The Non-Concession Concession Speech

This has already been talked about, but it was truly an inspirational speech given to Obama's supporters. It was a turn off to some Clinton supporters, but by and large, this was well received:

The Real Losers In New Hampshire

Plenty of candidates ran last night up in the Granite state, but there were only two true losers in that race. None of them were Democrats. All the front runners including Edwards had tremendous support and overall Democrats had a 55-45 advantage in total votes. That leads us to the first loser, the Republican party. The GOP is out of step with America and its candidates can't even lead the followers that are left over. The change in New Hampshire is evident across the country, as many states are turning "purple" like Colorado, Virginia and even Goldwater Country Arizona.

People are realizing that when push comes to shove, the Republican party has shifted far to the right and after a while, many are seeing that when they look inward, they see the Democrat within.

Now for those that are already Democrats and have seen the light in a previous election cycle, we saw the pundits and pollsters try (and fail) to predict the outcome last night. I went along with the hype (pushed by the wind in my sails not to see Hillary get the nomination) that Obama was going to cruise to a landslide victory and then collect delegates by the hundreds before the convention was even close to happening. I'm still an Edwards supporter and stick with him to this very moment, but I'm still aware of what is going on at the present time.

Anyways, this brings me to our second loser from last night, the press. We all know they suck and the New Hampshire primary coverage proves it. They tried to guess at what the voters would do instead of actually reported on the process and it was abysmal failure. Tom Brokaw saw the truth of the situation, and promptly excoriated one of the ringleaders of the punditry in excellent fashion. And of course don't forget the pollsters in all of this, but still remember that their information is reported by those pundits and "journalists."

So congrats to the Democratic Party last night, and pooh pooh to the Republicans and the media. I'd love to see a concession speech from both, but I won't hold my breath.

Coming Down To The Wire

Damn, this race continues to surprise me. I would never have thought that Clinton would have held a lead let alone a prayer tonight in New Hampshire. Many people thought that Independents would come out enforce for Obama and route Hillary, which in the semi-open primary state, subsequently draw from McCain making him vulnerable to the likes of Mitt Romney.

Well that didn't happen. McCain crushed Romney (by seven points as of now) but Democrats are still drawing much larger numbers, by around 25 percent. Also by the link above, we can see a tightening of the race between Hillary and Obama. She was up by as many as six points, but as the results from the larger cities like Manchester come in, Obama is inching closer and is within four points (or 4000 votes).

A friend of mine who happens to be a BHO supporter asked me for words of wisdom while he waits until the full count is in. Well I'll tell him and myself to sit tight, because you never know what can happen until an election is officially declared over.

The Simpsons Goes To Town On 2008 Primaries

Unfortunately I missed the Simpsons this past weekend (partly on account of the fact that I do not have a television) but I would have loved to see them rag on the current primary season. According to the article from the Boston Globe, the half-hour show made fun of the system and the candidates without pulling any punches. Basically due to Homer being Homer, the town decides to hold their primary before New Hampshire, and then all hell breaks loose.

From The Boston Globe:

Highlight: An animated Bill Clinton character is pounding a "Hillary" sign into a yard and complains to a screaming voice on his cellphone about how many more he has to do. "What did I ever do to you?" he implores. More screeching from the cellphone, apparently including the words Monica Lewinsky. He says something along the lines of, "You're never going to let me forget that are you?"

The people of Springfield quickly grow weary of all the attention, and in rebellion decide to support the most ridiculous candidate they can envision. At Moe's tavern, someone suggests Dennis Kucinich. Ouch, since he's actually a real candidate in the Democratic race. A pint-size Kucinich character happens to be in the bar and complains that he's being dissed.

Finally, they settle on 8-year-old Ralph Wiggum, the not-too-bright son of the police chief. Lisa, of course, is mortified. "Oh, dear God," she exclaims. But eventually she comes around, after Ralph talks about helping people and making sure the US plays nice and doesn't fight anymore with foreign countries.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties also decide to support Ralph, who at show's end is sitting on the knee of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington like he's Santa Claus, telling Honest Abe, "I've been a good boy."

Twenty years after starting this cartoon and it still rocks!

