I know the vast majority of BOR readers and participants live in Texas.
I don't live in Texas.
But I want to tip my hat to BOR regardless. Thanks for kickass coverage this primary and effective activism -- even if there is still more to do against Craddick and company.
It now comes down to Lt. Col. Rick Noriega. I, for one, am confident John Cornyn is going to get one giant shitburger of a race. After the jump is why I contributed another $25 to Noriega -- it has nothing to do with him winning the nomination.
Right now the Clinton campaign sounds like children who aren't getting their way and the Obama campaign sounds distant and unsympathetic when it comes to questions about Michigan and Florida. Their is no good position to take on the situation. Until now!
The Obama campaign can come out smelling like roses and possibly land a blow on Clinton's chin. Obama should tell both the Michigan and Florida legislatures that they want their citizens votes to count and to that end he is willing to donate $5 mill to each state to help pay for the caucuses (which most news sources are citing as costing $10 mill). He should then turn to Clinton and ask for her to pony up the other $5 mill per state. She has the option of saying "no" and looking like chump or dolling out the $5 mill per state from her campaign funds. It's a put up or shut up moment. Let Obama use his pocketbook power to hit Clinton where it hurts.
The caucuses would obviously favor Obama, but if it comes down to it then Obama can probably pony up half of the $20 mill price tag for a "re-primary" in Florida and still won more than a couple "good sport" votes. Obama still has the money and can ask Clinton to put up or shut up.
The real hang up in both states isn't the willingness to have "do-overs" but the availability of funds to run a caucus/primary. Before this turns into a very, very ugly fight at the convention credentials committee and the party loses entire populations of supporters in Michigan and Florida (which will hurt the party in November) this should be dealt with.
This is Obama's argument to win. He has to side with the voters, this is all about hope and change and protecting the rights of every person, this is Obama's campaign in a nutshell. Simply, Obama can tell Clinton to put up or shut up and can win this battle of the war.
Here is a look at the three biggest federal races. We'll include more races later on, if they're close, as the night develops. The Republican primary race in CD-22 to run against Congressman Nick Lampson is below the fold.
In 2004, just over 800,000 voted -- period -- in the primary.
When all was said and done, the increase in early vote totals in Texas' top 14 counties alone almost exceeded the 2004 totals. Here is the final early vote totals -- tomorrow, we see the real thing.
TX Primary Early Vote Totals - Only TX Top 14 Counties
Last Friday, Jerid Kurtz and Tim Russo of Buckeye State Blog -- the top political blog in Ohio -- invited me to have a conference call conversation about the latest news in the primaries.
We talked about the Clinton campaign's national security ad, how new paper ballots in Ohio could slow down reporting of numbers on Tuesday, NAFTA, our thoughts on what may happen Tuesday, and more. I also made fun of their sports teams about 10 times (hook 'em). I haven't listened to it yet -- I apologize in advance if I sound like an idiot.
To read and learn more about everything in Ohio, be sure to bookmark and visit Buckeye State Blog. Trust me -- you'll know a lot more about what's going on in Ohio tomorrow by staying in touch with their blog than watching CNN or (God forbid) MSNBC.
I am writing today in an appeal to all Democratic Primary Voters to carefully consider their choice when selecting the candidate to support. Primaries are always hard, it's a pit of brother against brother, and the difficulty of setting yourself apart from your opponent without destroying relationships with your own allies approaches impossibility. We find ourselves in the State of Texas this year not only in the rare position of a primary that not only matters but could in fact prove decisive, but also with two exceptional candidates for office. For some time, I wavered in my support for a single candidate, trying to cut through the media bias and the inevitable campaign rhetoric, trying to discern for myself which candidate would in fact make the best President. While I certainly have been both moved and impressed by Barack Obama and his ability to motivate a crowd to action, I have to ask myself if this a great President makes. One can never dismiss the value of being able to motivate people, it's what gets people to the polls and gets people engaged both in politics and the world around them. Just words? No, words have power, there is no more effective tool than words to influence the hearts and minds of men and to motivate them to action. However, does the ability to stir a crowd make for a good judge of policy or the wisdom to develop such policy?
The latest People Calling People/Call Voyager Texas Poll shows results for actual early voters. It gives Clinton the edge by 8 points, w/ MoE of 3.9%. I guess that's no surprise, you'd expect the early voters to skew older, where she has always been strong.
They've been running a series of these polls in Texas, almost every night. You can download the previous results also. Here are the highlights from the web site:
• Feb. 18 - "Loyal" Texas Democrats Prefer Obama
• Feb. 19 - Hispanic Texans Overwhelmingly Favor Clinton
• Feb. 20 - Texas Republican Crossovers a Major Factor
• Feb. 21 - Clinton narrowly leads among Texas Women
• Feb. 22 - Clinton leads among Texans who watched Debate
• Feb. 25 - Clinton holding support among Texas seniors
• Feb. 26/27 - Clinton leads among early Texas voters
• Feb. 28 - Predicted Turnout Analysis (NOT COMPLETED)
• Feb. 29 - Independent & Republican Crossover (NOT COMPLETED)
• Mar. 2 - Final Statewide Horserace (NOT COMPLETED)
(Volunteer if you can -- take a day off from work or school, let us know about your experience, and we'll feature your story on BOR after the election is over! - promoted by Phillip Martin)
Passed along from The Travis County Democratic Party (512) 477-7500 (info@traviscountydemocrats.org):
Here's the deal, if we don't get enough folks to work these precinct polling locations, THEY WILL HAVE TO BE COMBINED!! This will lead to much confusion, turning first-time voters off, and possible voter disenfranchisement for both the primary and caucus!
If you are an Election Judge worried about missing your own caucus, you can hand off the post-poll closing paperwork delivery to an alternate judge or clerk.
If you can work basically 7am-7pm on election day, please read more below...
I am a precinct chair. I am trying to guess this right now. Your guess is as good as mine. Join the fun! Let's all guess! I will post the results on the day after the election because I'm sure as heck going to a party and get drunk after my caucus. The person who gets the closest to the actual number of voters that show up, without going over the number, is the winner!
Winner gets .... A NEW CAR! .... um no... a PONY.... no ... a lollipop. No. A lock of my hair which I am tearing out. o.O
