While glancing at the democratic results by county, it struck me that the younger, college-educated voters (Leon and Alachua Counties specifically), and the minority voters (several counties) were more inclined to vote for Obama, while the older and how shall I say, non-minority voters, gravitated towards supporting Clinton. Maybe its not yet time, but the Obama voters time will come.

I agree with the concept of protecting the masses and not having a mob rule. The issue is the need for a protracted, ridiculous process to nominate candidates, or if a simple primary followed by a general elction would suffice. We are aware that regardless of good intent, the powers that be are going to nominate their fair haired child rather than the most competent. We don’t need all the rain dance - we need to allow the people decide who they want to run in November.

I think the nominating process needs to be simplified to provide for rotating geographic (regional) state primaries. However, this particular election is turning into quite a mess. On one hand, you have the fiscal conservative radio guys and gals bashing McCain and Huckabee because their dog seems to be out of the running. On the other, you have the whole Democratic fiasco where it looks like there is going to be a big fight at the Convention over Michigan, Florida, and the Super Delegate issue. It will be interesting to see how this all works its way out.

I wish someone would offer some insight as to how they think this Clinton v Obama thing is going to turn our because I can’t figure it out. Obama is turning up the heat and clearly in my opinion is the natural leader of the two but there are so many angles to this conflict.

My first choice has always been Barack Obama.

The outcome will be decided in a backroom with Hillary Clinton nominated, and Obama cast aside. The elite Democrats will not allow Obama to be nominee. The super delegates will not support a black man for President. A national primary with popular votes deciding instead of delegates is a fair way to replace the system in place now.

A few weeks ago, I thought that Obama might win, but it is obvious now that the old guard will prevail, and the gender will be deemed more important than race. If Clinton is nominee, I will vote for John McCain.

Hillary Clinton wants to make it a criminal act to fail to purchase her national healthcare insurance. Hillary Clinton wants to give driver’s licenses to illegals. We need someone to unite this country - not someone as divisive as George W Bush.

I’m not convinced it is a race issue with the Super Delegates. It does look like it will be Clinton but I think the Super Delegate vote will be more influenced by the Clinton political network built over the last two decades than it will by race.
However, it looks like the Hispanic vote is hurting Obama as much as anything else. There are some big primaries still remaining. At least Texas is still out there but it will have a large Hispanic vote. Maybe there is a racial undertone to that. The Hispanic voting thus far seems to have been influenced by both the race and gender of the contenders and it has gone Clinton’s way. I think Obama would be a better leader but its not looking too good for him right now.

I agree. At the end of the day, you cannot vote for someone who isn’t nominated. It just adds fule to those who say their vote won’t matter. For Dems, it won’t matter. Clinton will buy the needed super delegates one way, or another. It is ashame that the process isn’t by popular majority vote.

I am tired of seeing the Clintons on TV and she isn’t elected yet. Four years of her, Bill, and Chelsea on TV makes me sick.....

Four years of the Clintons? It could very well be eight. With the first victory, the second term will be hers to lose. We may see the 1st daughter in her 30s with kids before they are out of the White House.

If Obama can pick up or keep it almost even in two of the three remaining big States, Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and win almost all of the remaining small States, I think he could still win. Otherwise, I don’t see how she could avoid at least picking him as her running mate.

If they don’t resolve this issue to the satisfaction of both sides, they may end up disaffecting white women voters or black voters and having a hard time with McCain in November. I’m quite sure the Hispanic voters are going to give him a good look with his immigration position, and of course he is going to end up with the conservatives that decide to vote.

Been_There_Done_That,
Your comment made me think about a couple of things. First, since its not over yet, it may turn out that the eventual nominee does get the majority of the popular vote.
Also, so far I have thought of Clinton as being the establishment candidate. Today however, Hillary characterized Obama as being the establishment candidate which made me begin to think about their respective endorsements, positions, and the socio-economic classes of their supporters. In light of his position on healthcare which is closer to the middle, the large number of establishment endorsements that he has now, and his support from the higher income democrats, she has almost convinced me that he has evolved into the establishment candidate. If this is true, he will have more support from the Super Delegates than originally thought. As you may have noticed, he seems to have gotten more newsworthy endorsements lately and many of these are actually Super Delegates.
Only time will tell who will get the nomination, but Hillary and Obama are philosophically much closer to one another than either are to McCain.

There is no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama is the best candidate to be President in 2009. What worries me is the $$$ the Clintons have access to legally and illegally, and the debts that many crooks and politicians owe to the Clintons. I truly believe that the nomination process weeds out the chaff and selects the best candidate is flawed.

Obama is a statesman, a black JFK, and above the liars like Bill and Hillary. But, I am old enough to remember what happened to JFK. The man was killled by the JFK haters, regardless of who pulled the trigger for the fatal shot. Obama has to overcome the smear tactics of the Clinton, has to overcome the old guard wealthy women voters who want a woman at any cost, and overcome Hispanics who see Hillary as somehow better than a black man. I have Hispanics in my own family. For whatever reason, Hispanics who earned citizenship the hard way (legally) migrate to Clinton and despise blacks.

So, I wish I could share your optimism about the process. IF Barack contimnues to slam Clinton in the remaining states, then he could win the nomination. But, I don’t trust the powers that be to allow the majority to select a candidate. It is all smoke and mirrors when it comes to a close race.

