Two weeks ago Cindy McCain swore she would never release her tax return even if her husband became President.
Reneging their words must be a McCain family trait. She’s decided to release them anyway.
Cindy McCain 2006 Federal Tax Return 1040 PDF Part 1 and Part 2
Also enjoy Senator McCain’s 2006 and 2007 returns.
John McCain 2007 Federal Tax Return 1040 PDF here.
John McCain 2006 Federal Tax Return 1040 PDF here.
The Democratic primaries are still drudging on. Dear Lord, they’re still marching forward like some contemporary death march.
And now we’re turning our attention to a U.S. territory that most Americans can’t even point to on a map. Are the Democrats really so desperate as to cling to a small island with a population smaller than a suburb of any American city?
Today Obama and Clinton will cat fight for the nine delegate votes Guam has to offer. (Thirteen total delegates; eight only count as half votes, five are full votes.) In the scope of Presidential elections, this is about as big as a thimble in a beer keg.
Clinton brags that she’s actually “visited” Guam once (a layover in 1995 en route to China as the First lady). Obama brags that he was born geographically closer to Guam (in Hawaii) than Clinton (Illinois). Neither of these reasons should make any difference to the Guamanian voters. And quite frankly, it doesn’t make much difference to mainlanders who have become so exhausted by the Democratic battle, we’ve succumbed to actually reading the dribble coming out of McCain’s mouth as a form of refreshing entertainment.
I guess the bottom line here is something that most media outlets aren’t willing to say: Guam really doesn’t matter. Eight delegates will have little impact in comparison to the vast number of delegates that have already dropped their votes in the pot. Neither will it matter anymore to the weary voters who have turned sour with the pre-game warm-up that is the Clinton/Obama cage match. Either way, Guam has her spotlight for the next 24 hours and with that, we gratefully creep closer to an end.
Update 10:55pm CST:
CNN reporting Guam results. Obama wins by 7 votes. SEVEN!! This means Obama and Clinton will both get two delegates. The primary is still a dead heat and we’re still pounding our heads against the wall. Incredible.
The finale in Guam proves one thing: it never really mattered to begin with.
(CNN) — Barack Obama has won the Guam Democratic caucuses by a margin of 7 votes. Obama and Hillary Clinton will split the U.S. territory’s four pledged delegate votes evenly, with two apiece.
Did it surprise anyone that Clinton took Pennsylvania? I’m willing to wager that the Obama camp wasn’t shocked she won the popular vote in that state either. The fact that the Obama camp hasn’t gotten it’s feathers ruffled by the defeat is what’s particularly bothersome.
Most of us knew Clinton would take Pennsylvania. Sometimes demographics don’t lie. She had a lock on the state’s voters long before the ballets were cast; older, white, and female. It was just a matter of determining the margin of victory.
What’s got me irked then?
Money.
Flush with cash, Obama reported spending $11.2 million on television in the state, more than any place else. That compared with $4.8 million for Clinton.
Wow. Obama sure spent a lot of cash on a state that was destined to sway towards Clinton. Not to mention, before the Penn. primary, it was statistically unlikely Clinton will win enough delegates to receive the Democratic nomination.
And from what I can determine, the vast amount of spending Obama put into this states primary could only mean one thing:
Obama has long since past the point of his race with Clinton as being just business. Now, it’s personal. It’s so personal that he’s willing to spend nearly 25% of his on hand cash on a state that was favoring Clinton from day one.
Now, who was saying something about Obama and Clinton becoming running mates? They better be put up in two White Houses then.
Plain and simple, Michael Moore is standing by Obama. On his website, he posted a letter explaining why:
I haven’t spoken publicly ’til now as to who I would vote for, primarily for two reasons: 1) Who cares?; and 2) I (and most people I know) don’t give a rat’s ass whose name is on the ballot in November, as long as there’s a picture of JFK and FDR riding a donkey at the top of the ballot, and the word “Democratic” next to the candidate’s name.
Seriously, I know so many people who don’t care if the name under the Big “D” is Dancer, Prancer, Clinton or Blitzen. It can be Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Barry Obama or the Dalai Lama.
Right, so in general, many of us are just looking for anyone but a Republican in office next year.
But why Obama, Mr. Moore?
