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Two Steps for One Win in Texas
Published by Pamela Gentry on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 8:17 am.
By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Posted March 4, 2008) – This primary will be the first in close to 20 years where Texas voter’s participation will make a difference. How it works and how to participate is the dilemma for candidates in the lone star state where 228 delegates are at stake.
The ability for voters to do so twice, has coined the process, “The Texas two-step, “ and it’s completely legal. Texans can vote in the primary and again Tuesday evening in the caucus. The two top Democratic rivals, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) want to make sure their supporters do both.
Folks in Texas haven’t made a difference in a presidential race in 20 years, so usually most voters only participated in the primary, and rarely caucused. So finding veteran caucus goers wasn’t easy in Texas and was a challenge for the campaigns.
A challenge they were willing to overcome. With 67 of the 228 delegates determined by the caucus results, getting supports to vote twice is important for a win. Another 126 will be based on the primary results and Texas has 35 super delegates.
So what are the candidates doing?
Former President Bill Clinton has added a tutorial to his stump speech on behalf of his wife. The Clinton campaign has also set up a place on their website to recruit “prescient captains” to attend the caucus.
The Obama campaign aggressively recruited and trained supporters statewide to caucus. They started early and this could be the difference when the delegate count is tallied. The Obama campaign also provides a cheat sheet that simplifies the caucus process for folks on their website.
Obama has shown strength in the caucus process in other states because of his grass roots organization.
Voter turnout is expected to hit record highs today if early voting is any indication. The Texas Secretary of State’s election Web site shows 717,469 Dems have voted by mail or in person beginning February 19. That’s up more than 9 percent of the state’s 7, 815,906 registered voters. Just over three percent of registered Republicans, 242,197, have cast their vote.
The next 24 hours could determine who will be the Democratic nominee.
My predictions for tonight as follows, Barack will take Texas and Vermont and Hillary will take Ohio and Rhode Island. Either way unless she wins both Texas and Ohio she should drop out because I am tired of seeing and hearing her.
Barack 08
ITS GAME TIME!!! We had a great gathering with Barack yesterday in Houston. WE are energized. WE WILL BRING IT HOME. More Details tonight after we Caucus.
I hope all Texans remember the two step rule of vote and caucus. Watch and see after tonight the Clinton campaign will once again say they didn’t expect to win big and they are counting on Pennsylvania for the big win. Then they will downplay the states that voted. I don’t know about anyone else but this has been going on too long now and it’s really ripping apart the democratic party. I respected Hillary in the beginning but now I despise her antics and tactics. And if she somehow stole…ohhh I mean captured the nomination I just could not vote for her. In good conscience I would have to sit out this process.
I am bracing myself for the long haul but the division is too deep; her politics are too deplorable and there is little anyone could do to change my mind on her. For the life of me I can’t remember one democrat trying to rip apart another democrat the way Hillary Clinton is doing.
If she doesn’t drop out after tonight then I am a supporter of Baracks Campaign going NEGATIVE big time. The only way to fight fire is with fire.
Why isn’t anyone talking about Hillary’s earmarks. Read this article and find out how most of her earmarks have benefitted contractors and allowed them to go around the bidding process. Read how she has benefitted in kind to the earmarks she has given to various corporations and how many have donated to her campaign. And the real reason Pastor Butts is supporting Sen. Clinton. This is the kind of stuff Barack Obama needs to start using and bringing to light. It’s time to get UGLY and to show America the reality of what a Hillary run whitehouse could look like.
Past this link in your browser and read the eye opening article on the Senator’s earmarks and if you still don’t believe research online all her earmarks to date and where they have gone:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-k-wilson/clinton-by-far-worst-abus_b_84102.html
This is why the press better start kissing up to Hillary Clinton or else she will lock you up in the bathroom…humorous and pathetic still.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/04/well-at-least-it-had-wi_n_89808.html
We need to turn off this Obama non-sense. If this guy had any real good ideas, we would have heard them by now. Yall are stupid, voting for him just cuz he’s black.
Today, the American people spoke in VOLUMES, and VOTED for CHANGE (BARACK OBAMA).
As, for Sen. Clinton, she took her last stand like General Custrad, today. Fortunately, she will not raise again. It’S time to say, GOODBYE, ADIOS, ARRIVEDERIC, AND SAYONARA to the Clintons.
In the words, of the late Great Ray Charles, HIT THE ROAD JACK (CLINTONS) AND DON’T YOU COME BACK, NO MORE, NO MORE, NO MORE.
With that said, ladies and gentlemen I like to welcome the President of the United States, Barack Obama.
well said iris, you took the word’s right out my mouth and voting for obama on my behalf has nothing to do with him being a black man, it’s time for change, point blank!!! stand for something or fall for anything!!!
