Bob Barr Snubs Ron Paul And Other Third Party Candidates

The GOP and the Democratic Parties may have a monopoly on mainstream press coverage, but they certainly don’t have one on drama in presidential campaigns. While talk of lipstick and pigs has dominated the airwaves the past couple days, the impudence from the rest of the campaign has gone unnoticed.

Yesterday, Ron Paul held a press conference at the National Press Club to discuss third party issues. See our post on this event here. Joining Paul at this event were third party candidates Cynthia McKinney (Green Party), Ralph Nader (Independent) and Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party); Bob Barr was supposed to attend, but he was a no-show. And so the drama begins…

Asked about Barr’s apparent no-show, Libertarian Party Media Director issued the following statement:

The real question is why Bob, who is a major player in this election, want to be on stage with people like McKinney, who stands against everything the LP does, and Baldwin, who is barely on enough ballots to have a statistical chance of winning.

Barr is not a minor party candidate. Barr is a major player this year.

He is holding his own press conference right now.

According to the AP, Barr’s stated reason for not attending the event was that Paul did not endorse a specific candidate.  So, clearly there is a bit of a tension there between the Libertarian Party’s communications and Barr’s.

Don Rasmussen, Campaign For Liberty Events Coordinator, tells of being told to “go f*ck himself” by the Barr campaign when he questioned Barr’s no-show [h/t IPR]:

I asked Barr Communications Director Shane Corey after the event why they pulled this stunt and was told to go f*** myself.

Barr Campaign Manager Russ Verney may have fanned the flames by criticizing Paul’s efforts Read more

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Ron Paul Rallies Silent Majority, Discusses Third Party Candidacies At Vote-Your-Heart Press Conference

Yesterday, Ron Paul held a Vote-Your-Heart press conference where he discussed the issue of Third Party Candidacies. Although Ron Paul is not currently a presidential candidate, he does still have a large following and is continuing to advocate the issues that are important to him with his Campaign For Liberty movement. Paul was joined by three third party candidates - Cynthia McKinney (Green Party), Ralph Nader (Independent) and Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party). Notably, Bob Barr (Libertarian Party) was supposed to join Paul, but he was a no show.

In his remarks, Paul first announced the Four Principles signed onto by the Third Party Candidates involved in this effort.

Then, he recounted how the McCain Campaign contacted him on September 9th for the first time.  They requested that Paul endorse McCain at this event. Their reasoning per Paul was that “[McCain] would do a little less harm than the other candidate.”

Next, he went on to assail the two party system as not offering a real choice, saying: Read more

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Did McCain Pick Romney?

Mark Halperin cites two GOP operatives who say McCain will announce Mitt Romney as VP next Friday. Unless those operatives include the likes of Steve Schmidt, Mark Salter, or Rick Davis, I’m inclined to view it with a very large grain of salt. And even so, leaking something like this now would completely undermine the purpose of holding off the announcement for the extra week. Not to mention that leaking that the richest guy in politics as your VP is a bad idea on the day that you’re already getting hit for owning too many homes.

This seems more to me like an intended leak to calm down conservatives who are in an uproar after pro-choice VP candidate after pro-choice candidate (Ridge, Lieberman, etc.) being leaked.

Romney will surely be on the list, but in short, I’m not convinced.

PS: This news would also make Mike Huckabee go nuts. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty may be the one candidate who is borderline acceptable to the entire broad coalition McCain is trying to build.

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Presidential Candidates As Batman Super Villains

With all the silly political talk of comparing the Bush Administration to Batman, I thought I’d take a look on the lighter side and compare various Presidential candidates to different Batman villains. This isn’t serious political analysis, but dammit, I have this site as a forum and I intend to use it. (And frankly, if it’s good enough of a topic for Wall Street Journal editors, It’s good enough for me.) I picked super villains arbitrarily. I don’t want to get into a “who is Batman and who is evil” argument. That’s just boring.

