The Ref's Daily Political Brief
Nevada Caucuses See Fierce Battle for Democrats, Romney Win for Republicans - Also, Bill Clinton Witnesses Voter Suppression?
- THE NEVADA CAUCUS: Poll: Nevada going to Clinton, Romney - Review Journal | 1/18/08
- Barack Obama Says Dems Are in ‘Fierce Battle’ as He Enters Crosshairs in Nevada - Fox News | 1/19/08
- Analysis: New Tone in Democratic Race - AP | 1/19/08
- Campaigns Face Common Foe in Nevada: Confusion - NYT | 1/19/08
- Obama and Clinton Trade Attacks in Nevada - NYT | 1/18/08
- Candidates Look to Nevada for Signs of Future Success - W. Post | 1/19/08
- Bill Clinton says he witnessed voter suppression - Politico | 1/19/08
South Carolina Primary is Thompson's Last Stand and the Confederate Flag Continues to be an Issue
- First in the South - Fox News | 1/19/08
- Confederate Flag Ad Praises Huckabee - AP | 1/18/08
- South Carolina Primary Set To Winnow GOP Field - NY Sun| 1/18/08
- John McCain Takes on the Confederate Army - Slate | 1/19/08
- The X-Factor in South Carolina - NYT | 1/19/08
- McCain and Huckabee Avoid Sparring in Final South Carolina Push - NYT | 1/19/08
- Thompson, Lingering in Midpack, Sticks to a Slow and Steady Strategy - NYT | 1/19/08
- GOP Race Is Close in S.C. - W. Post | 1/19/08
- Romney leads in S.C. TV ads - Boston.com | 1/18/08
- Fred Thompson lays it on the line in South Carolina - Miami Herald | 1/18/08
- Fred's Final Days - Reason | 1/18/08
Hillary Slams Obama's Reagan Comments and Talks About Lewinsky on Tyra Banks Show
- Party-Pushy Hill: Blasts Obama for His 'Praise' of GOP - NY Post | 1/19/08
- Rivals Slam Obama Over Reagan Praise - AP | 1/19/08
- Hillary Clinton speaks of her pain and shame at the Monica Lewinsky scandal - Times Online | 1/19/08
- Clinton camp goes after Obama’s Reagan comments - The Hill | 1/18/08
- It's back to the future for Clinton - The Star | 1/19/08
- Clinton loses support among black Democrats - Boston.com | 1/18/08
- Hillary Dishes on Tyra - ABC | 1/19/08
Obama's Wife Attacks Hillary as His Opponents Rip Him for Praising Reagan
- Obama's Wife Slams Hillary - Newsmax | 1/18/08
- Obama Racks Up Tactical Victories, but ... - NY Sun | 1/18/08
- Black Support Shifts Toward Obama - NYT | 1/19/08
- When Attacked, Obama's Now Hitting Back - W. Post | 1/19/08
- Edwards, Clinton Critical of Obama's Praise for GOP And Reagan - WRAL | 1/18/08
Romney Defends Reporters as Reporters Continue to Attack
- Romney Says Reporters Have It Tough - AP | 1/19/08
- Romney Alters His Message, but Questions Remain - NYT | 1/19/08
- Mitt throws a fit . . . - Boston Herald | 1/19/08
- Does No One Love Mitt? - Blogger News | 1/18/08
McCain Rips Federal Spending as He Faces Critical Test With Conservatives
- McCain: Federal Spending Out of Control - AP | 1/18/08
- How mad are the Republicans? Conservatives in America are suffering from a psychosis, a McCain Derangement Syndrome - Times Onlin | 1/18/08
- POW slur 'hurts a bit': McCain - National Post | 1/18/08
- McCain Lies His Head Off; NY Times Asleep at Switch
- New Republic | 1/18/08
Huckabee, the Pulpit and the Confederate Flag
- Between Pulpit and Podium, Huckabee Straddles Fine Line - NYT | 1/19/08
- Confederate Flag Ad Praises Huckabee - AP | 1/18/08
- Huckabee gave speech to white supremacists - Raw Story | 1/18/08
- Correctness next to godliness for Bible belt - Brisbane Times | 1/19/08
Bloomberg Hinting Strongly at a Run
- Bloomberg Meets With Ballot Expert - AP | 1/19/08
Polls
- AP Poll: McCain Soars, Giuliani Plummets - AP | 1/18/0
The Ref's Calls
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Barack Obama shocked many when he said the following of Ronald Reagan: "He tapped into what people were already feeling, which was, ‘We want clarity, we want optimism, we want, you know, a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing.’”
