I must be missing something...

So, the latest "huge" attack from the Clinton campaign is a picture from 2006 featuring Barack Obama dressed in the garb of a traditional Somali elder. When I saw the picture, I thought "Oh cool! I think it's great that Obama is willing to go outside the box and try to converse and get along with members of other faith communities, especially the Muslims who have been getting the bad rap for the last 7 years (or more)!" Apparently this is not what I am supposed to be getting from the picture. I'm supposed to look at the picture and think "Oh my god! Obama's Muslim!! He's goin to change America into an Islamist state and promote bad terrorist things to happen to all of the heathen Americans!" Since my interpretation was so totally different, could someone please tell me what I'm missing? Thanks!

Two guesses as to the subject of this post....

Any more than two guesses would be way too easy, since I'm sure you all got it on the first try....

YAY OBAMA!!!!

See? Told ya so... You didn't need more than two guesses.
I know I'm a little late on this post but better late than never! I wrote this post in my head on Tuesday but didn't quite get around to writing it down...

In any case, yay for Obama's 9th and 10th straight wins! I read today that Hillary will need 57% of the remaining delegates in order to get the nomination. In addition, some of her superdelegates are deserting her for various reasons, mainly to align themselves with their state or distracts choice based on the primaries. Good for them! I think superdelegates should listen carefully to what the voters in their area are saying, no matter if it means more for Clinton or more for Obama.

I was listening to last Saturday's edition of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! on my NPR podcast on Monday and I was literally laughing aloud on the bus to work. My favorite segment was in the first quiz, "Who's Carl This Time." The link above will take you to the show's webpage and if you want to find what I'm about to mention, go to the segment listed above. Or listen to the whole show because it's always pretty hilarious.

One of the questions was about something Obama said in a speech about being ready to take on McCain if needed. That part was funny (involved discussion of boxing and candidates with long arms) but what was really funny was some of the improv following the question. The host, Peter Segal, mentioned how many critics of the Obama campaign are complaining that his following has become cult-like and his rallies are more like revivals. I don't remember which one of the panalists responded but whoever it was said "yeah, but one Obama supporter came back to say 'Well it's obviously not a revival because how many of them have speeches given by Jesus himself!'" I probably paraphrased that a bit but I laughed so hard! The things the panalists (made up of great comedians) come up with are similar to some of the headlines you'd find in The Onion. I particularly found this bit funny because it unabashedly made fun of Obama supporters like me! I like laughing at myself occasionally. The crew at Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! are not afraid of making fun of newsmakers on all sides of political and social debates.

Then Peter Sagel mentioned that some people liken Obama and his supporters to Tom Cruise on the Oprah Show, when he did his monkey dance jumping up and down on the couch (see my post from Summer 05 or '06 for more on that issue...). When I got home I told Eva about this and her reply made my day (it was a very happy, laughy day.)

Eva said "Well, you know that if Obama had a really decisive victory and IF we had a couch, we'd be jumping on it." Leave it to Eva to come up with something funnier than Peter Sagel.

Well, that's all I have to say for the moment. I'm still an ardent fan of Obama and don't forsee this changing. Ever. I read a couple other blog posts that Jonathan "shared" on Google Reader and I'll try to put those links up for those of you who don't have access to Jonathan's "shared" stuff on Google. I have also "shared" them on my Reader account if you're interested. I'm up way too late as it is so I'll just have to post them later.

Yay OBAMA.... And This American Life

Hey loyal blog readers. I'm really tired with abit of a headache so bear with me through this short post.
Take a look at the table below....

Democratic Delegate Count

Needed to nominate:	2025
Total delegate votes:	4049

Candidate	Plgd	Supr	Total*
Obama	1052	160	1212
Clinton	949	242	1191

Feb. 12, 2008 11:56 PM EST
Includes pledged delegates (plgd) plus party / elected officials (supr).
Source: AP

Data table from npr.org
_______________________________
Unless you've been living under a rock the last few days, Barack Obama has SWEPT all the primaires and caususes that have been held after Super Tuesday.

