U.S. Primary Vote 2008

And there is a huge turn out! Some places are reporting twice as many people showed up as expected. Early polling suggests nearly half are first-time caucus goers. That is just amazing!

Obama and Huckabee projected winners of Iowa. I hope Edwards comes in second.

If you are an American voter living abroad, you can vote in the first Global Primary that will take place in just one month on Super-Fat-Tuesday!

From CNN


I almost think the biggest news is that Clinton got 3rd. I'm really quite pleased. Obama wins, and the Republicans are looking to nominate someone completely un-electable (or at least my better angles would hope so)

My only wish was for Hillary Clit-on to lose... and she did. /party

Obama did better than even the polls predicted.
Guardian:


CNN:

This is a huge win for Obama and I am so happy that Clinton came in third. Now if only New Hampshire follows suite.

I wonder what Hillary will pull out of her bag of dirty tricks to try and turn this around over the next week? The debate on Sunday is going to be interesting to say the least. It will also be interesting to see what Dodd and Biden do in terms of endorsing one of the remaining candidates? I will bet that their arms are being twisted right now by the DLC and Clinton camp.

The best quote of last night came from John Edwards when he said, "The one thing that's clear from tonight's caucus is that the status quo lost and change won"

That statement combined with that incredible speech of hope and the kind of change you can believe in given by Obama will get lots of airplay leading to Tuesday. Man, am I happy today!

PS: The Sun-Times put it very well Loser Clinton hails 'great night'

God Huckabee for president is such a scary thought. I hate to vote democrat, but a baptist preacher will definately push me that way.

Indeed, it is a tremendous win in largely white state, as is NH. And now the rest of the country sees that when a Iowa goes Obama, they will take the risk too. It is early, but looking good. That was as much a vote for Obama as it was against Clinton.

Ahhggg. My little (and uninformed) Democratic heart is afraid that Huckabee would win the Presidential election over a non-white man, ex-vice prez candidate or a non-male. Yes it may be true that the majority of Iowans are white and Obama won, but that's not counting the Republicans? Please tell me I am wrong.

I know that my Republican family is voting for Huckabee. Sigh. They are also evangelists wants God’s servant to lead the greatest country in the world. Sigh.

Obama or Edwards could easily beat any Republican, not so with Hillary and the polling data this week will be very interesting. New Hampshire is hugely independent and that will play well for a couple of candidates. Unfortunately, Hillary has a lot of money and will not go quietly into that good night should she continue to rack up second and third places finishes over the next 3 weeks. Hillary will be third in SC and she will not win Michigan. She stands a chance in Florida. Remember though, Michigan and Florida have lost their votes at the convention! Nevada will be watching New Hampshire votes very closely.

As for Huckabee, his win is a huge blow for Romney more than anything and kind of helps McCain. McCain will do well in New Hampshire and Rudy wasn't even running in Iowa. There are 4-5 viable candidates on the right and the fiscally conservative Reps will not accept a Huckabee.

These two statements are my thoughts exactly, and why this result is quite literally the best possible I could have hoped for

• Obama is on top
• Hillary was so thoroughly trounced as to make it clear to the party she should not be nominated
• The Republican far right brings out someone who will alienate the sensible people who normally would vote republican

Methinks you underestimate the religious nutjobs and inherint racism in the South. The average voter is bought off with largely irrelevant issues like abortion and gay marraige, the actual stance of fiscal conservatism/liberalism is less important to flashy smoke and mirrors issues to the average mouth breathing voter.

Yeah, but the religious nutjobs and racists were pretty much all locked up by the republicans anyway. Besides, even to that demographic, I bet they hate Hillary more.

Its not somuch that the nutjobs are votes that democrats could get, its votes that cults with get their members to mobilize and vote for their cult leader when they might not have voted anyway.

eh, I don't think the vote of official racists organizations (like the KKK) will really amount to as much as the turnout that would be generated by the massive groundswell of individual hatred Hillary inspires. Just my opinion, we'll have to see how it turns out

Obama/Cheney '08!

