Obama is the nominee

Senator Barack Obama went over the top Tuesday night before the results were in from either Montana or South Dakota. AP reports that based on exit polls in both states and pledged superdelegates who are now coming out of the woodwork, Obama has 2,128 delegates, 10 more than the minimum. All eyes now turn to Hillary Clinton and what she will say tonight from New York. AP reports that Clinton may be interested in the VP slop saying "I am open to it if it would help the party's prospects in November". While Obama is having a problem attracting Hispanics and working class whites, he should reject Clinton as his VP simply because the Clintons will view this as a co-presidency and perhaps work to undermine Obama and his inexperience. A safer bet for Obama would be popular Virginia Governor Tim Kaine who could help deliver Virginia in November or possibly Senator Evan Bayh from Indiana who could deliver the Hoosier state. Clinton brings a lot of baggage to the ticket especially in the form of Bill Clinton. The thought of Bill Clinton back in the White House with nothing to do is a scary thought.

Democrats only partly to blame

If you listen to conservative talk radio, some of the latest talking points revolve around the "do-nothing Democrat Congress". If we are going to be "intellectually honest" we need to extend the analysis a bit further. Conservative talkers suggest that the problems our country faces, namely high gas prices, large deficits, the situation in Iraq, the housing crisis, inflation, etc., are a direct result of the 2006 elections whereby the Democrats took control of Congress. The assumption conservative Kool-aid drinkers want us to believe is that the"new" Democrat Congress passed certain bills, which President Bush signed into law, which created all of the aforementioned problems. The fact of the matter is that President Bush, his administration, and the Republican Congress leading up to 2006 abandoned the basic conservative principle of fiscal responsibility. The government's excessive spending, mostly under Republican leadership, at home and abroad in Iraq, coupled with poor monetary policy which has greatly reduced the value of the dollar, have placed us in this economic predicament. For example, borrowing money from China to give most Americans some form of rebate, which we can then turn around to purchase Chinese goods, is a failed strategy and will not stimulate the economy. Until the government gets its economic house in order with sound fiscal and monetary policy that balances the budget, the US economy will continue to suffer no matter which party is in charge. You can take that to the bank!

Clinton all but out

Despite Hillary Clinton's impressive win in Puerto Rico on Sunday, Barack Obama will be the Democrat's presidential nominee. Clinton would have to win just about 90% of the remaining pledged and superdelegates to wrestle the nomination away from Obama. Between now and the end of the primary process Tuesday evening, Obama should reach the 2,118 delegates needed to nominate. Hopefully, Clinton's speech tomorrow from New York will be a concession speech and not an attempt to drag this thing to Denver in August. No one, not even most Democrats, is buying her tired argument that she has a path to the nomination because she's won more of the popular vote and that she's more electable than Obama. It is a tough pill to swallow but the Clintons have to realize that they have lost this fight and need to move on to preserve whatever dignity and legacy remains.