Did Hillary Mean It? WHO CARES?

I've got a few things to say about this recent body language/speech analysis that the networks seem to be indulging in when analyzing a political speech.

I don't put a lot of stock in over-analyzing a political speech, and I think that the networks are doing precisely that. And they're missing the point. What percentage of political speech made by a politician is actually meant?

The real answer might shock some of the pundits.

Regarding Hillary's "concession" speech, she just got her ass kicked in the delegate count, and for the sake of her party's unity, she gave the speech that people on her side needed to hear. THAT'S ALL IT WAS! And if anyone missed it, she said this between the lines: "Hope Obama loses so I can run again in 2012."

That's the headline, CBS. "Did she mean it?" WHO CARES!

As far as the side I'm on, I'm not on hers, and I will campaign against her again when she runs in 2012.

Joe Biden is Obama's Choice: Will Hillary's Voters Stand for This?

Joe Biden was announced as Obama's choice to be his running mate yesterday, and it's an interesting choice. I thought he'd go with Hillary Clinton to keep her voters from going over to John McCain on Election Day. I don't think they're going to go for this. There's a lot of grumbling going on.

It'll also be interesting to see if Obama's people can keep Senator Biden from going "off the reservation" and speaking his mind and getting into trouble again.

In any case, I'm not voting for the ticket. They're too far to the left for my taste.

Obama vs. McCain: Ho-Hum

So it's to be Obama vs. McCain in the fall. Sounds pretty boring to me.

While I'm happy that one of this blog's stated objectives has been accomplished with Senator Clinton withdrawing from the race against Obama, what are we left with? An ultra-liberal against someone whose maverick credentials are giving conservatives heartburn.

I'm not going to make up my mind now, but I'm not happy about November. Looks like a lose-lose situation to me.

Michigan Democratic Plan to Split Delegates Between Clinton and Obama is Junk: Why Are They Awarding Obama Freebies?

News broke yesterday of a plan put forth by Michigan Democrats to split the state's delegates between Clinton and Obama 69-59 in favor of Clinton. I think this plan is a very bad one. Obama wasn't even a candidate--he pulled his own name off the ballot--so why is he getting freebie delegates?

Clinton should be getting 55% of the delegates and the other 45% should go to the convention as un-pledged delegates, who can support whomever they want once they get to the convention. If they want to support Obama once they get there, that's fine, but to give Obama a single pledged delegate is not reflective of the election that was held.

He could have kept his name on the ballot, but he chose to pull his name from consideration. So he shouldn't be getting 59 freebie delegates at all.

Or 1/2 that number under Rule 20.C.1.A. of the "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention" which the DNC is in the process of violating. More on that later.

Forget the current plan.

Air America Radio Host Suspended for Anti-Hillary Rant: Ho-Hum

A liberal radio show host was caught blasting Hillary Clinton with some very bad words, and has been suspended. Yippee skippee. I'm so excited that I'm bored out of my mind.

Oh, did I say that out loud?

I wonder if this Air America host will get the Imus treatment, or if she'll be back on in a few weeks. That's the only part of this unfortunate situation that I'm interested in. Her choice of words WERE really bad, and that she did it at a work-related event was just plain stupid.

Democratic Candidate Mike Gravel Re-Launches His Presidential Campaign as a Libertarian

Mike Gravel, who was running for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency, has decided to leave the Democratic Party and run as a Libertarian.

That may be what he should have done in the first place. He couldn't get any traction against Democratic heavyweights Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama; he captured less than 1% of the Democratic primary delegates so far.

He endorsed a Green Party candidate three weeks ago as a Democrat; now he's running as a Libertarian himself. Is he withdrawing his endorsement of the Green Party candidate too?

This move, while very interesting, will probably not have the same type of results for Gravel that it had for Joe Lieberman when Senator Lieberman got drummed out by the far left anti-war movement in his party during his re-election bid for the Senate. Lieberman switched to being an independent and handily beat both major party candidates.

I certainly won't vote for Gravel as he's too far to the left for my taste. But it will be interesting to see if he's the candidate that disenchanted Democrats flock to (if they don't go to McCain) if their preferred choice (Clinton or Obama) loses the Democratic nomination. I will be watching this with great interest.

Obama Plan for Splitting Michigan Primary Delegates is Ridiculous: He Removed His Name from the Michigan Ballot

Barack Obama's proposal for splitting the Michigan primary delegates equally between himself and Hillary Clinton is ridiculous.

