Clinton Obama Weblog: How did he do it?

clipped from my.barackobama.com ... Obama's Chicago headquarters made technology its running mate from the start. That wasn't just for fund-raising: in state after state, the campaign turned over its voter lists — normally a closely guarded crown jewel — to volunteers, who used their own laptops and the unlimited night and weekend minutes of their cell-phone plans to contact every name and populate a political organization from the ground up. ... "What I didn't anticipate was how effectively we could use the Internet to harness that grass-roots base, both on the financial side and the organizing side," Obama says. "That, I think, was probably one of the biggest surprises of the campaign, just how powerfully our message merged with the social networking and the power of the Internet."

Hillary Clinton's Concession Sppech

clipped from news.aol.com

Transcript of Hillary Clinton's Speech

So today, I am standing with Senator Obama to say: Yes we can.

Transcript of Hillary Clinton's Speech

Hillary Clinton delivered the following remarks in Washington, D.C., on Saturday:

Thank you so much. Thank you all.

Well, this isn't exactly the party I'd planned, but I sure like the company.

I want to start today by saying how grateful I am to all of you – to everyone who poured your hearts and your hopes into this campaign, who drove for miles and lined the streets waving homemade signs, who scrimped and saved to raise money, who knocked on doors and made calls, who talked and sometimes argued with your friends and neighbors, who emailed and contributed online, who invested so much in our common enterprise, to the moms and dads who came to our events, who lifted their little girls and little boys on their shoulders and whispered in their ears, "See, you can be anything you want to be."

To the young people like 13 year-old Ann Riddle from Mayfield, Ohio who had been saving for two years to go to Disney World, and decided to use her savings instead to travel to Pennsylvania with her Mom and volunteer there as well. To the veterans and the childhood friends, to New Yorkers and Arkansans who traveled across the country and telling anyone who would listen why you supported me.

To all those women in their 80s and their 90s born before women could vote who cast their votes for our campaign. I've told you before about Florence Steen of South Dakota, who was 88 years old, and insisted that her daughter bring an absentee ballot to her hospice bedside. Her daughter and a friend put an American flag behind her bed and helped her fill out the ballot. She passed away soon after, and under state law, her ballot didn't count. But her daughter later told a reporter, "My dad's an ornery old cowboy, and he didn't like it when he heard mom's vote wouldn't be counted. I don't think he had voted in 20 years. But he voted in place of my mom."

To all those who voted for me, and to whom I pledged my utmost, my commitment to you and to the progress we seek is unyielding. You have inspired and touched me with the stories of the joys and sorrows that make up the fabric of our lives and you have humbled me with your commitment to our country.

18 million of you from all walks of life – women and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African-American and Caucasian, rich, poor and middle class, gay and straight – you have stood strong with me. And I will continue to stand strong with you, every time, every place, and every way that I can. The dreams we share are worth fighting for.

Remember - we fought for the single mom with a young daughter, juggling work and school, who told me, "I'm doing it all to better myself for her." We fought for the woman who grabbed my hand, and asked me, "What are you going to do to make sure I have health care?" and began to cry because even though she works three jobs, she can't afford insurance. We fought for the young man in the Marine Corps t-shirt who waited months for medical care and said, "Take care of my buddies over there and then, will you please help take care of me?" We fought for all those who've lost jobs and health care, who can't afford gas or groceries or college, who have felt invisible to their president these last seven years.

I entered this race because I have an old-fashioned conviction: that public service is about helping people solve their problems and live their dreams. I've had every opportunity and blessing in my own life – and I want the same for all Americans. Until that day comes, you will always find me on the front lines of democracy – fighting for the future.

The way to continue our fight now – to accomplish the goals for which we stand – is to take our energy, our passion, our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him, and throw my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.

I have served in the Senate with him for four years. I have been in this campaign with him for 16 months. I have stood on the stage and gone toe-to-toe with him in 22 debates. I have had a front row seat to his candidacy, and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit.

In his own life, Barack Obama has lived the American Dream. As a community organizer, in the state senate, as a United States Senator - he has dedicated himself to ensuring the dream is realized. And in this campaign, he has inspired so many to become involved in the democratic process and invested in our common future.

Now when I started this race, I intended to win back the White House, and make sure we have a president who puts our country back on the path to peace, prosperity, and progress. And that's exactly what we're going to do by ensuring that Barack Obama walks through the doors of the Oval Office on January 20, 2009.

