Joseph Biden Drops Out

Delaware Democratic Senator Joe Biden has dropped out of the presidential race after a disappointing finish in Iowa.

Source: MSNBC

Hillary Picks Up 10th Senator

Image courtesy of Hillary Hub

Good news for the Hillary Clinton campaign as they prepare for the Iowa caucus. The campaign announced today the endorsement of Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington. Cantwell's endorsement makes Hillary's list of senate endorsements grow to 10. Senator Barack Obama has 2 senate endorsements while Bill Richardson and Senator Joe Biden each have one. John Edwards and Chris Dodd have none.

Democratic Candidates Sign Pledge

According to Political Wire, "John Edwards, Sen. Barack Obama, Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Chris Dodd and Sen. Joe Biden promised not to campaign in states that hold early nominating contests in violation of Democratic party rules, the AP reports.

They agreed to a pledge circulated by the Democratic Party chairs of Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Sen. Hillary Clinton's staff said she is still reviewing the matter. "

This is a tough one. While it is annoying that many states are trying to push up their primaries to get more play, is it entirely smart to ignore all but four states for the time being? Don't forget we have a general election coming up after the primaries. I'm not sure how I feel about this pledge, Hillary needs to think this through.

Pollspot: Still More of the Same

As much as I am ecstatic that Hillary Clinton maintains her lead, I would love to see pollers ask some new questions or something! Please. Anyways, here is a new national poll courtesy of Political Wire.

The latest CNN/Opinion Research poll confirms what most other national polls show: Sen. Hillary Clinton is widening her lead in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.In the new survey, Clinton leads with 44%, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 24%, John Edwards at 16% and Gov. Bill Richardson at 5%.

Among registered Republicans, Rudy Giuliani is ahead with 27%, followed by
former Sen. Fred Thompson with 19%, Sen. John McCain is third with 14%, followed
by former Speaker Newt Gingrich at 12%, and former Gov. Mitt Romney at 11%.

While I do not want anyone to mess with Hillary's 20 point lead. I would be a little excited if Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, or anyone else started rising and taking down Obama and Edwards.

AFL-CIO Presidential Forum

The ALF-CIO held it's Democratic forum last night in Chicago moderated by MSNBC's Keith Olberman and featuring all the major Democratic contenders for president except for former Alaska senator Mike Gravel. Since this is basically the millionth Democratic debate/forum (with a million more to go), we heard a lot of the same old stuff. However, the dynamic is changing and, last night, instead of it seeming like every man and woman for him or herself...it seemed to be more of a team sport with Clinton/Biden/Dodd on one side against Obama/Edwards on another side with Richardson and Kucinich floating around.

Before that, let's talk about other things. While all the candidates did well as usual, I though last night belonged to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Rep. Dennis Kucinich. Richardson, for once, looked comfortable, had the best one liner ("My V-P would NOT be Dick Cheney"), stayed out of the bickering, and, most importantly, he wasn't boring. Dennis Kucinich...gotta love him. He's really passionate and he's the only candidate up there that actually has differing views from the rest. He did a lot better without Mike Gravel's presence. Senator Chris Dodd and Senator Joe Biden also did really well last night. Dodd sounded strong and Biden really knows how to work a crowd. Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama did well as usual with Hillary definitely sounding more presidential and experienced. She edged out Obama in his home field once again and political analysts, including Pat Buchanan, agree it was her night. John Edwards did the poorest. His desperation is shining through and he's trying to do whatever it takes to crawl back to the top.

Edwards started the bickering early on by trying to condemn Hillary for taking lobbyist money and Barack echoed Edwards' criticism. Hillary stood her ground and defended her position. Edwards was trying to capitalize on the fact that Hillary got booed at YearlyKos for lobbyist defense. Guess what Edwards? This wasn't YearlyKos. Lucky for Barack, Gravel was not there to call him out saying that Barack does indeed take money from special interest groups, even if they aren't federal lobbyists (key word there is federal). Keith Olberman did mention to Barack about him accepting money from lobbyists to which Obama went defensive very quickly. Obama and Edwards are fooling nobody. Do you really think they are getting all their money from the general public? They are the two people I have actually seen speak in person and while they are both great, charasmatic speakers....they continue to disappoint and unimpress.

