Some encouraging numbers

Workout notes I am going to do some walking a bit later, after my coffee has done its work.
Update: very pleasant 5 miles outside; dry roads, not too much traffic. It was crisp (20’s) but I was dressed.
I am getting stronger, but I should still stay reasonable. I don’t want to relapse.

(if the Rolling Stone gives you and endorsement, how can anyone argue? )

Some humor to lighten things up:

On an amusing note Dr. X (aka Dr. Andy; a 21 hour 100 mile runner and an out of this world bright Ph.D/MD who got his first job at Harvard Medical and a committed Republican) has convinced me to not even think about supporting McCain should “The Decider in a Pantsuit” somehow swindle the D nomination. He was taunting me that he is voting for Johillary McClinton in the Pennsylvania primary.

I had thought about crossing over and even working on the campaign…then I thought of how I’d act if I were phonebanking for him: “hi, Senator McCain is a real conservative…” and then choking. Going door to door would be even better; my guess is that the typical Repuke voter would probably call the INS on me. I can’t do it…

The Real Unity Ticket

Geekesque’s diary is here.

Looking at the bright side

Burnt Orange Report has some good rehashing of Texas and contains this graph:

We came from way down, but couldn’t quite close the deal toward the end (in the primary); we couldn’t overcome the Rush Limbaugh Clinton voters.

Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh led a campaign to have his Republican followers in Texas cross party lines and vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the state’s open primary last Tuesday. Why? Because Limbaugh thinks Republicans can defeat Clinton in a general election. Plus, watching Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama bloody each other in a nomination fight is pure sport for Limbaugh conservatives.

According to exit polls, Clinton won a notably higher number of Republican voters than she has in past open primary contests. Of the 9% of voters who identified themselves as Republicans in the Democratic Primary, Obama still edged Clinton 53%-46%. However, that margin is significantly slimmer than earlier contests. In Wisconsin’s open primary, for instance, Republicans broke 72%-28% for Obama. Similarly, in Virginia’s open primary, Obama was favored 72%-23%.

Clinton unquestionably secured a Texas victory, but some locals are convinced it was a false win bolstered by dirty politics. Laura Jean Kreissl, an accounting professor at West Texas A&M University, served as an election official in Canyon, Texas on Tuesday. She contacted the Wall Street Journal to report the hijinks she observed at the four precincts that voted at her polling location.

Of the 181 voters she personally dealt with, 70 offered that they were “Rush Limbaugh voters” who were there to cast ballots for Clinton. “I’m here to vote for Hillary Clinton, I want to see the Democratic Party implode,” one voter told Kreissl, she recounted in an interview. “I was just stunned,” she said. “As an election official we can’t say anything. We just jot them down and let them vote.” [...]

Kreissl worked a 19 hour day to also help organize the caucus event later that night. Similarly, she said she personally checked in 20 Obama supporters and 17 Clinton supporters. Of Clinton’s 17, 10 identified themselves as Rush Limbaugh voters, she said.

She’s convinced the Limbaugh voters turned the tide in favor of Clinton. “I don’t think we were an isolated case by any means,” she said. “I think it was very widespread across the state.”

The grassroots group, Republicans for Obama, agrees. “Hillary Clinton owes her political life to Rush Limbaugh,” they wrote on their web site Wednesday.

Rush Limbaugh is also convinced. “Don’t Doubt the Limbaugh Effect,” he boasts on his web site.

Clinton won Texas 50.9%-47.4%, earning roughly 100,000 more votes than Obama. However, Texas’s two-part system of a same day primary and a caucus is expected to end up netting Obama more delegates when the caucus delegates are allotted.

That speaks well of having the extra caucus! Of course, as the votes are carefully counted, the actual delegate allocation might change by a few delegates (2-3?). Example.

The National Election:

I don’t have a clue as to what the national ticket will be. But Survey USA has done some state by state polling and has come up with projected maps:

(for larger versions of the maps, go to Kos’ article)

Sure, at this point in time, these maps are, well, like reading a horoscope.

[...]It’s amazing how many non-swing states will suddenly be, well, swing states this year, like Texas, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Some of these states become competitive depending on the candidate, like Arkansas and Tennessee for Clinton, and just about everything west of the Mississippi for Obama.

And you may be wondering why I included states like Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho in this list since both candidates get crushed. Well, because we’ll have important races in those states at the House and Senate level, as well as state-level races. It’s clear that in those states (and many others like it), Obama will be a dramatic help at the top of the ticket versus Clinton, who will play the traditional role of top-of-the-ticket albatross.

In all, Obama outperforms Clinton in 33 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Clinton outperforms Obama in 15 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

They are even in: Kansas and Ohio.

Now New Jersey, Washington, and maybe even Pennsylvania are teases to the GOP. They seem to consider flipping, then never do. Obama getting North Dakota is so implausible that I’d never count on it.

Ohio gives Obama and Clinton even numbers, so the notion that her victory there makes her “more electable” there is pretty silly. The same way that Obama winning Missouri doesn’t make him “more electable” in that state. [...]

Again, at this point, such an exercise is little more than entertainment.