The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Happy Florida Primary Day! Vote08 hopes you log on to NewsChannel9.com later tonight first to get your live Florida results! Could the GOP results be as close as the 2000 presidential race? Let’s hope not!

Let’s get you up to speed on today’s campaign headlines!

It’s down to Romney vs McCain. This race couldn’t be tighter. This Zogby poll released this morning shows McCain pulling away (& a tightening race for third between Giuiliani & Huckabee), but an aggregate of other polls at RealClearPolitics.com shows the race is still anybody’s guess. And shouldn’t you ignore these polls anyway?

Both Romney & McCain fought bare knuckles on the last day of campaigning. Will that turn voters off to one or the other - or both? What are conservatives saying about why they’re supporting either candidate? And most importantly — what do you think? Now’s your chance to weigh in!

Mike Huckabee has Chuck Norris. Now Sylvester Stallone has announced he’s a McCain man. And one blogger views the latest (4th) Rambo movie as an argument for the continuation of the global interventionalist policies of the current administration.

A slew of new Rasmussen Presidential polls are in from the southeast! The only one from Tennessee I can find is that WSMV poll we’ve covered extensively already. But Georgia? Alabama? Fresh this morning!

• Georgia Democrats favor Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama by 6 points in the latest Rasmussen poll.
• Georgia Republicans say the Peach State is Huckabee Country. The former Arkansas governor has a commanding lead over McCain in the latest Rasmussen poll.
• Alabama’s GOP primary will be a squeaker. The Rasmussen poll shows Republicans evenly divided between Mike Huckabee & John McCain. Romney’s a distant third.
• Alabama’s Democrats are giving Hillary Clinton a clear edge. The Rasmussen poll shows Clinton with a 15 point lead over Barack Obama.

The Rasmussen polls were taken January 23rd, before the Democratic South Carolina primary. It’ll be interesting to see if the down-&-dirty Palmetto State campaign will affect Democrats in our neighborhood.

The effects Bill Clinton is having on his wife’s campaign are spreading across the political landscape today. Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post wonders if the country has moved on from the race issues Bill raised on Saturday. Conservative columnist David Brooks of the New York Times was at the rally where Ted Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama, & says he was smitten by an apparent return to the New Frontier. & was Bill’s comparison between the campaigns of Obama in 2008 & Jesse Jackson in 1984 & 1988 really all that apt?

Asking once again, with a bit more of an answer: Will the Al Gore endorsement shoe drop anytime soon?

& speaking of other shoes, NewsChannel 9 has learned Barack Obama’s opening a campaign office in Knoxville. He was the first to plant his flag in Tennessee, in Nashville, & he’s got an office in Memphis. So is one in Chattanooga next? (note: NO campaigns have set up shop in the NewsChannel 9 viewing area with the exception of Ron Paul, whose supporters have an office in Cleveland. Vote08 heartily endorses all candidates setting up in the Tennessee Valley! That’s because it’ll make this blog all the more exciting!)

& finally, former National Transportation Safety Board Chairman and Signal Mountain resident Jim Hall has signed on to be the local “Rapid Responder” for the Hillary Clinton campaign. Vote08 plans to contact him today with a few questions about his take on the current race status.

What’s on your mind this morning? Post a comment and let us know!

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