Political Punch

You just have to read comments posted by die-hard Hillary supporters to see what kind of la-la land they are still lingering in, along with their Mountain Mama.

They are so in the past, future is definitely brighter without them.

Maybe regarding the 57 states comment, Obama made a Freudian slip.

Perhaps he was thinking of Islamic states. There are exactly 57 of them.

Source: Organization of the Islamic Conference

Mr Klein,

You have a new fan because you have given us new perspectives to comment on.

By all standard, he doesn't win the nomination. He is trying to steal it.

If the Florida and Michigan revote is solved long ago, the election will have a different picture.

If his 20 years of audacity and hope with Rev Wright was reported, his election campaign will go to jelly beans. Now it still matters. 20 years of deplorable judgment.

He obviously holds a double standard. White advisers making mistake is a ticket of automatic out. For the black, he will just let bygones be bygones.

In this election, with the closest match in history, we need to go to convention to vote for the strongest candidate now, not 3 months ago.

The best and strongest candidate is Hillary now.

The 92% of black votes can go to hell by voting like that. If whites are voting 92% against BO, you can hear fouls across Atlantic. Today it is racism in the reverse direction. Let's fight as hard as we can.

BO does not win nomination. He steals it and the party keeps their eyes closed and even stumps for him.

SHAME. HE IS JUST A SCREW BALL, A GUTTER BALL.

He is just out of touch hiding behind podiums and is afraid that people finds out that he is no reformer. He is just a talker.

Mary, what you said goes to my point: if he is as strong as they say why does he need a loser like Edwards to rescue him? The reason why Hillary's campaign is still alive is because too many people think that she is stronger... one can't overlook that reality!

Senator Obama becomes a more pathetic figure every day and he is using his Good Ole Boys Network and the 'bought and paid for superdelegates' to prop himself up. He makes so many beautiful speeches full of bogus pomises just as he did in 1996 to get elected in his state senate district. He did nothing to bring the district out of despair and proverty, yet says he can FIX the USA and the world. Such marlarky.

Simply:

1. Without Clintons, Dems would never be united and will be defeated..

2. Without Clintons on ticket, Dems won't be united and will be defeated..

3. Without Clinton on the top of ticket, Dems will still be defeated..

4. With Clinton runs as Ind, Dems will be defeated...

He didn't say contests he said states. Under normal circumstances, no big deal, honest mistake. But since his campaign makes a practice of harping on McCain's mis-speaks, he is held to the same standard.

And in a Monday Rasmussen Poll, AFTER the May 6th primary there...

McCain would beat BOTH HRC and B.O. by 3% in NORTH CAROLINA....the state in which the media and the DNC felt his victory over Hillary was so overwhelming that they would just hand him the nomination on a silver platter!!!

More numbers to chew on:
In a May 8th Rasmussen Poll for Missouri (the ONE "swing" state where B.O. barely beat HRC), shows McCain slightly ahead by 3% over HRC (within the traditional margin of error), while McCain beats B.O. in Missouri by 6%.

Georgia (another early B.O. victory state over HRC): McCain would beat B.O. by 14%, but would only beat HRC by 11%.

The list goes on and on..........

dl,

Are you implying that Obama will be elected in November just because the people are disappointed with Bush?

What policies are you saying that they will look at and make a difference? A health insurance plan that leaves out 15 million Americans and will throw their medical bills on the rest of us? Meeting with prominent world dictators without preconditions? Even George Stephanopoulus' round table Obamanites agree that his economic agenda is weak and he cannot beat McCain there.

Do you think, on the other hand, that he will unify us with good speeches? Isn't it obvious that he has already electrified as many as he would with his empty rhetoric and his base of support has remained unchanged
from the beginning of the race for the nomination?

What bothers me most is the Caucus system. In Texas, for one, nearly three million people voted in the primary that
Hillary won and Obama got the most delegates by winning the caucus where only 40,000 participated. That is absurd, and is why the Democratic Party is in total chaos.

Good job Rick Klein, you are a responsible journalist. This country needs more like you.

Debbie,

Obama is right.

There are 57 contests (primaries/caucauses).

