About Politics

sandeep singh chauhan asked:


President Barack Obama will make a short trip from the White House to the Pentagon on Wednesday, for fresh “unvarnished” advice from military brass on his Iraq withdrawal plan and the Afghan war.

In his first week in office, the new US commander-in-chief Obama has already instructed military planners to draw up proposals which would allow him to honor his campaign pledge to get most troops out of Iraq within 16 months.

The meetings on Wednesday were the latest step of a process initiated by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to introduce Obama to all the key players in formulating his war strategy, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

The president will get to meet “all the people that are involved in these decisions and all the people that are involved in committing the lives of men and women in our uniform,” said Gibbs.

The ultimate idea was for the generals to offer Obama advice in an “unvarnished way,” he said.

In his first days in office last week, Obama sat down with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, and General David Petraeus, head of US Central Command.

During his first visit to the Pentagon, Obama is to meet with Mullen and Gates. He is also to meet for the first time with the chiefs of staff of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marine Corps.

“They want an opportunity to talk about Afghanistan and continue the discussion on Iraq,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said on Monday.

Obama will also, at a later date, get some time for in-depth talks with General David McKiernan, commander of NATO forces and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, Gibbs said.

The new president has pledged to boost US forces in that country amid deteriorating security.

Some 36,000 US troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan, half of them operating under NATO. The Pentagon has promised to deploy up to 30,000 additional forces to Afghanistan, nearly doubling the US force there.

Obama argued last week that the war in Afghanistan, which he called “the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism,” could not be separated from the volatile border area with Pakistan, where Al-Qaeda and Taliban elements have regrouped.

“My administration is committed to refocusing attention and resources on Afghanistan and Pakistan and to spending those resources wisely,” said Obama when he appointed Richard Holbrooke as US envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan on Thursday.

As part of his diplomatic push, the president said he would work with NATO allies and other states in the region, which could include central Asian countries and India — Pakistan’s arch-rival.

A debate is brewing over Obama’s 16-month timeline for withdrawal from Iraq, where 143,000 US troops are currently deployed.

Following their meeting with Obama on January 21, Gates and Mullen shied away from endorsing the accelerated timetable. Gates cautioned that the session was just “the beginning of a process of evaluating various options.”

Gates and Mullen have stressed that a series of elections in Iraq make this an important year for stabilizing the country.

Provincial elections are scheduled for January 31, marking the first time that Iraq’s Sunnis will be going to the polls in large numbers after boycotting the last elections in 2005.

Obama will face the demands of the military joint chiefs, who want to ease the stress on their forces deployed on both fronts for several years, and those of General Raymond Odierno, commander of US forces in Iraq, who worries that a precipitous withdrawal could threaten security gains there.

US Marines Corps Commandant James Conway said he was ready to send “20,000 or less” Marines to Afghanistan, where about 2,200 Marines are currently deployed. He cautioned however that “anything you put into Afghanistan must necessarily come from a reduction of the number of Marines in Iraq.”

Under an agreement signed between Washington and Baghdad in November, the US military is due to withdraw its combat troops from the country by the end of 2011.

In his first formal interview as president earlier this week, Obama told the pan-Arab Al-Arabiya television network his administration would be more actively engaged in Middle East diplomacy than Bush.

He told the Muslim world that “Americans are not your enemy,” and pledged that his administration would “do a more effective job of reaching out, listening as well as speaking to the Muslim world.”





Used Vending Machines

James William Smith asked:


The media reaction to the recent ABC Presidential debate in Pennsylvania was almost unanimous. Television moderators Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos were widely ridiculed for not asking a single question on an issue of political substance for more than the first fifty minutes of the Presidential debate. Indeed, there was not a single question on health care, the war in Iraq, the economy, illegal immigration, social security, or any other of the important challenges and issues facing America today.

Instead, for nearly the first hour of the debate, the voters heard questions concerning Barrack Obama’s recent dubious comments on small town America. In addition, the ABC moderators focused several questions on Obama’s relationship with his pastor, the controversial Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Another debate question concerned whether Obama loves the American flag and why he does not wear flag pins on his suit lapel. Still another question concerned Barack Obama’s relationship with the former radical leader of the “Weathermen“, William Ayers.

