Bill Clinton is personally calling all of the Democratic superdelegates
Bill Clinton, on behalf of Hillary Clinton of course, is calling all of the Democratic superdelegates soliciting their votes. It’s probably the biggest effect he’s had on the election yet, but few seem to know about it. He’s called many of the superdelegates who are undecided or for Obama many times urging them to change their votes. I know this because one superdelegate I know through the family got a call from Bill Clinton on her cell phone and he talked her ear off for fifteen minutes, allowing her to get nary a word in edgewise. The weird part? She never even told Bill Clinton her cell phone number. One wonders where he got it.
So this is further reason to be very wary of the published delegate results so far. Remember, the pledged delegates, which Barack Obama is leading in, come from state primaries and caucuses. They matter a lot because they are the voice of the people. The superdelegates, on the other hand, are beholden to no one and can change their vote on a whim all the way up to the National Convention. And as we see, they’re being heavily influenced by Bill Clinton, dare I say leaned on, to break for Hillary.
So don’t look at the superdelegate numbers when trying to figure out who’s in the lead. What really matters is the voice of the people. And in that regard, Barack Obama is clearly winning. He leads in pledged delegate numbers. He won all of the primaries and caucuses over the weekend handily, and tomorrow, he’s going to clean up in the Potomac Primary consisting of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. When I press that touchscreen for Barack Obama tomorrow (I hate these newfangled voting machines; “pull the lever” is much more powerful verbiage), I’m going to help contribute to his building momentum. The primary season is not over yet, not by a long shot. But I have hope for Barack Obama, and this contest is more winnable for us than it ever has been.
February 11th, 2008 at 21:51
From a libertarian standpoint, I would much rather see Obama win than Clinton. As it is, I don’t like McCain, who i believe is still in the lead, so push come to shove I’ll throw my vote in for Obama.
February 11th, 2008 at 23:09
Yay! Another vote for Obama! I used to say that I had libertarian leanings, but I stopped when I realized the vast majority of the people who used that word were using it in a sense that I disagreed with. To me, libertarian does not mean the smallest government possible and no taxes. It means greater individual liberties, like no more ridiculous punishments for drug use, no more preventing gays and lesbians from marrying, no religious intrusion to public life, freedom from having to worry about affording life-saving medical treatment, etc. It does not mean killing the government to the point that we cannot even afford public roads and schools anymore. There are many things that government does well that private corporations/capitalism could never accomplish. I don’t believe capitalism can solve all, or even most, of our problems. Corporations care only about the profits and not one whit about the negative externalities.
February 12th, 2008 at 19:55
I’m looking for a site that has a (mostly) unbiased view of the various candidates. Really, I don’t even mind if it’s biased, as long as that’s a given and taken into consideration.
Anyway, it would be ideal if I could find somewhere that would list the main points of each candidate, with their stances on various topics. You wouldn’t happen to know of someplace like that, would you?
February 12th, 2008 at 19:59
Well William, it doesn’t quite work that way. There are many sites out there that claim to do what you’re looking for, but many have a hidden agenda. Your best bet is just to read the websites of the candidates themselves, watch the debates, listen to their speeches, etc. And it’s not like the news media have exactly been ignoring this primary season. Just stay reasonably current on your news and you’ll know a lot about the candidates in short order.
February 12th, 2008 at 20:41
I guess I’ll keep looking. It’s hard to believe that nobody’s done that. Not even a simple listing of their views on various topics? I’m imagining a bulleted list, here.
February 12th, 2008 at 21:06
I’m sure lots of people have done it. The reason most people would suggest not to rely on such a thing is because the concept doesn’t work. Politics can’t be boiled down to a short bulleted list of views on discrete topics. And it’s more about the views, it’s about how intelligent you think the candidates are (unless you want another Bush), it’s about how good at decision-making they are. These kinds of things simply can’t be impartially summed up as data and displayed in a bulleted list. To make your decision, you need to look at the candidates yourself and come to your own conclusions. Don’t expect anyone to aggregate the data for you.