End Of The Season

Clinton won Puerto Rico by 30+ points, but the vote was a lot lower than anticipated. Today is the last of the primaries--the official end of the whining, the pouting, the accusations and the BS--especially the BS of the media and their lame attempts to keep non-issue stories in the news.

I know I am dreaming--it has only begun....LOL

Today is the final two primaries--Montana and South Dakota. Obama is expected to win both of these and win handily.

This is the end of this part of the historical political epoch. (always wanted to say that)

The Reality In Bubba-land

The shine is off Clintonia 'Yesterday's gone' has new twist for Clintons


Clinton keeps spouting the diatribes about "it ain't over til I say it is over" but she needs to be realistic....sorry, sweetie...it is OVER! All you are doing now is wasting time and trying to find a way to stay influential within the party that you are losing control of.

Clintons And The Race Card

First, good ol' Bubba place his foot in his mouth in South Carolina saying that Obama won because like Jesse Jackson, he is black. Ok, that is a paraphrase but the thought was there. Then the campaign had to explain what he meant. There have been other Clinton surrogates that have made comments that could be seen as the playing of the race card.

Now that Hillary is all but eliminated, mathematically any way, the campaign is using just about anything, they are grabbing at straws even heard that they said that they would use the vote in Puerto Rice as an indicator. Thinking about that....they cannot vote in the general election .

Anyway, I digress, it seems the candidate herself is trying to sway the super delegates by using the race card. Here is the part of her interview that sounds a bit racial, at least to me:

This is from the USA Today--

" 'I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on,' she said in an interview with USA Today. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article 'that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states (those voting in Tuesday's Indiana and North Carolina primaries) who had not completed college were supporting me.' "

"There's a pattern emerging here," she said.

You decide--was she or wasn't she?

Gas Tax Holiday--Revisited

I thought I had heard this proposal of McCain and Clinton before. Back in the day, 2000 to be exact, then Pres, Bill Clinton was given this idea to help the working class voter. Back then he would not go for the idea because he did not think it would benefit the consumer.

But yet on this campaign trail, he is defending the same proposal that he would not consider. The Clinton people are going all out in their pandering to the white, blue collar worker. Why? At this juncture it is politically advantageous.

Obama has opposed the idea. And lots of economists and other experts have said it would be disasterous for the economy. Because he opposes it, he is labeled an elitist which is pretty humorous if you think about it...an elitist calling an elitist an elitist.....i cannot write this joke any better.

I will give Obama his props--he is telling people what the NEED to hear, not what they WANT to hear. But apparently the people were listening to both sides and made a good choice in Indiana and North Carolina.

The good thing about this is that know that Hillary is all but eliminated, the news will probably let the support for the "holiday" drop. It will no lnoger be news until the general in November.

Protests At The HQ Of Fla. DNC

There was a massive protest at the HQ of the Florida DNC because of the elimination of the vote in the state. Protesters were angry that their votes were not gonna be counted and that the anger was targeted at the DNC for their decision to not count their votes.

....thinking.........

If I am not mistaken, it was the Repub Gov and the Repub legislature that changed the date of the primary, not the DNC of Florida. Would not the anger best be directed at the people that actually caused this problem? I realize that is too easy, but would make more sense.

May I suggest that the voters that are angered, try voting the architect of their problem and rage out of office. But they will not, for by the time the election comes around they will have succumb to the genital massage of the politicians.

I guess basically what I am saying is, shut the f*ck up and od something about the real problem and stop blaming everyone for their indifference.

What to look for in the Pennsylvania primary - Los Angeles Times

What to look for in the Pennsylvania primary - Los Angeles Times


Today is the day---FINALLY! The voters will speak today in Pennsylvania. But will it be a shout for one candidate or a whisper? That is the question. All the npolls pundits like so much, mean diddly today.

Will There Be A Do-Over?

Looks promising for Michigan. There are reports now that a resolution to the problem of the past election in Michigan is very close. Hopefully this will be a solution that everyone cab agree to and the delegates can be seated.

