ON TUESDAY'S SHOW: A big day in the lives of the candidates:
-John McCain secured the Republican nomination.
-Mike Huckabee dropped out of the race.
-Hillary Clinton won both Ohio and Texas.
-But Barack Obama claimed victory (because he has more delegate votes).
We talked about how many are questioning, and rightfully so, "How much does experience matter -- when it comes to being President of the United States?"
Did you see last week's TIME Magazine on the subject? (see article)
In focus group after focus group when participants were asked, be they democrat, republican or independent, to name at least one accomplishment that Barack Obama has that qualifies him for President, no one could name one, except being elected to the Senate four years ago.
We also talked about some interesting, but not much talked about aspects of this election, such as:
1) Republicans like Barack Obama almost as much as they like John McCain, according to a new Fox/Washington Times/Rasmussen Reports poll. The survey determined that a quarter of self-identified Republicans rated Mr. McCain most likable, but nearly as many - 23 percent - chose Mr. Obama as most likable. And among all adults surveyed, Mr. Obama was rated likable by more people than Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mr. McCain combined.
2) The Jewish Vote: Josiah Ryan over at CNSNews.com - wrote about how Jewish Democrat Voters Could Help Clinton:
Although most of the states with upcoming primaries have Jewish communities ranging from 0.3 percent to 2.3 percent of the population, Hillary Clinton's command of the Jewish vote -- fostered as first lady and as senator of New York, the state with the nation's largest Jewish population -- could be a defining element in the tight race she's running with Sen. Barack Obama.
Fritz Wencel, communications director for the polling firm Zogby International said that "Even though Jewish voters may represent a small overall percentage of the electorate, their proven practice of going to the polls in greater numbers than other demographic groups makes them an important voting block for candidates who are locked in tight races." According to MSNBC exit polls American Jews already have disproportionately affected the 2008 primaries. For example, in New York, where Jews comprise 8.4 percent of the population, they represented 16 percent of the vote in the Feb 5th Super Tuesday Democratic primary.
In states with small Jewish populations -- Ohio is 1.3 percent Jewish -- the voter turnout has been large in the primaries.. For example, Connecticut's 3.2 percent Jewish population nearly tripled its clout, accounting for 8.4 percent of the state's Democratic vote -- and swinging the state in favor of Obama on Feb. 5. With the exception of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and California, Clinton has won the Jewish vote in every state so far. Her campaign Web site touts her "long history of strong and steadfast leadership for the U.S.-Israel relationship."
3) The Obama problem:
He espouses pro-Israel views nearly identical to Clinton's, but his connection with religious leaders who are anti-Semitic and anti-Israel, as well as his expressions of sympathy for Palestinians, apparently is helping Clinton hold onto her lead among Jewish voters. Obama expressed sympathy for Palestinians at a rally in Iowa. "Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people," he said. The statement drew a hail of fire from bloggers and others.
Obama's known ties to religious leaders accused of anti-Semitism make it difficult for him to gain an edge among Jewish voters.
We've talked about this before but: Obama's spiritual advisor and the pastor of his church, Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. who Obama says "helps him keep his "priorities straight and moral compass calibrated" has made anti-Israel statements. The New York Times reported last April, that Wright had said that Zionism includes an element of "white racism." The Trumpet magazine , a publication of Wright's church, featured Louis Farrakhan the leader of the Nation of Islam as a 'shining example' and gave the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to Farrakhan who has called Judaism a "gutter religion" and said Jews are "bloodsuckers" and "wicked deceivers". He has also said that whites are 'blue-eyed devils.'
Farrakhan recently said that Obama was "the hope of the entire world" and was transforming his audiences by the effect of his speeches. At Hillary Clinton's prompting at the final Democratic debate last Tuesday, Obama told moderator Tim Russert that he both "rejects " Farrakhan's support of him as a candidate. Hillary pressed for 'denouncing' not just rejecting...which Obama fumbled with and finally said, "if the Senator thinks denouncing is more than rejecting then I'll go with that."
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