17 posts tagged “primary”

Former president, Bill Clinton has again made himself the laughingstock of this year’s political campaign.  This time by publicly throwing around words like; “scumbag,” “sleazy,” and “slimy” in describing former New York Times writer and current Vanity Fair writer Todd Purdum who happens to be married to the former press spokesperson of his administration.  This was done in response to a Vanity Fair article that stated many negative comments about the former president.

The first thing that crossed my mind in hearing his rant was the type of comments that were made by Republicans at the end of his administration to describe him. 

As with all press related to presidents and presidential candidates for the past several years, I am not sure that I agree with all of the negatives I hear and take them with a grain of salt, but I find myself worried when press comes out saying that the former president had done something shady and he denies it.

My mind cannot help but remember how convincing he was when he made the, “I did not have sex with that woman speech.”  I am sure we all remember how that turned out. 

This tirade is just one more foolish outburst of several that have distracted from his poor wife is trying to do.  She is a strong candidate (not my personal favorite, but a strong candidate none the less) and the biggest thorn in her side has been defending the random nonsense that emanates from her husband when he tries to help (and of course that hilarious nap he took behind the African American speaker during a speech on Martin Luther King Day).

Now, as the last of the primaries are winding down, the effects of his “helping’ his wife are coming clear.  With the probability that the nominee from the Democratic Party will be Senator Barack Obama, the biggest reason anyone can give for why he may not or in some views should not try to persuade Senator Hillary Clinton to run as vice-presidential candidate on the ticket is the presence of her husband and supporter, former president Bill Clinton.  He is seen as a political anchor of sorts that randomly drops and slows the progress of those he supports.

As president he did some good and some bad, but over the past few years he has focused on building a legacy that will have history remember him as an all around good guy who made a few mistakes. 

How does this man in a matter of months reduce himself to a political outbreak monkey who poisons those he supports?  I have mixed emotions about the content of the Vanity Fair article and the absence of names from those accusing him.  The issue is that with the amount of negative pressure, threats, and the fear that some have that people have mysteriously disappeared around the Clintons and their dealings, I am not sure it is wise politically or for ones safety to give ones name to such accusations, true or not.

Regardless of the reason, the poised, confident, and seemingly friendly guy who ran for president successfully has been replaced by the political dead weight that is his current reputation and may turn out to be a huge part of his legacy from now on.  History was just starting to remember him as a hero that any Democrat running for anything would be glad to have publicly support him or her.  I wonder if he can get back on that track or if he is now forever marked as the mark of death to a campaign?

Senator Obama’s Medical records were released today saying he is in excellent health.  I suppose that that is in response to Senator McCain’s twelve hundred page medical report that concluded he was in good health also.

I have been wondering how you can have a twelve hundred page medical record that only represents a few years and have it say that you are in excellent health.  I personally believe that Senator McCain seems fit as can be, but I didn’t have a question about his health until I heard the size of his medical records and some of the ailments that had come out in the brief review of them that had been done.

I now have questions about any of these medical records and the public stamp of approval where some doctor or group of doctors say the person is in excellent health.  What is there about Senator Obama’s records that the “spin” doctors are not telling us?  Are there cancerous growth that were removed?  Were there major surgeries and reoccurring conditions?  What does this public declaration of perfect health really mean?

I suppose that the question is not if a doctor who happens to be a supporter thinks you are healthy enough to be president.  As a voter, I suppose the real question is; are there things in your medical records that I would not think leaves you healthy enough to be president.

This whole medical records thing, from both camps is simply showmanship as the whole thing is misleading and subjective.  The facts are not really being presented in the few hour the media had to look at John McCain’s medical records.  I also think that comparing the medical records of two people with such a gap in age is a little unfair and possibly unethical.  It is at the least a little rude.  I sure wish the election could stick to at least a majority of actual issues and useful facts instead of this nonsense. 

Last week’s comments, made by Senator Hillary Clinton, about the assignation of Robert F. Kennedy were at the least extremely careless.  I have listened to several days of commentary about this topic and this strange statement and have come to the only logical conclusion:  Freudian Slip.

