February 12, 2008
Morning Roundup: Superer Tuesday Edition
Good morning, D.C., Maryland and Virginia! And welcome to your presidential primary election day. If you can't remember where your polling place is or how late it will stay open, follow this link and scroll to the bottom. The AP is using the word "rout" to describe Sen. Barack Obama's potential wins across the Beltway (or Chesapeake or Potomac or Whatever You're More Comfortable With) region. The Washington Post wakes up earlier than we do and got some reactions from polling places up on their web site already, and they too seem overwhelmingly pro-Obama. Overall turnout is expected to be high. We'll have a little more based on our experiences at polling places across the region later on. In the meantime, don't forget to vote.
Norton Endorses Obama: Adding to Obamamania in D.C. this morning is Eleanor Holmes Norton's endorsement of the Illinois Senator. For more on what our inimitable Congressional Delegate thinks about the presidential nomination process, including her concerns about the power of the superdelegates, check out this NPR interview with Norton.
Detective Testifies in Jacks Case: MPD Detective Mitchell Credle testified at a hearing in the Banita Jacks case yesterday. WTOP recounts the gruesome scene he described finding at the house, including more details on the state of the bodies when he discovered them. The Post has a similar story, but focusing more on the turbulent relationship Credle discovered had existed between Banita Jacks and her oldest daughter, Brittany Jacks. Credle quoted witnesses as saying that Jacks referred to Brittany -- an honors student until her mother pulled her out of school -- as a "whore" and a "prostitute." Brittany ran away from home for several months before her mother eventually showed up to take her home and withdrew her from school shortly before all the girls were killed.
Briefly Noted: Chief Rubin increases diversity and ethics training for firefighters ... Everyone's getting the flu again ... Va. developers offer impact fees compromise ... NTSB blames pilot error in 2006 D.C. helicopter crash.
This Day in DCist: Last year we celebrated National Freedom to Marry Day and took a look at the "toothpick" rule among the new Congressional ethics rules.
Photo by philliefan99
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My polling place had Obama beating Clinton 38 to 5 among the first 44 Democratic voters, according to the guy who was standing outside Garnet Patterson in the freezing cold and polling everyone as they walked in. Since I was number 54 in the machine, I'm guessing there was surprisingly good turnout for other parties (Republican, Statehood-Green), 20% non-Dem is high for DC.
Clearly, Potomac Presidential Preference Primary is the term of choice for today's elections.
I voted! Whoo-hoo. The only time my vote counts in DC.
Btw, does DC get two or one delegate that may or may not count due to the super delegates?
when i voted this morning i got loudly called out "this one is a REPUBLICAN" and everyone stopped to look for the yellow ballots. i'm guessing i was the first one of the morning.
According to CNN, DC has 38 total delegates, 15 of whom are tied to today's primary, with the remaining 23 superdelegates. Maybe I haven't been paying close enough attention, but it seems as though DC really gets the short end of the stick in terms of how its delegates are apportioned -- that is, in other states, uh, places the vast majority are tied to the primary, with a small portion of superdelegates, whereas here it's basically a 40/60 split. Yet again, something is amiss with the way our democratic overlords are treating us.
According to CNN, DC has 38 total delegates, 15 of whom are tied to today's primary, with the remaining 23 superdelegates. Maybe I haven't been paying close enough attention, but it seems as though DC really gets the short end of the stick in terms of how its delegates are apportioned -- that is, in other states, uh, places the vast majority are tied to the primary, with a small portion of superdelegates, whereas here it's basically a 40/60 split. Yet again, something is amiss with the way our democratic overlords are treating us.
wonderwazz: Of course, if you voted for McCain you're clearly not a real Republican, since Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter say so.
kids were electioneering (not very strongly, mind you) inside of the school at dunbar high this morning. i stopped to remind them that what they were doing was not legal, and they were genuinely surprised to find that out. they were also happy to have learned as such, as they thanked me and then moved on.
Stupid double post. If it tells me there's been an error, who's to blame when I resubmit?
i really thought the "norton endorses obama" bit was going to be about edward norton. you are jack's sense of civic duty.
Way to go out on a political limb with that risky move, Eleanor. Your daring is inspirational.
goat boy, you're forgetting the First Rule of Civics Club.
you are jack's sense of civic duty.
You, sir, are my new hero.
mellbell: not a real Republican according to Coulter! crap! i wonder if its too late to go back and change my vote...
The superdelegates have to do with being a bigwig in the party or being a high ranking elected official. Obviously DC has more of these folks. So it appears that this is undemocratic. But really the fact that superdelegates are included in the state counts is one of those really ridiculous things that CNN has been doing throughout the campaign. In the end the supers will sit with their state but at this point they have nothing to do with their state's votes. They are a separate body and should be treated that way in the reported outcomes.
I understand that both Clinton and Obama are for DC Voting rights, but this isn't enough.
I am interested in restoring the financial imbalance of wages earned in the District and payed elsewhere.
Hence, I would like to know if either major candidate would make the reestablishment of the Federal Payment a priority?
I am also interested in how the DC Vote is defined. I want senators and a representative with full voting rights.
I was number 150 this morning at my polling place at 8:30. I got my fashionable "I Voted" sticker.
i'm going during lunch...which is almost here! hooray!!
but someone please explain to me why the precincts in alexandria are so oddly drawn.
Anyone else notice high voter turn out but not enough election staff to assist this morning? I was 15th in line at 7:05am (in DC) and they hadn't opened the doors yet. When we were finally let in, there was only one person to check everyone in and when I left, at 7:30am, there were at least 70 people waiting in line. I hope the long lines don't turn people off!
Kids electioneering inside the schools... next thing they'll be forging Mickey Mouse signatures for Mayor, undervoting in at-large city council races and causing mass confusion among voters by puting "your vote goes here" stickers on city trash cans.
What is democracy coming to in this city!
timfry: Any links, or is that just your sense of it? Because, for example, the solidly Democratic state of Illinois has nearly 83% of its delegates tied to the primary, so past results can't be the only determinant. Maybe it really does come down to the unusually high concentration of superdelegates in DC? Whatever it is, I'd really like to know what the official explanation for the disparity is.
DC Guy: I'm with you one hundred percent as to voting -- a stop-gap measure like a vote in the House will only cause the already lukewarm support for full voting rights to lose steam. Don't really know enough about how a federal payment works to pass judgment, but I'll certainly check it out now.
@ #18 MSto
"but someone please explain to me why the precincts in alexandria are so oddly drawn."
Because incumbent politicians don't like fair elections. You can learn more about the almost perfected science of Gerrymandering at the below wiki link.
Wiki: Gerrymandering
great rebuttal by johnny mac to the "yes we can" campaign - in your face, obama peeps!
Wasn't Eleanor just quoted yesterday on the news about not wanting to endorse Obama or Clinton as she didn't want DC to face the wrath if she chose the wrong candidate?