted Starbucks Card to Barbara for this little ditty for purely narcissistic reasons:

Michael's working hard
Blogging, building, paying bills
Buying Starbucks cards

But I'm just not that way. Thanks though, Barbara!

In these last few days it would be fun to get MORE PEOPLE entering haikus, eh?

Why don't you forward this site to your literary creative friends.

THE WINNING HAIKU FOR TODAY IS:

Speaking over fray
Obama Infomercial
Falls on deaf and dumb

By Tony

Captures nicely the Wedenesday event.

Day 15: Four Days Left

Only today, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday left to get entered in the Big Contest at the End where all visitors to the blog pick the winning haiku for the big prize, a $50 certificate at either Cafe Lago or Tempero do Brasil. Yum

Enter your haikus by clickin on the "comments" link at the bottom of this post.

Maybe THIS will give you some inspiration.

Today's Contest Extended One Day

Sorry; been swamped. Whomever sent in entries due yesterday, those entries are good until today at 1:00.

Bipartisanship? Why again?

Been wondering what the Republican candidates would do in the last week to turn their losing ticket around? How about these for starters, with only 6 days left:



1. Sarah Palin just stole Barack Obama's energy independence message verbatim, on a nationally televised speech while campaigning in Toledo. And she claims "The other side" isn't talking about this issue, and she's taking credit for these big ideas. Unbelievable. People who haven't been paying attention will be swayed because it's coming from a pretty face and it'll get news coverage. Liberal media? Let's see if they call them on this being a co-opted message or not.



2. An organization called "National Republican Trust PAC" is running over-the-top "Obama supports terrorism" ads, starting in Ohio. Read THIS to find out more heinous lies.



These big elections always come down to the "independents" and "undecideds" who wait to the last minute to make their decisions. What message will they most be seeing?

Day 13; 6 Days Left to Win Big!

Win Dinner at Tempero do Brasil or Cafe Lago! Post your Haiku as a comment on this post, and you could win the daily prize, a $5 Starbuck card. Yum. That gets you into the Big Prize at the End.

Haiku away, baby.

And by the way - check out THESE TWO SITES tracking the electoral college standings.

Day 12 Winner Andrew Smith!!!

Good selection to choose from today, thanks everyone!

But I just had to go with line 2 of this one by Andrew:

Frumpy Senator
Embrace your Inner Diva
Campaign must "go rogue"

You know, if Ted Stevens, (found guilty of ethics violations for accepting gifts), is for whatever reason ousted as Alaska's senator, Sarah Palin could appoint herself Senator and move to DC just to stay in the limelight for four more years.

Doesn't that make you feel good about America? Yeah, baby!

Post Day 12 Haikus Here! Big Prize Decided!

Only 7 days of this endless political campaign left, and only seven more chances to get into the final contest for the Big Prize at the End, which I have decided is a $50 Gift Certificate to Tempero do Brasil (best Brazilian place in town) or Cafe Lago (best Italian place in town).

This contest of course would be more interesting with more people entering their haikus; (haiki?) send your friends here.

Winner of Day 11: Paul "Cliffhanger" Hjorten!

In the spirit of maintaining a true bipartisan and nonsectarian approach, Mr. Right Wing Conservative McCain Supporter himself is the proud winner of the latest Starbucks card for this following opinion:

SNL BS
Is the same as CNN
Liberal jibber

Off topic:

Do you all remember when both Bill Clinton and John Edwards were made out to be out of touch elitist snobs for actually spending $200, then $400 on haircuts? Really; how totally aloofly superior can you get? Almost as bad as $150K clothing - no wait...that's sexist!!! Sorry.

Anyway - Day 12 and 7 days to go.

Day 11: Eight Days Left!!

Your entries are due 1:00PM on Monday, October 27 now.
Click on "comments" and enter your haiku, using the Name/URL option.

Still got these cards burnin' a hole in my pocket.

Starting off Monday morning with an entry from Paul Hjorten:

SNL BS
Is the same as CNN
Liberal jibber

And ineligible sammolambo sent in these:

Purging voter lists
Untrustworthy computers
We'll never know....

Paranoid, those dems
always snatching defeat from
those jaws of vict'ry

Gotta read The Stranger
'lection recommendations
All about Obama

Gonna donate more
More TV, more radio,
No robo calls though....

That's it for now. Happy haikuing.

Tony Wins Again!

He was the only entry today, so the competition wasn't very fierce, but check it out; it's not a bad one:

Endorsement abroad
al Qaida prefers McCain
Damning with faint praise

Day 10: Nine Days Left!!

Skipped the Saturday contest, owing to the effort needed at the homefront, bright and early at the oh-dark-thirty and also band practice late last night.

I guess if you really want a maverick for president, then Sarah Palin just might be your candidate. She's "going rogue", according to McCain campaign officials. Check it out!

And it's Saturday night, so don't miss the latest SNL political spoof tonight.

