It's Clinton Versus Obama as Edwards Exits Presidential Race

Suddenly there were only two. John Edwards is ending his long campaign to be President. This heightens the suspense as Super Tuesday next week becomes a head to head match of Hillary Clinton versus Barack Obama.

Some 40% of the delegates will be decided next week as 20 states hold primaries and caucuses. Some states will be pivotal - like California and new York which have large numbers of delegates at stake.

John Edwards brought a strong voice to his campaign to speak for ending poverty in America and getting public control back from corporate America's domination of our government under the Bush Republicans.

Edwards called both Obama and Clinton to tell them of his decision and to urge that they include adressing poverty in their campaigns.

Edwards is flying to New Orleans where he will be making a major speech later today. He is not going to endorse another candidate at this point.

Who benefits most by Edwards leaving the race. The Fix notes that polling in Florida leave the issue a tossup:

"Exit polling conducted yesterday in Florida suggests that Edwards supporters are equally inclined to back Obama and Clinton. Forty seven percent of Edwards backers in Florida said they would be "satisfied" with Clinton as the nominee
with 13 percent saying they would be "very satisfied". A similar 47 percent said they would be "satisfied" with Obama as the party's standard bearer with 19 percent saying they would be "very satisfied". Those trends were affirmed by exit poll data from South Carolina's primary on Jan. 26 as more than six in 10 Edwards supporters said they would be satisfied with either Clinton or Obama as the nominee."

see also Washington Post -"John Edwards to Quit Presidential Race"

McCain and Clinton Win Florida Primary

The big loser in the Florida Primary Vote is Rudy Giuliani who is coming in a tepid third place in the Republican Primary. McCain is receiving 36% of the vote to Romney at 31% to Giuliani at 15% and Huckabee at 13%. Florida is a winner take all state for the Republicans and McCain is picking up 57 delegates. This is with 94% of the vote counted.

Because Florida moved it's Primary early against the Democratic Party rules no delegates are being awarded now although that could change at the convention. Meanwhile, despite the Democratic candidates pledge to not campaign in Florida, their names were still on the ballot and Hillary Clinton is decisively beating Obama and Edwards. She has 49.5% of the votes to Obama's 32.9% to Edwards 14.4%.

So what does Clinton's win in Florida mean?

Now the Democratic politically correct thing to say is that Clinton's win doesn't count but Obama assumes that at his peril. The media likewise discounts it. While the delegates aren't there now, Clinton still won the vote and I believe the win is as significant as Obama's win in South Carolina.

Voters turned out and made a choice. With national media attention and coverage of the campaigns these days, voters were well aware of who they were voting for, whether the candidates physically campaigned in the state or not.

The same goes for the Michigan Primary. Clinton's name was on the ballot there, while Obama and Edwards were not. The national party withdrew the delegates from Michigan because they went early like Florida did. But voters had a choice and they voted. If they choose Obama or Edwards instead of Clinton, they had to vote uncommitted. Clinton won 55.3% of the Michigan Democratic vote while uncommitted received 40%.

So by my calculation, Clinton has won the vote in four states - New Hampshire, Michigan, Nevada and Florida. Obama has won the vote in Iowa and South Carolina. Collectively Clinton has garnered more votes than Obama in total. A rough estimate is that Clinton has received about 1.54 million votes total to Obama's 1.25 million votes. This is a ballpark figure only - an estimate based on a couple of extrapolations from delegate counts in Iowa and Nevada and giving Obama 2/3 of the uncommitted vote in Michigan.

All this is to say that its a close race and if votes split similarly on February 5th, and delegates likewise, we're in for the long haul. Both candidates are running hard and no one has scored a knockout punch yet in the Democrat's race. February 5th could change all that since Super Tuesday has over 20 states voting and over 40% of the total delegates at stake for both parties.

It's Time For the Washington State Legislature to Enact Election Day Voter Registration

Washington State is lagging behind other states in a major effort to encourage more voter participation in elections. That effort is Election Day Registration. It is sometimes called same day registration There is no legitimate reason to prevent people from registering up to and including the day of the election.

Nine states now allow voter registration on election day. These states are Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Montana, North Carolina and Iowa. Montana's law went into effect in 2006 and Iowa's went into effect Jan 1, 2008. It was first used for the Iowa caucuses. North Carolina's law was passed in 2007 and allows for same day registration and voting during it's early voting period.