He pulled his name off the Michigan ballot; he wasn't even a candidate in the Michigan election. If they choose to go down a path like this, then they should give 55% of the delegates to Clinton and the rest go in as unpledged delegates, who can vote for whomever they want when the DNC seats them at the Democratic National Convention.

That's the only way that this system would work. But Obama can't pull his name off the ballot and then try to claim half of Michigan's delegates. That's sheer madness!

Hillary Needs Victory in One Big State and Both Smaller Ones Today: Otherwise We're in for a LONG General Campaign

Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island are all doing their primary elections today; McCain has an opportunity to sew up the nomination for the Republicans tonight; but it's the Democratic results that will determine if we have a short general campaign or a LONG one, which no one really wants.

Hillary needs to win in one of the delegate-rich states (Texas or Ohio) and both of the smaller states as well in order to stay in the game.

Republicans in Texas are being encouraged to cross the line and vote for Hillary, not only for the reasons I talked about here, but because Hillary looks to be further to the right, even though she's a liberal. Obama is way way left of her and is a losing proposition.

A close Democratic race until their convention guarantees a short general campaign between McCain and his Democratic rival. A two-month campaign is preferable to an 8 1/2 month long one, as we had in 2004 between Bush and Kerry. That's MY main point, and one that I've been ranting about for some time.

I won't endorse Hillary Clinton under any circumstances, but in the interests of keeping the fall general campaign short, I hope that her results tonight and for the remainder of the primary season ensure that the delegate count remains close, and that the final decision is made at the Democratic convention.

Last Night's Democratic Debate: Ho-Hum

Nothing new came out of the Democratic debate last night in Cleveland.

This is what happens when they have too many debates; they've already said their piece about twenty debates ago, and they have nothing new to offer.

I fell asleep watching the replay last night. Ho-hum.

What Will Be Clinton's Tone Tonight at Ohio Debate With Obama?

This:




Or this:



This will probably be one of the last debates. Will she play nice, or will she go on the attack? It will be interesting to watch. Hopefully she keeps the shrill voice--you know, the one that sounds like fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard--down to an absolute minimum.

Obama Hits a Nerve With Mailers: Clinton Goes Off Like a Rocket

Senator Clinton went ballistic on Senator Obama's latest mailers, which criticize her support of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and her health care program. She got on a mike at a campaign stop and used THE VOICE that sounds like a screeching bullfrog. Tarnation!

I think if she uses that voice during their next debate, it'll be Clinton who will be xeroxing Obama's memos during the general campaign.

Turn up the bass if you dare to watch and listen to the "Shame on YOU Barack Obama" speech below.

Clinton Keeps Losing: See What Happens When Candidate Makes the Campaign Nasty?

Is Senator Clinton learning anything from the way that Senator Obama is running his campaign?

Here's a hint for her: being positive and staying on topic win elections; name calling, accusations that she is also vulnerable to, and negative campaigning will lose elections left and right. And that's what happened. She lost Wisconsin and Hawaii because Obama outperformed her, and didn't take the bait that she threw at him over and over.

And get rid of that shrill voice. It's like hearing someone scrape their fingernails across a chalkboard. No one likes it.

Oops, did I say that out loud?

Clinton Accuses Obama of Stealing Ideas From Other Politicians: Accusation is Silly Coming from Her

Camp Clinton recently accused Barack Obama of "plagiarism" in his speeches and ideas. Here's a thought:

She shouldn't throw rocks in her glass house as she's guilty of it too. Look at the title of her 1996 book. It was plagiarized from an African proverb first, and then from a 1994 book by Jane Cowen-Fletcher, whose book was titled "It Takes a Village."

Clinton didn't even give decent credit to her ghostwriter, Barbara Feinman, for her hard work in actually writing the book.

So she ought to rethink this strategy, as she's just as vulnerable to it as he is.

Democratic "Superdelegate" System Seems Very Strange: Payoffs Are Legal and Superdelegates Are Not Answerable to Voters

The Democratic Party's superdelegate (aka "unpledged party leaders") system seems to be an out-of-control disaster waiting to happen.

As I understand it, payoffs in the form of campaign contributions to superdelegates, who are elected officials (ie senators, representatives, mayors, governors, etc) and others are legal. In some states, such as Texas, one campaign contributing to another is illegal, which is what got GOP Senator Tom DeLay accused of breaking campaign finance laws. Obama's spent $694,000 on superdelegates, Clinton's spent $195,000 on them.

