Campaign 2008

[SuperJerk 0]

The Democratic convention is for nominating a candidate, not celebrating a candidate.

 

Caucuses are kind of lame, anyway. Ideally, every state would have a winner-take-all primary and they'd all be done in like a month, but alas.

And then when that system produces the result you don't want, will you whine about that system too?

 

 

Obama will pick up around 100 pledged delegates tonight. Clinton will pick up around 70 pledged delegates.

[Guest College Party]

The Democratic convention is for nominating a candidate, not celebrating a candidate.

 

Caucuses are kind of lame, anyway. Ideally, every state would have a winner-take-all primary and they'd all be done in like a month, but alas.

And then when that system produces the result you don't want, will you whine about that system too?

Good rebuttal.

[SuperJerk 0]

Tim Russert is talking like tonight is the end and he's getting my hopes up.

[SuperJerk 0]

Meh...Hillary's on now, talking about her come from behind victory in Indiana (???).

 

 

(And she's still trying to push her stupid gas tax holiday....HEY, CZECH, SHE'S USING THAT MELLENCAMP SONG YOU HATE SO MUCH AS HER THEME MUSIC TONIGHT!!!)

Edited May 7, 2008 by SuperJerk

[SuperJerk 0]

When this election is over, we should go through and quote all of our hind-sightedly idiotic comments. I know *I* made some really stupid predictions.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Meh...Hillary's on now, talking about her come from behind victory in Indiana (???).

 

 

(And she's still trying to push her stupid gas tax holiday....HEY, CZECH, SHE'S USING THAT MELLENCAMP SONG YOU HATE SO MUCH AS HER THEME MUSIC TONIGHT!!!)

 

 

Of course she would. She's in Indiana.

 

 

 

Also, it's 51% clinton and 49% Obama with 92% reporting right now. It's gonna end insanely close.

 

Now the same with 95% reporting.

[SuperJerk 0]

Hannity and Colmes shouldn't be allowed to host election coverage. Horrible, horrible show.

 

edit: Sweet...there's a local mayor (Clinton supporter) in Indiana trying to say there looks like something fishy is going on in Lake County, Indiana because the counting is taking so long. Now he's having an on-air argument with the mayor of Gary, Indiana (Obama suporter)...and he's going off on Wolf Blitzer...this is hilarious...

Edited May 7, 2008 by SuperJerk

[At Home 0]

Clinton's last email didn't include a money request.

[Guest College Party]

something fishy is going on in Lake County, Indiana

Given the pollution that Gary dumps into Lake Michigan, "something fishy" happening there sounds like a good thing. Meanwhile, up the Tri-State in Lake County, IL, locals are either raising money for John McCain or complaining that somewhere, a traffic light is about to be installed.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Viendo cómo Hillary ganó Indiana, ella todavía tiene la oportunidad de ganar esta elección.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I have no idea why Deon posted that in Spanish, other than the fact Miami got to him too hard. Poor guy. Anyways, he said

Seeing as how Hillary won Indiana, she still has an opportunity to win this election.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Yo realmente apreciaría si no me llamen por ese nombre más.

[EricMM 0]

This was, as we say in the business, a TIE.

 

This is not a basketball game, this is a race. Margin matters.

 

Like one newscaster said, "we're staying up so late for one delegate." This is not the Republican primary!

[Atticus Chaos 0]

It's just been reported Hillary lent her campaign $6 million in the past month, and that's on top of the $5 million in January. And Wolfson is saying she may give more in the future. I'm thinking by the time this is over, the Clinton's will have lost most of that $109 million they had.

[EricMM 0]

Thats one reason its postulated she's still in it. She can only use 50% of campaign donations for primary costs. But if she gets into the general she can use that money to pay off old debts.

 

Ultimately though, this one is over. And the Clintons will be fine, they're rich, they'll always be rich.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

I think its wrong she's still asking for money from people under the assumption she can still win. She's like a tv evangelist.

 

From the sounds of it her campaign is continuing (they're headed for big wins in kentucky and west virginia) which is so crazy it's unbelievable. I think if she leaves now she can have some dignity, but does she really want to sit through the next week or two and watch 90% of the remaining SDs come out for Obama?

 

 

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I heard one pundit postulate last night that she might stay in the race so she can get her win in West Virginia, and then bow out "on a high note." Could be accurate.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

Apparently, Wesley Clark phoned Hillary and told her to drop out last night. That must be a blow, considering what a strong supporter he's been.

