Maria Shriver endorsed Senator Barack Obama on Sunday at a rally in Los Angeles. More on endorsements and polls before the Super Duper Tuesday results come in tonight. Electoral-Vote.com has a map of the United States with tracking polls and analysis in each of the 24 states in play tonight.
http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Maps/Feb05.html
Linked on that sight (and also thanks to Salek for forwarding it to me) is an interactive choice of endorsements (non-inclusive) of the candidates. My favorites:
Hillary Clinton: Madeline Albright (former Sec. of State, fourth on presidential succession list but ineleigible for Oval Office because she was born in Czech.)
Barack Obama: Oprah (how can anyone else, regardless of gender, compete)
Mike Huckabee: Chuck Norris (his immigration plan)
John McCain: Arnold Schwarzenegger (California Govenator, though Golden State's Mansion is divided, see above)
Ron Paul: Howard Stern (libertarian-less government plan means less FCC hassles for the "King of All Media")
Mitt Romney: (Dennis Hassert, former Speaker of the House from Yorkville. I've got his autograph and two of my students worked as interns in his office)
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/02/02/us/20080204_ENDORSE_GRAPHIC.html
The New York Times also reports on how this election is dividing votes within Democratic families.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/us/politics/04family.html?ref=politics
The 2 Regular Guys at CBS2 School have posted a what-to-watch for viewing guide for tonight's results:
The big winner this Tuesday will be the punditocracy. Regardless of primary election outcomes this Super Tuesday, the select few who blizzard the airwaves with commentary will tell us everything we need to know. Will we understand a word they say?
A political dictionary may be necessary. Many words in use now in the modern campaign sound foreign to the average viewer. Most pundits, campaign insiders themselves, take you the viewer for granted. Words are used that many find confusing. Below is a select glossary for the intended purpose of making this Tuesday a little more clear.
Use these words and you too can be a pundit this Tuesday.
Retail Politics vs. Wholesale Politics: Thus far we have seen retail politics. Candidates were able to spend a lot of time in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Votes came with hand shakes. This brand of personal politics has now been replaced by its wholesale version. Now candidates must show their appeal across many regions at the same time. The issues become much more broad. Pandering to particular provincial causes is over. In retail politics you play the role of neighbor. In wholesale politics you play the role of president.
Organization: This is the buzz word for campaign workers. Beyond strategy and even beyond the speech writing, the most important asset right now are legs in the field knocking on doors, making phone calls and bringing out the vote. In the end it is the vote tally that counts. Do not count on people going to the polls without an organization nudging every step of the way.
Institutional Support: Old-guard Democratic or Republican leaders who have been though this many times before. The institutions of the two parties is still significant, even if your text book suggests that the influence of America's two political parties (Ward Bosses, etc.) is not what it once was.
Mother's Milk of Politics: No viable political organization can be effective without this, money. Obama's claim to have raised $32 million in January was a battle cry. He can back up his words. Serious money buys a serious organization. Lest you think it is everything, think again. Romney ran 4,000 TV ads in Florida compared to McCain's 400. McCain still won the state. This Tuesday is different, however, so many states at once require these campaigns to do their work via TV. Money may make the difference at this stage.
Tarmac Campaigning: No more bus rides around the state over a period of weeks. The candidates now will be amassing enviable frequent flier miles. Quick campaign stops centered around regional airports will be the norm. Nixon, back in 1968, promised to campaign in all 50 states. The airport in Alaska, we're told, looks nothing like the rest of the state.
Pseudo-Events: TV ads are the buzz after yesterday's Super Bowl. TV ads will be the buzz after tomorrow's Super Tuesday results. Creating an image, framing a reality is critical to achieving political success. Huge sums of money are spent filling frames with pseudo-events in order to build a presidential image. Certain candidates appear more photogenic than others. With the proper editing, everyone now looks about the same.
Big Mo: After Tuesday, momentum will have taken a quantum leap. Most analysts assume that we should know the two frontrunners if not the two candidates this week. Winning Tuesday night will push certain dominos toward the ultimate nomination at this summer's conventions.
National Electability: Up to this point the word likeability has been preferred. The prize now is electability. With primary elections all over the country this Tuesday, parties and their respective candidates will get an idea of their chances next November. Demographic breakdowns will dominate coverage. Projections and predictions will abound. Look for some to start calling the November election outcome this Tuesday night.
Super Tuesday: A big day in presidential politics. What makes this day super is that so many states hold primary elections on the same day. No more one state at a time. Tuesday should reveal our next two candidates for President. John and Hillary sure hope so.
Of course the one word which matters most this Tuesday is the word DELEGATES. You cannot run for president in the general election without first winning the most delegates in your party's primaries and caucuses. Despite all of the important words Tuesday night, the most important may involve numbers."With words we govern men," Disraeli said more than a century ago.Never more true than right now.
VIDEO: CBS 2 School: Super Tuesday Political Lingo
Remember, those of you watching the results from home tonight, I will get into the blogosphere and we can discuss/debate and give our real-time commentary on this historic, sort-of national primary night.
1 comment:
Generally endorsements today have little, if any, profound impact on the final outcome of an election. But I do think that when the election is particularly close, endorsements can make a difference. With so many states having contests on the same day, it is difficult for a candidate to reach all of the electorate; an endorsement from a prominent local figure can give credibility to an unfamiliar candidate, perhaps swaying voters in his/her favor.
Last night at an Obama rally in Boston, it seemed that all of the Democratic bigwigs in Massachusetts were supporting him: Sen. John Kerry, Sen. Ted Kennedy, Gov. Deval Patrick, and Caroline Kennedy (hmm…now who is the establishment candidate again?).
Even with all of this support, Obama still closely trails Clinton in the latest polls for that state. However in this particularly competitive primary season, every delegate matters, and the support of high-profile Democratic personalities could bridge the gap.
In California, I’m sure many people must have done a double take at seeing Maria Shriver, wife of Republican Gov. Schwarzenegger, campaign for Democrat Barack Obama, after her husband just endorsed McCain. Now if I was an undecided voter, I would’ve thought, “Hmm, if she being the wife of a Republican governor feels so passionate about Obama, then maybe there is something more to this guy, maybe he really is different.”
Who knows, maybe after Super Tuesday, endorsements will have an important role to play in our election process.
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