51 State Contests (49 States & 2 in Texas)

6 Other Contests
American Samoa
Democrats Abroad
District of Columbia
Guam
Puerto Rico
Virgin Islands

I guess it's a matter of how Obama "wins" the election. If he decides to declare himself the winner based on the vagaries of having the "majority of the pledged delegates" after May 20th and the DNC is complicit, then the party along with his candidacy could splinter badly.

Clinton is getting a lot of blame for staying in a very close race from her Democratic peers, yet there's silence about Obama's coup style of seizing the nomination. This is just one of the many double standard twists and turns the race has taken.

There's also not anything being said on the strong probability that neither candidate can win at the June 3rd conclusion. After the WVA election, Obama had secured 1883 to Clinton's 1717 delegate votes. With the remaining six states, there are 189 delegate votes left. To reach the goalpost of 2025 delegate votes by June 3rd, Obama would have to carry 142 or 75% of the remaining delegate votes, which is highly improbable. Of course, Clinton will not have the 318 votes to carry her to the goalpost by then.

It's apparent the 2025 delegate counts is for neither to win by June 3. If Obama, aka the Uniter, seeks to proclaim his victory on May 20th, he would indeed alienate many Democratic voters. By rules and numbers, the stalemate could be carried to the Denver convention, which is something McGovern, who was supposed to have reformed the system, is apparently losing sleep over. Enough said.

Hillary is just an empty pantsuit!

@Mona - "America is going to elect a well filled out pant-suit!!!"

lol, I Loved it! ROFLMAO!!!

A Proud, Black, Hillary Supporter
Rise, Hillary, Rise!'08

What is this impostor talking about? Please bring Jake back. He called McCain's speech remarkable, what is RICK KLEIN smoking? What is remarkable about McCain's speech? Is McCain old man Moses in the bible that would part the Red Sea for everyone to go thru? Does he expect McWar to clap his hands and make the world a better place? McCain views are not only delusional, they are also comments from a senile man.

I don't know how people don't put some thinking and realize that he is a weird persona, a magician in a suit of a politician.
Just go to the realclear politics site there are a couple of articles very well written and that dare say something about him.
Why do I think he is a magician? There is like a veil, a net, even though invisible but at work wrapping people rationale and preventing them from thinking correctly. And the reactions of the supporters from both side, very irrational, either blindly supporting, or instinctly rejecting. Any other candidate provokes the same kind of reaction?
The other day, I heard like a voice in my head telling me that he is ok, to like him. For some minutes, I thought so and then I said to myself, wait a minute what is that voice telling me what to think and how to feel. And I thought of the epiphany he promised the supporters in a rally, was that in New Hampshire, some time during that period of campaigning, and that by experiencing it, they would go out and vote for him.
He is weird and everyone is weird, including myself with my fear, there is somthing not clear. I may sound ridiculous, but it's better that I say it and I don't have to regret later not to have expressed my doubts.

Don't worry... Obama will make a speech and all of the world's problems will go away.
"A delusion of appeasement" I think that describes Obama perfectly.

It is hard to tell if McCain is senile or if it is just republican rhetoric.

Olbrman

should Florida and Michigan not count then?

cause Hillary should take resposibility of having more say on them not counting...than anyone...considering her team and her status as the front runner for so long actually gave her alone the opportunity to "fix" this... but she didn't.

She seems to not want to take reponsibility for that...and if that was the case that she said they wouldn't count...and she takes "responsibility" as you say they should...

then Michigan and Florida doesn't count because of her actions and her statements.

Try to spin some more she lost. If it had been real elections in those two states they would have gone the same way as every other state...close to a tie or him winning. The margins wshe won on her were just like every other state before they learned there was someone outside of the woman they knew as their first lady for the last 15 years.

that is why they are called beauty contests...they are not real elections...they are contests based on recognition... voters can't vote for candidates they don't know.

You can tell Obama he doesn't have to worry about November" Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line and love conquers all so the presidency is in the bag for him." N--O--T!!!!!! Hehehe, are you kidding America is not going to elect another empty suit to the White House, we have already had 8 years of that non sense. America is going to elect a well filled out pant-suit!!!

