Before going into the election coverage, I want to share the greatest video in the history of the world.
Wildly Popular 'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film
How awesome is that? Okay, back to our regularly scheduled boredom...
Wildly Popular 'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film
How awesome is that? Okay, back to our regularly scheduled boredom...
Pennsylvania Democratic Primary Coverage
As most people had expected, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) defeated Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) in the Pennsylvania primary. She won 55% to 45% with almost all the precincts reporting, picking up 14 more than Obama earned, making this a win for Clinton but not really enough to significantly close the gap. We can expect Obama’s campaign to release another super delegate endorsement or two after this to blunt the news of the loss while claiming victory in that he ONLY lost by about 10 percentage points instead of by 25 points.
Obviously, a win is better than a loss, and Clinton couldn’t have afforded to lose this race. That said, there are some alarming numbers in the exit polls (though the accuracy of such polls are questionable).
The average voter who turned out in Pennsylvania was a white woman in her 50s, which is right in Clinton’s wheelhouse. Women accounted for nearly 60% of the electorate and Clinton won the group by 14 points. Voters older than 45 made up 68% of those who cast a ballot and they went solidly for Clinton. Obama continued his strong showing with black voters, winning 89%, though they only made up 14% of the turnout. Among blacks who said race was not a factor in choosing their candidate, 91% voted for Obama.
Philadelphia went largely for Obama while more rural areas went for Clinton. Gun owners, while a distinct minority in this primary, were more likely to support Clinton. Obama had a higher ‘trust-worthiness’ factor than Clinton, though 37% of voters consider both candidates to be trustworthy. Obama did better the more liberal a voter was, though he also did better among registered independents, which seems to be somewhat of a contradiction. Five percent of voters who cast a ballot in the race had been registered Republicans in January and Obama won their vote by eight points over Clinton.
It doesn’t look like the ‘bitter voters’ and ‘elitist’ charges had much, if any, effect on the race. Identical percentages found Clinton and Obama to be ‘in touch’ with voters and 40% found both candidates to be ‘in touch.’ What ‘in touch’ means, well, I don’t know.
Twenty-six percent of voters said they would be dissatisfied if Clinton were the Party’s nominee whereas 35% said they wouldn’t be satisfied if Obama were the nominee. Forty percent said they’d be satisfied with either candidate. If Clinton won the nomination, 7% of Obama supporters said they would vote for McCain, while 6% said they wouldn’t vote. If Obama were the nominee, 14% of Clinton voters would support McCain and 10% claimed they wouldn’t vote at all. I don’t put too much stock in this question but it does show a contentious group of voters and if just half followed through on their threats, it could create a significant enough swing to give McCain a victory over a fractured party.
There are seven more states and two territories left and just over 300 super delegates up for grabs. The next election is May 6 in Indiana and North Carolina and I would expect both states to go to Obama. (There are four delegates riding on Guam on May 3 but to gain an advantage in delegates there, by my math, you’d have to win 64% of the votes which isn’t going to happen, so both candidates will split the delegates evenly at two apiece). The week after Indiana/North Carolina, an election will be held in West Virginia (which I would think would favor Obama) and the week after will feature a contest in Kentucky (which I would also expect Obama to win) and Oregon (which I think Clinton will win). After May 20th, he could be a hundred delegates shy of clinching the nomination. Clinton needs to win at least two of the states that seem to naturally favor Obama.
The Democratic Primary ends with races in Puerto Rico (a narrow victory for Clinton) on June 1st and the final election date is June 3rd with contests in South Dakota and Montana, both narrowly seem to favor Obama, leaving him with about 1,968 delegates to Clinton’s 1,827. The super delegates will then be in a position to crown the nominee by either going along with the popular vote or going out on their own, sorta like Family Feud when the other family tries to steal the bank. Clinton will need to win over 70% of the super delegates if she is unable to win any of the remaining states other than Oregon. The math still looks very bad for Clinton at this point.
Obviously, a win is better than a loss, and Clinton couldn’t have afforded to lose this race. That said, there are some alarming numbers in the exit polls (though the accuracy of such polls are questionable).
The average voter who turned out in Pennsylvania was a white woman in her 50s, which is right in Clinton’s wheelhouse. Women accounted for nearly 60% of the electorate and Clinton won the group by 14 points. Voters older than 45 made up 68% of those who cast a ballot and they went solidly for Clinton. Obama continued his strong showing with black voters, winning 89%, though they only made up 14% of the turnout. Among blacks who said race was not a factor in choosing their candidate, 91% voted for Obama.
