2008-01-25

Democratic Voters Disenfranchised in Michigan and Florida

A fairly underreported story in my view is the fact that all the Democratic voters in Florida, the sunshine state, have been effectively disenfranchised this year. They, along with Democratic voters in Michigan, will have no say in who the Democratic nominee will be. Usually this sort of punishment is reserved for felons, but this year, because the legislators of these states decided to move their primaries "too early", all potential Democratic voters for both states have been penalized. I believe the driving force in this decision was the Chair of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean. That will teach voters to cower and fear his pterodactyl cry! Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the voters of such critical swing-states respond in the general election when their vote finally does count.

2008-01-19

Hillary picks up New Hamsphire and Nevada

It is currently old new that Hillary Clinton won New Hamsphire in an upset. Early polls gave the state to Barrack Obama by 10% points. Many claim her teary-eyed Q&A session with voters is what gave her the edge. I'm pretty sure the debate had more to do with it -- and that answering the "how to handle a nuclear attack" question gave her the edge she needed. Also, she was in a huge lead until Iowa -- perhaps many decided voters had swayed for a moment in the polls and then regrouped when forced to assess Obama's experience weakness. As for Nevada, the Union endorsement for Obama made it seem like he had a chance to steal it away. Still assessing the polling numbers and final results for that one...

2008-01-06

The Audacity of Iowa

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

Obama swept up the Iowa Caucus, and is looking like he will continue his sweep through New Hampshire and South Carolina. This is a big blow to the Clinton organization, and shows that Obama is pulling in new voters and youth at a fast clip. This increase of voter turn-out surprised many pundits, and is a great sign of improvement of interest in the political process by the electorate. Obama greatly increased his likelihood of being the Democratic nominee. He may have more trouble than Clinton in the general election if faced up against someone like McCain who hast vast experience. Obama is certainly a fantastic motivational speaker, but did not draw as much confidence as Clinton with his response to tough questions in the New Hampshire debate like how to prevent and respond to a nuclear attack. Clinton remains ahead in early polling in super Tuesday states such as California, but the winners of early states have enormous power to sway.

One annoying fallout of Obama's Iowa victory is all the copy-cat and me-too campaigning going on. Obama nicely branded his campaign around two words: Hope and Change. Stump speeches by every single major candidate now have moved to the defensive with most candidates urging desperately that they are for change too. Romney said the word change perhaps 22 times in 30 seconds in a recent speech. Clinton is urging how she has delivered change over the past 35 years and doesn't just talk about it. Finally, Edwards talks about how Clinton is merely the status quo and that he and Obama are the only agents of change.