Barack Obama as Harvey “Two Face” Dent: The idea that spawned this post. While others are doing strange things like comparing Dick Cheney to Batman or something like that, given that the arch of the story is the rise and fall of newcomer and beacon of hope DA Harvey Dent, I’m surprised there’s not more comparisons between the two. There’s this article, sure. But that seems more intent on criticizing platitudes than it does at looking at something deeper: are figures of hope like Obama and Dent doomed to failure? Clearly they are doomed to dim. Wile the article criticizes Obama for lack of particular details, it’s ultimately Dent’s drive for only results that dooms him. When pushed towards the edge by his horrific scaring and in TDK the (spoiler!) death of Rachel Dawes, Dent is concerned only with the ends, not with the means, of resolving problems. One gets the feeling that more contemplation on platitudes would have helped him, not hurt him. So I think Obama differs in that respect. On the other hand, that side of Dent always existed; it was just hidden by both his meteoric rise and previous success. After all, anyone can keep their secrets hidden while succeeding.

Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton as Ra’s al Ghul and Talia al Ghul: In the comics, they are father and daughter; here they are husband and wife. Let’s just gloss over that difference. In the comics, Ra’s could not be killed thanks to the Lazarus Pits; where he could rise from the dead. Surely, this reminds everyone of the numerous times that Bill himself rose from what was surely political death. The intrigue between the al Ghuls rivals the reported intrigue between Bill and Hillary. Bill has actively and inadvertently hurt Hillary in the past, as any sane person would admit. In the comics, this antagonism even leads Talia and Batman to sleep together. Similarly, Hillary and Obama used to be close allies, with Hillary even fundraising for Obama at one point during his Senate run, the political equivalent of sex if there is any. Moreover, this also means that the normal Clinton confidantes are known as the League of Shadows. Just as in Batman Begins, they are regarded as formidable by Ra’s, but in the end do absolutely nothing to help him, and only allow the enemy to take him down. One can imagine Obama as Batman goading Bill to please bring on four pawns (Mark Penn, Harold Ickes, James Carville, and Terry McAulliffe) instead of just four. Although in reality, it’s because the four will get in each others ways. Of course in this analogy, Hillary as Talia has her own henchwomen, who are none the more competent (Patti Solis Doyle) for the most part. (You’ll never, ever hear me say anything negative about Maggie Williams, mostly because I think she would have me killed for real.)

Tom Tancredo as the Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka The Scarecrow: A candidate who bases his entire campaign on fear. But more than that: Tancredo never intended go through with his campaign. In Batman Begins, Ra’s al Ghul states that Scarecrow believes the plan was to hold the city to ransom. It seems Tancredo’s entire campaign was based on the premise that he would hold the Republican Party hostage unless they elected someone he agreed with. And then they decided not to anyways.

John McCain as the mob. Yes the mob as a whole. Carmine Falcone, Sal Maroni, the whole bunch. In the comics and in the Dark Knight there are factions of the mob, just like they are factions of McCain supporters. Rick Davis, John Weaver, Mike Murphy, Steve Schmidt and others all had their time to be in control before circumstances forced them out, and they all do not like each other, and do not work well together (as seen in the mob scene in The Dark Knight before the Joker arrives. Each of them backstabs and steals from the other, ostensibly to protect the rest). Moreover, there is no control over them from the mob as a whole. McCain is said to be a laissez faire manager just as the mob as a whole favors looser rules. Moreover, McCain absolutely seems to abhor Barack Obama, just as the mob abhors Dent for the type of change he wishes to bring. They want things to change to, but jsut to the way things used to be. They are in a way as old as McCain is. In the movies, the mob is somewhat like McCain in that they refuse to go away. Like the Hydra, you can cut off one head, but two more will sprout in its place. McCain similarly seems to never go away no matter how many times he seems out. Like the mob turning to Joker in the Dark Knight, McCain also seems to have no good plan whatsoever, and changes plans on the fly when things turn out to be different than he thought. Does this say anything about what McCain is doomed to be? I don’t think so. The mob keeps on existing, but never in the same format. It’s certainly not predestined in any movie that the mob will lose. Indeed, the only comparison seems to be that McCain’s campaign could turn out to either be the Joker tormenting the mob’s opponents, or the Joker later threatening the entire barge full of mob associates with death. Also like the mob, McCain functions better when backed into a corner. Lastly, McCain lacks a certain shine and appeal that the mob also lacks in comparison to other “freak” type villains.

