March 5th, 2008
Thoughts on Vermont, Rhode Island, Texas and Ohio, and the Primary Season
I love politics and debating issues, saying all that to say this; the democratic primary is the most interesting race I have paid attention to. I have seen Truman holding up a news paper declaring Stevenson the winner, as we now know Truman won the Presidency. It is good that so many of us are paying attention to the primary.
You have to love Vermont. I am a graduate of The University of Vermont. The whitest state backed Obama 60% to 38%. There are 2 villages in Vermont that have passed law to arrest President Bush and VP Cheney if they step foot in their municipalities.
Senator Obama is still the leader and should win the nomination. Clinton is riding her hopes on Pennsylvania, whose primary is A long way away. Barack has shown the more he visits a state the better he competes and most times wins.
Rep John Lewis of Georgia needs to retire or be displaced via the next election. He was one of the black faces of the Clinton machine His support exhibited no influence in his district, that supported Senator Obama overwhelmingly. When the going got tough, he abandons ship, even though he loves the Clintons. What a friend.
Many blacks now hate Hillary, odd, when 6 months most supported her campaign.
Bill Clinton played the race card in South Carolina, and was considered harmful to the campaign, maybe he knew all along, whites would become alarmed by a black canidate, which Barack is slowly becoming.
Barack need to get in the mud and play dirty. Shove that kitchen sink up their rear! It is time to fight. They have the nerve to bring Tony Rezko, in to the race when many indictments were served during the Clinton years.
Is the mostly white media starting to get jealous of the success of Senator Obama?
McCain is a one issue canidate.
Is Ohio a racist state? Rhode Island? What is up with Texas Hispanics? Do they really think a white woman like Hillary is more trusting than a black man like Barack?
I am very happy to see the involvement of the masses in the process. If we had been this astute during the aftermath of 9-11, maybe we would not be in Iraq.
How about Colin Powell as Barack’s running mate? They are both light skinned, and loved by America, but maybe together, too black to win.
I look forward to your thoughts.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
JD,
Here is the Question, that will cause
Senator Barack Obama to win the Nomination for President of these United States of America. He still won the Caucus vote in Texas, Here
is the whole solution. And God will
get the glory and really unite this
country. Now is time, God Is Love,
God Is Good, God Is One!
Can We agree, Peers of Love…Win?”
March 6th, 2008 at 12:36 am
Hillary is unable to go up against McCain. Barack doesn’t need to get in the mud with her, he simply needs to dissect her resume.
March 6th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Agree, He is a gift from God, sent here to unite us and save the USA, thanks jim
March 6th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Chelle, thanks for the comment, he has taken your advice, I enjoy your blog
March 6th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I believe that Obama needs to toughen up and play a little hardball. Hillary has clearly taken off the gloves and is ready to knock Obama out of this race! She wants this presidency by any means necessary and means to have it!
Obama must certainly work a little harder to stay ahead, and then work a lot harder to win!
March 6th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
regina, it is on now1 Thanks for the comment
March 6th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I believe NAFTA hurt him as did Rezko, both prior to the primary, I think this was not racially but when things like that occur right before the primary it tends to hurt especially as people are actually thinking and not deciding early anything which occurs a few days prior to a primary will hurt.
Hardball won’t work in PA, the people don’t want it and won’t tolerate it they wasnt answers to their questions, he will have to work hard - I hope he does and can do it.
I have a hard time voting for a Hilary given the nomination but would vote for her if she actually won the popular vote.
A friend of mine said on his blog that Hilary will not beat McCain, never - and the Democrats have a map to the white house in Obama, they just do not know how to read it.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Here’s the deal.
Barack has to fight fire with fire. He can’t ‘play nice’ at least not with the Wicked Witch - throw a bucket of water on her and she’ll melt.
It’s time for Barack to get a bit more specific regarding the planks in his platform. As it stands now, his and Hillary’s platforms are generalizations, not something tangible.
Hillary can not beat McCain - Barack just might.
It’s your/our choice.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:13 am
I personaly am going to vote for Barack! I haven’t and Will not tell my family, who are all voting for McCain.. Shhh don’t tell them please :)!
Ian
March 7th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Hi Cooper,The Gov. has already said that a black cannot win in his state of PA. It is already dirty and the PA voters are like every other state, the majority will decide on emotion, not answers to questions.Barack will take Philly and Pitt, Hillary the rednecks, the key are the big city suburbs. I do not condone calling her a monster, she is my birth state Senator but Barack has to bring up doubt. In Ohio, 20 % of voters surveyed said race is a factor.
March 7th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Morgan, I agree, Hillary is now helping McCain and she is sounding like McCain and Bush. If we want more of the same,the same old people, doing the same old things, we will get the same old results of the past 7 plus years! I have made my choice.
March 7th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Ian, I will not tell, I am and have already voted for Obama
March 7th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I was listening to some random commentary the other night, sorry I was half asleep, but a question was posed to someone from that state I believe it was
a Senator - the question was directly about the percent of rednecks in the state and as the argument ensued the he insisted that people might be surprised to find the “redneck” population in Pennsylvania has decreased significantly and many of the people are taking it serious enough to decide on issues, we’ll see. I have my doubts as well, but there is always hole.
March 7th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I’m with you all the way JD. Obama has the gift of gab, he better use it too diplomatically massage some of all of the dirt Bill and Hillary have in their backyard.
And if she even looks like she wants to bring up his purchase of his home, Whitewater needs to fall out of his mouth before he can part his lips.
The gloves are off now , it’s a street fight now. Obama better get with the program.
March 8th, 2008 at 11:03 am
We’ve all read the articles that posit that Hillary can’t win due to the fact that the numbers are on Barack’s side.
