I watched it last night with the intent on deciding who I was going to vote for today. I'm no better off than I was last night. I think I'm going to the poll and just going to close my eyes and pick one.
I think you're right. Obama should be able to beat McCain rather easily. It'll be interesting watching the election play out, but the last thing Democrats and other Obama supporters should do is get cocky. The GOP has raised the character assassination game to an art form. I expect nothing less this time. I want to add something else. If Obama agrees to public financing for his Presidential run, he's a freakin' idiot. An absolute idiot. He should announce that on reflection, it would be unfair to the hundreds of thousands of people who have contributed to his campaign to cut them off from the process and unfair to his millions of supporters considering donating mony for his run in November. That he's learned from the experience. That it is democracy in action and public financing really isn't democratic. Blah, blah, blah. Again, he's a fool if he agrees to that. We finally have an advantage raising money and we're supposed to toss it away? Puh-leeze! Impeach Bush.
After the way McCain has funded his campaign, I would LOVE for him to try and use this against Obama in the general.
I'm concerned. I've yet to hear Obama say he's not accepting public funds. It is a very big deal. Look at Dole's campaign against Clinton. He ended up at a severe financial disadvantage against Bill because he had accepted public funds. I want Obama to have the same advantage. If he doesn't he's a fool. The man doesn't strike me as a fool, so we'll see. Impeach Bush.
Right. Obama won't go public unless there are extraordinary circumstances... like every rich winger in the country promising not to fund 527 "swift boat" attacks on him. Heck, just Ari by himself has $250,000,000 sitting in a bank account for that purpose and Obama has to be able to raise as much as he can just to counter all the crap that's coming his way. McCain can agitate for public financing because his rich donors are limited to $2000 and he knows he can't touch Obama in legit fundraising so he'll try to hamstring Obama while winking at the hundreds of millions that will be spent by 527s on his behalf. Straight Talk Express indeed.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/what-was-clinton-saying-caucus-readers-weigh-in/ But on NBC’s “Today Show,” asked whether she would continue her campaign regardless of what happens in Ohio and Texas on March 4, she said: “I don’t make predictions.” Game over. Only the final score is to be determined.
Hillary will be a wonderful advocate and Senator for the great state of New York for many years. She will be a driving force in the senate and could possibly play an important role in the democratic majority.
AP Survey: Superdelegates Jump to Obama The Democratic superdelegates are starting to follow the voters _ straight to Barack Obama. In just the past two weeks, more than two dozen of them have climbed aboard his presidential campaign, according to a survey by The Associated Press. At the same time, Hillary Rodham Clinton's are beginning to jump ship, abandoning her for Obama or deciding they now are undecided. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/22/ap-survey-superdelegates_n_88048.html
These numbers are ridiculous. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/5563835.html Feb. 23, 2008, 7:52PM COMMENTARY Election call: It is Obama By RICK CASEY Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Call me a fool, but I'm not waiting until a week from Tuesday. I'm calling the Texas Democratic primary today. It's Barack Obama. My projection is based on the numbers. "But the polls have been notoriously off base," said a colleague. That's why I'm not relying on the polls, although they are showing Obama pulling even. I'm basing my prediction on early voting patterns. The Texas Secretary of State's Office has posted the totals for the first three days of early voting in the state's 15 largest counties. Turnout is up dramatically across the state compared to the first three days of 2004, especially for Democrats. But what tells the story is where it is up most dramatically. Not a bad jump, but . . . Among the top 15 counties, the ones where Sen. Hillary Clinton is expected to fare the best with the help of older Hispanic voters are: •El Paso, where the percentage of registered voters voting in the Democratic Party in the first three days was 2.7 times what it was in 2004. •Hidalgo, the border county where McAllen is the largest city, where the Democratic turnout was 1.6 times that of 2004. •Nueces County, which includes Corpus Christi, where the turnout was 2.5 times that of 2004. •Cameron County, including the border city of Brownsville, where for the first two days (I was unable to get the third), the turnout was 3.1 times that of 2004. So in Clinton country turnout is up 50 percent to 200 percent. Not bad. Big cities and suburbs But in the counties that are seen as Obama country the increases ranged from 400 percent all the way up to 870 percent: •Harris County saw 8.3 times as many people vote in the Democratic primary as in the first three days of 2004. •Dallas County went up a stunning 9.7 times. •Tarrant County, including Fort Worth, voted at 7.6 times the 2004 rate. •And Travis County, home of the People's Republic of Austin, turned out at 5 times the 2004 rate, which was already one of the highest in the state. These numbers are particularly striking in light of the assertion by Clinton officials that they are concentrating their efforts on the early vote. It appears they need to concentrate harder. I ran these numbers by Royal Masset, Austin-based Republican strategist and former political director of the