First Door on the Left

An interesting outlook from The Houston Chronicle…

In Democratic primary, expect a GOP turnout

BASTROP — At John’s barber and styling shop in the historic downtown of this conservative community southeast of Austin, politics is clearly in the air these days.

What has particularly struck stylist Pete Campos is how many of his Republican customers are talking about voting for Barack Obama in the March 4 Democratic presidential primary, motivated more, he surmised, by a strong dislike of Hillary Clinton than a strong attachment to Obama.

“I think Hillary scares some people,” said Campos, an independent who is leaning toward voting for the Illinois senator.

According to polling, as well as anecdotal evidence, an unusually large number of Republicans and independents may cast their votes in the Democratic contest next week, a prospect that could tip the outcome of what polls show is now a tight race. Such defections could also affect the many local and state legislative primaries around the state.[..]

Daron Shaw, a political science professor at University of Texas, said surveys he conducted in two state legislative districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area revealed that almost a quarter of voters with a history of voting in GOP primaries planned on participating in the Democratic primary.

Shaw, who conducts exit polls for Fox News, said that while some Republicans are voting in the Democratic primary largely for strategic reasons, he said others may be tired of GOP control of government and are drawn to a fresh face and ideas.

Another factor contributing to the crossover voting is a lackluster GOP presidential contest. Front-runner John McCain is expected to win the nomination, no matter how well rivals Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul do in the Lone Star State.

With the Arizona senator in command of the GOP race, some Republicans are motivated to cast a protest vote against Clinton.[..]

Even though polls show that Clinton would be a weaker candidate against McCain than would Obama, experts say Republicans, who have long expressed a visceral distaste for Bill and Hillary Clinton, want to prevent her from being on the ballot in November.

“The argument I’ve seen is, ‘Let’s get rid of Clinton once and for all,’ ” said Ralph Bordie, who conducts the IVR Poll in Texas.

Bordie’s latest statewide poll released last week found that 15 percent of Texas Republicans who said they will support the GOP nominee in November plan nonetheless on voting for Obama next week.

Debi McLoughlin, a 52-year-old Department of Public Safety worker who was waiting while her daughter had her hair cut, said she usually supports Republicans. But she is likely to declare herself a Democrat so she can choose Obama.

“A vote for Obama is a vote against Hillary,” said McLoughlin. She may also vote for Obama again in the general election because she thinks the 71-year-old McCain is too old.

It is no secret that conservatives despise Bill and Hillary Clinton. It would not surprise me to learn that a lot of Republicans in Texas are voting for Senator Obama in the Democratic primary with the goal of ensuring Senator Clinton’s defeat.

As of close of business yesterday, 131,876 voters in Texas had voted early in the Republican primary. 419,192 voters had voted early in the Democratic primary. That is quite a disparity in this supposedly “red” state. (source)

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain held a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio this morning. His campaign enlisted the services of local radio personality Bill Cunningham to “warm up” the crowd. Here is part of what Mr. Cunningham had to say, followed by Mr. McCain’s apology (click the play button)…

Something tells me that Bill Cunningham will not be invited to many more McCain campaign rallies.

(More here and here.)

P.S. This has absolutely nothing to do with anything, but did you know that Senator McCain’s full name is John Sidney McCain III? I am sure he didn’t choose the name Sidney any more than Senator Obama chose the name Hussein. (Hussein, by the way, was Barack Obama’s father’s middle name.)

In last week’s Democratic primary debate in Austin, Barack Obama mention the silly season in politics. It has definitely begun…

Obama Photo in Turban, Robe Causes Stir

Barack Obama

WASHINGTON (AP) – A photograph circulating in the Internet of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama dressed in traditional local garments during a visit to Kenya in 2006 is causing a dustup in the presidential campaign over what constitutes a smear.

The Associated Press photograph portrays Obama wearing a white turban and a wraparound white robe presented to him by elders in Wajir, in northeastern Kenya. Obama’s estranged late father was Kenyan and Obama visited the country in 2006, attracting thousands of well-wishers.

The gossip and news Web site The Drudge Report posted the photograph Monday and said it was being circulated by “Clinton staffers” and quoted an e-mail from an unidentified campaign aide. Drudge did not include proof of the e-mail in the report.

