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US ELECTIONS: INDIA POLICY
The Injun Incline
How do the India strategies of the US presidential hopefuls stack up? ......
Ashish Kumar Sen
* Barack Obama
Voted for killer amendments to the Hyde Act. Behind the clause asking US to urge other nations from providing nuclear fuel if it cuts off supply. Opposed outsourcing, dubbed Hillary "Democrat from Punjab".
* Hillary Clinton
The most popular candidate among Indians. Shares her husband's love for India. But she came out late in support of the nuke deal. Voted for killer amendments to the Hyde Act. Indian Muslims wary of her.
* John Mccain
Voted against killer amendments to the Hyde Act. Considered best for India's interest as he is most likely to persist with Bush's US policy. More popular among Hindus. Most doctors of Indian origin back him.
***
Months before the current race to win party nomination for contesting the US presidential election began, Illinois senator Barack Obama was considered an underdog among the Democratic Party pack. He wasn't expected to vanquish New York senator Hillary Clinton. She possessed the charisma of the Clinton name, a face already famous, a history people knew. Yet the message of hope Obama embodies in his elegant speeches has helped him tap into the nation's craving for change, enabling him to squeeze past Hillary in both the number of states and delegates won.
Yet the race for the Democratic Party nomination is still open. Should neither Obama nor Hillary reach the 2,025-delegate mark to win the nomination, their fate will be in the hands of 796 superdelegates. Drawn from a pool of party officials, elected representatives, former officials and activists, these superdelegates are free to cast their votes for either candidate at the party's convention in Denver in August.
By contrast, the Republican Party appears to have a nomineeâArizona senator John McCain, a war hero who was first elected to the US Senate in 1986. His closest rival, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, trails by a significant margin and has maths and most political pundits stacked against him. Most agree that one of the three candidatesâObama, Hillary and McCainâwill take the baton from George Bush to become the next US president.
Outlook thought the moment opportune to analyse and judge the three from the perspective of New DelhiâWho among them would best suit India's interests? The verdict depends on the answer to another question: Who among the troika can sustain the momentum in Indo-US ties?
Most Indians are likely to name Hillary, largely because her charismatic husband and former president Bill created a veritable buzz on his visit to India in 2000. Though as first lady she didn't accompany her husband, she did subsequently fly down to India with her daughter, Chelsea. Yet the advantage of her familiarity with India could be offset should she, if she is elected, bring back those officials who belong to the 1990s era when Indo-US relations were frosty. Hillary is also the Democratic co-chair of the Friends of India Caucus in the Senate. But the caucus has done little to serve its intended purpose.
Others say the best way of judging the three candidates is to scrutinise the position each took on the Indo-US nuclear deal and their voting pattern on different clauses of the Hyde Act 2006 that paved way for cooperation in civilian nuclear energy between the two countries. Hillary, for instance, supported the deal well after most of her colleagues had placed their cards on the table.
Hillary and Obama's voting records on the Hyde Act are similar. Both backed California Democratic senator Barbara Boxer's killer amendment that sought to link nuclear cooperation to India severing military-to-military ties with Iran.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->âHillary Clinton, probably because of her Methodism and her liberalism, holds teachings that are very closely tied to the Catholic Church. That fits very well with Catholic sensibilities,â Green said. âI think she talks in ways that Catholics can understand. He speaks in the cadences of the black church, with a real Protestant approach.â
............
âSenator Obama has captured better than any of the other candidates a concern that religion has been used as a wedge issue â that there has been a deliberate effort on the part of conservatives to basically try and gain political advantage by pointing out how much Democrats disrespect religion,â said Kmiec, who served as a legal adviser to Republican Mitt Romney. âOn the other side, Democrats have been too quick to disregard the significance of faith in peopleâs lives â that they have been too quick to embrace wholesale secularism.â<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The above story was hotly contested amongst politico-staff and BO-campaign. Even the TITLE was hotly contested.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Among the items agitating the Obama campaign was the initial headline: "Obama support soft among Catholics.â <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Keith Olbermann was going on about Hagee's tirades against catholics, gays etc and how McCain could accept endorsement from such a person
I was thinking to myself, "Dude, this Hagee has a less hot place in hell reserved for catholics and gays. Hindus --the quintessential "idolaters" for the clueless frilly-collared white churchwits-- have the hottest place in Hagee Hell."
