Politics for Moms: March 2008

Monday, March 31

Obama Continues to Win Over Superdelegates

Just when you thought Obama may have had a little steam let out of his campaign with the Rev. Wright controversy, a few more superdelegates announced their intent to vote for Obama.

Obama kicked off a six-day bus tour on Friday through Pennsylvania, just as he won the surprise endorsement of Pennsylvania's junior U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. This is a huge endorsement as Senator Casey is the respected son of a former and much-loved Pennsylvania Governor. He's also a white male which is one of the demographics Obama is the weakest; time will tell if this endorsement will help him close the gap in the Keystone state.

Today, Obama is expected to receive the endorsements of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and seven Democrats on North Carolina’s congressional delegation.

McCain Launches Commerical and Tour

John McCain launched his first general election television commercial that will reinforce his biography, what he stands for and where he came from. It was launched as McCain embarked "on a “Service to America” tour to places associated with his own, and his family’s, service to the country — from McCain Field (named for his grandfather) near Meridian, Miss., to Annapolis, to two of his stateside Navy postings in Florida."

One of the challenges John McCain is going to face over the next several months is keeping his name and campaign generating headlines. With the daily drama provided by the Democrats duking it out for the nomination, McCain could easily find himself out of the spotlight if he doesn't work hard to keep himself in front of voters.

Hopefully, he learned a lesson from Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani didn't campaign for the early primaries and by the time Florida roled around he had lost all his momentum and support.

I'm looking forward to seeing what strategies he employs to get his message in front of voters.

Clinton Ignores Calls for her to Drop Out

Even with Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy and Chris Dodd calling on Clinton to drop out this week, and with other strategist examining the numbers for her electability, Clinton vows she's going to continue fighting all the way to the convention. According to experts, while it is possible that she can still win the nomination, it's improbable that she will.

Her resolve to march forward is bad news for those who believe this prolonged fight for the nomination is doing more harm than good for the party. Some pundits believe the only way she can beat Obama is by "taking him out at the knees." With two candidates that are so similar on policy and issues, the only way she could gain the upper hand is by, in effect, playing dirty politics. This is not a new strategy for the Clintons, but usually one reserved for their adversaries, not one of their own.

Could the Democratic party survive such division all the way to August? Would McCain ultimately benefit?

Those are just a few of the questions that are making this election so exciting!

Friday, March 28

Freedom Friday

The Founding Fathers wanted to choose an animal that was unique to the United States. For six years, the members of Congress engaged in a dispute over what the national emblem should be. As a result of the debate, the bald eagle was chosen because it symbolized strength, courage, freedom, and immortality.

Here's what you may not know about the bald eagle:

The bald eagle was made the national bird of the United States in 1782.
The image of the bald eagle can be found in many places in the U.S., such as on the Great Seal, Federal agency seals, the President's flag, and on the one-dollar bill.
The bald eagle is a large, powerful, brown bird with a white head and tail.
The term "bald" does not mean that this bird lacks feathers. Instead, it comes from the word piebald, an old word, meaning "marked with white."
It took 40 years, but bald eagles were removed in 2007 from the list of threatened species in the United States.
Today there are nearly 10,000 bald eagles in the country, compared to a documented 417 in 1963 when the bird was on the verge of extinction.
Bald eagles can swim
Most of them live in Florida

Do you have a picture, factoid or story you'd like to share? Sign in below and let freedom flow.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself

Creators Syndicate

Wednesday, March 26

Truth may be stranger than fiction, but sometimes it needs a boost

The buzz on the political front this week has been about an exaggeration of fact Senator Clinton told about a trip she took to Bosnia in 1996. She said in a speech last week that her entourage landed in Bosnia under sniper fire and "ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." The truth of the matter was that although she had been warned about the possibility of sniper fire, they landed without incident.

"I made a mistake," Senator Clinton said in response to her mis-speak Tuesday. "That happens. It proves I'm human, which you know, for some people, is a revelation."

Unfortunately, this "human" moment has now caused her credibility to be questioned and one pundit went as far to say that Americans will have trouble believing anything she has said or will say in the future.

