04 Mar 08 Somewhat less super Tuesday, but still pretty important

A smattering of March 4 primary headlines:

• McCain Clinches Race as Foe Concedes; Democrats Battle Over 2 Crucial States - NY Times
• Huckabee drops out - MSNBC
• Clinton projected to win Rhode Island; focus turns to Texas, Ohio - CNN
• Clinton Takes Rhode Island, Obama Wins in Vermont - Washington Post (ed. Headline should read, “Democratic candidates trade irrelevant states”)
• News Coverage Changes, and So Does Tone of the Campaign - NY Times
• Obama, Clinton duel for Democrats in Ohio and Texas - San Diego Union-Tribune

Apparently, it’s a “nail-biter” in Texas as every political commentator has decided to tell us at this point. Expect a Daily Show montage of that tomorrow night.

Synopsis:

• McCain in
• Huckabee out
• Vermont, Obama
• Rhode Island, Clinton
• Ohio, possibly Clinton
• Texas, “nail-biter” (apparently)
• Wolf Blitzer - doesn’t sleep, and when he does, he wears a suit
• John King - loves the touch-screen map
• Anderson Cooper - wants to be somewhere else
• Paul Begala - is analyzing
• Lou Dobbs - loves the middle class
• Chris Matthews - wants to upstage Olbermann
• Keith Olbermann - laughs at Tweety’s attempts to upstage him
• Joe Scarborough - has good hair
• Tim Russert - is lame
• Brit Hume - is morose
• Fox News - is ‘Fair & Balanced’ (pffftbwahahaha!!)

That is all. GObama!

Election = circus

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Tags: Campaign 2008, caucuses, primaries, the election circus

04 Mar 08 Hucka-beeotch!

Just a quick thought on Mike Huckabee and his refusal to gracefully (*snicker*) bow out.

Huckabee has stated that, despite it being mathematically impossible for him to become the Republican candidate, he will remain in the race until God tells him to drop out. He also says that he, “believes in miracles,” and that is what he is counting on to win.

Seeing that a miracle is a divine act of God making the impossible possible, and that the only thing that would make Huckabee the front runner would be if McCain suddenly drops out or dies. One has to surmise that Huckabee, in a roundabout kind of way, is hoping that God comes down and kills John McCain.

That’s mighty Christian of you partner.

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24 Feb 08 Oh crap.

Ralph Nader announces third-party run for president

Ralph Nader is launching a third-party campaign for president.

The consumer advocate made the announcement Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He says most Americans are disenchanted with the Democratic and Republican parties, and that none of the presidential contenders are addressing ways to stem corporate crime and Pentagon waste and promote labor rights.

Nader also ran as a third-party candidate in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. He is still loathed by many Democrats who call him a spoiler and claim his candidacy in 2000 cost the party the election by siphoning votes away from Al Gore in a razor-thin contest in Florida.

Come on Ralph, you’re a good guy and all but let’s not screw things up.

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11 Feb 08 Obama takes Maine

Maine victory makes Obama 4 for 4 over the weekend. Oooh, I bet Hillary is getting scared now. She even replaced her campaign manager to compensate.

Current delegate count.

Barack Obama: 1,121
Hillary Clinton: 1,148

Next up on Tuesday, Feb. 12:
Virginia
Maryland
Washington D.C.

It’s getting exciting now.

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09 Feb 08 GoObama!

Obama wins Nebraska and Washington

Mr. Obama received nearly 70 percent support in Nebraska, compared with 31 percent for Mrs. Clinton. He also had 67 percent support in Washington state caucuses, compared with 32 percent for Mrs. Clinton with returns tallied from about one-half of the state’s precincts. There were 78 delegates at stake, the largest single prize of the night. The two were also matched up in a primary in Louisiana and caucuses in the Virgin Islands.

With the Democratic contest so close, excitement ran high, as did turnout. In Nebraska, the Web site of the Omaha World-Herald reported that organizers at two caucus sites were so overrun by crowds that they abandoned traditional caucusing and asked voters to drop makeshift scrap-paper ballots into a box instead. Traffic backed up on Highway 370 in Sarpy County, south of Omaha, when thousands of voters showed up at a precinct where organizers had planned for hundreds.

Again, I believe a w00t is in order. I bet Hillary is getting scared now.

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09 Feb 08 He’s a bad presi…Shut yo’ mouth!

How could you not want this dude as your president? Look at those lapels!

See more photos of young Barack here.

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06 Feb 08 Post-Super Tuesday wrap-up

Dems
Clinton: Ark., Ariz., Calif., N.J., Mass., Okla., Tenn.
Obama: Ala., Alaska, Colo., Conn., Del., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Kan., Minn., Mo., N.D., Utah

GOP
Huckabee: Ala., Ark., Ga, Tenn., W.V.
McCain: Ariz., Calif., Conn., Del., Ill., Mo., N.J., N.Y., Okla.
Romney: Alaska, Colo., Mass., Minn., Mont., N.D., Utah

Current Delegate Numbers:

Hillary Clinton: 825
Barack Obama: 732

John McCain: 615
Mike Huckabee: 169
Mitt Romney: 268

It’s still either candidate’s game on the Democratic side, but I think McCain has it locked for the GOP. I think McCain’s comeback has pretty much shocked everyone, even him.

Washington (02/09), Maryland & Virginia (02/12), Ohio (03/04) and Texas (03/04) will be the ones that decide the Democrat race.

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05 Feb 08 SUPER TUESDAY!!

Let the games begin!