For those not familiar with the term “Freudian Slip,” the term is used most commonly to refer to a slip of the tongue that reveals an unconscious desire, fear, or belief.  An example:

Let’s say a person was afraid of being laid off.  That person gets a really strong cup of coffee and wants to tell another person the coffee is so strong that he feels wired.  But, instead the man says:  “This coffee is so strong I feel fired.”  This was in the man’s unconscious thoughts, but not what he was trying to communicate.  Yet it slipped into the communication of the man and accidentally gave the other people around a clue as to what he was thinking.

Now, back to what Senator Clinton recently stated.  The implication that how late it was in the race when Robert Kennedy was assassinated somehow demonstrates that a continued run by Senator Hillary Clinton is a stupid thing to say by any standard and clearly demonstrates the exact opposite.

The real untruth here, is the idea that as much behind the scenes discussion has taken place about keeping Senator Obama safe and the many death threats he has received, somehow Senator Clinton would now like us to believe that there has never been any discussion of what happens if he were to be assassinated. 

Let’s face it, at this point, the only real hope Senator Clinton has is some terrible mishap or tragedy in the Obama camp.  We are talking something much worse than what church he attends, but something that makes him look like the absolute worst candidate ever or something more terrible in nature.  It is late in the game, the candidates have been campaigning endlessly, the campaigns have been tough on each other, they are extremely tired, and things are looking really bad for Senator Clinton.

Even if dismissed as a terrible thing to be thinking about, it must have come up at some point.  I am also sure that as things get more desperate and the Senator gets more tired, the mind will do some strange things.  (Not to mention the amount of pictures I have seen recently where Senator Clinton has beer or liquor in her hands)

I do not believe the people who say this was some kind of malicious attack on Senator Obama or some passive aggressive ploy, but I do believe that there is more here than just an honest mistake. 

I think the desperate hope of winning this race and the hopelessness of it all at this point simply made her make a “Freudian” mistake that should indicate to her and her closest friends that it is time to slow down a bit and “get a grip.”

It’s like when a person, who would not do so normally, is so desperate to win something that he or she cheats when the other person is not paying attention.  Others the thought crosses their mind and they catch themselves and don’t do it.  The perfect place for a Freudian Slip to make the person accidentally use the word “cheat” in a sentence.

An honest mistake that indicates a person is in a dangerous state of mind!  That is what I see.

Senator John McCain has just rejected the endorsement of televangelists John Hagee and Rod Parsley.  These are very influential right wing leaders and this is an interesting turn of events.

John Hagee was about to be Senator McCain’s version of that Wright person that has caused Senator Obama such trouble after and old tape emerged of him stating that Adolph Hitler was sent by God to help the Jews get to the Promised Land.

The Problem with Rod Parsley has to do with his comments about Islam being a violent religion.

The thing ii, with all of the statements about how he would have never gone to a church like the one Senator Obama went to for all of those years etc., he has absolutely no choice with these major players in the Republican Party but to turn his back on them. 

The question is how will this play out for him as he is trying to convince the skeptical party that he is Right Wing enough to be the Republican candidate. 

I wonder if the Democrats are thinking that all they have to do is look at every minister or televangelist that begins to support Senator McCain with a microscope and find something negative to put in the media.  If they can get Senator McCain to turn his back on every minister that attempts to support him, keeping in mind that the Christian Right Wing is skeptical of him to begin with, it is only a matter of time before they return the favor.

In these cases, he not only turned down their support, but he spoke out against them and their messages publicly.  Will they do the same and speak out to their large segments of the community against him. 

Isn’t it amazing how this sort of distraction has become the focus of the primaries of both the Democrats and the Republicans?  Realistically, a few years ago Senator McCain was screaming to the public about how the Religious Right was such a huge problem in this country, now he is counting on the support of these same people to carry him to the presidency.  These people, who were not in his corner to begin with, decided they would stand behind him because he is a Republican even though they were not huge fans. 

Well now what happens?  He needs the support and the people of whom we speak will not vote for a Democrat and this crazy guy just turned his back on them and then went one step deeper and spoke out against them publicly.

The Republicageddon is near.  The Republicans Party is already on the ropes according to the polls and the cracks in the party are starting to grow.  The question this election season is really which will come first; the Republicageddon or the implosion of the Democrats (the Democrolypse) with all of this crazy race stuff going on over there.