“I just want to make it very clear that we were not aware of it, the campaign didn’t sanction it and don’t know anything about it,” Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a teleconference with reporters. “None of us have seen the e-mail in question. If anybody has independent reporting that they’ve done on it I would welcome it.”

George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin

UPDATE: This from Hillary Clinton:

“Every time I traveled to foreign countries, I wore the costume of the country. You can find dozen of pictures of me in different parts of the world,” said Clinton. “You can find me wearing African outfits, Latin American outfits, Asian outfits, when you travel to foreign countries, it’s a sign of respect. What does that have to do with anything?”

Ralph Nader

Nader Announces New Run for President

Who cares?

He’ll give the right wing Republicans who cannot vote for John McCain and will not vote for a black man someone to vote for.

Other than that, he’s negligible. Just an old white dude (Nader is two and a half years older than McCain*) with more money than sense.

*Nader was born on February 27, 1934; McCain on August 29, 1936. You do the math.

Will the real Hillary Rodham Clinton please stand up?

#1 – on February 21, 2008 (best part starts at 2:23 in):

#2 – on February 23, 2008:

What a difference two days can make.

(More here.)

McCain hoping Castro dies

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain says he doesn’t look for any major political reforms in Cuba until after Fidel Castro dies, adding he hopes that’s not far off.

As McCain put it during a campaign stop in Indiana Friday, “I hope he has the opportunity to meet Karl Marx very soon.”

That’s a reference to the author of “The Communist Manifesto,” who died in 1883.

Two thoughts came into my mind when I read this.

First: Be careful what you wish for, Bubba. You know, Castro is not that much older than you. (There are fewer years separating McCain and Castro than there are McCain and his wife.)

Second: This is coming from the presumptive leader of the party that purports to value human life so highly?

Fidel Castro is no prize, but he is still a human being. Besides, according to the “Christian” right, aren’t we all supposed to be the children of God? Doesn’t “all” include Fidel Castro? (Just askin’.)

Okay, three thoughts. Who’s counting?

Well, it seems that it’s Friday night again. Time to post what we in our wisdom have deemed to be the best and the brightest of the week’s editorial and political cartoons. For some reason there do not seem to be quite as many this week as in weeks past. Oh, well. Click and enjoy, please.

As always, our thanks to the talented cartoonists who help us smile through the pain.

As reported earlier, we attended the rally for Barack Obama held at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas day before yesterday. We were pretty far back in a very long line, though there did appear to be more people behind us than ahead of us. When the line finally began to move, it moved very slowly. We’d go perhaps five or ten feet, then stop and wait several minutes, then move another five or ten feet. Suddenly, the line began to move very quickly. There were event volunteers along the line urging people to hurry up. Several folks had trouble keeping up. We were practically running by the time we got to the door.

There was absolutely no security at the door to the arena. None whatsoever. Nobody was even standing there to see what people might be bringing in.

Now I understand why…

Police concerned about order to stop weapons screening at Obama rally

DALLAS — Security details at Barack Obama’s rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.

The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security.

Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence, head of the Police Department’s homeland security and special operations divisions, said the order — apparently made by the U.S. Secret Service — was meant to speed up the long lines outside and fill the arena’s vacant seats before Obama came on.

“Sure,” said Lawrence, when asked if he was concerned by the great number of people who had gotten into the building without being checked. But, he added, the turnout of more than 17,000 people seemed to be a “friendly crowd.”

The Secret Service did not return a call from the Star-Telegram seeking comment.

Doors opened to the public at 10 a.m., and for the first hour security officers scanned each person who came in and checked their belongings in a process that kept movement of the long lines at a crawl. Then, about 11 a.m., an order came down to allow the people in without being checked.

Several Dallas police officers said it worried them that the arena was packed with people who got in without even a cursory inspection.

There were an awful lot of Dallas police in attendance. They, their cars and motorcycles were all over the place. You could hardly move without tripping over one. Believe me, if anything had happened the perpetrator would not have gotten far.

Still, that is small comfort. Somebody with the Obama organization needs to sit down and have a very serious talk with the Secret Service.

P.S. I’ve seen this topic discussed in other forums and people saying “This should not have happened, especially in Dallas.” Especially in Dallas? Is it because of something that happened here over 44 years ago? Get over it, people. There are Republicans everywhere, not just in Dallas.

