Neither. Condi goes to Nancy Pelosi .

Uh, no. Is this some fundamental of american government 101 that I'm not privy to?

Uh, no. Is this some fundamental of american government 101 that I'm not privy to? [/quote]

Delaware shares its vote with Wyoming because Rhode Island, which used to share the electoral vote with Delaware, became emancipated electorally by a state constitutional convention in the 1960s.

The only other states that share their electoral votes are South Dakota and Montana. This arrangement will last until 2016, at which time both states are free to enter into an electoral arrangement with another state. Idaho used to share with Wyoming until Wyoming linked up with Delaware.

Massachusetts, Texas, Tennessee and New Mexico are barred from sharing electoral votes with other states because of laws enacted by their state legislatures.

Ah, ok. That all sounds familiar now. Mille Grazie, Kly.

Also by virtue of double secret Amendment 22(a) to the U.S. Constitution votes in certain precincts in Sourth FLorida may be traded with precincts in New York so long as it can be demonstrated that 30% of the people in the Florida precincts coe from the same ten zip codes in New York where their votes may be counted.

My pleasure.

Guam and Puerto Rico have legislation pending to enter into a similar arrangement with Vermont in 2012.

You realize don't you that there may be Board members who will take seriously what you've written.

Someone has to edumacate these people!

Is that like double secret probation???

I saw Mr. Obama on the TV just before....

He looks like he has aged 10 years in the last year already..

Who would want to be a politician?

Out of the mouths of babes . . .

Yogi, my friend, you hit it right on the head. I think the Royal Family is a much better idea than American politics. Plus, you guys speak good English for, you know, foreigners.

If you look at photos of presidents just before they take office and then at the time they leave, it appears that they've aged more than the 4 or 8 years. This was especially true with Carter.

Yes, our English isn't too bad i suppose...for foreigners

The same with our Prime Ministers...

Blair ended up looking like an old man and Brown is going the same way already!

He'll not be there much longer though so he may have time to reclaim his youth

We're considering Carter to be a President?

Right. I wonder if presidential candidates truly understand just what they may be getting themselves into. The pressure of the Oval Office must be almost unbelievable.

There is a great line in Thirteen Days which dealt with JFK's handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kevin Costner's character, who is special counsel to JFK, was talking to another charcter (possibly RFK) about the same issue. In essence he said, "I always look at that picture of Lincoln upstairs and how old he looked at the end. When we got here, I said 'That's not gonna happen to us.'"

While Bush will never be accused of being a hard worker, his approach has helped his appearance. He has definitely aged, but not significantly. I guess that's a benefit of spending nearly 1/3 of his presidency on vacation.

You can't discount the longetivity in W's family. I mean, his mother, Barbara, looked 100 when she was 50, and his father does look his age, but they're both still here and in seemingly good health.

Do you remember that great late 80s SNL skit when Phil Hartman played Barbara Bush? It was a "60 Minutes" satire where the interviewer asked if Barbara was proud of her son, George H. Bush (a/k/a Bush 41) in a great poke at how old she looked. Hartman kind of flushed with embarrassment and said "George isn't my son, he's my husband."

Yes. That was classic, Goombah.

Edgy Dems await Clinton By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

DENVER - Already defeated and now confused, delegates supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton pleaded Tuesday to know whether they'll be allowed to cast roll call votes and demonstrate on the Democratic convention floor in her favor.

"Just tell me what you want me to do," Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said, throwing up his hands and rolling his eyes in an Associated Press interview. Nutter, who had campaigned for Clinton during the Pennsylvania primary, later said he would support Obama in a roll call vote.

The confusion stems from a tentative deal between the Obama and Clinton camps that would allow some states to cast votes in a roll call before somebody — possibly Clinton herself — cuts short the tally and asks the convention to nominate Obama by unanimous consent. Clinton fueled confusion by refusing to publicly instruct her delegates how to vote, though she said she'll back Obama when the time comes.

Clinton backers said that while the process is in one respect meaningless — Obama is assured of the nomination — the tense negotiations over convention stagecraft are an important signal of whether Obama respects them and their favored candidate.

Party leaders said they fear a nationally televised floor demonstration that would underscore party divisions.

"It seems to be a little more of a problem than I anticipated," former Democratic Party chairman Don Fowler told the AP. "All you need is 200 people in that crowd to boo and stuff like that and it will be replayed 900 times. And that's not what you want out of this."

The hand-wringing played out as Clinton paid a morning visit to the Pepsi Center with daughter Chelsea to check out the podium where she was to deliver her evening speech.

Clinton offered a preview of her convention speech at an afternoon event for Emily's List, a group that supports women candidates.

"We need in the White House starting on January 20th Barack Obama and Joe Biden," she said.

And she took a couple of hard jabs at her Senate friend and colleague, Republican John McCain.

McCain, she said, "still doesn't believe that women deserve equal pay for equal work," drawing a chorus of boos from the 2,500-person auditorium.

