Election '08: Primaries

[erdogs]

This is what people like me have never liked about Bill Clinton. I have tons of respect for Obama and could see myself voting for him. I will never in my lifetime vote for Bill or Hillary. Bill had a pretty easy time in the White House, outside of Lewinsky; there were few major problems to deal with. Sure the economy was good and we had no Soviet Union to deal with, but I always felt like he lucked out to be the President at that time. It amazes me that some people are now starting to see this.

[monsoon]

.... but I always felt like he lucked out to be the President at that time. It amazes me that some people are now starting to see this.

[Justadude]

Mitt Romney has gotten the endorsement from Dick Cheney. I am not sure if this isn't the real kiss of death since he has the distinction of being the only national politician in the country that has a lower approval rating than Bush.

[Rural King]

I remember reading something about Harrold Ford, Jr., an Obama supporter, saying Clinton seems to think that the black votes in Memphis is "default" to her because of name recognition. Yeah, I believe Obama will be in Tennessee this week, because he has been to Alabama 3 times (Birmingham twice, and Selma) already, Georgia numerous times, so Tennessee will likely be his next stop considering he's covered us and Georgia already.

[cityboi]

Maybe, possibly because Bush Sr. was so despised by the time he left office that Clinton was able to put together to push out the Reagan/Bush mess from the White House. Since those days, Bush Sr's unpopularity has been greatly exceeded by his own son (like father like son) that it will be ironic that this again would translate to another Clinton win. If Bush wasn't so universally disliked I don't think people would be taking a serious look at Clinton.

On the other hand, a lot of people feel like it is time to get rid of both familes and vote in someone new and different. In that regard, Obama is the only politician running that truely offers that. Certainly none of the GOP candidates are going to offer up any change. It remains to be seen however if the American public can get over ideology and actually vote for someone who is new and different.

[kayman]

I have not heard anything about Harold Ford, Jr. coming out one way or another officially yet, but Mayor Herenton (Memphis) did come out for Clinton...and his endorsement still holds certian weight within the city despite his unpopularity and recent tough re-election in which he captured under 50% of the vote.

I definitely think Obama is going to make several stops in Tennessee and will get good traction out of them. Still have seen no Obama TV ads though, but I have seen Clinton ads now during the 6 o-clock news broadcasts in addition tothe 10 o'clock spots that have been running.

@ Leonard23 -What sort of ads is Obama playing in Alabama?

[cityboi]

Some sources are saying that Al Gore may endorse Obama.

Kennedy, John Kerry, Howard Dean, and Al Gore — have pledged to stop Hillary from getting the nomination

All of the top cat democrats are already endorsing Obama and If Bill Clinton's vice president endorses Obama that will be the killer blow to Hillary's campaign. Super Tuesday will be what decides who the democratic nominee will be. A Hillary Clinton nomination would be suicide for the democrats.

[Raintree21]

Kennedy, John Kerry, Howard Dean, and Al Gore

[cityboi]

I would think that the head of the DNC would try to remain neutral.

[Raintree21]

Obama won the endorsement of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius today. This is reportedly big because Kansas has been a Republican stronghold for some time now and she has the support of many moderate Republicans and Independents in the state.

A quote from her announcement:

"I think he represents the kind of leader that we need for the future of the country. I think he brings the hope and optimism that we really need to restore our place in the world, as well as to bring this country together and really tackle the challenges that we have."

[monsoon]

To quote the late Ann Richards, you can stick a fork in Guiliani, because he is done. At best he is going to come in a distant 3rd in Florida at least from the early results.

McCain and Romney is going to be a nail biter down to the finish line. (though it's appearing that McCain is going to win) The GOP establishment has jumped on the McCain bandwagon and it's only because that rank and file Republicans don't like McCain that he isn't doing better.

[Charlotteman]

I sat up all night last night and watched the news. On every news channel, all night long, different clips were shown of Romney and McCain calling each other "liberal".......god, those two men are nuts.

[Raintree21]

Clinton just won Florida however since they broke DNC rules, Florida will not be able to send their delegates to the convention. Clinton went to Florida after the polls closed and held a rally. Rumor has it that she will try and get their delegates to the convention despite the ruling that they aren't allowed.

McCain has also been declared the winner of Florida for the GOP. Romney finished 2nd with Giulani in a distant 3rd. Reportedly Giulani advisers are in talks with McCain's group about a possible endorsement next week.

