(Photo: Geoff Kenyon)
and took 48% of the white vote from Clinton
Independents who made up 5% of the electorate went for Obama 66% to 33%
Republicans made up 8% voting in Democratic primary and they went for Obama of 70% to 26%
Hillary doing her best Rudy impersonation “Waiting for Texas and Ohio”. On MSNBC they are projecting a 102 point delegate lead coming out of Virginia alone.
TAGS: Hillary, obama, Ohio, Republicans, Texas 
(Photo: Geoff Kenyon)
Interesting conversation between Bill O and MC Karl Rove:
From Rove: “I find it hard to believe that the democrats are going to be able to meet in Denver and not have delegations seated from Michigan and Florida. States that she won…I find it hard to believe that we are going to have a 48 state Democratic convention. She ought to be out there right now declaring there ought to be fairness and that some delegation, she can even say to the democrat (he said republican but meant democrat…just shows you were his mind is) half the delegates from Florida and Michigan should be seated.”
They call him the architect for a reason, if I was a Hillary staffer this is the same thing I would be saying and you can damn well bet the Clinton’s and their supporters are going to fight tooth and nail to see this happen.
“It’s who ever wins the raw vote from the folks. You can not deprive Barack Obama of the nomination by brining in this one over here and having Lenny over there, that can’t happen there will be a rebellion with in the party if that is tried”
O’Reilly is right, there will be a rebellion by young…. and black Obama supporters if the Super Delegates decide this election. All I can say is if you don’t believe me I respectively disagree. I can’t believe I am agreeing with both of these guys.
“I think Obama is gonna beat her.”- O’Reilly
Roves response….”Obama is inexperienced and does not have what it takes to be commander and chief and he is the most liberal member of the US Senate (A Lie) if a Republican presidential Candidate can’t make mince meat out of that I don’t know what, on the other hand Clinton has very strong negatives, on the other hand she has very strong positives….in the fox poll she does a better at grabbing at keeping democrats in her in column then does Obama she sees 15% of the democrats sliding over to McCain and he sees 18% and I think that because their a weakness among some democrats who view Obama as not fit to be commander in chief.”
What a dilemma for the Democrats. This is so typical for the Democrats to find themselves in a can’t lose situation with a chance to lose, but ask yourselves, are people really going to vote for a 72 year old who can’t even electrify his own base?… I hope (there is that word again) not.
TAGS: Barack Obama, election, Hillary, mccain, obama
And also picks up Washington, Nebraska, and Louisiana.
Then he made his case to the American people from Virginia, which will vote this Tuesday.
“This fall we owe the American people a real choice, it’s the choice about debating John McCain about who has the most experience in Washington or who is most likely to change Washington, because that is a debate we can win. It’s the choice between debating John McCain about lobbying reform with a nominee who has taken more money from lobbyists than he has or doing it with campaign that hasn’t taken a dime of their money because we’ve been funded by you the American people. It’s a choice between taking on John McCain with republicans and independents who are already united against us or running against him with a campaign that is uniting Americans of all parties around a common purpose. There is a reason why the last six polls in a row show that I’m the strongest candidate against John McCain because I have done better among independents in almost every single contest we’ve had that’s why we won more red states and swing states that the next democratic nominee needs to win in November…John McCain will not be able to say that I supported the war in Iraq, he won’t be able to say that I supported giving George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran, he won’t be able to say that I follow the Bush Cheney doctrine of not talking to leaders we don’t like.”
Interesting from LA exit polls, 50% of the people who voted Obama in Louisiana do not like the idea of Hillary nomination. While 65% of the people who voted Clinton say they would be dissatisfied with an Obama nomination. This is going to be ugly if it is decided by the Super Delegates. Obama is on a roll can he carry it through Tuesday and the Potomac Primary?
(Potomac: Geoff Kenyon)
TAGS: debate, George Bush, Hillary, Iran, Iraq, John McCain, mccain, obama, polls, Republicans, warToday is “Truck Day” for Sox. Do the media in other markets make a big deal of the day the truck of equipment leaves for spring training? Seriously can anyone answer this?
Manny let the Globe follow him around during his workout but declined to be interviewed. No roids for Manny, maybe a little grass but no roids.
TAGS: Boston, Manny Ramirez, SportsThings are good in Manny World. Since declaring himself a “bad man” at the World Series, Ramírez, 34, has announced his plans to report to spring training on time and to play for several more years. Ramírez allowed the Globe to follow his 2-hour-15-minute workout routine but politely declined to be interviewed.
