Jeez! I spend one morning shopping and look at everything I missed! First up, Raul Castro is the new president of Cuba. This was completely expected, but the part I find interesting is this:
“Is there going to be a transition here toward something?” Raul Castro once told reporters asking about post-Fidel Cuba. “Yes, toward a better form of socialism and — here’s something you’ll like — toward a more democratic society.”
However, he has said that only the Communist Party can guarantee continuity and, in his address Sunday to the National Assembly, he called the Party the “the guarantee of the Cuban nation.”
So I hope that possibly Raul is setting up for Cuba to become a Democracy (of sorts) after his and Fidel’s time. It would be nice for us to finally have a relationship with our neighbor to the south. Now, if that wasn’t enough news for today, Ralph “I don’t know when to give up” Nader has entered the Presidential race. For those of you who forget what Ralphy did for the country in the past, here’s a quote:
Nader was criticized by some Democrats in 2000 for allegedly pulling away support from Democrat Al Gore and helping George Bush win the White House.
Noting that he ran on the Green Party ticket that year, Clinton said Nader “prevented Al Gore from being the ‘greenest’ president we could have had.”
That’s right… his claim to fame is taking votes away from Democrats. Everyone had something to say about this today, first Obama and Clinton:
“He thought that there was no difference between Al Gore and George Bush and, eight years later, I think people realize that Ralph did not know what he was talking about,” Sen. Barack Obama said a town hall meeting Sunday.
Calling Nader’s move “very unfortunate,” Sen. Hillary Clinton told reporters, “I remember when he ran before. It didn’t turn out very well for anybody — especially our country.”
“This time I hope it doesn’t hurt anyone. I can’t think of anybody that would vote for Sen. McCain who would vote for Ralph Nader,” she said.
Next up we have Huckabee weighing in:
Long-shot GOP contender Mike Huckabee said Nader’s entry would probably help his party.
“I think it always would probably pull votes away from the Democrats and not the Republicans, so naturally, Republicans would welcome his entry into the race,” Huckabee said Sunday on CNN.
Sadly Mike has it right… Nader probably won’t pull any votes from the Republicans, possibly causing the same damage as he did back in 2000. Please, Ralph, stop running for president!!
And finally for today, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s feud has erupted yet again. Here’s a video of Hillary telling Barack “Shame on you” for his campaign ads:
And he fired right back saying she’s doing this as just a “tactical move”:
When will it end, people? Probably not until this summer, and everyone’s new worry shouldn’t be “Can Obama/Hillary beat McCain”, it should be “Can Democrats unite enough to win the White House, now that Nader is running?” Now, to answer the question on everyone’s mind “Who is ahead in the polls for Ohio/Pennsylvania/Texas/etc?”, well, according to Electoral Vote, here are the current numbers:
State Clinton Obama
Ohio 48% 40%
Rhode Island 52% 40%
Texas 47% 44%
Pennsylvania 45% 31%
North Carolina 31% 45%
Vermont 34% 60%
So, as it stands Hillary bests Obama in 4 out of the next 6 states. Will it stay that way? Only time will tell!! Exciting as always!
