I Voted, Have You?

Let's start with the Quote of the Day, since it's been a few days since we've checked in with it...

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.
-Douglas Adams

I love Douglas Adams, the man who gave us the answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything. (If you don't know the answer, I will kindly provide it to you, 42. Now if only we knew the question.)

On to other things, today, I participated in my civic duty and voted in the primary, taking advantage of Early Voting, which ends tomorrow. Make sure to go and vote today or tomorrow if you live in Texas. If you don't vote today or tomorrow, make sure to go on Tuesday and make your voice heard.

Remember, after the primary ends on Tuesday, the caucus begins. Go to your local precinct on Tuesday evening after 7:00pm for that. You are only eligable to participate in the caucus if you voted in the primary, however.

Tonight, I hope to get in to see Barack Obama in Downtown Fort Worth, Texas. If I get any good pictures, I will share them with you here. I tried to talk my sister into going and taking my niece wearing a "Change Me, Obama!" bib, but alas, she said that 8:00pm was way to late for the 8 month old to be out. My sister has no sense of history (and even less sense of direction, but that's another story completely). What can you do?

One more thing before I go, an old man at the early voting place made me laugh this morning. He raged about the "mean" volunteers not allowing him to vote in the Democratic primary for President and the Republican for everything else. They informed him (calmly, I thought, considering) that he could only vote in one or the other for the primaries, but not both. They noted that in the general election in November he could vote Democratic for President and Republican for everything else.

This was his response.

"I ain't voting for no Democrat in November!"

Ah, small town Texas, how fun you can be.

Thoughts on Last Night's Debate

For Senator Clinton, last night's debate was critical. Now shown running in a statistical dead heat with Senator Obama in the critical states of Ohio and Texas, Hillary Clinton needed to really trip Barack Obama up, but I don't feel like she accomplished that.

For Barack Obama, all he really had to do was stay on his feet, and I think that he did.

If you asked me who I felt "won the debate", I'd probably say that Senator Clinton did slightly better overall then Senator Obama. I didn't, however, feel like Senator Clinton started out too strongly. She complained about always getting the first question and came off as whiny. She reference a Saturday Night Live skit implying that Barack Obama was getting preferential treatment from the media and it didn't come off very well either. As the debate went on, however, and Tim Russert grilled Senator Clinton on point after point, and she answered smartly and strongly, she definitely ended the night stronger then she began it.

Barack Obama, meanwhile, just needed to maintain the status quo, and he did just that. He didn't blow anyone away last night, but he didn't do anything to disappoint anyone either. The numbers now show him with a rather sizable national lead over Senator Clinton among Democrats and in a National Poll, he is shown to be leading presumptive Republican nominee John McCain by a fairly sizable margin. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is shown in a statistical tie with the Republican front runner.

If Barack Obama happens to win next week in either Texas or Ohio (and I certainly believe that it is possible) it will probably be time for Hillary Clinton to see the writing on the wall and get the Democratic party united behind the man who currently seems the best bet to defeat McCain and win back the White House. Will she do that, however? I have no idea. After all, both Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul are still running for the Republican nomination despite the fact that McCain losing it now would be nigh on impossible. While Barack Obama's lead is large and would be almost impossible to overcome, on the Democratic side there is still the issue of Super Delegates and Hillary Clinton could conceivably be handed the nomination by them despite the lead that Barack Obama has in pledged delegates. Such a move could fracture the Democratic party however, and I don't foresee Senator Clinton doing that, but I acknowledge that it is a possibility.

If you haven't already, take a look at yesterday's post on how exactly the Texas Primary/Caucus works as well as a list of the 32 Texas Super Delegates. And if you happen to live in Texas, get out and vote early. Early voting is going on until Friday February 29th and then the polls re-open on Tuesday March 4th. Then remember to come back to your polling place that evening for the caucus.

Finally, you should check out these two you tube videos on a young man's feelings on why he voted for Barack Obama.

