Hillary Clinton lectures Barack Obama

I have to say, I was really surprised when I first saw Hillary’s challenge to Obama. After the debate in Texas I was starting to get the feeling that Hillary had decided to take the high road to maintain the Clinton legacy and ensure her career within the Senate. Instead, it seems as though at least for the moment, the hawks within the Hillary campaign are winning the argument and she’s decided to fight tooth and nail for the nomination. It seems to me like a mistake as her statement “Shame on you, Barack Obama” made Hillary look like a scolding mother rather than the woman who is strong and tough enough to be the next President of the United States. The worst part of the statement though was her accusation that the mailers were “tactics right out of Karl Rove’s playbook.”

This of course isn’t accurate given that what Obama’s mailers said was true as far as they knew. Newsday retracted their statement that “Clinton thinks NAFTA was a boon to the economy” but, it was recalled after the mailers had already been sent.

It also seems strange that they would call this press conference weeks after the mailers had been sent out. It’s possible that Hillary simply hadn’t heard about them, but that doesn’t seem terribly likely.

Below is a video containing the relevant part of her speech.

The Impending Negative Campaign

There’s been some negativity within the primary(such as the Republicans questioning John McCain’s service in South Carolina, Hillary accusing Obama of plagiarism, etc.) but we haven’t seen anything yet. It seems fairly likely to me that once the general truly starts and perhaps even before that, the e-mails falsely calling Barack Obama a Muslim and other negative smears which are being spread through whispers and mailing lists will make their way to television. Last time it was the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, but with the revelation that Hillary’s campaign secretly formed a 527 it’s becoming clear that the campaign is about to descend into the muck of the “politics of personal destruction.” We’ve seen the beginning of the descent recently with Hillary Clinton drawing a variant of the Rovian fear card outright stating that she doesn’t believe Obama is ready(she hinted at it previously, but hadn’t explicitly stated it), John McCain using his wife Cindy to insult Michelle Obama, etc.

The real question seems to be whether or not it will work. Some point to the fact that Hillary lost by 17% in the Wisconsin primary as evidence that they won’t, while others point to that same statistic as evidence that they will work as it was Sen. Clinton’s smallest loss since Super Tuesday. I tend to agree with the former point of view, though only time will tell.

The Castro Resignation

I know I’m late on commenting on it, but it’s largely because I just don’t get why this supposedly matters. The nearly universal response from the President and the candidates has basically consisted of hoping for change in the wake of his resignation. There’s only one problem, Fidel hasn’t ruled Cuba for 18 months. His brother Raúl has and will in all likelihood be the next President of Cuba. Everyone seems to be hoping for democracy in Cuba, when there’s been no sign that Raúl will rule differently once he’s officially President than he has as acting President.

To be honest, the only possible significance that I see is symbolically given all that Fidel represents to many Cuban-Americans but, he’s still going to be active in Cuban politics and his brother will officially hold the reins, so even the symbolic importance is undermined.

Obama falsely accussed of plagiarism.

The Clinton campaign has accused Barack Obama of plagiarizing a portion of his speech in front of the Wisconsin Democratic Party from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. The portion of his speech was:

“‘I have a dream’ — just words? ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’ — just words?”‘

Senator Obama has addressed the issue by admitting that he and Gov. Patrick worked together on numerous speeches over the years and Gov. Patrick confirmed that they had when he said:

“Senator Obama and I are long-time friends and allies. We often share ideas about politics, policy and language,” Patrick said in the statement. “The argument in question, on the value of words in the public square, is one about which he and I have spoken frequently before. Given the recent attacks from Senator Clinton, I applaud him responding in just the way he did.”

Plagiarism is defined as:

“the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work. “

This makes it blatantly clear that what Senator Obama did wasn’t plagiarism as Gov. Patrick authorized Obama’s use of his words and Senator Obama admitted that they weren’t his original work(unlike all of his other speeches and books that were his work.) The Clinton campaign is simply twisting his words. They also are operating under a double-standard. When asked if it was wrong for Senator Clinton to “plagerizie”(under the Clintonian definition) Senator Obama, Howard Wolfson, the Clinton communications director said:

“Sen. Clinton is not running on the strength of her rhetoric,”

In other words, the Clintons believe it’s wrong for Senator Obama to use an authorized quote from a friend because he’s able to speak well, but they can use any quote they want because Senator Clinton isn’t as good of an orator as Obama is. It’s simply an attempt to sow false doubts in the heads of the electorate.

Sen. Obama courts the Edwards Endorsement

Today Sen. Obama went down to North Carolina in secret to meet with John Edwards. Obama was supposed to meet with Edwards last Monday, however when the media caught the scent and swarmed John Edwards’s house the Obama campaign called off the meeting. Edwards reportedly talked to Senator Obama about the “pressing issues” he believes are facing the American family. Sources close to John Edwards have said that he is torn about who to support. This of course makes sense because he wants to choose not only a candidate he agrees with, but also a candidate who can win. He seemed to like Obama most while he was on the campaign trail, however Sen. Edwards is in all likelihood very nervous about whether or not the Democratic candidate has fight in them given his own experiences with John Kerry in the 2004 election.

Senator Obama picks up GOP support.

Yesterday, former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee endorsed Barack Obama. This of course is further proof of the fact that Sen. Obama is able to cross the isle and work with Republicans. Sen. Chafee was the only Republican with the judgment, vision, and intelligence to vote against the bill authorizing the use of force in Iraq. He also voted for the Levin amendment and supports the use of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. This shows a vision that was rare within not only the GOP, but also within the Senate as a whole. He lost re-election in 2006 because of the fact that he was a Republican and voters wanted to send a message to the President and the other corrupt Republicans. That’s not to say that Senator Chafee is a complete liberal as some of his positions are well within the Republican mainstream such as support for free trade, the partial privatization of social security, and voting against banning lobbying companies from giving gifts to government officials.