Last year the Washington State Senate passed SB 5561sponsored by Senator Eric Oemig with cosponsors Senators Fairley, Hobbs, Brown, Spanel, Franklin, Kline, Jacobsen, and McAuliffe.SB 5561 allowed voter registration up to and including election day. The bill made it to House Rules but never got a floor vote. Republicans offered some 41 amendments to try to stop the bill and obviously prevented it from being considered in the end.

By resolution SB 5561 has been reintroduced in the Senate and retained in present status. and eligible to be placed on third reading. In this election year with both Republicans and Democrats waging vigorous campaigns to elect a new President, Washington State should make every effort to enact this legislation and afford potential voters every opportunity to register and vote up to and including election day November 4, 2008!

You can contact your legislators and urge support for Election Day Registration and SB 5561 by going to the Washington State Legislative website and sending them an e-mail urging action this year.

The Seattle PI had an editorial yesterday supporting same day voting but referred to a different Senate bill introduced this year by fewer sponsors and which deferred the law going into effect until 2010. No hearing has been scheduled on this bill. There is no legitimate reason for delaying same day registration for an additional 2 years. The Legislature should instead enact SB 5661 which would go into effect this year in time for the Presidential election.

As researched and reported by Demos:

By counteracting arbitrary voter registration deadlines, EDR greatly enhances the opportunity for Americans to participate in the electoral process and cast a ballot that will be properly counted. States with EDR have consistently boasted turnout rates 10 to 12 percentage points higher than states that do not offer Election Day Registration.

In an op-ed piece in the May 11, 2007 edition of the New York Times, the Secretary of State of Idaho, Ben Ysursa and the Secretary of State of Maine, Mathew Dunlap, countered two arguments to election day registration based on their experience:

While opponents are concerned that this option might encourage voter fraud, such crime is exceedingly rare or nonexistent in states that offer Election Day registration. Citizens of Maine, for instance, have benefited from same-day registration since the early 1970s and no case of voter fraud has ever been attributed to the policy. With simple, fair and safe methods to verify voters, and by relying on effective poll-worker training and sophisticated election administration, our states have ensured the integrity of the process while allowing every eligible citizen to cast a ballot.

We also reject the oft-used argument that voters not registered in advance should be effectively barred from voting as punishment for not heeding existing deadlines. While it’s true even E.D.R. states have deadlines in place for registration by mail, we firmly believe that missing a deadline should not prevent interested and engaged parties from being able to register in person on Election Day. We are committed to leaving no voter behind, including first-time voters, newly naturalized citizens and those who may have recently changed addresses.

The irony here is that Washington State has a Democratic Governor and strong majorities in the House and the Senate. Iowa passed election day registration last year, after finally in 2006 overturning 43 years of Republican control of their legislature.

We have had strong Democratic control of our Legislature for a number of years as well as several decades of Democratic control of the Governor's office. Democrats in our Legislature need to step up and support election day registration now. What are they waiting for?

An excellent site to read about election day registration and the experiences of other states is to go to Demos - a network for ideas and actions. Their democracy program has a webpage on election day registration with links to resources and studies.

Faith Advocacy Day is Tuesday Jan 29th in Olympia

Washington State has an involved and concerned progressive religious community. They will make their presence known in Olympia tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan 29, 2006 - Faith Advocacy Day.

Sponsors of Faith Advocacy Day include the Lutheran Community Services Northwest, LATCH, Earth Ministry, Compass Center, The Church Council of Greater Seattle, Friends Committee on Washington Public Policy, Washington Association of Churches, Associated Ministries, and the Religious Coalition for the Common Good.

The lobby day will begin with registration at 8:30 A.M. at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepard at 1601 North Street in Olympia. A map of where the church is can be found on the website for the Faith Advocacy Day. The morning agenda will include discussion of issues and legislation dealing with Homelessness and Housing, the Environment, Hunger, Economic Justice, and Criminal Justice and Immigration.

Activites in the afternoon will include meeting with legislators to discuss the priorities of the progressive faith based community.

The Kennedys Enter the Presidential Race

The Kennedy Clan has entered the fray for Obama and Clinton. Word is that Senator Edward Kennedy is going to endorse Barack Obama on Monday. And the Sunday New York Times carried an op-ed piece by Caroline Kennedy endorsing Obama also.

Senator Kennedy's endorsement is a rebuke to the Clintons. Bill Clinton is reported to have urged Senator Kennedy to stay neutral.

