Poly-Ticks

This is a serious case of oral diarrhea. Give Ralph some pepto-bismol and send him to bed (or even better, give me some pepto and send him to bed anyway).

Isn’t he getting too old for this?

ralph nader obama talking white

She was down, but not out.  Hilary took the Pennsylvanian primary, what a surprise. She still hasn’t overtaken Obama’s lead, but she’s working at it.

Here’s how it stands:
Obama:  1,694
Hilary:  1,556
Needed to win: 2,025

It’s a close race, more exciting than the Euro 2008 (but then, cold morning oatmeal is more exciting than that), and it will still take a while until it’s over.  We have 13 days until NC and IN, so let’s keep watching.

I was out riding with my good friend Justi this morning and we got to talking about our usual topics.
We started talking about horses (naturally) and how incredibly wonderful they are (especially ours) and how unbelievably lucky we are to be able to ride out on such wonderful mounts (sigh) on such a sunny morning (sigh again).
After we killed that subject (it took a while) we got into English and whether the word healthily exists or not (I couldn’t find it in Websters on-line, but I did find it in dictionary.com, and I googled it with lots of references, so it is used, but I don’t think I personally have ever used it. I suppose I would say in a healthy way, or just healthy, and forget the adverb.)
Talking about English lead directly to how hard it is to learn Slovene (which it is) and all the problems associated with body parts and language.

Then we slid directly into the American presidential election and how entertaining it is - much more so than any other presidential election before. But how often do you get a black and a woman running for the oval office. Just too exciting, if you ask me.

I’m sure that most interested Americans and non-Americans alike already have “favorites” in the race. We’ve all compared (more or less) the candidate’s standpoint on the various issues, for example here from your’s truly, or here from CNN, or  here is a summary of the issues for the major candidates Hillary, Obama, Huckabee (sorry, it’s always wikipedia, but it’s so darn quick, even if it’s not always as consistent and correct as we might like - you can find the rest there too, if you’re interested). And we’ve all found that the one or other candidate is closest to our own views.

But will we actually vote for that candidate? Just because he or she holds beliefs that are closest to our own? Oh, I doubt it.

We’ll vote for the candidate we like best - for whatever reason that might be. Accept it. Life’s a popularity contest. When you’re hot, you’re hot. When you’re not, you’re not.

Have you taken the Implicit Association Test yet?

Give it a try, you may prefer a different candidate from the one you actively endorse. Who knows how that will reflect on your voting behaviour, but it’s a great way to waste some time in internet.

I found the link all over the place. Here at Bitch, PhD (who, by the way, is generally an interesting read), and then again at Pandagon (a well-read blog), and yet again here at Blog of the Moderate Left (and for you German speakers, go one post higher and you can see the German word Schadenfreude used in English - so I wasn’t lying when I said that we do that some times) and again at Utne blogs.

I won’t tell you who I prefer, but the test came out like I thought it would - but not like I thought it would 6 months ago.

Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Mike Huckabee Implicit Association Test Presidential election 2008

I found this great video here. This is excellent, uplifting, motivating. It really gives me the feeling that anything is possible.

Yes, I do believe we can.

Barack Obama yes we can music video american election

Florida behind us and the race continues. Possible election scenarios flying around blog-sphere. Giuliani’s out. Edward’s out. Will their endorsements up-end expected outcomes, or solidify existing advantages?

Who will get the dem nomination? (Here some thoughts about Hillary, Florida and 210 delegates looking for a summer job)

Sigh.

Will the dems have the strength to beat McCain? Does it really matter who wins (the will-anything-really-change-problem), or is this just fun writing for the press and bored bloggers.

I’m afraid we could be gearing up for the election for the lesser of two evils. Or shall I say the evil of two lessers? :-)
Doug is having trouble with this thought, too.

barack obama hillary clinton american primaries post-florida lesser of two evils

The American elections are fascinating this year (more so than usual, mind you).
A woman.
A black.
Unbelievable.
And this in conservative America. Who would have thought it possible.

And now Super Tuesday is creeping up on us.

What’s Super Tuesday, you might ask. And why is it so important?

Super Tuesday is the day when the greatest number of American states hold their primary elections. More delegates can be won on Super Tuesday than on any other single day of the primaries, and candidates seeking the presidency normally need to do well on this day, in order to secure their party’s nomination (democrat and republican).
This year Super Tuesday falls on February 5. 24 states will hold primaries or caucuses on this day, with 52 percent of all pledged democratic delegates and 41 percent of the total republican delegates at stake.

So basically, this will be a very important day for the outcome of the primaries. And that, in turn, will naturally have a very large impact on the outcome of the 2008 American presidential election.

The competition in the democratic corner is fierce. Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama. Which one will win? Obama did great in Iowa and really showed Hillary a thing or two. But that was short lived and, as many expected, Hillary took over the lead (The tears did it - got her the women’s vote. You just gotta love a lady who can get emotional about things).

What’s going to happen now though, with South Carolina behind us and Obama up and going strong. Is he strong enough to beat Hillary?
Is he strong enough to beat any republican candidate? Is Hillary? Is anybody?

Is America ready for change? Have things gotten bad enough, or does it have to get worse?

Here is an interesting post  - talks a bit about hubby Bill jumping into the race (Oh, just stay out of it Bill. Go find yourself a nice intern to play with.).