I understand that we all know this has been a tough fight. The Democratic Party is a family, and it's now time to restore the ties that bind us together and to come together around the ideals we share, the values we cherish, and the country we love.

We may have started on separate journeys – but today, our paths have merged. And we are all heading toward the same destination, united and more ready than ever to win in November and to turn our country around because so much is at stake.

We all want an economy that sustains the American Dream, the opportunity to work hard and have that work rewarded, to save for college, a home and retirement, to afford that gas and those groceries and still have a little left over at the end of the month. An economy that lifts all of our people and ensures that our prosperity is broadly distributed and shared.

We all want a health care system that is universal, high quality, and affordable so that parents no longer have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead end jobs simply to keep their insurance. This isn't just an issue for me – it is a passion and a cause – and it is a fight I will continue until every single American is insured – no exceptions, no excuses.

We all want an America defined by deep and meaningful equality – from civil rights to labor rights, from women's rights to gay rights, from ending discrimination to promoting unionization to providing help for the most important job there is: caring for our families.

We all want to restore America's standing in the world, to end the war in Iraq and once again lead by the power of our values, and to join with our allies to confront our shared challenges from poverty and genocide to terrorism and global warming.

You know, I've been involved in politics and public life in one way or another for four decades. During those forty years, our country has voted ten times for President. Democrats won only three of those times. And the man who won two of those elections is with us today.

We made tremendous progress during the 90s under a Democratic President, with a flourishing economy, and our leadership for peace and security respected around the world. Just think how much more progress we could have made over the past 40 years if we had a Democratic president. Think about the lost opportunities of these past seven years – on the environment and the economy, on health care and civil rights, on education, foreign policy and the Supreme Court. Imagine how far we could've come, how much we could've achieved if we had just had a Democrat in the White House.

We cannot let this moment slip away. We have come too far and accomplished too much.

Now the journey ahead will not be easy. Some will say we can't do it. That it's too hard. That we're just not up to the task. But for as long as America has existed, it has been the American way to reject "can't do" claims, and to choose instead to stretch the boundaries of the possible through hard work, determination, and a pioneering spirit.

It is this belief, this optimism, that Senator Obama and I share, and that has inspired so many millions of our supporters to make their voices heard.

So today, I am standing with Senator Obama to say: Yes we can.

Together we will work. We'll have to work hard to get universal health care. But on the day we live in an America where no child, no man, and no woman is without health insurance, we will live in a stronger America. That's why we need to help elect Barack Obama our President.

We'll have to work hard to get back to fiscal responsibility and a strong middle class. But on the day we live in an America whose middle class is thriving and growing again, where all Americans, no matter where they live or where their ancestors came from, can earn a decent living, we will live in a stronger America and that is why we must elect Barack Obama our President.

We'll have to work hard to foster the innovation that makes us energy independent and lift the threat of global warming from our children's future. But on the day we live in an America fueled by renewable energy, we will live in a stronger America. That's why we have to help elect Barack Obama our President.

We'll have to work hard to bring our troops home from Iraq, and get them the support they've earned by their service. But on the day we live in an America that's as loyal to our troops as they have been to us, we will live in a stronger America and that is why we must help elect Barack Obama our President.

This election is a turning point election and it is critical that we all understand what our choice really is. Will we go forward together or will we stall and slip backwards. Think how much progress we have already made. When we first started, people everywhere asked the same questions:

Could a woman really serve as Commander-in-Chief? Well, I think we answered that one.

And could an African American really be our President? Senator Obama has answered that one.

Together Senator Obama and I achieved milestones essential to our progress as a nation, part of our perpetual duty to form a more perfect union.

Now, on a personal note – when I was asked what it means to be a woman running for President, I always gave the same answer: that I was proud to be running as a woman but I was running because I thought I'd be the best President. But I am a woman, and like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious.

I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.

I ran as a daughter who benefited from opportunities my mother never dreamed of. I ran as a mother who worries about my daughter's future and a mother who wants to lead all children to brighter tomorrows. To build that future I see, we must make sure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their grandmothers and mothers, and that women enjoy equal opportunities, equal pay, and equal respect. Let us resolve and work toward achieving some very simple propositions: There are no acceptable limits and there are no acceptable prejudices in the twenty-first century.

You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the President of the United States. And that is truly remarkable.

