The first round of the Obama Veepstakes is over. Including the wildcard round, there are now only 16 out of 45 candidates left to vote on. The results of round I are below the fold.
You can vote on the 7th matchup of Round II below the fold. Prior to that I'd like to address a few suggestions made in previous comment sections.
Sunday's wildcard round featured 15 candidates and since no one came even close to 50% of the vote the top five candidates squared off in a 1st run-off yesterday. Again, no one got near 50%. Therefore, there will be a second run-off between the top two today. As to what this is all about and who won the first 15 matchups, please check out Sunday's diary.
Yesterday's wildcard round featured 15 candidates and since no one came even close to 50% of the vote the top five candidates will square off in a 1st run-off today. If no one gets to 50% today, there will be second run-off between the top two tomorrow. As to what this is all about and who won the first 15 matchups, please check out yesterday's diary.
After the initial 15 matchups, the first round of the Obama Veepstakes poll concludes with a wilcard round of less likely choices (in my very subjective opinion). They include people seldomly talked about yet associated with the Obama campaign, they also include members of the House of Representatives, and also Republicans and Independents and a few others. While putting the wildcard round together I tried to include your suggestions from previous comment threads.
Unless one of the 15 candidates manages to get more than 50%, I will conduct a first run-off tomorrow between those in the double digits or the top five, and if necessary hold a second run-off on Tuesday.
Seems to me Tom Daschle and Chris Dodd have been drinking a little to much tainted tap water. Or maybe the Obama campaign is living in some alternate universe where they feel the Senator is simply entitled to a state's delegates without an election taking place, (and after having lost the initial vote in those states).
Unless you think Tom Daschle was freelancing while in Meet the Press. [Which would not be the first time an Obama surrogate went off the reservation. But unlike Samantha Power or Austin Gooslby, Tom Daschle is a seasoned politcal veteran].
"It's comments like [Wolfson's] that make me question whether we do have the same standards," said the former Senate Majority Leader. "I don't think that you can make a statement like that and consider yourself within the bounds of civility. I mean, this shouldn't be tolerated. It's not acceptable, and it's unfortunate."
What's wrong with this picture? Barack Obama runs as the "outsider" fighting against the "special" interests. Barack claims:
“I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists — and won. They have not funded my campaign, they will not get a job in my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president.”
— Barack Obama, Speech in Des Moines, IA, November 10, 2007
Okay. Then if he is the candidate of change fighting Washington, why did a majority of the Washington, DC and the government employees in the surrounding suburbs and those pesky lobbyists and their spouses and employees, vote for Barack? You see, I believe that people act in their own interest. So, when the folks who live inside the beltway, vote in large measure for Barack, then maybe he is not what he claims to be.
Worth repeating. Remember in 2001, when Grandpa McCain was seriously considering bolting the republican party of Bushbots to become a democrat or independent?
The past couple of days have been very eventful up here in blustery North Dakota (by ND standards). It is not often that much attention is paid to North Dakota with regard to...well anything. So to have two people with any sort of name recognition visit, and on back-to-back days, has been a very welcome experience.
To have a major candidate for Leader of the Free World pay any attention to our state reiterates what has been said a gaziillion times in all of the Obama diaries here over the past year. This truly is a 50 state strategy, and this is my little contribution to the grassroots effort we are all a part of.
When love is gone, there's always justice.
And when justice is gone, there's always force.
And when force is gone, there's always Mom.
Hi, Mom! ---Laurie Anderson
I'm guessing the Rove interview was cut off before he revealed the second phase of Daschle's nefarious plan: lose the majority to the Republicans, then sneak out in the middle of the night with the Maltese Falcon.
But before this gets out of hand, can we nip this blatant re-writing of history and misconception of the current Administration in the bud?
It is so easy to forget the most basic lessons. Why did the Democrats succeed in such historic fashion in the 2006 elections? The National Exit Poll of 2006 was rather explicit – 42% of those polled rated corruption and scandals as "extremely important", more than for any other category. More voters found the issue of corruption extremely important than the war in Iraq, than terrorism, the economy, or illegal immigration.
The Democrats in Congress have responded to this clear mandate with characteristic tenacity, by handing Republicans an easy victory.
