i think Romney or Mrs. Romney said to quit. since his campaign was self-financed, i think he/she saw the bank balance and said it was time to move on. note to Romney: next time, don't declare that you will finance your run. unless, he all the sudden turns into Michael Bloomberg or Gov. Corzine-Governor, NJ (both are quite wealthy;))
as for rush and and ann coulter saying they won't support McCain in his run. i'm not so sure now. this could be some sort of trick to throw Dems off...i just don't trust those repubs. they'll do/say whatever to ensure their hold on the White House.

Obama swept the Democratic voting today. He won the Lousianna primary and the Washington, Nebraska and USVI caucuses. There are two phenomenon that I find very interesting:

1) Obama has won EVERY SINGLE caucus state by a hefty margin.
2) Hillary still enjoys stronger support among whites, Baby Boomers and poorer/blue collar voters.

I am really mesmerized by this whole process its truly amazing!

Trouble inside the Clinton camp?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080210/...mpaign_manager

Campaign manager has been replaced.

This is usually a bad sign.

Next up is Maryland, Virginia, and DC. I can't wait.

Michelle Obama will be Larry King's guest in a few minutes. The show will repeat later on tonight (11 PM Central time).

Obama is crushing Clinton in VA. The Maryland polls are extended to 9:30 pm due to weather.

Per CNN projections, he swept the entire Potomac area. In reviewing the exit polls for VA and MD (it looks like DC had a caucus not a primary per se), Billary is very strong with her own demographic - older white women Democrats - but in all other demographics, Obama won their votes although a few were close like the overall white vote (Virginia - Clinton=51%, Obama 46%; Maryland - Clinton=49%, Obama 50%). White women made up the single largest demographic in both areas (Maryland=34%, Virginia=35%) but it still wasn't enough to put her over the top because she only received a slight majority of those votes. Next stop Hawaii (Obama's home state), Washington State and Wisconsin.

The Republican race is a non-contest with McCain running away with the nomination.

[COLOR=darkred]Fixed that for you.[/

What is MSM?

BTW, isn't it mathematically impossible for Huckabee to win the nomination by number of delegates? Is there another way that a candidate can win the nomination in the Republican party? I really want to know because even though I am and have been a registered Independent my entire life, I am more familiar with the Democratic party process than the Republican one.

Numerically, the Repub. nomination contest is over. Huckabee is running, and gaining delegates (particularly from the evangelical wing of Republican primary voters) as "leverage," so to speak, establishing himself as the "anti-McCain" alternative to those who just aren't feeling McCain.

Perhaps it'll lead to Huckabee's being chosen as VP, or as the leader of the party after the '08 elections.

[COLOR=darkred]MSM = Main Stream Media[/

[COLOR=darkred]It is also mathematically impossible for McCain to win the nomination prior to Convention. Someone did a spreadsheet listing state by state the number of (bound) delegates won or projected to win by Republican candidate. If I find it, I'll post it here.[/

[COLOR=#8b0000]ETA: I question if the number of delegates the MSM says that McCain has is accurate in that are those delegates bound to McCain, and if so, are they legally bound or only "morally" bound. The difference is that in some states, delegates are legally bound to vote for the winning candidate and if they deviate, there could be some serious legal consequences, whereas in morally bound states, it is "recommended" that they vote for the winning candidate, but they can "break rank", vote for another candidate, and only get a slap on the wrist. Personally I think there are a LOT more stealth Huckabee and Paul delegates than the MSM is actually reporting.[/

[COLOR=#8b0000]Both candidates Huckabee and Paul are shooting for a brokered convention, which is if in the first round of voting no candidate wins a simple majority, then in the second and subsequent voting rounds all delegates become unbound and it becomes a free for all with who the delegates want to vote for.[/

[COLOR=#8b0000]I can tell you now there is a significant number of delegates who are uncommitted to any candidate and we won't know who they will be voting for until convention.[/