This has been such a good year for those of us who do not belong to a political party.  It is great to have already chosen to be outside of a system that you know to be crazy when everyone else is finally realizing how crazy it is.  Our party and election system is clearly broken.  This whole primary season is about racism, pastors and televangelists, crazy supporters (some of which are the candidate’s husbands), and stupidity.  Our government is playing party games using all of their energy to make the other party look bad while we are all forced out of our homes and go broke on gasoline.  Particularly confusing is how the Democrat ruled segments of government and the Republican White House are voting, vetoing, and fighting over everything. 

It looks like Senator McCain has finally gotten all the way into the pool of chaos.  It seemed like he was just putting his toes into the water before.  Let’s watch and enjoy as he begins to fight with his own support base and the Democrats destroy each other.

In Kentucky and West Virginia polls have shown that large numbers of voters stated that race was a big issue in their choice of candidates.  Most of those voters voted for Senator Hillary Clinton.  These two states are the big wins that she is waving before the world as the reason she is still running and the reason she is a better candidate for president. 

For the past few days I have listened to commentary about this issue and I have tried to keep an open mind.  The problem is that no matter how you cut it, if you say race is the main decision for why you are going to pick the candidate you are going to pick and you pick Senator Clinton over Senator Obama, what does that make you? 

I understand that this same phenomenon exists with Senator Obama who has completely stolen the African American vote from Senator Clinton and her clan, but the African American voting block is a small one and has not been used by Senator Obama as the reason he should be elected.

There is an obvious truth that is being avoided.  A few people in the media have carefully hinted to it and online it is much of the political conversation this week.  What is this truth?  The demographic that has kept Senator Clinton in the race over the past few weeks and that is what she says shows she is a better candidate is the racist Caucasian vote.  

The fact that both candidates have large blocks of their support that support them solely because of their race is a huge indicator of what is going on in the Democratic Party.  The party is divided along the lines of race and has large segments of it’s base tied up in racist populations and subcultures.

I am thankful that Senator Obama has spoken out against such things, but it is hard to believe with his church history and a certain Mr. Wright as a friend.  On the other hand, Senator Clinton seems happy to have the support of the newly discovered racist left wing voters.  This is a far cry from the past politics of her previous campaigns and her husband’s.

If Senator Clinton wishes to have a future in politics, keeping in mind that a much of her support in the past has come from African American voters, she needs to stand against this sort of thing publicly.  She needs to stand before the world and say, “I would rather loose than win off of a racist vote.”  Those kind of steps would do the whole country a bit of good.  Senator Obama could do with a little more of that ideology in his camp also.

The thing is, if the rest of her campaign is going to focus on her wins in states that said they voter for her because of race and on a win she achieved in a state where Senator Obama was not even on the ballot, God help us all if she somehow ends up being the candidate for the Democrats. 

If that terrible day arrives, she may as well shave her head and campaign wearing swastika arm bands.  She will immediately become the poster child for racism, particularly against African Americans.  The Lord only knows what will become of her party.

Healing and unifying the country cannot begin with you, if your support base is a base of racist people. 

I bet John McCain is glad he gave up on his attempts to stop Martin Luther King Day.

The odds against Senator Hillary Clinton are moving from highly unlikely, past impossible, to just stupid.  Her advisors are divided, some now saying she should drop out (so she might have a future in politics beyond this race) and some saying to keep on fighting to the bitter end (sort of the captain going down with the sinking ship).

It looks as if the battered Senator, Barack Obama, will be victorious after all in his bid to get the nod of the Democrats.  He has the lead in the popular vote (even though Senator Clinton keeps claiming the votes of the states he didn’t run in and one of which he wasn’t even on the ballot give her the lead). The problem is that the price has been heavy in terms of his electability.  The man who once was seen as the candidate to unify the country is now the face of the division of the party (thanks to Senator Clinton’s insistence on going down with the ship) and is the face of the racial divide still existing in the country (thanks to a certain Mr. Wright).

These candidates have beaten each other so badly that a presidential race that should have been easily won by the Democrats due to the unpopularity of the current Republican white house is now a pretty even fight between the Democrats and the Republicans.

