I've made up my mind

After much thought and consideration into the subject, I have decided that on June 3rd, I will cast my vote for Ron Paul. Although there is a slim-to-none chance for Ron Paul to take the nomination, it sends a message to John McCain that some people aren't happy with his policies and views on the issues.

Paul's views on the war in Iraq, the economy, heath care, and many other items are far greater than John McCain's. McCain has even said that he doesn't know much about the economy, and that is one of his weaker areas. Well, in a time like today, we need someone to have a strong view on the economy, much like Barack Obama and Ron Paul have shown. McCain's policies with staying in Iraq also worry me. My grandparents have served two rounds in Iraq, and I would hate to see them go back for another 6+ months. I feel that we are there for the wrong reasons, and McCain has almost slipped up a couple of times as to the true reasons for us being in Iraq.

I highly encourage New Mexicans to think about this and vote for Ron Paul either now, during early voting, or on June 3rd. When talking to people, be them friends or relatives, or people on the street, I get a sense that many people aren't happy with the war in Iraq, and Ron Paul is the Republican candidate that can help solve these kinds of issues.

You can read more about Ron Paul and his views on the issues on his website: http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

Bush Being Bitter

Over the past couple of days that has been a lot of controversy surrounding President Bush's remarks. Politico.com and Yahoo! held an interview with the President, in which he made a series of remarks that angered myself, as well as Keith Olbermann. Olbermann gave a "special comment" on his show last night that was well beyond what anyone could express... he pretty much summed up what everybody was thinking.
You can read a diary entry that Olbermann wrote on the Daily Kos here.

What pissed me off most about one of the answers that Bush gave, was he said that if a democrat was elected to office, there would be another terrorist attack on the United States. President Bush is just using the good old Republican scare tactics like Hillary Clinton has used throughout this whole campaign. (Anyone see any connections by the way?)

And today, while President Bush is in Israel, he took a cheap shot at Barack Obama. I won't even go into what he said, I'll just give my reaction. What the hell? I mean, the President and his cabinet have had negotiations with North Korea haven't they? Bill Richardson was able to retrieve remains of a soldier from Noth Korea within the past couple of years right? Does he not see that sitting down with world leaders and ambassadors could actually make an impact? I mean, I'm sorry that it hasn't worked for the Bush administration, but Barack Obama has a good point with doing this. Iran has gotten stronger during the President's term. So have Hamas, Hezbollah, AND al Qaeda.

That's one of the reasons why I'm leaning towards Obama. He is willing to sit down and try to work things out, instead of doing the same things that McCain will probably continue that happened during the Bush terms.

And by the way. When Howard Dean called upon McCain to denounce these comments, to give him a chance to separate himself further from President Bush... he agreed! That my friends is the reason why a McCain term in the White House would be bad for our country not only economically, but will do further damage to the United State's standing in the world today.

Why do you think Bush is being this way? Is he acting bitter because of the democrats gaining momentum all accross the country? Is he mad that congress is losing republican seats to democrats in highly conservative districts?

It's sad to see him stoop to this level, though I am not surprised in the least.

Please share your opinions, whether you agree with me or not. I look forward to seeing what others have to say.

Edwards endorses Obama

Let the flood gates open! John Edwards closed the door on Hillary Clinton today when he pledged his endorsement to Barack Obama (In Grand Rapids, Michigan of all places). Obama today played the trump card that he had been holding. He shushed the media talk about Clinton's win in West Virginia, and now the talk is about how much momentum he has.
Edwards carries 18 delegates, which are free to switch over to Obama if they so chose. If they do this, Obama will be close to having a majority of the pledged delegates left, and will surely get them when he wins Oregon.

Now, does this endorsement mean that Edwards will be the VP? Not necessarily. If I remember correctly, I believe Edwards said he wouldn't want to campaign in that spot again. Will he be apart of Obama's cabinet if he becomes president? Most possibly, but we won't know for a while.

It's funny. I was talking with my grandfather today, who is an independent. I asked him about the VP situation, and Hillary Clinton came up. He said jokingly: "I'd make her ambassador to Antarctica where we wouldn't hear from her for a long time." That made me laugh, hopefully it helps you laugh as well.

Time to get the ball rolling!

(You can read the AP article here.)

Edit: You can view a video of Edwards's endorsement here. And you can view his full speech here.

Clinton's Campaign Manager got it wrong

I want to congratulate Clinton on her win in West Virginia. I wish Obama had actually campaigned (tried) there, maybe he could have decreased Clinton's margin of victory.

I'm watching Hillary's campaign manager speak on MSNBC right now about why Florida and Michigan should be seated. He just said that it isn't Florida's fault that they moved their campaign up because it was done mostly by a Republican Governor. Am I mistaken? I didn't think that the governor really had any control over when elections were held. It was up to the Democratic Party in Florida - wasn't it? I think it's funny how he's trying to blame it on the Republicans, when really it was his own party's fault.

