DON'T GIVE UP, DON'T EVER GIVE UP

Lets look at where we are with this mess of a political party:

According to CNN and the Associated Press, there are 300 Superdelegates uncommitted to either Democratic candidate. Obama leads the overall delegate count by about 140. He also has about 500,000 more popular votes. He also has a commanding lead in polling in North Carolina for the May 6 primary. He has decided not to debate Clinton there, which is probably a good move after their latest debate in Pennsylvania in which Obama (as usual) clearly did a poor job in.

Indiana looks to be a dead heat right now for the vote also on May 6. Since North Carolina is not a concern to Obama he’ll probably spend a nice amount of his extensive cash to woo voters in Indiana. If he can pull out big wins in both states, that should pretty much be it. Hillary opened up her speech last night asking for cash right out of the box, Obama doesn’t have that problem, he has plenty of money flowing in and huge support from the younger generation and has used the networking sites and online features and text messages to get his word out and fire up his fan base. Good for him, well done, he’s changed the way the word will get out and how political races are going to be run in the future and I strongly support that, however, when it comes down to who I want making decisions with my money, right there at the bottom of my list, just above the religious fanaticals, are the 21 year old liberal kids who have no idea what it is to actually work for and earn your money, but sure love to text and IM. But that’s a blog for another day. If Obama can win those two primaries, Clinton will see the money stop, and her chances of going on will, in all probability, be done.

Now being I have no desire to ever see either of these candidates ever in the white house, my take may be a bit slanted, but the bottom line is, no one likes a close game. Granted they are interesting for the “fans” but watching the Mets win a game 10-2 is always more desirable then sitting though a 16 inning nail biter. So, obviously Obama supporters want this over today. They want their man, who HAS NOT WON ENOUGH DELEGATES, so simply be handed the nomination. They want Clinton to simply say, “Ok, we have a system in place where you need 2105 delegates to win our parties nomination, you have about 1700, so rather than have the other remaining states have their say, I’ll step aside since you almost won for the good of the party.”

Now anyone who believes any of these people are doing anything for the good of the party, the good of the people, or the good of the country, are the ones that are the most delusional (see my previous group of 21 year olds). Read this very carefully and pay close attention to the next statement, because this is what most educated, level headed, experienced people learn at some point or another in their life. NO ONE DOES ANYTHING THAT DOES NOT HAVE THEIR OWN BEST INTERESTS IN MIND. Read it again and think about it. I know, you are going to say I’m wrong, or I’m jaded, that’s fine, I accept all of that, I’m not going to argue it with you, because one day it will you that I’m right and when it happens you’ll say “Son of a…that guy was right.” One day those rose colored glasses will come off, and you’ll realize that most people, who I truely believe are inherently good, still do what is best for them, and some people (Hillary Clinton) will do what is best for them at any cost.

It’s wonderful to think and to dream that Obama will become president, and everything will be fine, all his revolutionary ideas will fall right into place, and he’ll do what he thinks is best for the country, but that is not reality. If you believe that Obama is the best man for the job because you like what his plan is, then that’s fine, I support your right to support him. If you think Ralph Nader has the best ideas (in 1992 I was a supporter and campaigner for Jerry Brown until finally voting for Ross Perot) then by all means support him. But just be realistic, and know that Hillary isn’t just going to go away because you or I want her to. There is no person more powerful, nothing more worth winning, than the Presidency of the United Stated. Hillary Clinton has dreamed about this for longer than any of us can ever know, to think she will simply quit is ludicrous.

These are the Clinton’s we are dealing with, who knows what may come out about Obama, or what rumor may be next about him. True or untrue, Hillary knows, you can’t win if you quit. May, June, July there are still a lot of banana peals out there for Obama to step on, and the wrong one could be all the Clintons are looking for.

Now for the good news, by continuing on until the convention, she is doing the Republicans' work for them, effectively running their campaign while allowing McCain to remain above the fray and avoid anytype of fight or mud slinging.