Actually, I think this exaggeration of fact could have far wider implications and possibly disqualify women from ever serving as President of the United States because, well, women like to stretch the truth.

You give a woman a boring story about going to buy milk and she will turn it into a 10 minute epic complete with a fashion tip, cute baby story and a lesson we can all learn from.

Women all know other women add a little fluff to their stories. It's a universally accepted truth and one that has served mankind well over the centuries. In fact, women are quite good at it. For example, when is the last time you or someone you know...

Subtracted a few years from your age?
Added a few hours (or 5) to the length of your labor with your first child?
Conveniently forgot where you bought the skirt you're wearing because you don't want to admit you bought it second hand?
Rounded the number of dollars down so your husband doesn't know you spent $150 for a pair of jeans (and they were worth every penny!).
Fudged the number of pounds you've lost (or haven't lost).
Thrown in a few more details to make the trip home from the dentist more interesting (and then the car was swallowed up by a pot hole the size of our pool before the rabid dog could jump in the window).
Rounded a number up to the nearest 1,000 (as in "there must have been at least a 1,000 people in front of me at the bank").
Said you were under sniper attack in Bosnia

So Hillary, I can empathize with your plight this week. I was also caught in the cross hairs of a sniper attack when my two-year-old carved a 22 foot stick into a bazooka and proceeded to hold his sister hostage in a jail cell that looked strangely like my linen closet. After intense negotiations, the two-year-old put down his weapon after being lured away by the promise of Cheez-Its and a phone call from Elmo. It was a scary afternoon for all of us, so I definitely understand the fear you must have felt when those snipers lobbed grenades and missles at your plane.

We've all been there. We've all been there.

Tuesday, March 25

Mail Bag

Juggling several blogs, three kids, and a very full calendar don't always leave me much time to peruse all the political blogs, daily news feeds and nightly commentary. That's why I'm thankful for great readers who help me out with all the research by sending me links to articles I may find interesting. I thought I'd pass along two tonight...

Here's a follow-up story on the California homeschool decision from Townhall.com called Homeschoolers in the Crosshairs of the NEA. Beth from Virginia sent me this link saying, "What was eye opening is the writer's comments that Obama and Clinton are supporting the NEA's stand against home schooling.Don't know if it is true or not, but it could affect not only home schoolers but also Christian schools that don't employ teachers that have a 4 year."

JP in Philadelphia sent me interesting quotes from Mike Huckabee on Obama's Race Speech:

On Obama's speech:
... I think that, you know, Obama has handled this about as well as anybody could. And I agree, it’s a very historic speech. ... And I thought he handled it very, very well.

And on the Rev. Wright:
... One other thing I think we've got to remember: As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say, "That's a terrible statement," I grew up in a very segregated South, and I think that you have to cut some slack. And I'm going to be probably the only conservative in America who's going to say something like this, but I'm just telling you: We've got to cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told, "You have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can't sit out there with everyone else. There's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office. Here's where you sit on the bus." And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would, too. I probably would, too. In fact, I may have had a more, more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me.

You can read more of Huckabee's comments in this interview with ABC's Jake Tapper.

Monday, March 24

Oy Vei

I thought we had pretty much hit rock bottom when we saw this video, but after seeing these two today, I think that opinion may have been a little premature. In fact, it's starting to look pretty good. However, it does beg the question...what happens when people take their passion for a candidate, home camcorder, and unsurpassed creativity and decide to use it to help their candidate win the presidency? Well, I'll let you decide for yourselves, but I'm thinking maybe the candidates would rather try to win it on their own.

This video is a salute to Hillary as she's Making Our Dreams Come True:

But just when you thought McCain was going to be left out, along come the McCain girls to let us know It's Raining McCain.

I'm no expert, but I think that was a little pitchy.

Friday, March 21

Freedom Friday

One of the greatest freedoms we have in this country is freedom of religion. We are given the right to worship and serve God openly and passionately. As Christ followers around the world prepare to celebrate their most holy day, I'm mindful of those in countries who are imprisoned, beaten and tortured for openly practicing and sharing their faith.

