When I was a barista in college, we sold a drink called Kaffe Mit Schlag, which means coffee (espresso) with whipped cream, in German. Whenever someone came in and ordered Kaffe, we always asked "Mit? or Mit Out?"
Well, now Mitt is definitely out, as Mr. Romney "suspended" his presidential campaign this week. Readers of this space shouldn't have been too surprised, since I wrote on Super Monday (the day before Super Tuesday) that if Romney didn't win the California primary, he would drop out on Wednesday, in Boston. It took him another day to do it, and he did it at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, but it was clear Romney couldn't win the Republican nomination, and as a smart investor, he knows when to cut his losses.
So now what? John McCain will be the GOP nominee - and we've got a new song about that coming up on KCBS Tuesday morning - be sure to bring your earplugs to work that day - but Mike Huckabee will hang around for a little while. Some of the conservatives will fall in line behind him as their last best hope, even though they consider Huckabee as liberal as McCain on taxes and immigration. The televangelist James Dobson, who said last week that a Clinton-McCain matchup would be the worst choice of his lifetime, so he wouldn't vote at all - has endorsed Huckabee now. The affable Arkansan will probably pick off a couple more wins in conservative states, but it won't be enough to derail the Straight Talk Express. He's angling for the vice presidential spot now, but I'm still not sure he brings enough to the party for McCain to give it to him.
On the Democratic side, Obama's definitely gaining steam, and he will gain more, because he has natural advantages in many of the states voting in the next ten days. Louisiana, DC, Virginia and Maryland have large black populations. He has family ties to Nebraska and Hawaii (well, Nebraska's next door to Kansas anyway). There are a lot of progressive Democrats in Wisconsin. Obama could win all of those states. Clinton's best shot is probably the Maine caucus, on Sunday. The overall delegate count will stay close, but Obama will keep raising more money, and generating more excitement, and he could start to pull away. Clinton's next firewalls are Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania - huge states built a lot like California, as far as Hillary is concerned - and if she sweeps those, she will probably still be the nominee. But if not...
For more on how the superdelegates work, and the role they could play, listen to the story I did on them Friday.
We've added a new widget to the Sovern Nation home page, with the latest delegate count. And we've updated our Primary Calendar, to show who's won what so far, and how many delegates each remaining state has. Check it out!
Finally, a clarification: When I wrote about Mike Huckabee promising to sit in with the Eyewitness Blues Band, I mentioned that Bill Clinton "stood us up" last year when he declined to play the sax with the band at an event in San Francisco. Imagine my surprise last week, when I arrived at the Ferry Building to cover Bill Clinton campaigning for his wife. No, he didn't whip out his horn - but a Clinton staffer came up to me and told me I was "just like every other reporter....The President did not stand you up, because he would have had to make a commitment for that to be true, and he never said he would play with you!" I was stunned - but thrilled and flattered that someone from the Clinton campaign was actually reading my blog. So she's the one...
I promised her a clarification, just to prove I am not just like all the other newsboys. So here it is - former President Clinton never promised to play with us. We just hoped he would, so we rented a sax for him to play, and learned his special song just in case, and were told he might...but when we asked him backstage, he glared at us and said "nice try." Of course, he did promise afterwards that he would bring his sax and sit in with us the next time he was in town, and he's been here a few times since, and that hasn't happened. So there.
But we've been playing pretty well Mit Out him.
10 comments:
A question about your Super Delegates story.
Are Super Delegates required to reveal their vote, or can they vote secretly, with only the final tally announced publicly?
Is this a party rule, or can each state delegation decide that question?
Superdelegates are not required to announce their intentions in advance, and they are free to change their mind even if they do make a public commitment. But when they vote at the convention, it's a public vote, just as with any other delegate. Their votes are cast with their state, as in "California, proud home of KCBS Radio, enthusiastically casts 237 delegates for Hillary Clinton and 204 for Barack Obama," or whatever. To clarify that - each one of them does not get up and announce his or her vote publicly, it's recorded within the state delegation, but it is not a secret.
And I'm pretty sure it's the same for every state.
I found your song lyrics about McCain absolutely disgusting. Shame on you! What's next? Will you sing about Hilary using The Bitch Is Back by Elton John? How about Wooly-bully for Obama, only you could change the refrain to Nig**-nig**? After all, you sang that McCain can't remember his name and other things so offensive that I wanted to pull out my radio, so why stop with intimating McCain has Alzheimers? You take radio news to a new LOW.
Wow...I'm sorry you found it so offensive. It was just gentle satire; overwhelmingly, our listeners thought it was hilarious. McCain himself often pokes fun at his age. I don't think I went too far, but I apologize if you do.
I LOVED the McCain song!!! And I am 73 years old and didn't find it offensive in the least. It was funny!! I thnk Anonymous, you should be brave enough to give your name if you're going to criticize.
wait... doug, you wrote the anonymous blog complaint yourself, right, just to "pump up the volume"?
i just listened to the parody (its really more of a parody than satire, don't you think? satire usually has a strong thread of sarcasm... i think your songs are more Weird Al than Johnny Rotten)
but in any event, it seems to me that saying John McCain is more John McClane than John Coltrain (yah, it doesn't make sense... but its the only one i could think of that rhymes)... saying someone is old is not a put-down unless -you- (the listener/reader) think its a put-down... on the other hand, 'anonymous' makes both a sexist and racist remark, which would certainly not be at the core of parody, but rather a hateful screed (oh... much like their post!)
the writer of that post must be kidding... or simply so old their sense of humor has atrophied (i've fallen and i can't take a joke!)
and hell, stop apologizing so much... who do you think you are, Don Imus?
McCain... he's gonna live forever... doo doo doo...
Jeez, Doug, don't apologize to the idiot. Just pray that s/he gets a humor transplant. And lays off the slurs.
Can't post my name, 'cause I'm a well-known public figure and I don't want to end up with a song written about me.
Thank you all for your supportive comments. Yes, Fake John McCain, I guess it would be more parody than satire. And I can't help apologizing, I don't like to offend people. I was taught when I worked at the Times to take every complaint seriously and treat everyone with respect, even if they seem irrational...
One reference to McCain's age would be fine, but three? Sounds like it's all about his age, and that there isn't enough else to sing about.
I'm a very public official too, and I don't want a song about me either, but I think all of Doug's songs are hysterical and fabulous! Keep em coming and don't let the critics get you down.
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