The Greatest Upset in American Political History

Or so says Chuck Todd's Goatee:



Sorry for all the politics stuff....I do have a few non-political things to write about, and I will get to them.

But I do not think it is possible to overstate the signifigance of what has happend in the last few days.

I just read back through what I have been writing on here since March, and what I have been saying on my MySpace Blog (www.myspace.com/terrygilmore1) going back a year.

I have known, as a certainty that this moment would come, and I may have been a little cocky about it.

But to see it, take 10 minutes and watch the speech again, look at the fire in his eyes when he is talking about McCain and the economy.

This is not a man who is simply attacking McCain because he is his political opponent. He cares about the future of our country and is afraid of what 4 more years of George Bush, manifested in the person of John McCain will mean for our country.

Obama 08

Hillary Clinton will (finally) exit the campaign on Saturday, after she was told by both Senate and Congressional Super Delegates who had previously endorsed her that if she did not get out, they would be forced to embaress her by publicly switching their endorsements to President(Senator)Obama.

And with that, lets begin the long march to November.

I have previously predicted a landslide, and I am sticking to that. Something is happening in this country.



I was reading something today about how uncomfortable McSame looks, and how hard of a time he is having delivering these lines.

The author was making the point, and I think that I agree with him, that McCain is basically a decent guy, as far as politicians go, but that he has allowed his Campaign to be hijacked by people who believe as Karl Rove does, that if you do not fight dirty, you can't fight at all.

Unfortunately for the people in McCain's campaign, they fail to see that Barack Obama just defeated the most powerful political juggernaught that his country has seen in 30 years, a juggernaught who repeatedly took their game plan directly from Karl's play book.

Obama's message trancends traditional politics.

It is difficult to define his positions on an antiquated linear political spectrum because so much of his policy, is outlined on a "solution based approach". He has the tremendous ability to see a problem and find a solution. Those solutions are difficult to chart on a linear Liberal-Conservative spectrum, because some of the answers to the difficult questions are not Liberal or Conservative.

It is this reason that so many in the traditional media are having such a hard time defining him, and why so many people justify not supporting him by saying "I just don't know where he is on the issues"

The simple answer is, he is here on one issue, and there on another.

Pundits and Talking Heads have not quite figured out to do with him, or how to analyze what it is that he is doing. So they stick to the simplistic script that has worked so well in the past, Obama v. Hillary, Obama v. McCain, Pastor Wright, William Ayers, White voters not liking him etc.

Barack Obama is a different type of politician, for a different generation of people. Which explains why he has drawn comparisons to JFK, RFK, Reagan, and Dr. King.

It has proven impossible, to this point to put him into a neat box.

The Inevitable Candidate

She was up by 30 points Nationally in December of '07

Please keep that in mind when people are talking about how close she made this.

This Video Just Surfaced

From the Clinton Campaign's war room.



As you can see, Terry McCauliff's (played by Bill Paxton)demeanor has changed dramatically from last night, when he introduced Mrs. Clinton as "The Next President of the United States!"

Hillary (played perfectly by Sigourney Weaver, perfectly) is still clinging to the concept that her bid for the White House is not over.

Our Moment

I have a lot to say, and a ton on my mind so I will try to stay as on point as possible. I would love to write something eloquent about last night, and I will. But I cannot and will not stop myself from criticizing both Senators Clinton and McCain.

Let me start first with my thoughts about last night.

In my mind, last night has been a foregone conclusion since the middle of January. I saw how Hillary Clinton was running her campaign, I saw the packed arenas, and the message of hope, and I fully expected that I would be writing what I am writing at some point.

Knowing it was going to happen, and watching a black man and his beautiful black wife take the stage on the night where he locked up the nomination for the Democratic Party for the Presidency of the United States was more powerful than I think I have words to describe.

There is something special about this man and it is more than pretty words and an eloquent manner of speech.

I heard Pat Buchanan saying last night on MSNBC that what Obama must do now is make a move towards the middle.

To that I say Bullshit, Obama represents the middle right now.

Where are the American people on the war?

Where are the American people on Health Care?