The Voice of the Martyrs is a non-profit, interdenominational organization that aids Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ. You don't realize how incredibly fortunate we are to live in this country until you read the stories of these people. Here's just one story of a woman in China.

In July 2007, 42-year-old Li Mei and nine house church leaders were arrested, when they were discovered having a Sunday worship service. They were charged with singing Christian hymns to villagers, showing the JESUS film in a nursing home and praying for healing for a disabled elderly man. The nine were sentenced to re-education through labor for 12 to 18 months. Li Mei served part of her one-year sentence in a hospital with both hands chained to her bed. Repeated beatings and torture caused her to require a hysterectomy. She is currently serving the remainder of her sentence at home under house arrest.

As you celebrate Easter this Sunday, please keep Li Mei and other Christ followers who are suffering persecution like her in your prayers.

If you have a picture, factoid, or post that you'd like to share on freedom of religion, simply link up.

Thursday, March 20

McCainBlogettes.com

If you're interested in getting an insider's view of the McCain campaign, then you should check out the blog written by his daughter, Meghan. Meghan graduated from Columbia last May with a degree in art history.

McCainBlogette is not your typical political blog. In fact, you won't find much talk about issues or polls or, ahem, politics. Instead Meghan will give you a behind the scene look at her life on the campaign trail and gives you the opportunity to see the McCain family from a different vantage point.

For instance, she posted a picture of the shoes her mom was wearing before she went on stage after Senator McCain became the Republican nominee. You didn't get that kind of coverage on CNN or Fox that night.

Here's a picture of her dad "chillin'" at their cabin in Arizona.

Even though she has grown up in the limelight of politics her entire life, I find her down-to-earth and particularly endearing---especially when she described her "awe" of touring the White House recently. She also loves music and often shares her latest playlist. Her most recent post, "10 Things You Don't Know About My Mom," reveals that Cindy McCain was named Rodeo Queen in high school.

McCainBlogette.com. It's what politics needs.

Wednesday, March 19

Vice President Suggestions for John McCain

It's a rainy and dreary day and since there isn't much political news, at least that's newsworthy, then I thought we could take the day to think about who would make a good running mate for John McCain. Will Durst had some excellent choices:

WARREN BUFFET: World’s richest man can’t hurt, in case the campaign needs a loan. Or the country.
JAMES EARL JONES: The most trusted voice in show business.
DAN QUAYLE: Knows the drill.
ED MCMAHON: Knows the drill AND he knows the intro, “Here’s Joohhhnyyyyyy!”
RONALD REAGAN: It’s what the base wants. Who cares if he’s dead? How much less animated is that from second term?
JEB BUSH: Ups the Bush streak to seven of last eight GOP tickets.
JOE LIEBERMAN: Invests campaign with bipartisan spin. Also returns “Joementum” to national lexicon.
KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON: Takes “woman” thing out of play.
CINDY MCCAIN: Takes “woman” thing out of play, and keeps it in the family.
COLIN POWELL: Takes “black” thing out of play.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE: Takes “woman and black” things out of play.
GEORGE CLOONEY: Takes “woman” thing out of play.
JOAN RIVERS: Takes “old” thing out of play. “Woman” thing still in play.
DICK VITALE: Takes “old” and “woman” things out of play, BABY.
ANDY ROONEY: Really takes “old” thing out of play. No, really.
ALAN GREENSPAN: Wasn’t everything a whole lot better when he was in charge? And takes “old” thing out of play.
DICK CHENEY: Something to be said for continuity.
FRED THOMPSON: Throws a bone to the conservative wing and makes candidate appear vibrant.
REGIS PHILBIN: A touch of Hollywood. Old Hollywood, but Hollywood nonetheless.
MIKE HUCKABEE: Plays popular former “Governor of Arkansas” card.
RUDI GIULIANI: Sop to huge pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control wing of the GOP. Not to mention NEW YORK.
HILLARY CLINTON: Wants it so bad, she’d cross the aisle for death-watch slot.

Surely there's a winning combination in there somewhere. To read the complete list, visit here.

