Yesss I am! I'm pretty disappointed in Huckabee. I wish he had kept going because I really don't like McCain. I would've been satisfied with Romney, Paul, or Huckabee-- anyone but McCain. So I suppose I'll be voting Democrat this year.

No, I'm not. People underestimate Hil and you can't keep a good woman down! W00t!!! Go Hil! I am completely ready for the next 7 weeks of campaigning as I live in Pennsylvania!

I'm an Obama supporter and I'm not surprised by the results. Maybe I was hoping Rhode Island would go to Obama, but I expected him to loose in Texas and in Ohio. Anyway, he won in Vermont, wich is the 12th victory for him in a row, so go Obama!

I'm a bit surprised that Hillary did as well as she did, but even though I'm not necessarily a supporter of her, I'm glad that she did do well enough to keep the contest going a bit longer. Right now, I can't really pick between them - each have some strong points and each have some things that make me too uncomfortable to throw my weight behind them - and having the primary season for the Dems run even longer means that there's more time to observe both of them and learn more about them.

Plus, you *know* the Republicans are going to do everything they can to find as much dirt as possible on both of them, and the longer they're both strong candidates, the longer the Repubs efforts are going to be split between them, hopefully making it just that much harder to find anything - and if they DO find something that seriously damages the chances of one of them, the longer they're both in the contest, the longer the Dems still have the option to go with the other as their nominee.

I am glad Huckabee is out of the race - he's made it far too clear that he has no problem using the government to try and codify his own religious beliefs in our law, and *any* candidate of any party or faith that has that attitude is bad news in my book. McCain, though, isn't all that much better, and I'm really hoping that his acceptance of Rev. Hagee's endorsement of him will lead many to question what that has to say about McCain. Obama was criticized when Louis Farakhan endorsed him, and he rightly denounced the endorsement and repudiated Farakhan and his hate-filled rhetoric. Hagee is every bit as bad as Farakhan, and yet, so far, no one is calling on McCain to denounce or repudiate him. Fortunately, the story seems to be building some steam, especially now that some conservative voices are questioning McCain's involvement with the guy. It'd be great to see McCain knocked back several steps, especially since he's now the presumptive nominee and it would be hard for the Repubs to change that.

I wasn't surprised at all. Obama took all the big city areas in Texas, where there are large populations, and Hillary basically took all the rest. He went to the large cities, holding these HUGE rallies, while the Clinton camp made small appearances everywhere, reaching out to the people in Big Country and all of our small counties.
The only thing that surprised me was the COMPLETE MESS that were the caucuses. What a way to discourage Texas Democrats from voting in the future!

Honestly, I'm really surprised that Hillary took Texas! I'm surprised in general she managed to halt Obama's momentum. What a race.

loving all of this, no real surprises, oh yeah Go McCain

"Plus, you *know* the Republicans are going to do everything they can to find as much dirt as possible on both of them, and the longer they're both strong candidates, the longer the Repubs efforts are going to be split between them, hopefully making it just that much harder to find anything - and if they DO find something that seriously damages the chances of one of them, the longer they're both in the contest, the longer the Dems still have the option to go with the other as their nominee." - The longer these two duke it out, the more the Democratic party will be split and the less the Republicans need to do to secure the nomination.

Additionally, I think the Democrats in this race are just as likely, if not more so, to pull up "dirt" on the Republicans, especially if Hillary wins the nom. I think if it is between Obama and McCain, it will be a fight based on more differences in their records, experience and views. If Hillary wins the nom, I believe their will be more mud slinging than against Obama.

Also, I don't believe you'll see McCain too heavily arguing either candidate specifically (it will be more of a broader we're different than both candidates on these issues) until after the Dems figure out who is going to represent their party, which I hope takes a very long time.

