Survey Determines 'ideal' Vice Presidential Candidates

I hate to admitt it. But David may be right...For once...

A while back he wrote in a post Powell For V.P.: It Could Happen! :

The Washington Post offers a nice primer on the usual suspects, however there have been some very interesting names that have come up lately – particularly on the Democratic side. New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has been whispered as a possible choice for Obama, as he helps to firm up the Senator’s economic gravitas; Colorado Senator Ken Salazar has also been mentioned as a surprise choice.

On the Republican side, it was revealed today that Dr. Condoleezza Rice, our esteemed Secretary of State, is now actively campaigning for the spot on the Republican ticket. Previously, Dr. Rice has shied away from expressing any interest in the VP slot, which makes this latest revelation a big surprise. Despite this reluctance, she makes an intriguing choice, providing some ethnic balance to Obama and lending some serious credentials to the Republican ticket that no other choice can provide (Note to my peeps: Do NOT sleep on Dr. Rice).

The name creating the most buzz???? Colin Powell.

Yes, that’s right – Colin Powell. He is intriguing because, under the right conditions, he could actually be a good choice for either party.

No, I am not high! Read on.

While I still believe that he was high, Here is an article from PC World saying much the same thing:

It turns out that the ideal vice presidential candidate for Senator John McCain, a Republican running for president, is the same person as the ideal vice presidential candidate for Senator Barack Obama, a Democrat, according to a sophisticated online survey by Affinnova.

For both presidential candidates, the best running mate is Colin Powell, a former U.S. Army general and former secretary of state under President George Bush, according to the survey, which was powered by an Affinnova algorithm it calls evolutionary
optimization.

"We never imagined that the same candidate would show up for both parties," said Steve Lamoureaux, Affinnova's chief innovation officer.

Powell hasn't publicly expressed an interest in running for vice president. McCain and Obama have both begun their searches for running mates.

Powell's links to the current Iraq war didn't seem to bother survey respondents, said Kevin Karty, vice president of analytics at Affinnova. Powell, in early 2003, argued for the war before the United Nations Security Council, but since he has left the Bush administration, he's criticized its handling of the war.

"There might be an indication that people are willing to give him a pass [on Iraq]," Karty said. "He seems to be an extremely credible figure ... and he's trustworthy."

In addition to surveying people about 100 potential vice presidential candidates, Affinnova also asked respondents about 120 issues that could be priorities in an Obama or McCain administration. Affinnova included seven Iraq-related policies in the survey, and none of them made the top 25 issues for supporters of either candidate.

Economic issues dominated the results, with five of the top eight priorities among Obama supporters being economic issues and four of the top seven among McCain supporters. "The economy shows up time and time again in the top 10," Lamoureaux
said.

Affinnova typically uses its survey algorithm technology to help companies test new products and do other kinds of marketing research, but the company turned to politics to demonstrate the technology, Lamoureaux said.

The Affinnova methods, based on technology developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, doesn't use the typically polling method of asking respondents to pick a name from a list. Instead, Affinnova's methodology gives respondents larger concepts, including photos, biographical information and possible first-term priorities.

Respondents went through 20 to 25 rounds of questions, typically with three choices of presidential and vice presidential candidates and their possible priorities. This method simulates real-world options more accurately than telephone polling and allows the testing of a wide range of alternatives, Affinnova said.

Affinnova, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, conducted the online survey of 2,000 likely voters between June 12 and June 17.

Companies that have used Affinnova's survey techniques include Procter & Gamble, Microsoft and Wal-Mart, the company said.

Among Obama supporters, Powell was the top pick for vice president by a wide margin, Lamoureaux said. Behind Powell were former Vice President Al Gore and former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, who tied for second, followed by Senator Hillary Clinton and former Senator John Edwards. Affinnova was a bit surprised by Gephardt's strong showing; the Missouri Democrat has been out of public office for three years.

Powell had aslight lead among McCain supporters, with current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney tied for second. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani came in fifth.

Clinton, Edwards and Giuliani had strong support among some voters, but lost points due to high negative ratings, Affinnova said.

The top issues for Obama supporters in the survey were: middle-class tax cuts; an improved health-care system; a change in trade policy that supports U.S. jobs; increased support for alternative energy sources; and an improved education system.

Top issues for McCain supporters: stopping congressional earmarks and wasteful government spending; reforming defense spending; cutting taxes; improving pay and support for military families; and modernizing and increasing the size of the U.S. military.