I used to watch this Glenn Beck. Then one day he had Pat Robertson on, and said, "I love you, Pat"... don't watch GB anymore.
May these jijjus-lovers choke on their own puke. <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->urgent update-hillary signs have been puled by obamaâs camp in most major pcts this am. the campaign needs folks to go out if they got a sign or any hil gear and show up. my yard was vanadalized this morning and sign ripped to pieces.. please help and get out to your polling location for hillary and GO TO YOUR CAUCUS GUYS. here are legal numbers should u need them-and u might today- <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Above is how Obama gundas win caucaus
Obama recently said one thing on NAFTA publicly and while his campaign's been holding back door discussions with Canadians which is complete flip of his public position. Guy's a yet another politician who'll say what the crowd wants to hear. Clinton hammers Obama on NAFTA before crucial primaries
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bigot Pastor Hagee endorsed McCain.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Guess Hardball Matthew's tone deaf else he could could have picked up this news like rest of the world.
Now I really want Hillary to win, I want to watch how she will treats media, Kennedy, Kerry, Dodd, Richardson. Pleasure will be great.
Media is lucky they are in locker room. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->One more thing. Ohio is a highly unionized state. The Wall Street Journal called this "Ohio's most crippling handicap" in job creation. Alabama is a right-to-work state in which union organizing is difficult.
This, of course, gives Alabama an important talking point. After all, other things being equal, would a large corporation prefer to locate a new factory in a union state or a right-to-work state? Would it rather hire a union workforce or a non-union one? Those questions answer themselves.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I used to watch this Glenn Beck. Then one day he had Pat Robertson on, and said, "I love you, Pat"... don't watch GB anymore. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Obama Campaign Reprimanded for Dirty Tricks</b>
Taylor Marsh LIVE!
3:15 p.m. eastern - 12:15 pacific
Missed the show? Podcast up soon.
MSNBC is covering this story right now.
I've been hearing this as well. But it seems the Obama campaign is trying to stack the deck in Texas, but also in Ohio. Marc Ambinder and Jeralyn have already written it up. Obama's campaign has been rebuked in Ohio, with Ambinder having the letter:
Ohio's Secretary of State, an office held by a Democrat, has rebuked Sen. Barack Obama's campaign for trying to staff precincts with poll workers who presented insufficient credentials.
As was just reported on MSNBC, Ohio has very strict rules on poll workers.
In Texas, the reports get worse. Obama's team are evidently copying caucus forms and having their supporters fill them out prior to the 7:15 p.m. deadline when the caucus is called to order. This means the voter wouldn't have to actually attend the caucus, but instead would simply have the Obama team hand in the caucus forms for the voter, which is clearly against the rules, which are very clear:
Participants may NOT begin signing in until the precinct convention has been called to order. The call to order may not occur until 7:15 p.m. OR whenever the last voter finishes voting at that polling location whichever is later. If, after the convention has been called to order and participants have signed in, any participant who wishes to leave may do so, and their sign in WILL count toward the delegate allocation for each candidate. Sign-In ends when the last person present waiting to sign in has done so.
<b>This post brought to you by yet another example of Barack Obama's "change" agenda, on the way to a different kind of politics. Chicago style, baby.</b>
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Obama volunteers are handing out the forms at precincts today and asking people to fill them in and then collecting them. For Obama to submit the forms on the voters' behalf without the voter physically being present at the caucus would violate the rules.
I also wouldn't be surprised if this involves sexist bullying too. Shakesville on caucuses:
What is it about the difference between the two that gives Obama the edge in caucuses and Clinton the advantage in the primaries?"
<b>In my Seattle caucus today, overwhelmingly for Obama, us Hillary supporters were older, and less aggressive than the Obama supporters. ... Intimidation is a factor in caucuses. It's something the democratic party has to deal with which is why I want the democratic party to do away with them completely. The last thing democrats need when trying to build party unity is one half winning votes by scaring the other half.
Someone has also emailed me private accounts of older female Hillary supporters who reported being intimidated, shouted down, and outright bullied by younger male Obama supporters while caucusing. There were also reports of male McCain supporters who showed up claiming the specific purpose of intimidating female Hillary supporters.