Meanwhile Hillary Clinton issued a statement from Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the former Lt Governor of Maryland and daughter of Robert Kennedy, reiterating her reasons for supporting Senator Clinton. Clinton also has received the endorsement of Robert F Kennedy, Jr.

Obama Win in South Carolina Impressive but Not Surprising

Senator Barack Obama's win Saturday in the South Carolina Democratic Primary helps boost his campaign for President. But the big prize still remains all the primaries and caucuses voting on Super Tuesday Feb 5, 2008. Some 22 states will vote including large ones like California and New York. And the outcome is far from certain.

South Carolina Democratic Primary Voting Results:

Obama 295,214 (55.4%)
Clinton 141,217 (26.5%)
Edwards 93,576 (17.6%)

The problem with the hodgepodge of voting so far is that each state has had different advantages to each candidate. South Carolina's uniqueness to Obama was that 55% of the Democratic turnout was black voters of whom 78% voted for Obama and 19% for Clinton and 2% for Edwards.

According to the US Census, South Carolina comes in 5th in black population at 29%. Mississippi ranks 1st with 37.1%, Louisiana 2nd with 31.7% , Georgia 3rd with 29.9% and Maryland 4th at 29.5%.

As noted in a comment thread on American Renaissance, for Obama to win in November he must be the white candidate. Blacks will vote Democratic when they vote since there is nothing the Republicans have to offer them. Remember the snub the Republican Presidential candidates McCain, Giuliani and Romney gave Travis Smiley and PBS when they ducked a debate at Morgan State College.

Obama will not be taking votes away from Republicans, but even a higher turnout of black voters will not be decisive if he doesn't draw significantly from all racial groups, including whites.

This is not to say Democrats can take the black vote for granted but further divisiveness among the candidates that accentuate racial differences will not help Clinton in November if she wins the nomination but blacks aren't motivated to vote. Likewise Obama can not only be the black candidate if he hopes to win.

Population wise, for example, Hispanics comprise the same percentage in the population, 13%, as do blacks. And Clinton won Nevada with the help of Hispanic voters.

This all goes to say the race is far from over - with a lot more to come. Feb 5, 2008 looms now as a major sorting out day for this race.

Kucinich Exits Presidential Race, Makes Urgent Appeal for Funds for Contested March 10th Congessional Primary.

Facing the obvious reality that his long shot Presidential campaign was not going to take off, Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich has announced that he is ending his bid for the Presidency and focusing on getting re-elected to Congress.

You can view the video here where he announces his plans to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Kucinich frequently was at the top of various Internet polls of Democrats when people selected a Democratic candidate based on their positions on issues. Unfortunately while many Democrats felt he was right on the issues like getting out of Iraq, he lacked the funds and organization to put together a credible national campaign that could compete with Clinton or Obama or even Edwards.

Kucinich received less than 2% of the vote in New Hampshire and lost his main outreach platform when the media started excluding him from the debates. He was excluded from the televised debates in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. He was also excluded from an upcoming debate in California.

Kucinich was a former mayor of Cleveland, Ohio and is a 6 term Congressman in Ohio's 10th Congressional District. The New York Times says that he is facing "a tough primary fight". The Democratic Primary for Ohio's 10th Congressional District is fast approaching on March 10, 2008. Kucinich is facing 4 Democratic challengers.

Running for President has left him open to charges of being a part time Congressman. You can read more about his re-election campaign here on the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Election Blog "Openers".

Kucinich's re-election website has video and an appeal for funds to help his Congressional re-election campaign. Please consider helping as it would be a shame to lose his voice in Congress.

Latest Fundraising Totals for 2008 Washington Statewide Office Candidates

As of the latest reports filed with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission for the period though Dec 31, 2007, and first available after 1/10/2008, Democratic Governor Chris Gregoire, has raised over $4,665,352 for her re-election campaign, has spent $1,554,766 and has $3,110,586 in cash on hand.

Because of the prohibition of raising funds 30 days before the legislative session begins and during the session, Governor Gregoire's fundraising stopped as of Dec. 10, 2007. She will be able to resume fundraising after the session ends. The same prohibition on fundraising also applies for other state incumbents running for office.

Republican Gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi, who lost to Gregoire in 2004, is re-running and is not subject to the prohibition on raising funds since he is not a state official. He reported receiving $1,707,197 in contributions and in kind donations and spending $393,626 as of Dec 31, 2007. He has $1.303,571 in cash on hand as of Dec 31, 2007.