"Hagee is every bit as bad as Farakhan, and yet, so far, no one is calling on McCain to denounce or repudiate him. Fortunately, the story seems to be building some steam, especially now that some conservative voices are questioning McCain's involvement with the guy. It'd be great to see McCain knocked back several steps, especially since he's now the presumptive nominee and it would be hard for the Repubs to change that." - While I see the point your are trying to make, I really doubt you're going to see McCain get knocked back that much. Heck, there are Democrats who even say they don't mind McCain on the Republican side.

I honestly think the road for the Dems to take the White House is getting longer and longer.....

not surprised by last nights outcomes at all!

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Additionally, I think the Democrats in this race are just as likely, if not more so, to pull up "dirt" on the Republicans, especially if Hillary wins the nom. I think if it is between Obama and McCain, it will be a fight based on more differences in their records, experience and views. If Hillary wins the nom, I believe their will be more mud slinging than against Obama.
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Oh, I wasn't meaning to imply the Dems won't be digging up dirt against McCain - of course they will, and I'm pretty sure there'll be plenty of mud from all sides. My point was just that as long as the Dems have two candidates, it forces the Repubs to do twice as much work, which - hopefully - will reduce their effectiveness in finding said dirt

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Also, I don't believe you'll see McCain too heavily arguing either candidate specifically (it will be more of a broader we're different than both candidates on these issues) until after the Dems figure out who is going to represent their party, which I hope takes a very long time.
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That could be. And I don't necessarily think it would bad for the Dems if both Clinton and Obama are in play for a while longer - not just because it splits the effort on demonizing either of them (because even if McCain doesn't do it himself, there are plenty of Republican supporters like the conservative talk-show hosts and bloggers who will take it upon themselves to do the digging,) and allows for more flexibility if one of them implodes before the convention (Gods forbid!) but also because when they're not busy taking pot shots at each other, they can tag team on McCain

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While I see the point your are trying to make, I really doubt you're going to see McCain get knocked back that much. Heck, there are Democrats who even say they don't mind McCain on the Republican side.
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Really? The only Dems I've heard saying anything like that are ones who like seeing McCain on the Republican side because they think he's not going to be that hard to beat. I'm curious, which Dems are liking him as a candidate? (And I'm not doubting what you're saying, I just haven't heard it and would be interested in following up on it myself - I like to know about that kind of stuff.)

As for Hagee causing McCain some problems, it'll be interesting to see if that goes anywhere and how it plays out. He's made some pretty outrageous statements, from thing like "joking" that the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling doberman is "lipstick," and that the difference between that premenstrual woman and a terrorist is that you can negotiate with the terrorist.

He's called the Catholic Church is the "Great wh*re of Rome" and says that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for homosexuality. He says the US must join with Israel in a pre-emptive strike against Iran in order to "fulfill God’s plan for both Israel and the West," and that the Jews brought the Holocaust on themselves.

And, to help students from his Cornerstone Church who were looking for "odd jobs," he held a "Slave sale," announcing it in a newsletter as follows: "To help students seeking odd jobs, his church newsletter, The Cluster, advertised a "slave" sale. "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone," it said. "Make plans to come and go home with a slave."" (An article in one of the local papers notes that Rev. Hagee "apologized but, in a radio interview, protested about pressure to be "politically correct" and joked that perhaps his pet dog should be called a "canine American."")

Links to verify most of the above information are available at: http://mediamatters.org/items/200802280018?f=h_latest

At any rate, Obama was repeated pressed after Farrakhan endorsed him to denounce and repudiate the endorsement, which Obama did, especially since he had not sought Farrakhan's support. McCain WANTED this guy to support him. He's been courting him for quite some time in order to GET his endorsement. If he doesn't get much of a knock back from it, it won't be because it's not deserved.

when i hear mccain talk, i hear dubya. its scarey. but i'm torn between democrats because i'm not sold on either platform

i'm not suprised at all how yesterday turned out. i think that people knew that hilary still had a lot of support and that she could turn it out. now it's just a matter of time until the convention where they have to defer to the super delegates to see what happens. luckily hilary has more than obama so i'm breathing a bit easier on the matter.

