Hillary Deluded, Fails Basic Math.

[General Zod]

Sauce

(CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton is arguing that she is ahead of rival Sen. Barack Obama when it comes to the popular vote.
art.clinton.vote.gi.jpg

If Michigan and Florida are counted, Sen. Hillary Clinton is ahead in the popular vote.

"I'm very proud that as of today, I have received more votes by the people who have voted than anyone else," Clinton said Wednesday, one day after her decisive win in Pennsylvania.

Not so fast, says Obama's campaign. Clinton's count includes her wins in Michigan and Florida, but the Democratic presidential candidates agreed not to campaign in those states because they violated party rules by scheduling their contests too early.

Obama didn't even have his name on the Michigan ballot, so he received no votes from that contest.

"We think that, in the end, if we end up having won twice as many states and having the most votes, then we should be the nominee," Obama said.

If Michigan and Florida are counted, Clinton is ahead by 100,000 votes -- 15.1 million to Obama's 15 million. Without those states, Obama has a 500,000 vote lead, 14.4 million to 13.9 million.

Clinton says she has received more votes than any Democratic candidate in history.

"It's a very close race, but if you count, as I count, the 2.3 million people who voted in Michigan and Florida, then we are going to build on that," the New York senator said.

Obama's campaign manager said he doesn't expect the Illinois senator to lose his lead by June 3, the date of the last contest.

But Obama is facing questions about why he can't just bring the race to an end.

"You know the way we're going to close the deal is by winning. And right now we're winning. And what we'll do is keep on campaigning in Indiana and North Carolina and Oregon and these other states," he said. Video Watch how the candidates are prepping for the next contests »

"And at the conclusion of all these contests, people will go back and take a look and say, 'Who's won?'"

Obama leads Clinton in the overall delegate count, 1,719 to 1,586.

Neither candidate can capture the 2,025 delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination with wins in the remaining Democratic contests, meaning the party's superdelegates will probably decide who gets the Democratic nomination.

Superdelegates are party leaders and officials who vote at the August convention for the candidate of their choice.

Clinton is hoping the popular vote argument will persuade them to endorse her. Of the superdelegates who have made public their choice, Clinton leads Obama 255-232.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has called on the superdelegates to make up their minds, but superdelegate Debra Kozikowski said it makes sense for her to wait until the primary process is completed.

"We only have a few short weeks to go, and there's been a lot of talk about which states matter and which states don't. Big states, small states -- all states matter, all contests matter," she said on CNN's "American Morning."

The Democrats next face off on May 6, when North Carolina and Indiana hold their contests.

Obama has a comfortable lead in North Carolina, and it's a tight race in Indiana, according to recent polls.

Clinton on Thursday is focusing on North Carolina, where she'll make stops in Fayetteville and Asheville.

Obama has no public events scheduled Thursday.

As the race for the Democratic nomination drags on, Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, is focusing on the general election.

The Arizona senator said earlier this week he isn't sure if the prolonged Democratic race is benefiting him, but exit polls from Tuesday's contest in Pennsylvania suggest that could be the case.

Only 50 percent of Clinton voters in Pennsylvania said they would support Obama if he is the nominee. Twenty-six percent said they would back McCain over Obama, and 19 percent said they would not vote at all.
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Among Obama's Pennsylvania voters, 67 percent said they would support Clinton if she is the party's nominee. Seventeen percent said they would back McCain instead, and 12 percent said they would choose neither.

McCain is spending Thursday touring the 9th ward and attending a town hall meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of his weeklong tour to reach out to people who typically wouldn't vote Republican.

At this point I'm starting to run out of ways to call Shillary a deluded bitch. But at least she's consistent in following her MO that only states that she "won" matters. Not that anyone who isn't a dishonest twat is going to think Michigan and Florida legitimately put her ahead.

[Vohu Manah]

If all you can bring to the table is fuzzy math and political double-speak, how can you serve the electorate? A lot of voters need to ask Hillary that question.

[Terralthra]

Her campaign manager was on Talk of the Nation yesterday and went on record as saying that Obama took his name off of the Michigan ballot because "he knew he would lose."

[Death from the Sea]

dang, it seems like Obama and Hillary are fighting to be the democratic candidate like most fight in the actual election campaign....

I am sick of seeing this topic dominate the news.

[Coyote]

And just yesterday, I was thinking, "Y'know, it's been awhile since Hillary tried to pull the old Florida-Michigan trick..."

Well, um... points for consistency, I guess, you snarky old bitch.

[CJvR]

Good argument though, I won the popular vote - now you superdelegates do your job and get me nominated! It is not as if Florida and Michigan wont count in the presidential election is it?

[Cairber]

The best part about this is that Hillary, in these calculations, is giving Obama 0 votes from Michigan in order to claim her lead.

[SirNitram]

Clinton will continue until the Convention. Minimum. She will complain to the Credentials board. She will try to appeal any decision but her own. She may still be campaigning when Obama is sworn in.

[Feil]

And then McCain will win, and we'll be stuck with another 4-8 years of retardation. Joy.

[FSTargetDrone]

And then McCain will win, and we'll be stuck with another 4-8 years of retardation. Joy.

I wouldn't count on a second McCain term. Quite frankly, given his age and less-than-perfect health, I wonder if McCain would even serve out his first term, were he to become president.

[Phantasee]

And then McCain will win, and we'll be stuck with another 4-8 years of retardation. Joy.

