Stephen Colbert Weights in on Hillary’s “Post Primary” Behavior

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

As Denver and the Democratic National Convention that will take the city over just a few short weeks from now have seemed to trigger somewhat of a “reload” which has Hillary Clinton supporters doing what they do best - making demands: some want Hillary to somehow get all those delegates supporting Obama to just, ya know - “change their minds,” and decide Hillary should be the Democratic candidate, while others are less demanding (basically the lesser of two evils) is crying out for a roll call vote on the convention floor with Hillary’s name on the ballot. This of course is the equivalent to the New England Patriots demanding a shot in sudden death overtime after the clock hit zero, and the Giants had won.

So with all of this irrational banter spewing from just about every orifice of media (the internet, TV, newspapers, etc, etc.) who better then Stpehen Colbert to weigh in on the topic, and provide us with some of that superior intellect he has become famous for.

Here is a video clip that has Stephen Colbert discussing the upcoming Democratic National Convention, as well as any alterior motives Bill and Hillary might have for their spotlight roles as part of the convention, and of course Colberts unique, “cut through the fat” analysis of the situation as a whole:

How Twenty Something Year Olds, Facebook, Myspace, etc. are Changing the Face of Politics

The 2008 Election is seeing something that no other Presidential race thus far has been privy too - a massive influx of the “youth vote” and the tool they are using to get involved. The internet. It has been well documented that throughout the Democratic the “Millennials” turned out to vote in numbers up until now, no one could have imagined, and the key to a lot of this “involvement” has been the internet - which has transformed from just a way to instant message your friends or check an e-mail, to a vital networking and grassroots mobilization platform.

Read more

Obama, the ‘Youth Vote’ Supporting Him & the Impact they’ll Have in Nov.

Throughout the Democratic primary there was one demographic who really didn’t waver in their support of Sen. Barack Obama regardless of what their region, race, or religion was - I am of course talking about the always coveted, but equally equally as absent ‘youth vote.’ Politicians have been trying forever to really mobilize the youth, throughout the years candidates have attempted everything imaginable too mobilize the youth vote on their behalf, however none have really been successful in doing so. Well, that is until now.

Read more

How Would Michigan Have Voted if Obama Was on the Ballot?

There has been quite a bit of discussion lately regarding delegates from Michigan and Florida in the context of whether or not they will be seated at the convention this summer in Denver. Both states had their delegate duties stripped as a punishment for refusing to follow DNC rules and leapfrogging their primary dates. Now Florida is one thing, and they have an argument (not a strong one, they knowingly broke the rules), and at least both candidates we on the ballots, where as in MI both Obama and Edwards names were not. So that brings me to this piece, and an attempt to see how Obama would have faired in the great lake state if in fact his name had been an option for Democratic Primary voters.

Read more

The Flood of Superdelegates Endorsing Barack Obama has Officially Begun

US Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA) officially endorsed Senator Obama for the Democratic Presidential nomination yesterday afternoon. Too the naked eye this doesn’t appear unusual in the slightest, in fact if anything it sounds quite similar to the ongoing narrative over the past couple of weeks.

However Cardoza’s endorsement signals something that is in fact quite large in it’s relelvance to the current Democratic Primary. This is a message to the Clinton campaign Delivered by Cardoza, who up until yesterday, was a Clinton superdelegate.

We have learned that:

Cardoza is the first of a group of at least 40 Clinton delegates, many of them from California, that through talking among themselves came to a joint decision that all of them would vote for Obama at the convention. They have informed Senator Clinton that it’s time to unite around Obama, and that they will be coming out, one or two at a time, and announcing their switch between now and the convention if Senator Clinton doesn’t do the same.

Cardoza is one of the leaders of this effort (which includes not only superdelegates, but here’s something that should set off some paranoia in Camp Clinton: there are pledged Clinton delegates in The Cardoza 40,” too). One Field Hand reports that during a recent Cardoza fund raising event in California the effort was discussed openly in front of other Democrats. Cardoza’s announcement, today, sent the message that the effort is serious and for real.

As you have probably already figured out, this is really, really bad news for team Clinton, who cannot be sleeping well tonight after learning about Cardoza and Co. at the tail end of a nightmarish day which included a half hearted apology given by Hillary herself for a classless reference to RFK’s assasination while giving her reason to remain in the race.