Mitt Romney as Oswald Cobblepot, AKA the Penguin: Whereas the Penguin used his ownership of the Iceberg Lounge to gain entry into Gotham, Romney uses his leadership at Bain Capital for much the same purpose. There was always a question of taking what Penguin says as truth: he never comes across as sincere. Romney may not have come across as insincere as Penguin did in, say, Batman Returns, but his numerous problems with flip-flopping caused serious problems for him this cycle. Moreover, his sons are everywhere, just like the Penguins were seemingly in Batman Returns. And just as the Penguin in One Year Later seemingly abandons crime for a legal presence, Romney also aborted what was a previous hard line stance against McCain suddenly to endorse him shortly after Super Tuesday. Most superficially, the Penguin is the high society type criminal compared to all the rest; similarly, Mitt Romney seems the most high society of all the candidates, due in large part to his massive wealth. Note: If there is one supervillain Romney is not, it is Deadshot.

John Edwards as Waylon Jones, aka Killer Croc: The easy choice for Edwards is Two Face. Running a completely different campaign than his first time, being an impressive trial lawyer and all. But in reality, the specific flaws and details of Edwards this cycle have nothing to do with the flaws and defining characteristics of Harvey Dent. Killer Croc is the one villain whose entire existence is almost entirely defined by his appearance: his reasons and justifications for doing what he did are inconsequential, if they exist at all. In this campaign, despite the support he got (which, compared to all but Obama and Clinton, was very substantial), Edwards was doomed because of the perceptions he allowed to be created about himself: the expensive haircuts, the video of him combing his air, etc. Essentially that he came to be defined in the market place as someone really, really vain. Killer Croc is the only Supervillain similarly concerned with image. While Edwards allowed himself to be defined by his, Croc hid and acted out because of his image. And yes, there’s also that small matter of Edwards sneaking around in basements of hotels being stalked. Very Croc-ian.

Dennis Kucinich as Jarvis Tetch, aka the Mad Hatter: Like the Mad Hatter was inspired by Lewis Carroll, Kucinich seems torn out of a different era of politics, one where William Jennings Bryan and Eugene Debs were the constant candidates. The delusion of the Mad Hatter strikes me as exactly the same as the delusion of Kucinich that he can win. His many tricks in the comics are similar to Kucinich’s tricks in politics. Tetch was seemingly run over by a train, only for it to turn out to be a trick; similarly, Kucinich was thought done when he ran the city of Cleveland into bankruptcy, only to emerge years later as a Congressman. Moreover, anyone who is not his supporter wonders why he is still trying. I’ll just end with that there’s something of a physical resemblance as well.

Fred Thompson as Bane: Bane was introduced in the comics as essentially the negative version of Batman: awesome power, awesome intellect. He ended up breaking Bruce Wayne’s back. But I’m not comparing Thompson to that Bane. I’m comparing him to the Bane in Batman and Robin, the horrible fourth batman movie. In that movie, going on the legacy of the comic book Bane, Bane instead becomes an unimportant tool who only serves as muscle; That is regularly noted as one of the worst transitions from comics to movies ever. Thompson similarly entered the race to great fanfare, only to find out he was far too little far too late. Thompson, like Bane, was a supposedly fierce character who when put into a campaign fizzled beyond what anyone expected. The comic Bane is the Fred Thompson that people expected; the awful film version is the one people got. I also have no problem comparing Holly wood to a South American prison. Many suggest that a new interpretation of Bane in the current Batman series could be widely successful; I’m not so sure. Wildly intelligent, strong, and athletic people tend to not sneak around in masks. While the true believers may never admit it, the concept at heart just is not very believable. Note: Just because Thompson and Clayface both were actors does not make them similar in any meaningful way.

Ron Paul as Lennie Adkin, aka Anarky: One sentence in Wikipedia says it all: “Lonnie Machin, a teenage prodigy who, believing in Anarchism, creates improvised gadgets and attempts to subvert government in order to improve society.” Paul himself was not young - the opposite of it - but he certainly attracted youth en masse to his libertarian oriented campaign. And while some would say the dominant Paul story as the racist old newsletters, Paul had no chance to win before or after that story broke. Moreover, Paul’s campaign innovated on the internet in ways few others have ever done, either their notable moneybombs and extensive social networking (and comment bombing). Moreover, the obvious comparison is in the goals of Adkin and Paul: both wanted substantially smaller governments (Adkin clearly went further than Paul). Does Adkin’s failure indicate that Paul’s crusade will never be successful? I don’t think so. There will probably never anytime soon be an extensive, successful libertarian movement, but there can certainly be small steps made in that direction. As a bonus, the character was created in part from Paulite hero and Alan Moore creation V from V for Vendetta.

