Bullet Point Election News: February 2008

Friday, February 29, 2008

Today's Featured Election Videos on YouTube.Com

Most Discussed Category:

Ron Paul Interview on FOX Business Channel 02/28/2008

DNC Starts Publishing Daily Facts on John McCain

On February 27, 2008 the DNC announced it would start publishing daily facts about John McCain.
The first press release states that John McCain has benefited from qualifying for public campaign financing by using his qualification to gain ballot access in Ohio and Delaware as well as using the qualification to secure a loan to his campaign in November of 2007.
The DNC states that:
"McCain also used the fact that he qualified for the matching funds process to
gain ballot access in Ohio and Delaware without having to spend the time and
resources to collect signatures."
The following are links to the official documents referred to in the DNC press release:

Letter from Ohio Secretary of State's Office

How Many Skeletons Can $20 Million Find In John McCain's Closet?
Why Does the DNC Want to File a FEC Complaint Against John McCain?
Loan May Prohibit McCain from Exiting Public Campaign Financing System
John McCain Requests Withdrawal from Presidential Election Financing System
McCain Took Out $3 Million Loan to Finance Campaign

Huckabee Press Release Reports March 3rd Debate

A press release from Mike Huckabee's website stated that he accepted an invitation from Values Voter to debate John McCain and Ron Paul at the Marriott Riverwalk, 711 E. Riverwalk St. in San Antonio, Tex.

John McCain and Ron Paul's websites do not mention the debate nor does http://www.valuesvoterdebate.com/.

The last Values Voters debate occurred in September of 2007. A straw poll after the debate revealed the top three Republican candidates as Mike Huckabee at 63% of the vote, Ron Paul at 12% and Alan Keyes at 7%.

Sources:

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/

http://www.valuesvoterdebate.com/

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Obama Campaign Surpasses Goal of 1 Million Donors

Barack Obama's campaign website reported today that they had exceeded their goal of 1 million donors with 1,007,795 as of the latest check.

His campaign blog says that "No other campaign has ever reached one million donors while still in a competitive primary"

Source:

www.barackobama.com

Today's Featured Election Videos On YouTube.Com

Most Viewed Category:

Ellen DeGeneres visits Hillary Live!

Clinton Obama Cleveland Ohio Debate -Health Care Battle

Most Discussed Category:

GOODBYE HILLARY...(oh - and Good Riddance)!!!

How Many Skeletons Can $20 Million Find In John McCain's Closet?

Liberal groups led by MoveOn.org, Americans United for Change and the Service Employees International Union pledged to spend $20 million to go on the offensive against John McCain and other politicians who do not want to end the Iraq War immediately.
The money will be used for advertising, grass-roots organizing, and get out the vote efforts.
With $20 million to spend it is hard to speculate which skeletons will come out of John McCain's closet.
His Chelsea Clinton joke has already been reported. In case you hadn't heard, http://www.crooksandliars.com/, among many other websites has reported that John McCain told the following joke at a 1998 dinner:
"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.”

There is also the USS Forrestal and his many other flying accidents, his letters to Barack Obama, as the International Herald Tribune reports "Before Obama was even born, McCain was shocking his uptight naval colleagues by bringing a stripper dubbed the "Flame of Florida" to the Officers' Club.", etc.

Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/25/AR2008022502483_pf.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/03/america/letter.php?page=1
http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/2008/02/repreise-that-mccain-letter-to-obama.html
John McCain: An American Odyssey (Paperback)

Will Obama Win Additional Delegates After Los Angeles County Recount?

LA County was the only county in California to use a ballot that required voters who did not declare themselves as Democrat or Republican to fill in two bubbles to vote for their candidate. One for the party and one for the candidate.
This format was requested by the parties to keep track of how Independents were voting however, when voters did not fill in both bubbles the county's scanning machines could not record the vote.
The Los Angeles County Registrar, Dean Logan, estimated that 25% of 190,000 ballots completed by voters who did not declare a party affiliation did not have both bubbles filled in out of approximately $1.8 million total votes cast in Los Angeles County on Super Tuesday.
According to the AP Logan "said he can count ballots in precincts where there is no confusion between the two parties because independent voters asked exclusively for either Democratic or American Independent ballots. In addition, he can count ballots where a voter filled in a bubble that was reserved exclusively for a Democratic candidate."
The count is expected to be complete the first week of March when the election results are due to be certified.

