A Pound of Thoughts

This is just breaking from Fox News/Mark Halperin of Time Magazine.  Halperin says that he has three sources saying Mitt Romney will drop out of the presidential race, and he may use his speech at CPAC to do it.  We’ll find out soon enough.  More as I hear it…

Update:  Here’s a link to the article.

Update, 11:41 a.m.:  Fox News confirming from a Mitt Romney aide that Romney will announce at CPAC that he is "suspending" his campaign.

Update, 11:55 a.m.:  Mitt Romney is currently speaking.  He is speaking about how great our America is, and how important our culture is.  He has stressed the importance of religion and of family.  He says that America needs to change its course, and that we need to "fortify marriage" with constitutional amendments so that "liberal judges" cannot force their views on conservative America.

Update, 12:05 p.m.:  Romney speaking about our military.  He stated how under Clinton our military might was depleted.  "We were told we were getting a ‘peace dividend’.  We got the dividend; we didn’t get the peace."

Update, 12:06 p.m.:  Here we go…Romney is about to announce his withdrawal…"I hate to lose…Because I love this country, I feel I now have to stand aside…America has to remain, as it always has been, the hope of the earth."

For all intents and purposes, John McCain is now the Republican nominee.  I am very, very interested in what McCain will say in his speech shortly.  I will definitely liveblog it, also.  I did notice that Mitt Romney was very emotional, and very sincere.  I must say that I truly respect his decision, and I wish the very best for him.  I think it would be a wise idea for McCain to choose Romney as his VP.  He would win a lot of the conservative base over with that decision.

Update, 12:30 p.m.:  Here’s an interesting tidbit…Bob Beckel, a Democratic strategist on Fox News, just made an analysis that took me by surprise.  He said that McCain should either choose Mitt Romney or Haley Barbour, the Governor of Mississippi!  Wow!  I must say, that would definitely win over the Conservatives!  I would fall over if that happened…and I would then definitely vote for McCain!

Yes, sports fans, the race to the Big House on the Hill is all but over.  It appears that John McCain will be the Republican Party’s nominee, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it - except John McCain.

Let’s take a look at the current delegate count (as of 3:00 P.M. CST):

1. John McCain               613
2. Mitt Romney              269
3. Mike Huckabee          190
4. Ron Paul                        14

Now there are approximately 1,000 delegates left, with 1,191 needed to win the nomination.  If you just take a look at the math, that means John McCain only needs about 580 to win.  Romney needs a heck of a lot more.  If there was any doubt before, now there is none.

I have said that I wouldn’t vote for John McCain.  He’s just too liberal for my taste.  With Mississippi’s primary (March 11 with 39 delegates up for grabs) still a month away, I still haven’t decided.  I was a Tancredo person.  But he pulled out and endorsed Mitt Romney.  So, I might just stick with Romney for now.  I think he is the most conservative of the four choices.  That said, none of them are conservative.

But like I said the other day - I would vote for anyone over Billary and Obama any day of the week and twice on Sunday.  And I do think it is high time the Republican Party start getting behind McCain (and McCain to start getting behind the Republican Party!!) or get out of the Democrats’ way.  If we don’t unite, then the Party will die a painful death come November.

I would rather vote for anyone - including John McCain - over Hillary Clinton any day.

Well, hallelujah!!  I think I can finally see the light at the end of the political tunnel.  The candidates are finally being whittled down.

On the GOP side, Rudy Giuliani announced his intention to withdraw his nomination and endorse John “Mac” McCain.

On the Dhimmi side, rich “poverty” lawyer John Edwards announced he’s pulling out, too.  I bet he endorses Obama.

So it’s the race of the liberals for the White House.  Clinton vs Obama, and McCain vs Romney.

 What is this country coming to?

When I turned on the news this morning in my normal routine of getting ready, I heard something that somewhat unnerved me.  I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing…

 Ted Kennedy is set to announce his endorsement of Barack Hussein Obama.

 Now, knowing that Ted Kennedy is the “ultimate” liberal, this worries me about Obama’s politics and how he is gaining steam.  I don’t know if this is supposed to be a revenge play against Hillary or if this is how Ted Kennedy truly feels.  In any case, we conservatives all need to be even more wary now about the political gambit.

