Clinton Concedes! We now have a race for President!

It is finally over. Yes, I'm talking about the long, drawn out race for the Democratic nomination for President. Today, Hillary Clinton pulled out of the race and gave her full support for Barack Obama. Does it really surprise anyone that she is supporting him now? Just like I wrote about a few weeks back when Edwards gave his support for Obama, she is trying to line herself up for the VP candidate slot. However, will he indeed pick her? Only he knows for sure.

Thinking about that possibility for a moment, will it actually help him or hurt him if he chooses her to be 2nd in line? To really take a look at this, consider her large wins in the rural states such as Kentucky, West Virginia and so on. He has shown a lack of support from those voters so he indeed would need some kind of kick in the tail. She definitely would bring that to him.

In another thought, how will this now shape up for Sen. John McCain? He now has been sitting back so to speak and watching the Democratic candidates battle each other over their party nomination. Has this time out of the larger spotlight helped McCain? I beleive it has helped him. He pretty much let those two candidates try to take each other out and force them to make mistakes and in the end, put himself in a more favorable light amongst some voters.

As with any politcal race, it isn't over until the last vote is cast, then again, in 2000, it wasn't over until Al Gore exhausted his resources. I'm thinking that the next few weeks and leading up to the national conventions, all the punches will be thrown and the momentum will shift in McCains favor, considering he doesn't mess it up himself. He is best to leave the negative stuff up to Obama and solely focus on his policies.

God Bless America!

Edwards endorces Obama! Why Now?

So John Edwards, the former vice presidential running mate for Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 election, is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president. Does this surprise anyone? Not me. You had to think that sooner or later that he would endorse the front runner (whoever that was going to be) before the convention. Why you ask? Well, why would he want to come out for the eventual "loser" early in the nomination process when he can wait and see, then endorse the nominee and align himself up for another run at the VP slot? If no one saw this coming, than you all need a political reality check. Edwards loves politics a great deal. He loves himself even more. He loves the spotlight on himself and anything associated with being on top. He loves news stories that promote him and that casts a glowing beam of light upon him. What he'll be sorry for is when Obama doesn't pick him for the VP ticket slot. You will then see a real bitter man take shots at Obama and then silently go away whimpering in the corner. At least that is my take on it. Heck I've been wrong before. I actually thought that Edwards would win the nomination back in November.

So with this endorsement, what does it mean for Hillary Clinton, and John McCain for that matter? As far as Clinton, she'll have a slight up hill battle at first, but Edwards will say more on the TV and new stations and dig himself in a hole, thus shedding a better light upon Hillary. I'm sure people will ask Clinton what she thinks of Edwards endorsement and if she had talked with him. Her response will be respectful but demeaning at the same time. She'll shrug it off like all the other legislative endorsements that Obama has gotten. In my eyes, this endorsement will likely cause more damage to Obama in the end then early on.

As for John McCain. He will sit back and let the cards play out on the Democratic Party side. He still needs to just focus on his policy making, his speeches and getting conservatives on board with his agenda. That is the sell for him...the conservative base. They need to be assured that he will fight for the things they believe in such as limited government spending, right to life, traditional marriage amendment and so on. These issues as well as the economy, is what will be the deciding factors in this race. Getting the base out to support you is key in this day and age as well as gaining new support. Just sit back my freinds....this is getting exciting.

God Bless America!

Will Obama's SC win be enough "HOPE" for the Dem's?

With Sen Barack Obama winning in South Carolina, will it be enough to propel him to the lead of the Democratic Party's nomination for president? The way things are looking, you might think so. I saw a poll the other day that had him down to Sen. Clinton by a few points, but with nearly a 30 point in today's primary, you have to think he gained a lot of momentum. The Dem's probably really like this guy because of his youth, demeanor, speaking ability, but seriously, what the heck has he done? Clinton talked about his "present" votes in the Illinois State Senate, but what does that mean? What did he stand for and how did he vote that will prove he is a LEADER? I'm waiting.........!

Giving a week plus before Super Tuesday, will anyone possibly jump out of the race at this point? I'm thinking that for the Republicans, the next one out will have to be Rudy Giuliani and maybe Ron Paul. Heck, who am I to judge, I thought John Edwards was going to win the Democratic nomination because of a few "unsaid" items. I never said I was a true political scientist, more like a hack. But Giuliani and Paul have real low numbers and a very "secluded" base so I find it hard that they can stay in the race and sustain or even gain any momentum to get them up to the point of McCain, Romney and Huckabee.