Rudy Giuliani as Eddie Nashton, aka The Riddler: The Riddler, simply put, is known for leaving riddles after crimes; it’s a dare to be caught, whereas conventional wisdom would normally lead criminals to, you know, try to get away with the crimes they commit. The defining tactical decision of the Giuliani campaign was skipping all the early states that conventional wisdom said he had to at least get a symbolic if not a real victory in for him to be competitive in later states such as Florida. He decided not to. Moreover, the Riddler is covered with question marks all over his suit that give away not only his identity but also his only useful sentence was a Riddle to lead people to him. And while Giuliani’s innumerable references to 9/11 were not at all that pathological, there was clearly something in Joe Biden’s joke that ever Giuliani sentence contained a noun, a a verb, and 9/11. In short, Giuliani was the Riddler in that a lot of his campaign was built on one very simple and repetitive riddle.

Mike Huckabee as Arthur Brown, aka The Cluemaster: The Cluemaster was a failed game show host, and if there’s any four word phrase in Batman history that could define Huckabee, it is ‘failed game show host’ - with the possible exception of ’successful game show host’. The rise of Huckabee’s campaign was in large part due to his charm, and the fall of his campaign was ultimately responsible for his inability to transcend that charm as, say, Ronald Reagan did. The comic plight of Cluemaster is largely not very similar, except that Cluemaster ends up doing surprisingly well and survives a battle even when many thought he was dead from being shot in the chest. Similarly, Huckabee’s campaign refused to die even when it was mathematically impossible for him to win.

Bill Richardson as Catwoman: Get your gender jokes out of the way, I’m not interested in them. Good? Ok. The essence of the history of Catwoman as defined by Wikipedia: “Selina Kyle, starting as a criminal who wore a cat-themed costume and often operated as a burglar, has a love/hate relationship with Batman. For years, she skirted on the edge between villain and antiheroine. However, she has largely reformed in recent years, adopting the role of the guardian of Gotham’s crime-infested East End, though she still comes into conflict with Batman on occasion.” This mirrors Bill Richardson in many ways. First of all, Catwoman is the ultimate resume villain: she’s done it all. For evil, for good, she’s been there. If I had a nickel for every time Richardson said “Look, I’m a governor” this election as to prove what he has done, I would be able to hire someone to write this post. Moreover, Richardson essentially had a love-hate relationship with all his opponents. Clinton supporters liked him when he defended Hillary during debates, and then were outraged when he first appeared to help Obama on Iowa Caucus night and then endorsed Obama after allegedly promising not to. (Obama supporters were the opposite). In the end, Richardson was distrusted by all and left to run hos own state which was shockingly bad in most rankings. Similarly, the most recent Catwoman movie was shockingly bad by even the most generous standards. The Catwoman character, like Richardson, is championed by a small minority who think it is essential to Batman; others think its inclusion in any TDK sequel would be repetitive and boring. I’d be inclined to agree with the latter. The Catwoman character is played out and in the end not very interesting. A jewel thief who is athletic? In the Nolan’s Gotham, that’s about as small and pointless as they come. Meanwhile, just like some predicted Richardson would be a dark horse candidate, once people got a long look at him,  he disappointed; the more the Catwoman character has been exposed in movies, the less popular they have gotten. It’s fair to say that to some extent the character was a failure in Batman Returns and was again surely a disappointment in Catwoman. Also, Catwoman would probably defend cats as innocent ipso facto them being cats, just as Richardson accidentally defended Alberto Gonzalez in the first debate just because he was Hispanic.

Duncan Hunter as Garfield Lynns, aka Firefly: I don’t even have to add comment on this one. Wikipedia on Firefly: “Garfield Lynns, an orphan who became a pyromaniac and has developed a fireproof suit and flamethrower to further pursue his ‘hobby’. He was originally known as a cunning criminal who invented numerous weapons that use light to commit crimes with.” And Eve Fairbanks on Duncan Hunter: “During the trip, we stopped at a gold mine, and Hunter got the idea that the Brobdingnagian ore haulers (whose wheels alone are ten feet tall) would make good troop vehicles in Iraq since they’d resist IEDs. (Possibly true, but they also resist steering.) These kind of pie-in-the-sky, mad-inventor brainstorms earned the nickname “Hunter Specials” among staffers on the committee he chaired, Armed Services. I wondered occasionally if Hunter’s ruthless thrashing in the GOP primaries had dampened some of his unusual style of enthusiasm, but apparently it didn’t. This morning’s Post carried the story of a Hunter Special for the ages: He submitted a request to our embassy in N’Djamena, Chad, to personally hunt and serve wildebeest to needy Darfurian refugees there. ” Wow. Easiest one yet.

