A mid-election season course correction. . .

You may remember our political stance as solidly anti-Hillary during the Presidential Primary season. With Hillary finally out of the race and the General Election solidly underway, we've decided to take a second look at the candidates running for the highest office in the land. We carefully watched both Presidential conventions and have decided to make a mid-election course correction. We can no longer be characterized as voting anti-Hillary, we are solidly pro-Obama. John McCain and the Republicans have little new to offer us, despite John McCain's attempt to run against the incumbant Republican party as the Republican nominee (notice the irony). The Republican convention seemed to focus on character attacks and did little to address our concerns with the direction this country is currently traveling. The Palin pick initially intrigued us and we think her life story is compelling. We also like a lot of what she stands for. However, we feel that the pick is ultimately a political gimmick by the McCain campaign. The pick undercuts their "Country First" and experience messaging that has been running all summer long. Gov. Palin was not seeking the national stage and was unprepared to be thrust onto it. The McCain campaign has tried to maintain their original messaging by talking about how little the vice president actually does so it isn't fair to talk about whether she is ready to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency while at the same time talking about the historic nature of the campaign (all of which rings false). It is hardly shattering the "highest glass ceiling" to elect the first female Vice President, when the McCain campaign is degrading the office of vice president, saying Palin's only role will be to "attend funerals and inquire after the health of the president." We also feel that Palin's political stances are too close to President Bush's to add much to John McCain's maverick image. If anything, the Palin pick confirmed our political leanings.
The Democratic Convention, on the other hand, was filled with solutions to the current problems our nation is facing. We found it uplifting and inspiring. This past week of economic upheavals has only confirmed to us that Barack Obama is the right man to lead our country at this time in history.

Go Obama!

A poem, by Orson Scott Card

Ode on Hillary in Bosnia
by Orson Scott Card

"We landed under sniper fire!

We ran for cover, terrified!

The bullets flew around my head!

I thought for sure that I was dead!"

She told the tale in hopes it meant

We'd vote for her for president.

Instead we looked for evidence

Of Hillary's experience,

And found that not a bullet flew.

Her thrilling story wasn't true.

Because we know she never lies,

I ask, how did this tale arise?

Was it a dream, and when she woke

She thought that it was real?

Or was the story just a joke,

And no big deal?

Did drinking too much mocha make her

Fantasize this tale?

Or was it from a line of coke,

A furtive toke of the kind of smoke

That Bill did not inhale?

Oh hush, right-wing conspirators!

Your reasons suck! Now here is hers:

She just misspoke.

She meant to say

She landed on a sunny day

And a little girl read a poem aloud

And Hillary waved to the friendly crowd.

But campaign days are oh so long,

And being a woman, she isn't strong,

So the story simply came out wrong.

How could you think that Hillary lied,

When it was such a small mistake,

The kind that anyone could make?

No joke, no toke of smoke, no coke,

No dream from which she never woke --

She just misspoke.

You've heard that what goes up comes down

And where there's smoke there's fire.

Well, when you visit Hillary Town

The word "misspoke" means "liar."

(Copyright © 2008 by Orson Scott Card. Please duplicate this poem as much as you like, as long as you don't charge for it; but include this copyright notice with it.)

Top 10 Myths Keeping Hillary in the Race, by Chip Collis

Taken from another blog, and an email that I got:

I have noted a number of myths amongst the comments here as to why Hillary should stay in the race. Here are ten enduring, kudzu-like myths, with the debunking they sorely need.

Myth: This race is tied.
No, actually, it's not. Obama has the lead in number of states won, in pledged delegates and in overall delegates. Nothing will happen in the remaining primaries to substantially change that. As to the one thing Hillary does lead in, superdelegates, her quickly shrinking margin is among DNC personnel only. When you look at the elected superdelegates, Congressman, Senators and Governors (i.e. people who actually work with both Obama and Clinton) Obama leads there, too.

Myth: Okay, the popular vote is tied.
There are people who claim that because of the 3% separation, that Obama's lead in the popular vote is a "statistical tie." This is a myth because, when you can actually count things, there's no need of statistics and no such thing as a margin of error. The popular vote is not an estimate based on a sampling, like a poll. Like the general election, there are winners and losers and, so far, Obama is the winner.

