Administrativia

Smart, poignant, pointed and gracious. Thank you Hillary -- you've shown (again) that you are a class act. You came as close to saying "Shut up PUMAs" as anyone in your position could --if they don't get the message, then I hope that the commercial media will kindly ignore them with the same vigor as they have courted them.

A wonderful concession speech and full endorsement of Barack Obama. Well done.

Now that Obama has wrapped up the requisite delegates (super and pledged), it's time for Clinton to go quietly into the night. She's knows how to be a class act -- and if Bill will let her -- can do this well. (Then the Veepstakes can begin!)

OMG -- Hillary beats Obama by 10 points in Pennsylvania... obviously she needs to drop out immediately. So -- of course -- you see the folks from ObamicaBlog, the Daily Obama and the Kosbama trotting out the farcicle argument that because BO can't seem to close the deal, it's Hillary's fault for not being the nice girl and dropping out. This is such nonsense. Fact: Neither candidate can get the nomination without the so-called super-delegates. Fact: Obama has been unable to win ANY large electoral-rich state outside of his home of Illinois. Fact: Even if you factor in 1/2 of the Clinton votes going for Obama in the big states -- he still loses to McCain -- because unlike the Democratic nomination process, the real election is winner-takes-all. In the end, it will either be Obama-Clinton or Clinton-Obama -- that's the only way to keep the party together and win against Bush 3.

Still waiting to see the final results of the primacaucuses, but one thing is clear: Hillary won the popular vote... and if my precinct meeting was any indication, the caucuses won't be quite the blow-out that the Obamaniacs were anticipating. And before anyone starts confusing the indignation felt by many fellow Clinton supporters as "sour grapes" or "being pissed because this was supposed to be a coronation", don't go there. The only folks talking in terms of entitlement right now are in the Obama camp... and their actions at the caucuses smacked of that attitude big-time. So, I'll be waiting to hear if I'm selected as an alternate or delegate to the Senate District Convention -- probably won't be since I had to leave before the final bit of the meeting -- but there were plenty of others there to take up the cause.

No wireless -- just chaos... and boy am I tired! I just got back from the caucus here in the Galleria area in Houston... all I can say is: wow. First, I don't think I've ever seen that many Dems in one room in this part of Houston -- more than 200 showed up for the caucus. We're a pretty GOP district, so it was kind of amazing. The overall crowd was very mixed -- old, young, black, white, gay, straight, and a few more men than women. The results wound up being evenly split for taking delegates to the next level in the process -- 10 for Clinton / 11 for Obama. That was the good. Now the bad. I wish I could say it was a cordial process or meeting. The Obama camp was out in full force and were pretty much badgering Hillary supporters all along the way -- looking over their shoulders as we signed in on the caucus sheets, telling people that they needed a photo ID (not true if you have your voter card), and generally being pains in the behind (but only to elderly and obviously H...

Well -- cast my first vote of the day and got my ticket to come back this evening for the caucus. It was very interesting, I ran into a little old lady who came by to get a ticket for the evening -- having already voted early... but she "heard from Bill Clinton that I had to come back and vote again." She wasn't sure how the whole caucus thing worked, but I explained it to her -- the election judge was pretty much worthless in his explanation -- and she was all happy to be back @ 7:00 this evening to take part (and vote Hillary). On the way back to my car, another woman stopped me to ask if this was the polling place -- she remarked that she wasn't sure since there no signs except for Obama's... but as she said, "That doesn't mean anything." My precinct generally tends to be older (mature) -- with the younger crowd being more transient and less likely to vote or participate. It will be interesting to see how that breaks (or doesn't) for Obama or ...