To those who are disappointed that we couldn't go all the way – especially the young people who put so much into this campaign – it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours. Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you're knocked down, get right back up. And never listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on.

As we gather here today in this historic magnificent building, the 50th woman to leave this Earth is orbiting overhead. If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House.

Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. That has always been the history of progress in America.

Think of the suffragists who gathered at Seneca Falls in 1848 and those who kept fighting until women could cast their votes. Think of the abolitionists who struggled and died to see the end of slavery. Think of the civil rights heroes and foot-soldiers who marched, protested and risked their lives to bring about the end to segregation and Jim Crow.

Because of them, I grew up taking for granted that women could vote. Because of them, my daughter grew up taking for granted that children of all colors could go to school together. Because of them, Barack Obama and I could wage a hard fought campaign for the Democratic nomination. Because of them, and because of you, children today will grow up taking for granted that an African American or a woman can yes, become President of the United States.

When that day arrives and a woman takes the oath of office as our President, we will all stand taller, proud of the values of our nation, proud that every little girl can dream and that her dreams can come true in America. And all of you will know that because of your passion and hard work you helped pave the way for that day.

So I want to say to my supporters, when you hear people saying – or think to yourself – "if only" or "what if," I say, "please don't go there." Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward.

Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been. We have to work together for what still can be. And that is why I will work my heart out to make sure that Senator Obama is our next President and I hope and pray that all of you will join me in that effort.

To my supporters and colleagues in Congress, to the governors and mayors, elected officials who stood with me, in good times and in bad, thank you for your strength and leadership. To my friends in our labor unions who stood strong every step of the way – I thank you and pledge my support to you. To my friends, from every stage of my life – your love and ongoing commitments sustain me every single day. To my family – especially Bill and Chelsea and my mother, you mean the world to me and I thank you for all you have done. And to my extraordinary staff, volunteers and supporters, thank you for working those long, hard hours. Thank you for dropping everything – leaving work or school – traveling to places you'd never been, sometimes for months on end. And thanks to your families as well because your sacrifice was theirs too.

All of you were there for me every step of the way. Being human, we are imperfect. That's why we need each other. To catch each other when we falter. To encourage each other when we lose heart. Some may lead; others may follow; but none of us can go it alone. The changes we're working for are changes that we can only accomplish together. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are rights that belong to each of us as individuals. But our lives, our freedom, our happiness, are best enjoyed, best protected, and best advanced when we do work together.

That is what we will do now as we join forces with Senator Obama and his campaign. We will make history together as we write the next chapter in America's story. We will stand united for the values we hold dear, for the vision of progress we share, and for the country we love. There is nothing more American than that.

And looking out at you today, I have never felt so blessed. The challenges that I have faced in this campaign are nothing compared to those that millions of Americans face every day in their own lives. So today, I'm going to count my blessings and keep on going. I'm going to keep doing what I was doing long before the cameras ever showed up and what I'll be doing long after they're gone: Working to give every American the same opportunities I had, and working to ensure that every child has the chance to grow up and achieve his or her God-given potential.

I will do it with a heart filled with gratitude, with a deep and abiding love for our country– and with nothing but optimism and confidence for the days ahead. This is now our time to do all that we can to make sure that in this election we add another Democratic president to that very small list of the last 40 years and that we take back our country and once again move with progress and commitment to the future.

Thank you all and God bless you and God bless America.

Obama Statement on Hillary's Endorsement

Very uplifting day all the way around. The way it should be.

clipped from news.aol.com "Obviously, I am thrilled and honored to have Senator Clinton's support. But more than that, I honor her today for the valiant and historic campaign she has run. She shattered barriers on behalf of my daughters and women everywhere, who now know that there are no limits to their dreams. And she inspired millions with her strength, courage and unyielding commitment to the cause of working Americans. Our party and our country are stronger because of the work she has done throughout her life, and I'm a better candidate for having had the privilege of competing with her in this campaign. No one knows better than Senator Clinton how desperately America and the American people need change, and I know she will continue to be in the forefront of that battle this fall and for years to come," said U.S. Senator Barack Obama.