And why not? When everyone's free to take shots at Hillary without serious consequence, it doesn't exactly send the message that anyone will care if her supporters are treated as fair game for sexist bullying, too</b>.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In Minnesota, the Obama campaign encouraged people to go to the caucus, "vote" which means scribbling a name on a piece of paper, and then leave.
Caucuses have NEVER been handled like this. It is supposed to be a MEETING where people discuss issues and nominate delegates. Turning these things into informal mini-primaries and letting people sign in and leave just makes it all a big joke. Yuck.
<b>Clinton campaign accuses Obama camp of vote suppression</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Hillary Clinton's campaign on Tuesday accused Barack Obama's camp of engaging in "outrageous" and "undemocratic" tactics during the voting in Texas, including locking her supporters out of caucuses.
The Obama camp denied the allegations as a "laughable" attempt to play down the state's caucuses, a political nominating exercise that has produced better results for their White House candidate in other states.
Clinton's Texas state director Ace Smith said there was a "really tremendously disturbing pattern" of vote irregularities in Texas, which conducted a statewide presidential primary Tuesday followed by caucuses.
<b>"What is happening tonight is just truly an outrage," he told reporters.
The Clinton campaign accused the Obama operation of taking materials supposed to be available for both sides in the caucuses earlier in the day.</b>
Clinton's aides also said in a hastily-convened conference call that in some locations in Texas her supporters had been locked out of caucuses by Obama backers, who had taken over the meetings.
The campaign's legal counsel Lyn Utrecht warned that some precincts in Texas had also called in results even before they were supposed to open.
<b>"There are numerous locations where Obama supporters have taken over the caucuses and have locked out Clinton supporters who should have been allowed to come in."</b>
<b>She said all options were open for the campaign, including legal action, though no decisions had been taken.</b>
Obama spokesman Bill Burton dismissed the allegations.
"This is a transparent and laughable attempt to divert attention from the caucus results which reward delegates every bit as meaningful as do primaries," he told AFP by email
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on the math problem.. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Her Math is solved. Any Democrat to win must have CA, OH, TN. She is the only one who can win TN, if she can win TN, she will also win AR and OK. Only Hillary can carry OH.
If BHO gets ticket, CA will go McCain, current Gov is Republican, so TN, AR,OK, OH and rest of US.
White superdelegates will switch. Writing is on wall. Democrats don't want to lose election.
Now BHO had become fully black candidate by forcing all black superdelegates to switch side. BIG MISTAKE.
He became over condifident and bully. At the end this race will be decided by cigar smoking man in close door. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Watch how fast money is pouring in, in last 24 hrs she had raised 4.5million. They had target 6 million in 48 hrs, I can tell you by evening she will have 6 million from very low income donor. People are donating as little as $4.44 or max as $44.44.
Today Obama team had given good material for late night comedy shows.
Another goof up or double talk on Iraq and foreign policy by Obama team.
One resigned and more to go. He is losing momentum and trust.
03-08-2008, 03:16 AM (This post was last modified: 03-08-2008, 03:26 AM by Shambhu.)
Black Obama supporters have called black HC supporters the "worst racial epithet" according to a brief bit on CNN some days ago.
BO's campaign is subliminally using his blackness quite cleverly. "Yes we can". THe subconcious fills in words for you always, thats how it works. So you see a black guy saying "tes we can", and it means "yes we can get a black guy into the white house". Would a white guy with BO's experience and oratory have made it this far? I dont think so. But BO has black people fooled into "help make history". I have no problem with an experienced black candidate. But BO is naive. His foreign policy advisor is Brezinski (mercenary king).
6 months ago Chris Rock came on SNL and said that people need to vote for BO becos HC, though a woman, is not black, and blacks have faced far greater discrimination than women.
I have seen 3 white people asked who they would vote for (in the last few days). They said, "my head says HC but heart says BO"
I am sure BO got some white guilt votes from the uber-PC latte crowd in Madison, Seattle, Austin etc..And he has the votes of 90% blacks. What has BO done for blacks other than being black? HC, despite having worked for blacks, gets punished.
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