President Hillary 08

dl -

We do not use words like "dumb" you guys prefer.

We still trust that you are intelligent who have your own choice. That's fine with us.

dl -

Responsibility is a difficult thing for BHO to comprehend.

He did not want MI's votes, by taking his name off the ballot. Then, he should take the responsibility of not getting any votes.

Olbrman3

I never said it was "Hillary's fault" that Obama took his name off the ballot.

I am saying you can't count a popular vote when he was not one of the choices...

I think that is self evident don't you?

or does reality not fit your anger at losing...because by using an election between two people where ones name was not on the ballot to count how many people voted for the two...is

oh what's that word again... dumb.

As far as I am concerned there is nothing he can do to win in November. What he has shown so far is that he is clever, can maneuver to get pledge delegates by using the Byzantine party rules with the far-left-Clinton-jealous party losers quickly jumping in his bandwagon and that the media will only say good things about him. If anything, that scares people more that generates appeal. The endorsement of Edwards after the overwhelming defeat in WV, only reminds people of the opportunistic, once ambulance-chaser lawyer, that Edwards is and doesn't lend more credibility to Obama. I don't know how anyone could think that Obama's delegate lead built on red states caucus victories would translate in victory in November.

len -

I've bookmarked your blog -- good stuff...others here should do the same.

Mr. Klein, you wrote: "It's partly a function of this overtime primary..." How can it be "overtime" when there are still several primaries to go? In fact, it is not officially "overtime" until and unless there is no winner after the first ballot during the Democratic National Convention.

The bottom line is that "what went wrong" with Hillary Clinton's campaign was the emergence of a once-in-a-lifetime politician whose particular assets made him very nearly unbeatable once he established himself as a viable candidate.

If sexism were the the reason for Hillary going down the drain, sexism should be considered as a positive contribution to society.

It is perhaps understandable why so many of Hillary Clinton's supporters are angry. At the start of this process she seemed to be a sure shoo-in for the Democratic candidacy. Name recognition, the Clinton machine, important friends and contacts galore, a head start on other contenders, African American & Latino support, the support of most Democratic senators and congress men & women - the whole democrat establishment. Now she has lost the support of most of the establishment (both men & women), she lost the African American support, thanks mainly to Bill. Before January, most African Americans did not support Obama, and were firmly in the Clinton's camp. Now her support has come down mainly to older women, less educated rural voters and as she pointed out, racists who would never vote for a black person. Question is how did she manage to lose so much support and goodwill? Was the media responsible for a badly run campaign, with poorly thought out strategy, or the smart tactical one run by a neophyte? Or did HC underestimate her opponent because she (and clearly many of her supporters), thought she was the ineveitable candidate? No matter which way you look at it, Hillary's management and her campaign team are to blame. Otherwise, perhaps the plain painful truth is that the majority of Democrats don't want her to be their candidate.

dl -

So, HRC's fault that the Bo took his name out?

Your Bo was pandering voters of Iowa, to keep their caucus the first in the primaries. It was his political calculation, and he decided, HE the phony hypocrite, MI voters do not count, not any other person.

He needs to have the minimal courage to take a minimal responsibility for what he has done.

Hillary's supporters are voting for her because she is an experience candidate. McCain also has experience too but Obama is a naive and inexperience candidate. Voters feel more confidence in either McCain or Clinton. Obama will increase capital gain tax to 28% but McCain keeps capital gain tax 15% and Hillary 20%. Voters are looking who more qualified to be a president.

dl,

It was not Hillary's platform only that led me to support her. Obama's platform is without meaning to me becaue he changes with the political winds. He was with Khaladi when it suited him; then he went over to the Crown Family, preeminent and wealthy Jewish pro-Isreal. He used and abused, just as he did with Rev. Wright.

Obama/Clinton ticket! unbeatable! All the way to the white house...lets turn this sinking ship around.

Olbermn3

those votes contain Michigan ...giving Obama 0?

yeah she doesn't have the opular vote compared to Obama if you are counting a large state where he was not on the ballot.

again...that's dumb.

Harvey

they got the idea that it was obama because the presidents aides said right after the speech...that he was "yes, refering to Obama" and the "others".

