Yes, when Elaine Benes was feeding him soup.

Yan-kee bean, Yan-kee bean, I like my Yan-kee bean.

I needed that laugh, Pizzaboy. Thanks.



I wish just one of the pundits had the guts last night to say what we all knew. They were all acting like it was some mystery as to why Obama did not do well in West Virginia. Give me a break. It's pretty clear that W. Va. is predominantly (not entirely) a red-neck mentality and most of the people will simply not vote for a black candidate. It's no different in Ohio, starting from Columbus to the southern end of the state.

I agree Goombah. The media loves making hay out of this win. Everyone knew Hillary would win by a large margin.

Btw, the blogs are so vicious. This whole race is making enemies between the Obama/Hillary camps. Probably cause she's losing, but mostly the Hillary people who supposedly will "NOT" vote or will vote for McCain if Obama gets it.

Still, this is probably the most exciting race since JFK as far as I'm concerned. Even if it is giving me "agita".

TIS

95% white at the last census and the least educated state in the nation. Those are facts.

As far as the victory yesterday: Too little, too late. Obama just picked up two more superdelegates this morning. It's over. I just wish she'd tell him what the hell it is that she wants from him so he could concentrate on November. I find it increasingly hard to believe that she'd want to be his VP after this nasty campaign. Still, she wants something, unless this is just pure spite.

The possibilities are endless, but I have three ideas.

1. She wants on the ticket. This could be for two reasons. The cynical view is she would run as poorly as Lieberman and Edwards did, and watch Obama go down in flames to position herself for a 2012 run against McCain. She could claim she went out gracefully etc., and that she warned the party not to give it to Obama. If he were to win, she and Bill would try to muscle Obama, and it could make for a dysfunctional administration.

2. She wants to to as much damage as she can before she "gracefully bows out." Obam ouwld have to retire her debt, compromise on FLa and Mich and she would be given a prime time speech at the convention where sho could praise Obama in a way that would have pundits reading between the lines, Much like Ted Kennedy did to Carter. Again this sets her up for 2012.

3. She doesn't know what she wants. She is just really coming to terms with the fact she is not going to win. I don't think she wants to back to the Senate in any leadership post. Maybe she'd settle for appointment to the Supreme Court
retirement of her debt, etc in exchange for supporting Obama. Still if he loses, she is in good shape for 2012.

PB, it's too early to cancentrate on November. Those among the electorate who have not yet made a decision about who they intend to or will vote for won't start paying closer attention to the candidaes until after the conventions.

Is there any difference betwen voting against someone becasue they are black and voting for someone because they are black?

Agree with you Partagas, one just seems more acceptable in society for some reason.

That John Edwards actually won 7% of the West Virginia vote shows you just how fucking retarded and inbred they are down there.

I really doubt that Obama will ask Hillary Clinton to be on the ticket. I think she is overstaying her welcome unnecessarily at this point, which I can appreciate why she is doing. I imagine Obama would not want both Bill & Hillary looking over his shoulder every minute of the day in the Oval Office.

Good question. In a perfect world it would be equaly wrong to vote for or against someone based on race, religion, ethnicity, etc., but the fact is when certain groups have never been in power, or have been disenfranchised for a long time, then there is some aregument to be made for voting for one of "your own." This was true in 1960 when many Catholics voted for JFK because he was to be the first Catholic president ever. I also think this happened in 1976 when Jimmy Carter was the first true southerner since the civil war to be elected. He carried many Southerns states which have gone to the GOP before or since. Also in 2000 I think Gore picked Lieberman to get the Jewish vote, especially in Fla...and of course we know how THAT turned out. I woud add, that it should be a one time phenomenon. If Barack should win, then in the future no black should vote for someone of his or her own race for that reason.

We sure do know how it turned out. Gore won.


I have an African American friend whom I have discussed your issue about "voting for your own." She thinks there are some minorities who will vote against Obama "just to keep him down." While she doesn't subscribe to it, she believes some blacks will say "we can't advance so why should Obama?" Hopefully this mentality is not used by many in the general election.


EDIT: THIS DAMN WEBSITE - THIS IS THE 4th TIME IN 2 DAYS WHERE I'VE MADE A POST ONLY TO HAVE IT LOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER HITTING THE 'SUBMIT' BUTTON. WTF?