Where are the American people on the economy?

Where are the American people on the environment?

Did I miss any?

Barack Obama is with the majority of the American people on every one of these major issues.

82% of the American people feel that our country is going in the wrong direction.

That means that 18% of people are all for George Bush's third term, manifested in the person of John McCain.

I got on the bus in the summer of '04. I had to that point a very limited knowledge of politics, and little interest.

Then my sister mentioned a skinny guy from Illinois with a funny name and big ears.

I was not enthusiastic about John Kerry. I was supporting Howard Dean in 04 until the media killed him for a yell.

I watched the convention in the summer of 04 and was blown away by that skinny guy from Illinois with the funny name and big ears.

When he threw his hat into the ring for the Democratic nomination, I was at first uncomfortable with his associations with an anti-gay, black minister. I am chaffed slightly by his religion but I understand its necessity with a majority of his base.

I wish that he openly supported equal marriage rights for all citizens, but I understand that in this political climate, it is an issue that should be decided by the states first. I am a federalist for the most part, and think that the States should decide how they want to legislate.

Watching last night, as he fist pounded his wife as she walked off the stage, I realized, as my throat caught, just how important a thing it was that I was watching.

The Tide is in fact Turning.



Now, onto some negative thoughts from last night.

I will start with Senator Clinton, and I hope this is the last thing that I write about her for a very long time.

I truly hope, that at some point in her life, she realizes just how much of a mistake that she made last night. Just what kind of an opportunity that she missed.

The entire nation was watching, the world was watching. She will never again have that many eyes on her.

She had an opportunity to begin healing the party, and moving forward towards what I believe to be an inevitable win in November (more on that later).

She had a moment, it was her moment as Obama would say, to show both her supporters, and those like me who have been radically turned off by the tenor of her campaign, that she has the capacity to rise about the noise and the petty bickering, to say what she needed to say, and step to the side to allow Obama his moment.

Instead she made it about her. The speech was about her, and where she goes from here. The speech was an extended version of the notion, "if you don't play by my rules, I will talk my ball and go home".

She, and her supporters continue to float this notion, that somehow Obama owes her some debt, or the 17 million people who voted for her, wont support him.

I say to that, and god I hope Obama feels the same, if you chose to support George Bush's third term manifested in the person of John McCain, and all that it entails (conservative justices, continued war, failed economic policy, etc.) so be it, but you live with that.

Obama owes nothing to Clinton. He doesn't have to dangle Roe v. Wade in front of women voters faces to entice them to vote for him (as I heard one woman say as she was justifying a vote for McSame)

If Clinton supporters, and Clinton herself chose to vote against their own self interest, go the-fuck-ahead, but don't threaten the Democratic Nominee with, if you dint play by my rules, I will take my supporters and go home.

This maniacal, narcissistic, delusional concept that Obama has to pander to Senator Clinton is unbelievable.

I was so right about Obama being the nominee, that I have grown cocky, and am ready to make another prediction.

THERE IS NO WAY ON GOD'S GREEN FUCKING EARTH THAT HILLARY RODHAM FUCKING CLINTON IS GOING TO BE THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON BARACK OBAMA'S FUCKING TICKET

There, I feel better having gotten that off my chest.

There are plenty of reasons why she will not be, but let me highlight a few.

1.) Obama does not want Bill Clinton, and all that baggage in the West Wing. Bill would be forced, for the next 6 months to answer questions ranging from Monica, to Saudi donations numbering in the tens of millions to the Clinton Library.

2.) Fox News, and every other conservative news outlet has been foaming at the mouth, just waiting for Hillary to be the nominee so that they can unleash the hounds of fucking hell on her. I find it kind of odd that Fox has been so nice to the good Senator from NY, having once been a major factor in her self described "Right Wing Conspiracy". Sean Hannity has basically endorsed Clinton for President, does anyone honestly think that is because he really likes her, or because the Right would love to run against her.