In the wake of this exciting night of three wins for Barack - DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Even more wonderful is that he has a significant lead in these three states unlike some previous primaries that ended pretty much 50-50. The numbers right now are showing over 60% in all the two states and DC. I think Zev was right when he told me that the momentum of the Obama campaign is just getting more and more exciting and getting more and more votes. This will be a very long battle, I do not doubt, with the close number in delegates on the Democratic side. Notice please when you look at delegate counts to see whether or not the total includes superdelegates which say nothing about what the voters of America are saying (for the most part - they are not required to vote according to what their state voters want.)

NPR, my best friend, has several interesting stories and articles about all that math stuff I was bitching about the other night.

What NPR also has is the wonderful show "This American Life." I subscribe the to podcast because sometimes I just get sick of listening to the political podcasts I have or I'm not in the mood to just listen to music. Today it was because I wanted something to listen to while doing laundry (which is a hard feat when almost all 10 dryers are broken and there are hundreds of people in our 22-story building wanting to do laundry but having no dryers....).

If you need a laugh-out-loud funny moment, listen to the episode "The Super." The entire episode is about stories involving building supers. For anyone who is unfamiliar with This American Life, it is a great show where the host finds stories of the most random nature in America and compiles them into hour long shows based on themes. Another one I listened to recently was about matchmaking and my favorite so far was probably the one about the 10 commandments. In "The Super" episode, the first two acts are hilarious, one featuring an alleged Brazilian hit-man who is managing a NYC highrise while the second involves a weight-lifting snowman. The last "act" is more sad though. It is about a young super (who inherited the job and building from his dad) and must learn when to draw the line with tenants. This is by far my favorite episode although the one about quiz shows I listened to yesterday was pretty hilarious and interesting as well.

Yay Maine!

So Obama's won Maine and Hillary Clinton is replacing her campaign manager. Nothing says "I'm really confident about how my campaign is going" like replacing the campaign manager. Yeah. I don't think I need to say anything more. Y'all know I'm excited (about Obama of course, not Hillary's problems!)

Three more wins!

Hooray! In case you have not heard yet, Obama has won Washington State, Nebraska, and Louisiana! It looks like he won Washington and Nebraska with leads of over 30%! His momentum is still going strong and I'm excited. The results from Louisiana are still coming in at this time but he has a definite lead there no matter what - it is no Missouri or New Mexico with the even split votes.

Tomorrow will be interesting for two reasons. The first is that Maine will have it's Democratic Causus with 24 delegates up for grab (it may not seem like much but take into account how close Obama and Clinton were earlier today in terms of pledged delegates - it was a matter of single digits). The second is seeing how the delegates from today's caucuses and primaries are split up. Right now, CNN is saying Clinton has 1085 delegates and Obama has 1009 (this includes the imprecise count of superdelegates which is only an estimate). That is without all of the 78 delegates from Washington State and the 66 delegates from Louisiana split up! (Obama gets 17 of Nebraskas; Clinton gets 7).

Now all this math has kind of messed with my brain over the last week or so. I remember listening to NPR between the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary and hearing one of their political analysts assure us that delegate counts have never really mattered and probably wouldn't matter this year. WRONG! This is an unprecedented year, as far as I know, in terms of uncertainty so late in the primaries. Guess what - delegates count this year. Hard to have missed that now... I'm giving myself a week to make a decision on who's delegate count seems the most accurate because honestly, the news network reporting the numbers influences what those number are until things are more settled in the states. As mentioned in a previous post and comments, we are still waiting for absentee ballots to be counted in many huge states like California, which could make a difference of a few delegates distributed on either side. So far I'm still liking NPR the best! They list superdelegates and pledged delegates in seperate columns before adding them up so we can see just how "firm" Clinton's lead is(n't).