Republican Desperation

This is from the Daily Kos. Great blog.

clipped from www.dailykos.com Republican Desperation On MSNBC we just got a taste of Republican desperation.  This from Republican strategist Brad Blakeman: But one thing that really troubled me today, is I think Hillary did an outstanding job as an American.  I have to say, leaving partisanship aside, I'm very proud of what she's done for our country.  And having said that, Barack Obama was not present for her speech, either watching it on television or there in the hall, he's out golfing.  That is just outrageous to me, he would not be watching this most historic speech. What a pitiful effort to drive a wedge between Clinton and Obama supporters.  Is this the best they've got?  This speech was a day for Hillary and her supporters, not for a joint campaign appearance.  And for the record, Obama watched the speech and put in a call in to her after the speech.

Coming Together

From the Obama Headquarters website. Follow the link in the clip for more.

clipped from my.barackobama.com As the day goes on, Barack and Hillary supporters continue to unite to bring the Democratic Party together. Both sides are expressing their support and thanks for Hillary's campaign and her endorsement of Barack this morning.  Elizabeth from IN: Thank-you, Senator Clinton, for your beautiful speech.  A neighbor of mine is a staunch supporter of yours, and we've had a few awkward conversations about the primary.  I am going to go out right now to tell her how much I loved your speech, and that I take to heart your gracious reminder that we are family.  Meredith from MA: Thank you Senator Clinton for supporting Senator Obama! I stood behind you and I'll stand behind Senator Obama.

Sunday Talk Line-up!

clipped from news.aol.com A short guide for your DVR/TiVO planning... ABC - This Week (George Stephanopoulos): with Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John Kerry (D-MA). CBS - Face the Nation (Bob Schieffer): with Clinton Communication's Director Howard Wolfsen, Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Senator Jim Web (D-VA). CNN - Late Edition (Wolf Blitzer): with Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ). Fox - News Sunday (Chris Wallace):with Governors Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Tim Pawlenty (R-MN). NBC - Meet the Press (Tim Russert) with a journalist round-table of Ron Allen, Lee Cowan, David Gregory, Andrea Mitchell, Kelly O'Donnell and Chuck Todd.

Analysis: What's next for Bill Clinton?

clipped from www.cnn.com Bill Clinton's first major verbal stumble came in the run-up to the New Hampshire primary. He told a crowd at Dartmouth College that Sen. Barack Obama's claim to have been an early and consistent opponent of the war in Iraq was "the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen." How did this happen? How did it all go so wrong for the man who almost single-handedly led the Democrats out of the political wilderness 16 years ago?

Listen to Hillary Clinton's Sppech

Hillary bows out of Presidential race on a high note.

Listen

Political Cartoons

Follow the clip link. You will really enjoy these. Excellent

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com

Supreme Court justices sell stocks in 2007

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, whose investments forced them to sit out cases before the Supreme Court, have significantly reduced their stock holdings, their latest financial disclosures show. Roberts sold all his shares in four companies last year — Becton Dickinson & Co., Cisco Systems Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Merck & Co. Inc. — worth $117,000 to $265,000. Alito sold all his stock in Intel Corp., worth $15,000 to $50,000, and reduced his holdings in three other companies, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Exxon Mobil Corp. and McDonald's Corp. The information was contained in the justices' annual report on their finances, released Friday.

Pork becomes earmarks — 11,000 of them

Millions of the dollars support lobbying firms that help companies, universities, local governments and others secure what critics like Republican presidential candidate John McCain call pork-barrel spending. The law forbids using federal grants to lobby, but lobbyists do charge clients fees that often equal 10 percent of the largesse.

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com The practice of decorating legislation with billions of dollars in pet projects and federal contracts is still thriving on Capitol Hill — despite public outrage that helped flip control of Congress two years ago. More than 11,000 of those "earmarks," worth nearly $15 billion in all, were slipped into legislation telling the government where to spend taxpayers' money this year, keeping the issue at the center of Washington's culture of money, influence and politics. Now comes an election-year encore.

Clinton Obama Weblog: Obama Makes History

clipped from my.barackobama.com

Philadelphia suburbs hold key to Pa. primary

clipped from hosted.ap.org To bisect the heart of the Democratic presidential contest, take the Chester exit of I-95 and wend your way to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. If Barack Obama has any chance of cultivating an upset on April 22, this 20-mile stretch is fertile land. "It is, without question, right at the center of the fight for Pennsylvania," said Rep Joe Sestak, D-Pa., the retired admiral who represents this district and who has endorsed Obama's rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. "How my district goes is how the state may go." Clinton holds a lead in statewide polls. But Obama is strongly favored in Philadelphia and polls show him holding a slight lead in the arc of four increasingly Democratic counties around the city. Delaware County, the one which makes up most of Sestak's 7th congressional district, is his toughest with demographics that also suit Clinton and her blue collar appeal.

