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Title: Obama scores decisive win in South Carolina
Date: January 27th, 2008
Source: CBC.ca
Link: http://www.cbc.ca/world/usvotes/story/2008/01/26/south-carolina-primary.html
Article Summary:
Obama has won the South Carolina primary with a landslide, securing 55 per cent of votes over Hilary Clinton's 27 per cent. John Edwards only had 18 per cent, even though he had won Carolinas during the last Democratic presidential campaign over John Kerry.
This is a critical victory for Obama, who had lost twice to Clinton in Nevada and New Hempshire. With this landslide victory, the race is now renewed. In fact, Clinton and Obama are tied in the number of states they had won.
Obama received 81 per cent of the Black votes, but only 24 per cent from the Whites. Yet, Obama dismissed the possibility of "racial block," reminding his victory in Iowa, a state where 94 per cent of its population is white.
Now the candidates are concentraining their efforts on Super Tuesday. Hilary seems to be leading in polls at the moment, having landslide support in California and Massachusetts. However, the polls show that no runner will be able to win enough number of delegates to win the race. This means that the race will continue even long after the Super Tuesday.
Byun's Opinion:
It was truly amazig to see the dramatic rise of Barrack Obama throughout the last two years. When I heard his name as a potential Democratic presidential candidate, in fact, I neither knew him nor really cared about who he was. Though I wasn't a fan of Hilary Clinton, I had to admit that she was going to get the Democratic ticket for sure.
But Obama was not a typical politician. His charisma and his powerful urge for change began to gain momentum among the Americans. In fact, it was a huge surprise when Obama outmanuevered Clinton in the fundraising competition. Though his polls were still significantly lower than that of Clinton, his rise was limitless. Indeed, he managed to pull his support rate up to Clinton just before the Democrat primaries began.
His suprising victory in Iowa was quite amazing. Saying "thank you" for more than nine times, his victory speech was considered one of the best speeches ever made. And the polls showed that Obama was going to win New Hempshire easily too.
But Clinton did not die. By winning New Hempshire, followed by another close victory in Nevada, Clinton showed that she was still standing strong. Obama, on the other hand, had to win South Carolina in order continue his campaigns properly. So this victory in South Carolina was basically a critical life-saving one for Obama.
And I am deeply interested in predicing how the Super Tuesday primaries will turn out. Clinton is currently ahead of Obama in large states such as California and Massachusetts; however, we do not know how the result will turn out.
One bad thing about South Carolina is that it is seen by many as a racial blocking. In fact, Obama had received the majority of the Black votes, but had won only 24 per cent of the white people. This clearly shows there is still a racial segregration tendency in the United States of America (no wonder it is a southern state).
I hope that the American politics will someday overcome this racial conflict problems someday in the near future.
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
New Hampshire Primary
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The presidential election process of the United States is interesting. Because the American politics is monopolized by two parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, an American presidential election usually means a battle between two major candidates. Of course third party members, like Ralph Nader and Ross Perro, do influence a bit, but not that much.
As a result, the two parties' presidential candidate election process is as complicated and fascinating as the actual presidential election. This party candidate nomination process utilizes something called primary elections. Before explaning it, it is important to know that the delegates from each state, just like the actual presidential electoral college, vote to nominate a party candidate. So in the past, the party nominees were not directly choosen by the American citizens, but by the delegates. So this resulted in corruptions, secret negotiatins, sellings of offices, etc. This led the states to let the common voters to choose the delegates who will be voting in the party nominee convention. This is called Primary. It is similar to the actual presidential system; commoners elect delegates, who then elect a president. Likewise, the commoners vote for state delegates, who then vote to nominate a party candidate at the party convention. Throughout the early half of the year 2008, primary elections will be held in the 50 states chronically. A big day is called Super Tuesday, when many of the most populous states, New Yok, California, and Florida, have primaries. So, the candidate who won the most number of delegates will be nominated as a presidential candidate for that party.
