I think something's up. I'm not one to pass around rumors but Clinton goes on CNN and starts getting teary-eyed, reflecting upon her campaign experiences..?  From my days as a stock trader I know that she's got inside information.  There's got to be a reason why Clinton gets misty on National TV.

There have been murmurs of a big campaign announcement forthcoming. Why do you think Clinton gets all choked up for her interview?  

What's up?

Todd Beeton is dead on. (I wish I could comment here, I would have left him a comment, but for some reason my ability to comment on posts has disappeared).

His post "The will of the people" reflects precisely that. Clinton is a candidate that , to many Americans, reflects a strong drive to accomplish key initiatives that they are truly interested in - if, falling short of speaking for them as their diplomat, and commander in chief.

But why? Well first, because the polls reflect a strong and non diminishing trend to have Clinton on the ticket as the VP. Second, it just makes good sense - Hillary knows how the white house works. The office of the Vice President has grown in relevance under the unitary executive initiatives of the past years - and many would even say that this office rivals that of the presidency, post-Bush Republican / Dick Cheney.

The idea that an extremely well qualified, popular presidential candidate that has shown strong polling against the GOP matchups  smacks of pure victory.

Of course, Obama could always nominate Joe Lieberman.
But then we'd probably have to invoke the 22nd amendment.

What do you think? Did Todd finally get it right? Is Hillary
the cat's meow for VP? If not. Then who?

I logged to myDD today and found a really great diary about the "Obama Effect" in Georgia. Andre Walker's Diary is a great read, and its conclusions are sound. I wanted to add a couple of things to his writing if I may. But from a different perspective - as this is now the second time in previously thought of as "safe republican" territory - to see the candidacy of Obama, deliver a coat-tail effect. The first, you might recall, was none other than Dennis Hastert's district election - where the Democrats made a major pickup.

There's something thats beginning to form in my mind about Obama - he is transforming the Democratic party into a party of change. And he is connecting the Democratic party to a new dynamic of American politics.  We are crashing the gate.

One of the big factors in this election and perhaps future elections is the increased involvement of the electorate. This is to my analysis largely due to the internet and its effect on the process.  The democratic party, more so than any other, is better geared to handle this.  It is the received wisdom amongst many that the Democrats have embraced these fundamental changes more completely. It can be argued that the GOP is more efficient at using the net to their advantage, but the manner in which they operate, lobbyists, etc. - seems to be a fundamental disconnect to how things should be running if the net were integrated into the political process.  And with more voters, comes greater strength at the polls and in the process overall.

But thinking about this effect for a moment, I recognized that there  is  a huge level of interest in this election overseas. Can a democratic win in 2008  unleash a tidal wave of
new improvement and engagement  in foreign relations?  What effect would a democratic win have worldwide? Why are they so interested in this election?

Domestically, the candidacy of Obama has already had positive impact on several districts. All politics might be local, as the saying goes - however, the election of a strong democrat as president might have other effects. This could be the beginning of a global phenomenon. America is seen as a beacon of democracy - re-establishing this in the world can have several positive effects. I am certain there are specific countries with whom, much like the domestic electoral landscape has shifted - our relationship will change for the better.

Which countries do you think would be the most excited about a Democrat winning the white house in 2008?

Today Obama just tied Clinton in Superdelegates, overcoming a 100 delegate deficit at the start of the race. It's interesting who finally brought the two candidates to parity.

California superdelegate Crystal Strait headed over to Obama's column today after a long process.  Crystal is a heavy in the Young Democrats, and she chose to vote on the basis of the youth vote in America. She cast her vote in a manner that follows those trends. I believe each superdelegate will have similiar rationale - as I wrote earlier, they tend to follow the popular and pledged delegate trends.

I wonder if this bothers some Clinton supporters. After all, Clinton did send out a letter that attempted to inform any prospective superdelegates to encourage them to ignore the pledged or popular electoral landscape and make individual decisions.
This was a letter sent to attempt to take Speaker Nancy Pelosi to task for suggesting that the superdelegates follow national and democratic trends.

As I wrote earlier,  in a previous post entitled, "What will the Superdelegates do?" ,  watching the superdelegates in this contest has become something , now, of a canary in the coal mine.

And that now points to the fact that the superdelegates have moved to Obama. Clinton will keep running to pay down her election debt. And to prepare for the General Election, because she's going to run as Vice President and be the best damn VP America has ever seen.

That the superdelegates did so in a way that respects the deepest traditions of democracy - and at least in the manner that it happened today - rejects Clinton's call to vote "independently", is a telling sign of things to come.

Since Dick Cheney tried to make the office of the Vice President the "CEO of America" , when Clinton makes it into the office of the VP, she will be able to do alot more work in smoke filled rooms and those that are currently dealing with the office of the VP are known to be exercising alot of independent judgement. She is a very strong candidate for reforming that office , while at the same time forging a strong direction for the machine that exists (hey, you have to fly the plane to the mechanic's airstrip , to get the engine repaired!).