While some of the criticism of the coverage of the Democrats Pennsylvania debate is certainly valid (especially troubling were the continued camera shots of Former First daughter, Chelsea Clinton), the questions posed by the moderators in those first fifty minutes were exactly the types of questions that the American voter now needs answered in order to vote for or against Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama.

It is evident that the country is aware that Barack Obama is to the left of the American political center on most of the major issues. It also appears from the public opinion polls that much of the American public would currently support an inexperienced, liberal, Democratic politician in the 2008 Presidential election. In fact, the polls indicate that if an election between John McCain and Barack Obama was held today, it would certainly be very close.

So a pertinent question in the mind of the American voter is really just how far to the left of center are the politics of Barack Obama? The ultimate answer to that question will probably decide the 2008 Presidential election. Therefore, the questions in the first fifty two minutes of the ABC Presidential debate, while not about national issues, were certainly not frivolous and actually quite important.

Consider that Barack Obama is running for the highest office in the land on a very short political record. He has been a United States Senator for just three years. Prior to that he was a State Senator in Illinois. His political record is short and his voting record appears carefully designed with a future campaign for a high office in mind.

In announcing the reason for his candidacy for the Presidency, Barack Obama said: “What’s stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics, the ease with which we’re distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions”. His oratory sounds wonderful until one examines his actual record as an Illinois State Senator. That record indicates that he voted “present,” (effectively sidestepping many important issues) nearly 130 times. It is a political voting record that gives little insight into today‘s presidential candidate. It is also a voting record that is in conflict with the words of the man.

As a result, in the minds of the voters, there are really two distinct Presidential candidates named Barack Obama. Which of the two is the actual candidate is the biggest question the voters must answer between now and election day. The fact is that the Barack Obama who cannot win is the candidate who secretly agrees with the diatribes of his pastor, Jeremiah Wright. He also supports Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers, and other extreme activists of the American left. The Barack Obama who cannot win is the candidate that makes elitist comments about small town America and its guns and religion. The Barack Obama who cannot win is the candidate that continues to backpedal and apologize for gaffes and communication errors.

However, the Barack Obama who can win the 2008 Presidential election is the candidate who uses his considerable communication skills to unite the nation. Also, he must be a candidate who transcends partisan politics and wants real reform in Washington, D.C. He would learn quickly from his limited experience and cannot vote “present” on the major issues of the day. He may not be an elitist, but should be the candidate who has shown great skill in the management of his heretofore successful Presidential campaign.

Is Barack Obama a unique, thoughtful politician who can transcend party politics and use his considerable oratory skill to lead the country and reform Washington DC.? Or is Barack Obama a far left of center, elitist candidate who secretly admires the dubious diatribes of his radical pastor, and who condones the actions of a violent underground leader of America’s past?

Historically, American political reality concludes that the former Barack Obama can win the 2008 Presidential election, while the latter Barack Obama simply cannot. It certainly would be a lot easier for the voters during the next several months if the real Barack Obama finally stood up.



Epoxy Floor Paint

Aaron Cohen asked:


Yeshiyah Amariel, a recognized Orthodox Jew of Hispanic (Cherokee) American descent, is all about Torah, unity and support for Israel.  His slender form, Chassidic styled black suit, black hat, and dark skin to match would give the first impression that he was a Black Hebrew or Ethiopian Jew, but there is much more to him than meets the eye.  He is a contributor to AIPAC, member of United Jewish Communities, and has also lived in Israel for several years as a volunteer for an Israeli archaeologist, the Nature and Park Authority and other worthy causes.  He has been involved in translations of artifacts and excavations of Tel Arad, which is considered the only archaeologically discovered “BYT-YHWH” in Israel, and received recommendations from colleagues to attend any university in the country to become an archaeologist.  He is also currently studying to take exams to receive semicha from the Chief rabbinic’s office in Israel. 

