Monday, March 3, 2008

Odds and Sods - Texas and Ohio primary eve edition

By tomorrow, we should all know if Hillary can pull out a win after losing 11 straight primaries. As of tonight, it's still up in the air, and I have been compulsively flipping channels for all the campaign news. The polls are tight. Hillary claims she's "just getting warmed up"--according to Politico.com:
BEAUMONT, Texas — A pugnacious Hillary Clinton refused to handicap tomorrow’s critical primary elections, unbowed by suggestions that she abandon the presidential race if she doesn’t win in delegate-rich Ohio and Texas.

Asked for her measure of success in Tuesday’s four primaries, Clinton was both blunt and vague.

“Winning. Winning. That’s my measurement of success,” she said during a press conference in Toledo, Ohio, before flying to Texas.

Clinton declined to explain whether that means winning the popular vote in all — or even in just one — of the four states in contention: Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont. Nor did she say whether it meant winning enough delegates to justify a continued bid.

Asked specifically what she would do in the event that she won narrowly in Ohio but remained behind in the delegate count, Clinton also wouldn’t say.

“I am not a political pundit. I will leave that to all of you,” she said. “I think I know what’s happening, and I believe we are going to do well tomorrow, and I believe that’s going to be a very significant message to the country. And then we move on to Pennsylvania and the states beyond. So, I’m just getting warmed up.”
Much has been written about how Hillary is pulling out the stops, going for broke, doing whatever it takes. This past weekend, she's hit Saturday Night Live, 60 Minutes, and everything in between. Politico's Roger Simon writes:
The stage has been set for a Hillary Clinton comeback on Tuesday.

Nobody knows if she has the votes to do it, but the opportunity is ripe.

She not only is vigorously attacking Barack Obama but simultaneously portraying herself as a victim.

It is a nifty political two-step.

She is a victim because a male-dominated press corps has counted her out, she says, and has lavished praise on Obama without submitting him to any real scrutiny.

At a Clinton rally in Westerville, Ohio, on Sunday, one woman carried a sign that read: “DON’T LET THE PRESS BOY-CRUSH PICK OUR PRESIDENT.”

Time’s Karen Tumulty noted: “Indeed, at Clinton’s first event of the day, there was almost an anger at the idea that the pundits and the press have anointed a winner before the people have voted.”

And Clinton told the crowd: “We’re coming back. … We need someone in the White House again who is a fighter!”
Stay tuned, fight fans!

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Another plug for the Blogswarm Against the War, which will be March 19th. Hey fellow residents of Blogdonia, don't forget to blog against the war!

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If you need some specifically spiritual reading for Lent, check out the wonderful Emerging Women community. Weekly links round-up with always-thought-provoking discussions of where Church ends and We begin! I just love these ladies!

Ren's got some great commentary and links at her place, for International Sex Workers Rights Day. Educate yourself and learn the issues! I just love this lady, too!

And hey, Texans and Buckeyes--don't forget to vote!