Posted on 03/23/2008 4:21:11 PM PDT by Red Steel
Some 50 delegates were reportedly poised to unite behind Barack Obama if he had won by even 1 point in Texas. He lost the popular vote by 100,000 ballots, and now we learn that 100,000 Republicans voted for Hillary Clinton, probably not because of some change in party allegiance but because they thought she would be the easier candidate to beat. This kind of strategic voting often backfires (think Ralph Nader). The Texas crossovers are winners. By helping to prolong the Democratic race, they can claim credit for weakening the eventual nominee, whoever it turns out to be.
Obama has had a terrible time since Hillary sprang back to life after winning the Ohio and Texas primaries on March 4. The speech he delivered on race relations in Philadelphia was a valiant effort to address the story about his former pastor's inflammatory rhetoric. Having resisted for so long being typecast as the black candidate, Obama could no longer hold off plunging into the debate that still divides so much of America.
By most accounts, Obama did a masterful job aligning the promise of his candidacy with the grievances expressed by both blacks and whites, noting in particular how the anger of working-class whites over affirmative action and welfare formed the Reagan coalition. But the cable-news noise machine doesn't easily let go of something so juicy as the anti-American rhetoric served up by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The now-retired pastor did what the Clinton campaign had been unable to do--put Obama in a box he doesn't need to be in, one that brands him as a candidate primarily of black aspirations. The cable commentators kept pounding away, but in another universe, the one inhabited by Obama's base--the millennial generation--his Philadelphia speech became the most-viewed video on YouTube this week with almost 2.5 million hits so far. Maybe, just maybe, the cable critics and conservative pundits are talking to themselves.
At an election-watch panel Thursday morning organized by the American Enterprise Institute, a questioner using journalistic shorthand asked if the uproar over Reverend Wright "has legs." The consensus among the panelists was that Obama might have stanched the bleeding among Democratic primary voters but that the issue will continue to dog him in a more virulent form with questions about where his true loyalties lie. Is he American enough? He's new on the national stage, and people are prone to believe the negative campaign already underway on the Internet alleging various falsehoods. This belated scrutiny of Obama bolsters Clinton's argument that she's been vetted and there are no shoes to drop. You can almost hear her aides, sotto voce, saying "we told you so." Hillary's comment that it's "un-American" for Obama not to endorse a do-over vote in Michigan builds on the narrative that he's not one of us. She's got a point. The Republicans made John Kerry French; imagine what they can do with Obama.
The audience and even the moderator of the AEI panel seem startled when Norm Ornstein, a resident scholar with the venerable think tank, declared Obama the solid, even overwhelming favorite to be the Democrats' nominee. He ticked off what he calls "the fundamentals." Obama has won more states, more delegates and is 300,000-plus votes ahead of Clinton even if you add to the mix the disputed Florida primary she won. If her votes in Michigan were added--giving her a win in a state where Obama's name wasn't even on the ballot--the popular vote would be a wash. The moderator, Jim Glassman, was skeptical, and challenged the premise. What if Clinton wins Pennsylvania by 20 points? Wouldn't the superdelegates move to her because she has the momentum? Isn't that the whole point? "We're not there yet," Ornstein explained. "He would have to be bloodied far beyond where he is now" to justify awarding Clinton the nomination if she's lost the delegate count and the popular vote. Her campaign's inability to secure revotes in Michigan and Florida is a huge blow. The superdelegates are there to make sure the party doesn't commit political suicide. There are nine other states voting in addition to Pennsylvania--including North Carolina, the 10th largest state in the country, where Obama is favored to win. Clinton's path to the nomination is "doable but it remains an outside shot," says Ornstein.
Hillary has every right to stay in the race. If Obama's candidacy implodes, with or without her help, she'll be on hand to pick up the pieces. There will be more twists and turns before the race is settled by the superdelegates, probably some time in June. The news late in the week that low-level contract employees at the State Department had been rifling through Obama's passport file gave the cable noise machine something else to obsess about--on a subject that millions of Americans could identify with, government invasion of privacy. (Subsequent reports maintain that Clinton, too, had her privacy breached in a similar fashion.) Coupled with the coveted endorsement from former rival and current superdelegate Bill Richardson, Obama seemed once again on the upswing. Given the unsettled nature of the race and what's at stake for the party and the country, not to mention the Clintons, Obama should enjoy the respite. It won't last long.
Does Obama value America? Thaqt is the fundamental issue here.
No, he’s not. Next question.
I was not one of them. In order to be a delegate to the county and state Repulibcan conventions, it is necessary to vote in the Republican primary and attend the Republican precinct caucus on election night. I have a good chance of getting a spot at the state Republican convention in June in Houston.
“Does Obama value America? Thaqt is the fundamental issue here.”
Not in it’s current form.
What does she mean “dangerous?”
I doubt his values are for a republic.
Obviously, Dims have a much higher tolerance of racism within their own party.
Eleanor Clift is a true feminazi. That means her heart belongs to Hillary. Eleanor is trying to get off the Obama bandwagon without getting hurt and it has slowed down quite a bit.
By which Elanor means, "in the opinion of most of the liberals I talk to Barak was a cross between Martin Luther King and JFK, and explained how Reagan's success was due to demagoguery and white hatred of black people".
Endora Clift will soon be calling his middle name Derwood or Dagwood
All Kidding aside it was pure folly to have voted for Clinton in the Texas primaries, She could have been put away for good,and these new revelations about Obama would have taken care of him.Don't be mistaken, Clinton would have worked overtime to torpedo Obama's campaign should she have lost.
You can hear the desperation in dear Eleanor’s voice. Her whole world is crumbling down around her. Why, they were going to bury those silly conservatives forever. FOREVER, I say. And now this. What’s a looney leftie to do?
What? If John Kerry had a single "regular American guy" bone in his body, no amount of Republican character smear tactics could have succeeded in turning him French. Kerry was a lousy candidate, propped up by the MSM.
Obama said at one time that the $56 Billion spent on the Katrina disaster was a “pittance”. I guess until all of the minorities in New Orleans get a new home, fully furnished of course, a new Caddy, and full college scholarships for all of their present and future offspring, then it may be enough, but I doubt that.
Or then again, us Texans despised OBama more than Hitlary, and btw it has nothing to do with his color. Just to set the record straight (since Newsweek didn't bother getting it facts), in Texas one can only vote a straight ticket in the primary so if Republicans voted the Democrat ticket they were unable to vote for any of their local candidates, which defeats the purpose of throwing votes to Hillary (which I dearly wanted to do but couldn't).
Is he American enough?
America is a mixed salad bowl so he might be American somewhat but he's far too African for me (and before anyone gets their knickers in a bunch that's Africa the country, not racially).
Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to
prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that
seemed delightfully uncalculated [...], Mr. Obama described the
call to prayer as "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at
sunset."
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/opinion/06kristof.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
http://nevadathunder.com/?p=3626
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Send treats to the troops...
Great because you did it!
www.AnySoldier.com
Dem party— what’s that word? Oh, chaos?
I haven't done the math, but I imagine you could do that for 56 billion. At least, anyone but the Federal Government could.
No.
Next question, please.
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