Taxpayers pay $1300 per month for Laura "Pimp My Ride" Richardson's government vehicle

I wish I could say I was suprised to see Laura Richardson in the news again for her fiscal irresponsibility. But once again here she is.

Yesturday, the LA DailyBreeze.com was reporting that Richardson's $1300 lease of a 2007 Lincoln Town Car cost more than any other representative in congress:

When she arrived in Congress last fall, Rep. Laura Richardson sought out a vehicle that would match her newfound status.

She settled on a 2007 Lincoln Town Car - the choice of many representatives who
lease their vehicles at taxpayers' expense. But hers was distinct: at $1,300 a month, it was the most expensive car in the House of Representatives.

They go on to point out that the freshman congresswoman is a veteran when it comes to having others pay the tab for her transportation.

But her history with vehicles has been similarly fraught. When she was a councilwoman in Long Beach, she crashed her BMW, abandoned it at a body shop, failed to pay a prior repair bill, and then racked up 30,000 miles on a city-owned hybrid in one year - apparently violating a policy against personal use of city cars.

In her brief stint in the Assembly, she leased a 2002 Lincoln LS for $304 a month - all but $36 of it paid for by the state. So Richardson was already well versed in the use of government vehicles when she got to Washington.

And just like with all her other financial debacles, she is hiding from reporters, leaving her staff to defend the undefensable.

About 130 representatives leased cars last year, according to a report compiled earlier this year by Taxpayers for Common Sense. Most were in the range of $400 to $800 per month.

Richardson's 2007 lease costs show up on a more recent congressional spending report, because she did not pay the bill until February. According to the report, her first bill was for $1,299, and covered a one-month period from mid-October to mid-November. She then paid a prorated amount of $2,035 for the 45-day period from mid-November to the end of the year.

That makes her lease $300 more expensive than the costliest car in the Taxpayers for Common Sense report. As of last winter, the newest member of Congress had far and away the most expensive car in the House of Representatives.

"A $1,300 lease is a gold-plated lease," said Keith Ashdown, chief investigator for the watchdog group. "Because it's federal money and not their personal money, they're not looking for the best value."

Rep. Diane Watson, D-Los Angeles, also leases a 2007 Lincoln Town Car, but she pays only $686 per month for it.

According to a former staff member, Richardson insisted that her Lincoln be specially customized, which may explain the high cost.

Richardson's spokesman, William Marshall, initially stated that Richardson is paying only $940 per month for her Town Car, but gave no documentation of that. After he was presented with the expense report showing the $1,300 lease amount, he declined to answer further questions.

"No comment," he said.

Oh.... But there's More!!!!!!

Richardson got the car from a local Enterprise Rent-a-Car office for her use when she needed to travel around her congressional district. The cost would not have been affected by her personal credit history, because it was paid for by the federal government. The price tag also did not include insurance, which Richardson agreed to pay for on her own.

At 8:30 p.m. April 3, a staff member was driving the car on the San Diego (405) Freeway, when he got into a crash. According to a California Highway Patrol report, the staffer, Henry Rogers, reported being struck in the rear by a white sport utility vehicle. The impact caused him to spin out and hit the center median and left major damage to the left rear of the Town Car.

The CHP report gives no information about the insurance on the car, other than to say that it was a "rental." But Richardson's subsequent actions suggest that Rogers may not have been listed as an eligible driver on her insurance policy.

According to the former staffer, after the crash Richardson required her district employees to buy additional insurance so they could legally drive the Lincoln. The former staff member did not want to be identified out of fear of jeopardizing future employment prospects.

Another former staffer said Rogers was not forced to pay for the damage to the car, but did not know how the issue was resolved.

Rogers referred questions about the crash to Richardson's spokesman, who did not return a call about the crash on Friday.

Richardson did not report the crash to Enterprise, but it is not clear that she was required to, given that she was self-insured.

Records also indicate that Richardson owes $83 for illegally parking the Town Car in Long Beach. The ticket was issued Jan. 23, in the amount of $40, but has since doubled because it was not paid on time.

One has to wonder, at what point will this disgraced Congresswoman offer her resignation? Knowing Laura Richardson, probably never.

But an even more interesting question is when will her fellow Democrats start asking for her to step down? Knowing Democrats, probably never!

Obama says politics blocks economic solutions. Forgot to include the word "Liberal"

Barak Obama once again proves that he is a not quite ready for primetime player. He declared that we could solve our economic problems if only we could get politics out of the way.