This endorsement will probably help Obama, but due to this mixed voting record, it’s likely that most Republicans won’t view him as “a Real Conservative.”  Of course, most of the “Real Conservatives” don’t have the best track record, so maybe Sen. Chafee wouldn’t want to be linked to them.

Clinton’s edge may have disappeared.

Last night in the primary with multiple bad nicknames, Senator Barack Obama won among every demographic which is hardly a reassurance to Hillary Clinton who has to win 55% in all of the remaining primaries if she’s going to have the lead going into the convention. Everyone is saying that while the Super Delegates could override the will of the people and choose Hillary even if she’s losing, they won’t do it if she’s losing by more than 30%. Hillary’s best chance is to campaign as hard as she can and ensure that she’s within that she is at the very least within that 30%. How she’s going to do this is unclear. Some are suggesting that she should go negative, but the problem with that is that as we saw in South Carolina, going negative against Barack Obama seems to only irritate voters. Her best hope for a negative campaign is that her opposition research team will dig up something which will sink Obama’s chances, though one would think they’d have dug it up by now. Others are saying that she should continue pushing Obama for a debate a week in the hope that either she’ll outperform Sen. Obama or that he’ll make some critical error that sinks his campaign. That seems to be her best chance, but it requires that she force Obama to walk into the trap, which may be hard to do.

The Obama surge continues. McCain steals his catch-phrase.

Today Senator Barack Obama won the Democratic primaries in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. This makes Obama’s record 8-0 since Super Tuesday and puts Hillary Clinton into a position where she will have to win 60% of all the delegates in order to be ahead of Barack, and even then she still won’t have enough for the nomination. This ensures that the race will in fact go to the convention, causing some people to be afraid that the super-delegates may vote against the will of the people and basically do what the Supreme Court did in 2000. Senator McCain won the day in the Republican primary, winning all three primaries and making Governor Huckabee look even more irrelevent(though as I said in the previous post I think that in no way means Gov. Huckabee is going to drop out.)

Senator Clinton simply gave her concession speech and neglected to mention the day’s events:

Obama on the other hand specifically referenced the day’s events and attempted to frame them within a larger context:

“This is what change looks like when it happens from the bottom up, this is the new American majority…Though we won in Washington, D.C., this movement won’t stop until there’s change in Washington, D.C.”

Senator John McCain however have a far less inspiring and powerful speech attempting to damp down the hope which Senator Obama inspires:

“Hope, my friends, hope is a powerful thing,” said McCain, who at 71 is a four-term senator from Arizona. To encourage a country with only rhetoric rather than sound and proven ideas that trust in the strength and courage of free people is not a promise of hope. It’s a platitude.”

Of course, Senator McCain also lifted Obama’s catch-phrase which seemed mocking and petty coming from him:

“My friends, I promise you, I am fired up and ready to go.”

Huck refuses to take a bow

Many pundits and political analysts have said that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has no chance of winning the nomination and seem deeply confused about his reasons for staying in the race. When asked about his reasons for staying in the race Huckabee has joked about it saying that he:

“didn’t major in math, I majored in miracles,”

Now, his faith my certainly play a part, but I don’t think that’s all there is to it. I think that at least in part, Mike Huckabee is simply having the time of his life. Now, I know the idea that someone would remain a presidential candidate simply because he’s enjoying it so much seems strange, but really think about it for a second. Prior to the elect Mike Huckabee was simply known as the fat governor who had lost weight. The executive branch’s version of Jared however, now most people know him as the fun governor who has frequently appeared on the Colbert Report. Once the election is over he’ll have to return to being a governor who never has three great comics staging a fight over him. Ego definitely plays a part, but no one runs for the Presidency without an ego. But having your ego stroked by people such as Jon Stewart, Conan O’Brien, and Stephen Colbert is probably a good deal of fun for a politician. If he loses, well he’s had fun. If he wins, he’s leader of the free world. Why would he stop now?

Obama sweeps and Huckabee holds on.

Last night Senator Barack Obama swept the Louisiana primary as well as the Washington and Nebraska Caucuses. He went on to win the Virgin Islands which only give three delegates but prevent Clinton from drawing any kind of rhetorical victory. Both Democratic candidates also spoke at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner last night. Clinton gave a basic stump speech(though possibly her best) before the results were in and quickly left with people chanting “O-bama!” as she left the stage.

During her speech, Senator Clinton attempted to link Senator McCain and President Bush:

“We have tried it President Bush’s way, and now the Republicans have chosen more of the same.”

Senator Obama however spoke after his victory and unlike Senator Clinton, Obama specifically mentioned what had happened that night.

“Today, voters from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast to the heart of America stood up to say ‘yes we can’”

He also attempted to link Senator Clinton to George Bush and Senator McCain by saying the election is a choice between experience and change, and that change is the fight that the Democrats can win. This of course refers to Clinton’s campaign which focused on experience as well as the fact that John McCain has been in D.C. far longer than Hillary and so that argument falls on it’s face if she tries to use it in the general while Obama can definitely make his argument of hope and change against John McCain.

Mike Huckabee defeated John McCain in Kansas and Louisiana though he lost Washington to the Arizona Senator. Governor Huckabee’s comeback came shortly after he said

“I majored in miracles, and I still believe in them.”

Of course, McCain still has a huge lead on Huckabee, but if he’s going to be saved by a miracle, now is the time.