The baptist church is quite a populous cult, but we shall hope. ALas, my vote in Texas is pretty much useless..

No, I agree... but I think Baptists hate Hillary more than Obama, just my opinion.

A hilliray obama ticket would probably drive them to mass suicide.. I dont agree with either of their politics but damn, that would be worth it..

240,000 people showed up to yesterdays Democratic Caucus and that was twice as many as the Republicans had and in a conservative state to boot. 4 year ago, only 125k showed up. Whomever wins the nomination will get the Dem vote, but Obama brought in tens of thousands of new faces, won the vote for change and won the women's vote! People say the Iraq vote wasn't a factor, well I can tell you it most certainly was! The age group being sent to war showed up and soundly rejected Clinton and her laughable message that she is the change candidate.

Obama's crowd: young, vibrant, a true rainbow of personalities, progressive and pragmatic middle classers and women galore!
Edwards' crowd: the more liberal left, working class, down with corporations and Hillary but not ready to join the Obama wave just yet!
Clinton's crowd: tired old hacks, blast from the past personalities and the status quo peeps still running in the shadows of 911 and Bush!

Too bad its the young vote who is most likely to be hungover or high and sleep through election day

Um, I lost a trust in the American public when they voted W, twice, in to the office. Aren't you scared that the same voters will choose a wrong person, again? Don't you think if they voted for W. Bush, they could vote for someone similar? For personal moral reasons as abortion, gay marriage, gun-control? I think as much as people are not satisfied with healthcare system or economy, they go back to the "moral" factor for the ultimate decision.

Can someone please explain to me why Hilary brings so much hatred in people?

We had a discussion about that on another What do people have against Hillary Clinton?.

Of course we are afraid they could vote for the wrong person for the wrong reasons (though Dubya was not in fact elected twice by the American people). The result in Iowa gives us a lot of hope though. I think Obama's worst problem was the nation's belief that he might not be electable. He's proven the doubters wrong now and gained a lot more than one state with this victory.

Kumbaya

i can't speak for all Americans, but my personal opinion of Hilary is that she's a fairweather Democrat. She votes for issues that are convenient. If you look at her voting record, she seems to have a strong stance but changes her mind when lobbyists put pressure. I don't disagree that she's a strong woman, and she definately puts that front as she specifies her issues in her overall platform. But, she's too wishy washy for me. That's it, a wishy washy, fairweather Dem.

There is a Hillary hatred thread already.
Bush did not win the first time and the reason he "won" the second time is we Dems picked the wrong candidate. We had a chance to take a different direction in 2004, but status quo won out due to fear. I hope that we do not let that happen this time around and yesterday was a good showing for those of us who want the Dems to be the Dems again! Dems Abroad has 11 votes at the Convention in Denver and I want all eligible voters to sign up for the Global Primary so that we can send all our 11 votes for Obama! Having been an expat himself, he is one of us and has that unique perspective of the world that only living abroad can bring! Vote in the Global Primary!

Also, this election is different. Approval ratings for the president, congress, and government as a whole are at record lows.

You'll notice the people that did worst: "The Old Guard" The two winners together say one thing clearly: change is desired. Even Ron Paul beat Giuliani

I hope Oprah goes to New Hampshire this week! Her getting into the mix in the first place shows just how much change is desired. Along these lines, I am not sure how Bill's being next to Hillary will help her cause. Seems to me it will just remind people how no where near to change she is. The Country has Bush-Clinton-Bush fatigue and Hillary can't run away from it and the Republicans can't run away from it. There is no real change candidate on the right, there is only the lesser of 5 evils.

Man, listen to this guy... even BadBob couldn't hate this guy (well, probably he can)

Its a sad reflection on our country when Oprah is an influence on politics...

Oh well, the safest thing to do is just vote libertarian - my candidate wont win and I dont agree 100% with their party, but I can sit back and smugly make comments about whoever wins because *I* didnt vote for them

I hope to have an influence, so why can't Oprah? Its a sad day when people don't get involved and work to better things!

Anyone else just keep thinking, "David Palmer"?