 

And George Mcgovern has now endorsed Obama, despite being an early Clinton backer. I think Jimmy Carter will be next since he's all but said he's behind Obama.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Al Gore will probably be the biggest weight to tip the scales, actually, if he does indeed decide to endorse a candidate before the convention.

 

From the sounds of it her campaign is continuing (they're headed for big wins in kentucky and west virginia) which is so crazy it's unbelievable. I think if she leaves now she can have some dignity, but does she really want to sit through the next week or two and watch 90% of the remaining SDs come out for Obama?

 

Not to mention she's very likely to get blown the fuck out here in Oregon. EVEN IF Hillary and Obama split 50/50 or close to it for the remaining six primaries' delegates, the delegate calculator on cnn.com (link) shows that it would take Clinton wooing over 233 of the remaining 274 superdelegates to just barely eke out the nomination win over Obama. Obama only needs 74 to push himself over the 2,025 mark.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

After being asked about her intentions to stay in....

 

 

"...but I also think it's still early. I mean everybody is so focused on, uh, where we are right now I, I, I guess I remember that in June of 1992 that's when Bill really wrapped up the nomination, the middle of June after the California primary. Um, you know I remember very well what happened uh in the California primary in 1968 as you know Senator Kennedy won that primary. I mean we traditionally have gone longer than you've seen in the last couple of uh cycles and there isn't any problem in closing ranks and unifying."

 

 

You stay classy, Hillary.

[godthedog 0]

I heard one pundit postulate last night that she might stay in the race so she can get her win in West Virginia, and then bow out "on a high note." Could be accurate.

i don't understand this, especially putting up 6 million dollars of your own money just for the sake of ending on a high note.

 

howard dean has called for a dnc meeting on may 31 to address the delegate situation for michigan and florida. my guess is she's trying to buy time till then, and hope the decision favors her. this one's going to die a slow, very painful death.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

I don't see any way that DNC meeting on the 31st is going to give Hillary the answer she wants on Florida/Michigan. I don't forsee the DNC doing an about-face and changing the rules of the game this late in the race when they were so adamant in January that they were not going to count these delegates and ALL campaign agreed to it. If they do rule against Obama expect him to take it to the credentials committee which sets up for a very bloody convention. It'll make Chi-town in '68 look like a cake walk. However, Dean has said time and again he wants this thing settled by June 3rd. The only people that seem to be prolonging the agony are the Clintons and I significantly doubt Dean is going to allow them a victory that would extend this race.

 

Clinton was asked this same question in a press conference today about whether she would take the battle on from the 31st if she didn't like the outcome of the meeting on the 31st and she basically said she'd look into taking the battle to the credentials committee and "beyond" that, whatever that means.

 

My theory is that we're getting ready to see the Clinton team press that nuclear option button which is going to rip the Democratic Party apart. I've already made my feelings known about Florida and Michigan's delegates not being able to count because Obama wasn't on Michigan's ballot and Florida was a beauty contest. I significantly doubt Obama would've lost 55-33% there although I concede that Clinton would have won the state and won it by at least 7-8 points. Seating these delegates is a big "screw you" to the Obama campaign for the strategy that they have abbided by in making this campaign happen. It will also create the impression among Obama media supporters, blacks, upper class Democratic liberals, and young voters that the Clintons stole the election from Obama which creates convention chaos and probably leads to black/youth voters not showing up in November which seals a Democratic defeat in battleground states.

 

I just don't understand how the Clinton advocates can keep a straight face when they smile on television and say "well actually Wolf the ACTUAL number we need to look at is 2,209", "we've always seen this as a TWENTY-SEVEN state contest", or my favorite line from a Clinton adviser last night at midnight on CNN "we closed the gap in North Carolina" (but at least Anderson Cooper took her to the woodshed over that one).

 

However, I can see why the Clintons are staying in. They have gotten so used to winning (and winning handily) that they simply do not understand or appreciate the context of the political situation they are currently in. The last time the Clintons lost an election was in 1980 so I can't totally blame them for being in a state of shock at how the walls around them are growing tighter by the day.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

If Obama somehow does get screwed out of the nomination, he should just run as an independent.

[SuperJerk 0]

Obama's lead is substantially enough now that Florida and Michigan are irrelevant.

[SuperJerk 0]

Rush Limbaugh urges vote for Obama

Story Highlights

Talk radio host says he wants Barack Obama to get Democratic nomination

 

Limbaugh: "He would be the weakest" of the Democratic nominees

 

He had urged listeners to support Hillary Clinton in "Operation Chaos" effort

 

Obama backer: Limbaugh behind Clinton's Indiana win; political analyst disagrees

 

By Alexander Mooney

CNN

 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- He has publicly urged Republicans to vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton to keep the divisive Democratic nomination fight alive, but talk radio host Rush Limbaugh said Wednesday he really wants Sen. Barack Obama to be the party's nominee.

