Obama campaign claims "irregularities" in Louisiana

Per the campaign's blog, under the headline: "After Widespread Reports of Voting Irregularities Obama Campaign Submits Urgent Request for Assistance:"

BATON ROUGE, LA -- The Obama campaign submitted an urgent request for assistance to the Secretary of State’s Division of Elections today, after receiving widespread reports from Democrats across Louisiana who reported that they were not allowed to vote because their party affiliation had been switched. Hundreds of Louisiana democrats went to the polls to vote in today’s presidential primary and found that they were now on registration lists as Independent or Unaffiliated voters.

Obama faced a similar hurdle in California, where some poll workers appear to have misinformed independents seeking to vote in the Democratic primary.

Choosing to go public with complaints, though, is always a political as well as a practical move, and it may increase the sense among some Obama supporters of Clinton dirty tricks -- something the Obama campaign isn't alleging in either case.

This primary, with its huge turnout and surging independent cadre, is really straining a very creaky elections system.

Predictions Results Map

A quick look back at MarxistGophers predictions for Super Tuesday.

The states I picked correctly before super tuesday are colored in the winning candidates colors, and the states where I picked incorrectly are in black. Not surprisingly, I did a little better with the Dems than I did with the Republicans. I guess I just don't understand Republican voters well enough......I'll have to work on that.

More Polls in Upcoming States

The next week is looking good for Obama in Washington, Nebraska, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, DC, and Virginia. Then comes some tougher states, but I am surprised to see that Obama is trailing Clinton in Wisconsin by 9%. That could easily change in the next week though.


MARYLAND
primary Tue. Feb. 12th
SurveyUSA
Obama 52%
Clinton 33%

VIRGINIA
primary Tue. Feb. 12th
SurveyUSA
Obama 59%
Clinton 39%

Insider Advantage
Obama 52%
Clinton 37%

WISCONSIN
primary Tue. Feb. 19th
ARG
Clinton 50%
Obama 41%

Presidential Primary Results by County

These are the updated results after the Super Tuesday states. New Mexico is still not reporting results for the Democrats, but I'll get that up as soon as they report.

Saturday is the Democratic caucuses in Washington and Nebraska, and the primary in Louisiana.

Convention Delegate Fight Update

This is a post from Open Left that I'm republishing here because its awesome!


by: Chris Bowers
Tue Feb 05, 2008 at 13:17
After yesterday's explosive discussion on delegates and a brokered convention here on Open Left, I've been talking to some party insiders to try and get a better handle on the situation. Here is what I can report:

1. When Matt joked yesterday about preparing for "a party platform fight over mandates as a test of delegate strength," he was actually pretty on target. The fight over delegates will occur on three main committees: the platform committee, the credentials committee, and the rules committee. The fact is that right now there is not system in place to select delegates from Michigan and Florida, but the fight will encompass those three committees.

2. The rules committee is dominated by Clinton supporters, even though it was the rules committee that stripped the Michigan and Florida primaries as the means to select delegates from those two states. Be prepared for a change of direction from the rules committee. As James Boyce wrote yesterday: "[n]ote to Obama supporters, you better have enough delegates to win with those [Michigan and Florida] counting for Hillary, trust me on this. In fact, lawyer up now." Indeed, trust him on this one.

3. If Obama is going to turn back the rules committee, the credentials committee is the place where he needs to make his stand. That committee is, I believe, composed of three members from each state and all of the territories holding nomination contests (D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, Democrats Abroad, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). An additional twenty-five members are chosen by the presumptive nominee or, in the absence of a presumptive nominee, by Howard Dean himself. As such, this committee should be significantly less friendly to the Michigan and Florida demands from the Clinton campaign. I believe that the winner of each contest chooses the three members from each state and territory on the committee, but it isn't clear to me what "winner" means. For example, who won Nevada: Clinton who had the most state delegates, or Obama, who is projected to have the most national delegates? Even if that will be determined at a later date, then who won New Hampshire? Clinton won a plurality of the popular vote, the two campaigns were tied in pledged delegates, and Obama leads in the overall delegation from New Hampshire when super delegates are included. Still, since it seems Obama has a strong edge in smaller states and contests today, this committee should be favorable to him.

