Senator McCain's Choice

When I supported John McCain's candidacy, the main reason was his stance on torture. I admired him for standing up to the Republican right-wing and arguing based on principles. But unfortunately, it looks like Barack Obama is right. Somewhere along the way, the wheels came off of the straight-talk express.

Senator McCain had to choose between staying true to his principles and courting the independents and moderates that have brought him this far or abandon his principles and pander to the right-wing of his party. Unfortunately, he seems to have made his choice.

I feel betrayed and used. Independents are what brought McCain this far and now he's stabbed us in the back as he bends over backwards to court the right-wing of his party. I was willing to look the other way on his 180-degree flip-flop on the Bush tax cuts, but no way am I going to pardon him for this.

Congratulations, John, you just doomed your candidacy. Let's see how many independent votes you get in November, especially if you run against Barack. Don't think these flip-flops are going to make you any more endearing to conservatives. Even if you do complete a hat-trick and flip-flop on immigration as well, I very much doubt the ALIPAC crowd will support you.

For a while, I thought we would see an election between two principled and equally qualified presidential aspirants. Guess it was too good to be true. Oh well, at least this gives Barack more ammunition going ahead.

Justice Scalia Opens His Mouth

The more people like Justice Scalia keep running off at the mouth, the more it will drive independents and moderates into the Democratic camp run November.

I really do respect John McCain, but the prospect of another Scalia-type justice appointee makes me support Obama's candidacy all the more fervently.

I'm amused at how Republicans keep referring to people like Scalia a "strict, constructionist judge". Scalia is right, the Founding Fathers might not have considered smacking someone in the face as cruel and unusual punishment.

But waterboarding and other forms of torture is another issue entirely. To put it this way, if Justice Scalia's over-the-top, Jack Bauer scenario of a "bomb about to blow up Los Angeles" were to actually happen, I wonder if he would consider it appropriate to break a finger or two to get the information?

I mean, come on ... If simulated drowning (which the mind cannot distinguish from real drowning) is not "cruel and unusual punishment", surely a few broken bones aren't either, right?

The likes of Scalia being a "constructionist" is about as accurate as George Bush being compassionate.

Intense Drama Continues

The intense drama that is the United States Presidential Primary Elections continue. After what was billed as Super Tuesday, when 24 states voted in the closest thing to a national primary we've ever had, things seem to be settling down for the Republicans, with Sen. John McCain almost sealing the nomination, while being as muddled as ever for the Democrats.

First, the Republicans, with Mitt Romney's withdrawal from the campaign (good riddance to bad rubbish), McCain is set. Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh aren't happy but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Things are far less clear on the Democratic side.

Hillary did win the states of California and New Jersey, two states on which her presidential campaign was literally staked on. If she had lost both of these states, her campaign would have been effectively over and she would have joined Romney on Wednesday morning to withdraw.

But Obama did a fantastic job of catching up to her. Hillary won by only 10 points in both California (52% to 42%) and New Jersey (52% to 42%). Her campaign tried to inject some last minute spin by saying before the elections that if Obama didn't win California by at least 13 points, it would be a loss for him, but as Obama's campaign rightly pointed out, a few weeks ago, he was down by almost 30 points. To close the gap as he did was an achievement in itself.

Obama also won more states (13) as opposed to Hillary (8), with counting in New Mexico still incomplete with just a few hundred votes separating them.

And forget California or New Jersey. Those states will swing blue in the general election no matter who the nominee is. Let's look at some of the states where Obama won:

Alaska: Obama beat Hillary by 49 points (74% to 25%)

Idaho: Obama beat Hillary by 62 points (80% to 17%)

Utah: Obama beat Hillary by 17 points (57% to 39%)

Colorado, which is now considered one of the new swing states in the Inter-mountain West: Obama beat Hillary by 34 points (67% to 32%)

North Dakota: Obama beat Hillary by 25 points (61% to 37%)

Minnesota, a traditional Mid-Western swing state: Obama beat Hillary by 34 points (66% to 32%)

He topped off his successes with wins in Alabama (56% to 42%), Georgia (66% to 31%), Delaware (53% to 42%), Connecticut (51% to 47%), and his home state of Illinois which he carried by 32 points (65% to 33%) compared to Hillary who carried her own home state of New York by only 17 points (57% to 40%).

But you might say, wait a minute! Isn't Hillary's true home state Arkansas and didn't she carry that by 43 points? Well, I guess, but then you could say that Obama's true home state is Kansas, where his mother is from, and he carried that state by 48 points (74% to 26%)!

Most importantly, let's look at the traditional bell-weather state of Missouri, which is depicted as a microcosm of the United States as a whole. Obama narrowly carried this state by a few thousand votes.

Hillary carried two states by margins greater than 20 percent (Arkansas and Oklahoma) while Obama eight states (Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, and North Dakota) by margins greater than 20 percent, sometimes by double that!

The point is, by winning these traditionally Red states such as Idaho, Colorado and Kansas by impressive margins, Obama can be competitive (or at least make the Republicans spend resources) in the general election whereas Hillary will be blown out of the competition.

When I myself despise her, it leaves nothing to the imagination of what Red State voters think of her. This is further underscored by this CNN article that shows Hillary statistically tied with McCain while Obama has a lead in the polls.

If the Democrats want to shoot themselves in the foot while going into the general election, they should vote for Hillary in the remaining primaries. If they actually want to try to get the White House back, they should vote for Obama.

So what's up with me, you ask? Wasn't my blog, for the past month, geared up as a pro John McCain propaganda machine? It was and it contributed in getting the job done. One politician that will say or do anything to get elected is out, one more is left. The one that's out happened to be on the Republican side and Sen. McCain is almost confirmed as the Republican nominee.

On Super Tuesday, I was a bit disconcerted by talk of Evangelical preacher-turned-governor Mike Huckabee as a potential vice-presidential nominee under McCain. So I decided to withdraw my support to McCain until I see who his VP pick is. And besides, I am genuinely excited about Obama's historic candidacy. It would be beyond amazing for this country to elect its first Black president.

God forbid, if Hillary is the Democratic nominee and McCain's VP is *anyone* to the left of Huckabee or Fred Thompson (I know there's no chance in hell Romney will be the VP pick), then this blog will be back to pulling for the Mac.

But an Obama vs. McCain match-up, that will not be an easy decision to make ...