Onto Florida, now here is a cluster f*ck. After a couple of days of reporting different possibilities for the this situation the news has broke--a do over for Florida is all but completely dead. Mail in vote--dead, Re-vote--dead, caucus--dead and a privately funded do-over is dead. All options available have been rejexted. Hope is slipping away for the people of Florida.

What can be done? First Dean should get off his fat ass and call the two campaigns and tell them to send a rep to a meeting and then they go behind closed doors and bang out a solution. Or some statesman within the Party should take the initiative and bring the two sides together and find a solution to this problem. Someone like Al Gore. we cannot use the elder statesman, Bill, because of his ties to the candidate, so someone needs to step up and take control. If not then Florida should be left out of the mix at the convention. It was their decision to move the primary and they were aware of the consequences.

If It Is Tuesday, It Must Be Mississippi

Yesterday Mississippi, for the first time in a long time, was playing a major role in the nomination process. I went to two polling sites to take an informal exit poll. It was not easy, many people did not want to talk to anyone on the outside.

My voting site is in a neighborhood that is mostly white and military. So the the voter turn out in my station was moderate, because most of the people already have their nominee, McCain. Then I went to North side of the city to a voting station within a black neighborhood and the turn out was amazing. There were people waiting in lines to vote. Energized like never before in recent memory.

Final results were: Obama 61%--Clinton 37% Most blacks voted for Obama and the whites went with Clinton. Goes to show that there is still some residual bigotry left behind. The turn out statewide was heavy. Rain was the story of the morning but it did not deter voters, especially Obama voters.

I asked people questions like why did you vote for your candidate? The answers were not what I had thought. Most said that they voted because of the economy. Then there were a few that cited the war and health care. Gender and race were not mentioned, but that does not play because it appears to be the driving motivation.

All in all I was surprised at the vote. I knew Obama would win but the Clinton's have had a special relationship with the blacks in Mississippi and that did not matter; they went for Obama. I think the only explanation is that Clinton and the attacks on Obama is not playing well in the black community.

All in all, Mississippi was a bit of a surprise, an interesting turn and now Mississippi has made a difference. They should be pleased.

Mississippi Today

Today is Mississippi's day in the spotlight. Thanx to the prolonged nomination process the state finally gets its turn in the barrel. Obama will likely win since 70% of registered Dems are black. Bill tried to head off the rush to Obama by hinting that he would be considered as a veep. Bill is counting on his past clout to help his wife. I do not think it will be effective.

Only time will tell if Mississippi will be a player in the drama that will be the Democratic Convention. I will be trying to do an independent exit poll and will post my findings.

Hopefully people realize that if the state votes for Obama does not mean it will vote Dem in November. McCain will probably take the state in the general. Blacks could change that formula, but that would mean that they must stay engaged in the process. we will see with today's vote and the turn out just how successful the effort will be.

Mini Super Tuesday Primaries

It is official now...McCain sweeps the primaries in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island now he has over 1200 delegates and now he is official...the Repub nominee.

the Dems were not so lucky. Clinton wins Ohio, Texas and Rhode island; Obama wins only Vermont. So the fight goes on...Clinton is not out and Obama still has the delegate lead. This will make Mississippi and Wyoming in the mix, both of them are in the Obama camp. Clinton will press on to Pennsylvania. she will use that to say to the delegates that she won the big states, population wise, and Obama cannot. but Obama will have the delegate lead. It is a nuthouse to keep up with.

It will be a media break for about 7 weeks, when Penn votes. They can throw all their fluff in for awhile. Howard Dean has got to now come up with a plan for the delegates from Mich and Fla. This is the most pressing thing on the agenda for now. The DNC has its back to the wall and most find an answer.

The best analysis of the nite was Rachel maddoe on MSNBC when she said that Obama should call clinton to congratulate her and see how many times the phone rings.

The race is basically a tie.....onto the rest of the contests and see who has the best resume for the delegates. Mississippi and wyoming are next--Good luck.

The Wisconsin Primary

Holy Moly! That is 9 straight wins for Obama. And again it is by double digits. Clinton just cannot buy a win. The Clinton campaign threw all it had at him and it was not good enough. He was accused of plagiarism, his wife was called unpatriotic, he was nothing more than words, and he is inexperienced. Not one of these made a difference. Clinton lost and lost big.