As I look at the above, I am thinking to myself "wow, when did my blog posts get so boring and technical!" Probably around the time I got confused. I'm still trying to figure out who to believe and how much hope to have. One of the stories posted on NPR about 20 minutes ago (but no longer to be found) said Obama had won a "decisive" victory. I'm sorry, people, there is nothing decisive about the Democrats right now. Yes, Obama has caught up well with Clinton and has had decisive leads in three states today, but there is nothing decisive about an overall victory! We're going to have to wait probably until March at least for any decisiveness! Texas and Ohio, two of the "larger" states, get to have their say the first week in March, along with the half dozen of the "smaller" states with primaries and caucuses before March 4. I'm sure there are a lot of math people employed on all sides of the campaign and the media trying to figure out who needs what votes where. However, no one is telling me, that's for sure. I'm just as confused as I was 15 minutes ago when I started writing this post.

Well, I guess satisfaction and security must once again wait for another day (at least in terms of knowing Obama will be our next president).

For now I guess I'll celebrate the wins of today and look forward to having many more suspenseful moments to come in this election year!

Anticlimax anyone?

I'm too tired to write much tonight after being hyped up all day for the primary returns tonight just to be greeted with basically a tie between Clinton and Obama. It will be interesting to see where the rest of the delegates fall tomorrow when all the votes are in. In any case, both candidates seem to be willing to stay in the race after today, meaning people in the later primaries will get a chance to have a say in the nominee (which I guess is good). I would prefer it if Obama had a clear lead though. As a friend told me tonight, though, it is encouraging to see how far Obama came in the past month despite the expectations so if he keeps up this pattern, he can easily win the nomination over Clinton.

As this nomination process is far from over, I would like to point out two pet peeves with American voters.

1. Just because Hillary Clinton is a woman does not mean that all women must vote for her! Just because she is woman does NOT mean she will do what is best for all American woman or even the women abroad caught in the middle of military conflicts! Yes, I would like to see a woman elected. However, I REALLY do not want to see Clinton elected because I believe it will backfire on the chance of women getting elected in the future.

2. Hundreds of thousands of people voted for candidates in both parties who have already WITHDRAWN from the race! If John Edwards says he no longer wants to run for president, VOTE FOR SOMEONE ELSE! In New York, for example, Edwards, Richardson, and Kucinich each got 1% of the vote. I understand people want to show their support to these candidates in some way but I believe it would be more productive to channel that energy into voting for a second choice so that at least the third choice won't get elected! I know this could mean more votes for either Obama OR Clinton but I don't care! I think it is irresponsible (in terms of our civic duty) to vote for someone who has pulled out of a race instead of making considered judgments about who would be the next best person to represent the party. This does not apply to the general elections when people vote for third party candidates. Although it annoys me that sometimes third party votes means my favored candidate does not get elected, at least the third party candidates (such as the Green Party and Independent candidates) are still running for president!!!

Do those objections make sense to you? What do YOU think about the above issues?

In a more positive note, I loved my voting experience today! The polling place workers were really cheerful and encouraging. They were even joking with voters they knew about coming back to vote in November, saying things like "I'll have you a steak here when you come back in November!" It was a nice feeling to be part of such a friendly neighborhood.

One last (maybe) reason to vote for OBAMA tomorrow...

I have written before about my skepticism and dislike of political polls that can negatively affect the actual results, as seen with the New Hampshire Democratic 2008 primary. But after listening to Morning Edition today, I think I have a new appreciation for the fact that polls can report information instead of or in addition to speculation.

The poll that I want to point out for anyone out there who is still undivided about how to vote in tomorrow's primary (if you are one of the states with primaries tomorrow) deals with how Republican voters respond to Democrat candidates. The story is linked above for you. The results of one poll showed that out of Republican voters, Hillary Clinton has a 5% base and Barack Obama has 13% base. This is important for anyone who adamantly does not want another Republican in office. I'm sure these numbers are somewhat dependent on who is the Republican nominee. According to this story, I am not the only liberal out there who would rather vote for McCain if Clinton is the Democrat nominee... So I urge voters to look at these elections with a view towards the long term. We are not just picking who we think is the best speaker or who will "advance" women's rights (which some people think just electing a woman will do even if that woman is not the right person for president). Primaries are about picking the best candidate to run against the opposing side. We have no idea what can happen in the next few months but I think there is a lot to be learned from how people are feeling now.

