Obama by double digits.
New meme alert: The timing of Obama’s speech was rude (it interrupted her Highness during her non-concession concession speech).
by John Cole| 78 Comments
This post is in: Election 2008, Open Threads
Obama by double digits.
New meme alert: The timing of Obama’s speech was rude (it interrupted her Highness during her non-concession concession speech).
Comments are closed.
Incertus (Brian)
So–does Obama have to win Texas and/or Ohio in order for the calls for Clinton to concede to begin, or does it just have to become clear that he’ll have a pledged delegate lead, i.e. he finishes close in those two states? I’m just ready for this damn thing to be over.
PaulW
New meme on the memes. All memes are meaningless. Unless they are. In which case they’re not memes. Except for certain cases where they have meaning. All forms of confusion begin here. Or actually five weeks ago.
Jon H
Apparently Clinton was supposed to talk at 8:30, but moved it up to 9:15, when Obama was to talk at 9:30.
Somehow I can’t see Obama delaying his speech for 20,000 people for the sake of Hillary and her gym full of people.
Jon H
“So—does Obama have to win Texas and/or Ohio in order for the calls for Clinton to concede to begin, or does it just have to become clear that he’ll have a pledged delegate lead, i.e. he finishes close in those two states?”
I fear silver bullets and garlic may be necessary.
Desmond
Apparently, it was Hillary who started her speech early in an effort to pre-empt the MUP. Oops.
Also, she is incredibly dismissive of those states, delegates, and voters that she doesn’t win. Once again, there was no mention of the state she just lost, no congratulations to Obama, no thanking her campaign workers, or the people who actually did vote for her. As far as she’s concerned, there IS no state called “Wisconsin”. Only the “significant” states exist, apparently.
Jon H
Hillary’s holding out for her firewall in Second Life.
Mike P.
Clinton/Giulliani ’08!!!
Kevin K.
Well, they’re already calling him a “smug bastard,” an “arrogant prick” and a “rude prick” over at Mushy’s site. Also, several of them have announced that they’re voting for McCain. Man, I’m enjoying watching these future Freepers flame out.
Keith
The new meme is that Clinton just has to win Texas and Ohio rather than win them big (which is wrong). On the plus side, if she was a GOP candidate, her big-state strategy might have worked (minus her last name), since unlike Rudy’s big-state strategy, hers involved actually winning a couple of handfuls of smaller states. But in the end, in a proportional system, if you win 5 huge states by, say, 51-49 but lose 45 small states 40-60, you still lose the war.
On a semi-related note, this primary is one of the few times I’ve been cheering Drudge’s agenda
rob!
other than in, you know, STATES, Obama can’t win:
–if he plays nice, the Clinton people say he isn’t tough enough to beat the Republicans
–if he plays Hardball(i.e., starting his speech, not worrying if HRC was still talking), then he’s rude and ungracious.
sheesh.
Jen
Wisconsin doesn’t count because it has white people and students, and also it wears part of Michigan like a hat.
Pb
She’s making inroads with campers and griefers, but having trouble with the furry swing vote.
Pug
Taylor Marsh’s rapid descent into the ugly depths of insanity continues to accelerate.
Pup Tent Democrat is despondent tonight. Obama actually won among “Democrats”, so this one sort of counts.
Even I felt a twinge of sympathy for Hillary as she took the stage in Ohio and began flailing away at Obama without even acknowledging a ninth consecutive humiliating defeat.
crw
Interestingly, my girlfriend just told me her parents (who never vote Democratic) are going to vote for Obama in the Texas primary. My boss told me the same thing a few days ago. Apparently they hate Clinton that much, and just aren’t confident McCain can take her, so they want to help knock her out as early as possible. No idea how widespread this sentiment is, but if it is then the Texas polls are going to underestimate Obama yet again.
Billy K
Hillary’s REAL firewall is in Manchurian delegates. You don’t think she wouldn’t have a couple hundred ready to activate, do you?
They can call him whatever they want. They can’t stop him.
So, I watched part of Obama’s speech from Houston, and I heard him speak about “fighting poverty.” It stuck out. Is this the concession for Edwards’ endorsement? Is the Breck Girl gonna ride the MUP?
Desert Rat
Jon H Says:
Hillary’s holding out for her firewall in Second Life.
Comment of the week.
tBone
Is that some kind of post-menopausal reference? Sexist and agist, typical for a O-cultist.
You don’t acknowledge defeats that don’t count in states that are irrelevant. Apparently you don’t understand the >50 + 0 strategy at all.
