Campaign 2008

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Yep, same guy who does almost all of their "We're still stuck in the 1960s" political pieces.

[Guest Pizza Hut's Game Face]

What's more irritating is that David Foster Wallace explored the exact same premise eight years ago on the campaign trail with John McCain, in which DFW, enlightened liberal correspondent for, again, Rolling Stone, miraculously unearths somewhat redeeming qualities from a conservative Republican candidate, and finds himself liking particular aspects of said candidate's personality, even empathizing with the candidate's supporters, but dismissing the candidate out of hand nonetheless as a raving reactionary who poses a threat to our society. Was there a 2003 installment that I missed?

[Boon 0]

Somebody REALLY doesn't want Hillary Clinton to win.

 

Hostage situation at Clinton campaign office in N.H.

 

Police this afternoon are trying to defuse a hostage standoff at Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters in Rochester, N.H.

 

Rochester police Captain Paul Callahan said in a live interview on New England Cable News that police received a call just after 1 p.m. about a person who walked into the Clinton campaign headquarters on North Main Street.

 

"Right now we are handling this as a hostage situation," Callahan said. "We’re securing the area and trying to establish contact."

 

Callahan would not say whether the person was a man or a woman, had a weapon, or how many people were being held hostage. Clinton is not in New Hampshire today. She is scheduled to attend the Democratic Party's annual fall meeting in Vienna, Va.

 

According to the Associated Press, a man with what appeared to be a bomb strapped to himself was holding two campaign volunteers hostage. The AP quoted Bill Shaheen, a top state campaign official.

 

Rochester is about 20 miles north of Portsmouth near the Maine border.

 

According to television reports, police are lining both sides of North Main Street. Several officers are crouched behind police cruisers with guns drawn. Nearby businesses have been evacuated.

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Thompson himself wrote for the 2004 campaign. John Kerry ended up at his funeral.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

I'm probably cynical but I can't help but wonder if this will help or hurt Hillary's standing in the polls. Maybe it'll play up some sympathy but if this thing goes bad it may reflect poorly on her.

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This election is going to end up being a referendum on whether or not we remain in Iraq permanently. I wonder how much of the popular electorate realizes this.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

At this rate, Huckabee has better chance of getting the nom than McCain. That YouTube debate worked against Romney and made me lose confidence in him, he was having the same problem as Hilary about not directly answering some of the questions.

[The Robfather 0]

No one will even remember the hostage stuff from Friday by the middle of next week. It was a one day story and will not have any impact on the election.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

 

 

Gravel ads. These are weird.

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It is a bit sad that Gravel will now end up being remembered for this hilarious run for the White House, rather than his work against the Vietnam War.

 

Many people I have talked to have een surprised to learn that Gravel has an important past & isnt just some kook that came out of the woodwork. Well, he is a kook who came out of the woodwork now, but the Pentagon Papers and draft-ending stuff should remain his legacy.

[Guest Pizza Hut's Game Face]

I don't know if that second one is brilliant or retarded. I'll deem it brilltarded.

[Corkscrew_Senton 0]

Gravel bustin' raps. He's actually better than the entire Dip Set.

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How many here plan to work for any of the campaigns?

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

I'm working for Tancredo.

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Joke answer.

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Huckabee started moving into the lead just in time for this Aids/gay stuff to come to light. This will probably eliminate him, unless the liberal media wholly ignores it.

 

 

 

 

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Our guiding principle has always been to select the most conservative viable candidate. In our judgment, that candidate is Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. Unlike some other candidates in the race, Romney is a full-spectrum conservative: a supporter of free-market economics and limited government, moral causes such as the right to life and the preservation of marriage, and a foreign policy based on the national interest.

-National Review

 

Lot of dumb there.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

More trouble for Mrs. Clinton, this time in New Hampshire...

 

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- A new poll shows that while the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president holds a comfortable lead in New Hampshire, the Democratic race has tightened dramatically.

 

According to the latest WMUR/CNN poll, Hillary Clinton's 20-point lead has vanished. She now has 31 percent support, with Barack Obama in a statistical tie at 30 percent. John Edwards is third with 16 percent, and Bill Richardson has slipped slightly to 7 percent.

 

http://www.wmur.com/politics/14826607/detail.html

 

I guess we can expect to see even more attack ads versus Mr. Obama in Iowa and New Hampshire. Who knows, maybe John Edwards can benefit in a Howard Dean-Dick Gephardt way from the ugly turns in this Democratic race.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

One nice thing for Edwards, is that he has seemed to avoid the mud slinging thus far and been doing his own thing.

[snuffbox 0]

How do you guys make it through election cycles if you think this Clinton-Obama stuff is this terrible? If anything, it's been comedic. "Senator Obama wanted to be President since preschool...nah nah nah!"

