Lots of news to report.

The Florida primary was yesterday, the second primary in a big state since Michigan, and the last one in a big state before Super Tuesday.  Hillary won the Democratic primary pretty easily; the last numbers I saw showed her garnering 51% to Obama’s 34% and Edwards’ 15%.  This is a big win for Hillary, and, though it is far from definitive, I think she has the lead over Obama right now.  Perhaps the bigger news is on the other side, where John McCain beat out Mitt Romney in a very close race, winning 36% to Romneys 31%.  This is a big win for John McCain, and he is definitely the clear frontrunner now.  Wait until Super Tuesday to see for sure, but it looks like he will be the Republican candidate.

There are also some important dropouts and endorsements to announce.  Sources say that John Edwards will be dropping out of the race, though he has not said anything about endorsing anyone.  I still maintain my opinion that he will be the VP candidate for whoever wins the race between Hillary and Obama.  Those two have been going at each other, and I can’t see them campaigning together.  The big news on the Republican side is that Rudy Giuliani, who was counting on getting at least second in Florida and getting bigs wins on Super Tuesday, has decided to pull out of the race, and he has endorsed John McCain.  This is a very big endorsement for John McCain, adding fuel to what already appears to be an unstoppable candidacy.  On the Democratic side, Barack Obama has received a key endorsement.  Ted Kennedy, the elder senator from Massachusetts, has endorsed Obama, which could be very big for funding and getting votes in the liberal northeast.  While the Kennedy family is split between Hillary and Obama, Ted Kennedy pulls a lot of weight (in more ways than one).  This could be very big in light of next Tuesday’s major primaries.  Watch for more endorsements between now and then.

Sorry I fell behind on this, but there is some more news to report.

Last Saturday we had the Republican primary in South Carolina, where John McCain won with 33% of the vote.  Mike Huckabee came in second with 30%, and Thompson actually slightly edged out Romney 16% to 15%.  Huckabee was the clear choice for the Religious Right in this primary
yet again; conservative Republicans do not like McCain. 
The Democratic primary here will be this coming Saturday, January 26.  Right now, polls have shown Obama leading Hillary by a pretty comfortable margin.  There are a lot of African-American voters there, which could definitely help Obama.  What you also have to realize is that Democrats in the Deep South are a lot more conservative than their urbanized counterparts; case in point:  Zell Miller.

Mitt Romney pretty easily won the Republican caucus in Nevada.  This caucus wasn’t really contested on the Republican side, as both Huckabee and McCain were focusing their efforts on the South Carolina primary being held at the same time.  Romney continues to chalk up more delegates for the RNC, but he has only been able to win one primary (Michigan).  Huckabee is actually in worse shape now, because he has not won a primary yet and the only caucus he has won was Iowa, not to mention the lack of funds.  He has had at least a respectable showing in other caucuses and primaries, but a win in South Carolina would have given him a lot of momentum.  John McCain is on a roll it seems, winning primaries right and left, and it looks more and more like he will be the Republican presidential candidate.  Wait for Super Tuesday (Giuliani is banking everything on that) to know for sure, but John McCain is sitting pretty right now.  Thompson just dropped out of the race yesterday, and didn’t endorse anyone, but his conservative supporters will surely not go to McCain.

On the Democratic side, Hillary won 51% of the vote in the Democratic Nevada caucus to Obama’s 45%.  Edwards picked up third again with 4% of the vote.  Hillary has really gained a lot of ground, and she appears to be the definitive frontrunner at the moment for the Dems.  The mudslinging has really picked up between Clinton and Obama, as it seems there is a new allegation by one camp or the other every day.  This race really seems to be getting dirty for the Dems, and while the Republican side has been anything but clean, the Democrats are making all the headlines.  I think the odds of an Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama ticket are getting slimmer by the day, and I think Edwards will end up being the VP candidate for whichever of those two wins the Democratic nomination.

Just so this is out in the open, I don’t know who I will vote for in this election; it really depends on who ends up being on the ballot.  I have some major problems with the Republican party platform, as I do with many of its candidates.  I strongly support the separation of Church and State (that is my biggest issue), and as long as the Republican party is controlled by religious conservatives they will not have my support.  However, the Democrats have a recent history of putting forth candidates that are not viable, and while I have still not made up my mind about Clinton or Obama, this election may not be any different.  Just because we need change doesn’t mean we need the kind of change you are advocating, and until you prove to me that we do need it I will not vote for you either.  I may actually vote libertarian in this election.

