Let's Not Forget

What this country went through when Bobby Kennedy was assasinated. Why the hell would Hillary bring this up? Again, what goes through her mind to justify citing RFK's assassination as an example of the reason should stay in the race. It shows her singular focus on things that only matter to her.

America Is Driving Less

There would in fact appear to be some price elasticity of demand with gasoline. Vehicle Miles Fell 4.3% in March

Hillary Justifies Staying in the Race since RFK was assasinated in June

In what is one of the more telling statements of her state of mind, Hillary Clinton justifed her continued participation in nomination process by referencing the timing of Bobby Kennedy's assasination in June of 1968:

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it."

My reaction here is that this is symptomatic of her having taken this too far. This is no longer a competitive candidacy. It has become a fixation, with some element of psycopathy thrown in for good measure.

Belated Commentary on Mark Dann

The Dems were able to get Mark Dann out of office. That was actually 2 days before I predicted his departure would take place.

Lesson here: Responsible leaders should purge their ranks of the bad eggs, not welcome them back with thunderous applause.

Greenhills Voting Trends - Last Three Primaries

There has been some commentary elsewhere on the Internets suggesting that it might more likely to consider crossover voting with the intent of mischief in Greenhills, more so than the voters' consideration for the "current state of affairs" (e.g. War in Iraq, gas prices, housing market, flat wages, health care costs, etc.) driving the larger Democratic turnout. I had indeed made what I think would be a fairly sound assumption that the movement to the Democratic side of the ballot could actually result from the assessment that the community's own view of the situation would drive a better turnout. Challenged on this point, I'll post my thoughts in more detail over the next few days, as time permits.

One method of validation will come once the actual registration patterns are revealed at a household level. I would guess that we will see some of the mischief described above (R->D switches among long term Republicans, following Rush Limbaugh's directive), but not at the level that would account for the difference. Voter turnout, along with the number of new registrants will be another element to look at as well. Each will be a a topic for a later post. And a final point to consider will be declared voting patterns over the past 3 primaries.

To that final point, I think the chart, with vote totals from the last three presidential year primaries, suggests that there might be something happening in Greenhills. There has been a 305% increase in declared Democratic ballots cast in the village at the same time the Republican tally has decreased by nearly 24%.

One election is an anomaly. Three election cycles suggests a trend. More to come on this topic as well.

Greenhills: Total Presidential Primary Votes Cast

A breakdown for all candidates across both parties is shown at right for the community of Greenhills in the March primary. The story here is the overwhelming number of votes for the Democratic candidates - - nearly doubling up on McCain. This was March, so at the time, Romney had dropped, but I think Huckabee was still in the game, possibly dropping out soon after Ohio.

There was some compelling commentary on NPR this morning regarding whether the Obama will be able to pull in the Clinton supporters by November. It will be intriguing to watch over the next couple months, to see if in fact, as the contest becomes a two person race, whether Obama can overcome what has been an unhealthy and divisive (for Democrats) aftertaste of the campaign, up until the last couple of weeks. If McCain can be saddled with the "third Bush term" yoke, and those Americans with a racist chip on their shoulder can nonetheless see through broader benefits a more comprehensive change provides, we may see history made in November.

Update: I realized the chart might be hard to read:

Clinton 383
McCain 380
Obama 350
Huckabee 172
Romney 25
Paul 25
Edwards 8
Thompson 6

Greenhills Democratic Presidential Primary Votes

Clinton and Obama came out of the primary neck-and-neck, reflecting the competitive nature of the Democratic presidential primary throughout this election cycle. Given the demographics of the community, I'm actually a bit surprised by the strong turnout Obama has within the community. You'd think the way the media has portrayed in the more recent election cycles, I never would have guessed there were that many Elites (or for that matter, African Americans) in Greenhills for him to get 350 votes.

Kidding aside, I think this might, in our own little corner of RedState America, bode well for Obama.

Greenhills: More Dem Ballots Cast in Recent Primary

Not that this should be too big of a shocker, given the current state of affairs in the country, but more Democrats voted in the March primary in Greenhills than Republicans. This data, pulled from the Hamilton County Board of Elections website, suggests that of the 1,469 votes cast in the March primary, 747 (or 51%) were Democratic ballots, 627 (43%) were Republican ballots, and 95 (or about 6%) were Issue ballots only.

