As I sit half a world away, my eyes are squarely fixed Eastward across the Pacific, to the United States. Over the last eight years, we have watched this country go from bad to worse, as each decision of the Bush Administration proved more disastrous than the last. Now finally, in 28 odd hours, things will start to change.
While the time difference and busy schedule are going to get in my way, I know that I will be following these results as close as I can, and as each state goes blue I know that my heart will skip a little bit. I am fully expecting to shed a tear when he passes the magic number of 270, and we can finally declare that the baby Bush years are behind us.
After years of feeling downtrodden and dejected by the state of the world, there is finally a chance for something new and exciting to come our way. I am excited to imagine that the world that we go to bed tomorrow will be a better one than the one which we woke up to. Really how long has it been since we’ve been able to say that?
Yes, it’s audacious, but I’ll be damned if it’s not hopeful.
Hi, how are you? Things are going great for me out here. Work is great, making lots of friends, and the weather is nice. I know that it’s been a while, and we haven’t talk much, what with me moving to China and all, but I was hoping that I could ask you a favour, since we go back twenty-five years and all. Could you please, please, do me a solid and vote against the Conservative Party of Canada? I know that the alternatives look bleak. The Liberals are disorganized, the Bloc is not a viable option, the NDPs are risky, and the Greens do not have enough national experience, but they are all better than the Conservatives right now.
I know that things haven’t been that bad in the past two years of a Harper government, but if they get voted in, especially with a majority, things will change. Think about all of the ways that we define our country, bilingual, peaceful, tolerant, and a world leader. Now, think about all of the ways that Harper and his cronies have opposed these.
Do you remember where the Conservative Party comes from? Why Preston Manning and his Reform gurus. A big part of their platform, and the platform of the Canadian Alliance that bridge the gap, was to oppose bilingualism and multiculturalism. Granted, when Harper merged the parties he removed that from the platform, but remember, the roots of Reform are still there.
Canada is one of five countries in the world to currently have full legalized gay marriages. Do you remember who opposed this? And do you remember who wanted to reopen the debate after it had already been passed in Parliament? I’ll give you a hint, it was one of the party leaders and it was not Dion, Layton, Duceppe, or May. Any guesses?
If that doesn’t give it away, it was the same leader who accused his rival of “Being in league with the Taliban” for opposing the Afghan mission. Kind of sounds like he was accusing him of “Pallin’ around with terrorists”, does it not?
Lastly, the Conservative government has arguably the worst environmental record of any developed nation. This was especially clear at the Bali Conference last year as Jim Baird was routinely named the “Fossil of the Day” for his opposition to international consensus on a very serious problem. Remember, we are the country that pioneered International Peace Keeping, set up the first MASH Unit, were a founding member of NATO and the G7, and gave far more help to the Space Race than we will ever get credit for. Do we really want a government in charge who will not take the lead on the most important challenge that our generation will face?
So please Canadians, I am begging you to vote for someone other than the Conservatives. I don’t care if it’s the Liberals, NDP, Bloc, Greens, Natural Law, anything to get rid of Harper as Prime Minister has to be considered a success. Please Canada, do me a solid and lets vote this guy out before it’s too late, because if he gets a majority, it really will be too late.
This look at each of the five major parties in Canada concludes today with a look at the current governing party. The Conservative Party of Canada
Leader: Stephen Harper Since: 2004 Leader’s Riding: Calgary Southwest Seats at Dissolution: 127 Major Issues: Social Conservatism, Tax Cuts, Shutting up their Cabinet
(DISCLAIMER: Before I get started once again, let me point out my obvious political views. I am not a fan of this party what so ever. Just as in my last post, I shall do my best to remain objective, and I apologize if I am not able to do so.)
Two weeks ago, everything was going to so well. What happened?
Immediately after Parliament was dissolved, things were looking great for Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party. They were gaining big in the battleground ridings, and it looked like they may be able to get the first right-wing majority government in fifteen years. All that they had to do was run a campaign even half as efficiently as they did in 2006 and they would be able to pick up another 30 seats, and a majority government would be theirs.
But then puffins pooed, Ryan Sparrow spoke ill of a man who lost his son, jokes were made about cold cuts and drunk natives, the US Economy is on the verge of collapsing, and that damn Elizabeth May just will not stop talking. Suddenly things are very different as Harper has had to do all sorts of apologizing. This certainly is not the position he wanted to be in his fight for a majority.
