Writing about history being made last evening was quite an experience. For those who may have missed it, here is the video of Obama's speech last night from St. Paul Minnesota.
Today, lets recap the results from the voters in S. Dakota and Montana yesterday. S. Dakota - Clinton 55% and Obama 45%, Montana - Obama 57%, Clinton 43%. There were a total of 31 pledged delegates and it appears the split will be Obama 16 and Clinton 15.
For those who said the long primary was hurting the democratic party, count me in on with those who say this primary season resulted in an energized and reinvigorated party with record increases in voter registration. Allowing the voters from all the states to weigh in and have an important voice in their choice to be the candidate for President has been great for the party. In fact, when they are planning the calendar for 2012, this should be kept in mind. The focus has been on the democrats and the republicans and McCain have been unable to receive media attention.
Having said that, it is now important for Senator Obama to have a positive outcome in the eventual exit from the campaign from Senator Clinton. It is obvious that Senator Clinton wants to be considered for the Vice President and she wants her proposed universal health care program to receive consideration.
Politico.com has a good read entitled "Obama's first test: Handling Hillary". This is true for Bob Johnson, the Billionaire who founded BET has started a push to have Clinton picked as VP. Clinton long time supporter and attorney, Lanny Davis has also started a petition drive and a website to support her as the choice for vice-president.
Although this has been a long hard fought campaign with close supporters of both Obama and Clinton having some bitterness, it is important for the democrats that they come together to defeat McCain in the Fall. Regardless of who a voter supported, Senator Clinton only lost by a few hundred delegates out of over 4000 and may have won the popular vote. Also important to note, is in the Fall, women make up 53-57% of the democratic voters. While Clinton lost, it is critical to recognize the historical aspect of her effort and the huge support she received from the voters.
New Total Delegate Count - Superdelegates were endorsing Obama by the dozens last night and today the numbers read Obama 2165, Clinton 1923.
Here is a article in the HuffingtonPost.com entitled "Obama to Head to Appalachia In First Week as Presidential Nominee". You may recall Obama did not fare well here and this article points out recent polls show him gaining on McCain.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Democratic Campaign Chatter 6-4-2008
The Bush/Chaney Administration Has Lost Its Moral Compass; If It Ever Had One
Although I had heard the statement before, it never the less caused me to question whether this Administration has any standards of morality; an Administration comprised of two Vietnam draft dodgers, which is so quick to send our children to war. The statement which was made in response to Sen. Jim Webb's (D-Va, a Vietnam War veteran) bill to provide educational benefits to our service members, equal in amount to the cost of tuition at any public university, was that the benefit "could hurt retention rates in the all-volunteer military because service members would be tempted to leave when they have earned the full college benefits." It was made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates (USA Today, "G.I. benefits stymie funding bill).
The whole purpose of the original G.I. Bill, which was enacted near the end of WW II, was to help returning veterans assimilate back into society. Congress, at that time, had not forgotten the immoral treatment given the WW I veterans. With suicide rates in the Army being the "fourth leading manner of death for soldiers" and the highest on record since 1990 (The Frederick News-Post, "Army Suicides Up Again", Friday, May 30, 2008) and with our economy in recession; the need for updating the G.I. Bill has, since Vietnam, never been greater.
As bad as things were for us Vietnam veterans, we enjoyed the educational legacy of WW II. I, for one, received my masters and Jurist doctorate degrees under the G.I. Bill. At the same time Cheney was getting his fifth or sixth draft exemption; because he "had better things to do"; and W's daddy got W into the National Guard where he flew F-4's for sport. W never completed his National Guard commitment because he had to campaign for some southern Republican. We all knew that during Vietnam only men with political connections or sports figures got into the National Guard or Reserves. If Bush was so gung-ho to fly F-4's in combat he could have easily volunteered for active duty in the USAF.
Fortunately more than half the Republican Senators chose to abandon the sinking Bush/Cheney Ship of State, and joined the Democrats in passing the educational benefits. Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam war hero and originally my sentimental choice for President, is opposed to the Bill and decided not to show up for the vote. By opposing the Bill "McCain went against virtually every veterans organization." (Washington Post, "Senate Passes $165 Billion Measure to Pay for Wars", Friday, May 23, 2008).
