1.19.08 Nevada Caucus

[swghost]

On my way now....
will fill in details later...

Ron Paul 08!

[swghost]

Well I have to say w/o question, the Paul supporters certainly had their shit together over other supporteers as to the function of a Caucus. Most others were pretty lost.

I already knew Mitt was going to win well before I went due to the heavy Mormon population and influence here. I even overheard one lady at one point mention "orders from Salt Lake." Wasn't quite sure what she was refering too...

There are certainly advantages/disadvantages to a Caucus and Primary, but I think I like the caucus. It assures me that the more educated and devoted have a better chance of getting their candidate in.

As I was leaving, the Democrats were starting. Both sides shouting cheesy high school cheers for Hilary or Obama. Thought it was going to be a rumble. Not a Dem, but best of luck to Kucinich, and since he has no chance in hell, better luck to Obama!

[swghost]

Victory!

Just got word from Headquarters... Ron Paul got more votes than Hilary!

[BettorsChat]

Well I have to say w/o question, the Paul supporters certainly had their shit together over other supporteers as to the function of a Caucus. Most others were pretty lost.

I already knew Mitt was going to win well before I went due to the heavy Mormon population and influence here. I even overheard one lady at one point mention "orders from Salt Lake." Wasn't quite sure what she was refering too...

There are certainly advantages/disadvantages to a Caucus and Primary, but I think I like the caucus. It assures me that the more educated and devoted have a better chance of getting their candidate in.

As I was leaving, the Democrats were starting. Both sides shouting cheesy high school cheers for Hilary or Obama. Thought it was going to be a rumble. Not a Dem, but best of luck to Kucinich, and since he has no chance in hell, better luck to Obama!

Orders from Salt Lake probably means vote for Romney as I believe Utah is heavily Mormon

[grandmama]

I too think caucuses are better. harder to fix elections with the caucus format.

[BearDown]

I was just watching hardnuts with Chris Matthews and he said something like because know one really showed up. or because know one really campaigned in Nevada was the reason Paul came in second over McCain. I'm so sick and tired of the media fucks controlling our elections. MSNBC invites Kucinich to debate in Nevada but then changes their mind. Kucinich files a law suite to debate and wins. A judge said that Kucinich has to be aloud to debate. MSNBC goes to the the Nevada Supreme court and it overturns the lower courts decision to keep Dennis out of the debate. 15 min. before the debate started.

At least the Republicans stood up for Ron Paul to get him in on the debates. If you remember it was Clinton and Edwards who were caught talking to each other about getting candidates out of the debates. What a front they put up.

Maybe being in Nevada they didn't want to hear about Dennis's tough stand on Yucca Mountain. It's a bit long but it just goes to show what is wrong in America.

We've all heard about the elephant in the room, but how about a mountain? Yucca Mountain to be more specific. The mountain which you may have seen in your visit to Las Vegas, Nevada, is becoming a big part of the national debate.

NBC Uninvites Kucinich

Rules changes kept progressive out of GE's debate


1/17/08

In a bizarre move the network has yet to explain, NBC rescinded an invitation to Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich to appear in its January 15 debate in Las Vegas. The GE-owned media company went all the way to the Nevada Supreme Court to defend its decision--all the while failing to explain its logic to the public.

The network originally declared a straightforward test for candidates wishing to participate in the debate: A candidate had to finish in at least fourth place in either the New Hampshire primary or Iowa caucuses, or finish among the top four in one of six major national polls. Kucinich met the latter standard, and was sent a letter on January 9 acknowledging that he would be participating in the debate, designed to air candidates' views before the January 19 Nevada caucuses.

But two days later, NBC political director Chuck Todd notified the Kucinich campaign that there were new rules: Candidates would have to have finished at least third in either Iowa or New Hampshire. The new standard eliminated Kucinich.

Of course, organizers of presidential debates have a right to establish neutral criteria for participation--criteria that should ideally be as inclusive as possible. But NBC has done little to explain why its original criteria suddenly needed to be fixed.

Indeed, Nevada district court Judge Charles Thompson ruled that Kucinich could not be legally barred from the debate, saying that he was a legitimate candidate who was "uninvited under circumstances that appear to be that they just decided to exclude him" (The Nation.com, 1/15/08).

But NBC successfully appealed its case to the state Supreme Court, saying that the revised standards were "in no way designed to exclude any particular candidate based on his or her views," and were a "good faith editorial choice of a privately owned cable network to limit debate participants based on the status of their campaigns." (Given that the legal argument involved FCC equal time rules, the network aired the debate only on its MSNBC cable channel, and not on its NBC affiliates in Nevada--thus limiting the actual audience for the debate).

