American Politics, pt. 15

25001. arkymalarky - 2/15/2008 5:39:18 PM

I really don't feel like anyone can predict TX with such odd rules, but it seems like Obama would have to be pretty far behind to "lose."

25002. jexster - 2/15/2008 5:54:03 PM

The man behind Obama's message: David Axelrod

25003. jexster - 2/15/2008 6:43:50 PM

Similar conclusion, different analysis in KOS...but you misled me Robert..

Here I go relying on you as my TexEx only to discover that delegates are selected via the election AND the precinct caucuses.

Texas: Obama down 6% Averaged but +6 in Delegates Updated

25004. David Ehrenstein - 2/15/2008 7:12:45 PM

"It is his best yet, combining the thoroughness of Harvard Law School and the emotional fervor of the Black Protestant church."

Get me the bucket I'm going to VOMIT!!!!!!!

A Black Baptist Harvard Law graduate for POTUS????!!!

Shoot me now!

25005. alistairConnor - 2/15/2008 7:15:55 PM

Why Robt... I've been itching to ask you about that buzness... A few days ago I read a quote from Karl Røv where he indicated that Hillary couldn't count on a significant delegate advantage from Texas because of the state-senate thing... I took this as gospel since this is the man who destroyed the Texas democrats...

25006. jexster - 2/15/2008 7:47:34 PM

Not babdiss....United Church of Christ..liberals, black power etc..wait until August for the GOP to tell you all about Obama and Farrakan

Or google Trinty UCC Chicago

25007. jexster - 2/15/2008 7:48:41 PM

The steady flow of bungling from the Clintons' vaunted machine almost since the first day the primary campaigns began last November..

Still hard to believe

Behind in delegate count not the best time to be talking about FL, Michigan, and superdelegates seems to me-------


1, Superdelegate Christine Pelosi: We Shouldn't Overturn Majority


2. Clinton-Backer Bob Kerrey: Can't Change Florida Delegate Rules Now

25008. David Ehrenstein - 2/15/2008 9:18:30 PM

The press is so powerful these days.

25009. jexster - 2/15/2008 10:14:23 PM

Mrs. Clinton Sends Dr. Death to Texas
CA Campaign Mgr Ace Smith to Head Campaign

25010. jexster - 2/15/2008 10:35:49 PM

Pelosi: Super Delegates Should Not Steal Convention from the Voters

25011. jexster - 2/15/2008 10:37:24 PM

AC 360's been havin a gay ole time in the French Quarter apparently

25012. jexster - 2/15/2008 11:18:48 PM

25013. Magoseph - 2/16/2008 6:34:11 AM

Friday, February 15, 2008

The Problems with Obama [Victor Davis Hanson]

Under pressure to produce some facts and specifics, the Obama team is beginning to release a little on the economy, taxes, and new entitlements. But the problem is that Obama himself seems not familiar with the details, and still prefers talking only about hope and change. Wonks releasing details doesn't solve the problem. And it won't, until he, the candidate, can talk in serious fashion ex tempore about the specifics he wants to achieve.

The other problem could well be racial. His coalition initially was based on the notion that he would capture 60 percent of the black vote in a tough competition against the wife of our first honorific black president, and go on from there to cobble together a coalition with other minorities and elite whites. But his success seems to have been achieved with a slightly different calculus — 80-90 percent of the African-American vote, elite yuppie whites, and students and Moveon.org progressives.

The problem with that is illustrated by Hillary's last-ditch appeal to win Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania with working-class whites and Hispanics. Since the agendas and past voting records of Obama and Clinton are nearly identical, and since he is the far more inspirational candidate, she hopes to tap into a growing resentment that his appeal is boutique for whites, and based on racial solidarity among African-Americans; the former turns off the working classes and the latter other minorities as well as poor whites. I think squaring that circle is every bit as problematic as McCain pacifying the conservative base. And the Democrats would worry about a candidate coming into the convention and beyond that lost the popular primary vote in the key November states of California, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania.

With Hillary, Obama looks youthful and invigorating. But beside the scarred old veteran McCain, he will appear inexperienced and wet behind the ears. Putin's comment that Hillary didn't have a head reminds us that the problems in the world are not, pace Obama, due to misunderstanding or miscommunication, but because thugs like Ahmadinejihad, the Chinese apparatchiks, Assad, Putin, Chavez, etc. profoundly dislike the impediments the United States poses to their respective carnivorous agendas. McCain gets it, the others don't (cf. his Putin KGB quip compared to Hillary's 'duh' redundant remark that Putin didn't have a soul.)

These creepy leaders are more like beady-eyed wolves that wish to break into the global hen-house and prey on the European, African, Asian, and Latin American chickens inside — and so pace back and forth, eyeing the trigger finger of the farmer with the shotgun at the door. They know exactly what they want, and how to get it, and can't wait for the guardian to sit down, discuss their hunger, and invite inside them for discussions — and some lunch.

25014. Magoseph - 2/16/2008 11:43:11 AM

Ok, everyone is asleep, so I’ll put my take on this article.

If the US wishes to prevent the carnivores to which this article refers from taking over, there’s must be a legitimate alliance between Europe, Asia, and others. This alliance doesn’t exist today, and you all know the reason.

Who’s the best person to vote for in respect to this problem and why?

25015. arkymalarky - 2/16/2008 1:52:45 PM

I'm not impressed with the article, and it's a good illustration of why the Hillary campaign is having problems, starting with Mark Penn. Instead of looking at the reality on the ground, they break their data into pieces to readjust into the mosaic they want. There's a lot more fear than fact in it. It also ignores that independents are voting for Obama, even in the primaries, over McCain, which is why Huckabee is still a thorn in McCain's side right now.

As I've said before, people need to read Obama's proposals and record for themselves and decide whether or not they're detailed enough, or that similar to Hillary's. Columnists who haven't done that are no more insightful than the rest of us. From elections and terms past, my general view is that it's not wise to be too specific on proposals that will likely be unrecognizable when and if they get through congress. It's simply promises broken and weakens a president's bargaining power. Experience in that regard is also highly overrated if it creates an inability to adjust to new circumstances as opposed to depending on past solutions. This is another problem Hillary has shown a tendency toward, and it's one of several reasons I think Obama is superior to Clinton. He has also handled himself better as a public figure.

I frankly thought it was naive on her part that Hillary left herself open to a public cheap shot by Putin by making one of her own. Not very statesman-like behavior.

25016. arkymalarky - 2/16/2008 1:53:50 PM

Hillary has also cultivated, on purpose, a hawkish reputation for herself that she will have to either overcome or back up as president.

25017. jexster - 2/16/2008 1:58:14 PM

I too refuse to comment on an article that begins with by my count, a dozen inaccurate or downright false statements, then states a false premise.

25018. jexster - 2/16/2008 2:07:45 PM

To answer Mago's question, the hit piece is unnecessary


A Victory of the Better America
The Post-Imperial Candidate Lays Down His Markers


The world has been moving away from bipolarity to a multi-polar power environment for 20 years or more. The US, thanks to the fuzzy idealism of the NeoLib and NeoCon policies of Bush and Clinton has utterly failed to appreciate this key strategic development and with its Wars has actually hastened its own undoing.

25019. jexster - 2/16/2008 2:09:54 PM

PS...Victor Davis Hanson..Hoover Institution, Bush NeoCon

25020. arkymalarky - 2/16/2008 2:51:09 PM

It's reads totally as a Clinton campaign piece, which is not good. Their spin machine ain't what it used to be back in the days of Bill.

25021. jexster - 2/16/2008 2:51:14 PM

'Epitome of the Texican Dream'
HTown Chron

25022. arkymalarky - 2/16/2008 2:51:46 PM

PS...Victor Davis Hanson..Hoover Institution, Bush NeoCon

Ah!! I didn't google the name.

25023. arkymalarky - 2/16/2008 2:53:10 PM

The neocons know that, for their political interests, the best choice will be Hillary whether she wins or loses.

25024. arkymalarky - 2/16/2008 2:53:44 PM

And THAT alone ought to be enough to scare the hell out of Democrats into voting for Obama.

25025. Magoseph - 2/16/2008 2:55:33 PM

PS...Victor Davis Hanson..Hoover Institution, Bush NeoCon

I know that, Jex.

Thanks, guys.

25026. jexster - 2/16/2008 3:32:19 PM

De rein Mago





Is Barack Obama the Messiah?

"... a light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come down upon you, you will experience an epiphany ... and you will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Obama" -
Barack Obama
Lebanon, New Hampshire.
January 7, 2008.

25027. David Ehrenstein - 2/16/2008 4:24:54 PM

Any openings for Judas?

25028. winstonsmith - 2/16/2008 4:46:24 PM

Barak Hussein Obama - Jesus 2.0

I have never much cared for the old Jesus. All the rules and trappings of the Christian church weigh down Jesus 1.0 like an albatross around his neck. I mean, he is an otherwise likable dude, but at this point, damaged goods.

I'm on board with BHO aka J2.0

David, you’re welcome to be Judas 2.0

Arky – Mary 2.0

Jex – Archangel 2.0

25029. winstonsmith - 2/16/2008 4:53:53 PM

Hey Concerned, there will be an opening for Lucifer 2.0 once Cheney is out. Interested?

25030. Magoseph - 2/16/2008 5:05:39 PM

Is Barack Obama the Messiah?

No, Huckabee is.

25031. Magoseph - 2/16/2008 5:05:58 PM

Toys

25032. Magoseph - 2/16/2008 5:06:25 PM

Merde!

25033. winstonsmith - 2/16/2008 5:20:03 PM

Your own, personal, Jesus
someone to hear your prayers,
someone who cares

Your own, personal, Jesus
someone to hear your prayers,
someone who's there

Feeling unknown
and you're all alone,
flesh and bone,
by the telephone,
lift up the receiver,
I'll make you a believer

Take second best,
put me to the test,
things on your chest,
you need to confess,
I will deliver,
you know I'm a forgiver

Reach out and touch faith
Reach out and touch faith

Your own, personal, Jesus
someone to hear your prayers,
someone who cares

Your own, personal, Jesus
someone to hear your prayers,
someone to care

Feeling unknown
and you're all alone,
flesh and bone,
by the telephone,
lift up the receiver,
I'll make you a believer
I will deliver,
you know I'm a forgiver

Reach out and touch faith
Reach out and touch faith
Reach out and touch faith

Reach out and touch faith

25034. winstonsmith - 2/16/2008 5:23:33 PM

Yikes

NYT: Many New York City Precincts Initially Reported Zero Votes For Obama
By Eric Kleefeld - February 16, 2008, 2:59PM

A new look at the election results from Super Tuesday could end up giving Barack Obama a few more delegates from New York — it turns out that hundreds of voting machines in New York City initially reported zero votes for him, the New York Times reports, but those numbers are now finally coming in through a formal review.

The executive director of the city's Board of Elections said that while such counting errors often happen as a result of human error, "they're not usually that big."

Indeed, even a Hillary-supporting state Assemblyman said that a margin of 118-0 in one precinct "has to be a mistake."

25035. arkymalarky - 2/16/2008 5:27:12 PM

I just saw Hillary on "Ballot Bowl" try to get people to chant "Yes we will" as opposed to "Yes we can." They didn't cooperate. It was painful to watch.

25036. David Ehrenstein - 2/16/2008 5:32:54 PM

"Plastic Jesus
Plastic Jesus
Ridin' on the dashbaord of my car,
I don't care if it rains or freezes
Long as I got my plastic Jesus
Ridin' on the dashboard of my car."

25037. winstonsmith - 2/16/2008 5:53:12 PM

GALLUP, PRINCETON, NJ -- For several days, nationwide Democratic voters' preferences have been shifting toward Barack Obama in Gallup Poll Daily election tracking. Now, the Illinois senator enjoys his first statistically significant lead, 49% to 42%, over Hillary Clinton, according to the Feb. 13-15 results. Additionally, the 49% support for Obama represents the high point for him in the daily tracking program.

25038. jexster - 2/16/2008 6:45:39 PM

Uh huh


WASHINGTON - Harold Ickes, a top adviser to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign who voted to strip Michigan and Florida of their delegates last year, now is arguing against the very penalty he helped pass.

In a conference call Saturday, the longtime Democratic Party member contended the DNC should reconsider its tough sanctions on the two states, which held early contests in violation of party rules. He said millions of voters in Michigan and Florida would be otherwise disenfranchised — before acknowledging moments later that he had favored the sanctions.

Ickes explained that his different position essentially is due to the different hats he wears as both a DNC member and a Clinton adviser in charge of delegate counting. Clinton won the primary vote in Michigan and Florida, and now she wants those votes to count.

"There's been no change," Ickes said. "I wasn't acting as an agent for Mrs. Clinton. We stripped them of all their delegates in order to prevent campaigns to campaign in those states. ...Those were the rules, and we thought we had an obligation to enforce them."

25039. jexster - 2/16/2008 7:13:24 PM

Michael Archangel

25040. winstonsmith - 2/16/2008 9:01:30 PM

Obama Picks Up Key Endorsements in Wisconsin, Texas (Update1)

By Kim Chipman

Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama picked up key newspaper endorsements in Wisconsin and Texas today as he and Hillary Clinton compete for delegates in states that may help determine which candidate wins the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin's largest daily newspaper, said it recommends that voters support Obama in the state's Feb. 19 primary because ``change and experience are crucial to moving this country forward'' and the Illinois senator is the ``best-equipped to deliver that change.''

The Houston Chronicle, the biggest daily publication in Texas, gave similar reasons for endorsing Obama, 46, over Clinton. He's ``the best-qualified by life experience, skill and temperament to be the standard bearer for his party,'' the newspaper said in an editorial today. Texas will hold its primary on March 4.

25041. jexster - 2/16/2008 10:09:04 PM

Okie Dokie

Mark Penn: "Winning Democratic primaries is not a qualification or a sign of who can win the general election. If it were, every nominee would win because every nominee wins Democratic primaries.”

--Josh Marshall

25042. jexster - 2/16/2008 10:29:56 PM

21 years in captivity

Barack Hussein, a Young Mandela
Keller, NyT

25043. robertjayb - 2/16/2008 10:38:47 PM

Hillary and Obama up soon on C-SPAN at the Wisconsin Democratic Party's Founders Day Gala.

25044. David Ehrenstein - 2/16/2008 11:25:00 PM

25045. David Ehrenstein - 2/16/2008 11:27:22 PM

25046. wonkers2 - 2/16/2008 11:37:15 PM

837 Bush Events courtesy of Harper's

25047. wonkers2 - 2/16/2008 11:38:27 PM

Sorry! Another try. 837 Bush Events

25048. robertjayb - 2/17/2008 1:39:33 AM

Sunday talk show tipsheet from Politico...

The usual suspects...

25049. robertjayb - 2/17/2008 2:32:14 AM

Frank Rich's early obituary for Grand Old White Party...(NYTimes)


...As some Republicans drift away in a McCain-Obama race, who fills the vacuum? Among the white guys flanking Mr. McCain at his victory celebration on Tuesday, revealingly enough, was the once-golden George Allen, the Virginia Republican who lost his Senate seat and presidential hopes in 2006 after being caught on YouTube calling a young Indian-American Democratic campaign worker “macaca.”

In that incident, Mr. Allen added insult to injury by also telling the young man, “Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.” As election results confirmed both in 2006 and last week, it is Mr. Allen who is the foreigner in 21st century America, Mr. Allen who is in the minority in the real world of Virginia. A national rout in 2008 just may be that Republican Party’s last stand.

25050. Magoseph - 2/17/2008 8:35:46 AM

MAUREEN DOWD--Captive to History’s Caprice

Maybe we are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Or maybe we are not.
Perhaps when Barack Obama uses that trippy line, he is just giving false Hopi, since the saying, which he picked up from Maria Shriver’s New Age-y L.A. endorsement speech, is credited to Hopi Indians.

The passionate palaver about Hillary versus Barry rages on, with each side certain it is right about our fate if we end up with a President Obama or another President Clinton....

What is she doing now--protecting her flanks?

25051. jexster - 2/17/2008 11:30:03 AM

Maybe she sees the darkie at the end of Billlary's tunnel and is pivoting for to the attack!

25052. David Ehrenstein - 2/17/2008 12:01:06 PM

How Freudian.

25053. jexster - 2/17/2008 12:18:52 PM

"In a matter of months with Barack Obama, we've seen white men support a black man for president," said James Taylor, a race and American politics scholar at the University of San Francisco. "We've seen the country's most pro-black president try to manipulate race against a black candidate. These are some transformational things that are happening in Obama himself. For those who support him, he represents an opportunity to deal with race in an unconventional way."

As the son of a white Kansan and a black Kenyan, Obama's very genetic makeup "is the African and the American ... what W.E.B. DuBois called the 'double consciousness,' " Taylor said. "Obama, on an emotional level, on a psychological and a visceral level, is an opportunity for America to reconcile this history in an important way. If an African American man can become president of the United States in the 21st century, then it tells us that the remainder of the 21st century represents all kinds of possibilities, because in his person there is a representation of both black and white American experiences. He allows us to exorcise some of the demons we've had in our history of race in America."

The Name's 'Hussein'

SF Chron

25054. arkymalarky - 2/17/2008 1:39:16 PM

Lanny Davis is pathetic, and simply lies to advance Hillary Clinton's campaign. He says Obama wants to change the rules on superdelegates, when Hillary actually wants to change the rules wrt FL and MI. Obama may say what he thinks about what superdelegates should do, but if he moves to actually change the rules, as Hillary has, they can go after him for that. Until then, it's just an opinion--no push to undo the existing rules has been made.

I don't think the Clinton campaign helps itself to go negative, but that seems to be their plan. It will be interesting to see if it works better than it did in SC. I still believe the best thing her campaign could do for itself is fire Mark Penn, and the fact that she won't is very telling about her ability to function as an executive. She's right that she is a workhorse rather than a showhorse, and workhorses rarely function well in leadership roles.

25055. jexster - 2/17/2008 2:37:15 PM

I can't figure out why the fired anyone. Too late. The only way she can pull this out is to win Wisconsin, TX, OH and PA the latter by 10%+. That's going to happen or not regardless. So why fire??

The only reason that makes sense to me is that angst among heavy hitters outside the campaign was threatening to go public panic.Signs of this everywhere. Wednesday Carville declared flat out that Clinton had to win TX and OH. By today, he was frothing, snapping at David Plouffe for quoting him "Don't take her for granted. She's one helluva woman and will deliver the greatest political comeback of all time"


That is a campaign on serious edge

25056. jexster - 2/17/2008 2:49:31 PM

For the gift of glass ceilings...


LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER

25057. arkymalarky - 2/17/2008 3:09:54 PM

To hold what she's got together. That's why fire. She has a chance to pull ahead, and if she doesn't make a significant change in approach, she will blow it. I don't think she can truly do that as long as Penn is still there.

25058. arkymalarky - 2/17/2008 3:15:07 PM

Does anyone in the Mote support Hillary? I can't find supporters who explain and look at these things. In other sites I don't participate in discussions and they just look like cheerleaders. IRL I don't know anyone who supports her, though obviously a lot of Arkies do, because we're her most broad victory to date. But I think they're LR area, not around here--and I think many of those who did vote for her don't necessarily support her (like my SIL), but feel a loyalty to the Clintons and a hesitance to vote for an unknown, since Obama didn't really have an organization in AR.

25059. Jenerator - 2/17/2008 3:16:55 PM

[I predict that Hillary will not win Texas.]

25060. arkymalarky - 2/17/2008 3:18:23 PM

Do you really? Why?

And do you think Huckabee will?

25061. arkymalarky - 2/17/2008 3:18:53 PM

Oh, and I saw your son's picture in the Fiction thread. He's a doll!

25062. arkymalarky - 2/17/2008 3:19:51 PM

If she does lose TX, I don't see how she can win the nomination, no matter what the superdelegates, MI, and FL do.

25063. jexster - 2/17/2008 4:03:10 PM

Great news that Jen! My brother says she's not real popular among white folk, esp white men...His interest at one time was between Edwards and Obama who'd do best for Dems because Hillary's TX negatives are huge

But then there's the open primary wild-card...will HillHaters vote in the GOP primary??

Obama should go in with a strong base of Austin Commies + blacks out of ETx, D and Htown right???

I suspect that all this "premature" bluster from Camp Clinton WRT FL/MI/SuperDelegates/Hill wins in June means they fear a bad result out of TX

25064. jexster - 2/17/2008 5:26:01 PM

If Only Saddam Had Injected HGH

On Imus!

25065. alistairconnor - 2/17/2008 5:48:24 PM

Message # 25028. winstonsmith : No, Jex is not the Archangel... He's John the Babdiss.

25066. alistairconnor - 2/17/2008 5:49:30 PM

It would be ironic if the Tex dems' convoluted rules, designed if my memory is correct, to prevent the Latinos taking power, ended up being the final nail in Hillary's coffin...

25067. David Ehrenstein - 2/17/2008 6:09:49 PM

The Truth at last!!!!!!

25068. alistairconnor - 2/17/2008 6:23:11 PM

Message # 25014Mago,

If the US wishes to prevent the carnivores to which this article refers from taking over, there’s must be a legitimate alliance between Europe, Asia, and others. This alliance doesn’t exist today, and you all know the reason.

Who’s the best person to vote for in respect to this problem and why?

I don't accept the article's premises. But I think the answer to your question is obvious.

For the sake of argument : Since eight years of neo-con foreign policy have made the world largely hostile to America's policies, it is postulated that the solution is to continue an aggressive, hard-power based line, and that therefore, the best person to do that is a crypto-neocon (Hillary).

I disagree. As a candidate, she sounds considerably more hawkish than Bill was as president, but like Arky, I wonder how that would pan out in practice. It seems unlikely to me that Clinton-era pragmatic muddle-through would be an adequate response to current needs. I think the world is yearning for American leadership. It is completely wrong to imagine that the world is hostile to America and its interests -- the hostility, overwhelmingly, has been generated by specific US policies.

There is a widespread aspiration for an era of multilateral, negotiated world governance. Global warming, and the emerging energy and food crises, will not be solved by projection of military power.

There's a candidate with an African father, a partly Moslem heritage, an upbringing in Hawai'i and Indonesia, and a proven ability to bring widely disparate groups together to get things done. I think the choice is clear.

25069. jexster - 2/17/2008 7:41:23 PM

Dear amazing California activists,

We are, and you should be, so proud of what we were able to accomplish in California. Your efforts are the very heart of this movement for change, supplying the Obama campaign with the energy, the passion, and the will to change the direction of this country from the bottom up!

The power is in our hands, and we're close, very close. But there's more work to be done in order to realize our dream of real change in this country. We have a really strong field team here in Texas for the Primary/Caucus on March 4th, but we need you help!

To this end, we will be having a statewide conference call this evening, Sunday February 17th, at 6:30 pm P.S.T. We would love to have a minute of your time for this call. We're confident that California can once again flex its considerable activist muscle and assure a victory for Barack Obama in the Texas Primary/Caucus.



Thank you so much for everything that you do. Talk to you tonight!

Buffy Wicks
Texas Dep. Field Director
Obama for America
Austin, TX

25070. Jenerator - 2/17/2008 9:21:35 PM

Hi Arky, sorry I missed you earlier.

Do you really [think that Hillary will not take Texas]? Why?

And do you think Huckabee will?

I think that too many people hate Hillary here. Also, a lot of the Democrats are young and Obama is very popular with the younger crowd.

If Huckabee wins, I will be shocked. Personally, I hope he doesn't win.

If Hillary beats Obama, whoever the Republican is, will beat her and become the President. If Obama wins the Democratic nomination, I think he has a fair shot at the Presidency.

Oh, and I saw your son's picture in the Fiction thread. He's a doll!

Thank you so much! --beaming--

He's my sweetie. He tells me now that he doesn't want to get married because he wants me to be his mom forever.

25071. winstonsmith - 2/17/2008 10:23:05 PM

"The Truth at last!!!!!!"

There is some truth to this argument but I think it misses the more basic truth.

Before Iowa, many people (including journalists) fought to reconcile themselves to an inevitable Clinton nomination. I was among them and felt ill about the prospect. The primary reason pundits of every stripe went crazy heralding Obama, after Iowa, is that Iowa woke up cynical disheartened people and allowed them to hope that they would not have to settle for Clinton. Yes, there is a media bias. I believe many in the media do every little bit they can to put another nail in her coffin. They don't want her. I applaud them because I don't want her either.

25072. jexster - 2/18/2008 12:19:19 AM

Getting through these dark times
Foreign policy whiz Samantha Power sheds light on a legendary diplomat killed in Iraq, advising Barack Obama and how America can emerge from the Bush era.

25073. concerned - 2/18/2008 12:28:42 AM

What a bunch of partisan bullshit.

25074. concerned - 2/18/2008 12:29:55 AM

Hussein is about as qualified in foreign policy as Amy Carter.

25075. arkymalarky - 2/18/2008 2:14:25 AM

Thanks for the TX perspective, Jen! Huckabee seems to think he will win TX.

Winston, I agree with your analysis, and further, Hillary Clinton's relationship with the press is much of her own making. OBama, wisely, has for the most part refrained from whining. She's embraced it. Too bad for her, especially where MSNBC is concerned. Had she handled that better, she could have ended up at an advantage. Yet another piece of evidence that she's not equipped for the presidency.

25076. arkymalarky - 2/18/2008 2:18:45 AM

Con'd, you're being juvenile (as is Ann Coulter and Fox network) about Obama's name. Fortunately the American people aren't as narrow as all that. My dad's name is Charles Willis, like Charles Willis Manson. Dad hasn't murdered anyone yet--nor commissioned the murder of anyone--as far as I know.

25077. jexster - 2/18/2008 8:16:27 AM

THE TEXAS PUZZLE


System Worries Clinton Backers
Delegates Won May Not Reflect Popular Vote

25078. jexster - 2/18/2008 8:43:18 AM

25079. Jenerator - 2/18/2008 10:08:26 AM

Arky,

I would like to think that Texas Republicans are progressive enough to vote for McCain (How's that for ironic!), but who knows, anything's possible here. I would be shocked if Huckabee won. Though, there are enough pentecostals and militia nuts to vote for him.

If Rick Perry endorsed McCain, then Huckabee may win - Perry is the antiChrist.

There are so many factors!

25080. Jenerator - 2/18/2008 10:10:12 AM

Also, I mentioned this at RI, but overwhelmingly, my students believe that if Obama is elected President, he will be assassinated within the first 1-2 years of his Presidency.

Honestly, it was never a thought in my mind, but the younger crowd insist he will be killed if he wins.

25081. alistairconnor - 2/18/2008 10:20:33 AM

That's creepy. Who are these kids?

Do they think he will be killed because he's black, or for some other reason?

25082. Jenerator - 2/18/2008 10:32:49 AM

Your normal group of teenagers - white, black and Hispanic.

They believe he will be assassinated because of his race and his loose connection to Islam.

25083. arkymalarky - 2/18/2008 12:31:15 PM

Because he's black, because he's often compared to Kennedys and invokes Lincoln--I've heard the same thing here, unfortunately from adults, black and white. One friend ridiculously posited that as a reason not to vote for him. My kids may have mentioned it too, but the adults are the ones I remember. I try to explain that any president is subject to that risk and attempts have been made on all of them in modern times. I think part of it is an insecurity that it's really not possible for us to have a president that different and that inspirational.

Some--and I have had lots of kids on this one, but some adults too, including a good friend of mine who is also black and has also mentioned the assassination deal--worry about his middle name, just like Con'd.

25084. arkymalarky - 2/18/2008 12:33:12 PM

I've said it here before, but that scurrilous Muslim email hurt him in AR, imo.

25085. alistairconnor - 2/18/2008 1:24:28 PM

Samantha Power... I want her.

She'll do for Secretary of State eh?

25086. jexster - 2/18/2008 2:33:37 PM

Tejanos Para el Negro

Turnin Tables in Tejas

25087. jexster - 2/18/2008 3:07:05 PM

WI-Pres
Feb 18 SurveyUSA
McCain (R) 49%, Clinton (D) 42%WI-Pres

Feb 18 SurveyUSA
Obama (D) 52%, McCain (R) 42%

25088. David Ehrenstein - 2/18/2008 4:53:39 PM

Here's an interview with the youngest of the Democratic Party's "Superdelegates."

25089. jexster - 2/18/2008 5:56:42 PM

I saw Martha Rae on Dan Abrams the other night

25090. jexster - 2/18/2008 6:36:22 PM

Tie goes to the Negro


CNN: TX Poll Showing Dead Heat





Nationally, Obama continues to hold a national lead outside the MOE in the Gallup tracking poll

25091. jexster - 2/18/2008 7:41:43 PM

Obama Beer

25092. David Ehrenstein - 2/18/2008 7:55:19 PM

The Truth About St. John McCain

25093. jexster - 2/18/2008 8:09:58 PM

Another SuperDelegate Falls

Waco Congressman Chet Edwards

25094. jexster - 2/18/2008 8:11:11 PM

25095. jexster - 2/18/2008 8:50:27 PM

Now y'all git out to your precincts and take control of the packet a fore Robert and his Good Ole Boys arrive!

Obama CA PCt Capt conference call last night...1000 on the line for "adopt-a-precinct" pitch from Austin....Free housing to all carpetbaggers

Just FYI, I was at the grand opening of the Houston headquarters today and speaking with a coordinator. He had spoken with the Harris County Democratic Party regarding the precinct convention which follows the primary voting. HQ strongly suggests we use the correct verbiage when talking to supporters.

There is a "precinct convention" following the primary voting on the same day. Voters who appear will "caucus" for Obama.

Something else I learned is that if you come across someone who can early vote or vote on primary day but can't attend the precinct convention that evening, if you're in the same precinct, once you've confirmed they have voted, you may ask for their permission to use their name and place it on the list for Obama. I think this is huge because some people are disabled or have children and can't attend in the evening. I've emailed the Harris County Dem. Party regarding the precinct conventions to obtain more details and will pass them on when I hear back from them.

Rene'

25096. jexster - 2/18/2008 9:43:09 PM

25097. jexster - 2/18/2008 10:29:16 PM

Mayor of Town on the New Negro Net


Part of Something Larger
Barack Obama is a symbol of a new generation of leadership.


"There is a network," says Willie Brown, a former mayor of San Francisco. "They have been waiting for this moment. They want to invest in leadership. But they have high standards. You have to win them over.

25098. jexster - 2/18/2008 10:46:58 PM

Jen...

One of your comments prompted me to put the question to my brother - Will Texas Republicans help drive the Stake!?!!?)

The DMN co-author of Bush's Brain confirms something I spoke with my brother last night. Texas is an OPEN primary. Hillary hatred runs SO deep in the Great State that Obama can expect significant GOP cross over voting in counties where no GOP runoffs are expected..a final act of revenge

25099. Jenerator - 2/19/2008 12:21:04 AM

I told you 11 years ago that the Clintons were despised around here!

:-)

Arky,

CNN says that McCain is leading Texas, not Huckabee. It should be interesting.

25100. robertjayb - 2/19/2008 1:09:19 AM

"What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback. And let me tell you something -- for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I've seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues, and it's made me proud."

So sayeth Michelle...

25101. arkymalarky - 2/19/2008 1:10:33 AM

Yep. Surely he will drop out after March 4, but who knows with him. I'm just trying to figure out what he wants. I sometimes think he only wants the religious conservative wing of the party to take him seriously as a leader, as opposed to shoooting for veep or setting himself up to do better four years from now, but I don't see any of that happening. Or maybe he just wants Colbert to hire him as a permanent sidekick.

25102. arkymalarky - 2/19/2008 1:14:15 AM

I think Michelle Obama has done a great job for the most part, but that quote was cringe-worthy. Luckily for her and Barack, Hillary's better-half has been more cringe-worthy more often, including today, and Bill got the media attention that she'd have otherwise captured with that quote.

I get the feeling that she got on board with this campaign reluctantly.

25103. jexster - 2/19/2008 3:33:44 AM

I think Michelle's HOT

25104. jexster - 2/19/2008 3:36:19 AM

25105. jexster - 2/19/2008 3:52:50 AM

Remember all the commentator chatter last summer: Is Barack Obama black enough?

Well, he's black enough now

Clinton black supporters stunned.

25106. jexster - 2/19/2008 4:08:13 AM

BURLINGTON, Vt. - The founders of Ben & Jerry's endorsed Barack Obama on Monday, and lent his Vermont campaign two "ObamaMobiles" that will tour the state and give away scoops of "Cherries for Change" ice cream.

25107. alistairconnor - 2/19/2008 6:29:37 AM

"Cherries for Change"? Is that the best they can do? How the mighty have fallen.

Cringeworthy Ben and Jerries wanted!

Start with the obvious : "Yes we cranberry!"

25108. alistairconnor - 2/19/2008 10:51:43 AM

Message # 25088 David : that article epitomises everything that's wrong with Clinton's campaign :

she sent Chelsea to have lunch with a GAY superdelegate!

On n'attrape pas des mouches avec du vinaigre.

25109. jexster - 2/19/2008 11:53:23 AM

Cranberry...nummy num...I heard a president's day bit about Dolly Madison's favorite

OYSTER!!!!

Ambrosial

25110. jexster - 2/19/2008 11:53:52 AM

The sun shine bright as the doggies howl


TX-Pres (D)
Feb 18
SurveyUSA
Clinton 50%, Obama 45%

25111. jexster - 2/19/2008 12:24:02 PM

Date Set to Announce Messianic Secret

Obama Tells NBC Nominee May Be Apparent By March 4

25112. alistairconnor - 2/19/2008 12:47:53 PM

I think Hillary should get out while she can.

Getting beaten in Texas and Ohio is more humiliation than she needs.

After all... it would be mildly embarassing if Obama won the delegate count in Texas but lost the popular vote; but it wouldn't save her bacon.

25113. alistairconnor - 2/19/2008 12:58:34 PM

McCain is an idiot
one of John McCain's favorite lines -- his declaration that "the transcendent challenge of the 21st century is radical Islamic extremists," or, as he sometimes says, "extremism" -- could define the 2008 election.

Whether McCain is right or wrong matters to everything the United States will do in the coming years. It is incumbent upon McCain to explain what he really means by "transcendent challenge."

Presumably, he's saying that Islamic extremism is more important than everything else -- the rise of China and India as global powers, growing resistance to American influence in Europe, the weakening of America's global economic position, the disorder and poverty in large parts of Africa, the alienation of significant parts of Latin America from the United States. Is it in our national interest for all these issues to take a back seat to terrorism?

McCain makes his claim even stronger when he uses the phrase "21st century." Does he mean that in the year 2100, Americans will look back and say that everything else that happened in the century paled in comparison with the war against terrorism?

Amusingly, the writer is an idiot too. In his list of things that are obviously more important than Islamic terrorism, he manages to miss the obvious transcendent challenge of the 21st century -- the ones that will make all these pale in comparison.