Hannity Flees Chanting Ron Paulites

There's nothing quite like watching Sean Hannity on the run. I've met the man before at a radio industry convention and I must say he was as disgusting in person as he is on television. He had nothing but insults for my employer at the time (I'm sure you can guess what radio station I'm talking about). Now that his network tried to throw out Ron Paul from the debate, while Giuliani can't even match his numbers, they are getting their due. Watch out cliff, here comes Sean!

Obama, McCain Cruise To Early NH Victory

Yes folks, its a little past one in the morning here on the East Coast and we have two victors from the Granite State. It appears that Barack Obama has crushed his rivals and John McCain has won a decent margin of the votes in.........Dixville Notch, NH. Oh my, sorry to burst your bubble like that. As New Hampshire observers may recall, the small town of Dixville Notch goes to the polling location at midnight on primary day to be the first precinct to cast their votes in the state.

Here are the results:

Democratic Primary: (10 voters)

• Barack Obama - 7
• John Edwards - 2
• Bill Richardson - 1

Republican Primary: (7 voters)

• John McCain - 4
• Mitt Romney - 2
• Rudy Giuliani - 1

Is this indicative of what is to come for the rest of the day? Would Gallup or SurveyUSA poll seventeen New Hampshirites (sp?) to get an accurate reading for the state? Probably not, but for the political junkies out there, enjoy, taste and savor the first few votes of the year. Of course, Obama will probably take the state easily and as for the Republicans....who knows, their base dislikes them all.

What Did The Republican Say To The Democrat?

Red State Update gives us an exclusive on what the candidates said to each other on stage when ABC/ Charles Gibson brought everybody out:

Rudy Attracts The Press And Who Else?

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy. He's the national favorite, Mr. America's Mayor, stood by in his city and made it to photo-ops while people died in the wreckage of what were the Twin Towers...then he left the mayorship and made millions off of his fame and now he's running for President. It is quite the accomplishment to even be a front runner, but is there really anything behind it? In New Hampshire it doesn't seem that there is much there at all.

From MSNBC:

The numbers of reporters have ballooned. In addition to the regulars, all of the New York City tabloids are here, as are several national newspaper chains and numerous still photographers. Even Australian and Danish press made a cameo. For a campaign that never had a formal launch, this weekend almost seems like an unveiling.

The crowds, however, don’t seem to have gotten the message. A rally for Giuliani in front of Manchester City Hall garnered only a few dozen supporters. Backers of Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich almost seemed to match them in numbers. Giuliani generates healthy crowds at town hall meetings, but they are not all loyalists. When it comes to rallies and events where partisans are expected in droves, Giuliani’s crowds disappoint. And the mainstream media has started to notice.

Finally they are noticing, wow, it only took the media until late November to see that Giuliani is made up of the majority of his words, that is, hot air. While Obama attracts tens of thousands, Rudy gets dozens. That alone speaks volumes. Astute observers that New Hampshire-ites are, they have seen that Rudy isn't much more than rhetoric. He talks enough, thats for sure, but a sound candidate worthy of the White House?

Hardly.

Iowa, New Hampshire And Now...Michigan?

The TBA in New Hampshire is now January 8th. A mere five days after Iowa is going to caucus, the Granite state's ego has pushed their primary up to the eighth day of the new year so they can come before Michigan brand new primary date that was approved by the State Supreme Court today. Many states have already moved their primary and caucus days up and together to seem more important in the presidential primary scheme. If we're starting this thing off on January 3rd in 2008, who knows what will happen in 2012.

Frankly, I think this is all ridiculous. The worst offenders are Iowa and New Hampshire, who are claiming "tradition" to defend their early voting dates. I agree with this guy from DailyKos on this issue, these states need to get off their high horses and be reminded that the race isn't all about them. It is ultimately about winning the White House, that is it. No ifs, ands or buts.

To top it off, the candidates spend tremendous resources in these tiny states in order to get poll numbers, media buzz and finally a good spot (1st or 2nd place) so that the energy can carry them through the rest of the primaries through the country. It is a ridiculous system that needs to be changed. Perhaps we can just do a national system and be done with this madness and competition between the states.