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One Week From Today

So we are a week away from the biggest contest in the Democratic race for the nomination. A win for Barack Obama in either Texas (represent) or Ohio will likely go a long way towards ending the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

So, if you are a Texas Democrat, how can you help put your candidate of choice over the top or keep your candidate of choice alive? Well, first, you will vote in the primary which can be done one of two ways, either through early voting (now through Friday Feb. 29th early voting is available throughout Texas) or at your polling place on Tuesday March 4th. This will account for 129 of the 228 of the available delegates Texas has to offer. They will be split up on a proportional basis, depending on the amount of the vote that each candidate receives with districts that voted more democratic in the 2004 Presidential Election and the 2006 Gubernatorial Election receiving a larger number of delegates to award.

Second, you will go back to your polling place at 7:00pm on March 4th to take place in a caucus when statewide, 67 more delegates will be allocated. Everyone will have the opportunity at the caucus to convince the others to support their candidate and get those delegates available for your district to be applied to your candidate.

The remaining 32 of the 228 delegates Texas has to offer are Super Delegates.
Here is a list of those Super Delegates from Texas

The list, after the jump, courtesy of Time (go here for full list of all 795):

Democratic National Committee Members:
Roy LaVerne Brooks TEXAS DNC MEMBER
Linda Chavez-Thompson OFFICERS
Yvonne Davis TEXAS DNC MEMBER
Al Edwards TEXAS DNC MEMBER
Norma Fisher Flores TEXAS DNC MEMBER
Jaime A. Gonzalez, Jr. TEXAS DNC MEMBER
David Hardt YOUNG DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA
David Holmes TEXAS DNC MEMBER
Denise Johnson MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
Eddie Bernice Johnson MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
Sue Lovell TEXAS DNC MEMBER
Robert Martinez MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
Moses Mercado MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
John Patrick TEXAS DNC MEMBER
Betty Richie TEXAS DNC MEMBER
Boyd Richie TEXAS DNC MEMBER
Robert Slagle TEXAS DNC MEMBER
Senfronia Thompson TEXAS DNC MEMBERU.S. House of Representatives:
Henry Cuellar
Lloyd Doggett
Chet Edwards
Charles Gonzalez
Al Green
Gene Green
Rubin Hinojosa
Sheila Jackson-Lee
Nick Lampson
Solomon Ortiz
Silvestre Reyes
Ciro D. Rodriguex

Distinguished Party Leader Leadership Position:
Robert Strauss FORMER DNC CHAIRMAN
Jim Wright FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

If you're still confused after this (which is definitely a possibility), for an NPR report on how Texas's primary/caucus (aka the Texas Two Step or the Primacacus) works, listen to this report.

About Blogged Out

After my massive post yesterday on the democratic debate in Austin (as well as my Oscar Prediction post at josue23) I really can't bring myself to say too much today, but as I'll be out of town this weekend, I felt like I should put something up, so here's the quote of the day.

I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking, and then I thought: what the hell good would that do?
-Ronnie Shakes

I really don't have anything to add, because I think that says it all. Very funny.

Anyway, good debate yesterday as we come down to about a week and half until the primary here in Texas, so if you live in Texas, remember that early voting is going on now. You don't have to wait until March 4th.

In a later post, I'll see if I can explain the odd way that Texas does their Primary/Caucus.

DEMOCRATIC DEBATE IN AUSTIN TEXAS

Well, I'm pretty excited for this debate, I'm going to blog on my thoughts about the debate as I watch it. Exciting, huh?

First off, let me show you a fun picture of Barack Obama in Austin today.

This picture really cracks me up. Good stuff.

Secondly, as I'm waiting for the debate to begin, today's quote of the day is...

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.

-Eric Hoffer

That's interesting considering that Saturday Night Live announced that they are searching for someone to do a Barack Obama impersonation for the show. That would be a good gig.

Now we're minutes away from the debate. I love the countdown clock on CNN.

Three minutes and counting.

I think I need to read up on this "Trans Texas Turnpike" NAFTA thing. Today's the first I've heard about it, and its almost getting as much talk as the McCain vs the New York Times stuff.

Two minutes and counting.

