Thursday, January 31, 2008

And Then There Were Two...

With Edwards out, the last democratic debate before "Super Tuesday" between Clinton and Obama was overall pretty civil. While the democratic debate was a lot better in comparison to the republican debate on Wednesday, if you are one of the 'undecided' democrats, tonight's debate unlikely persuaded you either way.

But I have to give Clinton points for her response to the question about how a Clinton could possibly promote change after decades of a Clinton or Bush in power by saying that "it did take a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush and I think it might take another one to clean up after the second Bush". Not that I agree with it..and besides, she has used that exact quote before as answer as well.

The last question of the debate was pretty great, with it being "would you consider an "Obama-Clinton" or a "Clinton-Obama" ticket for the White House"? To that, Obama quickly responded that "well there is obviously a big difference between the two", but went on to say it was too early to be speculating about possible vice-presidents, but Clinton would be on his "short" list.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

On a Side Note...

Here is an excerpt from what Governor Bill Richardson (and former presidential candidate) said of Obama and how Obama saved him during one of last year's Democratic debates:
"I had just been asked a question -- I don't remember which one -- and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn't going to listen to the next question. I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, 'So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?' But I wasn't paying any attention! I was about to say, 'Could you repeat the question? I wasn't listening.' But I wasn't about to say I wasn't listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, 'Katrina. Katrina.' The question was on Katrina! So I said, 'On Katrina, my policy . . .' Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, 'Obama, that was good of you to do that.'"
This is clearly an example of Obama's character -- even in a debate.

Richardson is also going announce his endorsement by the end of the week, according to the article.

Source: Washington Post

Past Few Days in Summary (Political-wise)...

Wow, a lot of things have happened politically this week. With classes having started again, I find myself having absolutely no free time at all to catch up on everything.
Monday, Senator Ted Kennedy and his son Patrick followed Caroline Kennedy in endorsing Barack Obama. In backing Barack Obama for president, Ted Kennedy said: "It is time again for a new generation of leadership. It is time now for Barack Obama".
Ted even took a line from Clinton's campaign, saying Obama "is ready to be president on Day 1", which is something Clinton has been asking throughout her campaign. Also, In what may have been a stab directed at Bill Clinton, Ted said that "from the beginning, he (Obama) opposed the war in Iraq. And let no one deny that truth." That was of course in reference to Bill Clinton's statements about how Obama vote against the war early on was a "fairytale".
Monday night was also Bush's last State of the Union Address and Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius delivered the Democratic response to President Bush's final State of the Union address. Sebelius also endorsed Obama on Tuesday. She is also supposed to one of the possible choices for Vice President in the democrats.
Tuesday was the primary in Florida. Once again, there were no delegates being distributed for the democrats, so the race didn't really matter for them. On the republican side, delegates-wise, it was winner takes all. It was pretty much a tie throughout between McCain and Romney, but in the end McCain was the winner. In the weeks before the primary in Florida, Guiliani had said multiple times that the race in Florida is crucial and had gone as far as to say that whoever wins the primary in Florida from the republican side will go on to being the nominee. Guiliani wasn't even doing anywhere near well when he was saying all this - he was tied with Huckabee for third.
There had also news been for the past few days that Guiliani is dropping out and he is going to endorse McCain. From the sound of his conceding speech after the primary in Florida on Tuesday, it definitely confirmed he was indeed dropping out and it even seemed like it was going to possibly happen sometime in that speech considering Guiliani spoke in past tense pretty much the whole time in reference to his candidacy. Not only that, but McCain went on and on suddenly about praising Guiliani. Anyhow, Tuesday night, NBC News confirmed that Guiliani will drop out and endorse McCain on Wednesday.
As if that wasn't enough..I woke up Wednesday to breaking news that John Edwards was dropping out! I mean I knew this was coming, but definitely not today..I though he would at least hold off until after Super Tuesday. I have nothing but respect for John Edwards and his family and the hardship they have gone through while campaigning. Edwards wife, Elizabeth, has been an inspiration for many as she continually campaigned while still being treated for her recurring cancer.
Tonight is the last republican debate before Super Tuesday and tomorrow is the democratic one...so we will see how they go.
Super Tuesday is just days away and in the democrats, it is now just a race between Clinton and Obama! Everything definitely counts now. Whether Clinton or Obama win, it is still history in the making as it will be either the first woman President or the first African American President.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

A Reason to Believe Again....