…over the past two months, the actions and words of Hillary Clinton have gone from being merely disappointing to downright disgusting. I guess the debate last week was the final straw. I’ve watched Senator Clinton and her husband play this game of appealing to the worst side of white people, but last Wednesday, when she hurled the name “Farrakhan” out of nowhere, well that’s when the silly season came to an early end for me. She said the “F” word to scare white people, pure and simple. Of course, Obama has no connection to Farrakhan. But, according to Senator Clinton, Obama’s pastor does — AND the “church bulletin” once included a Los Angeles Times op-ed from some guy with Hamas! No, not the church bulletin!
So… Clinton’s pulling out some dirty cards that show her as the evil hag she is… and?
There are those who say Obama isn’t ready, or he’s voted wrong on this or that. But that’s looking at the trees and not the forest. What we are witnessing is not just a candidate but a profound, massive public movement for change. My endorsement is more for Obama The Movement than it is for Obama the candidate.
Moore is identifying the momentum that’s swelling around Obama… a momentum that’s unifying a country… not polarizing. Apparently, a vote4 for Obama is a vote for something larger than one person. Recognizing the unification surrounding Obama is the most important point of his letter and why we should care.
Take a peak at the complete letter here.
Please excuse my failure to disguise disgust towards this guy….
At a VFW in Kansas City, Missouri, McCain called our countries care of it’s veterans a disgrace. That’s certainly true. Who would argue otherwise?
He went on to say that if he’s elected, McCain will do everything within his power to ensure that veterans receive “the highest quality health, mental health and rehabilitative care in the world.”
Excuse me, Sen. McCain. May I remind you for a moment that you:
If he didn’t vote for the care of our nation’s veterans in the past, why would he endorse it as the President?
Food for thought.
I’ve been grumpy over the stale mate between Obama and Clinton lately. It’s really not all that exciting anymore. I’m feeling a little run down by the constant name calling between the candidates (and the voters). It’s just getting so… I dunno… blah.
We just want a Democratic candidate!!
They say that technically, Clinton has no chance of winning. Obama will statistically have more deletage votes.
Newsweek broke it down for us a few weeks ago:
…no matter how you cut it, Obama will almost certainly end the primaries with a pledged-delegate lead, courtesy of all those landslides in February. Hillary would then have to convince the uncommitted superdelegates to reverse the will of the people.
Even coming off a big Hillary winning streak, few if any superdelegates will be inclined to do so. For politicians to upend what the voters have decided might be a tad, well, suicidal.
So what good can come out of such a futile battle? Why should we be happy to bear witness to the bad blood developing between Obama and Clinton?
VOTER REGISTRATION.
Get this.
Democratic voters and registrations are at an all time high. The Democratic party is spanking the Republicans in voter turnouts and registrants. For example, in Pennsylvania Democrats have topped 4 million registered voters, the first time either party in the state has crossed that threshold. That’s a four percent increase.
The Republicans, on the other hand, lost nearly one percent to 3.2 million.
What this means is that no matter who wins the Democratic nomination, the voters will be out en mass in November.
Look out McCain. Here we come.
Source: Video and Transcript of Sen. Obama Speech, March 18, 2008
Admit it. You were intrigued when you heard that Sen. Obama would give a planned speech on race.
He was catching a lot of flack lately by the words of his pastor, Reverend Wright. Not to mention that throughout his campaign he’s had to deal with the elephant sitting in every room he’s walked into.
Not that the other candidates don’t have similar troubles.
Clinton’s elephant is her gender.
But I wondered to myself if it would be beneficial to focus a 30 minutes speech on something that may be best left on the wayside? Is putting the issue of race or gender or religion right into the faces of American voters a good thing, or, will it just stir the pot even more until everything boils over in a mess of argument and debate?
As it turns out, that sort of outcome is all in how the issue is addressed.
I settled in last night to watch the speech at the link above long after he had already given it live. (Didn’t he know it was a work day!? Who could be home to watch it in the early afternoon?) I swore to be as impartial as possible. I wanted to hear the speech with virgin ears.
The first line of his speech came off as cliche, “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union”. I feared the next 30 minutes would be line after line of recycled rhetoric and I found myself grateful to have the ability to ‘fast forward’.
To my relief, he went right into the meat of the issue shortly after his introduction.
Never before has genealogy been so interesting. Senator Obama detailed his lineage as having both black and white bloodlines. He touched upon the heritage of his wife who’s lineage takes her through the terrible line of slavery. And then he said a line that rang loudly inside of me:
I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
Oh yeah. That’s right. Have we forgotten how special our country is compared to others?
Our country still carries upon her shoulders the shame of slavery but also the pride of embracing mixed races and creeds together under one roof. We don’t always get along. We don’t always like each other. But we still manage to coincide together in relative peace.
