Happy April FOOLS!

Here is a excerpt from an interesting article about Hillary Clinton's odd humor:

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton walked somberly into a press conference Tuesday and stood before microphones. Reporters tensed, sensing something big might be afoot.
"This has been a very hard-fought race," she said. "We clearly need to do something so that our party and our people can make the right decision. So, I have a proposal."
The tension grew. Reporters shifted in their seats. Was she dropping out of the race? Offering to join rival Barack Obama as his running mate?
April Fools!
"Today, I am challenging Senator Obama to a bowl-off," Clinton said, provoking relieved laughs from the assembled scribes.
Clinton carried on, making reference to Obama's disastrous outing at a Pennsylvania bowling alley Saturday.
"A bowling night. Right here in Pennsylvania. The winner take all," she went on. "I'll even spot him two frames."
"It is time for his campaign to get out of the gutter and allow all the pins to be counted. I'm prepared to play this game all the way to the 10th frame. When this game is over, the American people will know that when that phone rings at 3 a.m., they'll have a president ready to bowl on day one." ...

There is more amongst the article. Clinton fills her speech with puns and small jokes to humor her audience. I just wanted to get a reaction from my adolescent peers about this "humorous" speech and how they feel about it. N-j-o-y!

Obama wins over Texas

Sen. Barack Obama has won the overall delegate race in Texas thanks to a strong showing in Democratic county conventions this past weekend. Obama picked up seven of nine outstanding delegates, giving him a total of 99 Texas delegates to the party's national convention this summer. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the other two, giving her a total of 94 Texas delegates, according to an analysis of returns by The Associated Press. Obama leads the overall race for the Democratic nomination with 1,631 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton has 1,501, according to the latest AP tally.

Senator Barack Obama has won over the current president's state. Is this a turning point for the Obama campaign or is this just a stepping stone?

What Happens Now?

In the wake of the latest round of Democratic contests many people are asking, "Now what happens?" Clinton picked up critical wins in Ohio, Texas, and the Rhode Island primaries (the Texas caucuses are still too close to call). Although these wins do not put her ahead in the delegate count, they did make Obama lose some of his momentum. According to CNN.com Obama has 1,520 delegates and Clinton has 1,424. In order to secure the Democratic nomination a candidate must get 2,025 delegates. So what do all these numbers mean? Because the Democratic delegates are allocated proportionally, the race appears to be headed to the party's convention in August. The next big Democratic primary, Pennsylvania, is seven weeks away on April 22 where 158 delegates are at stake. According to Mary Frances Berry, former chairwoman of the US Civil Rights Commission, "There are not enough votes left among pledged delegates for anybody to win the nomination." If there's not enough votes left then how can anybody win?

The answer comes down to the superdelegates. There are nearly 800 superdelegates who are free to cast their vote for the candidate of their choice. Based on superdelegates who have publicized their preference, Clinton leads Obama 238-199. Although it will take substantial wins in almost all of the remaining contests for either candidate to get the 2,025 delegates, Nancy Pelosi believes, "There are still many voters unheard from yet, and I think that our candidates both have the capacity to inspire, to bring out a big vote that will hold us in good stead in November." She also believes the nominee will be decided before the Democratic convention in August, and that the prolonged campaign is actually good for the party as it offers Democrats a chance "to make a clear distinction" about their differences with Republicans in a variety of issues.

As the contest will unfold in the near future, another question remains: what should Democrats do with Michigan and Florida? Clinton won both states but no delegates were at stake because they were being punished for violating party rules by scheduling their primaries early. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has already paid $18million for the primary in Florida, and if they have another primary that is not paid by the taxpayers the DNC will have to pay another substantial amount.

Do you agree with Pelosi that the prolonged Democratic contest is good for the Democratic party? Do you think a nominee will be decided on before the Democratic convention in August? What do you think should be done with Michigan and Florida? What are your thoughts about the election so far?

No more debates for Clinton?

After MSNBC anchor David Shuster made an inappropriate comment about Hillary Clinton "pimping" Chelsea Clinton out to celebrities by making her call them on her behalf, Hillary Clinton is considering never debating on MSNBC ever again. Clinton and Obama are scheduled for a debate February 26th before the Ohio Primary. Clinton's communications director, Howard Wolfson, believes that they will never debate on MSNBC ever again because Wolfson called Shuster's comments "beneath contempt."

Do you believe that this is a smart move for Clinton? It looks good for Hillary to back up her family and stand up for her daughter, but is missing out on debates that could potentially help her candidacy for president the right way to do it? What do you guys think?