I want to add one more thing. I think it's hilarious seeing all of these Hillary Clinton supporters saying "McCain or Hillary in '08". Seems Hillary supporters don't agree with her own views on issues. McCain is pro-war, doesn't know ANYTHING about the economy, and of course fails in knowledge on a lot of other issues. Do Hillary supporters want the dollar to keep declining? Do they really want to stay in Iraq for 100 years? I'm just loving this tantrum that they are throwing because their candidate most likely won't win.

I'll come out and say it, I'm leaning towards Obama. (If you've read my entries, you can probably tell.) I don't think I would have any problem voting for Clinton, though I don't agree with her on some issues, McCain is no better. Both are exceptional candidates. Although I've made calls trying to rack up votes for Obama, I don't think it would be terrible or devastating to have Clinton in the White House.

Edit- Another funny slip up tonight that I saw earlier. I think it was a congressman from West Virginia who called John McCain: John McBush. Priceless. I'll try to find a video of it, or if anyone finds one before me, please post the link in the comments.
Edit 2- You can view the video here.

New Mexico Add-on for Obama

There was a lot of controversy here in New Mexico when Laurie Weahkee was chosen as our add-on superdelegate. At the time, Weahkee claimed to be undecided, but there was speculation that she might endorse Obama because, coming from a Native American background, there has been a lot of support from Obama from the Native Americans. Hillary Clinton won New Mexico by a slim-margin, but has gotten the support of 6 superdelegates so far including Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish and Albuqueruqe mayor Martin Chavez.
There was a lot reported on the subject on the news and in the Albuquerque Journal, asking questions about whether Brian Colón, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico appointed Weakhee because he knew she would endorse Obama (Colón later endorsed Obama on May 5th). You can read more about the controversy on Heath Haussamen's blog.
Weahkee became the 270th superdelegate to endorse Obama according to his blog.

New Mexico has 11 of 12 of their superdelegates supporting a candidate. Clinton has 6, while Obama has 5. Congressman Tom Udall has yet to endorse a candidate, but there has been speculation that he has been leaning towards Obama. (He insists, however, that he is still uncommitted.)

In other New Mexico politics news, I got polled the other day by the Steve Pearce campaign. Congressman Pearce is running against Congressman Heather Wilson for Pete Domenici's vacated seat. I am supporting Heather Wilson in this race, and probably will support her all the way through to the general election. (I hope others will do the same, she has done great things for New Mexico.)

Bob Barr seeking Presidency

So a commenter the other day asked me to research a bit about Bob Barr. I have been doing some reading in the past couple of days, and today when he announced that he will be seeking the Libertarian nomination for president - I thought it would be fitting to write my opinions on him.
It seems that he has some republican backing. He was elected as a republican to congress in Georgia. Reason Magazine notes that he is "one of the most conservative members of Congress." And from reading a bit on wikipedia, it looks like he was one of the major contributors to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He has also been an advocate for the War on Drugs.

While being a tough conservative, as well as not afraid for speaking out; with Barr possibly receiving the nomination for the Libertarians could possibly take votes from John McCain. By reading some stories, he has a strong support group, much like Ron Paul (though I don't think as strong). With Ron Paul running as a Libertarian in the past, I really believe that a Barr/Paul ticket could attract votes that McCain would potentially get. Does anyone else agree?

Link to CNN article

Super Tuesday Part II Analysis - Obama's night

I was keeping my eye on the T.V. and computer all night. We all knew from the beginning that Obama would take North Carolina, but I wasn't expecting it by so much. Didn't recent polls say Clinton got within 6-8 points? The one I kept my eye on all night (like most of the nation) was Indiana. It went from about a 22 point lead, down to 18, to 16, to 14, then finally down to Clinton having 50.7% of the vote and Obama having 49.3% of the vote. Clinton won by about 1.4%. (I did my homework this time folks!)
One thing that puzzled me all night was Lake County. I was watching CNN when the mayor from Hammond and the mayor form Gary were arguing about why the votes were taking so long to count. (The mayor from Hammond made a fool out of Mayor Clay.) The mayor from Hammond even suggested earlier that there might be some suspicious activity going on. Well, if there was some shady things going on, then I think Obama would have won by a larger margin.
All in all, I think it was a great night for Obama. Coming off of a hard last few weeks, being ridiculed about every movement, and standing up against John McCain's gas tax, he did better than I expected him to... especially in Indiana where according to Polls, Clinton had a 4-6 point lead. Look for a ton of superdelegates to make their way to Obama today. One already has, and he switched over from supporting Clinton. (Edit: Upon looking into this, it doesn't look like he is a superdelegate, rather just an endorser.) Another Edit: It appears as if 4-5 more superdelegates endorsed Obama today.