After all, any time apologizing is less time for him to be talking about his great sweater vest.
(EDITORIAL TANGENT: If family really is everything, then why is he fighting for a job that will keep him away from his wife and children for so much of the year?)
Now before any doom and gloom talk starts about the sweater unraveling, the Conservatives are still running a solid campaign. The attack ads on Dion seem to be working, and Harper has done a great job of dividing his opposition. The party continues to gain ground in Quebec, which is a real threat to the Bloc, but their numbers in Ontario and BC seem to have stagnated.
The latest Globe and Mail Poll (accessed September 21, 2008 at approx. 8pm EDT) has them sitting at 38% of the vote, slightly up from the 36% they won with in 2006. While this increase is good, it is a drop from where they were two short weeks ago, when everything seemed to be going wrong.
All in all, they should gain a solid 5-12 seats. While successful, this is a far cry from the 28 they need to get a majority.
So what do they have to do to fix things? Plain and simply, shut up. Since coming into power in 2006, Harper has done a masterful job keeping control on his own party. He needs to go back to those ways. High profile members of the party need to realize that nothing is off the record during an election time.
Many Canadians have been mistrustful of Harper, and the Conservatives in general. These series of gaffes, are making people wonder just what kind of people the powers that be really are. Do they really think that everyone who speaks out against them is doing so because of an allegiance to another party? Do they really think that all Algonquins are drunks? Are they all bullies, resorting to sophomoric jokes about their opposition? Do they really hope that their critics will die of Listerios?
Even a bleeding heart like me will agree that the answer to most of the above questions is “probably not”. But the fact that they are being asked at a crucial time does not bode well for the party at all.
The Conservative spin doctors need to go into overdrive to make the party appear more gentle, and quite frankly, likable. If Canadians are going to trust them with the next four years, they need to know that they are not insensitive, immoral monsters.
Because right now, they are really coming across as wolves in sheep’s sweater-vests.
Here we are in Part 4 of this 5 part series. Today we look at the party that governed our country for 13 years, but has since fallen down to the ranks of Official Opposition, hoping to rise once more.
The Liberal Party of Canada Current Leader: Stephane Dion Since: 2006 Leader’s Riding: Saint-Laurent — Cartierville Seats at Dissolution: 95 Major Issues: Carbon Taxes, Polarizing the Electon, Rebranding Stephane Dion
(DISCLAMER: Before I get started here, I would like to direct people’s attention to one of the first posts I made back in 2006, after Stephane Dion won the Liberal Leadership. The reason I ask you to give that post a whirl, is because in it I express my high record for Stephane Dion and the Liberal party. I have tried in the first three posts to be as objective as possible, however that may be difficult given my emotional attachment here.)
It’s been a rough year for Stephane. Since January, he has been the subject of countless attack ads by the Conservative Government. It seems that every few months they choose some new way to go after him, in actions that remind me of the worst kind of bullying you see in High School. I mean, seriously, if a teenager made something like notaleader.ca, they would be suspended from school, no questions asked. Funny how we hold our kids to higher standards than our politicians.
Sorry, there goes that bias thing I was warning you about, allow me to start over.
Dion, after being the subject to many attack ads, has seen the Liberal numbers drop in some very key ridings, inching the Conservatives closer and closer to a Majority Government. This has caused many to wonder about Dion’s leadership credentials, and has lead to a great many talk about replacing him with a different candidate in the very near future.
The Liberal machine has gone into overdrive to rebrand Dion from all of the Conservative attack ads. First by launching a counter side ThisIsDion.ca, where they show pictures and videos of Stephane Dion playing floor hockey, and going fishing. A far cry from the babbling oaf talking about the difficulty of making priorities. Also, Dion has been appearing more often with some of his “Dream Team” such as Bob Rae, Michael Ignatieff, and Gerrard Kennedy, hoping that if people are fans of any of them, that they will throw their support behind Dion. Also, he has been highlighting the power of the Liberal Party as a whole, which contrasts a great deal to Harper’s cabinet, made up of people who either get no or bad publicity.
In order to win this election, or lose it less, the Liberals need to do two more important things: Talk about the economy, and tap into Canadians mistrust of the Conservatives.