So that's all I think I have to say before Super Tuesday but I may be back later.

I get to vote as an Illinois resident in less than 24 hours! Yay! This will also be my first election in an actual polling place since elections always happened while I was away in college!

Got inspiration?

I was going to post a review I wrote about the movie Juno earlier today but I got detoured back to what I should have posted about sooner - Barack Obama's victory speech in South Carolina, home of my mom! Of course, if I had written it sooner I would not have been able to include links to Caroline Kennedy's amazing NYTimes Op-Ed piece entitled "A President Like My Father" and Senator Ted Kennedy's wonderful endorsement this morning of Obama.

Today I had a big First in my life - I actually contributed money to a political campaign. I have always viewed it as a kind of sell out or false support because I would like campaigns to be more about the issues and not the money. However, Barack Obama has inspired me in many ways, including his radical ideals of campaign tactics and his deep honesty with his supporters. I couldn't give much because I don't have much right now. However, I feel like I contributed to making change in America.

I got an email today from the Barack Obama campaign (well, actually from Barack Obama because I believe he probably is involved with writing to his supporters). He wanted to emphasize something his campaign manager David Plouffe said in an earlier email. I have quoted it below:

"Here are a few details about our victory in South Carolina. According to the official results and CNN exit polls, Barack won:

• 55% of the total vote, more than twice as many votes as any other candidate
• 57% of voters who had never voted in a primary
• 66% of voters who had never voted before at all
• Every type of community -- urban, suburban, and rural
• 58% of voters between ages 18 and 64
• 67% of voters between ages 18 and 29

The clear lesson from South Carolina is that voters are ready to bring this country together and solve the problems that matter to ordinary Americans.

This election isn't about race or gender, income level or education level.

It's about the past and the future." ~David Plouffe

I think it is time for optimism. Every day I grow more passionate about the ideals Barack Obama supports. It probably has something to do with the inspiring things he says EVERY DAY! He has also bravely resisted the negative campaigning of his competitors, even praising them in his speech on Saturday for being strong and secure in the Democratic party.

It will take you approximately half an hour to watch the speeches of Barack Obama and Ted Kennedy from the last few days. I will also include links below to the texts if you would rather read them. However, at least for Obama's speech, I highly recommend watching or listening to it because the power of the crowd and Obama's strength of character gave me chills throughout his 16 minute speech. In any case, PLEASE read what he has to say at least because it is time to be inspired again. I wasn't lucky enough to be around to hear JFK or Martin Luther King, Jr. Even my parents weren't around to hear Franklin Roosevelt speak about social change. Now my generation has a chance to be inspired by a politician in a way that no other candidate in my memory has been able to do.

Last year I had the honor of being a guest at the 2006 Northwestern University Commencement when Barack Obama was the commencement speaker. I get chills remember just being in the same football stadium as Obama. He was able to reach out to both the liberal graduates and the conservative graduates by addressing them all as agents of change, whatever kind of change they may believe in. Obama is the person who will be able to heal the divide of bipartisanship that gets nothing done!

Four years ago when Obama spoke at the Democratic National Convention, I was lying on the couch at my mom's apartment reading a book with the NPR broadcast of the DNC in the background. When Obama started speaking, I couldn't keep reading. I sat up and listened to the whole speech. I remember saying to mom afterwards, "He could be a great president someday." I hope that someday is really soon.





If any of you in the Chicago area want to join me in helping the campaign in this very important week leading up to Feb. 5, please let me know. I just signed up to help out at the Obama headquarters downtown this week and I hope to hear from them soon about when they need help.