"The White House (of course is still) opposed (to) the expanded G.I. Bill, concerned that the price tag is too high and that the generous benefits could entice service members to leave the overburden military rather than reenlist." (Washington Post, Id.). The White House must know that over the years the price of the G.I. Bill has been returned many fold through the taxes paid by the more highly educated veterans. For an Administration that takes every public relations opportunity to praise our service members, its opposition to the G.I. Bill once again proves that our service members are mere cannon fodder as far as they are concerned.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Montana & S. D. Results - Live Blogging
George Wenschhof
Many different spins to the end of the democratic party primary calendar have been reported by the media today. We should call this the "Clinton Exit Watch". Earlier this afternoon, the AP reported that Clinton would concede the delegate race and that morphed into reports Clinton was conceding tonight. Some would argue that this is a minor difference, but to Clinton and her supporters, it is a significant difference. The Clinton campaign responded with a press release saying this was not true.
A few hours later, AP reports Obama will have secured the 2118 delegates needed to clinch the nomination by the end of the day and that he is, in fact, the democratic party nominee.
One report indicates there is a major DNC fundraiser Wednesday evening in New York City and there is speculation it is here that Clinton will make a unity speech.
My guess is she will suspend her campaign tonight and announce Obama as the delegate leader and claim she has won the popular vote, along with major swing states, etc..... She will talk about the democrats uniting to win in November for Americans need a change from the failed policies of the Bush administration. In the meantime, the Clinton campaign posturing will continue working hard for financial relief to her campaign debt and also for the VP slot on the ticket with Obama. She will then be able to truthfully talk about how hard she will work for Obama for she will be on the ticket.
It is precisely because of the huge speculation of the Obama-Clinton Dream Ticket, that Obama must move quickly to announce who his running mate will be. The longer he waits, the nastier it will become. If it is to be Clinton, then he should announce that this week and if not, he should announce who his running mate will be. He can not allow this question to fester for too long.
6:00 PM ET MSNBC FirstRead.com is reporting a slew of superdelegates have announced their support for Obama over the past hour and that at this point he is only 14 delegates away from the 2118 needed to secure the nomination. This now guarantees a speech from Obama tonight announcing he is the nominee for he is sure to win 14 of the 31 pledged delegates in the primaries today.
Exit polls - check back often for they will be updated.
7:38 PM ET - Updated total delegate Count - Obama 2107.5, Clinton 1912.5 Obama is now within 10.5 delegates.
9:00 PM ET - as S.Dakota polls close and the early numbers too close to call in that state, NBC calls Obama the presumptive democratic party nominee. This is really a historic moment as we knew it would be for either a Woman or an African-American was going to be the democratic party nominee. Let's hope the discussion from here to November between Obama and McCain focuses on the issues and not on race.
9:16 PM ET - Clinton is expected to address her supporters at a rally in New York City shortly. It is being reported that Clinton has asked for a private meeting with Obama - should occur before the DNC fundraiser Wednesday night.
9:24 PM ET - NBC projects Clinton as the winner in S. Dakota, 19% reporting, Clinton 57%, Obama 43% The best delegate split for Clinton will be 9 - 6, a plus 3 and it is too little, too late.
9:32 PM ET - Terry McAuliffe introduces Clinton who is accompanied on stage with husband Bill and daughter Chelsie - Let's see what she has to say..... - Thank you S. Dakota - you had the last word! Congratulated Obama and the race he has run, our party and our country is stronger as a result. It's an honor to have contested him - congratulate him for all he has accomplished. nice stuff, but short of conceding or saying he won. Now she starts talking about who will be the strongest candidate and best able to lead on day one-nearly 18 million cast their votes for me-carrying the popular vote - more votes won than ever in history ( as I predicted earlier) - all because you wanted to take back the White House- we won the swing states needed to win the electoral votes needed to do this.
She is proud we stayed the course together and because of that all states were able to vote - she is committed to uniting the party in order to take back the WH in November. She then went into some of the issues from her stump speech - This speech I expected, now how will she end it? People are asking what does Hillary want? She names health care, end the war in Iraq, etc. Public service is about helping people - comes back to universal health care - here she may be talking to Obama for she disagrees with his health care proposal - this could be part of the negotiation when she meets with him. The crowd is chanting Denver, Denver! She then rattled off all the states she won.
