Obama's New Democratic Party

Here's a crazy scenario that I heard about. It's a long shot and I don't think it will get to this point, but here it is for your pondering:

DNC Gives Hillary Clinton the Nomination Over Obama

What if even though Obama has won the popular vote and has more won delegates but the DNC still decides to push the nomination to Clinton? Its possible if enough Super Delegates are swayed. Why would the DNC deny the first Black Candidate of the Party? They wouldn't, but this is just a thought experiment.

OK, let's say it happens. Then what? An outraged (rightly so) Obama could break off from the Democratic Party and start a "New Democratic Party". A schism in the DNC would create a new party and perhaps bring them the first President. Would either "Democrat" have enough votes to beat a (unified) Republican Party? Probably not, but I don't think Obama should or would accept the slap in the face and let it pass.

Can Either Democrat Win Before the Convention?

While the Republican race is pretty much over with John McCain well in the lead and his main competitors out (Sorry Huckabee... you will make a nice VP candidate), the Democratic race is hot, hot, hot. There is a very real chance that neither Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton will have the necessary amount of delegates to cinch the nomination before the convention. What could that mean for the party? Will it be a unifying event? A coronation? A fight? Will the attention give the eventual nominee a huge boost going into the general?

How Much Money?

How much money can Barack Obama raise? He is really on a tear. After reporting a $32 million dollar month (January 2008), reports out today are that Obama in on pace for another $30 million plus month in February. Check out the article at Politico.com. The article also goes on to state that only 3% of Obama donors have given the Federal maximum. It is shown to be a good thing, but I'm not too sure. Many of those donors probably cannot give any more money. Hitting them up for more donations could lead to less than stellar results. I know that if I had already given, I wouldn't necessarily be able to give more. It's a misleading statistic. Let's see what the future brings for Obama and Clinton.

Will Obama Accept the VP?

If things continue as they are now, Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic Nomination. Then the big question will be, Who will she ask to be the VP nominee? The customary choice is the runner up, which in this case could be Barack Obama. Would he accept? I think he should. His presence on the ballot could help Clinton win the Presidency which would keep his chances for a future Presidential bid alive. Think about two terms of Hillary, and then the VP getting the nod. Obama doesn't seem to have the experience to be elected President, but with 8 years of VP under his belt, he would look that much better.

Poison Presidential Pill, Redux

I wrote earlier about how the topic of gay marriage led to President Bush's 2004 re-election. Could another issue lead to a Republican victory in 2008? It very well could! But this time it will not be an "issue" but instead a person. And who is that person? Senator Hillary Clinton.

What?!? Well the theory goes as follows. The country is generally fed up with Republicans after 8 years of Bush. This looks like a Democratic Presidential victory is guaranteed but the nominee for Democratic President could push the vote the other way. But Senator Clinton is hated as much as she is loved. Sure the Dems seem to love her, but there are just as many Republicans who don't and maybe even some of her own party. This means a Republican Strategy for 2008 would be to HELP GET Hillary the nomination with the idea that it would mean certain defeated for her (and victory for the Republican nominee) in the general election.

A Big Money Coup

Yesterday it was announced that Senator Barack Obama raised an amazing $32.5 million last quarter in fund raising. Add that to his previous quarter contributions of $25 million and you get a whopping total of $57.5 million in six months. That's the second best ever to this point. How was number one? None other than President George W. Bush. Senator Clinton came in second this quarter (whereas last quarter she was first) bring her 6 month total to $53 million. From the "1984 Hillary" video to the "I Got a Crush... on Obama" music video, Senator Obama is hot and seems to be getting hotter.

Rethinking Global Trade in Light of Climate Change

There has been a lot of talk about Climate Change in the past few decades, but the subject has received a lot of attention lately from the Clinton Global Initiative, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Former Vice President Al Gore's Oscar winner An Inconvenient Truth. A buzz word in the current conversation is "carbon footprint" which is namely the amount of CO2 released in the production, packaging and shipping of goods. In the UK, products sold at large retailers like Marks & Spencers are starting to have the words 'air freighted' included to show that the product was imported by plane.

[Image Source: Kober-Kümmerly+Frey Media AG]

Why? Because when a product is imported by air or rail or even boat, it takes more energy to get it to it's final destination. These modes of transport create carbon emissions. Flying a package of strawberries from Louisiana to Ottawa takes a lot more energy than it does for someone in Ottawa to buy locally grown apples instead. When we expand this to global trade, shipping all sorts of goods around the world (e.g from Shanghai to L.A., from Johannesburg to London), the total cost of the good in economic cost plus environmental cost is huge. What shall we do? One of the heralded attributes about the late 20th and early 21st century is how the globalization of free trade has reduced living costs for the recipients and increased the quality of life for the producers.

But what about the environmental cost? The drive of capitalism to reduce costs in the name of competition and free trade may actually be leading to far greater costs down the road. Should we start accounting for the true cost of these items? That would probably crush the economies of China, India, and most other net export countries. Since money is involved, the opposition to any distance based tariff would be huge. The only chance to enact such measures is if the largest net importing country, the United States of America, takes the lead in this change of thinking. Who is brave enough to step up to the plate?

A Message From President Clinton

This new YouTube video will be talked about a lot in the next few weeks -- see it now and tell me what you think: