The Dead Guy

This is an update to a post from earlier this month (The Math of Delegates). I thought since there are new polls available, that it was time to update these figures.

Both Obama and Clinton, as well as their campaigns, stated in the beginning that the nomination is about the delegate count. Only recently, when Clinton began to see her chances slipping in gaining a delegate lead did she want to change the rules of which they both had agreed. However, rules are rules and they are there for a reason - so that there is no doubt and no ambiguity in who the nominee is to be. (more…)

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This is an update to “The Cult of Popularity” from April 11 about the final ten contests in the Democratic Presidential Preference elections. Since we are just under one week until the Pennsylvania Primary - I thought now would be a good time for us to visit that “popular vote” strategy that Senator Clinton is trying to employ to sway delegates (both superdelegates and elected delegates) to her side.

I will repeat the same response I have whenever someone tries to rewrite the rules. The DNC determines the Democratic Nominee by only one measure: Delegate count in sanctioned, legitimate elections. However, to quell the cries, I’ve laid out the math of the popular vote scenario. Since the first post, Clinton has made a little headway in the projection (about 11,000 votes) due to a .8% increase in her Real Clear Politics average lead in PA and a new SurveyUSA poll in Kentucky. However, at the same time Obama has tightened the race in Indiana and increased his numbers in Montana and South Dakota while losing a smidgen in North Carolina.

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So once again, lifelong politicians have taken words out of context and wielded them as weapons back at the person who spoke those words.

Senator Obama was 100% correct when he said after all the promises we have been given about improving the economic conditions, not just in Pennsylvania - but across America, and yet nothing has truly changed, that we are bitter and many of us blame that which we are told to blame: immigrants, people wanting to restrict the 2nd Amendment, the government supposedly trampling our religious rights, and so forth.

That’s what Obama was saying. And if you hear the whole conversation in context - you know that is what he said. The American people have been given scape - goats to blame by the people that are really to blame - the politicians that won’t do a damn thing to bring about the change needed to restore jobs and better conditions for our country.

But let me tell you something - I’m not bitter - I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!

I could go on, but these folks have said it much better than I. The first one, Robert Creamer, is the person who trained me in grassroots organizing back in 1998 while I was working on a campaign in Washington State. The others I don’t personally know - but they sum up the sentiment pretty well.

When it comes time to vote in your upcoming primary and the general election in November - don’t vote because you have to - vote because you want to … because you want to change the status quo … because you want things to get better … vote who you believe truly shares the real American values and who will best represent us to change the system back for the people, instead of turning its back on the people.

Vote because you are mad as hell, and you’re not going to take it anymore!

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Another of the Clinton campaign and supporters cries of “fairness” is that the popular vote of the primaries should be considered when deciding the Democratic Presidential Nominee. If one angle doesn’t work, try another … and another … and another.

I will repeat the same response I have whenever someone tries to rewrite the rules. The DNC determines the Democratic Nominee by only one measure: Delegate count in sanctioned, legitimate elections. However, to quell the cries, I’ve laid out the math of the popular vote scenario. And in the end, Obama is projected to win the popular vote as well as just about every other concept the Clinton campaign wishes they could find a way to win (against the rules).

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This is not a new concept. FDR and The New Deal. The late Senator Paul Simon’s 1987 book by the same title as this post (Which I have a signed copy of - I had Senator Simon autograph it for me when he was in Iowa campaigning for the 1988 Democratic Presidential Nomination).

With a country that has resources and infrastructure in dire need of help, we need to put America back to work fixing these problems. Where could we start? Well, there are 10 pieces of U.S. infrastructure we must fix now!

And America needs jobs. The March 2008 unemployment rate is 5.1%. However, many thousands of unemployed workers fall off the rolls each month because they either can’t find a job while on benefits or just plain give up. The US Dept of Labor defines “unemployed” as those who “do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work.” It’s not a true look at how many Americans are out of work at any given time. When you add in the discouraged, marginally attached, and those working part-time but can’t find a full-time job - you end up with about 9% rate of unemployment.

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