Rossi's previous figures were revised as the result of a Public Disclosure Commission dismissal of a complaint that his Forward Washington Foundation was really a campaign committee for his run for Governor.

Lt Governor Brad Owen, a Democrat reported raising $16,635, spending $6917 and having $9717 on hand as of 11/30/2007. No Republican has filed yet with the PDC.

Attorney General Rob McKenna, a Republican has raised $712,950, spent $318,155 and has $368,252 in cash on hand.
Democratic Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg , as noted at Riddenbaugh Press and first reported by the Tacoma News Tribune, is considering running as a Democrat against Rob McKenna.

Secretary of State Sam Reed, a Republican, has raised $230,899, spent $62,023 and has $168,875 on hand. He has no announced opponents at this time.

Democratic State Legislator Jim McIntire is running for State Treasurer. The current State Treasurer Mike Murphy, a Democrat, is retiring. McIntire has raised $61.795 and spent 14,494. Allan Martin is the Republican candidate. He has raised $29,480 and spent $2733.

Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland, a Republican has raised $170,808, spent $18,655 and has $ 152,153 in cash on hand.
Former Democratic Congressional candidate Peter Goldmark from eastern Washington is challenging Sutherland for this seat. Goldmark has raised $99,644 , spent $30,655 and has $69,025 in cash on hand.

State Auditor Brian Sonntag, a Democrat, has no opponent at this time. He has raised $27,432, spent $4054 and has $23,398 on hand. His last report was 11/30/2007.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, a Democrat, has raised some $40,236, spent $12,046 and has $28,189 in cash on hand. No opponent has filed yet.

Superintendent of Public Instruction, Terry Bergeson has raised $61,573 and spent $8,488.
Richard Sendler of Richland Washington has raised $8,625 and spent $8,027.

Three Washington State Supreme Court races will also be on the November 2008 ballot. Supreme Court Justices are elected to 6 year terms. No fundraising has been reported for these elections yet.

Position #3 is held by Mary Fairhurst.

Position #4 is held by Charles W Johnson who was first elected in 1991 to the Supreme Court.

Position #7 is held by Debra L Stephens who was appointed in December by Governor Gregoire to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Justice Bobbe Bridge.

Nevada Democrats Hide Vote Count by Only Releasing Delegate Count

(Revised Headline and text - original story confused delegate count and vote totals..)

Nevada has some 397,247 registered Democrats according to the Nevada Secretary of State. The Nevada Democratic Party now reports that some 115,800 Democrats participated in the caucuses.

This represents a turnout of 29% of registered Nevada Democrats. The Iowa caucuses saw a turnout of 39.5% of its registered Democrats.

My initial reporting of the Nevada Democratic turnout was way off. The problem was that the news reports had the numbers listed for Republican turnout as the actual vote counts for each candidate. The Democrats unfortunately do not release the actual vote totals for each candidate as the Republicans do yet the results were listed side by side.

As the Washington Post notes:

The Nevada Democratic Party is not reporting votes for its Jan. 19 caucuses. Instead, the party will only release the number of county delegates won by each presidential candidate (or "Uncommitted"). This is the data being collected by the Associated Press and displayed on washingtonpost.com. There will be at least 10,446 delegates to the county conventions in the state's 17 counties. (More information here.)
On the Republican side, the party caucuses are essentially a straw poll. Thus, the votes reported by the party and collected by AP are actual votes. (More information here.)

The Democrats reporting actually amounts to secrecy and distortion; in only releasing delegates elected for each candidates the actual votes are hidden from the general public. They did the same thing in the Iowa caucus.

At latest count, according to the NY Times , Hillary Clinton received 5,355 county delegates for 50.7% of the Democratic delegates.

Barack Obama received 4,773 delegates for 45.12% of the county Democratic delegates elected.

John Edwards only received 396 county delegates for 3.8% of the Democratic delegate vote cast.

Confusion has emerged regarding how many national delegates are actually assigned to Clinton and Obama, with Obama claiming he won 13 to Clinton's 12., despite Clinton winning more county delegates. And because the Nevada Democrats have not released the actual vote number by all the caucus attendees we can only guess at this based on the proportion of county delegates each candidate won.