The text of Obama's SC Victory Speech is found here.
The text of Ted Kennedy's speech and introductory remarks by Caroline Kennedy are found here. The text of Obama's reply is also included.
I also included a link above to Obama's DNC speech and to his NU commencement address.

So just take a little time to see what Obama has to say. You can even get podcasts from Obama's webpage! I've taken time to listen to Clinton and Edwards so I'm not making my decisions based only on Obama's charisma. I am basing my decisions based on his power and potential for the betterment of our country. So listen to some of the inspiration I've linked above while cooking dinner or brushing your teeth. It doesn't take a lot of time. Give the time you have to a worthy cause - our country.

An interesting politics poll

According to PollingPoint.com:

I agree with Clinton 44.44 % of the time.

I agree with Obama 88.88 % of the time.

I agree with Edwards 55.55 % of the time.

I agree with Huckabee 22.22 % of the time.

I agree with Romney 11.11 % of the time.

I agree with McCain 22.22 % of the time.

I agree with Thompson 11.11 % of the time.

I agree with Giuliani 22.22 % of the time.

This poll was obviously flawed because I think the only reason they said I agreed even 11.11% with Romney and Thompson is because I indicated that although I do not think the Supreme Court should ban abortion (although I do think abortion is wrong), I am fully against outlawing partial birth abortions. I also think I agree with Obama more like 99.99% of the time and Clinton a whole lot less. Other than the small sample of questions these numbers are taken from, the other flaw I see is what the questions are looking at. I have noticed after reading detailed plans on candidate websites that there are two ways of "agreeing" with candidates. One is agreeing with the overall goals such as ending the war in Iraq or outlawing abortion. This poll does not address what I find more important which is the methods the candidate will use to execute the ideals once in office. Although Obama has been accused of not having enough plans, his website demonstrates otherwise. If you go to BarackObama.com and read the articles under "Issues," it is clear that over numerous years and speeches Obama has outlined the way he wishes to operate in office and get things done. People also complain about his "lack of record" which is ludicrous since the 100s of bills he has supported, authored, or collaborated on during his years in the Illinois State Senate and the US Senate show otherwise. I'm more confident about Obama's plans being carried out than Clintons, thus the reason I agree with Obama more. I guess the poll does show that I like even Edwards more than Clinton which is accurate so maybe it's not as flawed as I think . I guess I find it really hard to believe that I don't agree with 21.22% of Obama's stuff.

Elections 2008 - Super Tuesday is approaching!

As promised, here is a much anticipated (at least by me) post about voting and the 2008 Presidential Election!

I'm very excited about this election year because it is the first time in my life (and not just my voting years but even in high school when politics were discussed a lot) that I have truly believed in a candidate's power to make change for the better of our country. The candidates, at least on the Democratic side, have been exuding positive energy the excites voters and makes the voting something you want to do instead of voting just to vote against someone else (which is what I did in 2004). The only direct exception I can think of is some of Hillary's negative campaigning against Obama in Iowa but since that news uproar (the whole "he just wants power as shown by the fact he said he wanted to be president in kindergarten" debacle"), I haven't heard much more about major negative campaigns by the Democrats. The Republicans are apparently getting a little nasty in South Carolina but that is just another reason my support is with Obama, who has publicly criticized the use of negative campaign strategies (An email was sent to Obama supports asking for a show of support by reaching a goal of 10,000 donors within a certain timeline. This push for fundraising was used as an endorsement of Obama's commitment to shun the use of negative campaign strategies).

I have also noticed in the last several primaries that the leaders have been so close that only a few thousand or even a few hundred have made the difference between first and second place. This is a testament to how much a vote counts! A few thousand may seem like a huge disparity but when you take into account how many people live in each state and in this country, it is a small margin. Indeed, the New Hampshire primary outcome was completely unpredicted since a large number of people who may not have voted initially came out to show support for Hillary Clinton and John McCain. A lot of news analysts have credited McCain's victory to the large number of independents who may have decided to vote in the Republican primary to support McCain instead of the Democratic primary to support Obama, since the polls were predicting a landslide victory for Obama. There is no way to know exactly how much independent voters affected the outcome of these primaries but based on discussions with individuals and general political savvy, it likely made a difference.

