2008 Primaries Thread 2: THE QUICKENING

compare http://www.strangecosmos.com/images/content/15744.JPG

if an electorate want to be a serious, experienced body of informed and purposeful opinion maybe it should stop these kinds of juvenile mind-reading games

yeah, so should every english lit dept

KROFT: “You don't believe that Senator Obama's a Muslim?”

CLINTON: “Of course not. I mean, that, you know, there is no basis for that. I take him on the basis of what he says. And, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that.”

you think that exchange helps your argument?

well it certainly doesn't help yours!

The answer is "Of course not." Not “Of course not. I mean, that, you know, there is no basis for that. I take him on the basis of what he says. And, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that.” She knows better than to actually smirk.

It certainly does.

wait dude i found a new angle! when asked if she DIDN'T believe that obama was a muslim she said NO which means she DOES!!

i don't know what the american people would do without these trenchant analyses

to each his own fairy tale

"fairy tale"? are you saying that because i'm black?

i don't think "fairy" meant black

she's the one who's trying to hold onto working-class guys

now you're saying i'm gay??! when will this smearing end??

ann coulter's girl

were your last two posts accidental output from the gabbneb generator?

http://www.theassassinationofbarackobama.com/

http://www.theassassinationofhilaryclinton.com/

two Ls in Hillary

http://www.theassassinationofhillaryclinton.com/

http://i31.tinypic.com/xdb37n.jpg

how insightful

http://www.factcheck.org/demos/factcheck/imagefiles/Image/11.16.07%20Clinton%20vs.%20Obama/obama_2.jpg

Of course. I mean, that, you know, there is a basis for that. I take her on the basis their marriage. And, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that Bill loves having sex with Hillary.

thanks, jhoshea

high fives all around!

where's my dog pound?? hoo hoo hoo hoo

dammmnnnn its gettin heated up in this piece !

yeah, we're all down with the tastefulness of i-find-hillary-physically-unappealing.

wtf @ anti hillary art piece

how krugmanesque

now that's some shitty art

i guess it's good that Hillary's using all of the lines McCain will, because when McCain revives them, Obama can tell America that he's acting just like Hillary.

http://brentroos.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/opp.jpg

omg mccains face will go so red when obama hillaryizes him - cannot wait for this excellent zing

so after hillary's diminishing double-digit leads and a week or so of the polls tightening in both texas and ohio, a few now have her maintaining her leads (and in the case of ohio, even increasing them):

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/poll_hillarys_lead_in_ohio_gro.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/poll_hillary_takes_lead_in_tex.php

i don't know, they're just polls, etc., but i'm getting a little nervous. i know that even small hillary victories won't change the delegate count at all, but they would nevertheless give her reason to stick around for a while, and increase the intensity of the campaign, the likelihood of florida/michigan bs., etc.

i think it's gotten to the point that any further extension of the campaign isn't going to do any good for either dem candidate

tracer the clinton/muslim bs is fair game for a few meta-reasons. i'm not as quick to agree that she's piggybacking on this rove-style at the same time as dismissing it, i just think it's another really bad performance from her.

how hard is it to say "no"? if you already have credibility problems (let's not debate the fairness of this all over again), why exacerbate them on a touchy subject your opponents are already going to make hay out of? just, you know, say no, this is bullshit w/o getting the verbal signal/noise ratio all dirtied up with "i have no reason to believe" and "as far as I know" etc etc.

it's just made an issue where there didn't need to be one. which means to me that, nefarious or not, she isn't nearly as good at politics as she says she is

not sure if this is posted upthread but heres the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHFREDHB-nQ

ethan i'm logged into everyone's account. i, daria am actually the only other real person here besides you.

Naomi Klein: Obama, Being Called a Muslim Is Not a Smear

What is disturbing about the campaign's response is that it leaves unchallenged the disgraceful and racist premise behind the entire "Muslim smear": that being Muslim is de facto a source of shame. Obama's supporters often say they are being "Swiftboated," casually accepting the idea that being accused of Muslimhood is tantamount to being accused of treason.

Been a while since we've had some Gallup up in this thread:

http://media.gallup.com/poll/graphs/030208DailyUpdateGraph1.gif

lol naomi klein you cant possibly be serious

Michy Obama profile in The New Yorker

you don't believe in challenging the Islamophobia of the Great Unwashed, jhoshea? not "politic"?

It's at least less craven than "I love Jesus"

if thats what that article is saying i certainly missed it

Um, Naomi, get real. The whisper campign isn't aimed at anyone who might accept your perspective. It is designed to plant doubts in the minds of the susceptible and to waste Obama's energy answering baseless rumors. That's what Swiftboating is all about.

It's not about whether the baseless charges should be considered legitimately harmful, but whether they are capable of doing harm.

some interesting things over at the daily kos from the weekend:

on obama generally outperforming polls (interesting especially in regard to polls' underestimating african-american turnout, which will play a role in both texas/ohio):
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/2/16596/61053/380/467458

on the impact of howard dean's leadership on new grassroots strategies (and how obama has capitalized on those strategies, while clinton has not):
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/2/1530/49441/494/466327

Hillary always ticks up in the closing day or two. She's certainly the favorite in OH, and she might pull TX out.

she will not win tx, and this is the god's truth

she's going to be clobbered in houston, dallas, and austin, and probably the surrounding areas. she will win the valley and el paso, but these are not delegate heavy areas. polls are also probably not capturing the number of republicans voting in the dem primary for obama.