Tags: Campaign 2008, primaries

30 Jan 08 John Edwards to drop out of race today

Breaking News: John Edwards to drop out of presidential race today!

Following a third-place finish in the Florida Primary, Democrat John Edwards is exiting the presidential race today, ending a scrappy underdog bid in which he steered his rivals toward progressive ideals while grappling with family hardship that roused voters’ sympathies but never diverted his campaign, The Associated Press has learned.

The two-time White House candidate notified a close circle of senior advisers that he planned to make the announcement at a 1 p.m. EST event in New Orleans that had been billed as a speech on poverty, according to two of his advisers. The decision came after Edwards lost the four states to hold nominating contests so far to rivals who stole the spotlight from the beginning — Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

That’s too bad, I kind of liked Edwards. Ooh, maybe he’ll latch onto Barack’s VP ticket (I’m calling it for Obama right now).

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29 Jan 08 Florida Primary: The results are in!

Hillary can’t honestly be all that proud of this. If our delegates weren’t taken away and the candidates were allowed to campaign here, Obama would have swept through Florida like a Cat-5 hurri…oh wait, that’s probably a bad joke. You get my point.

I guess the “Ron Paul Revolution” forgot to put the bongs down and get off their asses to vote for the guy. More likely, most of the more liberal and independent supporters of Paul forgot that Florida was a closed primary and never changed their voter registration. Nice work.

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26 Jan 08 Barack Obama projected to win in S.C. by substantial margin

UPDATE: Obama scores big win in S.C. primary

Early exit polls (though we know how accurate those are) are projecting that Sen. Barack Obama will sweep the South Carolina primary by a substantial margin.

Mind you these are very early, but I still believe this deserves a w00t! I can’t wait for super Tuesday.

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21 Jan 08 S.C. Democratic debate, nastiness ensues

Things got nasty between Clinton and Obama in tonight’s debate (VIDEO). Some of it was almost embarrassing to watch but it was interesting. You can really see the masks and smiles begin to slip away and the inner viscousness is starting to come out of the candidates.

I’m still for Obama 100% (seconding Edwards), too bad my primary vote in Florida means squat. Hillary has far too much history in Washington and it is time for new blood.

I really hate the debates though. If people really base their vote on these theatrical sparring matches they are doing the country a disservice. What really matters is what the candidates can actually do, not what they say they will do and how well they can insult the other candidates.

And the show goes on.

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11 Jan 08 Slacker Jack City, population: Me

I’ve been slacking here on the personal blog due to the new school semester, work and focusing a bit on the UCF Blog quite a bit. We’re averaging 500 page views a day which is pretty good by local blog standards. One day we even had over 1,600 page views thanks to Kevin Smith news. People love to read about that guy.

More comments and links will be forthcoming the closer it gets to the Florida primary and Super Tuesday. Although for a registered Democrat like myself the Florida primary holds almost no relevance. We’ve been stripped of all of our delegates, so it doesn’t matter who wins in Florida it does their campaign no good. Sure it helps support, but it doesn’t help them win the nomination.

Surprises though with McCain winning New Hampshire and Huckabee winning Iowa. I don’t think Clinton’s win in New Hampshire will be enough to rally her troops. Barack embodies change too much while Clinton will forever have the shadow of William Jefferson hanging over her head. I’m supporting Barack 100%.

The Ron Paul situation is ridiculous. Republicans and the right-wing media are treating him like he doesn’t exist. He is doing well and he should be acknowledged. FOX Noise refuses however.

<--END OF TRANSMISSION-->

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07 Jan 08 Angry mob chases Sean Hannity to chants of, "Fox News sucks!"

Here’s the kicker, these are conservative Ron Paul supporters. After the recent announcement by Fox News that they were excluding the Texas republican from their “Republican Forum,” some viewers who were also Ron Paul supporters became upset.

Paul has not only raised tons of money but he currently ranks higher than Fred Thompson in the latest NH poll. Despite what I said earlier about Ron Paul I still don’t think it is fair that he be treated as an extreme, fringe candidate. Sure his chances of winning are slim, but they are better than say, Mike Gravel or Joe Biden, and they still get decent treatment.

The best part comes at the end when you can hear the mob shouting “We aren’t falling for it anymore Sean!”

Hat tip: Daily Kos

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05 Jan 08 O’Reilly allegedly pushes Obama staffer

According to The Swamp, Bill “Papa Bear” O’Reilly allegedly shoved an Obama staffer because he was in his shot:

Hours after Bill O’Reilly was recognized by Sen. Hillary Clinton at a campaign event, a less friendly exchange took place today between the FOX News commentator and a staff member for Sen. Barack Obama.

Marvin Nicholson, Obama’s national trip director, said he was “pushed” by O’Reilly following an event here.

“I was just shadowing the senator and I guess I was in his shot,” Nicholson said, adding that O’Reilly called him “low-class.”

Nicholson, 36, who served as Sen. John Kerry’s body man during his 2004 presidential campaign, is a former bartender and golf caddie. He stands 6-foot-8-inches tall.

Nicholson said the push happened after O’Reilly and Obama exchanged a few pleasant remarks. He said O’Reilly asked if Obama would appear on his show, prompting the Illinois Democrat to respond that he would think about it after the primary season.

Hmm, I don’t know. O’Reilly is a dirtbag to be sure, but he usually doesn’t do anything unless he is being taped and it serves to further his career. Honestly though, what’s a 6-foot-8 former bartender doing complaining about a little shove?

Eh, O’Reilly is still in my “hurts the public discourse” column now and forever.

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