Billy K
I can’t believe McPain actually said, “I will fight every moment of every day in this campaign to make sure Americans are not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change,”
So he’s saying things are fine, and he wants to be the guy to get in the way of reforms? Wow. He’ll be lucky to pick up Bush’s 28% dead-enders.
Just wow.
Jon H
OT: via dailykos, a Letterman joke from tonight:
“Many observers believe Fidel Castro will either be replaced by his brother Raul, or by his idiot son, Fidel W. Castro.”
KC
Obama is rude. Wolf Blitzer told me so.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Link, please, so I may read and roll my eyes as necessary?
Kevin K.
I’m sure this has happened before at Mushy’s site, but there’s some pretty Hillaryious desperation on display over there as they exchange links and info about that crackpot Larry Sinclair to make themselves feel better.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
wait…
/looks through Clinton ’08 Field Manual/
er… no. It says here that it doesn’t count on account of “[local football club] did not win the Super Bowl”, possibly causing “severe despondence, depression, and recklessness among voters”. The related flowchart implies the next step of action is to challenge to remove all Green Bay fans from the voter rolls.
Recent numbers predict a win for Hillary after the challenge succeeds, winning among all Non-Green Bay fans Wisconsin residents, 11 votes to 10.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
From the comments in Kevin K.’s link:
Oh, man. They’re taking it hard.
Reception, calling Freud. Reception, calling Freud. Extension 9594. Again, Reception, calling Freud.
Desmond
Heh, that’s priceless. Trying to find some small solace in a meaningless primary, and even that turns out wrong.
p.lukasiak
the real news tonight is the demonstration of how poorly caucus results reflect voter sentiment. The DC beauty contest, in which Clinton is going to wind up about 3-6 pts behind Obama (100% reporting means nothing — that’s the result of poll voting, but there are still over 350,000 “mail in ballots” (both parties combined) which is slightly less than 30% of the total votes cast. (and its not even 100% reporting, according to the Washington state site, King and Pierce counties are still out — and King is an Obama stronghold with 145,000 ballots still uncounted).
The really interesting stuff is happening on the Republican side, where delegates were at stake in both the caucuses (held feb 9), and the primaries. In the caucuses, McCain got 25.9%, Huckabee 23.5%, Paul 21.6%, Romney 15.4% and uncommitted 13.5%. In tonight’s primary, its McCain 48.7%, Huckabee 21.2%, Paul 7.3%, Romney 20.5% and other candidates splitting 2.1%.
These numbers should put to rest the idea that caucus results come anywhere close to reflecting the results one would get in a primary election.
Brachiator
The sad thing is that Team Clinton’s announcement that they are going to go even more negative only reveals how sadly irrelevant they are becoming. From a recent NY Times story:
Senator Clinton apparently doesn’t realize that the world is changing around her. Castro steps down in Cuba. Pakistan’s voters not only shake off the status quo, but also soundly slap down Islamic fundamentalist parties. No, the world is not suddenly sweetness and light (Kenya, uncertainty over reaction to Kosovo’s recent emergence), but Clinton is trying to outdo the right wing nutcase crowd in her appeal to fear.
Even more sadly, Senator Clinton is showing signs that she is starting to believe her own BS, namely the exaggerated notion that she really was co-governor and co-president. I don’t deny the bizarre fury of anti-Clinton hatred, but the increasingly strained insistence that being the spouse of an office-holder elevates you to the same status is bordering on the delusional. Did anyone give a rat’s ass about Dennis Thatcher while Margaret Thatcher was prime minister? Or even afterward?
It’s also interesting that Senator Clinton is more concerned about Republican campaign strategists who might oppose Obama than she is about Republican voters who may choose Obama over McCain. Again, she is all about fear over …. hope.
The full NY Times story is here:
Wisconsin Hands Obama a Victory, the Ninth in a Row
Oh, snap!
Jon H
“the real news tonight is the demonstration of how poorly caucus results reflect voter sentiment. ”
Yes, Paul, that’s the real news. Right.
ThymeZone
Two things about tonight: Obama opens up a can of whoop ass on Clinton in Wisconsin, and…
John McCain is a really terrible candidate. The worst at this level I have ever seen.
I may have to push my bet with DougJ. I think it is possible that McCain could get zero votes in November.
SamFromUtah
Obama by double digits.
MUP FTW!
…as the kids these days do say.
The Grand Panjandrum
Does he remind anyone else of the cryptkeeper? I just wonder how long it will take for his head to explode?
Nah. I’m pretty sure Arizona will go for him. But I guess Obama could put Janet Napolitano on the ticket just to fuck with him.
p.lukasiak
Yes, Paul, that’s the real news. Right.
well, if you’re thinking in terms of who should be the nominee, that is bigger news than the results from Wisconsin.
