The Democratic Party voters have an interesting challenge. Looking at it in a strictly clinical way, I find it a laudable challenge - they will be choosing either the first black president or the first woman president.

Yet, to most voters it is going to be something different. It isn’t going to be clinical at all - very little of what occurs in liberal politics is based upon anything other than raw emotion. Think about it. Democrats have what is a very exciting prospect before you and rather than coalesce into a strong political force, they are melting down - attacking each other as rabidly as they typically attack Republicans.

Just as they were tickled by the Republican in-fighting during the primary season, the media is unable to understand the vehemence - while privately enjoying it for its ability to draw audience - with which the Democratic candidates attack each other. This is a highly polarized primary for the Democratic Party to be sure.  So, rather than having the honor of choosing one or the other historic candidates, the democratic voters are going to have the chance to reject either the first black president or the first woman president.

Rather than tearing each other down so publicly, each candidate should be “Vying for Veep”. There are three ways we get a Democratic president in 2009.

1. Joe Lieberman is the VP on one or the other candidate’s ticket - not going to happen.
2. 30% of republican voters stay home in November - also not going to happen. We have time to heal and consider the alternative, and in November Republicans will be out in force. Most Republicans understand what kind of politics Obama represents and ALL Republicans understand what kind of politics Hillary represents.
3. Clinton and Obama run on the same ticket - unlikely.

I say unlikely because the Democratic Party leaders may demand exactly such a scenario as the only means they can win in November. In politics, winning is everything - even stronger than political ideals in most cases.   And the highly charged, emotional campaign each Democratic candidate has run will have voters from each side opting out.

Yes, it can happen. Look.

It is easily possible for the Obama - Clinton spatfest to go as long as September.  The Convention is going to have a candidate for President of the United states come hell or high water. So, you have the rest of September and October to get your party coalesced? A lot of voters are going to opt out.

Take a look at the high turn-out through the primaries - voters are galvanized for their candidate and are coming out in strength. That power is only harnessed with a Clinton-Obama Vote-o-rama.

Have you noticed John McCain has time for fact-finding trips across the globe? He is out there being presidential while Obama and Hillary throw accusations and challenges at each other.

Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton have already closed the door to one being the other’s VP in a public spectacle earlier this month.

Democrat Barack Obama ridiculed the idea of being Hillary Rodham Clinton’s running mate Monday, saying voters must choose between the two for the top spot.

The Illinois senator used his first public appearance of the week to knock down the notion that he might accept the party’s vice presidential spot on the fall ticket. He noted that he has won more states, votes and delegates than Clinton so far.

Yep, the dream ticket is likely nothing more than a dream. It is impossible for the liberal psyche to ignore a political spat - even if it is among themselves.

I was commenting over at Cobb, and my post was taking on Homeric proportions so I thought I would post here and link.

The conversation related to Cobb’s post: Black Church vs Black Politics: The Double Duty Dilemma here is my comment.

Great analysis, Cobb.

I oppose Senator Obama and am aggressively critical of Dr. Wright. Yet I am glad to see the good Senator is able to draw the line with his pastor of many years on this issue.

There is an inexplicable dichotomy for me here. I have spent a lot of time in military history and noted the painful steps toward some sort of cohesion between races. Books like “Blood for Dignity” (David Colley) pose the possibility that “patriotism” is a strained idea to non-whites in America. On the other hand, I am fiercely patriotic, coming from a long line of American warriors. I also think we should be a nation which recognizes great hope for our collective selves despite our obvious - and sometimes not so obvious - individual differences.

I am satisfied with Senator Obama’s actions for what they represent - a political answer to a political problem. For me the bar is low. While the issue of race, gender, and the equitable distribution of opportunity is intertwined in policy, I am not expecting more than a placeholder for them in the presidential race. It will suffice for now.

My hope is the ice has been broken enough to allow for some substantive activity on those topics in the next several years. That this is the one great outcome of an election cycle where the policy differences between Americans was perhaps the lesser topic. This maybe delusional - but let’s wait and see. What that activity would look like, I haven’t a clue. Hopefully, I will be intelligent enough to see it when it happens.

UPDATE: Cobb mentions that the African American Church is not a new thing in America, and to jump on this now is a bit shallow or opportunistic for those looking for some reason to oppose Barak Obama aside from his policy. He’s absolutely correct. Cobb further submits that Rev. Wright - as a preacher in the African- American Church receiving this kind of focus, also begs that the same kind of focus be placed on the other African-American Church pastors back to MLK. Here is where I disagree.

