So when will this end?

That is all there is to say about PA's Primary.

Sing a Song

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1155201977/bctid1515879706

Jame's Kotecki insight into PA Primary.

Florida/Michigan: How would a recount affect the race?

Almost 294,000 voters (Source) are up for grabs in Florida and around 263,000 in Michigan if there is a re-vote.

That is not counting a surely increased voter turnout with actual candidate campaigning in the states and the increased interest in the race.

Florida:
Senator Bill Nelson wants a recount and have the DNC pay for it , but the DNC can't afford to help pay for the cost of the process. Right now, the cost is estimated at around 22 million dollars. Personally, the DNC and the FDP are trying to work out a solution and Nelson should keep his 'train wrecks' to himself.

Florida is trying to figure out how to hold a new primary and how to keep the cost down. More importantly, how to engage the largest number of Floridians. I say Nelson should put his millions where his mouth is to ensure broad-based democracy in a re-vote.

Hilary won 55% and Barack received 30% of the primary vote in January. Now, theoretically, if Obama could win all of the now unpledged voters, he would narrowly beat Clinton. This is not counting the heavy campaigning efforts, increased voter turnout or swing voters.

Florida will not be easy to predict if there is another primary. On the other hand if, for some reason, the FDP decides to go with a caucus I think Hilary would win.

Let's hope that we include the wider populace and not just party activists.

Michigan:
Well, Michigan has apparently had a plan all along (according to some)--to hold a caucus. But, there is still a lot of wrangling still to come.

I will not even try to predict what will happen here. Obama was not on the ballot originally. They seem to be Clinton leaning. But, with Obama's new lead and strong campaign....anything is possible.

To top it all off Clinton wants the delegates to be seated for both states. Obama seems to be opposed stating, " “I think that we have played by whatever rules the DNC has put forward . . . and we will continue to play by those rules,” he said. “And whatever the rules are, we think we’ll do well.”

Finally, a REAL fight between the two!

More Links:
Let's Do Nothing
The Zimbabwe Guardian - interesting at least.
Irish Inependent

Size Does Matter

IT'S OFFICIAL: WITH 5 DAYS TO GO, MORE DEMS HAVE VOTED IN FLORIDA THAN IN EACH OF THE EARLY CONTESTS IN IA, NH & NV

Despite five active Presidential campaigns, GOP turnout remains unremarkable

TALLAHASSEE - With Election Day still five days away, thousands more Democrats have cast their votes in the Florida Presidential Primary than in each of the early contests in Iowa, New Hampshire or Nevada. Additionally, early turnout among Democrats is already triple what it was in the 2004 Florida Presidential Primary.

An incredible 295,932 Florida Democrats have voted so far (125,126 absentee and 170,806 early through 1/23/08), and this does not include more than 100,000 Democratic absentee ballots that have yet to be returned. By Tuesday, overall early turnout could quadruple 2004's numbers in which only 97,741 Democrats voted early or absentee.

"The enthusiasm among Democrats is palpable," Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen L. Thurman said. "Despite all the fuss over delegates, Democrats are going to the polls and making their voices heard in this open election. The votes will be counted, and the nation is going to be watching on Tuesday night to find out who Florida Democrats want as their nominee."

As the final early state primary before the potentially decisive Feb. 5th contests in 24 states, Florida could have an enormous impact on both the Democratic and Republican races. This early excitement in spite of the primary controversy bodes extremely well for the November general election.

Another good sign for November: Democratic absentee voting is proportionally higher than in any recent election, and more Democrats than Republicans have voted early. Republicans have traditionally held a large advantage with absentee voters, however, Democrats have significantly cut into their lead in 2008.

Moreover, Democratic absentee requests have climbed to more than 75% of their totals in the 2006 general election while Republicans have only reached 60% of their 2006 total - a marked decline that could illustrate low interest in their primary.

The total Democratic votes cast in the Iowa caucuses have been estimated at 239,000. In New Hampshire, almost 288,000 people voted in the open Democratic primary. In Nevada, 120,000 caucused for Democrats.

In Florida's 2004 Presidential Primary, according to the Secretary of State, 93,909 Democrats voted absentee and 3,832 voted early (it was not until the 2004 general election that early voting was standardized statewide.) for a total of 97,741 votes cast prior to the actual day of the primary.