Monday, March 17

Speaking of Health Care

I just read that the Pennsylvania House passed a subsidized health care plan that would provide coverage for 273,000 adults. The plan will cost $479 million for its first year.

Hmmmm, I wonder who's going to pay for that?

This would make a good test case for similar Democratic plans, however, I'm not thrilled that I get to be one of the guinea pigs.

via PennLive

Florida Will Not Hold Revote

Despite long talks with both campaigns, the Florida Democratic Party said Monday it will not hold a second primary in the state. The decision now goes to several committees within the DNC that will decide which delegates will be seated at the National Convention in August.

No new primary for Florida Democrats, CNN.Com

Florida will not revote, Talking Points Memo

Clinton Health Care Plan

Clinton, Obama Insurance, New York Times

Clinton Unveils Mandatory Health Care Plan, CNN

Michael Moore says insurance industry would love Clinton’s healthcare plan, TheHill.com

The Dark Side of Hillary Clinton's Health Care Plan, FoxNews.com

They've Got You Covered, Newsweek

Clinton Health Care Plan

A foundational issue for Hillary Clinton's campaign is to ensure that all Americans have affordable, quality health insurance. Her focus on lowering costs while still providing value and quality is the cornerstone of her American Health Choices Plan.

Clinton's plan covers every American, including the estimated 47 million uninsured and the tens of millions of workers with coverage. Employees who lose or change jobs still would keep their health insurance. She promises this with no increase in health spending or taxes.

For those with health insurance, her plan builds on the current system to give businesses and their employees greater choice of health plans - including keeping the one they have - while lowering cost and improving quality. The new array of choices offered in the Menu would provide benefits at least as good as the typical plan offered to Members of Congress, which includes mental health and dental coverage.

She believes the plan will improve quality and lower costs by removing hidden taxes, stressing prevention and focusing on efficiency and modernization. The plan also ensures that no American is denied coverage, refused renewal, unfairly priced out of the market, or forced to pay excessive insurance company premiums by creating insurance rules that transfer across states and markets.

Of course, Clinton's plan is only as good as the players, so she will work with insurance and drug companies so they can't deny you coverage based on pre-existing conditions or expectations of illness, and drug companies will offer fair prices and accurate information.

Insurance companies will also have to offer and renew coverage to anyone who applies and pays their premium. And like other things that you buy, they will have to compete for your business based on quality and price.

Affordable Coverage
Clinton's plan provides tax credits for working families to help them cover their costs. The tax credits will ensure that working families never have to pay more than a limited percentage of their income for health care.

Clinton would give tax credits to small businesses that provide health care to their workers to help defray their coverage costs. This will make small businesses more competitive and help create good jobs with health benefits that will stay here in the U.S. The Plan will also fix the holes in the safety net to ensure that Medicare and CHIP receive affordable, quality care.

To read Senator Clinton's complete health care plan, you can visit her campaign site.

Sunday, March 16

The Freedom Friday post about the recent home schooling ruling by a California judge sparked some good debate. An anonymous commenter wanted more facts about the case before they would pass judgement. I think that's always good advice to follow so I'm giving you several links so you can check out for more facts on this case.

Homeschoolers' Setback Sends Shock Waves through State, San Francisco Chronicle

The Actual Ruling by the Second District Court of Appeals

A Real Threat to California Home Schoolers, Lew Rockwell.com

Ruling Seen as Threat to Many Home Schooling Families, LA Times

Friday, March 14

Freedom Friday

One of the freedoms we have in this nation is to send our kids to the school of our choice. My husband and I have chosen to send our kids to a private, Christian school while many of my friends home school.

I was stunned to read this week about a judge in California who ruled that all children must be taught only by credentialed teachers. You can imagine the outcry from the home schooling community but I was thrilled to see the California Department of Education and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speak out against this ruling. Hopefully, the decision will be overturned on appeal and this precious freedom to teach our own kids will be safeguarded.

Do you have a picture, newsy tidbit, factoid or just a personal commentary you want to make about this post or anything else on your mind about Freedom Friday? Link your post here!