[COLOR=#8b0000]The smartest thing for the Huckabee and Paul delegates can do at this point is to team up and to give each other support to win states that they have the stronger support in. I am speaking of states where they have caucuses instead of primaries. This happened in WV where Huckabee won because the Paul delegates swung their support to Huckabee in exchange for 3 delegates going from Huckabee to Paul. If this had happened earlier in the primaries, a brokered convention would've been all but certain, plus Paul would've likely won such states as Nevada and Maine.[/

[COLOR=#8b0000]If the GOP hates McCain's guts the way everyone is saying they do, there will most definately be a brokered convention.[/

[COLOR=darkred]While it looks like the nomination contest is over based on the numbers, trust, it is far from over.[/

[COLOR=darkred]Some have speculated that Huckabee will "kingmake" McCain into getting the nomination by giving his delegates to McCain in exchange for McCain making Huck a running mate, though Huckabee said on Meet the Press last Sunday that he was not interested in a VP position. Whether this was a slick PR ploy or the truth remains to be seen.[/

The Repubs are non-binding and do not have super delegates. The Dems are binding and have super delegates.

McCain and Huckabee are friendly. In other venues Huck dodged the question saying "they have talked."

Gotcha! That was a really good explanation. I could not figure out why Paul was still in the race and what Huckabee has to gain at this late date.

BTW, I spoke to one of my diehard Republican friends and he, probably like most conservatives, is NOT happy AT ALL. I think both conventions will be rather interesting this summer...


[QUOTE=KAPital PHINUst;1600498][COLOR=darkred]MSM = Main Stream Media[/



[COLOR=darkred]It is also mathematically impossible for McCain to win the nomination prior to Convention. Someone did a spreadsheet listing state by state the number of (bound) delegates won or projected to win by Republican candidate. If I find it, I'll post it here.[/

[COLOR=#8b0000]ETA: I question if the number of delegates the MSM says that McCain has is accurate in that are those delegates bound to McCain, and if so, are they legally bound or only "morally" bound. The difference is that in some states, delegates are legally bound to vote for the winning candidate and if they deviate, there could be some serious legal consequences, whereas in morally bound states, it is "recommended" that they vote for the winning candidate, but they can "break rank", vote for another candidate, and only get a slap on the wrist. Personally I think there are a LOT more stealth Huckabee and Paul delegates than the MSM is actually reporting.[/

[COLOR=#8b0000]Both candidates Huckabee and Paul are shooting for a brokered convention, which is if in the first round of voting no candidate wins a simple majority, then in the second and subsequent voting rounds all delegates become unbound and it becomes a free for all with who the delegates want to vote for

[COLOR=#8b0000]I can tell you now there is a significant number of delegates who are uncommitted to any candidate and we won't know who they will be voting for until convention.[/

[COLOR=#8b0000]The smartest thing for the Huckabee and Paul delegates can do at this point is to team up and to give each other support to win states that they have the stronger support in. I am speaking of states where they have caucuses instead of primaries. This happened in WV where Huckabee won because the Paul delegates swung their support to Huckabee in exchange for 3 delegates going from Huckabee to Paul. If this had happened earlier in the primaries, a brokered convention would've been all but certain, plus Paul would've likely won such states as Nevada and Maine.[/

[COLOR=#8b0000]If the GOP hates McCain's guts the way everyone is saying they do, there will most definately be a brokered convention.[//QUOTE]

Well, NM has finally been decided in Hillary's favor. She continued to do well with women, Hispanics and older voters. Obama continued to do well with college-educated and younger voters; the Black population in NM is negligible however Obama did pull a majority of white voters.

It looks like Edwards failure to endorse a candidate cost Obama the state. Clinton won by only about 1100 votes. Edwards took over 2000 votes that might have gone to Obama and Richardson garnered 1200 votes that may have gone to Hillary.