4. The Clinton campaign is trying to use super delegates as a firewall, so any hope of a deal on that front should also be scrapped (just as any hope for an early deal on Michigan and Florida should also be scrapped). From my perspective, it is of utmost importance that the Democratic nominee be the candidate who won the most votes and popular caucus support during the January 3rd to June 3rd nominating contests. I also think it is foolish to assume that super delegates will simply line up behind Obama if he narrowly wins the most pledged delegates (even with Michigan and Florida included), as long as Clinton can still win the nomination with the support of super delegates. As such, I think it is up to us to start a pressure campaign on super delegates to support whoever wins the most pledged delegates and popular support. This means to stop counting super delegates in delegate totals immediately, to emphasize the greater democratic value of pledged delegates, and to emphasize the notion that no Democratic nominee is the legitimate choice of the party's rank and file unless s/he wins the most pledged delegates (popular votes would be even better, of course, but some states are not counting the popular vote). We need to let the party's leaders know that anything else is unacceptable.

This is a murky process, and I will have more later today. I'm surprised at the interest my post generated yesterday, but let me just say that I'm not the only Democrat who sees a teetering mound of flaming wreckage appearing on the horizon. The Clinton campaign is not going to budge on either super delegates or their preferred mechanism for the seating of Michigan and Florida delegates, and they have a lot of insider support to get their way on both. It is up to us to make sure that the party has a legitimate nominee, and the will of the party's primary voters and caucus participants is not thwarted. Howard Dean needs to show some leadership on this one, too.

Update: The composition of the platform, rules, and credentials committees can be seen here. Also, commenter joejoejoe has more.

Yes We Can!

The Yes We Can Song
by will.i.am

I was sitting in my recording studio watching the debates...
Torn between the candidates

I was never really big on politics...
and actually I’m still not big on politics...
but 4 years ago, me and the black eyed peas supported Kerry...
And we supported Kerry with all our might...
We performed and performed and performed for the DNC...
doing all we could do to get the youth involved...

The outcome of the last 2 elections has saddened me...
on how unfair, backwards, upside down, unbalanced, untruthful,
corrupt, and just simply, how wrong the world and "politics" are...

So this year i wanted to get involved and do all i could early...

And i found myself torn...
because this time it’s not that simple...
our choices aren’t as clear as the last elections ...
last time it was so obvious...
Bush and war
vs
no Bush and no war...

But this time it’s not that simple...
and there are a lot of people that are torn just like i am...

So for awhile I put it off and i was going to wait until it was decided for me...

And then came New Hampshire...

And i was captivated...

Inspired...

I reflected on my life...
and the blessings I have...
and the people who fought for me to have these rights and blessings...

and I’m not talking about a "black thing"
I’m talking about a "human thing" me as a "person"
an American...

That speech made me think of Martin Luther King...
Kennedy...
and Lincoln...
and all the others that have fought for what we have today...

what America is "supposed" to be...

freedom...
equality...
and truth...

and thats not what we have today...
we think we are free...
but in reality terror and fear controls our decisions...

this is not the America that our pioneers and leaders fought and
died for...

and then there was New Hampshire

it was that speech...
like many great speeches...
that one moved me...
because words and ideas are powerful...

It made me think...
and realize that today we have "very few" leaders...
maybe none...

but that speech...

it inspired me...
it inspired me to look inside myself and outwards towards the world...
it inspired me to want to change myself to better the world...
and take a "leap" towards change...
and hope that others become inspired to do the same...
change themselves..
change their greed...
change their fears...
and if we "change that"
"then hey"..
we got something right...???...

1 week later after the speech settled in me...
I began making this song...
I came up with the idea to turn his speech into a song...
because that speech effected and touched my inner core like nothing in a very long time...

it spoke to me...

because words and ideas are powerful...

