Well, it was definitely more fun than voting in NYC. For one thing, the music was a lot better. Can't embed video here, but if you'd like to see the video. . .Special thanks to Democrats Abroad, Robert Harding Pittman for his great, spontaneous camera work, and to Dr. Sardonic for editorial consulting. This is a mocaenboca.tv production.
Barack Obama has won the democratic nomination. Yes, we can. Yes, We Did! As one of millions of Americans, a liver transplant nurse coordinator and her adult son, a computer programmer, through volunteering, can now share in the success. Read the blog about volunteering on Texas primary election day and see the pictures of Barack Obama's visits to San Antonio.
So I really do know how to spell our candidate's name but had to post about my children's learned enthusiasm for "Bak Obam". My four year old likes to chant "Go Barack Go! Go Barack Go!" and think good thoughts for him in regards to "winning the race against Hillary Clinton and then winning the race against ohn McCain". My two year old saw Barack Obama's face on my hubby's computer today and said "Bak Obam!" :)
I suppose the knowledge of Barack came to my children this winter during Super Tuesday while we were outside of a meditarainian resteraunt waiting for our food. There was this awesome work truck with what was kind of like a cattle trailer on the back and the driver had these huge Obama posters plastered to the sides. He was using a bullhorn telling everyone to go out and vote for Obama. My four year old, curious about the desire someone would have for shouting in to a bullhorn right in the middle of a busy strip mall said "mom, what is that guy doing??" He had also questioned just a bit earlier why there were people on the corner with big signs (Hillary supporters) shouting to people. At that point I had told him about a big race where two people were hoping to win and how much I wanted a man named "Barack Obama to win". He asked what the race was about and why I wanted him to win. Well, we strive not to be a highly competitive family and always try to remind our children that it's nice to support people on the other "team" when they win (although I AM finding it hard to practice myself with these never ending primaries!) ;) and told him that the person that won this race would help continue to make guidelines that people in our country will follow and that the person will help work to make sure that people can go to the doctor, have food to eat, etc. and that the people in the race have different ways that they think that they will do that. I told him that Obama seems like he really wants to help people like us and that he wants to help our country be a safe, happy place. He then promptly said "Well then I want Barack Obama to win this race too". It is just that easy for a 4 year old. :)
So from that point on my kids and husband have been following my desire to watch the primary results, endless CNN and other news sources (such as "Faux", I can thank one of the men on my friends list for that term) where I usually end up frustrated, wondering why in the world the networks have to be SO biased. I try to focus on the positive with our children though and try to help them see that it's important to support someone they believe in.
With all of that said, it was a very cute, warm fuzzy today when my younger son (2 years old in just a couple of weeks) saw Barack's picture today and said "Mom! Bak Obam!". My husband and eldest son said "Mom, did you hear T?" hee hee We all thought it was cute and he thought he was pretty cute himself.
So it all seems to start here. Teaching the importance of policital interest. Teaching children what really matters. It's not all of the bickering, which "candidate has outspent us 2-3 times over". It's about what matters to you, the individual, the family. It's about what you see for your future and for the future of your children. It's what you teach them is important, is worthy of your time and energy. It's what they see as mattering to you that affects them and leaves an impression.
It's my hope that Barack Obama isn't only awakening my generation of voters but that our generation is awakening our children and their future wishes to participate in shaping the country that they live in.
Last month I told you about the Belgian politicians who decided to put up posters of Barack Obama at the entrances to the historic city of Brugge (Bruges) in an effort to reach out to American tourists. Well in case you missed it, here are photos of a float in the Dusseldorf carnival parade in early February, just before Super Tuesday. A Stern poll of over a thousand Germans conducted about the same time indicated that they favored Obama over Clinton by 43 to 39 percent.
Every time I hear "Double Digit win" I get angry. In order to turn a 9.2% lead in Penn into a "double digit win" Clinton's spinmeisters rounded 54.6 up to 55% and rounded 45.4% down to 45%, then subtracted AFTER rounding, doubling the rounding error and dumbling the media. We need a group of mathematicians or scientists to make news pointing out this intentional error. If she can't add 2+2 what does that say about budgeting? Its the same spinning baloney as when Texas ended in a statistical tie (before Obama won most caucus delegates), yet Clinton turned that day into a "big triple win" instead of conceding after losing only 13 states in a row instead of 15. Today she is claiming to win the popular vote by counting uncountable states. The truth is that since Florida and Michigan don't count, of the 42 states counted so far, Obama has won 28 states to Clinton's 14 states. Thats 66.6% to 33.3% -- an electoral landslide if democratic delegates were allocated like Republicans or the Electoral College. Similarly, we can look at the results of biggest 100 cities in America, the size of crowds at events, as well as fundraising prowess. We have and are witnessing the Obama Landslide, and it is completely obvious except to those who have been dumbled-down.
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Barack Obama did a lot better in California and won more delegates than had initially been reported...
