Moles Wanted - City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul)
Just wanted to let all know that if you were gonna be protesting at the Repub convention, that the FBI is actively seeking spies, informants, other assorted ilk. Be careful and know your team!
McCain on His Hopes for His First Term - New York Times
Read this and see that it is nothing more than a continuation of Bush policies and programs...where did the maverick go?
Republicans ponder plan to freshen party's image | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
This might be a good idea for the conservative leaders have failed the people.
The Repubs are losing their collective butts in Special elections, the latest was a loss in Mississippi. They have been floundering for at least 4 years and possibly for the last 7. The Repubs prospects in the Fall do not look too good either.
They are scrambling around trying to reinvent themselves and their party with the hope of salvaging some success in the upcoming elections. They have had an epiphany and are trying to become "born again" fiscal conservatives and trying to distance themselves from the crap of social conservatism. Things like the Terry Shiavo case have given the whole idea of social conservatism a bad taste to moderate republicans.
McCain and the Party are trying desperately reinvent their party to make it more appealing before they enter into the battles to come in the general.
Ok, Mccain is the supposed Repub candidate and now there has been a story about his sex life (that alone sends shivers up my spine). It seems to be a good thing, he is raising money on top of money because of this perceived hatchet job. But what if, it is a plan?
OK I sound like a conspiracy theorist, but think about this....Mitt only suspended his campaign, he never stopped being a candidate, only suspended it for the time being. Got that! Mitt could be in the weeds looking for McCain to bomb out or to flame out or something similar.
McCain the height of the campaign Mitt was accused of flip flopping on issues, but yet Mccain has done the same, he now supports the tax cuts, supports torture, and seems to be in support of earmarks, all of these he opposed in the past. He is setting himself up for defeat, in my opinion.
Mitt is a shrewd person, he is playing the GOP for his chance at the presidency. He is trying to make sure it will be his turn in the barrel soon. If for some unknown reason McCain has a crash and burn moment, Mitt will be there to pick up the pieces.
If McCain was truly a man of principles, he has sold them out for the chance to run for president. Is that what you are looking for in a leader? He has pandered to ALL groups within the GOP just to win a little support for his candidacy. Is that what you look for? If so, then you have found your man!
Watch the news, will there be more McCain moments trying to bring him down? Probably, since he is not the first choice of the conservs.
I take so many notes that it makes my fingers bleed (a joke, not reality). Some become posts and some just sit there and wait for more info to become a post and then there are those that just sit...and sit...and sit...and....
These are some of the thoughts that I did not turn into a massive piece of diatribes.
Clinton on her stump speeches says that she is all about solutions to the countries problems. But most of her solutions come straight out of the Democratic leadership Council playbook. Her solutions do not seem to be capturing the imagination of the voter too well.
If Clinton loses the nomination to Obama, will the acid tongue of Bill once again raise its ugly head in the media?
McCain spends $40+ million of his own money on campaign and he lets loose on Romney for spending his personal fortune on the campaign. Now he is trying to get everyone to agree to use public funds for the general...he must be broke.
Clinton people are calling her a populist. WTF? I have read her stands on issues and have yet to see any populism in her positions. also they (whoever they are) are saying that Clinton is returning to her progressive base. HUH? Have you read the positions of the DLC? There is no progressive thought in it.
Recently Joe Scarborough of MSNBC's Morning Joe tried to make a case for Clinton's experience. He said if you need a operation and your choice was a Dr. with 35 years experience and a Dr with 1 or 2 years of experience; you would want the most experience. Good point! But what if the more experienced Dr. is a quack? which one would you want?
Bill has said that his wife has a lot to offer the American people.....maybe so ...but the voter is looking for hope and she is not offering that.
A scenario--say Obama wins the nomination and Clinton returns to congress. Will she be a road block to Obama if he wins the general? The Clintons are a vindictive group. Will she act as a spoiler to Obama's plan for the country. She is a leader of the DLC and she could use that and the membership to spoil change.