While their argument worked in court, the fact that NBC journalists offered little in the way of a public explanation for their decision is troubling. Why were the original standards for the debate suddenly not good enough? NBC declared that it was merely exercising "journalistic discretion," but why did that discretion change so quickly?

The obvious answer is that when the previous criteria were set, there were four candidates polling better than Kucinich in the Democratic race. When one of them, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, dropped out of the race, NBC suddenly switched to a standard that only allowed the top three candidates to debate.

Does Kucinich's campaign represent ideas that offend either NBC managers or their bosses at General Electric? It's a fair question, given that MSNBC canceled Phil Donahue's nightly show in early 2003 due to the host's opposition to the Iraq War; the company worried that the host would be a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war" (FAIR Press Release, 4/3/03).

Kucinich's peace platform might be something that a major defense contractor like General Electric would rather not expose to voters on its cable network. Likewise, Kucinich's strong opposition to nuclear power likely doesn't sit well with GE, a major player in the industry; the issue was sure to come up in any debate in Nevada, where the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump is intensely controversial.

Indeed, one of the rare challenges from the NBC moderators at the Las Vegas debate came in response to John Edwards' critical comments about nuclear power. Meet the Press host Tim Russert responded:
Senator Edwards, you say you're against nuclear power. But a reality check: I talked to the folks at the MIT Energy Initiative, and they put it this way, that in 2050, the world's population is going to go from 6 billion to 9 billion, that CO2 is going to double, that you could build a nuclear power plant one per week and it wouldn't meet the world's needs. Something must be done, and it cannot be done just with wind or solar.

It's also worth noting that NBC--like most other corporate media outlets--has had little time for Kucinich's campaign from the start, deciding long ago that the candidate was simply not viable. Kucinich's name has been mentioned only a few times in passing on NBC Nightly News, and Kucinich--unlike six other Democratic candidates--has yet to appear as part of Meet the Press's "Meet the Candidates" series.

In a rare case of self-examination from network journalists, Meet the Press host Tim Russert spoke to NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams about the media's role in marginalizing certain candidates (1/3/08):
The second-tier candidates, they get angry.
They think that the press doesn't focus on them, spends too much time talking about the front-runners in the debates, in the coverage day by day. But we say to them: "Well, make your mark. Start showing some growth. Start showing some resonance with the populace and you'll get the same kind of coverage." They'll say, "Wait a minute. How do we get resonance if we're not covered?" It's an important issue that we have to keep examining, our own behavior.

Perhaps Russert could examine that behavior now, and explain to NBC viewers and voters why the network has exerted so much effort to marginalize Kucinich's candidacy. Why? Yucca Mountain is most notable as the site of the proposed Yucca Mountain Repository, a U.S. Department of Energy terminal storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel and other radioactive waste. That has environmental groups worried and the site, which was suppose to open in 1998 to store nuclear waste, and has delayed opening the facility till more tests are done at the site. The site is considered the most studied piece of geology in the world.

So why does this matter? Congressman Dennis Kucinich is the only Presidential contender to have voted against using the proposed site and General Electric, which owns NBC and MSNBC who ran the debate yesterday, didn't want his take on the whole mess that the United States Government is brewing.

John Edwards, stealing a convenient tactic out of his former running mate turned foe John Kerry, has stated that although he voted for the plan he is now against. Thanks, John.

Hillary Clinton continues to vote in favor of Yucca Mountain's funding which has cost the taxpayers of this nation upwards $7 Billion dollars.

What about "Mr Change" Barack Obama? Well, he votes in favor of Yuka Mountain and while doing so is taken major money from backers in political donations.
Hillary Clinton was nice enough to point that out when the elephant was brought up briefly in last night's MSNBC debate.

So, was Kucinich not allowed to debate because he was a "fringe candidate" or was GE just afraid that he would dare speak the truth that will bring in major amounts of money for the corporation and, at the same time, risk the health of millions in the biggest growing metro area in the United States for years to come when the facility starts storing nuclear waste?

[BettorsChat]

The problem is the media can make or break anyone. If someone is going to be kicking a company in the face that will help them get their name out there etc, then they aren't going nowhere.

[swghost]

McCain not showing up??? Whatever.


Romney came in first for one reason... LDS. I like Mormons, I really do, but that is the only reason he won.I know of several instances where Moroms directly said they are LDS so they will vote for Romney. I really dont think they did much research on him, either.

Paul came in second because our organization here is extremely strong and so is his support. His Beliefs are in line with alot of what Nevadans stand for. McCain or anyone not showing up is BS. Personally, McCain is my least favorite.

Paul supporters do not, nor will they ever, believe the mainstream media. That is why we take major advantage of Youtube, Myspace, Yahoo, and all other interenet resources. He is one Republican that knows how to use technology and he has boatloads of money.

[BettorsChat]

McCain is a damn idiot

If he's elected = more problems