How about the election scorecards according to CNN. Here the dems and here the republicans.

What do you think? Which democrat is strong enough to actually win the election (a woman? a black?) - I’m not talking just about the primaries here. Which one has the strength to win in November - in a race against a republican candidate?

Does either one have a real chance, or is this whole election thing just something fun to watch, but won’t change the direction America is going in.

I really do wonder if change is possible.

barack obama hillary clinton american primaries super tuesday

Hmmmm. Will anything really change?

Found here

american presidential election 2008 candidates david bowie change

Now this is excitement. Did you expect this to happen? I sure didn’t. Hilary hasn’t given up yet. The rest of the primaries are going to be great.

The winds of change are blowing…

Here I am, sitting around at home watching the ice melt.

We had an incredible ice storm last night that left my driveway and the sidewalk slick as hell. I had to sort of skate over to the car (probably looking like a drunk spastic with stiff knees), but I decided to drive to the gas station to get some salt anyway.
I didn’t want any old ladies killing themselves in front of my house (would ruin my whole day of peace).

So, now I’m sitting here basking in the glow of good citizenship, drinking a tea, and hammering away at my brand new keyboard (which is attached to my brand new laptop. Brag, brag, brag, …)

I don’t know how you feel about the American primaries, but I need to arrange and organize some of my thoughts, Iowa being behind us and all. Let’s run through the major candidates once, shall we? Just to sort of take stock of who supports what and who opposes the other thing, as it were.

rep. Mitt Romney: (currently 44% delegate total)
Born March 12, 1947 (old). Was the governor of Mass. from 2002 to 2006. Before that he was head of the Salt lake City Olympic Organizing Committee (very sporty). Former bishop and stake president in his church (strong church ties are always good republican qualities).

Issues:
Neutral on women’s right to have an abortion
Opposes gay marriage
Neutral on universal health care
Neutral on idea that global warming is human caused
Supports the death penalty
Opposes increased taxes for the wealthiest
Opposes setting withdrawal timetable for Iraq

rep. Mike Huckabee: (currently 34% delegate total)
Born August 24, 1955. Was governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. Before that he was a Southern Baptist minister (keep the church thing in mind). Is known for losing 110 pounds (!) and advocating a healthy lifestyle (sounds sportier than Romney, possibly anti-McDonald’s).

Issues:
Opposes women’s right to have an abortion
Opposes gay marriage
Opposes universal health care
Neutral on idea that global warming is human caused
Supports the death penalty
Opposes increased taxes for the wealthiest
Opposes setting withdrawal timetable for Iraq

rep. Fred Thompson: (currently 10% delegate total)
Born August 19, 1942 (very old). Was Tennessee senator from 1994 to 2002 (like oh so many). Before that he was an actor (stage experience is always positive). He announced his candidacy on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. (Sounds like a good basis for the American presidency)

Issues:
Opposes women’s right to have an abortion
Opposes gay marriage
Opposes universal health care
Opposes idea that global warming is human caused
Supports the death penalty
Opposes increased taxes for the wealthiest
Opposes setting withdrawal timetable for Iraq

dem. Hilary Clinton: (currently 56% delegate total)
Born on October 26, 1947.  New York senator since 2000. Married to Bill Clinton (and basically already had to run the country once). Was named one of the one hundred most influential lawyers in America in 1988 and 1991 (and probably gets the female vote).

Issues:
Supports women’s right to have an abortion
Opposes gay marriage
Supports universal health care
Supports idea that global warming is human caused
Supports the death penalty
Supports increased taxes for the wealthiest
Supports setting withdrawal timetable for Iraq

dem. Barack Obama: (currently 22% delegate total)
Born on August 4, 1961 (definitely a date-able age, this handsome young man). Illinois senator since 2004 (what’s this senator thing?). Is the fifth African American Senator in U.S. History (distinctly taking the black vote).

Issues:
Supports women’s right to have an abortion
Opposes gay marriage
Supports universal health care
Supports idea that global warming is human caused
Supports the death penalty
Supports increased taxes for the wealthiest
Supports setting withdrawal timetable for Iraq

dem. John Edwards: (currently 16% delegate total)
Born June 10, 1953.  North Carolina senator  from 2000 to 2004 (ho-hum, seems to be a popular part of the bio of any good presidential candidate).  Was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004 (so what?)

Issues:
Supports women’s right to have an abortion
Opposes gay marriage
Supports universal health care
Supports idea that global warming is human caused
Supports the death penalty
Supports increased taxes for the wealthiest
Supports setting withdrawal timetable for Iraq

So, what does all this mean?
As I see it, America seems to be stuck with the death penalty, no matter what (hopefully not for illegally married gays, who also don’t seem to have good prospects in the near future).  The democrats are all pretty pro-abortion and the republicans aren’t (now there’s something new). If you are pro universal health care, then go democrat. If you’re rich, go republican (really?). The democrats are getting the hell out of Iraq and the republicans are staying. The dems seem to think we can change global warming and the republicans are planning a barbecue.

I wonder how the rest of the primaries will go…

Just in case my synopsis doesn’t help you much, try this one. It compares the candidates to stocks, like John Edwards to McDonald’s and Mike Huckabee to Chick-Fil-A (despite his healthy turn).

mitt romney mike huckabee fred thompson hilary clinton barack obama john edwards