With clouds getting cast over the US economy, obviously fears are moving North of the Border. Dion has already started talking about the Liberals fiscal records during the Chretien and Martin years, but he needs to highlight this more and more. It was Brian Mulroney in power during the recession of the early 90s, and it was Chretien in power during the economic boom of the mid and late 90s.
People are concerned about rising taxes, fuel costs, and grocery bills. The thing is that Dion has an answer for these things, The Green Shift. This has to be one of the worst publicized great ideas ever. It will help save Canadians money, plain and simple. Yes, it raises energy costs, but it cuts taxes across the board, and encourages companies to look into greener technologies. Yes, it is confusing, but it will help people save money, plain and simple. What the Liberals need to do, is lay down exactly how much money a family of 4, with an income of say $70, 000 will save as a result of this plan, then people will start to understand.
Secondly, the Liberals need to realize that this is not the same political climate that it was for them in the 1990s. Then, there was the Reform (or Alliance) and the Progressive Conservatives, who dividing the Right Wing vote, and the Liberals were able to gather the centre vote with relative ease. Now, things are different, as the NDP and Greens have emerged as larger players, and the Bloc has moved farther Left. This squeezes the Liberals on both sides.
However, many Canadians have a certain mistrust of Harper and the Conservative Party. Dion needs to tell people time and time again, that the Liberals are the only party that is in any kind of position to dethrone the Conservatives. He needs to polarize this election, and he needs to do it fast. If the Liberals are going to have any kind of success, then this election needs to be about Liberals vs. Conservatives.
Harper can very clearly see this. This is why at one point he said that he was just as worried about Layton as he was Dion. He was trying to empower the NDP base, to take away votes from the Liberals.
When I first started this series, a short ten days ago, I was convinced that the Liberals would lose somewhere around 20 seats to the Conservative Juggernaut. However, since the campaign started, the Conservatives have been making mistake after mistake, from puffins, to jokes in poor taste, to misusing the RCMP. Couple this with Canadian fears about the economy, and I am not so certain. While I still think that there will be another Conservative Minority (like I said back in January), I think that the Liberals will have very little change, just like the NDPs.
In the earlier blog post that I referenced, I said proudly “I honestly and sincerely hope that this Conservative Minority comes to a close and we can vote Dion in as soon as possible. He may just end up being the best Prime Minister we have had in a long time.“
And yes, several attack ads later, I still feel the same. Sadly, though I only have one vote, and I fear that will note be enough.
We continue our look at the five major political parties in Canada. Today our focus shifts to the Eastern portion of Central Canada and a party that has the potential to lose a lot of ground, as the major battles in this election are taking place right on its door step.
Bloc Quebecois
Current Leader: Gilles Duceppe Since: 1997 Leader’s Riding: Laurier – Sainte Marie Seats at Dissolution: 48 Major Issues: Quebec Sovereignty, Left-Wing Nationalist, Remaining Relevant
In my travels, I have frequently entered into political conversations with people from all over the world. Whenever I try to explain Canadian politics, and our myriad of parties, I always struggle explaining the Bloc Quebecois. People from other countries have difficulty understanding a party that runs in only one province, but is still consistently one of the top parties in the country (including one stint as official opposition).
This failure to comprehend the relevance of the Bloc appears to be Gilles Duceppe’s biggest problem, as this mindset seems to be creeping its way into Quebec. With the sponsorship scandal raging, the Bloc were expected to make huge gains in the 2006 election, however they ended up losing three seats, after the Conservatives made huge strides in Quebec.
With the Gomery Inquiry being little more than a memory in Quebec, it seems like the Liberals may be able to rebound in the province. Also the NDP are making noise about competing with the Bloc for the Left Wing vote.
However, the biggest threat to the Bloc are definetly the Conservatives. They made a huge break through in Quebec for the first time in decades in 2006, and remain poised to do even more. Harper has been making a huge push towards Right Wing Seperatists, which are growing in numbers in the wake of the ADQ’s success in the last provincial election.
Like Jack Layton, Gilles Duceppe has to be worried about this election. Back in May 2007, Duceppe resigned as the leader of the Bloc in order to run for the leadership of the Parti Quebecois, only to change his mind the next day, when it became obvious that he would have legitimate competition for it. It appears that even Duceppe himself sees the BQ ship sinking, and he at least tried to get off.
