Landslide In South Carolina Means Victory On Fabulous 5

Big Victory, Big Momentum

Despite Bill Clinton telling voters in New Hampshire that Barack voted "present" instead of "yes" on some pro-choice bill in the Illinois legislature and so is not a friend of women, when the truth is it was a strategy on the part of the pro-choice forces to vote "present" instead of "yes" so as to get as many Republican votes as possible in support, despite Bill Clinton encouraging his precinct captains in Nevada to close the doors early at 11.30 because it was not "illegal" to do so, even though the doors should have been open till noon, despite Clinton 08 now wanting the delegates in Michigan to be counted against the party rules but making no noise when the rules were put in place by Howard Dean, despite Bill Clinton now saying "we will have a victory in Florida in a few days," when he full well knows Florida is like Michigan, despite all that, or perhaps because of all that, because the voters finally caught up with Bill Clinton, and so South Carolina voted the way it voted. Hillary said early in 2007 about Iowa, "You know, I just don't seem to have a feel for this place." Guess what, she had so little "feel for the place" called South Carolina that she refused to even campaign there, and she paid the price for it. This landslide is the big reason why Barack will seal the nomination on February 5.

John Edwards For Attorney General

I am thinking Barack will seal the nomination on February 5. But in case the fight goes all the way to the convention, the Edwards delegates will go to Obama. That makes John Edwards a very important man. He is not the last hurrah of the white male, he is the Attorney General in waiting. He is a fighter who will fight on behalf of the American people spearheading the Justice Department. Barack is JFK, Edwards is Bobby Kennedy.

Joe Biden Secretary Of State

His passion on the Darfur issue is really something.

Bill Richardson Secretary Of Energy

Nuclear energy is not white energy.

Hectic Weekend

There was the march and rally yesterday, the party in Harlem in the evening and the rally at City Hall today.

The march yesterday started two places, one from Union Square, another from Harlem, and both converged onto Columbus Circle. I was part of the Union Square march. We marched on both sides of the street, on the sidewalk. It was quite a show.

This was my second time meeting Sheila at an Obama event. For the most part we walked together. I captured her on my camera for about 20 seconds.

"Now you are in my movie!"

Sheila has a filthy rich father, he owns factories in southeast Asia, stuff like that. She is on his payroll for no work, lives near Washington Square Park. "So you went to the Obama rally in that park?"

No, I was recuperating from "spinal surgery" at the time: high end medical insurance.

I briefly met her again at the South Carolina returns watch party on the 118th street in Harlem. This was a good event to go to. Many of the top volunteers in the city were there, all the top staffers, Bill Perkins. Perkins is the mascot of the Obama operation in the city if there is any one person for that.

Harlem is the place to go for live music. All the musicians at this particular bar happened to be white. That is the Obama way.

I briefly saw her again at the rally today, in passing.

24 Bucks

This morning I bought a weekly subway pass. This is going to be my best money contribution to Obama. I am going to crisscross the city on his behalf. I am going to many events, and I am going to also talk to people in the trains. New York City, here I come.

Structure

While waiting in line for the City Hall rally, I met a few old timers who are like, why don't you have a volunteer badge instead? And then you meet new volunteers who totally think you jumped onto the bandwagon yesterday. I have to stay unstructured. That is how I can best contribute. The ranks have grown substantially.

Two TV Stations

Yesterday I got interviewed by two TV stations, one is New Delhi Television. Now that is big. That is possibly like getting on national TV in India, depending on how they use their footage. Another a South Asian TV station in Buffalo, NY. I made some hot air remarks on a cold day.

"We Indians are few in number, but we are going to take over New York City on Barack's behalf."

"Barack would still be a top rate candidate if he were white."

"Barack has a sister called Maya. Maya is an Indian name."

Sarah Of NDTV

After she got me in front of the camera, she circled once around me. "There is not enough light."

Sylvan's Spanish

At the Harlem party I learned Sylvan speaks fluent Spanish. She got interviewed by some Spanish TV station. She is Jewish, from Oklahoma. At high school her nickname was Sylvan Rights because she was so into civil rights issues.

The Clintons Don't Get To Claim Michigan And Florida As Victories

They should have challenged the rules before they were put into place. If not, it is put up and shut up time.

