North Carolina & Indiana Primary Results

And the results start pouring in. Here are the first numbers being released from the Indiana Democratic primary which took place throughout the day. With 10% precincts reporting this is where we currently stand. North Carolina has been called for Barack Obama.

• 16% of Precincts Reporting (Indiana):
  

STATE	Candidate	Total
Indiana	Clinton, Hillary	57%
	Barack Obama	43%
North Carolina	Hillary Clinton
	Barack Obama (Winner)

Some not so great news comes in the form of an email to which Andrew Sullivan received earlier today and then posted on his site. To say it's not encouraging is putting it lightly:

I went to the polls to vote today in a blue collar suburb in the Chicago media market, and what I saw afterward wasn't pretty. My mom and I got done pushing the button for Obama and decided to go to a Main Street diner for breakfast before reporting late to work. What did I hear? The following, utterly depressing "Quotes for the Day": "If he's the nominee, you know his running mate will be Farrakhan." "I had no problem with him until I found out he was a Muslim."

I'm a pretty easygoing guy, and I often avoid confrontation like the plague, but that last one sent me straight out of my comfort zone. From my booth across the dining room, I piped up and objected, saying that he wasn't a Muslim, that it was an email smear, and blatantly untrue. I was prepared to deflect any bullshit defenses hurled my way. But I never got one. What I got in response was depressing (but expected) in its illogic: "Well, I can't take that chance.

To deny the fact Clinton has successfully used Karl Rove's sickening tactics on Obama now becomes nothing more then comical. It is beyond obvious what she has done in this primary race, and as far as my opinion regarding her -- well let's just say I no longer have an inkling of respect, nor will I be able to ever cast a vote for Hillary Clinton.

Perfect Example of Why This Primary Needs to End ASAP

Every night the pundits on every network news program argue whether or not the continuation of the Democratic primary is hurting the party's chances for victory come next November. I have long stated that I thought this infighting between Obama and Clinton was incredibly harmful to the party overall, only to be told many times how wrong I was. Well, here is a quote that was featured over on Andrew Sullivan's site that pretty much sums up why I feel this thing needs to come to a conclusion ASAP:

"I am definitely going to try to go with Hillary. I almost feel like [Obama's] the anti-Christ from the Middle East,"
- Mary Bunger, a 44-year-old single mom from Abington, rural Indiana.

Now I realize the base of Hillary's support structure are somewhat --to put it politely-- "loopy", but this takes it to an entirely new level. Hopefully Hillary, when she finally steps aside, will address these issue's with her supporters, and somehow un-brainwash them, eliminating this asinine beliefs many of them hold.

Beware - Celebrity Endorsement: Tom Hanks Endorses Obama

Mark Halperin of TIME Magazine reported late Saturday that Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks is endorsing Barack Obama for President. Watch video of Hanks' endorsement below, which is both compelling and in depth, especially when comparing it to many celebrity endorsements:

Beware: Celebrity Endorsement

All Signs Point to a Split Decision Regarding Tuesday's Primary

With less then 24 hours left until the polls open in North Carolina and Indiana, the most recent polling data shows that the Democratic presidential race will more then likely end up as a split decision on Tuesday. According to the Real Clear Politics average of recent major polls, Barack Obama continues to hold his lead in North Carolina, while Hillary Clinton is ahead in Indiana.

• North Carolina

Hillary Clinton: 42.2%
Barack Obama: 49.2%

• Indiana

Hillary Clinton: 47.3%
Barack Obama: 41.5%

As you can see it is becoming more and more apparent that the candidates will both celebrate a victory a piece tomorrow night. That said, as we have come to learn this primary season, the polls can, and often will be -- statistically off in terms of the final outcome.