Myth: Fine, but what if we count electoral votes? NOW Hillary is ahead!
Not so much. The proportions of electoral votes to population versus delegates to population are pretty comparable. So if you allocated electors proportionally in the same manner that you allocate delegates, Obama is still ahead. If you allocate them on a winner-take-all basis, then that would be the same as allocating the delegates on a winner-take-all basis , so why bring electors into it?

Myth: But if we did do it like the Electoral College, that proves Hillary is more electable than Obama, because of states like California.
This is perhaps the saddest little myth of all. It's ridiculous to suggest that Obama will lose New York and California to McCain because Clinton won th em in the primaries. No, come November, those states will join with Obama's Illinois to provide 40% of the electors necessary for him to win.

Myth: Very well, then, Mr. Smarty-Math. But if we counted Michigan and Florida, THEN Hillary would be winning!
Nooo, she wouldn't. The margin would depend on how you allocate the del egates, but Obama would still be ahead. And he'd still be about 100,000 ahead in the popular vote, too, despite not even being on the ballot in Michigan. However, it would enhance Hillary's chances of catching up in the remaining races.

Myth: Ah HA! So Dean is keeping them out just to help Obama! And Obama is keeping them out.
That's two myths, but I'll treat it like one. The only people who can come up with a solution to this problem are the states themselves, to be presented to the Rules and Regulations Committee of the DNC for ratification. It was Rules and Regs, not Howard Dean, who ruled that Florida and Michigan were breaking the rules when they presented their original primary plans. If the two states cannot come up with a plan to reselect delegates, they can try to seat whatever delegates were chosen in the discounted primaries by appealing to the Democratic Convention's Credentialing Committee, which includes many members from Rules and Bylaws.

Myth: If they don't get seated until the convention but a nominee is selected before these poor people get counted then these states are disenfranchised.
There are two ways to debunk this myth: semantically and practically. The first is based on the word "disenfranchised:" these people have not been deprived of their right to vote. Through the actions of their states, their votes don't impact the outcome. Now, you may say that that is specious semantics (Myth: I do say that!) but practically speaking, this is the usual effect of the nominating process, anyway. All of the Republican primaries since McCain clinched the nomination have been meaningless, but those voters are not disenfranchised.
Florida and Michigan tried to become more relevant in the process by breaking the rules. They risked becoming irrelevant instead.

Myth: Well, I say they are disenfranchised, and Hillary Clinton is their champion.
Only when it suits her. Last fall, when the decision was first made to flush 100% of Michigan and Florida delegates, Clinton firmly ratified it. That was because the typical punishment of only 50% representation also kept the candidates from raising money in those states. Figuring that she would wrap up the nomination handily anyway, the clear front-runner agreed with all the other candidates - including Obama - to completely "disenfranchise" those two states.

Myth: Well, never mind 2007. She's doing more now to bring them in.
Not really. Recent stories in the St. Petersburg Times political blog said that 1) the Obama camp has reached out to the Florida Democratic party about a compromise and that 2) the Clinton camp will discuss nothing else but re-votes, which are legally, practically and politically dead.

Myth: Whatever! Hillary can still win! I know she can! She and her 37% positive rating will sweep through the remaining primaries and Michigan and Florida, winning 70% of everything and superdelegates will flock to her banner and Barack Obama will personally nominate her at the Convention and John McCain will give up and George Bush will even quit early so she can take over and... and... and... can I have a glass of water?

Yes, and you should lie down, too.

Junior Super Tuesday Party

Who will be it? McCane? Huckaboing? HillBillary? Barry O'Bama? or the always irrelavant, NaderRader?

Junior Super Tuesday strikes tomorrow, and we will be having another political extravaganza!

The fun starts at 6pm at our home in Upper Darby. If you don't know where we live at, shoot me an email and I will get that info to ya! Friends, family, spouses, and pets (well, not pets) are welcome, we just ask that you please rsvp so we know how many to expect. We will be having lasagna and buckeyes (in honor of the Buckeye State, which votes tomorrow). If you would like to bring something to share, you are welcome to, but you will be welcome if you do not!

The states voting tomorrow night are Vermont, Rhode Island, Texas and Ohio. The stakes are high, so come prepared for some great debating!