Happy Birthday Dean Martin

He Is Gone

Jim McKay, dead at 87. 

If Our Media Covered D-Day

Johnson and Herseth "Out Of Step" With South Dakota?

So suggests Denise Ross in the Mitchel Daily Republic:

The two Democrats who represent South Dakota on Capitol Hill, and who pledged their super-delegate votes to Obama, picked their party’s winner, but not their state’s. Sen. Tim Johnson had promised to switch his vote to Clinton if she won South Dakota. The day after the primary, that promise included the caveat of “if she’s still in the race,” which of course she won’t be.

South Dakota’s two heavy Democratic hitters, Tom Daschle and George McGovern, also backed Obama and campaigned for him.

After Clinton’s victory here, national pundits immediately began asking how this collective leadership could have failed to get Obama anywhere close to a South Dakota victory. That’s a darn good question.

It will no doubt be a minor issue going into future elections, but there remains that nagging doubt as to whether Johnson and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin might be out of step with their constituents.

I've made this argument before.  Why are Johnson and Herseth-Sandlin, who portray themselves as moderates, backing Barack Obama, the most liberal U.S. Senator who has virtually no bi-partisan accomplishments, against John McCain who has real moderate and bi-partisan bona fides?  Is this an instance of putting the good of the party over the desires of the people of South Dakota?  If I was running against Johnson or Herseth-Sandlin, I might point out this inconsistency. 

Denise also points to a big role in a potential Obama administration for Tom Daschle:

Vice president? Maybe. Chief of staff, more likely. Secretary of State, an intriguing possibility that would leave Daschle — who’s been the boss of his own operation since his 20s — more autonomy than most other roles. Speculation about Daschle’s future will consume much of the South Dakota political oxygen for the rest of this year.

And John Thune?

We can’t forget our Republican on the Hill. Sen. John Thune stuck by John McCain through the darkest days, and now he’s regularly mentioned as a vice presidential possibility.

Perhaps his more vital role might lie in his distinction of having beaten the Daschle team in 2004. Perhaps Thune and his team could prove to be the secret sauce for John McCain.

Thune has been in Iowa rallying the Republican troops:

 

Die, Carbon Using Human!

Harvey at IMAO directs us to this site which allows you to answer various questions about your lifestyle in order to determine at what point you should die in order to save planet earth. For example, in the service of the planet, I should have died at 9.7 years old. 

Here's a classic example of environmentalism run amok.  As Peter Lawler argues, a prudential environmentalism is anthropocentric, i.e. seeing human beings as an integral part of a larger system.  Moralistic environmentalism sees humans as a pest the should be gotten rid of. 

A Little Miracle

If this baby had been killed in utero, nobody would have blinked an eye.  But despite the best efforts of the medical profession and, to be honest, his mother, he lives.  At least now his mother is taking joy in the fact that the attempt to kill her baby was unsuccessful. 

Eisenhower Letter To Troops

Good show by Jason commemorating the anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1944.  I enjoy Gen. Eisenhower's letter to the troops:

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security to yourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have in­flicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tidehas turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

I have full confidence in your  courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle.  We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Al­mighty God upon this great and noble  undertaking.

Remember D-Day, 6 June 1944

The Hour Is Go

One's eyes close tight and families fade,
When going to war which evil men made.
Though anxious and frightened, we don't let it show,
For the day is approaching, when the Airborne must go.

Each day now rolls past; we wait just the same,
But D-Day is near, and for this we all came.
The hour grows near; each man feels it inside,
And soon we'll be falling, with nowhere to hide.

Our eyes are now down and the chatter the same,
Each weapon now loaded, no longer a game.
Eagles gather round and bow your heads low,
Europe awaits and the hour is go.

Planes rumble past as we wait for our turn,
To fly over waters we have yet to each earn.
Checked buckles and straps, left nothing to chance,
The Jumpmaster stands, calls "Welcome to France."

Flak turns to fire in the blackest of night,
Too low, too fast, can't jump from this height.
There's no turning back, the risk has been taken,
Free fall into hell, paratroopers forsaken.

Eagles hold tight, scattered prayers to survive,
We'll hit the ground soon, whether dead or alive.
As feet touch the ground, each soldier turns on,
Confusion and fear are beaten and gone.

The enemy is close and sad they don't know
The Airborne is here, it's time they must go.
The hour is now, Hitler's had his last chance,
On St. Michael's wings, we're taking back France.

Francis J. Turner

Rising From The Dead

I know I said "enough" to the vampire discussion, but the comments at Transterrestrial are pretty good. 

McCain's Veep Short List

From the WaPo's The Fix:

5. Joe Lieberman:  Yes, we know Lieberman is an (Independent) Democrat. But in the few days since Obama sewed up the Democratic nomination, Lieberman has emerged as McCain's leading attack dog. It's no secret that Lieberman and McCain are personal friends -- a not insignificant factor given the deeply personal nature of the Veep pick -- and Lieberman has already been vetted by the national media twice given his run as Al Gore's vice presidential nominee in 2000 and then his own presidential bid four years later. (Previous ranking: N/A)

4. Charlie Crist:  Crist was one of a trio invited to McCain's Arizona ranch over Memorial Day weekend, a trip that seemed to serve as the official kickoff for the GOP Veepstakes. Crist is doing all the right sorts of things to make sure he is in the mix -- his fundraising work for the Republican Governors Association earlier this week is a perfect example. And his popularity in Florida, almost certainly a battleground state, is a major plus. Still, the buzz around Crist seems to suggest he will be a finalist but not ultimately the pick. (Previous ranking: 4)

3.   John Thune:  The junior senator from South Dakota is straight out of central casting, but he may be too conventional for McCain who, if The Fix's sources are to be believed, is looking to think (and pick) outside the box. If McCain wants to make a safe pick, Thune could well be the guy -- he's in his late 40s (a nice contrast to the septuagenerian McCain), showed his readiness for the national stage by beating the Senate's top Democrat in 2004 and, well, looks like a president. (Previous ranking: 2)

