Nevada Caucus and South Carolina Primary - All Politics Are Local - TomW's Blog - Bakersfield.com

Jan 19, 2008 at 09:01 AM : Out of here for a bit...

Out of here for a bit but I'll be in and out later today.

Jan 19, 2008 at 09:01 AM : I like your...

I like your predictions but think it'll be closer in Nevada. Although I'd dearly love to see a Ron Paul upset in the Silver State, shake the nuts up a bit.

Jan 19, 2008 at 09:01 AM : Gee, will NO ONE...

Gee, will *NO ONE* speak up for "things are pretty good as they are"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEaS-K3j3M8&eurl=http://www.sadlyno.com/

Jan 19, 2008 at 10:01 AM : PMSNBC is already...

PMSNBC is already calling Nevada for Romney. Good.

Jan 19, 2008 at 10:01 AM : I agree. Let...

I agree. Let the fundies tear the heathen apart. Will serve them right.

Jan 19, 2008 at 10:01 AM : The Californian...

The Californian editorial endorsement will hurt McCain, in Nevada, but I think he wins South Carolina

Agree with your Nevada Democrats Caucus, the democrats don't read the Californian, so HC falls hard in NV.

Jan 19, 2008 at 10:01 AM : We don't read the...

We don't read the Californian 'cuz they got rid of Doonesbury. I keep telling them, bring it back as a token and I'll re-subscribe just to keep up with their right-wing spin.

Jan 19, 2008 at 11:01 AM : Gee...

Gee RF, boycotting the Californian plus Jon Stewarts joke writers striking, must be tough on you trying to keep up with your news. BTW, your continued visits to TBC website doesn't help your subscription boycott. Kinda like a striking Albertson's employee continuing to buy groceries there.

Jan 19, 2008 at 11:01 AM : Nah. I get...

Nah. I get all of it I need off the internets, complete with interlinks to relevant additional information. In many cases I get it a day or two ahead of the standard media.

And of course, let's not forget Olbermann (blest be his name).

Of course it helps my TBC boycott. Newspaper advertising rates are not much supported by their web presence, they are based upon the number of regular, paid subscriptions. In addition, they don't get my 50 cents newsstand contributions either.

Jan 19, 2008 at 12:01 PM : Looks like God brought...

Looks like God brought snow to the northern, conservative part of South Carolina. I guess God is supporting McCain over Huckabee on this one.

Jan 19, 2008 at 12:01 PM : Never underestimate...

Never underestimate the power of fried squirrel, Tom.

Jan 19, 2008 at 12:01 PM : I think the full court...

I think the full court press in Nevada from both the Clinton and Obama camps means they finish pretty close in the state. I am certainly rooting for Edwards to finish at least second, but I don't think it will happen. Mainstream media has all but buried John Edwards campaign. The same thing can be said of Ron Paul's campaign, which is viewed as a bad joke by the other carefully hand picked Republican nominees and mainstream media who love to ridicule someone simply speaking the truth about money and foreign policy blunders. The fact that sizable percentages of voters are with both Edwards and Paul, from both sides of the spectrum, indicates a growing contempt for the status quo by left and right alike. It will be interesting to see if any compromises can be reached that will satisfy the growing segment of people fed up the current corporate political framework.

I think no Republican currently running has a shot at winning this fall.

Jan 19, 2008 at 01:01 PM : Adam, Paul reminds me...

Adam, Paul reminds me more of Kucinich actually. Both represent a big departure from the current state of affairs that mostly benefits big money. They are both ridiculed though they each have a strong base. Edwards killed himself by advocating public financing which means no big paydays for the media.

Jan 19, 2008 at 01:01 PM : RF, the squirrel...

RF, the squirrel eating bit seemed like such an obvious pander but he couldn't pull it off because of his background. He's talking about being in a college dorm and cooking squirrel in a popcorn popper. How big a demographic is that?

Jan 19, 2008 at 01:01 PM : CNN is calling Nevada...

CNN is calling Nevada for Clinton by 5. Edwards only pulled 5% which is disappointing and frankly a bit shocking.

Jan 19, 2008 at 01:01 PM : HC is winning BIG in...

HC is winning BIG in Nevada, my man is in the single digits (5%)...

Jan 19, 2008 at 02:01 PM : moonbats over my hammy...

moonbats over my hammy

this blog is like a socialist far leftist feeding frenzy

except they "self-chum"

Jan 19, 2008 at 03:01 PM : Tom, I don't...

Tom, I don't think that's the reason the media has ignored Edwards. He's threatening to the big-corporation owners of the media, who've had the rails greased for them in recent years.

But I'm also disappointed in the Nevada results (though it's a small state.) If Obama offered him the VP slot I'd jump to that campaign in an instant. No chance that Clinton will do that. I expect she'll go for Clark as her VP if she gets that far.

Jan 19, 2008 at 03:01 PM : I am perplexed about...

I am perplexed about the polling this year, which indicated a tight race in Nevada for all three Democratic candidates, and which predicted a substantial victory for Obama in New Hampshire a little more than a week ago. Coming from a background where marketing and polling are usually very accurate in being able to forecast with unerring accuracy, I am troubled by the recurring gap between polls and reality today. Given the sophistication of models and pollsters today, there is something very wrong this year. There was no reason to expect an Edwards victory, but to have received less than 4% in the Nevada caucuses after all bets were on a tight race makes me wonder what is going on. I smell fix.

I am now, more than ever, resigned to the fact that the only thing that matters in American politics is money. The actual race was over after the first wave of fund raising determined who had the most corporate money to spend for each party. Voices and endorsements from individuals don't matter at all unless the name comes with millions of dollars attached to a campaign fund.