Obama won the majority of white men, that would have voted for Edwards, were he a candidate. Of course he won the black vote. He won the youth vote and made in roads with blue collar workers. White women went for Hillary, but only by 3% over Obama. Seems Clinton is losing these voters as well. The elderly are still voting Clinton overwhelmingly. And she is still carry the under educated vote.

In an exit poll responders were asked about the negative ads and attacks. 53% said that Clinton was the most negative and that it had turned them off. But will this deter the Clinton machine? Probably not. The negativity is not working, but what else do they have at this point. Now one can see why the desperation is there.

On the Republican side--McCain wins the primary--GO FIGURE!

Both McCain and Obama gave speeches that were more like the general election had already begun. McCain laid out his strategy, he will hit him on foreign policy, inexperience and the war. Obama, in his speech will hit McCain as the voice of yesterday and business as usual. McCain's speech was like he was at the Elks Club pretty cut and dry to the point of boring. On the other hand, Obama's was like a rock concert....lots of energy and hope.

There was also a Caucus in Hawaii, but as of this writing I have not seen any results to report on. That will be another post for another day.

The Potomac Primaries

The voting is over and Obama has beaten Clinton with double digit results. He got some good turnout from the young, labor, white men and his popularity is picking up with women. Clinton is beginning to worry more about delegates than votes. IMO, her strategy will be to work the remaining contests by the largest number of delegates.

If this is turning into a strategy to take to the convention, where Clinton will attempt to wrestle the nomination from Obama. He has won 8 of 8 contests so far and will mostly likely win the next two, Hawaii and Wisconsin. Obama is becoming the front runner, a position he does not want and will play down.

Clinton is pulling a Rudy, she is focusing most all her effort and resources in Texas, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Rudy tried this in Florida and he got his ass handed to him and he got to go home and chase the Mrs. around the kitchen. To me, she is now appearing to be desperate to hang on to her status in the eyes of the media. It was a terrible decision for Rudy, hopefully, Clinton's people are smarter than Rudy's.

On the Repub side of the coin, McCain won the primaries and is slowly pulling away from Huckabee. That was just how boring that race was, wish I had more to say, but allo I can add is a yawn!

The Democratic Convention in Denver is going to be the most fascinating in history, even more so than the ones of 1968 and 1972. It could very well be end of the Democratic Party as we know it or it could be united like never before. Return to the days of high drama.

New Clinton Tactic?

With the approach of the Potomac Primaries, the Clinton lost their manager, Patty Solis Doyle, who resigned to spend more time with her family. Why do all politicos use that lame excuse? They have no intention of spending more time with anyone but the campaign.

Most news shows are reporting this as a show of the confusion in the Clinton campaign. They are changing the brain module in mid stream. But as usual I see it as something different. Yes, the Clinton campaign is having money probs and yes the campaign has lost 5 contest in a row. And yes, the March 4th primaries are not looking good for them either. And of course, Bill has been a thorn in their butts, but he has toned down his crap a bit.

In short, the media has not been kind to the Clinton campaign in the last 7 to 10 days. Reporting every little detail of their movements and such. IMO, this change at the top is little more than a political ploy, trying to gain a little wiggle room in the media. thyey are hoping that the media will focus on the new leader and that their probs will become secondary, at least for awhile.

The campaign has all but conceded every contest to Obama and are focusing on Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania. (thinking...thinking...) This sounds vaguely familiar. Oh yeah, was this not the tactic of Giuliani? He was looking for a firewall and a boost in his standing. And how did that work out for him? I think he is no longer a candidate.....tee hee.

Clintons are scrambling and scrambling hard looking for a way to stop the amazing surge of Obama. They are putting all their eggs in the basket of blue collar workers, those working poor and the less educated. They seem to have a strong standing with these people.

If it works they are a genius for their tactic, but they also could find that the Giuliani effect will bite them in the butt. Putting all your eggs in one basket is a dangerous political tactic. Just ask Rudy boy.