Martin Luther King Jr. was actively involved in ending apartheid  in America. He castigated those who would maintain such a way of life. He was suspicious (rightly) of the government and said so. He was openly hostile to anyone who would maintain that racial equality was anything less than inalienable. I have listened to many of Dr. King’s speeches and have never heard anything to the effect of “God Damn America”.

I kept wondering why we call these political battles, races. I mean, it isn’t about speed. But then Barak Obama confused me.

COLUMBUS, Miss. – In a fiery speech, Obama pushed back hard against charges by Hillary Clinton and her campaign that he is not suited to be Commander-In-Chief, and expressed disbelief at the Clintons’ suggestions that he be vice president.

“Now first of all, with all due respect, with all due respect,” Obama began, “I have won twice as many states as Sen. Clinton. I have won more of the popular vote than Senator Clinton. I have more delegates than Senator Clinton. So I don’t know how somebody who is in second place, is offering the vice presidency to the person who is in first place.

“I mean, I am just wondering, because if I was in second place I could understand it. But I am in first place right now. So that’s point number one.”

He went on to point out how Clinton could consider him as his VP when she and the campaign have been saying that he is not ready to be Commander-In-Chief.

“But there’s a second point,” he said. “This is an interesting point. I want you guys to follow me on this. President Bill Clinton, back in 1992 when he was being asked about his selection for Vice President, he said that the only criteria, the most important criteria for a Vice President, is that that person is ready, if I fell out, in the first week, that he or she will be ready to be the Commander-In-Chief.

So, it is called a race still - but maybe it should be called a marathon. You win this primary race by your endurance to Hillary’s crap. Maybe?

Old Goat at I Was The One Who made a list of qualifying criteria on how he selects a president. His first criterion disqualifies them all in my book.

What I decided to do was make a list of the qualities that my ideal leader would have.  I did not want to consider political party.

1.)  Someone that I would trust with my checkbook.

OG says we can’t use his list and to make up our own - here is mine.

1) Someone who will not forsake our laws for emotion-driven appeals to ignore them

2) Someone who supports our allies so they know they are our allies

3) Someone who will not allow people who want to kill us to live more than a few days more than it takes for us to reach them

4) Someone who realizes actions speak louder than words - our enemies either act immediately to assure us they are not “evil” or the “few days” counter begins

5) Someone who executes and changes the plan according to the results  - understanding no plan is perfect

6) Someone who understands the role the nation’s founders had for the federal government and will administer the nation’s business accordingly

7) Someone who understands where the rights of the people come from - and respects them accordingly

There might be a couple more, but to be honest, anyone who could meet any five of the above criteria would be a pretty dang good president.

Blue Team - We’ve made up (you son of a.. )

Hillary Clinton won Florida, advancing her campaign by zero delegates. After a spat match with Barak the rpevious week, they seem to have made up so as not to tear down each other’s meet house

Barak Obama has a tough, tough fight ahead of him. Super Tuesday doesn’t look good if you are watching the polls. that said, the polls have not been very helpful.

John Edwards has been voted off of the Island of Wannabedaprezi.
Red Team - The clear front runners

Rudy Giuliani as we predicted, has been voted off the Island of Wannabedzprezi. he has endoresed John McCain

Mitt Romney needs to be the come-back kid on Super Tuesday. He’s lent $15 million of his own money to his campaign and raised another $9 million. That is a lot of TV and Radio ads. We’ll see how he does.

John McCain is polling nationally with a comfortable lead. He has been widely endorsed in the past few days by other well known centrists.

Mike Huckabee - did he play first base for the Dodgers in 73? We don’t remember who he is.
Ron Paul is posting single-digit percentages everywhere. We like his “sticktoitiveness”.

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Stay Tuned and watch the drama unfold! Who is next to leave the island of Wannapedaprezi? Find out what happens the next time - “The tribe has spoken”!

In the State of the Union address, President Bush spoke about investing in technology that produces coal-fueled energy, while capturing (sequestering) the CO2 emissions of the coal-fired power plant. the project this refers to is FutureGen - a joint venture between the US and China, which is slated to be built in Mattoon, Illinois.

However, only a day later, Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman made statements in a closed-door meeting with Illinois state and federal lawmakers that he was considering pulling the funding for the project.  He cited soaring construction costs and new technology, but was not specific on either. He was also quoated as stating he inherited FutureGen and did not believe in it.