 

"I now believe he would be the weakest of the Democrat nominees," Limbaugh, among the most powerful voices in conservative radio, said on his program. "I now urge the Democrat superdelegates to make your mind up and publicly go for Obama."

 

"Barack Obama has shown he cannot get the votes Democrats need to win -- blue-collar, working-class people," Limbaugh said. "He can get effete snobs, he can get wealthy academics, he can get the young, and he can get the black vote, but Democrats do not win with that."

 

But Jamal Simmons, a Democratic strategist and Obama supporter, disagreed, saying the Democratic Party has "the best coalition to go out and talk to people across racial lines, which are the unions."

 

If Obama wins the nomination, he said, support from unions should help him gain support among blue-collar workers when "they don't have to choose between two Democrats."

 

Among the Democratic candidates, Clinton has had the advantage with working-class and middle-income voters, though Obama has increased his support in that demographic, according to exit polls.

 

In the March 4 Ohio primary, Clinton won voters who made under $50,000 by 14 points. In the April 22 Pennsylvania primary, that advantage was down to 8 points. And in the Indiana primary, exit polls showed the two candidates evenly split among those voters.

 

For months, Limbaugh urged his listeners in states with open primaries to cross party lines and support Clinton in an effort he has dubbed "Operation Chaos."

 

The conservative talk show host has said the Republican Party will benefit from a protracted Democratic race that grows more bruising by the week.

 

It remains unclear how much influence Limbaugh has actually wielded. The Obama campaign estimates 7 percent of Clinton's vote in Indiana could be attributed to crossover Republicans.

 

According to Indiana exit polls, Clinton did win the Republican vote by 8 percentage points, but those voters made up only 10 percent of the electorate. Watch an analysis of Tuesday's primaries »

 

Sen. John Kerry -- an Obama supporter -- credited Clinton's win entirely to Limbaugh.

 

"Rush Limbaugh was tampering with the primary," he said on a conference call with reporters. "If it was not for Republicans taking Democratic ballots, [Obama] would have won."

 

But CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider disagrees.

 

"There is a slightly measurable Rush Limbaugh effect, but it is not the reason she won Indiana," he said. "She dominated the Democratic vote, and two-thirds of the voters were Democratic."

 

Self-identified Republicans voting in previous Democratic primaries have been more evenly split between Clinton and Obama.

 

In Ohio, the GOP vote broke evenly, with Clinton and Obama winning 49 percent each. And in Texas, Obama won the Republican vote by 7 points.

 

On his show Wednesday, Limbaugh declared "Operation Chaos" a success.

 

"We have done our part to expose Obama through our support of 'Operation Chaos,' effectively using the Clinton campaign as our foil, and Obama and the Democrat Party are the weaker for it," he said. "Every objective has been met and surpassed."

 

But has Limbaugh successfully advantage the Republicans heading into November? Republican strategist and CNN contributor Rich Galen says yes.

 

"As this thing grinds down to the last three and a half weeks, I think keeping this going between the two sides may well have some significant impact as we move down toward the fall campaign," he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/07/lim...bama/index.html

 

 

I am reminded of that scene in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" when Pee-Wee Herman wipes out on his bike and crashes, gets up, and says, "I meant to do that."

[Guest College Party]

I really think it's time for him to phase himself out of the business. There was a time and place for Rush Limbaugh, but not anymore.

[SamoaRowe 0]

Good lord, I honestly hope no one really believes that Limbaugh can sway an election like that, especially in this day and age. And what the fuck are people like Kerry doing, giving him credit for that.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

"Vote for Clinton...no, wait, vote for Obama."

 

What a joke. Limbaugh hasn't been relevant since probably Newt Gingrich was House speaker.

[Jingus 0]

Limbaugh's job is to basically sit around and remind us of what conservative pundits used to sound like, before the O'Reilly and Coulter types took over. And also to inspire fat jokes which are years out of date. And to inspire rehab jokes which I do always find funny.

[NoCalMike 0]

I still find it hard to believe that 99.9% of registered democrats won't vote for Obama if he gets the nomination. With Hillary I can sort of understand why some dems would be jaded because of what it would take for her to actually win, but with Obama, I don't really see where he would come off as disinfranchising democratic voters.