"He doesn't believe that women deserve the right to choose," she said. "He would turn the clock back when what we need from our president is forward movement, more progress, the kind of opportunities that we expect for the next generation of Americans."

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen encouraged Clinton to use her speech to give Obama a full-throated endorsement.

"What Obama has to have Hillary do is stand up and say — not only in words but it's got to be almost method acting — and say it in a way that's believable that she wants Barack Obama to be president," Bredesen told The AP. A classy backing "frankly goes toward any future political considerations she may have."

Still, Bredesen said Democrats shouldn't be overly concerned about floor demonstrations. It's part of the healing. "If there's some hard feelings," he said, "let it show a little bit."

Even some of Clinton's most loyal allies — New York Democrats — are increasingly frustrated by the silence from her and her advisers on how to proceed. New York delegates would likely play a key role in the roll call salute to Clinton but they still have no idea what it is they are supposed to do, according to several Democrats who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are supposed to be publicly backing Clinton.

___

Associated Press writers Devlin Barrett and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

Is his name really Mayor Nutter?? That is one great name!

I thought Michelle Obama was extremely articulate last night. The woman definitely has a terrific presence. I also believe that Sasha Obama has a future in politics. The kid's hilarious.

It's fairly well known George Bush Sr. and Barbara Bush lost their daughter Robin to leukemia at age 3. I remember reading a quote from a friend of theirs at the time who said that after Robin's death, Barbara's hair 'literally turned white' within a few weeks. In addition, Mrs. Bush admitted in interviews years later that she began to fall into a deep depression, which she would've been quite content to wallow in...and forced herself back only because she knew her other children needed her. Also, she's on record saying that like Mike Wallace and others, she's suffered from chronic depression for many years.

So while Barbara Bush may not ever have been what we might call a beauty queen...I think there were personal circumstances that may have contributed to her looking 100 by age 50.

Apple

ps - But I do remember that Phil Hartman sketch. It was absolutely hilarious, and so was he.

Phil Hartman was a genius and a genuinely likeable guy (from what I've read about him).

I did read that about Barbara Bush in Kevin Phillips' AMERICAN DYNASTY. I expected it to be a hatchet job, but it's actually a very enlightening book. No argument, the woman had good reason to age prematurely.

Terrific speech last night by the Gov. of Montana

You also have to consider that Barbara Bush pretty much raised her kids by herself because George was often away from home for long stretches of time. I read someplace that she drove herself, her children and a housekeeper back and forth between Texas and New England, and apparently in the South where there was segregation (housekeeper was African-American) she would either demand that they accommodate them or she would take her business elsewhere. As a result they often ate in the car and slep in the car as well. BTW she is also pro choice.

Too bad that kind of progressive didn't rub off on George and Jeb.

Progressive? Not the word choice I would have used...

LATEST POLL
OBAMA TRAILS MCCAIN SINCE CHOOSING BIDEN FOR NO. 2
By CARL CAMPANILE in Phoenix, GEOFF EARLE in Kansas City, Mo., and LEONARD GREENE in Denver


VEEP & WEEP: Joe Biden, getting emotional thanking his Delawaredelegation yesterday in Colorado, has another reason to shed tears - the Gallup Poll has the Democrats behind, even after all the publicity surrounding the ticket.

August 27, 2008

Barack Obama got exactly zero bounce from his new running mate, Joe Biden, according to a surprising new poll released yesterday - three days after the selection.

In fact, John McCain leads in the Gallup Poll, 46 to 44 percent - the Republican candidate's best showing in almost three months.

Although McCain's lead still falls within the poll's margin of error, the numbers are a worry for Obama supporters who were counting on Biden's selection as running mate - and the Democratic convention this week - to give them momentum.

"We've been waiting to see if there is a bounce for Barack Obama, and we have not seen it yet," Gallup Poll editor Frank Newport said. "It may take a few days for the convention effect to percolate through to the American public."

McCain wasted no time trying to capitalize on his narrow lead by blasting Obama on foreign policy. The Republican senator criticized Obama for equating the US "liberation" of Iraq from tyrant Saddam Hussein with Russia's invasion of "democratic" Georgia.

Obama had said Russia "can't charge into other countries," but added: "Of course, it helps if we are leading by example on that point."

McCain, appearing before the national convention of veterans of the American Legion in Phoenix, said Obama was clearly referring to America's invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam.

"If he really thinks that, by liberating Iraq from a dangerous tyrant, American somehow set a bad example that invited Russia to invade a small, peaceful and democratic nation, then he should state it outright - because that's a debate I welcome," McCain said to applause.

Obama chided McCain for questioning his "love of country," and called McCain's remarks "detestable."

Though he didn't comment on the new poll, Obama acknowledged the difficulty of his challenge while campaigning at an American Airlines repair facility in Kansas City. "This is gonna be a close election," he allowed. "Republicans are gonna make it out as if I'm a scary guy, I'm gonna tax you to death. You don't know whether I can be trusted."

Now who is being racist?

Seriously, for some reason that reminds me of the Chappelle show with the colored milkman skit. "He's such a fine athlete and so well spoken!"