Obama wrapped up his tour of battleground states with a summit focused on economic issues.

AP reported:

Barack Obama told top business leaders Thursday that politics often gets in the way of solving problems that threaten America's ability to stay competitive in the global economy.

"There is surprising consensus in this country about what needs to be done — somehow our politics prevent us from acting on that consensus," Obama said at an economic summit meeting. "We spend an enormous amount of time talking about what separates us, along party lines, along racial lines, along economic lines, but when it comes to how we need to retool America to continue its greatness, we've got a lot of stuff that we can agree on."

According to his website, here are some of the policies he advocates that we could find agreement on:

• Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families
• Simplify Tax Filings for Middle Class Americans
• Support Job Creation
• Invest in Rural Areas
• Expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
• Expand Flexible Work Arrangements

But here is the problem… He and his fellow Democrats have failed to support any of these measures.

They won’t support tax cuts for ALL working families. They refuse to support a flat tax, which would simplify the tax code overnight. They only want to support R&D tax credits for industries they approve of, not the ones that actually create jobs. And the union bosses that run the Democrat Party will not allow business to offer their employees the same flexible work schedules that their members often enjoy.

No… The “solutions we agree on” that Obama is talking about are the ones that he and his fellow liberals have cooked up. If he has his way we will be mandating “green technologies” that don’t yet exist, compelling employers to unionize against their will, raising the minimum wage and mandating that employees get more paid leave.

How exactly will these policies improve the economy?

Democrats need to realize that the government cannot do anything to improve the economy except getting out it’s way by freeing business from overregulation and getting out of the pockets of American families.

Craig DeLuz for President? (Video)

Think About it!!!!

VOTE REPUBLICAN

After some difficult soul searching, I have reached a very difficult decision. I have decided that my brother, Craig, is right. He's been right all this time. He and his conservative buddies in the Republican Party have it all figured out, while the Democratics - well, they just haven't got a clue.

Therefore, I am officially announcing my resignation from the Democratic Party, effective noon tomorrow, and will henceforth vote Republican. That's Right - Republican.

Why the change? Well, aside from sheer strength of Craig's intellectual superiority, I also came across a video that really communicates the Republican message in a way that makes everything crystal clear. To see what I mean, check out the attached video for the reasons why....

David

P.S. - Gotcha!!!!!!

In Case You Missed It: Muslims barred from picture at Obama event

This article is from Politico.com:

Two Muslim women at Barack Obama's rally in Detroit on Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women's headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.

The campaign has apologized to the women, both Obama supporters who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at the rally.

"This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers."

Building a human backdrop to a political candidate, a set of faces to appear on television and in photographs, is always a delicate exercise in demographics and political correctness. Advance staffers typically pick supporters out of a crowd to reflect the candidate's message.

When Obama won the North Carolina primary amid questions about his ability to connect with white voters, for instance, he stood in front of a group of middle-aged white women waving small American flags. On the Republican side, a Hispanic New Hampshire Democrat, Roberto Fuentes, told Politico that he was recently asked, and declined, to contribute to the "diversity" of the crowd behind Sen. John McCain at a Nashua event.

But for Obama, the old-fashioned image-making contrasts with his promise to transcend identity politics and to embrace all elements of America. The incidents in Michigan, which has one of the largest Arab and Muslim populations in the country, also raise an aspect of his campaign that sometimes rubs Muslims the wrong way: The candidate has vigorously denied a false, viral rumor that he himself is Muslim. But the denials seem to some at times to imply that there is something wrong with the faith, though Obama occasionally adds that he means no disrespect to Islam.

"I was coming to support him, and I felt like I was discriminated against by the very person who was supposed to be bringing this change, who I could really relate to," said Hebba Aref, a 25-year-old lawyer who lives in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills. "The message that I thought was delivered to us was that they do not want him associated with Muslims or Muslim supporters."

In Detroit on Monday, the two different Obama volunteers -- in separate incidents -- made it clear that headscarves wouldn't be in the picture. The volunteers gave different explanations for excluding the hijabs, one bluntly political and the other less clear.

In Aref's case, there was no ambiguity.

That incident began when the volunteer asked Aref's friend Ali Koussan and two other friends, Aref's brother Sharif and another young lawyer, Brandon Edward Miller, whether they would like to sit behind the stage. The three young men said they would, but mentioned they were with friends.