So, President Bush gives a speech in Israel, stating his same policy he has said for years and Obama gets offended? Obama was not mentioned and according to Obama, the things Bush said about negotiating with terrorists aren't Obama's views. So where the heck does he get the idea it's all about him?? Obama is just trying to score some cheap political points by claiming he was attacked by Bush. And the media is playing along because Obama is their superstar. Makes me sick.

Bishop if by "they picked him" ...you mean the majority of voters who actually got to see his name on the ballot..., states, delegates, superdelegates...

yeah "they" picked him.

countallthevotes, we don't need your vote..Its Obama all the way to the white house..no one can stop it..its a God thing! We are doing McCain a diservice by even considering him for the presidency..we need to take better care of our senior citizens..did you notice how gray clinton and bush got after the first year in office..do we want to put McCain through that? What message are we sending to the world on how we treat our senior citizens? The guy is too old..did'nt you read where the other day the teleprompter went off while he was giving a speech and the man was lost..lets treat our senior citizens well by making an example of McCain and sending him home to relax in his rocking chair and count cars as they pass by..Dems all the way to the white house baby!

It's funny that moveon.org and its minions are calling McCain "4 more years of Bush".

We've had 8 years of a likeable guy who clearly wasn't qualified to be POTUS. He has trouble responding when asked a direct question, often mangling his words and having to later explain what it was he actually meant. Any interaction with the press is carefully choreographed and on his terms. He relies heavily on advisors to craft his policies.

This clearly describes Obama.

WHY HAVE AN ELECTION THEY COULD HAVE JUST PICKED HIM AND THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN IT.

OH WAIT A MINUTE THEY DID!!!!!

I will vote for the candidate who knows how many states they are representing. When Obama said he has campaigned in 57 states with one to go tells me this man needs to go back to school instead of the oval office.

Bishop

I didn't call you either. Maybe you should read more you're mistaken again. I only have called you Bishop.

but if you would like me to call you "sweety"...I can.

countallthevotes

I didn't say everyone had to vote for Obama... I would never say that.

I did say that someone who said they were voting for Hillary Clinton based on her platform... who is now going to vote for McCain who has an almost polar opposite position on most important things facing our country... and says it is about "judgement" or "character" is dumb.

A vote based on judgement or character that supposedly can switch between Clintons promises and McCains promises... is not a vote on judgement or character (their judgements and values are very different)...

It is a vote out of spite and anger. That is not smart... that is yes, dumb.

dl I am not a buddy I am a sweety.

Bishop, Are you drinking that spiked koolaid that someone is serving to the minority uneducated clinton supporters..don't be mad at me..the polls said so..we don't need your vote..vote McCain and feel the pain!Democrats all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave baby! whether you like it or not.

len -

I agree with you that Pelosi has had her hands in this... but do not discount the part of Dean, Kennedy & Daschle in this charade!

We know what McCain will do, and he most likely will collaborate with the dem congress to get things done - the type of things he has shown, and demonstrated to work with dems.

Obama, if elected as he dreams on, will get fillibustered on everything he proposes by the repblicans, because he has not demonstrated a single, repeat, A SINGLE, item that he could work with oppositions to reach compromise. He is destined to failure.

There is nothing wrong or shameful with declaring yourself an Independent after having been a loyal Democrat for many years.

Joe Liebermann did it for his last Senate race in Connecticut when his own party refused to nominate and support him any longer, and guess what????? HE WON !!!

I hope Hillary will at least consider that option if the DNC is indeed foolish enough to allow Obama to take the nomination....because at that point the DNC will have essentially abandoned her after all the good her and the former President did for them and she will no longer owe the party anything !!!

Earl,

Obama will not get my vote. If he is elected POTUS, it will not be with my support.

After yesterday, actually before yesterday, BUSH needs to step down. He has done nothing for our country and he intends to make it worse before he leaves. I do not feel that we should let him go on to destroy us as a country.

I heard today he intends on War with Iran before he leaves office.

Can we get something on this story?

Jeanne from Michigan --

oh so many --- many who are also not voting for Barack Obama.