Who should we be more worried about??

I have never thought that I would be as sick of politics and "talking heads" as I am now.  Every network is constantly running the caucuses.    I do enjoy the political process; but, a person can only take so much.

Everyone thinks the nominees are set after tonight.  They’re choosing John McCain for the Republicans after his narrow win in South Carolina.  It seems as if they’re all but counting out Mike Huckabee.  Personally, I think he still has a very good shot at the nomination.  As for the other candidates, if Rudy doesn’t win Florida, he’s out.  Ron Paul is out of the race.  I don’t think he’ll pull out, though, until the very last minute.

On the Democrats’ side, it’s a really, really close race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  John Edwards is out.  Why won’t he just go ahead and quit?  Then again, why is he even running?

Oh well.  I guess we’ll have to put up with this until January 20, 2009.  All I have to say is I’ll be glad when the parties choose their candidates.

Per Fox News:

Nearly two dozen illegal immigrants were arrested Wednesday, accused of using fake security badges to work in critical areas of O’Hare International Airport, including the tarmac, authorities said.

The 23 illegal workers were employed by Ideal Staffing Solutions Inc., whose corporate secretary and office manager also were arrested after an eight-month investigation that involved federal, state and Chicago authorities.

This is disturbing, very disturbing.  Not only the fact that this company employed illegal immigrants, but this also:

Agents found that 110 of the 134 badges issued to Ideal Staffing workers did not match the individuals who carried them, he said.

This is a textbook case of a company harboring illegal aliens.  This company ought to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  However, two people were charged:

Mary Gurin, 36, of Carpentersville, and Norinye Benitez, 24, of Franklin Park, were each charged with one federal count of harboring illegal immigrants for gain and one federal count of misuse of Social Security numbers. They were scheduled for a preliminary appearance later Wednesday in U.S. District Court, [Alissa] Brown [an ICE agent] said.

Now who are these people?  Well, Benitez is an illegal immigrant from Mexico and Gurin hired her and signed her airport badge application.  Gurin knew that Benitez was an illegal.

Now here’s another interesting statistic:  100 arrest warrants were issued.

We definitely need more of this around the nation.  Go ICE!  You’ve got millions of American citizens supporting you!

Well, the race wasn’t as close as I thought it was.  Here’s the final results from the Public Service Commissioner race:

Leonard Bentz (R) (inc) - 57% (131,755)

Mike Collier (D) - 43% (101,209)

Apparently, Jim Hood was the only Democrat to win the statewide race this go around.  Mississippi is truly bleeding red!

 Update (9:11 A.M.):  After looking over the results again, I discovered I was premature in calling Senate District 43.  Shannon Walley lost!

Tommy Dickerson (D) - 52% (8,401)

Shannon Walley (R) (inc) - 48% (7,612)

Ah well…

Well, the wife and I had a good time at the George Co. Courthouse. The Chancery Clerk incumbent, Cammie Byrd (who is related to my wife - don’t ask me how), had a nice little spread of food and drinks for everyone in her office. It was my first time to attend a political rally, and it was interesting.

So, Election Day is over, and here are the results:

Governor (90% Precincts reporting)

1. Haley Barbour (R) (Inc) - 58% (376,761)
2. John Eaves (D) - 42% (268,396)

Lieutenant Governor (90% Precincts reporting)

1. Phil Bryant (R) - 59% (377,847)
2. Jamie Franks (D) - 41% (261,571)

Secretary of State (87% Precincts reporting)

1. Delbert Hosemann (R) - 58% (350,046)
2. Rob Smith (D) - 42% (250,405)

Attorney General (87% Precincts reporting)

1. Jim Hood (D) (Inc) - 60% (359,827)
2. Al Hopkins (R) - 40% (244,827)

Auditor (87% Precincts reporting)

1. Mike Sumrall (D) - 45% (267,667)
2. Stacey Pickering (R) - 55% (329,894)

Insurance Commissioner (87% Precincts reporting)

