Just a few thoughts from today:
When Will They Learn?
When will the media learn? It is becoming more and more humorous to watch the supposed "political experts" after these primaries. After Iowa, the narrative was how unstoppable Obama was. Then after New Hampshire it was the Clinton comeback. Then after South Carolina, they crowned Obama the nominee once again. Then after Super Tuesday, even though many predicted Obama would win California and Massachusetts and he didn't, they claimed he had a great night. And of course tonight they have crowned him the nominee once again. Here's the deal guys: polls mean nothing---we've learned that from how grossly wrong they got New Hampshire, and Super Tuesday states like California and Massachusetts. The media narrative means nothing---for once the voters aren't listening to the media's side of the story to decide how to vote. The "big-Mo" means very little this year, as voters are looking at their own needs, not those of a state that voted before them, in casting an informed vote. In short, here's the straight fact that many in the media are simply not willing to say: there is no frontrunner on the Democratic side; Obama and Clinton are neck and neck, and no one, and I mean no one, knows how or when this thing is going to end.
Unbelievable Fundraising
In just 4 days, the Clinton campaign has raised over $10 million from over 75,000 donors. Remember the media narrative that the Clinton cash machine had run out of gas? Well this amazing feat just emphasizes the point I made in the first paragraph. No one would have guessed this amount of money could be raised by the Clinton campaign over the internet in just 4 days, but it has been; truly amazing.
Speaking of Fundraising...
An interesting point was made by the roundtable guests on the Tim Russert Show this morning. A very likely scenario as to why Obama has been able to out perform Clinton in the money department could be directly linked to the demographics of their supporters. Clinton has two bases: the smaller "Wall-Street" crowd, who have already maxed out on donations, and the those making under $50,000, who have little extra money to spare. Obama, on the other hand, has support from those who make over $50,000 a year and are more affluent. This base allows Obama to have a greater base of fundraising because just about all of his supporters have extra money to contribute, whereas many of Clinton's simply do not. But as we've seen, when Clinton asks for a little help, her supporters respond. And the thing is that this time, we're seeing a lot more smaller donations to the Clinton campaign, which really just demonstrates how strongly people from both camps believe in their respective candidates. It's truly inspiring to see our Democratic contenders both have such strong, loyal support, who have proven to be willing to go the distance for their candidate.
Obama Comments on Role of Superdelegates
Obama made a very interesting comment concerning the role superdelegates should play. He said that superdelegates who are elected (governors, congressmen, senators, etc.), should cast their vote at the convention for the winner of their state's primary/caucus. This is very interesting because if the superdelegates did this, Clinton would have an overwhelming amount of their support. Clinton has won the big states, with many congressional districts which mostly are held by Democrats. In contrast, Obama has won states like Utah, Kansas, Idaho, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, etc. These states have almost no Democratic elected leaders (exception being Sebelius of Kansas). I can promise you that if Obama had his way and superdelegates voted with their state, Clinton would come out significantly ahead. She is the one winning states with many Democratic elected leaders; he is winning red states with almost all Republican leaders.
Upcoming Posts
Within the next day, I will be posting an article about possible ways to avoid a brokered convention that would inevitably hurt the Democratic party, regardless of the end result. John Lucia will also have a post with his suggestion for a solution in choosing the Democratic nominee. John will also have a post dealing with McCain and his "sucking-up" to the conservative wing of the Republican party.