There are some informative news articles on the internet about the Super Delegate issue and each candidates efforts to sway them one way or another. From what I’ve gathered, the Clintons do have the edge in that they have been involved with the DNC and many elected officials for so many years. However, the general consensus seems to be that these delegates will have alot of pressure on them not to go against the vote of the regular delegates which will hopefully coincide with the national popular vote.

I have mixed feelings on the outcome.  On one hand, I perceive Obama to be a somewhat charismatic individual who would bring a fresh approach to the Office. On the other hand, I support Hillary’s desire for a national healthcare plan covering all citizens.

On the healthcare plan, I know the word “garnishment” has been used but I personally don’t like it expressed that way. I think it would be better to say simply that it would be listed as a deduction like FICA, FED Tax, etc..,. on the insured’s paycheck stub and W2.

I’m not sure how it would be handled for self-employed individuals but hopefully they will have to pay for it like everyone else. Thus far, I’ve found it very irritating to learn that self-employed people get by with paying much lower taxes than the rest of us. I’ve also found it irritating that many receive their health insurance through the Medicaid program while others who work for employers making much less than these self-employed people do not qualify for this free health insurance program. I’m hopeful that a national health insurance plan will bring affordable health insurance to all of us, not just for those that can cheat the system.

And How does Clinton plan to pay for it for the retirees who don’t have insurance or cannot afford Medicare co-pay? What about unemployed? If you lose your job, you don’t need to incur large healthcare bills from the federal government. And those who are unemployed with no prospect of a job? Not everyone disabled is legally disabled. There are millions of disabled who have been denied legal disability status, who live with family on meager pennies a day. So is the federal governemnt going to charge the working class to subsidize those with no money?

It makes about as much sense as saying the homeless can just go buy a house, then they wouldn’t be homeless. I have healthcare insurance. Each year the co-pays and premiums rise so I can’t afford to pay for it and pay for the co-pay if I need surgery.

I don’t know what the solution is going to be for this mess, but I do know that Hillary Clinton’s plan will not work. And, you don’t need Clinton in office to effect healthcare reform. A functional Congress could do that job anytime they chose to address the issue.

I could not support Clinton for President unless she starts doing her own bidding, and ex-President Bill learns to keep his mouth shut. Two things that should not be in the same space - Bill Clinton and a microphone. Bill Clinton wagged his finger at the American Public and denied having sex with that woman - a blatant lie. If he is such a big man, he should have fessed up to it during his presidency.

Look, I’m no big fan of the Clintons either. In all fairness to Bill Clinton however, I remember him saying in reference to another issue something like, “It depends on what your definition of ‘it’ is.” So I think he was providing a very plausible denial based on his definition for ‘sex’.

As for the healthcare issues, since she said it would cover everyone, I would think the premium amounts would be determined by the insured’s income with many receiving coverage at no cost. I’m not sure about the copays and all that but rightfully the amounts should be income sensitive as well.

I think that some governmental savings could occur through economies of scale by the elimination of duplicate processes with the consolidation of the various exisiting healthcare programs into one large national program but that is well beyond me.

As for reform of the present system, I don’t see it happening. As you would probably agree, the insurance industry presently has too much influence in Washington to allow significant reform.

I simply believe like so many others around the world believe that it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that healthcare for its citizenry is provided at an affordable cost. I don’t think that a person’s access to healthcare should be determined by that person’s ability to pay.

It will be interesting to watch the race as it continues to unfold.

I guess nobody is reading this topic anymore or surely someone would have kindly said, “Bull Malarkey, you have no idea what you are talking about,” to the government savings comment.

Factually speaking, today’s headlines truly illustrates how convoluted this Democratic mess has become. The head of the NAACP has came out in support of seating the Michigan and Florida delegates which he obviously knows would probably give Hillary a commanding lead. His argument is that it would otherwise “disenfranchise” black voters in these two States. Yet, he knows that blacks overwhelmingly are supporting Obama and that these election results were skewed by the rule breaking. Looks like Floridians and voters from Michigan will be going back to the polls for another election if there is not a clear winner beforehand. Bet the turnout would be even higher if that occurs. Politics, you can never really be sure what is going on.

I’m for change so despite my feelings for a health insurance plan covering all Americans, I support Obama in 08.

Yes
We
Can.

I agree with you for most issues.

Let me clarify that Hillary Clinton didn’t say all Americans could be covered with healthcare regardless of income. Clinton said she forcing people to pay for healthcare, and she favored punishing people who do not join her healthcare plan - that is wrong for many reasons. If you have no income you cannot buy healthcare insurance, and secondly if you are young, wealthy, and in good health why be forced to pay for others? Healthcare should be affordable and available for everyone, but I do NOT support the notion of criminalizing people for not joining national healthcare, as Hillary Clinton has stated she would do if elected (at the CNN debate).

Social Security allows the self employed to opt out, and any national healthcare should be voluntary -not mandated by big government.

If Obama is nominated I will vote for him. If Clinton is nominated, I will vote for John McCain. Economy of scales aside, that doesn’t mean a thing when it comes to the federal government - they can and do spend taxpayers money regardless of the economy.