I was not the only one confused trying to interpret the numbers - it seems that in reality the number of national delegates Clinton and Obama will get are only estimates and no final number is possible until the next convention. As reported by First read at msn.nbc

"The Nevada Democratic Party just issued this clarification (emphasis is ours): "No national convention delegates were awarded. That said, if the delegate preferences remain unchanged between now and April 2008, the calculations of national convention delegates being circulated by the Associated Press are correct. We look forward to our county and state conventions where we will choose the delegates for the nominee that Nevadans support."

If its confusing to you consider this explanation from the New York Times:

"On Jan. 19, party caucuses meet in each precinct to choose delegates to county conventions. The delegates selected are not bound to any candidate. At the county conventions on Feb. 23, delegates to the state convention are chosen. They are not bound to any candidate. The state convention is April 18-20, during which delegates choose 25 of the 33 delegates to the national convention. Sixteen of the 25 delegates are allocated proportionally to presidential candidates based on the support for the candidates in each of the state’s three Congressional districts. Nine delegates are allocated to candidates based on the support among all of the delegates attending the convention. The remaining eight unpledged delegates are chosen from party leaders."

It is so much easier to determine the vote results from Presidential Primaries. There is just plain reporting of actual votes, not recalculations based on delegates chosen and final commitments made at some later date based on participation at a later caucus.

Presidential Primaries also have higher voter participation. The New Hampshire Presidential Primary on January 8, 2008 saw a total voter turnout rate of 62%. New Hampshire allowed independents to vote in either the Republican or Democratic Primary. The Group News Blog reported that New Hampshire has some 850,836 registered voters. 287,322 voters voted Democratic and 238,548 voted Republican. The Democrats received 55% of the vote and Republicans 45%.

Hillary Clinton Tops Barrack Obama in Nevada

With 90% of the caucuses reporting, Democratic voters in Nevada have given Hillary Clinton another win. Barrack Obama came in second with John Edwards a distant third. This is the third state Clinton has won, if you include the vote in Michigan, where the candidates did not campaign .

Hillary Rodham Clinton..........5,308 delegates........ 50.8%

Barack Obama ........................4711 delegates ......... 45.1%

John Edwards............................ 393 delegates ........... 3.8 %

Uncommitted............................... 31 delegates ........... 0.3%

Dennis J. Kucinich .........................5 delegates ............0.0 %

90% reporting Updated 6:08 PM ET Results from politics.nytimes.com.

As in Iowa, Demorats are not releasing actual vote totals for candidates but only releasing the final delegates elected at the precinct level. This distorts the actual vote count each candidate received. Meanwhile the Republicans are releasing the actual vote totals. It seems like the Democrats are not being open on the actual results and are trying to manipulate the results by only partially reporting them.

Montana High School Cancels Climate Talk by Nobel Laureate.

It seems that a high school in Choteau, Montana thinks the best way to educate its students is to deny them the unique and rare opportunity to hear what a Nobel laureate has to say about global warming. What are they afraid of - that some students might actually be persuaded that global warming is real? Are they afraid that some students might come to question why more isn't being done to protect their future from climate change?

The New York Times today reported that Nobel Laureate Steven W Running's scheduled talk before 130 high school students was canceled after a few local conservative citizens complained to the school board and school superintendent.

Dr Running is a Professor of Ecology at the University of Montana. He was "a lead author" of the Report on Global Warming done by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that won the Nobel Peace Prize 2007. The IPCC shared the Nobel Prize with Al Gore.

As noted by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in selecting the Intergovernmental Committee on Climate Change to receive its Nobel Peace Prize for 2007:

"Indications of changes in the earth's future climate must be treated with the utmost seriousness, and with the precautionary principle uppermost in our minds. Extensive climate changes may alter and threaten the living conditions of much of mankind. They may induce large-scale migration and lead to greater competition for the earth's resources. Such changes will place particularly heavy burdens on the world's most vulnerable countries. There may be increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states.

Through the scientific reports it has issued over the past two decades, the IPCC has created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming. Thousands of scientists and officials from over one hundred countries have collaborated to achieve greater certainty as to the scale of the warming. Whereas in the 1980s global warming seemed to be merely an interesting hypothesis, the 1990s produced firmer evidence in its support. In the last few years, the connections have become even clearer and the consequences still more apparent."

