Primary Roundup

Delaware Senate
Christine O’Donnell defeats Mike Castle 53%-47%. O’Donnell will face Democrat Chris Coons in the general election.

DC Mayor
Vincent Gray (D) defeats Adrian Fenty (D). Gray will run unopposed in the general election.

New Hampshire Senate
Kelly Ayotte (R) leads Ovide Lamontagne (R) 38.2%-37.5%. The race is too close to call.

Maryland Governor
Robert Ehrlich (R) defeats Brian Murphy (R). Ehrlich will face incumbent Governor Martin O’Malley (D) in the general election.

Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker (R) defeats Mark Neumann (R). Walker will face incumbent Governor Jim Doyle (D) in the general election.

New York Governor
Carl Paladino (R) defeats Rick Lazio (R). Paladino will face Andrew Cuomo (D) in the general election.

New York Senate
Joe DioGuardi (R) defeats two others, Bruce Blakeman and David Malpass. DioGuardi will face imcumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D) in the general election.

Notes From Today's White House Press Briefing

White House Press Briefing
With Press Secretary Robert Gibbs


NORTH KOREA ATTACK

Gibbs said the US is involved in reviewing South Korea’s claim that North Korea was responsible for the sinking of one of its vessels back in March. Gibbs says the White House “strongly condemned” the attack when it happened, and said the administration is in consultations with the South Koreans and other nations, as well as the UN Security Council. Gibbs called the attack an “act of aggression” and said if in fact, North Korea was behind the attack, their actions will have isolated them even more from the rest of the world. Gibbs said the US is committed to South Korea’s defense. Gibbs called the alleged attack “extremely troubling.”


OIL SPILL

Gibbs said that the EPA supports BP’s use of an underwater dispersant to deal with the oil that is spilling 5,000 feet below the sea surface in the Gulf. Gibbs said that POTUS, however, would like BP to make its clean up efforts a bit more transparent. Gibbs defended the White House’s decision to send a letter to BP putting pressure on the company to speed up its clean-up efforts and informing the company that it will be held liable for all clean-up costs associated with the giant spill. Gibbs said Coast Guard Commander Adm. Thad Allen told him that he hasn’t seen a situation as bad as this in over 30 years. Gibbs said Allen has agreed to stay on as the White House’s point man on the spill even after he retires later this year. Gibbs said he wasn’t bothered that BP CEO Tony Hayward will be traveling to Europe to attend meetings. Gibbs refuted the notion that BP cares more about preventing a public relations crisis then fixing the leak and cleaning up the spill. Gibbs repeated the White House’s assertion that BP will be forced to pay for all the cleanup fees. “They will get the bill,” he said. “The taxpayers won’t.” Gibbs said everything that can be done to stop the leak is being done. Gibbs also said that the five Gulf state Governors have been participating in morning conference calls about the spill every day.


SESTAK/WHITE HOUSE RUMOR

Gibbs refused to address reports that the White House offered Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) a job in the administration earlier this year to keep him from running for the Senate against Arlen Specter. Said Gibbs, “I don’t have anything to add to what I said in March.”


FINANCIAL REFORM

Gibbs said POTUS believes in putting strong rules in place in the financial system, and said that doing so would improve the condition of the country’s economy as a whole. Gibbs said financial reform would directly benefit folks on Main Street struggling to either keep their jobs or find new ones. When asked about the Senate bill, Gibbs said, “we’re coming to the end of the process.” Gibbs said that the mid-term elections this November will be a partial referendum on financial reform.


PRIMARIES

Gibbs said the primaries proved that the Democratic Party is truly the ‘big-tent’ party. Gibbs downplayed the fact that newly-elected Congressman Mark Critz (D) ran away from POTUS during his primary race, saying he doubted that there are many Democrats in Congress who agree with everything POTUS does or supports. Gibbs said the primaries showed that Republicans are “having an internal battle with themselves.” On the topic of Arlen Speter, Gibbs said only that the GOP kicked Specter out of their party after his years and years of service to them. He said the same for Charlie Crist and Bob Bennett, and agreed with the belief that this is a tough year for any incumbent in Congress. Gibbs said VPOTUS connected with Specter earlier today. Gibbs also said that Rand Paul’s remarks about not voting for the Civil Rights Act “should not have a place in our political dialogue in 2010.”