Amariel’s family are among the Native American tribes that many historical figures, such as the 1800s Jew Mordecai Noah, regarded as brothers to the Jewish people and a lost tribe of Israel.  In 2005 Yeshiyah’s father was published in a Jerusalem Post article by Sheera Frenkel that traced their family’s Jewish links through Cherokee roots and also spoke concerning his translation of the ancient Hebrew Tanakh into English (referred to as the first of its kind).  Howshua Amariel (Yeshiyah’s father) is also a rabbi who sits on a Torah-based judicial committee of black Jews with Rabbi Capers C. Funnye Jr., cousin of Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (Senator Barack Obama’s wife).

In our interview, Yeshiyah Amariel claimed that his grandfather knew Senator Obama back when he was originally running for the Illinois State senate.  Amariel added “My grandfather told us that we should support Obama because he has good intentions.  And given Obama’s record of support toward Israel since he has been in the US Senate, I was inclined to agree with my grandfather.”  “From my work, I have received letters of recommendations from Rabbis, Jewish community leaders, and Orthodox Israeli Jews in support of my goals to become an official rabbi in the State; but it wasn’t easy” said Amariel, stating that it took years for them to know that he was sincere in his objectives.  He imagined that the same would be for Obama and decided to offer his assistance.  So Amariel called the Obama Headquarters in Chicago and volunteered directly with officials and offered his aid to anything he and other supporters in Israel could give.  “When we called the operators were excited to hear from Americans calling from Israel to volunteer for the movement for change.”  “From then I got in contact with Obama’s Mid-East and Jewish advisor Eric Lynn and let him know that we were starting this ‘campaign’ in Israel to support Obama.  I also urged him that Obama should consider a visit to Israel and if he did we would be there to show our support.”

On the political scene, Amariel is a member of Democrats Abroad in Israel, and the lead manager and strategist for the “Israel for Obama” campaign started in Israel.  His group of American Israelis helped comfort Jews and Israelis to the idea of an Obama presidency and organize Americans living in Israel to vote for Barack Obama.  One of the members of the group Samson Altman-Schevitz also lived in Chicago and knew Michelle Obama when she served as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago.  They have a blog on Obama’s official page, but beside that Yeshiyah is also a member of other pro-Obama Jewish groups in the United States like Orthodox Jews for Obama and Jews for Obama (whom have supported their efforts in Israel).  After Senator Obama’s visit to Israel, Yeshiyah and his group have received letters of cooperation with DA Israel chair Joanne Yaron and DNC supported Middle-East regional director Bob Barad in Italy.

Amariel also has written and received at least two letters from the Senator concerning his positions on Iran (Sanction bills passed), Israel (his commit to their continued aid) and the Palestinian conflict (to abstain from additional fighting that could prevent the peace process).   Yeshiyah hopes to provide the Israeli people with a direct link to the Illinois senator to better understand his positions when concerning Israel and the Jewish people.  He also wants to establish this connection for average Israelis to express their views from the grassroots.

“We interview American Israelis all over Israel” stated Amariel as he referred to their ‘IsraelforObama’ YouTube Channel.  “…the number one reason why most Jews we talk to have a good opinion of Obama is because of the idea of unity within his campaign’s message.  Some believe that kind of idea of harmony may be what the Middle East could use to become peaceful.  I believe it’s what should be used to bring Jews together around our common goals.”

 

Sources:

Barack Obama Israel for Obama blog [http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/IsraelforObama]

American’s Election HQ; Wednesday, July 23, 2008; “Obama Calls for ‘Lasting Peace’ in Israel, Warns of Iranian Threat” by FOXNews.com.   [http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/07/23/obama-defends-israels-right-to-self-defense-says-hell-work-for-peace/]

TIME Magazine; Wednesday, Jul. 23, 2008 “Obama Tours Holocaust Memorial” By AP/DAVID ESPO [http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1825777,00.html]

Barack Obama  Orthodox Jews For BO group [http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/OrthodoxJewsForBO]

The Philadelphia Jewish Voice- Democrats Abroad Israel; Bridging the Gap between Israel and America Israeli-Americans: The Hyphenated Citizens. [http://www.pjvoice.com/v31/31200groups.aspx]

Democrats Abroad Israel  [http://www.democratsabroad.org/group/israel-jerusalem-area]

 



Triple Scented Jar Candles

LJ’s Back! asked:


Obama says he is different, a new type of politician. So, what’s so new about him? Is his foreign policy views different than past democrats? Are his views on gay marriage, abortion, and school vouchers different than past democrats? Are his views on energy independence, taxes, and the economy different than past democrats? Is he more patriotic than past Democrats? Does he refuse to throw race into the election, unlike past Democrats? What makes him so unique and so different than a Jimmy Carter or a Walter Mondale? What makes him different from a John Kerry or a Michael Dukakis?

