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On the back of Wyoming’s victory, it’s important to understand why Democrats need to settle the nomination fight now.

Everyone knows that there are no ’sameness’ in this election cycle – nearly all old rules in politics are already thrown out of the door. From the fund raising phenomenon, participation of young voters, to the unpredictability of candidates in both parties. Only as recent as 3 months ago, Clinton was dubbed the ‘inevitable’ nominee. Few people already wrote off McCain so early in the game and no one was taking Obama that seriously. But there’s one rule that will always stay true – one day is a long time in politics.

Fast forward to now, a number of people are calling Clinton to quit – myself included. The fact that she’s still in the game reflects the ’stubbornness’ of her well-oiled machine and a testament that this is simply not the typical election. In any other Democratic nomination fight, Obama would have simply become the nominee.

In my last post, i mentioned about the delegate math that is not on Clinton’s side. Her only hope of course is on superdelegates – the elders in the smoke-filled room to decide who is worthy of their support. Oh, and the other thing, to seat Florida and Michigan delegates back in the convention despite Obama’s name not even in the ballot in Michigan. The irony is, apart from the fact that she signed a pledge not to campaign and indirectly imply her agreement that the party rules agreed 1 1/2 year ago stand, Harold Ickles who is part of Clinton’s campaign has been shouting the loudest to ensure those delegates are seated despite the fact that he was the one who voted for the ban in the first place!!

The fight now has reached a point of no return. It’s simply destructive. Weeks ago, she shouted ‘Shame on you Obama’ on flyers which were already out weeks before – as if its new revelations. She claimed that Obama shouldnt have used tactics on the scripts of Republican playbook. What has she done then? Her infamous 3 AM ad is a clear fear-mongering exercise out of the same playbook she ‘despised’.

Recently, her attacks have increased to the point where she even praised her Republican opponent, McCain, for sharing the same credentials reducing Obama’s to just ‘one speech’ in 2002.
She literally feeding the Republican counterpart on attack points for Obama. I guess, when you are bound to lose everything, you are prepared to do almost anything!

So we say to her, “Shame On You Lucifer!”

if you think you have seen it all in Gore vs Bush (2000) or Bush vs Kerry (2004), you are completely mistaken.

the fight for the 44th is as hot as it can get for now, 22 months away from the E-day. The level of news coverage is unprecedented. But you should not be surprised. The 2008 contest is an open field day with neither the incumbent or vice president seeking the office. 1952 was the last such scenario was played.

Who are the players?

From the Republican side, maverick Senator Cain is leading the pack with Rudy Giuliani (former mayor of New York), Mitt Romney (former governor of Massachusetts), New Gingrich (former speaker) as well as Condoleza Rice (Secretary of States) as possible contenders.

From the Democrats, Hillary ‘Lucifer’ Clinton is ahead. Barrack Obama (Senator from Illinois), John Edwards (former Vice President Candidate in 2000), Joe Biden (Senator from Delaware), Bill Richardson (Governor of New Mexico), and many more.

Michael Bloomberg (current New York City mayor) might enter the race as a possible independent, following the paths of Ross Perot in ‘92 and Ralph Nader in 2000.

My preference for the final showdown is well known with the two banners on the right side of this blog. McCain vs Obama would be a sight to see. But being pragmatic about the whole process, i can foresee this combination as the final tickets from both parties:

Spot the difference!! Both have woman and both have black on the tickets. Now you call that a history in the making. Why this is so?

Firstly, Democrat’s stronghold is both woman and black voters. The Lucifer can win the Democratic primary given her domination and enormous campaign warchest thats envied by many candidates. Obama on the other hand, is a relatively newcomer in the scene. He is considered as inexperienced but his charisma and his skin color threatens the smooth ride of the Luficer. So solution….when you cant win over your enemy, make the first move and befriend him. The Lucifer will undoubtedly bring him as the VP candidate on the ticket.