Last night the kids and I went canvassing for Obama around my neighborhood. It was so damn cold but they were bundled up in their wagon and although we got the door slammed on us a few times, it was an extraordinary experience because of the overwhelming support I found in my neighborhood for Obama and as a Democrat. I got hugs from Obama supporters and even passed out all but two flyers which the kids wanted to keep. What was nice was finding the Obama supporters and having them promise to pass on some flyers themselves for Super Tuesday. I called my family, a few friends and texted everybody else. It was nice because for the few who I saw last night that were undecided, they told me that because I spent time trying to educate them about Obama and that because I had been the only one representing any of the candidates that they were going to vote for Obama. When I texted some of my friends last night and this morning a few of them had actually admitted that they forgot to vote, but guess who they told me they had voted for when they finally did get to go vote today!! Furthermore, and I think one of the best perks of calling my family was convincing my aunt to vote. I honestly don't know who she voted for, but she told me today that she did indeed vote because of what I had told her about women not always having the right to vote and the need to exercise that right.
Overall it was really amazing that I could make a difference in people's choices for president and rewarding that I had actually been able to convince people to vote for Obama.
Tomorrow will be another HISTORIC DAY in the campaign of the next president of the United States. It is to be a day of definition, and a day of HOPE.
Barack Obama is a BRILLIANT man with a VISION for our country and the world. Sure, he's not perfect, even he admits it. But what a breath of FRESH AIR.
C'mon folks, let's pull together to make the victories tomorrow by large margins.
Consider this ...
Now this exerpt from the 2/27 debate ...
MR. RUSSERT: I want to ask both of you this question, then. If we -- if this scenario plays out and the Americans get out in total and al Qaeda resurges and Iraq goes to hell, do you hold the right, in your mind as American president, to re-invade, to go back into Iraq to stabilize it?
SEN. CLINTON: You know, Tim, you ask a lot of hypotheticals. And I believe that what's --
MR. RUSSERT: But this is reality.
SEN. CLINTON: No -- well, it isn't reality. You're -- you're -- you're making lots of different hypothetical assessments.
Hypotheticals, though hypothetical, are nevertheless to be considered. Our world has seen a lot of events happen that were beyond hypothetical, they were unimaginable.
Our leader MUST be able to think out the hypotheticals. This isn't checkers, it's chess.
** Please pass this along ... **
YES WE CAN!
It turned out that we were able to vote on Super Tuesday in Ireland!
We were planning on absentee voting in Texas, but at noontime i saw a CNN rticle that referred to "Democrats Abroad" voting in Indonesia hich mentioned that there were 20 delegates elected by Democrats in foreign countries. So we took a train across the country to vote in a pub in Dublin -- the only voting place the Democratic Party set up in Ireland. We figured that if we were two of 20,000 voters for 20 delegates, that would mean we had a greater influence than being two of a million or more voters for 235 delegates. [In 2004 about 840,000 Texans voted in the Democratic primary even after Kerry had already won the Democratic nomination.]
The link below is a 6 minute clip of the Obama rally held at the Los Angeles Sentinel headquarters as Los Angelenos' prepared for Super Tuesday. Word on the street is many who voted for Hillary on 2/5, NOW SEE THE TRUTH and only wish they could turn back the clock and have voted for Barack Obama. But oh well, we will see if the sweep continues today with Wisconsin and Hawaii and as the tide has turned, Texas has lost the Hillary steam but WE STILL NEED TO BE VERY DILLEGENT IN GETTING THE VOTE OUT so we never have another New Hamshire!!!!!
Video Footage - click on link below
http://fredyt.my.nero.com/blog/7201824
One of the most interesting results in the Democratic race on Super Tuesday was the fact that most of the states Barack Obama won were “Red” states in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections, meaning that they voted for George Bush. In addition, he won more Red states than Hillary Clinton did.
Obama won the following Red states on Super Tuesday: Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, Alabama, and Georgia. In addition, he previously won in South Carolina and Iowa (which voted for Bush in 2004).
Clinton won the following Red states last night: Arizona, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee. She previously won in Nevada and Florida (although neither she nor Obama campaigned in the latter and the outcome might have been very different if they had).
These results suggest that Barack Obama could ultimately be more electable than Hillary Clinton in the general election since a Democratic candidate needs to win some of the Red states in order to beat the Republican candidate.
This blog entry was originally posted here.
Yeah, I know it's been a week since Super Tuesday and the Idaho Caucus, but I still feel like sharing my experiences there. In all actuality, I think that Obama's big win in Idaho has been overlooked, and what I saw and felt while I was at the Kootenai County caucus is proof of what Obama can do in our country. To understand why, I'm going to fill you in on a little joke we share around here during election season. You'll see a bunch of people holding up signs supporting whoever the Democratic party supports in whatever election, and inevitably as you drive pass someone in the car will say 'Oh look, there's all the Kootenai County Democrats! All 12 of them!'
