Pyrrhus Would Be Proud Of Clinton's Win Last Night

The term 'pyrrhic victory' comes from the life and times of Pyrrhus of Epirus, who was able to win battles but at a costly price. He was a known as a great general (like the Clinton family when it comes to commanding campaigns) but ultimately became the butt of a historic joke that was coined when he beat his adversaries but lost much of his army at the same time. The battles he lost were eventually overcome by his up and coming opponent, the Roman Republic. Although I will my best not to try to compare Obama with the Romans, they were certainly a force of change in the region at the time, much as Obama is.

So how exactly was her win pyrrhic? Well, she won three states last night in their respective primaries (though the Texas caucus is still undecided this morning). Her camp is calling it a great victory and that she sought out to do what she wanted to. Well I hate to rain on her parade, but 380 out of the last 1000 delegates were decided last night, and she ate into Barack's 130 pledged delegate lead by maybe one or two, perhaps three or four if she's really lucky.

Now if I was a statistician for Senator Clinton and I was down 130 delegates with 38% decided in one night, I'd want to at least gain at least 50 delegates or more to start plugging the gap. We all know the final totals from last night won't yield ten percent of that number. So Senator Clinton can talk all she wants about her big victory last night, but really, in the scheme of things, it was a wash. This primary is about all fifty states, as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Democrats Abroad, not slim margins of victory in Texas and Ohio.

Election Day Is Over, But The Votes Are Still Being Counted

It is about midnight here in New York and this election day extravaganza is far from over. Obama won Vermont at about 6 to 4 and Clinton got Rhode Island by about the same margin, but the results from Texas and Ohio still have quite some time to process themselves out. Nothing has been heard from the caucuses yet and the big cities of Texas and especially Ohio have not been counted to a large degree. Ohio doesn't expect to count their most populous city until 4:30 in the morning, long after I'm dreaming about ballot boxes and stump speeches.

So a fair guess would narrow Clinton's lead in Ohio and make Texas a virtual tie. Clinton could possibly win both states, but this isn't a winner take all system, as much as Clinton's campaign might want it to be at this moment. When this is all said and done, Senator Clinton may shave off a few delegates from Obama, but she'll still be far behind him in the delegate count. Ultimately, winning states is symbolic, the marathon of pledged delegates (and unfortunately the supers as well) is what truly matters.

Of course we may (and will) hear it spun a different way, that a Clinton win in Texas and Ohio shows a mandate for her to press on and keep the campaign going to Pennsylvania and beyond. Rush Limbaugh seems to love this, but I have to agree with Kos that the more Democratic voters pay attention to the race now the better off the party is. The more engaged the base is through grassroots networking and having a stake in the way the primary shakes out, the worse off McCain is in November.

Finally, speaking of mandates and McCain, one thing was decided for sure tonight. That is McCain and Bush are getting tighter and closer together than ever before. All for the better I say.

Budh Visits Rhode Island, Shocks The World With His Mouth

If you lost count on how many times George Bush has been to Texas, you're not alone. But if you are into keeping records on his visits to the other 49 states, you'd know that Rhode Island among othe states haven't even seen The Decider, until now. Even if you blink and miss the state while driving up or down the I-95, it is still no excuse for the President to not visit all of the states in the union. To his credit though, it isn't like anyone wants to hear the garbage that comes out his mouth anyways. Too bad the students at the Naval War College had to endure it two days ago. So did the entire world evidently.

From The International Heral Tribune:

NEWPORT, Rhode Island: President George W. Bush held up Israel as a model for defining success in Iraq, saying Thursday that the goal of the U.S. mission in the war-ravaged Arab nation is not eliminating attacks but enabling a democracy that can function despite continuing violence.

With his Iraq policies under increasing fire from the American public and lawmakers from both parties, Bush went to the U.S. Naval War College here to declare progress. As he pleaded for patience, his top national security aide went to Capitol Hill to meet with Republican critics.

I love Israel, but this is about geopolitics, not my own personal opinion. To tell Muslim nations that we want to turn Iraq into the new Israel is a bad idea. Let me rephrase that. Modeling Israel for Iraq is an insanely idiotic thing to say. If anyone knows even a spec about the Middle East and the nations within the region, you would not mention Israel as a goal to adhere to. If they don't hate us enough over there, the vehemence is about to be spiked up to another degree for Bush's complete and total ignorance.