"Mission Accomplished": McCain & Bush Agree Iraq Was a Cakewalk

Happy Birthday to Mission Accomplished in Iraq! Watch as this video captures the "real" John McCain; highlighting his fever pitched proclamation that "This Is A Mission Accomplished" when referring to Iraq during an interview on ABC News' "This Week." Also included within this brand new advertisement is McCain relentlessly stating over and over just how "easy" it was too successfully invade Iraq, and that the military, and Iraqi citizens morale couldn't be higher. Unfortunately, these statements do not ring true, our forces are bogged down in the middle of Arabia and are fresh off their worst month in close to a year regarding battlefield casualties. So as the death toll in Iraq continues to climb day after day I hope that people will at least take a second to watch this clip, especially if you plan on voting for Senator McCain. It's important that you are aware of what your candidate is all about, and in this case the reality of McCain and Iraq is nothing more then a George W. Bush analysis with the same talking points:

In honor of McCain's praise, and analysis of the the Iraq War I thought it was important to share this breaking news mainly because it shows just how bad the situation over there really is. The Associated Press reports on a series of suicide bombings taking place in Iraq -- in honor of Bush and McCain's "Mission Accomplished" day anniversary. One of these suicide bombings focused on a wedding reception and ended up taking the life's of 35 men, women and children who were in attendance, while injuring approximately 26 American soldiers:

BAGHDAD — Two suicide bombers attacked a wedding caravan Thursday as it drove through a crowded market district past bystanders cheering the bride and groom, killing at least 35 people and wounding 65 in a town northeast of Baghdad, officials said.

In the capital, a bomb-rigged parked car exploded when a U.S. patrol went by in a crowded area earlier in the day, leaving a U.S. soldier and at least nine Iraqis dead. The attack also wounded 26 Iraqis and two American soldiers.

The terror attacks came amid heightened worries that al-Qaida in Iraq is regrouping despite recent security gains by U.S.-led forces, which find themselves facing intensified fighting with Shiite extremists, particularly in Baghdad's militia stronghold of Sadr City.

In the suicide assault, a woman bomber blew herself up as people were dancing and clapping while members of the passing wedding party played music in Balad Ruz, a predominantly Shiite town 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.

A male bomber attacked minutes later as police and ambulances arrived at the scene, said Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim al-Rubaie, head of the Diyala provincial operations center that oversees Balad Ruz.

You really have to ask yourself why, in the good lords name, would anyone who really cared about our service men and women want this to continue. It has escalated to a point where our soldiers are not the focus of attacks, instead they are the victims of a sectarian conflict which has been silently going on for the last 1000 years.

President George W. Bush got us into this quagmire, and John McCain wants to continue our involvement. It's really that simple. So we as a country have to ask ourselves why would we elect a man who will continue the atrocious policies of the current president, the policies and decision making that has this president's approval rating in the mid-low 20th percentile. We made a huge mistake in '04 by re-electing this man, we learned our lesson, now I just hope we can avoid making the same mistake a second time around. And electing Senator John McCain would in fact be a colossal mistake.

More Bad News for the Economy: Layoffs Rise 68% From March to April

WASHINGTON-- The Associated Press is reporting that the number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits soared last week. The Labor Department reported Thursday that claims for unemployment benefits rose by 35,000 to 380,000. Private economists had expected claims would rise by a smaller 18,000.The report on jobless claims came a day ahead of a report on unemployment for April.

Economists expect that report will show that the unemployment rate edged up to 5.2 percent in April, from 5.1 percent in March. The economy is expected to lose 70,000 jobs, the fourth straight month of job losses.

Michael Moore Visits Larry King and Talks About the Current Election

One of my personal favorites, Michael Moore, appeared on Larry King Live last night to talk about all that's going on in the political spectrum including his open, and strong support for Senator Barack Obama. Moore was not shy when it came to his views on Hillary Clinton’s campaign, what he sees wrong with it, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright sideshow, which has slowly but surely morphed into a full three ring circus -- of course, his views and opinions surrounding GOP candidate, Senator John McCain. The always slick host, Larry King (that was sarcasm for any who didn't pick up on it) at one tried excessively to coax Moore into praising McCain, much in the same fashion as the entire mainstream media does.

Moore however wasn't having it, and resisted King's razor sharp tactics saying that McCain would simply run an extension of a Bush presidency, which would include even more disastrous policies and decisions. Continuing in his critique of McCain, Michael Moore made a very intelligent yet witty argument:

“…And we’ve seen him angry. And as a senior citizen maybe he’s experiencing things now, as an elderly American where it’s not the same as if he were a young person in this country. Certainly, if he wanted to go and get a job other than U.S. Senator, at his age, he’d have a pretty hard time, wouldn’t he?”