[The Robfather 0]

Why the hell was Alan Keyes allowed in the debate? All of a sudden he's running for prez? Since when? Des Moines Register needs to account for this. Just strange. Now I hear Kucinich isn't being allowed at their democratic debate, who at least has been running for some time now, so what gives?

 

The questions were stupid! What New Year's resolution would you recommend for one of your rivals? Huh? Is it more important to have a nominee that is socially conservative or fiscally conservative? That is a false premise.

 

The time limits were insane. At least Fred had the good sense to not play hand raising games, being boxed in by some global warming question. We want to hear candidates explaining their views and how they are different from one another. It isn't that difficult, but this moderator and debate actually made the CNN you tube farce look respectable.

 

Bah.

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How do you guys make it through election cycles if you think this Clinton-Obama stuff is this terrible? If anything, it's been comedic. "Senator Obama wanted to be President since preschool...nah nah nah!"

 

Who will be the first candidate to triple dog dare their opponent to answer a question about a really tough issue that actually matters?

[SuperJerk 0]

If you remove McCain and Guiliani, Huckabee's the frontrunner, not Romney. Huckabee's positions fall in line with what Republican primary voters want to hear, plus he has a great human interest story. He's also a genuinely nice guy, whereas Romney comes off like some slick northeasterner who also happens to support (in their minds) the legalized murder of unborn babies. Who do you really think John C. Biblethumper's going to pull the lever for?

I said that a year ago? I'm fucking awesome.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I don't know...I'm seriously thinking of not voting this year. None of the candidates have really connected with me at all.

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Hating large numbers of people & wanting to get rid of people with Aids does not make one genuinely nice.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

All right, what is that one about, snuffbox?

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Y2Jerk claimed Mike Huckabee was a genuinely nice guy & I disgreed for the reasons stated above.

[megaadvice 0]

Right, as an intrested observer from across the pond, what would you put the chances of Clinton getting the Dem nomination now? Obama seems to be gaining support in the polls.

 

Am I right in thinking Guiliani is getting the Republican nomination. I know he is going to loose all the early states but will his support hold? From the way I see it the only chance that Romney has if is he wins Iwoa and NH and gains momentum. Surley Huckabee has no chance?

 

 

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Clinton's chances are still strong regardless of what the early state polls say. I'm not a Clinton fan but if she loses Iowa it's not that big of a deal if she can win New Hampshire. Even if she were to lose both states she could also recover in South Carolina, Nevada, and other states down the primary calendar culminating in Super Tuesday. However, Hillary's nightmare scenario would be if Obama won Iowa (thereby eliminating Edwards) and became the rallying point for the "anti-Hillary" element of the party. If Obama wants to win this thing he needs to make it a two-person race as soon as possible.

 

I will say kudos to the Obama team for getting some cajones and openly questioning Hillary's record and experience. Early on Obama was letting Hillary define him rather than allowing him to define himself. Hillary's making a ton of tactical blunders as she's being boxed into the position of trying to run for "re-election" to an office she has never held and that makes her seem pompous and aloof to some voters. Also, Obama was brillant in admitting early on to past drug usage because when he is attacked on the issue he appears sympathetic because he admitted he once had a problem (and Americans are largely forgiving) and also it provides little traction for his opponents because there is no scandal. As Dick Morris has said a million times, telling the truth might result in a short-term hit in support but it pays long-term benefits because little scandal or controversy gets generated for an extended period of time.

 

On the GOP side, Giuliani is in the same position as Clinton. He's gambling that he can lose the early states and win the big ones later BUT if he gets into a one-on-one race with Huckabee he might be in big trouble simply because I'm not so sure Republican voters want a pro-choice candidate. In fact, the only way I can see Giuliani winning that one-on-one battle would be if GOP voters thought Giuliani could best beat Hillary (if she appears to be the nominee by that point) as opposed to Huckabee. Romney's best bet is to win Iowa and New Hampshire and Huckabee is whittling down his support in Iowa quickly. One thing is certain from my perspective and that is that the Republican primary is going to be more bruising and longer than the Democratic primary. It's possible that Huckabee could win Iowa, Romney win New Hampshire, and Huckabee win South Carolina (where the Drudge Report has him with a 24-17% lead over Fred Thompson) only to have Guiliani pick up Florida and a few other big states heading into Super Tuesday. Personally, I'm still not counting out John McCain yet on the Republican side as his performance in recent debates has been impressive and he finally seems to have found his voice but it might be too much too late for him to win.

 

Also, to be devil's advocate on the Huckabee issue, how much was known about AIDS in 1992? At the time people weren't so sure how it was transmitted and what its implications were so I could somewhat see a person's concerns about this new disease that was killing people. Granted, I'm not an expert on the AIDS timeline but I think it could be a decent defense.

[megaadvice 0]

Thanks for that summary. I really think if Obama wins Iowa and New Hampshire he will have a great shot. Also as you said the Edwards support is more likely to go to him rather than Hillary.