Perhaps  the Superdelegates are thinking that "Full Speed Ahead"
is a good way to waste alot of gas.

Todd's wrong. Obama has already won.

He's won because he's inspired my generation and others.
He's won because he's brought massive numbers of new voters
into the voting booths.

He's won because his insurgent campaign against the Clinton machine has succeeded in winning more than 75% of the states.

He's won because Clinton's "must win" stronghold of Texas just broke for Obama by a few delegates and her single digit win in Pennsylvania wasn't enough to turn the tide.

He's won because he's racked up enough delegates and super delegates to simply be on top, no matter what.  

Obama is basically at 1700 today with about 200 supers out there that are stoked to vote for him. These numbers are fast and loose because after Obama's victory in the polling booths today, we'll have the final numbers.

Those numbers remove any chance of Hillary getting to the number needed to clinch.

And Obama has won because he's taken on not only the Republican machine, but the Democratic machine as well.

Its Obama today.  Lets let the people decide. And if they choose to elect Obama. Then he's won. But for me. He's already won. And good work.

I live in a red state. Despite that, Obama carried my state easily.

I hear two basic criticisms from the GOP that dislike Obama in my state. The first is a basic questioning of his allegiance. They tend to make a big deal out of his middle name "Hussein", its a kind of lowbrow thing going on that the GOP plays with the rednecks. The GOP is pretty good at creating brands, thats their neat thing that they came up with after spending more money in the least amount of time than any administration in the history of the entire country. And creating bigger, clumsier bureaucracies so inept that our response to natural disasters was so tied up in red tape that american bodies were just left in the streets to rot during the last big first responder crisis.

The second is that he's in the pockets of the big government lobby.

Whats really fun is to see how they light up when they learn that he's neither of the above, and how the lights finally go on upstairs with the independent minded and conservative GOP that are just fed up with the whole lobbyist/nepotism thing going on.

And as a result, he gets their support. Obama moves in fast in that crowd and wins friends.

We just had, down here in the south - a seat go to a Democrat that was held by a Republican for decades. Some posted here about how that Democrat was running political ads that echoed Obama's.

No surprise. The Dems are united. Its time to think about - not compromising anything and just winning the good americans that have been duped by the GOP.

Obama's got long coattails .

Alright so you're a progressive, or a big sky democrat. You're one of the chosen few. You might be an independent, you're not swayed by the whim of some party line propaganda.  You know the real story. You're not a Clintonista. You're not an Obama-head. You're a real live voter with real live voter instincts that are so sharp if a single samurai thread of hair falls on them it will be cut into two.

Do me a favor. Try out this simple quiz and see if you know the difference between George W. Bush, and John McCain.

And seriously. If anyone HONESTLY gets all of these five questions right - can they post back over here about it?
Because I consider myself fairly savvy, hey - you know. A guy who front pages myDD (when Jerome lets me), every now and then. Fairly  in the know. I will admit. I got 2/5 wrong. It blew me away.

See for yourself!

I am going to keep this simple. I am leaving myDD for a while, because I believe that this blog is no longer objective.

I am glad that Jerome is trying to bring things into objective view, however, I honestly believe that his support of the Clinton candidacy has unbalanced him. Although I like Jon's writing, Jeromes has become sort of rambling ...with statements like "Hillary really needs to talk about Guam" ... and the like.
So. Quite honestly . I am not drinking the kool-aid.

If MyDD is becoming more objective by Jerome banning lots of supporters - how are we to know which ones. Once he hits delete, that voice is silenced. They can't tell you that they're gone.

Obama is the choice of progressives, myDD was once considered a bastion of support and data for the progressive community. ..

Clinton , however, is an establishment candidate pure and simple. There is nothing progressive about her. She's more than willing to do things like declare Iran and its guard, as a terrorist country - which is a pretense for military action. As she is to vote wholeheartedly against the grain of progressivism by voting for the Iraq war.

The Democratic party is not unlike the discussion at myDD. There are many who are in support of Clinton, who think she is "more qualified".  Fine.

But the entire discussion has, in my view, soured myDD and made it a worse place to hang out.  Clinton supporters were quoting polls in NC from shady sources. Clinton ads were used as the core of the message for front page posts. Polls from Fox News Agency and Dedicated threads supporting Fox News Conferences are being front paged.

Putatively this is to enhance discussion about the two candidates. However, at what price?

I recall when I Was in college, when those who hadn't really studied were reading for their final exams ... there was a sense of tension in the air. Normally I would just leave, and go to the movies that night before. I studied hard the weeks up to it.

And I would get an A.

And so I'm leaving here now, just as I did, essentially, when the work I did for Obama in my state gave him a 64% to clintons 20% win in this state.  I didn't worry at all on election day.

And frankly. I am not worried about next week.
Perhaps I should be.

But I am going to do that somewhere else.

At least for a week or so. I can't shake the possibility that I am not objective. So I will take care of that issue.
Somewhere else.

Take care myDD'ers and happy posting!!