Most high schools would view the opportunity to hear a Nobel Laureate speak as a great educational learning experience. And certainly most speaking engagements give an opportunity for students to ask questions. But if schools operated on the principle that if anyone in the community disagreed with a proposed speaker, he or she couldn't speak, then the probability is that schools would never be having any guest speakers.

Sticking your head in the sand on global warming isn't going to change the reality. Some people in Montana still need to realize that global warming will affect them also - that the world global means just that. Like it or not, it includes Montana. Global warming, if not brought into check, will have major impacts on Montana farmers and ranchers and conservatives. Global warming will not discriminate as to whether someone is conservative or liberal. It will affect us all.

Governor Gregoire to Announce Climate Action & Green Jobs Bill as Priority

At the Priorities for a Healthy Washington Legislative Workshop held in Seattle on Saturday, it was disclosed that Governor Gregoire was going to announce on Monday that the "Climate Action & Green Jobs" bill would be a Governor's Request Bill. This action will elevate the visibility and importance of this legislation and add to the momentum to get this this bill passed this year.

The Climate Action & Green Jobs bill is one of the 4 bills the environmental community has selected as their priorities for the 2008 Legislative Session starting Monday. The other 3 priority bills being pushed by the environmental community deal with "Local Solutions to Global Warming", "Evergreen Cities" and "Local Farms - Healthy Kids"

from the Priorities for a Healthy Washington's Legislative Proposal:

"The Climate Action and Green Jobs bill creates a structure and timeline for implementing the state’s global warming pollution reduction goals, and creates a program to prepare Washington workers for good jobs in the clean energy economy, providing pathways out of poverty for lower-income communities.

Accountability: The bill would make the Washington State Department of Ecology responsible for achieving the state’s emissions reduction goals. It would direct Ecology to develop responsible limits on all major sources of global warming pollution in the state.
Opportunity: The bill would create a competitive grants-based training program, to be funded and implemented in 2009, that will train and transition workers to clean energy jobs.
Regional solutions: The legislature would affirm the state’s participation in developing a regional market-based pollution trading system—like the one Washington is now helping to develop with numerous other western states and Canadian provinces.
Responsibility: requires reporting by those that are responsible for the greatest amount sources of global warming pollution."

Gregoire's Director of the Department of Ecology, Jay Manning, was the workshop's lunch time speaker. Manning praised the environmental community for its successful efforts in developing the Priorities for a Healthy Washington's Agenda and noted that being selected as one of the 4 priority bills gave a piece of legislation credibility in Olympia.

Over the last 6 year's the success rate of passing the Priorities for a Healthy Washington's 4 bills each year has increased, going from one bill passed the first year to seeing all four bills passed last year. Part of this success Manning noted was because of the environmental community's accepting that sometimes compromise needed to be made. It's willingness to be flexible has elevated the credibility of the environmental community in Olympia.

Manning noted that while the ideal solution to act on global warming was a national response, in the absence of action by the Bush Administration, it is necessary for the states and local cities and counties to do what they can.

Manning said that unlike other states, Washington State with its immense hydro power resources does not have a major CO2 problem from coal plants. Instead 50% of our CO2 emissions come from cars and other vehicles. This is why he said the state is appealing in Federal Court the recent decision by Bush's EPA Administrator to deny Washington State and other states the ability to implement the California fuel emissions standards proposed as part of Clean Car Legislation enacted in some 16 states.

One goal will be to reduce the vehicle miles traveled (VMT)in the state. This includes trying to make fewer trips, driving less, increasing density and better planning to concentrate development with localized services, infilling undeveloped areas, and stopping building more roads.

Another component will be to continue to expand strong programs to reduce waste which Washington State leads the nation in. Recycling and waste reduction programs reduce the production of greenhouse gases.

There is a potential threat, Manning said, that there could be an further attempts by the Federal government to limit state action on global warming. He said the current efforts by state and local governments are concentrated on the West Coast, New England, and Wisconsin and Minnesota. He said that the recent West Coast Climate Initiative held in Portland Oregon had some 370 people in attendance and another 400 on the phone.

It is obvious that Manning and Governor Gregoire are already working hard on dealing with global climate change by trying to get Washington State to take action to reduce the production of greenhouse gases. This is not something you would have seen from Republican Dino Rossi if he had been elected.

And if you are concerned about global warming Republican Dino Rossi is not someone you want to see become Governor in the future. The Sierra Club lobbyist in Olympia, Craig Engelking, noted that when Rossi was in the Legislature he "voted for a bill that would have said Washington’s environmental standards could not exceed federal minimums."