The men said the volunteer, a twenty-something African-American woman in a green shirt, asked if their friends looked and were dressed like the young men, who were all light-skinned and wearing suits. Miller said yes, but mentioned that one of their friends was wearing a headscarf with her suit.

The volunteer "explained to me that because of the political climate and what's going on in the world and what's going on with Muslim Americans, it's not good for [Aref] to be seen on TV or associated with Obama," said Koussan, who is a law student at Wayne State University.

Both Koussan and Miller said they specifically recalled the volunteer citing the "political climate" in telling them they couldn't sit behind Obama.

"I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me. Are you serious?'" Koussan recalled.

Shimaa Abdelfadeel's story was different. She'd waited on line outside the Joe Louis Arena for three hours in the sun and was walking through the giant hall when a volunteer approached two of her non-Muslim friends, a few steps ahead of her, and asked if they'd like to sit in "special seating" behind the stage, said one friend, Brittany Marino, who, like Abdelfadeel, is a recent University of Michigan graduate who works for the university.

Richardson even stiffs the Kids! THE KIDS!!!!

Let's see, she defalults on her mortages in three different cities, she doesn't pay her car repair bills, she uses a taxpayer funded vehicle for personal use, and now it's discovered that she flaked on promise to send school aged contest winners to Washington, DC?

Yep.... she's qualified to be in Congress!

Read this story from the Longbeach Press Telegram:

Rep.'s kids finally get trip

CONTEST: Airline,
councilman honor Richardson's promise to send winners on a trip to D.C.
By
Paul Eakins, Staff Writer

LONG BEACH - From 2004 to 2007, then-Long
Beach City Councilwoman Laura Richardson made a promise that 10 young contest
winners would get a trip to Washington, D.C.

While Richardson got her
own trip to the nation's capital, winning a seat in Congress last August, the
students stayed grounded in Long Beach, according to staff members of the sixth
District council office and one of the students.

The unrealized trips
are just a few of the unresolved commitments left behind by the Long Beach
Democrat during the year she ascended from council to state Assembly to
Congress's 37th District.

Recent published reports have detailed
Richardson's financial troubles, including multiple defaults on her three homes,
the foreclosure of her Sacramento house and bills owed to local businesses left
unpaid for years.

Now, some of the winners of the Martin Luther King Jr.
Unity Parade and Celebration contest will finally get a chance to fly to
Washington, or one of dozens of other destinations, thanks to JetBlue Airways
and Councilman Dee Andrews, Richardson's successor in the 6th District. Working
with Andrews, JetBlue is donating airline tickets to all of the winners.

William Marshall, a spokesman for Richardson, said Thursday that the
D.C. trips had taken place every year of the contest except in 2007, when
Richardson left the council.

"Not all of the kids may have gone, but
those trips did take place," Marshall said.

But that isn't what Andrews'
staff members and one of the contest winners believe.
On Thursday, staff
members gave a ticket to winner Midori Sanchez, 16, in Andrews' office at City
Hall. Her mother, Donna Cottrell, also received a ticket because she was
supposed to have been a chaperone in the original trip.

When Sanchez was
in eighth grade in 2005, she was one of four contest winners. The contest asked
children from kindergarten through 12th grade to capture the theme of the annual
Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in one of four categories: art/drawing, poem/
speech, essay, or sculpture/multi-media work.

Sanchez, who won the essay
category, said Thursday she felt like she finally had some closure to the
disappointment of never getting the trip.

"I've waited for a long time,
and I was really excited at the time," said Sanchez, who on Thursday completed
the 11th grade at Poly High School.

Cottrell said that she had given up
on her daughter ever going, and she felt like Richardson had lied to her. But
Richardson received publicity through the years for the contest, Cottrell said.

"I've sort of had this simmering anger the whole time, because she comes
out looking so great," Cottrell said this week. "Nobody knows that it never
happened."

The contest had been held for several years as part of the
parade, then Richardson began offering the Washington trip, which included
airfare and hotel, in 2002.

By all accounts, the contest winners in 2002
and 2003 went to Washington. But the two winners in each subsequent year - four
winners were named in 2005 - never went.

JetBlue, which has provided the
tickets now being given out, had donated tickets for the earlier trips that did
happen.

In addition to the unfulfilled trips, Richardson also left an
almost $5,000 debt from the last parade that her office planned in 2007. John
Edmond, Andrews' chief of staff, said the councilman has begun paying the money
back to parade sponsor Partners of Parks with outside donations.