Maybe Obama is on to something....

clipped from krugman.blogs.nytimes.com from Andrew Gelman: Church attendance and income by state: Notice the cluster of poor Southern states at the upper left, which accounts for most though not all of the relationship.

Baghdad Life

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Violence since the start of the war in 2003 has forced millions of Iraqis to leave behind their homes and properties in quest of a safe haven. See an interactive map examining where they're living now, and why they chose the places they did. See an interactive map of day-to-day events in Iraq, including insurgent attacks. View an updated tally of military deaths, based on the Associated Press's count. The White House has released two reports on the Iraqi government's progress on 18 political, military and economic goals. The latest assessment gave the Iraqis satisfactory marks on nine benchmarks, not satisfactory marks on seven and mixed reviews on two issues. Assessment: Summary | Full Report – Sept. 14, 2007 Assessment: Summary | Full Report – July 12, 2007 clipped from blogs.wsj.com An Iraqi policeman talked to teenage boys on the empty streets of Baghdad during the curfew Wednesday. Photo: Associated Press

Influential Democrats Waiting to Choose Sides

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's trio of victories over Sen. Barack Obama last week appears to have convinced a sizable number of uncommitted Democratic superdelegates to wait until the end of the primaries and caucuses before picking a candidate, according to a survey by The Washington Post. Many of the 80 uncommitted superdelegates who were contacted over the past several days said they are reluctant to override the clear will of voters At the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August, there will be 796 superdelegates "You're going to see a lot of delegates remaining uncommitted," said Rep. Mike Doyle (Pa.), who has not endorsed either candidate. "There's a sense that this is going to Denver not resolved." clipped from www.washingtonpost.com So far Clinton, with 242 superdelegates, has had more success soliciting their support than Obama, who has the backing of 210. clipped from www.washingtonpost.com "If superdelegates were just intended to automatically vote for the preference someone else expressed, there wouldn't be any purpose,"

Pennsylvania’s Missed Opportunity

clipped from blogs.wsj.com With Sen. Barack Obama narrowly leading Sen. Hillary Clinton in delegates after the Ohio and Texas votes (margins vary this morning, as they usually do, from 86 to 132), Pennsylvania’s April 22 primary looms as the biggest race remaining, with 158 delegates at stake. It could have been even bigger. Any state whose primary was held before April in 2004, and opted to hold this year’s primary in April, would gain a 15% bonus on their base delegate total. (It’s spelled out on the first two pages of the party’s call to the convention.) Move your primary from before May 1 to afterwards, and pick up a 30% bonus. Pennsylvania was best-positioned to pick up a big bonus at little cost. Instead it settled for April 22, and a 5% bonus. That cost Pennsylvania 33 extra delegates to the convention Abe Amoros, executive director of the Pennsylvania Democratic party, told me it was up to the legislature to set the primary date. “I have never heard the argument of moving it to May,

Last year, Pennsylvania Democrats debated whether to move their primary up, perhaps to Super Tuesday on Feb. 5. Now it looks like they should have moved the date two weeks back.

With Sen. Barack Obama narrowly leading Sen. Hillary Clinton in delegates after the Ohio and Texas votes (margins vary this morning, as [1] they usually do, from [2] 86 to [3] 132), Pennsylvania’s April 22 primary looms as the biggest race remaining, with 158 delegates at stake.

It could have been even bigger. The Democratic National Committee, seeking to deter states from moving up their primary dates, set up a system of incentives and penalties that decide how state delegates are allocated. The penalties are well known: The national party [4] stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates for moving their primary dates to January. The incentives, though, were substantial: Any state whose primary was held before April in 2004, and opted to hold this year’s primary in April, would gain a 15% bonus on their base delegate total. (It’s spelled out on the first two pages of the party’s [5] call to the convention.) Move your primary from before May 1 to afterwards, and pick up a 30% bonus. There were also far smaller bonuses of 5% and 10% for states that held primaries in April or after May 1, respectively, regardless of their 2004 primary date.

Pennsylvania was best-positioned to pick up a big bonus at little cost. Its 2004 primary [6] was held on April 27; moving it just four days later would have netted the state a 30% bonus. Instead it [7] settled for April 22, and a 5% bonus. That cost Pennsylvania 33 extra delegates to the convention. That could be close to the Obama-Clinton margin at that time, depending on superdelegate shifts, how yesterday’s delegate totals settle, and the outcome of contests in the next week in Wyoming and Mississippi.