The results blow to smithereens the Obama argument that if he has a lead in total delegates (and/or states won) that he should be the nominee by default. We’re looking at clear evidence that caucuses don’t reflect the will of actual voters — and that in caucus states, intensity of support, and a good ground game, can grossly exaggerate how support a candidate really has (Ron Paul’s numbers are a clear example of this… he got 21.6% of the caucus support, and barely a third of that in the popular vote.)
mightygodking
Shorter P.Luk: In reality, Hillary is only losing respectably instead of completely embarrassingly. This changes the entire dynamic of the race!
West Coast libertarian
I am visiting my brother-in-law (who I love dearly)in Philadelphia next month. He is a neo who thinks W is doing a great job, was solidly for 9ui11iani and now is backing Walnuts. I would like some ammunition for the argument that we are sure to have about the merits of McCain for prez. TZ has mentioned how deeply he, McCain, was involved with Keating, but the Google doesn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. If anyone can steer me in the right direction, I’d really appreciate it.
Mr Furious
Screw Hillary. The winner defers to the loser so hey can concede. She clearly had no intention of doing anything of the sort, and was delivering nothing but an attacking stump speech. No need for MUP and an arena of fans to sit around waiting for that shit to wrap up.
ThymeZone
Go to Texas and work for Obama GOTV.
If I can do it, I will. But don’t wait for me! Just go!
ThymeZone
lukasiak has managed to make himself a total outlier here.
Honestly, his comments have become hard to distinguish from spoof.
Anyway, after you are done laughing at his material, check your schedule and see if you can get to Texas and work for Obama. If so, click on my url and git ‘er done.
Tom in Texas
Thyme:
I volunteered last week. His campaign headquarters are a block from my house, across the street from the best brunch in Houston (Chicken and Waffles FTW!)
p.lukasiak
lukasiak has managed to make himself a total outlier here.
that may be true, but considering that national polls show Hillary not that far from Obama, the question becomes why a Hillary supporter would find themselves an “outlier” here when there is nothing outside the norm in supporting Hillary in the real world.
in other words, if I’m an outlier, its because you’ve all fallen prey to the groupthink of the MUP.
ThymeZone
The story of the Keating Five.
The latter is from azcentral.com, the local Gannett paper.
ThymeZone
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Your schtick is boring now, man. Really. You’re embarrassing yourself at this point. But please, don’t stop.
Killjoy
well, if you’re thinking in terms of who should be the nominee, that is bigger news than the results from Wisconsin.
The person whose campaign took the time to plan for the quirks of the Democratic primary system should be the nominee. The Clinton campaign has been an absolute disaster on this score. I can totally see Mark Penn and Harold Ickes complaining on November 5th that the electoral college is an imperfect means of measuring the popular will. This is accurate from an academic perspective, but irrelevant to the whole winning thing.
sildan
…like that dastardly specimen of groupthink, the freedom of teh internets…
ThymeZone
Um,because, Paul, and may I say, that’s a great name, you just don’t get what is happening here.
Whatever you think about the Obama phenomenon, it is in fact a phenomenon, and it’s a tidal wave of momentum and popular support that has taken your gal from presumtive nominee to certain loser, in two months…. and isn’t finished yet. Look at the photos that Tom posted. Look at the trends in the race, and the tsunami of votes running away from Clinton and towards Obama ….look at the enthusiasm and the energy. It’s history in the making.
And all you do is basically stand here and wave your arms and yell “Stop it I tell you!”
Your loyalty is touching, but you are on the wrong side of a realignment in American politics.
Jon H
” His campaign headquarters are a block from my house, across the street from the best brunch in Houston (Chicken and Waffles FTW!)”
Oh, sorry, the latest from Mark Penn is that brunchers don’t count.
ThymeZone
Um,because, Paul, and may I say, that’s a great name, you just don’t get what is happening here.
Whatever you think about the Obama phenomenon, it is in fact a phenomenon, and it’s a tidal wave of momentum and popular support that has taken your gal from presumtive nominee to certain loser, in two months…. and isn’t finished yet. Look at the photos that Tom posted. Look at the trends in the race, and the tsunami of votes running away from Clinton and towards Obama ….look at the enthusiasm and the energy. It’s history in the making.
And all you do is basically stand here and wave your arms and yell “Stop it I tell you!”
Your loyalty is touching, but you are on the wrong side of a realignment in American politics.
ThymeZone
Um,because, Paul, and may I say, that’s a great name, you just don’t get what is happening here.