I personally think the parties need to go or at least revamp their value systems and stands, but why go through so much effort to defeat yourselves?

The truth is that much of the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of Senator Hillary Clinton and her party’s inability to stop her when she is single-handedly destroying the party she claims to be building.  If Senator Clinton is the face of anything it is the face of stubborn, selfish people who will do anything not to lose.

When will these two stop this nonsense?  It seems that Senator Obama has moved on to campaigning against Senator McCain and that Senator McCain is campaigning against Senator Obama, but the truth is Senator Clinton is attacking both and her party is loosing in the end.

I am not sure what people are telling her to continue that have disguised themselves as good advisors, but they are definitely not loyal to her party or to her.  These people clearly feel this is the one big shot or they would be thinking about her getting the mark of being the person who ruined what should have been the easiest election ever.

Senator Clinton should stop now.  As an obviously selfish person, she should do it to preserve her legacy, her future in politics, and to avoid passing the mark of “crazy person” on to her daughter (who in public speaking seems to be the most sensible politically and otherwise in the family).  I believe these reasons should be her real reasons for leaving the race along with the facts that she keeps destroying her party’s chances at winning and the faith of the people in her party at all. 

But, it is a free country.  That means each individual has the right to look stupid in the public eye for all of us to watch in amazement.

This weekend, for some very strange reason, I finally got around to paying attention to these obviously extremely relevant flag pins that everyone has been on and on about.  I never really thought that flag pins on a politician meant any more to me than lures on a fishing hat.   I always assume they must mean something to the person, but I have bigger fish to fry (like that pun).

My research was definitely in the form of casual observation, but strange as it seems, the only flag pin I noticed all weekend in clips and in rallies was proudly on the chest of Senator Barack Obama.  Not that they were not on the other candidates, I simply was not able to see them if they were.

I never really understood Senator Obama’s aversion to wearing flag pins, but then again I was never sure that it made a difference.  I consider myself to be pretty patriotic, yet I do not own nor remember wearing a flag pin.  I did however suddenly have huge questions when Senator Obama refused to wear on because although I do not wear them, if it was the norm for something patriotic I was participating in, I would have no problem wearing one.  So I assumed that prominent flag pins were the norm in politics and that it was rare and possibly unpatriotic for government officials not to wear them.

Imagine how mortified I was to see this absolute necessity ignored by the other candidates and several politicians all weekend.  I am exaggerating of course about my response, but I was deeply surprised not to see these things. 

I quickly looked at some pictures of Senator Hillary Clinton online in a few different places and I only found one picture that looked like she was wearing a pin that may have been a flag.  I looked at several photos of Senator John McCain and noticed a tiny pin in maybe two of the pictures, but couldn’t even tell if they were really pins much less flags.

I know it is a silly issue and I tried to ignore it as long as I could, but it finally got the best of me and I decided to pay attention.  The problem is that when I did finally pay attention the whole issue turned out to be smoke, mirrors, and invisible flag pins.

I am thinking that if this is such a big issue for Senator Obama that he made some kind of stand publicly, why was this stand overrun simply by a man handing him a flag pin.  On the other hand, if the other candidates and their campaigns want to make such a fuss about this, they should practice what they preach. 

I mean if flag pins were the end of the world for the average American and I was running for office I would have a flag hat, flag shoes, a flag tie, a big flag belt buckle, etc. 

I thought the whole thing was nonsense to begin with, but now I see that the people who brought us the nonsense can’t even face it themselves. 

Did I just see Senator Hillary Clinton on television saying she was ahead in the popular vote?  When I heard this I though I must have had my numbers confused or I had missed something.  Then I found out that her statement included to Florida and Michigan votes. 

This woman has successfully proven herself to be the craziest and scariest of all three of the candidates. 

I am astonished at this woman’s selfishness in being so desperate to win that she would continuously push to overturn the judgment of her own party and possibly destroy the party all together.  I am not convinced that the destruction of one, the other, or both of the parties is not a good thing, but I am astonished at who the political suicide bombers are.  The three candidates that are left seem to be unified in only one thing, the diligent effort to make their respective party look bad.