So snide, so Baracky of you -- I guess though that you're "likeable enough".

DL,

I guess you are cognitely impaired. I do not have to vote for Obama. I do not want to vote for Obama. I find him strange and unreliable. He is all over the map on pro-choice issues, gun control, and even withdrawl from Iraq. And, I don't like him. So, why is it that you think I have to vote for him?

Listen up, no one has to vote for Obama.

countallthevotes, I hope you'll be counting because at the end of the counting it will be President Obama

IndigoGrrl:

You have friends?

Obama today is 17 pledged Delegates away from winning the primary!!!!

Go Obama, go Supers! Keep stepping up.

countallthevotes, Its refreshing to have a comedian on this blog..McCain does not have strange bedfellows! that the funniest statement for the day..funny as in crack me up!Character! I read so many times that McCain has a bad temper and curse like a fisherman and you're talking about characacter..you are one humorous bloke!

I think the Senator should wear his flag pin.
That should seal the deal for him.

It would also help if there was a way to only count clingers votes as half a vote, or better yet move the clingers to FL or MI.

dl,

McCain is my second choice after HRC. Why can't you understnad that?? It is about character, allegiance to this country, and experience. I find Obama weak on all three. He has too many strange political bedfellows for me; and lacks experience and judgment.

The polls said that a percentage of Hillary's voters are uneducated..these are the ones who are gonna vote for McCain..most of Hillary's voters are smart Democrats who would vote for Obama if he's the nominee..I met many of them who now say that they'll vote for whomever is the Dems nominee..Remember the unschooled ones are voting for McCain..these are the voters who would tell you with a straight face that gas is 75 cents a gallon..someone is serving some spiked koolaid out there to some Hillary supporters! Democrats 08!Let turn this ship around.

dl,

Hope you're right about that. I hope, from deep within my heart, people are not really that naive to believe that just because their first choice candidate is not on the ballot that it means they have to jump ship/fences/parties.

Politicians support their second-third choice candidites ALL the time because they understand that with unity they increase the chances of succeeding.

I truly hope that people re-think and support a Democrat for the presidency. On the plus-side, the next president cannot be worse than Bush. Let's give a young man the opportunity to show the world what America is capable of doing. I'm sorry that you Clinton Supporters are heard by all this, or angered by all this, but this doesn't mean that you have to jump ship. Continue supporting our party, especially now that we will need every possible support that we can get!

Rick,
As they say, "Do you have a dog in this fight?"...me thinks you do with these "remarkable" statements:

>"the remarkable speech John McCain delivered Thursday"
ME: What's so remarkable about touting the end result without describing even one point of process in how to achieve this fantastical end result?
>"Obama lost a swing state by 41 points"
ME: And how is WV a swing state when Edwards gets 7% of the vote and hasn't been in the campaign for 3 months? WV is the epitome of a sexist, racist electorate. Obama may make some inroads there, but is HIGHLY unlikely to win the electoral college in that state.

>"It all speaks to the lack of flexibility Obama will enjoy if/when he becomes the Democratic nominee."
ME: I don't see the lack of flexibility you reference. If he flip-flops like McCain on too many issues to mention, than he has an abundant amount of flexibility. If Obama chooses to stay principled and stick to his platform, than that limits his flexibility. I could live with that inflexibility.

dl-now your lies are getting laughable. "I was at a gathering of 100 Hillary supporters, of course they will support Obama". Laughable. No way in hell over 17 million Hillary supporters will vote for Obama. Check out the web site Recreate68 - this is Obama's new kind of politics. 1968 was a good year for democrats, right dl?

Lets give grandpa a rocking chair for the debates and watch him drift off to sleep. Democrats in November!

Jeanne from Michigan --

I beg to differ. An AA friend of mine said that exact thing to me -- and I quote "We're taking it to the streets if this thing goes down that way-- 68 wasn't nothing"

I prefer to protest with my VOTE.
And my campaign dollars.

check your write in laws in your state some go to the winner if the other has been pushed out because the party rich white fat cats hand picked there canidate .

I tell you all the angry posters on here saying they would vote for McCain instead of obama...

you'll be in the minority...

