My resoning was Romney has a much better chance of getting the GOP nomination than Obama getting the Dem. So if he isn'ty going to make step one, it was tough to place him ahead of Romney.

 

Looking at some match ups

 

Clinton - McCain is a race edge Clinton

Clinton - Romney is a Clinton winner

Obama - McCain is a McCain win

Obama - Romney is a race edge Obama

 

I think McCain wins the general if he gets the GOP nomination.

I always worry when we attack someone for making a new decision at a later date. Sometimes it is a great idea and perfectly understandable to change your mind. The I'm going to stick by this decision no matter how stupid or no matter how many peoplke get killed is dangerous.

 

Attack the second decision as right or wrong, but not the changing of the mind. I'd applaud if the second decision was better than the first.

I kind of surprised at Edwards timing on dropping out. One more week, and he's got the opportunity grab quite a few more delegates. He'd then be in a postion play to king/queen maker.

I kind of surprised at Edwards timing on dropping out. One more week, and he's got the opportunity grab quite a few more delegates. He'd then be in a postion play to king/queen maker.

The Club management may have strongly urged him to drop out.

The Club management may have strongly urged him to drop out.

 

That sounds about right.

New Gallup Poll... Obama / Clinton gap continues to narrow..

http://www.gallup.com/poll/104017/Gallup-D...ion-Stands.aspx

 

i think it's as simple as he cut a deal with Obama so he's dropping out. combine that with his wife's health and the insanity of his schedule over the next week - i mean if i were him i'd just skip it all too.

i think it's as simple as he cut a deal with Obama so he's dropping out. combine that with his wife's health and the insanity of his schedule over the next week - i mean if i were him i'd just skip it all too.

 

Well hell, if it has anything to do with your last sentence, he shouldn't have been in to begin with.

Edited January 30, 200818 yr by YASNY

Hillary is already starting to suck up...

 

I'm telling you, the Clintons don't do a DAMN thing without calculating the ramifications. Don't be surprised if Hillarity gets the endorsement.

Hillary is already starting to suck up...

 

That's just good politics.

I'm telling you, the Clintons don't do a DAMN thing without calculating the ramifications. Don't be surprised if Hillarity gets the endorsement.

she did an interview with a station in seattle. She seemed rather "bland" about Edwards dropping out. She didnt sound positive. Not that she was negative.. I just would have expected her to be a little more upbeat if she new something was coming. Basically all she said was that she was eager to reach out to his supports.

 

I am probably reading more into the interview than a should. but, just my thoughts.

Edited January 30, 200818 yr by Athomeboy_2000

I'm telling you, the Clintons don't do a DAMN thing without calculating the ramifications. Don't be surprised if Hillarity gets the endorsement.

Unlike the other candidates who just do whatever and hope it works? Would you want a President who doesn't calculate the ramifications? Everyone of them hires the best brain trust they can to get elected. I am certain Edwards and Guiliani weighed when was the best time to drop out to save their careers and boost them forward. They are weighing what endorsing or not endorsing a candidate will do to their careers.

Well hell, if it has anything to do with your last sentence, he shouldn't have been in to begin with.

 

my point is if there's a deal in the works there's no point in continuing.

I'm telling you, the Clintons don't do a DAMN thing without calculating the ramifications. Don't be surprised if Hillarity gets the endorsement.

Just like she got Ted Kennedy's?

Obama has huge rally getting ready to start in Denver ... Venue full, overflow crowd heading into another gym and a still long line waiting.

my point is if there's a deal in the works there's no point in continuing.

 

My point was that if his wife's health is that bad and he can't handle a hectic week, he has no business in the race or being president.

My point was that if his wife's health is that bad and he can't handle a hectic week, he has no business in the race or being president.

Exactly.

Off topic here ... But just saw (yes, on Fox News) where 5 box cars were BLOWN of a bridge in Ohio.

Edited January 30, 200818 yr by YASNY

Not surprising, I thought today that my car was going to be blown on its side driving to work today.