Nearly one fifth of Clinton and Obama supporters now say they would not vote for the other candidate in the general election, a statistic that is at least partially a result of Clinton's protracted negative campaigning.

Clinton's only real chance at securing the nomination is by continuing on until the convention and having the party's super delegates overturn Obama's likely lead in both pledged delegates and popular vote. If that were to happen, it would irreparably damage the Democratic Party's unity and would doubtlessly leave the party with a jaded, divided base going into the general election.

So with that I say good luck Obama, good luck Clinton, and remember, I teach my kids to never give up, don’t give up on your dreams, fight for what you want, because in this life no one is just going to hand you anything. She’s a fine, fine role model, keep up the fight, and as the great Jimmy Valvano once said so eloquently, “"Don't give up, don't ever give up."”

TAXES AND THE ELECTION

Wow.... this is amazing - and if you want to compare with any other years, you can go to the website which shows tax info from1913 to the present.

Taxes...Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening and amazing.


www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html


Taxes under Clinton 1999 Taxes under Bush 2008



Single making 30K - tax $8,400 Single making 30K - tax $4,500

Single making 50K - tax $14,000 Single making 50K - tax $12,500

Single making 75K - tax $23,250 Single making 75K - tax $18,750

Married making 60K - tax $16,800 Married making 60K- tax $9,000

Married making 75K - tax $21,000 Married making 75K - tax $18,750

Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250


It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever.



If Obama or Hillary are elected, they both say they will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people that fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen.



It's all in the spin, the people that get the word out and control the media make it always sound better than it really is. To bad very few people (on both sides) ever really understand the truth.

SUPER TUESDAY

We had the SuperBowl Sunday, and now we have Super Tuesday tonight. By early Wed. morning, we should have a pretty good feel for how this is going to play out.


McCain should have the Republican nomination all but locked up tomorrow and Obama and Clinton will probably, well they'll probably be in about the same place they are right now.


Republicans have a lot of “all or nothing” states where second place gets you as many delegates as my boy Rudy got…none. Democrats distribute delegates according to percentage in most places so in theory (and hopefully) it could still be a dead heat at the end of today, which sets McCain up quite nicely to get the good old boy's network political machine revving up against the evil Democratic taxers and spenders while Hil and Bam continue to battle it out and say nasty things about each other and how unqualified their opponet is, until one eventually emerges victorious and the other tells us to forget all the things they said and how great a president the winner will REALLY be.



Omaba feels like Superman today as his "polling" numbers are up all over the country. He's making alot of people believe that he can really win the nomination.



John Edwards has not thrown his support behind either candidate yet, he is still waiting in the wings to be VP, so there is no reason for him to back anyone until he knows which way the wind is blowing. Edwards knows that both Hillary and Barack may need a good old fashioned white male to help sway the group of ignorant people who may suddenly get cold feet when they actually have to pull the trigger to vote for either a Black man or a woman for president. Plus, he's young enough that he can certainly make another run for President at age 2016 after people get used to seeing him in the public eye for eight years.




But you know who is really looking forward to tonight..... Tim Russert. This guy eats this stuff up. He breaks out the whiteboard, he starts counting delegates. This is his prep run for November, and our too...get out the clipboard and the oak tag baby!!!

OBAMA - JFK - ANNA NICOLE???

Hillary seems to be looking to the heavens for some divine intervention after the whooping she took from Barack in South Carolina.

Obama had a hell of a weekend, destroying Clinton in South Carolina by a larger percentage than anyone expected, getting a nice mix of votes for all age groups and ethnicity, and garnishing the endorsement of the Kennedy clan when Teddy and Caroline came aboard and backed him.

Caroline even went as far as to say "I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."

Now by no means do I expect Caroline to have anything negative to say about her dear old dad, but the infatuation and warped perceptions this country has with our 35th president is amazing.

I wonder if in 20 years people will look back on Anna Nicole Smith with such reverence as they do to JFK and James Dean, two "wonderful Americans" who basically did very little.