state party, and SMU political scientist Cal Jillson, who is knowledgeable about state and Metroplex politics. They both agreed that the turnout differential described above boded well for Obama. But both were equally impressed by what is happening in traditionally Republican suburban counties. In Collin County, which includes the upscale Dallas suburb of Plano, the Democratic turnout was nearly 12 times as much this year as four years ago. In Williamson County, just north of Austin, the turnout was seven times as much. And in Tom DeLay's Fort Bend County, the turnout in the Democratic primary was 15 times what it was four years ago. In all three suburban counties, significantly more Democrats have already voted this year than Republicans — a striking shift from four years ago. Something new going on In 2004, 4 times as many Republicans voted in Fort Bend's first three days as Democrats. This year the Democrats pulled in 5,259 voters to the Republicans' 4,103. "That has to be Obama," said Masset. "Hillary would attract the normal Democratic people. Clearly there is something new going on in these counties." One of the things going on is a shift among independents. As exit polls have shown in other parts of the country, Obama does well among independents. And some independents may be going where the action is in the primary but haven't yet committed for November. And some Republicans are voting in the Democratic primary. Houston Republican campaign consultant Mary Jane Smith says a number of her Republican friends tell her they are voting for Obama in the Democratic primary. "They'll come home in the fall," she said. Smith said she would prefer they vote for Clinton, because Hillary would help some of her clients by turning out more otherwise dispirited Republican voters in the fall. But her friends are afraid a Democrat might win the White House, and they want to make sure it isn't Clinton. But Republican interlopers are likely a small part of these numbers. One part of the dynamic is a dirty little secret that I'd ask you to keep to yourselves. Texans have done an excellent job of perpetrating the myth that we are different than the rest of the nation. We are. But not nearly as much as we'd like to think, or we'd like the rest of the nation to think. The same factors that carried the last 10 states for Obama will carry Texas. You can write to Rick Casey at P.O. Box 4260, Houston, TX 77210, or e-mail him at rick.casey@chron.com
If the election were today, I think Obama wins by double digits in Texas - Ohio would be much tighter. I think the last few weeks, the polls are underestimating the differential in "excitement" between the two candidates. People across Texas may split equally on Hillary/Obama, but Obama supporters seem much more excited & willing to go out and vote - both in caucuses and primaries. You saw it most clearly in Wisconsin where every single poll showed a tight race and you got a 17% blowout.
Can someone explain how these early voting primaries work that are going on right now? Do you have to be a registered Democrat/Republican to vote on March 4? Or can anyone cast a ballot who is registered to vote in Texas? Also can I vote for both the Republican and Democrat primary at the same time? Sorry for the noob questions, but I am somewhat new to the primary voting process.
you get to choose which party's primary you want to vote in. you don't have to be registered in either party, just registered to vote. you can only vote in one. and early voting has started and goes until the 29th... if you don't make it by then, be prepared for long lines on the 4th. i've early voted every time before (5 times total), and this time i saw the longest lines i've ever seen. maybe it was due to the fact i went on a saturday afternoon, but it sure seemed like there were many many more people.
Thx much. So all you do is have to show up at any polling station (since it is early voting) and present your voter registration card? Do you then just stand in the appropriate line (Democrat or Republican, etc..)? And what if one wants to vote Libertarian or third party? How does that go about?
just take your card in with you to the appropriate polling location, go in and tell them you which party you want, and you'll get the ballot, or a paperless electronic ballot. as far as libertarian and third party, you'd have to check online or call one of their offices. i'm not sure when/if they are having their primaries. it's amazing this whole process is a product of the two parties.
I don't know about other third parties, but in Texas, the Libertarian Party does not have a primary. The candidates are chosen at a convention.
Mr. Brightside, Also, you should show up at your regular polling location (not early voting location) on Election Day when the polls close. There somewhere will be your precinct chairman, and talk to them and be a part of your precinct convention. Both parties choose delegates to the convention this way, and at least some in both parties are unbound. Unless your party in your precinct is really active, if you want to be a delegate to the county or Senate district convention, you probably can be. It's not uncommon that there is no assigned precinct chairman, and if you're the first one to show up to the precinct judge and ask for the convention packet, you get to preside over that convention. (That is, unless you plan to vote for John McCain, and then you should ignore all of that.)
I'm sure most have already seen this photo being circulated by the Clinton camp. They specifically don't deny being responsible for it and won't comment. This contest is getting juicier every day even though it's over.
Wow. Looking that photo gives me a lot of reasons to believe he wouldn't be a good President. What the hell are they thinking?