2. Mitt Romney:  The former Massachusetts governor keeps climbing The Veepstakes Line thanks to his seemingly unending willingness to do what McCain asks of him. Romney has been tapping into his fundraising network frequently and effectively on McCain's behalf and has emerged as a prominent television surrogate for presumptive nominee. Most importantly, McCain (and his senior aides) may be softening a bit in their negative opinion of Romney as the former governor travels with them. It appears as though Romney is, dare we say it, human after all. (Previous ranking: 5)

1. Tim Pawlenty:  "T-Paw," a.k.a. the two-term governor of Minnesota, remains in the pole position this list for the second straight month. Sure, Pawlenty isn't perfect (talking about your wife's reluctance to have sex with you isn't exactly the smartest move), but he has more going for him than anyone else on the list. As we wrote yesterday, Pawlenty is working to build his national profile with GOP donors and activists -- a complement to his close relationship with McCain. And his resume includes two statewide wins in Democratic-leaning Minnesota. Plus, he's got the best nickname in the field. (Previous ranking: 1)

From the Mailbag

Some readers have been writing in about Obama's loss in South Dakota and I thought I would share their comments.  One reader from Onida writes:

Just an observation from here.

I believe that Obama worked South Dakota a lot harder than Clinton.

There were a lot of calls from the Obama camp and few from Clinton at this household. There were three Obama supporters that stopped by in person and none for Clinton. Makes the loss to Clinton worse in my view.

If any other readers have reports on the number of calls or door-to-door visits they received from the campaigns, please email me.  I know my folks received a majority of campaign calls from the Clinton camp, but our Onida reader might be on to something.  I'd also be interested in knowing how much each candidate spent here (I'm blogging from the archives at USD on a research trip, so don't have time at the moment to go look and see what's out on the Internet).  Another intrepid reader writes in response to "Clinton Win a Blow to SD Dem Leaders":

Jason, I think that the media was overlooking one thing about Clinton’s victory in South Dakota. Despite the endorsement from every, and I mean EVERY, top Democrat, Obama lost South Dakota.  What does this say about Tom Daschle, George McGovern, Stephanie Heresth, Jack Billion and Tim Johnson?  What it says is that the media, both local and national, thought that these top Democrats had some influence with rank and file Democrats. They don’t and that is what the media overlooked in South Dakota.  A lot of rank and file Democrats and what I mean by that is working class Democrats not elite Democrats such as professors, party officials and high profile minorities do not care for the national Democrat party.  These working class Democrats don’t like gun control, are against abortion except for rape and incest, and do not like higher taxes.  These rank and file Democrats thought that Hillary stood for those three things.  She doesn’t but she did a VERY good job portraying that she was one of them.  These beliefs go directly against everything the top Democrats in the state believe and I think this will hurt Obama in the national election.  This is how both McGovern and Daschle lost there Senate seats.  Dykstra can beat Johnson if he can convince moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats that Johnson is a national Democrat not a South Dakota Democrat.

Meet The New Boss...

Barack Obama was against labeling the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist group before he was for it.  Last Fall it was unhelpful "saber rattling."  Now it is sound policy.  That must be "change we can believe in."   

At NLT, Richard Adams cites from the 1972 Democratic Party Platform.  Sound familiar?

Energy Resources

The earth’s natural resources, once in abundant and seemingly unlimited supply, can no longer be taken for granted. In particular, the United States is facing major changes in the pattern of energy supply that will force us to reassess traditional policies. By 1980, we may well have to depend on imports from the Eastern Hemisphere for as much as 30 to 50 percent of our oil supplies. At the same time, new forms of energy supply—such as nuclear, solar or geothermal power—lag far behind in research and development.

The Environment

The problem we face is to choose the most efficient, effective and equitable techniques for solving each new environmental problem. We cannot afford to waste resources while doing the job, any more than we can afford to leave the job undone.

We must enforce the strict emission requirements on all pollution sources set under the 1970 Clean Air Act.

We must support the establishment of a policy of no harmful discharge into our waters by 1985.

We must have adequate staffing and funding of all regulatory and enforcement agencies and departments to implement laws, programs and regulations protecting the environment, vigorous prosecution of violators and a Justice Department committed to enforcement of environmental law.

We must fully support laws to assure citizens’ standing in federal environmental court suits.

Strict interstate environmental standards must be formulated and enforced to prevent pollution from high-density population areas being dumped into low-density population areas for the purpose of evasion of strict pollution enforcement.

The National Environmental Policy Act should be broadened to include major private as well as public projects, and a genuine commitment must be made to making the Act work.

Our environment is most threatened when the natural balance of an area’s ecology is drastically altered for the sole purpose of profits. Such practices as "clear cut" logging, strip mining, the indiscriminate destruction of whole species, creation of select ocean crops at the expense of other species and the unregulated use of persistent pesticides cannot be justified when they threaten our ability to maintain a stable environment.

Where appropriate, taxes need to be levied on pollution, to provide industry with an incentive to clean up.

We also need to develop new public agencies that can act to abate pollution-act on a scale commensurate with the size of the problem and the technology of pollution control.

Expanded federal funding is required to assist local governments with both the capital and operating expenses of water pollution control and solid waste management.

[Health Care]

"Good health is the least this society should promise its citizens. The state of health services in this country indicates the failure of government to respond to this fundamental need. Costs skyrocket while the availability of services for all but the rich steadily declines.

We endorse the principle that good health is a right of all Americans. America has a responsibility to offer to every American family the best in health care whenever they need it, regardless of income or where they live or any other factor.

