Hillary’s Back – Thanks to Rush Limbaugh

In the weirdest political season I can remember, things just keep getting weirder.

After Barack Obama won 11 Democratic primaries in a row, Hillary Clinton was all but counted out of the race for the presidential nomination. I confess, I’d already started writing her political obituary. The title of that column was going to be, “Ding, Dong, the Witch Is Dead.” I’ll have to wait until the Democratic Convention is over to use it – and maybe not then.

Like one of the masked murderers in a teenage horror movie, Hillary just keeps coming back. If nothing else, you’ve got to admire her for her single-minded determination. One commentator calls her the Iron Horse. She’s going to keep on chugging down the track, no matter what obstacles she has to push aside. Nothing and no one will dismay or discourage her. Is such relentless determination actually admirable? A lot of Democrats seem to think so.

Her husband Bill, who’s turning out to be the meanest campaigner out there, said that winning the Texas and Ohio primaries were absolutely vital. Knowing that Hillary was trailing Sen. Obama by several percentage points in the Texas polls, some of her top staffers promptly contradicted the ex-President. A second place finish would be jus’ fine, they declared.

In a season of surprises, something truly extraordinary then happened. Rush Limbaugh, the most listened-to conservative commentator in the country, urged his listeners to cross party lines and vote for Hillary in the Democratic primary in Texas. This would be easy to do in the Lone Star state, because primary voters don’t declare their party affiliation until they actually get to the polls and request a ballot. Even if you had been a registered Republican for the past 50 years, you could waltz into the polling place, request a Democratic ballot, and put your X next to Hillary’s name.

This is precisely what Rush urged his legion of fans to do. His argument went something like this: It will be a disaster for this country if either Democratic nominee wins the presidency. Even though there’s a lot about John McCain conservatives don’t like, it’s absolutely vital that he be elected President this coming November. And here was Rush’s clincher: Hillary Clinton will be much, much easier for McCain to defeat than the Apostle of Hope, Barack Obama. So please, conservatives, when you get to the polls, ask for a Democratic ballot. Then hold your nose and vote for Hillary.

Is it possible that enough conservatives in Texas did this to make Hillary the winner? I have no idea. All I can say for certainty is, something did.

In the days that followed, callers to various conservative radio shows both praised and cursed the Limbaugh strategy. I heard one lady say, “I did vote for Hillary. And I felt so dirty, I had to go home and take a shower.” Another said, “Don’t ever tell my husband that I voted for her. He would disown me.”

Strangely enough, I never heard any of the multitude of analysts on primetime TV discuss the possibility that Rush Limbaugh’s followers delivered the Texas primary to Hillary. Certainly with all of their exit polls, expert analysis, and other high-tech folderol, they should know to the second decimal point how many conservative Republicans crossed party lines to vote for Hillary. Given the faithful following Rush has in Texas, certainly some of his listeners must have heeded his advice. Was it enough to make the difference? I don’t know.

Here’s an interesting P.S. to this whole question: Two friends of mine from Texas, both of whom have been very active in Republican politics for years, told me – independently of each other -- that they know more Republicans who voted for Sen. Obama than for Sen. Clinton. They say that so many conservatives dislike Hillary so intensely that they would do anything to harm her chances – including crossing party lines to vote for Obama. How often did this happen? Again, it looks like we’ll never know.

And then there’s the whole question of “super-delegates.” These are the 600-plus Democratic politicians and other politicos who get a ticket to the convention without being pledged to any particular candidate. Even if they’ve promised to vote for Hillary, they could vote for Obama – and vice versa. We won’t know until August what they’ll actually do. But it may take less than 200 of them to determine the victor.

Michigan and Florida’s Disenfranchised Voters

If all of this weren’t enough to leave the pundits puzzled, here’s another biggie: It looks as though two of Hillary’s most important primary victories won’t count. Hillary won decisively in both Michigan and Florida. But the Democrat National Committee says that those votes don’t matter, since none of the electors from either state will be seated at the party’s national convention.

You may remember what happened: Both states decided to move their primaries ahead of Super Tuesday. The DNC bitterly opposed the change and declared that, if the elections proceeded as planned, the delegates selected would not be seated at the national convention. This decision led to such curiosities as votes for “undecided” in the Michigan primary being counted as votes for Obama, whose name didn’t appear on the ballot. While in Florida, Democratic Senator Bill Nelson sued his own Democratic National Committee and its chairman, Howard Dean, to get the Florida delegates accepted at the convention. When Nelson lost in federal court, he changed tactics. He’s now demanding that Florida voters get a do-over. He wants the party to hold another primary in May, this time by write-in ballot.