1. Mike Chaney (R) - 57% (342,999)
2. Gary Anderson (D) - 43% (260,277)

Treasurer (87% Precincts reporting)

1. Tate Reeves (R) (Inc) - 61% (361,284)
2. Shawn O’Hara (D) - 39% (232,782)

Agriculture Commissioner (87% Precincts reporting)

1. Lester Spell (R) (Inc) - 51% (302,584)
2. Paul Riley (C) - 7% (43,975)
3. Rickey Cole (D) - 42% (254,069)

Public Service Commissioner, Southern District (51% Precincts reporting)

1. Leonard Bentz (R) (Inc) - 50% (48,132)
2. Mike Collier (D) - 50% (47,384)

Transportation Commissioner, Southern District (67% Precincts reporting)

1. Larry Benefield (R) - 46% (91,899)
2. Wayne Brown (D) (Inc) - 54% (106,410)

Senate, District 43 (60% Precincts reporting)

1. Shannon Walley (R) (Inc) - 55% (5,225)
2. Tommy Dickerson (D) - 45% (4,318)

Sheriff, George County (100% Precincts reporting)

1. Otis Strickland (R) - 22% (1,109)
2. Garry Welford (D) (Inc) - 78% (3,927)

Circuit Clerk, George County (100% Precincts reporting)

1. Ralph Merritt (R) - 39% (1,979)
2. Chad Welford (D) - 61% (3,052)

Chancery Clerk, George County (100% Precincts reporting)

1. Cammie Byrd (D) (Inc) - 67% (3,344)
2. Bron Howell (R) - 33% (1,681)

Tax Assessor, George County (100% Precincts reporting)

1. Wilburn Bolen (D) (Inc) - 70% (3,528)
2. Lisa Hartley (R) - 30% (1,510)

Well, based on these results, I’m 13 out of 15 on my voting! Yeah!! I’ll let you guess as to which candidates that I voted for lost. I tell you, the Public Service Commissioner race is a heated one! Wow, look how close those results are! I guess I’ll have to wait till in the morning to find out the results. Well, I’m off to bed. Good night all!

Today is a big day for citizens of Mississippi. It is Election Day, and we get to choose our local and state leaders for the next four years. Here’s a breakdown of who is running for office statewide and in my local area:

Governor

1. Haley Barbour (R) (Inc)
2. John Eaves (D)

Lieutenant Governor

1. Phil Bryant (R)
2. Jamie Franks (D)

Secretary of State

1. Delbert Hosemann (R)
2. Rob Smith (D)

Attorney General

1. Jim Hood (D) (Inc)
2. Al Hopkins (R)

Auditor

1. Mike Sumrall (R)
2. Stacey Pickering (D)

Insurance Commissioner

1. Mike Chaney (R)
2. Gary Anderson (D)

Treasurer

1. Tate Reeves (R) (Inc)
2. Shawn O’Hara (D)

Agriculture Commissioner

1. Lester Spell (R) (Inc)
2. Paul Riley (C)
3. Rickey Cole (D)

Public Service Commissioner, Southern District

1. Leonard Bentz (R) (Inc)
2. Mike Collier (D)

Transportation Commissioner, Southern District

1. Larry Benefield (R)
2. Wayne Brown (D) (Inc)

Senate, District 43

1. Shannon Walley (R) (Inc)
2. Tommy Dickerson (D)

Sherriff, George County

1. Otis Strickland (R)
2. Garry Welford (D) (Inc)

Circuit Clerk, George County

1. Ralph Merritt (R)
2. Chad Welford (D)

Chancery Clerk, George County

1. Cammie Byrd (D) (Inc)
2. Bron Howell (R)

Tax Assessor, George County

1. Wilburn Bolen (D) (Inc)
2. Lisa Hartley (R)

Well, that’s it. That’s what my ballot will look like when I go vote at 6:00 PM tonight.

Notes: (D) - Democrat; (R) - Republican; (C) - Constitution; (Inc) - Incumbent.

Update (7:22 P.M.):  I voted at 6:15, and now I’m awaiting the results.  Me and the Lovely School Girl are planning on going to the courthouse later.  I’ll fill you in later on the festivities.