One of the problems with "movement" politics is that the movement followers tend to want purity over pragmatism... this kind of energy is great, if tempered by leadership that knows how to harness the fervor without engendering a backlash. It's a fine line to walk -- and harder to accomplish: you risk ticking people off that might normally support you and you risk losing support from your followers when you transgress into what they perceive as heresy. I wonder when the "disappointment moment" will happen with Obama... and whether that will be enough to tamp down his base of "new" support. (Of course the flip side is the Clinton campaign, which banked on experience and competence, but failed to ignite the kind of passion -- however short-lived -- of the Obamaniacs. My hope is that Hillary be given the opportunity to become Obama's LBJ, should she not pull off winning Texas and Ohio.)

It's kind of fun to actually see some real campaigning and activism for a change (we're used to being treated like an ATM by both parties -- the Dems because they've given up on Texas for some reason and the GOP because they believe the state is sewn up.) Early voting starts today around the state -- I'm going vote on Friday. Election day (March 4th) also happens to be day 2 of the Houston Rodeo, which means I'll be tied up out at Reliant (and not in a good way). I'm hopeful that I can break away to attend the precinct caucus after the polls close. Photos: Hillary supporters in Montrose. (Normally you would see Falung Gong protesters in this area as the Chinese Consulate is about a block away... nice to see a different crowd on the way to Starbucks.)

One of the observations that most folks (even the pundits) have noticed is the generational difference (perhaps) between the Obamaniacs and the Hillbots. My biggest problem is that Gen Y or Gen Whine as I call them is an entirely untested voting group. My experience with this generation is that they expect, want, crave attention -- and when they don't get it, they bitch and moan and walk away. They are overwhelmingly unwilling to "play" when they think that the "process" is to onerous or time-consuming. They are the text-message generation and don't believe or support anyone who doesn't kow-tow to their particular sensibilities. Don't pet them -- and they walk. Which is why Obama is wonderful for them -- they get all the stroking they need and a blank slate that they can write their own story upon. Hillary has a problem with this group -- they don't like details. Details are something that are supposed to be taken care of for them. (Which is...

The rules for choosing the delegates in Texas are a little different than everywhere else (of course), but are not what AS lays out in his Daily Obama. A poster on the blog that AS links to as a sign that the great O will trump the evil HRC corrects the record: Joe Garland, on February 6th, 2008 at 7:41 pm Said: This paints an inaccurate picture of how delegates to the Democratic convention are chosen in Texas. An explanation of the process for selecting delegates can be seen at the Texas Democratic Party’s website: http://www.txdemocrats.org/page/-/howto08.pdf …and a full list of the rules can be seen here: http://www.txdemocrats.org/the_party/article_vii_national_delegate_selection_rules While it is true that 126 delegates are chosen through the caucus process, party rules state that for this subset, “the number of delegates awarded each candidate is based on the results of the Presidential Primary in that district.” Precinct “conventions” are held the night of the primary election...

As I listen to the MSM narrative of Obama is bringing in record numbers of new / independent voters, I wondered if there were any actual numbers to back that up -- as opposed to the meme that Hillary has hit a ceiling. I'm just now starting to crunch the numbers -- and maybe this isn't the right comparison -- but if you look at the MA vote (2004 Primary / 2004 General / 2008 Primary) -- from CNN vote totals: Kerry (2004 Primary) = 440,929 Total (2004 Primary) = 598,929 Kerry (2004 General) = 1,803800 Compared with Clinton / Obama in the 2008 Primary Clinton (2008 Primary) = ~611,839 @ 11:30 EST Obama (2008 Primary) = ~433,394 @ 11:30 EST Total Dem Primary Vote = short of 2004 general election total by ~ 700,000 votes; but beats primary vote total by about 400,000 votes. Interestingly, Hillary beats the total 2004 primary vote total in MA but Obama's total is less than Kerry's primary vote total. This is just one state, but I chose MA first because of the Kennedy factor....

From Todd Beeton on MyDD: I'm Voting For Hillary Clinton (well thought out and more eloquent than I) From Brownsox on DailyKos: I Voted For Hillary Clinton More to come, I'm sure.