This team up of Obama and Edwards continued as the two candidates attempted to paint themselves as Washington outsiders and portray the others as Washington insiders. This has been Obama's motto all along, which Edwards is now trying to hop on Obama's bandwagon. Desperate much Edwards? Hopefully, Obama and Edwards will cancel each other out because, frankly, both are starting to become very whiny and very "vote for us because we aren't with the in-crowd."

Next came the time to attack Barack Obama. As mentioned here in previous posts, Obama recently stated that we need to pull out of Iraq and go into Pakistan to get Al-Qaeda. Now he's trying to take his words back and add stuff in there by saying "only if we have actionable intelligence" and "scratch that, noone discussed nuclear weapons" after he mentioned nuclear weapons and Pakistan. To me, Obama is continuing to see that he needs to seem more experienced and more knowledgeable on foreign policy so he is doing and saying anything to get his name out there. Last night, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd came after Obama for his remarks saying that he made a mistake about his remarks about Pakistan and Biden even went on to say that "Barack said nothing new and he was just stating something (actionable intelligence) that is already policy." Basically, Biden called Obama out for copying him and for stating something that the U.S. already does but making it seem like it was a new idea. Olberman tried to get Hillary to say something in regards to Obama's statements and, while she did say that it was unwise and unpresidential, her remarks weren't as heated as those from Dodd and Biden. Hillary was able to take the high road last night and not be so on the offense due to the support she had on stage from Biden and Dodd. It was definitely a good thing for her and Dodd and Biden definitely elevated her last night. Perhaps, Dodd and Biden have struck a deal to join Hillary's cabinet and administration? Who knows. I'd love that. Anyways, Obama defended himself against Dodd, Biden, and Hillary the ONLY way he knows how....by talking about IRAQ (which wasn't even brought up). Barack tooted the "well, what's naive is all you guys voting for the Iraq war" business again. I'm so sick of this argument. Get over it Obama. You weren't in the Senate. You didn't vote for Iraq because you didn't have the chance to vote for Iraq....whether it would have been a yes or a no. The only person who truly voted against Iraq and not vote to fund it (Barack voted to fund it) was Dennis Kucinich. Same old argument, a different day. Get something new Obama...please.

That's all. Expect more bickering.

Clinton and Obama in the Playground

Here's a nice and telling article from The New York Times about the relationship between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. In fact, this article goes very well with the political cartoon that Leah posted below. The article discusses how the two, once friendly to each other senators, now barely speak and try to avoid contact but watch each other very carefully. It also compares the Senate floor to a playground. Here is an excerpt:

Mrs. Clinton, of New York, and Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut came first, laughing and smiling as they made their way to the Democratic side of the aisle. A few paces behind was Senator Joseph R. Biden of Delaware, who quickly joined the other two in a light moment. (Earlier, Mrs. Clinton and Senator John McCain , an Arizona Republican, had been trading warm banter near the front of the Senate floor, which takes on the air of a schoolyard during marathon voting sessions like these.)

Mr. Obama entered the Senate floor alone. He glanced at the other three, pulled out his Blackberry and paused for a few seconds before walking to the third row and taking a seat next to three freshman senators. As the evening passed, Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton each spoke with several Republicans in the room and to nearly every Democrat -- except each other.

It has got to be awkward for those two! Their schedules are so similar that they really can't avoid each other. Nice to see that Hillary, Joe, and Chris can still chill together on the Senate floor!

Obama Vs. Pakistan

This continues my series on why Senator Barack Obama is NOT ready to be president and why my candidate, Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton, is. Also, I'll pretty much take anyone of the Democrats except for Obama. Okay...so maybe I'd leave Gravel and Kucinich as well but, at least, I give them credit for being more real.

Senator Obama has made more reckless remarks regarding how the U.S. should withdraw its troops from Iraq and stick them in Afghanistan and Pakistan to deal with terrorists. I'm sorry Senator but it is too soon to talk about taking our troops out just to stick them somewhere else. A big reason we want the war in Iraq to end is because we want our troops to come home and not to be thrown into another unneccessary war with no end in sight. There are other ways to hunt down Bin Laden then to throw us into another conflict. Hillary Clinton was right when she called Barack Obama's answer regarding meeting with the "bad" world leaders "naive" and "irresponsible." Here is a snippet of how Pakistan feels after Obama's comments from the Associated Press and posted at Hillaryis44.