At this moment everyone knows that the odds are against HILLARY. She would have to win by 40% to 60% in the remaining states to win the delegate count. The ONE thing she and her supporters are counting on now is the ONE thing she was against. WE were told that WE were naive and OUR judgement was baseless off this ONE thing. They laughed at US and mocked us for believing in this ONE thing. WE were told this ONE thing has never put food on the table. Contrary to ones belief this ONE thing has propelled people to do things that others thought were unimaginable . This one thing would give her campaign and her supporters a fighting chance. That one thing is HOPE. How ironic is that?
you said it all iris and that’s true, basically stand for something or fall for anything, it’s time for change point blank, obama 08
I WISH EVERYONE COULD BE ADULTS ABOUT THESE THINGS. i HAVE LIVED 1/2 A CENTURY NOW AND HAVE USED MY AMERICAN RIGHTS IN VOTING SINCE I WAS 18.
I HAVE ALWAYS VOTED ON ISSUES EVEN THE YEAR JESSE JACKSON RAN I VOTED ON ISSUES AND HE WAS NOT MY CHOICE. IT DIDN’T MATTER TO ME THAT HE WAS BLACK.
OBAMA IS A BROTHER AND I LOVE HIM AND HIS MESSAGE
AND THE FACT THAT HE IS A CHRISTIAN MAN AND BELIEVES IN SOMETHING BUT I HAVE FROM THE BEGINNING LOVED AND ADMIRED HILLARY CLINTON AND I VOTED FOR HER. I REMEMBER WHEN HER HUSBAND WAS IN OFFICE THE USA JUST SEEMED TO HAVE 8 YEARS OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY FOR ALL THE PEOPLE AND I WISH ABOVE ALL THINGS TO EXPERIENCE THAT AGAIN BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT AMERICA NEEDS TO GO BACK TO BEING THE LAND THAT OTHER COUNTRIES WANT TO COME TO BECAUSE WE ARE (ALL) DOING SO WELL THAT THEY WANT THE SAME THING ALSO…
RESPECTFULLY
CG
CG,
The deal is that Bill Clinton had no experience and yet he was given a chance to become President and did some pretty good things. Why is Barack, who actually has experience as a Senator, looked over? More importantly, had Hillary talked more about her plans for the economy and stuck to the fact that Bill Clinton had alot to do with the economic prosperity we had during his term and her plans and policies, she would be in a much better situation than she is in today.
Instead, she chose to show her true colors, turn her back on the African American community, to beat down a highly respected and educated civil servant that decided to run against her as well as her own Democratic party. She did this by pulling out all the stops, playing upon fears, mud slinging, and proving that she will do anything at all to win the Presidency even if it means fracturing her own party.
This is deplorable to her party, it is a discredit to her excellent resume, and it is disenfranchising to women who I would think want to be represented by a woman who ran and maintained a campaign based upon experience and credentials rather than to be associated with the kind of candidate she has turned out to be.
CG,
Are you kidding me? Peace and prosperity. What about the first attack on the WTC? Clinton let Bin Laden go when he could have went after him!
The only reason the 90’s had properity was because of the internet and the dot com industry and the Clinton’s try to take credit for that.
What about the Genocide in Africa that went ignored by the Clinton administration! Did you forget the Gulf WAR?
Peace and prosperity? Are you for real?
I loved Bill Clinton too, that is until he shook his bony finger at the TV and said he did not have sex with that woman! After this it was all over and I knew that the things they were saying about the Clintons had been true all along and we were terribly duped!
I do not understand why Senator Clinton was legally allowed to run for office. She (and Bill) make much of a carbon copy 1990s ‘co-presidency’ and her experiences as First Lady to make her somehow uniquely qualified. That seems to me, voters are voting to give Bill an illegal 3rd time in office through his wife. I am not a Party person and would not vote for her due Bill’s lack of morals, integrity and immaturity when he was President. Why do people want that back in the White House? Not to mention their list of scandals. I did not support her due to Iraq and her response to Code Pink. If she cared about the country she would not have run and allowed Democrats to choose someone who has a chance to beat McCain. If her dirty politics and smear campaign of Obama work, does she not realize that she will lose in November?
This an interesting Presidential Race because for
the first time in the history of America we have
a White Female and A Black Male seeking the Office
of The President. The Clintons are showing their
true colors by covering up their errors and attempting to destroy Obama’s character. America
and the whole world that a LIE is as powerful as
the TRUTH, because both depends on who believe IT.
bill clinton did not prosecute the gulf war. that “honor” belongs to “41″.
Mary
…Since taking office in 2001, Hillary Clinton has delivered $500 million worth of earmarks that have specifically benefited 59 corporations. About 64% of those corporations provided funds to her campaigns through donations made by employees, executives, board members or lobbyists, a review by the Los Angeles Times shows.