"POLITICS"

[ithatheekret]

Here come the toons , I mean tunes

It can be seen as noise waves too , the response is as shown

 

[ithatheekret]

McCain Wins South Carolina Primary, Huckabee Second


Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain won the South Carolina primary, his second victory in the Republican nomination race and a boost to his candidacy going into the Jan. 29 contest in Florida. Mike Huckabee placed second.

The win solidifies McCain's status as a front-runner and shows the Arizona senator can appeal to the Republican Party's core voters in the South.

The results are a setback for former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, who was running third. He was banking on a victory in the state to show he could compete at the front of the pack.

``There are some tough contests ahead, and starting tomorrow in the state of Florida, where we're going to win,'' McCain told supporters in Charleston, South Carolina. ``We are well on our way tonight. And I feel very good.''

McCain had 33 percent of the vote, Huckabee had 30 percent and Thompson 16 percent, according to an Associated Press count with more than 90 percent of precincts reporting.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney earlier today scored his third win of the nomination race in Nevada's Republican caucuses. He was running fourth in South Carolina with 15 percent of the vote, according to the AP tally.

`Civil' Campaign

Huckabee, 52, a former Arkansas governor, conceded the contest and thanked McCain ``for running a civil and good and a decent campaign.'' He said the closeness of the vote shows the nomination race is ``far, far from over.''

McCain's South Carolina win ``is a major step forward toward the nomination,'' Craig Shirley, a Republican consultant in Alexandria, Virginia, said. ``It erases his loss in Michigan and focuses new attention on him as the frontrunner.''

In the past 28 years, South Carolina has picked the eventual winner of the Republican nomination, according to party chairman Katon Dawson. McCain's 2000 bid for the Republican nomination was derailed in the state, which he lost to then-Texas Governor George W. Bush.

McCain revived his campaign, which had been beset by lagging fundraising and poll numbers just a few months ago, by winning in New Hampshire on Jan. 8. He suffered a setback with his second- place showing to Romney in the Michigan primary Jan. 15.

Romney, who is trying to appeal to the conservative base of the party, shifted money from South Carolina as polls showed McCain and Huckabee fighting for the lead.

Still, Romney leads in the race for delegates who select the Republican nominee with wins in Wyoming, Michigan and Nevada and second-place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to a tally compiled by CNN.

Next Round

McCain, 71, now emerges as a front-runner in Florida and the Feb. 5 so-called Super Tuesday contests in more than 20 states. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, 63,who has yet to win in a primary or caucus, is counting on Florida to give him his first victory.

Giuliani now ``really needs to win Florida to demonstrate he remains a serious and credible contender,'' said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster not aligned with any candidate.

For McCain, the strong showing in South Carolina ``provides a measure of sweet justice,'' after his loss in 2000, Ayres said. That year, he was the target of a rumor campaign that sought to turn the state's Republicans against him.

Appeal for Funding

Soon after McCain declared victory, his campaign sent an e- mail seeking donations for Florida and later contests. ``Now that John McCain has won both the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, he has passed the historical test for Republican candidates and is on course to win,'' it said.

McCain's showing in South Carolina ``is a huge springboard for him,'' said Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster who isn't aligned with any campaign. Placing second ``certainly keeps Huckabee alive, particularly in Florida,'' he said.

Failing to place in the top two in South Carolina means Thompson, 65, isn't likely to get traction elsewhere, Fabrizio said. ``He might as well go back to living the easy life,'' he said of the former actor.

Representative Duncan Hunter, a California lawmaker, dropped out of the presidential race. He took less than one percent of the vote in South Carolina. ``Today, we end this campaign,'' Hunter said in a statement on his Web site.

Florida is a winner-take-all primary with 57 delegates. The Real Clear Politics average of the latest polls for Florida shows McCain leading with 23 percent of support, followed by Giuliani with 20 percent. Romney is third with 18 percent.

