So, Tuesday’s State of the Union was seen by nearly 40 million viewers. A friend asked if I watched. No, why would I? There is absolutely nothing President Bush has to say I want hear. Hell, I rarely watched Bill Clinton’s SOTU speeches.
Edwards and Giuliani are out. The writing was on the wall Giuliani; I mean, his campaign has been sucking for months and he couldn’t even gather more votes than the nutcase Ron Paul! John Edwards I’ve always liked. I never thought he would win the nomination, but I hope he’ll find a place in a possible Democratic administration. He would make a good Attorney-General or Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Well, according to John Kennedy’s daughter, he is. It’s interesting how people who grew up during those early years of President Kennedy’s administration think of him. My own mother remembers those years with a lot of fondness and it was probably the last time she was ever really interested in politics. Since then she has taken a very laissez faire approach to politics, politicians, and elections. Having been born 4 years after the assassination of John Kennedy all I have is an historical view of the man. It’s never ceases to amaze me how people from that era, even Conservative Republicans, talk about John Kennedy as having inspired them to get involved, to serve their country, to give something back. Even now that we know all the man’s flaws, people still think of John Kennedy in this almost sainted manner.
So, can another politician come along and inspire today’s voters? Can today’s video game youth answer the call of “ask not what you country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”? Moreover, is Barak Obama the man to do that? Caroline Kennedy seems to feel Barak Obama shares many of her father’s ideals and has come out in support of his campaign. Personally, I don’t know if Barak Obama is the next JFK. I don’t have the kind of sanctified view of John Kennedy some have, but I do know that Barak Obama is the one Democrat candidate who interests me in a way no candidate his in more than a decade.
Of course, I’m also pragmatic about this. There is not one Republican candidate I can stomach, so no matter who wins the Democratic primary I’ll be voting for him…or her.
I guess it isn’t much of a surprise that Barak Obama took South Carolina, especially since Hillary Clinton pretty much gave up and moved to states where she has a better chance. This still leaves Obama about 80 delegats behind Hillary Clinton, but that’s still close considering how much everyone thought this was race was already decided for Clinton. This makes Super Tuesday even more important for both candidates.
On the Republican side, Mitt Romney still has nearly double the delagates of John McCain, and McCain is only 9 delegates ahead of Mike Huckabee with Rudy Giuliani a distant fifth. This is going to be one interesting Super Tuesday.
So, Missouri’s most despised governor in decades is not running for re-election. Why? Well, according to Matt Blunt he’s achieved “virtually everything” he set out to do. Just what is that? To alienate most of the state, including people in his own party? Well, bravo.
The more likely answer here is that Blunt knows he can’t beat the popular Jay Nixon who is not only a very well-liked state Attorney-General but a smart man who could easily wipe the floor with Matt Blunt in any debate. It would take daddy Blunt’s friends to start swift-boating Nixon for little Matty to have even a chance. It will be interesting to see who steps in to take Matt Blunt place. There are several high-ranking and well-known Republicans in Jeff City, but most of them are of the rabid right-wing type, which may or may not pose a problem for Jay Nixon. Regardless, Missouri’s gubernatorial election just became interesting.
I’ve never met Rudy Giuliani, thankfully, but I there was always something about the man I just didn’t like. Now, I know why.
I’ve said the before, the big story that everyone seems to be ignoring is the dismal performance of “America’s mayor,” Rudy Giuliani. At this time, he has two delegates, two! Now, he can’t even hold on to his home state! Why is he still in the race? He’s not even on the mind of most voters, so it’s doubtful he can build any momentum going into February 5. It’s time for Rudy Giuliani to fade quietly into the background to be forgotten.
If there’s one thing that make this election season so interesting it’s that we have a real race on both sides. John McCain is being touted as the front runner, yet Mitt Romney currently has nearly double the delegates and as crazy as he might be you can’t count out Mike Huckabee whose only 9 behind McCain. On the Democrat side Hillary Clinton has more than 200 delegates to Obama’s 123, but John Edwards is still in play. If this is a tight race his current 52 delegates could decide the eventual nominee. This is how an election should be. Of course, after February 5th it could be over with.
In just one year President Bush will be out of office! Who knew January 20 could be such a wonderful date!
I’m not sure what help it will be in my state of Missouri, but Senator Claire McCaskill has endorsed presidential candidate Barak Obama. This is kind of a ballsy move for a freshman senator and a woman, but again I’m not just what it will do for the campaign. As we know, Missouri went to Bush on both 2000 and 2004 but Missouri is also a fickle state that has gone to Democrats in the past; Bill Clinton took Missouri in both 1992 and 1996, President Reagan and the first President Bush in 1980, 1984, and 1988. I haven’t been able to find very many polls on primary candidates for Missouri, but SurveyUSA has several polls matching up first Hillary Clinton and then Barak Obama against the four major Republican candidates. Mrs. Clinton wins against all four by varying margins and Barak Obama wins against all but Mike Huckabee, which is not surprising. One aspect of these polls I did find interesting is just how much Missourians do not like Mitt Romney. In match-ups against both Dem candidates he loses bad.