“Take care of yourself,” is his advice.
In his first speech since Romney’s withdrawal and his ascendance as leader of the GOP McCain spoke to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington today.
Last year McCain skipped their conference and greatly offended the conservative wing of the party. With talk from shock jock conservatives that McCain is unacceptable, this was an important speech for Candidate McCain.
He spoke of his opposition to abortion and bands on “so called assault weapons”, he was booed loudly when he said the word immigration, he touted his votes for judges like Roberts and Alito, and mentioned Reagan a dozen times.
Then we got our first real glance at the upcoming debate over national security. 
First he took a direct shot at the Clintons by warning of a return to “the timidity and wishful thinking of a time when we averted our eyes form terrible threats to our security that were so plainly gathering strength abroad.
Then he took them both on:
“Senator Clinton and Senator Obama will withdraw our forces from Iraq based on an arbitrary timetable designed for the sake of political expediency and which recklessly ignores the profound human calamity and dire threats to our security that would in sue.”
“Those senators won’t recognize and seriously address the threat posed by an Iran with nuclear ambitions to our ally Israel in the region. I intend to make unmistakably clear that we will not a permit a government that espouses the destruction of the state Israel as its fondest wish and pledges undying enmity to the United States to possess the weapons to advance their malevolent ambitions”
“Senator Clinton and Senator Obama will concede to our critics that our own actions to defend against its threats are responsible for fomenting the terrible evil of radical Islamic extremism and the resolve to combat it will be as flawed as their judgment.”
He was cheered loudly the entire speech with John McCain chants throughout. If conservatives are bummed on this guy it sure didn’t seem so today. It scares me that the GOP can now begin to unite around McCain while Democrats draw lines in the sand behind their favorite candidate.
TAGS: debate, GOP, immigration, Iran, Iraq, Islam, John McCain, mccain, NATO, obama, political, Slam, war
Huckabee holding his own, McCain needs social conservative evangelical vote.
TAGS: mccain(Photos by James Flynn)
I went to a McCain rally today at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. That is his 95 year old mother on stage with him. Guess that is his way of reassuring voters that he won’t kick the bucket in office.
The rally was held in the Pitt Center where the basketball team plays. They had the gym cut in two with a curtain but as more people arrived it was opened. The Fire Marshall estimated a crowd of 1,500 mostly middle class to upper class whites and much younger then I expected.
Most people I spoke to say their support for McCain came from the belief that we are at war and he is a veteran with the experience to see us through and that he is the only republican who can win in November. One guy said that he didn’t want his president to have to wear, “training wheels on national security issues when we are in the middle of a war”, an attack that will be used against either Democratic candidate but especially Obama. Barack’s ability to withstand the heat of GOP attacks was a major theme in Hillary’s interview on ABC this morning with Stephanopoulos.
McCain was endorsed by Republican Congressmen Chris Shays (who kissed Bush at the state of the Union) and the man who called himself an “Independent Democrat” Joe Lieberman. He spoke very briefly about the economy, demanding the Bush tax cuts be made permanent and blaming our financial situation on congressional spending. Weak, he is going to need to bring more to the table then that.
McCain then quickly turned to his bread and butter, “the transcendent issue of our time, the war against Islamic extremism.” He spoke of our country’s need to take better care of our Veterans and the need to allow veterans the ability to escape the stranglehold of the V.A. It is good that the Republican’s will have a candidate who will take veteran’s issues seriously and not the jokers we have now.
He praised the surge and warned that any withdrawal date would mean surrender and victory for Al-Quada, as President he “will never surrender”. So if he is President the war never ends, cool. He said General Petraues is the only man who should set a date of withdrawal not politicians in Washington. He wrapped up by promising to follow Osama Bin Laden to the gates of hell if that was the price of retribution.
He closed by telling the story of a bracelet that he wears that was given to him by the mother of 22 year old Matthew Stanley who was killed in Iraq. He said that Matthew’s mother made him promise that her son did not lose his life in vain. I understand why a mother would feel this way and I too hope that we can salvage something in Iraq for the 3,943 Americans and countless Iraq’s who have lost their lives in this escapade, but politicians should not use the deaths of young men and women, to justify sending more young men and women off to their deaths or more likely to be maimed by an IED.