To achieve this goal the next Democratic Administration should:

Establish a system of universal National Health Insurance which covers all Americans with a comprehensive set of benefits including preventive medicine, mental and emotional disorders, and complete protection against catastrophic costs, and in which the rule of free choice for both provider and consumer is protected. The program should be federally-financed and federally-administered. Every American must know he can afford the cost of health care whether given in a hospital or a doctor’s office;"

[Other Rights listed in 1972] The right to a decent job and an adequate income, with dignity;

The right to quality, accessibility and sufficient quantity in tax-supported services and amenities —including educational opportunity, health care, housing and transportation;

The right to quality, safety and the lowest possible cost on goods and services purchased in the market place.    

Vampire Rights: The Subject That Won't Die

OK, it appears I've started something with this question of whether vampires have rights.  See here and here. Just to be clear, let me make the following stipulations:
1. I am aware that vampires are not real (or is that just what they want you to believe?).
2. The original post was meant something in jest, but it ended up making a serious point.  So no, I don't take this too seriously. 

Those caveats stated, let's get to the question on which the fate of the world hangs.  The first link above is to a site called Transterrestrial Musings (not extra, mind you, but trans).  The author has this to say:

I guess that they probably have some rights. I mean, I'm willing to grant them the right to be a vampire. That is, if they want to live forever, turn into a bat occasionally, not show up in mirrors, and avoid sunlight and garlic and crosses, and so on, it's no skin off my nose (or blood out of my neck). But (like some conservatives' view of homosexuals), I'm not willing to grant them a right to indulge in their (un)natural desire to drink blood. Particularly mine. I think that the Christian formulation would be hate the blood sucking, but love the vampire.

But to be a vampire is to suck.  The two cannot be separated from one another.  That, I think, is the point of Jonah's commenter; the vampire is unable to use reason well due to a flaw in its very being.

The one mistake Mr. Schaff makes is to miss the difference between having Reason, and using Reason virtuously (or being ruled by  Reason). The vicious person/vampire has Reason, it's just subordinated to emotion/desire.

When I said the vampire possess reason in my original post, what I meant is that vampires can thoughtfully take action and anticipate certain results from those actions. This is the point of my conclusion that it is the soul, the ability to discern right from wrong (or "using Reason virtuously," as this commenter would have it) that makes us distinctly human and rights bearing creatures, as opposed to the vampire who is just a monster.  It is not simply the ability to choose; it is the ability to choose well. 

I agree with Jonah G. that an ensouled vampire is rights possessing from the vantage point of the founders.  This vampire is able to engage in the give and take necessary for rights, namely the ability to see how his own desire for self-preservation must include the recognition of a similar desire in others. That mutual recognition of that desire represents the beginning of rights.  The ensouled vampire can then engage in the negotiation needed to articulate the mutual recognition of each others rights.   This would include finding some alternative to biting people on the neck to satisfy his need for blood.

The typical vampire, though, is unable to engage in that kind of give and take.  Whatever society vampires form tends to be a kind of master/slave type relationship (this is what appears to be the case in the recent 30 Days of Night). There is one vampire who rules all with a degree of exploitation defining the relationship with other vampires.  It appears that vampires are incapable of forming a just society, adding to the notion that they have no rights.

As an aside, in Buffy, Spike's gaining of a computer chip that shocks him every time he acts violently toward a human was pure genius script writing.  It made Spike the most interesting character on the show.  With the chip is has the simulacrum of a soul, and yet it helps propel him to desire a real soul.  Namely he wants to be human so he can love and be loved by Buffy.  After her return from the dead (yes, it's that weird non-Buffy fans), Buffy is the only human Spike can hurt without his chip shocking him.  And hurt her he does.  He realizes his chip is ultimately no substitute for a soul.  And after writing this paragraph, even I wonder how I ever got a date. 

All this said, I am putting a stake in this subject.

 

 

SD Stands Alone for Clinton

Cory points us to a fantastic election map that the New York Times produced.  Be sure to check it out -- South Dakota really stands out.

UPDATE:  Cory sends me another map created by Christian Science Monitor that's also worth checking out.  Also, the CNN interactive county map is another source I could spend all night on.

More Politics Of The Undead: Do Vampires Have Rights?

Frank J over at IMAO writes this:

So there's this study showing that conservatives are more honest than liberals, and I'm pretty sure it's true because it confirms my prejudices. And I remember there are also studies showing that liberals donate less money than conservatives and are generally less happy. So liberals are basically a bunch of dishonest, selfish, unhappy people with dumb monkey faces. Sometimes I wonder if we should reclassify liberals as some sort of subhuman, evil creatures like vampires. And, much like vampires, they freak out if they see crosses. Also, they die if you put a stake through their heart.

So, am I recommending there should be liberal hunters who hunt down and slay liberals? Perhaps, but you'll have to consult with a lawyer on the legality on that. Of course, there's a good chance the lawyer is a liberal and that you should stake him too.

Leave aside the calumny against liberals (in good jest as it may be) and concentrate on the idea that vampires are subhuman.  That poses a philosophical noodle-scratcher.  Do vampires have rights? 

Why do I ask?  Let's consider the ontological status of the vampire.  The vampire is certainly non-human, but is it sub-human?  The vampire has certain characteristics in common with humans, such as the ability to reason, self-awareness, the capacity to experience pain (especially in the day time).  By the standard advocated by many ethicists (especially defenders of abortion and euthanasia), it is not humans that have rights, but persons.  It is self-consciousness and ability to reason that, they say,  defines a personality. Vampires are not human, but they are persons.  By this measure, vampires have rights and it should be wrong to kill them without due process.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer, far from being a heroine, is in fact a genocidal maniac.  This is partially the theme of Richard Matheson's story I Am Legend (I have not seen the movie, so can't comment). 

Could the vampire actually be super-human, rather than sub-human?  Vampires, depending on your source, tend to be quite intelligent and wily (or is that just Mr. Darwin speaking: the dumb vampire probably doesn't last long).  In almost every source vampires possess superhuman strength.  Many would say that the immortality of the vampire (assuming it avoids the sun, stakes and the like) is a sign of the vampire's superiority over the human.  Unlike the mere human, the vampire has conquered death.  So perhaps the vampire has the right to rule over humans, and so in addition to having rights it has authority.