 

[noirua]

How they stand in the US Elections:

Pledged and super-pledged Delegates.
Democrats - (2,025 magic number)
Clinton - 210
Obama - 123
Edwards- 52
Kuckinvich - 1

Pledged and unpledged RNC
Republicans - (1,191 magic number)
Romney - 72
McCain - 38
Huckabee - 29
Thompson - 8
Paul - 6
Giuliani - 2


Latest Election Results (not final count):
Michigan: Romney 24, McCain 5, Huckabee 1
Nevada: Romney 18, McCain 4, Paul 4, Huckabee 2, Thompson 2, Giuliani 1
Wyoming: Romney 8, Thompson 3, Huckabee 1
South Carolina: McCain 19, Huckabee 5

Nevada: Clinton 14, Obama 14
Massachusetts: Clinton 1
Illinois: Obama 20
New Hampshire: Obama 12, Clinton 11, Edwards 4
South Carolina: Clinton 2

 

[Julia]

Noirua, what does the 'pledged' and 'unpledged' bit mean?

 

[noirua]

Election odds as of posting:

McCain - $49.65
Romney - $34.09
Guiliani - $7.89
Huckabee - $7.07
Thompson - 8 cents

Clinton - $50.38
Obama - $49.18
Edwards - 40 cents

Chance of prediction occuring ( obtaining nomination ), $10 = 10%

 

[noirua]

Serbian Election: Exit polls show Tomislav Nikolic at 39% and Boris Tadic 35%. A runoff is expected on February 3rd.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/01/20/Serbia.elections/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

 

[Aussie2Aussie]

Noirua, what does the 'pledged' and 'unpledged' bit mean?

Dependant on what type of vote is taken, caucus, primary etc and which party; some delegates have the freedom to change who they vote for at the convention, others can not change who they are to vote for. Pledged are commited and unpledged can change their vote.

 

[noirua]

South Carolina Voting Intentions. Survey taken 15th and 16th January.

Democrats (election 26/1/08)
Obama - 44%
Clinton - 38%
Edwards - 9%


http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/states/south.carolina.html

 

[noirua]

Florida Elections. Survey taken 21st - 22nd January.

Republicans (Election January 29th)
McCain - 25%
Romney - 23%
Giuliani - 15%
Huckabee - 15%
Thompson (OUT) - 4%

Democrats (Super Tuesday)
Clinton - 42%
Obama - 23%
Edwards - 12%

http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/states/florida.html

 

[noirua]

Exclusive: Senator Edwards on the rise in South Carolina - Latest Polls show possible tie with Clinton, Obama in the lead: http://www.thestate.com/presidential-politics/story/296323.html

I hope Edwards makes it. I'm not that keen on Obama or Clinton. Infact I prefer him to win the race and become President.

 

[noirua]

With 20% of the votes counted Barack Obama has been declared the winner of the South Carolina Democratic caucus: Obama 53%, Clinton 27%, and Edwards 20%.

 

[noirua]

With 83% of the vote counted Hillary Clinton has conceded defeat and moved on to Tennessee:

Obama 54%, Clinton 27%, Edwards 19%.

 

[noirua]

German voters have taken part in two state polls, in Lower Saxony and Hesse.
Opinion polls suggest Angela Merkel's party, the conservative CDU, may lose its majority in Hesse - a politically and economically important state.

The current governor of Hesse, the CDU's Roland Koch, is running for a third term in office.

Mr Koch has provoked a storm of protest with calls for tougher sentences and the deportation of what he called "young criminal foreigners."

 

[2020hindsight]

LOL - I've heard it all
sounds like
a) desperation
b) a diametric turnaround from the Lewinski affair, and
c) :bs:

when she says "love and a :sheep:chaotic lack of sleep" I wonder it that's a typo - lol
"hard fought election" etc


http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/28/2147670.htm

Love drove Bill over campaign line: Clinton
Posted 2 hours 49 minutes ago
Updated 1 hour 43 minutes ago

Hillary Clinton has admitted her husband Bill's hard-charging campaign tactics went overboard, but chalked the ex-president's fiery broadsides up to love and a chronic lack of sleep.

A day after rival Barack Obama trounced her in the South Carolina primary, the former first lady also mounted a vigorous defence of the two Clinton White House terms, which Senator Obama has said did not spark transformational change.

Senator Clinton was asked on CBS television's "Face the Nation" whether her husband was "out of control" after he took the Illinois Senator, and the media to task, during a foul-tempered week-long campaign.

"You know, my husband has such a great commitment to me and to my campaign," the New York Senator said.