Let The Clintons Divide The Feb 5 States Between Them

Hillary figured Bill will carry South Carolina for her. That was dynasty thinking. It did not play well. Now if Hillary were to similarly cart off about 10 states to Bill, that would be a bonanza for us. I would like that. Voters are smart. They know they are looking for a candidate, not some kind of a therapy session with Bill Clinton, charming that he is.

The Final Countdown

If there ever was a time for the Obama grassroots volunteers to show it is not about Barack, it is about them, now is the time. This is the week when we prove TV ads are not what carry the day. What matters is how many doors we knock, how many phone calls we make, how many flyers we hand out. And there we beat Hilllary 08 hands down.

There are some things money can't buy: volunteer effort falls in that category.

Not A Black Victory

It was not a black victory in South Carolina. This was a biracial victory for a biracial man. I fear no white backlash on February 5. On the contrary, I think the message will really get across. A new South is being born. A new America is being born.

Polls

Polls show Clinton leading Obama in all but two of the February 5 states. But then polls did not foresee his two to one victory in South Carolina. Polls showed him leading by eight points, not 28.

These polls are not factoring in all the new voters Obama brings into the process by being Obama.

McCain-Huckabee

Is that the ticket we are looking at on the other side?

Romeo Juliet

After I watched that movie, I asked myself a question. If those two had cellphones, could they then not have killed each other? Now I have the answer. Cellphones would have made no difference. They would still have killed each other. There are no short cuts in love.







In The News

Kennedy Plans to Back Obama Over Clinton New York Times squarely pits one American political dynasty against another. ...... “I’ve had ongoing conversations with Ted since I’ve got into this race.” .... Of all the endorsements in the Democratic Party, Mr. Kennedy’s is viewed as among the most influential. ...... One day after defeating Mrs. Clinton in South Carolina by 28 points, Mr. Obama flew to Georgia to speak at a church service before traveling on to Alabama for a rally. ...... the latest in a string of senators to get behind Mr. Obama ..... our national imagination ...... the Clinton camp’s strategy of aggressive attacks on him ..... Edwards’s delegates could eventually play a key role in the fight between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. ..... Florida is one of 37 states to permit early voting
Hillary primed for Super Tues. tally New York Daily News a dizzying nine-day sprint to Super Tuesday ...... now essentially a media war ..... the biggest multi-state Primary Day in U.S. history — it appears mathematically unlikely either will clinch the nomination. ..... Both campaigns expect to fight on at least through March, when Ohio and Texas vote. ...... "When people see him, they are with Barack — there’s no question about it. And, yet, the laws of physics say that he can not be in so many places at one time" ...... revving up a grass roots political operation and seizing as many free media opportunities as possible ..... "You’re going to have to depend on a huge volunteer base to knock on doors, to make phone calls, to get organized, to get precincts out to vote," he said. "Far and away, we have the largest volunteer base of any campaign." ...... Clinton sources say she could get 1,100 delegates under their best-case scenarios
Tough challenges ahead for Clinton and Obama Swissinfo Clinton left before the votes in South Carolina were even tallied to fly to Tennessee, a February 5 state ..... "It is a marathon run like a sprint. There is no stopping. There is no resting." ..... Obama seems to be able to inspire people as her father did a half century ago ..... Obama won four of every five black voters, who made up more than half of the state's electorate. He also won one-quarter of white votes, higher than many had predicted ...... Obama did very well among young voters, including young white voters. He won two-thirds of that age group overall, taking half of the 18- to 29-year-old non-black vote ..... "The more people know me, the better I do."
Ted and Caroline Kennedy endorse Obama AFP
Party rules play big strategic role Seattle Times Mathematically speaking, it is virtually impossible for any candidate, Republican or Democrat, to wrap up the nomination on Super Tuesday, when 24 states stage contests. From a standpoint of political reality, though, that day could prove decisive. ....... For Democrats, national party rules require that all delegates be allocated proportionately.
Bill Clinton's running again - and it's all about him Kansas City Star In a presidential election year that's notable for shattered rules, the high visibility of the former president's efforts on behalf of his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, may the biggest rule-breaker of all. .... "Everybody needs to take a deep breath," she told CBS Friday. He "gets excited, gets really passionate about making the case for me." ...... Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., also reportedly have offered similar advice
Clinton to go to Florida on primary night Baltimore Sun
The Dems' Florida Boycott Heats Up TIME
Obama's Win Reshapes the Race we have the most votes, the most delegates, and the most diverse coalition of Americans ....... young people from all across this country who've never had a reason to participate until now ..... The excitement around Obama's candidacy pushed turnout to record levels ...... she had called Obama to "wish him well" .... his outsized, vocal presence on the trail has threatened to overshadow his wife ....... Earlier in the day, Clinton had churlishly compared Obama's victory to that of Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988, a remark that will likely further fuel disaffection about the Clintons amongst African-American voters. ..... Obama's victory was also a repudiation of the brand of hard-knuckled politics that both Clintons had brought to the South Carolina contest ..... in the mostly black precincts that Bill Clinton visted in Greenville, as much as 80% of the vote went to Obama.