Hillary is now going after Obama with both barrels trying to paint him as a talker and not a doer. I think that this strategy will backfire. On CBS news last night, Michelle addressed this question with Katie Couric in a straightforward and factual manner. Michelle rightly challenged the narrow definition of 'experience'. While Hillary has more experience in the Senate (by a mere 3 years), Obama has more elected experience having served8 years in the Illinois state legislature before being elected to the Senate. He was a civil rights attorney, constitutional law PROFESSOR and worked with people on the grass roots level. Representing corporate interests as an attorney and a board member are not necessarily better or more substantive experience for the highest office in the land; her mere one year at CDF is a blip in her '35 years of experience' and her 16 years as First Lady doesn't count AT ALL.

I don't know what to say at this point about Florida and Michigan.....

I also think Hillary going after Obama in this way will backfire. If she had done this in the first place things may be different for her. Doing it now only makes her seem desparate, which she is.

She's critizing him for being a "talker," but what has Hillary said in any speech that made nondecided voters want to listen. At least when Obama speaks you stop and listen even if you may not agree with him.

This is going to be interesting. It's unfortunate because you don't deny those voters the right to choose who will be the nominee. On the otherhand, all the candidates agreed not to campaign in those states. I think Florida has more of a chance to get delegates seated because all the candidates names were on the ballot. Only Hillary's name was on the ballot in Michigan.

I got this from another listserve. I am sure that the accuracy can be verified on the respective US Senate and State of Illinois websites....

================================================== ==
Let's take a closer look at who's really qualified and/or who's really working for the good of all of us in the Senate - Obama or Clinton. Records of these two candidates should be scrutinized in order to make an informed decision.
Senator Clinton, who has served only one full term - 6yrs. - and another year campaigning, has managed to author and pass into law (20) twenty pieces of legislation in her first six years. These bills can be found on the website of the Library of Congress www.thomas.loc.gov, but to save you trouble, I'll post them here for you.
1. Establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site.
2. Support the goals and ideals of Better Hearing and Speech Month.
3. Recognize the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
4. Name courthouse after Thurgood Marshall.
5. Name courthouse after James L. Watson.
6. Name post office after Jonn A. O'Shea.
7. Designate Aug. 7, 2003, as National Purple Heart Recognition Day.
8. Support the goals and ideals of National Purple Heart Recognition Day.
9. Honor the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton on the bicentennial of his death.
10. Congratulate the Syracuse Univ. Orange Men's Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.
11. Congratulate the Le Moyne College Dolphins Men's Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.
12. Establish the 225th Anniversary of the American Revolution Commemorative Program.
13. Name post office after Sergeant Riayan A. Tejeda.
14. Honor Shirley Chisholm for her service to the nation and express condolences on her death.
15. Honor John J. Downing, Brian Fahey, and Harry Ford, firefighters who lost their lives on duty. Only five of Clinton's bills are, more substantive. 16. Extend period of unemployment assistance to victims of 9/11.
17. Pay for city projects in response to 9/11 18. Assist landmine victims in other countries.
19. Assist family caregivers in accessing affordable respite care.
20. Designate part of the National Forest System in Puerto Rico as protected in the wilderness preservation system.
There you have it, the facts straight from the Senate Record.
__________________________________________________ _____________
Now, I would post those of Obama's, but the list is too long, so I'll mainly categorize.
During the first (8) eight years of his elected service he sponsored over 820 bills. He introduced 233 regarding healthcare reform, 125 on poverty and public assistance, 112 crime fighting bills, 97 economic bills, 60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills, 21 ethics reform bills, 15 gun control, 6 veterans affairs and many others.
During his first year in the U.S. Senate he authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. These included:
- The Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 which became law - The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act which became law
- The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act which passed the Senate
- The 2007 Government Ethics Bill which became law
- The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill, now in committee, and many more.
In all, since entering the U.S. Senate, Senator Obama has written 890 bills and co-sponsored another 1,096. An impressive record, for someone who supposedly has no record according to some who would prefer that this comparison not be made public.

Got tickets?
 

FYI (for those that are interested): Barack Obama to be in Houston on Tuesday, February 19th for "Stand for Change Rally" at the Toyota Center. Doors open at 6pm. Tickets are first-come, first served.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...010303303.html

EXCERPT

People who complain that Barack Obama lacks experience must be unaware of his legislative achievements. One reason these accomplishments are unfamiliar is that the media have not devoted enough attention to Obama's bills and the effort required to pass them, ignoring impressive, hard evidence of his character and ability.