Classes started again so I have absolutely no free time again. This semester is just going to be insane..i have six classes this semester which end up being from 8 or 9 AM to 6:30 PM everyday and by the time it's done, I am completely exhausted. With classes and work, I have found no time to even catch up on my readings and assignments for class..and it's only been a week!

On a much brighter note, Barack Obama received 55% of the votes from about half a million democratic votes in South Carolina! Now, that's amazing! On CNN and MSNBC, the news anchors kept re-emphasizing the fact that Obama attracted more than 290,000 votes in this primary, and nearly matching the total turnout of the 2004 democratic primary.

According to CNN Political Ticker, even though registered republicans outnumber Democrats in South Carolina, in the state’s Democratic primary Saturday, Barack Obama has 294,799 votes, with 99 percent of precincts reporting — more than the top two finishers in last week’s GOP primary combined. Last Saturday, winner John McCain pulled in 147,283 votes. Runner-up Mike Huckabee captured 132,440.

So far, Obama has won a state with a majority being a White population (Iowa) and a state with its majority being Black (South Carolina). With both of these wins, it will definitely boost Obama's chances nationally.

Also, Caroline Kennedy (JFK's daughter) announced her decision to endorse Obama in an op-ed in Sunday's New York Times published on the paper's Web site Saturday night, called "A President Like My Father", citing:
It isn't that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960….

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.

Obama's victory speech ended on a high note again last night...he is such an inspirational speaker and blows everyone away. Here are some highlights from his speech last night:
This election is our chance to give the American people a reason to believe again
...
Don't tell me we can't change.
Yes, we can. Yes, we can change. Yes, we can.
Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can seize our future. And as we leave this great state with a new wind at our backs and we take this journey across this great country, a country we love, with the message we carry from the plains of Iowa to the hills of New Hampshire, from the Nevada desert to the South Carolina coast, the same message we had when we were up and when we were down, that out of many, we are one; that while we breath, we will hope.
And where we are met with cynicism and doubt and fear and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of the American people in three simple words -- yes, we can.
February 5th, Super Tuesday, is just nine days away!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Here and There...

The Clintons and Obama have been childishly bickering again and it is really starting to affect their image. The last thing we need right now is for them to lose the race for the democrats because of their fights. At least they are finally arguing somewhat about important issues! It almost seemed as if Edwards was not even present at the debate last night.

With race being such a heated issue, I found an interesting article on CNN Political Ticker in which Clarence B. Jones (the personal lawyer, draft speechwriter and confidant to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr) said he is sick and tired of presidential candidates trying desperately to link themselves to the legacy of the civil rights leader and that he doesn't “understand this preoccupation with 'Martin King did this, Martin King did that”. Jones accused candidates on both sides of the political spectrum of trying “to expropriate Martin’s legitimacy for their own purposes."

Also, Obama told an interviewer recently that he felt as though he were running against both Bill and Hillary Clinton, which many people would undoubtedly agree with. Bill has not exactly been very helpful for Hillary's campaign though so I am not complaining.

Sadly I missed the debate last night and I have been hearing over and over again how great it was. My favorite part was when Obama was asked about whether he truly would be considered the first "black" president considering many people give that frame of reference to Bill Clinton. Jokingly, Obama answered that he would need to “investigate more Bill’s dancing abilities, you know, some of this other stuff before I accurately judged whether he was in fact a ‘brother’”.

According to CNN, Monday night's "CNN/Congressional Black Caucus Institute Debate" was the most watched primary-season faceoff in cable news history, according to early Nielsen data. Nearly five million viewers tuned in which just goes to show you how much public interest there is in this historic 2008 election, especially because of how close the race is in both parties.

And what's with this so called meeting between Hillary Clinton and Edwards that I have been hearing and reading about all day??

In other news, republican Fred Thompson announced today that he is dropping out of the race today.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Find the Man in the Coffee Beans

Something I got from my brother...I found it pretty quickly. I love these types of activities.


THE TRICK IS TO FIND THE MAN IN THE COFFEE BEANS:

This is bizarre - after you find the guy - it’s so obvious. Once you find him - it’s embarrassing, and you think, why didn’t I see him immediately?

Doctors have concluded that if you find the man in the coffee beans in 3 seconds, the right half of your brain is better developed than most people.

If you find the man between 3 seconds and 1 minute, the right half of the brain is developed normally.

If you find the man between 1 minute and 3 minutes, then the right half of your brain is functioning slowly.

If you have not found the man after 3 minutes, the advice is to look for more of this type of exercise to make that part of the brain stronger!!!

And, yes, the man is really there!!!

With One Day to Go...