How worried should Hillary be about the “Cardoza 40″ story? Well to put it in layman’s terms - very worried. While giving his official endorsement yesterday, Cardoza said:

I am deeply concerned about the contentious primary campaign and controversy surrounding the seating of delegates from Florida and Michigan two states Democrats need to win in November. I will not support changing the rules in the fourth quarter of this contest through some convoluted DNC rules committee process. Yet, we must find a resolution to seat the Michigan and Florida delegates so these states’ voters are represented at the Convention. I believe we need to avoid this potentially divisive situation by uniting behind one nominee and bringing the party together immediately. Therefore, I have made the decision to support Senator Obama at the Democratic Convention in my role as a super delegate.”

Now I am no pro or anything, but I can’t seem too find a way for Hillary, or her campaign to spin that statement into anything resembling good news. But hey, I have seen that camp do wonders “spin wise” and at this point really wouldn’t be surprised at anything that comes from her death rattle of a campaign.

Obama Will Seal Up the Pledged Delegates Tomorrow: Clinton Camp Not Happy

You may or may not have received an email yesterday from David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, who sent out a message to millions of Obama supporters saying that this upcoming Tuesday (Oregon and Kentucky primaries) Obama could very well reach the milestone of having earned a majority of the pledged delegates, and according to the latest polls released from Oregon it is not a matter of “if” he will, but how early into the night it happens.

Read more

West Virginia Delivers Hillary a Big Win: Unfortunately It Doesn’t Change Anything

Well no surprise here — Hillary Clinton walks away with a huge win in West Virginia, which makes for a good hour or so of television dramatization from the network talking heads, but at least in this case, doesn’t change anything in the slightest.

Yes, Hillary won West Virginia, her husband won the state both times he ran for the highest office in 1992 and 1996, and successfully branded the Clinton name throughout the state. Combine that with the fact Senator Barack Obama did not campaign in the state whatsoever (similar to Hillary’s decision to forgo campaigning heavily in Mississippi) and the huge win Hillary achieved, and deserves credit for, really isn’t much of a surprise at all.

Read more

Steady Stream of ‘Supers’ Come Forward With Decision: Tuesday’s Scoreboard Reads Obama-4 & Clinton-0

Is appears as though a large group of Democratic superdelegates have come down “with a case of the Tuesday’s,” a condition which entails them –one after another– to step forwards with their decision to support Senator Barack Obama.. Already this morning alone we have seen four supers make their decision to go with Barack public, with promises from those close to the campaign that there are still more to come periodically throughout the day.

Mark Halperin over at TIME Magazine’s The Page has a running scoreboard of todays superdelegate tally, one which already this morning reads Obama 4, Clinton 0 — a lead which appears will increase throughout the coming hours. Here are the details of the supers who have announced their support for Barack Obama already this morning, I am pretty sure you will recognize at least one or two of the names listed:

SUPERDELEGATES FOR OBAMA

1. Rep. Joe Donnelly (Indiana)

2. Ray Nagin: Mayor of New Orleans

3. Roy Romer: Former Colorado governor and DNC chair

4. Anita Bonds: Chair of the DC Democratic Party

It also should be pointed out that with West Virginia Democrats casting their ballots today for the Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton is expected to win big. That said, one may be lead to believed that this steady parade of superdelegates surfacing for Obama is more strategy then anything else. It accomplishes a couple things, first of all it steals some of the headlines from a Clinton W. Virginia victory, and secondly it serves as safety net in the sense that when talking about losing W. Virginia, he and/or his campaign can always reference his spike is super delegate support in the same breath, seeing as though they are both occurring (the WV vote and superdelegate surge) during the same news cycle.

Hillary Wants MI too Count: Sounds Good, But Someone Should Tell Her Obama is Winning There

There has been a whole lot of screaming and yelling out of the Clinton camp regarding the seating of Michigan’s delegates and how she won there, would be a better candidate to win the state in November, and deserves that the state delegates would of course select her if in fact they were to be seated. Seeing that this is the case, new polls coming out of Michigan might give the Clinton camp — and the Democratic party in general a look at the truth behind Michigan voters choice for president.

Read more

10 Reasons Barack Obama Should Not Pick Hillary as his Vice President

The notion of a Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton “unity ticket” has been floated quite a bit the last few days. But, seriously, is the idea any good? We asked a few friends of the magazine to weigh in. Here’s David A. Bell, a professor of history at Johns Hopkins University and a contributing editor for The New Republic.

Read more

Next Page »