Politics is perception…I’ve heard it countless times, can’t remember the original source, but it’s never seemed so relevant to an election. “Hillary Clinton claims victory in Pennsylvania, and her campaign rolls on with considerable momentum!” I heard over the radio that morning. I didn’t want to know anything about it until all the results were in, so that was the first word I got. I waited anxiously for the piece of news that mattered: what was the margin of victory?
Oddly enough, they never mentioned it. They cut to celebrations, Hillary accepting congratulations, claiming momentum, and the one piece of information that actually determines whether or not this race should even continue is just not spoken of. I pulled the car over and found a television in the Holiday Inn. Headline News, quick shots of celebration, Clinton Claims Victory, the headlines scrolling beneath the brainless anchor feature condensed quotations of what’s just been said but no numbers, no percentage sign, nothing…
That’s a little strange considering all we heard from pundits, and cable news reports the week before the Pennsylvania Primary was that if Hillary Clinton couldn’t, at the very least, hold on to her 10% lead in Pennsylvania (which was originally 20%) she would have to stop her campaign.
I knew this was one of those good news/bad news situations. Hillary claims victory, media confirms Hillary’s victory, neither are anxious to show their cards. NPR gave me the good news in the most accurate report I’d receive on the Pennsylvania Primary: Hillary Clinton won by the bare minimum 10% and was claiming victory, continuing her campaign. She gained only nine delegates on Obama’s lead, which is still well over a hundred, and there aren’t any states left where Clinton stands to make significant gains.
Very good news for Obama who withstood a media blitzkrieg leading up to the Pennsylvania Primary, the likes of which I’ve never seen before and I doubt very much could be reproduced again even by the Republican Hate Machine.
The bad news was, of course, that the media, in their vague claims of a Clinton victory, seek only to confirm it by either cheer leading for her or saying nothing as to how pathetic and unfounded her campaign is at this point. The Clinton Campaign is broke, can’t claim a delegate lead, a popular vote lead…is there some reasonable explanation for this campaign? And why am I the one asking these fucking questions?
Clinton staying in the race means more ratings for the Democratic National Convention and all the primaries leading up to it, and all the polls, and analysis, and debate, and predictions for each of those. They want to see her go 12. Because when it goes to decision, it’s all up to the judges.
I’m more optimistic now than I was before Pennsylvania. Maybe people are starting to see through the steady stream of bullshit that’s being pumped into their homes. Maybe this time the people won’t have their candidate taken from them. I can only hope.
Can you even believe this shit anymore? There’s a war in Iraq they won’t talk about because Hillary Clinton voted for it. There’s a failing economy they can’t discuss because advertisers pay the bills, so that means it’s part of their job to give us news that will increase consumer confidence, even if […]
I hate fucking movie reviews. I don’t understand what I could possibly say about this movie that is going to help anyone. I don’t like when they tell you what it’s about, I don’t like how critics describe what they think of it, and I really don’t like the rating systems.
Movies […]
But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for […]
I told you this wasn’t a democracy and I wasn’t joking around. America isn’t even a republic. Not the kind where the votes are tallied and the leaders are elected. Everything you see on TV, all the people standing in lines, and all the talk about changing the world is just a […]
I haven’t been able to post as much because I’ve been working a lot. Twelve hour shifts, and two days off a week. I’ve been sleeping mostly during the day and waking up shortly before I have to go in. I’ve been writing consistently, but mostly on a legal pad now. […]
I finally have a couple days off and I’ve pretty much dedicated it too marijuana, sleep, and the New Hampshire Primary. I’ve been working five days a week, twelve hour shifts behind the wheel of a cab, driving drunks, hoes and crack heads wherever they need to go. It’s a sweet gig.
6:06 AM
It […]
John White walked outside with his gun when a group of drunk, angry black teenagers showed up at his house to fight his son. Evidently White’s son had been at a party where he was falsely accused of wanting to rape a girl at the party. Aaron White said it wasn’t true, but […]
Once again I report in from East Peoria Steak n Shake. Seeking shelter. The air is tense, thick, it may be seeping through the picture windows overlooking the black water of the Illinois River.
I don’t know where it comes from…Fear…Loathing. I can offer no better terms for the crippling anxiety behind some […]
A week ago I was going to write about Obama capturing a slim lead in Iowa and all the campaigning he’s been doing there. Then he played the Oprah card. Still I waited. Now the unthinkable: Barack Obama is neck and neck with Hillary Clinton in… New Hampshire???
Who would have thought?
“…the black […]
So much for free speech. A teacher in Wisconsin was arrested yesterday for making a sarcastic joke involving the Columbine shooters, in an anonymous comment left on a conservative blog. I don’t even know what the arrest was for, charges have yet to be filed and I can’t imagine anything he said being […]