He was much more impressive in New Hampshire where he went in depth about the problems in the Middle East and took questions from the crowd. This rally was a quick stump speech with no specifics, but that is what is to be expected from a man who stands to gain nothing at this point by being more specific. McCain comes off as the “we want change but let’s not rock the boat” candidate.
On January 20th, the Hartford Courant released a poll that showed Hillary with a 41% to 27% lead over Obama and seven days later the paper endorsed her for President. Things were looking good for Hillary in the nutmeg state.
But things might be changing. The Obama campaign now feels that Connecticut is up for grabs. A poll released on Feb. 1 had Obama leading Clinton 48% to 44%
On the eve of Super Tuesday Obama and Ted Kennedy will be holding a rally at the XL Center (formally Hartford Civic Center). The Civic Center seats 16,000. The Clinton campaign is feeling the heat and just announced that she will be returning to the state for the second time in a week on Monday as well.
This morning I attended a rally in Hartford at which Obama picked up the endorsements of Democratic congressmen John Larson and Chris Murphy. At the same time in New Haven he was receiving the endorsement of feminist congresswomen Rosa DeLauro.
Connecticut moved their primary up this year from March 4 to February 5 and for the first time in my voting life my vote in a primary presidential election actually means something!
Side note: Murphy is a young freshmen congressman who defeated incumbent republican Nancy Johnson in a heated 06 election. Check out this ad in which the Johnson campaign mocked Murphy’s door to door campaigning (he was greatly outspent) and tried to portray him as a druggie.
TAGS: Congress, election, Hillary, obama, Politics, youtube
Hillary is going to win Florida and all of its delegates (0) in a landslide. I have a feeling Florida might still mean something, stay tuned. Hillary needed a good day and she got one.
Most of Hillary’s support came from absentee ballots and Tim Russert just said that people who voted in the past month preferred Obama over Clinton. From exit polls 64% think Clinton crossed over into negative campaigning 50% thought Obama did as well. Take it for what its worth.
Look at these numbers for the Kennedy Endorsement 26% very important in their decision and 25% said somewhat important.
42 percent of voters thought the Gov. Crist endorsement was very important to them and they went 52% to McCain and 22% to Romney. Is this the year of the endorsement?
Fox’s coverage of Hillary‘s Florida victory-speech cuts away after a few minutes to Brit Hume who points out that the people standing behind Hillary are holding union signs that read IUPAT (International Union of Painters and Allied Trade) and then says, “a reflection, no doubt, to the extent of Hillary Clinton’s support in the labor movement, where gonna take a brief brake and be right back stay tuned.” Then he grins at the camera as it fades to commercial. These guys want Hillary to win so badly, the glory days are right around the corner.
Interestingly enough, Hillary’s banner reads “Solutions for America”. Obama has hope Hillary’s got solutions. That sounds like the theme of the last 2 debates.
Flip to MSNBC for continuing coverage of Hillary. “I want to ask you, do you agree with me, because here is what I believe. I believe that every one who works full time in America should bring home an income that lifts that person out of poverty and gives them and their children a better chance. I believe that every man women and child has a right to quality affordable health care. I believe that every child has a god given potential that we can help develop if we have universal pre kindergarten and we have a school system that is not so worried about giving tests as making sure our kids can learn. I believe that our tax system should be fair for everyone it is wrong that people making fifty million dollars a year on wall street pay a lower percentage of taxes then a teacher making fifty thousand dollars a year.” MSNBC cuts away and with that I might be undecided again. She is good. I am “Kerrying” this election, but at least we have two candidates I am excited about and not Kerry.
For as long as I can remember, when ever I watch a Florida election they are always “waiting for the panhandle”.
Just as I type that Fox calls it for McCain, who is on a roll.
Rush Limbaugh recently said that a nomination for McCain would destroy the GOP of his dreams. Instead of listening to the loons of the party, GOP voters seem to be moving closer to the center that is a refreshing sign. If McCain wins it will be interesting to see what kind of general election he runs.
Rudy is about to address a crowd and I can already tell that he is going to drop out because everyone behind him looks like he is going to announce that someone has died, except his wife who has an enormous smile on her face and can’t stop staring into his eyes. “We ran a campaign that was uplifting. You can’t always win but you can always try to do it right”, 9/11.
The Democratic Debate on Thursday night is must see TV.