Climate change, and the emerging energy and resource crises.

25114. David Ehrenstein - 2/19/2008 1:04:54 PM

Here's why Barack Obama is so popular (Click the link and keep on clicking.)

25115. alistairconnor - 2/19/2008 1:21:27 PM

That's funny. He doesn't do anything for me.
Maybe that's why I feel so lost and hopeless.

25116. marjoribanks - 2/19/2008 1:54:21 PM

It comes to me with a shock of recognition, Connor, that the woman you express such heatedness for in #25085 looks remarkably like you, were you to don the appropriate wig.

25117. alistairconnor - 2/19/2008 2:02:21 PM

Well actually, both of my sisters are better-looking, but there's something like a family resemblence. She could be a cousin.

25118. jexster - 2/19/2008 2:06:51 PM

25112 - Hillary's only half the Clintons problem AC...actually less than that. Bill and all his hangers on, the Clinton Shadow Govt and all that MONEY...Designing a face saving exit, a political challenge of the first order but I suspect Obama's been working this one actively behind the scenes for some time now

25119. jexster - 2/19/2008 2:44:25 PM

Gallup: Obama Gains Among Women, Middle Aged and Beaners

25120. iiibbb - 2/19/2008 4:14:44 PM

My wife wants to move to Canada if a Republican wins this time.

I think she's serious.

What else?

25121. Max Macks - 2/19/2008 4:31:18 PM

texas???

25122. robertjayb - 2/19/2008 5:07:27 PM

Obama Live...

Hereyago, jexster.

from the Alamo city...

You can throw your underwear at the monitor...

25123. jexster - 2/19/2008 7:37:38 PM

Four Dead
O-Hi-O

SurveyUSA: Hillary's Ohio Primary Lead Shrinks To Nine Points
By Eric Kleefeld -
A new SurveyUSA poll gives Hillary Clinton a nine-point lead over Barack Obama in the Ohio primary — quite a bit less than the 17-point lead she had in their poll from just a week ago:

Clinton 52% (-4)
Obama 43% (+4)
Hillary would need big wins in Ohio and Texas on March 4, if she wants to really narrow Obama's current lead in pledged delegates. As it stands right now, Texas is a dead heat and Ohio now appears to be tightening.

25124. jexster - 2/19/2008 7:38:25 PM

Remember the Alamo NOW do ya Robert?

Toyota Center 2 Nite baby!

25125. jexster - 2/19/2008 9:34:03 PM

THANK YOU LOU DOBBS!

Else I never woulda heard of the Texas Nafta SuperHighway...Rick Perry's building a brand new 4000 mile transport corridor from El Paso to Texarkana, bringing his beaners and that Giant Sucking Sound into the goddamn heartland!

25126. OhioSTOPAS - 2/19/2008 9:48:40 PM

Once again, the future of the country depends on Ohio!

Hope we don't blow it again.

25127. OhioSTOPAS - 2/19/2008 9:57:47 PM

Alistair (#25113):

McCain has gone even further. A day or two ago in Wisconsin, he said that "radical Islamic extremism" is "the greatest evil, probably, that this nation has ever faced."

Worse than, say, Nazi Germany? That's just dumb. Is McCain stupid, or does he just think that the voting public is stupid? Or all of the above?

25128. wonkers2 - 2/19/2008 9:59:32 PM

iiibbb, gun control is a little tight for you in Canada.

25129. wonkers2 - 2/19/2008 10:08:32 PM

No 2nd amendment. And I doubt the NRA has much of a following, if any, there.

25130. jexster - 2/19/2008 10:58:09 PM

Throw Honkers back for some seasoning

CBS Exits
If these CBS exit polls are close to right, it looks like a solid night for Obama. According to this tabulation, Obama is winning women by 2 points (51% to 49%). And he's winning men 61% to 35%. The exit data shows women making up 57% of the Democratic electorate. But that still suggets a pretty solid win for Obama.
We'll know more starting in about 45 minutes.
--Josh Marshall

25131. jexster - 2/19/2008 11:00:09 PM

It was a creed written into the Founding Documents..

25132. jexster - 2/19/2008 11:29:15 PM

PROJECTIONS: OBAMA WINS WISCONSIN

25133. jexster - 2/19/2008 11:36:51 PM

It will become clear by March 4th that the time will have arrived to move the nomination forward

Barack Hussein Obama
Matt Lauer Interview
2/19.08

25134. winstonsmith - 2/19/2008 11:58:55 PM

"OBAMA WINS WISCONSIN"

Words, just words.

25135. concerned - 2/20/2008 12:07:36 AM

Obama’s Big-Government Vision

Obama would like voters to believe that he’s the second coming of JFK. But with his unbelievable spending and new-government-agency proposals he’s looking more and more like Jimmy Carter. His is a “Grow the Government Bureaucracy Plan,” and it’s totally at odds with investment and business.

If you do anything productive for a living, prepare yourself to have your income raped by this guy if he is allowed in the White House. Hussein is about as wrong economically for the USA as a candidate can be, which means he represents the greatest opportunity in eighty years to usher in a new Great Depression larded with the sophomoric 'eat your peas' moralizing the US grew so sick of with Jimmuh Cahtuh and Dukakis.

25136. concerned - 2/20/2008 12:13:47 AM

The Obama spend-o-meter is now up around $800 billion. And tax hikes on the rich won’t pay for it. It’s the middle class that will ultimately shoulder this fiscal burden in terms of higher taxes and lower growth.

Fair warning. Take note, middle class taxpayers.

25137. concerned - 2/20/2008 12:15:31 AM

Why don't Lefties just nominate Castro and have done with it? Nobody can claim that he doesn't have decads of experience running a Left Wing Paradise.

25138. concerned - 2/20/2008 12:15:49 AM

decades....

25139. concerned - 2/20/2008 12:16:39 AM

Why don't Lefties just nominate Castro and have done with it? Nobody can claim that Fidel doesn't have decades of experience running a confiscatory Left Wing Paradise.

25140. arkymalarky - 2/20/2008 12:51:14 AM

I ain't worried Con'd. He's just taking the tax break away from rich folks like you and giving it to us.

Ohio, what would be your definition of "blowing it"? ;-)

25141. winstonsmith - 2/20/2008 1:02:24 AM

Hey concerned, we will save lots of money by getting our asses out of Iraq.

Praise J2.0

25142. arkymalarky - 2/20/2008 1:04:55 AM

Keith Olberman is great and Chris Matthews is just too stupid for words. He tried to trap the TX state legislator who supports Obama into naming legislation Obama had succeeded in getting through the US Senate. Of course, when Olberman turned the question on him he couldn't name any senate legislation that had passed at all in the last seven years. People who don't know better or pay attention to who the guy was might fall for that cheap and stupid shot, but Olberman managed to expose it and leave Matthews squirming.

25143. winstonsmith - 2/20/2008 1:06:11 AM

This pretty much says it all:

VA-Pres
Feb 19 SurveyUSAMcCain (R) 48%, Clinton (D) 45%

VA-Pres
Feb 19 SurveyUSAObama (D) 51%, McCain (R) 45%

25144. arkymalarky - 2/20/2008 1:07:35 AM

Similar results in PA and OH leave me wondering if she's going to lose to Obama there, as well.

25145. concerned - 2/20/2008 1:17:23 AM

Re. 25140 -

Considering I'm almost certainly going to have to depend on Social Security to support myself during my retirement, how do you justify calling me 'rich', arky?

I think you're taking your Left Wing us vs them Classist prejudices to new depths of ridiculousness.

Think you can make yourself feel good about being on the dole if you drag everybody else into the same morass by picking their pockets? That's what I really think it boils down to in the final analysis with a lot of you Lefties. You're wrong, but everybody still suffers in the long run when you call the shots.

I'm really only rich in contributing productively to society.

25146. concerned - 2/20/2008 1:22:39 AM

Re. 25141 -

We won't, you know. But we wouldn't see it anyway with Hussein as president. He'll waste most of our money for just about nothing, and then you'll wind up wondering where the good times went. Of course, you'll feel obligated to excuse Hussein because of your party affiliation.

And so it goes....

25147. Wombat - 2/20/2008 1:23:27 AM

I would have thought that someone who never fails to let us know how intelligent he is would not have to depend on Social Security in retirement. He also ought to pray to whatever gods he believes in that Democrats keep control of the White House and Congress for the next few decades. That way, he'll at least have Social Security to depend on.

25148. concerned - 2/20/2008 1:28:30 AM

And so, arky is happy to do the best she can to make the US economy go to shit because she's rationalized to herself that she's somehow 'getting back' at conservativism by doing so. No matter how vacuous the words, 'change' is her opiate of the moment.

25149. winstonsmith - 2/20/2008 1:30:30 AM

Hey Arky,

"Chris Matthews is just too stupid for words"

Too True.

BTW, Concerned and Arky, I can't recall, do you have any kids?

I have two 7 year olds and I think about what the future will hold for them. I think about how I would feel if they were old enough to be sent to BushWar or some similar war (that did not need to be fought).

25150. concerned - 2/20/2008 1:34:00 AM

Re. 25147 -

So you're saying you're the rich one, Wombat? Hope you lose big then if you promote Hussein's game of 'beggar thy neighbor'.

I'm intelligent enough at almost age 53 to be doing high end electronic circuit design for Israeli defense. Don't lose sight of that Wombat while you are dispensing your bullshit.

But I'm not as much of a selfish bigoted self promoting asshole as a lot of Democrats are, so if you are better off then me as you well might be Wombat, you are welcome to it.

25151. concerned - 2/20/2008 1:36:32 AM

Re. 25149 -

What's worse: 'LBJ war' at 2,000 deaths a week, or 'Bush war' at about 10 a week?

I see Democrats as being the significantly greater threat to the world's welfare, relatively speaking.

25152. marjoribanks - 2/20/2008 1:37:08 AM

Ah, Wombat zings Concerned. Good times. Just like it used to be.

But can we say the same about American Politics? From some considerable expatriate distance, I find the current scenario remarkable, and also pretty damn attractive. Contrast any of these three - McCain, Hillary or Obama - with, say, the heads of state of the next fifty countries in the world, and you have to say that the US looks pretty damn good.

This is a very deft turn-around, if you ask me.

25153. concerned - 2/20/2008 1:38:57 AM

Not to mention 100,000,000 excess deaths during the 20th Century due to Leftist ideology.

I know where these bodies are buried.

25154. concerned - 2/20/2008 1:39:53 AM

If being an ignorant arrogant asshole is 'zinging', I can see where Marjoribank's head has always been...

25155. Wombat - 2/20/2008 1:43:51 AM

No, I am not, Concerned. I am merely pointing out that someone who is almost pathologically unable to post anything without proclaiming his superior intelligence, has apparently failed to plan for his retirement (kind of like Hilary's primary campaign planning). Good luck to you, Concerned, you'll need it, particularly if the Republicans are ever in a position to monkey with Social Security again.

Concerned, you have the biggest inferiority complex in the Mote, and it almost always shows in your posts.

25156. winstonsmith - 2/20/2008 1:50:22 AM

Hey, Out of curiosity, what 100 million deaths are you talking about?

25157. marjoribanks - 2/20/2008 1:53:37 AM

There is a certain time warp factor to Concerned's rhetoric about "Leftist ideology".

I mean, Obama, Hillary and McCain are all Right Wingers, a fact that is readily apparent.

You could switch the candidates around easily. Hillary would already have won if she were Republican, for example. What's the big difference between her and McCain?

25158. alistairConnor - 2/20/2008 4:40:53 AM

So, Clinton still leads Obama among uneducated whites. This is a problem -- not for beating Clinton, but for beating McCain.

McCain has called his bluff about public finance -- I think Obama should accept it, so that the presidential campaign is run solely on public financing. A question of principle. If Obama and McCain don't do it, nobody ever will.

25159. jexster - 2/20/2008 8:02:42 AM

Gut Shot: Exit Polls - Obama Continues to Build Consituency Coalitions

25160. OhioSTOPAS - 2/20/2008 9:25:55 AM

Arky (25140): Actually, I was just making reference to the fact that Ohio put the Boy King over the top in 2004.

Although favoring Clinton originally, recently I have been honestly torn about who to vote for next month. I believe Clinton would be the better President, but Obama is also very capable and it looks like our prospect for winning the general election is better with Obama as the candidate. (More so after his win yesterday.) I'm leaning Obama now, and will likely vote for him.

25161. alistairconnor - 2/20/2008 10:22:31 AM

OK Ohio, so you were the firewall...

Obama is the fire.

25162. jexster - 2/20/2008 1:09:01 PM

Wisconsin: Beginning of the End for Clinton
LAT

25163. jexster - 2/20/2008 1:20:58 PM

Words without works are worthless (c)

25164. jexster - 2/20/2008 1:40:11 PM

Ohio...While most of her CBC types have run for cover, I've noticed that Mrs Clinton's been making extensive use of an Ohio CongressGirl "They call me Missus Tubbs". They even use her as a TEXAS surrogate (Sheila Jackson-Lee being the worthless nappy headed ho she's always been)


What's up with this colored lady and how do we arrange a ComeToJesus meet??

25165. jexster - 2/20/2008 2:15:41 PM

ON DEADLINE: Race is Obama's to lose
By RON FOURNIER, Associated Press Writer

The Democratic nomination is now Barack Obama's to lose.
It's panic-button time.

25166. David Ehrenstein - 2/20/2008 4:11:46 PM

Well jex, it's all over but the tickertape parade.

What job has Obama promised you in his administration?

25167. Magoseph - 2/20/2008 4:23:57 PM

What job the group behind Obama has promised you, Jex?

25168. alistairConnor - 2/20/2008 4:31:17 PM

The group behind Obama, Mago? Do enlighten us...

25169. Magoseph - 2/20/2008 4:47:32 PM

Non, désolée, Ali--suppose it is the evil one...

25170. Wombat - 2/20/2008 7:13:39 PM

David:

I don't have a particular dog in the hunt-compared to Jex--but why are you being so pissy about Obama?

25171. jexster - 2/20/2008 7:30:09 PM

Woof Woof Mago


Obama on track to raise another 36 million for February! AC and the GOP now begging Democrats to accept the Dole?
Mago could be onto something!

25172. jexster - 2/20/2008 7:37:12 PM

Obama Campaign Calls on Clinton to Concede

25173. robertjayb - 2/20/2008 7:52:26 PM

Bush breaks twenty...going south...

George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has dropped to a new low in American Research Group polling as 78% of Americans say that the national economy is getting worse according to the latest survey from the American Research Group.

Among all Americans, 19% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 77% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 14% approve and 79% disapprove.

Among Americans registered to vote, 18% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 78% disapprove. When it comes to the way Bush is handling the economy, 15% of registered voters approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and 79% disapprove.

25174. arkymalarky - 2/20/2008 7:53:38 PM

I must say it again, because I couldn't figure out how to email him:

Chris Matthews is a complete moron. I thought that before this campaign, but I just never watched his show. Now I want to watch it because of the people he has on, but it's so frustrating. He needs to go to Fox. Or he could be on CNN next to Lou Dobbs.

25175. David Ehrenstein - 2/20/2008 8:47:59 PM

Punch-Drunk Hate

25176. jexster - 2/20/2008 9:08:48 PM

It was a creed written into the Founding Documents that decide the destiny of a nation


Max Brantley, the former Arkansas Gazette political columnist, and a Hillary supporter:"
It's Over

25177. jexster - 2/20/2008 9:19:29 PM

He walks into a room and you want to follow him somewhere, anywhere

George Clooney to Charlie Rose.



I'll do whatever he says to do. I'll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear.
Halle Berry

25178. David Ehrenstein - 2/20/2008 9:24:20 PM

Hey, I'd follow George Clooney anywhere!

25179. jexster - 2/20/2008 9:29:44 PM

Texicans in Revolt!

Against the 4000 mile laceration of concrete and steel cutting across the Great State from Laredo to Texarakana....

Lou Dobbs reports Texican soldiers in Iraq ready to return and eliminate the PerryBush Nafta SuperHighway


The Giant Sucking Sound

25180. jexster - 2/20/2008 10:01:52 PM

Seems Ole Randy John McCain's got himself a lobbyist problem

25181. robertjayb - 2/20/2008 10:40:40 PM

Miss Vicki

25182. Magoseph - 2/20/2008 10:44:48 PM

Hahaha! Huckabee for President?

25183. robertjayb - 2/20/2008 10:45:42 PM

And a story goew with it...(NYTimes)

WASHINGTON — Early in Senator John McCain’s first run for the White House eight years ago, waves of anxiety swept through his small circle of advisers.

A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself — instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.

When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist’s client, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.

Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.

25184. arkymalarky - 2/20/2008 11:04:00 PM

What was his involvement in the Savings and Loan scandal? I don't remember, and I'd forgotten he was involved at all until it was mentioned.

25185. jexster - 2/20/2008 11:26:39 PM

You can imagine how easy it was for Uncle Ho to get to him

25186. concerned - 2/21/2008 12:17:51 AM

McCain, Hilliary and Obama are far from being 'interchangeable' in several important areas. I suppose if one is sufficiently distanced, they may appear more similar than otherwise.

25187. jexster - 2/21/2008 12:21:32 AM

A new face for American diplomacy

Barack Obama is perceived by Muslims abroad like no other candidate. He would begin a presidency with tremendous potential to heal U.S. relations with much of the world

25188. robertjayb - 2/21/2008 12:26:39 AM

I did not have lobbying relations with that woman, Miss Vicki.

Mr McCain's campaign said in a statement issued today: "It is a shame that the New York Times has lowered its standards to engage in a hit and run smear campaign.

"John McCain has a 24-year record of serving our country with honor and integrity. He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the issues at stake in this election.

"Americans are sick and tired of this kind of gutter politics, and there is nothing in this story to suggest that John McCain has ever violated the principles that have guided his career."

25189. concerned - 2/21/2008 12:26:57 AM

Of course nobody, for or against him, implies Hussein will influence Muslims worldwide to be more tolerant of non Muslims, and, unfortunately for Obama, that is what is by far the most needed.

25190. concerned - 2/21/2008 12:30:28 AM

As a matter of fact, the appeal of Obama to Muslims suggests the opposite will be the case.

25191. jexster - 2/21/2008 12:31:24 AM

Goddamn muzzies..who will put them back in their caves now that we no longer have an army that can fight, save as a bunch of little girlz

25192. concerned - 2/21/2008 12:32:20 AM

This may well be the camel's nose under the US LWer tent to start their race to forfeit American liberties to the most intolerant religion in the world.

25193. jexster - 2/21/2008 12:32:44 AM

Obama has also surrounded himself with capable and respected foreign policy advisors, including seeking advice from a preeminent and forceful U.S. negotiator, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, whose reputation overseas is less sullied than it is back home. With foreign policy, there is no indication Obama will give away the store or, contrary to what his opponents might charge, that he will be a Chamberlain-like appeaser.

Rather, a President Obama will likely engage the world in the way it should be engaged -- with respect, understanding and a clear sense of purpose. He will be, at the very least, a symbol of what can restore greatness to America -- a greatness that millions of people outside America want to believe in, but have up until now had difficulty reconciling with the facts. From their perspective, if a black son-of-an-immigrant with a Muslim name can become an American president, then anything truly is possible in America. And that's a country that would be very hard to be enemies with.

25194. concerned - 2/21/2008 12:36:44 AM

What purpose? Giant US handouts to the UN and an additional 3/4 trillion per year in US transfer payments to the indigent?

25195. concerned - 2/21/2008 12:38:14 AM

Sounds like the most idiotic plan since Carter's early days.

25196. concerned - 2/21/2008 12:40:04 AM

If you're a middle class wage earner, expect the government to rape you for $5,000-10,000 per year in take home pay on average if Obama's plan is followed.

25197. concerned - 2/21/2008 12:49:21 AM

It's obvious that Hussein doesn't understand why people are starving in today's world. It's not because of lack of natural resources for the most part. It's bad, irresponsible government by the very assholes that Hussein wants to throw money at.

25198. concerned - 2/21/2008 12:52:34 AM

Even President Peanut Brains' daughter probably understood that.

25199. David Ehrenstein - 2/21/2008 1:03:57 AM

In which I get on Jexter's Last Nerve.

25200. winstonsmith - 2/21/2008 1:23:41 AM

Hey con'd

"It's obvious that Hussein doesn't understand why people are starving in today's world. It's not because of lack of natural resources for the most part"

Hey, I heard El Rushbo say almost exactly this in the radio today.

You're not plagiarizing, are you?

25201. winstonsmith - 2/21/2008 1:24:57 AM

on the radio

25202. concerned - 2/21/2008 1:30:06 AM

Re. 25200 -


Haven't listened to him in months. It's apparent that anybody who bases policy on the fanciful rationalization that the US 'owes' the 'third world' special 'compensation' for past 'exploitation' is both ignorant and subscribes to an infantile world view.

25203. concerned - 2/21/2008 1:35:43 AM

Many of the same people who hold that viewpoint also criticize the US for *not* having had economic links with Castro's Cuba, blaming the US, in effect,for *not* 'exploiting' Cuba's resources.

These people are all over the map and hardly know anything factual.

25204. concerned - 2/21/2008 1:45:35 AM

Sorry, that was needlessly denigrating and probably untrue. But I don't think the US can afford to flagellate itself in the manner that was fashionable 40 years ago.

25205. concerned - 2/21/2008 1:54:59 AM

I can console myself somewhat regarding my intemperate outbursts with this about the Chinese government beating up on Steven Spielberg, from the China Youth Daily:

"This renowned film director is famous for his science fiction. But now it seems he lives in a world of science fiction and he can't distinguish a dream from reality," it said.

From the same Yahoo article:


China is believed to have influence over Sudanese leaders because it buys two-thirds of the African country's oil exports. China also sells weapons to the Islamic government and defends it in the United Nations.

25206. concerned - 2/21/2008 2:00:44 AM

Hint: China's in it for the oil.

25207. winstonsmith - 2/21/2008 2:20:31 AM

"In which I get on Jexter's Last Nerve."

OK, you don't like Obama. Do you want McCain? Would you prefer that a Republican picks the next few Supreme Court justices? Would you like to see BushWar keep going for years and years?

How will you feel if Republicans use your material to help defeat Obama in November?

You have talent and you have a perfect right to use your talent to promote or tear down anyone you want. I just wonder if tearing down Obama is ultimately in your interest.

25208. concerned - 2/21/2008 3:12:12 AM

It is if one earns a living wage:)

25209. jexster - 2/21/2008 12:28:19 PM

Hanoi John Vows to "Go to War" Against NyT


Let's hope for his sake this one turns out better than his last

25210. David Ehrenstein - 2/21/2008 12:38:41 PM

Obama is definitely going to be POTUS, winstonsmith. No question about it. McCian will collapse like a cardboard hox in a tsunami.

Maybe sooner than we all imagine.

And I'm talking personally. He's a testy little creep. Imagine -- here he was tortured by the Viet Vong (with whom he collaborated, BTW) and how he says waterboarding is OK.

Plus, Bimbo Eruptions.

25211. jexster - 2/21/2008 12:48:30 PM

Treasonous old post traumatic stress disorder has even bigger problems


McCain Bank Loan Hanky Panky May Have Locked Him Into Public Financing

25212. jexster - 2/21/2008 12:51:02 PM

HO! HO! Ho Chi Minh

Did McCain Commit Treason with N. Viet Prostitutes?

25213. jexster - 2/21/2008 1:03:54 PM

David how are your RNC credentials coming?

You are covering the Larry Craig Toilet Suite at MPLS no?

25214. jexster - 2/21/2008 1:04:58 PM

Financial Times: Mrs. Bill Should Surrender Now and Live

25215. Marc-Albert - 2/21/2008 1:11:29 PM

I knew this had to happen: The New York Times, no less, is singlehandedly unearthing a rumor about some sexual "misconduct" committed years ago by a major presidential candidate.

The New York Times, no less.

You're hopeless faux-culs as would say the French

25216. concerned - 2/21/2008 1:14:04 PM

That's the US Left for you. Hypocrites to the core.

25217. jexster - 2/21/2008 1:25:19 PM

Latest poll out of PA shows Hillary's already collapsing there

25218. alistairconnor - 2/21/2008 2:13:39 PM

It's not about McCain's sex life, Marc-Albert. It's about being Mr Integrity, and being ... in bed with lobbies.

In your opinion, is it wrong to accept money for political favours, but OK to accept sex for same?

25219. winstonsmith - 2/21/2008 2:20:57 PM

"Obama is definitely going to be POTUS, winstonsmith. No question about it. McCian will collapse like a cardboard hox in a tsunami."

Hey David, I hope you are right about this but I will believe it when I see it.

I watched in disbelief as Bush was elected TWICE. Shit happens. McCain really could win.

25220. robertjayb - 2/21/2008 2:45:47 PM

When I remember how the NYTimes stitched together rumours, gossip, innuendo and flat lies to construct a phony indictment of Bill Clinton for his Whitewater real estate deal, I feel sympathy for John McCain. Not so much that I want him completely off the hook. He was and is an exceedingly flexible man on the make and he has done quite well.

As to his relations with, or not, Miss Vicki, I hearken to the words of the California operator Jesse Unruh, who said with respect to pols and lobbyists, "If you can't take their money, drink their whiskey, screw their women and then vote against them, you're in the wrong business."

Old pal of yours, was he, jexster?

25221. jexster - 2/21/2008 2:52:06 PM

I wish! I was doin yard signs in a pirogue back then

Rush Limbaugh's goin ape!

25222. jexster - 2/21/2008 2:55:25 PM

That should do her


Mac Brown and Barack Hussein at Texas Stadium now

25223. jexster - 2/21/2008 3:06:42 PM

I call on Robert and all other real Texas men to put down their Lone Stars, unhitch the 30.06 from the gun rack and put the old gray mare down once and for all

Considering all the harm Texas has done, this is the least you can do


Teeterin in Tejas
Milbank

25224. David Ehrenstein - 2/21/2008 3:11:21 PM

Because I do not worship the Living God Barack Obama I MUST be Republican in Jex's world.

What's novel about McCain is that he's having sex with a woman (unlike so many other Republicans). And it's a woamn who looks exactly like his current wife.

There's a Polish joke in there somewhere.

25225. David Ehrenstein - 2/21/2008 3:15:37 PM

"Hey David, I hope you are right about this but I will believe it when I see it.

I watched in disbelief as Bush was elected TWICE. Shit happens. McCain really could win. "

Well that was then. Now you have an extremely depressed Republican electorat eand an extrremely energized Democratic one.

TWICE the number of Democrats have voted in the current primaries as Republicans. And the right hates McCain.
They got nothin'

We got "He Who is Without Sin."

And he walks on water too!

25226. jexster - 2/21/2008 3:19:00 PM

Young Fags Be Free

Wooed by Chelsea, youngest SuperDelegate Girly Man Jason Rae declares for Obama


Way to Go ... one helluva campaign sending Chelesea to do a MAN's job

No Cllr...Republicans who have discerned the Destiny of the Nation are called "Obama-cans"

You are a LimbaughOCrat

25227. jexster - 2/21/2008 3:24:06 PM

25228. jexster - 2/21/2008 3:32:47 PM

The Pollster is Survey USA


YOU guess which state

Clinton (D) 52%, McCain (R) 41%
Obama (D) 57%, McCain (R) 36%

25229. jexster - 2/21/2008 3:51:47 PM

The Obama-sterium: Inside Obama's Inner Circle

25230. jexster - 2/21/2008 4:16:07 PM

Treason I tell ya....Iran's treating us like some fcuking rug in the bazaar. Chinese, like just so much egg foo yung and now this...The Servian pigs are burning Ole Gorey and our military fighting like little girlz in BushWar is powerless

25231. David Ehrenstein - 2/21/2008 5:21:50 PM

So now you like 'em young and geeky, eh jex?

25232. jexster - 2/21/2008 6:15:20 PM

Young and geeky nice...just about anything will do nowadays

25233. jexster - 2/21/2008 6:16:11 PM

DO HER ROBERT!

Please join Barack Obama at a Stand for Change Rally in Austin, where
he'll talk about his vision for bringing America together and bringing
about the kind of change we can believe in.

Stand for Change Rally with Barack Obama

Congress Avenue at 11th Street
Austin, TX 78701
Public Entrance: Located at 10th Street

Friday, February 22, 2008
Gates Open: 6:00 p.m.
Program Begins: 9:00 p.m.

25234. wonkers2 - 2/21/2008 7:41:59 PM

Vegas odds:
Obama 2-3
McCain 3-2
Clinton 3-1
Huck 30-1
Paul 100-1
Gravel 500-1

25235. jexster - 2/21/2008 10:34:59 PM

YO Wizzer...If UR Lurkin


Remind you of anyone???? I could swear I saw him at the Iseman Trophy award news conference today

25236. jexster - 2/21/2008 10:44:21 PM

Those who've PAID attention, already know what an OODA loop is.

Because they've read every William Lind strategy article and know all about US strategic godman Col John R. Boyd To Be Or To Do? etc....they know what James Fallows and I know...


Obama's inside Hillary's OODA Loop and what that means

25237. jexster - 2/21/2008 10:57:52 PM

Livin Large in Hillary's OODA Loop


Dave Einsel/Getty Images
Spends an hour touring the players’ lounge, locker room and stadium at the University of Tejas Austin, where Thursday’s debate is being held.



Rubs the team’s horns on the wall for good luck, saying “It’s not game day. It’s debate day.”



Also avoided commenting on McCain controversy after team’s coach chided AP reporter for asking the question.


Hook em Horns!

25238. iiibbb - 2/21/2008 11:04:38 PM

Happy to see Obama is left handed.

25239. jexster - 2/21/2008 11:25:46 PM

One of the things I've learned as President is that it is easier to tear down a country than it is to rebuild one
George W. Bush
Ghana
1.21.08

25240. arkymalarky - 2/22/2008 12:19:35 AM

Me too, 3i3b. We lefties just have a special something. And I mentioned it before, but Obama's birthday is the same day as my husband's.

And did you see this Slate article on personality testing of the three main candidates?

25241. robertjayb - 2/22/2008 1:52:10 AM

Holes in the Wall...Texas Observer)

The bushies border wall is being outsourced to crooks and cronies who bend it around the wealthy and connected while bulldozing ordinary folk.

25242. alistairconnor - 2/22/2008 5:59:17 AM

So in Ohio, Clinton still has solid support from white women, seniors, voters with less education and those with lower incomes in both Ohio and Texas.

Frankly, she can't come back from there. Her core supporters, by switching to Obama, can suddenly feel younger, smarter, richer, and... more hip.

25243. jexster - 2/22/2008 12:26:36 PM

You missed her "I am not werthy to share this stage with you Barack Obama" closing last night


He helped her with her chair at the end

25244. jexster - 2/22/2008 1:29:43 PM

SEIU Houston has opened its Obama Call Center

Load up the F100 Robert

To sign up, please email us back at obama@seiutx.org and let us know which of the time slots below you will be available along with your cell phone. We will then contact you.
Our office is located in the Prosperity Bank building on 4299 San Felipe, Suite 200, Houston 77027.


Friday , Feb 22
9a - 12p
12p - 3p
3p - 6p
6p - 9p
Sat, Feb 23
9a - 12p 12p - 3p 3p - 6p 6p - 9p
Sun, Feb 24
9a - 12p 12p - 3p 3p - 6p 6p - 9p
Mon, Feb 25
9a - 12p 12p - 3p 3p - 6p 6p - 9p
Tue, Feb 26
9a - 12p 12p - 3p 3p - 6p 6p - 9p
Wed, Feb 27
9a - 12p 12p - 3p 3p - 6p 6p - 9p
Thur, Feb 28 9a - 12p 12p - 3p 3p - 6p 6p - 9p
Fri, Feb 29
9a - 12p 12p - 3p 3p - 6p 6p - 9p
Sat, Mar 1
9a - 12p 12p - 3p 3p - 6p 6p - 9p
Sun, Mar 2
9a - 12p 12p - 3p 3p - 6p 6p - 9p
Mon, Mar 3
9a - 12p 12p - 3p 3p - 6p 6p - 9p
Tue, Mar 4
9a - 12p 12p - 3p 3p - 6p 6p - 9p

In Solidarity,
Jonah Lalas
SEIU TX for Obama, Houston Director

25245. jexster - 2/22/2008 2:18:29 PM

Humor me while we conduct a little thought experiment. Imagine that Barack Obama had lost 10 contests in a row. Imagine that he now trailed Hillary Clinton substantially in the number of Democratic primaries and caucuses won, in total votes cast, in pledged convention delegates, in the overall delegate count, in fundraising and in the ineffable attribute called mojo. Imagine that Obama was struggling, at this late hour, to come up with the right message. What would the conventional wisdom say?

I likes Gene Robinson

25246. jexster - 2/22/2008 3:23:07 PM

Pelosi Pulls the String: Florida and Michigan Should Not Decide the Race

25247. jexster - 2/22/2008 9:46:26 PM

Ye fluttered folk and wild...

Racialist just like me!

Michelle Obama's Princeton Thesis

25248. jexster - 2/22/2008 10:15:34 PM

Hillary's about to remember the Alamo.
With several recent polls confirming her 20 point collapse to dead heat, one of her Latino supporters, State Rep Pena appeared at an Obama rally today in Brownsville to declare that while he had to remain loyal to his committment, it was obvious where this race was headed

25249. jexster - 2/22/2008 10:24:43 PM

Too cute for Tejas

via ObamaOutreachHtown

Hi,

Can anyone involved with the Obama campaign in Houston tell me if/where I can get bulk bumper stickers, possibly signs? I don't have much money

and everything is back-ordered on the website. My car is old so I need to make sure I'll be able to get them before I drive out to a campaign
office. I've been talking to people in my neighbourhood and passing out

extra early voting flyers I got at the rally, but I've been asked for stickers and signs.

Please contact me directly if you can help.

Thanks,
Jin

25250. jexster - 2/23/2008 10:44:51 AM

Time of Death: 2/23/08
8 am

Dr. Charles Cook on MSNBC commenting on a clip of Mrs. Bill's Valedictory Address to the UT Debate

That was graceful. She needs to be thinking of how to make the most graceful exit possible. Nothing more can be done.

25251. David Ehrenstein - 2/23/2008 11:27:21 AM

Well you'd have her drink a glass of lye on "The News Hour" jex.

Nothing elss would satisfy you.

25252. jexster - 2/23/2008 1:27:11 PM

Naah..the last thing I want is for her to go all Terri Schiavo on us

Let the good people of New York have her. We've enough on our hands with DiLies

25253. jexster - 2/23/2008 1:28:17 PM

I tell ya what I wouldn't mind seein...Mago, Honkers and the rest of that Emily's List bunch of bra burnin beeyatches over here working on cleaning my glass ceilings!

