Super Tuesday is here!

The political Superbowl has arrived people, and I'll be watching and reporting as the polls roll in.

With such rich delegate states as California, New York and Illinois up for grabs, this day could define what is turning out to be an Presidential election that will shape all of our lives for a generation.

On the Democrat side, Clinton and Obama are in a virtual tie nationally, and in California. Both are leading their home states, Barack his actual home state in Illinois, Hillary her adopted one in New York, and both will likely score big victories. It is not a winner-take all type vote, as the Republican party runs, so we may very well come out of this hugely important day still at a standstill as to who the Democratic nominee. Barack seems to have more resources and more momentum on his side, so if this race goes further, the downward trending of Hillary and the upward trending of Barack will likely continue. Hillary wants this race to stop today, but I don't think that's going to happen, and the longer it goes, the more Barack has the advantage.

On the Republican side, the country is really being split. The Christian, right-wing conservatives are having to choose between someone who is unpalatable in a general election but has good conservative 'value' positions, Mike Huckabee, and a man that no one seems to trust, but is seen as the only alternative in a national campaign to John McCain, Mitt Romney. McCain is running ahead of them both nationally, but his conservative positions don't really get the motor turning as much as Huckabee and Romney do. Huckabee is mainly a spoiler now, but he could easily 'Ralph Nader' this race away from Romney by pulling in the Christian conservative vote away enough to let McCain slip by on his national security credentials.

This is an amazing and interesting race, and like I said above, one that will decide all of our fates for a generation. Will the US renew themselves, elect a progressive leader that will change the world's opinion of the lone superpower, or will they doggedly stay with a Bush-style politician, and leave their standing with the world as low as it is right now?

This affects us all, Canadian, American, Afghani, Iraqi...I could name them all. The US sets the tone for the world, and they are electing the man or woman that will set that tone for at least the next 4 years.

Vote smart, vote well, vote with a future in mind, not with just a single issue. Vote overall, and vote for the person y0u think will change the US, and the world, for the better when they are done sitting in the Oval Office.

Best of luck, go change the world today....

The Kennedys and the Endorsements

The Kennedy's are as close to royalty in the US as you can get. And no matter what, no matter how far we are from the JFK era, their voice, and their opinion matters, and is heard by millions upon millions of people.

So when Caroline and Ted Kennedy come out and support a Presidential candidate, people listen. And I'm not quite sure if you've heard, as it hasn't at all been blasted across every news channel and website, but the Kennedys have thrown their rather hefty weight (no pun intended Ted) behind Barack Obama.

This is another big name, big ticket endorsement for Mr. Obama, along with the likes of John Kerry, Patrick Leahy, Governor of Arizona Janet Napolitano, Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick, and Governor of Kansas Kathleen Sebelius, who delivered the Democratic response to the State of the Union speech last night. These are powerful figures, and throw the Kennedys on top, and you've got a tsunami of weight behind you.

There is a problem that I can see with so many important Democratic stalwarts backing Obama, and it stems from his main campaign issue, change.

The issue of change seems to be all that can be talked about during this race. Who's changed things in the past, who's prepared to make change happen in the future. Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes, as sung by David Bowie, is all people seem to care about, and rightly so. Eight more years of the Bush-style status quo could leave us ready to collapse.

Barack does seem best suited to bring the important and groundbreaking change to Washington, as he has not been in the town long enough to really be pulled in by the subversive undertow of it all, but are endorsements from people that have done little more than maintain the status quo for decades really what he needs to prove he is the right man for this type of job?

I do think that Obama getting these types of nods is important, as the main problem people have with him isn't the substance of his words, as it is with most politicians, but the amount of experience he brings to the table. If Americans are hearing that people they already trust, such as the Kennedys, trust this man to run the nation, lots of those fears begin to evaporate.

It is a very shrewd political move for Obama to make, as he knows he needs to allay fears of his inexperience by having lots of familiar faces shake his hand and take a picture. But he has also loaded his staff with new faces, people that can bring a fresh perspective.

I do believe in the long run these endorsements will do Obama a world of good, as long as they don't start to make people disbelieve the message of change that he is bringing.

South Carolina Caucuses

Well it looks like Barack Obama has won the South Carolina caucuses, and quite handily too. There was a lot of talk before this ballot that the black voters in South Carolina were going to play a big role in determining the winner of this contest, and also would set a tone for the rest of the race, in terms of race.

Hillary and Barack have been jockeying for the support of this minority group almost throughout their entire campaigns, and both see that support (rightly so) as vital to winning the Democratic nomination and the eventual election in November. Black women have supposedly had the toughest choice, as there are two groundbreaking candidates that they can both sympatize with.

Now, as a white male, I understand I may not be the best person to talk about these kinds of factors in terms of voting, as I obviously don't grasp what its like to be a black woman, but I hope and figure that more goes into the process than someone's skin color or gender when it comes time to choose the man or woman to lead the US out of the George W. Bush disaster and restore faith in the US around the world.

Just to make it straight, I personally think Barack Obama is the only person, man or woman, in the race that can do that.

This win in South Carolina today shows a lot of things. Namely, Barack Obama has the support of the black community, at least in this state, as he secured 80% of the votes from those considered African American and is also polling up to 20% higher nationally than Hillary among this group, last I saw. Another large point to make here is that he can also make in-roads with white, southern voters. This is big, because it means that even in the South, where racism still runs hot, a black man can secure the votes to take one more step to the Presidency. That is a big deal, and one I hope the rest of the people out there that base their vote on someone's color or heritage will listen to. The world is passing those by that still hold these types of prejudices, and the faster, the better.

Barack Obama means change, and today, we saw that change put into action. Only Super Tuesday remains in front of us, and in about 10 days, we're going to answer the question of whether a black man can actually be a viable candidate for the Presidency.