Philadelphia went largely for Obama while more rural areas went for Clinton. Gun owners, while a distinct minority in this primary, were more likely to support Clinton. Obama had a higher ‘trust-worthiness’ factor than Clinton, though 37% of voters consider both candidates to be trustworthy. Obama did better the more liberal a voter was, though he also did better among registered independents, which seems to be somewhat of a contradiction. Five percent of voters who cast a ballot in the race had been registered Republicans in January and Obama won their vote by eight points over Clinton.
It doesn’t look like the ‘bitter voters’ and ‘elitist’ charges had much, if any, effect on the race. Identical percentages found Clinton and Obama to be ‘in touch’ with voters and 40% found both candidates to be ‘in touch.’ What ‘in touch’ means, well, I don’t know.
Twenty-six percent of voters said they would be dissatisfied if Clinton were the Party’s nominee whereas 35% said they wouldn’t be satisfied if Obama were the nominee. Forty percent said they’d be satisfied with either candidate. If Clinton won the nomination, 7% of Obama supporters said they would vote for McCain, while 6% said they wouldn’t vote. If Obama were the nominee, 14% of Clinton voters would support McCain and 10% claimed they wouldn’t vote at all. I don’t put too much stock in this question but it does show a contentious group of voters and if just half followed through on their threats, it could create a significant enough swing to give McCain a victory over a fractured party.
There are seven more states and two territories left and just over 300 super delegates up for grabs. The next election is May 6 in Indiana and North Carolina and I would expect both states to go to Obama. (There are four delegates riding on Guam on May 3 but to gain an advantage in delegates there, by my math, you’d have to win 64% of the votes which isn’t going to happen, so both candidates will split the delegates evenly at two apiece). The week after Indiana/North Carolina, an election will be held in West Virginia (which I would think would favor Obama) and the week after will feature a contest in Kentucky (which I would also expect Obama to win) and Oregon (which I think Clinton will win). After May 20th, he could be a hundred delegates shy of clinching the nomination. Clinton needs to win at least two of the states that seem to naturally favor Obama.
The Democratic Primary ends with races in Puerto Rico (a narrow victory for Clinton) on June 1st and the final election date is June 3rd with contests in South Dakota and Montana, both narrowly seem to favor Obama, leaving him with about 1,968 delegates to Clinton’s 1,827. The super delegates will then be in a position to crown the nominee by either going along with the popular vote or going out on their own, sorta like Family Feud when the other family tries to steal the bank. Clinton will need to win over 70% of the super delegates if she is unable to win any of the remaining states other than Oregon. The math still looks very bad for Clinton at this point.
Bill Clinton v. The Race Card....v. Bill Clinton
On Monday, former President Bill Clinton gave an interview with radio station WHYY in which he accused the Obama campaign of plotting and carrying out attempts to “play the race card” against the former president. The incident specifically in question is the statement Clinton made after his wife lost the primary in South Carolina. On January 26, 2008, he said, “Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here.”
All campaigns play to manage expectations and the campaign for Hillary Clinton had been minimizing the importance of South Carolina going into the primary and continued to minimize it after the loss. I took Bill Clinton’s comment to mean: ‘Because Obama is black, and South Carolina’s Democratic Party primary has a large number of black voters, it’s to be expected that a black candidate would have a built in advantage in that state.’
Some took the statements, understandably when viewed in a greater context of other comments, to be a marginalization of Barack Obama and in so doing, driving a wedge between black and white voters. I understood the comment to further ‘excuse’ his wife’s loss, which is something all campaigns, including Obama’s, do on a regular basis (which is why his campaign announced going into the Tuesday primary that , “Pennsylvania is considered a state tailor-made for Hillary Clinton, and by rights she should win big” and threw out there that she was leading by 25 points at one point, suggesting that anything short of a complete blowout by Clinton would be tantamount to a loss). There aren’t too many losses this primary season where a candidate has stood up and said, ‘Look, I fucked up and, you know, the voters picked the other candidate and I lost.’
The interesting part of the interview with Bill Clinton came at the very end after he said goodbye but before he hung up when he can be heard saying (apparently to someone with him), “I don’t think I should take any shit from anybody on that, do you?” It’s worth a listen, especially since now he’s claiming the interview never happened.