Now, how many were part of Operation Chaos?!?

Barack Obama 'has enough super-delegates to win Democratic nomination' - Telegraph

Not sure why this reporting is coming from the UK, but there you have it, from the Telegraph in the UK, at the same time that 4 out of the 5 major Sunday news shows are still positioning the fight as continuing. I'm betting the nomination fight is over, but Hillary's activities in tearing apart the Democratic Party may only now be hitting high gear.

No, Not a "We Should be Like Europe" Rant

We are not Europe. In Europe, the middle and upper class seek to live in the urban centers, while the poor/lower class tend to live outside the city. With the notable exceptions of say, New York and Chicago, the opposite is the case (blanket indictment I know, but let me make my point). The left is often get accused of secretly aspiring to model America to be like Europe. And the attached chart makes that point that as it pertains to other forms of transportation, Europeans have the capacity certainly to walk or bicycle to other locations, given how they live. But Krugman makes the point that in terms geography, and for the most part with respect to our our living patterns, we are not significantly different than Canada, but in terms of the effectiveness of our public transportion, they are way ahead of us.

Case Example 4,562 of BushCo's Disregard for the Military

Yet another example of the Bush Administration's blatant disregard and disrespect for our nation's military. In this example, the remains of fallen military are taken to a animal crematorium for processing, contrary to standard - and appropriate - military procedure.

This Ain't No Ringin' Endorsement

I hope Dann is packing his boxes, and clearing out his office, because when the Governor makes these sort of comments, he does NOT have your back. It can't happen soon enough. I'm guessing by next Friday (May 16th) Dann will be gone.

Dean on Fox News Sunday - Smart Commentary

I have to say that I waver at times as to the role that Howard Dean has played leading the DNC. One point in in his favor, a very strong point at that, is his 50 state strategy, which he was criticized for by beltway dems, and ridiculed by the right; however I believe it paid some dividends in 2006, and will do so again in 2008.

He talks in soundbytes, sometimes too abbreviated. But as Chris Wallace tried to make some hay around the you-were-boycotting-us-before-but-now-you're-not meme, Dean came back with a couple zingers that were spot on. His explanation that the Dems avoided Fox for the debates, completely negates Wallace's argument, and points out that the Dems strategy worked to a "T": When it mattered most to Fox, during the debates, when Fox could control the questions and the agenda, the Dems would not and did not participate. But on the Sunday news cycle, as things are winding down (hopefully), and the Democratic candidates and party leadership are seeking opportunities to reach out to the fringe Dems who still watch Fox, its completely on Fox's dime. Free Pub for Dems. Gotta love it.

How to leave a comment

Ok, so I know there are folks who are reading this blog, because I will get the occasional commentary. A very simple means to begin the online conversation is to post a comment. It's really very simple:



Just click on the comments field below. At this point, I've not blocked anyone from posting, so you are free to post away.

Greenhills Democrats: Next Meeting May 15th

It's once again time to convene the Democrats in the community. We are shooting for our next meeting May 15th at the Greenhills Community Building Library. Meeting begins at 7:00pm, but hey, were Democrats, so I wouldn't be surprised if thing don't kick off til 7:15 or so...

Last time I was able to make the meeting, there was some artwork from Winton Woods students, I think in the primary grades as a I recall, which was just outstanding. Hats off to the arts program, for creating an outlet for students to really spread their wings creatively.

SubPrime Poster Child: CountryWide

From the multi-million dollar compensation packages of its leadership as his ship slid downward, into what is now a a negative equity situation, Countrywide stands out, as hard as that is to do -- as one of the more notable, and infamous participants in the subprime mess. It was announced today that Bank of America might in fact walk away from Countrywide.

Reverend Wright! Reverend Wright!

America needs to be distracted by more Obama-bashing. Otherwise, the dying breed of truth tellers (McClatchy being one of the last) will continue to tell stories that actually depict what's happening in the reality based world.