She then says where do we go from here? She will not be making any decisions tonight. She wants to hear from her supporters - go to her web site and let her know. She then said some thing to the effect that she will be consulting with party leaders to do what is best for the party and the country. Here is short video of the preceding statement. She then starting thanking those who worked on her campaign. She finishes with a story pertaining to health care for those in need.
A good speech - she knows it is over, but she stopped short of saying Obama has won - she is still angling for what she wants at the very end. Look to see an acknowledgement to come from Obama of her universal health care program - remember, although Elizabeth Edwards did not endorse Clinton, she liked her health care program better than what Obama was proposing. I also feel she wants to be the VP.
Montana polls close in a minute. 10:00 PM ET - NBC projects Obama the winner in Montana. He is expected to make his speech soon.
10:09 PM ET, Obama joined by wife Michelle step up to the stage in St. Paul, Minnesota. Thank You so much! - Thanks his wife and daughters, staff, volunteers, campaign manager David Pouffle - primary season has finally come to an end after 54 hard fought contests. Change must come to Washington, tonight we mark the end of one journey and the start of another journey - He can say tonight because of them he will be the democratic nominee for President of the U.S. of America.
He thanks the other democratic candidates for President, an incredibly talented and qualified group - they are leaders of our country-particularly true of Hillary Clinton who has made history in this campaign, not just because as a woman she has done what no woman before had done before her, but because of qualifications and dedication. He talks about her belief in helping people - he signals to Clinton that she will be central to the victory in universal health care. He is a better candidate for having the honor to compete with her.
For those who question let there be no doubt, we will unite to chart a new course for America. He then directs his speech to his republican opponent McCain - he stood with Bush 95% of the time while he was in the Senate. Change is not part of what McCain is all about. Change is not about a war that never should have been waged. We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless going in but leave we must. veterans must receive the benefits they deserve when they come home. Time to re-focus our efforts if foreign policy. Talks about the economy, improving our infrastructure, improving our schools, science, a new energy policy, and help for the working class. Change, that is why I am running for President of the United States! Crowd goes wild - "Yes We Can"! This is the moment!
A great speech! When I find the video, I will link it here so you can watch. Here is the full text. Here is Video.
The posturing between Obama and Clinton was obvious, look to see a quick resolution here. Clinton knows it's over and Obama knows he needs the women vote. I suspect they will meet tomorrow in D.C. prior to another fundraising event and perhaps a statement from her Thursday night at a DNC fundraiser in New York City of her support of Obama. However, it is doubtful that Obama would make a VP pick by Thursday night.
Let the Spin begin - goodnight and stay tuned.
Democratic Campaign Chatter 6-3-2008
Montana and S. Dakota Primaries today - Montana polls close at 10:00 PM ET - It is an open primary and 16 pledged delegates are at stake. S. Dakota polls close at 9:00 PM ET - It is a closed primary with 15 delegates at stake. These are the last two primaries on the democratic schedule - Is the race finally over?
We will do some live blogging on the results along with reaction to the speeches given by Clinton and Obama. Obama will speak from St Paul, Minnesota - interestingly, this is the site of the republican national convention. Clinton will speak from New York City.
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Kennedy Brain Surgery goes well - Dr Alan Freidman who operated on Kennedy said the next steps involve radiation and chemo. Read more here.
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West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd was hospitalized last night. At 90, he has suffered various ailments of late. Read more here. He recently endorsed Obama.
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House Majority Whip James Clyburn (S.C.) endorses Obama - As he said a week ago, he would wait until the elections were underway in the last two primaries, prior to announcing his endorsement. Read More here.
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Current total delegate count is Obama 2074 Clinton 1915 Obama is 44 away from the magic 2118 figure so they are urging uncommitted superdelegates to declare today. It is likely he will win around 17 of the 31 pledged delegates in today's primaries which still leaves him 27 delegates short. You can bet he wants to be able to announce tonight he has the 2118 delegates and is the nominee. Stay tuned for mass announcements today. Read more here and watch Clyburn endorsement speech.
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Bill Clinton: Purdum a 'Sleazy" 'Slimy" 'Scumbag" - the former President was unhappy with a article In Vanity Fair written by Purdum. The HufingtonPost.com has Bill Clinton's reaction - read more here.
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Terry McAuliffe, national chair of the Clinton campaign said today it is unlikely they would file an appeal to the credentials committee over 4 delegates. This is the number the Clinton campaign argued they lost in the decision by the rules & bylaws committee last Saturday.