One thing the vampire lacks is a soul.  In the Buffy universe this is key.  Vampires Angel and Spike reclaim their souls only to be tortured by the memory of the horrors they inflicted on their countless victims.  These vampires, then, seem to be closer to human than other vampires.  They have a sense of right and wrong, a notion foreign to your standard vampire.  Lacking souls, they only exist to assuage their will to power.  They are Neitzschean "overmen" who live only to enhance their power and satiate their senses.  In doing so they cease to be humans and become monsters.  In this view, it is the human soul,  that which allows us to know right from wrong, that makes us human and makes us rights possessing creatures, unlike the the vampire who is a monster.  By this argument vampires do not possess rights. 

Perhaps this is why the vampire is such an enduring figure in our storytelling.  The vampire is us, with the addition of our lust for immortality and minus our conscience.  A monster.   

Update: Jonah comments.  And I fixed a couple massive typos. 

Stupid Energy Policy

George Will gets it exactly correct today:  Why do Democrats (and some Republicans) demand that Saudi Arabia increase its oil production while simultaneously voting against an increase in domestic production.  In fact, not only do Democrats want no increase in domestic oil production, they want to increase taxes on it. Here's Will:

Rising in the Senate on May 13, Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat, explained: ''I rise to discuss rising energy prices.'' The president was heading to Saudi Arabia to seek an increase in its oil production, and Schumer's gorge was rising.

Saudi Arabia, he said, ''holds the key to reducing gasoline prices at home in the short term.'' Therefore arms sales to that kingdom should be blocked unless it ''increases its oil production by one million barrels per day,'' which would cause the price of gasoline to fall ''50 cents a gallon almost immediately.'' (snip)

One million barrels is what might today be flowing from ANWR if in 1995 President Clinton had not vetoed legislation to permit drilling there. One million barrels produce 27 million gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel. Seventy-two of today's senators - including Schumer, of course, and 38 other Democrats, including Barack Obama, and 33 Republicans, including John McCain - have voted to keep ANWR's estimated 10.4 billion barrels of oil off the market.

So Schumer, according to Schumer, is complicit in taking $10 away from every American who buys 20 gallons of gasoline. (snip, again)

ANWR is larger than the combined areas of five states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware) and drilling along its coastal plane would be confined to a space one-sixth the size of Washington's Dulles Airport. Offshore? Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed or damaged hundreds of drilling rigs without causing a large spill. Of the more than 7 billion barrels of oil pumped offshore in the past 25 years, 0.001 percent - that is one-thousandth of 1 percent - has been spilled. Louisiana has more than 3,200 rigs offshore - and a thriving commercial fishing industry.

WaPo Deems Daschle a "Loser" After Obama Defeat in South Dakota

Washington Post:

The Last Primaries: Winners and Losers

LOSERS

Tom Daschle: The former senator from South Dakota wasn't able to deliver his home state for Obama -- a loss that prevented the Illinois senator from scoring a two-state sweep that would have made a nice, tidy ending to the nomination fight. It doesn't matter one bit in the larger context (Obama is still the nominee, Daschle is still in the running to serve as chief of staff or in a Cabinet post if the Democrat is elected in November). Still, the double-digit Clinton win amounts to egg on the face of the former Senate Majority Leader.

The BBC Covers the SD Primary

The BBC covered the South Dakota primary and collected some views of Obama and Clinton supporters in the state.

Reverend Wright Hurt Obama in South Dakota

Wall Street Journal:  "According to exit polls, voters appeared to have strong concerns about his two decades of membership in Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.  More than a third of voters in South Dakota said the issue was important to them, following Sen. Obama's recent announcement that he would leave his church after revelations of inflammatory statements by his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and others from the Trinity pulpit. Of those voters, about two-thirds voted for Sen. Clinton, according to exit polls."

The appointment of Eric Holder to his veep search committee probably won't help his image, either.

South Dakota Defeat for Obama Indicates His Political Weakness

I said a few weeks ago that Obama faced problems with core Democratic demographics, including doing poorly among Catholics, Jews, and the elderly, which might hurt him this November.  This Politico story reaffirms my analysis:

On the night that Barack Obama clinched his party's nomination, one-third of Hillary Clinton's supporters in Montana and South Dakota said they would not vote for the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Exit polls from both states demonstrate that Obama inherits a fractured coalition after the longest primary race in modern history. Demographic divisions dug by class, race, gender and political philosophy haunted Obama until his last contests, effectively forcing the Illinois senator to limp across the finish line Tuesday night.

The cappuccino versus coffee Democratic divide between upper class and working voters continued. Coffee Democrats were more likely to back Clinton while cappuccino Democrats were more likely to back Obama. That these divisions were also deepened by gender and racial identity — rooted in long-sought historic firsts for women and blacks — means that there exists an unprecedented intra-party burden that befalls Obama.

On Tuesday the more working-class white Democratic electorate of South Dakota once again proved un-winnable for Obama, as has been the case in contests from Ohio to Kentucky.

Obama will need to figure out a way to appeal to these voters if he hopes to do well in the general election.

McCain and Obama: Let The Games Begin

What to look for in the coming presidential campaign, lasting an interminable five months.  We will get a lot of back and forth on this or that policy.  Sorry folks, but very few voters actually vote based on issues.  Most voters in high profile races base their decisions on party affiliation and candidate character.

Both candidates have problems with their own party.  Obama must win over Clinton voters, those white blue collar voters who perhaps weren't so much voting for Clinton as against Obama.  This is core Democrat constituency that will prove significant in states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.  McCain's problem is obvious: his maverick reputation (largely earned) has alienated some of the party base.  So let's see which candidate shores up his own party while cherry picking from the other. 

