Well, this long process is nearly at it's end. And this time, we really mean it, there are only two states left, Montana and South Dakota. I had an opportunity to visit both as a kid in 1988, and this article recalls traveling through Montana and seeing Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, as well as the return trip through South Dakota and a few of its noted attractions.
Given the hoopla over the R&B's Florida/Michigan decision this weekend, I've been thinking about ways to improve this byzantine and at times arbitrary primary system for 2012. Of course, the candidates knew what they were getting into this cycle, so I don't accept any ex post facto complaining, but since we hope to have an uncontested primary in 2012, it seems like as good a time as any for reform.
Let me start by saying this: I like proportional allocation. No, it doesn't work like the ever-loathed Electoral College, but it's...well, democratic. Republicans like to choose their nominee by making states like California, Florida, and New York winner-take-all, but as Democrats we like underdogs a bit more than that.
Let me also say that I like the early four states used this cycle. Maybe we should try to rotate these early four every cycle, but I think we should always aim for a similar regional, ethnic, and ideological balance: one labor-heavy Midwestern state, one Western state with a marked rural/urban split, one independent-minded Northeastern state, one heavily African-American Deep Southern state.
I don't pretend to have the answers. But I think I've got a decent proposal, on which I'd like to hear input. It is far from perfect, but it is a start. Read below the fold...
This is a short little report/rant from the cable news front by one person unfortunate enough to turn on the "news" for a brief period this morning.
I have oft times felt that my sense of reality did not comport with most of my fellow human beings. Admittedly, this started at an early age. I remember being in kindergarten or first grade and observing my peers contentedly rolling around the playground...and just feeling that I had, somehow, been delivered to the wrong planet. So be it. This feeling faded over time, for the most part, but every now and again, it gets restimulated...not the least cause of this restimulation is television news. So I stay away, for the most part.
Yep. Keep me away from the pundicrats and the bloviators. Occasionally, I'll watch Keith Olbermann. Even more rarely, I'll watch Matthews or Russert. Anything else is liable to result in my mind capsizing...feeling adrift in a malicious universe and entirely at odds with a majority of my fellow human beings. It's an almost inflexible rule. I don't watch it.
we got ahead of ourselves. somehow we believed that democrats had finally reached parity with republicans, and that we'd have the financial resources to compete on even footing.
then came hillary. a candidate who once pitched herself as the only candidate who could compete financially with the gop presidential nominee, we now learn that hillary's been using democrats as her own personal credit card, mortgaging the 2008 election to, well, make a point?
Clinton's campaign debt has now soared to nearly $31 million, according to numbers crunched early this morning by The Times' campaign finance guru, Dan Morain.
West Virginia is probably the most challenging state we have visited in this series. But we do visit the panhandle, the industrial north, and of course the New River Gorge Bridge. On the way, we explore the Appalachian geography. We opt to focus on the state's natural and human-made beauty rather than delve into the stereotypes that have dominated commentary in the days leading up to today's primary. Enjoy.
For the past 7+ years, my conservative father’s stock snarky answer to anything that I pointed out about the Bush administration or the rubber stamp republican Congress was met with a comment to the effect of "oh, don’t you worry, President Hillary will come in and make everything all better". I always told him that (besides the fact that he was dodging the issue to begin with) there was no way that she would be elected President.
A couple of years ago, when he made that comment to me, my reply was that she wouldn’t even get the nomination - and we even bet a dinner on it. He could only ask who would possibly get the nomination over her. Now, this diary isn’t about Hillary Clinton - it just happens that her Presidential campaign is the product of a Democratic Party mindset that has resulted in oh-so-narrow losses (for the most part) and even some "key victories" in certain ever-shrinking lists of "swing states".
Just short of calling for Hillary to drop out of the race, Edwards stated that he just doesn't see how Hillary can win the nomination, based on the numbers.
Appearing on the Today Show, John Edwards also essentially stated that he believes Obama has a better chance of winning the general election:
"I think Barack Obama has a better chance. It looks like he's going to be the nominee."
"He brings the capacity to unite the Democratic party, to bring in new voters and to get people excited about change.
...People are looking for a leader and someone they can trust and someone who will fight for them, every day. I think Obama will do that."
Lawrence O'Donnell reports just now on the Huffington Post that a "senior [Clinton] campaign official and Clinton confidante has told [him] that there will be a Democratic nominee by June 15."
It has been a really busy week at CatSynth, but we're taking some time to continue our "primary highways" series with a visit to the state of Indiana. Appropriately, Indiana is known as the "Crossroads of America," and boasts quite a collection of Interstate highways. We spend a little time in the flat north along our "favorite" I-80, and also have a little fun with another major highway and a former congressman's quest to change it's number.
Aside from traveling through and what we read online, we actually don't know a lot about Indiana, and would love to hear more from readers.