Hilary Clinton, Barrack Obama, and John Edwards are fighting for nomination in the Democratic Party. Up until now, Hilary was thought to be the "obvious" choice, but Obama's incredible rise in popularity, thanks to the younger generations and Oprah Winfrey, suddenly made the race unpredictable. Barrack's dramatic triumph in the Iowa caucus, however, was then balanced by the New Hempshire primary, in which Hilary unexpectedly have won. Contradicting previously taken polls, Hilary won New Hempshire with 39%; Obama had 36%. Many say that this is the result of Hilary sobbing while having a fan chat. Also, Obama's rise scared the middle-aged and old-aged Americans, who tend to look down on Obama's Black heritage and are afraid of change, to support Hilary at New Hempshire. So the Democratic race is now balanced, and we shall see who will win the next primary in Michigan. In fact, as of today Obama have won 25 delegates and Hilary won 24. Edwards won 18 delegates, but I do not think he stands a good chance.
For the Republicans, there are so many candidates. Some of them are Thompson the second Reagan, Juliani the 911 Hero, and Mccain the old rival of George W. Bush. However, Huckabee had won the Iowa caucus, thanks to the concentrated support from the conservative and religious Americans who were impressed by Huckabee's old profession as a minister. However, McCain have won the New Hempshire primary today, followed by Romni, a Massachusetts governor who had been leading the polls until Iowa Caucus. So, at the moment, it is really hard to determine who's winning. If I have to choose one, I'd say it's either Romni or Huckabee.
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The presidential election process of the United States is interesting. Because the American politics is monopolized by two parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, an American presidential election usually means a battle between two major candidates. Of course third party members, like Ralph Nader and Ross Perro, do influence a bit, but not that much.
As a result, the two parties' presidential candidate election process is as complicated and fascinating as the actual presidential election. This party candidate nomination process utilizes something called primary elections. Before explaning it, it is important to know that the delegates from each state, just like the actual presidential electoral college, vote to nominate a party candidate. So in the past, the party nominees were not directly choosen by the American citizens, but by the delegates. So this resulted in corruptions, secret negotiatins, sellings of offices, etc. This led the states to let the common voters to choose the delegates who will be voting in the party nominee convention. This is called Primary. It is similar to the actual presidential system; commoners elect delegates, who then elect a president. Likewise, the commoners vote for state delegates, who then vote to nominate a party candidate at the party convention. Throughout the early half of the year 2008, primary elections will be held in the 50 states chronically. A big day is called Super Tuesday, when many of the most populous states, New Yok, California, and Florida, have primaries. So, the candidate who won the most number of delegates will be nominated as a presidential candidate for that party.
Hilary Clinton, Barrack Obama, and John Edwards are fighting for nomination in the Democratic Party. Up until now, Hilary was thought to be the "obvious" choice, but Obama's incredible rise in popularity, thanks to the younger generations and Oprah Winfrey, suddenly made the race unpredictable. Barrack's dramatic triumph in the Iowa caucus, however, was then balanced by the New Hempshire primary, in which Hilary unexpectedly have won. Contradicting previously taken polls, Hilary won New Hempshire with 39%; Obama had 36%. Many say that this is the result of Hilary sobbing while having a fan chat. Also, Obama's rise scared the middle-aged and old-aged Americans, who tend to look down on Obama's Black heritage and are afraid of change, to support Hilary at New Hempshire. So the Democratic race is now balanced, and we shall see who will win the next primary in Michigan. In fact, as of today Obama have won 25 delegates and Hilary won 24. Edwards won 18 delegates, but I do not think he stands a good chance.
For the Republicans, there are so many candidates. Some of them are Thompson the second Reagan, Juliani the 911 Hero, and Mccain the old rival of George W. Bush. However, Huckabee had won the Iowa caucus, thanks to the concentrated support from the conservative and religious Americans who were impressed by Huckabee's old profession as a minister. However, McCain have won the New Hempshire primary today, followed by Romni, a Massachusetts governor who had been leading the polls until Iowa Caucus. So, at the moment, it is really hard to determine who's winning. If I have to choose one, I'd say it's either Romni or Huckabee.
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