On character, this goes to the "change" message and which candidate can best capture that message.  I should think it clear how Obama has approached this subject: by appealing to people's hopes and by presenting himself as a new kind of messenger.  McCain gave us insight into his counter argument in his speech last night.  The argument is twofold.  First, McCain presents himself as the real agent of change.  He is a moderate conservative who has a strong record of opposing his party when he thought it was in the national interest.  His bi-partisan bona fides are there for all to see.  He has a record of service that defies party and ideology. That's the positive message.  He then has to paint Obama as unacceptable change.  He does this in a couple ways.  First, he describes Obama having a record of partisanship and left-wing ideology.  He isn't really change.  He is the same old partisanship with tired statist liberal solutions.  Second, he tries to show Obama as inexperienced bordering on naive.  So he has old ideas and lacks the experience and judgment to bring any positive change about.  Certainly Obama is the central figure in the campaign.  McCain must make that choice look risky and dangerous. 

As an aside, see this fine John Judis piece asking whether Barack Obama is Al Smith or John Kennedy. 

Why Clinton Won South Dakota

Argus Leader:

Observers had reason to think Obama would prevail. In April, Dakota Wesleyan University released a poll showing Obama up by 12 points. It was the only independent poll publicly available in South Dakota, until Monday when the American Research Group Inc. released a poll showing Clinton winning 60 percent to 34 percent.

What changed?

Clinton's victories in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Indiana might have helped.

Obama also was on the defensive over comments he made about "bitter" people in small towns and comments his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, made about the United States.

Saturday in Aberdeen, Obama announced that he was leaving his church after a second guest pastor there mocked Clinton.

The Clinton campaign also worked the state hard. Sen. Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea, swept through the state during the past couple of weeks, hitting small towns, reservations and large cities. Campaign officials say there were 33 stops in all.

Settings for those campaign stops were smaller and more intimate, and many who attended them said they appreciated the hard work by the Clintons.

Obama made two swings through the state, speaking to thousands in large venues. The campaign also sent politicians from outside South Dakota to campaign here, but some of them were obscure figures to people not actively engaged on a regular basis with politics.

Both campaigns enjoyed advantages in South Dakota. Obama had the state's top Democrats behind him - Daschle, Sen. Tim Johnson, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, and state party chairman Jack Billion.

The campaign inherited much of the infrastructure of Daschle's decades in office, including a fundraising list and staffers experienced with getting out the vote.

Obama won every contest in states neighboring South Dakota. But Clinton herself, in a recent interview with the Argus Leader, pointed out that most of those contests were caucuses, which favored Obama. She argued that many of her key supporters - working-class residents and older voters - didn't have time to caucus for several hours.

South Dakota's method for choosing its nominee, a primary that excluded independents, appeared to favor Clinton. So, too, did the state's demographics, an older, rural, lower-wage electorate - voters she rode to victory in other contests as well as in South Dakota.

Hillary's Speech: Concession or Confrontation?

A.C. Kleinheider on Hillary's speech:  That Ain’t Any Kind Of Concession Speech I Ever Heard Of

Clinton Win a Blow to SD Dem Leaders

From the Associated Press:

Hillary Clinton's win in South Dakota was a blow to three of the state's Democratic leaders who endorsed Barack Obama and lent him their clout. But that loss was overshadowed by a much bigger win for Obama on Tuesday.

South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and former Sen. Tom Daschle all endorsed Obama in the Democratic presidential primary, saying they like his message of party unity. Daschle, who narrowly lost re-election in 2004, is a top adviser to Obama, and many of his former staffers are helping run that campaign.

Clinton's win in South Dakota is bittersweet and also somewhat meaningless, however, as Obama on Tuesday earned enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination.

"I am thrilled," said Daschle, who endorsed Obama more than a year ago. "I think this is very good for the country."

He said he was surprised that Clinton won South Dakota but said it was difficult for Obama as he was beginning his national campaign while he was running in the state's primary. Obama "had more of a challenge than the Clintons," Daschle said.

Johnson, Herseth Sandlin and Daschle all are so-called superdelegates, or party insiders who can cast a ballot for the candidate of their choice at the party's national conventions this summer.

Aides to Johnson said he voted for Obama but would keep an earlier promise to support the winner of the state's primary if the nomination is still contested at the convention.

Dykstra Wins Republican Senate Primary

Joel Dykstra defeated Sam Kephart and Charles Lyonel Gonyo during the Senate primary last night and will go on to challenge Tim Johnson for his Senate seat this November:

Joel Dykstra galloped to a lopsided victory Tuesday in the South Dakota Republican primary for U.S. Senate and now faces an uphill fight in challenging Democratic incumbent Tim Johnson in November.

Dykstra, 50, a Canton businessman, had almost two-thirds of the vote in early reports from precincts - about double the totals of his two opponents combined.

"It's gratifying. It's also humbling. A lot of people have worked hard. We've come a long way, also have a long way to go," he said Tuesday night from his campaign office in Sioux Falls.

Dykstra calls himself an underdog against Johnson, but said he thinks he will win. Johnson has been in Congress for 22 years, including the past 12 in the Senate. Dykstra is in his third term as a state legislator.

"This isn't about the last 20 years. It's an election about the next six years," he said. "These are serious times and we face significant challenges in the country. We need people with real world experience."

The campaign will be Johnson's first since suffering a brain hemorrhage in December 2006.

When asked about Johnson's health, Dykstra said he will not make that an issue or even bring it up.

"All I know about Senator Johnson's health is what I read in the paper," Dykstra said. "I take him at his word that he is able to continue to serve. I assume that means he is well enough to defend his views and talk about issues. I don't see it's an issue that I need to mention."

Hyperion Rezoning Approved by Voters

In more local news, lost in the chaos of last night's national prominence was the voters of Union County approving a zoning change for the proposed Hyperion Energy Center, which was approved by a margin of more than 1,000 votes.

Herseth-Sandlin Sticking with Obama

Rapid City Journal excerpt:

South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson reaffirmed Tuesday that he will switch his earlier pledge to vote for Barack Obama at the National Democratic Convention to Hillary Rodham Clinton if Clinton wins the South Dakota primary today.

Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, however, said she will stick with her pledged vote for Obama, regardless of how the primary vote turns out.

Johnson and Herseth Sandlin are two of South Dakota’s seven so-called superdelegates to the national convention. Their individual votes count in addition to the 15 Democratic delegates to be awarded proportionally in today’s primary between Obama and Clinton.

Daschle Factor Little Help for Obama

Barack Obama lost Tom Daschle's home county of Brown, 60 to 40.  So much for the Daschle factor in helping Obama.

In related news, the Wall Street Journal says that Steve Hildebrand, Daschle's former campaign manager, wanted to work for Clinton before Obama but didn't get the job:

Veteran Iowa organizer Steve Hildebrand had sought a job with Sen. Clinton in mid-2006. In a 45-minute interview, the senator talked about congressional elections but never mentioned the coming presidential race, Mr. Hildebrand says. Months later, he signed on as Sen. Obama's deputy campaign manager and oversaw his Iowa push.

Meet the New, Same as the Old

William Bennett:

[T]he Democratic party is about to nominate a far left candidate in the tradition of George McGovern, albeit without McGovern’s military and political record. The Democratic party is about to nominate a far-left candidate in the tradition of Michael Dukakis, albeit without Dukakis’s executive experience as governor. The Democratic party is about to nominate a far left candidate in the tradition of John Kerry, albeit without Kerry’s record of years of service in the Senate. The Democratic party is about to nominate an unvetted candidate in the tradition of Jimmy Carter, albeit without Jimmy Carter’s religious integrity as he spoke about it in 1976. Questions about all these attributes (from foreign policy expertise to executive experience to senatorial experience to judgment about foreign leaders to the instructors he has had in his cultural values) surround Barack Obama. And the Democratic party has chosen him.

South Dakota Exit Polls

Exit polls are saying Clinton won 57 percent of women, with Obama only security 48 percent of men.  Clinton won the working class voters in South Dakota, 61 to 39.  65 percent of older voters in South Dakota voted for Clinton, and 33 percent of Clinton voters will not vote for Obama in the fall. 

Fox News has called South Dakota for Hillary, yet (to quote Instapundit) Obama is stumbling across the finish line.

UPDATE:  Fox News just called Montana for Obama.  I also caught part of Clinton's speech minutes ago (I'm off on a research trip and caught part of it online), where she said she "will be making no decisions tonight" and will meet with party leaders in coming days.  I'll provide a link to a transcript when it's available.

UPDATE:  Here's the text of Obama's speech, which is being delivered right now.  More thoughts on Hillary's speech.

UPDATE:  Glenn Reynolds:

MORE: Obama says: "John McCain has spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq in the last few weeks, but maybe if he spent some time taking trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit by this economy -- cities in Michigan, and Ohio, and right here in Minnesota -- he'd understand the kind of change that people are looking for." Er, what about the Forgotten America tour?

Clinton Wins Battle, Obama The War

Fox is already projecting Hillary Clinton the winner of the South Dakota primary, but the AP is calling the nomination for Obama. 

South Dakota's Presence in the Historic Endgame

An editorial in the Yankton Press & Dakotan entitled "Today’s Primary – The End Of Two Eras?" notes the historic significance of today's primary for South Dakota.  Excerpt: 

For the first time in a long time, today’s primary actually means something. We’ve seen unprecedented attention from the Democratic hopefuls and have witnessed relatively heavy attention from the national media.

And here, we have to own up to a mistake. As it turns out, we were wrong several months ago when we — along with practically every other political observer everywhere — predicted that South Dakota’s June primary would once again be a meaningless afterthought in the process. We had expected that the Democratic race would have gone the way of the Republican race, with a presumptive nominee emerging by the beginning of spring, But Democratic voters had other ideas, and two powerful candidates have gone the distance very few people thought was imaginable. The closeness has been historic as well as amazing: In a precinct in one city in New York state, 12,002 votes were cast during the primary, with both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each garnering 6,001 of them. It truly has been a race for the ages.

Had South Dakota moved its primary forward to the winter, as has often been proposed, it would not now be part of this extraordinary endgame.

Relish this day, for we will never see anything quite like it again — in many ways.

Be sure to read the whole thing.

Voter Turnout Strong in SD

NYT Caucus Blog:

In South Dakota, which is holding both Republican and Democratic contests today, it remains unclear whether those records will be broken. So far, said Secretary of State Chris Nelson, turnout seems to be “about average,” but “I expect that it’s going to grow as the afternoon goes.”

In previous years, Democratic turnout has ranged from 15 percent to 40 percent. “I was looking at 40 to 45 percent this year,” Mr. Nelson said. On the Republican side, he predicts about a quarter of voters will cast ballots.

“Certainly if anybody’s paying attention to the media, there are these subtle signals that it may be over,” he said. “Certainly that may lessen the enthusiasm.”

...

Problems at the polls appear to be minimal. Mr. Nelson, of South Dakota, said the only issue that came up a road to a rural polling place made inaccessible last night by 3 inches of rain. An alternate location opened on time this morning, he said.

Sick Ad

I don't know who the Coalition Against Anti-Christian Rhetoric are.  They claim to favor "peace, love and unity," but apparently they are running this bigoted and unfair ad on KELO:

I am no Obama fan, but any honest person can see that this is a manipulative ad with clever editing and is designed to stoke the racial and religious prejudices of voters.  Disgusting. 

South Dakota on the LA Times Blog

Any one else feel the Obama-as-Muslim myth that I objected to some time ago is getting old?  From the LA Times Blog:

For one S.D. voter, Barack Obama has problems on two religious fronts

If there was one sliver of a silver lining in the ongoing embarrassments caused Barack Obama by his membership (which he gave up this past weekend) in the Trinity United Church of Christ, it was -- some of his partisans asserted -- that the controversies would help douse the rumor-mongering that he's a closet Muslim.