This Week's Results In Politics

Fascinating weekend for 09 Feb 08. Louisiana is in the South and a large Afro-American turn out was expected. well Obama won but the turnout was very small. Obama also won Washington state, Nebraska and the US Virgin Islands. Basically it was a clean sweep for Obama. It was expected that the Clinton campaign was gonna have a tough weekend. Sunday is the Maine Caucus and Obama is favored to win that one also. On to Tuesday's contests in DC, Maryland and Virginia, again Obama seems to have the momentum in these contests also. Clinton is looking toward Texas and Ohio for her next "big" win.

Now the Repubs, this has been a huge weekend for Huckabee. He was favored in Louisiana and he came through with the win. He has been called the "Bible Belt" candidate, where there is a strong presence of faith based voters. If so, then that theory has been shot to hell. Huckabee also won in Nebraska and Kansas, not considered strong states for him. Huckabee is proving that he can attract voters outside the "Bible Belt" or it could mean the the Repub voters do not like being told this early who their nominee will be. Either way, Huckabee seems to be gathering more steam.

This is good for me, because it is making the Repub contest a little more intersting. I was almost ready to write it off as over. The Dem side is still an interesting contest, for it looks more and more like it will go all the way to the convention and then the real fireworks will begin.

More Contests Today But What Will They Mean?

Today is Saturday, 09 Feb 08, and there will be contests in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington and Kansas and Sunday Maine will have their caucus. Obama will do well in the caucuses, he seems to have a good grass roots organization that will work well in the caucus atmosphere. Louisiana will probably go to Obama also. Clinton is putting her resources into Texas and Ohio later in the month. Delegate count is everything now. Clinton is going for the heavy populated areas trying to boost that count.

The big story will be if Obama's message is getting through to the voter or if the the Clinton machine is doing their job. The whisper campaign is picking up against Obama, there are letters about him being a Muslim and him attending a white hating church. All have been proven to be LIES, but the fear factor is already in the mind of the voter. Especially in the South, this tactic could prove to be a problem for Obama. The sad part is that some will believe these cowardly lies without checking on the validity. I even heard one guy say, "well he is black and it just makes sense". I asked if he checked out the validity of the accusations and he said that he got an email from a friend with the "facts" in it. And that his friend would not stir him wrong.

Obama will not be alone in these attacks, the closer the convention comes, I look for the same types of "mail" to start circulated about Clinton and her husband. Dirty politics is the way to discredit any opponent. They can tell lies and it will be believed. Sad.

Now The Race Is On

Two days of rest and reflection and now the candidates will hit the campaign trail again. Now it is not so much a popularity contest aimed at the voters, now the candidates are wooing the Super delegates...there is the real power in the process, especially the closer we get to the convention.

But the question to ask is: will the will of the voter be the defining item in who the delegates select to support? We should hope it is, but I feel that it will be more of what deal was made with these delegates to warrant their support at the convention. Since the Super delegates are made up of elected officials, party leaders and just flipping' rich people, where would you think the vote will go?

Since the Dem candidates are very similar in their messages to the people, where would the winner come from? The DLC has gained the upper hand in the party and it is controlled by corporate interests; my vote goes to Clinton , at this point. But that could change, if the wave of true "change" agents win in a landslide in the remaining contests. I do not see this happening. I pray it will, but I believe it will be a knotted convention and deals WILL have to be made and Clinton will come out as the nominee.

I know, not what some want to hear. But reality bites!

What Did Super Tuesday Teach Us?

Good question. On the Repub side it taught us that Romney is not a likable candidate. His message did not get thru to the American conservative voter. Huckabee is still alive. well at least in the South and will go on awhile longer. McCain is now the undisputed front runner, regardless of how bad pundits do not want it. Mitt's choices are if he continues he must pick his battles well or to save his reputation he will slide out of the race and wait for the next political challenge.

Now the Dems--absolutely nothing has been decided. Clinton won some of the larger states and Obama chipped away at the smaller ones. But the real telling thing will be the delegate count, which will mostly likely be sometime this afternoon. Clinton will spin her victories in the larger states for the Super delegates, trying to win support. Obama will spin the fact that he is winning all over the US and is helping to turn out a record amount of voters. There is no front runner for the Dems right now. So this will continue on to places like Texas, Virginia, DC, on and on...delegates will be the trophy that both Obama and Clinton will be playing for.

