American Values Alliance | Practical voice for progressive valuesAmerican Values Alliance | Practical voice for progressive valuesHere's your chance: While we're waiting for the polls to close, pipe up. What are you wondering about these days?
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Dithering seems to be the preferred modus operandi. I predict the campaigns will sound more like recess on the playground before too long. It's already started.
This from NPR:
NPR.org, March 4, 2008 · Arizona Sen. John McCain has swept Tuesday's primaries, earning enough delegates to secure the Republican presidential nomination, according to NPR projections. His chief rival, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, withdrew from the race Tuesday night.
McCain will now turn his sights toward the general election, with campaign stops planned for early Wednesday morning in Florida, expected to be a key swing state in November.
On the Democratic side, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama have each won a contest in the two states with the fewest delegates at stake on Tuesday. In her first victory since Super Tuesday, Clinton won the primary in Rhode Island, which had just 21 delegates at stake. Earlier in the night, Obama won the Democratic contest in Vermont, which offered 15 delegates. Obama has triumphed in 12 contests in the weeks following Super Tuesday.
The Democratic races in Ohio and Texas, the day's big delegate prizes, remain too close to call. With 141 Democratic delegates at stake Tuesday, Ohio is considered a key state in the Democratic primary, as well as a swing state for the general election. The results in those two states could prove pivotal in deciding the Democratic nomination.
Vermont, Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island all held contests Tuesday. Clinton needed a strong showing in the primaries to halt Obama's momentum, although she has vowed she will carry on regardless of the outcome. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, previously has said that she would need to win both Texas and Ohio to stay in the race.
Obama was starting to feel the pressure as the perceived Democratic front-runner, as voters scrutinize his record, including his relationship with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a Chicago real-estate developer and prominent political fundraiser who now faces federal corruption charges in Chicago.
Early exit polls conducted by the Associated Press showed that Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island voters were overwhelmingly concerned with the economy. The Democratic candidates focused on the issue as they slipped mentions of home foreclosures into stump speeches and fought over who had supported NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, which blue-collar workers blame for the loss of manufacturing jobs.
For Democrat Noreen Jones in Cleveland, the economy played a major role in her decision to support Clinton, whom she saw as a more experienced candidate.
"The jobs, the war and taxes — that's it. As a country, we got troubles. There comes a time when something has to be done," Jones said.
But not all Cleveland voters felt that way. Voter Daryl Manning works for the city and has two children in the city's public schools. He voted for Obama because he said he wants change.
"The idea of him just stepping up and looking for something different was a good thing," Manning said. "There have always been Bushes and Clintons."
For other voters, the issues loomed larger in their decision than the candidates' resumes.
Linda Champany of Barre, Vt., considers herself a Christian and voted for Huckabee.
"I want to see godly principals come back into our country and nation," she said. "Our vote is a personal thing, but I want to stand up for godly principals, and I think he does."
Foreign policy was also on the mind of voters in Texas. Exit polls showed that self-described conservatives dominated the Republican turnout in both Texas and Ohio. San Antonio voter Donna Barron, who described herself as a military brat, supported McCain.
"The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan matter. We need to stay there and finish our job," she said.
Vermont voters told exit pollsters that the Iraq war was their No. 1 issue. The state has one of the highest death tolls per capita from the war.
In total, 370 Democratic pledged delegates and 253 Republican ones are at stake in Tuesday's contests.
In the days leading up to March 4, the candidates crisscrossed Texas. Clinton renewed her argument that she is the more experienced candidate and, therefore, better prepared for the Oval Office. She ran an ad in the Lone Star State that features a red phone ringing in the middle of the night with news of a national disaster. The ad asked viewers which presidential candidate they would prefer to have on the other end of the line.
Obama countered the experience argument by reminding voters that Clinton voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq — a vote that he calls an error in judgment on her part.
The Republican candidates also campaigned in Texas, although in a less contentious battle. McCain appeared on Monday in Lubbock and Waco, following a two-day break from the campaign trail.
His chief rival, Huckabee, told supporters on Monday, "It ain't over until Texas says it's over." He held events in Dallas, Midland, San Antonio and Houston.
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas remains in the race, but first thing's first: He has to dispatch a Republican challenger for his House seat in Tuesday's primary.
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Lalita L. Amos, CRC
http://www.totalteamsolutions.com
http://totalteam.blogspot.com
Here's what I think? We need to have a Democratic contender, but quick! Watching Mike Huckabee pass the mantle off to John McCain, the senator is clear that he's now moving to the real work of preparing a solid campaign for November.
On the Democrat side, we're still working out the answer to the question: Who's on first?
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Lalita L. Amos, CRC
http://www.totalteamsolutions.com/
http://totalteam.blogspot.com/
This from the Daily Kos: Is the Clinton Campaign Now Engaged in Intentional Race-Baiting?
Seems that the Clinton campaign can't quite understand an basic premise: dark things absorb light and, thus, need gamma correction (at least) to keep from appearing darker than in reality.
See? That was a really nice explanation of how Senator Clinton's campaign came up with an eerily dark image of Barack Obama (who is medium complexioned). Kind of reminds me of the way the news media darkened OJ's image on that fateful cover. Thought they'd learn.
Maybe, they did.
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Lalita L. Amos, CRC
http://www.totalteamsolutions.com/
http://totalteam.blogspot.com/
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