A sampling of recent news stories on Democratic enthusiasm in Florida:

Jerusalem Post: Dems Skip Florida, But Jewish Voters Still Engaged
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201070769786&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

WESH 2 News Orlando: Dems Say They Will Vote in Fla. Primary
http://www.wesh.com/politics/15123813/detail.html

USA Today: Florida Democrats Eager to Vote Despite Candidates' Boycott
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-01-16-florida_N.htm

The Atlantic: Absentee Explosion in Florida
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/01/florida_primary_turnout_as_of.php

Associated Press: Early Voting Crucial To Campaigns Needing Boost From Fla. Primary
http://www.wftv.com/elections/15102140/detail.html

St. Pete Times: Early Vote May Be Decisive in Florida
http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/25/State/Early_vote_may_be_dec.shtml

Miami Herald: Democrats Campaigning - On Paper
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/v-print/story/392916.html

A comic to think about today

Double Click on the picture to be able to see it better.

Playing the Class Card

	Published on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 by TruthDig.com Playing the Class Card by Robert Scheer As long as Hillary Clinton, and now Gloria Steinem, has chosen to play the women’s card against the race card, let me throw in a third one: the class card. Clinton claimed in the New Hampshire primary debate that she is the unmistakable agent for change because she is a woman and her election as president would send a strong signal of a new day aborning to America and the rest of the world. It is hoped that it would be a more progressive message than the one sent by Margaret Thatcher’s ascent in England. Steinem put a finer point on the argument in her New York Times commentary, published Tuesday, New Hampshire’s primary election day, arguing that women get wonderfully more “radical” as they age, and therefore older women are more inclined to vote for Clinton, Steinem’s preferred candidate, as opposed to Barack Obama, whom younger women went for in Iowa. Maybe those younger women were more worried about how to pay off college loans or swelling mortgage obligations than gender identity. What is radical about voting for a corporate lawyer who, in defense of her Arkansas savings and loan shenanigans, once said you can’t be a lawyer without working for banks? Steinem boasts of Clinton’s “unprecedented eight years of on-the-job training in the White House” without referencing the Clinton White House’s giveaways to corporate America at the expense of poor and working Americans, the majority of them being women. Sen. Clinton’s key election operative, Mark Penn, was the other half of the Dick Morris team that recast populist Bill Clinton as the master of triangulation. I am not trying to play the class card here by claiming that because Obama grew up black and middle-class he will therefore inevitably be that rare politician who remembers where he or she came from. Bill Clinton, who came from a poor family, disproved the notion about remembering. To his everlasting shame as president, Clinton supported and signed welfare legislation that shredded the federal safety net for the poor from which he personally had benefited. He faithfully served big corporate interests by signing off on Gramm-Leach-Bliley, the Financial Services Modernization Act, which, as a gift to the banks, insurance companies and stockbrokers, reversed consumer protection legislation from the New Deal era. Thanks to Bill Clinton, those pirates were allowed to merge into the largest conglomerates the world has ever witnessed and, adding insult to injury, to “data-mine,” thus sharing your most intimate financial and health information. Bill Clinton’s next biggest concession to the fat cats was the Telecommunications Act, which ended what was left of public control of the airwaves and permits mega-media corporations to grow even bigger. No wonder Rupert Murdock and Hillary Clinton now get on so famously. Yes, Bill Clinton was a very good president compared to what came immediately before and after, and his wife has many strong points in her favor, not the least of which is her wonkish intelligence. What I object to is the notion that the perspective of gender or race trumps that of economic class in considering the traumas of this nation. That is because the George W. Bush administration engaged in class warfare for the rich with a vengeance that has left many Americans hurting, and we desperately need change to reverse that destructive course. John Edwards deserves credit for putting this issue of the growing division of American society front and center, and certainly Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has related his politics to growing up in abysmal poverty. As Kucinich has pointed out, a permanent war economy in which more than half of federal discretionary funds go to the military leaves no room for needed social programs. Question the honesty of any candidate who continues to vote for war funding while talking up all the wonderful domestic programs he or she claims to favor. At least Ron Paul is consistent in saying he would cut both. Obviously, coming from an impoverished background does not ensure a social conscience, and there is no better example that the contrary can be true than Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the scion of a wealthy family, who, as president, was a god in my Bronx home for expanding federal poverty programs that put food on our table when both my parents were out of work. Yes, it is important for the health of our democracy to break barriers that have held back a majority of our citizens, and for that reason it would certainly be an advance to have a black or female president. But that alone is not enough to justify a vote. What we need far more than a change in appearance is one of perspective. Otherwise, Condoleezza Rice would make the ideal candidate. Robert Scheer is editor of Truthdig.com and a regular columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle. © 2008 TruthDig.com