During
the five months between Richardson's departure from the council and Andrews
taking office in May 2007, Mayor Bob Foster represented the sixth District and
attempted to arrange a trip for the 10 winners, but that didn't come together,
Edmond said.

Since 2007, Tonya Martin, an Andrews staff member who also
worked for Richardson, has been trying to locate all of the winners who are owed
a trip, she said. So far, she has reached eight of them and given out a handful
of tickets, though two have been difficult to contact.

The problem, she
said, is that so much time has passed, some of the winners have moved or left
for college.

Marshall said Richardson hasn't abandoned her promise to
the students.

"She has been in contact with Dee Andrews and has been
wanting to discuss that last trip with him," Marshall said of the reward for the
2007 winners. "She's very concerned and wanted to be a part of whatever took
place with the kids."

Edmond said Andrews and Richardson had "talked in
passing" about the matter in recent weeks, but nothing else. On Wednesday,
Andrews' office received an e-mail from Richardson offering her assistance in
planning the trips, but everything is almost resolved now, Edmond said.

Sanchez was emotional Thursday as she expressed her gratitude.

"I just really appreciate a lot that Dee Andrews, even though it wasn't
his problem, made a great effort to ensure that everything that was wrong was
right," she said.

Edmond said Andrews wanted the winners to get what
they deserved.

"We took on this responsibility because it's the right
thing to do," Edmond said.

paul.eakins@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1278

SPECIAL FROM CRP: Obama Gives Thumbs Up to the Pelosi Premium

This press release just arrived in my inbox:

OBAMA GIVES THUMBS UP TO THE PELOSI PREMIUM
Meanwhile CA Gas Prices Up $1.82 Per Gallon Under Democrat-Controlled Congress

In 2006, then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) made this bold election-year statement: "Democrats have a commonsense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices." Nearly two years later, what exactly has that "commonsense plan" gotten California families and businesses?

JANUARY 16, 2007: $2.61 (Source: AAA of Northern CA)

JUNE, 2008: $4.43 (Source: CA Energy Commission)

This week we learned that the Barack Obama is just fine with higher gas prices. In fact, congressional Democrats blocked efforts to lower them and instead proposed higher gas taxes that will further burden California's working class.

Is this what the Democrat leadership mean by "commonsense"?

The Democratic Majority has given consumers the Pelosi/Obama Premium, which this week clocks in at $1.82 per gallon. That's right, from the time the new Democratic Majority took control of congress, gas prices in California have skyrocketed almost two dollars from an average of $2.61 per gallon in January to $4.43 per gallon now.

As predicted before the summer driving season, the Pelosi/Obama Premium has only gotten worse, yet Barack Obama and other Democrats have done nothing to help Californians' Pain at the Pump.

In Case you missed it: Foreclosed Sacramento home, with upgrades, may be returned to Congresswoman Laura Richardson

Just when I thought I heard it all. The forclosure saga of Conresswoman Laura Richardson proves once again to be the gift that keeps on giving.

Today the LA Times is reporting that the bank who foreclosed on Richardson has taken the house back from the new owner, presumably to hand it back over to the congresswoman:

Real estate investor James York bought Richardson's house in an upper middle-class neighborhood on May 7 for $388,000. He recorded the deed May 19. His crew has painted it, laid tile and landscaped the house, he said.

York said the lender, Washington Mutual, had contacted him to buy back the house and that he gave the bank a price. He said the next thing he knew, the lender filed a letter of rescission of the foreclosure sale June 2 with Sacramento County and asked him for the keys.

"They took the property back, and they didn't even send back the money," York said.

Please keep in mind that Richardson had stop making payments and owed more than $9,000 in back property taxes on the Sacramento home. And this was not her only property she was not making payments on:

Although the Sacramento house was the first of Richardson's to go into foreclosure, she has defaulted six times on houses in San Pedro and Long Beach, most recently March 28. Five defaults have come in the last 13 months, when she was lending her campaigns for Assembly and Congress a total of $177,500.

Did I forget to mention the two auto repair bills and the printing bill and…… you get the point.

I can’t wait to see what the House Ethics Committee has to say about this one…

Rep. Richardson leaves a trail of unpaid bill along her path to congress

More news is eminating from Longbeach related to political staffer, turned City Councilwoman, turned Assemblywoman turned Congresswoman Larua Richardson. It turns out that her mortgage paymentes were not the only bills that went unpaid during her climb to congress.