25254. jexster - 2/23/2008 1:33:39 PM

Mrs. Bill's Future: Senate Majority Leader?


If O! can't see his way clear to a maid's job in the Residence, I suppose I could hold my nose

25255. jexster - 2/23/2008 1:48:18 PM

Brisket, beans and beer - Bubbas on the Brazos

Obama finds warm greeting in chilly Austin
Ends four-day Texas campaign swing with downtown party.

25256. arkymalarky - 2/23/2008 1:51:41 PM

Why not Boxer?

25257. jexster - 2/23/2008 2:06:33 PM

What about Babs? She'll be lucky to hold her seat on 2010 against Ahnold

25258. jexster - 2/23/2008 2:07:41 PM

Steve Clemmons actually makes a great point - bottom up movements need to get grounded and a deal with the Clintons' makes imminent great sense....give em whatever they want ..give em a life

25259. jexster - 2/23/2008 2:08:03 PM

Washing glass ceilings

25260. jexster - 2/23/2008 2:09:36 PM

The LAST thing Obama needs is a bunch of angry ball bustng bull dykes running wild

25261. jexster - 2/23/2008 3:49:54 PM

Baracula
A batlike creature that will suck your Republican blood—

25262. jexster - 2/24/2008 10:37:10 AM

The Audacity of Hopelessness
By FRANK RICH

WHEN people one day look back at the remarkable implosion of the Hillary Clinton campaign, they may notice that it both began and ended in the long dark shadow of Iraq.

25263. jexster - 2/24/2008 11:57:33 AM

¿Quién Es Less Macho?

25264. jexster - 2/24/2008 12:06:54 PM

Manly Girlz

The Molly Ivins Vote


“While all those redneck bubba cowboys were driving the cattle, the women were running the ranches,” said Terri Burke, a longtime Abilene newspaper editor who was recently named executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.

But Frances T. Farenthold, 81, a prominent national Democrat who is known as Sissy and served from 1969 to 1973 as the only woman in the Texas House of Representatives, said she could not forgive Mrs. Clinton’s vote for the Iraq war and was supporting Mr. Obama.

“I’m not going to set aside everything because a woman is running,” Ms. Farenthold said, adding that the state’s tradition of strong women went only so far. “There’s a tradition of having pets, too,” she said.

25265. David Ehrenstein - 2/24/2008 12:41:28 PM

Here's something JoeMyGod found on Craigs List of definite interest to you, jex.

25266. iiibbb - 2/24/2008 1:31:43 PM

Nader is running for president again.

Will he blow this one for the Democrats?

25267. David Ehrenstein - 2/24/2008 2:26:30 PM

No.

25268. jexster - 2/24/2008 2:43:43 PM

Nancy Pelosi on each of the last Fridays gave interviews with Bloomberg, the signficance of which has gone totally unnoticed in the media.

On February 15th, she told Bloomberg that any effort to strongarm superdelegates into deciding against the nomination against the candidate with the most pledged delegates would gravely damage the party and could not be permitted. In the week that followed, the Clintons stopped all superdelegate blustering; Hillary passed twice on questions at the UT debate, as news reports mounted of superdelegate defections to Obama.

Exactly one week later, Pelosi told Bloomberg that Michigan and Florida could not be allowed to change the final nomination outcome as that too would inflict grave damage on the party.

These two were the opening shots in the endgame, a game in which Pelosi is the major player. Unless Hillary can change the delegate calculus with big wins in Ohio and Texas ( certainly if she loses one or both), Pelosi, George Miller, plus a Senator or 3(DiFi?), plus Gore/Edwards/Richardson will be making an offer the Clintons cannot refuse and that will be that

25269. jexster - 2/24/2008 3:16:00 PM

How Dare You Barack Osama!

"Since when do Democrats attack one another on universal health care?"

The Former First Lady

25270. jexster - 2/24/2008 3:16:21 PM

Hey Honkers...where do YOU eat

I have to take a dump

25271. alistairConnor - 2/24/2008 3:45:52 PM

iii :

Nader :
2.7% in 2000.
0.3% in 2004.

Follow the trend.

Gore in 2000, and whatsisname in 2004, lost elections that were almost impossible to lose. That won't happen this time.

25272. jexster - 2/24/2008 4:00:21 PM

Hillary Clinton's still doing well in one state. The state of denial

25273. jexster - 2/24/2008 4:17:42 PM

My sense of it is that unless you agree with everything he says, Ralph Nader will think you've sold out. My sense is then that Mr. Nader has a rather exalted sense of his own worth

Hussein Osama

25274. jexster - 2/24/2008 5:13:27 PM

Barackula

IA-Pres
Feb 24 Des Moines Reg.
Obama (D) 53%, McCain (R) 36%
IA-Pres
Feb 24 Des Moines Reg.
McCain (R) 49%, Clinton (D) 40%

25275. jexster - 2/24/2008 5:15:18 PM

Barackula

IA-Pres
Feb 24 Des Moines Reg.
Obama (D) 53%, McCain (R) 36%
IA-Pres
Feb 24 Des Moines Reg.
McCain (R) 49%, Clinton (D) 40%

25276. robertjayb - 2/24/2008 5:31:19 PM

My sense is then that Mr. Nader has a rather exalted sense of his own worth.

True. But, oh my, the irony...

And the Corvair was a good car.

Too many oil leaks but it would sure go in the snow.

Unsafe only if you didn't realize the engine was in the rear.

25277. robertjayb - 2/24/2008 5:36:11 PM

Nader and Huckabee...

God Damn!

25278. winstonsmith - 2/24/2008 5:56:01 PM

Well, there is a good chance we would not be in Iraq, if not for Nader. I can never forgive him and the idiots (some of them my good friends) that said there was no difference between Gore and Bush.

I really feel like I owe Nader a heartfelt punch in the face. Maybe two, just to wake him up a bit.

25279. robertjayb - 2/24/2008 5:57:34 PM

Add McCain to the list...His latest flash of stupidity:

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain says he doesn't look for any major political reforms in Cuba until after Fidel Castro dies, adding he hopes that's not far off.

As McCain put it during a campaign stop in Indiana Friday, "I hope he has the opportunity to meet Karl Marx very soon."

That's a reference to the author of "The Communist Manifesto," who died in 1883.

Over-the-top foolishness in an unnecessary bid for the crazed anti-Castro gusanos in Florida.

25280. jexster - 2/24/2008 7:11:37 PM

Irony is as irony does

I just want you to know what an honor it is for me just to sit here next to you Barack Obama

25281. jexster - 2/24/2008 7:15:12 PM

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant

25282. jexster - 2/24/2008 7:19:21 PM

Pleas already circulating on the Htown Obamazon listserv to spare Sheila Gasbag-Lee's fat black ass

"She'll work hard for Obama..don't retaliate"

25283. jexster - 2/24/2008 7:23:14 PM

VA Superdelegates Getting Antsy

25284. David Ehrenstein - 2/24/2008 7:29:24 PM

NOTHING but false hope in my lifetime, jex.

NOTHING!!!!!

Obamarama is more than the same and I'm heartily sick of it.

WAKE THE FUCK UP!! HE IS NOT THE RISEN CHRIST!!! HE CAN'T WALK ON WATER!!!!!!

HE WON'T DO JACK SHIT FOR YOU OR ANYONE ELSE WHO ISN'T A CORPORATION!!!!!

25285. jexster - 2/24/2008 7:40:33 PM

I feel your pain

25286. jexster - 2/24/2008 7:43:11 PM

He's not the Second Coming of the Messiah Cllr doesn't believe in any way but he sure is a fucking prophet


We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant

25287. jexster - 2/24/2008 7:43:23 PM

RIGHT CLLR?

25288. jexster - 2/24/2008 7:43:32 PM

Barack Hussein: Bring on the Patriot Police

25289. jexster - 2/24/2008 7:46:33 PM

Obama's well inside David's OODA loop too!

25290. robertjayb - 2/24/2008 7:47:16 PM

Pleas already circulating on the Htown Obamazon listserv to spare Sheila Gasbag-Lee's fat black ass.

Fair Warning: Don't get between Sheila and a television camera.

25291. jexster - 2/24/2008 8:47:04 PM

My brother's favorite joke too!

He used to go to the same church down in the Third Ward...dragged my ass down there with all his colored friends more times than I can count

25292. jexster - 2/24/2008 8:48:51 PM

Martin Luther King's WHITE chauffer's all over CNN about this book he is writing..confessing his shameful past before God and everybody

Pretty soon, we'll be fucking dogs and wearing burkahs I tell ya!

25293. jexster - 2/24/2008 8:52:13 PM

She'll say anything, do anything...How HRC impugned integrity of 12 year old rape victim in court
Newsday

25294. jexster - 2/24/2008 8:58:02 PM

I can see where all this Obamafication is a bit much for some..all that hope, idealist stuff, a little much for someone as jaded as I am but that's not what gets to me...The man is fucking brilliant. He has an incredible strategic vision. He has laid waste to the most awesome political machine the Democratic party has ever seen and is now poised for a gut shot

Barack Obama is as I have said from the beginning, the most incredible political talent of my life time.


The evidence is now right before your eyes

25295. jexster - 2/24/2008 8:58:29 PM

25296. jexster - 2/24/2008 9:01:47 PM

The record is already littered with examples...take just one...The Big Ronald Reagan flap. Everyone chortled GAFFE GAFFE when he sat down with the editors of the uber conservative Vegas paper and pissed on Bill Clinton

I said to myself - "intentional..you wiley negro you"

Sure enough, Ole Big Dog and the rest of the idiot HillHoppers took the bait...

25297. jexster - 2/24/2008 9:08:02 PM

Or another..


Obama's Harry and Louise flyers!

or another

Obama Snares Hillary Again on NAFTA

25298. jexster - 2/24/2008 9:11:18 PM

25299. arkymalarky - 2/24/2008 9:11:42 PM

I agree, but a lot of his supporters aren't blind fans. I know he's not perfect--nowhere near--but if I weren't so impressed with him personally, I'd still vote for him over the other candidates in the field because he has the best combination of proposals I like and a chance of getting them done. I wouldn't mind Hillary as president if she would quit finding and losing her voice. Her inconsistency is nerve-wracking. But I wouldn't delude myself into thinking that as president she could get a lot of what she wants through congress unless the Democrats have well over 2/3 in both Houses.

25300. jexster - 2/24/2008 9:16:59 PM

His answer to Mrs. Bill at the UT debate was PERFECT

We're not delusional. Neither are the editorial boards of every major newspaper in the great state of Texas

The evidence indeed raises the question, who in the fuck is deluded about Barack Obama..


It ain't us Obamazons

25301. jexster - 2/24/2008 9:18:47 PM

That woman reframes her message sometimes 2-3 times a day Arky..that says less about her fickle nature than it does about the fact that Obama's fucking with her head..aka inside her OODA loop


Don't blame the Battling Billaries...two against one taint fahr

25302. Max Macks - 2/24/2008 9:39:52 PM

interesting

25303. jexster - 2/24/2008 9:58:40 PM

Those who dismiss or misunderestimate BHO do so at their peril

That's exactly what he wants

Rich

But once the Obama forces outwitted her, leaving her mission unaccomplished on Super Tuesday, there was no contingency plan. She had neither the boots on the ground nor the money to recoup.

That’s why she has been losing battle after battle by double digits in every corner of the country ever since. And no matter how much bad stuff happened, she kept to the Bush playbook, stubbornly clinging to her own Rumsfeld, her chief strategist, Mark Penn. Like his prototype, Mr. Penn is bigger on loyalty and arrogance than strategic brilliance. But he’s actually not even all that loyal. Mr. Penn, whose operation has billed several million dollars in fees to the Clinton campaign so far, has never given up his day job as chief executive of the public relations behemoth Burson-Marsteller. His top client there, Microsoft, is simultaneously engaged in a demanding campaign of its own to acquire Yahoo.

Clinton fans don’t see their standard-bearer’s troubles this way. In their view, their highly substantive candidate was unfairly undone by a lightweight showboat who got a free ride from an often misogynist press and from naïve young people who lap up messianic language as if it were Jim Jones’s Kool-Aid. Or as Mrs. Clinton frames it, Senator Obama is all about empty words while she is all about action and hard work.

But it’s the Clinton strategists, not the Obama voters, who drank the Kool-Aid. The Obama campaign is not a vaporous cult; it’s a lean and mean political machine that gets the job done. The Clinton camp has been the slacker in this race, more words than action, and its candidate’s message, for all its purported high-mindedness, was and is self-immolating.

25304. arkymalarky - 2/24/2008 10:44:04 PM

I also think she blew it with the rant over the weeks-old mailers today. It went on too long, for one thing. Pundits knew and pointed out that the mailers had been around several weeks, for another. Like I told Bob, when a presidential candidate starts reminding you of George Castanza's mother, that can't be good.

25305. arkymalarky - 2/24/2008 10:46:17 PM

yesterday, that is

25306. robertjayb - 2/25/2008 12:14:09 AM

And the amazing thing is that he has done it all uphill against an ever-expanding army of invisible obstructionists and naysayers.

They said it couldn't be done. But Jiminy Crickets we just whistled a happy tune and got it done any way because we are brilliant and pure of heart.

I hope he drops this me-against-the-world meme, particularly since even his opponents usually speak favorably of him. It's tiresome in a candidate and will be excruciating in nominee, unbearable in a president.

25307. judithathome - 2/25/2008 1:11:47 AM

But I wouldn't delude myself into thinking that as president she could get a lot of what she wants through congress unless the Democrats have well over 2/3 in both Houses.

I'm not so sure anyone can do this...really, why do you think he will be better able to do it? Maybe he will, but if it's just because his opponents speak well of him now...that doesn't naturally follow that the Republicans will deal. Seems to me they will be particularly loath to do so because it will make what they've managed to foist off on the country for the last 8 years look even worse.

25308. concerned - 2/25/2008 3:20:34 AM

To the contrary, the Obamanation would make Republicans look great by comparison.

25309. concerned - 2/25/2008 3:24:35 AM

Nation of Islam Leader Farrakhan sings Hussein's praises

Nation of Islam members, including consultant Shakir Muhammad, held important roles in the Obama state senate campaign. Obama also attempted to get his crony, Federal Indictee Tony Rezko, a contract to build a nuclear power plant in the new Iraq. Rezko, a Syrian Arab who helped Obama in a deal to purchase his home, was in a partnership with Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad’s son, Jabir.

25310. winstonsmith - 2/25/2008 4:30:02 AM

Saw this on TPM Cafe.

Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on MTP:



"What history argues, and I think this is what [Obama]'s arguing, is that the only time we've had progressive change in this country is when the country is mobilized to push the people in Congress to action. That's what happened in the Progressive movement at the turn of the century, it's what happened during the New Deal, it's what happened in the Sixties, and I think that's what he's arguing-- that 'I can't just get it done by myself, I need to have that movement out there that will push us in Washington -- me and them included,' and that's what I think is the strength of the message [Obama] espouses."

25311. jexster - 2/25/2008 11:11:15 AM

Hillary mocks hope and heaps scorn on the movement sounding like some budding dyke shrieking on a school yard


That's what happens, a sure sign that Obama's inside her OODA loop folks

According to John Boyd, decision-making occurs in a cycle of observe-orient-decide-act. An entity (either an individual or an organization) that can process this cycle quickly, observing and reacting to unfolding events more rapidly than an opponent, can thereby "get inside" the opponent's decision cycle and gain a military or business advantage.

John Boyd developed the concept to explain how to direct one's energies to defeat an enemy and survive. Boyd emphasized that "the loop" is actually a set of interacting loops that are to be kept in continuous operation during combat. He also indicated that the phase of the battle has an important bearing on the ideal allocation of one's energies.

Boyd’s diagram shows that all decisions are based on observations of the evolving situation tempered with implicit filtering of the problem being addressed. These observations are the raw information on which decisions and actions are based.

The observed information needs to be processed to orient it for further making a decision. In notes from his talk “Organic Design for Command and Control”[1], Boyd said, “The second O, orientation – as the repository of our genetic heritage, cultural tradition, and previous experiences – is the most important part of the O-O-D-A loop since it shapes the way we observe, the way we decide, the way we act” (the underlining is Boyd’s). As stated by Boyd and shown in the “Orient” box, there is much filtering of the information through our culture, genetics, ability to analyze and synthesize, and previous experience. Since the OODA Loop was designed to describe a single decision maker, the situation is usually much worse than shown as most business and technical decisions have a team of people observing and orienting, each bringing their own cultural traditions, genetics, experience and other information. It is no wonder that it is here that decisions often get stuck and the OODA Loop is reduced to the stuttering sound of “OO-OO-OO” [2]. [1]

Getting stuck does not lead to winning as "In order to win, we should operate at a faster tempo or rhythm than our adversaries--or, better yet, get inside [the] adversary's Observation-Orientation-Decision-Action time cycle or loop. ... Such activity will make us appear ambiguous (unpredictable) thereby generate confusion and disorder among our adversaries--since our adversaries will be unable to generate mental images or pictures that agree with the menacing as well as faster transient rhythm or patterns they are competing against." [3] (John Boyd, "Patterns of Conflict" presentation)

The OODA loop that focuses on strategic military requirements, was adapted for business and public sector operational continuity planning. Compare it with the Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) cycle or Shewhart cycle, which focuses on the operational or tactical level of projects. [2]

As one of Boyd's colleagues, Harry Hillaker, put it in his article "John Boyd, USAF Retired, Father of the F16" [4]: The key is to obscure your intentions and make them unpredictable to your opponent while you simultaneously clarify his intentions. That is, operate at a faster tempo to generate rapidly changing conditions that inhibit your opponent from adapting or reacting to those changes and that suppress or destroy his awareness. Thus, a hodgepodge of confusion and disorder occur to cause him to over- or under-react to conditions or activities that appear to be uncertain, ambiguous, or incomprehensible.

25312. jexster - 2/25/2008 11:12:31 AM

TD's a little slow.....the above from the Hussein-the-Muzzie Candidate bilge ...been floating around right wing toilets now for two months or more

25313. jexster - 2/25/2008 11:13:08 AM

Wait until he breaks out the Holy Koran and demands that Roberts administer the oath of office

25314. judithathome - 2/25/2008 11:32:41 AM

To the contrary, the Obamanation would make Republicans look great by comparison.

It is to laugh...or would be if it weren't so sad.

Even Ralph Nadar can't do that!

25315. jexster - 2/25/2008 11:34:18 AM

Josh Marshall

25316. jexster - 2/25/2008 11:40:37 AM

Like I told Bob, when a presidential candidate starts reminding you of George Castanza's mother, that can't be good.

25317. jexster - 2/25/2008 11:54:06 AM

TD...your membership card is ready for pick up


The Obamacans: Republican red, and true blue to Obama

25318. jexster - 2/25/2008 1:42:38 PM

Too Cute for Tejas

Here is what I did in my precinct this weekend.

I knocked on doors Saturday and Sunday in my precinct and had a positive response. (I worked through about a 1/3 of my precinct starting at the North end and working down)

While probably only about 15-20% answered their doors, my results were easily 2:1 in favor of Barack (and with some in that third undecided too - not necessarily all for Hillary) I am not sure how representative this sample is (because there were so many that don't answer their doors) but it's great news nonetheless. I also encountered voters in their front yards or on the street (who were not on my walk list but saw me walk by with my Obama buttons on) who also told me they were for Barack. I started a separate list with their addresses so I can make contact with them again before election day/Caucus night.

My precinct 37 Election News Newsletter arrived Saturday too (and my precinct chair recommends a vote for Obama in it) This news certainly relieves some of my nerves about the precinct convention.

My plan now is to cover the rest of my precinct doing a few streets an evening this week (when it is still light out from like 5:15 to 6:30) until I'm done. (and of course I still need to call back all the homes I flyered or left notes)

By breaking my precinct down into little portions like this (it has made it easier for me to manage and not get too overwhelmed by all the voters on the list)

- Patrick

25319. jexster - 2/25/2008 1:49:10 PM

Revolt of the Leaf Blowers

Billirita's Alamo in Danger

25320. jexster - 2/25/2008 1:52:58 PM

I understand Robert's pain as well

What would life be like if Phil Gramm's dachsund were muzzled and Ole Robert could leave his ETex pine tree?

Positively terrifyin

Mr. Davila’s loyalty weakened, however, after Mrs. Clinton began losing primary after primary. Then, after watching the effect Senator Barack Obama had on his community last week, feelings of loyalty were overcome by a sense of pragmatism.

“The lines to get into the plaza went more than a mile,” said Mr. Davila, showing photographs his assistant had taken at the Obama rally held less than half a block from his pharmacy. “The crowd was one-third white, one-third black and one-third Latino. I had never seen anything like it in San Antonio. And I knew right then he was the best candidate to defeat the Republicans in November.”

25321. jexster - 2/25/2008 2:07:56 PM

25322. winstonsmith - 2/25/2008 2:21:11 PM

Drudge says this was put out there by Clinton Staffers.

Say it Loud, say it proud:

Barack Hussein Obama

25323. jexster - 2/25/2008 2:31:13 PM

I nominate Honkers2

Someone in the Democratic Party needs to tell Hillary it's over

25324. David Ehrenstein - 2/25/2008 2:44:54 PM

What if Hillary, against all odds, wins the nomination?

Will Jexster take the gas pipe?

25325. jexster - 2/25/2008 2:55:13 PM

What if Barack Hussein leads America from the House of War to the House of Peace and becomes Grand Caliph at Baghdad

25326. jexster - 2/25/2008 2:55:49 PM

She sounds like George Castanza's mother

25327. jexster - 2/25/2008 2:56:05 PM

Arky gets a Gold Star

25328. jexster - 2/25/2008 2:58:52 PM

Jonathan Alter: Hillary Should Get Out Now

Ready on Day 1 to wash my glass ceiling

25329. jexster - 2/25/2008 3:17:50 PM

Edwards Joins ObamaNation Supporters in New Anti BushWar Push

25330. jexster - 2/25/2008 3:27:22 PM

Glen Greenwald: Obama shows that dismissing slimy right-wing attacks is not difficult

25331. jexster - 2/25/2008 4:08:01 PM

A barefoot old woman in a ripped dress is sitting on a log in front of her tin-roof bungalow in this remote village in western Kenya, jovially greeting visitors.

Mama Sarah, as she is known around here, lives without electricity or running water. She is illiterate and doesn’t know when she was born. Yet she may have a seat of honor at the next presidential inauguration in Washington — depending on what happens to her stepgrandson, Barack Obama.



Obama's Kenyan Roots

25332. jexster - 2/25/2008 4:48:25 PM

Poll: Hillary Only Up 4 Points In Ohio
By Eric Kleefeld -


A new poll from Public Policy Polling (D) shows the Ohio primary to be at its narrowest margin yet from any pollster. Hillary Clinton still has the lead, but it's a bare 50%-46% edge over Barack Obama.

.

25333. robertjayb - 2/25/2008 5:08:39 PM

Wow! Just received a warm personal message from Hillary. Wants me to go out this afternoon and vote for her. Too bad I have to wash the dog.

25334. jexster - 2/25/2008 5:16:14 PM

Texas. Oh Texas! All hail the Great State
George W. Bush
Inaugural Austin TX

25335. winstonsmith - 2/25/2008 6:37:34 PM

Gallup: Obama Holds Double-Digit National Lead For First Time
By Greg Sargent - February 25, 2008, 4:02PM

Here's a surprising number from the new Gallup Poll: Obama has, for the first time in Gallup polling, taken a double-digit lead over Hillary among national Dems. He leads her 51%-39%.

Separately, in another startling finding, nearly three out of four Dems say Obama will be the nominee (73%), versus only a fifth (20%) who say Hillary will.

Obama holds a much slimmer lead in Gallup's national tracking poll, but as MyDD's Jonathan Singer, who first flagged these numbers, points out, the stand-alone poll appears to be bigger "news," which "could serve to reinforce the meme that Obama is pulling ahead" and is running away with the race.

25336. jexster - 2/25/2008 7:07:53 PM

Obama 50% (+2)
Clinton 46% (-4)

25337. winstonsmith - 2/25/2008 7:12:11 PM

“If you luv yo mamma, vote Obama!”

My Bro in Hyde Park just sent me this quote. The 7 year old neighbor boy is saying it to everyone.

25338. jexster - 2/25/2008 7:13:17 PM

That was CNN Texas

Jern me, judith, robert and the rest of

The Ranch Party Gang

25339. jexster - 2/25/2008 7:21:35 PM

New Sheriff in Town

25340. jexster - 2/25/2008 7:25:36 PM

ObamaSexuals Invade DeLayVillep

Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:10:49 -0500
To: San Francisco for Obama
From: carla mays
Subject: [SanFranciscoforObama] Obama Sugar Land office- needs list

Please call me if you have the items on the list to
send to the
Fort Bend County/Sugar Land HQ in Texas.

If you make or know anyone that makes Obama promo
items and materials, and can donate them, please
contact me.

Thanks,
Carla
760-438-2529

25341. arkymalarky - 2/25/2008 7:27:55 PM

He looks great in that cowboy hat.

25342. jexster - 2/25/2008 7:29:51 PM

Clinton Struggling to Hold Off Obama Tide in Tejas and Ohio (CQ)

25343. arkymalarky - 2/25/2008 7:37:58 PM

Judith,

I'm not so sure anyone can do this...really, why do you think he will be better able to do it?

This has more to do with Hillary than Obama. Hillary's high negative numbers and the reluctance of conservative Republicans to work with her, in addition to the management of her own campaign leave serious doubts about her ability to lead. She's never really proven to be a good leader, and I see qualities in her such as intransigence and a tendency toward scolding and lecture that simply won't get much accomplished. Her failure to get health care passed wasn't simply due to the circumstances of the time, and it wasn't because she doesn't work hard or isn't determined. Those are great qualities, but not necessarily good leadership qualities. Her own husband is an excellent example of that, though I think he went too far the other way--gave in too much and abandoned important parts of his agenda when he found stiff resistance to them.

25344. jexster - 2/25/2008 7:38:17 PM

AP/IPSOS: Bottom Falling Out of Clintons' Campaign Nationwide

25345. jexster - 2/25/2008 8:53:24 PM

Plain Dealing

Former Cleveland Mayor Switches from Clinton to Obama

25346. jexster - 2/25/2008 10:17:13 PM

Democrats Benefit From Shift in Muslim Voters’ Allegiance

Wait til TD sees what Caliph Barack Hussein Osama does to the Washington Monument

25347. jexster - 2/25/2008 10:26:53 PM

Texas Doesn't Matter: Clinton

25348. jexster - 2/25/2008 10:48:04 PM

POLL: CBS/Times National

CBS News/New York Times
National
Obama 54, Clinton 38
Obama 50, McCain 38... Clinton 46, McCain 46


McCain: I'm a Loser

25349. winstonsmith - 2/25/2008 10:58:16 PM

Hmm, Very Interesting:

Saturday, February 23, 2008
Early Birds: D's outvoting R's More Than 3 to 1; Lead in 14 of State's Largest 15 Counties

posted by Paul Burka at 9:08 AM

Texas is experiencing a tsunami of early voting that has no precedent. I have linked to the Secretary of State's Web site, which provides day-by-day election totals and an archive of early voting history in previous elections. To give you an idea of what is going on, here are comparisons of the total votes cast after the first three days of early voting in the seven biggest counties for 2008, 2006, and 2004 primaries (not counting mail-in votes):

Republicans
Harris 04 -- 1,929
Harris 06 -- 1,194
Harris 08 -- 8,886

Dallas 04 -- 1,162
Dallas 06 -- 2,145
Dallas 08 -- 6,847

Bexar 04 -- 1,205
Bexar 06 -- 1,902
Bexar 08 -- 7,028

Tarrant 04 -- 1,005
Tarrant 06 -- 2,299
Tarrant 08 -- 7,394

Travis 04 -- 1,737
Travis 06 -- 1,239
Travis 08 -- 3,792

El Paso 04 -- 890
El Paso 06 -- 1,227
El Paso 08 -- 2,623

Collin 04 -- 1,244
Collin 06 -- 1,538
Collin 08 -- 4,805

GOP early voting has doubled in El Paso County this year; tripled in Bexar, Tarrant, Dallas, Travis, and Collin counties, and shot up sevenfold (!) in Harris County. Not bad -- until you see the Democrats' numbers.

Democrats

Harris 04 -- 2,392
Harris 06 -- 1,379
Harris 08 -- 26,729

Dallas o4 -- 2,314
Dallas 06 -- 1,636
Dallas 08 -- 23,312

Bexar 04 -- 3,022
Bexar 06 -- 3,845
Bexar 08 -- 20,926

Tarrant 04 -- 1,005
Tarrant 06 -- 679
Tarrant 08 --15,888

Travis 04 -- 3,743
Travis 06 -- 1,367
Travis 08 -- 18,389

El Paso 04 -- 4,637
El Paso 06 -- 5,221
El Paso 08 -- 12,807

Collin 04 -- 503
Collin 06 -- 156
Collin 08 -- 6,845 (No, I not did not a mistake.)

Cumulative Early Vote Totals for the 15 Largest Counties, 2008
(includes Denton, Hidalgo, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Williamson, Nueces, Galveston, Cameron)

Republican early vote for first three days: 56,408
Democratic early vote for first three days: 170,580
R's outvote D's only in Montgomery County

What does it mean? Let's start with the conventional wisdom, which is that the same people always vote; this is why campaign consultants spend their efforts on getting regular voters back to the polls instead of trying to attract new voters, which is a waste of time and money. One possible explanation for the explosion of early votes is that people who normally vote on election day, as I prefer to do, are trying to beat the long lines that are projected for election day. I voted early for the first time ever, on the second day of early voting, and was able to get in and out without waiting. But the conventional wisdom doesn't explain why the Democratic turnout in Collin County has increased by more than 1,300%. What happened? Did half of Berkeley move to Collin County?

More likely, these numbers reflect new voters. Remember, Republican early voting is up too (possibly due to evangelicals supporting Mike Huckabee). I think that something about this election season has attracted more people to mainstream politics than in any election since ... well, maybe 1932. One reason, as many have observed, is that this election represents a complete break with the past; it's the first election since 1952 that did not have a president or vice-president on the ticket: Eisenhower in '56, Nixon in '60, Johnson in '64, Humphrey and Nixon in '68, Nixon in '72, Ford in '76, Carter in '80, Reagan in '84, Bush 41 in '88, Bush again in '92, Clinton in '96, Gore in 2000, Bush 43 in '04 ... the end.

The campaign drew a lot of qualified candidates, the debates were interesting, the rise and fall of the candidates' fortunes made for a good story line -- Rudy and Hillary taking the lead, McCain dropping out of sight, Obama's gradual rise, Rudy's gradual fall, Huckabee's emergence, Hillary and Romney poised to win in Iowa, neither winning, Obamamania, Rudy's collapse, McCain's re-emergence, Ron Paul's idiosyncratic wisdom, and then the final four and the unlikely scenario of the Texas primary having a pivotal role. As horse races go, this has been a great one.

What is different about this election -- and the early vote reflects it -- is the intensity of the interest. The overwhelming unpopularity of George W. Bush and everything his presidency represented is driving the turnout nationally and in Texas, and here you can add contempt for the Perry-Dewhurst-Craddick leadership. Whether voters actually absorbed the knowledge that this is the first election with no heir-apparent or just sensed it as part of the zeitgeist, they are driven to make a clean break with the past and have a personal stake in rejecting Bush. I don't think it matters what these new voters' history was -- whether they were non-voters or just general election voters or onetime Reagan Democrats coming home. They are voters now. Even if they are Republicans, they are most likely the moderates who didn't vote in primaries. And they will make the Republican primary more moderate.

Barack Obama's personality and his message are dominating politics nationwide. The last candidate to stir this kind of feeling was Ronald Reagan in 1980 and before him Bobby Kennedy in 1968. Veteran political observers like me can roll our eyes over someone running for president on a platform of "Hope" and "Change," but nothing is so powerful as an idea, even a vague one, whose time has come. Obama is riding the whirlwind, and if he can make the moment last until November, it is going to sweep out the Republicans, even in Texas.

These numbers are so overwhelming, and the fifteen counties have such a large fraction of the state's registered voters -- 7,815,906 of 12,607,466, or 62% -- that what happens in other 239 counties is unlikely to alter the trend. These numbers have made me a believer. Rick Noriega could defeat John Cornyn. The Democrats can win a majority in the Texas House of Representatives. The consummate irony is that George W. Bush, who made Texas a Republican state on his way in to the presidency, may make it a Democratic state on his way out.

25350. jexster - 2/25/2008 11:15:39 PM

That's what my brother reported from Harris and Fort Bend Counties


Thank you Barack Obama!

25351. concerned - 2/26/2008 1:14:33 AM

To jexster, Hussein's runny shit tastes just like honey. Jexster considers himself a connoisseur of shit of all kinds.

25352. concerned - 2/26/2008 1:29:19 AM

Re. 25351 -

I see you have your head wedged so far up Hussein's ass that you can see his teeth.

25353. concerned - 2/26/2008 1:30:18 AM

Re. 25350 -

I see you have your head wedged so far up Hussein's ass that you can see his teeth.

25354. jexster - 2/26/2008 4:36:14 AM

Opening 2009...



Minaret of the White Mosque of the Grand Caliph Hussein the Great

25355. jexster - 2/26/2008 4:52:33 AM

Jon Favreau
26
Obama's Chief Speechwriter

Pretty
Pretty

25356. Jenerator - 2/26/2008 9:31:56 AM

I live in Collin County. What's odd is that I have seen a ton of Ron Paul signs.

25357. jexster - 2/26/2008 10:48:01 AM

Is he your representative? War aside, he is a Libertarian republican's republican..what I can't figure is why he has such HUGE support here in SF..I realize the war but talk about anti-government!

May not be all that odd. With all the money he's raised, he could pay people to put up his signs

25358. jexster - 2/26/2008 10:48:45 AM

Chris Dodd endorses Obama

25359. jexster - 2/26/2008 12:11:07 PM

100 Years Insurgency


His PTSD is acting up again. Hanoi John's now saying the war will soon be over but we'll be fighting the insurgency for years

25360. jexster - 2/26/2008 12:13:56 PM

25361. judithathome - 2/26/2008 2:41:16 PM

Arky, I liked this article linked below...it's why I'm warming to Obama. Hillary isn't showing good judgement how this campaign is being run and it makes me think what you say is true...she won't show good judgement later if elected. That leak from her staff of the picture of Obama wearing Somali dress is but one example of her missteps...steps she could have avoided had she been on the ball with what her staff is doing.

