Power and Politics - I am Not the Yellow Peril

The life and times of an Asian American activist who tells all the truth (and dishes news and analysis) but with a leftwards slant.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Liveblogging the returns

GA: Barack Obama won in Georgia as CNN calls it. As expected. On the GOP side, no early returns yet.

TN: for Clinton

CT: Obama leading . . . . Obama still leading by 3% with over half the votes counted. They called it for Obama!

Delaware: Obama leading by 5% with 16 % in.

OK: Clinton.

MA: clinton. Ouch. This is one of the things I had called earlier - that Kerry and Teddy Kennedy spent a lot of time outside of Mass. Moreover, they endorsed late in the game, whereas the local officials from Menino to the city Council Chair had endorsed early. This brings us to the adage "all politics is local."

Alabama - Obama.

NJ - clinton.

NY - clinton.

ND - Obama.

Huckabeez is doing decently overall. I bet he becomes VP to McCain's P. He's done better than expected, winning parts of the South that the Christian Coalition has traditionally been strong in like alabama.

MN - sweet Minnesota for Obama.

Utah for Obama. Damns. Talking 50 State strategy.

Mitt Romney is on trying to talk as the ultimate Washington outsider despite having headed up the Republican governors association. Reagan this Reagan that. Reagan is my ass hat. He's actually giving a decent speech.

Kansas for Obama.

Clinton's speech is pretty good too - "I won't let any one swiftboat our future." She's taking a lot of Edwards talking point "I see an America where we stand up to the oil companies" !!!! Great talking points - "I see an America where when a young man or woman signs up to serve our country, we sign up to serve them too" !!! Damn, she's stealing the best talking points of all her primary opponents. She also said that this isn't a game, even though earlier in the "game" she had said, "now the fun part starts." Damn, I feel inspired by her!

Earlier, Ronald martin, CNN pundit, got Jamal Simmons of the Obama campaign to concede that Obama has a Latino problem. NOT GOOD. Based on the fact that Obama only got 52% of Latinos in his OWN state of Illinois. Jamal had been trying to say that Obama is the opposite of Guiliani - the more people know him the more they like him and that he needs time. So this talking point was really pointed and not to Obama's benefit.

Colorado - Obama! nice.

Obama's speech is not as on fire as Hillary's - she gave an Obama style speech complete with Edwards flourishes. It was a dramatic departure. Obama is still giving a good speech, because he is an amazing orator. He looks incredibly tired but happy.

I think this is interesting because regardless of who wins MO and CA, they will both call this a victory, and both be right. I think that if they had drawn more of a contrast at the Los Angeles debate, they would have been more differentiated. Still, at the end of the day, he can hold Hillary's voters and carry new and independent voters.

He's painting a real picture and it's real poetic. He's doing call and response like in church. Wow, the voter turnout has been dramatic.

"We have to choose between change and more of hte same. We have to choose between our future and the past." Obama's hitting the I'm a uniter not a divider theme hard.

I am going to be really happy with either candidate. Damn, he won a hell of a lot of states.

Damn, Obama's 2 to 1 in Minnesota. Missouri remains seat of the edge close - 49 clinton; 48 obama. Nail biter.

Whoa, he's giving a speech kind of like Michelle Obama's. But she gave it better :)

I think Obama is going to lose California. But as long he can lose by 6 and still only be behind by 18 delegates in Cali.

"When I'm president, I will put an end to the politics of fear."

Here's the organizer's call - "we need you, we need you to prove that ordinary people can still do extraordinary things in America."

Oh, this is a beautiful speech - he's hitting it. Hitting the organizer meme. In the shadow of a closed steel factory. Oh, this is why I love Obama. He has done the work. He has been there through the struggle and the fight and he is a surviver. He burns with the bright intensity of hope. He has the best deep narrative. "You see the challenges we face will not be solved with one meetin in one night. . . Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. We are the hope of those boys who have so little.

We are the hope of the father who goes to work before dawn and lies awake with doubt that he cannot give the child the future he would like. Yes he can.

We are the hope of the future, the answer to the cynics who tell us that our house must stand divided, we know we have seen something happen over the last several weeks, over the past several months. we know that what begins as a whisper is now a whisper. is a hymn that will heal this nation, will repair the world, make this time different than all the rest.

Let's go to work! Yes we can!!!"

Wow, the crescendoing of the speech was powerful - THIS is really the continuation of his 04 speech, in the same vein and with the same passion and hope. I got all teary. At the end, his rhythm was King-like, lilting and like a lullabye.

Oh I am fired up. I love Obama, I am beginning to love Clinton. It's a good thing to be in love.

The other thing that is transparent is that McCain had a hard time winning his own state and that conservatives are really turned off by him. HE's essentially going to have to pick someone like Huck to be his running mate. Huckabee has done a phenomenonal job of winning states for someone who doesn't have an organization or money. Romney must be pissed. And I can't think that McCain is too thrilled because he wanted to be coronated tonight.

Jamal Simmons makes a really great point that most Americans have been able to make a choice and have a voice in the process, so they don't have to feel like just another candidate was rammed down their throats.

Oh my! Obama is pulling ahead in Missouri. It's so close. . . he's now at 49% she's at 48% with 98% votes in.

AZ- Clinton.

In colorado Obama literally doubles Clinton's vote. Ditto Minnesota. doubled in Illinois.

California for Clinton. We'll see what the delegate count is. One of the most disturbing things is that when CNN flashed the exit polls by race in Cali, they included us. And the APIA community voted overwhelmingly for Clinton. like 3 to 1. My friend said that they thought it was because of race. Please please please let it not be race. Latinos voted for Obama percentage-wise more than us...

Freaking sweet - Obama won 11 of 22 states. Fantastic.

Alaska - Obama is winning.

Missouri - AP had called this for Clinton a long time ago, but Obama's still ahead and there's only 67 precinct out of 3371 left.

Damn, 80% of Idaho primary voters went for Obama.

Wow, the AP UN-called Missouri for Clinton. And now we have less than 20 precincts left, and Obama is up by about 7500 votes.

wow, Obama has won 13 states to Clinton's 8 so far. Also Carrie at the politico emails Ben Smith to say on the Missouri confusion:

Sen. Claire McCaskill was in the Hyatt ballroom, telling reporters and politicians (Durbin) to ignore the call for Clinton in Missouri. Apparently the same happened during her 2006 election night win. Within a half hour, Obama pulled ahead in the state.

Exciting. This is so much better than football.

CNN projects Missouri for Obama. Sweet! It's based on the fact that only St Louis precincts have yet to report back, but the city is going for him by over 60%.

OUCH CNN pundit says, there's no good way to spin it if you're Romney - just that you have "really good hair".

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