That being said, Obama is also expected to win Illinois by a landslide, largely due to this being his "home" state. He is our senator so we know his values, positions, and integrity. However, I still plan on voting on February 5th because I would not be able to forgive myself for not voting if he should win by a smaller than expected margin or should come in second to another candidate. The media and polls influence too much in elections and it is our responsibility as citizens to receive the information provided by the media but to make the ultimate decision of who to vote for based on our own intellect and research. It is also important to vote for your candidate even if polls say he or she will win anyways. What would happen if 3000 other people who were going to vote for that person just decided on election day that it was too cold to walk to the polling place (speaking as a Chicagoan on a very cold day). As we have seen in the past caucuses and primaries, this year of all years it is important that nothing dissuades us from letting our voices be heard in those final numbers on election day.

I'm sure I will have more to say about elections this upcoming year but for now, I hope this is enough to inspire and encourage everyone who reads this to vote, no matter which candidate you support (it would be wrong for me to only tell Obama people to vote).

Let me know if you have any additional thoughts about these elections because I'm always willing to engage in discussions about politics as many of you know.

And last, but not least, I will give you one reason to vote for Obama (I feel a list coming at a later date...). You can get "free" Obama ringtones on his website (you may have to pay a few cents for the 30sec it takes to connect to the internet to download). Enough said.

Just a fluke...

I had big plans to write a post about the privilege of voting today in honor of New Hampshire but I didn't get to it. Then the results came in and I was not in the mood for doing anything, including finishing my laundry.

So, I'm sure some of you might be interested in my response to Hillary's victory in New Hampshire. I was pretty disappointed but not entirely surprised. Eva and I were watching a news story titled "The Obama Factor" on CBS last night and they probably spent 75% of the time talking about Hillary's boost in her NH campaign. Because she lost in Iowa, despite having been a favorite in this campaign for months, Hillary stepped up her campaigning and influenced a lot of people at the last minute. I'll probably include something about last minute campaigning tomorrow as well... Obama still did amazing in New Hampshire which I think the media has been kind of ignoring this evening. He only had 6000 fewer votes than Hillary which is not a lot in the scheme of the country. In addition, if NPR's cool interactive election map is correct, Obama and Hillary actually won the same number of delegates for the National Convention. In addition, only 22 delegates were at stack in NH while Iowa has 45 delegates. I'm not trying to completely discount Hillary's win since it is impressive that she received the most votes. The bottom line, however, is that Obama is still ahead in terms of number of delegates.

The other factor that I haven't really heard being considered is that after the next couple of small primaries, there will be more than one happening at a time and it will be impossible for the individual candidates to travel to the states in question and directly influence the voters as was done in Iowa and NH. The media will still be a source of "information" but I think a lot of Hillary's victory is due to some of her powerful speeches and press conferences in the last few days.

I started writing a lot more but then I realized I was segueing into the post I want to write tomorrow about voting in general. I guess we'll just treat this as a two-part post! I'd love to hear any comments any of you might have on this exciting election year so please feel free to post comments! Plus it makes me feel loved when people comment ;-)

So far I've found NPR the easiest site to navigate for primary and caucus results. I don't have cable so I can't watch all the live coverage on CNN etc. NPR has both stories and the raw numbers on their website so check out the link above. They have also designed the state by state results pages to have other major races such as governor, Congress, and Senate races when those happen.
The final word: Obama doesn't need to bounce back because he's doing a great job pushing ahead. One small loss won't necessarily mess up the whole nomination. I hope...

OBAMA!

YAY! Obama wins Iowa! Yay!!!!

Go here for the story.

I'm excited. It is a good start to 2008.