Pennsylvania isn’t alone; just one state (more on that below) picked up the 15% nor 30% bonus. In fact, while Pennsylvania arguably had the biggest opportunity, it also picked up the second-biggest bonus, of seven delegates. In total, just 54 bonus delegates were awarded for late primaries (they’re represented by the + figures in the district-level and at-large columns of this [8] delegate-allocation document). Nearly half, 24, went to North Carolina — and that’s a byproduct of 2004 political controversy more than a result of strategic plotting to boost delegate totals. The party scrapped its planned May 4 primary because of legal challenges to the legislature’s redistricting plan and [9] shifted to an April caucus; the 2000 primary had been held in early May. Yet that 2004 caucus — which was largely irrelevant because John Kerry had [10] clinched the nomination a month before, and was planned nearly three years before the delegate incentives for 2008 [11] were enacted — nets North Carolina extra delegates numbering more than the entire Wyoming delegation.

In holding its primary this year in May, North Carolina was simply keeping to its statute calling for voting on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May, Kerra Bolton, spokeswoman for the North Carolina Democratic party, told me. “We just happened to benefit from that,” she said — so much so that North Carolina’s delegation numbers 12 more than that of Super Tuesday state New Jersey despite having 365,000 fewer residents, according to the 2000 Census.

Other states thought they were trading delegates for relevance. Some Pennsylvania politicians, including Gov. Ed Rendell, wanted to move the primary ahead. “I do not believe that Pennsylvanians should be left out of this [candidate selection] process, so I support advancing Pennsylvania’s primary in 2008 to Feb. 5, which will join us with our sister industrial states,” Mr. Rendell said in [12] a statement last June. Opponents, who successfully thwarted the idea, cited weather, school-board budgets and logistical headaches. But bonus delegates and the possibility that the race would remain undecided in late April didn’t figure as major factors. His state’s continued relevance “was blind luck,” [13] Mr. Rendell told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month.

Abe Amoros, executive director of the Pennsylvania Democratic party, told me it was up to the legislature to set the primary date. “I have never heard the argument of moving it to May,” Mr. Amoros said, adding that he was unaware of the potential for more than 30 extra delegates if the state had moved the primary to May. A spokesman for Gov. Rendell didn’t immediately return my call for comment.

Article printed from The Numbers Guy: http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy

URL to article: http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/pennsylvanias-missed-opportunity-292/

URLs in this post:
[1] they usually do: http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/obama-gains-but-delegate-counters-still-disagree-275/
[2] 86: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/scorecard/#D
[3] 132: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21660914
[4] stripped Michigan and Florida: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120251551654655203.html
[5] call to the convention: http://s3.amazonaws.com/apache.3cdn.net/87b58105c024e2d151_bum6be6vb.pdf
[6] was held: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/elections2004/calendar.html
[7] settled for April 22: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/nomination-calendar.htm
[8] delegate-allocation document: http://www.democrats.org/page/-/pdf/20070607_DistrictAllocationChart.pdf
[9] shifted to an April caucus: http://orangepolitics.org/2004/04/caucus-primer/
[10] clinched the nomination: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB107835687627045921.html
[11] were enacted: http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/01/23/compressed_2008_primary_calendar_
changes_dynamics/?page=2

[12] a statement: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07166/794357-103.stm
[13] Mr. Rendell told: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08041/856368-176.stm

Do Parts of Ohio and Texas Not Count?

Follow the link to the complete text of this interesting article.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com In Texas and Ohio, where the latest polls suggest close races between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton today, 334 pledged delegates are at stake. But by the reckoning of some political analysts, voters selecting 142 of these delegates are rendered irrelevant by the Democrats’ primary rules, because they’re likely to be split down the middle among the two candidates. That’s because these delegates will come from the 19 districts in Texas and the 12 in Ohio that have an even number of delegates up for grabs. Slate’s Christopher Beam wrote to California Democrats before their primary that “there’s a good chance your district won’t count.” Adds Michael Barone, in U.S. News & World Report, “Nobody seems to have thought through the consequences of having allocated so many districts an even number of delegates

Smart Clips: We Are The Ones Song by will.i.am

clipped from www.youtube.com