Tuesday, February 12, 2008

"Yes We Can." ObamaMania Blows Through Three More Contests on Road to White House


The results are in: Sen. Barack Obama has won decisive victories in all three of the Maryland, Virgiania and DC "Potomac Primaries" Tuesday. His momentum is tremendous. Something's happening here that's hard to ignore. His campaign is alive and brimming with excitement. This gives him an impressive string of eight consecutive victories in the last 4 days in addition to the thirteen states he won on Super Tuesday. With each passing day, with each new speech, Barack Obama is starting to not only look like his party's clear nominee but, compared to the stiff, aging, conservative Republican relic John ("My Friends") McCain, he's also looking like our next president. It's very hard to watch all this and not get goosebumps; a strong sense that history's in the making.

The contrast between Obama and McCain is startling. Just watch their speeches. Behind the junior Senator from Illinois is a crowd of young, old, white, black, male, female. On stage with Arizona's McCain are old rich white men like Sen. John Warner and Rep Tom Davis. The 72-year-old McCain represents the past. A generation of conservative war-mongers and tax cut whores. The same-old-same-old standard GOP rhetoric. The 46-year-old Obama represents the future. He embodies the change for which Americans are desperate. He's inspiring a legion of young people to get involved in their future. He's arousing voters across the land with his thrilling speeches about a new world. About a new America. About the need to end the war, end the recession and create jobs, educate our young, provide universal heathcare for our children. To win back America's respect on the global stage. To bridge the divide between red and blue, between black and white. Wow. It's really hard not to get swept up in his passion and bask under his shining light.

What about Sen. Hillary Clinton, the once "sure thing?" For the former First Lady, the picture is getting bleaker and bleaker with each primary and caucus. Obama's raging momentum threatens to put a serious crimp in her fundraising efforts, which are already struggling. In politics, the money tends to follow the winner. Donors don't like toss money on a perceived loser. As the losses pile up, the delegates go to Obama and the financial pipeline narrows, Clinton is going to feel Obama's dust in her eyes. Her campaign will start to appear desperate, the consultants (if they don't get fired) will constantly change her message, and there will be missteps. She will look like a loser, and that's already starting.

Of note Tuesday are the critical inroads Obama made with certain voter groups. He picked up the union vote, white catholics, white males and came almost even with Clinton on whites overall. She still holds onto white females. Another potential wrench for Hillary are the so called "committed" Super-Delegates, who are technically not so committed after all. They can change their minds at any time. It's highly possible, and even likely, that they will see the handwriting on the wall like they did in 1984 when they unceremoniously dumped Gary Hart at the last minute to back Walter Mondale.

Obama deserves major kudos. He's running a brilliant, historic campaign. He now seems unstoppable. Change is in the air.

16 comments:

Jed Revolutia said...

Yup, I agree that Obama deserves kudos, but my heart still lies with Hillary.

Anonymous said...

hey, did you all know that John McCain is not eligible to be president? Its true. The Constitution says you must be a "natural born" citizen. John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone. This was never EVER a sovereign US territory. it was only LEASED to the US. Remember something people before you bash me----US citizen status ALONE does NOT qualify you to be president. You have to be born HERE, in this country----not on a military base, or at am embassy---nowhere but HERE. Remember, there was no military when the Constitution was written so no foreign military bases----so the founders clearly wouldnt have been referring to military bases or other areas we are occupying in the world. You can say Im crazy and disagree all you want. Law is law. It doesnt have to make sense and you dont have to agree with it. John McCain is violating the constitution by even running----and he's getting away with it. Dont believe me---research it. I did---and every single road I went down, it always ended at: McCain is not eligible---period.

Anonymous said...

Watch the polls. If McCain and Obama are close in November, we will be looking at a President McCain. Why? The Bradley Effect.

Anonymous said...

Hillary is a sore loser - she won't congratulate Barack Hussein Obama anymore. She is such a Clinton.

In light of the above posting from anonymous 3:32, I guess he's right. I'll let the Republicans know right away and I'm sure they'll cancel their convention because McCain is not eligible. It must be true because anonymous 3:32 says it is.

Anonymous said...

Bradley Effect = President McCain

Anonymous said...

There is something called the "Bradley Effect" (related to Bradley in California). Bradley who is black ran for governor and was popular. He polled to win the election. When the election came, he lost. The conclusion was that when white people are polled, they say they will vote for the black candidate. But when they go and vote they instead vote for the white candidate. Yes young people are fired up, but there are more boomers and those older who vote in huge numbers.

The Ostroy Report said...

Bradley Shmadley...
Look, everyone knows I was an d still am a Hillary supporter, so I cannnot be accused of being an Obama shill. BUt the simple fact is, unless you're deaf, dumb and blind, his campaign is a speeding train right now, and it's highly unlikely that it can and will be derailed. There's no denying Obama's inevitability at this point. He is clearly thr frontrunner and his momentum is unstoppable.

Anonymous said...

Reality. Bradley Effect.

Wake up Andy. You don't know politics.