How Obama Combats Negative Campaigning

By far, the most significant pattern in how our political discourse is shaped is that the right-wing noise machine generates scurrilous, petty, personality-based innuendo about Democratic candidates, and the establishment press then mindlessly repeats it and mainstreams it. Thus, nothing was more predictable than watching the "Obamas-are-unpatriotic-subversives" slur travel in the blink of an eye from the Jack Kingstons, Fox News adolescent McCarthyites, and Bill Kristols of the world to AP, MSNBC, and CNN. That's just how the right-wing/media nexus works.

Far more notable is Barack Obama's response to these depressingly familiar attacks. In response, he's not scurrying around slapping flags all over himself or belting out the National Anthem, nor is he apologizing for not wearing lapels, nor is he defensively trying to prove that -- just like his Republican accusers -- he, too, is a patriot, honestly. He's not on the defensive at all. Instead, he's swatting away these slurs with the dismissive contempt they deserve, and then eagerly and aggressively engaging the debate on offense because he's confident, rather than insecure, about his position:

(continued at link)

25362. jexster - 2/26/2008 3:18:18 PM

The latest FEC filings confirm that Mrs. Bill spent more than any other presidential candidate on baked goods - 3 times more than her nearest rival.



If only she'd learned to give BJ's and bake cookies she wouldn't be in this predicament

25363. concerned - 2/26/2008 3:30:29 PM

JAH -

You're saying Hussein has a problem wearing a US Flag on his lapel?

Why would that be the case?

The US doesn't need a president that acts like as if he is ashamed of his country.

25364. concerned - 2/26/2008 3:31:20 PM

JAH -

You're saying Hussein has a problem wearing a US Flag on his lapel?

Why would that be the case?

The US doesn't need a president that acts as if he is ashamed of his country.

25365. concerned - 2/26/2008 3:42:12 PM

The US doesn't need a first lady who acts like she is ashamed of and fears and hates parts of her country.

25366. concerned - 2/26/2008 3:49:27 PM

Black Hillary Supporters Receiving Death Threats

While widely ignored by the mainstream media, the implications here are nothing short of momentous. The very prospect of physical intimidation as a means of garnering political compliance from Americans awakens frightening images of the thuggish antics of one William M "Boss" Tweed in mid-nineteenth century New York. Having survived the 2000 election debacle without even the threat of bloodshed, would some now have us back on the road to the iniquitous days of Tammany Hall?

25367. jexster - 2/26/2008 4:16:01 PM

Chief of Staff: Bush Has Wrecked the Army

25368. jexster - 2/26/2008 4:20:36 PM

Yes TD Obama has a problem with wearing the American Flag lapel pin. He thinks only phony patriots who lie and lose 5 wars do that

25369. jexster - 2/26/2008 4:21:22 PM

chaulk it up to PTSD...he can't remember what he had for breakfast much less to put on Old Gorey

25370. jexster - 2/26/2008 4:28:20 PM

Obama Shows How to Deal with PigShit Patriots


Obama shows that dismissing slimy right-wing attacks is not difficult


By far, the most significant pattern in how our political discourse is shaped is that the right-wing noise machine generates scurrilous, petty, personality-based innuendo about Democratic candidates, and the establishment press then mindlessly repeats it and mainstreams it. Thus, nothing was more predictable than watching the "Obamas-are-unpatriotic-subversives" slur travel in the blink of an eye from the Jack Kingstons, Fox News adolescent McCarthyites, and Bill Kristols of the world to AP, MSNBC, and CNN. That's just how the right-wing/media nexus works.

Far more notable is Barack Obama's response to these depressingly familiar attacks. In response, he's not scurrying around slapping flags all over himself or belting out the National Anthem, nor is he apologizing for not wearing lapels, nor is he defensively trying to prove that -- just like his Republican accusers -- he, too, is a patriot, honestly. He's not on the defensive at all. Instead, he's swatting away these slurs with the dismissive contempt they deserve, and then eagerly and aggressively engaging the debate on offense because he's confident, rather than insecure, about his position:

About not wearing an American flag lapel pin, Obama said Republicans have no lock on patriotism.

"A party that presided over a war in which our troops did not get the body armor they needed, or were sending troops over who were untrained because of poor planning, or are not fulfilling the veterans' benefits that these troops need when they come home, or are undermining our Constitution with warrantless wiretaps that are unnecessary?

"That is a debate I am very happy to have. We'll see what the American people think is the true definition of patriotism."

Ever since 2002 -- at least -- most national Democrats have quivered with fear the moment Republicans utter words like "patriotism" and "national security." Traumatized by the 2002 mid-term elections, George Bush's 70% approval ratings, and the media's lock-step adoration of the Commander-in-Chief, to this day they become frozen the moment such attacks are even suggested and desperately and defensively try to comply with whatever demands are made of them. Like many trauma victims, they can never break free of the terror from their past, and still live perpetually in 2002, whereby George Bush's invocation of the words "patriotism" and "terrorism" can send them into spasms of fear and submission.

Perhaps (in part) because he wasn't in Washington in 2002, Obama's response here is the opposite of all of that. He's not the slightest bit defensive. To the contrary, he went out of his way to raise numerous examples of why it is the flag-waving Republicans whose "patriotism" ought to be in doubt, if anyone's should be. Without having to do so, Obama even went and raised the issue which Republicans currently think is their big, bad weapon -- warrantless spying on Americans -- and used it against them, to argue that spying on Americans is a profound violation of core American political principles, a far more substantive test of "patriotism" than what pretty accessories one wears with one's clothes.

Obama's approach illustrates the fundamental difference between these two types responses:

* Even though I am kind of against the war and a little bit against the new FISA bill for now, I love my country and want to protect Americans, too, just like the Republicans do -- honest (the standard Democratic response); and,

* If anyone's patriotism should be considered suspect, it's those who want to send Americans off to die in a worthless and destructive war and those who want to eviscerate our basic political values by torturing, detaining people with no rights, and spying on American citizens with no warrants (the gist of Obama's response here).


Slimy accusations that one is "soft on the Terrorists" or "unpatriotic" will be effective if people see the accused, in response, nervously trying to deny the accusations, trying to run away from one's own beliefs, defensively trying to comply with the demands of the accusers in order to make the accusations go away. By contrast, the accusations will be rendered worthless if the accused stands by one's own principles and convictions and aggressively seeks out the debate, turning the accusations around on the accusers.

Most Democrats have yet to learn that lesson. Obama's response here strongly suggests that he has. Although there is still a significant chance that Democrats will ultimately give the President most if not all of what he wants on the FISA bill, perhaps their ongoing refusal to capitulate quickly even in the face of all-out GOP fear-mongering -- along with Obama's refusal to do the same with regard to these patriotism attacks -- will demonstrate that (regardless of their "real beliefs" on war and surveillance) such capitulation is not only unnecessary but completely contrary to their own political interests.

UPDATE: I'll be on the Rachel Maddow Show tonight at 6:30 p.m. EST talking about this post and related matters. Live streaming or local listings are here.

UPDATE II: FDL has created an excellent tool for protesting the heinous Associated Press article by Nedra Pickler questioning Barack Obama's patriotism, which I wrote about yesterday (item 2). The FDL tool basically enables you to create letters to the editor and op-eds for your local newspapers to complain about the journalistic atrocity AP produced.

Additionally, there is a new Daily Kos diary promoting the campaign and if any of you are Kos members, recommending the diary can help to generate significantly more attention for the letter-writing campaign. Reporters and news outlets should feel the wrath when they produce trash like the Pickler article.


Glenn Greenwald


Long and short...bring it on you fucking losers

25371. concerned - 2/26/2008 5:25:25 PM

According to you, Hussein doesn't have a fucking clue as to what the US has accomplished in Iraq.

That would make him a geopolitical incompetent.

25372. wonkers2 - 2/26/2008 5:52:42 PM

News flash update: Diebold accidentally leaks results of 2008 presidential election

25373. jexster - 2/26/2008 6:44:17 PM

According to me, bring it on losers...

and don't forget your little Ole Gorey lapel pins..Let Bush and McCain tell us all about your victors to vectory

25374. jexster - 2/26/2008 6:45:26 PM

Team Clinton: Down, and Out of Touch



They are in the last throes, if you will.

As Vice President Cheney knows, such predictions can be perilous. Still, there was no mistaking a certain flailing, a lashing-out, as two Clinton advisers sat down for a bacon-and-eggs session yesterday at the St. Regis Hotel.

25375. jexster - 2/26/2008 6:59:32 PM

Underground Railway Report - Free at last

Rev. Joe Lowery: Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) to come out for Obama.
--Josh Marshall

25376. concerned - 2/26/2008 7:00:20 PM

'Crap'-slinging Olbermann Whines: Jon Stewart Wrong to Make Obama/Osama Jokes

25377. jexster - 2/26/2008 7:06:52 PM

Liberal Liberation in the Great State


Jeremiah Carroll wrote:
My friend talked me into joining him this afternoon at an early voting place and holding up an Obama sign. Until now, I've always felt "underground" by being liberal in a mostly conservative Texas. But, I was amazed at how many people were waving, honking, giving a thumbs up, etc. Probably about one-third of the people who passed by gave some form of hooray for Obama.


It was really cathartic. Try it and see! It feels good to know we're a part of progress - that it's our turn now.



Jeremiah Carroll

25378. arkymalarky - 2/26/2008 7:49:57 PM

Thanks for the link, Judith!

I'll be interested in seeing how the debate goes tonight, though I don't know that I'll watch it. They're getting stressful to watch, to me, for some reason.

The article really also reflects what's bugging me lately about Hillary--the blame game. They haven't shown a single sign of being introspective and looking to advance a clear message. They shift to see poll reactions, and evidently they're blaming each other on the inside. And when they go downhill, it's the media, or the fact she's a woman--anything but their own actions and decisions. Things are said about how a man could do what she's doing and be considered strong. I disagree. He'd be considered, as Bob Dole was, to be a big jerk or an asshole. The only difference is what they call men vs women. On the other hand, I haven't seen Obama complain about news coverage of his name, his color, his background, or anything else. When something comes out he hits back, but he never whines. Of all the above-board tactics, whining is the worst for a politician, whatever the gender.

And her sarcasm didn't help her, either.

25379. jexster - 2/26/2008 8:00:11 PM

Is McCain Ashamed of Old Glory???

Taken today in Ohio

NO LAPEL PIN!!!




In point of fact, Hanoi John McCain's been ashamed of the Holy Flag for over 30 years now..ever since the flag since he committed treason for Uncle Ho in exchange for sexual favors of prostitutes.

25380. jexster - 2/26/2008 8:03:28 PM

She's come undone Arky

Finger Pointing Frustration Overwhelms Camp Clinton


The last thing the Clintons could manage - a graceful exit

25381. jexster - 2/26/2008 8:11:05 PM

According to "T", {the interrogators notes} reveal that McCain had made an "accommodation" with his captors, and in exchange, T's father saw that he was provided with an apartment in Hanoi and the services of two prostitutes. Upon returning to his prison cell, he would say he had been held in solitary confinement. That may be why so many of his fellow prisoners said later they saw so little of him at Hoa Loa.
In other words, the CIA has in its possession the notes and reports of John McCain's interrogators at the Hanoi Hilton, in both the original Vietnamese and translated Russian, showing collaboration with his Communist captors.


No wonder that when corporate media moguls needed McCain's collaboration some three decades later, they hired a prostitute

25382. arkymalarky - 2/26/2008 8:11:35 PM

Watching Tucker Carlson--I think if I were MSNBC I'd quit covering Hillary Clinton at all. Let her find her own way to get media attention, since they squandered over 100 million dollars and can't afford to maintain advertising anymore. At least Huckabee is smart enough to know that cultivating a media relationship and taking the downside with it gets him a lot of free exposure.

25383. jexster - 2/26/2008 8:14:10 PM

Watching Tucker now myself...Harold Wolfson is a bi-polar Ari Fleischer

25384. jexster - 2/26/2008 8:14:43 PM

And Ickes...what a cockroach

25385. concerned - 2/26/2008 8:28:32 PM

They're getting stressful to watch, to me, for some reason.

I could hazard a few guesses why....

25386. arkymalarky - 2/26/2008 8:34:39 PM

I would invite you to go ahead and hazard, Con'd, but that's stressful, for some reason, too.

25387. jexster - 2/26/2008 9:02:38 PM

25388. jexster - 2/26/2008 9:26:46 PM

We didn't beat Villaraigosa and the other CalHispanic machines but we kicked Ron Dellums (Oak) and Newsom's ass big time....KOS provides similar reports from the ground in Tejas
Stories from the Obama Grassroots (KOS)

25389. jexster - 2/26/2008 11:18:04 PM

The chair of the Ohio Demo party's been making the rounds today and with each appearance on cable news has been coming closer and closer to outright calling for Clinton to quit.

He wants this non-sense to end and as Obama quietly declared to Matt Lauer last week, we will continue see increasing pressure "to move the nomination forward"

25390. jexster - 2/26/2008 11:22:20 PM

Now she's whining about always getting the first question..the latest Grand SNL Media Conspiracy....


Democrats visualize running for another 9 months with this political paraplegic

25391. arkymalarky - 2/27/2008 12:23:34 AM

She's done pretty well, and that was just a stupid statement. It will be the headline, when she could have kept out the stupid one-liners and forced them to cover substance.

25392. arkymalarky - 2/27/2008 12:25:06 AM

She's done pretty well, and that was just a stupid statement. It will be the headline, when she could have kept out the stupid one-liners and forced them to cover substance.

25393. wonkers2 - 2/27/2008 1:04:55 AM

I agree Arky. Hillary held her own tonight. And her health care plan IS better. When you are negotiating something difficult you don't start by putting yourself behind the eight ball. Anyway, what happens on health care will depend importantly on how many Dem Senators and Congressmen are elected. Both of them would have been well advised to hold out for a Medicare-type plan for everybody and, if necessary, bargain backward from there.

25394. arkymalarky - 2/27/2008 1:39:20 AM

You may be right, but I think congress is very shy of anything with the word "mandate" in it, especially after NCLB. I thought Obama's point about Medicare, which is not mandated, was effective in that regard. I think Obama's view is that you start with something that doesn't make people leery and then move toward more once you get your foot in the door.

25395. concerned - 2/27/2008 2:06:53 AM

Re. 25386 -

Don't worry Arky. I'm not inclined to go there, myself.

25396. concerned - 2/27/2008 2:09:07 AM

If Obama wins the nomination, he will probably be the first presidential candidate in history where it is verboten to use his middle name.

25397. concerned - 2/27/2008 2:13:56 AM

As compared to, say Hilliary Rodham Xlowntoon. And god knows she's tolerated enough jokes about her middle name without any damage.

25398. judithathome - 2/27/2008 4:02:52 AM

You're saying Hussein has a problem wearing a US Flag on his lapel?

Why would that be the case?

The US doesn't need a president that acts like as if he is ashamed of his country.

Where DO you get this crap? I said no such thing...I linked to an article from Salon magazine.

25399. judithathome - 2/27/2008 4:04:08 AM

That would make him a geopolitical incompetent.

My god, the retorts just write themselves, don't they?

25400. jexster - 2/27/2008 6:53:15 AM

After saying she found her “voice” in New Hampshire, she has turned into Sybil.

25401. jexster - 2/27/2008 6:59:14 AM

Visualize another 9 months running to carry that sack of shit over the finish line

The entire first 16 minutes of that debate was farce. The mandate is a Harry/Louise deal breaker to be sure but 16 minutes on a plan that is no where to be seen and would surely be DOA on the first cold day in hell of her Presidency was a waste of Honkers time

25402. jexster - 2/27/2008 7:00:21 AM

Tina Faye would make a better running mate for my bO!y

25403. jexster - 2/27/2008 7:07:57 AM

M-e-d-v-e-d-e-v


Recalls Gerald Ford's comments about Free Poland in 1976

ON DEADLINE:
Clinton's politics of pity
By RON FOURNIER

25404. jexster - 2/27/2008 7:25:37 AM

Are Evangelicals Obama-Curious?

25405. wonkers2 - 2/27/2008 10:32:32 AM

Obama must be having a lot of good sex with his wife. Good sex improves your public speaking

25406. judithathome - 2/27/2008 12:28:29 PM

Arky, a few weeks ago you asked me about TV advertising running locally for Hillary and Obama and I said I hadn't seen any...I have now. Both are running heavy TV stuff.

What intrigues me, though, are the phone calls. I've heard from both Bill and Hillary...his was more rah rah but both of them take the time to mention my early voting place and also, Hillary's stresses the need for returning at 6:30pm on March 4 to the polling place where I voted for the delegate "caucus" or whatever it's called...you can tell I really listen attentively to her droning ad. Ha!

What this tells me is there is a LOT of heavy "prep" for these various ads and that they are targeted by zip code. If she does this for every early voting location in Texas, she must be recording 24/7 for days on end...just inserting the location in the same repeated ad...monumental task. However, considering she's only doing it for Democrats, it might not be that big a deal...we don't have THAT many.

So far no calls from Obama himself but I have had live calls for him...people seem gung ho with those.

25407. jexster - 2/27/2008 12:58:38 PM

Barack Hussein Obama, Omar Bradley, Benjamin Franklin and other Semitically Named American Heroes

25408. jexster - 2/27/2008 12:59:13 PM

Honkers is self-evidently deprived!

25409. jexster - 2/27/2008 1:00:24 PM

Live calls! GREAT!!!

That's the ground game...I've been meaning to get around to a few myself...

25410. robertjayb - 2/27/2008 1:12:49 PM

Robert Parry applauds Obama's fund raising...

Right now, the front line for the Washington Establishment is Hillary Clinton’s struggling presidential campaign, which has been stunned by Obama’s political skills as well as his extraordinary ability to raise money over the Internet. Obama’s grassroots donations have negated Clinton’s prodigious fundraising advantage with big donors.

Powerful lobbies – from AIPAC to representatives of military and other industries – also are recognizing the value of keeping their dominance over campaign cash from getting diluted by Obama’s deep reservoir of small donors. It’s in their direct interest to dent Obama’s momentum and demoralize his rank-and-file supporters as soon as possible.

25411. jexster - 2/27/2008 1:21:08 PM

Coattails


Congressional Dems Ready to Ride the Obama Wave in Conservative Districts

25412. jexster - 2/27/2008 1:23:12 PM

25410...They better get crackin

25413. jexster - 2/27/2008 1:45:46 PM

25414. robertjayb - 2/27/2008 1:52:04 PM

"The Haloed One" Bill Maxwell, a black columnist for the St. Petersburg Times reviews the Obama phenomenon...

The halo above Barack Obama's head is dangerous. It is causing a lot of trouble for a lot of people, forcing them into silence. But that halo will tarnish if the young senator is elected president.

There are those who suggest, only half-jokingly, that Obamamania has become something of a cult. Of course it is a cult, manifesting what writer James Wolcott refers to as "salvational fervor" and "pure euphoria."

Listen to what the Anointed One said in South Carolina at one of his rallies, which he alludes to as tent revivals: "At some point in the evening, a light is going to shine down and you will have an epiphany and you'll say, 'I have to vote for Barack!'"

Something insidious is happening beneath this rapture. Because of the halo effect, too many people are afraid to sincerely criticize Obama for fear of being attacked and otherwise humiliated.

Many white Democrats who do not support Obama are keeping their heads down and their mouths shut. They do not want to be denounced as racists for preferring Hillary Clinton for reasons that have nothing to do with race.

Most of our acerbic political cartoonists who have no trouble portraying Hillary Clinton as a gargoyle have sheathed their rapiers for Obama, opting to handle the Anointed One with kid gloves or not draw him at all. Pat Oliphant is a notable exception.

25415. jexster - 2/27/2008 1:58:52 PM

What a crock..

He's taken more than a few punches..what that Nimrod misses, he knows how to take em and counter punch

25416. jexster - 2/27/2008 2:00:07 PM

A goddamn Tiger Woods of politics....Cassius Clay of the politico ring

25417. jexster - 2/27/2008 2:01:39 PM

Visualize little chocolate drops playing in the JFK Oval Office Desk

25418. jexster - 2/27/2008 2:07:40 PM

Sounds like a sentiment I have heard more than once from Democrats..."maybe things are so fuckt it is better for us to lose"

That said, Dems so accustomed to running with sheep instead of wolves, should not forget the Iron Law of Politics...what goes up, must come down

25419. David Ehrenstein - 2/27/2008 2:15:55 PM

In the immortal words of his arch-enemy Gore Vidal, "Good career move."

25420. jexster - 2/27/2008 2:20:49 PM

harsh

25421. wonkers2 - 2/27/2008 2:28:30 PM

Buckley was wrong on nearly everything, but he was nevertheless hard to hate.

25422. jexster - 2/27/2008 3:09:02 PM

Bring on the Post Traumatic Stress Disordered


Most Improved Debater
In what may be the final debate, Obama shows how he's grown.

25423. David Ehrenstein - 2/27/2008 3:16:42 PM

Buckley was harsh, Jex. He wanted a brand burned into your ass.

25424. jexster - 2/27/2008 3:18:28 PM

Loathesome creature...forever reminding me of a viper

25425. jexster - 2/27/2008 3:20:00 PM

To the Post Traumatic Stress Disordered

Welcome to Hell

I have some news for John McCain.There was no Al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain" started their war. John McCain may like to say he wants to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but so far all he’s done is follow George Bush into a misguided war in Iraq.

Barack Hussein Obama

25426. arkymalarky - 2/27/2008 3:45:21 PM

That's interesting, Judith. The Clinton camp seems to be honing their ground game. When I tried to call for Obama they had a list of 20 names and numbers and a points list with all the voting info for each person. For people who are good at it, it seemed very efficient and much cheaper.

25427. David Ehrenstein - 2/27/2008 3:50:00 PM

Actually he was very easy to hate.

25428. David Ehrenstein - 2/27/2008 5:07:45 PM

Here's Buckley vs. Vidal! What did we did we ever do before You Tube?

25429. jexster - 2/27/2008 5:12:45 PM

An HTown Chronicle reporter on CNN claims that Obama's field operation in TX is "huge", much bigger than the Clintons

John L Lewis just made the switch...Just can't trust his kind

25430. arkymalarky - 2/27/2008 5:39:05 PM

The reason it seems like Obama isn't taking hits compared to Hillary is because he doesn't piss and moan about them. He hits back hard, every time, and moves on. He did more to address the Muslim emails, but was criticized for giving them too much attention. I think he knows what he's doing in that regard because he doesn't live in a bubble. His team pays attention to what the media and the people are saying, as opposed to trying to control it like the Hillary camp has done. Tucker Carlson overstated yesterday, but he'd barely gotten the words out of his mouth--with her spokesperson there--before the Hillary camp called, in the middle of the show, to scold him. And they wonder why they have the relationship with the press that they do. I saw that coming way back when, after reading Newsweek's "Stumper" about how the Hillary camp treated reporters at "avails." She changed when she was beginning to lose, but she didn't maintain the change, as she hasn't with a number of positive directions she's tried that would have served her better.

That also brings up the issue of who she'd surround herself with as president if she has people like Doyle, Ickes, and Penn running her campaign.

25431. jexster - 2/27/2008 6:36:37 PM

She should have taken up baking when she had the chance eh Mago?

25432. jexster - 2/27/2008 6:37:01 PM

"Million-Man Obama"

25433. jexster - 2/27/2008 6:41:02 PM

Iraq: McCain's Obamafication

25434. jexster - 2/27/2008 6:43:07 PM

OOPS

And The Ohio State University Goes Wild

25435. judithathome - 2/27/2008 6:49:39 PM

Buckley was wrong on nearly everything, but he was nevertheless hard to hate.

I agree...I loved his command of the language and his wit...also liked his spy novels for the same reason.

I didn't agree with him on anything but I really did enjoy listening to him roll out the ten dollar words.

25436. jexster - 2/27/2008 6:57:58 PM

The whole dustup this weekend over mandates and affordability in health care between Clinton and Obama just begs the question-- are we really going to impose a mandate to buy health care on working people if it's not affordable, and if health care is truly affordable, do people think any but a small group will not get coverage?

Nathan Newman: Mandates v. Affordability


Screw Honkers and the Krugman he rode in on

25437. jexster - 2/27/2008 7:30:29 PM

I couldn't BELIEVE what I just heard on the WarNewsNet..the Blitzed Show...

They ran a Pentagon piece - What if the Pentagon revolted against a Clinton/Obama Iraq withdrawal?


WITH ZERO SOURCES other than one retired general ..long retired ...who recalled the Pentagon's reaction to Clinton's don't ask don't tell

The Revolt of the Generals has been running against this disaster since 2004..It doesn't take much research to put the other side of that "story" together...

What a crock of shit

25438. Magoseph - 2/27/2008 7:39:27 PM

Race Man

After several weeks of swooning, news reports are finally being filed about the gap between Senator Barack Obama's promises of a pure, soul-cleansing "new" politics and the calculated, deeply dishonest conduct of his actually-existing campaign. But it remains to be seen whether the latest ploy by the Obama camp--over allegations about the circulation of a photograph of Obama in ceremonial Somali dress--will be exposed by the press as the manipulative illusion that it is.

Most of the recent correctives have concerned outrageously deceptive advertisements approved and released by Obama's campaign. First, in Iowa, the Obama camp aired radio ads patterned on the notorious "Harry and Louise" Republican propaganda from 1993, charging falsely that Senator Hillary Clinton's health care proposal would "force those who cannot afford health insurance to buy it, punishing those who won't fall in line." In subsequent primary and caucus campaigns, the Obama campaign sent out millions of mailers, also featuring the "Harry and Louise" motif, falsely claiming that Clinton favored "punishing families who can't afford health care in the first place." A few bloggers and columnists, notably Paul Krugman in The New York Times, described the ads as distorting, but the national press corps mainly ignored them--until Clinton herself, seeing the fraudulent mailers reappear in Ohio over the past weekend, publicly denounced them.

The Obama mass mailings also attempt to appeal to Ohio's labor vote by claiming that Clinton believed that the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, was a "'boon' to our economy." More falsehood: In fact, Clinton had not said that; Newsday originally applied the word "boon" and has now noted the Obama campaign's distortion. In this campaign, Clinton has called for a moratorium on all trade agreements until they are made consistent with labor and environmental standards--and account for the effect on jobs in the United States. Obama makes a big deal about how Bill Clinton signed NAFTA. But he fails to mention that, within the councils of her husband's administration, Hillary Clinton was a skeptic of free trade agreements, and as a senator and candidate she has said that NAFTA contained flaws that need to be rectified. Ignoring all that, the Obama flyer features an alarming photograph of closed plant gates, having no connection to any action of Senator Clinton's, as well as the dubious quotation about her from Newsday in 2006. Newsday has criticized "Obama's use of the quotation" as "misleading ... an example of the kind of slim reeds campaigns use to try and win an office." Obama, without retracting the mailing (and while playing to protectionist sentiment in the party) said only that he would have his staff look into the matter--long after the ad has done its dirty work.

Misleading propaganda is hardly new in American politics --although the adoption of techniques reminiscent of past Republican and special-interest hit jobs, right down to a retread of the fictional couple, seems strangely at odds with a campaign that proclaims it will redeem the country from precisely these sorts of divisive and manipulative tactics. As insidious as these tactics are, though, the Obama campaign's most effective gambits have been far more egregious and dangerous than the hypocritical deployment of deceptive and disingenuous attack ads. To a large degree, the campaign's strategists turned the primary and caucus race to their advantage when they deliberately, falsely, and successfully portrayed Clinton and her campaign as unscrupulous race-baiters--a campaign-within-the-campaign in which the worked-up flap over the Somali costume photograph is but the latest episode. While promoting Obama as a "post-racial" figure, his campaign has purposefully polluted the contest with a new strain of what historically has been the most toxic poison in American politics.

More than any other maneuver, this one has brought Clinton into disrepute with important portions of the Democratic Party. A review of what actually happened shows that the charges that the Clintons played the "race card" were not simply false; they were deliberately manufactured by the Obama camp and trumpeted by a credulous and/or compliant press corps in order to strip away her once formidable majority among black voters and to outrage affluent, college-educated white liberals as well as college students. The Clinton campaign, in fact, has not racialized the campaign, and never had any reason to do so. Rather the Obama campaign and its supporters, well-prepared to play the "race-baiter card" before the primaries began, launched it with a vengeance when Obama ran into dire straits after his losses in New Hampshire and Nevada--and thereby created a campaign myth that has turned into an incontrovertible truth among political pundits, reporters, and various Obama supporters. This development is the latest sad commentary on the malign power of the press, hyping its own favorites and tearing down those it dislikes, to create pseudo-scandals of the sort that hounded Al Gore during the 2000 campaign. It is also a commentary on how race can make American politics go haywire. Above all, it is a commentary on the cutthroat, fraudulent politics that lie at the foundation of Obama's supposedly uplifting campaign.

25439. jexster - 2/27/2008 7:58:38 PM

garbage

25440. jexster - 2/27/2008 7:58:58 PM

Yo Mago...try baking cookies

25441. jexster - 2/27/2008 8:11:43 PM

Now playing on HTown TV

Obama's going to win the Great State going away. TX will send Sybil back to New York and out of our misery Mago

Voices

25442. jexster - 2/27/2008 8:14:59 PM

Welcome to Hell
McCain Obamanated at OSU

25443. jexster - 2/27/2008 8:22:58 PM

Lanny Davis: It's hard to criticize Obama without being accused of playing the race card.

--David Kurtz

Enough of Ms. Bill's whining...we have an election to win and she's just getting her fat ass in the way Mago

25444. jexster - 2/27/2008 8:30:53 PM

Cllr Be FREE!!!


On Mr. Obama’s behalf, American blacks have set aside their exclusive label. Polls show that about 80 percent of blacks who have voted in the Democratic primaries have chosen him. And all of the black people in the mountains of Morocco, the poor suburbs of Paris, the little villages in Kenya and the streets of London are cheering Mr. Obama’s victories because they see him as one of their own.

Black Americans should honor that. It’s time to retire the term African-American and go back to black.



I'm Black Again!

25445. Max Macks - 2/27/2008 8:53:51 PM

i too felt the was judith posted about wm buckley

25446. judithathome - 2/27/2008 9:01:15 PM

Newsday has criticized "Obama's use of the quotation" as "misleading ... an example of the kind of slim reeds campaigns use to try and win an office."

Talk about Slim Reeds! Sunday it was the Clinton campaign circulationg that picture and carping about how if it were HRC, it would be all over the MSM and on Monday morning, it ended up on Drudge while a spokeswoman from the Clinton campaign appeared on CNN spoutiing that it "doesn't bother me at all if Senator Obama appears in his native dress"....slim reeds, indeed.

25447. judithathome - 2/27/2008 9:06:23 PM

I think all this negative stuff about Obama is starting to come out because it's obvious that Hillary is about to get wiped off the floor and the Republicans know McCain can't beat a bright, young, hopeful candidate that is against the war. Or at least says he is...

They felt confident McCain could beat Hillary but now they are terrified that the Obamarama is on a seemingly unstoppable roll.

25448. robertjayb - 2/27/2008 9:14:36 PM

Thanks for the link, Magoseph.

25449. jexster - 2/27/2008 9:16:15 PM

Attn Motie Texicans and Buckeye

We need reports from the ground!


Four Trends in Tejas - All Favor Obama

25450. jexster - 2/27/2008 9:29:01 PM

Oui...merci Mago...(HillHopper)

25451. jexster - 2/27/2008 10:30:56 PM

Here ya go Mago!!


More "Obama is Bad" Photos Traced to Camp Clinton

25452. jexster - 2/27/2008 11:00:24 PM

Dems Swamp Republicans in Tejas Early Vote 3 to 1

These numbers have made me a believer. Rick Noriega could defeat John Cornyn. The Democrats can win a majority in the Texas House of Representatives. The consummate irony is that George W. Bush, who made Texas a Republican state on his way in to the presidency, may make it a Democratic state on his way out

Paul Burka
Tejas Monthly

25453. jexster - 2/27/2008 11:15:10 PM

HillBilly Alamo
Clinton Texas Groundgame Plunges into Chaos

25454. concerned - 2/28/2008 12:56:53 AM

Most of the world considers Hussein a Muslim. Do they know something US Leftists are afraid to acknowledge?

25455. concerned - 2/28/2008 12:58:41 AM

Re. 25447 -

The more negative it is, the more it gives you the hots.

25456. concerned - 2/28/2008 1:00:14 AM

When the time is right, convince Americans Hussein is lying about his Muslim past. He'll be one dead porker.

25457. concerned - 2/28/2008 1:23:19 AM

In 1999, Hussein was the only Illinois state Senator to vote against denying early release against sex offenders. He also voted against filtering pornography on school and library computers.

No wonder Jexster is backing this clown.

25458. concerned - 2/28/2008 1:24:01 AM

In 1999, Hussein was the only Illinois state Senator to vote against denying early release for sex offenders. He also voted against filtering pornography on school and library computers.

No wonder Jexster is backing this clown.

25459. concerned - 2/28/2008 1:26:23 AM

Jexster clearly wants more free porn in his local public library.

25460. Magoseph - 2/28/2008 1:58:15 AM

Thanks for the link, Magoseph.

Thank you, Robert.

25461. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 2/28/2008 3:08:14 AM

25462. alistairconnor - 2/28/2008 7:49:18 AM

Mago :

For the most part, I don't think the Clintons deliberately tried to play the race card. I simply think their underlying assumptions slipped out, and that was what energised, and enraged, the black electorate.

The underlying assumption is that which is explicit in Hillary's remark about MLK and LBJ : Obama can make visionary statements but, like King, can never be in a position to carry out the transformations, i.e. that it's great for a black to mobilise public opinion, but it takes a white to translate that into public policy. This is why the Clintons had the firm allegiance of the black political class : they have the ingrained experience of the limits of political action by blacks, and were happy to have the Clintons as their champions. They might have supported a specifically "black" candidate, in the Jesse Jackson mould, without hope of victory, because it raises their profile and gives them bargaining power; but they had no reason to support Obama, who was clearly not a "black" candidate.

To put it another way : the Clintons are absolutely not post-racial politicians. This is not to their discredit in itself : they are a product of their times, and have performed honourably within the old framework. The Obama candidacy is clearly, structurally, post-racial, which they apparently find bewildering.

When Bill made his remark about Jackson winning South Carolina, it was either an incredible and uncharacteristic blunder (it is impossible for the average American voter to construe the remark in a non-racial way), or a deliberate tactic, a desperate last roll of the dice, based on the fact that Hillary had already lost her black support, and that playing on this fact might induce "white flight" by racializing the Obama candidacy. In that case, the frame didn't hold.

Your article is totally silent on Hillary's clear and explicit reliance on the factoid that Hispanics don't support black candidates. The writer is right to leave this subject alone, as I'm sure you'll agree, it is completely indefensible.

25463. jexster - 2/28/2008 11:09:53 AM

Bonjour Mago comment va-tu?