Pakistan criticized U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama on Friday for saying that, if elected, he might order unilateral military strikes against terrorists hiding in this Islamic country. Top Pakistan officials said Obama’s comment was irresponsible and likely made for political gain in the race for the Democratic nomination. “It’s a very irresponsible statement, that’s all I can say,” Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khusheed Kasuri told AP Television News. “As the election campaign in America is heating up we would not like American candidates to fight their elections and contest elections at our expense.”

Obama said in a speech Wednesday that as president he would order military action against terrorists in Pakistan’s tribal region bordering Afghanistan if intelligence warranted it. The comment provoked anger in Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in its war on terror.

President Bush has worsened our relationships with countries ALL over the world and it is most definitely the worst in the Middle East and southwestern Asia. Pakistan is actually an ALLY of the US right now so please don't isolate them and threaten them with blanket statements about nuclear weapons and war. Other Democratic presidential candidates including Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, who is perhaps the most experienced in foreign policy having sat on the foreign relations committee, and Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut have called Obama out for his comments and Biden has echoed Clinton's call of Obama as naive. Obama stated he wanted to meet with our enemies...wonderful...all the Democratic candidates are for more diplomacy so your little tiff against Hillary Clinton was stupid and unneccessary for both campaigns. However, don't push countries that are not our enemies further and further away. Obama has the rock star quality and I feel that's why he chose to run...because he's very much enjoying the attention and popularity that comes with power. His comments are showing me more and more that he is not ready to lead this country. A few days ago Obama said how, out of all the candidates Democrat and Republican, he had the best and most foreign policy experience because he has lived oversees and has family overseas. NEWSFLASH...Obama lived oversees for FOUR years when he was SIX years old. Give me a break Obama, why don't you take a back seat and let your staffer David Axelrod run for the presidency because he is clearly more experienced than you. And fyi...if you want to distance yourself from George W. Bush...then think before you speak and don't start throwing stuff out there for political gain.

Gingrich Predicts Clinton/Obama

From CNN: WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats will nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton for president in 2008 and Barack Obama will be her running mate, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich predicts. The GOP will have three “formidable” choices in Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson, said Gingrich, who is considering whether to get into the race.

I also predict that it may just end up Hillary Clinton for Pres and Barack Obama for VP on the same ticket. It wouldn't surprise me very much anymore. I think it would solidify the Democratic party's chances of winning the White House. Other places are mentioning possible VP choices for Clinton, should she get the nomination, as Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack or Sen. Evan Bayh. Who knows? I'd be pleased with a Clinton/Obama ticket. I would be more pleased with a Clinton/Biden ticket. I would not be pleased with a Obama/Clinton ticket (but I don't think that will happen).

New Format, Old Questions

The internet showcased how much it has changed politics and elections last night when Anderson Cooper moderated the first ever CNN/YouTube debates. The format was new...for the first time average citizens were able to ask the questions via video submissions through YouTube. But were they really? Not entirely...CNN still acted as gatekeeper and picked which questions would address the candidates. However, the change in format did make for a new and fresh approach to presidential debates. While the format was new, the questions were old. The candidates, for the most part, still addressed the questions that they were used to dealing with Iraq, health care, and gay marriage. However, there were some questions that were new and interesting...such as asking Senator Barack Obama whether he was "black" enough and whether Senator Clinton was feminine enough. There were also some questions that were new and not so interesting...such as who was your favorite teacher? Sorry, but I felt like that was a bit of a waste of time.

Now for the winner of the debate...the format! The new format giving viewers the opportunity to ask the questions was the real winner. None of the candidates really won the debate because they all performed well and even though the format was new...a lot of the answers we received still felt extremely scripted. Of course, that won't stop any of the campaigns from declaring victory (Senator Obama's campaign crowned him king as did Senator Bidens) For once I noticed that Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Senator Chris Dodd were given equal, if not more, time than the top tier candidates. With that said, the candidate who I felt performed the worst was Governor Bill Richardson and that's only because he started off shaky. He recovered soon enough and performed well. I almost must say that Mike Gravel is insane. He's very passionate and angry about the issues but he is too much of a loose cannon and combative. I do love his presence at these debates because you can always count on him for entertainment and to put the candidates in their place. My personal favorite, other than Mrs. Clinton of course, was Senator Joe Biden. I really feel that, if Hillary Clinton were not running, this man would be the best choice for president. He really knows his foreign policy and I think he would set a good domestic agenda.