I just wanted to add a melody to those words...
I wanted the inspiration that was bubbling inside me to take over...

so i let it..

I wasn't afraid to stand for something...
to stand for "change"...
I wasn't afraid of "fear"...
it was pure inspiration...

so I called my friends...
and they called their friends...
in a matter of 2 days...
We made the song and video...

Usually this process would take months...
a bunch of record company people figuring out strategies and release dates...
interviews...
all that stuff...
but this time i took it in my own hands...
so i called my friends sarah pantera, mike jurkovac, fred goldring, and jesse dylan to help make it happen...
and they called their friends..
and we did it together in 48 hours...
and instead of putting it in the hands of profit we put it in the hands of inspiration...

then we put it on the net for the world to feel...

When you are truly inspired..
magic happens...
incredible things happen...
love happens..
(and with that combination)

"love, and inspiration"

change happens...

"change for the better"
Inspiration breeds change...

"Positive change"...

no one on this planet is truly experienced to handle the obstacles we face today...
Terror, fear, lies, agendas, politics, money, all the above...
It’s all scary...

Martin Luther King didn't have experience to lead...
Kennedy didn't have experience to lead...
Susan B. Anthony...
Nelson Mandella...
Rosa Parks...
Gandhi...
Anne Frank...
and everyone else who has had a hand in molding the freedoms we have and take for granted today...

no one truly has experience to deal with the world today...

they just need "desire, strength, courage ability, and passion" to change...
and to stand for something even when people say it's not possible...

America would not be here "today" if we didn’t stand and fight for
change "yesterday"...
Everything we have as a "people" is because of the "people" who fought for
change...
and whoever is the President has to realize we have a lot of changing to do

I'm not trying to convince people to see things how i do...
I produced this song to share my new found inspiration and how I've been moved...
I hope this song will make you feel...
love...
and think...
and be inspired just like the speech inspired me...

that’s all...

Let's all come together like America is supposed to...
Like Japan did after Hiroshima...

that was less than 65 years ago...
and look at Japan now...

they did it together...
they did it...

"We can't?...

Are you serious..?..

WE CAN!!!

Yes we can...
A United "America"
Democrats, Republicans and Independents together...
Building a new America

We can do it...
"TOGETHER"

Please visit www.yeswecansong.com

Thank you for reading and listening...
will.i.am

Looking Ahead to States after Super Tuesday

I think tonight will end in a virtual tie, sending the nomination into March. The rest of the primary season is state by state, which I think is an advantage to Obama. Coming up THIS SATURDAY is Washington, Nebraska and Louisiana. While there are no polls out yet in Lousiana or Nebraska, a SurveyUSA poll of Washington showed Obama with a 13 point lead, 53% TO 40% over Clinton. After that Maine has a caucus on Sunday the 10th, and then on Tuesday the 12th we have Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. By next Tuesday, we might have a clearer picture of who the nominee will be.

Republican Super Tuesday Predictions

In the interest of fairness I thought I'd make my predictions for the Republican Super Tuesday states as well. No one can ever accuse me of being partisan!

Final Super Tuesday Predictions from MarxistGopher

It looks like a split to me. Whoever wins the close states, it will be close...CLOSE. The delegate divide will be less than 100 and the race will continue on into March....which I think favors Obama. Given the polls released this morning my predictions may be a little conservative for Obama, but I'm a pessimist by nature.....

Looking Like A Good Day for Obama!

This is part of an article for Reuters. If this poll is anywhere near correct it suggests a huge Obama swing across the country that could make tonight decisive for an Obama victory! On the other hand, Zogby polls tend to favor Obama, and other polls suggest a much closer race or even a substantial Hillary lead in California......so who knows.

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama surged to a big lead over Hillary Clinton in California hours before "Super Tuesday" voting began in 24 states, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Tuesday.

In the Republican race, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney held a 7-point advantage on Arizona Sen. John McCain in California, while McCain added to commanding double-digit leads in New York and New Jersey.