Some took the statements, understandably when viewed in a greater context of other comments, to be a marginalization of Barack Obama and in so doing, driving a wedge between black and white voters. I understood the comment to further ‘excuse’ his wife’s loss, which is something all campaigns, including Obama’s, do on a regular basis (which is why his campaign announced going into the Tuesday primary that , “Pennsylvania is considered a state tailor-made for Hillary Clinton, and by rights she should win big” and threw out there that she was leading by 25 points at one point, suggesting that anything short of a complete blowout by Clinton would be tantamount to a loss). There aren’t too many losses this primary season where a candidate has stood up and said, ‘Look, I fucked up and, you know, the voters picked the other candidate and I lost.’
The interesting part of the interview with Bill Clinton came at the very end after he said goodbye but before he hung up when he can be heard saying (apparently to someone with him), “I don’t think I should take any shit from anybody on that, do you?” It’s worth a listen, especially since now he’s claiming the interview never happened.
New York Times v. Negativity
For those who think Hillary Clinton is starting to sound a little too Republican, with her defense of gun rights, threats to “obliterate” Iran and her use of 9-11 to win votes, the New York Times agrees. Does this article count as an un-endorsement of Clinton?
Make Them All Go Away…Please
Remember when you could watch wrestling or game shows without seeing people running for president? Well those days are gone as Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama appeared ‘American Idol,’ ‘WWE Wrestling,’ among other shows not on traditional news outlets. President George W. Bush made an appearance on ‘Deal or No Deal.’ At first, I thought it was kinda funny but no more. I don’t want these people invading shows I don’t watch to begin with.
The New York Times had a good article about the subject that can be found here.
The New York Times had a good article about the subject that can be found here.
Comprehensive Coverage of the Republican Primary
Some might think that the race on Republican side is wrapped up but…well, it is but there are still elections anyway and while John McCain swept the state, winning 73% of the vote and coming in first in every county, Ron Paul finished second. His 16% showing was his best outing in a primary contest, although he has performed better in caucus states, finishing in second twice and collecting at least 16% of the vote five times.
This concludes the comprehensive coverage of the Republican Primary.
Some might think that the race on Republican side is wrapped up but…well, it is but there are still elections anyway and while John McCain swept the state, winning 73% of the vote and coming in first in every county, Ron Paul finished second. His 16% showing was his best outing in a primary contest, although he has performed better in caucus states, finishing in second twice and collecting at least 16% of the vote five times.
This concludes the comprehensive coverage of the Republican Primary.
Global Warming News
Tuesday was Earth Day and former Vice President Al Gore said, “I have to say the situation has not improved since I made the movie (An Inconvenient Truth) in 2006.” I guess the only thing to do is to buy more copies of the DVD and see if that makes global warming go away.
In other news, mutants are still no more accepted in our society than they were in 2006 when X-Men: The Last Stand came out. Sometimes, you just hafta wonder whether movies even make a difference.
Tuesday was Earth Day and former Vice President Al Gore said, “I have to say the situation has not improved since I made the movie (An Inconvenient Truth) in 2006.” I guess the only thing to do is to buy more copies of the DVD and see if that makes global warming go away.
In other news, mutants are still no more accepted in our society than they were in 2006 when X-Men: The Last Stand came out. Sometimes, you just hafta wonder whether movies even make a difference.
It’s Snowing on CNN
Former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow is joining CNN’s self-proclaimed ‘Best Political Team’ as a conservative analyst. Snow used to work with FOX News for years but was a fill-in host on CNN’s Crossfire before that. He also worked as a speechwriter with former President George H.W. Bush.
Former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow is joining CNN’s self-proclaimed ‘Best Political Team’ as a conservative analyst. Snow used to work with FOX News for years but was a fill-in host on CNN’s Crossfire before that. He also worked as a speechwriter with former President George H.W. Bush.
Alien News
There are two articles about strange lights appearing over Phoenix, Arizona and St. Augustine, Florida. Both sets of lights are supposedly UFOs. Then Stephen Hawking announced that alien life, in a primitive form, probably exists but that it’s unlikely to be really advanced intelligent life. I don’t know, judging by my recent trip to the mall, I think the extent of intelligent life on this planet might be a little overstated.
Hawking questioned UFO sightings, saying, “We don't appear to have been visited by aliens. Why would they only appear to cranks and weirdoes?” I don’t know, former President Jimmy Carter was pretty convinced he saw a UFO, when he wasn’t fending off giant killer rabbits.
Hawking questioned UFO sightings, saying, “We don't appear to have been visited by aliens. Why would they only appear to cranks and weirdoes?” I don’t know, former President Jimmy Carter was pretty convinced he saw a UFO, when he wasn’t fending off giant killer rabbits.
