Tuesday, April 22, 2008

God, Guns and Jobs: Pennsylvania Primary 4/22


Pennsylvania voters find themselves in a unique position today. They have the power to stop the implosion of the Democratic Party.

Senator Clinton has staked her campaign on a big win there, thinking Pennsylvanians will be swayed by stupid soundbites, meaningless trivia, negative attacks and outright lies. Her campaign engages in old-fashioned dirty politics. And she continues to do this even though the numbers show that no matter how big she might win in Pennsylvania or any of the remaining primary states, she will still lag behind Senator Obama. He has won the votes, and in a democracy, winning the most votes should mean winning the election. Apparently, Senator Clinton thinks otherwise. She thinks your vote only matters if you vote for her. She also thinks if enough voters don't vote for her, she will hurl the so-called superdelegates at the democratic convention. But then, we voters are only regular ordinary people. Our votes are added up individually whereas each superdelegate's vote equals 75,000 of our votes.


Large swaths of Pennsylvania seem a lot like my state of Utah and its sister state of Idaho. UT and ID are very religious states. UT and ID are socially conservative, tending to support the republican party line. UT and ID are gun-friendly states. Hunting and Fishing are not pastimes here, they are serious business. We should probably declare a state holiday during Deer Season since everyone has gone out of town to bag their deer. UT and ID are also made up of many small towns and rural areas. Oh sure, we've got a couple big cities (Salt Lake and Boise), but the main occupations outside those cities are farming and mining. UT and ID are not rich states, in fact our rural area population earns far less than the national average. Yet because of our family-oriented culture, there are virtually no ghost towns. Heritage and family keep us anchored close to the towns we grew up in, even though we might earn more money elsewhere. And do I need to say, neither UT or ID are very ethnically diverse?

The TV pundits have shown us maps of PA displaying a classic T-pattern, with Philadelphia on one side and Pittsburgh on the other. What they are telling us about the space in between those major cities sounds a whole lot like the spaces here in UT and ID. But the TV pundits are telling us that those spaces in PA belong to Senator Clinton and voters in those spaces will hand her a PA victory. Belong!?! As if she is entitled to them! Well, since I think we are much alike, I want to remind Pennsylvanians of the UT & ID democratic primary results, and encourage them to similarly vote their convictions:

UTAH -- Obama = 57%; Clinton = 39%
IDAHO -- Obama = 79%; Clinton = 17%


So it is really up to Pennsylvania voters today. They can decide in the voting booth whether the democratic party continues to fight amongst itself or moves on toward the future showdown with Senator McCain. If Senator Clinton continues with the same tactics she has been employing, she will ensure a compromised democratic nominee limps out of the convention to compete against the republican fixers. I just can't get the image out of my mind of a divided democratic party engaging the tired, but still vigorous, McWarDog!

This is what her antics remind me of (click to enlarge):
I am sorry if you find this rude, and I apologize to the hyena who is afterall only procuring her meal, not ripping apart the democratic party, not scurrying away with little chunks of her opponent, and hoping by doing so, she can persuade superdelegates of her electibility. By the way, there is a real children's book titled, "Hillary, the hyena who lost her laugh". While it sounds hilarious (click on link & read the little plot summary), I really think it should be sold in adult book stores ... haven't our children been scared enough?

OK, last but not least, when the polls close today and we start receiving the results of the PA primary, we should not forget Operation Chaos, which is Rush Limbaugh's shameful attempt to impose on democrats the candidate the republicans most want to run against. That would be ... (drumroll for all you pseudo-dems who are implementing Rush's dictum) ... Dittory!

8 AM update: already this morning, there is this report of malfunctioning PA voting machines. Looks like Operation Chaos is working just fine for Hillary.

14 comments:

D.K. Raed said...

************
BOTTOM LINE:
I know you are thinking, but D.K. Utah and Idaho do not have many democrats. True! But our democrats look the same as our general population -- white, religious, conservative, gun-toting hunting and fishing lower-income family-oriented farmers and miners.

YET WE STILL HANDED CLINTON HER ASS!

Now why is that? Could it be that we voted BEFORE the campaign smears got into full gear, and also before Lintball's Operation Chaos kicked in?

I know the polls indicate otherwise, but I'm still hoping Pennsylvania will also hand Clinton her ass so we can stop all this nonsense now. I'll be pacing the floor this evening waiting for PA results.
************

jmsjoin said...

we can hope! I was listening to Hillary's Campaign Manager and they are painting any single digit win as a big one and a reason to continue until they win. She will stop for nothing and no one!

D.K. Raed said...

