CLINTON FUNDRAISING SCANDAL - PT. 2

A good friend emailed the link to these videos to me. And as I watched through them I realized that this was related to a small news blurb I had stumbled across a few nights ago:

Clinton's To Face Fraud Trial

She really does have experience to succeed in Washington!!!

CLINTON FUNDRAISING SCANDAL - PT. 1

Dirty, dirty!

RELENTLESS DELEGATE MATH

This article shows that despite the recent victories, the delegate math facing Hillary Clinton is daunting. Not only will she need to win every remaining primary by a significant margin (margin's she has not been able to generate up to this point), but all indications are that the superdelegates will not contradict the will of the earned delegates.

I just wish it would end so that the Democratic candidate can begin focusing on the general election.

Newsweek - Hillary's New Math Problem

THE REASON BEHIND HILLARY'S SURGE?

This sounds insidious, but this author conjectures that the reason for the Clinton victories this past Tuesday was a significant number of Republicans voting for her in the open elections.

AmericanGoy - The Real Reason Behind The Clinton Surge

As proof, he offers this transcript from Rush Limbaugh:

Limbaugh Urges Republicans To Vote For Clinton

THAT CRAZY DELEGATE MATH

It seems that although Clinton won the general primary election in Texas, Obama will come out a few votes ahead as the caucus votes are counted. Despite the momentum her campaign has gained from the wins on Tuesday the likelihood of her winning with the margins needed in the remaining states is quite slim. Some say impossible.

CLINTON BREAKS LOSING STREAK

Senator Clinton won three out of four elections last night in a very important day. Her campaign was calling these elections, particularly in Texas and Ohio, as a "firewall."

Voter turnout was quite high throughout all the states. And Clinton seems to have won the lion's share of voters who had waited until the last minute to decide.

WIthout these wins the Clinton campaign would have been in serious trouble. As it turns out, it is almost impossible for her to win enough of the remaining states by a wide enough margin to overtake her opponent, Senator Obama. Ahh... those superdelegates!

And even after the victories last night, the net delegate gain for Clinton is somewhere between +15 or, in one news story, -3.

What I found interesting are news stories that A significant number of Republicans voted for Clinton in the open Texas election. And I listened to the Republican governor of Florida arguing that the Democratic party should seat the delegates of his state, which went to Clinton. She was the only candidate who campaigned in that state, along with Michigan, who had been warned that their votes would not be counted due to known rules violations. Such an event would definitely benefit Senator Clinton.

Suspicious that a Republican would want this to happen.

Caucus Votes Still Being Counted In Texas

PLAY THE DELEGATE GAME!

This is great! An interactive map which lets you play the guessing game with the Democratic candidate delegate counts. You simply change the sliders for the remaining states to bias one candidate or another and the map will update to show you how those vote outcomes will affect the delegate count.

Because they are all elections in which delegates are awarded proportionally, the possible permutations are endlessly fun!

The Delegate Game!

CLINTON'S INFAMOUS "IT'S 3AM" AD & THE OBAMA RESPONSE

WHO DO YOU WANT ANSWERING THE PHONE?

Hillary Clinton recently released an ad in which she asks America "who do you want answering the phone" in a moment of national crisis. The argument plays off of one of the main themes in her campaign; that she has close to two decades of political experience. Last I checked, she has not been a senator quite that long, but who's really counting?!

A reporter from Slate released a portion of a phone interview with a Clinton campaign staffer at the point that he asked in which way was she challenged in a foreign policy capacity...

... and then there was a moment of silence. Take a listen.

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/02/pregnant_pause.html

THE MAGIC POWER OF WORDS

Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post web site has written a great article about how the often-used Clinton indictment that Obama treats words as some magical thing, devoid of real power and substance. In fact, according to Arianna, it is Senator Clinton and her campaign who is most prone to utter words and, because they said so, the things they hope and want will somehow magically be true.

Huffington Post - Clinton, Obama And The Belief In The Magical Power Of Words

CLINTON CAMPAIGN CALLS FOUL TO THOSE CALLING THEM OUT ON SLEEZY TACTICS

The Drudge Report ran an article about a photograph of Senator Obama dressed in Somali garb. In response, the Clinton campaign released a statement bashing the Obama campaign of being divisive for calling them out on their somewhat sleezy tactics.

The photo is that of Senator Obama wearing the traditional garb of a Somali elder. It was taken during one of his trips to Africa. He was presented with the garments as a gift and, in an act of respect and kindness, tried the clothing on for his guests. The military officer who accompanied and was present when the photo was taken likened it to someone trying on a garment which was given as a christmas gift. He also said it was a generous gesture on Obama's part.