Speaking of the McCain vs the New York Times thing, I'm a little surprised at how badly people are speaking of the New York Times. If it turns out there is truth to it, then I think it needed to be reported on.

DEBATE TIME

Here are my thoughts as I had them during the debate.

There is more then 100 people there, how come they only gave away 100 tickets? How did other people get them?

I am a Campbell Brown fan. Not so much a Mack Brown fan though. That's a shout out to UT.

The canidates are taking the stage. Wow, Obama got a much bigger cheer when he moved towards the center.

John King brings up the fact that Obama has won 11 primaries in a row. The question is what effect will that "momentum" have in Texas?

Jorge Ramos, not surprisingly, mentions how important the Latino vote is, what no one is talking about though is even if Clinton currently has more sway with the Latino vote, the Latino's don't really have anything against Obama.

Most democrats wouldn't have much of a problem voting for either canidate in the general election anyway. Really, if you are a democrat, this is a great position to be in, choosing between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Hillary Clinton is giving her opening statements after a game show like coin flip backstage.

Clinton starts by kissing up to the locals. A good hand as she speaks of Barbara Jordan teaching her about courage, but a huge hand as she mentions Anne Richards. Can't go wrong talking about her to Texas Democrats.

She opens with Health Care issue wise. I couldn't agree with what she says more.

EXPERIENCE MENTION #1 by Senator Clinton

Good opening speach for Clinton, now it's Obama's turn.

He starts with war and the economy, focusing on the economy. And then he ties in Health Care to the economy. He slams NAFTA while still talking about the economy. Then reties the war in Iraq to the economy and Health Care.

CHANGE IS NEEDED IN WASHINGTON MENTION #1 by Senator Obama

Great job by him as well. He did a better job of touching on more issues.

First question to Clinton,

Ramos asks, will you sit down with Raul Castro?

She's hoping for changes in Cuba and says she would be ready to sit down when they proved they were ready to change, and not before then.

Good answer, nothing shocking there.

Follow up to Obama about his statement about meeting with any world leaders

He says, "Absolutely." He would meet without preconditions, but would ask for preperation and an agreed upon agenda. The president's job, he says, is we need to talk not only with our allies, but with our enemies.

Campbell Brown calls him on his earlier statements in regard to Cuba.

He says the way we've done things now is failure and that we need to work towards normalizing our position with Cuba, but that it requires steps.

I think that Senator Clinton looked a little better on this topic. I like what she says about reopening ourselves to the rest of the world as opposed to the Bush "unilateralism".

Senator Obama makes a good point about why he feels the President should take more of a step towards talking with other world leaders.

King asks about the economy, how would President Obama be different on the economy then President Clinton?

He gives his points and speaks about the fact that the economy is poor, but hasn't really answered the question as asked at first. He then says that he and Clinton agree on many of these issues, but still doesn't really answer the question that was asked.

King tries again to get the question answered, this time by Clinton.

She starts by agreeing with much of what Obama said and talks about what she would do better then what the Republicans did. Again, the question isn't really being answered as it was asked.

It's easy to slam the Republicans on this issue as the economy is clearly hurting right now. Neither opponent really looks like they want to talk about the other on this subject.

Neither opponent really won that question in my opinion, but Clinton passed up an opportunity to at least show she could answer a question as asked.

The next question about raids on undocumented immigrants by Jorge Ramos.

Clinton says something needs to change. It's an important issue, but it is being handled wrong. "It's not the America I know." Good quote. She wants a "path to legalization".

Obama agrees but says he would add a few things. He says we need to "tone down the rhetoric" which is a very good point, and I think that's the first time I've heard someone say that. He also points out the legal immigration system is broken, and fixing it should take precedent so that in turn can help out the illegal immigration problem. Another very good point.

Obama did better on this topic, which is important, since this is a very important topic to the Latino voters.

King brings up the Border Fence. This should be interesting.

Clinton brings up the Northern border, which to me is the more important issue, because if terrorists come into this country, they're probably coming in from Canada where it is easy as opposed to Mexico where everyone is watching.

