A Good, Old-fashioned Butt Kicking

That's how David Axelrod, Obama's Chief Strategist described it. While a win for Obama in South Carolina was almost a forgone conclusion, the scale of the win - a 28% percent margin - was certainly not anticipated. Obama's greater than 2 to 1 victory over Hillary came about primarily because of unprecedented voter turnout. Obama polled greater than Mike Huckabbe and John McCain combined in the Republican Primary here in South Carolina just a week ago. Moreover, Obama's total of more than 290,000 votes is greater than the entire turn-out in the 2004 South Carolina Democratic primary. While the large African-American population in SC is certainly a key factor in the scale of this win, the role of Obama's superb grassroots organising shouldn't be under-estimated. From CNN:

Much has been written about the strength of Barack Obama's ground organization in South Carolina, largely driven by volunteers. Some observers considered it his best among the early-voting states.

- snip -

Take, for instance, the tiny town of Estill, located in Hampton County in the southern part of the state.

In the 2004 presidential primary, just 264 total votes were cast in Estill.

In this primary race, the Obama campaign made sure to send staff and volunteers to the town. Tonight, amid unprecedented Democratic turnout across the state, 575 votes were cast in Estill, with 459 of them going to Obama, 92 to Hillary Clinton and 24 to John Edwards.

Obama's ability to motivate people, to energize volunteers and garner votes from people who have never voted before is a huge strength, and it's not just a fluke, now we've seen it in Iowa and South Carolina too. The Democrats would be very foolish to pass up this opportunity to capitalise on the Obamania that's building, and turn it into a land-slide victory in November.

And finally, it's time for the victory speech:



Yes we can!

- Mr. Ed


Update
In related news, both Ted Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy endorsed Obama today.


Photo via Andrew Sullivan (Photo: the scene at Obama headquarters in South Carolina tonight. Win McNamee/Getty.)

Primary day

- Mr. Ed

MLK Day

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
"The Great Need of the Hour"
Ebenezer Baptist Church
Sunday, January 20th, 2008
Atlanta, Georgia
Update: Finally a video! (A video that was the 4th most popular video on youtube last week, I might add.)



Full text available here.

- Mr. Ed

Good luck Huck!

Well it's Caturday January 19th, which means it's the Republican primary here in South Cackolacky (Godless liberals, commies, etc. vote in the Democratic primary next Saturday). A lot of left of centre bloggers have been cheering on the Mittster lately but personally, I'm all about Huck. What won me over? Well, Chuck Norris was key, and his comments about the confederate flag certainly helped. In the end though, I think it was his profound knowledge of southern cuisine that really swayed me. What's that you say? Watch and learn:


Well after watching that, I'm starving.

Fixin' to git me sum snacks ya'll,
- Mr. Ed

On the trail

Well, it's been a rollercoaster week in the US Presidential Primaries. The Republican field is still four (or five?) strong and it's anyone's guess who'll win the nomination. On the Democratic side, the field has narrowed down to two (Sorry John Edwards fans). Hilary's upset win on Tuesday in New Hampshire has left the pollsters and pundits scratching their heads, but regardless the race goes on - in Nevada on the 19th and in South Carolina on the 26th. To that end, Senator Obama held a rally here in Chucktown today at the College of Charleston. Rumours of a surprise speaker had everyone aflutter, but when it turned out to be John Kerry the disappointment was palpable. Nevertheless, the former Democratic nominee gave Obama a glowing introduction, and perhaps more importantly, he will provide the Obama campaign with a very large list of potential supporters, leftover from the 2004 election. Obama gave a pretty solid stump speech to a typically raucous crowd, basking in the sunshine and 70 degree weather.

Here's a slideshow (with apologies to David Bowie) of some photos I took there:


And here's a short summary from NPR's All things Considered.

Saddling up with the pony for change,

- Mr. Ed

Iowa updates

Some more on the Iowa Cuacuses

The Iowa Democratic Party said that they were seeing record turnout, with 227,000 caucus attendees. In 2004, their turnout was about 125,000 caucus goers.

On the republican side of things the results are less clear. Huckabee trounced Romney. Thompson and McCain limped in with around 15% and Giuliani disappeared off the radar with around 4%, which is less than half the support the outsider Ron Paul received. Josh Marshall sums it up thus:

McCain had a pretty poor night tonight, coming in fourth behind the comatose Fred Thompson. But let's not kid ourselves. Romney took a big blow tonight. And if he can't come back strong in New Hampshire his collapse will be McCain's gain -- not because McCain's on fire or has any money or really is in any kind of strong position by most objective measures. The truth, though, is that there's simply no one left. It ain't Thompson; ain't Rudy. You can't say Huckabee's out of it but put me down with those that just don't think he can overcome the twin hurdles of a) running amongst more moderate and cosmopolitan Republican electorates and b) running against almost the entire GOP establishment. And that leaves you with McCain.

The truth is that the Republican party tonight is in complete disarray. The best financed candidate just fell on his face. Their big winner of the evening is opposed by almost the entire establishment of his party. The frontrunner of recent months is lost down in Florida shakily repeating '9/11' under his breath like a hobo who needs a stiff drink.

And finally here's Obama's victory speech:



That will do for now,

- Mr. Ed

Deliverance?

Well the 2008 election campaign is underway. This evening Iowans met up in High Schools, Town Halls and even front rooms to Caucus - a method of selecting a candidate that's right up there with divination and tarot cards for clarity and ease of comprehension.

As the first in the nation, the Iowa Caucus has always been important date in the political calendar, if not always a reliable indicator of the ultimate winner. Nevertheless, a slip up at the first hurdle can certainly spell trouble for a campaign going ahead. With that in mind, it is my enormous pleasure to announce to you, faithful Pony Clubbers, the results of the Democratic side of things (as of 11pm Eastern time):

Shrillary Clinton - 29.4%
John Haircut Edwards - 29.9%
Barack Hussein Obama - 37.5%.

Here's a clip from MSNBC. For the uninitiated, Chris Matthews (the fat-faced mewling blond one) is a bit of a Gareth Hunt, but his unabashed gushing over Obama's win can't be a bad thing. I'm not quite sure what he means by that deliverance comment, however, any and all comparisons to 1932 are surely welcome. Bring on the realignment!




Next stop New Hampshire,

- Mr. Ed