Stained Glass Fireplace Screen

Jordan Christopher asked:


Everyone deserves a chance to know their grades so here is President Obama’s chance to see how the Coltons Point Times grades his first 100 days as president.  There are two elements to the grade, the personal actions of the president and the policy actions of the president.  The true performance in both these areas is a reflection of just what type of leader he will become.

In terms of international relations the grade is quite good as most nations of the world are now more interested in photo ops with our president than trashing the USA.  Yet we have received nothing tangible from other nations in terms of the things he asked them to do.  Korea shot off the missile, Iran builds nuclear weapons, terrorists rule Afghanistan and Pakistan, drugs flow through Mexico, there is little coordination between nations in stimulating the economy and on and on but at least they are now smiling when they stick it to us.

Back here in the USA his grade is more mixed.  There is little doubt he controls Congress and in order to take advantage of this he is flooding Congress with requests for legislation, appropriations and new programs.  In fact the volume of requests from the Administration has clearly overwhelmed the ability of Congress to absorb them so we have the Pelosi & Reid Rubber Stamp which means if the president wants something and it is liberal enough, it gets rubber stamped.

The House and Senate Democratic leaders and even the president seem to think all those people who voted against Bush wanted immediate socialism when they wanted change but I don’t think so and when people realize how far left we have already drifted they are going to be shocked.  They also seem to forget that 47% of the people voted against Obama and another 45-50% of the people eligible to vote did not register or vote.  That means in truth Obama got about 25-27% of the eligible vote, hardly a mandate from the people.

Campaign Spending

After promising to limit the cost of the campaign by taking public funds, Obama changed his mind and proceeded to spend the largest amount in history, $775 million.  Add in another $160 million for his Inauguration and $18 million to be spent after the election and he is the first BILLION DOLLAR president in history.  So much for limiting campaign spending.  With tastes like that it is no wonder over $3 trillion has been allocated by the government for bailouts and bribes, payoffs and profits, all of which was approved by Obama.

It seems the same problem existed in his selection of talent when he promised all new people to replace the old gang of Washington insiders.  He is surrounded by Clinton and other Democratic hacks along with a legion of former Goldman Sachs and other lobbyists who have now turned their attention from wrecking Wall Street and the economy to sucking every last cent from the federal government and Federal Reserve.  In the process he also was the first president to nominate seven tax cheats to the highest offices in the nation.

Latin American Relations

Obama seems to have impressed the leaders of the Latin countries just as he did the Europeans and Asians and I don’t get too concerned about him getting cozy with Fidel’s brother in Cuba and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela even if they are playing him.  We need to do a lot of work with the Latin countries and Canada, like form some kind of American Union, so we can fix the mess we are in.  Maybe Obama can help?

Middle East Relations

In spite of our presence in Iraq and the Middle East, our troops stationed there, and our massive foreign aid expenditures to both sides of the Israel and Palestine groups, we have little impact on anything that happens there.  The Middle East is oil rich country, oil we could temporarily replace with drilling offshore and in Alaska and sharing the resources of Canada, Mexico and South America.  If we were moving in the direction of eliminating oil consumption over a period of decades we could supply our own oil and gas right from the Americas.

The Middle East problem cannot be solved at this time.  Hatred runs rampant between Moslem Shiites and Sunni, between Moslems and Israelis, between the Taliban and traditional Moslems, between the Christians and radical Moslems, between just about everyone.  There will be war in the Middle East because there is always war in the Middle East, for as far back as our history takes us.  Obama could be a Moslem, Jewish, Coptic Christian and it will not matter, there will be war.