Tuesday, March 11

A Little of this and a Little of that

Last week was a very busy political news week so I got a little off track covering those stories. I haven't forgotten that we still need to take a look at the Clinton and Obama health care plans, and those are coming up this week.

Mississippi is holding their primary today. Obama is predicted to win big.

You all must have also done poorly in your college economics class because no one came forth and offered to explain the current economic slowdown. So let me noodle that subject for a while and do some research and I'll see if I can bring some clarity to it.

After today, the next primary isn't until April 22!! I pity those poor people in Pennsylvania who are going to get slammed with presidential candidates' mailings, banners and posters, phone calls and television ads for the next seven weeks. SEVEN WEEKS. I read somewhere that the candidates didn't even start heavily campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire until two weeks before and we all saw how intense that was.

Oh wait, I'm one of those poor people who live in Pennsylvania! And all three candidates have already moved into our state. Senator Clinton is holding a rally as I write, less than 10 miles from where I'm sitting. Senator McCain will be hosting a fundraising dinner on Thursday in the area and I think Senator Obama is in the northeast part of the state hobnobbing. I'll keep you posted on the "Seven Week War" as our newspaper has lovingly termed it.

Did you ever wonder who is actually working in the senate when we've got three of the Senators jetting around the nation for over a year?

Sunday, March 9

Obama Takes Wyoming

Senator Barack Obama chalked up a victory in another caucus state on Saturday, beating Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Wyoming by a wide margin.

to read more of this story, visit here.

Friday, March 7

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Party

Have you ever gone to a party or business function with your husband and found that everyone is talking current events and politics? And because you're a mom who is busy raising the future leaders of the world, the best you can offer to the conversation is, "Hey, did anyone know that CVS has Pampers on sale?" or "Speaking of global warming, Johnny went poo poo on the potty today."

No? Well, I have.

So my motivation for starting Politics for Moms is to help moms stay in-the-know on politics and current events. And not just so you can look like the smartest woman in the room when you can deftly lead a debate on the potential impact the superdelegates will have on the outcome of the Democratic nominee, but because moms need to stay engaged in the political process that is ultimately shaping the world we are raising our children in.

This site will keep you abreast of the latest news from the political front minus the noise and nonsense. You'll get just the facts but with a heavy dose of intelligent and thoughtful conversation and debate with other moms like you on the issues.

There's a lot to see on this blog, so let me give you a little tour:

If you want to see for yourself that it is possible to debate (and even disagree) politics without demeaning, name calling and lots of nasty, check out the comments on this post and this post. We have the most intelligent and articulate commenters and we learn a lot from each other.

We like to dig into the issues that are important to moms and learn exactly where the candidates stand. So far, we've tackled education and health care.

I also like to provide plenty of links to other respectable news sites and political blogs so you can do your own research. We call these posts Extra Credit.

Well, I think that does it. If you want to read more about my heart for this site, you can read this and this. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll add us to your list of daily reads.

Freedom Friday

I'm still so ferhoodled by this post that I'm simply posting pictures of my kids this week for Freedom Friday. Why? Because in this country our kids are allowed the freedom to be kids. In many countries, we've seen pictures of kids joining guerrilla military groups and sporting automatic weapons. We've heard of kids orphaned by their AIDS inflicted parents and left to raise each other in extreme poverty.

America isn't perfect, but it's a darn good place to raise kids. So today I'm celebrating the freedom our kids have in this nation to play dress up, ride their bikes and climb trees. You know, things kids do.

I hope you'll join me for today's Freedom Friday. Post a picture of your bambinos and link up here so we can, as mothers, take a stand for freedom.

Thursday, March 6

Is a Do-Over Inevitable?

Remember last month when Florida and Michigan held their primaries but their votes didn't count? Well now, the idea of a do-over is beginning to gain steam, especially in light of the Ohio and Texas primary results.

Let me refresh your memory on how we got here. Florida and Michigan moved up the dates of their primaries against the wishes of the Democratic party. So the Democratic National Committee stripped both states of all delegates for holding the primaries too early, and all Democratic candidates — including Clinton and Obama — agreed not to campaign in either state. Obama's name wasn't even on the Michigan ballot.

