A Victory for Clinton?

Clinton's overwhelming defeat of Obama by receiving 50% of the vote compared to his 33% in Florida's primary last night, but can you count that as a victory if there are no delegates at stake? Granted I am no genius when it comes to politics, but I do know that throughout the primaries one of the main goals is to collect delegates, 2,025 in fact to capture the the nomination. With Florida being stripped of their delegates for wanting to move up their primary, in my opinion, this victory really does not count as a victory.

It is conceivable that Clinton was attempting to slow down the Obama campaign after a solid victory in South Carolina, but promoting a victory in a state where the other candidates did not spend time or money in seems to me that she may be getting desperate. I also have to return to the Michigan primary, where again no delegates were rewarded, and yet Clinton's name was the only one on the ballot. In all fairness, she will receive the media coverage of the fact that she did win by a large margin in Florida, and she is probably hoping that this "victory" will help her secure more delegates on Tuesday's primaries, but in my opinion I see this as her struggling to retain delegates and therefore is overjoyed when she wins a state that does not increase her chances of obtaining the nomination.

On a side note, it will be interesting to watch the debate on Thursday with Edwards dropping out. I have a feeling that this debate is going to be an even worse cat-fight than the previous one.

Much Ado About Nothing?

It's an exciting time to follow politics, for sure. But it's also a confusing one. As the primary period approaches the crucial "Super Tuesday" voting and millions of Americans prepare to simultaneously cast their votes for their party's general election candidate, there's one large, glaring, yet strangely familiar figure that must be dealt with first: Florida.

For Republicans, the stakes are clear: win Florida, and you, most likely, become the "front runner" for your party's nomination. With McCain and Romney, the best performers thus far in the race, virtually tied in current polls in Florida, a win would be huge. Not only would they be victorious in a "winner take all" contest and collect all of the at-large delegates, but this victory, coming exactly a week before "Super Tuesday," would give the winner huge momentum and, presumably, a good number of new donors that could give them the edge in those crucial contests the next week. It's clearly a big deal.

But what does Florida mean for the democrats? Well, that depends on who you ask. Because of the state's decision to move its primary up before Super Tuesday, the Democratic Party punished the state by taking away its delegates. The candidates, therefore, agreed to follow the rules of this punishment by not campaigning in the state. There will be an election for the democrats on Tuesday, despite all this, but really, who cares?

Clinton, that's who. While Obama is now focusing on Super Tuesday states and passing Florida by, because of the state's temporary status as a meaningless contest, Clinton realizes that there is a great opportunity here to recapture the spotlight, with her name still on the ballot, and claim victory in a key general election battleground right before Super Tuesday. Even before votes were cast in South Carolina on Saturday, Hillary Clinton, presumably expecting a large defeat in SC, had already begun to try to shift the focus to the Sunshine State. She even says she'll be there Tuesday night as the results come in, knowing she'll, most likely, easily claim victory.

Why this is so interesting is that Florida, the star of the 2000 election, and key to any presidential general election victory, is being treated like an afterthought by Obama, as he was told to do by his party, and Clinton is using this unique opportunity to her advantage. It's even been said that the Republicans have loved watching this recent show of "Florida-dissing" by the democrats, as come November, democratic voters who felt they may have been ignored in the primary period may not be as enthusiastic about showing up at the polls and supporting Obama, or Clinton, for that matter. Clinton sees both this danger, and the possibility of a large, symbolic victory over Obama, and she is ready to capitalize on this Tuesday night. So what does Florida really mean for this election? We'll soon find out.

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The GOP race

The GOP debate tonight  gives us an opportunity to not lose sight of that very competitive race. The debate just ended and it is being already talked about as critical to Giuliani's hopes. Treat this as an open thread to discuss the GOP race and GOP candidates.

Also wanted to share a recent McCain video. In between being endorsed by Sylvester Stallone and the New York Times, we see a little of McCain being positioned as the best candidate to beat the Democrats in November.

Mitt Knows who Let the Dogs Out

I thought this was pretty funny. This video is of Romney in Jacksonville, FL trying, and failing, to relate to voters. Enjoy...