This is also his fifth election as the leader of the party. During his first two elections he saw his support dwindle, losing Official Opposition status, his next two saw the support rebound, but mostly as a result of the Sponsorship Scandal. He knows that not only is his job in question, but so is his legacy, and there do not seem to be too many people in line to take it from him.
The Bloc’s all-time low for seats was 38 in the 2000 election, and I would not be at all surprised if they will be around, or below that number in a few weeks. Duceppe is getting pushed from the Left, pushed from the Right, and pushed from inside of himself, he’s bound to have a rough October.
Today we go into part 2 of the Outsider’s Perspective, with a look at Canada’s Fourth Party, who face a series of uphill battles if they hope to improve upon their success of the last election.
New Democratic Party
Current Leader: Jack Layton Since: 2003 Leader’s Riding: Toronto-Danforth Seats at Dissolution: 30 Major Issues: Afghanistan, Elizabeth May at debates, being taken seriously
Jack’s in trouble and he knows it.
After the 2006, the NDP received their second highest seat total ever, and the highest total for any fourth party in the country’s history. Surely this should be a great cause for success, but there is trouble lurking around the corner.
The rise of the Green Party has put the NDP in very unfamiliar territory. They have always been the party that took votes away from disenchanted Liberals, who felt marginalized in their own party. Now, here they sit with the Greens having the potential to do the same to them.
Now Jack Layton has repeatedly said that he is running to be Prime Minister of the country, but surely, he must join the other thirty odd million Canadians who see that as being highly unlikely. He is obviously making these claims to counter Elizabeth May’s support for the Liberals, and Stephane Dion’s claims that he is the only one that can prevent a Conservative government.
In my last post, I mentioned Elizabeth May’s exclusion from the debates. Jack Layton was one of the people who blatantly opposed her involvement. He received so much backlash from his supporters that he has since changed his position on the issue. Given the NDP’s socialist roots, it is no surprise that so many supporters wanted everyone to get a fair shake. One has to wonder just how many people on the left-of-center will change their vote given Layton’s position(s) on this controversial issue.
Another major issue for the NDP is Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. They have opposed it for a great deal of time, and want an immediate withdraw. The Liberals and Conservatives feel that Canadian troops should stay for a few years longer to finish what they have started. As more and more somber repatriation ceremonies occur in Trenton, one has to wonder if more and more Canadians will vote for the NDP in order to stop Canadian involvement in the conflict.
The NDP are involved in several key battleground ridings in British Columbia, that the Conservatives must win in order to form a majority. After seeing his poll numbers drop at dissolution, his support has since rise, and it shows that we are in for a fight out West between the two parties. Layton also seems to think that his party is poised for breakthroughs in Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. One has to wonder if Layton is overly optimistic, lying, or just plain delusional.
The left-wing voters in Quebec are very clearly going to vote for the Bloc. Saskatchewan has some potential, given the province’s on-again-off-again love affair of the left, however, they seem to be on a break for the time being. And Alberta is Conservative country, no question. This is similar to John McCain saying that he would break through in California, it just won’t happen, sorry.
So really for the NDP, the best bet for them will be to stay at or about the same level that they are, 30 seats is quite respectable, especially for a fourth party. However, this is Layton’s third election as party leader, and if he can’t gain more support than before, one has to wonder just how much longer the left-wing-powers-that-be will keep him around for. I think that the this is why Layton opposed May’s inclusion at the debates, and this is why he is saying that he is running for Prime Minister, and this is why he started the campaign trail with the most frantic pace of any leader, criss-crossing the country.
He knows that his time as leader rests in the results of this election, and he needs to improve on his party’s 30 seat performance from 2006. Sadly, for Layton, it’s just not in the cards for him. Like I said, Jack’s in trouble and he knows it.
My apologies to anyone out in the blogosphere who feels that they may have been lacking in Glenergy of late, but things have been hectic for me of late what with moving to a new country and starting a new job. Sadly my blogging has been lacking, which I think will turn around since I feel that I have SOOOO much to talk about, what with a new NHL Season just around the corner, a few major political elections, and oh yeah that whole China thing as well.
With the announcment of a Canadian General Election on October 14th (which I HATE by the way) I have decided to start a five part series here as I look at the different parties and their main issues and challenges going into this particular campaign.