She seems to not want to bash the idea of the border fence, but says that Bush has made it into something that is completely ridiculous.

Obama starts saying that she and he completely agree. He points out that there is more of an issue regarding the "12 million people who are already here" as opposed to the people coming over every day. Reform on the issue is more important then the Border Fence specifically.

Again, I feel like he did better on the question, or at least came across better on the difficult question, mainly because he got to speak second.

Next question, should the United States become bilingual?

Senator Clinton says that there should be a desire to learn other languages, but that English be the primary or "common and unifying" language, but not the "Official Language".

Senator Obama says every student should be learning a second language because the world is now requiring the ability to speak across borders somewhere "America has been falling behind" on. Foreign language in schools has been lacking.

Obama did very well on these issues important to Latino voters, and since many people think that the Latino vote (where Clinton has an edge) will be very important, this is a big point for Obama to win on.

Now we've got the first break, which is good, I need to go to the restroom.

Okay, I'm back and now so are they.

King asks about how they've talked about each other's truthfulness. He brings up Clinton's points we need solutions not just words.

She admits to differences and says she's trying to point on the differences, but seems to be implying that she's not disparaging Obama.

She does, however, bring up the suporter on the Chris Matthews show who couldn't mention one of Obama's accomplishments, and that actions speak louder then words.

Obama says actions do speak louder then words and begins to speak for himself about some of his accomplishments. He believes the soldiers in Walter Reed would say that he's more then just talk he is about action. He accuses Clinton's point of "Let's get real" is saying his many supporters and every major newspaper in Texas which have backed him are somehow "delusional" or have somehow been "duped". He gets a large hand as well as a little laugh from Senator Clinton. He says that inspirational words lead to action, without them there will be no action. He makes some good strong points and gets a huge amount of applause.

Ms. Brown brings up the ridiculous "plagerism" allegations.

He points out that the words he is occused of plagerising were from one of his national co-chairs who gave him the line and asked him to use it.

This is totally a nonissue and needs to disappear. He uses it to segue into issues. He says these aren't just speaches (and adds, "But some of them are pretty good") but are issues and then he throws some of those issues out there and that it's more important then the "silly season of politics" that this "issue" represents.

Hillary disagrees and says if your campaign is about words, they should be your words. And accuses him of being "A change that we can xerox". It comes off badly, and she gets booed.

She recovers well, however, and gets a couple of points against him saying that his health care plan would leave many people uninsured. She says she doesn't want anyone left out.

Obama admits they both want Universal Health Care and that when he was 20 points down in the poll his plan was good to her. He points out what they agree on in regards to this issue but says that Clinton wants to force everyone to have health care and he believes that the real issue is not that people don't want health care, but that people who want it can't afford it.

He says Clinton's mistake on health care 15 years ago was not involving everyone on bringing about change, but trying to do it behind closed doors.

They take another break without allowing Senator Clinton to respond, which is a little unfair.

So far, I think Obama is winning the debate, but I'm not sure that Clinton's getting as fair a shake as she should. Obama is getting a lot more leeway to say things, where as Campbell Brown has cut Clinton off a couple of times and didn't let her have a final say there, considering Obama started and finished that part of the debate.

Of course all of this came out of a question that never should have been asked in the first place, and Senator Clinton didn't help herself by defending the ridiculous "plagerism" idea with her meanspirited "xerox" comment.

Jorge Ramos asks if she thinks that Obama is not ready to be Commander in Chief.

She goes back to health care.

She makes some good points, points that she should have been allowed to make before the break, but she looks a little bad by ignoring the question.

Now Obama wants to respond again on health care. Which of course means that Clinton also has to respond. And Obama responds again.

I understand where both of them are on this issue, and I figure that everyone watching knows where they stand on this plan and if they agree with one of them over the other they already understand who they agree with.

Finally we're back to the original question from Mr. Ramos.

Senator Clinton makes her points on why she is more ready to be Commander in Chief. Here's betting that Obama will point out that even with that experience she voted for the war in Iraq. She brings up the Kosovo situation and says that experience is necessary because of the situation left us by President W.

