all the polling places have opened.... over twenty states from sea to murky sea.west virginia GOP caucuses have already chosen mike huckabee the winner today. mitt romney has already released a statement blaming the loss in WV to mccain's nixonian tricks. (by the way - how delicious is it that republicans are accusing other republicans of dirty republican tricks?)
the north dakota democratic caucuses have also closed their doors and we may have a winner soon....
and my mind is debating frantically with my heart on how i think this day will turn out.....
mccain will become the prohibitive nominee on the GOP side... few debate that.
the democrats appear to be in for a longer haul.... unless the country pulls a new hampshire and all the polls turn out wrong.
obama clearly has the momentum... some will argue there was not enough time for the momentum to build a victory.
millions of early ballots have already been cast in the delegate rich state of california.... obama is ahead there in some polls now... but not then.
so i dare not even make a prediction today except to say i'm in for a long night and probably wish i had taken tomorrow off.
but instead - i want to focus on an issue i've wished to focus on for some time... and an issue i think will help shape the outcome of tonight's results.
the media
i feel more and more like a republican these days as my distrust and dislike of the media become overwhelming.
i blame the media for much..... i think they were so excited to crown hillary the "inevitable" nominee that it pissed people off and cost her a lot of support.
i think bill did not play the race card initially - but the media played up the race card and caused a lot of infighting within the democratic party. oh, but allow me to be clear: on the morning of the SC primary - bill played the race card. bringing up jesse jackson - that was race. but before that point...i felt it was mostly a media hysteria.
and i don't want to completely let bill off the hook...if hillary loses the nomination, i think scholars will look back at bill in south carolina and point to his behavior as the turning point. the media did nothing but focus on bill and the coverage shifted away from hillary. for two week i heard nothing of hillary... only bill and his anger and his "race card."
everyone was also thrilled to call her feminist credidentials into question and claimed she had to let her husband fight for her... it was all such bullshit.
and let's be honest: the media appears to be quite infatuated with barack obama... and how could they not be? he's a fresh face... an exciting face.... he gives them something new to write about.
i also think the media...and NBC in particular...suffers from a great deal of guilt over never having a viable black character on friends.
so obama is the media darling...
even after thursday night's debate in los angeles...i thought hillary clearly won that debate... she clocked obama with her knowledge of issues and made a particularly strong case for her nomination when discussing universal health care.
but what did the media focus on for the next several days? her answers on the iraq debate and how that was obama's strongest moment and he won the debate.
has the media forgotten all of their much-beloved and ballyhooed exit polls? iraq rates low on voters' minds.... the economy. health care. immigration. these are top issues out there.... issues hillary clearly won on during the debate.
but the media decided to focus squarely on those 10 minutes or so when hillary had to explain her vote.
i hate that she voted to authorize the war.... but i still think she's the best person to lead us into the future.
looking ahead to the morning after
tomorrow the spin will be handled not by the campaigns of hillary or barack... but by the media. if the states are evenly split and clinton and obama divide most of the delegates - as is expected (as are the campaigns playing it today)... then the media will take over.
did barack win states hillary was expected to win? did he show better in california? or new jersey? or connecticut?
did hillary win more states than expected? did victories come at closer margins?
the delegate count will be forgotten by the media and they will crown their victor (my bet: obama). little else will matter.....
i hold out hope that my girl will win tonight... she is a brilliant political mind with a vast pool of knowledge. she is our best bet for universal health care... perhaps our only. and i believe she has the compassion and the desire to tackle issues that are closest to my heart... the rights of the GLBT community at the top of the list.
on that subject
i have to make a quick digression... and this is an odd "thank you" to ted kennedy, even though he has endorsed obama.
we've all heard obama's stump speech... his national campaign ad airing on cnn and msnbc. he speaks a lot about this race not being about "black or white, male or female, rich or poor." he makes the point to include many groups in this moving moment.
but it wasn't until kennedy's endorsement...when ted himself said ending the differences between "straight and gay" that obama ever included that phrase.
yes, after kennedy endorsed obama....he said "straight and gay" in that speech.... a speech that did not originally include that phrase according to transcripts provided to the press before the event.
so i want to thank ted kennedy for remembering us... for making a candidate remember us.
i watched hillary's "town hall" on hallmark last night (and online) and i was thrilled that the second question of the night was about GLBT issues...
the democrats are supposed to be a party that cares about us... so please, don't forget us.
back on track
get some good wine ready, my friends and tuck yourself in for a long night.... i expect some good surprises... i expect some heartbreaking moments...
but all in all...the media and i agree on at least one point...this is a campaign for the history books. more exciting than anything we've seen in some time.
i'll see you on the flip side.
hillary 08.
e.
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