3.) And probably most importantly, Senator Clinton has just spent the last 18 months trying (unsuccessfully) to convince the American people that she, and Senator McCain are prepared to be President, and Obama is not. As a matter of fact, the RNC has already generated an add, using video of Clinton saying that very same thing, to use against Obama. How exactly is that going to go over on the campaign trail, where the VP is on tape saying the Presidential nominee is not ready to lead?

I will tell you how, it won't. Because it is not going to happen.

All this talk about a so-called unity ticket is going to be the media's way of keeping this debate alive.

The cable news networks have experienced an unbelievable bounce in their ratings during this protracted battle between Clinton and Obama. That battle is now over, unless they are able to keep her in the discussion, which they will through talk of this Unity Ticket bullshit.

I am telling you now, it is not going to happen.

Which leads me into my final point. The problem the media is going to face for the next six months is, there is no competition here between McCain and Obama.



I watched as much of this speech as I could stand last night and was absolutely struck by the juxtaposition of this speech when compared to Obama's.

McCain is boring the live out of the 18 people in the audience. 32,000 people were at Obama's speech last night, over 15,000 of them outside, just so they could say they were there.

In the media's rush to celebrate Obama's victory last night, a little noticed fact slipped through the cracks.

John McCain LOST THE PRIMARY IN MONTANA LAST NIGHT

And not only did he lose. He came in third place behind Mitt Romney (and his hair) and Ron Paul.

As in-line with the American people as Barack Obama is on the issues, John McCain is equally out of touch.

Take all of the issues I mentioned above, and guess where John McCain (and all the lobbyist he has working on his campaign) is on every one of them....You guessed it, right in line with George W. Bush.

He is so in step with Bush, he voted with the President 95% of the time in '07.

And I have a news flash, John McCain's age is a campaign issue. Period.

Barack Obama being black does not effect his ability to lead. John McCain's age, could potentially have a negative effect on his. Call me an Ageist. I don't care. There is no reason to assume that a 71 year old man will have the mental capacity to lead this country. Presidents age at 4 time the rate of average people because of the stress of the job. Look back on some pictures of W if you don't believe me, he looks like a different man since 2000, of course that could be the weight of the 10,000+ Americans that have died unnecessarily on his watch.

Once again, I am so cocky following my accurate Obama prediction, I am going to go out on a limb again, and feel free to hold me to this:

BARACK OBAMA IS GOING TO WIN THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND IT WILL NOT EVEN BE CLOSE.

There I said it.

Conservatives are going to realize that he is not all that conservative (seeing as Bush has overseen the largest growth in the National Debt in history on his watch, and McCain is Bush x3)

Christians are going to realize that, Jeremiah Wright aside, Barack Obama is more like them than McSame is.

The base is going to fail him. The tactics of Karl Rove, rallying the base on social issues like gay marriage, to turn around and forget about those same people for four years until you need them again, simply can not continue to work.

As far as VPs go.

McCain will probably chose someone who will help him with that base, most likely Mike Huckabee.

Obama has an awesome group of people to chose from. I am hoping for General Wesley Clark, or Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius.

It has been rumored that the Clinton camp has warned Obama that he better not chose another woman, or else.

OR ELSE FUCKING WHAT?

This is getting fairly long. Please post your thoughts in the comments section.

Fired Up! Ready to Go!

signed, sealed, delivered

I am typing this on my phone, lying in bed so I will keep this pretty brief. Barack Obama won the nomination of the democratic primary for the president of the united states. I am truely speechless. My daughter will grow up in a country that I am proud of. Tonight is for Barack and Michelle Obama. Tonight is for their daughters, and mine. Good night and good luck.

It is Over

Today the Democratic Primary Season comes to an end. The "Inevitable Candidate" has lost.

Try as she might to paint herself as an underdog who fought through the negitive attacks, and constantly being counted out by the Main Stream Media, Senator Hillary Clinton Was Supposed to Win This Thing. Easily.

She is one half of the most powerful Democratic Couple since Franklin and Elanore Roosevelt.

She began the campaign with a store of Super Delegates already in her pocket.

She had a well oiled political machine ready to propel her to the station she saw as her's.

Then Obama won Iowa, and it all changed.

