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Hillary Clinton pulled off much-needed wins in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island on Tuesday, and I'm still irritated that I didn't get to vote. Had my absentee ballot ever arrived (nope, still don't have it!) I meant to vote for Barack Obama, who, incidentally, lost my Congressional District by a narrow margin, but won my county. (The Congressional districts determine delegate allocation; the counties make pretty graphics on news websites.) The Ohio Primary had some logistical problems, to absolutely nobody's surprise. Hopefully by the time the general election rolls around, Jennifer Brunner can get things under control.
There's lots of commentary on the news sites about reasons for Clinton's successes, and it seems to mostly come down to the economy, which is particularly depressed in Ohio. (Yeah, I feel that. My mom and I are both working in other states right now.) However, unlike me, lots of Ohioans apparently blame NAFTA for the woeful state of the economy. Which leads to the great campaign "scandal" of the past week.
I like Gail Collins's take on it: "Ohio was great. I don’t know how anybody could not love a primary where the big scandal involves gossip about Nafta among Canadian diplomats."*
Many Americans might laugh about the idea of Canada suddenly becoming a factor in our elections, but the Canadian government sure is taking it seriously. Today, opposition MPs called for the resignation of the PM's chief of staff because of his involvement in "NAFTA-gate." From today's Globe & Mail: “We know that Ian Brodie, the chief of staff for the Prime Minister was involved, and this was clear involvement in American politics,” said NDP Leader Jack Layton. “So will the Prime Minister show some backbone and show Mr. Brodie the door immediately?” There are worries that Brodie's lack of discretion could hurt US-Canadian relations.
So... is it Canada's fault that Barack Obama lost Ohio? :-P
*BTW, I've been reading her columns over the past few weeks, and I've decided I quite like Gail Collins. Her columns are both informative and funny. For another example, check out her amusing pre-primary Q & A.
There's lots of commentary on the news sites about reasons for Clinton's successes, and it seems to mostly come down to the economy, which is particularly depressed in Ohio. (Yeah, I feel that. My mom and I are both working in other states right now.) However, unlike me, lots of Ohioans apparently blame NAFTA for the woeful state of the economy. Which leads to the great campaign "scandal" of the past week.
I like Gail Collins's take on it: "Ohio was great. I don’t know how anybody could not love a primary where the big scandal involves gossip about Nafta among Canadian diplomats."*
Many Americans might laugh about the idea of Canada suddenly becoming a factor in our elections, but the Canadian government sure is taking it seriously. Today, opposition MPs called for the resignation of the PM's chief of staff because of his involvement in "NAFTA-gate." From today's Globe & Mail: “We know that Ian Brodie, the chief of staff for the Prime Minister was involved, and this was clear involvement in American politics,” said NDP Leader Jack Layton. “So will the Prime Minister show some backbone and show Mr. Brodie the door immediately?” There are worries that Brodie's lack of discretion could hurt US-Canadian relations.
So... is it Canada's fault that Barack Obama lost Ohio? :-P
*BTW, I've been reading her columns over the past few weeks, and I've decided I quite like Gail Collins. Her columns are both informative and funny. For another example, check out her amusing pre-primary Q & A.
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