I said yesterday the other night I went to a big gathering where maybe a hundred Hillary supporters were and almost ALL of them (besides this one angry lady loudly telling people to vote for McCain) these (predominantly over 50) women said of course they were going to vote for obama... and these are people who yes in the heat of the debate said oh...I'll vote for McCain" but now that the choice is apparent almost all of them said of course they won't vote for McCain..."that would be stupid" in a number of them's own words.

I realized the people on here are REALLY more in the minority than they realize.

frisco girl, dream on frisco girl, dream on. Its Obama for president! All the way to the white house baby! Lets kick the Republicans out and turn this ship around.

Sarah,

Don't forget that we are both Democrats. I respect your support for Clinton, please respect my support for Obama. If Clinton manages to beat Obama in the primaries, I will have no issues voting for her!

Remember, we all need to stick together in order to avoid another Bush-like presidency. We need to have a Democrat as a president... no more Republicans for now. They had control of the White House and Congress and what did they do with that power????

What did they do with that power????

Sarah, let's not bash each other over the heads here... let's all stick together.. Clinton Supporters and Obama Supporters. We're democrats and we need to beat the republicans.

Edwards is nothing but another typical opportunist who only belongs to the typical dems v-Pres nominee loser club.

dl you just don't get it why don't you watch IRON JAWED ANGLES maybe you will see the light.

Any woman who knowingly approves of sexism (and lets it slide) has to be a very, very pathetic and weak person.

Fine girls, write her in, white him out, but remember, thousands of voters are being registered every day. And the young people I know aren't swayed by this "gun-to-the-head" hysterics you ladies are proposing.

calli

I have goven money to Obama... unfortunately nah...never got a dime for my being a good citizen and refuting weird and angry misinformation by people like yourself.

I am just trying to keep people in reality...not spin.

As Chris Matthews point out, Bush doesn't know the difference between appeasement (actually giving something away) and talking.

Reminds me of when Bush excused his invasion of Iraq by claiming Bill Clinton also supported "regime change". Bush didn't (and presumably still doesn't) know the difference between supporting the concept of regime change (presumably by the Iraqi people themselves - it is their country, after all) and using the full military might of the U.S. to force it.

The sooner Bush and his crew are out of office and back to golfing and cutting brush, the better for the country. We've seen enough of "governing by gut feel".

calli -- you got that right!

I WILL be voting for Hillary -- either as a write in vote or hopefully as an Independent candidate.

Who cares about what Bush says anyway?! The last I heard, he had the worse approval rating of any president in US History, worse than Nixon's approval rating before he was impeached.

When ever I see him in television I simply change the channel. He's out of my head. No more Bush for me. He was terrible. The only reason he's going to be remembered is because of 9/11 (just like Rudy), plain and simple, and now he's throwing cheap-shots at our Democrats in another country?! He's a virus and just needs to get the hell out of Washington.

Jesus...YES ,that is good ole boy politics, and Hillary would have done the same thing if she were in that position...as she said recently,"If you cannot stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

HRC's supporters would not be angry about a FAIR win...

There has been an overt manipulation by the DNC and the MSM to ensure BO the nomination. This is what we are furious about...oh, and the "play nice little girls...sit down and shut up" attitude by the aforementioned and the obnoxious BO bloggers who now suddenly want to come together.

HRC supporters:

What are you going to if HRC tells you to support the nominee and she goes on the stump for him? Ignore her? She even says this would be a HUGE mistake. Why are you so willing to do this against HER better judgement. If you trust her so much, why not follow her lead?

The Edwards endorsement's intent was to block Hillary from getting Media attention for her 4-1 win in West Virginia. IT WAS THE WORST EXAMPLE OF THE "OLD BOYS POLITICS" WE HAVE SEEN IN THIS CAMPAIGN! Edwards is a smuck ... he has lost two campaigns to be President and he was lefty-Kerry's VP ... so enough about his endorsement! When Kentucky votes on Tuesday we will see just how worthless his endorsement is!

DL...great points, it does seem that most of the blogers who are spreading false things are HRC followers. SAD, because most are women who have hoped for generatins to get a women president. I have also, but no this lady, not now...