The Longbeach Telegram is reporting the following:

Car trouble takes on a new meaning when it comes to financially distressed
Congresswoman Laura Richardson.

In 2005, when she was still on the Long
Beach City Council, she left one mechanic in a lurch with an unpaid bill, then
later had her badly damaged BMW towed to an auto body shop but didn't pay for
any work and abandoned the car there, owners of the businesses said this week.

The next day, Richardson began using a city-owned vehicle - putting
almost 31,000 miles on it in about a year - and continued driving the car five
days after she had left the council to serve in the state Assembly, city records
show.

I find it sad that someone who has such little regard for their personal finances would be trusted to make decisions over taxpayer dollars.

Too bad Republicans failed to put up a candidate to run against her.

Hattip to Calitol Alert.

Ding! Dong! The Witch is.... Oops... Not so fast!

The Associated Press is already calling the Presidential nominations for Barak Obama:

Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination
Tuesday, based on an Associated Press tally of convention
delegates, becoming the first black candidate ever to lead his party into a fall
campaign for the White House.

Campaigning on an insistent call for change, Obama outlasted former
first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in a historic race that sparked record turnout
in primary after primary, yet exposed deep racial divisions within the party.

The AP tally was based on public commitments from delegates as well as
more than a dozen private commitments. It also included a minimum number of
delegates Obama was guaranteed even if he lost the final two primaries in South
Dakota and Montana later in the day.

So, one would think that the natural thing for Hillary Clinton to do would be to offer her concession speech tonight as well. But this may not be the case.

According to another AP story she may be willing to admitt she is down, but not out:

Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the
delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said,
effectively ending her bid to be the nation's first female president.

The former first lady was not ready to formally suspend or end her race
in a speech Tuesday night in New York City. But if Obama get to the magic number
of delegates, 2,118, she was prepared to acknowledge that milestone, according
to aides who declined to be identified.

Now this doesn't mean that she will still be running for the 2008 Democratic Presidential Nomination. But you can bet she will be positioning herself to be the next presidential candidate from her party. And she will do this by either negotiating for the VP spot or undermining Obama's candidacy by injecting umnpopular issues into the campaign.

Will Hillary hold the Democratic party hostage?

Everyone, including those who support Hillary Clinton are wondering just how far she will go to before she realizes that she cannot win the Democratic Presidential nomination. Many thought that tomorrow’s final two primaries would signal the end of her 2008 campaign.

Well according to politico.com this may not be the case. This afternoon they are reporting:

We can’t get her to sit down and talk,” the Hillary Clinton person was telling me. “We have been having a hard time getting her to stop campaigning long enough to talk about how she actually ends this thing.”

It is understandable. She has been campaigning for so long. She has fought so hard. And, let’s be fair, in recent months she has done so well.

So why talk about losing? You know who talks about losing? Losers. And that is not how she sees herself.

As much as Obama would like to have the delegates won in these final two primaries put him over the top. Unfortunately for him, he will still need to capture about 30-40 more super delegates making him the first Democratic Presidential Nominee since George McGovern in 1972 to win the nomination without winning the popular vote. This very relevant fact is the final thread upon which the Clinton machine will hang their far-reaching hopes of victory.

The only question left to ask is whether or not the fight will go to the DNC convention in August. If Hillary has anything to say about it, I would look forward to a spirited convention battle.

Listen to Craig DeLuz on the Capitol Hour with Eric Hogue

Tomorrow, Tuesday June 3rd at 12:30 pm I will be joining Eric Hogue as we breakdown several local races and discuss the battle for the heart of Sacramento's Republican Party

Here are the details:

Tuesday, June 3rd (Tomorrow) @12:30 pm

1380 AM KTKZ

Call in numbers :916-923-3300 or 888-923-1380

To listen online simply Click Here. Thenk hit the "Listen Live" button in the upper righthand corner of the page.

Should Republicans vote for Kevin Johnson?

On Saturday, I received three different mailers from the Kevin Johnson for Mayor campaign urging me to support his candidacy. The one that stood out the most was the piece that lead with "Attention Republicans". Then it finally hit me... I don't know if I, as a Republican should vote for Kevin Johnson.