Because people who get their political opinons from talk show hosts are the people who should not be participating in democracy.

I lost any hope for democracy after TAing an entry level poli-sci course and having to grade those papers anyway

i heard that hillary was trying to buy votes...she went and bought a bunch of shovels to give out for snow...ha, they didn't get any. i didn't hear it on the news. my mom heard it somewhere. hehe..funny she came in third.

Can't trust anyone who votes different from you? Always better to demonize anyone who votes for someone/something other than your choice.

Scared of what? Democracy or the voters who don't vote your way?

Out of curiosity, what are people thinking he is actually going to do if elected that is so radically going to change the status quo (other than not being bush)

"I think it's hard to project four years from now, and I think it would be irresponsible. We don't know what contingency will be out there. I believe that we should have all our troops out by 2013, but I don't want to make promises, not knowing what the situation's going to be three or four years out. "

Wow, an indecisive comment that we should have troops out by 2013, slow down there turbo..

I think one of the biggest thing is actually just the most simple: by being new. Each president is not just an island, but rather a large group of people that take over hundreds of positions within the whitehouse (and government at large). With the last several administrations, the same groups of people have been alternating through the whitehouse under different leadership. That's my primary dislike for Hillary: more of the same Washington people back in power. Obama, although still owing something to the party obviously, will bring in new people.

At this point, to me, "new" means good.

He's a great speaker. Already an enormous step up from Bush.

I'm not sure I like the MTV shout-out though - "Give it up for Mrs. Obama!"

It's great that he won the primary in Iowa (so sorry about the miscommunication, eurovol), but I get the feeling it's a republican strategy to get Huckabee in office, which scares the shit out of me. I'm sceptical that the US is progressive enough to put an African American or even a woman into office.

Thats the problem I have, new is not necessarily good. Dont get me wrong, the status quo sucks, but people seem to think some revolutionary changes will happen in America if this dude is in office. I dont see much other than him being playing the 'charismatic outsider', his policies are just like every overspending liberal and he doesnt have the balls to take on real issues like a decisive stance on iraq or stopping the waste of money that is the war on iraq.

He has a health plan but so does every candidate, and how that end sup is going to be more a function of congress.

You know who else was a great speaker...

Ummm, what?

• In 2003 and 2004, he spoke out against the war on the campaign trail;
• In 2005, he called for a phased withdrawal of our troops;
• In 2006, he called for a timetable to remove our troops, a political solution within Iraq, and aggressive diplomacy with all of Iraq’s neighbors;
• In January 2007, he introduced legislation in the Senate to remove all of our combat troops from Iraq by March 2008.
• In September 2007, he laid out a detailed plan for how he will end the war as president.

He said in the quote above that we would *probably* have troops out by 2013, after his term is over... That doesnt seem very decisive. specifically "but I don't want to make promises".

Doesnt sound like much of a timetable. (Edit: That quote was as of september 26th)

Ahh, I see the problem then, you want a president who will make impossibly certain statements about the future, and stick to them regardless of how reality has changed in the mean time.

My opinion is we already have a president like that. Obama is decisive about Iraq. He is opposed to it, and will do everything in his power to end it as soon as possible. You can still be decisive in you opinion and actions, but you can't be decisive about what will happen in the future. Understand the difference?

I understand that words and vague statements about shit that will happen when you are no longer president are useless. Everyones opposed to the war (who wants a realistic shot to win), I dont see much from him other than vague rhetoric, although maybe I missed some specifics..

Edit: Okay upon googling apparently he wants to get most out from 2008, so thats good if he follows it, will have to read more to see why it conflicts with his first statement..

I want a president who will get the fuck out of the middle east altogether immediately, but that aint happening either

He didn't get elected, he won the first state in the nomination process.
The Republicans are divided and will probably have a brokered convention. There is not overwhelming support on the right for any of the 5 possible nominees.
America is ready for Obama and of that you can be sure.