The drama for the Repubs is just about over, but the Dems can go on and on--all the way to the convention and then the deals will fly. Will the voter get the best candidate? Not necessarily, but rather the best deal maker.

Some Results Of The Primaries

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State	Huckabee	McCain	Paul	Romney
AL 99%	41%	37%	3%	18%
AK 0%	22%	16%	17%	44%
AZ 72%	9%	47%	4%	34%
AR 85%	61%	20%	5%	13%
CA 25%	12%	43%	4%	28%
CO 73%	13%	19%	8%	59%
CT 99%	7%	52%	4%	33%
DE 100%	15%	45%	4%	33%
GA 97%	34%	32%	3%	30%
IL 96%	17%	47%	5%	29%
MA 95%	4%	41%	3%	51%
MN 78%	20%	22%	16%	42%
MO 99%	32%	33%	4%	29%
MT 100%	15%	22%	25%	38%
NJ 98%	8%	55%	5%	28%
NY 99%	11%	51%	6%	28%
ND 100%	20%	23%	21%	36%
OK 100%	33%	37%	3%	25%
TN 100%	34%	31%	6%	24%
UT 99%	1%	5%	3%	90%
WV 100%	52%	1%	0%	47%

licans

State	Clinton	Obama
AL 99%	42%	56%
AK 0%	25%	74%
AZ 72%	51%	42%
AR 85%	69%	27%
CA 25%	53%	38%
CO 73%	32%	67%
CT 99%	47%	51%
DE 100%	42%	53%
GA 97%	31%	66%
ID 98%	17%	80%
IL 96%	33%	64%
KS 100%	26%	74%
MA 95%	56%	41%
MN 78%	32%	67%
MO 99%	48%	49%
NJ 98%	54%	44%
NM 28%	48%	48%
NY 99%	57%	40%
ND 100%	37%	61%
OK 100%	55%	31%
TN 100%	54%	41%
UT 99%	39%	57%

A Democratic Free For All

OMG! What a crock of steaming manure! The media is billed the Democratic race on Super Tuesday as a free for all. I wish I could see it. To me, a free for all is when there are multiple contests and they all go at it to be the winner. On the Dem side there are two candidates. And there is not much difference between them, only race and gender separates the two candidates. Where is the free for all?

The media has done its very best to eliminate the multiple candidates and have it down to the two. So again, where is the free for all? The media has wanted a race/gender war from the beginning. That way issues are secondary; the people will go to the polls and vote in a popularity contest. Or at best a beauty contest.


History will be made when the nominee is selected. But the only history will be that of a woman or a black man wins the nomination. As far as history goes and especially the change; if I were you I would not hold my breath. At what point was a two person contest ever a free for all? As usual the media is doing all it can to make your decisions for you. That is not the horrible part. The horrible part is--you are allowing them to do so.

Enjoy your decision while you can, for it will not be long lasting.

Let The Voting Begin

Today is the day! The Big Show! The ........well you pick an adjective......voters today will go to their respective voting location and make their choices for the nominee of both parties. The people will be part of the process. Stop!

Today the voters in the Dem primaries have to choose between a black man and a woman....the choice will be made on that alone. Why? Look at their positions on the issues....both are the same with some minor differences here and there. Any real choice has been eliminated...mostly thanks to the efforts of the media to marginalize any candidate that had a "real" agenda and left the voter with an agenda that is similar. So in the Dem primaries I suggest that a flip of the coin would be a better way to make your choice. At the end of the day, no one will be a shoo in and it will continue past Feb 05 in a search for delegates. It is just a shame that it has boiled down to a personality contest. Good luck, Dems.

Moving on to the Repubs. Here you have a choice between a fake business man, a vet and a preacher. At least these guys have real differences in their approaches to Washington and personally, I think this made their run for the nomination more interesting. IMO, at the end of the day, one will be out front and almost a shoo in for the nomination. I think one candidate will drop out and another, which could drop out, will continue just to get a delegate count. But by Feb 06, the nominee will mostly likely be known.

Please, go vote, if you think that your vote will make a difference and afterwards you feel good about what you did, then by all means, go vote.

To all Godd Luch and Good hunting!