While many media and pundits predicted that the candidates would attempt to bring down Hillary Clinton last night, I found that most of the attacks were towards Barack Obama. Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel called Obama out for saying he does not accept money from lobbyists and Dennis Kucinich attacked Obama for saying that he never voted for the Iraq War. He made it very clear that Barack Obama never had the chance to vote for the Iraq war since he was not in office at the time and that Kucinich was actually the only candidate who had not voted for the war. I was pleased to hear Kucinich make this point because I'm tired of Senator Obama using this point when it is not entirely valid.

The big issue being discussed about last night's debate is the difference in answers between Senators Clinton and Obama regarding whether or not they would promise to meet with the leaders of Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, etc. in their first term. Senator Obama answered first and said he would make that promise to meet with the leaders and Senator Clinton answered next saying she would not promise to meet with them because she would need to make sure that it wouldn't be used for propaganda. While it may sound like they answered completely differently, they did not. Hillary, like Obama, said she would seek diplomacy but she just didn't say she would go into it without thinking about it first. While I have no doubt that Obama would also not jump into talks with the leaders without investigation and thought, Hillary's answer came across far more experienced and thought out. It made Obama's answer seem very naive and, amateur. My friend and Washington D.C. intern Ashlee Tran says "Her response to the Iran/N Korea/Venez/Syria/etc. ques was measured, poised and exemplified her experience." This, to me, just showed how excellent Hillary Clinton is in the debate format and how Barack Obama is not quite there yet. Today, in regards to those responses, the Clinton camp is attacking the Obama camp for being naive and the Obama camp is attacking the Clinton camp for being a flip flopper and supporting the Iraq War. Yes, they are still using that argument. When all else fails...Obama's camp tries to hide behind Iraq.

One question I have to personally comment on is whether African-Americans should receive reparations for slavery. Only Dennis Kucinich said yes. I could not agree more. I mean no disrespect when I say that unless you were out there in the fields picking that cotton or doing other slave labor, then there is no way you should get any reparation for slavery because, guess what, you were not enslaved.

In closing, while all the candidates shone last night, Hillary Clinton looked and sounded the most presidential. This woman knows her stuff and she has the experience (and I'll dive further into this later because you know I can't let Kevin's post go unanswered). Anderson Cooper did a great job moderating. Ashlee Tran says Cooper "pushed the candidates and continued to probe for answers. One of the best moderators thus far. Plus, he knows when to cut Kucinich off and when to bring Gravel back to...earth." I very much agree. There is a lot more I could say but, perhaps, one of my other Green Room members will choose to analyze the debate further. All in all, a pretty entertaining and informative debate.

Don't Be Fooled

The crowd at the NAACP gave Obama a great reception? Oh, please do tell. Hillary received a warm welcome from Emily’s List? No way. Edwards got a standing ovation from the Hairstylists of America? Wow, I’m shocked.

Senator Obama is the first black presidential candidate with a chance to win the nomination (sorry Senator Biden only college kids with no political career are allowed to state this blatant truth.) Am I really supposed to be impressed that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People cheered his “mere presence”? Now if Rich had read past the first paragraph of the New York Times article, he would have read the second sentenced that said, “it was as if Mr. Obama, the only black candidate, enjoyed the home field advantage.” Obama “shined” (according to Rich) not because of his groundbreaking ideas but rather because the crowd had a bit of a bias.

Yet, Obama was not the only attendee to be showered in applause. The article noted that Clinton “struck chords with the crowd” and Tom Tancredo “got an enthusiastic standing ovation just for showing up.” We are getting a bit ahead of ourselves in saying that this was a “clear sign that [Obama] has what it takes” when Tom “I don’t believe in evolution” Tancredo is getting vibrant applause from the same group. Seriously, no one even knows who this guy is. Here’s a picture to hopefully jog your memory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tom_Tancredo%2C_official_Congressional_photo.jpg

Furthermore, one must remember that this was NOT a debate. Therefore, this event provided no evidence that Obama can “think on his feet.” Obama has proven from his debates that he is no Cicero and Thursday continues to demonstrate that his only strength is scripted speeches. Let’s not make this out to be more than it is.