On the news this morning, someone who's name I don't remember but appeared to be independent, credited Palin with giving a good performance. However, he said what I think sums up the night.
"Biden looked presidential, Palin looked mayoral."
Article explains why Obama could be using Kaine to set up the real announcement of Sebelius. Hopefully it's true....
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/07/sebelius-shell-game.html#comments
From an e-mail a friend sent me late last night:
Something about all the Kaine buzz just doesn’t feel right, unless Obama is planning on making the announcement tomorrow.
-- Nate at 7:22 PM
Why is everyone after the telecoms? I don’t care if they get immunity. I’m pissed at the president, not the telecoms. I know they broke the law, I know they intruded on our constitutional freedoms. But it’s not like it was their idea. It’s not as if they were spying on us for fun. If our crook of a president could convince 75% of Americans to invade another country for no good reason, it’s not surprising they could convince a few corporations that they had no choice but to tap our phone lines. Can’t we still compel them to testify against the administration under subpoena from congress? They’d have immunity so there’s no reason they shouldn’t tell the truth.
I’m more disappointed in our pathetic democratic leadership than in Obama. He’s running for president and his opinion carries some weight but apparently not enough to stop this bill from passing. What’s he supposed to do? Speak out against it now and make it look like he can’t even control his own party? Who says he should do that anyway? He’s not a dictator and I don’t want him to be. He’s consistently said he’s willing to compromise, although I admit, I don’t see what the republicans gave up in this “compromise”.
Reid and Pelosi have no backbone and have let Bush have his way for a year and half now. They let the primary get out of control and pissed off a lot of democrats in the process. And they’ve put Obama in a terrible position with this bill.
Along with the fightthesmears link, send this to anyone who sends you a lying smear email about Obama
The Truth About Barack ObamaREAL RUMORS ABOUT BARACK OBAMA
Barack Obama wears a FLAG PIN at all times. Even in the shower.
Barack Obama says the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE every time he sees an American flag. He also ends every sentence by saying, "WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL."
Click here for video of Obama quietly mouthing the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE in his sleep.
A tape exists of Michelle Obama saying the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE at a conference on PATRIOTISM.
Every weekend, Barack and Michelle take their daughters HUNTING.
Barack Obama is a PATRIOTIC AMERICAN. He has one HAND over his HEART at all times. He occasionally switches when one arm gets tired, which is almost never because he is STRONG.
Barack Obama has the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE tattooed on his stomach. It's upside-down, so he can read it while doing sit-ups.
There's only one artist on Barack Obama's iPod: FRANCIS SCOTT KEY.
Barack Obama is a DEVOUT CHRISTIAN. His favorite book is the BIBLE, which he has memorized.
His name means HE WHO LOVES JESUS in the ancient language of Aramaic.
He is PROUD that Jesus was an American.
Barack Obama goes to church every morning. He goes to church every afternoon. He goes to church every evening. He is IN CHURCH RIGHT NOW.
Barack Obama's new airplane includes a conference room, a kitchen, and a MEGACHURCH.
Barack Obama's skin is the color of AMERICAN SOIL.
Barack Obama buys AMERICAN STUFF. He owns a FORD, a BASEBALL TEAM, and a COMPUTER HE BUILT HIMSELF FROM AMERICAN PARTS.
He travels mostly by FORKLIFT.
Barack Obama says that Americans cling to GUNS and RELIGION because they are AWESOME.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5bYzL2y7xQ
Hillary would make the ticket very strong. Extremely high turnout among democrats would outnumber independents and republicans put together and we'd dominate the general election.
But then, the work begins and Obama would soon find out what a pain Hillary and Bill are to what he wants to accomplish. And I don't think her supporters would ever fully respect Obama as the president. They might not anyway, but as long as Hillary is there, they would see her as a co-president.
Obama needs to pick a VP very soon or this talk about Hillary will get out of control and the pressure will mount for him to choose her. I think Bill Richardson or Kathleen Sebelius would be great choices.
I say Obama should step up, be the bigger person, and offer her a 51-49 win in both states. The delegate differential would be minor and wouldn’t change the outcome of the race, but she could claim she won both states and they would be represented at the convention. Obama would be seen as having respected the will of the voters and demonstrate his ability to compromise, and there would be nothing left standing in his way of the nomination.