Michigan primary today!  It will probably be a close race between McCain and Romney, so be sure to check up on it.  Hillary and Obama will surely be neck-and-neck as well, just like the other primaries/caucuses.

EDIT:  Apparently Obama and Edwards had their names taken off of the Democratic tickets, so the only front-runner for the Dems in today’s primary was Hillary.  Poor turnout as a result for the Dems.  Surprise (okay, maybe not so big of a surprise) is Romney’s win over McCain.  Mitt Romney really needed a win to stay in the running, and he finally got one.  Huckabee had a strong showing too.  This is truly anybody’s game at this point; Super Tuesday is going to be extremely important for the Reps.  No clear front-runner has emerged.

I’d go into more detail, but I’m exhausted.

New Hampshire primary today!

CNN has projected John McCain as the winner for the Republicans, right now at 37% of the vote.  Mitt Romney is in second with 29%, and Mike Huckabee has 12%.  McCain was all but done in many peoples’ eyes (including mine), but he went all out for New Hampshire and has made one hell of a comeback.  He is definitely back in this race.  Romney has come in second AGAIN, in a state that is a northern neighbor of Massachusetts (where he used to be governor).  Michigan is the next one to watch, because McCain won Michigan back in 2000, but that is also Romney’s home state.  That could be a very interesting one to watch for the Republicans.  Don’t be discouraged, all you Huckabee supporters; even though he only won 12% tonight, that isn’t too shabby.  McCain beat Bush in New Hampshire in 2000, and Romney is from Massachusetts, so it only makes sense that they would take a lot of the vote.  Plus, Huckabee won Iowa, and although that is not an official primary, it is still big.  The South Carolina primary is also coming up, and many people think Huckabee may win there.  Romney is definitely in the most dire straits right now, in my mind, because he can’t seem to win anywhere.  If he can’t win in South Carolina or Michigan, he will be in serious trouble.

On the Democratic side, it is a pretty close race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  Hillary is leading with 40% of the vote to Obama’s 36% at the moment, but there are still a lot of votes to count.  I haven’t seen any projections as of yet for the Democrats, but only 21% of the vote has been counted.  CNN was comparing the counties each candidate is presently winning to who won in 2004.  Right now, Hillary is winning the counties that John Kerry won, and Obama is winning the counties that Howard Dean won.  John Kerry won New Hampshire in 2004, so if this continues on the same pattern Hillary will win New Hampshire in 2008.  Edwards is sitting in a solid third with 17%.  So which first is it going to be?  Are we going to have our first female presidential candidate or our first African-American presidential candidate?  We have had a female vice-presidential candidate before, Geraldine Ferraro who ran with Walter Mondale back in 1984 (and lost in a landslide to Ronald Reagan – they only won Minnesota and D.C.), but never presidential for either.

Keep an eye on those races.  Next Tuesday is Super Tuesday, a day in which 24 states (including Missouri) will be having primaries.  Big day to watch, and I will be here to keep you updated on all the happenings.

EDIT:  Super Tuesday is February 5.  I don’t know why I said next Tuesday, because I knew it was February 5.  Michigan is next Tuesday, so that is probably what I was thinking.  Nevada is January 19, as is the Republican South Carolina primary, and then the Democratic South Carolina primary is January 26.  Florida is the last primary in January on the 29th.

Also something to add, Democratic hopeful Bill Richardson has dropped out of the race today (Wednesday).

Okay, it’s time for my first Election 2008 post.

The first caucus of the upcoming presidential election is taking place in Iowa today.  The candidates are trying to rally support for themselves in hopes of boosting their chances for getting their party’s nomination for president.  This is where the men are separated from the boys, so to speak.  So far it has just been sketchy polls and hearsay as to how popular each candidate is.  Now we will see, at least in Iowa, who the party favorites actually are.  No voting is taking place today (the first primary is in New Hampshire on January 8), but this will help to narrow the playing field some.

This will help to answer some questions on all sides.  Keep an eye on it.