The NYT article, published April 10, 1992, is a very ironic walk down memory lane. Interestingly, the issue of short coattails was on the minds of Democratic representatives. After 1996 mid-terms, it appears this was a valid concern:
"There's a real tug-of-war up here," said one House member. "Especially on this side, there are a lot of people who are terrified that all the character questions, all the negatives about Clinton that showed up in New York, make him so weak that a lot of people will lose their seats."
friday night was spectacular. the largest crowd ever for a presidential candidate this cycle. the enthusiasm and motivation unmatched by any other campaign. but the philadelphia speech was just the beginning of my night.
we had another barack event to set up -- his whistle stop in wynnewood, pa.
the r-5 back to wynnewood was packed almost entirely of people returning from the barack speech. so there was a lot of enthusiasm and buzz in the air. when the train stopped to let people off, it took minutes (seemed like forever) before the train moved again. when we finally got back to wynnewood, the office -- and parking lot -- was packed. a huge meeting in preparation for saturday's visit was going on. the kids were supposed to be at this meeting -- i don't see how, since it started 20 minutes after the train was supposed to leave philadelphia -- but we really only arrived at it's tail end.
The code words of the Republicans and now Hillary Clinton, with support from Maureen Dowd and other assorted MSM figures.
When a man is called an elitist, they mean he is a sissy. Weak. A coward. Not able to protect America. Not able to stand up for his beliefs.
But these words have other particular connotations, which the Repubs insinuate ad libitum. And now Hillary and her indescribably destructive campaign is imitating.
Below the fold is a copy and pasted comment, that I did not submit to another diary that was fairly "anti-Obama." I've been mulling over in my head exactly why certain terms are used when describing Barack Obama. Terms like young man, kid, inexperienced, a good talker, arrogant, basketball, and various others. (Basketball typically being referenced after someone saying, "He can't bowl, but he can play *basketball.") I was wondering why people in the MSM don't even question Hillary Clinton's "35 years" of experience "making change." Especially with regards to her faulty memory and all.
But mostly, I've wondered why almost all of these terms have come not from Republicans, but from Democrats. So-called liberal progressives literally stereotyping a man who is trying to lead their party to victory. I thought, is this just how politics works? Nah. I've seen my share of Presidential elections, this one is particularly different. If you're a White male, then you might not necessarily understand completely - or maybe you do. But if, like me, you're a minority or perhaps a woman, then I think you might appreciate the consequences of hate-filled innuendo as much as I do. Below, my comment that I didn't post.
in what was a new speech (to me), michelle obama talked to almost two thousand people on the mainline outside of philadelphia mocking hillary clinton's tepid criticism that a black man who lives on the southside of chicago was "out of touch." it was the culmination of the efforts to reach out and mobilize thousands of pennsylvania voters, and our work to make the event happen in the mainline office, in the hope that pennsylvanians will vote their dreams and not their fears.
before the speech occurred, the day was filled with excitement and a little confusion, hope and a little anxiety.
Per Mark Halperin's page, Clinton PA surrogate number one Eddie Rendell told reporters before a dinner Saturday night that it could cost Obama "one or two points at the margin" in the Keystone State primary.
"But by the time November rolls around, I think this comment will be long forgotten."
so one of the most frequent comments i hear at people's doors is, "why aren't i on your list?" when people ask me that, i will cite the reasons they may not be on the list, but it almost always comes down to two reasons: either they just switched parties (either independent or republican to democrat) or they have not been a primary voter in recent years. yet the people who aren't on our target list of voters have often been among our most fervent supporters. that's why i record their names, get them to sign our "pledge card," so we can turn them out on election day.
as you'd expect, there are a ton of polls from pennsylvania out right now. the polls are all over the place, one even showed barack ahead of hillary. what should be really obvious is that the difference between the polls is their "likely voter" screen, the model they are using to decide who will vote in this election.
there's a "joke" going around my family, mostly at my expense. "talking to voters," i told my wife, "slows me down." we were discussing why i had only hit 230+ doors that day while talking to ~100 pennslyvania voters.
sometimes it takes a while to spot the trends. but this one hit me smack in the face. canvassing in king of prussia -- an area generally assumed to be a hillary stronghold -- i came upon a gentleman we had id'ed as a 5C (strong hillary supporter) who has now switched to a 1 (strong barack supporter). he signed our "pledge card" committing to vote for barack.
but it was his explanation why that really made me focus on this trend: there are many democrats, apparently including some hillary supporters, who want to end this thing, and start to focus on defeating john mccain. and the voters of pennsylvania understand that they have the power to end this race right here on april 22.
<div style="margin:5px;float:left"></div> i guess i've been here about a week. and the biggest observations i have at this moment is a.) pennsylvania voters are taking their votes -- their choice -- quite seriously, and b.) pennsylvania VOTERS are really comfortable with the choices they have in hillary clinton and barack obama. almost every single hillary supporter i've talked to has said to me, unsolicited, that they will be voting for barack in november (of course, they qualify this with, "if he's the nominee"). and i've started to think that pennsylvania voters, those who are engaged by this primary, exhibit a rare quality in primary politics.
i'm calling it pennsylvania nice.
knocking on doors yesterday, i ran into a number of hillary supporters. they were pleasant and friendly, they were appreciative of barack's grassroots efforts, they were proud of the great candidates democrats offered this year. none of the antagonism we find on line, none of the selfish pettiness or my-candidate-or-nothing approach. nothing but pennsylvania nice.
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