Joe Andrew

Whoah...

"A leader of the Democratic Party under Bill Clinton has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama and is encouraging fellow Democrats to 'heal the rift in our party' and unite behind the Illinois senator.

Joe Andrew, who was Democratic National Committee chairman from 1999-2001, planned a news conference Thursday in his hometown of Indianapolis to urge other Hoosiers to support Obama in Tuesday's primary, perhaps the most important contest left in the White House race. He also has written a lengthy letter explaining his decision that he plans to send to other superdelegates."

This might be big. This might be decisive...

Update: Paul Kirk comes out for Obama, and The_Wizard shares some thoughts on Indiana.

With all the pundits talking about momentum being in Hillary's favor, it appears these superdelegates being rolled out for Obama might act as a kind of political stop stick. If Obama rolls out more prominent superdelegates, then it may even work.

One thing that concerns me is Indiana-yes, my former home. This could be seen as a kind of Waterloo for this nomination.

The problem with Indiana is...well, parts of it are just like that GOP candidate who spoke at the Hitler breakfast, except, especially in Southern Indiana, many of the people there would have been at that breakfast anyway, regardless of the candidate.

I lived in Indiana for over twenty years, went to High School in an area that had a rather active Klan. I can say, with some authority, that, short of a miracle or being instructed by their Reverend, Priest or Pastor, that there is no fucking way that any of the districts in this part of the Hoosier state will go for Obama, save for the area in and around Jeffersonville, which might.

Even if we aren't talking about committed racists, you have the additional hurdle of the culture. In SE Indiana, where I lived, it was almost entirely German Catholic or Protestant, with each be comprised of native Hoosiers and Green Township/Western Hills/Cheviot/White Oak, etc. transplants. I was a transplant from the same area. To say that these people are conservative would be the understatement of the year.

Bright, the town (well, no, unincorporated sprawl of subdivisions and churches) where I spent alot of my childhood (too much of my adulthood as well)and where my dad still lives, has no signs for any Presidential Candidate. Not one. Judges-sure. Surveyor-absolutely. School Board-totally. Why?

BECAUSE EVERYBODY THERE IS GOING TO VOTE FOR GODDAMNED JOHN MCCAIN, that's way. The only people that won't are the dittoheads, who will vote for Hillary on orders of the OxyContin of Conservatism, Rush Limbaugh, in order to facillitate JOHN MCCAIN. When I lived in Bright, I knew a total of 5 Democrats who also lived in Bright, including me. The rest were either musicians or into meditation. That's it.

I am not saying that this is all of Indiana, but anybody that has spent a significant amount of time there knows that what I write here is truth.

God, please, Indy and North, do the right thing...

Update to the Update: Wonder if this is some kind of trend in the Hoosier state?

"Until now, Shirley Morgan had always been the kind of voter the Republican Party thought it could count on. She comes from a family of staunch Republicans, has a son in the military and has supported Republican presidential candidates ever since she cast her first ballot, for Richard M. Nixon in 1972.

But this year Mrs. Morgan exemplifies a different breed: the Republican crossing over to vote in the Democratic primary. Not only will she mark her ballot for Senator Barack Obama in the May 6 primary here, but she has also been canvassing for him in the heavily Republican suburbs of Hamilton County, just north of Indianapolis — the first time she has ever actively campaigned for a candidate."

The fact that Hillary is peeling off some of the crossovers is no big surprise: The farther right she panders, the more likely she is to get some disgruntled conservatives or moderate Republicans, but it is encouraging that Barack is still knockin' 'em dead, even in the reddest state. If he can win Indiana, he wins the nomination, and this dangerous farce propagated by the power crazed Clintons will end...finally.

Yeah, right...