SALAHIS

Gibbs was asked about a report which alleged that the Salahis were apparently stopped by Secret Service in their limo near the White House last night, and he responded that once again, they were not on the guest list. “I shook my head...once again,” he said while explaining that he was aware of the report. “It seems like their 15 minutes of fame were up six months ago,” he added.


CALDERON VISIT

Gibbs more or less sideswiped a question about POTUS’s feelings on Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s remarks yesterday on the recently-passed immigration law in Arizona. Gibbs said only that both Presidents share the view that they disagree with the law. Gibbs did not specifically say whether or not POTUS agrees with Calderon’s call for a flat-out ban on assault weapons, Gibbs said he had not heard of a report yesterday that an elementary school student told FLOTUS, who was visiting the schoolchildren, that her mother was an illegal immigrant.


IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT

Gibbs called Iran’s agreement with Turkey and Brazil over its uranium stockpile a “step in the right direction....assuming Iran keeps up its end of the deal.” Gibbs said the proposal between the three nations still does not fully address all the concerns that the P5 have about Iran’s nuclear program. Gibbs added that the agreement is less than what Iran agreed to eight months ago.

Time for a National Primary Day?

Before 2000 if anyone were asked what a chad was, they would most likely answer that "chad" was the name of an actor on a show about doctors or the guy next door that took their daughter to the homecoming. After Florida, most people became aware of hanging, dimpled, and pregnant chads. This great revelation was due to the closeness of the presidential race. Chads have been around for as long as there have been punch cards. It took a close race to bring them onto the American forefront of debate.



Now, the hotly contested Democrat primary is making delegate, super delegate, and caucuses the current question of the day. But as the average, nonpolitical American receives the explanation, they really, for the most part, just cannot digest it. Now, talk about the delegates from Iowa possibly switching support at the convention to another candidate has definitely added more confusion to the already baffling process.

Can one imagine if the general election were held in stages? First, two small states vote between the candidates, then on to super Tuesday, and a three month general election process? A "none of the above" category would likely be the desire of a weary public.

Without a one-day, national primary many candidates do not stand a chance of being the national longshot favorite. Depending on the previous state's votes, candidates are quickly ruled out. Many Americans, the vast majority, would welcome a serious debate on a national primary day. When this has been discussed in the past, shrieks of home rule, state's rights are uttered to really protect the political status quo of power versus fairness. After all, if a national primary day became reality, the deal-cutting, favor-garnishing system for the party faithful would be cast aside—what a shame that would be. Confusion is much better than a party boss being forced to give up using the leverage of their state's delegates, super delegates, and caucuses for personal IOUs

The idea merits discussion; the average citizen deserves to exert the power of the vote, not an outdated system of power brokering politics.

Pictures from Iowa

Check out more Iowa photos on Flickr!

Statements--It's WaterLOO

I am reading/watching up on the final pre-caucus statements by the candidates. Fred Thompson posted at 17-minute video on YouTube. It's a little too "fireside chat" and a little to dry for anyone but the staunches Fred fans to want to watch all the way through. Huckabee is leveling three Ds against Romney calling him "desperate, dishonorable and dishonest," showing that the weirdly humorous Huck can throw an Edwards-like punch too.

Speaking of Edwards, much is being made over his quick response phone call to Pakistan President Pervez Musharif last Thursday. Though it appears from a run down of his recent rally Q&A that all he wants to do now is talk about Pakistan. Guiliani is saying a lot by what he is not saying in Iowa on caucus night. All but abandoning the caucus Rudy announced that he was going to be in Florida on January 3rd.

Clinton supporters, particularly Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio are feeling a little green over the superstar status of Iowa. Strickland told the Columbus Dispatch that Iowa's primacy "makes no sense." Clinton's campaign backed her away from those remarks. The Ron Paul camp is talking with its wallet as the Wall Street Journal reports $19 million in the war chest in the last quarter alone.

I witnessed a small but enthusiastic statement on my way to downtown this morning on the corner of Ingersoll and Martin Luther King as a seven or eight Chris Dodd supporters hopped around with their signs in the cold. Another statement I have been able to witness personally was a Richardson campaign rally yesterday. The governor said, in a rather honest assessment of his campaign that he was within striking distance of the top three.

McCain's latest video is a response to Romney's attacks on his immigration policy. In less than 30 seconds he lays down a bland message about border security and says, "I'll always be straight with you." Biden is looking for a "ticket out of Iowa" in order to get more press coverage.

Here's a great explanation on the polls, the most buzz worthy of which will come out tomorrow morning in the Des Moines Register.