As you can see below we have provided video of Moore's appearance which comes to us courtesy of the good people over at Crooks & Liars. I suggest you give it a look, especially if you are not all that familiar with Moore and his ability to speak the truth, regardless of it's popularity at the time.

The 50 Most Influential Political Pundits in the United States

Telegraph.co.uk has released their fourth annual list of the 50 most influential political pundits in the United States. With a little over six months before America heads to the polls too choose who will become the 44th president, the '08 elections already proven to be the one of the most fascinating and arguably one of the closest election in American history. Now I am not going to list all 50 right here, I will list numbers 20 through 11 and then give the last installment, of 1 through 10 tomorrow when the Telegraph released them. However if you are interested in seeing the list in it's entirety you can do so here. That said, let's take a look at numbers 20 through 11 of the most influential political pundits who are currently front and center, shaping the nations view and opinions on the current, and often times volatile 2008 Presidential election:

• 20) Joe Klein: One of the most readable columnists today, Democrats take notice if he spots a shift in the electoral zeitgeist.His column in Time has been questioned for its accuracy on occasion, but remains required reading. The author of the best-selling Primary Colours on Bill Clinton’s 1992 primary campaign, he is an admirer of George W Bush the man, if not his policies.

• 19) Donna Brazile: The first African American to run a presidential campaign, she ended up a loser with Al Gore in 2000, but has become a regular contributor to CNN’s political coverage. Her punditry offers direct, plain-spoken advice to candidates of both parties.

• 18) Frank Luntz: Luntz’s televised focus groups, shown on Fox News, immediately help define which candidate has won or lost a debate. A crafter and analyst of political language and campaign messages, he is adept at telling you what politicans mean by what they are saying as well as how they should be saying what they mean.

• 17) Andrew Sullivan: British-born writer who embraced blogging early and whose Daily Dish blog, now parented by Atlantic Monthly, drives much of the American political conversation. A self-described conservative who supported the Iraq invasion, he has become an unstinting critic of President Geroge W. Bush, the Iraq war and US interrogation practices.

• 16) Glenn Beck: A CNN Headline News presenter, host of America’s fourth most popular talk radio show, Beck’s recent “An Inconvenient Book” took on not only Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” film about global warming but also the United Nations, radical Islam, political correctness and media bias – amongst many other targets.

• 15) Bill Maher: Comedian, actor, writer and producer, Maher has found the perfect niche with his weekly HBO show, where his astute wit works to the full. An A-List guest line up, and discussion of a range of topics mean there is rarely a dull moment.

• 14) Chuck Todd: Political director of NBC News, Todd is a frequent on-air presence and talking encyclopedia on modern election campaigns. Previously the editor of National Journal’s daily Hot line briefing, which became the definitive guide to what was happening in American politics.

• 13) Keith Olbermann: Host of MSNBC’s Countdown, Olbermann,a former sports commentator, is one of the rising stars of politics on television and is at the center of his cable channel’s attempt to become the edgy, liberal choice for those in their 20s and 30s.

• 12) Bill O'Reilly: Fox News Channel’s top-rated presenter with 2.3 million viewers offers a nightly tour de force, cajoling, confronting and sometimes outraging his guests. The O’Reilly Factor pulled off a coup, finally persuading Hillary Clinton to be interviewed by the network for the first time, and may have done her chances against Barack Obama no harm at all.

• 11) Stephen Colbert: It is often said that Fox’s Bill O’Reilly is the model for Stephen T Colbert, the self-indulgent, bombastic and inaccurate character who chairs the Colbert Report on Comedy Central.

That is a pretty darn good list in terms of accuracy, pull, and influence. I am now incredibly interested to see who makes their "top 10" list, which will be released tomorrow (Friday) morning.

I am definitely predicting the following individuals make the top to -- Rush Limbaugh for sure, Al Gore (if he is considered a pundit, which he may be since he is no longer active in elected politics), Markos from DailyKos.com, Anne Colture, and my dark horse pick here is going to be Jimmy Carter, but again similar to Gore, I don't know whether or not he will be considered a pundit per se seeing as though he was at one time the President of the United States himself. Either way check back tomorrow for the final 10 of America's most influential political personalities.