If that be so, then why is Hillary not capitulating?
With the debacle of Michigan and Florida, who knows what’s going to happen.
Barack has to remember that Hillary is no lady so he doesn’t have to play by the rules, she surely isn’t and never has.
Shelia nailed it in her comment - remind the public of all the crap that Bill and Hillary got away with while they were in office - and by association, Bill’s faux pas can be tied to Hillary’s acquiescence of his /her misdoings.
It’s notable that people aren’t focusing on the Clinton’s past behavior while in and out of the White House. How soon we forget.
This should be on the top of the list for Barack’s strategy.
March 8th, 2008 at 11:33 am
It seems to me people only have to look at the way the campaigns are run to see how the White House will be run. People need to open their eyes. And why the heck have we yet to see her tax returns??
March 8th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Great conversation and so many interesting ideas, Jim. You stir it up so wonderfully!
Interesting suggestions to “get off the gloves” but is that not “politics as usual?” How so?
Every time a person takes a swing at another the brain rewires for more of it. Many fear that we’re in Iraq and create turmoil in many areas because we take off the gloves to win our way.
What if we put on more brainpower instead - and let the voters be swayed by brilliant ideas rolled out to heal our land.
It cannot start after an election is won — because each time we roll forward in the “fist swinging manner” we create more brainpower to use it to get past problems.
I am torn between Hilary and Obama, and sense they’d make a brilliant dream team together on the ticket. That would lift us past color, past swinging, into the accountability they offer each other — and more toward the brainpower we need to start developing for CHANGE that lasts.
Well — it’s just another 2-bits to a great discussion. Thanks Jim - as always!
March 9th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Cooper, the demographics are interesting and Barack may win some significant redneck support. Thanks for stopping by
March 9th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Sheila, you make a great point and it will be of interest to see him respond. thanks for the comment
March 9th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Right on Morgan, Hillary is a real threat but she is now acting like the front runner, it will come down to the super delagates,thanks for commenting
March 9th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Cooper, it seems barack has run a better campaign, and it shows strong leadership, thanks for the comment
March 9th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Ellen, I have learned so much about the brain from your blog and you have provided more insight here, to point out differences and challenge is helpful, to mislead is not, Thanks for your comment
March 10th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
i have learned so much from your blog! thks
March 10th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Despite that the vast majority of political pundits will point out that negative ad campaigns work, it is my humble opinion that Senator Obama has won the respect of many a white voter BECAUSE he has thus far run a clean campaign. He is also an intelligent man in realizing that by running a clean campaign against Hillary (and winning), it would be far better to have her complete support AND RESPECT for his presidency (as well from all of the democrats whom are backing her) than it would be to have her as a pseudo-supportive Senator.
Even if he loses the democratic nomination, he’s still relatively young and will undoubtedly be the front-runner in the 2012 race, which will also win him more credibility from more “fair-weathered” republicans as he will undoubtedly be given far greater responsibilities that will catapult his “brand” image over the next four years. No one will be able to question his “experience” in 2012, regardless that it may be unfair to question it currently. The “experience” he lacks is not in what he’s accomplished, but how “inexperienced” most Americans were just two short years ago with recognizing his name. I can’t think of another presidential candidate who has gained so much recognition in such a short period of time. Talk about an excellent marketing team!
I agree that the gloves should come off against Senator McCain at the first sign of mud-slinging from Senator McCain’s staff, but only in a retaliatory manner, not in a preemptive first strike. If you think that Senator Clinton’s aids have been unkind to him, can you imagine how negative the republicans could be if they could find a skeleton in his closet? I believe Senator McCain to be an honorable man, yet I am not naive to think that he can prevent some in his party to hit below the belt. Unlike Senator Obama, Senator McCain will not have another go at the brass ring in 2012. McCain needs to be a sprinter, whereas Obama needs to be a marathon runner. If Senator Obama can be both, great, but the future will decide that outcome.
Regarding having Colin Powell as VP, if Senator McCain could convince Colin to come over to the republican ticket, I think it would do him far more good than it would do Senator Obama. However, I don’t see Colin Powell being any party’s VP, as he is a leader, not a second-in-command.
If I were Senator Obama’s chief adviser, I would tell him to find a highly respected white conservative male democrat as VP, (or at least a less liberal democrat) because this may sway more fence-sitting republicans to switch camps more so than having Colin Powell on his ticket.
Senator Obama is probably the most articulate, well-spoken, and credible public debater that I have ever seen. Please note that I did not add the adjective “black” before the word “debater”, as I can’t think of another candidate, including Kennedy and Reagan, who could captivate their audience the way Senator Obama does. He is smooth in his delivery, calm in his defense, yet direct, confident and poised in his positioning.
I think having Senator Clinton as his VP would be a mistake. Republicans even remotely considering him for president would shudder at the thought of her replacing him. And given some of the (literal) skeletons that many republicans believe to be in her closet, (remember all of the people who died of unnatural causes after Travelgate, Vincent Foster’s suicide, Filegate, and countless other faux scandals that likewise failed to produce evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the Clintons, yet many to this still believe they were capable of covering up?) coupled with Senator Clinton’s ambition to be President, the conspiracy theory following any assassination attempt on “President” Obama might make Kennedy’s assassination look like it was covered up by amateurs. Talk about a statistic unlikely to ever be outdone… the first black and first female ever to have been a US president, BOTH in the same term.
Although a conservative democrat might seem like an oxymoron, who comes to mind as a strong democratic leader that might fit that billing?
March 11th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Greg, very compelling and complete. I have to agree with your thought process. You should blog, you have a lot to say! You were a great salesman that contributed strongly to my success, Thanks for the comment
March 11th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Hero, thanks for stopping by