Anonymous said...

Watch the polls. If they are close in November, we will be looking at President McCain.

This is reality. This is not some thoughtless comment.

Anonymous said...

So true Anony 10:19 am. When Obama started to win, I started to wonder what was going on.

We Dems are being set up and all the "times have changed" talk is not going to change it.

We are looking at a President McCain. If folks won't vote for a woman, we all know they are not going to vote for a black man.

You have no idea how upset this has all made me. The Republicans have done it again. We are screwed because too many folks do not understand politics.

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with the last two bloggers. We simply don't have a chance of winning the presidency. Edwards was our only hope -- white and male. Americans will vote against their own survival interests in order to vote their prejudices or religious views. The Religious Right said vote for Bush and God will take care of us. Yeah, right. I'm beginning to think Democrats are very naive and that is costing us everything.

Anonymous said...

And that is why the Super Delegates were put into place to save us from picking an unelctedable candidate. (after McGovern)

President McCain is going to happen. How disgusting. He has said he will continue the war for decades. He has said he doesn't know anything about economics. Good bye all the domestic issues we care about.

Anonymous said...

If the Democrats lose the White House its not because they put a woman or a black man as their candidate. Its the platform, stupid:

Democrats categorize every person on Earth by race. Democrats believe in forcing companies to hire people based on racial quotas instead of skill sets. Democrats are the flag bearers of Big Brother. Democrats believe in thought control, political correctness, zero tolerance policies, speech censorship, and government controlled health care. If Democrats ever get a chance to have Big Brother control our health, they will then move to have Big Brother dictate our lifestyle in the name of health and Global Warming. Democrats believe in social control via taxation and income redistribution for the purchasing of votes.

Democrats want to slow the economy down, as evidence one only has to look for Bill Clinton's quote, "We need to slow down our economy to stop global warming." (Jan 31, 2008). Democrats want China and India to overtake us so that we are not the most powerful country in the world. Democrats want to destroy our Military, as evidence one only has to look at the systematic destruction of the Military during the Clinton years.

Democrats are anti-fairtax (www.fairtax.org) because they don't want America to become the worlds largest tax haven for the worlds business.

Democrats are invested in failure in Iraq. If we succeed in Iraq, Democrats lose politically. Success in Iraq is bad for Democrats. They need failure and/or to surrender.

Anonymous said...

6:11 Your "logic" eludes me. The platform you outline is not the platfor, of the Democrats, which is the one you hate but the won that the majority in our country supports. Democrats naturally support the Democratic platform so that is the platform they would naturally and humanely vote for in the next election if this country weren't so full of sexists and racists in both parties. Therefore, they will
vote for McCain who in part agrees with some of the Democratic platform, which is why the Republicans have elected him as their candidate: - He supports part of the Democratic platform so he can be elected. And the sexists or racists among the Independents and the Democratic party will vote for him rather than vote contrary to their prejudices. Republicans will DO ANYTHING to win -- they would have voted for Rudy if he'd been smarter with his campaign.

Anonymous said...

Just because someone doesn't vote for Hillary does not make them sexist. If someone doesn't vote for Barack Hussein Obama, it does not make them racist.

Democrats support Affirmative Action, which had its purpose, but has long run its course. Affirmative Action requires the categorization of people into race and gender. I've witnessed large companies hiring people just to fit racial quotas while the new hire had no skills to do the job.

Democrats support of thought control is obvious in their overly excessive disire to make speech politically correct. A white person can be suspended or fired from his/her job for saying the exact words that a black person is allowed to say.

Democrats support of zero tolerance policies is destroying the current generation of children that have to go to government controlled schools. Children can be suspended from school for doodling stick figures, playing innocent games that we have all played. There are stories from all over this country of children being suspended because the brought something into school that could be used as a weapon in the most remote parts of a person's imagination, but they have to be suspended due to zero tolerance policies.

In a Democrat world, a school can facilitate and abortion for a child without notifying her parents, but if a child takes an aspirin in school they are suspended for drug use.

Democrats obviously support taxpayer funded healthcare for every American. I don't understand how Democrats cannot see the next steps of political interference in the healthcare of Americans. Maybe you can see it and you welcome it. This logic eludes me.

Anonymous said...

Republicans want to control a woman's body and her reporductive processes. Republicans want to control a person's decision about continuing his life in extreme pain and hopelessness. Republicans want to control the course/subjects taught in the public schools and would deny the teaching of science and replace it with religious beliefs. Republicans feel free to take citizens' land for public construction. Republicans want to take all the money they can from the poor and allow the richest among us to keep their money. Republicans use American boys and girls to fight their war and then leave them to rot while they live under bridges. Republicans want to do away with all benefits and help for the poor and return out country to a facsimili of the feudal system during the MIddle Ages. Republicans want to control the public by lying to them and keeping most of their devious maneuvers secret. Republicans want to take away our civil rights, our rights to privacy and habeaus corpus. These are just the threats that come to me on the spur of the moment The list is longer. Republicans are dangerous to our very way of life.