MSNBC just mentioned a poll that among Edwards voters...

40% would go to Clinton

25% would go to Obama

That leaves 35% undecided or other.

FWIW:

Top Edwards adviser Joe Trippi just confirmed to me by phone that the Hillary and Obama campaigns are already working overtime to woo Edwards to their sides -- even before his official dropout speech.

 

"They're banging down the doors," Trippi told me.

 

"I don't expect him to do anything today," Trippi said. "His will be a very coveted endorsement. He's got a fairly large following in the party, both on line and off, and I can't think of anybody else who would be bigger or more coveted."

 

Asked if an endorsement was possible before Feb. 5, something that could have a huge impact, Trippi declined to rule out the possibility. "I'll let him speak to that himself," Trippi said.

 

Trippi declined to specify precisely what pitch each campaign was making for his support.

 

Asked about the sudden timing of Edwards' decision to leave the race, Trippi declined to elaborate on what precipitated it.

 

"Look, the guy led on every single issue out there, whether it was poverty, the economy, global warming, or universal health care," Trippi said. "He moved the progressive agenda much further than any other candidate -- so much so that both Clinton and Obama adopted a lot of his language and agenda. Which is a great thing to have done."

 

"I would rather have won," Trippi conceded. "But I'll let him speak to why now and what it means to him."

BTW, I can think of one thing Trippi's wrong about. In this race there's 1 endorsement that would be more coveted than Edwards.

There are boatloads of Republican money sitting on the sidelines, just waiting for a winner to be identified. If McCain emerges, money will come flying at him.

Again, McCain has accepted public financing. He's limited in what he can spend.

Again, McCain has accepted public financing. He's limited in what he can spend.

At least according to this Kos post, which I think sums up McCain's financial situation pretty well but is from a partisan blog and which therefore may still have an error or two, he still hasn't accepted any matching funds due to a shortfall in funds in the matching fund system until this year's tax returns get processed...and therefore, he can still opt out of that system.

Some months back McCain's campaign applied for federal matching campaign funds. (The money comes from individual taxpayers who voluntarily check off a $3 contribution on their income tax return.) In December seven campaigns were officially notified that they qualified for matching funds. However, because of a funding shortfall, none of the federal matching funds have been released. Apparently the fund reserves the money needed for the general election before it starts to pay out matching funds for the primary, and until monies arrive from this year's tax returns, the fund doesn't have enough money to deliver money for the primary. John Edwards secured a bank loan against the federal funds, so he is officially locked in to abiding by the spending limits in the event he gets the nomination.

 

McCain qualified for $5.8 million in matching funds. He could do as Edwards has done, and get the money now by securing a bank loan against the eventual payment from the US Treasury. But McCain has been anything but "straight talking" regarding his money; until he receives the money from the Treasury or borrows against it, he's not locked in to the system. Thus, he's currently trying to evade the federal spending limits if he can raise enough money to stay viable, but holding out the option of taking the federal funds if he can't survive through tonight.

 

Here's McCain's problem. Accepting federal matching funds would limit him to spending no more than $53-$55 million during the primary period. (The exact figure will be adjusted based on the campaign's fundraising expenses and other expenditures.). If McCain wins the nomination and accepts the matching funds, the $53-$55 million limit would constrain his spending all the way until the beginning of September, when the Republicans nominate their candidate at their national convention in Minneapolis.

...

The money problem has led McCain to turn to K-Street lobbyists for help bailing out his distressed and bankrupt campaign. There are more lobbyist-bundlers collecting money for McCain's campaign than any other candidate's. Last night they banded together for a DC fundraiser expected to generate around $300,000. McCain needs that to keep his campaign alive, as it appears he's running on fumes.

 

If McCain wins Florida by a big margin, look for him to spurn the matching funds. He will establish his viability, and should get a good financial bounce. Presumably he would get money to continue on and lock up the nomination, which because of the Republicans' winner-talk-all primaries should be much easier to lock up.

Sad that the course of history, worldwide, hinges on who is writing checks to whom.