Political Punch

Chuck

The Q was: "if Heaven were having an open primary, which party's ballot would God take and for whom would he vote?"

Answer: None of the Above. I think petty partisan politics in the richest nation on earth are not gonna get much play from the big guy.

my $.02.

Thank you for the clairifcation, DKNY, since I forgot to add the tongue-in-cheek emoticon to end my last posting. Here's a profound theological question we should all ponder, in much the same vein as the number of angels dancing on the head of a pin: if Heaven were having an open primary, which party's ballot would God take and for whom would he vote?

Come on, Chuck, you know me better than that. I wasn't suggesting that either party was more godly; rather I was suggesting that the idea that god's hand is at play in the election is preposterous.

DKNY

Word on the street is that Woodson best work his butt off at the NFL combine if he wants to go in the First Round.

DKNY, you mentioned in your first comment today "...now that god is through deciding football games he's ready to turn his focus to the Republican primary!"

I couldn't help notice that you didn't mention the Dems or their series of primaries. Are you implying by omission that the Dems are godless? If so, you'll be confirming something spock has told us (and told us, and told us, and told us...). Please clarify.

Commander Guy, once again I'm with you, at least on the football front. Just this past season there were so many incredible SEC games. For me, UK/LSU was the highlight. Woodson's got an NFL career ahead of him

DKNY

"Huckabee does believe that he has god on his side (I guess god has time now that football season's over), so he's definitiely going to win."

You know better than that DKNY.

Huck don't think he has God on his side.

Hucks a humble fellow. He knows better than to think that way.

Huck just does his mortal best to be on God's side. Try, Fail, Try some more, on and on. That's all.

What's wrong with Football anyway. BTW spring practice heats up in the SEC soon.

If I'm not mistaken the scriptures say beware of lawyer's....
Everybody knows there is mud sling on all side in political campaigns.
To use one of old Huck's folksy saying's if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen.

I'm not confused by Romney's move to suspend his campaign
as one of Huckabee supporters insinuated something like sickness or death happen to McCain....and I'm certainly not wishing any such on anyone, but should something happen between now and November. Romney would be at the brokered convetion, Huckabee would still have to get more of the delegates than Romney.

Ok, so you have heard that McCain has this locked up. Well, now for the rest of the story:

The current delegate counts are projections made by the media and do not reflect the actual delegate counts.

Currently, the media has projected that Ron Paul has only 14 delegates secured. But according to Ron Paul's website and corraborating news articles from individual states, Ron Paul has at least 42 delegates secured. This accounts for at least a 28 delegate difference (possibly more).

Of those 28 delegates, the majority come from McCain's and Romney's projected delegate counts, with a few (at least 3) coming out of Huckabee's count.

What this means is that McCain has less delegates then what is currently being reported. Literally, McCain securing 1,197 delegates may come down to just a few delegates which could still swing either way. McCain's campaign knows this. That is why they want Huckabee to drop out, or at the very least, convince the public that he has no chance at getting the nomination. They are banking on the fact that many Americans vote for the candidate with the best chance at winning rather then the issues. (Is it just me or do many American think the strategy for politics and gambling is the same?)

This is just politics as usual from the McCain camp (not that their is anything wrong with that). They want to portray themselves as the clear winner and discredit the other candidates chances of winning.

That is why I am really confused by Romney's move. He did not actually drop out. He simply suspended his campaign. He still has delegates. And, based on what I just highlighted, he still had/has a chance at winning.

I am really looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Until someone has 1,197 delegates (actual delegates not projected delegates) this thing is far from over.

What coverage would McCain get if there were no opposition from Huckabee? Is there a benefit to the continuing race?

Huckabee has 1 million evangelical votes ( this is not all evangelicals) he has 240 delegates ( less then Romney and he is out) Romney had 4 million votes when he bowed out and 280 delegates.
McCain has 5 million votes now and 819 delegates.
I hear a lot of listen, listen to Huckabee...I have! and heard all I want to hear he always evades the questions with a joke.
The man doesn't even know the difference between the words effect and affect he uses them as if they are the same.
He also obviously loves the word aint .
Oh I forgot he is ed-jee-cated like Jethro.
He and his followers are only on a religious crusade....and when he finally looses he will have enough of campaign money left to start his TV ministry like Jim Baker.
Remember the devil himself has a gentle, soothing, sweet, lovely words and voice if he didn't nobody would listen to him.....how do you think he traps you?

Since Americans seem to be more interested in entertainment than they are about "real life" anymore, I propose the following:

Since McCain has the "locked-up" everyone should only vote for Huckabee and Ron Paul. That way we get the entertainment value of the media scratching their heads trying to figure out what it all means.

And even better, we get the delightfully entertaining spectacle of a brokered GOP convention. If the media and the people of the US want to watch a true "horse race" then this is the way to go.

John McCain has 821 Delegates leaving 370 of the remaining delegates needed to secure the nomination outright.

There are 774 delegates remaining, of which if Mike Huckabee would only have to retain 405 or 52% of the remaining delegates to force the nomination to to convention where many of the true conservative vote would likely go to Mike Huckabee, the true conservative in the race.

Difficult, yes... impossible, well, that's what they have been saying about Mike all along.