Looks like MSNBC has caved to the Clinton's. For a couple of weeks they have been saying that Obama is getting a free ride in the press. For example, Chris Matthews asked a a Texas stAte senator what has Obama accomplished in the his stint in the Senate. The supporter did not have an answer. A big deal is being made of the answer. My problem is why now? Why was this not brought up in past interviews and debates? Still looks like they are trying to placate the Clinton campaign yet again.
Just a few things that have caught me flat footed. They were timely and I did not have a chance to write them up.
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.
Yesterday, all his troubles seemed so far way, but now they are here to stay....sorry, I could hear the Beatles in the back of my mind....Mitt Romney has officially told his delegates to vote for McCain at the convention. Now that had to be hard for Mitt, since he and McCain have no love lost between the two.
This is a cute turn of events. Mitt endorses McCain to save his standing in the GOP? Or does he truly think that McCain is the best they have? If it is the later, then the way some have called him a flip-flop agent , then they would be right. It is more that he was told to do this by the GOP to preserve the integrity of the Party. Mitt being the political whore that he is, will fall in line, so that he can have more support when he runs again. Make no mistake, he will be a candidate again and he will need the GOP machine.
The GOP is tiring of Huckabee and his persistence. They want this soap opera to be over as soon as possible. Mitt is just doing what he is ordered to do. He does give two shakes in hell about McCain's candidacy; he is worried about his political future and his chances of becoming president down the road. With the endorsement, McCain is very close to the magic number of delegates needed. It is all but over for Huckabee, but what will he do now? It will be interesting to see, since he has a paid speech in the Cayman Islands and this was announced while he was preoccupied with his trip.
This is not a surprise, Mitt will do anything to preserve his standing in the Party and to help his future political contests. As i have said that makes him a political whore.
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.
This weekend the Dems had primaries and caucuses. The news is that Obama swept all contests. It was expected because he seems to do well at a caucus. But is he now the front runner? Winning contest means didley...it is the delegates stupid! So far the delegate count is still too close to call a front runner.
Now we move on to the Potomac Primaries this Tuesday. reports are that Obama should do well in DC and Maryland and Clinton should do well in Virginia.....but all that predicting is not worth the paper it is printed on....the voters will let us all know on Tuesday who they think can best run this country.
Ok on the Repub side of the coin...Huckabee did extremely well in the contests this weekend. He won Kansas and Louisiana and is leading in Washington, but final results have been disputed. McCain is starting to look weak and Huckabee is coming on strong. Or it could be the voter just does not like the idea of their nominee being told is gonna be McCain.
All in all--this election cycle has been the most fascinating I have ever watch and I have been watching a long time. And it just keeps getting better and better.
CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Convention, where the land's most conservative minds meet and discuss and listen to speeches. Everybody has been there Bush, McCain, Romney, but my favorite was Huckabee. For once, he appeared without Chuck Norris standing behind him, that was an improvement. But of all the conservative speeches, I was most amazed with the one made by Huckabee.
He has been called a great communicator and this speech lived up to that billing totally. He pandered to absolutely everyone in the conservative movement. He invoked Reagan, a good move at this event, he patted Bush on the back for his foreign policy, a good move to massage Neocons, he mentioned God, he mention Islamo-fascist, he mentioned...well pick a conservative subject and he dwelt on it in this speech. It was absolutely the best speech one could have given to this crowd, it was brilliant.
Huckabee received applause constantly with every pandering. He gave Neocons a thumper. He gave the Pentagon a thumper. He gave evangelicals a thumper, if they are allowed to have such. In other words, Huckabee massaged the genitals of absolutely every quarter of the conservative movement. I keep saying, but it was BRILLIANT!