John Edwards apparently filled with shock upon hearing these words as evidenced by his own words. According to the New York Times Edwards said, "“When you think about what Ronald Reagan did to the American people, to the middle class, to the working people . . . (he) created a tax structure that favored the very wealthiest Americans and caused the middle class and working people to struggle every single day.” Edwards Attacks Obama for View of Reagan, NYT, 1/18/08.
Why did Obama shock people when spoke positively of Reagan? Shock resulted because the far left has linked Reagan to all of the perceived evils of corporate America such as greed, racism, sexism and blind American superiority. The words of Edwards demonstrate this link clearly.
Ostensibly Obama aims to truly change the course of this nation. Edwards responded in reactionary fashion. Obama's words manifest a vision that relies less on class and racial antagonism and more on cultivating a shared American identity. Whether that vision survives the campaign and can win in such a hostile Democratic environment, however, remain major questions.
But if Obama genuinely attempts to bridge the divide in action as well as in rhetoric, he represents a potential force that can genuinely shape America's future. Obama must do more than speak the language of optimism to enact this change, but must face down the race and class demagogues that attempt to dominate the Democratic Party. The Ref - Jan. 18, 2008
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HARDBALL ATTEMPTS TO CREATE ITS OWN REALITY
Hardball consistently stretches the truth or deliberately states untruths to push its agenda. Chris Matthews has made no secret of his support for Barack Obama or his disgust with Mitt Romney and the entire Republican field with the exception of McCain.
Tonight Hardball's chief correspondent David Schuster, presumably a reporter, described Romney’s reaction to a question from a reporter as an eruption. Romney's reaction resembled nothing like an eruption, but merely a slightly annoyed but calm response. See the video here.
This instance of media bias represents a perfect example of the kind of distortion that makes many of us skeptical of the media. Chris Matthews is a commentator but David Schuster is not. Hardball regularly masks commentary as reporting. It is this practice to which we object. The Ref - Jan. 17, 2008
Also, Chris Matthews Admits He Went Too Far in Criticizing Hillary: Matthews: I Wronged Clinton With Remark - Newsmax, AP | 1/17/08
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Now that Romney has won Michigan we know he will remain a competitor in the race until at least February 5th, Super Tuesday. We cannot say the same of any other Republican hopeful because they all need wins to raise money and remain competitive.
Because Romney represents the one constant we can reach two major conclusions. First, Romney will benefit from the South Carolina primary regardless of who wins. While some believe that Romney's chief competitor is McCain, he actually loses more votes to Huckabee and Thompson. Both Huckabee and Thompson receive primarily votes of conservatives who would likely split more toward Romney than McCain.
If McCain wins South Carolina and Huckabee finishes in second place, Thompson will likely drop out and Huckabee will be substantially weakened. As a result Romney will gain some votes from both Thompson and Huckabee. McCain, however, will gain few votes from other candidates until Giuliani drops out.
The second conclusion we can reach is that McCain must win conservative votes to win the nomination. He is in the same battle for conservatives in which Romney, Huckabee and Thompson are engaged. Conservatives rule the Republican Party and they will decide who takes the nomination. Michigan represented McCain's most favorable remaining state because of its loose voting rules. The remaining calendar features mostly states that allow only Republicans to vote for the Republican nomination. Losing Michigan hurt McCain significantly.
The one major remaining question is who can win the conservative vote? Once a candidate receiving conservative votes drops out, probably Thompson, those voters will go somewhere. McCain must take a sizable portion of them to stop Romney. The next big race, therefore, is South Carolina. Watch where Thompson finishes. If he finishes third or below the race for the newly freed up conservatives begins. McCain has not fared well with conservatives in the past. We will see if he or Romney can win them. For now, watch South Carolina. The Ref - Jan. 15, 2008
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The debate over Bill Clinton's comments has gotten out of hand. It seems that the argument will come to an end after the Nevada Democratic debate where Obama and Hillary agreed that they will put it behind them. Hopefully the parties they represent will allow it to die.
The controversy highlights the new political variables that now exist because a black candidate has a legitimate shot at winning a major party's nomination. These new variables present an opportunity to put a great deal of racial tension behind us, but also present the risk of inflaming them as well.
It serves no person or group well when the media or a candidate decides to use the race card. Certainly the media deserves some blame in this case as does Senator Obama's campaign, as Senator Obama acknowledged in Tuesday's debate by agreeing that his campaign had attempted to push the story.
Perhaps this will be the last time during the nomination process when racial tension flares so significantly. If it happens again the Democrats are on their way back to 1968 when the tensions within the party manifested into riots at the national convention. The Ref - Jan. 15, 2008
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