I am going to start with the party that has the smallest number of seats currently in parliament, but has a massive amount of potential going into this October. The Green Party of Canada Established: 1983 Current Leader: Elizabeth May Since: 2006 Leader’s Riding: Central Nova Members of Parliament at Dissolution: 1 Major Issues: The environment, social justice, speaking at debates
This election stands to have potential break-throughs for Canada’s fifth party. Environmental awareness is at an all time high, and dissatisfaction with the Liberal party is pretty darn high as well. However, just yesterday any momentum that the Green Party had was severely stifled as it was announced that they would not be allowed to participate in any televised debates due to a threatened boycott by the Conservatives, and NDP.
This is a major blow to the Green Party as Elizabeth May has proven herself to be very articulate and quick-witted and she surely would have performed well in any live debates. The reason that the three parties are (officially) giving, is that due to a deal worked out between the Liberals and the Greens to not contest party members in the opposing leaders riding, that they are obviously the same party.
This is a pretty ridiculous comment, since the Greens and Liberals are going head-to-head in 306 of the 308 ridings. Also of note, one of the bi-elections which were canceled due to the call for this election, was looking to be a toss-up between the Liberals and the Greens. Also, May has criticized Dion’s Carbon Tax repeatedly, saying that it doesn’t go far enough.
Now there is legal precedent in May’s argument as Preston Manning was able to participate in the 1993 debates under a similar set of circumstances. As such, the Green Party is taking this decision to court, which should have some interesting consequences before the two debates.
The Greens find themselves in an interesting position, since they are currently receiving a great deal of media attention from the debate debate. This of course helps them out and gives them a “Little Party that Could” mentalitly, which has potential for them to gain support. Now obviously for that support to really grow she needs to be included in the debate, but this uphill struggle really has potential for long-term benefits for the party.
The Greens are hoping to grabs several votes from Liberals and New Democrats who are sick of their current leaders, which has potential for them to make party history and actually elect a member of parliament. Looking at the map, I think that Blair Wilson (their current MP who was voted in as a Liberal but is currently a member of the Green Party through some complicated steps) will retain his seat in BC, and Elizabeth May will pull off a huge shock and dethrown the Defense Minister in his home turf, giving the Greens 2 seats.
More influentially, a Green surge will take several votes away from the other Left Wing parties and should hinder the New Democrats and the Liberals, ultimately benefitting the Conservatives in the end. This is obviously a tough question that any Green supporter must ask themselves, do I help my party or hurt the Conservatives? Given the incumbents party’s poor environmental track record, this is a question that should not be taken lightly.
Wait a minute, silly me, I haven’t even talked about any of the ACTUAL issues that the Greens are campaigning for. The obvious first one is the environment. The believe very strongly in a carbon tax, and feel that Dion’s Green Shift is not sufficient or aggressive enough. Also, they feel that Canada should follow through on Lester Pearson’s promise to devote 0.7% of our GDP to help eliminate poverty, and are staunch supporters of diversity and social justice. Their party website explains this far better than I ever could, and is actually a very well put together site, so check it out.
But no matter what their party platform, that will prove second to the attention that they are receiving due to their inclusion in the debates, which should only help the party in the long term, however I hope that Elizabeth May realizes that a boost to her party really does help Stephen Harper in the short term. However, like all reasonable environmentalists, perhaps May realizes that things will have to get worse for them to get better.
Well here we are with a solid 65 days until the United States makes an important choice. In this past week the choice got to be a little bit clearer as both Barrack Obama and John McCain announced their respective running mates. One made a safe bet, and the other took a risky long shot, and surprisingly, the risky one was John McCain.
McCain announced on Friday that Sarah Palin, the first term Alaska Governor as his right-hand woman, in a truly shocking move. This really just further emphasises the fact that John McCain will do anything to be president. This was the man, who only eight years ago was embroiled in a bitter feud with George W. Bush to be the Republican nominee, and only four years ago was dangerously close to being John Kerry’s running mate, and now here he is, selling out.
John McCain has long crafted his image as a maverick, willing to cross party lines to do what he felt was right. Yet, in the last few years he has voted for Bush tax cuts, something that he had previously said was against his good consious, and has not done a blatantly political move in chosing Sarah Palin as his running mate.