Quick Trivia: Apparently for the last twenty eight years the candidate that has won the primary in South Carolina on the republican side has gone on to become the republican nominee. So whoever wins the primary tomorrow in South Carolina has twenty eight years of history on his side.

As of right now, McCain and Huckabee are nearly tied in the latest polls.
According to MSNBC, the likely South Carolina republican voters are represented in the following:
McCain 27%
Huckabee 25%
Romney 15%
Thompson 13%
Undecided 8%

Democrat wise, the latest MSNBC polls predict Obama (40%) leading Clinton (31%).

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Three Down, Three Different Winners

Mitt Romney was the projected winner with like just six percent of the votes reporting for the republicans and of course for the democrats, Hillary Clinton is the projected winner considering she is only competing against Kucinich and the "uncommitted" (Edwards and Obama took their names off the ballot in Michigan and Florida because of these states choice to move up the primaries).

The votes in the category "uncommitted" are of course between Edwards and Obama. In the republican race, in all of the primaries and caucus so far there have been three different winners. It just goes to show you this election is not going to be a cake-walk. If Edwards and Obama were still on the ballot as democratic candidates in Michigan, there is no way she would have have with such a high percentage. All day in the news we heard what a low turnout there was for democratic votes in Michigan.

Now, on to tonight’s democratic debate in Nevada.

Kucinich lost a last minute battle right before the MSNBC democratic debate tonight. The Michigan Supreme Court apparently ruled that NBC can block out Kucinich from participating in the televised debate in Nevada after his poor performances in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. This came a day after the lower-court ordered NBC on Monday to include Kucinich in the debate, only for the Michigan Supreme court to overturn it right before the debate. That has got to be the oddest thing I have heard. The whole point of a debate is so people can hear everyone's points of view and to revoke a candidate's right to do that and block him out is just ludicrous.

Aside from that, the debate was okay. Clinton and Obama called a truce earlier today, so there wasn't any heated moments in the debate. Edwards had to address the issue of competing against the first viable African American and the first viable women, and he handled the question very well. I liked the idea of each candidate asking a question to one of the other candidates, even though the questions were not too great.

P.S. Happy Birthday Ayaz! :)

Monday, January 14, 2008

That's Just Great

So apparently, the democrats won't be awarded any delegates in the Michigan primary, or the primary in Florida. The Democratic National Committee stripped Michigan and Florida of all its delegates to the national convention because Michigan moved ahead of its originally planned February 5th primary to mid-January and Florida moved from February 5th to January 29th without permission. Great. I have been looking forward to the Michigan primary all week long and now it doesn't even make that much of a difference. Oh well, at least the democratic debate tomorrow should be interesting.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Another Day in Politics

Senator John Kerry endorsed Barack Obama this morning, which of course is a big deal considering John Edwards was Kerry's running mate in the 2004 presidential election.

Bill Richardson, on the other hand, dropped out of the race today after receiving low support in the primary and caucus so far.

On a side note, (a funny one I might add) the lady that caused Hillary Clinton to cry after asking Clinton a question in New Hampshire ended up voting for Barack Obama!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Yes We Can

One of the main highlights from Obama's conceding speech after the New Hampshire primary:
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.

...

we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America's story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea - Yes. We. Can.
Pretty darn amazing.

Source: Barack Obama

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Surprise Ending...

The votes have been tallied and the results are in for New Hampshire's primary. The winners overall in the New Hampshire primary are John McCain for the republicans and it was just projected that Clinton will win New Hampshire. I cannot believe Clinton won! Boy, was that a surprise -- and shocking! Not many people, if any, can honestly say that they saw this coming even a mere 24 hours ago. It was very nerve wracking as Clinton led Obama throughout the primary tonight, but I kept optimistic! It is pretty sad that crying gained Clinton so many votes. If it was anyone else, they would be portrayed as weak or something similar to that.

Her comeback was totally unexpected right now. The funny part is while all the major polls suggested all week that Obama had a ten point lead over Clinton, there was one unknown company with a poll that suggested that Obama had in fact only a one percent lead. It is pretty neat that even though as of today less than one half of one percent of the American electorate have voted and it is already so heated.

Apparently a lot of the independent votes we were expecting to go to Obama went to McCain instead tonight. Either way, throughout the night it was way too close to call for the democrats.

The best part was that there were record number of voters in New Hampshire. Voices are definitely being heard and there will be a change..not just a promise of change..but hopefully an act of change because that is what people demand. As Obama said, "it is time for things to be different". Can his speeches get any better? He is so inspiring and just plain amazing. What he talks about genuinely affects the regular American people. He is the change Americans can believe in.

