Year: 2008

Who says a “W” is a “W” when it’s really the delegate count that determines the genuine winner?

Barack Obama may have won the most delegates in Saturday’s Nevada Caucus, even though Hillary Clinton bested his statewide turnout by about six points.

A source with knowledge of the Nevada Democratic Party’s projections told The Nation that under the arcane weighting system, Obama would win 13 national convention delegates and Clinton would win 12 delegates. The state party has not released an official count yet.

Barack Obama released an official statement celebrating a delegate victory. “We came from over twenty-five points behind to win more national convention delegates than Hillary Clinton because we performed well all across the state, including rural areas where Democrats have traditionally struggled,” he said.

Spin, spin, spin. Yet, the delegate count is important, and Obama deserves to call this a win. It means February 5th is just as important for the Democrats as it is for the Republicans.

Tags:
2008 Election, Barack Obama, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Nevada, Politics, Republicans

If McCain and Huckabee are neck and neck in South Carolina, that must mean that Fred Thompson won’t win. And what if?

“Fred Thompson made it clear at a midday campaign stop that he won’t continue in the race without a strong showing out of South Carolina tonight. ‘We’ll see how we have to do, we’ll see what the results are,’ Thompson said, when questioned at a small press availability if he needed to win to go forward. ‘I’ve always said I have to do very well here; there’s no question about that. I stand by that. … We won’t have too much longer to wait.'”

Given what looks like a loss in South Carolina, when will Fred pull out? Tonight? Sunday? And who will he endorse? Romney? McCain? If he gets behind McCain, look for a whole lotta conservative backlash. My guess is he’ll wait out an endorsement until the nomination comes into focus a bit more.

Update: McCain wins South Carolina.

Tags:
2008 Election, Campaign, GOP, Republicans, Fred Thompson, South Carolina

Do we have an official front runner now?

Mitt Romney won the Nevada Republican caucuses Saturday, scoring dramatic back-to-back victories in the race for the nomination.

With 86 percent of caucus sites reporting, Romney had 53 percent in the state, followed by John McCain with 13 percent, Ron Paul with 13 percent, Mike Huckabee with 8 percent, Fred Thompson with 8 percent, Rudy Giuliani with 2 percent and Duncan Hunter with 2 percent.

Mitt just didn’t win Nevada. He pulled out a can o’ whupass and cleaned up. Mr. Romney leads the delegate race right now, by a pretty nice margin too. Of course, nothing is settled until February 5th, but as of now, he’s sittin’ pretty.

Question is, can I support him if he does turn out to be the GOP nominee?

Tags:
2008 Election, Mitt Romney, Politics, Republicans, Nevada, GOP

The same age Elvis was when he died…that’s me, today.

Tags:
Happy Birthday

When Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy for president, she couldn’t possibly believe she’d be walking into a battle between the “old” black vote and the “new” black vote. But that’s exactly where she is today, and a developing generation gap might cost her the votes she thought were in the bag.

When civil rights elders signed on to support Hillary Rodham Clinton’s run for president, it was seen as a coup in the competition for the black vote, especially in the Deep South.

Yet many younger black voters seem to be shrugging off the sway of leaders such as Rep. John Lewis and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, siding instead with Barack Obama’s history-making bid to be the nation’s first black president.

It’s a generational struggle that should serve as a warning to Democrats as they head into primary contests in states with large black populations: The black vote today is anything but monolithic.

It also suggests the influence the civil rights leaders have enjoyed as political kingmakers is waning.

“The figureheads are not actually gatekeepers to the black vote,” said William Jelani Cobb, a 38-year-old history professor at the historically black Spelman College.

“No disrespect, but they don’t speak for us.”

…and a voter with an opinion like that has to be terrifying to Hillary.

Tags:
2008 Election, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Black Caucus, Black Vote

Bill and Hillary Clinton might be wondering, where’s Danny Ocean, Rusty Ryan and the rest of their crew when you need ’em?

A federal judge on Thursday allowed Nevada Democrats to hold presidential voting in casino hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, potentially helping Sen. Barack Obama in the next round of the campaign on Saturday.

For the first time, Nevada Democrats planned to set up nine locations for Saturday’s vote so casino shift workers, who are largely represented by a union that endorsed Obama, could attend caucuses and vote for a presidential candidate.

If you didn’t catch the latest Bill Clinton tirade, it was all about tactics to shut down any attempt to allow the casino vote to go forward. Today’s decision by the judge just popped a 3rd vein in Bubba’s forehead.

The question now is, just how much will this decision benefit Barack Obama? Polls show him behind Hillary in Nevada.

Tags:
2008 Election, Barack Obama, Campaign, Hillary Clinton, Politics, Bill Clinton

So, whom will I email tonight? Roger Ailes? How about James Carville? Or maybe Morgan Fairchild? Naw, I think I’ll just send a quick note to Michael Eisner. Ah, scratch that. I’ll forward a bad joke sent by my aunt to Madeleine Albright. Sure, that’ll do.And then tomorrow night…

Tags:
Gawker, Nick Denton, Susan Estrich

Ross Perot: alive, well, and feisty as ever.

Tags:
2008 Election, Ross Perot, Newsweek, Jonathan Alter

Mike Huckabee has signed a pledge to deport all illegal immigrants.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee yesterday continued to move to the right on immigration during this year’s presidential campaign, signing a pledge to enforce immigration laws and to make all illegal aliens go home.

The pledge, offered by immigration control advocacy group Numbers USA, commits Mr. Huckabee to oppose a new path to citizenship for current illegal aliens and to cut the number of illegal aliens already in the country through attrition by law enforcement — something Mr. Huckabee said he will achieve through his nine-point immigration plan.

“Some would say it’s a tough plan. It is, but it’s also fair and reasonable,” Mr. Huckabee said.

Just how iron clad is that pledge, Mr. Huckabee? Is it good through the primaries, through the general election, and through your term as president? Or, is it effective through the South Carolina primary this weekend? Or maybe it’s good in some states and not others?

This vow is dubious at best.

Tags:
2008 Election, Campaign, GOP, Huckabee, Immigration, Politics, South Carolina

Barack Obama wants to be president for Americans, and animals too.

Tags:
2008 Election, Barack Obama, Pandering