Our policy so far has been to aid and arm all sides, a technique perfected by the European bankers that helped fuel a constant state of war in Europe for a couple of centuries.  The Christians, Buddhists and Hindus of the world can sit back and watch as the Arabs and Israelis battle it out once again.  It seems ironic that the Talmud of Israel is like our Old Testament and the Moslem Koran is like our New Testament yet the nations following them seem oblivious to the most important Commandment of all, love thy God and love thy neighbor.

Banks and Credit

Now that we have pumped about $3 trillion into economic stimulus and corporate bailouts what have we achieved?  We are still here.  Credit remains a problem but VP Biden finally got his way and Obama will be meeting with the credit card companies to discuss ways to save them.  Most of these companies are located in Delaware, the same state Biden used to represent.  What a coincidence.  Biden should have the agenda down pat, he took care of these companies when his son was their lobbyist.  He even sponsored a bill to change the personal bankruptcy law to protect the delinquent bills of credit card companies during a bankruptcy action.

Goldman Sachs continues to rule Wall Street and Washington, DC meaning anyone who owes them money through loans, warrants, derivatives or other manipulations will get a government bailout at least enough to pay off their debt to Goldman.  So AIG teeters on the brink of disaster and gets $173.3 billion in federal aid then pays off $30 billion to Goldman.  A failing company and Goldman gets 100% of all the money owed by AIG.  It does go to show how firms like Goldman have seemingly unlimited access to the US Treasury and Federal Reserve.

When is Obama going to have Treasury tell us how much money is yet needed to cover the toxic loans, the commercial real estate loans, and the credit card delinquencies?  Someone knows the numbers but the transparency of the president seems to have no effect on his people.  Do we face trillions more in socialist subsidies and bailouts before we see light?  Maybe!

Health Care Reform

Somehow the notion of spending $634 billion as a “down payment” on health care reform is not how meaningful reform is achieved.  Normally you identify the savings and then reduce the budget, not increase it.  As the changes work, a rather bold assumption, you bring in the people not covered by health insurance.  Did you ever see health and life-expectancy statistics on people with no health care?  What if they live longer and happier than those covered by insurance?  Just how many billions and billions of dollars are spent on unnecessary operations and medication?

If Obama is really an advocate of transparency, then he should publish the total income of doctors, hospitals and clinics from government programs like Medicare, Medicaid and veterans treatment, or did they contribute so much to the campaign they are protected like so many other groups?  This entire industry from professional services to hospital facilities, drugs to treatment costs to insurance must be investigated from top to bottom to find where greed took over and then eradicate it.

Obama and Religion

“America is not a Christian nation!” so echoed the words of our new president in his first major address to the Moslem people of the world.  Since taking office his liberal media allies have been foretelling the death of Christianity in America and his actions have helped pound a couple of nails into the coffin of Christianity.  Our founding fathers might have found his words a bit hard to swallow.

It took Obama 8 weeks from the day he was inaugurated to find his way to a church with his family.  At that pace he will attend church service 6 times his first year in office, or about 100 less times than he gets on the basketball court for a little b-ball.  Of course after his experience with his big mouth minister during the campaign maybe he is a little gun shy.  At least we found out he doesn’t pay attention while at church since he didn’t hear a thing his radical minister bellowed from the pulpit.

He has liberalized abortion in the year when America has now reached over 50 million legalized abortions performed.  For every 6 Americans living one was aborted and for every 2 abortions performed for medical reasons (either the fetus or the mother) 25 abortions were performed for no reason.  Add in the expansion of stem cell research Obama approved, research certain to lead to even more abortions for profit, and we fail to find much of anything that would appeal to Christians.

Global Warming

So what can we say about the Obama multi-billion dollar Global Warming initiative?  Well I’ve studied a little bit of history and seems I’ve found a little information that casts doubt on this Global Warming thing.  It seems global warming and cooling are a natural part of the existence of Earth.

In fact the worst ice age of all time occurred between 850 million and 630 million years ago during the Cryogenian period.  Scientists believe it produced a Snowball Earth in which the entire globe was covered in permanent ice.  Back then the accumulation of greenhouse gas, the stuff we are trying to get rid of, was produced by volcanoes which melted the ice and saved the Earth.