So haiku away; winner to be announced tomorrow afternoon/evening.

Winner Day 8: Scott Walker

With his late arrival (12:20 PM), Mr. Duct Tape takes his second Starbucks card with this haiku, presumably in response to the Cliffhanger's piece about being born in Kenya. Kenya say "absurd"?

Both legal to run
Obama born Hawaii
McCain Panama

That's it for Day 8, and for Day 9, I never got the new post up on the site. So on to Day 10 next.

Day 8: 11 Days Left!!!

It's not just Colin Powell, former Bush Secretary of State, who's seeing things differently these days. Remember Scott McClellan, former Offical Liar (aka Press Secretary) to W? Check this out!

And you still gotta love this storyline.

And who would Al Qaeda hope we select? Hmm...... I wonder....

If you'd like to see some real interesting and amazing poll data, click here.

Meanwhile, no entries yet for Day 8. Click on the Comments link below and let's do it again. These cards just keep burnin' holes in my pocket!

TODAY'S ENTRIES (Only 1 so far)

From Cliffhanger:

McClellan is a con.
Tight wardrobe.
I don't listen to either one.

Another from Cliffhanger:

Ears, lips, African
Obama born in Kenya?
Remove from ticket

Barbara's Back:

United panic
Bleeding market, dying hopes
World fears the worst

Scott Walker's Back Too:

Barack wants to talk
Talk, talk, talk to Tehran and
Ah-ma-din-e-jad

And Also This One:

McCain loves to rage
Bomb, bomb, bomb; bomb, bomb Iran
Back to the Stone Age

And Yet Another:

Both legal to run
Obama born Hawaii
McCain Panama

Day 7 Winner: Matt!

Matt's winning entry, highlighting the issue that almost dominated the news cycle yesterday:

Caribou barbie-
Neiman Marcus loves you so.
Wasted campaign dough.

$150K at NeimanMarcus and Saks, and some phenomenal amount on makeup.

Not that it's a bad thing; she certainly looks hot now, doesn't she?

And it has no bearing on whether or not she can do the job of VP.

Let's get going again for Day 8; I'll set up another post for you to enter your haikus for the next one.

Stop by my desk tomorrow for your Starbucks card, Mr. Matt.

Evolution

Might this trigger your haiku creative juices?

Enter your haiku for today HERE.

Day 7: 12 Days Left!

And the McCain supporters are going rabid.

Is Barack back from visiting his ailing grandmother in Hawaii?

Is spending $150K at Saks and NeimanMarcus what hockey moms really do?

Is the race really tightening? Or is it just the story line to sell more "news"?

Here are the entries so far for Day 7:

From matt:

Five mil makes one rich?
You old rich politician.
You do not know me.

From matt a:

so bad man wilted
queen of all pagents washed up
ditz and dust they are

Another one from matt:

Caribou barbie-
Neiman Marcus loves you so.
Wasted campaign dough.

We're off to a rousing start.
Click on the Comment button below and enter your haiku.

Winner of Day 6: Scott Walker!

Scott Walker's Winning Entry:

Powell endorsement
takes the Commander In Chief
question off table

$5 card to be delivered by Ace, Mr. Duct Tape Engineer!

Day 6: Thirteen Days to Go!

Here we go again:

From Barbara:

Deregulation
Foxes guarding the henhouse
Common sense is lost


From Scott Walker:

Powell endorsement
takes the Commander In Chief
question off table

From tony:

Snowball starts slowly
Momentum accelerates
Avalanche happens

Another From tony:

Ballot mailed now
Advertising recycled
Flush Joe the plumber

Day 5 Winner: Barbara!

Barbara's Winning Haiku:

Sarah smiles and winks
Undecided voters blink
Joe Sixpack holds key

Indeed.

Thanks, Barbara! $5 Starbucks card on the way by mail if you send me your address.

News reports say race is tightening, but polls indicate otherwise.
Two more weeks.
A lot can happen.

Who is "seventenths"

Come forward and claim your $5 Starbucks card.

Day 5 Update: 14 Days Left!!

Here's the entries for Day 5 so far;

From Andrew Smith:

House in foreclosure
Retirement funds bankrupt
Free market free fall

From Barbara:

Sarah smiles and winks
Undecided voters blink
Joe Sixpack holds key

Another from Andrew Smith:

Candidates confused
Tina Palin Sarah Fey
Saturday Night Dead

From Scott Walker:

Sarah Palin Pawn
Joseph Biden Chosen Knight
False King George Soon Gone

From Jim Gearhard:

Sarah not experienced?
Obama has LESS!
Rather her in chair


From "mo":

"Maverick" McCain
Bucked party, allied with Dems
Vote for a real one

From seventenths:

Five dollars for Joe
Biden my time for venti
Black like Obama


And three from Ineligible Sammolambo:

Colin Powell turns
Out to be my hero guy
Must be terrorist

Socialism bad
Unless it saves yerass from
Losing your millions

Privatize profits
Socialize losses; it's just
The American Way

Winner Day 4: seventenths

Seventenths' winning entry is:

Plumber full of shit
non-plumber actually
you'll get a tax break

It was a tough choice, and yes, the second winner that hit with Joe the Plumber, but the reason this won over the only other entry today was that the other one, by Darren, while pretty accurate today implies that the race may for all intents and purposes already be won, which is dangerous. "New Hampshire", baby.