Yes, it is sad that the flagging Clinton campaign would release such a photo, bearing their fangs and showing the true nature of themselves and their candidate. But what is most sad is that they believed we still live in a country where people will respond negatively to this photo. Seeing someone dressed in African or "Islamic" clothing is still a red button issue for some.

Carl Rove would be proud!

DRUDGE - Leaked Obama Photo

CLINTON'S VIEWS ON NAFTA

Although Senator Clinton issued her infamous "shame on you" proclamation to the Obama campaign for having sending out materials that insinuated she had supported the NAFTA agreement, it is fairly clear that she in fact did support this legislation. And that would make sense, given that her husband is the guy who championed it!

Clinton On NAFTA

CLINTON ATTEMPTS TO MOCK OBAMA

Senator Clinton mocked the message of hope and progress which has become the hallmark of the Obama campaign. Personally, I think it is a losing battle. It would be like telling Kennedy that he was just an immature dreamer for thinking we could do something as believe we could launch men into space and eventually to the moon.

Not a very enlightened or enthusiastic message to take a generation of Americans into the future.

Here is the clip and the Huffington Post article.

Huffington Post - Clinton Mocks Obama During Campaign Rally

WHAT THE CANDIDATES ARE RAISING & SPENDING

The NY Times has compiled information on how much the candidates have raised, spent and where they have raised the money from. The tremendous campaign contribution disparity between the two parties is amazing!

CLINTON REFUSES TO RELEASE TAX RECORDS

Despite Senator Obama asking Hillary Clinton to follow him in releasing her personal tax records she continues to refuse. But don't worry! She has proclaimed that she will in fact release these records if she becomes the party nominee.

Senator Obama took the unusual step of releasing his tax records in April. Not required but he chose to do so regardless.

Personally (thankfully this is a personal blog with my personal opinions), I think the Clinton refusal of disclosure could likely be signs of things to come. We now have one of the most secretive administrations in U.S. history. Not something we need to continue into the future.

WSJ - Clinton Tax Returns Would Cast Wider Light

WHAT IF OBAMA HAD GONE 0-FOR-10?

Imagine what the media, the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign would be saying if Senator Obama had lost 10 straight elections? If he was still struggling to find a message that resonates and was having issues raising money?

What if, given this situation, Obama was staking all his bets on winning the next two elections? And that he would need to win every remaining state by a 60-40 margin? Something that most think is pretty much impossible.

Well, that is the situation Senator Clinton finds herself in. The Washington Post article does a great job of contrasting the likely message Obama would be getting in these circumstances versus the message Clinton is getting.

I wonder why?

IF OBAMA WENT 0-FOR-10

OBAMA'S VOTING RECORD

MSNBC published this great article about the voting record of Senator Obama. The non-partisan Congressional Quarterly has analyzed the votes of Senator Obama from 2005, 2006 and 2007. This is a thorough and seemingly fair analyses of how the senator voted.

The importance of this analysis is that he public can learn quite a bit more about Obama's views and possibly project how he would act if elected president of the United States. This is something useful whether you are a supporter or not.

MSNBC - Obama Senate Voting Record

HILLARY'S VERY OWN '527'

A "527" is a group of individuals who are able to bypass campaign financing limits and contribute as much as they choose for a candidate.

A group of obviously wealthy politicos, calling themselves the American Leadership Project, has formed in order to raise money to air campaign ads for the Clinton campaign. The deal is that it is illegal for the Clinton campaign to directly influence these 527s, so as long as they act independently it is all fine and good.

But this story, when combined with the previous story of the multi-million dollar campaign funding deficit, it makes for an interesting picture of the financial well-being of the Clinton campaign.

Daily Kos - American Leadership Project

THE MONEY GAME

While the Clinton campaign has reported a debt of just under $8 million in the month of January, the Obama campaign is on track to raise another $30 million in the month of February. And this debt apparently does not include the $5 million she loaned her campaign.

The Clinton campaign raised $20 million in January. This amount included the infamous $5 million loan from her own coffers (I personally did not know the Clintons were rollin' like that!). But the campaign spent $29 million that month.

The good news is that chief consultant and advisor Mark Penn accounted for $2 million of that debt. So at least someone is getting something out of it!

Politico - HRC Campaign Debt

19% APPROVAL FOR PRESIDENT BUSH

This might be a historic moment in American history. A sitting president , our president George H. W. Bush, has a 19% approval rating amongst Americans. The unfortunate thing is that it took almost 8 years or his supporters to arrive at this opinion. After all, he has not really changed in personality or policy since his first day in office, so what gives?

Better late than never.