At least four major ice ages took place in our Earth’s history.  The current age started 2.58 million years ago and we are currently in the warming phase.  These cycles of warming and cooling complete their cycle at 40,000 and 100,000 year time periods.  The next ice age can be scientifically predicted to begin about 50,000 years from now, with or without human generated global warming.  Nature will follow it’s course no matter what we do.

Since the last ice age was longer than 2.58 million years ago and at least four ice ages have taken place with most if not all of the entire globe frozen, and this was before civilized man, before any man we know of, what caused the natural cycle?  Either volcanoes explode, and there are still many around the world and in America, they create a dense layer of soot and ash in our atmosphere, and the debris blocks the sun from hitting the Earth.  A few hundred years required for the Earth’s atmosphere to clean up and we have another ice age.  A large meteor could do the same and some have hit the earth.

How could we have had four major ice ages and thousands of warming and cooling cycles like we are in without mankind populating the earth and no advanced technology?  No doubt mankind can speed up the process of global warming with our excessive consumption and emissions.  No matter what we do the global warming and cooling cycles will come and go  

Personally I think if we want to stop polluting we should just ban all plastics which is made from oil, ban imports from countries that are polluting with their factories, and give a tax rebate of $2,500 for every car bought getting 35-49 miles per gallon (mpg), $3,500 for cars getting 50-75 mpg and $5,000 for cars getting 76-100 mpg.  That kind of subsidy will make the hybrids, hydrogen and electric cars profitable to the car makers.

Okay, so what about the report card?  Well, I say forget the grades, the Democratic leadership in Congress will just change the grading system in America to accommodate and cover up the fact we no longer lead the world in much of anything.  It is not politically correct to encourage individual excellence, leadership, innovation or exceptional performance in a socialist world if that is what the left wing wants.  I say give them a blank report card just like the report cards our public school students get.  How else could we have the highest cost of education in the world and the worst results of most developed nations?

 

 



Learn The Basics Of Painting

BigChiefEddieLightningFrog asked:


Would OBAMA be idealogically flexible enough to sign a healthcare bill that is stripped of the public option that most voters are afraid will be morphed into a heavy-handed single-payer healthcare system.

Is Obama astute enough to recognize that he can’t force people to accept a system where the government-alone controls doctor’s income & patient’s options.

Closet Storage Systems

Jason P asked:


Obama has to really be carefull. If he ever says anything in a speach to blck people, then the white folks would get pissed . He is in a unique position. And here in Tennessee where I live there are alot of ignorant rednecks just looking for a reason to critise him. He can’t seem to win.

Shimano Fishing Reels

A A asked:


Okay so I know this totally seems like a trolling question but I’m serious. Obama has said the constituion is seriously flawed and doesn’t say what the country must do for citizens. Many of his policies and things he is doing are also unconstitutional.

I believe all military members are sworn to uphold the constitution, how can you serve under Obama and uphold the constitution? Also, totally hypothetical right here but if Obama tried to take guns away from citizens where would you side on the issue, with the citizens or with Obama?

Can Vending Machines

James William Smith asked:


Political pundits are beginning to sense an end to the Presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton. Last week Peggy Noonan wrote a column questioning how gracious Hillary Clinton would be in defeat. This week Dick Morris predicted an eventual nomination victory for Barack Obama and the end of the pursuit of the White House by the former First Lady.

So are these pundits correct? Is the race for the Democratic party nomination over? Will it in fact be Barack Obama and John McCain in a race for the White House in the fall? Since at this point in the campaign it is all about the delegate count, let’s look at the possibilities.

The delegate count after last night’s Potomac Primaries is still very close with Obama leading Clinton by just 67 delegates (1242 to 1175) according to CBS News. The magic number for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination is 2025. Nevertheless the campaign of Hillary Clinton certainly appears to be in big trouble.

Hillary Clinton has lost every primary and caucus since Super Tuesday and her prospects for victory are slim for the rest of the month of February. She has loaned her campaign five million dollars according to various news reports. Her senior staff has been working without pay and her campaign is currently raising half of the amount of new campaign funds on a daily basis in comparison to the campaign of her opponent. She has just replaced her campaign manager.