If these statements are true, I am curious to know if he shared these beliefs with the President prior to the SOU. It seems like the worse kind of blindside - assuming the president himself believes in a manifestation of a policy he has been supporting since 2003.

Blue Team - My mom is a what?

Hillary Clinton is looking at a big defeat in SC. She still has a lead in the national polls, but polling has not been very good for the Democrats in this race. Clinton is expected to win big in Florida, California, and New York. However, California is an open primary, so we should wait and see how the independents play here. Is the Clinton Campaign floating the idea of Bob Menendez as the VP candidate? There is a rumor. What is no rumor is Hillary’s endorsement by the New York Times.

Barak Obama a win by double-digits in SC is not going to make things easy for him going into Giga-Tuesday. However, less than half of the Democratic delegates have been counted and the fat lady is not even warming up her voice yet. Bill Clinton appointed Janet Napolitano as United States Attorney to the Arizona District, creating for her the opportunity to become Arizona’s governor - Governor Napolitano is endorsing Barak Obama.

John Edwards is like your dog. He looks at you with his ears up and those big expectant eyes while you put cream cheese on your bagel in the morning. You know what he’s thinking: “That’s mine isn’t it? Ok - give me that now. I’m ready. Hey, you listening? OK - I’m ready now. That’s mine right?”

Red Team - All over the map!

Rudy Giuliani is not doing well at all - even in his own state. We’ve known for some time that his campaign is on the ropes financially. He was counting on Florida to give him immunity, but he’ll have to work very hard to even make second place.

Mitt Romney is battling for the top spot in Florida. That will be a big win for him and may change the polling in California and New York. The SC loss hurt. However, Romney has a lot more delegates committed to him than McCain does.

John McCain is still surging with a South Carolina win behind him giving him immunity for another week. He is in a statistical tie in Florida by most accounts and leads comfortably in California and New York. The New York Times has endorsed McCain because he is “the only Republican who promises to end the George Bush style of governing from and on behalf of a small, angry fringe.”

Mike Huckabee is losing fast. He has pared down his Florida staff and we don’t see him lasting a whole lot longer. Flip-side is he is still polling strong nationally - ahead of Romney.

Fred Thompson has withdrawn from the race.

Ron Paul is posting single-digit percentages everywhere. The rumor is he and his staff are subsisting on ramen and hotdogs from Sam’s Club. A win for his campaign is measured by not dropping out before Giga-Tuesday.

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Stay Tuned and watch the drama unfold! Who is next to leave the island of Wannapedaprezi? Find out what happens the next time - “The tribe has spoken”!

Yes, I realize these are primary elections we are involved in right now. I also realize that a candidate does not a presidential ticket make. But, I am already a partisan to conservatism and federalism, so I don’t heart Huckabee. This is not a media-driven choice for me. I have reviewed the records of all of the candidates - their money is where their votes are.

This is why I placed a Fred decal on my website - his record is clear and his statements correspond with his record. Don’t take my word for it - please. Go to FactCheck.org and see which of the candidates are manipulating their message and which are not.

Mike Huckabee is not a conservative - being an evangelical does not make him a conservative. Rather, he holds some conservative views relating to culture and social issues. What you will notice is a Buster Keaton like lean to the right - this trend starts about June 2007. This is around the same time the polling started on Huckabee.

So - let us look at Huckabee’s policy stances on the issues - you’ll see the trend I am talking about. I am discussing comparisons, not what I think is right or wrong. Huckabee has changed his stance on many issues once he started getting polling data. He is not a leader, he’s a poll follower.

Continue reading Why I don’t heart Mike Huckabee…

This is an amazing statistic because it should be much closer to 100%.

 In the poll, conducted in January, respondents gave the ultra nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Russia’s Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov a 1% chance of victory. 21% of respondents said they could see no likely winner.

Other politicians mentioned in the survey - Democratic Party leader Andrei Bogdanov and former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov - were seen as likely winners by less than 1% of respondents.

53% of respondents said Medvedev would be able to handle his potential presidential duties, saying that he was “educated, cool-headed, fair, and hardworking.” Three other presidential candidates, Zhirinovsky, Zyuganov, and Kasyanov received 11%, 9% and 4%, respectively, in this category of the poll.

With Putin’s popularity, Medvedev would have to do something ridiculously stupid to lose the race.

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Part 1

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Part 2

What do you want? Someone who just really really wants to be POTUS or someone who really really can?

Everyone else is trying to become conservatives for your vote - Thompson is just telling you what his conservative record already supports.