Obama was never guaranteed the black vote. Polls weren't giving Obama 90 percent of the black vote in January - he only started getting these levels of support when it looked like he might have a chance to win. Al Sharpton never got as high a percentage of the black primary vote. Neither did Doug Wilder or Carol Mosley Braun. Obama's done better with both white voters and black voters than any (partly) black candidate in Democratic history.

Then the Clintons started dismissing the black vote and here we are. You know of non-white candidates that win elections by disenfranchising white voters?

How do you disenfranchise anyone? If you are talking about winning votes by claiming to represent some section of society and then not fullfilling those promises, then everyone would be guilty. I did not understand what you mean by "win elections by disenfranchising".

By Hillary implying, and her surrogates flat out saying, that "He can't win because a lot of these people who vote for me will not vote for a black guy". Therefore Democrats choose Hillary and court "hard working whites" that are racists to win over McCain (forget the black voters). Which is bull, of course, on many levels.

I just heard on CNN that John Edwards will be endorsing Barrak sometime today.

I just read that, Miggie.

Edwards to endorse Obama

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards will endorse Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, according to Obama's campaign.


Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John Edwards in a CNN sponsored debate in South Carolina in January.

Edwards dropped out of the Democratic race on January 30 after poor showings in the early contests.

He told NBC last week that Obama, the Democratic front-runner, is the party's likely nominee. Both Obama and the his rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, had sought Edwards' blessing.

Edwards said last week that it was "fine" for Clinton to continue making her case but expressed concern that a continued campaign could damage the party's prospects in November.

Wednesday's endorsement could help Obama reach out to white blue-collar voters, a demographic that Obama has failed to capture, most notably in the recent Pennsylvania and West Virginia primaries.

Edwards had campaigned on the message that he was standing up for the little guy, the people who are not traditionally given a voice in Washington, and that he would do more to fight special interests.

After dropping out of the race, Edwards asked both Clinton and Obama to make poverty a central issue in the general election and a future Democratic administration, something both agreed to do. Watch Edwards discuss Obama and Clinton on "Larry King Live" »

An endorsement from Edwards, who ran as vice president on Sen. John Kerry's ticket in the 2004 presidential election, would have a significant impact on the race, Democratic strategist Peter Fenn said after Edwards dropped out.

"You could make an argument that the change issue does benefit Barack Obama, that he picks up that support. You could also make the argument that there's a lot of support out there amongst people that will go to Hillary," he said. "The big issue here is who will he endorse."

Some political pundits predicted that Edwards' supporters are more likely to lean in Obama's direction.

"The conventional wisdom is that Barack Obama will pick up maybe 60 percent of them, and in some places, that makes a huge difference," former presidential adviser David Gergen said in January.

Time magazine's Joe Klein contends that Clinton "represents a lot of the things that [Edwards] campaigned against, you know, the old Washington Democratic establishment that he believes got too close to the corporations in the '90s."

Edwards announced that he was dropping out in New Orleans, Louisiana, the same city where he declared his run for the 2008 Democratic presidential race.

"It is time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path," he said.

With his wife, Elizabeth, and children at his side, Edwards said he couldn't predict "who will take the final steps to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," but he said it would be a Democrat.

Edwards trailed Clinton and Obama in the early contests, including a third-place finish in Florida's primary with 14 percent of the votes. He also came in third in key races in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Klein said Edwards played a positive role in spurring his competitors during the early part of the campaign.

"On a lot of substantive issues like health insurance, he was the first one out of the box with a very ambitious universal plan, and I think he forced the others to become bolder in a lot of their policy prescriptions, energy dependence and so on," Klein said.


John Edwards is a South Carolina native with an undergraduate degree from North Carolina State University and law degree from the University of North Carolina.

Before entering politics, winning a Senate seat from North Carolina in 1998, Edwards was a lawyer representing families "being victimized by powerful interests," according to his campaign Web site.

News Flash: McCain sees our boys coming home by 2013!!!!

Well, whoop-dee-fucking-doo.

This is encouraging?

That Billary pic is excellent Photoshop work

But also very scary

Given the fact that he has said that he'll only seek one-term (which I don't believe), that would mean the war would continue through his entire presidency? Somebody ought to shut him up if they really want to win. In 2013, that would make McCain 77. Shouldn't he be out on a ledge somewhere?

That's a good point, goombah. The translation of his good news is, "Don't expect the war in Iraq to stop during my presidency."