Source:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20080226-1621-ca-independentvoters.html

Will Obama Win Additional Delegates After Los Angeles County Recount

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Vermont May Be Ron Paul's Best Chance to Win

American Research Group's recent poll shows John McCain at 73%, Ron Paul at 11% and Mike Huckabee at 9% in the Vermont primary on March 4th.

The Burlington Free Press reports that " if on-the-ground organization in the state was the sole factor in predicting success in the state's March 4 primary, Paul would be vying for victory with McCain. "

Ron Paul has supporters going door to door and his campaign is running newspaper and radio ads throughout the state while John McCain has no staff working in Vermont.

John McCain's Vermont campaign is reportedly being run from New Hampshire.

It wouldn't be surprising if Ron Paul had a good showing in Vermont considering Ron Paul was formerly a Libertarian and Vermont was in the running for the "Free State Project"

According to http://www.freestateproject.org/ "Vermont is among ten states being considered by the Free State Project. Members will vote on which state to target once 5,000 commitments have been received. "

Sources:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080226/NEWS01/802260308/1009/NEWS05

http://www.freestateproject.org/taxonomy/term/47

Mike Huckabee Makes 5 Campaign Stops in Ohio Today

According to the candidate's websites Mike Huckabee will makes 5 campaign stops in Ohio today to John McCain's one.
Huckabee's schedule shows him attending the following events:

9:00 a.m. ET Cleveland, OH Goes on private tour of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 751 Erieside Ave.

10:00 a.m. ET Cleveland, OH Holds media availability at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center Superior Room, 127 Public Square.

1:00 p.m. ET Columbus, OH Attends "Huckabee for President Rally" in the Delaware Room of the Hyatt Regency, 350 North High Street.

2:00 p.m. ET Columbus, OH Hosts media availability in the Delaware Room of the Hyatt Regency, 350 North High Street.4:30 p.m. ET Mason, OH Attends "Huckabee for President" Rally at The Great Wolf Lodge, 2501 Great Wolf Drive.

John McCain will make his appearance at the Ohio GOTV rally in Cincinnati.

Sources:

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/

http://www.johnmccain.com/

Drudge Report Story: CLINTON STAFFERS CIRCULATE 'DRESSED' OBAMAThe following story appeared on the Drudge Report on February 25, 2008

The following story appeared on the Drudge Report on February 25, 2008:

CLINTON STAFFERS CIRCULATE 'DRESSED' OBAMA
Mon Feb 25 2008 06:51:00 ET

With a week to go until the Texas and Ohio primaries, stressed Clinton staffers circulated a photo over the weekend of a "dressed" BarackObama. The photo, taken in 2006, shows the Democrat frontrunner fitted as aSomali Elder, during his visit to Wajir, a rural area in northeasternKenya.

The senator was on a five-country tour of Africa. "Wouldn't we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it wereHRC?" questioned one campaign staffer, in an email obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT. In December, the campaign asked one of its volunteer county coordinatorsin Iowa to step down after the person forwarded an e-mail falselystating that Barack Obama is a Muslim.
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe quickly accused the Clinton campaign Monday of 'shameful offensive fear-mongering' for circulatingthe snap. Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams responds: "If Barack Obama'scampaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somaliclothing is divisive, they should be ashamed."

Developing...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Other leaders have worn local costumes:
http://www.drudgereport.com/flashoa.htm

Obama Robe/Turban Photo Backstory Plus.....

On Monday, February 25th, the Drudge Report reported that "Clinton staffers" were circulating the following photo of Barack Obama:

Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun Times was a part of the 2006 Kenya trip. She reports today that, "The picture was taken Aug. 27, 2006, midpoint of Obama's Kenyan Aug. 24-30 visit. The AP picture shows Obama wearing a turban and some garb over his sport shirt and khakis. The AP caption said Obama was "dressed as a Somali elder by Sheikh
Mahmed Hassan."