Another soundbite kid rewriting history. Liberal does not equate to overspending. Deficit doubling: Reagan, Bush and Bush. Republicans are the spending budget busting mofos, not the Dems. Clinton even reduced the deficit before Bush got his grubby little hands on it and gave it to all his buddies. The greatest prosperity America has enjoyed has been under Democratic Presidents since Kennedy.

Obama has more balls than Hillary!

He, along with Gore, spoke out against giving Bush the power to take us to war. His stance for getting us out is pragmatic and responsible. If I wanted to vote for feel good promises that could never ever be kept, I would vote for Kucinich. The President sets the tone, but there are still two sides that have to work together to get things done. Hillary would keep those two sides polarized and divided.

you know what I mean. Sheesh.

The fact that republicans are fiscally irresponsible does not make the democrats fiscally responsible by proxy. I agree Reagan and Bush sucked, and I agree Clinton sat through a period of peace where the tech boom gave us a huge economic shot.

LBJ was possibly one of our worst presidents (lets make the new deal permanant, great society my ass), and I hardly think him and Kennedy dragging out Vietnam qualifies as our 'greatest' prosperity... As for carter.. yeah.. he was fantastic. Let me tell you - the energy crisis and hostage situation, 12 pct inflation and the highest prime rate ever - the greatest moments of American prosperity.

both parties are a joke. at the moment i'd probably take the demos though just because i fear radical christianity more than if fear pissing away money on socialism. All I am asking is what people think is really and truly going to change with Obama other than a bunch of rhetoric.

Pop Quiz: Who was the first president to try to push through universal health care (only to be killed by greedy unions). He wasn't a donkey..

What I fully expect:

A new image at home and abroad
A whittling away of political and racial divides
Restoration of the Constitution starting with Habeas Corpus
Codification of laws restricting "signing statements" and other abuses of power seen with recent Presidents
Repeal of laws removing our civil rights under the guise of the Patriot Act
Shutting down of the Guantanamo prison and a no ifs ands or buts repudiation of torture
Clear movement on the Iraq front and soldiers coming home
A new Diplomatic effort to restore peace in the world and remove nuclear threats in a sane manner with less emphasis on unilateral preemption
Congressional style health insurance made available and affordable to those that don't have it or can't get it through their jobs, but not mandated
An expanded health care coverage for all kids regardless if their parents have it nor not (mandated and funded)
Rewriting and fully funding the no child left behind act
Allowing science and technology to lead the way without rewriting their results to protect a corporate agenda
Stem cell research will be allowed and funded
An EPA that can actually do its job without undue influence
An energy plan that wasn't written by corporation CEOs for corporations
More states rights to deal with pollution, health care, education and a host of other issues that Bush put the axe too
Expanded educational funding
Repeal of tax breaks for Bush's buddies
Funding health and family planning services at home and around the world without the stupidity of not giving choices and only promoting abstinence
Implementation of much more of the 911 report
The opening up of Cuba which will lead to better relations with Venezuela and other SA countries
An immigration bill that makes sense with expanded allowances for migrant workers and paths to citizenship

This will only happen with the right Democrat in the White House and the election of Progressive members to Congress on both sides of the isle. With the mood of the Country the way it is, I believe this can only happen if Obama is our nominee. Edwards could possibly achieve this if the right moons aligned in the Universe, but Hillary most certainly cannot and I don't see any of the Republicans doing any of this as they all represent a continuation of the deterioration.

I would add a strong, fair handling of the Israel — Palestinian problem. As well as a fresh and friendly openess with North Korea and Iran.

Well if he wins i'll be back in 2012 and we can see how many of those are done, if so, well i wont be upset about being wrong (most of that stuff isnt objectionable to me even though i lean libertarian).

But I wouldnt hold my breath on most of it.

Am i supposed to be this cynical at 26?

I expect a new and much improved effort with regards to all three, but I don't expect a strong and fair handling of Israel because that would require it to be public and involve the UN and the resolutions already passed and that ain't gonna happen. I also don't expect a stronger stand against China and especially with regards to Taiwan and Tibet.

I would just be happy with a new sane approach to diplomacy in the world and greater use of the UN to achieve those goals.

I love the front of the NYT today: