Obama is back up 60/40 on your oh-so-reliable futures markets. You really should try coming up with your own opinions in the future.
The other reason (besides it traditionally being a tactic by someone who has a narrow lead or is behind) for Ms. Clinton to want debates is that she won the last one. I don't think there is any question about that, if someone watched it. Obama did well, but Clinton did better and I think it influenced the vote not only in California, but in other states as well. Why not want more debates if it is playing to a strength? If Obama were smart, he would limit any further debates. He simply isn't as good at it as Ms. Clinton. He's far better at giving a prepared speech. Obama should stick to that, if he can. (IMO) Impeach Bush.
Don't know if he'll be pressured to change his mind, but http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/obama-more-rounds-to-fight/ “I think the Clinton camp’s basic attitude was that the whole calendar was set up to deliver the knockout blow on Feb. 5,” Mr. Obama said. “And not only did we play them to a draw, we won more delegates and we won more states. What that means is that we are in a fierce competition and we’ve got many more rounds to fight.” But Mr. Obama said most of that fighting would be done on the ground in the next voting states, not in debates. When asked whether he would accept the invitation from Mrs. Clinton to attend four more debates in the coming weeks, he laughed. “I don’t think anybody is clamoring for more debates,” he said. “We’ve had 18 debates so far. I think we’ve had 10 more than we’ve had in the last Democratic contest.” He said he would agree to at least one debate, but noted, “It’s very important for me to spend time with voters.”
I agree with almost all of this. I think Obama has lost every debate to Hillary except for the last one. I thought that it started out with Hillary on top, but at the end when Obama hit Iraq that swayed it in his favor. I do think Hillary is, in general, far better in debates than Barack is, and that it is to her advantage to challenge him in that manner. Obama should try and stay out of debates with her, because she's very accomplished in those, and in that direct head to head format people would be likely to compare the two candidates and lean towards Hillary.
More New Mexico fun: http://www.democracyfornewmexico.com/democracy_for_new_mexico/2008/02/nm-dem-caucus-t.html (Updated) NM Dem Caucus: This Reeks Update: Kate Nash reports that as of about 5:00 PM, counting of about 16,000 provisional ballots hadn't yet begun because representatives from all sides are negotiating the ground rules. The process is ongoing at the REDW firm in Albuquerque. Also, Gov. Richardson released a statement about the Caucus and the problems surrounding it. ************ Some serious attention is being given today to the whys and hows related to Rio Arriba County Dems holding three Caucus ballot boxes overnight at their homes. The officials reportedly failed to count the votes and phone the results into the State Dem Party after voting ended last night, as required. The votes held back may equal half of the votes cast in the county. More than a day after New Mexico Caucus voting began, a believable, factual account of what happened has still not been released or confirmed. Heath Haussamen is following up on the story today. Go read it and weep. Excerpt: The New Mexico Democratic Party caucus may be tainted by three ballot boxes that spent the night in the home of the Rio Arriba County party chair or the homes of other local election officials instead of being reported to the state party. Those ballots still haven’t been counted, but they have been retrieved by the state party. Several sources told me the ballot boxes spent the night at the home of Rio Arriba County Party Chair Theresa Martinez, whose state-lawmaker husband, Sen. Richard Martinez, endorsed Hillary Clinton. But Richard Martinez told Santa Fe New Mexican reporter Kate Nash that the boxes actually spent the night in the homes of three polling-place managers. He gave Nash no explanation for why the results from those ballots weren’t reported to the state party last night and why they were instead kept overnight in officials’ homes. ... The ballot boxes were retrieved from Theresa Martinez by the state party this morning. I agree with Heath's assessment that "The state party needs to quickly resolve this and tell the public how it’s going to allay fears that the election process is tainted beyond repair." Of course there could be innocent explanations for this stuff, but it gets harder to believe as more time passes. Results from an additional ballot box from Sandoval County still haven't been released either. The Rio Arriba and Sandoval County ballots represent the 2% of the state's Caucus vote that is still unreported. Meanwhile, only about 200 votes separate Obama and Clinton, and the Party is reportedly in the process of validating and counting almost 16,000 provisional ballots. It may be a long time before complete, official Caucus results will be released. Given all the confusion and rule breaking, I expect some legal challenges will be made by one or both of the candidates. The Rio Arriba County situation can only serve to raise additional questions about who made the decision to have only one Caucus site in Rio Rancho, New Mexico's third largest city with a 2006 population of 72,000 -- and why they did so. Barack Obama was expected to do well in Rio Rancho, where many young, independent voters reside. And where is Gov. Richardson in all this? The Party Caucus was his idea from the start.
People have their freedoms to make silly videos about their presidential candidates, for their own self promotion. She mostly made herself look bad but you cant say everyone sees it that way... If I were Obama I would have made a clear distinction that they are working toward something totally independent of my presidential platform. Just can't trust the "Obama Girl" types to give you any credibility, which I'm sure he didnt...but then you take a chance of upsetting potential young voters gained from the free pub.