That means that if Rossi was Governor now he would not be appealing the recent decision by the EPA to deny Washington State the ability to implement California's Clean Car standards, which exceed the Federal standards.

In addition, Engelking said "Rossi voted against a bill to create a privately funded Washington climate center that would research simple and innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Washington. The center would have also helped identify what types of impacts climate change could have on Washington and what we can do about it. (SB 5674, 2001) "

Bill Richardson Exiting Presidential Race

After an initial report by the Associated Press , both CNN and NBC News have confirmed that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will announce on Thursday that he is ending his campaign to be President. He finished 4th in Iowa with 2% of the Democratic vote and 4th in New Hampshire with 5% of the Democratic vote.

Barrack Obama won the Iowa caucus and Hillary Clinton won the New Hampshire Primary. John Edwards finished second in Iowa and third in New Hampshire. Richardson really has little choice but to face reality - he lacks significant voter support and money.

Richardson had a lot to offer to Democrats and represented part of a strong field of contenders for the Democratic nomination this year. He joined Hillary Clinton in offering a long record of public service, including Congress, Secretary of Energy, Ambassador to the UN and 2 term Governor. As a Hispanic he contributed to the diversity of Democratic candidates running this year.

Two other Democrats dropped out after the Iowa Caucucs - Senator Joe Biden and Senator Chris Dodd. Any of these three candidates could show up in the Administration of the next Democratic President - whether it be Obama, Clinton or long shot Edwards. Edward's chances look slim at this point. He is hopping for a strong finish in South Carolina but momentum and money and votes are with Clinton and Obama.

After 8 years of Bush, voters appear ready to install a Democrat as our next President. Democrats are ready to move to the future and address the many problems facing America that Bush and the Republican Congress ignored. Meanwhile the Republican candidates for President want to return to the past and support most of the policies of Bush.

Republican talk of change is a false illusion because the Republican candidates do not represent real change - they merely want to return to old tired policies of more tax cuts for the rich, more handouts for corporations, more support for the deadly oil and coal industry contributing to global warming, more support for military solutions to world problems and free market economic policies that brought us ENRON and the mortgage crisis and increasing income disparity between the very wealthy and the rest of us.

Hillary Clinton Wins in New Hampshire Despite Polls to the Contrary

Hillary Clinton has continued the family tradition of the comeback kid - beating Barrack Obama in the New Hampshire Primary tonight. With 85% of the vote tallied, Hillary Clinton has a lead of 39% (94,999 votes) to Barrack Obama's 37% (88,903 votes). Clinton has been declared the winner. source NY Times.

MSNBC reports that with 88% of the vote counted, Clinton has 99,590 votes (39%) to Obama's 92,749 votes (36%).

CBS NEWS reports that with 268 of 301 precincts the following:

Hillary Clinton 99,863 (39%)
Barrack Obama 93,033 (37%)
John Edwards 43,100 (17%)
Bill Richardson 11,656 (5%)

Reaction in the media after many of them wrote her off and she trailed by as much as 10% in the polls is interesting.

NY Times "Clinton Stuns Obama"

Seattle Times "Clinton, McCain Pull off Upsets in New Hampshire"

Seattle PI "Clinton and McCain pull off upsets in NH"

NPR "Clinton Surprises Obama in Tight Democratic Race"

PBS "Clinton's New Hampshire Win Defies Predictions, McCain Makes Comeback"

Next up is the Democrats are :

January 15, 2008 Michigan Primary

January 19, 2008 Nevada Caucus

Jan 26, 2008 South Carolina Primary

January 29, 2008 Florida Primary

All this leads up to Super Tuesday when some 1688 delegates will be selected. Seventeen primaries will be held: Alabama, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Democrats Abroad, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. Seven states will hold caucuses: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, and North Dakota.

If the candidates thought Iowa and New Hamshire were hectic, they and the public are in for a wild ride. What has happened so far is a small prelude to Super Tuesday Feb 5, 2008.

Clinton Winning in New Hampshire Primary

With 63% of the vote counted Senator Hillary Clinton still leads Senator Barrack Obama by 39% to 36%. Results posted on the NY Times website at 7:23 PM Pacific Time show the same margin separating the candidates as was posted at 6:23 PM Pacific Time with 39% of the votes counted..