That may be wishful thinking, if the attitudes of a voter The Times' Noam Levey encountered in South Dakota today are at all indicative.

Levey was with Hillary Clinton as, in what may be her final full day on the campaign trail, the Democratic presidential contender worked hard to score one last victory in Tuesday's South Dakota primary. Her schedule took her to Tally’s Restaurant, a landmark in downtown Rapid City famous for pigs in a blanket made with Buffalo sausage.

It was all fairly typical -- she gave a speech, smiled and posed for photos and talked with patrons about healthcare and asked young people about their student loans, shaking her head at the amount that one young woman said she was wrestling with.

In her brief talk, she zeroed on the message that, against lengthening odds, she keeps hoping will resonate throughout her party and stall Obama's seemingly inexorable march toward its nomination. Referring to the presidency, she said, “I want you to think hard. Who would you hire to do this job.”

Few of her listeners needed any convincing that she would be the right choice. And one of those Clinton backers, 48-year-old Cheryl Chamberlain, was in no mood to transfer her allegiance to Obama, citing a litany of reasons that can only cause eyes to roll within his camp.

“I won’t vote for Obama,” Chamberlain told Levey. “You go on the Internet and see him associated with that church, with the Koran. He won’t wear a flag pin. … After 9/11, there is absolutely no way I’d support someone who is associated with the Koran. I won’t support terrorism.”

AP Claims Obama Has Clinched Delegate Numbers

They were wrong earlier today regarding Hillary Clinton conceding, so we'll see if this story holds.  The Associated Press has calculated the numbers and claims that Obama has "effectively" clinched the Democratic nomination based on convention delegates.  We'll keep you up to date as more information comes in.

The Corner Takes Note of Clinton's Lead in SD

Byron York:  "There could be a Clinton upset in South Dakota"

Election Day Thought

Is it not odd that people are burying Hillary Clinton and superdelegates are flocking to Obama on the day he is going to get creamed in South Dakota? 

Look here.  Since March 4, Clinton has won eight primaries, while Obama has won four and the Wyoming caucuses.  Guam was a tie.  Clinton has won Texas, Rhode Island, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Puerto Rico.  Obama won Vermont, Wyoming, Mississippi, North Carolina and Oregon.  In what sense is Barack Obama the stronger candidate? 

AP Says Clinton Will Concede, McAuliffe Says AP Wrong

The AP is reporting that Clinton is going to concede the race tonight.  Terry McAuliffe says the AP story is inaccurate, according to the news segment I'm watching on television.  Is the AP trigger happy? 

Year of the Blog

2008, the Year of the Blog:  "The blogosphere, once compared to the Wild West, is now a key element of presidential campaign strategy. But will candidates reach out to blogs that don't necessarily share their views?"

Starving The World To Feed Agribusiness

The UN is concerned about world food supply:

World food production must rise by 50 percent by 2030 to meet increasing demand, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon told world leaders Tuesday at a summit grappling with hunger and civil unrest caused by food price hikes.

The secretary-general told the Rome summit that nations must minimize export restrictions and import tariffs during the food price crisis and quickly resolve world trade talks.

So explain to me again why the United States diverts one-third of its corn crop to fuel rather than food?  And why do we continue to bias our policy toward domestic producers at the price of promoting hunger in the world? Highlights here are mine:

The increasing diversion of food and animal feed to produce biofuel, and sharply higher fuel costs have also helped to shoot prices upward, experts say.

The United Nations is encouraging summit participants to start undoing a decades-long legacy of agricultural and trade policies that many blame for the failure of small farmers in poor countries to feed their own people.

Wealthy nations' subsidizing their own farmers makes it harder for small farmers in poor countries to compete in global markets, critics of such subsidies say. Jim Butler, the FAO's deputy director-general, said in an interview ahead of the gathering that a draft document that could be the basis for a final summit declaration doesn't promise to overhaul subsidy policy.

Congress last month passed a five-year farm bill heavy on subsidies, bucking White House objections that such aid in the middle of a global food crisis wasn't warranted.

The head of the summit's U.S. delegation, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, insisted on Monday that biofuels will contribute only 2 or 3 percent to a predicted 43 percent rise in prices this year.

Figures by other international organizations, including the International Monetary Fund, show that the increased demand for biofuels is contributing by 15-30 percent to food price increases, said Frederic Mousseau, a policy adviser at Oxfam, a British aid group.

Usually attempts to reward a domestic industry at the price of alienating international opinion and contributing to the starvation of the world's poor earn you ridicule.  This year it gets you the Democratic nomination for president. 

But I Had No Idea I Was Surrounded By Marxist Racists

From a 2004 interview:

GG:
Do you still attend Trinity?

OBAMA:
Yep. Every week. 11 oclock service.

Ever been there? Good service.

I actually wrote a book called Dreams from My Father, it’s kind of a meditation on race. There’s a whole chapter on the church in that, and my first visits to Trinity.

Primary Updates

A reader writes in to say that exit pollsters are at the polling places in Sioux Falls.  It also appears that the Hillary Clinton rally last night was a big success and many people couldn't get in the door.

The New York Observer wonders about a Clinton blowout in South Dakota.  Obama is "stumbling toward the finish line" -- after losing West Virginia by 41 points and Kentucky by 36 points, he is struggling to win South Dakota.  As Prof. Schaff notes below, Clinton staffers are predicting a 25 point victory in South Dakota today.

ALSO:  A continuously-updated roundup of Montana and South Dakota primary news.

The Road To Hell

A pithy conclusion to an illustrative piece by Ross Douthat on millenarianism as a source of evil in the world.  Disaster, Douthat argues, is more likely to come from those who want to bring the Kingdom of God to this world, not those who want to end this world to bring us up to God. 