I now think it is time for Clinton to drop out. She loaned her campaign an additional $6.4 million last month, and there is no way that she can raise enough money to make any decent strides. (Although West Virginia and Kentucky look very much in play for her) When she was making her speech last night, and I looked at Bill Clinton, he didn't have a smile on his face. It was like he was staring into space... or at something else if you get my drift.

I just want to add one more thing before I close. I love it when Lanny Davis goes onto CNN to add his opinion... he makes such a fool out of himself. I remember him talking about last night about democratic states that Hillary will win that Obama won't, and he mentioned Utah. I mean... euhm... Utah is probably one of the most, if not THE most, republican state in the US. Does he even check his facts before talking? Probably not. I can't wait for Flavia Colgan to get on there in a debate with him again so she can make an even bigger fool out of him like she always does.

Do you think it's time for Clinton to drop out? Is there any chance left?

Should McCain have a debate with Ron Paul?

Yes, I found this while browsing as well. On a grassroots website for Ron Paul, there is a poll on their front page asking whether if Ron Paul should have a debate with John McCain. I for one would love to see a debate like this. Although I am disappointed to say this, this won't really help Ron Paul get the nomination this late in the election. I do, however, think that it will help him expose John McCain on his lack of knowledge on the issues.

I would also be interested to see if John McCain would accept or decline the offer. If he does decline, you can bet the Ron Paul supporters will be pulling "he is afraid" card. Ron Paul has everything to gain, and John McCain has a lot to lose, so I can see why McCain would decline the debate in the first place.

Results so far have 971 people saying yes, while 39 people say no. You can view the poll at: http://www.ronpaul.com/.

So what do you think? Should McCain debate Paul on the issues? Why or why not?

The good thing about the internet

While I was browsing Digg today, I came across an image with the digg entitled "What I hate about Digg". In the description, the digger isn't very happy with how Obama and Hillary are being portrayed on the internet.

And no, we won't just hide the 2008 Elections section from our accounts. The election is interesting. Hearing how ONE candidate is awesome and all the other suck is not interesting. It's spam, and it's annoying.

The image shows how top stories are mainly anti-Clinton or pro-Obama. While the media has hit Barack Obama hard, or given much attention to Hillary Clinton (CNN to mention one), the internet has provided a place for people to share news and stories about why they think Obama, or any other candidate for that matter, is the best choice for President. Bloggers, journalists, and many other people have conveyed their support for Obama, and the number of "diggs" shows that people agree. The internet users want to make sure that their opinion is heard (much like the reason I made this blog) and this is the best way to do it. It is no one's fault that the Obama supporters are taking advantage of this.
And this isn't just on Digg. I browse Reddit and I see the same story. Anything with a title bashing Clinton, or Obama for that matter shows up with a lot of comments and positive/negative points.

Has the internet had much influence on the election? Has it had any influence on you or anyone you know in particular?

Conservatives not phased by Obama relation

During the past few weeks, there has been a lot of media speculation as to how placing Barack Obama beside a potential democratic congressman would affect the election. In Louisiana's 6th Congressional District election, Don Cazayoux (a democrat) and Woody Jenkins (a republican) vied for the voters to be elected to congress, in a remotely vast conservative district, including the Baton Rouge area. (The republicans have held the seat for more than twenty years!)
The National Republican Congressional Committee contributed more than $1 million to try and hold the seat, even placing ads trying to tie Cazayoux to Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, asking whether Obama and Pelosi are right for Louisiana. (You can view the ad here.)
On Saturday, a total of 101,011 6th District voters went to the polls, and elected Don Cazayoux to congress 49.20% to 46.27%. (Full results here.)

The Republicans tried all they could so they would be able to hold this seat, but failed. The attempt to try and spoil the election by tying Obama to Rep. Cazayoux didn't work - and that should be an eyeopener to the superdelegates. This mainly conservative district wasn't phased by the relation to Obama, and that could be a sign for the general election.
If I read correctly, the Republicans now hold only 199 seats in the House, and there is another hyped up battle in the 1st congressional district in Mississippi between Travis Childers (democrat) and Greg Davis (republican). We will see how this election turns out soon.

Please don't forget to vote in the poll to the right, and comment!

John McCain or Ron Paul? Tell me!

The New Mexico Primary is just under one month away, and Ron Paul is still on the ballot, and I have not left him off my radar.
This is your chance to tell me which candidate you think is better (I listen to all arguments and comments). I have (will have) a poll on the right side of the page under navigation so I can get a feeling for what people are feeling - But! please remember that comments tell more than just a few numbers. It is very stupid to make a decision, or have your decision influenced by polls.
I'll give some thoughts on who I'm thinking of voting for right now. At this moment, I am leaning towards Ron Paul. Now, I know it is highly unlikely that he will be the nominee, but it is more of sending a "message" to John McCain that I am not happy with his policies, most importantly his stance on the economy and the Iraq war.