On Aug. 27, Obama made a sidetrip to the Wajir region of Kenya. He left Nairobi's Serena Hotel in the morning and boarded a military C-130 transport with a staffer, retired Air Force Gen. Scott Gration, an adviser, and military security personnel. He returned in the afternoon, where he toured Kibera, the notorious slum. The press traveling with Obama in Kenya -- I was one of the reporters -- did not go with him on the Wajir leg, told there were too many logistical challenges.

Gration was with Obama in Wajir. "I was along on that picture," Gration said. They were seeing a "community mobilization" in Wajir and during the course of this, Obama was given an outfit, and "as a great guest," he tried it on. Obama did "what any leader should do . . . accept the gift, accept the hospitality," said Gration."

In a BBC story today, "Yusuf Garaad Omar head of the BBC's Somali Service explains the meaning of the robes. These are the normal clothes that nomadic people wear. The head turban is especially used by elderly people as a suggestion of respect. It is something that has no meaning whatsoever in Somalia culture. If you see someone dressed like that in
Somalia, you think it is a nomadic person - that is all."

Obama Robe/Turban Photo Backstory Plus.....

Sources:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/812719,CST-NWS-sweet26.article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7265115.stm

Monday, February 25, 2008

Today's Featured Election Videos on YouTube.Com

Ralph Nader, An Unreasonable Candidate?

Ralph Nader, 73, announced his candidacy Sunday on Meet the Press. It is his fifth run for the Presidency having already run in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004.
In his previous campaigns Nader has run as an Independent and as the Green Party nominee. It is unclear from his website if he will run as an Independent or have a party affiliation in this year's campaign.
He said "You take that framework of people feeling locked out, shut out, marginalized and disrespected," he said. "You go from Iraq, to Palestine to Israel, from Enron to Wall Street, from Katrina to the bumbling of the Bush administration, to the complicity of the Democrats in not stopping him on the war, stopping him on the tax cuts." "In that context, I have decided to run for president,"
The home page of www.votenader.org asks "Which side are you on?" and then lists "corporate greed", "corporate power" and "corporate control" on one side and "people fighting back" on the other.
So who is Ralph Nader? He was born to Lebanese immigrants whose native language was Arabic which Nader has spoken since he was a child.
Ralph Nader graduated from Princeton University in 1955 and Harvard Law School in 1958 before serving 6 months in the US Army in 1959. The details surrounding his short stint in the Army are not readily available.
He began his career as a lawyer in Hartford, Connecticut. Nader also lectured on History and Government at the University of Hartford between 1961 and 1963 before making the move to Washington, DC in 1964.
He became a consumer safety advocate against the automobile industry. His efforts led to the passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966. This Act established the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Nader has founded many non-profit organizations and continues his activism for many diverse causes.
In 2006 he starred as himself in the movie An Unreasonable Man (trailer can be viewed at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492499/trailers-screenplay-E30800-314)

Sources:
http://www.votenader.org/media/2008/02/24/nader-launches-presidential-bid/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader#_note-7
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492499/

Ralph Nader, An Unreasonable Candidate?

Sunday, February 24, 2008

John McCain Wins All 20 Votes in Puerto Rico Republican Caucus

Puerto Rico, population 3,944,259, held its Republican caucus today, February 24th.

In a February 20th letter to Puerto Rico Congressional Representative Luis Fortuno John McCain said that he would support Puerto Rico's decision to decide if it wants to remain a commonwealth, become a state or an independent country.

20 delegates were available and 20 votes were cast with John McCain receiving 100% of the vote.

The Democratic caucus will be held on June 7, 2008.

Sources:

http://abcnews.go.com/politics/elections/state?state=PR&ref=ipb

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rq.html

http://www.iht.com/

John McCain Wins All 20 Votes in Puerto Rico Republican Caucus

Why Does the DNC Want to File a FEC Complaint Against John McCain?

The Wall Street Journal reported that the DNC will be part of a FEC complaint to be filed against John McCain.