Anyway, as the week trudges on and the whips and chains and "dirty laundry" come out from the candidates, we might want to remember that next Sunday is what really matters in American current events...The Super Bowl. And of course, being from Maine and Northern New England, I'm rooting for the PATRIOTS! At least with Bill Belichick, you not going to get mud thrown or racial overtones or anything that resembles what we've seen from Obama and Clinton. You are going to get short and to the point answers and sometimes a smile, well maybe. Thank God football will be back on next Sunday. GO PATS!

Oh yeah, as always with me...GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Iowa Down and New Hampshire Next: Who's in, Who's out?

Well, the first test for the 2008 Presidential campaign is complete. Iowa had some drama and when we woke up this morning, some of us might have been surprised. The questions now are: Who Stays? Who Goes? Who drops out to support who?

For the Democratic Party, in what I feel is a surprising victory,Sen. Barack Obama won by 7%. I'm surprised because it was by that many percentage points. Obama's win came at 37%, John Edwards came in 2nd with 30% and Sen. Hillary Clinton came in third with 29%. With 97 % the rest of the Democratic field (Sen. Dodd, Sen. Biden, etc...) was irrelevant and should all drop out in a week or so. The questions comes, who do they support when they drop out of the race?

For the Republicans, it was a surging Gov. Mike Huckabee winning with 34% that overcame Gov. Mitt Romney with 25% of the vote. Sen. Fred Thompson and Sen. John McCain had a third place tie with only 13% of the vote. In what I feel is the surprise of the race, Rep. Ron Paul nearly doubled New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani with 10% to 3 % respectively. Duncan Hunter nearly achieved a .5%. It's safe to say that Hunter will drop out shortly.

The surprising part about the Republicans is that Giuliani had the lead just a short time ago and then to get smacked around like a fly at a picnic makes you wonder, are polls that accurate? We saw Huckabee surging in recent weeks, but like that? I listened to Giuliani on an interview yesterday with Mike Gallagher you would have thought that he had a huge lead in the polls in New Hampshire when asked about his upcoming schedule. I'm beginning to think that the socially moderate Republicans are losing ground now in politics, at least in my eyes.

On the Democratic party side, I still think that Edwards will win the nomination once he gets to the Southern States. Obama will have to answer questions about his religion and his link to Islam and Hillary will not drum up that much support being from New York. But who am I to give a prediction?

In closing, the next week is going to be even more brutal than before. New Hampshire sits close to Mass and all the other New England states that will help put some delegates in the corner of the winner. I'm thinking that Clinton and Romney will win in New Hampshire. For the GOP, McCain will gain more support as will Ron Paul. Giuliani will again be disappointed after the results come out.

Let us remember that this process is so interesting and very American. Enjoy that process but filter out the rhetoric. We live in America where we have a voice to be heard and this is the time to use it.

God Bless America!

Edwards will win Democratic nomination because of the "Unsaid"

OK, I know the latest polls numbers indicate that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) is gaining in Iowa over Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) and the other candidates. Those numbers may be legitimate however, some of my questions are: 1.) Will the Democratic base feel he is experienced enough to lead the country? And 2.) Can his campaign stand up to the attacks from Camp Hillary and win the Democratic nomination? Of course these are important questions here and deserved to be answered. However, are these the real questions that Americans will ask themselves when in the voting booth? No. I am going out on a limb here and say that because of the "true" questions that will be asked by Americans in the booth, John Edwards (D-North Carolina) will win the Democratic nomination.



You all may think I'm nuts here but I have a few reasons why I think Edwards will win the Democratic nomination, and yes they begin with what I call the "unsaid" of politics. Yes I'm talking about the hot topics or the sensitive issues of gender, race and religion. These issues are very similar to the everyday life of ordinary people in America of having areas of which are uncomfortable or almost forbidden to talk about in the work place; those being politics, sex and religion. As you can tell, very similar format but different topics, yet all very equally "sensitive" issues.




Let's start with the gender area first, just because it is only fitting to start with ladies first. Having said that, you probably know where I'm going with this but allow me to entertain you for a moment. Unless we want to be completely cruel, we've all established that Hillary Clinton is the lone woman in the field of candidates and apparent front runner of the Democratic Party's nomination for president. Although an impressive history in her own right as a former First Lady with White House experience as well as an influential senator, the question remains whether those credentials be enough to assure the minds of Americans and Democrats for that matter that she is the best candidate or nominee. Will her camp full of loyalists and deep researchers be enough to sustain the lead she's built and get her the nomination? And, the "real" questions American will ask themselves; Is America ready for a female President, much less another Clinton in the White House? My answer to that is simply NO. Yes, I'm sure that sounds cruel on my end but I hold that to be "true and self evident". History tells us that when a woman is running for an office that is on the national ticket, they lose. For instance, look at Margaret Chase Smith (R), Geraldine Ferraro (D) and Pat LaMarche (G) to name a few. They all failed to either win the nomination or breakthrough as the first winner in a national election as a woman. If she does indeed win the nomination, she'll have to actually debate real men on issues of national security, War on Terror and securing our borders instead of keeping the planet green, baby killing rights for woman and Communistic / socialized health care. Given her recent past in debates, she'll likely lose on the real issues that Americans care about...that being able to protect the country with a strong defence and ensuring our Freedom.