It is clear at this point that short of Senator Obama dying in a tragic accident, Senator Clinton has no chance of being the candidate to run against Senator John McCain unless it is for Vice-President.  But, she is rallying all of her support base by getting them to think she is actually ahead.  This means that when it is official that she has lost, her support base will feel that some injustice was done to her and that their votes were ignored.  That cannot be good for a party. 

If the “Democrolypse” is coming then Senator Clinton is Anti-Crat that will mislead people into following her into the destruction of her party’s world.  If she is successful it will be devastating, yet in a strange, twisted, independent voter sot of way, very entertaining.

Ladies and gentleman, another horse in the running for the presidential sweepstakes.  Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr has burst onto the presidential scene this week as a possible Libertarian Party candidate for president. 

“A what” You might ask..  A Libertarian.  You know, the people who finished forth four years ago behind George Bush, John Kerry, and even Ralph Nader.  I know it is hard to believe that there was anyone behind Ralph Nader, but there was this poor soul named Michael Badnarik, who ran as a Libertarian (who, did what).

But, don’t write this guy off so fast.  He has a little bit of end the war now for the Democrats and a little get tough on the borders for the Republicans.  He also has a lot of, breaking party lines for the true Independents.  If you add that to the fact that the longer these primaries go on the less the public likes the three candidates that are in place now, you get a possibility of actually winning.  It may be a remote chance, but the odds look better for him than they do for Senator Hillary Clinton right now and she is still being taken pretty seriously.

If nothing else, the confusion and division that Senator Clinton has caused for the Democrats can be mirrored by this former Republican’s resurfacing in a race where the Republican candidate has such shaky support from the party itself.

What a phenomenal development.  This is the great reality television that this election year continues to promise. 

We have had crazy staff, crazy supporters, crazy husbands, crazy clergy, several crazy candidates, but now we are about to get another wave of insanity.  Scary as it truly is, I cannot help but appreciate the entertainment of it all.

Since his primary win in North Carolina, Senator Barack Obama has moved from a gradual trickle to a near avalanche of superdelegates who have moved to support the senators bid for president.  The tide is so in Senator Obama’s favor that if this continues at anywhere near this pace there will be an absolute crushing of Senator Hillary Clinton within weeks in spite of the predicted wins in the next few primary states.

This has to be a blow to Senator Clinton and her support base.  With only a few more superdelgates for Senator Obama, Senator Clinton could win all of the remaining primaries and seat Florida and Michigan only to loose the Democrat’s nod and a whole lot of her own cash (not to mention whoever it is that is still throwing money into this sinking ship) 

I am not sure how this story ends, but I know it is looking more and more hopeless for Senator Clinton in light of the surge in support for Senator Obama.  As more primaries loom, I am wondering if the attacks are about to ramp up again further damaging the Democrats as a party and the popularity of each of the candidates. 

At what point does a determined candidate like Senator Clinton say that the remote possibility of creating a miracle come-from-behind win is not worth the risk of possibly damaging their party?  As I watch this whole thing unfold I am more and more convinced that her whole candidacy is completely about her and not a single sole else.  All of the ranting about the poor and the middleclass etc., is simply rhetoric.  I am left to ask, who is she loyal to.

If the party says certain states should be punished because of not respecting the rules of the party, to exert tremendous pressure publicly to override that ruling because you may gat a little closer to winning, even though it makes the ones you are supposed to be loyal to and representing look terrible, is incredibly self-centered.  To campaign in a state that your party instructed you not to campaign in so that you could plan this party revolt shows premeditated disloyalty. 

I admit I am not a fan of our current party system and usually welcome some venturing outside of traditional party boundaries, but I am not convinced this woman has any true loyalty to anyone but herself.  What kind of president would a person like that make?

I do believe however, that she is desperate enough to get into the Whitehouse that she will definitely run as a Vice-presidential candidate with Senator Obama if asked and prove to be a formidable opponent for the Republicans and other candidates.

The real problem is that a person with no loyalty whatsoever, has no value system that can outweigh the value of personal gain.  This is a person who would sellout anyone or group of person for money, power, and/or respect.  This is a seriously scary president or vice-president.