Then what follows is just a pure logic. The Republican has to counter that with another dream ticket. With Powell now out of the US political scene, Rice is the only person with enough exposure and to some extent credibility, to be put on the ticket.

With this final combination, i predict McCain ticket will trump the Lucifer by a small margin. but first, McCain has his own battle to fight with the party faithfuls. He is seen as too liberal and his strong stance on the Iraq debacle will continue to overshadow him winning the primary outright. But his honesty and unwavering principles are to be admired. Unlike the Lucifer, he sticks to the his principles no matter how good or bad it becomes in the end.

Anyway….Cant wait… cant wait….(seem so far away!)

gop

Originally uploaded by emailtedy.

While it’s not yet confirmed (pending certification and possible recount), Allen is expected to concede the VA senate race to Webb giving DNC the control of Congress for the first time since ‘94.

7800-votes out of 2.3m are what separating the two.

i’m glad that Kerry’s gaffe didn’t dent Dem’s chances at all. Americans have spoken. The war-for-oil must be ended. A new dawn has begun!

While i’m no fan of Pelosi, i’m glad with the context in which she will become the first woman to hold such high elected post. I will be following closely how the Dems will chart the crucial two years. Lucifer already won NY with 67% of the votes – a crucial platform to launch her bid to re-capture the White House. Pelosi-Clinton are the women to watch!

in the aftermath of GOP’s embarrassing loss of the House and possibly the Senate, Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defense has decided to call it a quit! Only weeks ago, Bush offered his unrelenting support to the war’s architect by insisting that Rumsfeld will serve till the end.

this is a very smart move of Bush in a renewed call for bipartisan cooperation. will be interesting to see how his last two years pan out….

Virginia is still too close to call! GOP’s 49 vs DNC’s 50 (Cheney with Casting Vote)

surprise surprise… Saddam Hussein was found guilty and sentenced to death earlier today – two days before the US midterm election. you wonder sometimes whether it’s just a coincidence. i dont want to analyse whether capital punishment is an appropriate punishment for him because you already know my stance on death penalty. he should have been left to rot in jail.

keeping with the theme, i recently succumbed to temptation of study’s procrastination and watched HBO’s Hacking Democracy which was released a week before the election. I really dont know what to say. I’m continually amazed that the so-called world’s greatest democracy could not even have a ‘proper’ voting/election system. Why cant they have an independent body created just to run the election. Australia has it. So does Indonesia. Instead they have partisan Secretary of State who is responsible for the election.

Check out black box voting – a not for profit organisation created by ordinary ‘grandma activist’ to bring awareness and address this electronic voting issue. R-E-S-P-E-C-T to her!

in the most astounding way possible, the failed-presidential candidate John ‘Flip-flopper’ Kerry gave the Republican party the ammunition it needs to fight back struggling poll numbers. His recent faux pas confirmed everyone’s worst fear – his ‘reporting for duty’ stunt act at the Democratic Convention in 2004 was just a flip-flop attempt at garnishing his terrible national security’s record.

You probably have heard the now famous botched-joke he gave to students in California:

“You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

While trying to duck the political ramification by issuing statement that the joke was intended for the Commander-in-Chief, any Tom Dick and Harry knows that this is a direct insult to the US military serving in Iraq.

Stupid..just plain stupid!

I was hoping for the return of the Democrats to both Houses and now one thing is certain, if this thing is not subdued quickly (and i doubt it will be), the Democrat will only be likely to return only to the House..not the Senate.

I prefer a divided Congress because they are good for the economy (less pork-barrel spending) and to some extent greater accountability & check-and-balance…

Thank you Mr. Flip-flopper…. you did it again… ‘brilliantly’ this time! URGH

He must now apologise sincerely to the troops and the families…. i read once, “Anyone who can’t admit when they are wrong, are usually wrong more than they can admit.”

update: while it’s a bit late, it’s good to see that the flip-flopper has recognised his failing and apologise.