Whatever you think about the Obama phenomenon, it is in fact a phenomenon, and it’s a tidal wave of momentum and popular support that has taken your gal from presumtive nominee to certain loser, in two months…. and isn’t finished yet. Look at the photos that Tom posted. Look at the trends in the race, and the tsunami of votes running away from Clinton and towards Obama ….look at the enthusiasm and the energy. It’s history in the making.
And all you do is basically stand here and wave your arms and yell “Stop it I tell you!”
Your loyalty is touching, but you are on the wrong side of a realignment in American politics.
ThymeZone
Um,because, Paul, and may I say, that’s a great name, you just don’t get what is happening here.
Whatever you think about the Obama phenomenon, it is in fact a phenomenon, and it’s a tidal wave of momentum and popular support that has taken your gal from presumtive nominee to certain loser, in two months…. and isn’t finished yet. Look at the photos that Tom posted. Look at the trends in the race, and the tsunami of votes running away from Clinton and towards Obama ….look at the enthusiasm and the energy. It’s history in the making.
And all you do is basically stand here and wave your arms and yell “Stop it I tell you!”
Your loyalty is touching, but you are on the wrong side of a realignment in American politics.
ThymeZone
Um,because, Paul, and may I say, that’s a great name, you just don’t get what is happening here.
Whatever you think about the Obama phenomenon, it is in fact a phenomenon, and it’s a tidal wave of momentum and popular support that has taken your gal from presumtive nominee to certain loser, in two months…. and isn’t finished yet. Look at the photos that Tom posted. Look at the trends in the race, and the tsunami of votes running away from Clinton and towards Obama ….look at the enthusiasm and the energy. It’s history in the making.
And all you do is basically stand here and wave your arms and yell “Stop it I tell you!”
Your loyalty is touching, but you are on the wrong side of a realignment in American politics.
ThymeZone
Um,because, Paul, and may I say, that’s a great name, you just don’t get what is happening here.
Whatever you think about the Obama phenomenon, it is in fact a phenomenon, and it’s a tidal wave of momentum and popular support that has taken your gal from presumtive nominee to certain loser, in two months…. and isn’t finished yet. Look at the photos that Tom posted. Look at the trends in the race, and the tsunami of votes running away from Clinton and towards Obama ….look at the enthusiasm and the energy. It’s history in the making.
And all you do is basically stand here and wave your arms and yell “Stop it I tell you!”
Your loyalty is touching, but you are on the wrong side of a realignment in American politics.
ThymeZone
Oh wow, the hated BJ crashomatic got me four duplicate posts. Sorry, but …. I’m not the one who picked Word Press to support the thing.
Feel free to delete the duplicates.
Ross
hey guys, i guess i got to the party a little late.
what is MUP?
Conservatively Liberal
Yeah, but Hillary held it close by limiting his lead to only double digits. So in surreality, she won!
sildan
MUP == Magical Unity Pony
Conservatively Liberal
The MUP is the Magical Unity Pony, which is the steed of choice for Saint Barack of Obama, our knight in shining armor. We of the Cult of Obama have adopted the MUP as our symbol of change. Just watch out for the rainbows and candy it shoots out of its ass, you can get buried real fast if you are not careful.
Also, don’t piss the pony off. It bites. ;)
Would you like some kool-aid too?
Jimitha
The U in MUP is for Unitarian, and therefore Barack Hussein Obama is clearly a Muslim. The P is for “Probably a Muslim.” No word yet on what the M stands for, but citizen journalists are furiously investigating your countertops to find out.
bwaage
Paul may be crazy, but I think we all have to concede one point to him: Hillary would be the best candidate by far in November if the General election only had her name on it, didn’t allow campaigning or had no actual impact on the selection process at all. Nobody is better at contests like those than she is.
sildan
This seriously calls for a t-shirt design.
Conservatively Liberal
First results for Hawaii from a member at Kos:
Maui and Oahu
——————–
Clinton – 666
Obama – 2,258
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the hildebeest: for it is the number of a woman; and her number is six hundred threescore and six.
Sorry, I could not help myself there. It was a natural. ;)
sildan
CNN has Obama 75% to Clinton 24% with 71% reporting.
Conservatively Liberal
In reading further at Kos, I see that the MUP is kicking ass and not bothering to take names. I thought the initial vote count of 666 for Hillary was funny.
I am sure that her supporters think it is a conspiracy.
heet
That taylor marsh site? Full of crazies.
Rothaar
“These numbers should put to rest the idea that caucus results come anywhere close to reflecting the results one would get in a primary election.”