I am, admittedly, firmly in the Hillary camp -- but unlike more than a few Obama supporters (like his wife), I will enthusiastically support whomever becomes the Democratic nominee. My problems with Obama have as much to do with his statements and positions as with many of supporters. Michael Chabon's paean in the Wapo yesterday was typical -- you must support Obama or you're naive, uninformed, cowardly, a closet racist or any number of reasons that have nothing to do with making informed choices about a candidate. So many of the Obama-ites see what they want as they gaze at the object of their affection. He is the blank slate that their fantasies can be drawn upon. Andrew Sullivan swoons in post after post -- when not spewing bile about Hillary... and everyone talks endlessly about "hope". The latest narrative: Obama = JFK & Camelot reborn. Blech. Sorry to break it to those that actually read and follow history. JFK was elected by the tiniest margins, was a woman...

Walnuts wins on the GOP side, no news yet as to whether or not 9/11 Nellie will bow out tomorrow (rumored) or wait until after the California debate later this week. Hillary pulls out what I consider a decisive and impressive win -- even though no delegates have been awared (yet). Why is it impressive? Because the news cycles have been constant on the Obama surge and the Billary plunge. Add regular Obama political ads (yes, a "national buy" but included in all Florida cable markets) and just the general temperature in the blogosphere after Teddy's endorsement, the table was set for this "beauty contest" to be much tighter. But it wasn't. Two things bode well for the Dems -- overall turnout still seems to favor the Dems... even without active campaigns for the top of the ticket. And Hillary's win means Super Tuesday looms even larger. More than that, it also means that states like Texas can actually look forward to at least having some sort of Democr...

I will admit to reading Andrew Sullivan on occasion -- it's like watching Faux News -- better than coffee to get my blood pumping. It is difficult to take someone seriously (small s) who, throughout the 2000 Bush campaign and particularly post-9/11, spent so much effort waxing poetically about GWB as an historically transforming and uniting figure. The slightest action -- however out of context -- was trumpeted as positive change and used to bash those who were skeptical as out of the mainstream. (Gays didn't have to worry about being bashed under the Bush adminstration, why he once said hello to one!) Disdain was too mild a word for those who might be wistful enough for the Clinton years to want Al Gore to win. After 9/11, those of us who knew what a truly ill-equipped man-child with delusions of competency Bush is were dismissed and demonized as traitors. True enough, times changed and the sheer incompetence of this President -- not to mention the gutting of civil liberties...

Plenty of commentary all over the blogosphere and in the MSM about why HRC won on Tuesday, despite the polling numbers and the constant barrage of "it's over" -- but what strikes me most is how flinchingly dishonest the punditocracy is being as they try and find "the right narrative" to explain what happened. The fact that the folks of New Hampshire (and the rest of us for that matter) don't particularly care to be told what to think or whom to vote for by a press establishment that is solely focused on the horse race rather than the substance of the campaigns seems to elude them. Instead we get -- the people lied to us in the polling because they are secretly racist, or women broke for Hillary because she turned on the tears, or maybe it's because the Flying Spagetti Monster made them do it as part of the Grand Intelligent Design. Or perhaps the real reason is basic retail politics . What is certain: the pundits got skunked and that's a good thing...

Being a political junkie -- left of center (see the blog roll) -- I have been watching what purports to be "news"... but agree with Atrios and ThinkProgress , it's mostly an embarassing display of pundit fluffery. Yes, Obama's win (38%) was impressive -- but that still means that 62% of Democrats wanted someone else. What I found most interesting was that Hillary's numbers (at barely #3) were larger than the GOP winner, Huckabee. Huckabee's win was interesting, if not unexpected. After all, the only consistent block of voters willing to come out for the GOP come from the religious right -- a group that won't coalesce behind Guiliani, is uncomfortable with a Mormon and distrusts McCain. What I don't understand is how anyone that isn't reading off the Faux News talking points can see a fourth-place slot for McCain as a "win"... it's just another example of certain folks in the press trying to control the narrative rather than reportin...