However, Clinton's campaign is entertaining the idea of holding another round of primaries in those states---a move that would likely help her catch up in the delegate race. Obama is open to the idea so that "delegates from the two critical swing states can participate, but not if Clinton is rewarded for victories in boycotted primaries."

But while both candidates seem open to the idea, there is definitely a fly in the ointment. Florida's governor is opposed to using tax payer money to fund another primary, however, he would be open to it if the Democratic National Committee wanted to foot the bill---approximately $25 million.

I think we'll begin to see Clinton's campaign start to vigorously advocate for these two states to hold their primaries in June (their original primary dates). A victory in Pennsylvania and then in Florida and Michigan for Clinton would possibly gain her the momentum she needs to role into the convention and win over the superdelegates she needs to secure the nomination.

10 Reason Why McCain is a Good Choice

Now that John McCain has secured the Republican nomination, one of his tasks will be to unify his party. That could prove to be a sticky job since he has alienated so many conservatives over the years. However, this article gives the Top Ten Reasons to be optimistic about McCain as the GOP Nominee.

Reason # 3: McCain is one of the few Republicans that stands in contrast to the party when it comes to wasteful spending and pork projects. While the rest of Congress, along with George Bush, was spending money like there was no tomorrow, McCain was one of the few “lone voices in the wilderness” that sounded the alarm. Republicans paid dearly for this in the ‘06 election. When he talks the Republican meme of ‘less spending’ he means it-- and people know he does.

I think reasons five through one are good points that would make me take another hard look at him as a candidate I could support for the Republicans.

What do you think?

Wednesday, March 5

How do you even begin to wrap your brain around this?

There are some things that I've always assumed are universal desires that all moms share: We want healthy kids who will reach their full potential in life.

I've always thought these truths would transcend race, religion or culture even though they may look slightly different walked out in a remote village in Africa or as a Royal in Buckingham Palace. Still, I could picture moms around the globe having that same glint of hope that their children will use their life to help others, better the world around them or to simply show love where it is needed most.

I was wrong. And I didn't realize how naive and wrong I was until I read this article in The Wall Street Journal:

Zahara Maladan is an educated woman who edits a women's magazine in Lebanon. She is also a mother, who undoubtedly loves her son. She has ambitions for him, but they are different from those of most mothers in the West. She wants her son to become a suicide bomber.

I have been trying to write this post for several days because I just can't wrap my brain around those words, "She wants her son to become a suicide bomber."

As a mother, I can't even imagine that as my dream for my child. I can't fathom following a religion that would place such honor on the taking of life. And yet, "Ms. Maladan was quoted in the New York Times giving the following warning to her son: "if you're not going to follow the steps of the Islamic resistance martyrs, then I don't want you."

As a mom I'm horrified.

Now there is a new image of mothers urging their children to die, and then celebrating the martyrdom of their suicidal sons and daughters by distributing sweets and singing wedding songs. More and more young women -- some married with infant children -- are strapping bombs to their (sometimes pregnant) bellies, because they have been taught to love death rather than life

As an American, I'm outraged.

As more women and children are recruited by their mothers and their religious leaders to become suicide bombers, more women and children will be shot at -- some mistakenly. That too is part of the grand plan of our enemies. They want us to kill their civilians, who they also consider martyrs, because when we accidentally kill a civilian, they win in the court of public opinion. One Western diplomat called this the "harsh arithmetic of pain," whereby civilian casualties on both sides "play in their favor." Democracies lose, both politically and emotionally, when they kill civilians, even inadvertently. As Golda Meir once put it: "We can perhaps someday forgive you for killing our children, but we cannot forgive you for making us kill your children."

So how does the United States and other Western democracies protect and defend themselves against something so twisted? How do you counter a belief that is so fanatical that you are willing to sacrifice your own child---and in some homes, more than one child?

Neither she nor her son -- if he listens to his mother -- can be deterred from killing by the fear of being killed. They must be prevented from succeeding in their ghoulish quest for martyrdom. Prevention, however, carries a high risk of error. The woman walking toward the group of soldiers or civilians might well be an innocent civilian. A moment's hesitation may cost innocent lives. But a failure to hesitate may also have a price.

