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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Political bits

(Politico) The McCain camp is growing increasingly testy about Huckabee staying in the race and making them look bad. (Maybe Huckabee's not running for VP, but for "conservative symbol." That pays pretty darn well.)

(CNN) Huckabee vows to stay in race.

(CNN/WaPo) I didn't notice, but, no, Clinton didn't congratulate Obama on his wins. Didn't even mention them.

(CNN) Clinton's deputy campaign manager resigns. (I also read somewhere that she's seriously beefing up her internet staff. Fundraising?)

(WaPo) Another national Republican figure is running down Obama. (Again, the question is whether they're trying to lay groundwork or help Clinton.)

(Politico) I don't buy this argument as significant, "Obama is now 102,000 votes ahead of all Republicans combined." (Look, the Dem turnout is impressive, but Republicans aren't going to turn out with the same passion to ratify John McCain.)

Also, A whole lot is being made about Obama "reaching into" Clinton's demographics last night. Was yesterday a landslide because he reached into those groups, or does the polling show him "reaching in" because it was a landslide?

I guess the answer to that question is what decides the election.

And, Last, I definitely fall into the camp that says superdelegates will not define this election. They will end up ratifying the popular vote.

7 Comments:

  • "...the camp that says superdelegates will not define this election. They will end up ratifying the popular vote."

    Is that because they're all Democrats who lived through two presidential elections with questionable vote counts? You think that they'll feel morally bound to reflect the popular vote? Or are there other reasons?

    By Blogger r8r, at 9:58 AM  

  • Actually, I hadn't thought about that and it may have some resonance.

    My thinking is more crass. The Dems look incredibly well positioned to pick up stuff across the country and I find it impossible to believe that all of these seasoned pros would jeopardize all of that by having an ugly, ugly convention.

    The presidential campaign is the headliner sucking up all the oxygen, but there's whole lot of other stuff at stake, and I find it hard to believe they will throw away the very good political landscape they have.

    Just my opinion.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 11:01 AM  

  • McCain/Huckabee: I don't know what's going on here. Huck seems to have nice things to say about McCain, unlike the oozing bile he had for The Mittster. But I keep asking myself what's in it for Huck?

    ---
    Clinton doesn't do concession. Hasn't since Iowa. Not that I particularly care. With so many contests is it really necessary? I think she could have been more gracious after SC, but we're in unprecedented primary territory. I think it's just a little snarky for major news outlets to make this criticism.

    ----
    I don't think the Repubs are running down Obama to build up Hillary. I think they're trying to energize their base. McCain took grouchy-old-man swipes at Obama last night. Admittedly I'm partisan, but I thought McCain's particular tact of bashing Hope was not only a loser argument, but it made him look small.

    ----
    If Obama wins WI (reaching into Clinton's demo), which is a primary, I think we're looking at a real shift in voter mind-set going into OH and TX. As I've written before, Clinton is going to have to lose here base support for Obama to win. If we see that happen, I think we're looking at the beginning of the end. Still, what the hell do I know.

    By Blogger -epm, at 11:09 AM  

  • The elected super delegates (reps, senators, etc) care about one thing: their political ass.

    By Blogger -epm, at 11:11 AM  

  • I'm beginning to think Huckabee sees the lecture circuit as a better landing pad than VP on a losing McCain ticket.

    ...

    The argument that the Repubs are "laying groundwork" against Obama is pretty solid, but I can't deny the fact that they probably want to keep the dem race going and messy.

    ....

    I was just amazed how quickly the heads turned this exit polling into a trend. It was one day and more or less one state, hardly the point to call a trend.

    ....

    And, I'll be writing about Texas as it gets closer, HOWEVER, it's been my observation among the commenters at this blog that people writing about their own states are usually the most wrong. Funny, huh?

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 2:29 PM  

  • Huckabee and the lecture circuit. Interesting idea. How about this: He sees the Dems winning in November as almost inevitable. Rather than be on a losing Repub ticket with (holding nose) McCain, why not build up his national conservative credentials with an eye to 2012?

    ----

    I think the Repubs are putting their money on Obama and are starting the general election campaign as soon as possible, thus giving Obama a two front war. However, I'm beginning tho think the national zeitgeist is losing interest in the primaries and is itchin' for the main event. I think we'll see Obama moving through the remainder of the primaries campaigning against McCain and establishing his own cred as a strong national player (ie. ready and capable to be the Dem standard bearer). Doing this he kills two or three birds with one stone.

    By Blogger -epm, at 5:10 PM  

  • That's a fair bet, too. It folds in well. The funny thing is, that gives us Romney Huckabee 2012.

    ...

    And, yeah. My hunch right now is that March 4 will be the turn. I think the Texas bar has been set so high that even if when Clinton wins, she still won't hit it.

    Just a feeling, but as I said above, everyone who has commented on this blog about their own state has been wrong. I don't think I'm that exceptional.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 6:07 PM  

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