Dream ticket?


Obama-Bloomberg

25464. jexster - 2/28/2008 11:11:33 AM

There's a movement afoot on one of the Mybo groups


WE ARE ALL HUSSEIN

Change your middle name

25465. jexster - 2/28/2008 11:13:30 AM

Yo Wizzer...was reading somewhere that Obama raised 3-4 times the $$ that McCain did in Christopher Shayes dist and that Dems are looking to put him out of your misery once and for all

25466. jexster - 2/28/2008 11:16:16 AM

I've got some news for John McCain

25467. jexster - 2/28/2008 11:25:01 AM

The Obama campaign is looking for volunteers willing to travel from SF to Texas to assist the field efforts and deliver the State to Barack. Here is the kicker; the campaign is willing to provide a $250 stipend to cover airfare to the first 10 people who can make the trip.

25468. jexster - 2/28/2008 11:28:49 AM

Regarde Mago!

Latino Hillary Supporter: Obama's Problem Is He's Black
By Eric Kleefeld - February 28, 2008, 8:54AM
Hillary Clinton is distancing herself from comments by Dallas supporter and Hispanic community leader Adelfa Callejo, who said yesterday that Barack Obama would have trouble gaining Latino support because he "simply has a problem that he happens to be black."

A local TV station asked Hillary a question reminiscent of Tim Russert's exchange with Barack Obama, asking if she rejects Callejo's support. "I want us judged on our merits," Clinton said. "I believe strongly that the fact that we have an African-American and a woman running for the Democratic nomination is historical and I'm very, very proud of that. I want people though to look beyond, look beyond race and gender, look at our records, look what we stand for, look what we've done."

The campaign later issued a statement: "After confirming that they were accurately portrayed, Senator Clinton, of course, denounces and rejects them."

25469. jexster - 2/28/2008 11:31:19 AM

AP: Obama is not the Muzzie Manchurian


Wait until Inauguration when the Washington Monument is bathed in green light and becomes the National Minaret

25470. jexster - 2/28/2008 11:35:38 AM

RNC chastises Tenn State Party for Barack HUSSEIN Obama press release.

25471. jexster - 2/28/2008 11:37:59 AM

Husseining - The GOP Libretto for 2008

Five wars
Five defeats


How could they not Hussein this time around?

25472. jexster - 2/28/2008 12:29:51 PM

Obama Girl

Many of Pelosi Allies in Camp Obama

25473. jexster - 2/28/2008 12:50:02 PM

Race-baiting - Road Map for the DoubleTalk Express

25474. judithathome - 2/28/2008 1:54:19 PM

Most of the world considers Hussein a Muslim. Do they know something US Leftists are afraid to acknowledge?

I'd really like a cite on that claim...unless, of course, I'm just supposed to believe you, personally, have interviewed MOST of the world and have taken their word for it.

I once lived in Germany for 4 years...does most of the world think I am German?

And in case you missed the finer point underneath that picture of Obama, it was "Somali tribal dress", not a Muslim costume. He was on a Congressional trip to the country and it is not unusual for visiting American politicos to do that sort of thing. Or has the photo op of Bush in Arab robes kissing his good Saudie buddy on the cheek and holding hands with him just slipped you mind?

25475. judithathome - 2/28/2008 1:58:51 PM

And Conn'd, I'd be taking up for MeCain or anyone else who was smeared this way...there was a picture of Hillary in a Muslim country wearing a headscarf...if there was a campaign to tie her to NOT supporting women's rights because of that photo, I would be just as PO'd about it.

You are always going on and on about how gullible Lefties are and how venal we are and how superior you and your ilk are...it's just not true.

YOU have fallen for something that isn't true. Period. Stop acting like the sane people are nutso...look in the mirror.

25476. jexster - 2/28/2008 2:59:07 PM

Barack Hussein Obama: US on Brink of Bush-McCain Recession

25477. jexster - 2/28/2008 3:15:01 PM

MoveOn.org is sponsoring 2000 "Call Tejas" parties this Sunday featuring Halley Berry, Ted Kennedy and Jim Hightower

25478. jexster - 2/28/2008 3:21:06 PM

Nader Picks Newsom Archenemy Matt Gonzalez for VP

25479. jexster - 2/28/2008 4:08:00 PM

All Aboard the DoubleTalk Express

Now boarding at PussyGate


GOP: Telecoms Not Grateful Enough

25480. jexster - 2/28/2008 4:24:25 PM

5 wars
5 defeats

Nothing Accomplished: Nobel Laureate Estimates Cost of BushMcCain Wars at $3 Trillion

25481. concerned - 2/28/2008 4:24:40 PM

I once lived in Germany for 4 years...does most of the world think I am German?

I dunno. Do you goose step in jackboots and slap people with a riding crop?

25482. jexster - 2/28/2008 4:56:20 PM

More Bad News for John McCain




Barack Obama:

With their words today, George Bush and John McCain called for staying the course with an endless war in Iraq and a failed policy of not talking to leaders we don’t like, but Americans of all political persuasions are calling for change. The American people aren’t looking for tough talk about fighting for 100 years in Iraq, because they know we need to end this war, finish the job in Afghanistan, and take the fight to al Qaeda. The American people aren’t looking for more of a do-nothing Cuba policy that has failed to secure the release of dissidents, failed to bring democracy to the island, and failed to advance freedom for fifty years, because they know we need to pursue new opportunities to achieve liberty for the Cuban people. If I am the Democratic nominee, I will offer the clearest contrast to John McCain’s call for four more years of George Bush’s policies, because I want to fundamentally change our foreign policy to secure the American people and restore our standing in the world.

25483. winstonsmith - 2/28/2008 5:02:12 PM

I notice that Richardson VP price (Intrade) has spiked up 12 points to 18.

Any news associated with this?

25484. alistairConnor - 2/28/2008 7:04:57 PM

Richardson : sounds like insider trading to me...

25485. jexster - 2/28/2008 7:21:30 PM

If he hadn't played the HillHo so blatantly, and so ineffectively, I'd have Wesley Clark on a short list.

25486. jexster - 2/28/2008 7:29:19 PM

Unbelievable.

If you thought the Tejas PrimaCaucus was a mess, this from my brother. My sister-in-law and nephew didn't get a caucus permission slip when they early voted:

They don't make it obvious about what needs to be done. As I recall from many years ago, since they stamped your voter's card showing you voted in the Democratic primary, all you had to do is take it and show it at the door. With the electronic machines they don't automatically do that so I asked and had to go to another table to get it stamped and get the slip.

25487. jexster - 2/28/2008 7:34:20 PM

Sound advice for you John McCain!



"The Turks need to move quickly, achieve their objective, and get out."
George W. Bush on the Turkish Invasion of Iraq

25488. jexster - 2/28/2008 7:46:09 PM

Leave Him Behind
'McCain Embraces Bigot'
Catholic League Slams McCain for Accepting Pastor Hagee's Endorsement

25489. robertjayb - 2/28/2008 8:00:08 PM

Is Obama good for the Jews?...(newsweek)

Hillary Clinton's surrogates are questioning Obama's commitment to U.S.-Israel relations.

By Michael Hirsh and Dan Ephron | NEWSWEEK
Mar 3, 2008 Issue

This has sure been a burning question on my mind.

By Jews of course, they mean Israelis. I see no reason to believe that Obama would not kow-tow the same as any other democrat.

I'm beginning to believe the Hillarites don't want my vote. They are beginning to piss me off. Not as much as the Obamites just yet.

Here I am trying to stay neutral between a Clintonite spouse and an Obamite son.

Thank whatever Gods there may be for the secret ballot.

25490. Magoseph - 2/28/2008 8:00:38 PM

Bonjour Mago comment va-tu?

Ça va bien, merci, et toi?

Dream ticket?

Obama-Bloomberg

Oui, pas mal.

25491. jexster - 2/28/2008 8:17:15 PM

Comme ci comme ca ma cherie....

Pauvre Robert vas faire foutre a la vache

25492. jexster - 2/28/2008 8:22:59 PM

CHICAGO -- Should Barack Obama end up winning his party's nomination, he will give his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on August 28 -- 45 years to the day Martin Luther King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.


Heckuva Job Hillary
Arriana Huffington

25493. Magoseph - 2/28/2008 8:30:03 PM

How Can Obama Or Clinton Win The Nomination? You Decide!


With the delegate-rich primary contests in Texas and Ohio rapidly approaching, it's time for you to figure out who will win the Democratic nomination and how he or she can do it. Use our delegate calculator to see what combination of wins will propel your candidate (or your candidate’s opponent) to victory.
The race is tight, as we have discussed, but mathematical and political possibilities still exist. Try your hand at selecting what percentages of the popular votes you think Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will take in each of the remaining primaries and caucuses.

Once you've filled in the popular vote breakdown, you can predict superdelegates. These people may end up deciding the winner of the Democratic nomination. Which way will they go? Whom will they endorse? Will they follow the lead of the voters or go their own way? Try out different possibilities, and see which candidate benefits. ...

25494. jexster - 2/28/2008 10:12:36 PM

Duh!
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) has always been one of my favorite buffoons in Congress. No one trick pony, he's been putting in long moron hours for years up on the Hill and on the chat shows. But it was a particular tour de force even for Jack when he showed up last night on MSNBC to bash Barack Obama for not wearing a flag lapel ... without remembering to wear one himself ...

25495. jexster - 2/28/2008 10:38:15 PM

Very interesting Mago!


Just for funzies, I inserted the Obama projections from a spreadsheet "accidentally" attached to a February 7th memo on the state of the race which the campaign prepared for a press briefing...

That was 11 primaries ago. At the time, I thought his projections looked, if anything, a bit conservative and thus far they have been

That said,from here on through PR, w/out superdelegates

Obama 1866
Clinton 1771


Today's count per Obama
Obama 1202
Clinton 1042


You can readily see why this will not go through Puerto Rico in June and probably not to PA before the SuperDelegates bolt in sufficient numbers to end this and put Obama over the top. Unless Hillary wins both TX and OH by substantial margins, there is no reason for her campaign to continue. She cannot win more pledged delegates than Obama, and even if she WINS both TX and OH as the Obama spreadsheet allows, she only falls further behind.

I expect that this will all be over within a week or two - when Obama takes MS and WY next weekend

25496. jexster - 2/28/2008 10:42:35 PM

NB - Forbes inaccurately refers to "pledged superdelegates" leaving only the balance of uncommitted for you to allocate. Since Hillary has been steadily losing previously committted superdelegates (HELLO JOHN LEWIS!)..the trickle soon to become a deluge

25497. jexster - 2/28/2008 11:02:44 PM

Burke's Peerage:
Queen Elizabeth II Descended from the Prophet Muhammad

25498. jexster - 2/28/2008 11:35:14 PM

His dad is for Hillary
He is for Obama

and I am in love - again




Rep Eddie Lucio III
Brownsville TX

25499. Magoseph - 2/29/2008 7:00:15 AM

Words Aren't Cheap

By Michael Gerson
Friday, February 29, 2008; A19

When Hillary Clinton sensed her presidential hopes beginning to slip away, she turned to an attack on Barack Obama's rhetoric. "There's a big difference between us," she argued, "speeches versus solutions, talk versus action. . . . Words are cheap." And further: "Speeches don't put food on the table" -- as though her own hectoring and position papers were an all-you-can-eat buffet.

John McCain will be tempted to make a similar attack, having already accused Obama of offering "only rhetoric." And it, too, would be a mistake.

Many political advisers in both parties employ "rhetoric" as a synonym for "folderol." Winging it in speeches is generally viewed as more authentic, and authenticity plays well with dial groups -- groups that also helpfully inform us that Americans don't like downbeat words such as "war" or "sacrifice" or "poverty," preferring instead cheerful terms such as "marshmallows" and "pixie dust."

This is nonsense. From the Greek beginnings of political rhetoric, the wise have described a relationship between the discipline of writing and the discipline of thought. The construction of serious speeches forces candidates (or presidents) to grapple with their own beliefs, even when they don't write every word themselves. If those convictions cannot be marshaled in the orderly battalions of formal rhetoric, they are probably incoherent.

The triumph of shoddy, thoughtless spontaneity is the death of rhetorical ambition. A memorable, well-crafted speech includes historical references that cultivate national memory and unity -- "Four score and seven years ago." It makes use of rhythm and repetition to build enthusiasm and commitment -- "I have a dream." And a great speech finds some way to rephrase the American creed, describing an absolute human equality not always evident to the human eye.

Civil rights leaders possessed few weapons but eloquence -- and their words hardly came cheap. Every president eventually needs the tools of rhetoric, to stiffen national resolve in difficult times or to honor the dead unfairly taken.

It is not a failure for Obama to understand and exercise this element of leadership; it is an advantage.

Some Obama critics go even further, accusing him of inducing a "creepy," "cultish" "euphoria." A candidate delivers a good stump speech, adds a dose of personal magnetism and suddenly he is a sorcerer, practicing the dark arts of demagoguery.

But Obamamania is pretty mild stuff compared with our rhetorical history. When William Jennings Bryan finished his "Cross of Gold" Speech at the 1896 Democratic convention, extending his hands outward in cruciform melodrama, witnesses described a 40-minute riot, with "hills and valleys of shrieking men and women" and old men "crying bitterly, great tears rolling from their eyes into their bearded cheeks." After Douglas MacArthur addressed a joint session of Congress in 1951, Rep. Dewey Short shouted: "We heard God speak here today, God in the flesh, the voice of God!"

Ah, those were the days of real rhetorical witchcraft.

It is not uncommon for American politicians to rise on the swell of their own words. A young Hubert Humphrey gained prominence at the 1948 Democratic convention with an uncompromising speech on civil rights, confronting those who thought America was "rushing" the issue: "I say to them we are 172 years late!" Ronald Reagan earned a national reputation making his televised case for Barry Goldwater in 1964, condemning Cold War appeasement with the argument that "the martyrs of history were not fools."

Obama is the latest in this distinguished series. Should he become the Democratic nominee, his own convention is likely to see hills and valleys of shrieking men and women. And why not? His speech will be ambitious, well delivered and historic -- the Democratic Party did not even admit African American delegates until 1936.

Obama's rhetorical skill will present a problem for McCain. The Arizona senator's close adviser Mark Salter is among the best writers in American politics. But McCain's delivery is often rigid and old-fashioned -- sprinkled with "my friends" in the manner of Richard Nixon or Gerald Ford. And his use of the teleprompter is more awkward and obvious than Obama's.

McCain can and should make an ideological case against his opponent. Why does Obama want to fight terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan but not in Iraq? How would it advance the war on terrorism to grant al-Qaeda's fondest wish -- an untimely American retreat from the Middle East? Would Obama really devote his first year in office to a series of surrender summits with the leaders of Cuba, Iran, Venezuela and North Korea?

These are serious criticisms; the argument against rhetoric is not. Obama's political weakness is that he is too liberal, not that he is too eloquent.

25500. jexster - 2/29/2008 12:34:44 PM

Obama Significantly Cutting into Clinton SuperDelegates

25501. wonkers2 - 2/29/2008 1:06:38 PM

Obama-Bloomberg would be a dream Dem ticket IMHO.

25502. jexster - 2/29/2008 1:15:25 PM

Michael Gerson: Barack Obama is the next great communicator.


E.J. Dionne Jr.: Which makes him a lot like (gasp!) -- Ronald Reagan.

25503. David Ehrenstein - 2/29/2008 1:18:14 PM

Whose dream? Not mine.

25504. alistairconnor - 2/29/2008 1:19:47 PM

Yes Mago, McCain should make an ideological case against his opponent. And vice versa.

How does it advance the war on terrorism to grant al-Qaeda's fondest wish -- an endless American war in the Middle East? How does it enhance America's influence and interests to refuse to talk to its adversaries like a sulky schoolkid?

25505. jexster - 2/29/2008 1:22:38 PM

Here they go again..

Texas Dem Party Warns Clintons Not to Follow Through on "Imminent" Threat File Suit to Block PrimaCaucus


H'Chron/Reuters/Zogby
Obama 48
Clinton 42

25506. iiibbb - 2/29/2008 1:36:42 PM

I am really liking Obama lately. He seems very keen-witted to me. He's able to deflect attacks firmly, but without being an ass about it. Clinton and McCain seem very canned to me.

I think Obama will make a good president.

25507. robertjayb - 2/29/2008 1:44:07 PM

Calm down, jexster. Don't let Hillary inside your loop.

The kernel of this non-story:

Spokesmen from both campaigns maintained there were no plans to sue before the March 4 election.

25508. jexster - 2/29/2008 1:47:13 PM

Just got git in just close enough with my 30/30 to put the old heifer down Robert


Fags in Flight

Gay Backers Flee Clinton Eroding Yet Another Bastion

25509. jexster - 2/29/2008 1:47:45 PM

Let you do the dry rub for the briskeet

25510. jexster - 2/29/2008 2:04:26 PM

Guffaw Guffaw
hardee har har
Campaign Reform Opponents Laughing at Hanoi John

25511. Magoseph - 2/29/2008 3:14:22 PM

Slate

Number You Probably Haven't Seen

It’s well-known that Barack Obama’s success has depended largely on independent and Republican voters. The corollary to that, however, has been less thoroughly reported: Obama is losing among Democrats.

Over at the Perfect World, Cal Lanier crunches the numbers and finds that Obama, despite being ahead among pledged delegates, has fewer total votes among people who identify themselves as Democrats. (He has 7,392,809 votes; Clinton has 8,229,063.) That gives Clinton as lead with 52 percent of Democrats. Lanier also breaks the numbers down by race and points out that Obama has won white Democrats in only two states: New Mexico and Illinois.

The numbers are hardly perfect. They rely on CNN and MSNBC exit polls, which are inherently rough. (Extrapolating those percentages to estimate exact numbers of voters is going to compound margins of error.) And because caucuses report delegates, not individual turnout, those stats are going to be a little murky, too. I'd also dispute their inclusion of Florida and Michigan in the count. But Clinton’s lead is still large enough to be significant.

It helps you understand why the party gives so much power to its 796 superdelegates. If they didn’t, independents and Republicans could essentially hijack their election. It also makes you wonder whether Clinton should start citing this number, if she maintains her lead through the convention in August. Even if Obama leads in the popular vote and among pledged delegates, it might disturb party gray beards to learn that the nominee has essentially been chosen by outsiders.

Published Thursday, February 28, 2008 6:34 PM by Christopher Beam

25512. Magoseph - 2/29/2008 3:15:07 PM

Ali, did you participate in the 200 Election thread?

25513. jexster - 2/29/2008 3:26:16 PM

Remember the Alamo Robert

POLL: ARG Texas and Ohio

American Research Group

Texas
Obama 51, Clinton 44...
Ohio
Clinton 50, Obama 45...

25514. Magoseph - 2/29/2008 3:31:07 PM

Ali, did you participate in the 200 Election thread?

I meant the 2000 Election thread.

25515. jexster - 2/29/2008 3:31:19 PM

Salon:Obama's got ground game

Walk into Barack Obama's Texas headquarters down the street from the state Capitol, and you're immediately reminded of the complicated rules of the weird primary/caucus hybrid coming up here next week. "Ask us about the Texas Two-Step," says a huge sign painted to look like the state flag, with a giant Obama smiling down from the blue stripe on the left. Running phone banks, volunteers remind early voters to save the receipt showing they've already cast a ballot if they want to caucus on March 4 after the polls in the primary close. (Texas Democratic Party rules allow for participation in both.) Obama's staff here calls preparation for the Texas election "the Olympics" of field organizing, but they seem more than ready for it.

The emphasis on organizing -- which has helped the campaign harness enthusiasm about Obama and propel a nationwide political movement -- has been one of the keys to Obama's success so far.

25516. jexster - 2/29/2008 3:35:00 PM

Arky Told You SO


Camp Obama
San Francisco
8.12.07

25517. David Ehrenstein - 2/29/2008 3:43:43 PM

Possible McCain running mate ?

Let's hope so.

25518. jexster - 2/29/2008 3:43:50 PM

In 2004, the Democrats used a 527 cobbled together from party and labor resources for its field organization.

This year it will have the 1000000 Obaman Army an asset of incaculable value which can be controlled directly by the campaign, an organization the likes of which has never been seen in US politics

25519. jexster - 2/29/2008 3:46:21 PM

Kiss FL goodbye ...I don't know much about him except that he got a glowing review(take it for what its worth) on CNN as "the peoples' governor"

25520. jexster - 2/29/2008 3:46:46 PM

I do like the double old fart look tho

25521. jexster - 2/29/2008 3:54:01 PM

One of Clinton's laws of politics is this: If one candidate's trying to scare you, and the other one's trying to get you to think; if one candidate's appealing to your fears, and the other one's appealing toyour hopes; you better vote for the person who wants you to think and
hope.
-Bill Clinton, 2004

25522. jexster - 2/29/2008 4:51:17 PM

Mark Penn

To: Interested Parties
From: The Clinton Campaign
Date: Friday, February 29, 2008
RE: Obama Must-Wins

The media has anointed Barack Obama the presumptive nominee and he's playing the part.

With an eleven state winning streak coming out of February, Senator Obama is riding a surge of momentum that has enabled him to pour unprecedented resources into Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The Obama campaign and its allies are outspending us two to one in paid media and have sent more staff into the March 4 states. In fact, when all is totaled, Senator Obama and his allies have outspent Senator Clinton by a margin of $18.4 million to $9.2 million on advertising in the four states that are voting next Tuesday.

Senator Obama has campaigned hard in these states. He has spent time meeting editorial boards, courting endorsers, holding rallies, and - of course - making speeches.

If he cannot win all of these states with all this effort, there's a problem.

Should Senator Obama fail to score decisive victories with all of the resources and effort he is bringing to bear, the message will be clear:

Democrats, the majority of whom have favored Hillary in the primary contests held to date, have their doubts about Senator Obama and are having second thoughts about him as a prospective standard-bearer.

25523. Magoseph - 2/29/2008 5:26:14 PM

I’ve been listening to the comments on CNBC. Up until now, I couldn’t see the probability of a Democratic landslide. I now believe it can’t be ruled out. It has been obvious that Bush has lost the lower–economic level; however, what I hear on the stock exchange is that he’s losing the most conservatives group of all--the members of the exchange and the investor class. They have had enough. This to me spells the possibility of a landslide whoever the democratic nominee might be.

Don’t work so hard, Jex.

25524. jexster - 2/29/2008 6:22:42 PM

The BushMcCain War + the BushMcCain recession + the keenest political talent in my lifetime

and a small army of Movement Volunteers


Time to get Hillary gone and get down to the real work of winning this sucker

25525. jexster - 2/29/2008 6:30:54 PM

There goes another Superdelegate

CHICAGO, IL – Today, Senator Jay Rockefeller, the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, endorsed Barack Obama for president, citing his judgment on the Iraq war and national security issues, and calling him the right candidate to lead our country during a time of instability at home and abroad.

Senator Rockefeller said, “Today, I’m proud to lend my support and strong endorsement to Barack Obama and his candidacy for President of the United States. Barack Obama is the most qualified person – Democrat or Republican – to lead our country in the face of enormous challenges – the very real threat of terrorism, economic uncertainty, and instability at home and abroad.

“As Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I am all too aware that the threats we face are unconventional. They are sophisticated. They are constantly changing and adapting. And they are very serious. What matters most in the Oval Office is sound judgment and decisive action. It’s about getting it right on crucial national security questions the first time – and every time.

“The indisputable fact is Barack Obama was right about Iraq when many of us were wrong. It was a tough call and the single greatest national security question, and mistake, of our time. Today, we remain a country at war, and countless mistakes over the last six and a half years have made us less safe. The stakes have never been higher, and that is why we must take a stand.

“I am not just supporting Barack Obama because of his strength on national security. I am equally proud of his commitment to rebuild America – so that we’re a country of equality and prosperity – where no segment of society is left behind. I know Barack Obama will fight and win the battle for health care, good paying jobs, and energy security.

“Barack Obama is a uniquely gifted, brilliant and strategic thinker, who genuinely understands the hopes and desires of the American people. There is nothing sheltered about his life; he’s always had to work hard, and he’s always fought to make his community and his country better.

“A leader like Barack Obama just doesn’t come along very often, and as voters who care passionately about the future of our country, we cannot afford to squander this opportunity.”

Senator Obama said, “Senator Rockefeller’s leadership in the Senate has strengthened our national security and advanced economic opportunity, and I am honored to have his support. Nobody understands the unconventional threats of the 21st century better than Jay Rockefeller, and I look forward to partnering with him as President to strengthen our intelligence community and protect our homeland. Together, we will work to reclaim the American Dream for working families at home, and to restore our security and standing abroad.”

25526. robertjayb - 2/29/2008 6:34:30 PM

“A leader like Barack Obama just doesn’t come along very often, and as voters who care passionately about the future of our country, we cannot afford to squander this opportunity.”

Woop. He plagerized Michelle.

25527. concerned - 2/29/2008 6:36:11 PM

A leader like Hitler doesn't come along very often either. Why should we trust this squirrel's judgment of Hussein?

25528. concerned - 2/29/2008 6:40:04 PM

Re. 25524 -

Another reason that jexster needs his medication adjusted.

There's no longer any 'war' and there's no 'recession'.

In jex-world, the Left, like little children, never have to take responsibility. The US sure doesn't need that shit in the Oval Office.

25529. jexster - 2/29/2008 6:42:53 PM

Robert...Tree'ed by Phil Gramm's chihuahua

25530. jexster - 2/29/2008 6:43:40 PM

No we should trust Bush/McCain's judgment....and yours

25531. jexster - 2/29/2008 6:44:47 PM

That's right! No war...no recession..and I Rx Arciept for early onset Alzheimers


LANDSLIDE

25532. jexster - 2/29/2008 6:46:05 PM

5 wars
5 defeats
1 recession


First they laugh at you
Then they fight you
Then you win
Gandhi

25533. jexster - 2/29/2008 6:48:32 PM

There's no longer any 'war' and there's no 'recession'.

In jex-world, the Left, like little children, never have to take responsibility.








click here to learn more

25534. jexster - 2/29/2008 6:50:49 PM

Stocks were sharply lower on Wall Street on Friday after a painful dose of weak economic data reignited fears that a recession may be imminent. A new round of woes in the financial industry also contributed to the sell-off.


And Saddam had WMD

25535. jexster - 2/29/2008 6:55:31 PM

Roberto ... Dile a mi muchacho Edddie Lucio que él es muy guapo y que lo amo

25536. winstonsmith - 2/29/2008 7:07:15 PM

Richardson for VP is up to 20 today on Intrade.

25537. concerned - 2/29/2008 7:07:40 PM

Right now, the police activity in a major US Democrat dominated city resembles a war more than what is going on in Iraq.

So much for jexster's iraq obsession.

25538. concerned - 2/29/2008 7:10:12 PM

Re. 25534 -

jexster proves that his is so mentally deficient that he doesn't understand the difference between 'may be at a future date' and 'already is'. He asserts the latter and cites the former as if it backs him up rather than exposing his ignorant lies.

25539. concerned - 2/29/2008 7:10:49 PM

Re. 25534 -

jexster proves that he is so mentally deficient that he doesn't understand the difference between 'may be at a future date' and 'already is'. He asserts the latter and cites the former as if it backs him up rather than exposing his ignorant lies.

25540. jexster - 2/29/2008 7:12:21 PM

Color me mentally deficient and give me my 500 Billion back



Run on that til the whole world is laughing at you

I could give a rat's shit

25541. jexster - 2/29/2008 7:14:04 PM

Meanwhile, back on planet Earth

Mrs. Clinton raised 35 million last month..not quite the 36 million that Obama raised in January but decent...


And the GOP's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

a pathetic 12 million


So how much will Hussein rake in this month?

Let's start a pool

25542. arkymalarky - 2/29/2008 7:19:28 PM

I noticed King Hussein had a guest blog in Huffingtonpost about peace between Israel and Palestine, and it occurred to me--I wonder what he thinks of the American idiots going on about his name? Being the man he is, I'm sure he doesn't judge us all by a few morons. Unlike the morons who judge people by their names. But it's embarrassing, nonetheless.

25543. jexster - 2/29/2008 7:21:49 PM

No War, No Recession
In the week that oil prices once again crested above $100 a barrel and more Americans than at any time since the Great Depression owed more on their homes than the homes were worth; in the year that the subprime market crashed, global markets shuddered, the previously unnoticed credit-default swap market threatened to go into the tank, stagflation returned, unemployment rose, the "R" word (for recession) hit the headlines (while the "D" word lurked), within weeks of the fifth anniversary of his invasion of Iraq, the President of the United States officially discovered the war economy.

George W. Bush and Laura Bush were being interviewed by NBC's Ann Curry when the subject turned to the war in Iraq. Curry reminded the President that his wife had once said, "No one suffers more than their president. I hope they know the burden of worry that's on his shoulders every single day for our troops." The conversation continued thusly:

"Bush: And as people are now beginning to see, Iraq is changing, democracy is beginning to tak[e] hold. And I'm convinced 50 years from now people look back and say thank God there was those who were willing to sacrifice.

"Curry: But you're saying you're going to have to carry that burden... Some Americans believe that they feel they're carrying the burden because of this economy.

"Bush: Yeah, well –

"Curry: They say – they say they're suffering because of this.

"Bush: I don't agree with that.

"Curry: You don't agree with that? Has nothing do with the economy, the war? The spending on the war?

"Bush: I don't think so. I think actually, the spending on the war might help with jobs.

"Curry: Oh, yeah?

"Bush: Yeah, because we're buying equipment, and people are working. I think this economy is down because we built too many houses."

25544. concerned - 2/29/2008 7:22:35 PM

arky -

I'm just using Hussein's given name. You are the one who is judging. I'd say the very fact that his supporters get upset about the use of Obama's proper name is a strike against him as a presidential candidate.

25545. jexster - 2/29/2008 7:25:24 PM

TD...we aren't ALL morons

Just you

25546. jexster - 2/29/2008 7:26:17 PM

5 wars
5 defeats

1 recession

I Barack Hussein Obama do solemnly swear..

25547. arkymalarky - 2/29/2008 7:26:54 PM

Mymymy, Con'd, you didn't think I was talking about YOU, did you? I meant Bill Cunningham and other morons who sound like him.

25548. jexster - 2/29/2008 7:28:19 PM

The more they try to pull that horseshit, the bigger the margin of victory will be


The GOP campaign will be reduced to an endless series of comic apologies from Hanoi John to Barack Hussein

25549. jexster - 2/29/2008 7:31:22 PM

With blithering idiots like that GA republican showing up on cable news to excoriate HUSSEIN for not wearing his Old Glory Lapel pin....


A regular Three Stooges Marathon..I can hardly wait for November

25550. jexster - 2/29/2008 7:33:47 PM

NO war
No recession


NO LAPEL PIN

25551. jexster - 2/29/2008 7:34:56 PM

We're gonna bury these losers

25552. jexster - 2/29/2008 7:40:09 PM

STOP THIEF!


Rocky plagiarizes JEX

“Barack Obama is a uniquely gifted, brilliant and strategic thinker, who genuinely understands the hopes and desires of the American people. ...A leader like Barack Obama just doesn’t come along very often, and as voters who care passionately about the future of our country, we cannot afford to squander this opportunity.

25553. arkymalarky - 2/29/2008 7:40:55 PM

That reminds me--one of the funniest things I heard, I think from Tucker Carlson, but I don't remember, was someone describing Hillary's rant over Obama's NAFTA mailing, saying that she took off her shoe and banged it on the podium.

25554. jexster - 2/29/2008 9:15:06 PM

One Ringy Dingy..Two Ringy Dingy

Is this the party with whom I am speaking?


Obama's response ad

25555. jexster - 2/29/2008 9:35:01 PM

ARG


Obama 51
Mrs. Bill 44

25556. jexster - 2/29/2008 10:44:29 PM

John McCain looks like someone you have to remind to close his robe

David Letterman

25557. jexster - 2/29/2008 10:51:32 PM

Denounce and Reject?

Not if you're as hard up as Hanoi John McCain!

McCain Backer Pastor Hagee Wants Russo-Arab War on Israel





McCain: "I Don't Agree With Hagee, But I'll Take His Endorsement"


Sold out Commerce Committee, sold his country to Uncle Ho, each for a little poontang.

Hanoi John goes cheap

25558. jexster - 2/29/2008 11:09:37 PM

The Great Whore

McCain's statement on Hagee, his new endorser, who calls the Catholic Church the "great whore" and "anti-christ" ...

"Yesterday, Pastor John Hagee endorsed my candidacy for president in San Antonio, Texas. However, in no way did I intend for his endorsement to suggest that I in turn agree with all of Pastor Hagee's views, which I obviously do not.
"I am hopeful that Catholics, Protestants and all people of faith who share my vision for the future of America will respond to our message of defending innocent life, traditional marriage, and compassion for the most vulnerable in our society."

25559. jexster - 2/29/2008 11:16:47 PM

Ole Horny John cops a feel

25560. jexster - 3/1/2008 12:02:40 AM

Ever since he was shot out of the sky on his first mission, Ole Hanoi John's never met a war he didn't like and even now is looking for more


BushMcCain Recession

5 BushMcCain Wars..5 defeats

1. Iraq
2. Afghanistan
3. Somalia
4. Lebanon
5. Global War on Terror


and that's not counting the real winner of the BushMcCain Iraq War - IraN

Finally we have a candidate who's able to call these war losers out for what they are


Time for Hillary to leave the playing field so that Obama can have a clear shot at Bush/McCain

25561. jexster - 3/1/2008 12:19:27 AM

Obamanated

GOP Aghast At Demo Fundraising

Obama raised $36 million in January. Clinton aides said she raised $35 million in February, and estimates for Obama place his haul for the month at more than $50 million. McCain, who raised about $12 million in January, is on a similar pace for February, according to his campaign.

Such a money advantage could mean that for the first time since post-Watergate campaign finance laws, a presidential candidate may forgo public financing for the general election. That would mean turning aside $85 million for September and October on the assumption that he or she could raise more.

McCain has been trying to hold Obama to an agreement to accept the general election public funds, but Democrats are counseling Obama against it. They believe Republicans will use outside groups that can raise unlimited amounts of money to close any financial advantage Democrats may have.

"If we take the federal money we are disarming ourselves unilaterally against the Republicans," said Steve Murphy, a Democratic strategist who advised Bill Richardson's presidential campaign.

Republican National Committee Treasurer Tim Morgan to sound off last weekend in San Francisco during a California Republican convention. Morgan said the RNC has budgeted $150 million for the year, $100 million less than it raised in 2004 when President Bush ran against Democrat John Kerry.

"I look at the Barack Obama campaign in some horror," he said, noting the Democrat's totals so far this year. ...


