Today could be the day that Barack Obama, a black man, a young, black man, finally clinches the Presidential nomination of the Democratic Party for the first time ever in the history of the United States!
Will I watch the first black president of the United States,the first black first lady and the first black familywalk onto a stage in St.Paul, Minnesota later this evening to cheers and screams of happiness from a predominatly white audience?
Have I and will I continue to watch the hopes and dreams of a people, of a country become automatically embodied in thelife and work of one man,once again?
Will I watch today in awe as a baton is passedfrom one generation to another?
Has this all been a dream?
Have I and thousands of others like me been living in a fantasy world for the last 16 months?
No!
Today is the day that everything changes.
Today is the day that we start building a new and brighter future together!
Today is the day that we recognize that nothing will ever, ever be the same again and yet with that knowledge we walk gallantly into the future better prepared and significantly more uplifted than we have ever been in the past.
Today is not just Barack Obama’s day..today, is OUR day!!!
So, Clinton vows to fight onafter losing North Carolina, barely winning Indiana with dwindling campaign finances and personal loans to her campaign, she’s out to prove that she’s no Eight Belles (I know, I know bad taste but I couldn’t resist..I mean Big Brown, Eight Belles..lol) well that’s her choice but if I were a member of Obama’s campaign or a ‘superdelegate’ this is what I would be saying/ singing right about now..
A win by Obama in either of the two states must be by a big enough margin, at least 10 points, for it to be considered a real victory and if he doesn’t, (I’m afraid to say it) and instead looses both primaries he will be handing the nomination to Ms.Clinton, who will then look to be the safer choice between the two, when their cases are brought before the super delegates.
If he wins one and she wins one then we’re looking to yet another primary on May 13 to be a decider, yet another delay and yet another week of this drawn out process, with the result being less time for the democratic nominee to prepare for the general election and more time for John McCain to marshal the troops and deploy the scouts to gather ‘swift boating’ information.
Obama and his campaign are at the edge of a cliff looking over and the only thing that will stop them from careening over the other side will be victories by significant margins. Losses could ultimately end his campaign, ( as unfair as it is, we have always known that the deck has been stacked against him) this is unfortunate, since the same rules haven’t applied to his opponent.
N.B It’s good to see that the campaign has abandoned the large ralliesfor more intimate, one on one voter settings…if he does win Indiana tomorrow, it will be because of this change in strategy..
Well, Well, Well…Clinton won three out of the four states last night. I must admit I didn’t see that coming (check out my last post..lol) good for her bad for us ‘Obama-mamites’…lol nah just kidding…but seriously she won not by playing FAIR but by playing up FEAR another tactic that unfortunately for her has a very, very short life span when it comes to Democrats but it worked and Texas unexpectedly slid into her column.
Clinton has once again used tactics that I wouldn’t have expected from a Democrat, let alone Hillary Clinton, to beat another Democrat but she’s gotta do what she’s gotta do and instead of eloquently voicing my anger and frustration in this blog I have chosen instead to focus on where we go from here now that it is quite clear that neither democratic candidate intends to budge and rightfully so before the convention.
Hillary intends to fight on and that is her prerogative I don’t think that she should be forced out prematurely let the people decide. The rules and only the rules should determine how and when she concedes to Obama. Obama shouldn’t be pushed to concede either because he doesn’t have the full support of the so called party establishment (super delegates or whatever). Now, if a nominee isn’t decided by June then it’s up to Michigan and Florida. If these two states are allowed to redo their primaries then their delegates should be seated since both candidates would’ve been allowed to fully campain within their boundaries and the results would ultimately have been fair and it seems that both camps as well as party officicals in both states are in favor of this possible solution.
If after the Michigan and Florida do overs in June and we still don’t have a nominee Obama and Clinton should sit down and decide to be on the same ticket for this is only way to coalesce and appease all the different groups Obama and Clinton have amassed in their respective bases and all these groups will be needed in order for the democratic party and the democratic presidential nominee to march triumphantly towards a win in the general election.
To be quite honest if you had asked me a few weeks ago if I would’ve been in favor of this I would’ve said NO WAY because I haven’t approved of the statements made by Bill Clinton, surrogates in the Clinton campaign or the attitude of Hillary herself towards Obama’s candidacy however, if this is not settled sooner rather than later McCain will have a BIG advantage on the Democratic nominee in November and the prospect of another Republican presidency, even that of John McCain is distasteful and unacceptable.
But I will say this if Obama gets to the convention and is then pushed aside by the super delegates for Clinton I will sit out this election and I will do everything in my power to get other Obama supporters to do so as well..I may even consider joining the Republican party..who knows.. because the idea of the democratic party elite choosing the nominee instead of the people is undemocratic and against everything that I believe liberals and the democratic party should stand for.