Please explain your logic. You cite several statistics in DC which are either neutral (absentee) or would enhance the already massive Obama preference (King county), then claim this will result in a much reduced Obama win. Also, in some magical way, this proves something about caucuses when compared to today’s large victory margin in WI, a primary state?
I agree that caucuses are different than primaries, that being the point of having the voters meet and discuss (part of *informed* democracy being debate) their choices. Because of this increased emphasis on information and an ability to defend ones choice, caucuses are going more strongly for Obama than a primary would. So…. what? This just means his supporters feel more strongly and are able to argue their case better. I’m baffled as to how this is an argument *against* his candidacy.
chopper
heh. indeed, she’s a killer in those contests.
bwaage
After spending a week talking about how great speeches and rhetoric mean absolutely nothing this is a perfectly fitting turn of events for her.
p.lukasiak
Your loyalty is touching, but you are on the wrong side of a realignment in American politics.
Honesty I wish (and hope) that is true.
However, we’ve seen this kind of phenomenon before — and seen it crash and burn before, at the hands of the media (Howard Dean and “the Dean scream” anyone?) My fear is that we’re looking at the equivalent of the “tech bubble” in the stock market, or the Tulip craze.
Indeed, maybe I should start calling Obama the Magical Unity Tulip! ;-)
Jen
Did I miss the part where Howard Dean won 25 states?
Guys, Paul is still in Stage 1.
March 5: witness the full fury of P-Luk.
March 6: Bargaining for superdelegates and flipped delegates and counting states that don’t count. Do-overs on all caucuses since they don’t count.
March 7: Fail. Depression.
March 8: Where did I put that saddle?
Billy K
Duh. It stands for Muslim. No “probably” about it.
I want a T-shirt with a glittery purple pony, it’s majestic mane waving in the breeze of freedom, bounding up a rainbow with flaring nostrils and enraged eyes…
Yes, it’s a dichotomy. We all have our versions of the MUP. Mine hooves people left and right.
Digital Amish
Calling Obama a MUT? Clearly a reference to his mixed race heritage. Clearly a racist dog whistle from the Clinton campaign.
tBone
No. There is only One True MUP. Heretics like you shall be judged on March 5th. Repent!
empty
Which one?
If Obama did this on purpose it was worse than arrogant. It was a stupid thing to do. He will need Hillary’s supporters to turn out for him in the general election so it would pay off to be gracious. Yeah, I know Hillary may not be gracious but from the way it is going it does not seem she will be needing Obama’s supporters in November.
Andrew
Texas is weird.
Jen
You know what, Empty? If there are people who would rather vote for McCain than for someone who started his speech at the time he said he was going to start his speech?
Fuck ’em. We DON’T need ’em, and I sure as hell don’t give a flying fuck what particular perceived nine-month-old snub against their queen bee they have their panties in a wad about come November.
empty
Of course, YOU don’t Jen. You’re just someone on a blog getting their knickers in a twist over what the other meanies said. However, Obama will need them – not just not voting for McCain but coming out to the polls and voting for him. So YOU can fuck whoever you want. Obama would probably be served better by taking the high road.
Jen
NO, I’m not. I can’t have my knickers in a twist about people I do not give a flying fuck about. Some Clintonites will vote for Obama, and those who won’t because of something that happened in February weren’t going to vote for him anyway. Obama has her base, and he has a hell of a lot of people she can’t, or won’t get. He doesn’t have 50% negatives. He doesn’t have to grovel to a bunch of idiots. And when he hires you for his campaign, then I will listen to your opinions about who he has to grovel to.
zzyzx
The WA numbers prove little. I went to vote as a superstitious act around 2 PM in northern Seattle. There was no one else there at all. The machine had only recorded 36 votes before mine.
The ballot results are skewed towards Pierce County because there was a levy on the ballot there.
SenderC
The MUP is here in Dallas today! I think I saw him ride down from a rainbow over Reunion Arena this morning.
I think he’s going to win Texas although I think Ohio is going to go for Clinton. I’m sure that if he does win Texas, it will be dismissed by the Clinton camp because Texas is a “red” state Democrats wouldn’t win in the general election. But the Pony doesn’t see red or blue — he sees only purple.
empty
You are stuck in this contest – which he is well on the way to winning. What she can or can’t get is irrelevant for the general election. What he can or can’t get is relevant. As far as his negatives – they were at 51% six weeks ago and once the Republicans gear up they are quite likely to head in that direction again.
Being gracious is not “groveling,” a distinction you will have the high pleasure of teaching your kids in the not too distant future.
And as to whether you are listening to my opinions. Honey, if you are answering, you are listening. Whether you are getting what I am saying is another matter.