Record Turnout Expected as South Carolina Votes New York Times
Obama: Press 'Manically Focused on Race' ABC News
Mob Violence Is Tearing Kenya Apart New York Times
Obama's Rezko problem spills over Chicago Sun-Times Obama's days as a Harvard Law student who got a call from the Chicago businessman offering him a job. Obama turned him down
High hopes for Obama as South Carolina votes AFP
Obama, Clinton and great expectations Baltimore Sun
Inquirer Endorses Obama, McCain The Associated Press
Edwards touted as Obama pick for attorney general Chicago Sun-Times Edwards could collect a substantial bag of delegates under the Democratic Party’s proportional representation. Edwards then could try to turn his delegates over to Obama in the still-unlikely event of a deadlocked Democratic National Convention.
Bill Clinton - Hillary's lightning rod Telegraph.co.uk whoever is her secretary of state will have to deal with the fact that Bill can just get on the phone to Gordon Brown and go to Britain and ask him to help out on an issue. That's a fact of life ...... have not ruled out inviting Mr Obama to become Hillary's running mate ...... accused Mr Clinton of "frantic" distortions of Mr Obama's record. ...... calling Mr Clinton a "civic embarrassment" for treating "a proud and accomplished black man who is a US senator as if he were nothing, a mere impediment to their plans." ...... "How un-feminist it is to get your husband to do your dirty work?" ..... Obama, who has been thrown from his message of change by the spat, will seek to regain the initiative with a series of high profile speeches this week designed to add "beef" on major issues to his optimistic rhetorical flourishes. ....... "People underestimate what a competitive animal Bill Clinton is. It's the blood that runs through his veins, the fire that ignites him." ..... he concentrated his megawatt personality on the voters, hitting them with a smile, a handshake and factual nuggets - at one point claiming that the solar panels in his Presidential library will be helping save the planet for 150 years.
Clinton calls for Michigan delegates to be counted MLive.com
Campaign notebook Clinton wants to restore all of Florida's delegates Houston Chronicle

Magazine Estimates Britney Spears Is Worth $120 Million to Economy ABC News
Obama seeks Hispanic inroads as California leans toward Clinton San Jose Mercury News Bidding for Hispanic support in California's upcoming primary, Barack Obama describes himself in a Spanish-language television ad as the son of an immigrant whose success is a beacon to others. ..... Clinton has an almost dynastic appeal to Hispanic voters, many of whom came of voting age during the economic good times of Bill Clinton's presidency. ..... New York senator leads Obama 3-to-1 among Hispanics ...... most Hispanics know little about Obama ..... rank-and-file voters, who do not tune into the race until the final weeks before an election. ..... the disinclination of some Hispanics to vote for a black candidate. Tensions between the two groups have been intensified by competition for jobs and political power as Hispanic immigrants have moved into black neighborhoods. ...... Obama faces an uphill climb among Hispanics in California, much to the frustration of the Hispanic activists who support him.
Obama, Clinton sprint to finish in South Carolina AFP
Clinton, Obama spouses join the electoral mudslinging AFP "On blogs, web chats and talk radio, Clinton is being attacked as never before" .... Hillary Clinton campaigned in vote-rich California and other western states
Obama's One-State Wonder U.S. News & World Report Barack Obama will win the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary. But his campaign will most likely incur a crippling blow on Super Duper Tuesday on February 5, when he loses the California primary.