Obama’s point was that there’s still work to be done.
Some thought this speech would make or break him. No. It didn’t come off that way at all.
Instead, I think it only reinforced his loyalty to America and his understanding of the complex issues of race within our society. Not to mention, he’s a damn good orator.
Is America ready for a black President? I think after hearing this speech, any clear and logically thinking American can safely answer yes. Clear and logical thinking is the key. The reality, though, is that there are many Americans who are jaded and illogical. The most perfectly written speach won’t ever sway their opinions.
Obama did right to address the issue head on and he explained himself with elegance. But I don’t anticipate the speech swaying naysayers. Race is an issue that goes beyond resolution from one speech. If anything, the speech only further solidified Obama supporters. That’s better than nothing, I suppose.
Obama and Clinton Pettiness Continues While We Continue Watching With Disinterest
Both Democratic Presidential candidates have submitted lists to the press detailing all their various military supporters.
Apparently this proves credibility. And it also proves that size matters?
Personally, the only thing these lists prove to me is that they’re both supported by crusty old Admirals and Generals who have nothing better to do but throw their weight around a Presidential election.
Doesn’t anyone ever give a fuck about the enlisted personnel?
Just for shits and giggles, here are the two lists of military supporters the candidates submitted to the press (i.e. names you’ve never heard before, or, names you’ll immediately forget after reading this).
Clinton:
(Who appears to have died in 1818. hmmm… )
Would the real David Stone please stand up? Linkage here, here, and here. Hat tip to Jenn!
Obama:
I’ve attached links to the names for those officers I was able to find information about. Several of the officers I couldn’t scrap up much of anything via search engines.
They could be made fabricated names for all I know.
I received an email today from Sen. Obama. Well, not personally, but rather a campaign letter that bears his name. If there’s one thing we can say about the Obama campaign, it’s that they’ve got internet campaigning down to an art. And why not take advantage of a media that our generation seems to be intravenously fed through? It’s a smart move for any campaign.
But quiet honestly, I usually end up dumping the (almost) daily messages from the Obama camp, along with the other candidates’ messages, no matter what format it comes to me in. It’s usually just mumbles and bumbles of recycled rhetoric anyway.
But I noticed some stats from the Obama camps mass email today.
The email said that in the month of February, Obama claimed more than $55 million. That amount is ONLY for February donations. (!) Furthermore, he’s also claiming over 90% of those donations to be $100 or less from average Joe’s and Jane’s like you and I.
I don’t know about you, but that seems pretty fucking huge to me. Who are these people tossing money at this man? He’s clocked donations from over 1 million Americans. I’m intrigued. Why?
Because it’s hard for me to find good reason to give money to any politician. Perhaps it’s because the politicians in the last few decades have done little to gain our trust or faith. Maybe it partly feels like a whimsical use of finances when there’s always some other bill to be payed. But mostly I think my wallet is locked shut because it seems ignorant to give my hard earned cash to someone who should be serving me; not me serving them.
But if there’s one thing we can say about Obama, it’s that he’s a charming mofo. Ask the ladies who’ve fainted during his speeches. When considering the relative hysteria Obama is causing amongst young voters, does this explain the consistently high donation levels? Or is Obama connecting with voters strong enough to compel them to toss a few bucks his way.
I’d love to hear from someone who’s actually donated to the Obama campaign and what motivated them to do it.
Scrutiny has broken lose over a video posted by the Clinton campaign that allegedly shows Obama “blacker” than his true skin color. It was first observed and blogged about on the Daily Kos who accuses the Clinton campaign of not only making Obama appear “blacker” (i.e. more sinister) but also distorting his face to appear squished.
What say you?
But should a line be drawn with an African American opponent? Should this be considered treading too heavy on race waters that should be left undisturbed?
The right wing is calling this discovery preposterous. It’s explained as only a difference between video sources, software, and screens. Perhaps they’re right. But then again……..is it possible for a million dollar campaign to lay claim to electronic saturation and poor video quality? Is that really the best that their digital equipment can muster, not to mention, the best their video engineers can create?
Personally, I wouldn’t go so far as calling the Clinton campaign racist. But I would certainly acknowledge that it was a conscious effort to bring out the “blackness” in Obama. It’s a political tact to appeal to people’s fears and our country is still teaming with folk who shiver at the thought of a black man running anything in their lives. At this point, Clinton is on the edge of defeat. Put a Clinton against a wall and she’s sure to pull out some punches.Linkage:
The Clinton Campaign Ad showing Obama “blackified” here.
The original video of Obama here.
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