"My point was just that as long as the Dems have two candidates, it forces the Repubs to do twice as much work, which - hopefully - will reduce their effectiveness in finding said dirt" - I see what you're saying, but I think the flip side of that is that currently McCain has the help of Obama on pointing out Hillary flaws and McCain has the help of Hillary on pointing out Obama flaws. And whent hese flaws are being pinted out from within the party, I believe it will do more damage than stuff pointed out by McCain.

"I'm curious, which Dems are liking him as a candidate?" - Sometimes here on the boards you 'll get liberals saying they don't think McCain is so bad. I'm not saying these people are running out the door for him, but it does show that people are looking at the other side.

Additionally, I'll quote citizen on this one: "according to a Pew Research study just released, "Overall, 20% of white Democratic voters say they would vote for McCain if Obama is the Democratic nominee. That is twice the percentage of white Democrats who say they would support McCain in a Clinton-McCain matchup." So although Obama is far from assured, McCain still enjoys the dangled carrot of defecting Democrats."

"As for Hagee causing McCain some problems, it'll be interesting to see if that goes anywhere and how it plays out." - I agree that it will be very interesting. Endorsements are always a quirky aspect of the voting process. I never really quite understand why people vote for people because someone else endorsed him, but I suppose that is how our society works at times.

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when i hear mccain talk, i hear dubya. its scarey. but i'm torn between democrats because i'm not sold on either platform
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Agreed, that's almost exactly how I feel. I like both Clinton and Obama *much* better than I do McCain, and I honestly don't think this country can take another 4 years of someone who seems to think so much like Bush. When it comes to the general election, I'll be supporting whomever the Democratic nominee is, but I have a real hard time trying to decide between them.

I, personally don't get the whole Bush/McCain thing myself. McCain is a very different person and Bush actually hurt him quite a bit when they were running against each other, so they are not the friendliest of friends by any means.

When you all say he sounds like Bush, what points make him sound Bush-like?

Haha! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! Or your party's foot for that matter. She just keeps making it easier and easier for ya doesnt she John?

3M I was wondering the same thing. (about how they are the same that is)

Ponderous

I'm a Hillary supporter and I was surprised by so many wins. I'm happy she's having a come back. The Texas caucuses were a mess. They made me want to leave but I stuck it out and stayed.

I really have nothing to contribute to this thread because though I was a bit disappointed in the outcomes yesterday, I was not surprised by any of them. I do wonder, though, isn't Obama still barely in the lead with delegates (the regular, average Joe kind)? I think he is, but all the news websites have different counts.

I really just want that Nixon poster. Badly.

Not even Obama's campaign was surprised by the results. He projected that she would win these states, but he still comes out ahead in delegates.

Also, if Hillary wins the Texas primary by 3%, and loses the caucus by 10%, can we really say she is the winner in Texas? The caucus results don't have to be mailed in until Friday, so the results will be ready next week. But it is an interesting question, IMO.

"isn't Obama still barely in the lead with delegates"

She only got 5-9 more delegates for Ohio, and he will get more delegates in Texas. Right now, he still leads by an estimated 120 delegates. It will be really hard for her to get that many more than him, with so few contests remaining.

I'm a little surprised because it was such a tight rcae. But yay for hillary, i'll root for her until she personally tells me to stop rooting. on the otherhand, i'm already tired of the campaign overlaod. oy.

I don't think I'm surprised by the Dems outcome last night. Hillary was supposed to do well in certain places yesterday, and she certainly did. Now it's interesting, though, to look at the number of delegates/ supers they each have. Wonder how that'll play out! As long as Barack and Hillary keep fightin it out til the end, that should make it better for the GOP to get more solidified behind McCain.
That being said, I'm glad McCain got past 1191 last night, and Huckabee stepped out. Huck shoulda been gone a long time ago. But I want Mitt back. =)