Last but never least: The Joker after the jump. ….

Read more

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2008Central.net Presidential Election Podcast (07/17/08)

In this podcast, we discuss the New Yorker cover cartoon about Barck Obama, June fundraising figures, Obama’s trip to the Europe and the Middle East, the 08 Bloggers Network and more…

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Veepstakes News Roundup (July 4, 2008)

If you’re interested in the happenings with the candidates’ search for a running mate, then here’s a roundup of recent news…

• Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced that he will be marrying his current girlfriend; they have been dating for nine months.  Crist is often discussed as a possible running mate for John McCain, however, his bachelorhood combined with rumors of homosexuality have prevented many from seriously discussing him.  This marriage is seen by some as a way to deal with these roadblocks.
• John Edwards and Karl Rove are set to debate in September.  The smart folks at FiveThirtyEight see this as a strong indication that Edwards is definitely out of the VP running.
• Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is discussed as a potential choice for McCain (Phoenix Business Journal)
• Jonathan Alter makes the case for why Sam Nunn should be Obama’s VP choice. Meanwhile, Michael Goodwin discusses Hillary Clinton’s rising VP prospects (extra commentary on Clinton from PoliGazette here).
• Andrew Romano profiles Gov. Sebelius in his most recent veepstakes profile. (I only recommend reading this if you are REALLY intersted in Sebelius.  Otherwise, I wouldn’t).
• Rachel Maddow spews insanity when she says that Jeb Bush is currently McCain’s top VP choice.

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Partisan Hacks: Rachel Maddow ‘Would Bet’ That McCain Chooses Jeb Bush As VP

Appearing on yesterday’s Race For The White House on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow discussed the likelihood of John McCain choosing Jeb Bush as his running mate.  She stated:

Joe Scarborough: Rachel, you know, George W. Bush is like kryptonite to Republicans this year.  But, is Jeb Bush, the good Bush to be standing next to in 2008?

Rachel Maddow: Well, Floridians like Jeb Bush and it seems like John McCain likes Jeb Bush.  I mean everything you hear, I don’t know either of the candidates personally, right - I’m not an insider person who is getting that sort of information.  But, the people who are close the candidates, when they talk about who John McCain personally likes, who he has good chemistry with, they talk about Jeb Bush.  I think that when you hear McCain sort of bring up Jeb Bush unprompted in conversation, when you see Jeb Bush make this detour in Mexico City to go see McCain today - I think they’re testing just how important Jeb Bush’s last name is.  Because, if he had a different last name, I think there’s no question he would be right at the top of the list for McCain.

Scarborough: …But Rachel, you’re not saying that McCain could possibly pick Jeb Bush as his vice president, are you?

Maddow: If I had to bet, and I don’t bet, but if I had to bet today I would bet on Jeb Bush.  I honestly would.

It’s worth noting that last summer, Maddow put forth a conspiracy theory, which involved Cheney resigning for medical reasons and being replaced with Jeb Bush, who could then run for president as an incumbent VP.  Onto, yesterday’s comment…

To begin, the mere suggestion that McCain would choose Jeb Bush as his running mate is unbelievably silly.  I don’t care what side of the aisle you are on, if you’re on television you shouldn’t say things this absurd.  But, to Maddow’s credit, she did warn everyone how willfully ignorant she was.  After all, she acknowledged that she wasn’t an insider and has no specific information to support her senseless contention.  However, if you break down her analysis, it’s pretty obvious that she was solely saying it for political reasons, since, the more you tie McCain to Bush (either directly or indirectly, the better for the Democrats)…

She does provide a reason for her conclusion though: McCain is testing Jeb’s last name by meeting with him in Mexico City.  I’m not entirely sure how a meeting that took place in Mexico City with significantly less coverage than it would have gotten back in the US somehow satisfies or signifies testing Jeb’s name.  It actually doesn’t make sense.  But, that’s okay, because it doesn’t need to.  It only needs to link Bush and McCain.