TAGS: debate, election, GOP, Hillary, Hillary Clinton, kids, limbaugh, mccain, obama, political, polls, Tim Russert, Trade
Check out these comments!
That last one is just amazing!
TAGS: Barack Obama, Iraq, obama, Politics, Race, war
The day started with an endorsement by Caroline Kennedy in the form of a editorial piece for the NY Times titled A President Like My Father.
Now the NY Times is reporting that Senator Edward Kennedy will endorse Obama tomorrow at a rally in Washington. The Times calls it “a decision that squarely pits one American political dynasty against another.”
It was rumored that Kennedy might stay neutral and then use his role as elder statesman of the party to help mend the fences between Obama and the Clintons when this mess was over. Who will they turn to now?
TAGS: NATO, obama, political, Politics, war
“ The choice in this election is not between regions or religions or genders. It’s not about rich versus poor; young versus old; and it is not about black versus white.
It’s about the past versus the future.
It’s about whether we settle for the same divisions and distractions and drama that passes for politics today, or whether we reach for a politics of common sense, and innovation — a shared sacrifice and shared prosperity. ” Obama 1/26/08
Here is how the AP put it as polls closed:
“Barack Obama routed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the racially-charged South Carolina primary Saturday night, regaining campaign momentum in the prelude to a Feb. 5 coast-to-coast competition for more than 1,600 Democratic National Convention delegates.”
Exit Polls from South Carolina:
81% of Black voters went Obama compared to Clinton’s 17%
48% of white voters between the ages of 18-29 voted for Obama.
70% of all voters (68% of white voters) thought Clinton attacked Obama unfairly while 56% thought Obama attacked Hillary unfairly.
74% of black voters thought that the Clintons’ attacks on Obama where unfair.
TAGS: attack, Barack Obama, drama, election, Hillary, obama, Politics, polls
From the South Carolina newspaper The State’s endorsement of Obama:
“Hillary Clinton has been a policy wonk most of her life, a trait she has carried into the U.S. Senate. As her debate performances have shown, she has intelligence and a deep understanding of many issues. Her efforts in New York focused first on learning her adopted state’s issues in detail, and pursuing legislation that would not necessarily grab headlines.
But we also have a good idea what a Clinton presidency would look like. The restoration of the Clintons to the White House would trigger a new wave of all-out political warfare. That is not all Bill and Hillary’s fault - but it exists, whomever you blame, and cannot be ignored. Hillary Clinton doesn’t pretend that it won’t happen; she simply vows to persevere, in the hope that her side can win. Indeed, the Clintons’ joint career in public life seems oriented toward securing victory and personal vindication.
Sen. Obama’s campaign is an argument for a more unifying style of leadership. In a time of great partisanship, he is careful to talk about winning over independents and even Republicans. He is harsh on the failures of the current administration - and most of that critique well-deserved. But he doesn’t use his considerable rhetorical gifts to demonize Republicans. He’s not neglecting his core values; he defends his progressive vision with vigorous integrity. But for him, American unity - transcending party - is a core value in itself.”
The emergence of Bill Clinton as a key figure in the Democratic primaries since Obama’s win in Iowa has been interesting to watch. The fear for the Democratic Party and for Hillary is that Bill will do irreparable harm to his reputation amongst one time supporters by attacking the extremely popular and inspiring Obama candidacy. This is from The Economist:
“But over the past few months Mr Clinton has downgraded himself from global statesman to political hatchet-man. No former president has inserted himself so wholeheartedly into a presidential race. (Mr Bush senior stayed in the background of his son’s campaign, and declined to get stuck in even after John McCain won in New Hampshire.) Mr Clinton has not only dismissed Barack Obama as a roll of the dice and a purveyor of fairy tales. He has also ripped into awkward reporters and wandered into the Nevada caucuses to canvass for his wife. He is spending more time campaigning in South Carolina than the candidate herself. Mr Clinton seems intent on playing Spiro Agnew to his wife’s Nixon, but with one important difference: Agnew went after the other side.”
Obama’s campaign claims that his record has been distorted so severely that it was necessary to set up a “truth squad” in South Carolina complete with a toll free number that voters could call to report mailings, and advertisements from the Clinton campaign.
Many prominent Democrats have spoken out against the Clintons over the past week. In USA Today on Thursday former Senator Tom Daschle (who has already endorsed Obama) called Clinton’s comments about Obama “not-presidential”. The highest ranking African American in the congress South Carolina Representative James Clyburn has spoken about the possibility of turning off young voters who have been inspired by Obama.