The race is now very easy to predict. It will be Mitt Romney versus Hillary Clinton in November. Votes do not matter because touch screen voting makes a mockery of actual votes cast and counted. It is more important that the conglomerates which provide the coverage of the endless election coverage be given instant counts of meaningless and trail-less numbers that can be instantly passed on to viewers who have learned to just accept whatever government is picked for them. People are too busy looking for a new credit source or a third income to really argue and haggle over matters where they have no control.

You won't need to wait for the results on "Super Tuesday", because the results are already in. Romney and Clinton won. Whoopee for democracy. What did it actually ever do for the Greeks anyway?

Jan 19, 2008 at 03:01 PM : Depressing.

Depressing.

Jan 19, 2008 at 05:01 PM : Cheer up...

Cheer up Dems. Hillarinsky may have won the caucus, but Sen. Hussein won more delegates. And next week is South Carolina where the black vote will go almost entirely against the white Hillary.

Jan 19, 2008 at 06:01 PM : We'll see,...

We'll see, Dril. After all, her husband was the first black president, after all.

Jan 19, 2008 at 08:01 PM : Cheer up dril. ...

Cheer up dril. Here's a right-wing joke for you:

Why does John McCain say "my friends" so often?

Because "comrades" would be too obvious.

Jan 19, 2008 at 08:01 PM : tovarich would be too...

tovarich would be too obvious to you

Jan 19, 2008 at 08:01 PM : A SECOND remake of...

A *SECOND* remake of "The Manchurian Candidate?" Will Hollywood *NEVER* learn?

Jan 19, 2008 at 08:01 PM : Chico, do you ever add...

Chico, do you ever add anything? I know you can't find someone to support, but stand for something at least instead of just attacking.

Jan 19, 2008 at 08:01 PM : Hillary is white? I...

Hillary is white?

I didn't know that

I thought her coloration was somewhere in the vicinity of "roots de pancake makeup"

Isn't that an ethnicity in and of itself?

And when her husband is widely and profusely known as the "first black POTUS"

I wouldn't be so quick to categorize her as "white"

Jan 19, 2008 at 08:01 PM : i've already said...

i've already said who I support

I just don't need a socialist feeding frenzy to reinforce it

Jan 19, 2008 at 09:01 PM : and TomW ...

and TomW

"adding anything" is by your playbook

fortunately for you the literary lightweights at TBC agree with you

must be nice

smooth slimy socialistic sledding statist sybarite

Jan 19, 2008 at 09:01 PM : Chico, you must know...

Chico, you must know there are no socialists among the top, oh, dozen or so Democratic Party candidates. Heck, there are damned few Democrats in it. The closest one scares the corporate media so much they've already cut him out of the top three.

By European standards, this country's Democratic Party is extremely right-wing. Oh, and that word is closer to "tovarishch," despite the Claudette Colbert film. Russian has a consonant something like the middle letters of "fresh chex." Ma eto nyichyievo.

Jan 19, 2008 at 09:01 PM : Interesting addendum...

Interesting addendum is that Obama may wind up with more delegates from Nevada when everything is worked out. Something like how the popular-vote loser won the Presidency in 2000 by a single vote.

The same arcane rules diminished Edwards' final tally, although he was probably supported initially by around ten percent who were forced to settle on their second choice. Although ten percent isn't in bragging territory either.

Jan 19, 2008 at 09:01 PM : I know RF, I was...

I know RF, I was "Berlitz Immersed" when I got out of service and finished college.

For some reason. I was thinking of Charles Bronson (Danny the Tunnel King) when I typed that, actually.

Yes, Edwards may be the closest of the "Trio" to a classical socialist but the other two aren't pikers in that regard.

Jan 19, 2008 at 09:01 PM : and RF, the most...

and RF, the most conservative free market capitalists I worked with in Europe would be flaming socialists here.

I know form where you speak

Jan 19, 2008 at 09:01 PM : RF, at one point I...

RF, at one point I thought my Russian would be useful. By the time I worked into a position where it might have been I was sent to Africa. Where they spoke French.

I then was immersed in French before being posted to South America

And it wasn't even the Bush Administartion!

Jan 19, 2008 at 09:01 PM : I sadly had to...

I sadly had to discontinue my Russian studies early when Real Life intervened with a vengeance. Always was fascinated by the language because it was the only non-English-alphabet one I felt I could handle. Someday when the Lotto numbers align correctly, perhaps. I've already got an invite to Belarus.

Jan 19, 2008 at 10:01 PM : The Cyrillic alphabet...

The Cyrillic alphabet was the only one I really ever learned that wasn't based on ABC, etc.

I have buds from VN that learned Mandarin as it is spoken by the "iron triangle" peoples (actually all of SEA) more than any other language (as a commonality) as opposed to the bastardization by the french of the vietnamese language to make a tonal language boiled down to a 26 letter alphabet!

If you speak Mandarin Chinese you will have a better chance of being able to communicate with someone in Laos, Cambodia, or even Burma than any other language.

They can send me emails to this day with phonetic mandarin and I can speak them to VN peoples that I know and they know what they are saying! To me that is amazing!

I knew enough vietnamese to interrogate someone - ladai, cam ong u lumh, lu dahn, didi mau, mot, hai, bom. lam, nam, sau, tam, tin. mui, caca dau, etc.

But the real co. linguists could make those dudes really cough up.

I suppose there's a lesson there too.

go to belarus... you'll have a ball.....just gird your loins (liver) for the wodka!