And for those who haven't figured out how to find the winner of Day 3 Jim Gearhard's haiku, here it is:

Plumber speaks his mind
Obama doesn't like it
Media goes plumber hunting

So chalk up two for Joe the Plumber.

And to seventenths; email me at sammolambo@msn.com and let me know how to get the $5 Starbucks card to you!

Not a Haiku

Thought you'd like that one.

Day 4: 15 Days and Counting

Three winners so far;
Day 1: Andrew Smith
Day 2: Tony Medina
Day 3: Jim Gearhard

It's Day 4 and there are two entries so far, both posted yesterday:

From Darren:

McCain Underdog
Obama, Big Dog Running
Away With The Show

From seventenths:

Plumber full of shit
non-plumber actually
you'll get a tax break

From Sammolambo: (ineligible)

Really want to vote
For fluff girl? When McCain dies
Who will really rule?

Click on "Comments" below and post your haiku there by 1:00 today.

Day 4: Winner of Day 3 is Jim Gearhard!

More entries today! Tough choice, but even though Jim didn't technically hit the five syllables on the third line, I liked that he brought in Joe the Plumber to the discussion. Is it true he's related to Keating?

Anyway, Jim; let me know how to get you the $5 card. w00t!!!

There are some entries already in day 5; see the comments on the last post.

For new entries, click on the comments list below.

Day 3: 16 Days and Counting

Let's try something different today; instead of email new entries to me, click on the Comment link below and post any new haikus there.

These are the entries so far today:

#0008 by Tony Medina
Red or blue who cares
Electoral college count
Jokers running show

#0007 by Paul Hjorten
election day come
obama not osama
will fall U S A

#0006 by Paul Hjorten
osama biden
or biden and osama
never ever know

It's 7:45 AM on Sunday; 5.25 hours left to make political history for the day.

Winner Day 2: Tony Medina!

I don't know if it's true that haikus should have no capitalization nor punctuation, but that is the case with this entry. Congratulations Tony!

stupid voters sigh
airhead woman wink wink wink
undecided why

Haiku 0003b by Tony Medina

Oops; This one slipped through - it came in Saturday morning


Ideas bankrupt
Righteously Republican
Fearful mongering

Haiku 0008 by Tony Medina

Red or blue who cares
Electoral college count
Jokers running show

Haiku 0007 by Paul Hjorten

election day come
obama not osama
will fall U S A

Haiku 0006 by Paul Hjorten (10/18)

osama biden
or biden and osama
never ever know

Haiku 0005 by Sam Lambeau

Weather woman trained
Such engaging smiles, oh my;
So presidential!

(Not eligible for prize)

Haiku 0004 by Marco DePaul

May not have George soon
But if Obama's in, our
G.O.P. will whine for years

(Not eligible for prize)

Automatic Email Not Working

It might just be a delay, but it looks like that email address I sent yesterday isn't working.

So instead send you haikus to sammolambo@msn.com (preferred), of if you can't ever remember that, you can send it to my work address. Either way I'll get them up there.

Haiku 003 by Tony Medina

stupid voters sigh
airhead woman wink wink wink
undecided why

Haiku 0002 by Tony Medina

More of a Washington State commentary than a national one:

G O P is what
Republicans hide from past
Electorate fooled

Thanks Tony!

Winner Day 1: Andrew Smith!

For his observations on Sarah Palin, Andrew Smith scores the first $5 Starbucks card!

Congratulations, Andrew!

Tanning beds burn skin
Extreme cold freezes brain cells
Half-baked Alaskan

POST YOUR HAIKU DIRECTLY

You can now send your haiku by email, to michaelsmedina.electionhaikus@blogspot.com, and it will be posted directly to this blog!

Haiku 0001 by Andrew Smith

Here we are, kicked off with a great haiku from Andrew Smith:

Tanning beds burn skin
Extreme cold freezes brain cells
Half-baked Alaskan

Starbucks Cards for Election Haikus

Starting today, October 17, I am awarding a $5 Starbucks card to the best election related haiku each day until the election. On election day, the winning entry each day will be up for the big prize, to be voted on by the visitors to this blog.

Entries will be judged on entertainment value, poignancy (if applicable) and originality. Make us laugh. Make us cry. Make us vote for your guy- or gal.

Haikus due at 1:00 PM each day, winners announced EOB each day.

Good luck everyone, and let's have fun!