He just made his case to stay in the Repub race for the nomination and possibly a nod for the VP position. I feel like he succeeded in gaining more support from CPAC members. Will he be successful? IMO, probably not, but he is doing well and that will give him a large say at the convention. I believe that is his sole intention, to be a king maker, for now. It will also be a boost to his political reputation for later attempts at glory.
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.
On 07 Feb 08, Mitt Romney suspended his presidential campaign. With all that money spent and still could catch not McCain, he made a wise choice. He said at his announcement, "if it was about me, I would go on......". Yeah right! He was spending all his wealth in the pursuit of the presidency. Somewhere someone in the family slapped him and said there will be nothing left for us.
He quit to save his political reputation. He will need it and it would not look good if he continued to lose and lose and lose. The GOP will reward him for quiting. How? Don't know, but keep an eye on the news, it will become clear by the Repub Convention. McCain will have time now to skate and work on his message to the US and the voters. He can be prepared for the fight to come.
Now I ask myself, what will Mitt fans do now? Like Joe Scarborough, Rush, Inghram, et al. Will they make nice with McCain? But will Mitt be rewarded with VP spot? NO! They will need someone from the South mostly likely. Someone who is a true conservative.
Don't cry for Mitt, he will be well cared for by the party. His days are not over, but rather just beginning. He may not be the presidential nominee, but he will play a major roll in the future.
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.
ns
| 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% |
| 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% |
Tomorrow is Super Tuesday and hopefully all will get out and vote. For whom? Well Clinton and Obama are in a statistical tie nationwide. McCain is leading Romney and Huckabee. If McCain wins Tuesday it may be over for Romney. To save his political reputation he will get out of the race and wait for the next opportunity. Huckabee may stay just to get some delegates so he can play "Let's Make A Deal".
By Wednesday morning there will still be no clear cut frontrunner in the Dems ranks. And then it will be a race in the remaining contests to accumulate delegates. And take it to the convention for a finally push.
The media will have a thumper come Wednesday morning. Fot the story will not be over and they can still have their fun pushing whatever they think will be the best ratings getter. The best story will be the fact that Clinton, who agreed to not participate in Florida is now trying to get their votes to count. Why? She won on name recognition and she needs the delegates. They will fight for this the more they fall behind. This will be the story to come.
Let the voting begin--fun--fun--fun.
Reagan! Reagan! Reagan!
Last night at the Reagan Library in Californian the remaining Repub candidates squared off for the final debate before Super Tuesday. And as usual, all want to claim the ghost of Reagan. What does that mean? That is another post at a later date. Of course, they were asked the typical Reagan question--Are we better off today? And just as predictable all but Paul said yes. Apparently, they do not live in the same US that I do.
The night was spent mostly allowing McCain and Romney go after each other and their stands. Which CNN seem to want. Huckabee, when he was allowed to talk, said something cute and humorous, but nothing of substance. Paul as usual was confrontational and said all the things that make Repubs squint.
so who won? Nobody, all it was to let the people see Mitt and John go at each other. Paul and Huckabee were just there trying to get some attention. CNN did its part of not allowing them to say too much. Mitt spend all night with a smirk on his face when McCain was talking. It was irritating.
All in all it was a McCain/Romney showcase for CNN. Nothing more than that. CNN as well as a lot of media outlets have chosen the candidates from both parties. Who lost the debate? The people. Not once did the question get asked as how they would change the economy. Only vague ramblings about tax cuts and corporate incentives. Which is a hope not a solution.
All in all a throughly forgettable experience. Thank you CNN for making it so.
Well it is over in Florida--McCain wins 36% to Mitt's 31% to Rudy's 15% and Huckabee's 13%. The win gives McCain a huge lead in delegates. After all the fiery exchanges between Huck and Mc were good political theater. It has been conformed since Rudy spent 10+ months in Florida and the best he could do was a distant 3rd, he will drop out of the race and will endorse McCain. The endorsement will be made at the Republican debate on Thursday 30 Jan 08. Huckabee has vowed to stay in the race and to search for delegates that he may use for leverage at the convention. His presence will most likely help McCain to Romney's chagrin. But for now, McCain will be the front runner simply because of his lead in the delegate count.