"He loves me ... you know, husbands and wives get out there and work on each others' behalf."

She blamed the tensions of the tight battle for the party's presidential nomination

"Maybe he got a little carried away. You know, that comes with a hard-fought election," she said.

"It also comes with sleep deprivation which I think is marking all of us, our families, our supporters," said Senator Clinton, who herself is running low on sleep, as she jets back and forth across the country.

Senator Clinton said her husband would remain a premier member of her campaign team as she heads into 22 critical nominating contests on 'Super Tuesday' - February 5 US time - though it was unclear if the ex-president's campaign style would change.

Exit polls in South Carolina suggested that some undecided voters may have bolted to Senator Obama after the former president's interventions, amid claims he had deliberately raised the spectre of race.

In his victory speech after the South Carolina primary, Senator Obama branded the Clintons as a discredited relic of a politics of division.

"That status quo is fighting back with everything it's got, with the same old tactics that divide and distract us from solving the problems people face," he said.

BILL CLINTON SLEEPING ASLEEP *CLOSE UP* MARTIN LUTHER KING

 

[noirua]

President George W Bush is just about to start his "State of the Union Speech", infact, in a few minutes after posting this.

 

[noirua]

Exit Polls out of Florida for the Republicans on 29th January caucus:

McCain - 34.3%
Romney - 32.6%
Giuliani - 15.3%
Huckabee - 12%

 

[noirua]

John McCain wins Florida - Republicans - Romney concedes:

McCain - 35%
Romney - 32%
Guiliani - 15%
Huckabee - 14%
Paul - 4%

Hillary Clinton has been declared winner in Florida-Democrats.

 

[noirua]

John McCain wins Florida - Republicans - Romney concedes:

McCain - 35%
Romney - 32%
Guiliani - 15%
Huckabee - 14%
Paul - 4%

Hillary Clinton has been declared winner in Florida-Democrats.

Rudy Giuliani appeared to indicate he will withdraw from the contest, probably tomorrow. Expected to support Senator McCain and become his running mate.

Hillary Clinton is to challenge the Democratic party decision not to count delegates in the voting for Florida. Hillary celebrated a symbolic victory that Obama failed to recognise.

Clinton - 50%
Obama - 32%
Edwards - 15%

 

[Doris]

Hillary Clinton is to challenge the Democratic party decision not to count delegates in the voting for Florida. Hillary celebrated a symbolic victory that Obama failed to recognise.

Clinton - 50%
Obama - 32%
Edwards - 15%

I guess desperate times call for desperate measures!
There must be some logic behind the illogic? Will it help next Tuesday?
It should make a DNC-sanctioned caucus or primary, if called in March/April, very interesting.


NON-CAMPAIGN NON-EVENT
Clinton Plans Rally After Unsanctioned Fla. Primary
By Anne E. Kornblut
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 29, 2008; Page A08

In a bit of a reverse campaigning, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will appear in Florida after the polls close Tuesday night -- abiding by a pledge not to actively pursue a victory in the state in accordance with Democratic National Committee rules.

But Clinton expects to win. Her campaign has been running a below-the-radar effort to capture Florida even though the state's delegates are not going to be seated at the Democratic convention this summer, punishment for the state's decision to move its primary to an earlier date than allowed by the DNC. Clinton (N.Y.) attended fundraisers in Florida on Sunday, received the endorsement Monday of Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and was the beneficiary of mailings sent by union organizers into the state.

Clinton's victory rally is scheduled for 8 p.m. at a ballroom in Davie, Fla. Officials in the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) dismissed the maneuver as "too cute by half," and said they were glad that Clinton would be spending time in a state whose primary had already ended rather than campaigning in a state that will vote on Feb. 5, when Democrats in 22 states will go to the polls.

Privately, several Clinton supporters acknowledged that she had openly embraced the votes in Florida and in Michigan, another state that violated DNC rules, only after the first two contests, in Iowa and New Hampshire, were over. Campaigning in banned states any earlier would have been certain to infuriate voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, who jealously guard their early status.

Obama officials said they would welcome an additional, DNC-sanctioned caucus or primary in March or April and would compete in such a contest.

 

[noirua]

Senator John Edwards has announced he is leaving the Presidential race for the Democratic nomination: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/30/edwards/index.html