Gas Watch
I went to the gas station and the price of gas -- $3.65 for a gallon of unleaded. I also learned that a gallon of milk costs $3.87. So I guess it’s good that cars run on gas, not on milk.
I went to the gas station and the price of gas -- $3.65 for a gallon of unleaded. I also learned that a gallon of milk costs $3.87. So I guess it’s good that cars run on gas, not on milk.
What’s Playing On My Mp3 Player Right Now
‘Small Wonders’ by Dog’s Eye View off their ‘Happy Nowhere’ album. This was the second single off the disc, following the hit ‘Everything Falls Apart.’ On some level, I like this song better but it’s not as radio friendly and it didn’t chart, basically spelling the end of the group. They released a decent second album, ‘Daisy’ and then lead singer Peter Stuart left the band. He released ‘Propeller,’ which I bought in Denver for about $4 at an awesome used CD store. It was actually a really good record but he hasn’t (to my knowledge) released anything else. Dog’s Eye View, however, did release another album but I didn’t listen to it because there’s an ancient saying in Mongolia: “Dog’s Eye View without Peter Stuart isn’t truly Dog’s Eye View.”
What I’m Eating Right Now
I’m not actually eating right now but I’m thinking about it. I might eat or I might not. Mainly I’m just frustrated with my wireless keyboard. But that has nothing to do with eating…or does it?
What I’ll Be Watching Tonight
I’m heading down to Savannah with my brother to visit Savannah College of Art and Design now that he’s been accepted there. So I don’t know if I’ll watch much. I might go to a movie, maybe see ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall.’ The Braves open a series against the Marlins. On Thursday, ‘The Office,’ ‘30 Rock’ and ‘Scrubs’ comes on but I’m not too thrilled with any of them this season.
Sports News
I forgot to include a picture I took of Vince Dooley at the Braves game Sunday. He was either being awarded something or was part of a group awarding something to a pack of dwarves, or maybe they were kids. I don’t know all the details because I kept yelling, “Herschel” at him over and over.
For actual coverage of sports, including John Smoltz notching his 3,000th career strikeout, check out http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/djwright.
Random Thoughts
People who drive stick shifts are 34% happier than those who can only drive an automatic.
Headline: 'Teacher Forces Student to Urinate in Lunchbox.' What? Like you have a better idea?
In 40 years, according to Ted Turner, we'll be cannibals. Some people have a head start on that.
‘Small Wonders’ by Dog’s Eye View off their ‘Happy Nowhere’ album. This was the second single off the disc, following the hit ‘Everything Falls Apart.’ On some level, I like this song better but it’s not as radio friendly and it didn’t chart, basically spelling the end of the group. They released a decent second album, ‘Daisy’ and then lead singer Peter Stuart left the band. He released ‘Propeller,’ which I bought in Denver for about $4 at an awesome used CD store. It was actually a really good record but he hasn’t (to my knowledge) released anything else. Dog’s Eye View, however, did release another album but I didn’t listen to it because there’s an ancient saying in Mongolia: “Dog’s Eye View without Peter Stuart isn’t truly Dog’s Eye View.”
What I’m Eating Right Now
I’m not actually eating right now but I’m thinking about it. I might eat or I might not. Mainly I’m just frustrated with my wireless keyboard. But that has nothing to do with eating…or does it?
What I’ll Be Watching Tonight
I’m heading down to Savannah with my brother to visit Savannah College of Art and Design now that he’s been accepted there. So I don’t know if I’ll watch much. I might go to a movie, maybe see ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall.’ The Braves open a series against the Marlins. On Thursday, ‘The Office,’ ‘30 Rock’ and ‘Scrubs’ comes on but I’m not too thrilled with any of them this season.
Sports News
I forgot to include a picture I took of Vince Dooley at the Braves game Sunday. He was either being awarded something or was part of a group awarding something to a pack of dwarves, or maybe they were kids. I don’t know all the details because I kept yelling, “Herschel” at him over and over.
For actual coverage of sports, including John Smoltz notching his 3,000th career strikeout, check out http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/djwright.
Random Thoughts
People who drive stick shifts are 34% happier than those who can only drive an automatic.
Headline: 'Teacher Forces Student to Urinate in Lunchbox.' What? Like you have a better idea?
In 40 years, according to Ted Turner, we'll be cannibals. Some people have a head start on that.
What if Ben Affleck was a plumber? You’d be, like, “Hey, my sink or pipes are busted and I need a plumber. I should call Ben Affleck. He’s a plumber, you know.” It’d be awesome.
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