Howard Dean, the DNC Chairman, is quoted as saying “We are in this complaint to the FEC asserting that the senator and his campaign are still bound to the conditions by matching funds including the spending limits of approximately $56 million dollars,”

The DNC's complaint is centered around John McCain's possible use of the public funds as security for a loan he obtained in November and his recent request to withdraw from the public financing system.

One of the benefits of the public financing system is that it allows candidates to automatically be listed on ballots in states that may have more stringent requirements for candidates not using public financing, the major drawback is that it limits the amount of money a campaign can spend.

To date, it is reported that John McCain has already spent $49 million and the cap imposted by the public financing system is reported to be between $54 and $56 million.

Loan May Prohibit McCain from Exiting Public Campaign Financing System

John McCain Requests Withdrawal from Presidential Election Financing System

McCain Took Out $3 Million Loan to Finance Campaign

Sources:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/24/politics/politico/thecrypt/main3869913.shtml

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/02/24/dnc-to-file-fec-complaint-against-mccain/?mod=googlenews_wsj

Why Does the DNC Want to File a FEC Complaint Against John McCain?

Today's Featured Election Videos on YouTube.Com

Top Favorites:

Shame on you, Karl Marx-er-hillary clinton! (Be patient and listen to the entire video. It will answer the questions brought up in Obama's mailer as to whether or not Hillary is willing to garnish wages for universal healthcare)

Mike Huckabee on Weekend Update

Hillary's Living History Book Referenced in Obama's NAFTA Mailer

In recent days Hillary Clinton has been criticizing campaign mailers sent out by Barack Obama's campaign. She was even quoted as saying "Shame on you, Barack Obama".
The following is a link to an image of the NAFTA mailer: http://www.ohiodailyblog.com/content/obama-mailer-slams-clinton-nafta
As you can see, the mailer references a 2006 Newsday article that said "Clinton thinks NAFTA has been a boon the economy".
Newsday has been quick to say that this was not a quote from Clinton that it was the paper's "characterization of how we best understood her position on NAFTA, based on a review of past stories and her public statements."
The mailer then goes on to quote a segment of a UPI story saying that "She even touted NAFTA in her own book" referencing what looks like page 291 in Living History.
Clinton's complaints of the mailer do not mention the reference to her own book.

Sources:http://www.ohiodailyblog.com/content/obama-mailer-slams-clinton-nafta

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g-qGLDs-gAnZiUXD2NU51ry3j3dwD8V0MLC80

Hillary's Living History Book Referenced in Obama's NAFTA Mailer

John McCain Wins All 9 Votes in American Samoa Republican Caucus

American Samoa, population 57,663, held its Republican caucus yesterday, February 23rd.

9 delegates were available and 9 votes were cast with John McCain receiving 100% of the vote.

The Democratic caucus which was held on February 5th received much higher participation with 284 votes.

Hillary Clinton won the Democratic caucus with 57% of the vote.

Sources:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/aq.html

http://abcnews.go.com/politics/elections/state?state=AS&ref=ipb

John McCain Wins All 9 Votes in American Samoa Republican Caucus

Intrade Presidential Winner Chart

Mike Huckabee Saturday Night Live Video

Mike Huckabee to Appear on Saturday Night Live (includes video of Barack Obama's appearance in November of 2007)

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Ron Paul Wins in Fundraising, Not in Votes

Ron Paul's campaign raised more money than any of his rivals in Washington and Wisconsin.

In Washington, Paul's campaign received $356,829 in funds out of the total $797,828 donated to all Republican Presidential candidates. His campaign received 45% of the money however, he only received 7% of the votes.

Similarly in Wisconsin, Paul's campaign received $118,816 in funds out of the total $367,830 donated to all Republican Presidential candidates. Despite receiving 32% of the money he only received 5% of the votes.

In the Maryland and Virginia primaries Ron Paul's campaign was second in fund raising to Rudy Guiliani and John McCain respectively. Once again, the campaign pulled in a significant percentage of the overall funds donated at 19% and 22% and then went on to receive 6% and 5% of the primary votes.