Hillary needs to pack it in so we can start spending productively

25562. jexster - 3/1/2008 12:32:55 AM

No thanks to Robert

Tejas ObamaRama

A Season of Change in Texas

Texas Democrats have gotten the Party started again, as the state continues its remarkable shift from red to blue.

25563. concerned - 3/1/2008 4:26:10 AM

WE ARE ALL HUSSEIN

Change your middle name

You first, McCutcheon. Go ahead and join Saddam.

25564. concerned - 3/1/2008 4:36:34 AM

Hussein:

Of Arabic Origin: Meaning 'handsome one'.

Not appropriate to Obama who has bat ears and fish lips. And Saddam looked like a troglodyte.

25565. concerned - 3/1/2008 4:45:54 AM

Now, I've done it. Some Lefty had better sic the PC Cops on me. Not only have I mentioned he who cannot be fully named, I commented negatively on the weak points of his appearance.

25566. alistairConnor - 3/1/2008 9:58:51 AM

Thomas Hussein Davis sounds pretty cool too.

25567. alistairConnor - 3/1/2008 10:01:27 AM

Up until now, I couldn’t see the probability of a Democratic landslide. I now believe it can’t be ruled out.

There is still one way to avoid it : Nominate Clinton.

25568. alistairConnor - 3/1/2008 10:03:36 AM

Mago :
Ali, did you participate in the 2000 Election thread?

Yes, and in the 1996 one too, I think. This is my favourite US presidential campaign by far.

25569. jexster - 3/1/2008 10:13:45 AM

Thomas Hussein Davis....

Allah has one sick sense of humor

25570. jexster - 3/1/2008 10:17:38 AM

THD's reminding me of my yute..specifically my mother whom I used to piss off NO END when I would make fun of other kids' names

I say more power to Thomas Hussein...facing political Armageddon with a childlike sense of humor after mine own heart

25571. jexster - 3/1/2008 10:22:21 AM

EXCLUSIVE–The Three Trillion Dollar War: Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard Economist Linda Bilmes on the True Cost of the US Invasion and Occupation of Iraq

25572. jexster - 3/1/2008 10:59:16 AM

HChron Poll, Harris County

Obama 50
Clinton 41

25573. arkymalarky - 3/1/2008 1:51:14 PM

Got fear, Robert?

I'm really curious about how the campaign ads are playing to TX Democrats. All my TX relatives are Republican.

25574. arkymalarky - 3/1/2008 1:51:33 PM

Where'd you get that, Jex?

25575. jexster - 3/1/2008 2:33:19 PM

From the H'Town Chronicle

Forgit Robert


He's down to the HTown Livestock Show and Ro-day-oh

25576. jexster - 3/1/2008 2:49:51 PM

Some enterprising YouTuber's are following GOP hairball Jack Kingston around to see if he's put on a lapel pin after embarrassing himself on the Abrams show the other night when he slammed Obama for not wearing one


Still no pin
Thomas Hussein Davis lend your fellow moron one of yours

25577. jexster - 3/1/2008 2:59:01 PM

Hail Conquering Hero!

Ahmadinejad on historic Iraq trip


President Bush's last trip to Iraq was kept secret until he arrived at a U.S. military base. Eight hours later he left, after Iraq's leaders traveled to meet him there.

In sharp contrast, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit — the first ever by an Iranian leader to Iraq — was announced in advance. He plans to spend the night here, and Iranian TV will broadcast his departure ceremony live.

Once considered Iraq's archenemy, Iran is now cozy with Baghdad's Shiite-led government and eager to show off Tehran's rising influence as debate rages in the U.S. over how quickly to leave.

25578. wonkers2 - 3/1/2008 6:57:00 PM

Behavioral Economics and Decision Making

25579. jexster - 3/1/2008 7:45:19 PM

I just ran into the next vice-president of the US. Yup, Matt Gonzalez is a neighbor and was walking with local political gossip columnist Phil Matier as I was headed to Walgreens

25580. jexster - 3/1/2008 10:29:07 PM

Catholics chastise McCain for touting evangelical support
John McCain touted backing from preacher who called the church "the great whore"

25581. concerned - 3/1/2008 10:30:00 PM

Jexster ought to write an article on his specialty: 'How To Use Your Innate Idiocy and Partisan Bigotry to Destroy Political Discourse'

25582. jexster - 3/1/2008 10:31:07 PM

Talk to John McCain

25583. jexster - 3/1/2008 10:31:33 PM

Denounce and reject

Simple

25584. jexster - 3/1/2008 10:32:37 PM

Obviously the GOP's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is pulling out all the stops to win over the Right Wing Lunatic vote

25585. concerned - 3/1/2008 10:44:09 PM

Say, jexster: can you call Hussein a 'nigger' a few more times?

25586. concerned - 3/1/2008 10:44:38 PM

For you, that's what passes for rationality.

25587. concerned - 3/1/2008 11:00:54 PM

You know, jexster, you remind me of my cat. When I fart, she meows. When Obama farts, you cheer.

25588. David Ehrenstein - 3/1/2008 11:02:40 PM

The Old Crowd

25589. concerned - 3/1/2008 11:10:03 PM

As Developer Heads to Trial, Questions Linger Over a Deal With Obama

Nearly three years later, fallout from Mr. Obama’s relationship with Mr. Rezko, who raised more than $150,000 for Mr. Obama’s campaigns, continue to dog Mr. Obama on the presidential campaign trail. That distraction promises to linger as Mr. Rezko goes on trial on corruption charges starting Monday.

But a review of court records, including new details of Mr. Rezko’s finances that emerged recently, show that the lot purchase occurred as he was being pursued by creditors seeking more than $10 million, deepening the mystery of why he would plunge into a real estate investment whose biggest beneficiary appears to have been Mr. Obama.

Hussein should provide some serious answers to these questions.

25590. concerned - 3/1/2008 11:20:29 PM

Not only did Obama accept gifts from Rezko knowing that he was being investigated for corruption, but at one point Rezko was taking government funds that were set aside for Black business development.

25591. concerned - 3/1/2008 11:22:54 PM

Obama and Rezko

25592. concerned - 3/2/2008 12:32:54 AM

Cleaver: Black superdelegates backing Clinton are being threatened

25593. jexster - 3/2/2008 11:54:48 AM

McCain Channels His Inner Hillary
You’ve got to love a guy who said a few years ago that he regretted likening Mr. Limbaugh to “a circus clown” because of all the complaints from circus clowns insulted by the comparison. “I would like to extend my apologies to Bozo, Chuckles and Krusty,” Senator McCain told a rather startled Neil Cavuto of Fox News.

What’s more, Ann Coulter and Tom DeLay aren’t entirely wrong when they bluster that a vote for Mr. McCain amounts to a vote for Hillary Clinton (or, for that matter, Barack Obama).

All of which should make Democrats more nervous than the clowns of the hard right....

The good news for the Democrats so far is that whatever Mr. McCain’s sporadic overlap with liberals, he is emulating almost identically the suicidal Clinton campaign against Mr. Obama. He has mimicked Mrs. Clinton’s message and rhetorical style, her tone-deaf contempt for Mr. Obama’s cultural appeal, and her complete misreading of just how politically radioactive the war in Iraq remains despite its migration from the front page.

Like his prototype, Mr. McCain trumpets his long years of experience to an electorate that currently associates experience with Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. He further channels Mrs. Clinton by belittling Mr. Obama’s oratory as an “eloquent but empty call for change” — a tact that calls attention to how flat and uninspiring his own speeches can be. (Again like Mrs. Clinton, Mr. McCain is at his best in small groups and town-hall meetings.)

He also likes to counter hope with gloom — as if he wants to put Armageddon, rather than a chicken, in every pot. But after seven years of doom, Americans are as hungry for optimism as they were for Reagan’s “Morning in America” after Carter’s malaise. As Rudy Giuliani learned the hard way, the political potency of 9/11 has gone the way of John Ashcroft and color-coded terror alerts.

Most luckily for Democrats, Mr. McCain is in even greater denial than Mrs. Clinton about Iraq.

25594. jexster - 3/2/2008 12:02:03 PM

American Prospect's Demo Veep Stakes

No 1. - The Manly Man of Viriginia

25595. jexster - 3/2/2008 12:04:53 PM

25585-91
Bring It On Bitch

That's exactly what Obama's counting on...As soon as Mrs. Bill is disposed of, he'll be inside the BushMcCain OODA Loop

In desperation to land some knockout punch, some McCain supporters, following the precedent of Clinton surrogates, are already invoking Mr. Obama’s race, middle name and tourist snapshot in Somali dress to smear his patriotism. The idea is to make him a Manchurian candidate, a closet anti-Semitic jihadist trained in a madrassa run by, say, Louis Farrakhan.

What repeatedly goes unrecognized by all of Mr. Obama’s opponents is that his political Kryptonite is the patriotism he offers in lieu of theirs. His upbeat notion of a yes-we-can national mobilization for the common good, however saccharine, speaks to the pride and idealism of Americans who are bone-weary of a patriotism defined exclusively by flag lapel pins, the fear of terrorism and the prospect of perpetual war.

A few more “macaca” moments for the nearly all-white G.O.P. could spell its doom. Recognizing the backlash that has followed the racially tinged smears leveled at Mr. Obama so far, Mr. McCain wasted no time in publicly scolding the right-wing radio talk-show host who railed against Barack Hussein Obama at one of his rallies last week. Or perhaps, as those of us who like Mr. McCain want to believe, he is simply a man of honor: he knows that history will judge him exactingly on how he runs against America’s first black or female presidential nominee, win or lose.

25596. jexster - 3/2/2008 12:07:48 PM

25597. jexster - 3/2/2008 12:12:26 PM

Young Latinos Heart Barack Hussein Obama


and I heart Eddie Lucio III

25598. jexster - 3/2/2008 12:23:34 PM

POLL: Mason-Dixon Ohio

Mason-Dixon/Plain Dealer
(story, results)

Ohio
Clinton 47, Obama 43

25599. jexster - 3/2/2008 12:52:08 PM

Barackobama.com set a goal of 1,000,000 phone calls from the website phone bank before 3/4

Yesterday they reached that goal

New goal - 1.5 million


The Million Obaman Army is a GOP nightmare waiting to happen...If we can just put the old heifer down on Tuesday

25600. jexster - 3/2/2008 1:13:40 PM

OH-Pres (D)
Mar 2 ZogbyClinton 47%, Obama 46%

25601. jexster - 3/2/2008 1:25:40 PM

No American Flag Lapel Pins Here

25602. jexster - 3/2/2008 1:30:11 PM

GOP Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Iraq war hits U.S. economy: Nobel winner

25603. jexster - 3/2/2008 1:36:15 PM

George Will gets it

On Stephanopoulos

The real question is what happens on Wednesday? What does Obama have ready to roll out to force Clinton out of the race

25604. jexster - 3/2/2008 2:49:22 PM

Bill Richardson just said today that the leader in pledged delegates after today should be the party nominee - which is effectively an endorsement of Obama, as there's no way Clinton catches up Tuesday - it's mathematically impossible.


look for Richardson, Edwards, Biden, maybe Gore and a few black Clinton superdelegates, plus a delegation from Nancy Pelosi's inner circle (George Miller et al) to make Mrs. Clinton an offer she can't refuse

25605. jexster - 3/2/2008 2:49:51 PM

"after Tuesday"

25606. jexster - 3/2/2008 2:54:12 PM

A Wake-Up Call for Hillary
By MAUREEN DOWD

25607. wonkers2 - 3/2/2008 3:13:15 PM

Alexander Cockburn on McCain, The Nation, March 17:

"Let's hope we have less whining from the Democrats and more retaliatory dirt. Obama's family? What about McCain's first wife, Carol, a plucky woman who kept the home fires burning all those years, raising the kids alone while John was in the Hanoi Hilton? She was very seriously injured in an auto accident, then dumped in 1980 by the war hero, shortly after he had started an affair with the 25-year-old Arizona beer heiress and then used her money to start his political career. McCain's defenders say he had separated from Carol by the time he took up with Cindy. A detailed story by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times in 2000 demolished this. A senior Republican lobbyist told me only the other day that there are people on the Hill who still won't forgive McCain for his treatment of Carol.

Obama's opponents, starting with Hillary's former campaign co-chair in New Hampshire, make an issue of his experiences with drugs when he was a teenager--described in his book. We can expect plenty more on that from Republicans. What about Cindy feeding her drug habit by stealing from the pharmacy of a charity she was running? We want this woman as First Lady? And why was she on pain killers? There are plenty of stories about McCain's ungovernable rages. How about some Swift-boating of the "war hero"? How much of a war hero is he? Just how steadfast was he as a prisoner of war? Did he really defy the "gooks," as he insists on calling his captors to this day?

Obama can take the rhetorical high road, but he should have some mean stokers in the boiler room."

[An opening for Jexter, perhaps?]

25608. jexster - 3/2/2008 3:19:57 PM

A JOB!! A PAYING JOB!!


I go for the jugular. Connect the dots.


1. McCain gets shot down on his first mission
2. The NVA's fish him out of the drink and leave him for dead
3. Then they discover that Hanoi John's father is an admiral (my navy granddad knew him in Panama)
4. McCain spends five years at the Hanoi Hilton but few see him
5. McCain released well fed, fighting weight


Paxson knew what he was doing when he sent Ms. Vicki to charm the old fart...Uncle Ho having set the roadmap 30 years before

25609. jexster - 3/2/2008 3:46:37 PM

Robert doesn't deserve this.

Four Brand New Obama Ads in TX

Pearls before an armadillo

25610. jexster - 3/2/2008 3:50:50 PM

You gotta hand it to BushCheney tho

They sold America out for big bucks to their Enron, Haliburton, Big Oil and other West Texas cronies


$102 bbl oil while McCain can be bought for a price not much higher than a DC street ho

25611. wonkers2 - 3/2/2008 3:54:50 PM

Naomi Klein's column in the March 17 "Nation" is entitled "Obama, Being Called a Muslim is Not a Smear."

".....Of course Obama must correct the record, but he doesn't have to stop there. What is disturbing about the campaign's response is that it leaves unchallenged the disgraceful and racist premeis behind the enitre 'Muslim smear.": that being Muslim is de facto a source of shame. Obama's supporters often say they are being 'Swiftboated,' casually accepting the idea that being accused of Muslimhood is tantamount to being accused of treason..."

"Substitute another faith or ethnicity, and you'd expect a very different response. Consider a report from the archives of this magazine. Thirteen years ago, Daniel Singer, "The Nation's" late much-missed Europe correspondent, went to Poland to cover a hotly contested presidential election. He reported that the race had descended into an ugly debate over whether one of the candidates, Aleksander Kwasniewski, was a closet Jew. The press claimed his mother had been buried in a Jewish cemetery (she was still alive), and a popular TV show aired a skit featuring the Christian candidate dressed as a Hasisic Jew. 'What perturbed me,' Singer wryly observed, 'was that kwasniewski's lawyers threatened to sue for slander rather than press for an indictment under the law condemning racist propaganda.'"

25612. wonkers2 - 3/2/2008 3:59:39 PM

Naomi Klein is one of the most thoughtful reporters and political commentators around these days. I'm currently reading her recent book entitled "The Shock Doctrine" which traces the origin of today's mess back to Milton Friedman's Chicago Boys and their followers at Cato, to Irving Kristol's and Norman Podhoretz's neocons, and so forth down to the Bush-Cheney fiasco. It's a fascinating, well researched book. Highly recommended.

25613. Max Macks - 3/2/2008 4:59:59 PM

didn't know hillarey was ahead in the polls
ib tx &oh

just polls not votes

25614. arkymalarky - 3/2/2008 5:01:42 PM

She's not ahead in TX, and her once double-digit lead in Ohio has shrunk significantly.

25615. jexster - 3/2/2008 6:23:48 PM

Obama Builds Juggernaut

25616. jexster - 3/2/2008 6:28:37 PM

Obama's going to take TX going away and either take OH or come within a couple of points


Either way, he'll walk away with more delegates


Wednesday will be infinitely more interesting than Tuesday

25617. jexster - 3/2/2008 6:29:06 PM

Hell..Obama's now only 9 points away in fucking RHODE ISLAND

25618. jexster - 3/2/2008 6:50:00 PM

There was a day, not that long ago, when clowns like Thomas Hussein Davis and other fruit loops of the radical right dared not show their faces in public political discourse for fear of humiliation


That day may well come again and sooner than many may think

25619. jexster - 3/2/2008 6:53:42 PM

Ohio

25620. jexster - 3/2/2008 6:55:02 PM

The Great State

25621. jexster - 3/2/2008 6:56:59 PM

Barackanalia Max

25622. jexster - 3/2/2008 7:22:29 PM

Mexico Drops Out Of 2008 Summer Olympics

President Felipe Calderon of Mexico has announced that Mexico will not participate in the Beijing Summer Olympics.

He stated: "Casi cada uno que puede funcionar, saltar, o la nadada ha salido ya del pams."

Translation: "Pretty much everyone who can run, jump, or swim has already left the country."

25623. jexster - 3/2/2008 7:29:10 PM

Closing in H'Town

Stand for Change Rally with Barack and Michelle Obama
George R. Brown Convention Center
Hall B3
1001 Avenida de las Americas
Houston, TX 77010

Monday, March 3, 2008
Doors Open: 8:00 p.m.

25624. David Ehrenstein - 3/2/2008 8:42:40 PM

Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!
Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change! Change!

25625. Max Macks - 3/2/2008 9:01:14 PM

hoping your poll figures are close to accurate jex

25626. winstonsmith - 3/2/2008 9:06:46 PM

Hell yes, David, that's the spirit!

Say it loud, say it proud.

BARAK HUSSEIN OBAMA!

25627. jexster - 3/2/2008 9:18:59 PM

I TOLD y'all I'd liberate the boy.


Mission Accomplished

Yes we can!

25628. jexster - 3/2/2008 9:20:21 PM

Those are not MY poll figures Max! God knows I don't want to have to defend John Zogby or any of em actually

It really depends on which people decide to vote on Tuesday

25629. jexster - 3/2/2008 9:28:19 PM

Kay Baily ThusnSuch Refuses to Repudiate Hagee - "Catholic Church, Great Whore"

25630. jexster - 3/2/2008 9:31:10 PM

I call on Thomas Hussein Davis, here and now, before God and man, to reject and denounce John McCain for soliciting the support and endorsement of Pastor Hagee

25631. David Ehrenstein - 3/2/2008 9:52:24 PM

If the Democrats were smart they'd whomp McCain upside the head with Hagee and DEMAND he repudiate him.

But they're not smart. Not at all.

25632. jexster - 3/2/2008 9:58:01 PM

Osama Backers Urge Billary to Bail If She Loses

25633. jexster - 3/2/2008 10:01:00 PM

How can he REPUDIATE him when he got up on stage and kissed his ass?

They oughta pulverize him, but I fear you are right.

Instinct for the capillaries and they certainly won't do anything while they are fighting each other


McCain called Falwell and Robertson "agents of intolerance" and later said he was joking

McCain sang Bomb Iran and later said he was joking

McCain said he wants to fight a 100 year war in Iraq and later said he was taken out of context


The Dems need to get over themselves and deal with Hanoi John

25634. jexster - 3/2/2008 10:09:52 PM

Dalai Lobama
His Holiness, who transcends partisanship though meditation from the Himalayas—Encyclopedia Barackattanica

25635. concerned - 3/2/2008 11:49:06 PM

Court case makes life difficult for Barack Hussein Obama

Looks like jexster's boy is pretty bent. What else would you expect from a Chicago machine politician?

25636. concerned - 3/2/2008 11:53:04 PM

"Change" = a lot less money for wage earners.

25637. concerned - 3/2/2008 11:56:19 PM

I'd be a little bit surprised if the American wage earner is ultimately stupid enough to put Hussein or Hilliary in the White House, since both are promising to make the United States significantly poorer.

25638. concerned - 3/3/2008 12:03:50 AM

I believe it is likely that Hussein is lying about his 'never having been' a Muslim.

25639. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:15:47 AM

Thomas Hussein Davis


Denounce and reject Pastor Hagee

25640. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:19:03 AM

The BushMcCain Recession

Lean Economy Turns Mean


Unless you are a Bush crony capitalist

Indeed, the increasingly anemic job market comes on the heels of six years of economic expansion that delivered robust corporate profits but scant job growth. The last recession, in 2001, was followed by a so-called jobless recovery. As the economy resumed growing, payrolls continued to shrink.

Even as job growth accelerated in 2005 and 2006 before slowing last year, it was not enough to return the country to its previous level. Some 62.8 percent of all Americans age 16 and older were employed at the end of last year, down from the peak of 64.6 percent in early 2000, according to the Labor Department.

“The economy never got its groove back after the tech bubble burst,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “We’re still feeling fallout from the collapse of the tech economy and the accounting scandals. There are still psychological scars for the managers affected. Managers are less interested in taking risks.”

25641. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:24:53 AM

Denounce and reject, unless of course it is now the official position of the Lunatic Right that the Catholic Church is the Great Whore

25642. concerned - 3/3/2008 12:28:45 AM

"Great Whore" "Lunatic Right"

Where do you get this stuff, jexster? From your own diseased mind?

25643. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:31:37 AM

The visit also was the first by any regional leader since the end of Saddam's rule and while President Bush and British prime ministers also have visited, Ahmadinejad was the first leader to receive the full trappings of a state visit.






click here to learn more

25644. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:35:16 AM

You are the Lunatic Right Thomas Hussein Davis.

And the question is, do you denounce and reject Pastor Hagee, whose endorsement John McCain actively sought and accepted last week?

Calling Pastor John Hagee a "bigot," the conservative Catholic League is calling for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to denounce/renounce/reject his endorsement Wednesday.

With a Youtube link to prove his point, Catholic League president Bill Donohue said Hagee "has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church. For example, he likes calling it ‘The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and a ‘false cult system.’ ...“Senator Obama has repudiated the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan, another bigot. McCain should follow suit and retract his embrace of Hagee.”

Today Donohue noted that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee expressed disappointment that he hadn't received Hagee's backing.

“If Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama were fighting over the support of Louis Farrakhan, we’d say they’re nuts," Donohue said. "So what are we to conclude about McCain’s embrace of Hagee, and Huckabee’s lament for not getting the bigot’s endorsement?"

What indeed? Jake Tapper, ABC

25645. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:37:00 AM

Lunatic Right Wing McCainBush Supporter Pastor Hagee Preaches Anti-Catholicism

25646. concerned - 3/3/2008 12:37:05 AM

Considering that jexster is supporting a candidate that wants to throw $90,000,000,000 a year of taxpayer money away per year for nothing at all, he doesn't have much basis to criticize the war in Iraq.

25647. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:41:20 AM

Thomas Hussein Davis of the Lunatic Right has no idea what he is talking about but no matter, at the current rate McCain/Bush burn through $90 billion in about 6 months

25648. concerned - 3/3/2008 12:41:33 AM

Re. 25645 -

So what?

Nutcase jexster preaches pro Islamism and he is a religious ignoramus.

25649. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:42:08 AM

I am supporting a candidate who opposed the Greatest Strategic Disaster in US History, not the one who enabled it

25650. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:42:54 AM

Do you denounce and reject McCain Supporter John Hagee and John McCain for solicitiing his endorsement?

25651. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:44:08 AM

Obama needs a 527 to run TV ads of McCain and Hagee in heavily Catholic areas...

25652. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:45:03 AM

Do you denounce and reject BushMcCainHagee or do you believe that the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon?

25653. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:46:45 AM

25654. concerned - 3/3/2008 12:47:03 AM

That's right. You're a Catholic Loony.

25655. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:47:07 AM

Note: No American Flag lapel pin

25656. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:47:50 AM

Do you denounce and reject BushMcCainHagee?

25657. concerned - 3/3/2008 12:48:33 AM

Obama talks about 'change' because that's about all you'll have left to spend after he gets through with boosting your taxes.

25658. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:50:24 AM

Do you denounce and reject the anti-Catholic bigot John McCain and Pastor John Hagee




2 lapel pins
NO FLAG

25659. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:51:48 AM

Do you denounce and reject George Bush and John McCain for aiding and abetting the Islamic Republic of Iran, in a continuing act of treason against the US?

25660. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:52:38 AM

Do you denounce and reject John McCain for his treasonous conduct while a guest of Ho Chi Minh North Vietnam?

25661. jexster - 3/3/2008 12:53:26 AM

Do you denounce and reject John McCain for his advocacy of global warming?

25662. jexster - 3/3/2008 1:08:25 AM

Do you denounce and reject John McCain for his support of George W. Bush's crony capitalist war on the American Middle Class?

25663. jexster - 3/3/2008 1:10:19 AM

Do you with John McCain denounce and reject the Right Wing Lunatic bigot and Radio Talk show host Bill Cunningham for his racist attack on Barack Obama??

25664. jexster - 3/3/2008 1:18:44 AM

25665. jexster - 3/3/2008 1:22:39 AM

Dallas Morning News Endorses Barack Hussein Obama

We won't win TX in Nov but we'll make McCain spend money to keep it

25666. concerned - 3/3/2008 3:00:30 AM

Re. 25663 -

After you denounce all the Muslim lunatics that you have been a mouthpiece for over the years, I'll give it some thought.

That's more than fair.

25667. concerned - 3/3/2008 3:02:44 AM

Since Jexster regularly parrots the lines of the bomb Israel crowd, he's basically got to denounce his own life for the last several years just to get warmed up for the rest of his denouncing of his fellow Lefty nutburgers.

25668. concerned - 3/3/2008 4:21:00 AM

Obama's women reveal his secret

There is nothing mysterious about Obama's methods. "A demagogue tries to sound as stupid as his audience so that they will think they are as clever as he is," wrote Karl Krauss. Americans are the world's biggest suckers, and laugh at this weakness in their popular culture. Listening to Obama speak, Sinclair Lewis' cynical tent-revivalist Elmer Gantry comes to mind, or, even better, Tyrone Power's portrayal of a carnival mentalist in the 1947 film noire Nightmare Alley. The latter is available for instant viewing at Netflix, and highly recommended as an antidote to having felt uplifted by an Obama speech.

America has the great misfortune to have encountered Obama at the peak of his powers at its worst moment of vulnerability in a generation. With malice aforethought, he has sought out their sore point.

Since the Ronald Reagan boom began in 1984, the year the American stock market doubled, Americans have enjoyed a quarter-century of rising wealth. Even the collapse of the Internet bubble in 2000 did not interrupt the upward trajectory of household assets, as the housing price boom eclipsed the effect of equity market weakness. America's success made it a magnet for the world's savings, and Americans came to believe that they were riding a boom that would last forever, as I wrote recently [1].

Americans regard upward mobility as a God-given right. America had a double founding, as David Hackett Fischer showed in his 1989 study, Albion's Seed . Two kinds of immigrants founded America: religious dissidents seeking a new Promised Land, and economic opportunists looking to get rich quick. Both elements still are present, but the course of the past quarter-century has made wealth-creation the sine qua non of American life. Now for the first time in a generation Americans have become poorer, and many of them have become much poorer due to the collapse of home prices. Unlike the Reagan years, when cutting the top tax rate from a punitive 70% to a more tolerable 40% was sufficient to start an economic boom, no lever of economic policy is available to fix the problem. Americans have no choice but to work harder, retire later, save more and retrench.

This reversal has provoked a national mood of existential crisis. In Europe, economic downturns do not inspire this kind of soul-searching, for richer are poorer, remain what they always have been. But Americans are what they make of themselves, and the slim makings of 2008 shake their sense of identity. Americans have no institutionalized culture to fall back on. Their national religion has consisted of waves of enthusiasm - "Great Awakenings" – every second generation or so, followed by an interim of apathy. In times of stress they have a baleful susceptibility to hucksters and conmen.

Be afraid - be very afraid. America is at a low point in its fortunes, and feeling sorry for itself. When Barack utters the word "hope", they instead hear, "handout". A cynic might translate the national motto, E pluribus unum, as "something for nothing". Now that the stock market and the housing market have failed to give Americans something for nothing, they want something for nothing from the government. The trouble is that he who gets something for nothing will earn every penny of it, twice over.

25669. alistairconnor - 3/3/2008 7:35:07 AM

I'm glad to see, Con, that you subscribe to the writer's view that Americans are impoverished and desperate. I'm surprised you didn't continue your extract, with the following paragraph which I suppose you agree with also :

The George W Bush administration has squandered a great strategic advantage in a sorry lampoon of nation-building in the Muslim world, and has made enemies out of countries that might have been friendly rivals, notably Russia. Americans question the premise of America's standing as a global superpower, and of the promise of upward mobility and wealth-creation.


The money quote is this :
Be afraid - be very afraid.

The writer is very afraid. I think he's right to be. His imperialist vision of the vitality of America thriving like a vampire on the lifeblood of the cultures that supply its immigrants, is repugnant. The writer is also full of hatred, and he projects this hatred onto Obama and his family. The thing the writer fears most, it seems, is the prospect of an African American First Lady. He notes, correctly, that blackness is not the issue : Colin Powell, like Obama, is the son of immigrants, and not therefore disqualified.

I think the writer doesn't go far enough. He should follow his logic completely, and call for the disenfranchisement of descendants of slaves, who are genetically full of hatred.

An interesting read, in any case.

25670. jexster - 3/3/2008 10:35:17 AM

Do you renounce and reject the War Criminal of the State of Jizzrael which pursues a "holocaust" in Gaza?

25671. jexster - 3/3/2008 10:38:29 AM

I am hardly surprised to see that our represntative of the Fruit Loopy Right joins John McCain in embracing Pastor Hagee and his virulent ant-Catholic agenda which along with racism has long been a hallmark of right radicalism in the US

25672. jexster - 3/3/2008 10:47:51 AM

Do you renounce and reject BushMcCain for our defeat at the hands of the Muzzies?

25673. jexster - 3/3/2008 11:11:26 AM

Do Thomas Hussein Davis and the Rest of the Lunatic Right Wing Denounce and Reject Anti-Catholic Bigotry?


Hagee endorsement of McCain has risks


Endorsed by an influential Texas televangelist, Republican John McCain endeared himself to one group of voters but risked alienating another with the pastor's anti-Catholic views.

The controversy has been mild so far, but still, every vote counts in a presidential election that is expected to be closely contested.

Evangelical or born-again Christian voters were key to George W. Bush's victories, but so were Roman Catholics, who chose Bush over their fellow Catholic John Kerry in 2004 and over Al Gore in 2000.

The televangelist, San Antonio megachurch leader John Hagee, has referred to the Roman Catholic Church as "the great whore" and called it a "false cult system" and "the apostate church"; the word "apostate" means someone who has forsaken his religion.

He also has linked Adolf Hitler to the Catholic church, suggesting it helped shape his anti-Semitism.

Catholic groups are pressuring McCain to reject the endorsement, which he announced at a news conference with Hagee last week. The Democratic National Committee also is publicizing Hagee's views.

"Indeed, for the past few decades, he has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church," said Catholic League President Bill Donohue.

25674. jexster - 3/3/2008 11:12:23 AM

Or do they join John McCain in waging "an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church"?


No need to wait for a translation...What is your answer!

25675. jexster - 3/3/2008 11:16:37 AM

Denounce and Reject BushMcCain Crimes Against America!

Look who got the flowers and candy

25676. jexster - 3/3/2008 11:36:30 AM

Oh no not Pres Kerry's pollster again....



Zogby:

Ohio:
Obama 47% (+1)
Clinton 45% (-2)

Texas:
Obama 47% (+0)
Clinton 44% (+1)

The new Quinnipiac poll of Ohio shows the Democratic primary closing fast here. Hillary Clinton led by 11 points a week ago, but now her edge is down to only 4 points. Here are the numbers, compared to last week:

Clinton 49% (-2)
Obama 45% (+5)

25677. jexster - 3/3/2008 1:25:08 PM

ppp oh

Clinton 51% (+1)
Obama 42% (-4)

25678. jexster - 3/3/2008 1:43:25 PM

Amen Homes!

Urgent and Clear
Gay Voters Need to Reject Clintonism
Andrew Sullivan

25679. jexster - 3/3/2008 2:46:13 PM

One wiley Republican

Crist Backs Demo Do Over in Florida

Regardless of what happens tomorrow, the Democrats are in for a fight into June. That Charlie Crist is one sharp Republican


AND Mrs. Clinton's taken a 6 pt lead in TX according to PPP 50-44

25680. jexster - 3/3/2008 2:48:22 PM

Ohio Survey USA

Clinton 54
Obama 44

25681. concerned - 3/3/2008 2:51:25 PM

Who's Pastor Hagee again? I don't follow jexster's goofy religious crap very closely.

25682. jexster - 3/3/2008 2:55:02 PM

POLL: U of Cincinnati Ohio
University of Cincinnati Ohio 2/28 - 3/2 Clinton 51, Obama 42...
POLL: Suffolk Ohio
Suffolk University Ohio 3/1 - 3/2 Clinton 52, Obama 40

25683. jexster - 3/3/2008 2:57:11 PM

Watch the video ..read the links

Pastor Hagee wrote the popular right wingnut series "Left Behind". He's a big time GOP evangelist from San Antonio. Last week, John McCain appeared with Pastor Hagee to accept an endorsement that he had been working for.

Hagee is a right wing anti-muslim, anti-gay, anti-catholic, pro-Israel bigot

25684. concerned - 3/3/2008 2:59:01 PM

Re. 25669 -

AC -

I don't, of course, claim that the author of this piece has the complete picture or agree with all his biases, such as that Americans in general (I'll except Obama supporters here) are the 'world's biggest suckers', or that Obama's supporters are merely hoping that Hussein will prove to be a conduit for more government handouts (which of course would force substantially higher taxes on wage earners which I'm on record as having objected to on several occasions). But I thought it was high time to get at least a slightly more disinterested viewpoint of what is motivating Obama and his camp into consideration.

25685. concerned - 3/3/2008 3:00:26 PM

Hagee, bigtime...how? I never heard of him until jexster started plastering his name all over the place.

25686. jexster - 3/3/2008 3:01:09 PM

I've the sinking feeling that this is going to come down to a GOP engineered Sudden Death primary in Florida in June

25687. Max Macks - 3/3/2008 3:02:22 PM

does not so good for Obama
in todays polls

25688. jexster - 3/3/2008 3:03:54 PM

Big time Republican....

An Amazon best seller - the Left Behind Series

Wikipedia:

John C. Hagee (b. April 12, 1940) is the founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, a non-denominational evangelical church with more than 19,000 active members[citation needed].