JFK was in the midst of the civil rights movement, and basically did nothing but give a little encouragement and a lot of stonewalling and there was an entire generation of people that would define itself around the anti-war movement and all he did was escalate Vietnam.

JFK was as confused and over matched as any president as he flopped from one crisis to another, starting with the Bay of Pigs and proceeding through the Cuban Missile Crisis (where he gambled with the lives of most of the people on the planet).

JFK was a major disappointment as a president, but that was forgotten after he became America’s first celebrity causality.

What this country needs is some positive reinforcement, and pride, and a great communicator, we should be looking for the next Ronald Reagan, not the next John Kennedy.

OBAMA DOMINATES THE "RACE" IN SC

It was a rout.

Obama destroyed Hillary in SC by a larger margin that anyone expected. The Dems move on to super Tuesday now where we will see if the Clinton strategy to get people out of their homes and to the polls by making sure the people aware that there is a divide in this country and going with the old "us vs. them" standard, will pay off. Usually it's palyed out the other way, so it's interesting to see the white candidate play the underdog for once.

I tend to think that next Tuesday will be a fascinating day for anyone watching this with a high level of interest, like I said earlier, I think we are watching one of the best politicians of our generation (Bill Clinton) show you how to win an election, and get people out to vote. Don't fool yourself, running for office is NEVER going to be about policy, about changes a person is going to make (and by the way, Obama's proposals scare the hell out of me, good thing they are only election promises and not things he will ever institute if by some chance he does win), or about the promises a candidate makes. Winning an election is about charisma, charm, looks and words...all which Obama has a huge advantage over Hillary...but the Clintons know what to say, and how to act to make people get involved. Hillary has large lead in a number of the states (specially the big ones) that will be decided on SUPER TUESDAY.

The Republicans have an important battle coming up this Tuesday where Rudy looks to make or break his campaign in Florida. Rudy has been in Florida for weeks while Mitt the Mormon and everyone's favorite grandpa John McCain have been winning states in NH, Iowa and SC. The polls are showing Rudy trailing and in 3rd place, but Florida has some weird rules (shocking) about absentee balloting, and early voting, and Rudy and his people have been getting people to vote and fill out the proper paperwork for him for weeks. Rudy has been working the crowds and for the last 3 weeks Rudy has been getting votes siged sealed and delivered.

To say it nicely, polls blow...lets see what Rudy can do this week, it may be the last chance we have to get the candidate I want into this battle. McCain has the endorsement of just about every major poictician, newspaper and public figure in Florida, yet he still is no lock to win this state. That tells me something about McCain's chances overall. If Rudy can just get a solid showing in Florida, and Romney keeps it tight with McCain Tuesday, Feburary 5ths battle may be more exciting than Superbowl Sunday!!!

IT COULD BE ALL OVER IN THE SOUTH

This is a must win for Barack.

All the polls have him comfortably ahead, but Hillary has shown us before that the polls mean nothing.

Clinton was in South Carolina begging for votes on Friday at a "black college" (Benedict College) where her supporters made sure to state that the state’s presidential nominating primary on Saturday is not about race.

Bernice Scott, a local county council member, who introduced Clinton at Benedict College by saying: “We’ve got to pull everybody together. This is not going to be about gender. This is not going to be about race.”

Not to be silly or skeptical, but um.....yea right. What percentage of people know anything about these candidates except one is black and is a hell of a dancer on Ellen, and one is the wife of a former kinda cool president. Most South Carolinaians are going to wake up, go to the polls and vote only based on gender and race.

David Dinkins, New York’s first black mayor, (and the worst in my lifetime) also was there and said he backs Clinton out of friendship, loyalty and respect for her qualifications.

“Lofty rhetoric is nice but ultimately, you’ve got to govern,” Dinkins said. “We need someone with the capacity to govern, someone who has proven that she has the capacity.”

All he knew about governing was how not to...makes sense he would support Hillary (yea, that's right I said it!!!)

I predict Obama by 5 points in the last good moment of his candidacy, before Hillary takes charge of this race going forward.