I wouldn't count on a second McCain term. Quite frankly, given his age and less-than-perfect health, I wonder if McCain would even serve out his first term, were he to become president.

What's this about McCain's health?

[Patrick Degan]

And then McCain will win, and we'll be stuck with another 4-8 years of retardation. Joy.

I wouldn't count on a second McCain term. Quite frankly, given his age and less-than-perfect health, I wonder if McCain would even serve out his first term, were he to become president.

What's this about McCain's health?

"Don't you think he looks tired?"

[Wyrm]

Her campaign manager was on Talk of the Nation yesterday and went on record as saying that Obama took his name off of the Michigan ballot because "he knew he would lose."

How does this make any sense in the light of such hopelesses as Ralph Nader?

[Vendetta]

And then McCain will win, and we'll be stuck with another 4-8 years of retardation. Joy.

I think the surest way for McCain to win this election is to be against Hilary. If the convention vote goes to Hilary, despite her losing the states and popular vote, it will piss off too may Democrat voters, who might well be tempted to stay at home come election day to register their displeasure with their party.

[FSTargetDrone]

What's this about McCain's health?

McCain has had at least 4 cases of malignant melanomas:

The NY Times on John McCain's malignant melanoma history

Posted by Bill Jempty

Published: March 10, 2008 - 9:26 AM

Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for President, and I have a similar medical history. In a NY Times article yesterday, Lawrence K. Altman M.D reported the following.

Mr. McCain has had four (malignant) melanomas.

Until 2007 I was equal with the US Senator. I had four of these deadly skin cancers diagnosed in 1993-94. A fifth was located on me and biopsied in 2007.

Around 150,000 a year world-wide are diagnosed with melanoma. A little under 50,000 die of the disease every year. It is the most common cancer for women under the age of 30, second most common for women age 34 and under.

Multiple melanoma survivors aren't that common. I've been an active participant in MM support groups for 12 years. I can count the people I know who have had more than one of these skin cancers diagnosed. Senator McCain is the only one I know to have a total equal to mine.

In 1993, he waited more than six months before seeking care after a Navy doctor recommended that he consult a dermatologist for a lesion on his left shoulder that turned out to be his first melanoma. It was excised and has not recurred.

Pathology tests showed that the two other melanomas -- detected on his upper left arm in 2000 and on his nose in 2002 -- were of the least dangerous kind, in situ. In that type the malignant cells are confined to the outer layer of skin.

The most serious melanoma was spotted on his temple in 2000 by the attending physician at the United States Capitol after it had escaped the eye of Mr. McCain's personal physician at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale. (The Capitol physician also spotted another melanoma that was in situ.)
The melanoma on Mr. McCain's left temple was 2 centimeters in diameter and 0.22 centimeters deep, and was fully excised with wide margins, 2 centimeters in each direction, his campaign staff said.

Two of the melanomas were in situ, which are very superficial and almost never(Wikipedia says 100% survival rate. I wouldn't go out on that limb) a threat after their removal.

Dr. Altman's article is most concerned with the 2000 melanoma. At 0.22 depth, it is a Clark Level II. Clark Levels are used for the degree of invasion of the MM into the patient's skin. So far as Clarks go, .22 only penetrates into the second layer of skin. Of my five melanoma, three were .26 or less. What are the survival rates for this type of melanoma?

For patients with a melanoma like Mr. McCain's who remained free of the disease for the first five years after diagnosis, the probability of recurrence during the next five years was 14 percent and death 9 percent, a study published in 1992 found.

The melanoma is almost eight years old. In 2000 Sen. McCain had surgery to have lymph nodes removed(This resulted in noticeable puffiness and scarring on his face still seen today), they tested negative.

Any oncologist will tell you, that a MM patient is never totally free or safe from having the disease come back. The statistics in the Senator's case are strongly in his favor.

A member of Congress, New Mexico Rep. Steven Schiff, died of melanoma in 1998.

Since the above article came from the NY Times, some have considered this another 'hit piece' on the Senator. Ed Morissey writing-

Altman then launches into an indirect criticism of McCain for not releasing his medical records yet in this campaign. He released those records early in his previous campaign, but as Altman notes, that was because they were part of a public study on the health of former POWs. Altman fails to mention that no other candidate in this race has released medical records.

The criticism isn't indirect. The article ends saying- "Mr. McCain is occasionally asked on the campaign trail about his age. But he is almost never asked about his health."

Professor Bainbridge writes-

The Times has taken the gloves off and is digging deep for mud to sling. Ironically, of course, McCain bashing by the Times at this point redounds to the Senator's benefit. Lots of conservatives worried that McCain was too cozy with the liberal media. The Times is solving that problem for McCain. The people in the base who need to come around loathe the Times for its pretensions and biases. It's the old "enemy of my enemy" story.

Even so, it's damn shoddy journalism.

I've known about Sen. McCain's melanoma history, it isn't common knowledge to the American public. I can recall next to no mention of it in this Presidential cycle. The Times article may have been overdue. Bringing the facts out to the public about a possible future President's health and cancer history doesn't seem like a hit piece to me but in depth reporting instead.

[Terralthra]

Her campaign manager was on Talk of the Nation yesterday and went on record as saying that Obama took his name off of the Michigan ballot because "he knew he would lose."

How does this make any sense in the light of such hopelesses as Ralph Nader?

Hey, I never said anything about it actually making logical sense. I was just passing along the message her campaign is trying to propagate. It's clearly bullshit.