Could the “call” have been made any sooner last night? Seriously – I don’t think that even 60 seconds had transpired at the top of the hour after the polls closed when Wolf made the announcement. And I thought last week’s call was fairly quick – YIKES!
There really aren’t a lot of ‘in-depth’ comments about last night’s coverage – not that it wasn’t good and mostly enjoyable (as political primary coverage goes), but with the GOP race called so quickly, and Hillary running against someone called “uncommitted” (I’m kidding) – there really wasn’t all that much to discuss. But a few observations:
Technological wizardry as desk art: Can we assume that the ‘floating’ pizza pie chart has been at least temporarily retired? It sat on the desk in front of John King, Gloria Borger and Jeff Toobin for the entire night.
Beck vs. Martin: When I hear Glenn Beck talk about unification and “one America” – I’m almost convinced to check out his program on Headline News. Remember I said almost ... but the pairing of Glenn Beck and Roland Martin last night for analysis was entertaining (in a ‘political’ way) and possibly made you think along different angles – perhaps not necessarily agreeing with one or the other – but it’s good to stretch the brain cells occasionally. I must say, though, that I agree with Roland Martin’s assessment of DNC Chairman Howard Dean’s indifference during the recent potentially destructive Dem ‘dust-up’.
Dems Debate: While Michigan was in focus for the Republicans, the Democrats held a debate in Nevada last night. David Gergen and Candy Crowley gave post-debate reports on the outcome. I kept switching back & forth to MSNBC for awhile until I realized that, for the most part, it was some form of ‘love fest’ – as Anderson described it - or perhaps a ‘temporary reconciliation fest’ – which at least allowed for focused discussion on issues, policies, philosophies, etc. – a welcome change from truly petty accusations flying back & forth. Again, I say that if the Democratic candidates think that any pre-nomination attack is unfair – wait until the GOP sinks their teeth into the fray come September ...
Romney Wins Michigan …
Hillary Wins Uncontested Michigan Primary
No surprise here; Sen Clinton was the only top-tier Democrat on the ballot in Michigan today, and should end up with about 60% of the vote. “Uncommitted” is currently sitting at about 35% — driven up, says the Clinton campaign, due to a radio campaign by Obama backers to get supporters to go to the polls, even though he’s not officially running there.
Why go to any effort to get more “uncommitted” votes? With Clinton nearly guaranteed to win the state, the best her opponents could hope for was an embarrassingly small margin of victory that the press might see as a defeat. Either way, the Obama campaign says MI doesn’t matter – and accused her of ignoring the spirit, if not the letter, of a campaign pledge not to compete in states like Michigan and Florida that moved their primaries into January.
The Clinton campaign shot back that Obama shouldn’t be belittling the voices of voters in Michigan and Florida. Check out the full Clinton campaign response after the jump
To: Interested Parties
FR: The Clinton Campaign
RE: Michigan and Florida Presidential Primaries
The Obama campaign today circulated a memo regarding today’s Michigan primary and the January 29 Florida primary. This memo was concerning on several levels.
Let us be very clear. Senator Clinton signed a pledge that she would not campaign in any state that violates the DNC approved calendar. Therefore, we did not campaign in Michigan, nor will we campaign in Florida in violation of the pledge. We have two small scheduled fundraisers in South Florida on January 27, as explicitly permitted by the pledge, but we will not hold any open public campaign events. The Obama campaign has also held numerous fundraisers in Florida since signing the pledge. Contrary to the Obama campaign’s memo, there are no events at large venues, nor have we organized in the state. We intend to do so as our party’s nominee in the general election, but will honor our pledge not to campaign there in violation of the pledge.
Let us be clear about something else, however. While Senator Clinton will honor her commitment not to campaign in Florida in violation of the pledge, she also intends to honor her pledge to hear the voices of all Americans. The people of Michigan and Florida have just as much of a right to have their voices heard as anyone else. It is disappointing to hear a major Democratic presidential candidate tell the voters of ANY state that their voices aren’t important.
Make no mistake — the Obama campaign had no problems when its supporters and allies in Michigan ran radio ads and other campaign activities urging people to vote for “uncommitted” as a way to register their support for Senator Obama — and to give him a chance to compete for those delegates at the national convention (http://facts.hillaryhub.com/archive/?id=5218). Now, with polls in recent days showing that effort and their candidate running far behind in both states, the Obama campaign has shifted tactics to say that those who cast a vote in either state don’t matter. We couldn’t disagree more.
Senator Clinton intends to be President for all fifty states. And while she will honor the pledge she signed and not campaign in either state, she intends to continue to give every American a voice during this election and when she gets to the White House.