I realized that the true choice is between two democrats; one who is an unabashed liberal and the other who is clearly more moderate. I am forced into a quandary as to whether I would be selling out my Republican values to support a democrat-Kevin Johnson, based only on the hope that he will be better Fargo on the issues that are important to me. And while a side by side comparison of the two candidates bears this out to be true, a closer inspection into the Johnson campaign presents numerous contradictions that leave this Republican voter with more questions than answers.

For example, between Johnson and the incumbent, Heather Fargo, Johnson clearly has a better platform from which to promote economic development and job growth. As a business owner and most importantly an employer, Johnson knows what it takes to make Sacramento an attractive place for business. Lower taxes, less regulation and incentives would likely result from a Johnson administration; that is if he is able to stand up to anti-business, entitlement crowd who view business as nothing more than a fatted calf to be tied down fleeced to pay for pet government funded program. The California Legislative Black Caucus, United Healthcare Workers and Teamsters Local 150 represent a small sampling of Johnson's endorsees who will be inevitably leaning on Johnson to curb his enthusiasm toward the business community.

The Johnson campaign has also tried to portray their candidate as a public safety and limited government advocate. His proposal to increase the number of officers on the street without increasing spending sounds like a great idea on the surface, but lacks the level of specificity that would make it believable. It is also import to consider whether the support Johnson is receiving from the Central Labor Council came with a price. When the chips are down, will Johnson stand up to the pressure from public employee labor unions or will he be like most Democratic electeds and fold like an empty suit, giving up more in salaries and benefits than the City can really afford?

For a brief moment social conservatives found a sliver of hope upon which to hang their support of Kevin Johnson. During a televised debate, Johnson unequivocally stated that he believed that marriage was between a man and a woman. But following the California Supreme Court's 4-3 decision to legalize same-sex marriage, Johnson made a considerably large step in the opposite direction declaring that he was supportive of the court's decision and would be an advocate for the LGTB community. Now admittedly, he tempered this position by altering the statement of his website to state that his opposition to same-sex marriage was his personal view and that it would not affect his policy decisions as mayor. This apparent flip-flop is troubling because it presents Johnson as a candidate who wants to be on both sides of the issue; one who will change his position if enough pressure is applied.

All this having been said, I still will not go as far as to say that Republicans should not vote for Kevin Johnson. His primary opponent, Mayor Heather Fargo is clearly more of a big government, tax raising anti-family, job-killing liberal than Johnson. But we should be under no illusion that his campaign has presented any substantive argument that should cause one to believe that a Johnson administration will be able to stand up to the union bosses and limit the growth of our city government; cut taxes and regulation in order to the keep and bring jobs to Sacramento. And we have already been assured by Johnson that his personal inclination toward traditional family and moral values will have nothing to do with his decisions as mayor.

The choice as to whether or not to vote for Kevin Johnson comes down to voting for the devil you know (Heather Fargo) or the candidate you don't (Kevin Johnson). My hope is that this election continues into the fall, so that I can get to know Johnson better. I know that the chances of us electing a Republican in Sacramento are slim and that Kevin Johnson may be the closest thing we may ever get to a fiscally conservative, pro-business, morally minded mayor.

But before I hang my hat on that hope, I want to know, that I know, that I know..... And right now, all that I know about Kevin Johnson is.... I don't know.

Conservatives More 'Ethical' Than Liberals? Maybe... Maybe Not

ARE CONSERVATIVES MORE ETHICAL THAN LIBERALS?

In a speical commentary to the Examiner, Peter Schweizer argues that "there is a striking gap between the manner in which liberals and conservatives address the issue of honesty", citing numerous survey research studies on ethics. He sums up his argument with the nugget that liberals are intellectually defective:

"The honesty gap is also not a result of “bad people” becoming liberals and “good people” becoming conservatives. In my mind, a more likely explanation is bad ideas. Modern liberalism is infused with idea that truth is relative. Surveys consistently show this. And if truth is relative, it also must follow that honesty is subjective."

Schweizer dismisses the argument that conservative respondents were dishonest in their answers, despite the fact that any social scientist engaged in survey research knows and understands "social acceptability bias", whereby a respondent is systematically evasive about their true feelings on a subject for fear of being viewed unfavorably by the researcher. As confessed conservatives, one would think they have alot to loose if they answered truthfully to questions of dishonesty and criminality.

Liberals and Conservatives are all human, and I do not believe that, in practice, any one group has a lock on ethics and morals. Conservatives talk a better game. However, given some of the evidence from our political and corporate leadership, I would argue that we all suffer from ethical lapses from time to time.