Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Last Night's Primary Results

Is the Democratic Presidential nomination race over? Well, it depends on who you ask. According to Senator Obama he has all but won the nomination. Last night Obama had a comfortable win over Senator Clinton in Oregon, 58% to 42%. He is less then a hundred delegates shy of the 2,026 needed. In a speech in Iowa he never declared himself the winner but his rhetoric indicated that he was looking past the nomination process towards the general election.

In last night’s other primary, Kentucky, the results there continue to expose his biggest weakness: white working class voters. Obama may have easily won Oregon but Clinton trounced Obama in Kentucky, 65 to 30. Clinton says she will continue to forge ahead to the last contests and is still lobbying to get the delegations from Florida and Michigan seated at the Convention. With only two weeks and three contests left (Montana, South Dakota and Puerto Rico), Senator Clinton is running out of options.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

OR and KY Primaries Today

Today are the Kentucky and Oregon primaries for the Democratic Presidential Primary. While Senator Obama is hoping to seal his nomination by achieving the needed delegate majority of 2,026 (he currently has 1,915), Senator Clinton is hoping a strong win in Kentucky could validate her claims that Obama cannot win in swing states and among white, working-class voters. However, the Democratic party has started to work towards unity in the last couple days, with Senator John Edwards coming out and endorsing Senator Obama. If Obama achieves the needed delegate count today, which many have forecasted that he will, the pressure for Senator Clinton will increase tenfold, and many feel that she will be forced to drop out.
Please stay turned to the Real Republican Majority for updates.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

WV and MS Results

In an unsurprising victory, Senator Clinton won yesterday’s West Virginia Primary with a 67%-26% victory. Clinton hopes the win will re-energize her floundering campaign by calling in to doubt Obama’s ability to capture the votes of working class white voters. Swing states like West Virginia are crucial to both parties in November and it is clear Obama will have trouble there if he is the nominee.
Even with the huge win Clinton still did not close the delegate gap, and the calls for her to bow out of the race are getting louder. Next week are the Kentucky and Oregon primaries. Clinton is favored to win Kentucky and Obama Oregon.
Yesterday also saw Democrat Travis Childers winning the special election in Mississippi. This is the third special election that Republicans have lost in solidly conservative districts. The losses have prompt questions on whether or not there needs to be a shake up in Republican leadership.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Barr Jumps into the Race and WV Primary

Former Republican Congressman from Georgia Bob Barr announced that he will be running for the presidency on the Libertarian ticket. Barr hopes that his message of renewed fiscal restraint and limiting military involvement abroad will resonate with voters, particularly the Ron Paul supporters. Barr will likely win the Party’s nomination at their convention this month in Denver.

Also, today is the West Virginia primary and Senator Clinton is expected to win big. She will use the likely win to continue to raise doubts on the Democratic front runner Senator Barack Obama’s electability, particularly among white working class voters. Obama’s campaign currently seems to be shifting his attention from Clinton to Republican nominee Senator John McCain in what will likely be the general match-up.

Next week is the Kentucky primary which Clinton is also highly favored to win.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

The Democratic Race Continues

After a long night for both Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama, the Indiana primary was called for Clinton, 51%- 49%. Obama won North Carolina in a much more clean-cut victory, 56%-42%. While Senator Obama was expected to win North Carolina, he was seen making some gains with middle-class voters. The close nature of the Indiana primaries has renewed the call for Clinton to drop out of the primary, but she vows to stay in. Since Senator Clinton is still staying in the race, the Democratic Presidential Primary will continue to rage on, with the next primaries in West Virginia (5/13), and Kentucky and Oregon on (5/20). Please keep checking back with the Real Republican Majority and the Real Republican Majority Blog for more updates.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Primaries in IN and NC Today

Today are the Indiana and North Carolina primaries. It is unlikely that these primaries will bring any resolution to who the Democratic nominee will be. Both campaigns are keeping their expectations low. Clinton’s camping has been setting the bar low, saying that in both of these states she started very far behind and is excited about where she is now. On the other hand, Obama has said that today’s round of primaries will be very close. The Real Clear Politics polls have Obama in the lead by 8 points in North Carolina and Clinton up by 5 in Indiana.
Long lines have already been reported in both states. Indiana has 72 delegates tied to today’s primary and North Carolina has 115. It is unlikely that the results will make a substantial change to the delegate race as the outcomes will likely be very close. Currently it is estimated that Obama has 1,745 and Clinton 1,602. To secure the nomination they would need 2,025 delegates, a number neither is likely to obtain. We will keep you updated on news from today’s primaries.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Democrat Wins LA's Special Election

Democrat Don Cazayoux beat former state legislator, Republican Woody Jenkins in this weekend’s LA-06 special election. The seat has been held by a Republican since the 1970’s. This is the second special election that the GOP has lost, despite the fact that it should have been easy for them to keep. Earlier this year the former Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert’s seat turned blue in a district that has been red for decades.
What do these loses signal for the chances of the GOP in November? In both races the GOP candidates were flawed, both had mounted several unsuccessful campaigns in the past and had a reputation for losing. Jenkins was not a good fit for the district. He has a record of being too far to the right and unabashed pro-lifer who resorts to tactics like displaying plastic fetuses to make his point. He relayed too heavily on divisive issues and hoped to turn out the social conservatives while the Democratic candidate, who is also pro-life, focused on health care and the economy, two issues that better connected with the voters.
Although these loses can be contributed to weak candidates the GOP will have a tough time in November if they continue to push such divisive issues and ignore the ones people are actually concerned about. Let’s hope that these special elections serve as a wake-up call to the Party and candidates. The past tactics of running on social issues in hopes to turn out the far right base will not win elections any longer. If GOP candidates do not propose commons sense solutions to the real problems that voters care about we will see many more losses in November.