However, if the two candidates reach a mutual decision that puts country and party first and the people are also in agreement how can I not support an Obama/Clinton, Clinton/Obama ticket!
Now that’s the real question which name goes first..maybe they’ll toss a coin?..LOL
Terry Mcauliffe, Clinton’s campaign chairman wants Michigan and Florida delegates to count and it they are ’do overs’ he wants them to be primaries and not caucuses well of course he does right.. he gave some BS excuse that primaries allow people more time to vote and that they are easier for people to get too…lol..!!
Man, the Clinton people aren’t just throwing the kitchen sink, they are throwing the sink, all the plumping even the whole damn kitchen but I’m willing to put my neck on the block and say that if there is a do over in Michigan Hillary will NOT win!
She only won in Michigan because the voters knew that their votes didn’t count and frankly didn’t care now that they have seen that their votes can and could make or break the nomination they aren’t going to back her and that’s with or without Detroit!
I understand the premise of never underestimating the Clintons and in particular Hillary Clinton.
Whenever they have been counted out they have come back bigger, harder and stronger..what was Bill Clinton known as? the comeback kid.
So, it is quite understandable why people have been hesitant to count them out but before today it was said that she needed to win both Ohio and Texas to stay in the race, even her own husband said as much, in the last few days it has changed to she only needs ONE to stay in the race. I haven’t heard it yet but I’m waiting to hear some prominent Clinton surrogate or supporter or a t.v commentator suggest or state that she doesn’t need to win any more primaries or caucuses instead all she needs to do in order to secure the nomination is to keep raising money and collecting super delegates, show up at the convention in August and the nomination is hers!
I’m serious, every week the Clintons are allowed to determine the finishing line instead of it being determined for them however as ridiculous as this is, IT IS necessary.
As the goal posts have shifted and the touch down line pushed further and further back Obama has risen to the challenge each and every time readjusted his game plan and has kept on playing because in the end Obama even more so than any other candidate has to be seen as winning this race fair and square and with the Clintons playing as hard and fierce as they have in the end it just makes his story even more epic.
And for that story to become that of legend he needs to keep running the hurdles and jumping through hoops in order to become the legitimate Democratic presidential nominee and ultimately the first black president in US history.
I just wonder that if the shoe was on the other foot would Obama have been allowed so many chances my guess is no he wouldn’t but then again life isn’t fair so why should we expect a presidential campaign to be..
***As usual I will be live blogging the results tonight..join me, please..it’s going to be a long one I can’t do it alone….lol***
The polls are closed in New Hampshire and MSNBC is projecting it’s too close to call for the democrats with Hillary leading by 2 points with 11% reporting
Hillary is at 38% and Obama at 36%..
And for the Republicans Mccain has an early lead over Mitt Romney..
I don’t know if I’m officially an Obama ‘girl’ but I will say that I would be ecstatic if he wins. His win would mean so much for this country, the black communities here and across the globe and the entire world as a matter of fact.
Now, I think the way he has to do it is not only by staying on message but also by highlighting some critical policy changes that he would implement if he becomes president domestically and internationally.
I don’t think the politics of hope will be as successful in the New Hampshire primary as it was in the Iowa caucuses since New Hampshire voters are an entire different breed and the climate there is entirely different. They care about different things and aren’t as traditional as Iowa voters even though I do believe they are just as capable of voting with their hearts as easily as Iowans did Obama must appeal to their wallets and their minds as easily as he can capture their hearts.
And according to many of those reporting in New Hampshire the issues that resonate with residents are taxes, national security and health care.
Also Obama needs to once again bring independents over to his side, according to the Daily Trail, independents “Constituted 20 percent of the caucus electorate in Iowa on Thursday, but four years ago in New Hampshire they cconstituted nearly half (48 percent) of the Democratic electorate.”
If Obama can convince them to vote for him and vote for him in record numbers like they did in Iowa and still win all the other demographics like he did in Iowa, based on all the polls from Iowa Obama beat Clinton and Edwards in almost every single demographic, then I believe he will go on to win the Democratic nomination and ultimately the presidency.
Clinton on the other hand faces an uphill battle but she has the money and the organization to best Obama but I do think she’s not connecting with voters as much as she would like and that ‘lack of connection’ is her achilles’ heel.
But in a state that prides itself on it’s independence who know she may just beat back Obama and then leave it all up to those in South Carolina.
And that would be extremely interesting!
N.B I just found out who Obama’s foreign policy adviser is it’s Susan Rice..