So, what do you think? John McCain or Ron Paul?

Bill Clinton... does he know what he is saying?

Over the course of Hillary Clinton's campaign, good ol' Bill has been there to campaign for her and reiterate what she has said. In my opinion, he's done more harm than good, and hasn't really paid any attention to the campaign at all... only the items that were exposed by the media. We all remember the Bosnian sniper fire that Hillary had said she endured. Bill said that Hillary was tired at night when she made the statements, but she had said it on three different occasions according to ABC News. But I wont go into the details of this story.
Hillary Clinton sat down with Bill O'Reilly a couple of days ago. There was a little discussion about taxes. O'Reilly is asking how high Clinton will raise taxes, she said about 36-39% for those making more than $250,000 and O'Reilly acts like he is complaining (or maybe he is) about it and trying to get her to slip up. Later during the tax convo, this is what happens:

Clinton: No, I'm not waffling. I'm saying I'm not going to impose additional burdens on middle-class families. And there are a lot of people...
O'Reilly: But I'm not a middle-class family. I'm a rich guy.
Clinton: Well, and you know what? Rich people, God bless us. We deserve all the opportunities.

When I heard that, (thank god for DirectTV), I hit the rewind button. I listened to it over and over, and yes people, she said that. Ok, so we now get a sense of the "elitist" side of Hillary Clinton. You can view this part of the interview here.
In West Virginia, while campaigning for his wife, Bill said this:

"The great divide in this country is not by race or even income, it's by those who think they are better than everyone else and think they should play by a different set of rules," he said. "In West Virginia and Arkansas, we know that when we see it."
(Thank you to Yahoo! news for the quote.)

Let's look at this for a minute. Of course, we know that he is referring to Barack Obama. The first thing I will point out is the "who think they are better than everyone else" line. Hillary's comments on O'Reilly proved this to put the Clintons into this category. (That was simple to put that one into perspective!) And now we have the "think they should play by a different set of rules" line. At the beginning of the election season when Michigan and Florida moved up their election dates, and violated DNC rules, they were punished and their delegates wouldn't be seated. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and everyone else agreed not to campaign in these states, heck Obama's name wasn't even on the Michigan ballot.
Now, Clinton wants the delegates in Michigan and Florida to be seated. She had agreed to the rules before, but of course, she wants to break them now because she is losing. That places Clinton into the potential "wanna-be" rule breaker party. So all Bill Clinton did was describe his wife, while trying to take a jab at Obama.

I think it is time for Bill Clinton to just sit back and let his wife handle things. He's caused a lot of controversy with the statements and actions of his wife - and it's hurting her campaign -- I know with all of this happening I'm very likely not going to vote for Clinton come November. (If she even gets the nomination that is)

Why John Edwards won't endorse Hillary Clinton

One of the superdelegates that we are all waiting for to endorse a candidate is John Edwards. Shortly after Senator Edwards dropped out of the race, it was well known that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were in private meetings with him. Hillary was the first (within a few days) to jump on the chance to meet one on one with the former Presidential candidate, while Obama didn't even meet with him (or did he? I remember he "postponed" the meeting). The matters of these meetings were never really disclosed, but I'm sure we are all smart enough to determine what was going on behind closed doors.
In a debate on MSNBC in October of 2007, Edwards made his views clear as to why Clinton should not become president.
Addressing Hillary Clinton:

"Another reason why the republicans keep on talking about Senator Clinton is because Senator they may actually want to run against you, and that's the reason they keep bringing you up."

"Will she be the person who brings about change in this country? You know, I believe in Santa Claus, and I believe in the tooth fairy, but I don't think that's going to happen... I really don't. And I think if people want the status quo - Senator Clinton is your candidate."
(You can see the tape of this segment here.)

If you remember a few days ago, I made a post saying the exact same thing. The reason the Republicans and John McCain are attacking Barack Obama is because they think it will be easier to run against Clinton and win. Now, I do think John Edwards was running for Vice President (again) in this campaign, and I do believe that when he makes his endorsement it will be for Obama. One of the main things that Edwards and Obama have fought for since the beginning of this race, is to go after the lobbyist influence on Washington. There has been speculation that Edwards will be Obama's running mate and it will be announced shortly after the endorsement, but that is just one of the many rumors floating around. And I honestly have no problem with that, I think they would be a better ticket than Kerry/Edwards.
So, I think this will honestly be another big endorsement for Obama, the only question is... when?