It’s a shame when people, like Maddow, who spend so much time complaining about partisan hacks neglect to realize just what a hack they’ve become themselves.  In my opinion, anyone that prefaces a statement with something to the effect of ‘I have no idea what I am talking about, but…’ should not be allowed to finish that thought on a televised news program.  I guess I’m just reaching for the stars though…

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Ron Paul To Make “Major Announcement Tonight”

What could it be?

From the campaign’s press release:

Presidential candidate Ron Paul will make a major announcement tonight during a rally coinciding with the Texas GOP State Convention.  The event will be held from 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm at the Hilton America Hotel in downtown Houston, right across from the George R. Brown Convention Center.

There has been wide speculation about the future of the limited government movement that has been inspired by Dr. Paul’s presidential bid. This event comes on the heels of revelations this week that Dr. Paul will hold a rally to celebrate liberty and Republican traditions in Minnesota during the GOP convention this September.

If you’re interested in watching, you can see a live stream of the video after the jump (when the event actually takes place later tonight).  Feel free to post any thoughts on what you think he’ll be saying.

Video… Read more

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Huckabee To The Rescue…

No, this isn’t any vice presidential gossip. Rather, it’s just your run of the mill ‘former Governor and presidential candidate saves a man’s life’ stories.

At a luncheon this afternoon in North Carolina, Robert Pittenger, a Republican candidate for NC Lieutenant Governor began choking; fortunately for him, Mike Huckabee was there to perform the Hiemlich maneuver.

Kudos to Gov. Huckabee.

[Photo Credit: The Wave]

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Jim Gilmore: Not a Better Senate Candidate Than Presidential One

Mark Warner has raised more than 9 times as much as Jim Gilmore so far in the Virginia Senate race and has more than 21 times what Gilmore has in the bank:

Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gimore (R), who is seeking the Senate seat of the retiring Sen. John Warner (R), is being crushed by his Democratic opponent, and former Virginia governor Mark Warner, on the fundraising front. This according to the latest reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Gilmore reported raising just $402,000 in the first quarter, according to his first quarter 2008 giling with the FEC, bringing his total raised to just over $753,000 since he jumped into the campaign last November. Gilmore has $208,000 in cash-on-hand.

Mark Warner, on the other hand raised $2.52 million in the first quarter, according to his FEC reports. The Warner for Senate committee reported cash-on-hand of $4.38 million. Warner has raised more than $6.3 million overall since entering the race.

We’ll be looking more at Senate races this summer once the primaries are over, but this underscores the race in Virginia, which will be a crucial swing state likely this fall in the Presidential race. (I’m not optimistic about Gilmore Republicans).

With both Jim Webb and Mark Warner rumored as VP candidates as well, this race will be something to watch.

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Condi Rice And The Vice Presidency…

In a word: no.

Making the rounds today is another article that discusses Condi Rice and the vice presidency. Today’s buzz is generated by the same information in a report from late March.  It’s honestly a nonstory for two reasons: 1) the entire notion that Condi is actively seeking the VP is based on very little substantive information and 2) it wouldn’t matter anyway, since she wouldn’t be picked by McCain.

So then why are bloggers discussing it as though it could be true/likely?  I have no idea.  

Move along people, there’s definitely nothing to see here…

[Photo Credit: MSNBC]

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2008Central.net Presidential Election Podcast (04/05/08)

During this show, the gurus discuss the state of the race, the Clinton tax returns, Obama’s strategy in Penn., McCain strategy, a general election preview and much more….

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Presidential Candidacies, Even Failed Ones, Offer Increased Influence To Candidates

This is hardly scientific, but it’s worth noting that presidential campaigns, even failed ones, have a tendency of increasing a candidate’s influence/power (as one would expect).

Below is a table indicating the candidate’s power ranking in their respective chamber for the years 2005 through 2008.  It’s worth noting that the sudden changes in some of the rankings between 2006 and 2007 is mostly the result in changeover from Republican to Democratic control.

[Table=7]

[Table=8]

[* = former candidate]
[Source: Congress.org]

In retrospect, some campaigns, which at the time made no sense at all, make at least a bit more sense now, while some continue to haunt my brain to this day.

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Thoughts on Obama’s Speech on Race

You can read text of the speech here.