On a sprawling day of coast-to-coast voting, the biggest ever in a U.S. primary race, the U.S. presidential contenders in both parties were fighting to win a huge cache of delegates to this summer's nominating conventions.

In California, which alone provides more than one-fifth of the Democratic delegates needed for the nomination, Obama led Clinton by 49 percent to 36 percent, the poll found. The margin of error was 3.3 percentage points.

Clinton pulled into a 5-point lead in New Jersey, 46 percent to 41 percent, after being tied on Monday. Obama held a 45 percent to 42 percent edge on Clinton in Missouri. Both polls had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

Obama had a 20-point edge in Georgia, aided by a more than 3-to-1 lead among black voters.

Obama, an Illinois senator, and Clinton, a New York senator, are in a hard-fought battle for the Democratic presidential nomination and split the first four significant contests.

"There is clear Obama momentum in California," pollster John Zogby said. "But in New Jersey, things seemed to swing in favor of Clinton, and Missouri was very mixed."

-------------------------------------


US Democratic Party voters in Indonesia, where Barack Obama spent part of his childhood, handed him a win over Hillary Clinton in the first voting abroad on "Super Tuesday," party officials said.

Seventy-five percent of nearly 100 votes cast by expatriate Americans just past midnight (1700 GMT Monday) went to Obama and 25 percent went to Clinton, Democrats Abroad officials here said.

Obama Surging in all States in Latest Polls

Massachusetts
Suffolk Univ.
Obama 46%
Clinton 44%

Connecticut
SurveyUSA
Obama 48%
Clinton 46%

New Jersey
SurveyUSA
Clinton 52%
Obama 41%

Zogby
Clinton 43%
Obama 43%

New York
SurveyUSA
Clinton 56%
Obama 38%

Illinois
SurveyUSA
Obama 66%
Clinton 30%

California
Zogby
Obama 46%
Clinton 40%

Missouri
Zogby
Obama 47%
Clinton 42%

Georgia
Zogby
Obama 48%
Clinton 31%

Gerald Patrick Hemming Dies at 71

Feb 1, 2008: Gerald Patrick Hemming, founder of InterPen and a continual subject of interest among JFK assassination researchers, died on Jan 29 at the age of 71. For more information on Hemming, see his Spartacus Educational page, a biographical form at Gordon Winslow's cuban-exile.com, FBI files on Hemming made available to the HSCA, and Hemming's HSCA testimony at History Matters. The HSCA's Segregated Collection of CIA files contains voluminous material on Hemming. In this Youtube video interview, Hemming repeats his claim that he was repeatedly offered money to assassinate President Kennedy.

Gerald Patrick Hemming, Jr., a swashbuckling six-foot five ex-Marine turned soldier-of-fortune, who personally knew many of the prominent personages of the tumultuous sixties, and whose name appears with regularity in the books and articles on the Kennedy assassination, died Monday at his home in Fayetteville, North Carolina after a lengthy illness. Born in Los Angeles on March 1, 1937, Hemming was 71.

After he left the Marine Corp in the fall of 1958, Hemming travelled to Cuba and assist the newly formed Castro government in military training. In Cuba, Hemming worked as an instructor in a Cuban parachute regiment and was later named adjutant of the San Julien air base. Hemming claims while at San Julien he thwarted an assassination attempt by a disgruntled Cuban soldier who intended to shoot against Fidel Castro while he toured the air base with Soviet envoy Anderi Mikoyan.

In Cuba, Hemming met and worked with another American named William Morgan who in April 1961 was brutally executed by Castro forces for being a traitor. Hemming stated that he met Jack Ruby at Morgan's residence. Morgan's US citizenship was restored in 2007. In Cuba he also met Frank Fiorini, also known as Frank Sturgis who gained notoriety in 1974 as one of the Watergate burglars.

Hemming met and liked Che Guevera who he described as a man of his word. Hemming claimed he had a secret meeting with Guevera during the height of the Cuban missile crisis.