But in general, such people tend not to advance to positions where they can do world-historical damage. Which is why the worst crimes, well-meaning and otherwise, usually aren't committed by the millenarians who keep a good secularist like McEwan up at night; they're committed by rational actors, religious and secular alike, who want to change the world we live in, rather than bring it to an end, and fail to count the fatal cost of pursuing their ambitions.

The Coming Clinton Blowout

Can Barack Obama claim victory after losing California, Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania and recently getting blown out in West Virginia, Kentucky and, so it looks, South Dakota?  I guess he'll try. 

BTW, Drudge is reporting that Clinton forces are predicting at 25 point win in South Dakota today.  We'll know in about eleven hours. 

South Dakota, Small Towns, and Politics

John Hinderaker:  "The national press caravan will move on tomorrow from Milbank and other towns in South Dakota, and the reporters probably won't have learned anything from their few days there. That's too bad, maybe. I've learned a lot from South Dakota since I left at age 16. They might have learned a few things too. Politics is important, but it isn't everything. Not even close."

Clinton Dropping Out This Week?

New York Times:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton invited fund-raisers and other supporters to an election-night rally in New York City where, aides said, she was prepared to deliver what they described as a farewell speech that summed up the case for her candidacy. They said Mrs. Clinton was not likely to withdraw from the race on Tuesday night, probably waiting until later in the week, once Mr. Obama's victory appeared clear.

Sensing an opportunity to shut down the nominating contest, Obama campaign advisers said that they were orchestrating an endorsement of Mr. Obama by at least eight Senate and House members who had pledged to remain uncommitted until the primaries ended, and that the endorsements would come the moment the South Dakota polls closed on Tuesday night.

Politico: Five Things to Watch in South Dakota

The Politico lists five things to watch for in South Dakota during the primaries today.  They are the split time zones ("The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time, but the Secretary of State's office will not release any results until after all the polls close statewide at 8 p.m. Central Time"), the Native American vote (which have increasingly played a larger role in South Dakota politics in recent years), a late night due to the way votes are tabulated, a turnout of around 40-45 percent, and, finally, as Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County goes, so might the rest of the state.  Be sure to give the article a read.  Polls opened eighteen minutes ago.  We'll keep you updated on any news items and developments throughout the day, so check back often.

Bill Clinton in Aberdeen: A Report

I just got home from the Bill Clinton event here in Aberdeen.  As has been the case for the two other candidate visits (Hillary and Obama), I will try to faithfully report what he said.  Normally I wouldn't be so informal, but for the sake of ease I will call the Clintons by their first names. 

First a couple general impressions.  Bill made a convincing case for Hillary.  It almost couldn't get better.  It is possible, though, that some of that argument was lost in Bill's well known tenancy to belabor a point and to descend into wonkishness.  I shall try to trim some of that from my report.  We will once again get a media number, but I'd say around 700 people were there, a lot of them to satisfy idle curiosity, no doubt. 

Bill started thanking people for their work during the long campaign.  He said this is the end of the closest primary race since primaries began to dominate the system and that in the end Hillary has more votes.  We should vote tomorrow for the person who would make the best president.  Hillary is the best candidate he's ever supported (sorry George McGovern).  He said he'd give three reasons for voting for Hillary, but to be honest his talk rambled so much it's difficult to pick out those three things. 

He began his substantive case by discussing income inequality, which has gotten worse in recent years.  All the tax cuts and subsidies go to the rich while wages have gone down.  Hillary will fight this by creating jobs, for example through reinvesting in infrastructure: modernizing railways, waterways, etc.  She'd also repeal subsidies for oil companies and invest in alternative energy.  That investment in alternative energy will create jobs. 

He talked a lot about energy.  Hillary is for grants that would upgrade rural energy transmission so the wind power developed in rural areas can be sent to main grids for large cities.  He mentioned that Indian Reservations could benefit from this.  "You shouldn't have to have a casino to be wealthy," he put it. 

He then discussed health care.  Hillary has been endorsed by the American Nursing Association because they know the only way to control costs is to cover everybody. Bill claimed (a bit implausibly in my opinion) that government run health care will produce less paperwork than private health insurance.  In Hillary's plan, people can stick with what they have or buy into a government system like members of Congress have.  We do not have enough money for health care, he said, if costs keep doubling ever seven years. 

He bashed No Child Left Behind.  In a rather cogent argument, he stated that rather than setting our standards high, NCLB gives incentives to set our standards low so all the students can pass and schools can keep their federal money.  In the meantime schools spend all their time trying to get kids to pass the test to the exclusion of music, art, etc.  He did talk about college costs.  Here is where he got the most wonkish, so I will not reproduce the discussion (frankly, I just stopped taking notes). 

We should get politics out of research, he said, which I take to mean that people who object to killing human embryos so the rest of us can benefit should just shut up.  People shouldn't make moral arguments about the uses of science, apparently.  Thank you Dr. Frankenstein.  He also said Hillary wants to spend more money on research, particularly in energy. 

He then discussed foreign policy.  This area (Iraq, more diplomacy and less military) is well traveled so I won't discuss in detail. 

He concluded by saying that this election became at some point a false choice between experience and change.  It is "ludicrous" to say that those with experience cannot bring change, thereby saying the less experience someone has the better.  He told many stories about how Hillary had brought change both at the national level and in Arkansas.  He put an exclamation point on his talk by saying Hillary was more likely to win in November, citing polls and Electoral College counts.  Hillary is ahead in Oho, Florida, West Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky, and New Mexico and is tied in Missouri and Nevada. She does better against McCain than Obama. So Hillary would make the best president and is the most likely to win.   

A 50-50 Primary?

Argus Leader political analyst Dave Kranz writes on the Clinton-Obama primary in South Dakota: "Don't be surprised if it comes out 50-50, or close to it."  The latest poll has Clinton with a tremendous lead over Obama (which would hand Clinton yet another landslide victory) and the Political Wire is calling the South Dakota primary a "big upset for Clinton."  We'll see what happens tomorrow.  Expect an exciting and busy day around SDP.