Hillary Clinton's Downfall?

By Stanford Matthews Blog @ MoreWhat.com Maybe a little trip through the news and commentary offered around the net will provide some illumination on the likely fate of Hillary Rodham Clinton and her continued pursuit of political power. The first offering is from NJ Voices, Murray Sabrin at NJ.com. Hillary Clinton's downfall? Posted by Murray Sabrin November 23, 2007 10:13AM Senator Hillary Clinton has been leading in the national polls as well as in Iowa and in New Hampshire against her two main rivals, Senator Obama and former senator John Edwards, for the Democrat presidential nomination. However, in the latest ABC/ Washington Post poll Obama leads in Iowa with 30%, Clinton follows with 26% and Edwards comes in at 22%. In other words, Clinton could finish third in Iowa. And, if an Obama win in Iowa turns into the Big Mo going into the New Hampshire primary a week later, where Clinton now has a huge lead over Obama, 36% to 22%, the "invincibility" of a Clinton presidential nomination, let alone a Clinton nomination, will be in serious jeopardy. There are many comparisons to relative positions of candidates in the polls between the current campaign and past events. While all the pundits, polling, predictions and forecasts are of limited usefulness, Robert Novak who broke the story that the Clinton campaign has campaign ending dirt on Obama indicated on Hannity and Colmes his belief that the Clinton campaign is worried about their chances with Obama coming up in the polls and Iowa not looking like the done deal they had expected. Similarly, Sabrin above suggests Clinton is essentially running two campaigns with one about the caucus/primary elections and the other about the general. That fits with earlier assessments that Clinton's lead in the national polls and supporters touting her as the default nominee had her campaigning like a nominee by her carefully scripted, choreographed appearances right through the softball CNN debate and planted questions in Iowa. Even with all the help from the media, Clinton still managed to stumble on a simple debate question about supplying illegals with driver's licenses and lying about something as simple as tipping a waitress. But one must still keep in mind the notions surrounding stories earlier in the year suggesting the possible outcomes of the election with the various Dem candidates facing off against the GOP field. Some said while the GOP makes a lot of noise about Hillary Rodham Clinton they truly prefer to face her in the general. The reason given was with her history, mounting an opposition campaign would be much more effective. With Obama and Edwards having less history and less to attack the outcome favored the GOP with HRC as the Dems nominee. Since the party elite of the Democrats anointed Senator John Kerry even though Senator Edwards was showing real strength at the time, perhaps the Dems will play into the GOP strategy by anointing HRC as their 2008 choice and hand the Republicans another Presidential victory like the last time. Stay tuned, more news and commentary in the next post.

Live Internet National Poll for Nov 14th

By Stanford Matthews Blog @ MoreWhat.com

The purpose of this post falls more into the category of PSA or simply an announcement. You may or may not know about this November 14th event. It could prove interesting. Or it may just be another one of those things. This is not an endorsement or promotion for the event but the press release below is. While Campaigns and Elections magazine's website is a place I visit from time to time, OnePoliticalVoice.com is not something I'm familiar with. But since they are holding a live internet national poll today, the information may come in handy. For all you political junkies out there this will probably be of interest or you already know about it. For the rest of you it may simply be a welcome diversion. Don't blame me if you get fired playing with this at work. Links are in the text below.

Stanford Matthews MoreWhat.com

OnePolticalVoice.com to Conduct Live Internet Based National Poll at Campaigns & Elections Seminar

in Washington, D.C. on November 14th

OnePolticalVoice.com (OPV), a political market research firm, announced today that it will team with Campaigns & Elections (C&E) Magazine to conduct a live internet based poll in conjunction with C&E's 'New Media in Politics' seminar on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 in Washington, DC.

Leawood, Kansas (PRWEB) November 9, 2007 -- OnePolticalVoice.com (OPV), a political market research firm, announced today that it will team with Campaigns & Elections (C&E) Magazine to conduct a live internet based poll in conjunction with C&E's 'New Media in Politics' seminar on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 in Washington, DC. Beginning at 9:30 am, the public and members of the media are invited to take the survey by visiting the OPV website, www.onepoliticalvoice.com, and clicking the link to "Live OPV/C&E Survey". To monitor the real time results throughout the day, log into http://www.onepoliticalvoice.com/CandEsurveyresults.cfm and hit the refresh button as often as desired. Final results will be tabulated and presented to the live seminar audience at the end of the day.