Hemming fled Cuba in the fall of 1960 and was extensively debriefed by the CIA regarding Castro's military operations. He then started a paramilitary organization named Intercontinental Penetration Force or Interpen, which trained first in the Everglades and later on No Name Key, a small, mosquito-infested island thirty miles north of Key West. The group was sometimes known as "Patrick's raiders".

Hemming's group was heavily funded by right-wing Caribbean dictators but some believe there was secret funding from the CIA. Hemming claimed to be reporting to James Jesus Angleton, the controversial chief of the CIA's Counterintelligence arm. Hemming also had familial ties to the intelligence community: his uncle had been a business partner with John McCone, JFK's Director of the CIA.

In December 1962, Hemming and a dozen of his Interpen group were arrested in the Florida Keys shortly before leaving on a secret mission to Cuba. Jailed overnight in Key West, the group was bailed out by a Miami attorney who flew them to Miami on a chartered seaplane. Hemming stated that when they arrived in Miami, Oswald attempted to infiltrate their group but Hemming instructed his men to remove Oswald. Several months later when Hemming and his lawyer participated in a Miami radio talk show, a man identifying himself as Lee Oswald called the show. A week after the assassination, the talk show host reported the incident to the FBI. In 1978, Hemming testified to the House Select Committee on Assassinations that he had met Lee Harvey Oswald outside the Cuban Consulate in January 1959, was suspicious of Oswald's motives and the information he was seeking. Subsequently, Hemming advised his Cuban friends to get rid of Oswald.

On bail restriction arising from the arrest in the Florida Keys, Hemming was unable to return to Los Angeles for a Christmas reunion with his family. A short time thereafter, his father, who owned a television repair shop, died. Hemming always regretted missing that last Christmas with his father. He told one writer that for months after his father died he would call his father's business after hours just to listen to his father's voice on the recorded announcement of the business hours.

In March of 1963, Hemming traveled to Dallas, Texas seeking financial support for his Interpen group. One of the person contacted included former Gen. Edwin Walker, who was shot at by Lee Oswald a few weeks later.

Hemming testified to the HSCA that in the summer of 1963 he was personally offered money to arrange the murder of JFK; specifying one such offer was made in the home of New Orleans private investigator Guy Banister and another in the Dallas Petroleum Club.

In the late 1980s Hemming and two of his Interpen associates served as consultants to Oliver Stone's movie "JFK". He can be seen briefly in the film as the man co-coordinating the assassination. Although some speculate that members of Interpen may have been involved in the assassination, Hemming always denied that charge, but has suggested that several years later he learned the details of the assassination from persons who were involved. Among his controversial claims was that Kennedy assassination was funded in part by members of the family of Rafeal Trujillo, the Dominican Republic dictator assassinated in April 1961, and that there was a separate shooter in the Texas School Book Depository with a contract to kill Governor John Connally. He also claimed that the conspirators had planted a bomb in a car parked near the triple underpass that could have been used to blow up the entire presidential limousine had the shooters been unable to deliver a fatal head shot.

Hemming may have given us the answer to some of the mysteries of the assassination. For instance, he has identified the Mexico City mystery man as German born Mario Tauler Sague, recruited for the CIA by Bill Harvey while Harvey was the Berlin station chief. Sague was involved in one of the earliest attempts on Castro's life.

At the conference in Dallas, Hemming claimed to know Sylvia Odio's visitors were. He stated that one of them had once saved his life. In 2005, he finally revealed the names. The man who saved his life was Angelo Murgado, the "Angel" in the Odio story, and "Leopoldo" was Bernardo DeTorres, a name familiar to most students of the assassination. The names were first publicly identified in an article written by Mark Howell and Tim Gratz for the Key West Citizen. Murgado was interviewed in person by Prof Joan Mellen (in the presence of Hemming) and she tells the story in her book "A Farewell to Justice". Murgado was also interviewed by David Talbot for his book "Brothers". In "Brothers", Talbot states that Murgado told him that he, Murgado, had shown Robert F Kennedy the newspaper article and photo of Lee Oswald passing out literature in New Orleans, leading to the disturbing conclusion that when RFK learned of the arrest of Oswald for the murder of his brother, he recognized Oswald's name and photo.

