Have you noticed whenever those who don’t like Obama call him by his middle name Hussein, the Obama camp gears up for damage control?
I’m just curious as to why it is acceptable for politicians like Iowa’s Rep. Steve King to say things like “Al-Qaida would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror.”….if Barack “Hussein” Obama is elected president.
Obama’s response is not, “why should it matter if my father is Muslim or if I were Muslim?” Instead, Obama’s response is “But I have to say that Mr. King and individuals like him thrive on offensive or controversial statements as a way to get in the papers, so I don’t take it too seriously. I would hope Sen. McCain would want to distance himself from that kind of inflammatory and offensive remarks.”
Being called Muslim, apparently, is offensive and no one balks when a politician directly says that.
Here is the response from the Muslim community, according to The American Muslim Association: “AAI is deeply troubled that Senator Obama’s name continues to raise suspicions about his religious affiliation and is especially concerned about how commonplace and acceptable it has become to defame and degrade Islam. Any notion that questions the fitness of any loyal American to elected office because of race or religion is unacceptable and must be addressed.”
Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York is apologetic today. We’re not sure if he’s sorry for hiring prostitutes from a prostitution ring or for getting caught.
From CNN: “Spitzer, a Democrat, rose to prominence as a hard-charging attorney general hailed by Time magazine as “Crusader of the Year.” He was nicknamed “Eliot Ness” by the New York tabloids in reference to the incorruptible hero of “The Untouchables.” He was known for rooting out corruption within Wall Street and on the streets.”
“He also made a name for himself by busting prostitution rings.”
If you watched Austin legend Carole Keeton Strayhorn give her political analysis on Austin News last night, you were in for a treat. With punchy soundbites and political humor, Strayhorn broke down the local and national races with ease and a good dose of Texas sayings. She has a fan in me.
In case you have been under a rock, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in Texas last night.
Clinton got 51% of the total votes to Barack’s48%. CNN has a great map of each county and how they voted.
Out of the 126 Delegates awarded through the actual primary:
Clinton: 65
Obama: 61
67 delegates will be awarded with the results of the caucus. The caucus numbers are still being calculated and you can get the updates throughout the day here.
Here are the caucus results thus far for our counties:
Obama for America Texas State Director Adrian Saenz issued the following statement in response to reports of Clinton campaign supporters attempting to undermine Texas caucus rules:
“We are disappointed to see the Clinton campaign once again engaging in an effort to diminish the importance of the Texas caucuses and discourage Texans from participating. We have reported several specific incidents of Clinton campaign supporters seeking to circumvent the rules and illegally boost their caucus performance by soliciting signatures on precinct convention sign-in sheets - even before the caucuses have started.
“We are pleased to see that the Texas Democratic Party responded to our reports of wrongdoing and is working diligently to ensure that the rules are followed, and that eligible voters are allowed to participate and have their votes counted in a timely fashion.”
We got a letter from Clinton’s field director, saying Obama’s campaign staff are breaking party rules. Here is an excerpt:
“In preparation for tonight’s precinct conventions, the Clinton campaign has worked with the Obama campaign and the Texas Democratic Party over the past few weeks to ensure that there was clarity of the rules and that every voter has a chance to participate in the process on an even playing field.
Unfortunately, we have received numerous reports that the Obama campaign is violating Texas Democratic Party rules by circulating precinct convention sign in sheets in advance and are having them filled in now. These underhanded tactics undermine the process that all parties agreed to.
The Texas Democratic Party has issued a memo this afternoon once again clarifying that these sign-in sheets are invalid and that this tactic is a violation of the rules.
We want every Texas voter to know that sign in sheets distributed before the primary polls close, will not count. We encourage them to participate in their precinct convention by showing up at their polling location at 6:30pm.”
“If either campaign has worries about the validity, there are rules and procedures within the party rules on questioning the other candidate,” said TDP spokesperson Hector Nieto. “We sent out a memo, however, and we expect both campaigns to follow this memo.”
On our KXAN website, we have set up a page where you can get up to the minute election results. We will also be live streaming the behind the scenes chaos happening, featuring yours truly. So, please tune in! That will start happening around 7pm tonight, as we get the results.
We will also have Carole Keeton Strayhorn in our offices to help us analyze what is happening. Here’s some interesting info on this “one tough grandma”
She is the first woman to: be mayor of Austin, serve 3 consecutive terms as mayor, be elected to the Railroad Commission, be elected as Comptroller, serve as president of Austin School Board and serve as president of Austin Community College Board
Dean Keeton street at the UT campus is named after her father, W. Page Keeton, who was dean of UT’s Law School
During her stint as comptroller, when she married Strayhorn and changed her name again, it is reported that instead of ordering all new stationery and discarding the old, she simply crossed out “Rylander” on the existing stationery and replaced it with “Strayhorn”, as a means of saving taxpayer funds.
She played the bit role of a Sheriff in the 1980 movie Roadie starring Meat Loaf (credited as “Carole McClellan”).
She did special reports for KXAN back in the 1980’s!
Hello readers! While you are at work, home, wherever - I will be liveblogging the day (not minute by minute, of course, but frequently). So, check back often!
The Democratic “Texas Two Step”
The Texas Democratic Party’s rules to award delegates is causing some controversy. That’s because even if one candidate wins the primary, they may not get the most delegates if the other candidate’s supporters know to stick around for the caucus. The Clinton campaign has threatened to sue the party because it fears that exact situation may happen. Some would say Sen. Barack Obama has a better organized grassroots effort in Texas, which means his camp may be able to inform more voters on the importance of sticking around for the caucus or precinct convention.
“We sent a letter to both campaigns, saying the process is what it is. We don’t get to the change the rules in the middle of the game,” said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie.
Democratic Delegate Breakdown
Texas has 228 democratic delegates. 126 of those delegates are divided proportionally among the candidates according to the primary votes. 67 delegates are chosen at the caucus or precinct convention. 35 are super delegates (made up of elected officials, the party chair, etc) who can make their own choice.
At the caucus, neighbors will gather and choose delegates to go on the county convention. Let’s say they get to choose two delegates. If there are an even number of Obama and Clinton supporters at the caucus, one delegate will be chosen for Obama and the other for Clinton. If the great majority of people who go to the convention are Obama supporters, however, he will get both delegates.
The delegates chosen in every one of the 3000 precincts across the state will then go their individual county conventions. At the county convention, they can offer themselves up to continue as a delegate and if they are selected, they go on to the state convention. There, 67 delegates will be chosen from that pool to go on to the national convention and vote for the candidate they were chosen to represent at the caucus on the night of the primary.
“This two step process was formed to force people to get involved at the grassroots level,” said Richie.
In this case, the grassroots could end up picking the Democratic nominee.
The Republican Precinct Convention
The Republicans also have a precinct convention after the primary at their polling locations. However, this has no impact on your vote. This is the place to go, however, if you want to represent who the voters chose on the ballot and go on to the county convention, state convention and national convention.
Republican Delegate Breakdown
Texas sends 140 delegates to the Republican National Convention. 96 are chosen according to the vote in each of the state’s 32 congressional districts. If one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in a district, they will get all three delegates for that district. If no one gets the majority, the delegates are divided proportionally among the candidates who got more than 20% of the vote. 41 of the delegates are called at-large and are awarded also either as a winner takes all (if the candidate gets more than 50% of the Republican votes overall in the state) or they are divided proportionally if no one gets a majority (again, they must get at least 20% of the vote to get delegates). 3 are uncommitted delegates and can vote as they please. They are position holding members of the party.