The superdelegates are not pledged to follow the voting patterns of their home states either; they're free to vote how they want. A delegate that isn't answerable to the voters back home and isn't obligated to vote for who their people voted for is troublesome at best, and a disaster at worst.

I don't like or trust this system. It sucks.

Democrats Worried That They Won't Have a Candidate Until Late August: That Possibility Sets Up a PERFECT General Campaign

Democrats are worried that the ongoing battle between Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama will drag on until it's decided by the Democratic National Convention itself in late August. The Democrats are worried that they will have only a two-month general campaign.

That's the PERFECT amount of time for a general election!

I've been railing on the current primary system for many months, saying that the current primary season ends too early and it leads to a prolonged (and overly expensive) general campaign. I ask the question again: do we want a repeat of Bush vs. Kerry, where Kerry got the required votes by March 11th, 2004, and the following 8 1/2 month nightmare of a campaign between Bush and Kerry?

No, two months is perfect for a general campaign; especially since we're going to be treated to a liberal vs. liberal show anyways. We're going to need buckets to catch all the puke that's going to be flying out of our TV sets. Two months is MORE than adequate.

Giuliani Leaving the GOP Race is a Step in the Right Direction: He Was Too Socially Liberal

Rudy Giuliani dropped out of the GOP race. This is a positive development and not a negative one, in my opinion.

His liberal views on social issues made my voting for him impossible. I also objected to his calling himself a Reagan Conservative, when he definitely was not. We haven't seen the last of him, though. Odds are that if McCain wins the nomination, Rudy will be his running mate.

McCain's a pretend conservative too. He's not a conservative, and he's in the wrong party.

What a strange situation. Not one of the GOP contenders are who they claim to be. Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama have them beat in terms of stating who they are and what they stand for.

The GOP candidates have to shift gears, FAST.

If McCain and Clinton are to be the Choices in November, How Much Change Can We Realistically Expect?

Little to none. It'll be business as usual except that there will either be a pure liberal living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, or a liberal-minded "conservative" there.

That's why I think that one of the people running from outside Washington would be a better agent of change, if the candidates are serious about changing the tone of politics there. Insiders like McCain and Clinton are too involved there to be effective at changing the nasty tone in Washington.

And since both are the preferred choices of the liberal news media, that's another major reason to be concerned about this hypothetical John McCain vs. Hillary Clinton match-up.

I don't like the idea at all.

Romney Wins Michigan Primary, Hillary Beats Nobody

Well, Michigan's not-primary is over and Mitt Romney carried the state. And Hillary Clinton managed to beat someone called "Uncommitted." I'm not sure that's anything to brag about.

I could beat nobody too. So could you.

I also couldn't help but notice how quickly McCain and the other candidates who did not fare as well quickly dismissed Romney's victory as Michigan voting for it's native son. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Michigan has rejected other members of the Romney family in other elections in the past; Mitt won because of his business credentials and his coming here and addressing Michigan's economy head-on. In Michigan, the economy was the #1 concern of voters. And Mitt was more positive about rebuilding Michigan's reeling economy than all of the others.

McCain's pessimism about putting Michigan's work force back to work cost him the election. That's why Romney won, not because he's a native son.

Hillary Clinton Looks Poised to Lose New Hampshire Tomorrow: Her Campaign is in Trouble

If polling data coming out of New Hampshire is accurate, Hillary Clinton may lose the Democratic primary election there tomorrow.

Her campaign is already in a tailspin from her disastrous third-place finish in Iowa last week; another high profile loss before Super Tuesday may be a portent of how her campaign will finish up. Look for a radically different race on the "Wednesday after Super Tuesday."

I'm enjoying this, in spite of my continued anger over Michigan's disenfranchisement by the Democrats and Michigan's GOP delegate problem.

Polling starts in some New Hampshire communities beginning at midnight tonight.

More Reaction to the Iowa Caucus: Ho Hum

"Stunner" and "shocker" were two adjectives used to describe Iowa's caucus results in the news media. I couldn't disagree more. It was mostly a ho-hum event.

Mostly. Clinton coming in 3rd place did make my day, but the knowledge that an inexperienced "new" liberal beat her makes it a break-even event at most. That's too bad. I'd normally be celebrating something like Hillary Clinton coming in 3rd place.

I don't have anything to say about the GOP race, other than to say that it's nice to see that money doesn't always buy an election successfully; even in the GOP.