Edwards endorsement pays off for Obama

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama collected the support of four of John Edwards' Democratic National Convention delegates on Thursday, then gained the backing of four superdelegates and a large labor union as he marched steadily toward the party's presidential nomination.

The fresh support brought Obama's overall delegate total to 1,895, compared to 1,718 for his rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. It takes 2,026 to clinch the nomination at the party convention in Denver this summer.

Edwards, who bestowed his long-sought endorsement on Obama on Wednesday, won 19 delegates before departing the presidential race in January.

Within hours, Obama picked up the backing of three of them from South Carolina and one in New Hampshire.

In addition, three superdelegates — Reps. James McDermott of Washington, and Henry Waxman and Howard Berman of California — endorsed Obama.

"I believe now is the time to unite behind Barack Obama so we can be in the strongest place possible to win in November," McDermott said.

Waxman said in a statement: "I have the greatest respect and admiration for Senator Clinton and former President Clinton ... It is now clear, however, that the Democratic Party is nearing a broad consensus on our nominee."

Edwards had been backed by the United Steelworkers Union, which announced it would now support Obama. The union has 600,000 active members, many of them blue-collar workers of the type that have favored Clinton in recent primaries.

Obama also picked up the personal endorsement of superdelegate Larry Cohen, the president of the Communication Workers of America union.

"Senator Obama is uniquely positioned to broaden the Democratic party base and lead the party to election gains at every level this year as well as reclaiming the White House," said Cohen, who lives in the nation's capital.

The increased support came despite Obama's overwhelming defeat in Tuesday's primary in West Virginia, and suggested that Clinton's argument that she would be a better general election candidate was not finding a receptive audience.

The former first lady is favored to win next week's primary in Kentucky, while Obama is expected to win in Oregon the same day.

The delegates won by Edwards are not bound by his endorsement of Obama, but several said it is important to their decision.

"I will cast my vote for who John Edwards asks me to," said Robert Groce, a South Carolina delegate won by Edwards.

Iowa delegate Dave Redlawsk said he was not ready to declare for Obama. But, he added, "John's endorsement weighs heavily in a positive way. I take seriously his endorsement, his recommendation in a sense."

With the primary season winding down, both Clinton and Obama have turned their attention increasingly to the superdelegates, the members of Congress and other party officials who have seats at the convention by virtue of their positions.

Obama long trailed Clinton among superdelegates, but overtook her last week, and has pulled further away despite suffering one of his worst defeats in the campaign in West Virginia.

Clinton spent the day campaigning in South Dakota, one of two states that closes out the primary season on June 3. Obama was home in Chicago.

Both rivals had avidly sought Edwards' endorsement, particularly in the weeks after he dropped out of the race. The former North Carolina senator and 2004 vice presidential nominee had campaigned as a champion of the working class, and in the wake of his departure, Clinton consistently drew more blue-collar votes than Obama did.

"We are here tonight because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I," Edwards said Wednesday to thunderous applause from an audience in Grand Rapids, Mich. He said Obama "stands with me" in a fight to cut poverty in half within 10 years, a claim Obama confirmed moments later.

Edwards told the rally that "we must come together as Democrats" to defeat Republican John McCain in November.

He also praised Clinton.

"We are a stronger party" because of her involvement and "we're going to have a stronger nominee in the fall because of her work," he said.

Then as Edwards sat on stage and watched, Obama gave one of his most animated addresses in days, much of it devoted to fighting poverty. In America, he said, "you should never be homeless, you should never be hungry."

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said in a statement: "We respect John Edwards, but as the voters of West Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over."

___

Associated Press reporters Matthew Daly and Jesse J. Holland in Washington, Jim Davenport in Columbia, S.C., and Amy Lorentzen in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

No, it is NOT far from over. It's OVER. Get out of the race. What could she possibly hope to accomplish, except to make enemies within the party and get herself deeper into debt??

Yeah, I really do agree, Babe. You know I've been on the Obama train since the beginning, so I don't want to sound like an ungracious winner, but it is clearly over at this point. To paraphrase Al Gore, circa 1992, "It's time for her to go!"

Speaking of Gore, I wish he'd show some onions already and back Obama. He's the only Dem heavyweight, other than Pelosi, who hasn't backed someone yet.

I can't believe that he would come out openly against the Clintons.