This is a plea to get the wild card in the presidential election, Clinton supporters. By taking a woman he hopes to lure them over. However, what he has missed, is any other similarities that may come between Clinton and Palin, because there really aren’t any aside from gender. Palin has a very evangelical stance on abortion and teaching creation “science” in schools. She also called Hilary Clinton a “whinner” a number of times during the Democratic Primaries, which probably won’t help the Republicans win any point with Clintonites.
The other desperate sign here is that John McCain has really just gone against everything he has been saying about Obama for the past six months or so. He was constantly saying that his opponent does not have the experience to lead, but somehow we are expected to believe that Sarah Palin, a governor of a sparsely populated state since 2006 somehow has that experience.
Granted, she is not being voted to the office of Commander and Chief, but just ask Lyndon Johnson, sometimes things happen. With John McCain’s age, it is even more of an issue. If elected to two terms, McCain would be 80 years and in charge of the free world, and his health has to be taken into account. So should something tragic but natural occur to him in his old age, we would be left with a very unproven commodity in charge. After spending so long saying that Obama is too unkown (i.e. black) to be President, it is hard not to make the same connections about Palin.
Obama’s choice on the other hand was a much, much safer bet. He took a grizzled Washington insider, who will be able to guide him along nicely. One of the main holes in Obama’s experience is foreign policy, so he took a running mate who has more foreign policy experience than damn near anybody in the United States.
Most importantly, Obama took an attack dog. Joe Biden is a smooth talking, quick witted, son of a gun. Now Obama can keep taking the high road on John McCain and other Republicans and let Joe Biden loose on everyone. This way Obama can maintain his status as a “nice guy” and keep on taking the high road, something that many voters appreciate.
I for one, am interested in how the Vice Presidential debates go, as I really think that Biden will tear Palin a new one, especially on foeign policy. This really hurts the Republicans, since Obama will no doubt out perform McCain in the Presidential debates.
Even though Obama had a rough summer, he is firmly in the dirvers seat as we speed down this election highway. Gallup polls put him 8% up on John McCain (his second biggest lead ever), and I am sure that will improve even more so as the debates heat up.
I find it fitting that Palin is from Alaska, because I feel that come November she will be once more left out in the cold.
After months of debates, mud flinging, cries of elitism, disenfranchisement in Florida and Michigan, a Wrightmare, eerie assassination talk, re-enfranchisement in Florida and Michigan, and a host of other twists and turns, I can finally say something that I have wanted to for so very long.
Obama wins.
That’s right, after having an insurmountable lead since February, the numbers have finally caught up to reality, as Barack Obama has passed the magic numbers of 2,024 and 2,118 delegates after South Dakota and Montana held the last primaries of the season.
As anyone who follows this blog will know, I love Barrack Obama, so needless to say I am completely overjoyed at this moment. I think, hope and pray, that the United States may just be heading in the right direction. While I live North of the Border, I still could not be any happier, as Canadian Politics has always experienced an “echo” effect to American ones (They vote in Kennedy in 1960, we go for Trudeau in 1969, they get Regan in 1980, we go for Mulroney in 1984, Bush down there in 2000, Harper up here in 2006, to name a few). Meaning, that in some way, shape or form, Change is coming to Canada and I, for one couldn’t be happier.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me focus on the near future instead, and where exactly the three major Presidential Candidates will be going from here.
John McCain – Having clinched the nomination way back in February, McCain has been pretty quiet. After all, he didn’t really need to go on the offensive against Obama, since Clinton had been doing a lot of that. He has been able to bide his time, and let those two go after one another.
McCain needs to figure out a game plan from here. What will his issues be? Will he keep trying to distance himself from Bush, or try and cozy up to him? Will he go on the offensive and start attack Obama, in typical Republican fashion? Judging by his poorly timed, and even more poorly executed speech last night, the answers will be: Iraq, distance, and yes.
When contrasting it to Obama’s speech (shown earlier), it really makes McCain look second rate. Like it or not, speaking and looks matter in an election, and McCain looses out on both of those big time compared to Obama. McCain needs to really step up his speaking abilities in the next few months, or he will be severely outclassed by Obama in the fall debates.
In retrospect, McCain probably should have waited from giving a speech on that night, and given it tonight, or in a few days. He needs to try and downplay the negatives of his campaign, and having people get to watch his speech first, followed by Clinton’s, followed by Obama’s, really made Barrack seem like the Main Event of the evening, which only hurt McCain.