This could end up being more fun than the Texas primary, folks. Between them, Michigan and Florida represent over 300 votes at the Democratic convention. These could very well represent the margin of victory when the Dems gather in August. Expect the battle over these electors to get very nasty over the next several months.

But not so nasty, I predict, that Barack Obama will do the unthinkable and attack the two Clintons on their record. Isn’t it interesting that in one of the most heated and divisive political contests in memory, Obama is not permitted to mention any of the scandals regarding the Clintons? No mention of Hillary’s extraordinary success in the futures market; nothing about their land deals in Arkansas or the strange billing practices of the Rose Law firm. Also strictly verboten is any mention of Bill’s misbehavior with Monica, his conviction for perjury, his subsequent impeachment and disbarment, or any other blemish on the family escutcheon.

It’s not like the Clintons are strangers to the word “scandal.” In fact, if you Google the two words, you will get over half-a-million hits. (No, I did not try to read them all before writing this column.)

For as long as I can remember, Republicans have been bound by a self-imposed Eleventh Commandment – “Thou Shalt Not Speak Ill of a Fellow Republican.” I’m convinced that this canard was invented by liberal Republicans to prevent their conservative colleagues from exposing their betrayal of traditional Republican principles.

Now the Democrats are being hoisted by the same petard. It will be interesting to see what Obama’s handlers decide to do as the convention gets closer and his victory gets more elusive. A very weird election year is about to get even weirder.

Are you having fun yet?

Why We Have a Leap Year

This year not only feels longer than most; it actually is. That’s because we added an extra day to February.

Most of us know that Leap Year occurs once every four years, when we add February 29 to our calendars. We need to add the extra day because it takes the Earth a little longer than one year to orbit the sun. The exact numbers are 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds. If we did not add an extra day to the calendar every once in a while, over the course of a century we’d fall behind the solar calendar by 25 days. Summer wouldn’t start until late July. After a few more centuries, Christmas would be the hottest time of the year.

The early Egyptians first came up with the idea of adding an extra day to the calendar every four years. Later, the Romans adopted this solution. They were the first to designate February 29 as the leap day.

But even this solution isn’t perfect. A solar year is actually 11 minutes and 14 seconds less than 365 ¼ days. This means that once in a while, we need to skip having a Leap Year when it would normally come due. The brilliant mathematicians who created the Gregorian calendar (the one we still follow) back in 1522 came up with an ingenious solution. They figured out that the answer was to not have a leap year at the beginning of a century – unless it is divisible by 400. Thus, 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, while 1600 and 2000 were. So will 2400 be – leave a note for your great, great, great, great, great grandchildren.

The Gregorian solution adjusted for most of those pesky 11 minutes and 14 seconds. Under this system, the calendar year and the solar year are less than 30 seconds apart. This means it will take 3,300 years for the two calendars to diverge by a full day. So sometime around the year 4,822, someone will have to do something about that.

This Week in History

On March 10, 1748, during a church service in Warwickshire, England, the captain of the slave ship Greyhound converted to Christianity. John Newton, who was just 22 years old at the time, vowed to spend the rest of his life making amends for what he had done.

A quarter of a century later, the then Rev. Newton delivered a New Year’s Day sermon on the subject of faith. Although the text of that sermon has been lost, a hymn he wrote based on his notes went on to become one of the most popular gospel songs of all time. “Amazing Grace” has been recorded more than 1800 times, by such disparate musicians as Aretha Franklin, Rod Steward, the Dropkick Murphys, and the Blind Boys of Alabama. In the early 1970s, a version by Judy Collins spent 67 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. An instrumental version by the Pipes and Drums and Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards was #1 in England for five weeks in 1972.

In the past 235 years, John Newton’s grateful, graceful lyrics have given comfort and inspiration to many millions of people. And they no doubt will continue to do so for many centuries to come. Here’s what he wrote:

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

“Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ’d!

“Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

“The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

“Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

“The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.”

Until next time, keep some powder dry.

Chip Wood

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Straight Talk is a weekly commentary written by Chip Wood.
For many years Chip was the host of an award-winning radio
talk show in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the founder of Soundview Publications and serves as an MC at several investment conferences. His weekly rants and raves are free for the asking
at www.straighttalkletter.com.

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