Let's look for a minute beyond the he-said/she-said between the Clinton and Obama camps. When we analyze the SC primary results in terms of party -- Democrat vs. Republican -- the Republicans were annihilated, and, the South suddenly is no longer solid for the Republicans.
Let's look for a minute beyond the he-said/she-said between the Clinton and Obama camps. When we analyze the SC primary results in terms of party -- Democrat vs. Republican -- the Republicans were annihilated, and, the South suddenly is no longer solid for the Republicans.
Individual numbers are available all over the Internet so I'll post only the totals here:
-- TOTAL # of votes cast in the SC Democratic primary: 530,322
-- TOTAL # of votes cast in the SC Repubican primary: 442,918
-- Total # of votes cast for Senator Obama in the SC primary: 295,091
-- Total # of votes cast for the TOP TWO Republicans (McCain and Huckabee): 279,723
Look at that!!! In a state considered safe for Republicans in the November election, more people voted for the Democrats than for the Republicans:
-- Democrats: 54 percent
-- Republicans: 46 percent
Remember when George Bush won in 2004 and the rightwingers proclaimed his 51-49 victory a landslide? Damn -- if 51-49 is a Bush landslide, 54-46 is a Democratic earthquake.
Who voted for Obama in SC? Of course, everyone concludes that blacks in SC voted for Obama. But what about white Democrats and independents of all races?
Now, let's project Obama's win in SC to the rest of the South. In GA, AL, MS, LA, and AR (Arkansas), black folks make up a sizeable portion of the electorate. If Obama is the Democratic presidential candidate, then, we can expect that almost all of the black votes in SC, GA, AL, MS, and AR will go to Obama, and, he'll get the white Democratic vote, and, he'll get a pile of independent votes -- then -- suddenly, the Democratic presidential candidate has won as many as six Southern states that were supposed to be solid Republican territory.
My dream team is still Gore-Obama, but, it looks as though Big Al means it when he says he's sitting out this one. The Clinton's have pissed me off -- they are coming across as too damn arrogant, as thinking they are entitled to the Democratic nomination.
From this point on, my vote is for Obama, mainly because he can carry the South -- which Hillary could never do -- along with much of the rest of the country. Now, all we need is an Obama running mate from the West or the South,
How about:
-- Obama-Richardson?
-- Obama-Bredesen (governor of TN)?
-- or, Obama-?????