The Spurs were in control most of the game, but the Hornets came back a little toward the end. Unfortunately for them, with less than a minute left they were a little too far behind to catch up in time, so they started fouling the Spurs with the chance of getting the ball back with more time left on the clock. But the Spurs made their free throws, and then the Hornets missed their shot, so they fouled them again, so they shot more free throws. And they kept making them. Pretty soon their 3 point deficit turned to a 9 point loss.
Teams do this all the time when they're about to lose a close game. This strategy rarely works but the alternative is just to give up and let the other team win. That's just in a basketball game. This is the presidency of the United States. She absolutely won't give up until there's not a sliver of a chance left. But with each desperate attempt, Obama keeps getting stronger, keeps looking more presidential, and she just keeps digging herself a deeper hole.
And when it's all over, Obama will be the clear winner.
3 months from now, I have a feeling the democratic convention may get the highest ratings it’s ever gotten. Hillary and Bill will each speak and fully endorse Obama(If they don't, they'll be seen as very sore losers and will give up any hope of seeing the White House again).
She's done. She might act like she's still in it, her supporters might act like she's still in it, but we all know she's done. The superdelegates are flocking to Obama and aren't going to stop. Going negative on Clinton at this point makes us look like bad sports.
We shouldn't let up on trying to win votes in the remaining states, but it's time to shift our focus to McCain. But even then, let's keep it civil. The reason I am supporting Obama is because he's trying to avoid the partisan, us-against-you politics that has stalemated our government for decades. We're trying to make a better America. It's all about hope and positivity, as corny as it sounds.
When the voters see the sharp contrast in policies between Obama and McCain, Obama WILL WIN the presidency. It's important we all believe this and follow it as much as possible. This race will get very negative later and we can respond appropriately when the time comes, but Obama is now in a transition from being primary candidate to Democratic nominee. He is being kind of re-introduced to the American public. Let's show them we really are for change.
For the past couple months, I've considered the Clinton campaign and their supporters to be a joke. But Obama did have 6 weeks to campaign in Pennsylvania and he still lost by 10 points. At this point in the race, he should be able to win, or keep it within 4 at least. It's not enough anymore to say that she's got better name recognition, or that she wins states that suit her demographics. Clinton still has a loyal base, and it seems clear to me now that he should offer her the VP to end this thing. You have to at least respect the fact that so many of her followers haven't abandoned her. Let's stop beating up on each other, and just take the fight to McCain. The big picture here is that Obama would be in charge of getting us out of Iraq and establishing better health care and education, and he'd have Hillary Clinton as his henchwoman like Cheney to do some of the dirty work.
That is, if he doesn't win both Indiana and North Carolina by big margins. Then, all bets are off.
Hillary Clinton is a very formidable opponent in the big states. As unpopular as she might be among many people, she is very famous, very smart and very capable. If Obama never enterd this race, she would've run away with the nomination in a landslide. So there is no shame in Obama losing a close race in PA, OH, TX.... In the general election, he'll win most of the big states, no problem. and he can also bring in the mid-sized swing states where Hillary has virtually no chance.
I don't have the evidence, but I don't think there's a single state where Hillary did better than the original polls predicted, except maybe New Hampshire, and conversely, Obama improved in every single state.
Think about it, she started PA with a 20 point lead. He started NC with a 15-20 point lead. I bet she wins PA by less than 20, but he wins NC by more than 20. The more people get to know him, they more they support him.
Regardless of today's outcome, he's gonna be the next president.
In case anyone with any authority is reading, this seems very reasonable to me:
Allocate half the delegates based on the January primaries. Let the other half be allocated by caucus. I don't know if this has been suggested, but caucuses are easier and much cheaper to organize than a primary. The fact that Hillary gets any extra unearned delegates should be good news for her, but a good caucus showing by Obama would nullify that. Or if Hillary manages to pull out huge wins in each of them, gotta respect that.(but it won't happen!)
Splitting the delegates or negating them completely would be the fairest thing since those primaries obviously were very unfair and undemocratic votes, but I think this would be a good compromise.
What do you think?