Hagee is the President and CEO of John Hagee Ministries which telecasts his national radio and television ministry carried in America on 160 TV stations, fifty radio stations and eight networks including The Inspiration Network (INSP) and Trinity Broadcasting Network.[citation needed] The ministries can be seen and heard weekly in 99 million homes. John Hagee Ministries is in Canada on the Miracle Channel and CTS and can be seen in Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and is in most third world nations.[citation needed]

He is also the president and CEO of Global Evangelism Television, which telecasts his radio and television ministry. Hagee has received numerous honors and accolades from national Jewish organizations for his unwavering support of Israel.[citation needed] In pursuit of his support of Israel, Hagee helped found Christians United for Israel on February 7, 2006 as a "Christian AIPAC" lobbying Congress to support Israel.[citation needed] He has also been controversial for what many see as bigoted comments and beliefs regarding Catholicism, Homosexuality, women and Islam. [1]

25689. jexster - 3/3/2008 3:05:35 PM

Bummer is Max that if you plug those numbers into the delegate calculator, Clinton nets a gain of 22 but Obama's lead would still be 130 or so....that sets up the Chuckie Crist Scenario


McCain ought to pick Crist for a running mate if he hasn't already

25690. jexster - 3/3/2008 3:08:21 PM

Hagee has written about the Roman Catholic Church in his book Jerusalem Countdown:

Adolf Hitler attended a Catholic school as a child and heard all the fiery anti-Semitic rantings from Chrysostom to Martin Luther. When Hitler became a global demonic monster, the Catholic Church and Pope Pius XII never, ever slightly criticized him. Pope Pius XII, called by historians 'Hitler's Pope,' joined Hitler in the infamous Concordat of Collaboration, which turned the youth of the [sic] Germany over to Nazism, and the churches became the stage background for the bloodthirsty cry, 'Pereat Judea'.... In all of his [Hitler's] years of absolute brutality, he was never denounced or even scolded by Pope Pius XII or any Catholic leader in the world. To those Christians who believe that Jewish hearts will be warmed by the sight of the cross, please be informed—to them it's an electric chair. (pp. 79-81)

The Roman Catholic Church, which was supposed to carry the light of the gospel, plunged the world into the Dark Ages.... The Crusaders were a motley mob of thieves, rapists, robbers, and murderers whose sins had been forgiven by the pope in advance of the Crusade.... The brutal truth is that the Crusades were military campaigns of the Roman Catholic Church to gain control of Jerusalem from the Muslims and to punish the Jews as the alleged Christ killers on the road to and from Jerusalem

25691. jexster - 3/3/2008 3:27:50 PM

David....

You have that Crist-the-FudgePackingChildMolester link again?

We may need it along with an arrest at MPLS airport

25692. jexster - 3/3/2008 3:32:02 PM

Hagee didn't write "Left Behind" (Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins)

Just a bunch of anti-catholic, anti-muslim, pro-jizzrael tomes


Not as up on my Right Wing Lunatics as I should be.

My bad

25693. jexster - 3/3/2008 3:39:53 PM

Survey USA TX
Obama 49% (+0)
Clinton 48% (+3)

25694. winstonsmith - 3/3/2008 3:41:38 PM

Fuck Clinton.

25695. thoughtful - 3/3/2008 3:47:29 PM

Today's WSJ has a cover story on mccain's economic plan. Turns out to be nothing but more of Bush, with all the worst features of bush policy: get rid of the AMT but no replacement for it...extend the bush tax cuts...no new taxes...privatize social security...make taxes flatter...trim spending on discretionary stuff.

In other words, deficits as far as the eye can see, as there is no way to trim discretionary spending enough to offset the bush tax cut extension let alone if the AMT is axed. And by definition, flatter taxes aren't fairer. And any time you read that soc sec is going bankrupt, you know it's bs...soc sec is easily fixable to be solvent for the next 75 years. What isn't is medicare/medicaid. This alone is an excellent test for the honesty and willingness of any pol to show leadership by tackling the tough issues. mccain, for all his straight-talk express, ain't it.

25696. robertjayb - 3/3/2008 4:04:29 PM

Just a little side-step, a little moon walk, a little slip slide...It's just politics---move along, nothing to see here.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) -- Barack Obama's senior economic policy adviser privately told Canadian officials to view the debate in Ohio over trade as "political positioning," according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press that was rejected by the adviser and held up Monday as evidence of doublespeak by rival Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The memo is the first documentation to emerge publicly out of the meeting between the adviser, Austan Goolsbee, and officials with the Canadian consulate in Chicago, but Goolsbee said it misinterprets what he told them. The memo was written by Joseph DeMora, who works for the consulate and attended the meeting.

"Noting anxiety among many U.S. domestic audiences about the U.S. economic outlook, Goolsbee candidly acknowledged the protectionist sentiment that has emerged, particularly in the Midwest, during the primary campaign," the memo said. "He cautioned that this messaging should not be taken out of context and should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans."

It's Hillary's fault...

25697. jexster - 3/3/2008 4:04:44 PM

Yea Ole PTSD is going to walk the plank with Little Georgie all the way it seems.


BushMcCain War
BushMcCain Recession


The Dems could hardly ask for more (save an early Clinton exit!)


George W is the gift that keeps on giving

25698. jexster - 3/3/2008 4:10:58 PM

Goolsbee? What's he running for?

Now Mark Penn's another story entirely...Camp Clinton: The infighting never ends

David Plouffe lowering the bar for a narrow loss tommorrow:

Clinton Chief Strategist Mark Penn: “After March 4th, over 3000 delegates will be committed, and we project that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will be virtually tied with 611 delegates still to be chosen in Pennsylvania and other remaining states. Again and again, this race has shown that it is voters and delegates who matter, not the pundits or perceived ‘momentum.’” [Mark Penn memo, 2/13/08]

Clinton aide Guy Cecil: "We think that at the end of the day on March 4 we will be within 25 delegates.” [Politico, 2/13/08]

Howard Wolfson: “I Think We Will Be Ahead In The Delegate Race After Texas And Ohio.” [Clinton campaign conference call, 2/11/08]

New York Times: “Clinton advisers have said Mrs. Clinton must win the Texas and Ohio primaries by at least 10 percentage points if she has any hope of catching up with Mr. Obama in the delegate count, particularly because he has shown momentum recently at picking up support from elected officials who count as superdelegates.” [NYT, 2/22/08]

-------------------------------------------

By their own clear definition of where they expected and believed they needed to be after Ohio and Texas, the Clinton campaign will fall terribly short on March 4th

The Clinton campaign has insisted that this is a race about delegates. And we agree. The tale of March 4th is not who wins what states but where the delegate battle stands after all the delegate yield for all four of these contests have been allocated.

25699. jexster - 3/3/2008 4:12:59 PM

Florida in July...perfect weather for the Crist Primary

25700. jexster - 3/3/2008 4:25:20 PM

Denounce And Reject BushMcCain Cowardice!


Ahmadinejad also took a dig at President Bush, who typically travels into Iraq unannounced and often visits military bases. The Iranian's trip was known well in advance, and he traveled through the streets of Baghdad — though under heavy guard.

"We have nothing to hide from the people of Iran and Iraq," he said. "All those who come on stealth visits, we should ask them why they visit this country in a stealth manner."

25701. robertjayb - 3/3/2008 4:50:15 PM

Deep in the heart of Texus...Survey USA: O---49.....C---48

SurveyUSA Breaking News - 1 minute ago

Do-Si-Do In Texas Democratic Primary: Clinton and Obama End-Up Even — 36 hours till votes are counted in the Texas Democratic Primary, contest is a Jump Ball, with Obama’s momentum now slowed, and possibly stalled, according to SurveyUSA’s final pre-Primary poll conducted for KTRK-TV Houston, KTVT-TV Dallas, and KRLD-AM radio Dallas. Two weeks ago, Clinton led by 5 points. Last week, Obama led by 4 points. Now, Obama leads by 6/10ths of 1 point, effectively tied, and completely consistent with either candidate winning tomorrow by a narrow margin. Clinton’s inroads in the final week come among voters age 35 to 49, where she is even today, after trailing by 18 points last week. In East Texas, which includes Houston, Clinton had trailed by 18, now trails by 5. This is offset in Central TX, which includes Austin, where Clinton led last week immediately after being endorsed by the University of Texas newspaper, but now trails by 19. Among voters who attend religious services regularly: tied. Among Pro-Life voters: tied. Among Pro-Choice voters: tied. Among voters focused on the Economy: tied. Obama remains far ahead among men. Clinton remains far ahead among women. Among Latino voters, Clinton finishes 2:1 ahead of Obama, better than she polled 1 week ago, but comparable to where she polled 2 weeks ago.

25702. robertjayb - 3/3/2008 4:53:23 PM

What's the old line, jexster?

"Haven't had so much fun since the hogs ate my little brother."

Sounds like a Lousiana expression to me...

25703. jexster - 3/3/2008 5:13:54 PM

Never heard that...sounds like something from Beaumont/Vidor

25704. jexster - 3/3/2008 5:15:41 PM

Tejas Do Your Duty!

Disregarding the Clinton campaign's "creative spin" regarding tomorrow night, Plouffe accused them of "moving the goal posts" and adding: "At some point you run out of field."

Plouffe's argument is simple. Momentum doesn't matter, math does. That math -- given the likelihood that results in Ohio and Texas will be close and that more than 60 delegates in the Lonestar State will be apportioned via caucus -- clearly favors Obama. Plouffe reiterated that Obama maintains a 162 pledged delegate lead and that after tomorrow just more than 600 delegates will be available in the remaining contests.

"With only 612 delegates left, what is the path to the nomination?" Plouffe asked. "They need to demonstrate how they are going to, state by state, reduce the delegate lead."



The Fix


They've run out of a playing field unless Charlie Crist makes it rugby size

25705. thoughtful - 3/3/2008 5:23:37 PM

This will be the first election in 32 years without a bush or a dole running.

Enough dynasty already.

25706. jexster - 3/3/2008 5:37:52 PM

The Liberal opposition in Parliament says that the memo is a Conservative fabrication to preserve NAFTA and the Canadian embassy says the meeting never happened


I smell a Clinton

25707. jexster - 3/3/2008 5:39:25 PM

I'd settle for the first in 16 years without a Bush or a Clinton T'fill

25708. robertjayb - 3/3/2008 6:30:45 PM

My press release trumps your press release...

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada on Monday denied it had tried to sway the U.S. presidential election by misrepresenting Democratic candidate Barack Obama with the suggestion that he didn't really believe his criticisms of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Would a Canadian lie? Eh?

25709. judithathome - 3/3/2008 6:52:40 PM

Canada on Monday denied it had tried to sway the U.S. presidential election

Not a Canadian but Canada!

25710. arkymalarky - 3/3/2008 7:07:34 PM

They said they have regularly communicated with the campaigns of all the major candidates. Or so I read it in Bill Smith's blog.

I don't think FL will pull Hillary's fat from the fire, Jex. Why are you suddenly worried Obama won't do well?

25711. arkymalarky - 3/3/2008 7:09:46 PM

Are both primaries open?

25712. winstonsmith - 3/3/2008 7:12:43 PM

Hey Arky, I too am worried. There is a bad moon rising.

25713. winstonsmith - 3/3/2008 7:16:36 PM

I see the bad moon arising.
I see trouble on the way.
I see earthquakes and lightnin.
I see bad times today.

-CCR

25714. arkymalarky - 3/3/2008 7:22:23 PM

I can't imagine the way Hillary has run her campaign how she would perform as president. I don't feel good about it.

25715. arkymalarky - 3/3/2008 7:25:32 PM

The thing about hope is you've got to keep it going. I was reading Kos and he said that on average Obama has done over 8 points better than the polls reflect. I don't see why he wouldn't be under-represented now. CA is too weird to count and NH was too early and too volatile after Iowa.

25716. arkymalarky - 3/3/2008 7:26:31 PM

I'd hate to think that fear-mongering works on tough Texans, being one myself.

25717. winstonsmith - 3/3/2008 7:29:25 PM

She seems to be getting some mo at just the right time. Add to that, the Crist Primary, Canada-gate, Clinton Pig-headedness, and what you get, is weeks, and maybe months, of destructive primary infighting. It might not happen, but it could.

25718. jexster - 3/3/2008 7:29:33 PM

Arky...that FL ploy worries the hell out of me. Even if Clinton loses both states (and she may win both), the delegate count won't move that much from what it is now. You can't make it move without 60% or better wins (which even NY failed to give her).

FL and MI would give her a shot at the superdelegates. She has all the money she needs...The more I think on Crist's kindly offer, the worser I feel

Damn shrewd move. That queen is one silver fox

25719. jexster - 3/3/2008 7:33:28 PM

It will take a massive move of superdelegates endorsing Obama to get Clinton to quit. Look for her to seize the FL offer

"How can Sen Obama refuse?"

He can't

25720. arkymalarky - 3/3/2008 7:34:45 PM

But I don't think she'd win MI, which would rush to follow suit with FL rather than be the only state left out of the delegate count. And if Obama does well tomorrow, more superdelegates will probably break for him. I never felt like the holdouts liked Clinton or they'd have committed earlier.

25721. jexster - 3/3/2008 7:44:48 PM

Canadians smell a Clowntoon


The Financial Times got it about right. Democrats have only themselves to blame for the mess that the Clintons theaten to make of their 2008 campaign

25722. arkymalarky - 3/3/2008 7:46:48 PM

I can't stand that Kiki person.

25723. jexster - 3/3/2008 7:47:21 PM

Anyone but a Clinton would be long gone by now. Of course, she only made it this far in the first place because she is a Clinton

FT:

But the Democratic party itself must bear much of the blame. Its adulation of the Clintons went to her head. It bred complacency and a sense of entitlement. The campaign expected an easy win and had no real plan of action beyond Super Tuesday. Since the first Obama surge, Mrs Clinton and her advisers have seemed in shock, vacillating between insisting that everything is still on track and desperately reaching for another personality for the candidate to try on.

25724. jexster - 3/3/2008 7:49:27 PM

UR right, MI would caucus and Obama would win. FL would vote and neither candidate would end up with more than a handful of net votes gained.

But wins in TX and OH give her the argument to the superdelegates - "Math schmath...I got the momentum and FL/MI need a voice...Let's have a do-over"

What happens then Arky?

25725. jexster - 3/3/2008 7:51:26 PM

and so what happens to the party? Clinton and Obama continue to burn millions in internecine war into June or July while McCain skates.

What happens to the party of course has never been much of a concern to the Clintons. Taking control of the party has always been their aim

25726. winstonsmith - 3/3/2008 7:57:01 PM

If Obama does well at all tomorrow, The Dems need to at least boost Obama's superdelagates up to where they are even with Clinton. This would make it more obvious that Obama is ahead (overall) while not making the supers the deciding factor (since they would both have the same number)

25727. arkymalarky - 3/3/2008 7:58:20 PM

What happens is Obama still has more pledged delegates and picks up superdelegates who have been waiting and know they're going with the candidate who has a majority of pledged delegates, so their asses are covered. Who cares about the millions? They can spare it. Killing the beast is expensive. McCain is a weak candidate with no money. You're right about the Clintons, but the superdelegates know that as well, and this is their chance to get back to 50-state viability, thanks to Dean, and wrench control away from the Clinton/McAuliffe wing (Kos had a great blog about that, also). Quit scaring yourself.

25728. jexster - 3/3/2008 7:58:49 PM

While Clinton hangs on and gins up Canadian fairy tales, this sort of shit goes entirely unnoticed in Campaign 08:

The CheneyBushMcCain Treason:
Ahmadinejad's Iraq visit bolsters Iran's influence


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Baghdad Sunday on a landmark visit described by both friend and foe as a crowning moment for Tehran's growing power here and its deepening influence across the Middle East.

25729. jexster - 3/3/2008 8:00:02 PM

Hagee - another example
Hell they can't even level a decent volley on the BushMcCain recession. Any wonder Crist wants this to go on through to July?

25730. winstonsmith - 3/3/2008 8:00:16 PM

Make that superdelegates

25731. jexster - 3/3/2008 8:02:08 PM

who cares about millions

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for one. The poor volunteer was crest fallen to learn that their ten bucks had gone to the Obama campaign



Every dollar spent killing Clinton is a dollar lost to killing McCain

25732. arkymalarky - 3/3/2008 8:06:16 PM

I don't think it will be very hard to dispense with him. If it is, we're smoked anyway. I think saving the Democratic Party from the oligarchy that's been strangling it is important for the long term. If Hillary gets the nomination I will very reluctantly vote for her, but the opportunity to reclaim the party back to the people will be lost for years to come, imo.

25733. jexster - 3/3/2008 8:10:02 PM

When I see opportunities like this go up in smoke

Someone Appreciates BushMcCain War

I thank Allah for blessing us with the good fortune to visit Iraq and to meet our dear brothers in oppressed Iraq. Visiting Iraq without the dictator is a truly joyous occasion.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Baghdad Aiport
3.2.08

25734. jexster - 3/3/2008 8:35:54 PM

(via KOS)

Hillary Clinton's daunting delegate task, after Marc Ambinder gives Clinton some really favorable delegate victories in the remaining contests (including an 80-20 Puerto Rico trashing):


So -- under these most rosy of scenarios -- since March 4, she'll have earned 520 delegates to Barack Obama's 461, having reduced his earned delegate total by about 80 -- or -- by about 60 percent -- but he'll still have a lead of approximately 100 delegates in total... and be that much closer to 2025.

25735. jexster - 3/3/2008 8:54:38 PM

US in Recession - Warren Buffet

Denounce and Reject BushMcCain war on the middle class

25736. winstonsmith - 3/3/2008 11:54:17 PM

I read on a blog that 60% of the votes have already been cast by early voters in Texas and many were cast while Obama was ahead by a greater amount. Does anyone know if this is true?

25737. winstonsmith - 3/4/2008 12:00:43 AM

Here is that post:

"Something important to keep in mind about Texas: AP is reporting that roughly 60% of the state's voters cast their ballots early. The deadline for submission of those ballots was Friday, February 29. If the current polls are accurate, and Clinton's reclaimed lost Texan ground in the last few days, she's done so after more than half of the voters have already spoken. 60% cast their votes during Obama's ascendant phase, when polls had him leading in Texas. If Obama wins a solid majority of those votes, it may not matter if Clinton ekes out a majority of the 40% voting tomorrow.

Posted by dasclemhaus
March 3, 2008 7:18 PM"

25738. winstonsmith - 3/4/2008 1:02:41 AM

Here is the AP story:

"By KELLEY SHANNON, Associated Press Writer
Mon Mar 3, 6:20 PM ET



AUSTIN - The election in Texas is more than half over before primary day.

An estimated 60 percent, or 2 million of the 3.3 million total voters, cast their ballots early, Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson said Monday. The estimate is based on the slightly more than 1.2 million who voted in the 15 most populous counties during a 10-day period that ended Feb. 29.

"Texas is well on its way to a new record for turnout in a primary election," Wilson said.

Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama urged supporters to stop in at shopping centers, libraries or county courthouses to cast their ballots early and beat the anticipated primary day rush on Tuesday. Republican presidential contenders John McCain and Mike Huckabee also campaigned in Texas, though voter interest centered on the closer Democratic race.

The Secretary of State's Office tally for the 15 most populous counties showed that 890,188, or 11.39 percent of registered voters in those counties, voted early in the Democratic primary — more than the Texas Democratic Party has seen in the past two presidential primaries statewide for early and Election Day voting.

Harris, Dallas and Bexar counties had the largest numbers of early Democratic voters, with 403,197 ballots cast in person and by mail in those three counties covering Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.

The biggest percentage turnout among Democrats was Hidalgo County, in the predominantly Hispanic Rio Grande Valley, where 18 percent of registered voters cast ballots.

On the Republican side, 303,338, or 3.88 percent, of registered voters in the 15 biggest counties cast early ballots. The largest number was in Harris County, with 64,631 early GOP voters; the largest percentage of registered voters was 7.66 percent in Montgomery County north of Houston.

There are 12.75 million registered voters in the state.

Texans can opt to cast ballots in the Democratic or Republican primary and attend a caucus held by that party after the polls close Tuesday night.

Texas Democrats award their pledged presidential delegates based on a combination of primary voting and caucusing. Republicans award their pledged delegates solely on the outcome of the party's primary vote."

25739. concerned - 3/4/2008 2:49:31 AM

I just sent the following email to John Conyers:

Dear Mr. Conyers:

My ancestors fought to free your ancestors during the Civil War, and none of my ancestors, unlike yours, ever 'owned' another person. Slavery still exists in black Africa today. Why aren't you combatting that, you damned hypocrite? Contrast that to your own party of slavery which has more recently destroyed the black family. And this is all you support, along with divisiveness and backward looking racial hatred. You only want to dwell in the past and breed racial hatred. The only people who should pay reparations to blacks are Democrats, and blacks should pay reparations to people like me who freed blacks. And don't you ever forget that.

25740. concerned - 3/4/2008 2:51:48 AM

jexster admits he is in bed with the bomb Israel crowd.

25741. concerned - 3/4/2008 2:52:22 AM

That's on a par with being a Nazi in the 1930's.

25742. concerned - 3/4/2008 2:54:42 AM

That's about as direct a parallel as one can find.

25743. jexster - 3/4/2008 12:34:31 PM

Just like a WarParty Wingnut. If the facts don't fit, make em up

25744. jexster - 3/4/2008 12:38:21 PM

(Via Cole)

Some 92 percent of Democrats and 77 percent of independents are opposed to the Iraq War,which cannot be good news for John McCain, who has tied his campaign to staying in Iraq. Peter Slevin of WaPo argues that the public is now understanding the Iraq War in terms of other issues, especially the economy. Money graf:

'Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). . . has heard about the war's budgetary impact while listening to constituents at 85 roundtables since early 2007. He said he hears from business owners and government officials that federal support for such things as police and utility improvements is drying up. "They are starting to understand this economically," said Brown, who defeated Republican incumbent Mike DeWine in 2006 with a message that touched on the war, the economy and corruption. "They are seeing that, because of tax cuts and because of the immense cost of the war, they aren't getting what they need locally." '

25745. jexster - 3/4/2008 12:39:12 PM

5 Wars
5 Defeats

1 Recession

25746. robertjayb - 3/4/2008 12:42:32 PM

The most recent Zogby poll for Texas:

Clinton leads 46.6 percent to Obama's 43.5 percent, but that is within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

On the Republican side, U.S. Sen. John McCain leads with 57 percent, followed by Mike Huckabee at 28.8 percent; and Ron Paul at 6.1 percent.

25747. robertjayb - 3/4/2008 12:49:51 PM

R.G> Ratcliffe is The Houston Chronicle's top political writer. He is blogging from Austin:

...late last night, I applied my knowledge of the Democratic Party rules to the delegate selection process, and here's what I came up with -- almost no matter who wins.

My best guess is Clinton will receive 64 delegates from the popular vote and Obama will receive 62. The caveat: If Obama actually receives 80 percent of the vote in the senatorial districts of Rodney Ellis of Houston and Royce West of Dallas, then Obama will have 64 delegates and Clinton 62.

Trying to predict the delegate split from the caucuses would require the kind of organizational data that only the campaigns have at this point. There are 67 delegates at stake. Based on what I know, I'm guessing they'll go 37 for Obama and 30 for Clinton.

Go vote and prove me wrong on everything.

25748. jexster - 3/4/2008 1:02:23 PM

25749. jexster - 3/4/2008 1:38:47 PM

So, the Canadian conservative prime minister is calling Barack Obama two-faced on NAFTA at the exact same moment that John McCain is indicating that Canada might pull out its troops on Afghanistan if we make too much a stink about NAFTA? That strikes me as more than a little suspicious. In fact, it strikes me as a directly coordinated attack by McCain and Harper to neutralize McCain on trade during the general election. It wouldn't be the first time Harper and Republican leaders have coordinated, given that Harper uses Republican pollsters and the conservative movements in both countries are deeply intertwined.


How Convenient




Dems need to end this thing as soon as possible Arky. But then it's not like the Dems aren't accustomed to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory now is it?

25750. alistairconnor - 3/4/2008 1:41:30 PM

Robt : I actually read the Tx Dem caucus rules that you posted a few weeks ago.

My impression is of something the French Greens could have dreamed up. The ostensible intention being to foster democracy and encourage participation, but the effect being to encourage clannish lobbying and in-fighting, and the net result being to absorb the activists' energy in futile internal pursuits, thusly neutralising the party as an effective political force.

Am I close?

25751. jexster - 3/4/2008 1:56:09 PM

I actually read the Tx Dem caucus rules that you posted a few weeks ago.




Jeezusaleezus

25752. jexster - 3/4/2008 2:00:15 PM

I think it's more to serve as a check on popular waves at the polls. Remember Tejas is a "day of the vote" open primary. Republicans could vote in the dem party in order to screw things up. This "reform" came in 1988, the same year that the National Party finalized the rules on SuperDelegates, ostensibly for the same reason

The effect is another thing entirely....in fact, it has never really been tested until now

25753. winstonsmith - 3/4/2008 2:02:15 PM

I remember listening to El Rushbo like 5 or 6 years ago and him saying that Clinton would be the nominee in 2008.

I thought he was just spouting more inane conservative bluster. I mean really, the woman has more baggage than an Amtrak train. On top of that, she is disliked by close to 50% of the populace. What a joke, that would never happen. Surely out of all the available political talent the Dems would come up with something better (and more saleable) than a rerun of the Clintons. What the hell was Rush thinking?

25754. jexster - 3/4/2008 2:02:17 PM

My brother and his family, Obamans all, steadfastly refuse to go to the pct convention only 4 miles away from where they live

"It's dinner time and some people have to work, have better things to do than to sit around for an hour or two, plus there's no guarantee that they'll begin on time"

I wanted them to grab the guns and take the damned place over...French Revolutionary style

25755. jexster - 3/4/2008 2:19:09 PM

Do the Math

Clinton Needs to Net a 15% Win To Dent Delegate Lead

25756. jexster - 3/4/2008 2:35:53 PM

Big Winner McCain?

Arky ... frittering away present political advantages is always a mistake

25757. jexster - 3/4/2008 2:55:45 PM

The Definer

A Defining Moment
At the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner Barack Obama Defined Campaign 2008
David Brooks

25758. jexster - 3/4/2008 3:01:34 PM

Against the War from Day 1
The Foreign Policy Candidate
Foreign Policy could have left Obama vulnerable, but instead it became his most important campaign issue

25759. jexster - 3/4/2008 3:12:48 PM

Ready from Day 1???

Infighting continues to wrack Camp Clinton



McAuliffe: Penn Should Stop Talking to Press

25760. judithathome - 3/4/2008 3:13:45 PM

The ostensible intention being to foster democracy and encourage participation, but the effect being to encourage clannish lobbying and in-fighting, and the net result being to absorb the activists' energy in futile internal pursuits, thusly neutralising the party as an effective political force.

You're not only close, you get the damned cigar...this is exactly what it's for.

Our stupid Democratic county chairman has admitted to fearing he didn't order enough ballots for the primary. I have said all along that I think he's working for the Republicans. And he has allowed the sites for the voting to be skewed to foster non-participation, at least on my side of town: early voting was at a local elementary school which borders the main drag of an area where drugs are openly hawked during the day and gunshots frequently ring out. And today's polling place is at a fire station located in a affluent neighborhood...it's in an awkward place with parking for about 5 cars at a time...at the bottom of a steep, steep hill and impossible for older people to walk to if they have to park on the street leading to it.

No way can a large group of people "caucus" at this location. And I fear it is going to be packed most of the day because so many people would have refused to early vote in that neighborhood where the school is located...most people won't even drive through that area much less stop there. So I can foresee cars of rich old biddies waiting in line on that hill to be able to park long enough to hobble in and vote...no way are they coming back tonight after the polls close.

25761. jexster - 3/4/2008 3:37:33 PM

Are you going????

25762. jexster - 3/4/2008 3:38:11 PM

I think Robert's working for the Republicans

25763. robertjayb - 3/4/2008 3:55:49 PM

Spouse and I voted and did a windshield survey of three other polling places. There was steady light-to-moderate traffic with no outside lines. Weather is perfect. Mid-fifties moving into the low sixties this afternoon.

Outside agitators (jexster and Bill Clinton among them) promoting the "vote twice" nonsense are causing are causing problems for administrators by prompting time-wasting questions.

25764. jexster - 3/4/2008 4:02:12 PM

Light vote in Vidor - good news for Obama

25765. jexster - 3/4/2008 4:07:09 PM

Double Talk Express

Lobbyist to Run McCain's Hill Effort

25766. jexster - 3/4/2008 4:32:16 PM

Harder to kill than Rasputin

Hillary’s Math Problem
Forget tonight. She could win 16 straight and still lose.

By Jonathan Alter

25767. jexster - 3/4/2008 4:34:25 PM

Handwriting on the Wall


State Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern said Mrs. Clinton needs an 8-point victory margin in Ohio and Texas to remain in the race against Mr. Obama, who now has a lead of about 100 delegates (160 pledged) and victories in the last 11 contests.
"She must, in my opinion, make that kind of show. It's not an either-or," Mr. Redfern said. "If we don't have a nominee sooner rather than later, it makes it increasingly difficult to defeat John McCain."

25768. jexster - 3/4/2008 5:15:26 PM

25769. thoughtful - 3/4/2008 5:22:37 PM

Any chance hillary would settle for being obama's vp?

25770. jexster - 3/4/2008 5:30:41 PM

No doubt Noonan's right - Mrs. Bill is harder to kill than Rasputin but it's time for democrats to put the old cow down

Brokaw: Obama Has 50 SuperDelegates Waiting to Endorse

25771. winstonsmith - 3/4/2008 6:16:06 PM

Saw this post on a TPM blog:

"Obama Campaign: Dials phone.
Super-Delegate: "Hello?"
Obama Campaign: "Hi SD, this is the Obama campaign calling to see if you would endorse Barack?"
Super-Delegate: "Well, I'd like to hold off committing. But, I am worried about our chances in the general election if this thing goes negative."
Obama Campaign: "Well, we promise to keep focused on the issues that your constituents care about."
Super-Delegate: "I'll tell you what, if Hillary goes negative you've got my vote."
Obama Campaign: "Thanks SD! Our campaign staff will be in touch Wednesday to go over the PR with you."
Super-Delegate: "Your welcome."

Posted by whoffman
March 4, 2008 1:10 PM"

25772. arkymalarky - 3/4/2008 7:55:02 PM

I think if this is settled by June it will be plenty of time to deal with McCain.

25773. jexster - 3/4/2008 8:08:08 PM

After McCain's been dealing for three months free of charge


NEVER give up present advantage for a HOPE

25774. jexster - 3/4/2008 8:08:59 PM

Fightin Words

Austin is the ulimate latte city

Chuck Todd
MSNBC

25775. David Ehrenstein - 3/4/2008 8:10:39 PM

What if Obama loses Texas and Ohio?

25776. jexster - 3/4/2008 8:15:14 PM

25769



Better question is - any chance Obama would axe her???


From American Prospect, I have culled my prospects:


1. JIM WEBB
2. JOE BIDEN
3. GOV. BILL RICHARDSON

4. JOHN PODESTA

5. GARY HART

6. CHRIS DODD

25777. judithathome - 3/4/2008 8:24:02 PM

I voted, Jex, but I'm not going back tonight...we're going to swim at the gym. Hopefully all those young hard bodies will be caucusing or celebrating with their candidates.

Naturally the Republican side was busier than my side but my group seemed more genuinely happy to see those of us who turned left...yeah, we got the left side of the hall. ;-)

25778. jexster - 3/4/2008 8:29:12 PM

If Obama loses TX and OH it only gives Mrs. Clinton an excuse to plow on in a race she cannot win


The only winners will be John McCain and Pastor Hagee


Judith you are a wicked old woman

25779. jexster - 3/4/2008 8:31:02 PM

TX and OH wins would stop any Clowntoon killin rush of superdelegates

25780. jexster - 3/4/2008 8:34:15 PM

I smell a Clowntoon Varmit

I was assigned to Precinct 316 (Lovett Elementary School). I arrived, attempted to introduce myself to the Chief Judge Ella Tyler who responded "get out".

I tried to explain that I was an attorney with Voter Protection and she said "get out". She then grabbed my arm and told me to "get out". I was escorted from the building.

We sent in another attorney Monica, a local attorney, who Ms. Tyler threatened with arrest, and Ms. Tyler has rejected her credentials were rejected now three times.

Ms. Tyler is a known Clinton supporter. In my opinion, Ms. Tyler has violated the Texas statutes and federal lawn. But she's inside and we are outside. I guess we are worried about the election in Texas today!

Best wishes, Maxim

25781. David Ehrenstein - 3/4/2008 8:39:36 PM

Better question is - any chance jexter would axe her???

25782. David Ehrenstein - 3/4/2008 8:46:07 PM

25783. jexster - 3/4/2008 8:59:24 PM

Citizens United Not Timid

25784. winstonsmith - 3/4/2008 9:01:53 PM

CBS has called VT for Obama

25785. jexster - 3/4/2008 9:27:24 PM

Cook Political Report/RT Strategies

National 2/28 - 3/2
Obama 47, McCain 38

25786. David Ehrenstein - 3/4/2008 9:34:47 PM

"Pennies in a stream
Falling leaves a sycamore
Moonlight in Vermont
Gentle finger waves
Ski trails down a mountain side
Snowlight in Vermont
Telegraph cables, how they sing down the highway
As they travel each bend in the road
And when people meet, in this romantic setting
They’re so hypnotized by the lovely...
Evening summer breeze
Sweet warblings of the meadowlark
Moonlight in Vermont"

25787. jexster - 3/4/2008 9:36:40 PM

Chris Mathews put it in stark terms Arky

Can the Democratic Party afford having its candidates spend tens of millions of dollars tearing each other apart for seven weeks in Pennsylvania, a state the party must carry in November?


I say no
Arky says yes
So does John McCain..his party can afford it

25788. David Ehrenstein - 3/4/2008 9:49:40 PM

Every Picture Tells a Story.

25789. jexster - 3/4/2008 9:52:18 PM

I was there! The one with the sign

Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve

25790. David Ehrenstein - 3/4/2008 10:23:52 PM

I was there with Adam and Steve and Scott and Lance.

25791. jexster - 3/4/2008 10:28:43 PM

Robert and Judith - ON NOTICE

John --

We need your help right now!

The polls in Texas are only open until 7:00 p.m. CST (5:00 p.m. PST), and the caucus will follow immediately after.

We need your help to make sure as many people as possible make it out to vote in these final minutes and then caucus to help secure even more delegates for Barack.

If you have a few minutes to spare, it's absolutely crucial that you pick up the phone for Barack right now. Call likely supporters in Texas and make sure they vote in the primary, if they haven't already, and then caucus at 7:00 p.m.

Get started:

http://my.barackobama.com/callTX

We've come a long way thanks to you, but today's contests could be decisive.

Let's finish strong.