On to the Dem side. Since the DNC has stripped Florida of its delegates, this race meant absolutely nothing! Hillary won 50% of the vote, Obama won 33% and Edwards won 14%. There was one interesting fact coming out of this race. Clinton's support and votes were before SC and Obama's was after....most likely she won on name recognition only. Hillary gets to make a victory speech and make a photo-op and grab some headlines away from Obama. That is all she accomplished by the win. She gets NO delegates, but the race was important. But she won in Mich that had its delegates stripped and she did not make a big deal out of it. Publicity is all she won.
Ok now on to Feb 5th, Super Tuesday, or Super duper Tuesday or Tsunami Tuesday, whatever you want call it, will show who is the true front runner in both parties. It will be fascinating to see what types of campaigns will be run. recently they have been negative and nasty on both sides.
Fun stuff--cannot wait!
On Sat, 26 Jan 08, Obama buried Clinton in South Carolina. He got 54% of the vote, Clinton got 27 and Edwards got 18. yes he got the majority of the black vote, but he also cut across other lines as well. It was a great victory for him. His victory speech was just as aspiring as the one in Iowa. He is a helluva speaker. Edwards will continue, but for how much longer?
Now the Repubs will get their shot at immortality, on Tuesday 29 Jan 08 is the Florida primary. McCain and Romney are running neck and neck, with the winner most likely becoming the front runner. The best thing going for Romney is the crappy economy. He can use all his vague business rhetoric to help sway the voter. McCain will benefit from the amount of older retirees and the military presence in the state, it will assist him. Rudy........is.......in a coma. If he does not do well in Florida he will be hard pressed to continue. Since he is lagging McCain in NY, he may decide not to be embarrassed in his home tuff and take a powder. Florida will be interesting to us political junkies.
And now for the real story. A week later is Super Tuesday, or Super Duper Tuesday or Tsunami Tuesday, that is when as many as 20 states hold their caucuses and primaries. The winners there will be propelled into the lead and everyone else will be looking at their butts. Who will be considered the leader or fav? It depends on how you want to look at it. Across the US different candidates will be favored depending on where the vote is. Delegate count now is becoming the most important part of the campaigns, so each candidate, Dem and Repub, will put their money where they think they can get the most delegates. The fun part will be to see who targets who.
29 Jan 08 is the event horizon and the losers will be sucking into the black hole that it is creating. To either be politically destroyed and to lie dormant waiting for the chance to escape oblivion.
After the Repubs debate on Thurs past, Mitt seems to be jumping out in front, barely. But why? It is the economy stupid! As long as the war was the focus of the media then McCain and Rudy were the men. But now they are just there trying to find a hook on the economy.
Rudy without 9/11 is doomed! Unless he can find a way to link the economy to that disaster, and that would be a stretch that even Rudy can not pull off. Then there is McCain, without the war he is struggling. He even says that he is not the sharpest pencil in the box when it involves the economy. His support for the war and surge is past news; old at best. The voter is a fraid they are about to lose everything and the war is just a fleeting memory. McCain may be screwed and tattooed after the Florida primary.
Now there is Mitt. He has got to be jerking off for all he had was a lame vague stand on the economy and now that it has gone into the toilet, he is sitting pretty. Mitt would have been an also ran without the economy and now he is 'Da Man"!
The problem is he is vague with little or no specifics. Hell, I could run on that kind of stand. Yes he ran business that were failing and made them solvent. But how? By cutting jobs, at is how. The company becomes more profitable and he gets the credit. And workers get hunger. His promises are just that promises and will not be kept.
The voter will decide who will be president, and hopefully that will not be fooled by empty promises. Who knows? We can only hope. Mitt is looking good to a lot of Repubs. IMO, he still looks like a game show host.