The seminar will be podcast live on the C&E website at www.campaignsandelections.com. "This live online poll will demonstrate OPV's polling capabilities in a truly unique manner," said Gene Stegeman, OPV Managing Director. "Everyone will have the opportunity to see actual results as they come in across the country -- and they will see all the demographic information associated with each respondent: age, gender, education, income, political affiliation and temperament. It will allow observers to draw their own conclusions, then compare those conclusions with the final analysis of OPV experts at 5:00 pm that evening. It will be a lot of fun while providing invaluable insight to our country's thoughts on a number of critical issues."

The poll, covering a wide range of national issues and numbering approximately 20 questions in length, will include several questions provided on the morning of November 14th by participants attending the training seminar. Once questions are finalized, the poll will be emailed to individuals who have "opted in" across the country.

Today, OPV has direct access to over 11 million individuals who have expressed a willingness to participate in online surveys and polls. "Our research and that of others, show a dramatic increase in individuals who are using cell phones only and opting not to have traditional home based telephone service. As this trend continues, the most effective way to reach these individuals will be online," said Stegeman.

OnePoliticalVoice.com Established in early 2007, the market research arm of OnePoliticalVoice dates to the 2002 election cycle. Before that, their database development and survey engine expertise began in 1992. Headquartered in Leawood, KS, with an office in New York and one to open in Washington, DC, OnePoliticalVoice.com includes a team of online survey professionals and political analysts with over 30 years of survey construction and analysis expertise.

Contact: Gene Stegeman, Program Manager Phone: 1.866.373.VOTE (8683) E-Mail: gene @ onepoliticalvoice.com

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The Schumer Epiphany Oxymoron

Whenever the word bipartisan is used an alarm should go off to warn the uninformed or remind the politically astute of impending skulduggery from government whether at the federal, state or local level. While politicians tout bipartisanship as a process that should be endorsed by the public, the truth is the only purpose it serves is that of politicians. Contrary to the proposition that bipartisan efforts embody a noble and altruistic function by public officials, it is merely a contrived ploy involving cooperation from both parties for a mutually beneficial outcome. That outcome in no way usggests any benefit for the public at large. One commentary on the current issue dealing with the Senate confirmation of President Bush's nominee for AG pointt to Senator Chuck Schumer's performance on this issue. Schumer's Epiphany November 5, 2007 Michael Mukasey's prospects for confirmation as Attorney General seem to be resuscitated, thanks to the endorsements of two Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. We suppose this counts as progress -- of a sort. On Friday the New York Senator ended his indecision, noting that, while Mr. Mukasey was "not my ideal choice," he was "the best we can hope for" from President Bush. California's Dianne Feinstein also came out in favor; she reportedly made up her mind earlier in the week but waited to announce her intentions to give some cover to Mr. Schumer. That's another indication of the leftward pressure on Democrats. As the commentary above notes the probable motives of both Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Dianne Feinstein, the press release below indicates Schumer's evolving position on Mukasey from 2003. If he is unsure of his own choice for AG, why was Mukasey on his short list for SCOTUS? FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 10, 2003 WITH SUPREME COURT VACANCY LOOMING, SCHUMER OFFERS PRESIDENT BIPARTISAN APPROACH; SUGGESTS LIST OF CONSENSUS PICKS FOR HIGH COURT Schumer's action intended to inject bipartisanship into confirmation process to ensure that next SCOTUS nominee gets backing of all 100 Senators, not just 51 Schumer's list for the Court include several Reagan judicial appointments and a prominent Republican Senator Schumer submitted the following names: • Senator Arlen Specter, Republican from Pennsylvania. • Judge Ann Williams, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, nominated by President Reagan to the Northern District of Illinois. • Judge Edward Prado, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, nominated by President Bush. • Judge Michael Mukasey, Southern District of New York, nominated by President Reagan. • Judge Stanley Marcus, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, nominated by President Reagan. The only real surprise on Schumer's short list above is no candidate from the Ninth Circus but since this was obviously an attempt to gain favor with the public and his political rivals there is no need for it to make sense. These are common characteristics of bipartisanship. In the abstract, a notion such as bipartisanship is a good thing. But like so much in the real world there is little chance those good things will ever be realized by this process. Stanford Matthews Blog @ MoreWhat.com