The first things that struck me about the speech was how apolitical it was. It really seemed like something more suited to a lecture hall in a university than a presidential campaign. It’s just not something that can be analyzed looking at the traditional horse-race type machinations.

Briefly, though, to the extent it will affect what people think, it’s important to note something Jonathan Martin noted this morning - that it’s not the elites of the internet or media that matter, but of the ordinary people. And that will take a while to figure out. There’s one thing I disagree with Martin on though; Read more

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2008Central.net Presidential Election Podcast (March 16, 2008)

This podcast discusses (1) the state of the race; (2) updates on John McCain; (3) the Florida and Michigan delegation troubles; (4) a substantive discussion about Obama and Rev. Wright; (5) we answer questions from readers and (6) much much more…

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Mitt Romney To Create A PAC

Mitt Romney plans to create a political action committee (PAC):

“We’re thinking about what new entity can be created to allow Governor Romney to remain politically active so he can raise money and campaign for Republicans, and advocate for the issues he cares about,” Eric Fehnrstrom, Romney’s long-time aide, said in an e-mail message.

And just in case McCain doesn’t pick him to be his running-mate (and he won’t), Romney already plans to Read more

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Ten Things To Read Today (Wednesday, March 12)

Today’s “should-reads”…

1. The Obama campaign picked a fight with the Clinton campaign over the statement that North Carolina would not be contested in the general election. This led to a conference call, the audio of which we have posted here. Marc Ambinder notes the state could conceivably be a swing state this cycle; Obama is currently up 8 points for the primary that is scheduled on May 6. More out there is the suggestion that Obama could contest Kansas this fall, based only on it is where his grandmother was from and that some McCain aides lobbied against Boeing and for Airbus in the recent tanker deal. The McCain campaign finds the idea of any fire to this smoke preposterous. Matthew Yglesias says people should look at all states that could conceivably be in play depending on the nominee, not just ones that Kerry barely lost.
2. Rudy Giuliani is holding a press conference tomorrow in Pennsylvania; Hotline speculates that he may be the chair of McCain’s VP Selection Committee. Of course, the chair of George W. Bush’s committee was one Richard Cheney. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney tells Hannity that he’d love the job and that McCain is the “Big Dog.”
3. Josh Patashnik finds that Obama is running away from reformist credentials on education instead of running on them. A great read that briefly also touches on Clinton’s traditional Democratic approach to education (and hence the NEA endorsement) and that McCain would probably not waste political capital on the issue if elected. Considering the renewal of No Child Left Behind that awaits the next President, it’s an issue that should be getting far more attention than it is. (Required nod to Ed in 08).
4. I want the Geraldine Ferraro fiasco to be over with, so let me just link to Ezra Klein saying that candidates are who they are and hypotheticals in that regard are absurd, since it’s what I would have written had I thought of it. Her tour of talk shows this morning was embarassing to me as a person who thinks ideas in politics should matter, and it’s about time she was removed from the Clinton campaign, who at least twice reiterated that Ferraro was not speaking for them. They apparently forced her to resign, and while I still have unanswered questions (why resign if you are “absolutely not” sorry for your comments?), it’s for the best to leave them unanswered and just move on.
5. There is now an official projection of Obama winning the Texas caucus (technically conventions) by CNN, though the final tally will not be in for a while. And it appears that between those caucuses, and the results in Wyoming and Mississippi, that Obama has completely made up any delegate gains of Clinton on March 4. In fact, Obama will get more delegates from Texas than Clinton will. The math keeps hurting Clinton at this point; Andrew Sullivan points to a Daily Kos analysis that posits even a big win in Pennsylvania will only get Clinton a relatively small number of delegates; Obama could make up that amount in North Carolina and Indiana. Andrew Romano meanwhile interviews Pennsylvania politics expert G. Terry Madonna on all things Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Ambinder has the Obama campaign delegate spreadsheet on where the race is.
6. Hillary Clinton won a good amount of Republicans in Mississippi yesterday, and Mark Blumenthal investigates why.

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Huckabee Drops Out; Prepares To Run Again

On Tuesday, March 4, Mike Huckabee officially ended his bid for the presidency.  Huckabee won 8 primary contests (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, West Virginia).  He added that he will do whatever is necessary to get McCain elected, but his staffers already began preparing for a future run: Read more

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