Hillary Clinton .......65,129 (39%)
Barrack Obama ....60,766 (36%)
John Edwards .......28,066 (17%)
Bill Richardson .......7,952 (5%)

Click on the NY Times website above to see the most current results.

Clinton Leading Obama in Early New Hampshire Results

With 39% of the votes being reported, the New York Times reports that Senator Clinton is leading Senator Obama by 39% to 36%. Clinton has 37,037 votes to Obama's 34,196. John Edwards is in third with 17% (15,715 votes). Richardson has 5% (4,399 votes).

It is still too early to call what has become a tight race and a potential comeback for Hillary Clinton. These results are as reported at 9:23 PM ET or 6:23 PM Pacific Time.

Senator John McCain has been called the winner over Mitt Romney. McCain has 37% (26,158 votes) to Romney's 30% (20,792). Huckabee has 12%, Giuliani 9%, and Paul 8%.

See more complete results at NY Times as they are updated.

Only 4.67% of Iowa's Registered Voters Supported Barrack Obama

Yes the headline is correct. And only 3.69% of Iowa's registered voters turned out for John Edwards and only 3.66% for Hillary Clinton. The Iowa caucus system is a crazy system for picking a new President. As the New York Times notes today in an editorial entitled "Let it Start Now"; now is a good time to look forward and work for a better process next time.

The Iowa Secretary of State's website listed some 1,922,235 active registered voters as of 1/3/2008. This number was the total based on figures for each Congressional District.

The Iowa Caucus results as released by the Iowa State Democratic Party are not actual vote totals or a tally of votes cast for specific candidates. According to the Washington Post "Instead of reporting the actual number of caucus voters, the Iowa Democratic Party releases an estimated number of delegates to the state party convention that each candidate will receive based on their proportional support in the caucuses"

Accordingly the Iowa State Democratic Party reported that Barrack Obama received 37.57% of the delegates, John Edwards 29.75% and Hillary Clinton 29.47%. These are the adjusted figures after delegates realigned their votes if their candidate did not meet a minimum 15% threshold figure to qualify for a delegate.

According to the Iowa State Democratic Party some 239,000 voters participated in the Democratic caucuses and some 115,000 voters participated in the Republican caucus.

So overall some 363,000 of Iowa's 1,922,235 active registered voters participated in the caucuses. This is equal to 18.9% of all the registered voters.

Iowa does register people by party. From the Secretary of State figures there were 575,949 registered Republicans, 605,052 registered Democrats and 741,231 registered Independents.

The result is that some 39.5% of registered Democrats and 20% of registered Republicans participated in the caucuses. Overall participation was significantly higher than in previous caucuses.

Iowa does allow same day party registration so people could register at the caucuses on Jan 3rd. This law actually just went into effect on Jan 1, 2008. I do not know how many actually took advantage of this, but news reports attributed an active effort by some of the candidates to draw new voters into the caucuses process. Barrack Obama made a strong effort to appeal to independents to participate in the Democratic caucus and was successful.

Even so the results when viewed in the context of overall voter participation of 363,000 caucuses attendees out of 1,922,235 active registered voters gives a participation rate of only 18.9%.

And the initial figures I gave above showed that only about 4.67% of Iowa voters wound up supporting Barrack Obama. (239,000 x 37.58% / 1,922,235 = 89,818 voters for Obama/1,922,235 total voters = 4.67% of total voters supporting Obama in the Iowa caucuses.)

The same calculation for Edwards showed him receiving the support of about 3.69% of Iowa voters and Clinton receiving support from about 3.66% of Iowa voters.

Obama won Iowa by the rules in play and is to be congratulated as are Edwards and Clinton for their strong showing.

The point I want to make is that even so, the caucuses are a limiting process in selecting candidates. The numbers support this in that participation levels are much lower than with Presidential Primaries and there is no absentee ballot voting for those that can't attend because they have to work or are disabled or are in the military or are out of state for work or vacation or school. Caucus rules for Iowa only allowed you to vote if you were physically present.

The race for President is far from over. Iowa's process and voter makeup is far from ideal in gaging how a candidate will fare in the national November 2008 election. The way the selection process is this year, Feb 5th will be the biggest test facing the viability of the candidates remaining at that time. Over 20 states, including New York, California, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Illinois and New Jersey will vote that day.

Between now and Feb 5, 2008, voters in New Hampshire, Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina and Florida will vote. You can track the list of state, dates and results at the New York Times Election Guide page.