Clinton Campaign Having a Rough February
After capturing the big super tuesday states of New York, California, New Jersey, and Massachusets, Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign has been showered with bad news. Senator Obama has won all the primaries and caucuses since, in places as geographically and demographically diverse as Maine, Washington State, Louisiana, and Nebraska, indicating his broad appeal. He has outdone Senator Clinton in fundraising efforts by a margin of 2 to 1, and has generally dinged up her aura if inevitability. The latest tribulation comes in the form of a letter written by two New York State legislators rebuking Senator Clinton for allowing her campaign manager, Patty Solis Doyle, to step down in a campaign staff shake-up. The Clinton campaign has admitted that it is counting on victories in both Texas and Ohio on March 4th to keep it in the race. If Ohio’s Rust Belt blue collar voters do what they’re expected to do, the state should fall into the Clinton column, but if latinos in Texas feel slighted by the change of campaign manager, it could cost HRC dearly.
Above is a picture of her on the phone saying “hello? inevitability? why have you been such a stranger lately?”
Dr Studly
Huckabee’s Wit on Display at CSM Breakfast
Mike Huckabee made an appearance at the annual Christian Science Monitor breakfast this morning, and, as usual, delivered some memorable zingers to reporters. I’m going to cut and paste from the New York Times’ political blog, “The Caucus” as posted by John M. Broder in a post entitled “Breakfast With Huckabee”
On running for the United States Senate if this presidential thing doesn’t work out: “It’s more likely I’ll dye my hair green, get a bunch of tattoos and go on tour with Amy Winehouse.”
On the rigors of a presidential campaign: “Arkansas politics and the savagery of it were far more intense than running for president.”
On the recent flood of endorsements of Mr. McCain, now that he is close to securing the nomination: “What are these people saying – that they were for him all along but just forgot to tell him?” (my favorite)
On why Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton seems to be struggling right now: “She does not have the personality of her husband. Very few people do.”
On why Senator Barack Obama appears to be beating her: “The American people are not looking for someone who can fix a carburetor. They’re looking for someone who can drive the car.”
I posted some months ago that Huckabee’s rise was essentially the Republican Party’s chickens coming home to roost. They built an electoral coalition that relied heavily on conservative Christians to get politicians into office who would publicly espouse morally and religously conservative positions, while enacting legislation and policies that heavily favored corporations and investors. It was only a matter of time before a politician arose who perceived the contradiction in that arrangement and capitalized on the frustrations that it manifested. It is his quick wit(as evidenced above), alongside his charming, affable, and down-to-earth style, that has kept his underfunded campaign this deep in the race.
dr studly
Super Tuesday!
As of 4:03 pm, msn says:
TOP REPUBLICANS
1,191 delegates needed
Hmmmmmm. Is this what was expected? Those Republican choices just make my skin crawl. I will post again before I leave today.
Above is a Superman for Super Tuesday!
XOXOXOX- Teri Ann Hagen
Election Round Up So Far.
As February 5 approaches all that have an interest with the election process are waiting to see what will unfold. Two time presidential hopeful, John Edwards has dropped out of the race, Giuliani did not fair well at all and now has dropped out of the race as well. If Giuliani endorses McCain then McCain will then receive Giuliani’s donors…which is a paramount to another victory for McCain. It’s well known that several conservatives do not approve of McCain…which includes Tom DeLay. DeLay was tremendously vocal about his disdain for McCain’s moderate Republican principles and said that he would destroy the Republican Party. I have, but one question for DeLay…Why aren’t you in prison already? Moderate Republican principles are working to the detriment of the Republican Party? You keep telling yourself and Abramoff that. That being said, McCain could lose some serious points with ultra conservatives to Romney, thus dealing a serious blow to his campaign. McCain should just continue with painting Romney as desperate and that should work.
How bad was Giuliani’s campaign? Almost laughable really considering how much money he had behind him. He was in Florida for a ridiculous amount of time….something like 50 days.
How significant was Hillary’s win? Impressive enough considering that Florida is sans delegates for Democrats. So was it a good win for Democrats? I would say so. According to exit polls a whopping two thirds of voters rejected Bush’s “handling” of the economy which was evident in the turn out.
Next Tuesday will be wild in terms of American politics.
Caroline
He Should Consider Changing the Spelling to O’Bama
By winning the coveted endorsement of Ted Kennedy, Barack Obama has scored a hat trick of endorsements from Irish-American Senators. First came John Kerry, followed by one of my favorite Washinton politicians, Senator Pat Leahy from Vermont. He’s the tough old Irishman who, as Caroline put it, got really worked up during his questioning of Alberto Gonzalez last March. Now comes the Ted Kennedy endorsement, accompanied by two endorsements from the next Kennedy generation. Apart from the ethnic component that i find personally interesting, the endorsements indicate a desire within the Democratic party establishment to break with the Clintons and present Obama (O’Bama?) as the face of the party going into the future.
- Dr Studly
Billary
As I am sure it has become increasingly evident to most…. competition between Obama and Clinton is acrimonious to say the least. Heated exchanges between Hillary and Obama have now spiraled into what many are saying is Bill Clinton’s campaign against Obama. Many political commentators believe that, Clinton… the first president that the black community of the US strongly identified with is vying to destroy the first would be black president.
His visibility on the campaign trail, which includes angry lectures to journalists and reporters…to his many campaign speeches prompted the Onion to post the headline “Screw it, I’m Running for President Again” All joking aside…could Bill’s visibility work to Hillary’s detriment? Maybe so…because as we know now, Obama won South Carolina. Was it Obama’s rallying the Democratic racial core or was it Bill’s attack on Obama? I would say a mixture of both.
Caroline
Michigan Primary
Three major contests and three different winners…at this point the Republican nomination is anyone’s game. Mitt Romney won his native Michigan as many predicted, but others thought differently because McCain won Michigan in 2000. Republican’s are now in the throws of fighting for South Carolina on Saturday which includes Fred Thompson. Most of the voting public, I’m sure are unaware that Thompson is still in the race. Fred should one: give up the ghost and two then endorse McCain as everyone is sure he will eventually do anyway. Huckabee believes that his Iowa victory proved support among the social conservatives and that their continued support will aid in his eventual nomination. On Romney’s victory, Senator McCain said “Michigan welcomed their native son with their support,” A tad snide perhaps, but Romney still one in state where McCain had worked diligently for voter support.
Over the course of past six months, voter issues have changed from national security to economic distress. Economic distress was the mitigating circumstance in regards to voter turn out in Michigan. Issues such as abortion took a backseat and Romney fixated on his problem solving skills on business and economic practices that he implemented as a former Massachusetts governor.
After South Carolina and Nevada, February 5 will be the super Tuesday of all super Tuesday’s…it will be a maelstrom of political activity.
Caroline
Richardson Drops Bid
After poor finishes, Gov. Richardson announced yesterday that he would be dropping his presidential bid. Not surprising, but he stated that will be returning to his post as Governor of New Mexico.
I thought that once he announced his dropped bid he would say that he was vowing for a position as a possible running mate. Last summer I heard rumblings that he may run as Hillary’s running mate. I thought that partnership would be an unstoppable force…as a Mexican American and a woman. Both Clinton and Richardson have a life full of political experience. Maybe, America has not seen the end of Richardson and a possible run in Washington.
Caroline