To break it down ever further, Ron Paul's campaign received donations of $11.74 per vote in Washington, $6.19 per vote in Wisconsin, $10.97 per vote in Maryland adn $13.55 per vote in Virginia.
Seed Newsvine

Source of Fundraising Figures and Number of Votes:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008-presidential-candidates/primaries/states/wa/r/

Ron Paul Wins in Fundraising, Not in Votes

Clinton Campaign Snubs RI Superdelegate

Rhode Island Mayor and Democratic Superdelegate David Cicilline may end his support of Hillary Clinton after serving as her state campaign chairperson.
Mayor Cicilline has had a long standing contract dispute with the local firefighters union who threatened to protest any Clinton event the mayor attends.
As a result Mayor Cicciline says he was contacted by national and local members of Clinton's campaign urging him to meet the firefighter's demands before Clinton's Sunday, February 24th rally and fundraiser.
Unwilling to change his position with regards to the firefighters Mayor Cicciline says he then received a phone call from Clinton political and field director Guy Cecil who asked him not to attend the Sunday rally.
Cicilline is quoted as saying: “It’s obviously something for me to think about very carefully, because I am very disappointed in the decision of the Clinton campaign. I’m not prepared to say more than that today. I obviously have tremendous respect for Senator Clinton, but I’m very disappointed in the decision of her campaign today,”

Sources:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004195582_aponthe2008trail22.html

http://www.projo.com/news/politics/content/CICILLINE_BARRED_02-22-08_FS93UHE_v8.38dfb05.html

Clinton Campaign Snubs RI Superdelegate

Carol Paul, Grandmother of 17 and Potential First Lady

Carol Paul, age 71, is the wife of Presidential Candidate Ron Paul.
Dr. and Mrs. Paul celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary in 2008.
Carol is an alumni of Ohio University where she received her AD with a major in secretarial studies and a minor in home economics.
According to Mrs. Paul's myspace.com page she was a twirler in the marching band, a member of the modern dance club and Alpha Xi Delta.
She is also a grandmother of 17 and great grandmother of one.

Michelle Obama, Harvard Law Graduate and Potential First Lady Cindy McCain, Potential First Lady and Former Drug Addict
Janet Huckabee, Cancer Survivor and Potential First Lady

Source: Mrs. Paul's page on http://www.myspace.com/

Friday, February 22, 2008

Today's Featured Election Videos on YouTube.Com

Most Discussed:

John McCain Press Conference

Loan May Prohibit McCain from Exiting Public Campaign Financing System

This week Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason sent a letter to John McCain notifying him that his campaign will not be allowed to opt out of the public campaign financing requested for the primary campaign until he answers questions about a loan he obtained to help fund his campaign in the last quarter of 2007.

The FEC wants assurance that McCain did not use the promise of the public funds to obtain the loan a question that was raised by wording contained in the loan agreement from Fidelity Bank and Trust.

Among other things the loan agreement is reported to say that if McCain were to withdraw from the public financing system before the end of 2007 and lose the New Hampshire primary by more than 10 percent, he would have to reapply to the FEC for public matching funds and provide the bank additional collateral for the loan.

Even if McCain asnwers the FEC's questions regarding the loan favorably he still faces an additional to hurdle opt out of the public financing system. The Senate has not confirmed Bush's appointees to the commission so there is not a quorum of members to approve his request.

If McCain is unable to opt out of the public campaign financing his campaign will be limited to spending $54 million in the primaries, a limit the campaign is reported to be near.

Related Posts:
John McCain Requests Withdrawal from Presidential Election Financing System

Source:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jSgCX-MGmRepsojAyirvJbg2ZztAD8UUOVLO0

John McCain Questioned by FEC on Loan

Democrats Abroad: Selected Country Results

Switzerland (location of the Democrats Abroard International Chair) - Obama received 71.8% of the votes to Clinton's 27.5%.
Canada - Obama received 62.4% of the 2,236 votes to Clinton's 36.1%.
Thailand - Obama received 69.4% of the 598 votes to Clinton's 28.3%.
Ireland - Obama received 62.5% of the votes to Clinton's 36.5%

Related Post:
Democrats Abroad Deliver 11th Consecutive Win for Obama

Sources:

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news_digest/US_Democrats_in_Switzerland_favour_Obama.html?siteSect=104&sid=8768860&cKey=1203677632000&ty=nd
http://www.thestar.com/News/USElection/article/305931
http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=126079
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/21/america/campaign.php
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0221/uselection.html

Democrats Abroad Deliver 11th Consecutive Win for Obama

More than 20,000 U.S. citizens living abroad in 164 countries voted in the Democrats Abroad primaries in person, by mail and over the internet from February 5 through February 12th.