UPDATE: “Secret Service defends security at Obama rally in Dallas.” They say that everything was done according to procedure.

Somewhat related and terribly tragic: “Motorcycle officer killed in Hillary Clinton motorcade crash.”

It’s clear that the Dallas Police Department takes the security of the presidential candidates who visit our city very seriously.

I am very familiar with the viaduct on which this accident occurred. It’s obvious that the officer was going too fast, failed to negotiate a very sharp curve and slammed into the retaining wall.

Upon learning of the accident, Senator Clinton insisted on being taken to the hospital where the officer had been taken so she could offer her condolences to the family. I think that was a very honorable and humane act on her part. Perhaps she isn’t the cold, unfeeling witch that the righties like to portray.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy…

FEC Warns McCain on Campaign Spending

John McCain

The nation’s top federal election official told Sen. John McCain yesterday that he cannot immediately withdraw from the presidential public financing system as he had requested, a decision that threatens to dramatically restrict his spending until the general election campaign begins in the fall.

The prospect of being financially hamstrung by the very fundraising system he helped create is the latest in a series of bitter challenges for the presumed GOP nominee, who still faces a fractured conservative coalition as he assumes the mantle of party leadership.[..]

McCain’s attempts to build up his campaign coffers before a general election contest appeared to be threatened by the stern warning yesterday from Federal Election Commission Chairman David M. Mason, a Republican. Mason notified McCain that the commission had not granted his Feb. 6 request to withdraw from the presidential public financing system.

The implications of that could be dramatic. Last year, when McCain’s campaign was starved for cash, he applied to join the financing system to gain access to millions of dollars in federal matching money. He was also permitted to use his FEC certification to bypass the time-consuming process of gathering signatures to get his name on the ballot in several states, including Ohio.

By signing up for matching money, McCain agreed to adhere to strict state-by-state spending limits and an overall limit on spending of $54 million for the primary season, which lasts until the party’s nominating convention in September. The general election has a separate public financing arrangement.

But after McCain won a series of early contests and the campaign found its financial footing, his lawyer wrote to the FEC requesting to back out of the program — which is permitted for candidates who have not yet received any federal money and who have not used the promise of federal funding as collateral for borrowing money.

Mason’s letter raises two issues as the basis for his position. One is that the six-member commission lacks a quorum, with four vacancies because of a Senate deadlock over President Bush’s nominees for the seats. Mason said the FEC would need to vote on McCain’s request to leave the system, which is not possible without a quorum. Until that can happen, the candidate will have to remain within the system, he said.

The second issue is more complicated. It involves a $1 million loan McCain obtained from a Bethesda bank in January. The bank was worried about his ability to repay the loan if he exited the federal financing program and started to lose in the primary race. McCain promised the bank that, if that happened, he would reapply for matching money and offer those as collateral for the loan. While McCain’s aides have argued that the campaign was careful to make sure that they technically complied with the rules, Mason indicated that the question needs further FEC review.

If the FEC refuses McCain’s request to leave the system, his campaign could be bound by a potentially debilitating spending limit until he formally accepts his party’s nomination. His campaign has already spent $49 million, federal reports show. Knowingly violating the spending limit is a criminal offense that could put McCain at risk of stiff fines and up to five years in prison.

It’s kind of funny that McCain is the one accusing Barack Obama of going back on his pledge to accept public financing during the general election while all this time it has been Mr. McCain who has been trying to rig the system.

Typical Republican hypocrisy.

I (early) voted in the Texas Democratic primary today so there really was no reason for me to watch the debate in Austin tonight. My vote has already been cast. (At least I think it was… there really is no way to tell since it was done on a machine.) I watched anyway. I confess; I am a junkie.

I can, without any doubt whatsoever, tell you one thing: I will be voting for a Democrat in November. A vote for John McCain would be a vote for the continuation of George W. Bush’s administration and all it stands for. That, in so many ways, is just wrong.

If you’ve watched any of the debates prior to this one, there was probably not much in this one that you have not heard before.

Here is the exchange that everyone will be talking about around the water cooler tomorrow. If you did not watch the debate, you need to watch this video so you will be prepared…

So… who do you think “won” tonight?