Howard K. Davis, who served as an Army ranger in the Korean War and worked with the Castro forces in 1958 before the abdication of Batista, was the second in command of the Interpen group and worked closely with Hemming for many years. Davis, who now works for Homeland Security at the Miami airport, said of Hemming, "Hemming was at heart an idealist who longed for freedom for the Cuban people and like so many was disappointed that Castro betrayed the stated goals of his revolution. Gerry loved the Cuban people, spoke Spanish fluently and he is remembered with great fondness in the Cuban exile community. He named one of his sons after a Cuban exile who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the fight against Castro."

Hemming has been interviewed by various JFK researchers, and was a featured speaker at the JFK Lancer November in Dallas Conference in 1996. Hemming's HSCA testimony given on June 17, 1993, was donated by Noel Twyman to JFK Lancer for distribution. There are many who believe that most of Hemming's stories were nothing but the creation of a clever mind while others are equally confident that he carried some secrets of the assassination to his grave. Perhaps the epitaph that should appear on his grave is the description once given him by an assassination writer: "Valedictorian in a Guerilla Suit.

Commentary on Oswald's Ghost

This is taken from Mary Ferrell.

Robert Stone's film Oswald's Ghost aired on PBS recently, earning rave reviews from some and less-than-favorable response from others. The film grapples with the effect of the JFK assassination on American society, though leaves the strong impression that the resulting tumult was unnecessary, as Oswald killed JFK by himself.

Mainstream sources' positive reviews include the Boston Globe, LA Times, Dallas Morning News, and Miami Herald.

Here are a few longer pieces which take issue with the film from different perspectives:

Kennedy's Ghost, by Rex Bradford.

Oswald's Ghost, by Jim DiEugenio.

What Oswald Wrought: Lament of a Generation, by Max Holland.

Night at the Museum, by David Lifton.

See also this piece by David D'Arcy: Robert Stone and Oswald's Ghost, which includes an interview with the filmmaker where Stone voices more directly some of his thoughts on the assassination.

Gophers in Rivals Top 5 Surprise Recruiting Classes

Every year it seems that the usual suspects are always near the top of the Rivals.com team rankings. With the success on the field, it's no surprise to see teams like Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC and LSU always up there with the best of the best.

But each recruiting year, there's a crop of surprise teams that come out of nowhere and finish with great classes. Rivals.com takes a look at the five biggest surprises in recruiting this season.

RIVALS5: RECRUITING SURPRISES

KANSAS JAYHAWKS
Current Class Rank: No. 35 overall, No. 9 in Big 12

It's hard to call the Jayhawks a surprise in anything anymore as this season's effort on the field proved that. There is no question that the Kansas coaching staff has a great eye for talent. They've taken players that were lightly recruited in some cases or needed a little extra time to develop, and transformed them into all-conference players. But this year, the Jayhawks took some major strides, riding the wave of momentum of the Orange Bowl victory, and will finish with the highest ranked class in Mark Mangino's time in Lawrence. The Hawks did a great job in their own backyard, snagging four of the top nine players in the state. Plus, they did some major damage with key junior college players like national offensive player of the year, running back Jocques Crawford.

MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS
Current Class Rank: No. 25 overall, No. 4 in Big Ten

Tim Brewster and his staff have flat out gotten it done this recruiting season. It was just over a year ago that Brewster was brought on board, and even with the struggling season, Minnesota football has made tremendous strides in the recruiting wars. The Golden Gophers under Brewster have a legit shot at finishing in the national top 25 – something that's never been done before at Minnesota. Stars like MarQueis Gray at quarterback, Brandon Green and Vincent Hill at receiver and Traye Simmons in the defensive backfield could be household names in the Big Ten rather quickly. And so should Minnesota's losing seasons.