Now that we got Hillary out of the way, let's get to Barack Hussein Obama. Yes, that is his real middle name. Just saying that name makes the hairs on the back of my neck flare up like a bad spike from the 80's. Now I mentioned the term race as another area in which Edwards will or could gain the nomination from the Democrats. Yes, race will play a part of this election, on both side of the aisle. Should it? I'm not one to say whether it should or should not play a part in this election, the fact remains, it will. Race has always seemed to play a part when a minority runs for a national office. Look at the platform on which Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton ran on...race. Now, with Obama, unlike Jackson and Sharpton, it's not the fact that he's African American that will be the issue here. To me, it's the "other" part of his race that will play a role in his nomination. I'm talking about his white side or his lack of acknowledging it in many opportunities. (Obamas father was an immigrant from Kenya and his mother was white woman from Kansas). He talks about that in his African American community people know he's Black, but do they know he's white too? (Although some would argue that he's not real African American because of his non-slavery roots) Not at his current pace. By pitting one race against the other or completely disregarding the other in fact, would surely indicate that he is running as a Black man and not biracial. That to me is the real issue with race. If your make up is of two races, acknowledge it and be proud of it. The ignoring of one over the other will not set well with the American people. Couple this with the next topic of religion, which in some ways goes hand in hand, it will be a lost cause for him to win the nomination. Keep in mind, it's not that I don't feel an African American person can win the nomination. I just don't feel that he can win it because of his stance on one race and somewhat neglecting his other race.

Now moving into the religious aspect of the essay, which also deals with Barack Obama. I mentioned earlier of Obamas father being from Kenya, well that is part of the story. The other part of it is that when Obama was a young boy, he attended a madrassa, which some feel is a suspected Muslim extremist school. I hope I do not need to get into the Muslim religion and it's numerous references of killing the Infidels in the Quran, so I won't. The point is, a United States Presidential candidate that was raised and schooled as a Muslim, and a suspected extremist version at that. Thus, putting a potential risk of National Security too close to the Nations Capital and vitals areas of our Nation. As an American I am truly fond of the Freedom of Religion insertion into the Constitution, however, when a religion such as Islam that has been known or associated with modern day terrorism, I have a problem with the closeness associated with potential presidential candidates.

The second part of Obamas religion of today is that his church, Trinity United Church of Christ, solely promotes the black race according to their principles and values, thus having the potential of racism in the White House. Are we as American that desperate for change in Washington that we are welcomed to the idea of having a black president that is willing to solely promote the the Black race due to his religion and not equal treatment for all? Would we really accept a white presidential candidate of the same principles regarding religion and race? I don't think we would in that case nor should we in this case. Through the years we have tried to bring the differences of race together but with Obamas Trinity Church of Christ, how can we really do that with a presidential candidate that knowingly promotes one race over another? Is this the change that America needs or wants? I hope not.

I'm not the most scholarly individual regarding trends in politics however I do believe that if these issues continue to come up and the poll numbers continue the way they have been lately, the candidates sitting in the wings so to speak, will have a huge shot at getting the nomination. Now I'm not for rooting Edwards to win, but face it, he hasn't been in the hot water that Hillary or Obama have been as of late. Granted, Camp Hilliary is focused on Obama with her debates, so make it clear right now that in the next debate of importance and viewing, she will take out all she can on Edwards. His numbers are getting too close to her and she would rather worry about one person instead of two or three. The whole point here is, if the trends continue, Edwards has a shot...which should benefit the Republicans a lot.

Having said all that, we must remember that in order for these differences of the candidates to be known, we must make the mainstream media accountable for the news and the real truth regarding our presidential candidates. Am I wrong for mentioning these sensitive issues? I don't think so considering what the other bloggers and pundits write. I'm only offering a difference of opinion when it comes to the issues that will mean a great deal come voting day. I do truly hope that someday race and religion do not become an issue during an election, however, as long as we are at war with extremist religious groups and have presidential candidates that promote one race over another, they will and should always be brought to the table. We Thee People need the truth and expect no less.

God Bless America!