Avg Patriot:
of course they will say that, but we all know the truth. the way she's gnawing away at our bones, I'm afraid pretty soon she will reach the marrow. but I still have hope!

jmsjoin said...

Remember who her husband is. She is equally as ruthless and will take it to the end Party and country be damned. Pass the marrow please!

enigma4ever said...

Great Post...wonderful...thank you...made me laugh...love the Hyena book...tooooo funny...

I have hope...I always do...

thank you for comparing the States- I think that media woud be smart to start seeing HOW that we the people see us alike each other - NOT different...

D.K. Raed said...

Avg Patriot:
I am keeping my marrow, thank you. It helps prop me upright & I'm not laying down for Hillary. No way.

Enigma:
Yeah that Hyena book ... I think I should order it. Note it is categorized under "negative thinking" ... how perfect.

Fran said...

Yeah, the press dubbed it *bittergate* what happened in PA. I was hopig Hill would have been handed her walking papers, but alas, this beast will continue to roam the country, and headed my way in May!!!!! It's like a low budget sci fi film- which I normally enjoy for its bad acting, flimsy plot line & hokey sets.
But in this case it's just like the stop/reject button won;t work & the film plays on, even though I am trying to make it stop.

Anon-Paranoid said...

Two counties used Touch Screen voting machines. Does anyone know what counties those were and if the exit polls for those counties matches the vote total?

Who knows if they were hacked to give Hillary a bigger vote margin, I sure would like to know, how about you.

God Bless.

Anon-Paranoid said...

d.k. raed...

Left this on previous post by mistake.

See link below about voting problems in PA.

First link is Booman Tribune

Second link is The Brad Blog

This may be why Hillary got a 10 point win.

Out of here now to the hospital to see Ginger and the Doctor were I will have to make a decision as what I am going to do.

Have them put her to sleep or bring her home to die.

Let you know later.

God Bless.

D.K. Raed said...

Fran:
So, is it like "The Blob" (you can't outrun it), "Attack of the 50-ft Woman" (worst special effects ever, even worse plot line & check out the old brassieres), or more like "Night of the Living Dead" (I'm not sure why this popped into my mind, something about being stuck in an old house w/zombies trying to break in & eventually you must sleep). Hah! Well, I know you will do us proud there in Oregon. It's the states in between I'm worried about.

Anony-P:
I will check out the voting links. My heart is with you & ginger. It is hardest decision to know when it is time. We faced it when our last dog became paralyzed (he had bone cancer). It was an awful, but also beautiful moment. It was completely painless & he was suddenly at peace. I sob now just thinking of it & hoping we didn't make him suffer longer than necessary, thinking he would get better.

jmsjoin said...

Those damn machines are going to be the death of us. Sadly it is only one of a growing number of ways to take the election out of our hands and to steal it.
You know Hillary is like her husband ruthless dirty and underhanded. I have to wonder who the hell would ever Veep for her with him advising and sleeping with her?
Anyway thinking of Pa. I do not believe the tide has turned nor do I like the implications. First I find her very distasteful and if she is nominated we are done. We knew anything would be viewed as a victory and she will never quit.
Having said that I heard this morning that yes she won by 10 percent and we are told that there was 9% of new registered Democrats for this which sounds good plus you hear supposedly that most voted for Obama but knowing Rush Limbaugh told Repugs to cross over to vote in our primary to screw us up and prolong this mess you have to wonder if that is what happened.
Any way you look at it her continuing and keeping us divided is not good for us or the country! we have got to help Obama by getting the truth out about her. Obama is handling his end amid growing questions about his ability to win from both sides.

DivaJood said...

While she did carry PA, she really has not got the numbers to nail the nomination. Nor does her campaign have the finacial resources. She really does need to give it up.

D.K. Raed said...

Avg Patriot:
The Limbaugh factor is disgusting. The worst part about his Operation Chaos is there is simply NO way to tell if a repub genuinely switched parties & voted dem for Hillary. The only way we'll know for sure is in November. But one thing is for sure, the repubs are giddy over the prospect of running against Hillary. No better way to galvanize them than to throw a Clinton their way.

Diva:
She SAYS she raised $10million overnight. But I have NEVER believed that the campaign was all about money.

I was glad to see last night, both Keith O & Jon Stewart pointed out she did NOT carry PA by the necessary "double digit". She had an overall 9.2% lead, not 10%. It would have to 9.5% before rounding up would apply ... unless fuzzy math is just another questionable campaign tactic.

DivaJood said...

Fuzzy Math is another Rovian tactic. I'm just saying.