PITTSBURGH PANTHERS
Current Class Rank: No. 21 overall, No. 1 in Big East

The Panthers have to rank right at the top as one of the most pleasant surprises nationally this recruiting season. Not only did they make strides on the field late in the season, they've continued to make strides forward in the recruiting wars. Landing five-star receiver Jonathan Baldwin is something that should help spark the offense even more next season. And they've done a tremendous job also on the defensive side of the ball with guys like Shayne Hale expecting to compete for early time. Their offensive line is also going to get a big boost with Lucas Nix coming aboard.

SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES
Current Class Rank: No. 49 overall, No. 1 in CUSA

The Golden Eagles have made tremendous strides rather quickly under new coach Larry Fedora. Fedora assembled a great coaching staff that features great coaches and great recruiters like Tony Hughes and Darrell Wyatt. The Eagles are going to finish ahead of several quality teams from the Big 12, ACC, Big East and Pac 10. Wyatt is most well known for recruiting Adrian Peterson to Oklahoma, but his effort at Southern Miss quickly garnered a lot of attention. And Hughes quickly reeled in many of the Eagles top prospects, including star linemen Willie Packer and Quin Sanford. While this class might not register in the top 25, there is definitely a new team to watch out for in Conference USA and things are going to be more difficult for out of state teams to come into Mississippi and get kids away.

WASHINGTON HUSKIES
Current Class Rank: No. 22 overall, No. 5 in Pac-10

Tyrone Willingham is flat out getting it done in Seattle this recruiting season. UDub might shock some people to be where its ranked, but it shouldn't be a true surprise because the Huskies have a tremendous recruiting base to recruit to – major urban area, great facilities, good tradition and a great fan base. The Huskies have done most of their damage this season in the Northwest with the key additions of stars like Kavario Middleton, Everrette Thompson, Alameda Ta'amu. But stealing Chris Polk away from USC also had to be exciting for the UDub coaches. The Huskies have a young nucleus to work with and adding even more high-level talent from this year's class is sure to help them be even more competitive in the Pac-10.

Update on MarxistGophers Super Tuesday Predictions

I wanted to post an update to my Super Tuesday predictions before I go home. I have Obama picking up Alaska, Idaho, and North Dakota, but I flipped California back to Clinton. Obviously, given the number of delegates involved, this is not good for Obama if this scenario plays out. Keep in mind, however, that the Democratic primary isn't winner-take-all in states. Delegates are awarded proportionally. I think it's shaping up for a Hillary lead coming out of Super Tuesday, but it won't be a crushing blow that will knock Obama out of the race. Which means this could continue into March. The only question will be what size the Hillary lead is in delegates after Super Tuesday. If it's close Obama will still have a realistic chance, but if Hillary can open a bit of a lead Obama isn't likely to catch her....

2004 Democratic Primary Vote by County

Another in my continuing series of political maps. The 2004 Democratic primary wasn't that interesting after Iowa, but I thought it would be cool to compare it to the 2008 map that is still in the making.

If anyone has any requests for other maps you want to see me do, please let me know in the comments section of this post.

UPDATE: Republican Primary Vote by County

I've updated the map to show the correct county breakdown in Wyoming. We finally get Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter on the map!! The Republican caucuses in Maine are tonight, so I should have another update tomorrow.

Pledged Democratic Delegates Proportional Map

I found this on wikipedia and had to post it. Why make my own when it already exists.....

Democratic Primary Super Tuesday States

For those who don't know I created this lovely map showing the 22 states that will be voting on Super Tuesday (February 5th), along with the number of delegates at stake in each state. None of the delegates are awarded in winner take all format, as some of the republican states are, but are all proportionally awarded.



Here are my predictions for the upcoming Super Tuesday vote. I think I'm being slightly favorable to Obama, and this still shows a Hillary "win" on Tuesday. This is depressing....

2006 Minnesota Senate Vote by County

Since I did the 2006 Minnesota Governor's race earlier today I thought it would be an easy transition to the 2006 Senate race where Amy Klobuchar destroyed Mark Kennedy. Enjoy!