Because I Said So…

Ron Paul is not doing so well in the polls going into Super-Fantastic-Amazing Tuesday.  He’s failed to register in the double digits in any of the states holding elections tomorrow despite his phenomenal, head scratching cult following. 

According to USAElectionPolls.com , 18-29 year olds in many states are supporting Ron Paul in the 15-20 percent range. But Paul mania is not catching on with the older voters.  He registers around 2-3 percent among them.

It’s okay, Paul.  Age ain’t nothing but a number.  Besides Paul has been a staunch supporter of fiscal responsibility and it is stated by independent monitoring organizations that Paul is the only conservative whose plan would really cut the budget and with the crumbling economy, “Ron Paul’s message has never been more truthful.” 

He can still spread his message.  At least until the convention comes, then he’s out of the race officially and will fade into obscurity once more.  Ross Perot, anyone?

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are busy this week jetting across the nation, smiling for cameras while they throttle each other for delegates and momentum on Super Tuesday.  Meanwhile, the third Democrat, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel is hanging in there and hanging out.

Grumpy Gravel is working the liberal San Francisco and Berkeley areas for the next few days, and while he’s there picking up stray votes he’ll be picking up a few slices.  He and some of his supporters are hanging out at a Berkeley pizza joint to watch the returns Tuesday. 

 Join us as the results from the “Super Tuesday” primaries roll in, don’t sit home yelling at the TV! Come spend a few hours with Mike and the World Can’t Wait–Drive Out the Bush Regime! activists and many other friends. Location: Spud’s Pizza 3290 Adeline, Berkeley, CA (Spud’s is a short walk from Ashby BART / easy street parking / wheelchair accessible)

Gravel has barely registered in any of the early primary states.  Candidates who have already dropped out of the race often get more votes.  But the thinning field may allow him to win some protest votes, maybe even accumulate a few convention delegates. 

Everyone knows the key to winning a presidential primary election is to buy the voters pizza.  At least it worked in high school… 

Spud’s Pizza is the location of Gravel’s Super Tuesday get-together. (photo via spudspizza.com)

If Ron Paul is a the long-shot Republican presidential candidate, then resident minority for the GOP race Alan Keyes is in another universe.  Now that “World Mayor” Rudy Giuliani has dropped out of the running, leaving Paul impossible to ignore, there is room for Alan Keyes to move into the vacant invisible candidate slot.

Keyes is not even mentioned on CNN’s online list of remaining Republican candidates (he was there in the beginning of January), but the “other” black man running for president is starting to make some noise to let everyone know he’s still in the swing of things.  Keyes is in the midst of a a six-week grassroots tour of Texas, and he plans to camp out in Texas until its primary on March 4.  According to pundits, Texas may become key to the Republican primary if Super Tuesday fails to produce a “presumptive” Republican nominee.

Keyes will also continue his “nationwide radio blitz to counter the media’s virtual blackout of his campaign.”   Recently, Republicans in New York have attempted to remove Keyes from state ballots on the grounds that he has not submitted a list of delegates.  Otherwise, he appears on the ballot in most states.

The former assistant Secretary of State (and trained opera singer–who knew?) is no stranger to animosity and controversy.   This will be Keyes’ third long-shot run for the presidency.  The last time he ran for national office was in 2004 when the Illinois Republican Party drafted Keyes to run against Barack Obama for U.S. Senate.  Keyes became infamous for slamming his competitor, and he’s up to the same antics in this race.

Keyes launched a blistering attack against Mitt Romney on the issue of gay marriage saying:

“Mitt Romney is single-handedly responsible for instituting same-sex marriage in Massachusetts….Mitt Romney pushed through same-sex marriage all by himself, in the absence of any authority or requirement to do so, having a complete misunderstanding of his role as governor and of the significance of the court’s opinion.”

Clearly, Keyes has some very conservative views of homosexuality.  And since he is so outspoken about the issue, in the grand scheme of Republican ironies, this means either he or someone in his family must be gay–his daughter Maya is a lesbian and rumored to have been “cut-off” by Keyes when she came out to her family in 2005. 

While, Keyes failed to register more than a few thousand votes combined in New Hampshire, Iowa, and other early states, he might be in luck if Mitt Romney and Huckabee are forced from the race after Super Tuesday.  And if Keyes keeps up the sound and fury maybe big media will recognize him as a candidate.  He should ask Paul for some tips.

For fun here is a YouTube clip of Keyes from 2004 discussing his views on homosexuality.  How poised and not-homophobic is he, eh, eh?

Mayor Michael Bloomberg Thursday put some oomph behind his daily denial of his presidential aspirations.  His response to a reporter’s question during an appearance at Google’s New York headquarters in Chelsea signaled an end to the speculation:

“I’ve said repeatedly I’m not a candidate…and I’ll stay that way.”

These new, seemingly definitive, comments come after California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (formerly one of Bloomberg’s biggest allies) announced earlier last week that the Governator plans to endorse Sen. John McCain in the GOP primary Tuesday.  That blow, coupled with the permanence of the word “stay,”  had followers of this one-man presidential debate thinking Bloomberg finally made up his mind not to run.

But, alas, a new wrinkle was added to the confusion on Friday when Bloomberg called the presidential race “wide open” on his weekly WABC-770 radio show.  The comment came after host John Gambling if the primary results would give him “an opportunity to re-evaluate your personal situation.”  Of course, the comment could have meant nothing, but with Democrat-turned Republican-turned Independent-turned ellipses-Mayor Bloomberg you have to assume he meant something by it.
 

Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, says the mayor means to send mixed messages and just “wants to have a little fun.”  Oh, you billionaire playboys and your fun.  Who doesn’t “toy” with the idea of running a free nation every once and a while?

So, will he or won’t he?  The answer is… question mark.  It looks like Bloomberg is happy dragging out the drama for as long as possible.  The suspense is more palpable than the back-and-forth romance between Ross and Rachel on TV’s ”Friends.”  Stay tuned.

Five Green Party presidential candidates, including every voter’s favorite presidential election ruin-er Ralph Nader and former Democratic party congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, will be trying to be the candidate to siphon undecided votes in November by getting on the the ballot in the California Green Party’s primary on “Super Tuesday” Feb. 5.

A party spokesperson today said it is the most competitive race for President in the history of the Green Party.  Somewhere in the world John McCain is giving out high-fives.

Almost one-third of the Green Party delegate will be determinedon February 5 between Illinois, Massachusetts, Arkansas and California–the most significant of the Green primaries. 

California has 168 of the 836 delegates (over 20%) that will nominate the Green Party nominee on July 13 in Chicago makes California pretty critical to both Nader and McKinney in securing the Green Party nomination.”

Also crowding joining the race are:

Jesse Johnson, a filmmaker and 2006 Senate and 2004 gubernatorial candidate for the West Virginia Mountain Party.

Kent Mesplay, a biomedical engineer who sought the Green Party presidential nomination in 2004.

Kat Swift, the Texas State Party Co-chair, progressive activist and newspaper credit manager.

They look like a colorful bunch.  And according to California Green Party spokeswoman Susan King these candidates will provide a much needed “real choice” at the polls.  You know, because there have been so few candidates throwing their hat in the ring this year.

This promises to be the most competitive presidential primary on record for the Green Party of California. And it comes at a time in our state and nation’s history when voters need a real choice at the polls, and an opportunity to elect a President who will make a difference by ending the war in Iraq now, protecting our planet now and providing universal, single-payer health care for all.” 

All very unique ideas that NO candidate currently in the presidential race has mentioned yet…  Time will tell if “going green” will pollute the democratic effort later.