McCain will need to spend the next few months trying to figure out a running mate, with Tim Pawlenty being the apparent front-runner. However, if McCain wants to downplay the historical aspect of Obama running as an African-American, he should consider Condoleezza Rice, to appeal to both the woman and black vote.
Barrack Obama– STRAIGHT TO THE WHITE HOUSE BABY!!!!111
Sorry, I had to get the fanboyness out of my system.
After last night, Obama is sitting in a great position. All three made a speech, and his was clearly the best. Instead of focusing on himself (like Hillary did), or on his opponent (as McCain did) he focused on America. This combined with his amazing line directed at McCain saying “I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine” really makes him seem like the bigger person, and not giving into “Politics as usual” like the others appeared to have.
Combine this with the fact that the GOP’s image seems to be fading fast, and things look great for Barrack. However, he does have some interesting choices as to who to pick as his running mate. Sure everyone is talking about Hillary but that can’t happen (for reasons I will get to in a moment) with names like Bill Richardson, Michael Bloomberg, Chris Dodd, Kahtleen Sebelius, and Evan Bayh, bound to receive a lot of talk in the coming months.
In the interest of prognosticating, I am going to go with Richardson here, he would really bring in Latino voters, and could bring New Mexico and maybe even Texas onto the Blue sides of things in November, and that sure would change things.
Between now and November, I expect Obama to concentrate a great deal on his grassroots fund raising, which has been spectacular thus far, and to continue his “Nice Guy” image, against the sure fire attacks bound to be coming from the Republican side of things.
Hillary Clinton – Now here is the real wild card of this whole thing.
While she was mathematically eliminating last night, she still refused to quit. While I do have some respect for her tenacity, I really am sick of her now. While I have been very critical of her a fewtimes before on this very blog, so it may be a bit of a challenge for me to examine this objectively.
Last night should have been about Obama and she tried to make it about her. Don’t believe me? Well her is her speech last night…
Now, I forget which one, but one of the CNN talking heads referred to Clinton’s speech as showing “Deranged Narcissism”, and I don’t know if there is a more apt term than that. She (falsely) claimed that she won the popular vote, which only happens when you don’t take into account any of the caucus states and/or the “Uncommitted” votes in Michigan, which is odd since Hillary repeatedly preached that she wanted “Every vote to count”.
With her talking about how many votes she got, she really sounds like she is trying to bully Obama into naming her as his running mate. My lord can this ever not happen.
Obama needs to set himself up as a Change Candidate, and someone who has already lived in the White House for 8 years does not represent change at all. Plus, if she can’t let Obama have his night when he mathematically wins, can she really let him have four years to Be the Man? Somehow I doubt it…also, there is that little shadow called Bill who would be standing behind the two of them. A good VP needs to be sure to give the limelight to the person at the top of the ticket, and that really is Obama.
I think that the best option for Clinton, would be for her to support Obama, campaign for him, and get a high profile spot in his cabinet. Either way, I really hope that she heeds my advice from my last post on her…“SHUT UP”
One way or another, I am glad that this is finally over, and more importantly, the good guy won. It should be a very interesting five months for the US, and for all of us watching.
Before I send off let me make yet another prediction. In November it will be Obama winning, with the popular vote going 56-44.
My man crush on Keith Olbermann continues…watch this…
Unreal eh?
I really have nothing else to add here, he explains it all. Hillary really will stop at nothing to win, to vaguely reference assassination in respect to Obama is startling. People have been long convinced that he would be walking the line between life and death by a) running as a black man and b) taking on the political lobbyists.
As HORRIBLE and terrible as this was, she really has gone farther to hurt herself, say (God forbid) something bad does happen to Obama, don’t you think that conspiracies will start to roll?
I have had a certain respect for Clinton, but right now it’s gone. After Sniper-gate, the racial remarks, the Florida-Michigan hissy fit, the attacks from bitter gate, the all but endorsment of McCain over Obama, and so much more, I really don’t understand how people could support Hillary Clinton after this one. These are NOT the actions of anyone that should hold the highest office in the world.
So if by any chance Hillary or any of her advisors are reading this, I would like to offer you some advice.
I don’t think that I could be anymore excited.