The truth of the matter is that the attacks that we are seeing during this primary season are a far cry from what we will be see during the general election. This is true for Obama and for the Clintons. All signs point to an extremely divisive general election.
If Obama is able to win South Carolina today there are two questions voters must ask themselves after watching the events of the past few weeks.
First, if Obama’s campaign is feeling this type of pressure from the relatively minor attacks from the Clinton camp how will it react when he has the full power of the Republican spin machine working against him? Obama has already had to answer questions in the previous debate about this chain email that has been circulated around the internet. (I know people who believe the things said in that email)
Secondly if the Clintons’ tactics have been this divisive against Obama how ugly will it get during the general election when they go up against people with whom they legitimately have an ax to grind? Republicans might not all agree on everything but every Republican I know agrees that they hate Hillary Rodham Clinton. Will the election become so divisive that even if she did win; her presidency would be mired in the politics of the 90’s?
TAGS: attack, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Congress, debate, election, free, Hillary, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, mccain, NATO, New Hampshire, New York, obama, political, Politics, presidential race, Race, Republicans, spin, war
“As strongly as we back her candidacy, we urge Mrs. Clinton to take the lead in changing the tone of the campaign. It is not good for the country, the Democratic Party or for Mrs. Clinton, who is often tagged as divisive, in part because of bitter feeling about her husband’s administration and the so-called permanent campaign. (Indeed, Bill Clinton’s overheated comments are feeding those resentments, and could do long-term damage to her candidacy if he continues this way.)”
“The real Mr. Giuliani, whom many New Yorkers came to know and mistrust, is a narrow, obsessively secretive, vindictive man who saw no need to limit police power. Racial polarization was as much a legacy of his tenure as the rebirth of Times Square. Mr. Giuliani’s arrogance and bad judgment are breathtaking. When he claims fiscal prudence, we remember how he ran through surpluses without a thought to the inevitable downturn and bequeathed huge deficits to his successor. He fired Police Commissioner William Bratton, the architect of the drop in crime, because he couldn’t share the limelight. He later gave the job to Bernard Kerik, who has now been indicted on fraud and corruption charges.The Rudolph Giuliani of 2008 first shamelessly turned the horror of 9/11 into a lucrative business, with a secret client list, then exploited his city’s and the country’s nightmare to promote his presidential campaign.The other candidates offer no better choices.”
TAGS: Bill Clinton, Hillary, mccain, New York
Tonight the Congressional Black Caucus Institute will host a Democratic Presidential Primary Debate in Myrtle Beach, SC. It can be viewed at 8pm on CNN.
Race will continue to play a large roll based on the fact that about 50% of democratic voters in S.C. are black and because of the numbers that came out of Nevada where Black voters overwhelmingly went Obama 83% to Clinton’s 14% while Hispanic/Latino voters went to Hillary 64% compared to Obama at 26%.
On top of this you have the feud between Obama and Bill Clinton which got ugly after the New Hampshire “fairytale” comment and seems to have only gotten worse during the fight over casino union workers in Nevada. Bill Clinton has vowed to go door-to-door to black voters in S.C and today the Obama campaign decided to make a big media push hitting back against William Jefferson Clinton.
It could be said that Obama began fighting back when he made a comment implying that Ronald Reagan brought the country together in a way that Clinton was never able to do as a President.
Obama’s remarks about Ronald Regean seem to further highlight his campaign’s major argument against Clinton. He is saying to voters that if you vote for Hillary she will divide the nation and nothing will get accomplished. It has been said that quite possibly the only thing that could unite the Republicans is a Hillary candidacy.
Obama’s argument: He will work towards the center in order to bring about real changes in a time when they are desperately needed over partisan politics. This commercial has been showing on CT airwaves and points to the same theme.
These MSNBC exit poll numbers would indicate that this message is reaching the Independent voters of our early sampling.
Independents Iowa Clinton: 17% Obama: 41%
Independents New Hampshire Clinton: 31% Obama: 41%
Independents Nevada Clinton: 33% Obama: 47%
It should be a great night of political theater.
TAGS: Bill Clinton, Congress, debate, Hillary, New Hampshire, obama, political, Politics, Race, Republicans, war, waves, youtube
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