Obama says "I wouldn't be running if I didn't think that I was ready to be Commander in Chief." He says that things need to change and that planning has been poor under our current Commander in Chief and there it is, "the single most important choice in our generation" where he made the right choice (voting against the war in Iraq) and that Senator Clinton made the wrong decision, his understanding of the situation and his judgement were better in that situation.

He makes some good and strong points, an issue that Obama has an distinct edge over Clinton on.

King stays on the subject asking if "the surge" has made Iraq better now then it was six months ago.

Clinton points out that the purpose of the surge was to give time for Iraq to take over more of the burden and that has not happened. She says she would begin withdrawing our troops within 60 days and that the Iraqi people would "no longer have a blank check" as they have with President Bush. "It is up to the Iraqis to decide what type of future they will have."

Nicely put.

Obama says that there is less violence in Iraq and that is due to the brave servicemen and women. But that the surge is "a tactical victory based on a strategic blunder." Invading Iraq has caused us problems elsewhere throughout the world. And the fact that we're spending so much money in Iraq we can't help the environment and that we can't put that money to other important issues here. He talks about how he can debate McCain on these issues. Clinton nods in approval.

They both did very well there as we go to another break and I go to get another cup of coffee.

And now we're both back for the strech run.

King asks why if he's against secrecy Senator Obama has earmarks in bills.

Obama says that while he has earmarks he discloses them fully and will gladly show where all of that money is going, so if there's a "bridge to nowhere" you can know where it will go.

King brings up the same point to Senator Clinton and asks if Senator McCain's position against bill earmarks would be a strength for him. She says absolutely not, because he supports the Bush administration which has wasted a surplus and that she would be more fiscally responsible then McCain.

Senator Clinton got a question that helped her come off strong on that point, but Obama did well there as well.

Mr. Ramos asks about the Super Delegate issue.

Senator Clinton says it isn't an issue, we will have a nominee and a unified Democratic party that will win in November. She doesn't really answer the question. Of course at the moment, since she's trailing in the delegate count, she can't say that she wants the primary results to determine where the Super Delegates should go.

Obama, as the leader, can say exactly that, and does.

I would have given Clinton a lot of credit if she had said something to that effect as well, however.

The final question is how they were most tested.

He speaks about his situation growing up raised by a single mother and working on the streets of Chicago with the people.

Without actually saying it, Clinton references her marital issues, and talks about no matter how difficult those events were, seeing people deal with much harder issues is much more impressive to her then anything she's had to deal with. "The hits I've taken in life are nothing compared" to what many people experience every day.

Very strong finish for Senator Clinton.

She says she is honored to be here with Senator Obama and I'm getting a little choked up, very, very strong finish for Senator Clinton.

A standing ovation ends the night in Austin.

Overall, this debate was much more important for Clinton, and while she did well, so did Obama, and I don't think that it was enough to greatly help her in this campaign. I'm not sure that she "won" the debate, and I doubt that it would be enough to change anyone's mind or win over a substantial amount of undecideds.

Mainly I feel whoever you went in supporting you would have left supporting, but also makes you feel good about the situation you'll be in as a Democrat if the other candidate does win the nomination.

Not Too Much To Say, But A Few Things

I'm not really going to talk about the quote of the day today, because it's a little dark, but I'm putting it up anyway. Do with it what you will.

"A friend is someone who will help you move. A real friend is someone who will help you move a body."
-unknown

Yeah, I wouldn't take credit for it either.

On to some happier news, yesterday I talked about Barack Obama speaking in the city of Houston, well, my cousin and his family went. To see some great pictures of them Ba-Rocking the Vote there you can visit Erica's blog fifth of forever. The picture of Oliver, their beautiful baby, actually made the local FOX news. Check it out here, Oliver's about halfway through.

I'm excited that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will be debating in the great city of Austin tomorrow and even more excited that Texas is more then just an afterthought in the Presidential Election.

I'd write more today, but I'm about blogged out due to my novel length post on the Top Ten Films of 2007, feel free to check that out if you're interested.