Ex-patriots participated in the primary from 164 countries including Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Japan, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Philippines, Thailand, Switzerland, and Zambia.

Barack Obama won the Democrats Abroad delegates with 65.6% of the vote. Of the remaining 34.4% of votes, 32.7% were for Hillary Clinton.

Sources: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news_digest/US_Democrats_in_Switzerland_favour_Obama.html?siteSect=104&sid=8768860&cKey=1203677632000&ty=nd

http://www.thestar.com/News/USElection/article/305931 http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=126079

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/21/america/campaign.php http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0221/uselection.html

http://www.democratsabroad.org/

[Democrats Abroad Deliver 11th Consecutive Win for Obama]

Mike Huckabee to Appear on Saturday Night Live

Mike Huckabee will appear in a skit on the first Saturday Night Live since the end of the writer's strike on February 23rd.
The show will be hosted by Tina Fey and will feature musical guest Carrie Underwood.
While John McCain hosted the show in 2002, Barack Obama is the only other candidate to appear on Saturday Night Live this election cycle.
Barack Obama's November Appearance on Saturday Night Live:

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

McCain Wins Republican February 19th Primaries By 393,307 Votes

With between 62% and 100% of precincts reporting John McCain received 424,912 votes to Mike Huckabee's 241,248, Ron Paul's 49,956 and Alan Keyes's 1,605 in the Washington and Wisconsin primaries.
John McCain received 49% and 55% of the votes in Washington and Wisconsin respectively while Huckabee received 22% and 37%, Paul received 7% and 5% and Keyes received 0%, for the same states. The remaining percentage of voters cast their votes for former candidates Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Rudy Guiliani, Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo.

Source:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/primaries/

Urban Legends Surrounding The 2008 Candidates

www.snopes.com reports the following true and false Urban Legends surrounding the 2008 Presidential Candidates:

True

Photo shows soldier shaking hands with Hillary Clinton with fingers crossed.
The son of Mike Huckabee killed a dog.
Photo shows Barack Obama without his hand over his heart while the national anthem is being played.

False

Hillary Clinton stamp fails to stick because wrong side is being "spit" upon.
Barack Obama was sworn into office on the Quran.

Obama Wins February 19th Democratic Primaries/Caucuses By 749,092 Votes

With between 62% and 100% of precincts reporting Barack Obama received 952,455 votes to Clinton's 719,352 in the Hawaii, Washington and Wisconsin caucus/primaries.
Barack Obama received 76%, 50% and 58% of the votes in Hawaii, Washington and Wisconsin respectively while Clinton received 24%, 47% and 41% for the same states.
The remaining percentage of voters cast their votes for former/lesser known candidates John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, Mike Gravel, Chris Dodd, or as uncommitted.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/primaries/

Michelle Obama, Harvard Law Graduate and Potential First Lady

Michelle Obama, 44, is the wife of Presidential candidate Barack Obama.

She graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School before going to work at Chicago law firm Sidley Austin.

Michelle and Barack met when she was assigned to mentor him when he was a summer associate with the firm and they were married in 1992.

After Sidley Austin Michelle served as the Assistant to the Mayor of Chicago, Executive Director of Public Allies, Associate Dean of Student Services at teh University of Chicago and then as Vice President for Community and External Affairs also at teh University.

Michelle has been featured as one of the "25 of the World's Most Inspiring Women" by Essence magazine, "10 of the World's Best Dressed People" by Vanity Fair magazine and was 58th on "The Harvard 100".

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama

McCain Gambles on Failed Campaign Tactics of the Past

Since Mitt Romney suspended his campaign, John McCain has declared that he will use two campaign tactics that failed for past Presidential candidates. He vowed to campaign in every state and promised "no new taxes".

