GrooveShark.com - Better than Pandora?

I know I already wrote about pandora. However, if you only got your 40 free hours of music this month from pandora and are hesitant about spending the $37 for unlimited music then switch to Grooveshark.com. Tons of music flows through Grooveshark and you can pretty much personalize it to yourself. It has great functionality and is very user friendly. I am not an avid user yet so I cant exactly fill you in on all of their great functions. I do know one thing though, If you’re Canadian you can actually use Grooveshark, unlike Pandora. Check it out, its easy to use, its sleek, and most importantly it has a lot of great music.

Clinton's Future

Following primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, and Obama's 200 delegate lead, BBC news speculated that Clinton's race was inevitably going to come to an end, more than likely before the next primary, arguing that mathematically she could not win. However, as the West Virginia Primaries loom around the next corner, Clinton is projected to hold a 43 point advantage over Obama. What does this mean for the election? Financially, Clinton's campaign is going down hill, and even though publicly, Clinton seems very set on remaining in the race, it will be interesting see whether her finances allow this. Having already lent about 11 million to her campaign, and making a plea toward supporters to help keep things afloat, without gaining some significant wins, it seems as if she may have to throw in the towel. This is not the first time that speculators have suggested that it may be the end for Clinton, which is why I am hesitant to believe the talk. But it will most definitely be interesting to watch these upcoming weeks, to see if she is able to make a comeback. I personally don't think that it's over yet. 

May 6th Primaries

Senator Obama seems to have put a halt to and momentum that Senator Clinton started to get going tonight. With her narrow victory in Indiana after she had been ahead in the polls by 5 or 6% going into the primary, she did not close the gap in North Carolina where Obama had an undisputed victory over Clinton raising his delegate lead over Clinton. Obama's speech was one which emphasize his patriotism and the American Dream. He seemed to speak with the super delegates in mind, as well. While Clinton claims to be remaining in the race at least until West Virginia, one commentator noted that this is not the end for the Clinton era for politics, but the beginning of the end. So the question remains, how much longer can she last?

Barack Renounces Wright

When the Rev. Wright controversy first emerged, Obama did not try to deny his relationship with the man who presided at his wedding and baptized his two daughters. But who knew that Wright could have such a deleterious effect on the campaign. Since then, it seems that Obama has hit roadblock after roadblock, walking down a path that seems to attract bad luck. Following the PA loss, it seems that he is losing steam, and the chart below highlights this exactly. It is unfortunate that one man could potentially be the catalyst to what seemed to be such a strong campaign, such a strong movement.

Obama has lost the momentum his campaign once had, and this Tuesday he tried to throw off some dead weight by adamantly separating himself from Reverend Wright. His comments have changed drastically from his previous stance, where he blamed the newsmedia for the way they portrayed Wright. Now, according to a recent New York Times article, Obama claims he "read the trancripts" and watched the broadcast. Now, he is “outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw ” He added: “I find these comments appalling. It contradicts everything that I’m about and who I am.”

It interesting how, after all this time, only now he is realizing how against Reverend Wright he is. A find it to be a way-too-late attempt to repair the guilt-by-association negativity that he has been unable to escape. Can one man really have such a profound effect on Obama's campaign? Are people unable to tell the difference between the two? Or does this just feed into the perception that Obama is anti-American?

Nevertheless, time will tell whether his recent change of heart towards Wright will have come too late.

Rev Wright and the Polls, Barack's deathnail?

Will public opinion polls ultimately decide how super delegates vote?

A vote--the deciding vote--hinges on polls of perceptions of a man not running for office: the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

A historic opportunity to begin to redress cynicism and the corruption of American democracy--squandered by a voting public unable and unwilling to distinguish between two starkly different men. Devastating.

Wright is not Helping

With Obama losing the Pennsylvania primary just last week, this is not a good time for his campaign to have to deal with more controversial comments made by Rev. Wright, while still trying to increase his support in the upcoming primaries. Personally I feel that because the election has taken a lull, this new information regarding Wright's comments that he would not be surprised if the U.S. government was responsible for the AIDS epidemic amongst African Americans, will drastically hurt Obama. Recent polls showed that 20% of voters in the Pennsylvania weighed heavily on the race issue. Even though Obama has stated that he in no way agrees with Rev. Wright's comments, it is still the issue that he has known this man for 20 years. Which makes me wonder, how can people control what their friends or acquaintances say? Is it fair to judge the candidates on what the public is saying? Yes, I know that is what happens, but is there a way to prevent it?

On Another note, the Republican party is constantly gaining more ammunition against Obama if he were to win the Democratic nominee. Could Rev. Wright be the main factor that prevents Obama from becoming the Democratic nominee?


http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-wright29apr29,1,2787169.story

The New Sailboat?

In the past month or so, Barack Obama is starting to look more and more mortal to voters throughout America. The scandal with Reverend Wright and the comments made about religion and guns have provided an opportunity for the Republicans to seize upon. In a great article on politico by Josh Krashaar, he explains how the RNC has recently purchased half a million dollars in ads to begin attacking Obama, particularly in Republican leaning districts in places like Mississippi and Louisiana. I think it will be interested to see how effective these ads will be in convincing voters that Obama is an elitist. I do not foresee them to be as damning as the sailboat ads for Kerry because it does not carry the same simple message of being able to say he said x than y. Instead, it will have to rely on statements like “Obama is an elitist. Who hates your ability to be religious or have a gun.” In reality, he doesn’t really think these things. Additionally, every President could probably be considered elitist given the schools they have attended, their families’ wealth, etc. I don’t think it will be quite the same issue as it was for Kerry but who knows.

Contributing:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9933.html