You see Democrats in Idaho are kinda like an endangered species, and also somewhat of a joke. It's almost easier to find Bigfoot. So when I walked towards the North Idaho College gym, expecting maybe a couple hundred people to show up, because of Obama-mania and all the phone calls. But the previous week we'd been hit by a terrible string of winter storms that had practically shut down the city of Coeur d'Alene, so I was expecting that even less people would show up. Imagine my surprise when I saw a line. People were out in full force. I waited a good 15 minutes in line, and that was because I arrived relatively early.
Before Super Tuesday both Michelle and Barack made appearences in Delaware. Unfortunately, I was in school so I missed both events but I was really excited to hear that they came through the first state.
Click this link to see picture slideshows of their visit: http://www.picturethatfilms.com/Picture_That/Home.html
I was really proud to see Delawarians out and about in support of this campaign.
DNMP
I'm anxious to see how they turn out. As is par, I'm not following polls and simply hoping (audaciously) for the best.
I keep wondering where exactly people are getting their delegate counts from. The New York Times on Wednesday had some 500-ish delegates for B.O. and H.C., clearly an estimate, and CNN has consistently had Hillary up by 15-30 in their estimates. MSNBC is saying Obama has more than Hillary, but their estimate barely higher than the Times'. I'm guessing it's a difference between "known" delegates and "probable" delegates.
Well, going by CNN's numbers, Obama has a way to go to catch up. He still has to get 100 delegates to pull even. I get a feeling like that won't happen either until the very last states or that it won't happen at all, and Edwards' delegates will become decisive. Boy, wouldn't that be a nerve-wracker?
There was a small debate today about the relative democraticness of the Republican and Democratic primaries. While the Democrats do not use any winner-take-all elections, they do have many more Superdelegates who are not allocated by a popular vote or caucus. Six of one, a half-dozen of the other.
p.s. I submitted a big paper on voting behavior for publication. Hopefully it will be accepted, as then I can start talking about it more!
I wanted to offer a few thoughts on Super Tuesday from a still undecided voter: I went into the day and night knowing that the outcome between Barack and Hillary was going to be close...I just never guessed it would be that close! Wow, it was a great night and I guess it was somewhat fitting that the results would be so close between what I believe are two great candidates! With the voting finished and the States 'called' I wasn't ready to let the night end...I had to see the speeches! Now I don't purport to be a writer, nor do I even play one on TV, but I love words...and I deeply admire the people that can string them together to create something moving and masterful. And I further admire the people that can stand up and speak these words and not only speak them in the fashion intended by the writer, but to give life to them...to make the spoken word, greater than the written word...to hear a speaker like this is magical experience-and on what could have been described as a magical day in American politics...I was ready to hear the speeches.
Unfortunately I believe I've heard enough of these speeches from these candidates that I tend to subconsciously handicap them. The imaginary bar in my mind, so to speak, is unintentionally lowered for some and raised for others. As I sat listening then...perhaps a bit numb from the hours of commentary...I felt particularly unmoved by what I was hearing. Not really disappointed in some, as is usually the case, but also not particularly inspired. Finally when it got to Hillary Clinton, I sat and listened to a well written and well managed speech, that had a very good finish, but also a speech that didn't quite live up to the Super Tuesday stage.
When it came to Barack's turn, I sat a little closer to the TV, listened a little more intently and raised my expectations more than a hair. As the speech was unfolding though, I couldn't help but catch myself thinking that maybe I had raised the bar to high for Barack. Perhaps there had been just too many spine tingling, bump raising speeches in the past, that I had come to expect too much? Well, just about the time I had finished this thought, I heard Senator Obama state something very close to, 'We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek..' It was a perfect string of words, delivered in such a flawless manner, that I thought maybe I didn't actually hear them...I was tired, was it just something I had imagined? It wasn't until Chris Mathews repeated them at the end of the speech, that I could take a breath with the knowledge that I had actually heard those words spoken.
The perfect words--at the perfect time...he had not disapointed...he had lived up to and surpassed my every expectation and I was once again left at the end of one of his speeches, with the burning desire to go out and do someting for my country. Maybe this time I know exactly what I can do for my country...I hope the rest of the country is listening, too!
Well the chips are falling now in both parties. Mitt Romney saw the numbers, internalized them, and decided that it is better to fight again another day, rather than to drag out the dischord in the Republican party until the convention. Will Hillary be as kind to the Democrats?
It seems to me that Colorado is pretty level headed on both sides of the aisle: Obama for the Dems, and Romney for the Pubs. Now my candidate is clearly out, and I am very happy that I didn't accept that nomination to be a precinct captain. It would be embarrassing to have to vote against my party's candidate while holding a position in the party.
More and more I swing my support Obama's way. I strike down the internet rumors wherever I hear them. I defend his positions (they are more defensible than McCain's.) I even give a nod to his tasteful attire. Nice suits Barak!
As the RNC revels in its slow and inevitable descent into darkness, Barak Obama brings a chance for light and hope to the nation. That just leaves the question: what of the Michigan and Florida delegates.