One of my favorite quotes from him lately is when during an event in New Hampshire, Obama again mocked Clinton’s comments from earlier in the week that he was circulating false hope for the American people. Not only did Obama say that "yes we can" have hope for a better America, but also that “we don’t need leaders to tell us what we can’t do. We need leaders to inspire us to do. That’s what America is looking for right now.” and then continued to say “False hopes? There’s no such thing. This country was built on it. Did JFK look up at the moon and say, ‘Nah, false hope. Too far. Reality check.’”

Super Tuesday (February 5th) is just a few weeks away...I can't wait to see what happens then.

In other news, Ray Rice announced he is forgoing his senior year at Rutgers and entering the 2008 NFL Draft. I wonder what that will mean for Rutgers Football next season. He has been undoubtedly an essential player for Rutgers.

Midnight Voting

There's a town in New Hampshire, called Dixville Notch, that apparently always casts its votes at midnight, so they are always the first ones to vote and their votes are quickly tallied up and announced. The town is known for being one of the first places to declare its results for elections. This year, there were only seventeen people eligible to vote in that town
(population of town: 75). The poll was even closed by 12:02 A.M., just two minutes into the primary. This year in the town Dixville Notch, McCain won the republican and Obama won the democrat.

The total votes were:

Republicans:
1. McCain - 4
2. Ronmney - 2
3. Guiliani - 1

Democrats:
1. Obama - 7
2. Edwards - 2
3. Richardson - 1

The key point here is obviously that Hillary got no votes here, and neither did Huckabee. Of course, we have to keep in mind that there were only seventeen people voting in this town. I believe McCain for the republicans and Obama for the democrats are the top contenders in New Hampshire, but who knows... we may be surprised.

There is another town nearby Dixville Notch called Hart (population being 42) that also votes at midnight in New Hampshire, and McCain and Obama also won there.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Weekend Update

Saturday afternoon, Rutgers played their bowl game in Toronto, Ontario against Ball State and won :). Ray Rice is supposed to announce within the next few days if he is going to leave Rutgers a year early to enter the NFL draft. I can't believe I have been actually following football (just Rutgers Football) and have even gone to many games..who would have thought?

As of Sunday evening, Barack Obama is leading Hillary Clinton (his closest competitor in New Hampshire) by ten points in New Hampshire with its primary being on Tuesday! That is definitely great news for Obama. Super Tuesday is just a few short weeks away, which is where 19 states hold their primaries or caucuses for both parties plus three Democratic-only caucuses and one Republican-only primary. With a total of about 2075 delegates possible that day, we will most likely know at that point who the nominees will be for each party.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Iowa Caucus

I've been down with a fever and such since we got home from Canada which has been a bummer, but on the bright side the election season is finally in full gear with last night being the first caucus in Iowa for the 2008 Presidential Election.

Barack Obama won the caucus in Iowa in the democrats (yay), while Huckabee won on the republican side. Edwards and Clinton both were pretty close in second place. We'll see what happens in New Hampshire next week and further down the road after that. I am rooting for Obama all the way!

Caucuses seem pretty cool... it would be pretty neat to see one in real life. It would definitely be a really interesting experience.

At this point I would say come November, I predict that it will be a race between Obama vs. Huckabee for the Presidential Election. Generally though, I would probably say when it comes down to it I would consider myself ABHC (anyone but Hillary Clinton).

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

...and we're back!

So I actually did end up going to Canada! :) What an exhausting, but fun filled weekend! This weekend was Adnan Bhai's and Dania's mangni and nikkah in Canada.

I was woken up around 6:30 A.M. and told to pack quickly if I wanted to go. I was out of the house by 7 A.M. and we left at 7:40 on Saturday morning. It was a total spur of the moment thing, but I am so glad I went because the weekend was a lot of fun.

The night we arrived was one of the dholki's. Sunday night was the mangni and finally, Monday afternoon was the nikkah.

While we were originally supposed to leave to come back home on Tuesday morning, we left Monday evening around five because of the impending severe snow storm heading towards Buffalo and Toronto. Fortunately we left when we did because the snow arrived even earlier than we had thought. By Tuesday morning, Buffalo had a big pile of snow.

We literally traveled from 2007 to 2008. The car ride there and back was, fortunately, pretty decent. We had great weather, and no traffic and it took us around eight hours each time.

I can't wait to go back in July!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope this new year brings everyone a lot of happiness. I can't believe it is 2008 already!
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