Queen Of Dirt

Ron Paul is like ‘Mr. Rogers Does Politics’. He seems nice. Too nice. Too nice to be a politician (that gets the vote anyway). He reminds me of that softspoken older man who played Tom Hanks neighbor in Burbs, you know, the one that ended up being a serial killer?
He’s cool but after veiwing some of his speeches, I’m left scratching my head…
He doesn’t really seem Republican to me. Is he running under the right party?

His myspace song is prettycool though, a mash of his speeches with music. It’s no Obama video though.

Election (Primary) Update: Obama and McCain win the Potomac/Chesapeake/Crabcake primary (Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia).

Follow the leader: So no matter how you slice the total popular vote, Obama is the leader. He’s at 50% in states that have awarded delegates; he’s at 49% and leads Clinton by 3 points in states where both their names were on the ballot, and his lead is big enough that he leads even when you factor in Michigan where Obama’s name wasn’t on the ballot. Why does this popular vote total matter? Because it’s yet another important talking point when wooing superdelegates. How many supers will be comfortable voting against the candidate who’s leading in the pledged delegate count and the total vote count?

So now what? This Democratic race has two finish lines. One could be as early as March 4. An Obama victory in either of the big states would probably put the pledged delegate count out of reach for Clinton and would allow Obama to disprove the idea that he either can’t win Latinos or blue-collar white Democrats. Should Clinton sweep those big March 4 states, the race goes on to the end and becomes a rhetorical fight over stats and polls. The stats being the ones we’ve cited above (the pledged delegate count and the national vote totals), as well as the Democratic candidates’ standing against John McCain in the national polls. But one other thing to ponder: No one ever writes off a Clinton. How do we know? If Clinton were in the position Obama’s in right now, how many folks would be writing Obama’s obit?

The rhetorical front-runners: Watching all three post-Chesapeake Tuesday speeches last night, one could sense the two candidates who believed they were headed to the general election. Obama and McCain spoke back-to-back, and it was as close to a debate as two have had. Obama’s speech was laced with more McCain references than any of his speeches to date. He regularly referred to “Bush-McCain” ideas. In response, McCain had some biting shots at Obama; McCain wordsmith Mark Salter, after all, knows how to take a poke at an opponent.

Countdown to Hawaii and Wisconsin: 6 days
Countdown to the MSNBC debate in Ohio: 13
Countdown to Ohio and Texas: 20 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 265 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 342 days

I saw a great show on this just now, I’ll post clips when available online. Until then, read this article.

On Wednesday’s CBS “Early Show,” co-host Maggie Rodriguez reported on the importance of the youth vote in the 2008 election, but seemed unable to find any young people who supported Republican candidates: “Young voters are having a huge impact on this election. Exit polls show 14% of registered Democrats who voted on Super Tuesday were under 30. The majority went for Obama.”

Rodriguez, who was on assignment in California, made a trip to UCLA and talked solely to young supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton: “22-year-old Natalie Gonzalez is a Clinton supporter. Why are you so excited about this?…Curtis Whatley is supporting Obama.”

Rodriguez also discussed the importance of the internet in attracting young voters, once again something only Democrats seem to do:

Call them the Facebook generation. 18 to 29-year-olds who are going face-to-face, chatting on-line, sharing opinions. More than 50 million strong. They’re a potential gold mine for the candidate who can connect with them. There are videos like this one [the Obama one] seen and heard by 11 million people in just one week.

Rodriguez did make brief mention of young supporters of Republican candidates, their kids: “Also on the rise is the presence of the candidate’s kids. Chelsea Clinton, Meagan McCain, Romney’s five sons, and Sarah Huckabee.”

This was quickly followed by highlighting celebrity endorsements for Obama and Clinton:

And the influence of celebrities galvanizing the younger generations. Usher campaigning for Obama. Magic Johnson courting voters with Clinton. So while the field of candidates is winnowing down, the power of the youth vote is growing up.

Finally, Rodriguez cited well-known political expert Sean (P Diddy) Combs: “This week rap mogul Sean Combs, who has a huge following, called the young adult vote ‘a sleeping giant.’”

Combs’ 2004 “Vote or Die” campaign to encourage the youth vote had little impact upon the presidential race.