Archive for January 8th, 2008
January 8th, 2008
A new, more determined Barack Obama emerged Tuesday night. AS he gave what he surely had planned to be a victory speech, he adopted more strongly than in previous speeches the cadence of a black preacher, repeating, “Yes, we can” over and again in responses to challenges he set up.
Smart move, because the next two, critical primaries for Democrats are in Nevada next Tuesday, and in South Carolina the following week. In Nevada, a powerful constituency is the culinary workers union, and Obama needs its endorsement. With Clinton’s victory, that’s less a sure thing than it was. Also, he must win South Carolina’s black voters, who make up half the Democratic electorate.
This is a real, old fashioned horse race. Although Edwards says he’ll stay in the race I have a hard time figuring out why. And if he gets out, who benefits? Does he endorse Obama in return for promise of vice-presidency? Edwards went that route before, with John Kerry in 2004. Of course, Kerry ran probably the worst presidential campaign since Mike Dukakis in 1988.
Clinton and Obama both have learned a lot about inevitability in the last week: there’s no such thing in politics. And hopefully Obama has learned that the press loves to hype you one week, and diss you the next.
As the late Zeke Giorgi used to say, “It’s show biz, kid.”
January 8th, 2008
Maj. Gen. John Borling, USAF retired, called back from Nashua, NH., where he’s at John McCain’s victory bash. Borling, a POW in N. Vietnam for more than 6 years, shared part of his confinement with Navy pilot McCain in the Hanoi Hilton.
” When he was given up as a grey ghost last year, I thought, ‘never count out the old warrior. Here’s a guy who’s at hist best when his back is against the war. It’s the resilience you get from being a POW for 6 years. He’s very, very consistent,” Borling said.
Borling is a McCain delegate who lives in Rockford.
January 8th, 2008
Now that neither the Repubs or the Dems have a front runner, perhaps Illinois’ Feb. 5 primary will have meaning for the first time in years.
That’s the hope of U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan, who told me Tuesday night that the message from New Hampshire is that “For the first time in a long time, the people will actually have a choice” in picking the next presidential nominee in both parties.
“I think it is very possible that both parties could go to their conventions without a nominee. I think it’s pretty exciting that you had Obama win Iowa, and you have Clinton holding New Hampshire. On our side, Huckabee in Iowa, and McCain took New Hampshire,” Manzullo said.
“You’re down to two people on the Democratic side. On the Republican side, Huckabee and Fred Thompson are neck and neck in South Carolina, and Rudy Giuliani is skipping the early primaries and contesting Florida. So it’s wide open.”
Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, also said he believes Illinois’ primary will matter.
“We could become more of a player in both parties this time. IT’s good that it’s still a wide open race,” says Syverson, also a delegate for Thompson.
“There are a number of good candidates and while I’d like to see Thompson win, I’d have no problem supporting any of the other (GOP) frontrunners,” Syverson said.
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January 8th, 2008
Still fairly close in New Hampshire, but it looks as if Hillary will pull it off. She did well with core Democratic constituencies, who turned out in bigger numbers than expected.
Obama’s “no red states or blue states just the United States” message may be better suited to the general election than the primaries.
Actually, Obama and Clinton have similar records. The liberal Americans for Democratic Action rate Clinton at 95 percent, Obama at 97 percent positive.
This sets up the next battle in Nevada, where the primary is Jan. 19. The powerful culinary workers union had been set to endorse Obama, now, all bets are off.
John McCain is the real comeback kid of the night, though. McCain delegate John Borling is calling me back. He’s at the McCain party in Nashua, NH.
gotta go.
January 8th, 2008
I’m frustrated because I’m trying to reach retired Air Force Gen. John Borling of Rockford. He’s a prime backer of Sen. John McCain, who won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night, easily defeating Mitt Romney.
Like former Navy pilot McCain, Borling spent 6 years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton as a prisoner of war. The two are good friends and McCain supported Borling in the latter’s U.S. Senate bid.
I’m calling Borling’s cell phone in Nashua, NH, where he’s at McCain’s victory party.
January 8th, 2008
The New Hampshire results are streaming in and it looks as if Hillary Clinton has come storming back into the race, earning the title of Comeback Kid II.
From what it looks like so far, Democratic regulars came to the polls in big numbers, overwhelming the independents, many who may have picked Republican ballots to choose John McCain.
I think Hillary’s crying moment on Monday caused a sympathy vote. Also, hubby Bill’s temper tantrum against the mainstream media for not thoroughly vetting Obama may have caused Democratic voters to stop kicking the Obama tires and buy the Clinton car.
January 8th, 2008
This morning I went to a meeting of Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen’s rail group.
The chairman introduced the lobbyists and consultants who created the rail authority bill he asked for. The bill was signed into law last year by Gov. Rod Blagojevich after withstanding a veto over some minor language changes the gov demanded.
The rail authority will be a subset of the Greater Rockford Airport Authority. The airport commissioners will apparently be issued engineer caps and train whistles they can wear when they are acting as rail authority commissioners. The airport commissioners can add rail authority members if they want to.
The rail authority has the power to sell bonds for improving railroad tracks and other rail-related infrastructure, such as a possible east side station for a future Amtrak train with a connecting shuttle bus to the airport. The authority could also contract with a railroad to operate trains.
The county’s rail consultants will meet with the airport’s planning and finance committee on Jan. 17 to discuss how the airport authority will add rail to its “to do” list.
Christiansen believes the authority can be an instrument for economic development, especially for companies that want rail links for incoming or outgoing freight.
January 8th, 2008
It’s 2:07 p.m. Tuesday.
In New Hampshire, the Drudge Report is saying polling stations are running out of ballots and more are being rushed in by the secretary of state.
This huge turnout means independent voters are turning out in big numbers, and that should be good news for Barack Obama and John McCain.
Expectations of an Obama victory tonight are so big that if he wins by anything under 10 percent, Hillary Clinton will claim she’s the Comeback Kid, just has her husband did in 1992 when he came in second to Paul Tsongas.
Bill Clinton went on to win the 1992 nomination, and, as we all remember, the presidency.
Obama will come out of tonight’s race the clear front-runner, meaning the dirty campaigning against him will begin in earnest. As he told a TV interviewer Monday Obama has already heard the beep-beep-beep sound of the dump truck backing up.
Question of the week: Can Barack can withstand the coming fury of two Clintons scorned?
The more interesting race is in the Republican primary, because we really don’t have a front-runner there. I don’t think Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucus last week, will do better than 3rd place in the Granite State, where Republicans tend to be libertarian in their social views. Huckabee, a Baptist pastor before he became governor, doesn’t have the huge base of support that he enjoyed in Iowa.
New Hampshire voters are very familiar with Romney because he was governor of next-door Massachusetts, and they’ve watched him nightly on Boston TV news.
But the Romney running for president isn’t the Romney that governed Mass. The governor was a pro-choice moderate who brought universal health coverage to all Mass. residents. The presidential candidate Romney packages himself as a “government is the problem” conservative. Wonder if the two Romneys have ever met? maybe they’re the same guy. come to think of it, I’ve never seen both of them together at the same time . Hmmmmmm.
I think the independent turnout could help McCain win here, but I don’t predict a blowout for him. Wild guess: “Mac is back” by 3 points over Romney.