Campaigning in Every State

Richard Nixon was the last Presidential candidate to vow to campaign in all 50 states when he lost to John Kennedy in 1960. Among other things this tactic forced Nixon to spend time in areas of the country that were not strategic to the overall election win. For example, on the weekend prior to the election he spent his time traveling to Alaska rather than reaching out to more densely populated states that could have yielded more electoral votes.

No New Taxes

I'm sure we all remember Bush 41's faux pas when he uttered the words "read my lips, no new taxes" during his speech at the 1988 Republican National Convention when he received the party's nomination. On Sunday's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" McCain was asked if he was a ""read my lips" candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?".
In order not to interfere with the context of the question and answer the following is the full transcript of that part of the interview:

STEPHANOPOULOS: So on taxes, are you a "read my lips" candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?

MCCAIN: No new taxes. I do not -- in fact, I could see an argument, if our economy continues to deteriorate, for lower interest rates, lower tax rates, and certainly decreasing corporate tax rates, which are the second-highest in the world, giving people the ability to write off depreciation in a year, elimination of the AMT. There's a lot of things that I would think we should to relieve that burden, including, obviously, as we all know, simplification of the tax code.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But under circumstances would you increase taxes?

MCCAIN: No.

With the Senate Curse apparently behind the candidates we'll see how John McCain's use of these two historically unsuccessful tactics pans out.

Sources:

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Superdelegate_Transparency_Project http://www.extrememortman.com/politics/50-state-presidential-campaign/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYnDd9pj3A9w&refer=home http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/Story?id=4304502&page=2

McCain Gambles on Failed Campaign Tactics of the Past

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The Candidates on Resignation of Fidel Castro

Hillary Clinton

* "The new leadership in Cuba will face a stark choice -- continue with the failed policies of the past that have stifled democratic freedoms and stunted economic growth -- or take a historic step to bring Cuba into the community of democratic nations. The people of Cuba want to seize this opportunity for real change and so must we. "

"As President, I will engage our partners in Latin America and Europe who have a strong stake in seeing a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba, and who want very much for the United States to play a constructive role to that end. The United States must pursue an active policy that does everything possible to advance the cause of freedom, democracy and opportunity in Cuba."

John McCain

"Today's resignation of Fidel Castro is nearly half a century overdue. For decades, Castro oversaw an apparatus of repression that denied liberty to the people who suffered under his dictatorship."

"Cuba's transition to democracy is inevitable; it is a matter of when - not if. With the resignation of Fidel Castro, the Cuban people have an opportunity to move forward and continue pushing for the moment that they will truly be free. America can and should help hasten the sparking of freedom in Cuba. The Cuban people have waited long enough."

Barack Obama

" Cuba's future should be determined by the Cuban people and not by an anti-democratic successor regime. The prompt release of all prisoners of conscience wrongly jailed for standing up for the basic freedoms too long denied to the Cuban people would mark an important break with the past. It's time for these heroes to be released."

"If the Cuban leadership begins opening Cuba to meaningful democratic change, the United States must be prepared to begin taking steps to normalize relations and to ease the embargo of the last five decades. The freedom of the Cuban people is a cause that should bring Americans together."

Mike Huckabee

"The Cuban people deserve nothing less than free and fair elections which would provide the only hope for a prosperous and democratic Cuba. Until Fidel Castro is dead there can be no significant movement towards reform in Cuba. Raul Castro has proven that he's as much a tyrant and dictator as his brother Fidel. Simply providing more power to another dictator does nothing to promote freedom and democracy to the Cuban people."

Sources: Press Releases Posted on the Candidate's Websites:

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=6068

http://johnmccain.com/Informing/News/PressReleases/3fa77b84-1122-4084-bfcb-d7dd970ecb3.htm

http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/19/statement_of_senator_barack_ob_3.php

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Newsroom.PressRelease&ID=630

Press Releases on Fidel Castro's resignation were unavailable from the websites of Alan Keyes, Ron Paul and MikeGravel.

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Janet Huckabee, Cancer Survivor and Potential First Lady

Janet Huckabee, age 53, is the wife of former Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee.