Re: Poor soul berore the Almighty>>>>
what about poor soul Huckabee when he stands before the Almighty....after his Mormon bashing and smearing Romney?
and his pastors supporters with their web pages with all the ant- Mormon propaganda...approved by Huckabee.
I think a lot of people are going to be very dissapointed before the Almighty.
**
Huck must have inside information that at a brokered convention that all the delegates are evangelicals this would be the only way he would get their vote.

Gustavo and al, you are completely correct. And as I noted, now that god is through deciding football games he's ready to turn his focus to the Republican primary!

It is not going to be a bit funny when Mr. Tapper's soul finds itself in front of Almighty God. Poor soul that makes fun and presumably rejects the great gift the Lord has given us in His Body and Blood. If you are talking about miracles and transubstantiation the reference to Catholic doctrine is undeniable. As a Catholic I find the trivialization of such a gift offensive. Of course, Catholic bashing is always the easy way out for those that lack true creativity and own ideas.

Duh--like we are all so stupid we need someone like Jake here to tell us what McCain's campaign means by "mathematically impossible". And what's with the "transubstantiate" business? Again, I say, "DUH!"

Here is why the GOP nomination is not wrapped up:

1)For a delegate to get the nomination they must have 1,197 delegates. McCain does not have that many delegates. If no one gets that many then this becomes a brokered convention. Lincoln only had 10% add he won the nomination at a brokered convention.

2)The current delegate count is an estimation made by the media based on the "beauty contests" that are known as primaries and caucuses. The bottom line is that the delegate count will differ from the estimates. It always does. Each state has different laws for how the delegates are determined.

3)In a brokered convention the delegates that are locked to specific candidate are only required to vote for the candidate during the first vote. If no candiate receives 1,197 votes than during the subsequent votes the delegates can vote for whomever they choose. One can only speculate what will happen if this occurs.

4)If Huckabee truly has no chance then why would the McCain campaign even take the time to make this statement. They have because they know that the best way for McCain to get the nomincation is for Huckabee to drop out (or be discredited) so that McCain can get the 1,197 delegates needed before the convention. And they must be worried that they won't get it, otherwise they would not care that Huckabee and Paul are still pulling delegates away from McCain. They would be focused on strategy for the general election against the democrats.

I think the miracle would be if McCain failed to secure the remaining 400 or so delegates needed to win the convention outright. With only a little over 700 remaining, it may not be that easy. Then it is any body's game.

Obviously you don't believe in God, because if you did, you would know that God can do anything & works in mysterious ways His Wonders to perform! If he can create a world, people & everything in it, is it really that hard to believe that Huckabee could win the nomination in the end...numbers or no numbers? God will not be mocked. God will & can do anything, but He will only do what He chooses & according to His Will. Be very careful what you say about God....He is listening & watching.

McCain's not complaining, I'm certainly not going to.

I think that two real conventions would be majorly fun and exciting.

Remember, if there is no winner on the first ballot, every delegate becomes free to vote for *whoever*. The next President might be someone we haven't even heard of up until this point.

.

If your numbers are accurate, which I'd hope they are (since it's your job), you didn't point out McCain has not secured the nomination yet either. It would seem you are not quite reporting all the math. McCain also must still win 370 delegates if you assume his already acquired 821 reported by fox news. This means that McCain must win close to 48 percent of remaining delegates to secure the nomination. Just thought it would have been disingenuous of you to leave out some of the math.

Guess what happens if McCain does not get the 1191 require delegates on the first round. Just suppose that you have a number of deligates that refuse to follow the mandates given them. How many would have to change? Who might be the winner if this occured? You don't have to vote for Mike Huckabee and you don't have to beleive in God but just remember you will never find any one in a fox hole that does not beleive in GOD. We just might need more Mike Huckabee's in the very near future.

For those whom it cannot be done. Get out of the way so the one that can will.

Good thing the Wright Brothers continued.

If Huckabee gets enough delegates he could also make it mathematically impossible for McCain to receive the 1191 needed. He could then potentially pick up the nearly 300 Romney delegates at the convention and still win. Also, there's always the possibility of McCain having a health issue or some unexpected campaign ender. Contrary to what the media is pushing for, it Ain't over yet folks!

If the auther worked for MSNBC they would be fired and Keith O. would say how "Dreadfully Sorry" the network is. Sad isn't it.

Perhaps Gov. Huckabee's miracle that he hopes for is that Romney will release his ~240 delegates for Huckabee putting him over the top? I'm not a Huckabee supporter in the least, but I can see an argument... especially since Huckabee already benefited from that type of mathematical deal making in West Virginia on Super Tuesday. Maybe the miracle would be Romney giving him some delegates after how petty Huckabee was towards him?

Mr. Tapper: Transubstantiation has nothing to do with Southern Baptists. It is Catholic doctrine only, and it is central to our faith. You could have gone for the easy religious laugh with something non-denominational and inoffensive, like making an analogy between turning wine into water and turning chewing tobacco into delegates. By trying to bandy about a term whose specific meaning you apparently do not understand, you not only missed the mark, but you caused deep offense to millions of Catholics.

Jake,

Better watch it! The LIBs will call you biased!

Huckabee does believe that he has god on his side (I guess god has time now that football season's over), so he's definitiely going to win. The only question is how god will allow Huckabee to work his way out of this delegate dilemma.