[monsoon]

Guiliani's downfall over the past week has been dramatic. It's shades of Howard Dean in 2004 where he was also the "crowned" front runner for close to a year.

[Rural King]

I would think that the head of the DNC would try to remain neutral.

[monsoon]

Keep in mind that unlike the GOP primaries which are for the most part, like Florida, winner take all delegates, the Democrats award delegates proportionally. So this will result in a different strategy for them because a candidate only need win 41% of the vote to split the delegates with the winner. IMO this is a much more fair way to award representation for votes and the states ought to adopt it for the electoral college too.

Clinton's win in Florida is not reflective of what is going on now because she won pretty much all of the early voting, but did not win the votes cast in the past week. She has been basically reduced down to her core constituency of older White women. The big question here is how will John Edwards affect the outcome. If he pulls in enough delegates to keep either Clinton or Obama from getting a majority of delegates, then the convention will be a truly contested one like the Democratic party used to have prior to the 1970s.

Also now that McCain appears to the be front runner for the GOP, this changes the question for Democrats. Instead of voting for an opponent for Guiliani, we are not voting for an opponent for McCain. This is a much different match now because there is no guarantee that Hillary would win against McCain as she would the rest of the GOP field. McCain's win will affect the democratic super-Tuesday race next week for the democrats.

Also, I have a feeling that McCain is going to tap Huckabee to be his running mate.

Edit: Sounds like Edwards is going to drop out later today

[runawayjim]

CNN has a breaking new banner saying that edwards is definitely dropping out. i wonder who he will endorse.

[Charlotte_native]

CNN has a breaking new banner saying that edwards is definitely dropping out. i wonder who he will endorse.

[Justadude]

If Clinton and Obama end up in a virtual tie, and the Florida votes REALLY become an issue, we could see shades of the 2000 Presidential election. I would imagine that if Hillary could win the nomination by contesting the decision to exclude Florida and Michigan, she would do so even if it took weeks of divisive internal litigation.

[runawayjim]

I would love to end up with an Obama / Edwards ticket in November.

[cityboi]

I think Edwards wants the VP spot for whoever is the nominee, Thats why he said he not ready to endorse anyone. If he endorses Clinton for example and Obama ends up becoming the nominee, that pretty much kills his chance of being a running mate. Notice he has never been too tough on Obama or Hillary. I think after he lost Iowa and New Hampshire he starting running for VP. I hope he is the running mate. I think John Edwards has alot of talent and can change the direction of this country in the right way. People just wont give him a chance. At least if he becomes the vice president for 8 years in a successful administration, people would be more comfortable with his abilty to run the country. I do think democrats have not given him a fair shot and maybe most of the blame lies with the media. The media has the abilty to sway people's opinion on a massive level. When you focus mainly on Hillary and Obama, people start to think in thier heads that they are the only qaulified candidates. It really is ashame because I do believe Edwards is more electable than Hillary depite the support she is getting from the democrats. Even though Hillary is getting alot of support, It just doesnt sound good when a big block of democrats and independents hate her. I think alot of people vote based on popularity and they are not thinking clearly on what it will take for the democrats to win the white house

[monsoon]

I don't think that Hillary wants to give the VP spot to Edwards. My guess is that spot has been promised to Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana.

I am not sure that Obama would want Edwards as VP because of what was mentioned above. He has already been VP on a ticket that lost.

Both of them however could offer Edwards some role in the Administration if they win. My money is in Edwards going with Obama, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

[Gusterfell]

Clinton's win in Florida is not reflective of what is going on now because she won pretty much all of the early voting, but did not win the votes cast in the past week. She has been basically reduced down to her core constituency of older White women.

[cityboi]

I think its because Edwards supporters would likely support Obama since the two have similar plans and ideaology. People who support Edwards and Obama did so as an alternative to Hillary which is who they wont support. I do think that Edwards leaving the race will definately benefit Obama and Im sure Edwards knows that because hes leaving the race before Super Tuesday. While Hillary has more delagates and just won Florida, Obama is the one that has the momentum and he is closing the gap on Hillary.

[Raintree21]

Obama still trails Clinton by a large margin in the delegate count, so he needs to win big on Super Tuesday if he is to have a chance at the nomination.