She and John met in high school and were married shortly after her high school graduation.

Two years later when Janet was 20 she was diagnosed with spinal cancer and faced the prospect of being paralyzed. After surgery and radiation Janet recovered.

She later attended Ouachita Baptist University and John Brown University.

Janet was the Republican nominee for Arkansas Secretary of State in 2002, the same year Mike Huckabee ran for a second term as Governor. Mike Huckabee won his election however, Janet was defeated by the Democratic nominee.

According to a Newsweek article Janet was nicknamed the "First Tomboy" during Mike Huckabee’s terms as governor. They reported that Janet tracked bears, hunted rattlesnakes, fired a grenade launcher, went skydiving and jet-skied down the entire Arkansas River.

Most recently Janet was employed as the Program Manager for State Emergency Management Relations with the Arkansas Red Cross. She is also a board member with Habitat for Humanity.

Sources:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/74470

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=196754703

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Huckabee

http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2007/11/09/WashingtonDCBureau/344014.html

Janet Huckabee, Cancer Survivor and Potential First Lady

Monday, February 18, 2008

Convoluted Delegate Rules In Texas May Not Favor Hillary Clinton

The following are excerpts from a Washington Post article by Matthew Mosk:

"Supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are worried that convoluted delegate rules in Texas could water down the impact of strong support for her among Hispanic voters there"

"Several top Clinton strategists and fundraisers became alarmed after learning of the state's unusual provisions during a closed-door strategy meeting this month,"

"Clinton could win an overwhelming majority of votes but gain only a small edge in delegates. At the same time, a win in the more urban districts in Dallas and Houston -- where Sen. Barack Obama expects to receive significant support -- could yield three or four times as many delegates. "

"Under rules described in the 37-page Texas delegate selection plan, two-thirds of the state's 228 delegates will be chosen based on the vote in each of 31 state Senate districts. The remaining delegates will be chosen based in part on the outcome of caucuses held on election night after the polls close."

For the full article and full text of the Texas Delegate Distribution Plan click on this link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/17/AR2008021702461.html?referrer=emailarticle

Cindy McCain, Potential First Lady and Former Drug Addict

Cindy McCain, age 54, is the second wife of Senator John McCain.
She was the only child of James and Marguerite Hensley who founded one of the largest Anheuser-Busch distributors in the United States, Hensley & Company, in 1955.
Cindy attended the University of Southern California where she received an undergraduate degree in education and a masters in special education.
She met and began an affair with John McCain at a military reception in 1979 where he served as the US Navy Liaison to the United States Senate.
At the time John McCain was still married to Carol Shepp McCain. One month after his divorce from Carol in 1980 he and Cindy were married.
In 1988 Cindy formed a non-profit organization called American Voluntary Medical Team that arranged trips for medical providers to provide emergency care to third world countries.
The following year in 1989 Cindy McCain developed an addiction to Percocet and Vicodin which she later blamed on back pain and the emotional stress of she and John's involvement in the Keating Five Scandal that erupted after he had served just three months of his first Senate term. John McCain was the only Republican of the five Senators involved in the scandal.
Cindy's addiction led her to steal drugs from the American Voluntary Medical Team.
This led to the layoff of Tom Gosinski, an employee of the American Voluntary Medical Team, a subsequent wrongful termination lawsuit, an intervention by Cindy's parents and a federal investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
When the Phoenix Times was prepared to bring Cindy's addiction into the public light she granted interviews to the press explaining her problem.
The federal investigation was resolved with financial restitution and Cindy's participation in a "diversion program"
American Voluntary Medical Team ceased operations in 1994.
The following year Cindy formed a new non-profit, the Hensley Family Foundation, a charity that donates money towards children's programs.
Then, after her father's death in 2000, Cindy became Chairwoman of her family's $300 million dollar beer distributor, Hensley & Company.
In April of 2004 Cindy had to a near fatal stroke as the result of high blood pressure. The only long lasting effects reported were short-term memory loss and difficulty writing, neither of which stop her from supporting her husband in his Presidential Campaign.
The next potential first lady that will be featured will be Janet Huckabee.