EDIT:  As I was expecting, there was a large turnout from the Religious Right, and Mike Huckabee won the Republican caucus, with Mitt Romney coming in second.  What I didn’t expect was the margin.  Huckabee won 34% to Romney’s 25%.  What you also have to take into consideration is that Romney outspent Huckabee by a margin of about 15:1 in Iowa, trying to prove that he could get votes outside of the northeast, and failed.  This gives the Huckabee campaign a much-needed boost, both strategically and financially, as Romney’s efforts did not pay off.  Fred Thompson and John McCain finished behind them, with Ron Paul finishing fifth and grabbing a surprising 10% of the vote (more than Rudy Giuliani’s 4%, but then he wasn’t really campaigning in Iowa).  A couple of months ago, not too many people had even heard of Mike Huckabee, and now he appears to be the Republican frontrunner.  This could turn out to be a very interesting race.  CNN pundits were talking about a possible schism within the Republican party, saying that conservatives are pulling the party one way and moderates another, and this may end up dividing it.  More of that CNN spin for you.

The Iowa Democratic caucus is different from the Republican caucus, in that while the Republicans have a mere straw poll (if you will), the Democrats have a two-round “vote.”  The caucusers stand in the area designated for the candidate they support, and a vote is tallied.  The candidates who fail to get at least 15% of the vote are knocked out, and their supporters are then allowed to back another candidate.  This puts more priority on the second choice of a candidate rather than their first choice, something which I like because it reveals the viability of a candidate.  For the Democrats, Barack Obama made an impressive showing, winning
38% of the vote, followed by John Edwards with 30% and Hillary Clinton
with 29%.  Hillary was hurt badly by the “second vote” procedure, as most people have already made up their minds one way or the other about her (either they like her or they hate her), so if she wasn’t their first choice she wasn’t any choice.  CNN also polled Iowa Democratic caucusers, finding that change was more of a priority to them than experience, which really helped Obama (and Edwards, to an extent).  This could be a big blow to the Clinton campaign.  We will see what plays out in New Hampshire next Tuesday.  In other news, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd have dropped out of the Democratic race.

Very interesting developments.  Keep an eye on the New Hampshire primary next Tuesday.

All hail the 16-0 New England Patriots, the best team in NFL history!  Can I get a shout out?

…

Are those crickets I hear?

I’ve just got one word for you all:

*

So Dad and I went on a pilgrimage to Denver this last weekend to watch the Broncos-Chiefs game, and boy was it a game to watch!  That is, if you’re a Broncos fan.  I got some pictures on my phone, but I don’t know how well they’ll turn out.  I think the Chiefs mistakenly put their practice squad on the bus to Denver and gave them the jerseys of the starters.  I mean really, 41-7?  We completely owned in every stat category, except 4th-down conversion percentage (but if you’re up by 27 points you really don’t need to go for it on 4th down – yes that includes you too, Bill Belichick).  The Chiefs had a total of 16 rushing yards, 6 first downs (from two drives – the rest were three-and-outs), and three turnovers.

I loved every minute of it.

I thought some of you might like this:

ZURICH, Switzerland — What began as a routine
training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident
after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into
neighboring Liechtenstein

According to Swiss daily Blick, the
170 infantry soldiers wandered just over a mile across an unmarked
border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their
mistake and turning back

A spokesman for the Swiss army
confirmed the story but said that there were unlikely to be any serious
repercussions for the mistaken invasion.

“We’ve spoken to the authorities in Liechtenstein and it’s not a problem,” Daniel Reist told The Associated Press.

Officials in Liechtenstein also played down the incident.

Interior
ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even
noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no
ammunition. “It’s not like they stormed over here with attack
helicopters or something,” he said.

Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC, doesn’t have an army.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Thoughts of a Dying Atheist

Eerie whispers trapped beneath my pillow 
Won't let me sleep, your memories 
I know you're in this room, Im sure I heard you sigh 
Floating in-between where our worlds collide 

Scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see
And it scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see

Yeah yeah yeah...

I know the moments near 
And there's nothing we can do 
Look through a faithless eye 
Are you afraid to die?

It scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see
And it scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see

Yeah yeah yeah...

It scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see
And it scares the hell out of me
And the end is all I can see 

Yeah yeah yeah...

All I can say is, “Way to go Florida!”  That was an awesome game
you guys played last night.  And the whole two quarterbacks thing
was way cool!  Ohio State didn’t know what hit them.