I'm sure it's a scenario that our forefathers could never have predicted. Ever. Yet, here we stand as a nation trying to traverse the new rules of engagement and trying to decipher an enemy that may look just like us.

Or like our children.

This is going to get nasty...

And confusing...
But, oh, so fun.

Late-breaking numbers out of Texas’ odd two-phase voting system put an asterisk on Hillary Clinton’s Tuesday night victory speech, showing gains made by Barack Obama in the delegate grab race had all but numerically canceled out her big win in Ohio.

Although Clinton got a major boost in morale by winning more raw votes than Obama in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island (she lost to Obama in Vermont), an Associated Press count of the delegates shows Clinton only reduced her opponent’s lead in delegates by 12.
(via)

Recession vs. Slow Down vs Depression

There is a lot of talk regarding the economy right now. As someone who barely passed economics in college, I'm not a very good person to try and explain the difference between all the terms being thrown out to describe what is happening in the markets and within the economy.

So...if you or someone you know has a good handle on what all this economy talk is about, I'd love for you to do a guest post that explains it all. Sort of like an "Economics for Dummies."

Give me a holler if you get excited about discussing the economy and recessions and depressions. We need you!

Super Tuesday Wrap Up

I went to bed last night with Obama leading in Texas and woke up this morning to a Clinton victory instead. What a difference a few hours makes in politics! So let me recap all the twists and turns that have changed the political landscape in just the last 24 hours.

Republicans

John McCain easily won all four primaries and received the number of delegates he needed to clinch the Republican nomination.
President Bush is expected to endorse Senator McCain today.
Mike Huckabee gracefully bowed out of the race last night telling his supporters, "We kept the faith. I’d rather lose an election than lose the principles that got me into politics in the first place.” He vowed to continue to help work with McCain to unite the party and country.

Democrats

In a do or die victory, Hillary Clinton clinched wins in Rhode Island, Ohio and, the big prize, Texas. These victories will energize her campaign and some pundits speculate this could keep the race tight right up to the convention. However, despite her wins, Barack Obama still has a slight lead in the number of delegates.
Obama won the Vermont primary.

While McCain shifts gears and starts building his general election campaign, the Democratic contenders, Obama and Clinton, will continue to go head to head.

*All links go to related stories on that candidate.

Tuesday, March 4

The Latest from the Front Lines

Four state sweep gives John McCain enough delegates to win GOP nomination.
Mike Huckabee drops out of the Presidential race.
Hillary Clinton wins Ohio and Rhode Island.
Obama wins in Vermont and he's ahead in Texas.

the night is still young...

Monday, March 3

The Boston Globe Weighs in on Double Standard Question

We asked the question in this post if there was a double standard in how the media was treating Hillary Clinton versus her male counterparts. There was a lot of good discussion that followed in the comments.

Here's The Boston Globe's analysis of the same question.

Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, Part 2 as four more states hold their primaries. Here are a few stories to get you up to speed with everything political for the big day.

Ohio, Texas Poised to Decide Democratic Nomination, Fox News

Tuesday night might be Barack Obama's last chance to knock Hillary Clinton Out, Daily News

Can John McCain Win in Spite of the Republican Brand?, Real Clear Politics

Looks Our Sidebar Poll Was Right

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch, and nearly half are turning to the Internet to get their news, according to a new survey. While most people think journalism is important to the quality of life, 64 percent are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities, a We Media/Zogby Interactive online poll showed.

“That’s a really encouraging reflection of people who care A) about journalism and B) understand that it makes a difference to their lives,” said Andrew Nachison, of iFOCOS, a Virginia-based think tank which organized a forum in Miami where the findings were presented.

Nearly half of the 1,979 people who responded to the survey said their primary source of news and information is the Internet, up from 40 percent just a year ago. Less than one third use television to get their news, while 11 percent turn to radio and 10 percent to newspapers.
via

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Welcome to everyone who found this site through Design Mom and Rocks in my Dryer. Both of those blogs are daily reads for me, so I'm thrilled to have you join us.

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