The Clinton current campaign strategy is to conserve money and concede the remaining state primaries in February to Obama. The campaign is concentrating on winning the remaining primaries in March, April, and May. This would give Barack Obama substantial victories in all the remaining primaries in February (Hawaii, Wisconsin, and Washington). It should give him about 1300 total delegates on March 1, 2008.

This February election result would insure that Clinton would trail Obama by around 90 - 100 delegates entering the March 4, 2008 primary contests of Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont. She will have not beaten Obama in a primary or caucus for a month. To remain in the race, Clinton would need victories approaching 60% of the vote in every remaining state except Mississippi in the month of March. If she somehow pulled this result off she would have about 1436 delegates on April 1, 2007. Obama would win about 165 delegates and his total would be 1465. The dubious news for Hillary Clinton is that Obama would still remain ahead at the end of March in delegates even if Clinton ran the table in March and won each contest (except Mississippi) by a 60-40% margin.

In April, 151 delegates will be at stake in the state of Pennsylvania. Let’s assume that Hillary Clinton wins that state with 60% of the vote and captures the same proportion of delegates. Her delegate total would be 1556 to Obama’s 1522, giving her a slight lead in delegate count. There would be 214 remaining delegates for the candidates to battle for during the primaries in the month of May.

Therefore, for Hillary Clinton to regain the lead on pledged delegates from Obama, she needs to win all the primaries (except Mississippi) with at least 60% of the vote in March and April. She needs to win the primaries in Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Wyoming, and Pennsylvania. She needs to achieve these primary victories with 60% or more of the vote. She will be outspent by the Obama campaign since he is raising more money. She also needs to produce these victories after a month of non-stop primary losses. Clinton also must realize that this is the same dubious strategy that did not turn out well for Republican Rudy Giuliani at the beginning of the 2008 election season. Based on all these factors, her chance to secure the Democratic Party nomination at this point look like a long shot indeed.

It is true that there are still about 500 remaining Democratic Party super delegates that remain uncommitted to any candidate. These delegates are Democratic party members and insiders. The problem for Hillary Clinton is that these delegates will quickly jump aboard the campaign that looks like a winner during March. After the primaries on March 4, 2008, if Obama is still ahead by at least 100 delegates and has won most of the state primaries and caucuses ( he has won 23 of the 35 to date), the super delegates will begin to endorse him in significant numbers and the Democratic race will be all but over.

The fact is that Obama has been endorsed by too many Democratic party regulars to be a victim of a back room deal that would have most of the remaining super delegates endorse Hillary Clinton. Also, the Democratic party will be careful not to allow insiders to appear to overturn the actual voting results of the primary states. However, in a last desperate attempt to stave off defeat, Hillary Clinton will probably try to use the disqualified delegates in the Michigan and Florida primaries to her advantage. These delegates were disqualified because each state moved its primary forward in the 2008 election calendar. As a result of breaking party rules the states delegates are not currently included in the delegate totals of either candidate.

In general, Hillary Clinton has to hope she can stop Obama’s political momentum very soon. Indeed, it now looks like she will be behind by nearly 100 delegates after all the February primaries are finished. One hundred delegates is a dangerous number to be trailing in this election year with the Democratic Party rule of proportionate allocation of the vote for each states delegates. Her only remaining hope is to run the table with big (twenty percentage point) wins in all the remaining primaries during the months of March, April, and May. However, her campaign’s last stand may well turn out to be on March 4, 2008 in either Ohio or Texas.

It is interesting to see how things can change so quickly in politics. Six months ago, Hillary Clinton was the candidate of inevitability and Barack Obama was the candidate of hope. In February 2008, each candidate’s prospects for the Democratic Presidential nomination are now exactly the reverse.



Pine Scented Candles

DC Maximus asked:


Obama has summoned to the WH kitchens a St. Louis pizzeria to cook for his majesty and 120 of his minion. While the scent of the warm and tasty pies fill the air and the revelers raise their beer mugs hundreds of thousands of people in the US are homeless. Moreover, today is Good Friday, a day of fasting and penance for millions of Christians worldwide. Yet this Muslim gorges on those delicious pies.

Instant Hot Water Heater