Thank you for all that you do,

Buffy

Buffy Wicks
Texas Deputy Field Director
Obama for America

25792. jexster - 3/4/2008 10:32:43 PM

Heavy Obama turnout at Dallas caucuses

25793. arkymalarky - 3/4/2008 11:01:04 PM

What I'm saying, Jex, is that wrenching party control from the Clintons and McAuliffe isn't pretty or easy, but I think it's necessary. It had to be done sometime, and 1) McCain is a weak Republican candidate, and 2) they will have more time than they have in past elections to make up the difference.

And if things continue as they are going in TX, Obama will win there, and Hillary can't recover that. I do wish he'd break 64% in VT, but it doesn't look right now like he's going to. Hillary's winning Ohio better than I expected so far, but it's not going to matter. The push for her to get out will be intense, starting now, imo.

25794. jexster - 3/4/2008 11:07:19 PM

I know it won't be easy or pretty Arky but we must stamp out Clintonism in whatever form it takes and remove the bacillus from the Body Politic

As I was pondering the cost, I wondered what the benefits have been of Clintonism?

What have they done for the Congressional Party?

For state parties?

For the national party organization?

For talent development?


The answer is NADA. The Clowntoons have done absolutely nothing.

They are parasites

25795. David Ehrenstein - 3/4/2008 11:26:46 PM

And what has Obama done?

(crickets chirping)

25796. arkymalarky - 3/4/2008 11:27:59 PM

I absolutely agree with you. I didn't see it that way until Dean moved to sell the "fifty state strategy," at which Terri McAuliffe became the first of the Old Guard to get into my sights. The thing I am most interested in is the re-enfranchisement of states that had been written off by Dems as being hopelessly Republican. There are good Democrats working their asses off in those states who have been getting ZERO support from the Democratic Party. And, btw, who don't hate their Republican counterparts in their states. It's time they got some support and we quit writing off entire chunks of the nation as "red" and thus totally unworthy of attention by the Democratic Party. How do we expect those people to feel when the DEMOCRATS in their state are treated as red-headed step-children by the national party and the rest of the state is written off as backward inbred rednecks. Again, Kos' blog on Dean's (and other Dems') strategy for addressing all 50 states and taking control of the Dem Party away from the elite was VERY enlightening to me.

25797. arkymalarky - 3/4/2008 11:29:37 PM

David, as much as you've been reading and listening, there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for you to ask such an insipid question. Look it up. It's been posted here numerous times.

25798. arkymalarky - 3/4/2008 11:32:38 PM

OTOH, Clinton's done damned little, and doesn't even tout what she's done, but instead talks in vague generalities about her "experience." Let's see White House records. Let's see tax returns. Let's see Clinton Library donor lists. She's working a lot harder to minimize Obama's accomplishments and obscure her own than she is to build a public resume we can peruse. But her health care failure, Iraq, Iran, and flag-burning, to name four major ones of many, are all I need to see of her resume and experience.

25799. arkymalarky - 3/4/2008 11:33:13 PM

25796 to Jex, btw.

25800. jexster - 3/4/2008 11:42:39 PM

Good call on The Great State BTW...bet UR right

25801. jexster - 3/4/2008 11:43:59 PM

What has OBAMA DONE?


1,000,000 small donors
a huge national organization built from the grassroots ...brought massive voter turnout in every race thus far

chirp schmirp

25802. jexster - 3/4/2008 11:44:23 PM

Obama has in a word defined the entire election 2008

25803. jexster - 3/4/2008 11:46:12 PM

They lost the congressional majorities...big time

They laid the groundwork for Bush

They sucked all the oxygen and money from the National Party for over a decade


They ruined Gore. Did NOTHING for Kerry and laid the foundations of BushWar

They are parasites and the party desperately needs a high colonic

25804. jexster - 3/4/2008 11:47:13 PM

Last but not least, they gave Thomas Hussein Davis a reason to live


DENOUNCED AND REJECTED

25805. jexster - 3/4/2008 11:57:39 PM

The results are in from GlassCOCK County Tejas

100% of the precincts reporting
Clinton 11

Obama 8

25806. jexster - 3/5/2008 12:07:34 AM

Report from La Familia in Fort Bend County...lines around the corner at one polling place 1/2 hour after closing time

Ft Bend
Obama 68%
Clinton 32%


YEAH FAMILIA!

25807. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 12:46:47 AM

I'm stressing about this big time. I'm probably about to go to bed and see what happened in the morning. I can't see how TX won't be very close, and it could swing toward Hillary in the popular vote. But still, I don't see how she can win any advantage on delegates. I'm hoping Obama regains and retains a TX lead and closes the gap in Ohio, which he should, based on the CNN analysis of what precincts have reported. It would also be nice if he squeaked over 64% in VT, but that's not likely.

I also can't help but wonder how uncommitted superdelegates will see this--Hillary can't win, because her margins in her winning states won't be enough to make her viable, but she will drag the party into a real fight after tonight if delegates don't start coming out for Obama in a big way. IOW, the end result--an Obama nomination--can be achieved two ways: with a damaging brawl or with the delegates calling enough.

25808. concerned - 3/5/2008 1:35:20 AM

Why are you Lefties so anxious to see Hilliary drop out? Don't you want to see every vote count?

25809. concerned - 3/5/2008 1:38:08 AM

Seeing 'every vote count'. That was real big with you people in 2000. Now, you're so terrified of seeing every vote count that you're making total fools of yourselves dissing Hilliary for not prematurely dropping out.

25810. robertjayb - 3/5/2008 1:49:40 AM

OhMiGod!

I agree with concerned.

And, btw, Howard Dean: count the votes and see how it all comes out.

25811. concerned - 3/5/2008 1:53:05 AM

rjb -

Just for that, I'm not going to post this really funny graphic of Obama.

25812. David Ehrenstein - 3/5/2008 2:16:17 AM

Hillary will win the nomination.

Then she'll come after you personally, jex.

25813. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 10:21:34 AM

GREAT NEWS, REPUBLICANS!!

Fear mongering and media manipulation still work!

Every vote should count if it's gained according to the pre-established Democratic rules (which the Clintons agreed to and helped formulate). I haven't argued otherwise, ever. But math is math, and it reflects what will happen with every vote. States count, as well, and I prefer a candidate who doesn't write a huge chunk of them off as unimportant. I really do not believe superdelegates will overrule the delegate count, either way it falls. If Hillary wins by moving ahead of Obama in pledged delegates, so be it.

I will have an opinion about what will happen based on how people vote and how long Hillary stays in, just as I always have. She can stay in and fight at the convention if she chooses, but anyone who thinks she will win or lose any way but ugly at this point--even if it means that once again the Democrats hand the White House to the scariest Republican yet--is naive in the extreme.

I will also say this: If Democrats blow the chance to select a non-establishment, grassroots candidate, they will play hell to find another chance of getting that enthusiasm back.

25814. jexster - 3/5/2008 12:00:11 PM

I had this feeling on SuperWednesday

John McCain won last night

25815. jexster - 3/5/2008 12:01:18 PM

Robert realizes he's been up Phil Gramm's tree so long he's turned republican

25816. judithathome - 3/5/2008 12:35:04 PM

She can stay in and fight at the convention if she chooses, but anyone who thinks she will win or lose any way but ugly at this point--even if it means that once again the Democrats hand the White House to the scariest Republican yet--is naive in the extreme.

Good grief, talk about winning ugly. One hour after the polls closed, the local newsboys broke into programming to say Hillary's people were considering legal challenges to the outcome because so many people weren't allowed into the caucuses...one hour after! Before the votes were even counted!

It wasn't just Dallas where they were woefully unprepared for caucusville...over here they were swamped, too.

I'm rather disappointed...not surprised but disappointed...by the outcome in Texas.

25817. alistairconnor - 3/5/2008 12:35:17 PM

Stockholm syndrome

25818. judithathome - 3/5/2008 12:37:07 PM

You may laugh, Alistair, but seriously, the Republicans have had such a stranglehold on Texas for so many years that the Democrats have forgotten how to be Democrats. They have no idea how to react.

25819. jexster - 3/5/2008 12:49:49 PM

Obama Faces Costly Two Front Battle Against McCain and the Clintons


OhMiGod!

I agree with concerned.


Stockholm syndrome. Exactly so AC

Robert's been up that Nagadoches pine tree so long he's become Phil Gramm's beagle.

I didn't realize it until my brother told me last night that in Fort Bend county there were NO, ZERO, ZIP contested races down the Demo ballot. Even judgeships, constables, dog catchers are Republican

Fort Bend County

Obama 63%
Clinton 37%

Interesting factoid..in this overwhelmingly Republican suburb of HTown 70,000 votes cast in Demo, 35,000 in GOP primary

25820. jexster - 3/5/2008 1:03:32 PM

Clearly everything south and west of a line running SE to NW through BeXar county must immediately be returned to its rightful owner

25821. jexster - 3/5/2008 1:06:13 PM

I don't know what Robert the Beagle Boy expected Howard Dean to say..the same Howard Dean who said a couple of months that if this race were still going strong into April the party would suffer

25822. jexster - 3/5/2008 1:06:37 PM

and it will..big time

25823. concerned - 3/5/2008 1:24:58 PM

Re. 25813 -

Get a grip, snarky.

This morning, I heard an Obama partisan female 'progressive' commentator complain about Hilliary using 'dirty republican tricks' to win in Texas and Ohio. Reminded me of you.

Give me a break. When the Clowntoons won in the '90's twice, against fairly typical Republicans, their dirty tricks were all their own. Nothing has changed since then.

Your desperate attempts to make the current Republican opponent 'the scariest yet', no matter what the facts are, are such transparent attempts at psychological manipulation that even a child with normal intelligence would see through it.

25824. jexster - 3/5/2008 2:09:48 PM

Why Robert lives in a pine tree....

Today George W. Bush is up on a stage annointing Hanoi John as his heir and what are the Democrats doing?

Not talking about the $3 trillion war or the BushMcCain recession that's for sure



WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama survived defeats in three primaries Tuesday with his lead in the delegate race essentially intact.




Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton netted only a 12-delegate pickup, despite winning primaries in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island, according to an analysis of returns by The Associated Press. There were still 12 more delegates to be awarded.




Hunting Democrats in East TX

25825. jexster - 3/5/2008 2:14:15 PM

And when June rolls around and Obama is STILL ahead and Ole Charlie Crist invites Dems to See Florida in July

What will Howard Dean say then?

25826. jexster - 3/5/2008 3:38:06 PM

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Wednesday anointed one-time bitter rival John McCain as his preferred successor and heir to the vastly unpopular Iraq war and deepening economic fears

25827. jexster - 3/5/2008 3:40:19 PM

FINALLY ..Obama's listening to Snarky..


Plouffe's going after The Clintons' tax returns

25828. jexster - 3/5/2008 4:15:32 PM

While Mrs. Clinton giggles past her graveyard, cackling that the "vetting of Barack Obama has just begun", the LAST thing the Clintons want to talk about




BushMcCain War:The Cost of a Week in Hell



How far off were they? Well, it depends on which figure you choose to start with. Here's the range: According to key officials in the Bush administration back in 2002-2003, the invasion and reconstruction of Iraq was either going to cost $60 billion, or $100-$200 billion. Actually, we can start by tossing that top figure out, since not long after Bush economic adviser Larry Lindsey offered it in 2002, he was shown the door, in part assumedly for even suggesting something so ludicrous.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz championed the $60 billion figure, but added that much of the cost might well be covered by Iraqi oil revenues; the country was, after all, floating on a "sea of oil." ("To assume we're going to pay for it all is just wrong," he told a congressional hearing.) Still, let's take that $60 billion figure as the Bush baseline. If economists Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes are right in their recent calculations and this will turn out to be more than a $3 trillion war (or even a $5-7 trillion one), then the Bush administration was at least $2,940,000,000,000 off in its calculations.

....

25829. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 4:17:59 PM

What about a child with subnormal intelligence, con'd? I actually like McCain on a very superficial level, but he's a hawk without a lot of brains.As we already know well, that's a dangerous combination. Hillary proved she will win ugly, but she'd better keep her radioactive pantsuit on, because the Obama camp has already shown itself to be more adept on offense than she is, and they're not about to let someone who's behind them spin her way to victory without a fight. If she's such a smart girl, she'll figure that out pretty fast.

Seems the first superdelegste since last night goes to Obama,the mayor of Dayton, OH.

25830. jexster - 3/5/2008 4:21:42 PM

And so the yesterday's question is the same today -


What have the Clintons ever done for the Democratic Party?

25831. OhioSTOPAS - 3/5/2008 4:40:13 PM

Okay, here's the plan:

Clinton and Obama run on the same ticket, for President and Vice President respectively. In return for Obama accepting the VP slot, Clinton agrees to serve only one term (she'll be 65 in 2012, anyway). Obama, now with all doubts about lack of experience dispelled after 4 years as VP, is elected President in 2012 and re-elected in 2016.

There. That settles that.

25832. jexster - 3/5/2008 5:05:50 PM

Hillary Clinton may be poised for a big night tonight, with wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. Clinton aides say this will be the beginning of her comeback against Barack Obama. There's only one problem with this analysis: they can't count.

Obama 1386
Clinton 1230

25833. jexster - 3/5/2008 5:06:50 PM

Not a snowball's chance in hell that Obama would run on ANY ticket or have any other political relations with that woman Ohio

25834. jexster - 3/5/2008 5:09:37 PM

To think, poor Ohio believes not only that Obama, who will when all is said and done still lead in pledged delegates, would drop out for a VP slot and a Clinton promise?

Good God ...the sorry state of the Democratic Party


Oh Oh way to go Ohio...

BTW...that Strickland is one warmed over pile of poor white trash

25835. jexster - 3/5/2008 5:12:00 PM

The Winner in Tejas


Texas Primary 126
Obama 62
Clowntoons 64_

Texas Caucus 67
Obama 38
Clintons 29

25836. OhioSTOPAS - 3/5/2008 5:15:05 PM

Clinton-Obama would be a killer ticket, wouldn't it?

25837. jexster - 3/5/2008 5:19:37 PM

No

25838. jexster - 3/5/2008 5:21:33 PM

Clintonism is a malignant polyp on the colon of the Democratic Body Politic


It must be removed at all cost, down to the last cell

25839. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 6:09:21 PM

Ohio, why would the candidate who's ahead accept a veep slot and why do you think he should?

And will someone PLEASE outline Hillary's experience? I have yet to see it, even from her, since she refuses to release her records.

25840. thoughtful - 3/5/2008 6:33:04 PM

Arky! How can you ask such a ridiculous question. We KNOW hillary's experience. She picked out table cloth colors for state dinners, helped decide the themes for the xmas decorations in the white house each year and hired kaki hockersmith who did this to the oval office!



W turned it back into something less neon, more tasteful...perhaps the only value he added in his administration...

25841. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 6:59:20 PM

Haha! Loud and obnoxious in decor. Hmmm.

25842. OhioSTOPAS - 3/5/2008 6:59:38 PM

Arky and Thoughtful,

Here's something that I was able to find quickly on Clinton's foreign affairs experience, as First Lady and as a Senator on the Armed Services Committee:

"Anyone who doubts Hillary Clinton's impact on the world stage might want to check with the top political leaders in Northern Ireland, who cite her work to end sectarian violence there and help secure a lasting peace.

"Anyone who doubts Hillary Clinton's international experience might consult with democracy activists in the Slovak Republic, who remember when she stood in solidarity with them and publicly challenged their new government's suppression of civil society.

"They might talk to women - from the Philippines to Latin America to the Middle East - who can vote, own property, or go to school, because Hillary Clinton helped start a global women's movement for women's rights. Or they might travel to Africa and Asia, where Hillary Clinton visited countless remote villages to show how the poorest of the poor could become entrepreneurial and self-sufficient when given access to small loans.

"In the heat of presidential campaign politics, candidates on both sides dismiss a First Lady's work as insignificant to foreign policy. But in Hillary Clinton's case, such a presumption is not only wrong, it trivializes the important global issues of human rights, democracy, and international development that are so central to strengthening American values and influence overseas and are hallmarks of her exhaustive work around the world.

"As First Lady and now as a two-term senator who represents the most ethnically diverse state in the nation and who sits on the Armed Services Committee, Hillary Clinton has become a fixture on international issues over the past 15 years. She has traveled to more than 80 countries, going from barrios to rural villages to meetings with heads of state. She has consulted with dozens of world leaders - Nelson Mandela, King Abdullah, Tony Blair among them -- on matters as diverse as America and NATO's roles in Kosovo, eradicating poverty in the Third World, and the plight of women living under the Taliban in Afghanistan. . . ."

It's from the Huffington Post (Google any phrase and you should be able to find the piece quickly). And although it's obviously from unabashed Hillary fans, I think it's reasonable.

I'm not saying Obama is unqualified - he'll be a terrific President, and I'll support him unreservedly and enthusiastically. (In fact, I voted for him in the Ohio primary because I want the party to get behind one candidate.) But Clinton's extra years in the Senate and her inside seat in a Presidential administration give her something Obama doesn't yet have. That - plus the fact that she really, really knows her stuff - is why I put her on the top of my dream ticket.

25843. OhioSTOPAS - 3/5/2008 7:00:40 PM

P.S. Arky, what is "refusing to release her records"? Are you referring to Tim Russert's canard about her alleged refusal to release her records as First Lady?

25844. thoughtful - 3/5/2008 7:14:47 PM

Let's see what all her international experience has done for her...she supported the war with iraq. So much for experience leading to good judgment!

Ohio, I have no concerns at all about hillary really knowing her stuff. She is a very bright and very articulate woman and there's no doubt that she'd put tons and tons more effort into policy analysis than w ever did. (Of course that's a low hurdle.)

My problem with her is that she will do anything ANYTHING to achieve her ends. She has not a drop of sincerity or integrity.

Get a load of this:

Did the clinton ad doctor a pic of obama to make him 'blacker'?



How GOP can she get?

25845. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 7:27:51 PM

I saw that, Thoughtful (also on Huffpost, Ohio), and found it despicable. Her recent tactics are very troubling to me. Among them is her tendency to play her gender both ways. "I want to be in the boys' club, but you can't hit me 'cause I'm a girl."

25846. thoughtful - 3/5/2008 7:34:03 PM

There are many things that turn me off to hillary, but one from way back that illustrated just how political she is, was when, early in their administration, they started talking about adopting a child because it would be politically popular. Bad enough that they let the polls determine where they vacationed, but making such a personal decision based on politics?!? Has she no soul?

Then again, anyone who can walk away from their cat socks and let's their dog buddy get run over by a car...

25847. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 7:39:02 PM

Btw, Obama has NEVER used his race that way.

Ohio, that's not a canard because Hillary claims it as a huge part of her experience.

Wrt the Huffpost post, I'm fine with that, but it's not enough to compel me to give her credit for policy development and executive experience. And I'm not at all happy with her Senate record.

All that aside, though, I see absolutely no reason why any frontrunner should accept a second place slot. Were Hillary in that spot, her supporters would be incensed at the suggestion. I think Obama took the suggestion like a president would. ;-)

25848. robertjayb - 3/5/2008 7:46:28 PM

Well, my friends, what I'm mostly pleased about from yesterday, my friends, is that my friend John McCain won the GOP nomination. My friends, that is good news. At least if we can presume that the smarmy Mike Huckabee is off the scene for a while.

25849. David Ehrenstein - 3/5/2008 8:02:47 PM

If Clinton wins the nomination will jexster go postal?

25850. jexster - 3/5/2008 8:13:11 PM

I've already declared my intentions WRT that woman

25851. jexster - 3/5/2008 8:14:12 PM

I leave the field to Snarky..she's on a roll

25852. robertjayb - 3/5/2008 8:24:16 PM

Now you've done it, Hillary...Mr. Rogers is taking off his sweater!

CHICAGO — (AP) - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama today blamed his primary defeats in Ohio and Texas on rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's criticism and news coverage that he argued benefited her at his expense.

The presidential candidate said he planned to do more in the days ahead to raise doubts about his opponent's claims to foreign policy and other Washington experience. In a television ad that her campaign credits with helping her win, she portrayed herself as most prepared to handle an international crisis.

25853. jexster - 3/5/2008 8:25:28 PM

Get your ass back up that tree...Arky unleash the hounds

25854. jexster - 3/5/2008 8:33:14 PM

Denounce and Reject Thomas Hussein Davis




McSame Can't Quit Pastor Hagee

25855. David Ehrenstein - 3/5/2008 8:35:47 PM

The Democrats have GOT to smack McCain upside the head with Hagee.

REPEATEDLY!

Meanwhile. . .

Here's my latest for "CityBeat"

25856. jexster - 3/5/2008 8:40:30 PM

No they're too busy "vetting" each other to worry about trivial matters such as the recession, the 100 years war, and the GOP Taliban

Heckuva job Hillary

25857. jexster - 3/5/2008 9:15:58 PM

Net gain

Four Delegates

25858. winstonsmith - 3/5/2008 9:23:00 PM

Were in kind of a bind here.

Clinton supporters have donated millions to her and expect her to get her ass out there and try to win. It is in her nature to do just that, whatever the cost.

She does, however, undertand the math, even if many of her supporters don't.

I really, really, hate to say it but, maybe Texas, Ohio, California and NY bought her a place on the ticket (VP). I hate this, but a deal needs to be made, sooner, rather than later.

She would make a good attack dog for Obama.

25859. David Ehrenstein - 3/5/2008 9:42:18 PM

Gay Texans Love Hillary!

25860. jexster - 3/5/2008 9:47:33 PM

There is no "sooner" unfortunately.

She'll drag this through PR and I'd be surprised if we didn't hear her clamoring for a FL primary and MI do-over caucus in July

Snarky's right...It will be bloody but worth it.

Meanwhile once WY and MS are done, she will have lost the four delegate net gain we've wasted all this time on

When Obama didn't put her away on SuperTuesday, AC axed why I was so glum...

Now he has the answer.

She's harder to kill than Rasputin

25861. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 9:51:48 PM

Snarky's right? She's going to win PA, I imagine, but what other states does she have a good chance of winning?

And was there a Limbaugh effect. That's one evil asshole.

25862. jexster - 3/5/2008 9:51:56 PM

Only steer and queers..so I'll ask Robert

GUN BARREL CITY, Tex., March 4 -

Where exactly is that shithole

25863. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 9:54:14 PM

If it did there, it could be a really big problem in other states since the Repubs have their man now.

25864. jexster - 3/5/2008 9:58:51 PM

She'll win Puerto Rico, PA, KY, WV, maybe Indiana

Lose MS, WY, Montana, South Dakota, NC, OR and Guam

That's all that's left

But before it's over she and Charlie Crist will pull out some shit for a FL primary


Snarky's right. The Clintons are parasites and just as painful to be rid of

25865. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 10:00:06 PM

But it's got to be done. The Democratic Party has its one shot to get back to its roots and away from Republican Lite.

25866. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 10:05:00 PM

Superdelegates were NOT put into place to overrule the poor, uninformed voting masses, as Hillary suggested today. If she'd just make herself palatable. But she can't. Unfortunately she's an incredibly obnoxious winner.

25867. jexster - 3/5/2008 10:10:37 PM

It's her only play...tear down Obama to the point where she can convince the remaining uncommitted superdelegates that he is unelectable and destroy the Democratic Party in the process.

25868. jexster - 3/5/2008 10:11:45 PM

She tried out all the other personality changes...even the crying act didn't work

25869. jexster - 3/5/2008 10:27:40 PM

As the Dems fritter their time away.....



WaPo

A surge of Democratic allegiance is boosting Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton alike in match-ups against John McCain, with change vs. experience as the roadmap for voter preferences in the 2008 general election.

Obama's advantage over McCain is the bigger one in this ABC News/Washington Post poll, a 12-point lead compared to Clinton's 6-point edge. McCain's endorsement by George W. Bush may not help: The president's back at his career low approval rating, matching Harry Truman in long-term unpopularity.

25870. jexster - 3/5/2008 11:19:33 PM

MoDo calls it Clinton's Shoulder Pad Feminism

I prefer Girdle Feminism

25871. concerned - 3/5/2008 11:23:07 PM

To paraphrase a political pundit:

Leftism is just Communism sold by the drink.

25872. concerned - 3/5/2008 11:26:22 PM

Based on this, Hilliary and Hussein are bottoms-up all the way.

25873. concerned - 3/5/2008 11:28:25 PM

Hilliary and Hussein ought to take note: Being Leftist and Stupid is no way to go through life, let alone your electorate's finances.

25874. concerned - 3/5/2008 11:42:41 PM

The Obamanation had written her off, but Hilliary showed that there's life in the old girl yet.

25875. jexster - 3/5/2008 11:43:05 PM

BushMcCain - denounced and rejected

25876. concerned - 3/5/2008 11:44:34 PM

Bush isn't running for anything, jexster. Try some reality pills for a change.

25877. jexster - 3/5/2008 11:44:57 PM

Someone over at HuffPo suggests a Clinton-Obama me2 pact - whoever wins the nomination names the other as Veep.


A fairy tale too far
A price too high


Denounce and reject Clowntoonism

25878. concerned - 3/5/2008 11:47:58 PM

Some Lefty at work claimed that if McCain became president, that he would be 'taking orders' from GWB.

You sorry LW bastards must be counting on the stupidity of voters.

25879. jexster - 3/5/2008 11:50:58 PM

BushMcSame
Denounced and Rejected


What went around has come around

Bush's Hubert Horatio Humphrey..Though hardly a Happy Warrior



McCain Trails Clinton And Obama in Matchups
Post-ABC News Poll | Pitted against Democrats, Ariz. senator fares poorly among those who disapprove of Bush and those opposing the war.

25880. jexster - 3/5/2008 11:55:52 PM

Bush jumped on the first question to box McCain in as heir to his Iraq policy. It was in response to a question posed to both McCain and Bush, "how the Republican Party... is going to make the case that you're going to provide the change that the voters seem to want, both on Iraq and the economy?" Ignoring the economy (how typical), Bush gave a rambling version of his fear-mongering GWOT talk.

Finally, Bush permitted McCain to explain how he would offer voters the change they want.

Thank you, sir. I don't have anything to add.

25881. concerned - 3/5/2008 11:56:25 PM

McCain fares poorly with insane asylum inmates, also.

25882. jexster - 3/5/2008 11:56:55 PM

BushMcSame Recession
BushMcSame War


Only the Clintons can save him now

25883. concerned - 3/5/2008 11:58:16 PM

McCain does not do so well with those who are zoned out on illegal medications.

25884. robertjayb - 3/6/2008 12:16:50 AM

But my friends, McCain has a lot of friends.

25885. jexster - 3/6/2008 12:38:25 AM

Can you imagine listening to that insipid old fart with that "my friends" crap for 4 years...


It's enough that we have to endure the traitor until November and almost enough to make me vote for the Clintons


Almost ...but we all must pay the price to purge the party

25886. concerned - 3/6/2008 12:53:21 AM

Michelle Hussein Obama, according to the New Yorker, sez:

America is "mean, slothful and complacent."

Definitely not first lady material.

25887. concerned - 3/6/2008 12:55:03 AM

Sounds like Michelle Hussein has it in her agenda to kick the US in the ass.

25888. concerned - 3/6/2008 1:01:05 AM

Ok, so now we know (as if we didn't before) what Michelle Hussein Obama is against: The United States of America.

What I want to know is, what is she for?

25889. concerned - 3/6/2008 1:34:39 AM

Please, Mote Lefties, try to find it in your hearts to help this poor, downtrodden woman out:

"You're looking at a young couple that's just a few years out of debt," Michelle Hussein Obama said. "See, because, we went to those good schools, and we didn't have trust funds. I'm still waiting for Barack's trust fund. Especially after I heard that Dick Cheney was s'posed to be a relative or something. Give us something here!"

25890. concerned - 3/6/2008 1:37:16 AM

It's apparent that jexster hasn't changed his greasepaint - he always supports the biggest buffoons he can find.

25891. concerned - 3/6/2008 1:55:47 AM

However, in most ways, Michelle Hussein Obama's worldview is entirely representative of that of the Left in general.

25892. winstonsmith - 3/6/2008 2:25:48 AM

From Jex's sweetheart over at TPM:

"Report: NAFTA-Gate Leaker Said Hillary's People Were Reassuring Canada, Too
By Eric Kleefeld - March 5, 2008, 11:33PM
The NAFTA-Gate controversy has taken another turn, one that could potentially boomerang back on Hillary Clinton after initially damaging Barack Obama.

The Canadian Press — Canada's domestic equivalent of the AP — is reporting that the original source of the leak was Ian Brodie, chief of staff to Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. And as it turns out, Brodie's original conversation with reporters focused much more on Hillary as the candidate whose people were reassuring Canada that the anti-trade rhetoric was all just campaign talk.

"He said someone from Clinton's campaign is telling the Embassy to take it with a grain of salt," said one participant in the conversation. The source added, "someone called us and told us not to worry."

Hillary's people were able to use NAFTA-Gate very effectively in questioning Obama's honesty in the Ohio and Texas campaigns, ultimately pulling off some decent wins. But if this thing doesn't die down, and the focus turns from Obama over to Hillary, they could very well see the story come back to bite them."

25893. concerned - 3/6/2008 3:19:52 AM

I have to admit that every time I read your name, it makes me think of cigarettes.

Bet you never heard that one before:)

25894. winstonsmith - 3/6/2008 3:24:39 AM

Tastes good, like a cigarette should.

25895. alistairConnor - 3/6/2008 5:03:49 AM

But that's just the perfect illustration of your political illiteracy, Con.

Ever heard of Eric Blair?

25896. robertjayb - 3/6/2008 1:20:31 PM

Rasmussen says Hill up by 15 points...

Thursday, March 06, 2008

In Pennsylvania, Hillary Clinton has opened a fifteen percentage point lead over Barack Obama. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows Clinton attracting 52% of the vote while Obama earns 37%.

In late February, before Clinton’s comeback victories in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island, the former First Lady’s lead in the Keystone State was just four percentage points. The big difference between that poll and the current result is found a among men. Clinton now leads by seventeen percentage points among women and eleven among men. In the previous survey, she was ahead by fifteen points among women but trails by fourteen among men.

25897. jexster - 3/6/2008 1:25:28 PM

When things go badly...

The Stench of the Pigpile

Aide May Have Stolen Hundreds of Thousands from GOP Congressional Campaign Committee

25898. jexster - 3/6/2008 1:27:12 PM

WaPo
National Obama 53, McCain 42
Clinton 50, McCain 47...

Well, there goes Plan B....scaring the superdelegates

25899. robertjayb - 3/6/2008 1:50:01 PM

Dean is flip-flopping on do-overs...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean urged Florida and Michigan party officials to come up with plans to repeat their presidential nominating contests so that their delegates can be counted.

"All they have to do is come before us with rules that fit into what they agreed to a year and a half ago, and then they'll be seated," Dean said during a round of interviews Thursday on network and cable TV news programs.

The two state parties will have to find the funds to pay for new contests without help from the national party, Dean said.

25900. jexster - 3/6/2008 2:10:37 PM

That's always been his position idiot

25901. jexster - 3/6/2008 2:12:35 PM

The only new wrinkle now is what I reported here days ago...


Will Dean fall into the McCain/Clinton trap that Governor Crist has set with his oh so generous offer to FUND a Florida primary in July?


The DNC offered to pay for caucuses back in December. Both states rejected at the time

25902. jexster - 3/6/2008 2:13:05 PM

And you wonder how Phil Gramm's beagles could tree that Texcian idiot

25903. jexster - 3/6/2008 2:25:01 PM

Oh Puhleeze Louise


WASHINGTON - A top aide to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has compared rival Sen. Barack Obama to independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr.



Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson says Obama's statement that he plans to be more critical of Clinton's record is reminiscent of the attacks the Clintons endured during the investigations in the 1990s. Those investigations led to the impeachment of former President Clinton.

25904. jexster - 3/6/2008 2:40:38 PM

Post Traumatic Stress Disordered

It's 3 a.m. Who do you want answering the phone?
Not John McCain, say some military leaders: "I think his knee-jerk response factor is a little scary"

25905. jexster - 3/6/2008 2:45:26 PM

Retired Rear Adm. John Hutson, who has been a Republican his entire adult life, but who now supports Obama, put it this way about facing a national security crisis: "When everybody else goes nuts, the president of the United States needs to get cooler and cooler."




Traitor McCain Fished from the drink after being shot down on first mission

25906. concerned - 3/6/2008 3:03:35 PM

Re. 25895 -

AC -

What brought this little tirade on? Maybe you should consider having your medication adjusted.

25907. concerned - 3/6/2008 3:04:50 PM

Why isn't jexster jumping on the impeach Hilliary bandwagon?

25908. jexster - 3/6/2008 3:19:22 PM

Albatross

John McSame and the Poison Bush


WASHINGTON - Beware, John McCain. The money comes with a price. Sure, President Bush will raise millions of dollars for your Republican presidential campaign and GOP candidates. But he'll also give you the aura of a presidency tarnished by painful gasoline prices, a sagging economy, the threat of recession, a blemished U.S. reputation around the world, turbulence in the Middle East and many more problems.

25909. jexster - 3/6/2008 3:22:16 PM

I smell a McSame - Clowntoon Rat

Top Aide to PM Nailed in NAFTAGate




A major controversy over the sincerity of U.S. Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama's attacks on NAFTA was triggered by the top aide to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, media reports said on Thursday.

Harper has promised an investigation into the leak of a memo on a discussion between Canadian diplomats and a member of Obama's team. The memo said the Obama advisor indicated the criticism of the free trade agreement was primarily political.

Obama's team denied he was being insincere but rival Hillary Clinton said the memo showed her opponent could not be trusted. Both candidates blame NAFTA for U.S. job losses and vow to change or even abandon the deal, an act that could cripple Canada's economy.

The Globe and Mail newspaper, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and Canadian Press said Harper's chief of staff Ian Brodie had initially played down criticism of NAFTA from the Clinton camp.

The organizations said Brodie told reporters from the CTV network last week that someone from the Clinton campaign was "telling the embassy to take it with a grain of salt." CTV probed the remark and then ran a story focusing on Obama.

Harper's chief spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. CBC quoted her as saying Brodie did not recall mentioning NAFTA during his talk with CTV.

The affair is an embarrassment for Harper's right-leaning Conservative government, which won power in 2006 by promising to restore more morality to politics.

25910. jexster - 3/6/2008 3:25:35 PM

It's 3 am

JOHN McCAIN
Consistent on Iraq... ...consistent in folly

25911. OhioSTOPAS - 3/6/2008 3:51:11 PM

Am I just too suspicious a soul for wondering if a Republican is behind this morning's Times Square bombing?

It sure dovetails nicely with recent right-wing slime about Obama's acquaintance with a former member of the Weather Underground (an organization that also bombed a New York City recruiting office), not to mention the Wall Street Journal's recent revisiting of President Clinton's pardon of certain members of FALN (for which, saith the Journal, HILLARY should be condemned).