She cried in New Hampshire, had a "human moment" what ever that means, "found her voice" what ever that means, and won there.

Then came Super Tuesday, and Obama won primary after primary. Never sinking to the lowest common denominator, as he could have easily done.

There was the sniper fire issue

The fact that the Clintons turned to none other than the Reverend Jerimiah Wright during their marital troubles in the 90's

The gas tax holiday joke

At any point he could have sunk to her level. He did not.

While she was making veiled references to Louis Farrakahn, and questioning his religion (he was a Christian, as far as she knew), Obama was making the most important speech that this country has heard on race is 40 years.

Please tune in tonight, Obama is going to make the speech of his life.

I got on the bus in 2004. I watched the Philadelphia address, my daughter will be watching with me tonight.

FIRED UP! READY TO GO!

YES WE CAN

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

FIRED UP! READY TO GO!



The Tide is Turning

On My Brain

As I drove into work this morning I was forced to turn off the radio and begin contemplating locking myself in a sealed box for the next week or two until the Democratic nomination is decided.

I heard a Clinton supporting woman caller explain her rationale for voting for McCain and my head literally began to hurt.

According to this caller, because women had been pivital in freeing the slaves, and running the "underground railroad", Senator Obama owed it to Clinton to step aside for her, and If he did not, this caller would be forced to do the only thing she could, vote for John Mc-Bush.

When the host tried to explain that as rediculous as her argument was, it was made even worse by the fact the Obama's father hailed from Africa, and therefore his direct decendants were not aided by the efforts of Abolitionist women.

This was followed by a five second hesitation, and the caller yelling about the "four lost delegates", that Hillary was supposedly screwed out of on Saturday.

The problem with this line of thinking is, there were no delegates to "lose" in Michigan, because according the DNC rules, the vote did not count. Not to mention, Senator Obama's name was not on the ballot. If Clinton and her supporter's had their way, she would get the votes that went for her, and the "uncommitted" votes would go to no one, because technially people did not vote for Obama.

I turned off the radio and drove in silence.
---------------------------------------------

I watched "Recount" on HBO yesterday. I was 17 and a senior in High School in November or 2000. I was more politically informed that most of the people that I went to school with, but I had no idea about what really happened.

I have been told in the eight years since that the election was stolen, and that the Supreme Court of the United States of America handed this election to Bush.

But seeing it, watching it, was harder than I thought it would be.

I actually cried.

I found myself saying out loud, to no one in particular: "God Damn you Al Gore"

Knowing now what that decision, the decision to stop fighting as cost our country, I was overwhelmed.

What bothers me the most I think is the media's complicity in all of this.

What the country learned from Scott McClellen's book last week was that the Bush Administration fed our country nothing but lies and propaganda to get us into war.

None of this is news to me. I was fighting with a college professor in the Spring of 2005 about the lies and justifications for war. I said then that it was about oil and nothing more.

He was a former liberal, who had been scared into submission by 9/11 (funny how convenient that is, I always ask myself: Who Benefits?) and had become a neo-con Bush mouthpiece spouting rediculous assertions about the merits of the "Bush Doctrine" of foreign policy. I remember you David Stavely, and would love for a face-to-face reunion so I can ask what bull-shit justificaitons you are clining to now. Because I was right about everything I said in that class, that I was almost failed for.

What bothers me, is that our "independent" media bought this, bought all of it. And why now, is it never brought up when talking about the desasters of the last eight years, that this man did not win the presidency, he was handed it.

Watching that movie, and seeing the reaction from the Clinton supporters following this weekend's decision and the inevitiblity of an Obama win tomorrow (we will have a nominee by Wednesday, June 4th) I was absolutly disgusted.

Clinton is acting no different than Bush, and his supporters did in Florida in November and December of 2000. Win at all costs or create as much Chaos as possible as you go down.

As of this writing, Barack Obama is 44 delegates, be they pleged or super, away from the nomination.

I called this race over in February, as it has been.

And I'm Back

Sorry for the light blogging this week, it has been a weird week. Hopefully this makes up for it:



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