Watch as Hillary Successfully Plays the Role of "Political Hypocrite"

Last night Hillary Clinton went on FOX News where she gave sat down for an interview with Bill O'Reilly. Fair enough. What I would like to take a second to point out is however somewhat of a big, deal if not at least a telling sign of Hillary Clinton's personality. During the interview Clinton praises Ronald Reagan and decisions he made in the early 80's. This struck me as odd -- specifically her praise of Reagan, because she sure sang a different tune when Obama complimented Ronald Reagan back in mid January during an editorial board meeting with the Reno-Gazette. Actually, "singing a different tune" is putting it lightly Hillary, Bill, and her surrogates attacked Obama for what he said:

Here's just a portion of the fallout Clinton and company caused over Barack Obama's mention of Ronald Reagan's good ideas:

The Hillary campaign clearly made a decision to go all out on Obama's Reagan comments today. Hillary herself just lit into Obama over them in Las Vegas, according to a transcript provided by her campaign:

"I have to say, you know, my leading opponent the other day said that he thought the Republicans had better ideas than Democrats the last ten to fifteen years. That's not the way I remember the last ten to fifteen years."

Hillary supporter and Congressman Barney Frank, who was on the call, said: "I was stupefied by the comments...It's baffling to me that he would speak so highly of him."

Then there was good 'ole boy Bill Clinton; who spent the better part of two days in attacking Barack Obama for his Reagan mention:

Clinton didn't back down today as she took another swipe at Obama for courting Republican voters in Nevada and for praising former President Reagan.

"[Hillary] won a victory in spite of a very well-organized, and I might say a very well-executed strategy by the Obama campaign, which included doing well in the north of Nevada, where his demographic of upscale voters lived, and by making an explicit effort to get Republicans to come and vote for him in the Democratic caucus," Clinton said Sunday night during a campaign event for Hillary Clinton in Buffalo, N.Y.

Clinton then accused Obama of calling conservative darling Reagan a better president than Clinton.

"[Obama] said President Reagan was the engine of innovation and did more, had a more lasting impact on America than I did," Clinton said. "And then the next day he said, 'In the '90s the good ideas came out from the Republicans.'

Anyways this example of sheer political hypocrisy was too good not to act on, and as you saw above, I just had to make a short video chronicling Hillary's "Reagan Hypocrisy". Please let me know what you thought of it, and this situation in general.

John Kerry is Asked About Rev. Wright & Offers an Impeccable Response

Watch as Senator John Kerry responds to yet another question regarding Reverend Jeremiah Wright. His answer is spot on and should more or less become the "default" answer/response Obama supporters give or write when responding to this question:

More from the via The Huffington Post:

"Today, John Kerry officially became the 87,436th person to receive one of the three or four versions of the same Reverend Wright question MSNBC has been asking everyone it comes in contact with, including their plants and pets. Kerry, who's maybe a little sensitive toward these sorts of issues, wasn't having it, and his displeasure manifested itself in the closest thing Kerry does that resembles losing his ever-loving mind. That said, it sort of worked! Kerry changed the conversation all right, but Alex Witt opted to just ask one more question ("I would like to get your concerns about the unity of the Democratic party as the Republican party was able to coalesce around its nominee, John McCain. How concerned are you?") before shutting the whole thing down."

Well said my good man, well said. Imagine if someone with the intellect and ability to cut through the bullshit won in 2004 -- wait, John Kerry ran, and yet still hundreds of thousands of people voted for George W. Bush. What a decision that turned out to be, I mean if you perplexed as to why America is in the nightmarish situation we currently find ourselves in, then do something for me, just be quiet, and vote for whichever Democrat is on the ballot in November -- I don't care if his name is "Jimminy Cricket", vote for him.

Or ya know, you could always go with the guy "you'd rather have a beer with," or the man who "pretends to be the hard ass on terror" when in all reality all that will happen is that our military will continue to disintegrates in the middle of the Arabian desert. I mean it worked well for those of who based your decisions on that the last two elections, didn't it?