Since most of Obama's legislation was enacted in Illinois, most of the evidence is found there -- and it has been largely ignored by the media in a kind of Washington snobbery that assumes state legislatures are not to be taken seriously. (Another factor is reporters' fascination with the horse race at the expense of substance that they assume is boring, a fascination that despite being ridiculed for years continues to dominate political journalism.)

If you have not seen this video, take a look. This young man helps to disspell the notion that Obama supporters are motivated by emotion rather than policy consideration.

http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress....y-to-railroad/


Of course, the word is that Obama receives a lot of support from the well-educated; that is a population that does not tend to be swayed by emotion.

Reality Check on Senate Record E-mail
 

This misleading blog piece has been proliferated throughout the internet. First of all, it compares apples to oranges. It attempts to understate Clinton's accomplishments by citing the number of bills she authored and passed into law. And then it attempts to over-inflate Obama's record by citing the total number of bills he sponsored (BOTH in state and federal congress).

If you look up the information for yourself (http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/110search.html) you can compare apples to apples:
- In the 109th Congress Obama sponsored 152 bills (26 were signed into law) and co-sponsored 427 (12 were signed into law). Clinton sponsored 177 (21 were signed into law) and co-sponsored 720 (19 were signed into law).

- In the 110th Congress Obama sponsored 113 (0 signed into law) and co-sponsored 375 (3 signed into law). Clinton sponsored 150 (0 signed into law) and co-sponsored 477 (4 signed into law).

- Grand Total Authored - Clinton 327 sponsored / 1197 co-sponsored vs. Obama 265 sponsored / 802 co-sponsored

- Grand Total Passed – Clinton 44 vs. Obama 41

THE FACT - During the time that Obama and Clinton were in Senate together, Clinton authored 23% more bills and co-sponsored 49% more bills. Clinton helped to pass 7% more bills than Obama. In addition, Clinton sponsored 299 bills and co-sponsored 1183 from 2001-2004 while Obama was not involved in national politics.

Shawneeeb,

What about the work that he did during his 8 years as an IL senator? That's a long time in the legislative business. As a past IL resident, I can say that he was instrumental in bringing and getting passed many pieces of legislation that were very significant in IL - statewide.

Additionally, I can personally vouch for his knowledge of our government and the processes therein as I was in his Constitutional Law class while in lawschool. He taught three classes each year while also serving as an IL legislator and working the process in Springfield. I had the pleasure of learning about Brown v. Board from this man (our class dealt with the portion of Con Law addressing separation and equality issues - women's rights, voting rights, etc.) and many, many other pivotal constitutional law cases - as did many other students. Each quarter, he would allow students to override into his classes, even given his busy schedule, b/c there was that much interest in taking Constitutional Law from him. At that time, he was not in the U.S. senate nor running for the U.S. senate. Students wanted to take his class b/c he was a great professor and knew his stuff. He also engaged the class in a way that made everyone feel as if they had something to contribute...which can be a rarity in law school classes. Finally, his classes were challenging and very thought-provoking. Further, I can say that the man actually is as genuine and down-to-earth as he appears to be on television. He could have acted any way that he wanted to with us as students - and many professors did - but he was always genuine and down-to-earth.

8 years in the IL legislator (which is quite some time) in addition to those year in the U.S. senate, I would wager to say, probably gives him more legislative experience.

Whether you agree or not. I think that it's safe to say that Obama has significant legislative experience - dispelling the incorrect rumors of the media.

SC

I totally co-sign! The state level is much more hands on and grass roots level than the Senate so I think the experience is more than relevant, it is essential to understanding the common problems of ordinary people, something that this next president MUST have.

Also, I may add that while both hold law degrees, the causes they undertook with that credential are very different....

What query parameters did you use? On first blush, I did not arrive at any of the numbers you used. Please advise.

billary is done done.....
 