The Gas Tax Debate: Experts & Economists Agree Obama is Correct

Hillary Clinton and Senator John McCain (surprise, surprise, they are tag teaming against Obama again) have been ratcheting up their attacks on Senator Obama based on statements he made yesterday claiming that the three month "Gas Tax Vacation" is not what the country needs. Well, it turns out Obama's 100% correct, and if you don't want to take my word for it - fine, take a second and watch this and I am sure by the end of it you will be crystal clear who's right and whose wrong in this situation:

"Slowly But Surely": The Reality of the Current Democratic Primary

Hillary Clinton has been saying a lot of different things lately, most them aimed at convincing or arguing per se that; a) She's winning the popular vote and more importantly, b) She has a fighting chance at winning this thing. The major problem with Hillary's "la-la land" approach of argument when trying to legitimize her chances of winning the nomination are that they simply are wrong -- factually incorrect, and without any "reality" based substance present. Let's begin with her claim that she in fact leads Barack Obama in the popular vote (currently her main argument when describing a path to victory). Now this would be a strong argument, one that would and should be taken into consideration by the DNC and supers, that is if it were true.

However in Hillary Clinton's case it simply this statement is the furthest thing from the reality of what the popular vote is:

“I’m very proud that as of today, I have received more votes by the people who have voted than anyone else,” Clinton said the day after her victory in the April 22 Pennsylvania primary. But has she really? No. Not really. Not unless you throw out the existing rules of the Democratic Party and invent a new set of Hillary Rules.

Under Hillary Rules, Clinton counts the popular vote in Michigan, where she was the only major candidate on the ballot. The Democratic Party does not recognize those votes.

Under Hillary Rules, Clinton also counts the popular vote in Florida, where candidates were forbidden to campaign. The Democratic Party does not recognize the results of the Florida primary, either.

Under Hillary Rules, Clinton throws out the “votes by the people who have voted” in the states of Iowa, Nevada, Maine and Washington, because those were caucus states, where popular vote tallies were not officially kept and where, by the way, Obama won three out of the four contests.

Under Hillary Rules, Clinton gets to choose the contests that help her, throw out the contests that do not and declare herself the winner.

It has become abundantly clear that both Clinton, her campaign staff and her rabid band of supporters need to come to terms with the fact that the Democratic party --no matter how much they wish it was-- isn't dictated by "Hillary Rules." And then, once they finally come to this realization, that they will see just how silly their quasi-arguments sounded, and that Barack Obama is in fact, by every measure, the rightful victor. Or as Steve Kornacki of The New York Observer puts it:

“The point is that under the most basic and probably the fairest criteria — simply counting every state and U.S. possession where there was a legitimate primary or a caucus where popular votes were tallied — Obama will finish the primary season hundreds of thousands of votes ahead of Clinton.”

That my friends sums the whole situation up pretty well, not that I expect Hillary nor her legion of house moms and senior citizens to accept it for what it is -- Reality.

Moving on, now that the notion that Hillary somehow leads the popular vote has been completely quelled, we can shift focus onto her secondary "the world revolves around me" argument, the one which she focused on more a couple months ago, I am talking about her claims that "the super delegates should decide this even if they have to overturn the will of the people." While not as comical as her "popular vote" argument, this one is equally lacking in truth:

56 % of all super delegates are members of the Democratic National Committee itself, and the DNC represents the largest bloc of delegates who have not yet committed to a candidate.

Am I saying that the DNC, the ultimate insiders, could decide who the Democratic nominee is? Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Will the DNC really overturn the choice of the pledged delegates and substitute Clinton as the nominee over Obama?

I doubt it. First and foremost, DNC members care about the party and its future. So ask yourself: Is the DNC going to shatter the party by telling black voters and young voters that their votes in legitimate primaries and caucuses do not count?

Clinton can try to make up her own set of rules, but that doesn’t mean they are going to rule the DNC or the day.

With that said, I think it's fair to say that any individual with a shred of common sense and rationality --Democrat or Republican, Obama or Clinton supporter-- would come to realize what many have been saying since the Potomac Primaries; Obama has won this nomination. This is how it is, this is the reality and it won't chance no matter how many times the mainstream media moves the goalposts for Clinton, and no matter what "I wish" scenarios Hillary comes up with next.