Mccoyred: with a MOOR running what would I look like voting for a calcus man or woman

Ten straight victories! Clinton's little smear campaign had no effect. Obama won 76% of Hawaii voters and 58% of Wisconsin voters. Hawaii was a caucus but Wisconsin had a primary complete with exit polls. Hillary still won older/Baby Boomer voters but they split the female vote in half. One interesting tidbit is that Obama won decisively among Republicans as well as Independents.

And what was that attempted smear campaign about on Clinton's behalf? That was very unnecessary and absolutely does not make her look good. She is playing politics as usual and I think that the American people are tired of that. I know that I am.

Stick.to.the.issues.Clinton.

SC

I was talking about when she/her campaign charged him with plagarism http://www.newsmax.com/politics/demo.../19/73934.html .


In addition, we now know why it took so long to decide New Mexico http://www.newsmax.com/politics/new_.../18/73582.html ! Since both campaigns were consulted and ultimately agreed, they avoided a Broward County/hanging chad type fiasco. Personally, I think that there needs to be a standardized process for Federal elections that ALL states should follow; what they do with their own officials is their business.

I give New Mexico credit for their resolve to let the people be heard.

This is amazing I believe it would be no contest between him and John Mccain so the thought that we are seriousy on the brink of an African American president it so awesome!

Something to think about...
 

It's awesome and it's scary. It's still THEIR world. We haven't overcome fully...YET! Even if/when Obama wins, he'll still become someone's puppet. This election isn't any different than any other election local, state or national. Those who pull in the money will be the one the candidate will align himself or herself with. Is Ms. O his biggest backer? :confused: In one week, Obama raised $7million dollars or so. Who were the donors? He may win the election, but who really wins the power? :confused:

Compare Obama and Clinton Records
 

I came across this one today that provides more detail and the results of one person's research... http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/20.../807/36/458633. I would love to find the time to do this kind of digging....

So true soror!!!

excellent post
 

what i don't get is how she is counting her role as first lady into her 35 years of experience:rolleyes:.

its exciting but i dont agree..
 

i think that because mccain has a lot of widespread appeal reaching alot of moderate folks, obama may have a tough time. the fact that we are still in a war still may be a large enough factor to pull folks toward mccain.

both candidates can unify this country. it will be pretty close.

time will indeed tell, but look at the factors already in play:

In their respective primary races, D primary voters are outvoting their R counterparts by large margins. I think I read in the Wisconsin primary, Obama received more total votes than McCain and Huckabee combined did in the R primary. ...separating out what it means for the individual popularity of a candidate, particularly if the D primary ends within a few weeks or so, these trends seem to indicate that Democrats are more enthusiastic, and perhaps more likely to show up at the polls in Nov.

Both Obama and McCain will battle for independents. We can all guess about who'll win that. However at this relatively late date, McCain still has a lot of disaffection with the conservative base of his party. They will likely come back to him by November, but who can say in what numbers? particulary if he's in a pitched battle with Obama for independents. McCain is in the weakest position I've seen a Rep. candidate enter the fall election in quite a while.

What decides elections is, of course, a home-by-home decision, but it appears the economy and Iraq will be the dominant issues. Neither of which bode well for Repubs at present.

My thoughts from the beginning...
 

Putting aside all of the experience vs eloquence personality issues THIS is the kind of issue that will have long-term effects on our country, i.e. Supreme Court nominations and other judicial appointments FOR LIFE, presidential cabinet and other national security advisors, ambassadors to the UN and other countries, etc.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-j...h_b_87953.html

EXCERPT

This lack of vision by the candidate herself was compounded by her senior staff, a deeply unappealing group whose arrogance continues to damage her campaign, and who seem unable to convey the most basic truths to their boss. That she has surrounded herself with relative incompetents such as Mark Penn, Howard Wolfson and Patti Solis Doyle is obviously one of her biggest failings, and should give pause to anyone reflecting on the kind of staffing choices she would have to make as president.

Senate Records
 

Clinton http://www.votesmart.org/voting_cate...p?can_id=55463

Obama http://www.votesmart.org/voting_cate...hp?can_id=9490