Mike Huckabee's Last Stand In Texas/Ohio

Most of us thought Mike Huckabee's chances of becoming the GOP nominee for President ended weeks ago, but apparently no one told Mike Huckabee that he should get out of the race. However, with big state primaries occurring tomorrow in Texas and Ohio - surely the fat lady will sing even in the stubborn mind of Governor Huckabee if he does not win both states. In recent weeks, Huckbabee has removed himself from the campaign trail several times in order to travel to speaking locations to earn money for his family. Unlike most people running for President of the United States, Mike Huckabee is unemployed at the present time. The idea of a person running for President of the United States while not having a day job is something all of us should ponder.

It is hard not to personally like Mike Huckabee even if you disagree with him on the issues. When I watch Huckabee get on stage, sing and play guitar - he remains me of a little boy that never really grew up. We have all known people like Mike Huckabee that down deep inside never really grew up and those kinds of people are very fun to be around. However, do we really want a President of the United States that is just a kid acting like an adult? I think most people would say no and that is what GOP voters have been saying now for a long time. Mike Huckabee would not still be in the race today if he had not won the Iowa caucus. That victory gave him strength to keep going and continuing contributions to his campaign have made it financial possible to keep campaigning along even when he has no chance to win.

I have no idea what Mike Huckabee's future plans are in the Republican Party, but if he does want to serve in some capacity if John McCain is elected - it is time for him to quit the race and throw his support behind McCain. Over the past several weeks, Mike Huckabee has gone from being a GOP spoiler to a house guest that just won't leave after a visit. While there is no one that can force Mike Huckabee to stop campaigning for the GOP nomination before this summers convention, common sense in most people would tell them that there is no way they could win at this late stage of the game.

If Mike Huckabee stays in the GOP nomination race after losing to John McCain in Texas and Ohio tomorrow than what I am going to do is just look at his continuation as a sideshow. Maybe the Mike Huckabee campaign has always been just a sideshow and I am just now figuring that out. I think Mike Huckabee would make a fine US Senator from Arkansas and he would probably win that election. There have been many Senators before that have loved to sing and dance, so Mike Huckabee would fit right in, in the US Senate. However, I do not think Huckabee is mature enough to be President of the United States.

Read more about Mike Huckabee:

Huckabee Should Quit The GOP Race Tomorrow
Mike Huckabee Spoiler, Dividing Conservative Votes
Will Mike Huckabee's Poll Lead Turn Into Victory Tonight?
Mike Huckabee Aide Attacks Rush Limbaugh, Mistake?
Mike Huckabee's Religion/Foreign Policy Scares Me

March 03, 2008 Archives

Oil Price $105 Per Barrel As Economy Slows

To me, President Bush seems to be in denial about the worsening economic conditions in the United States because at his news conference last week he didn't seem to understand that there are serious issues facing the US economy in 2008. In order to keep our President safe from danger, the US Secret Service maintains a security bubble around the President of the United States. While this technique is usually successful at keeping the commander-in-chief out of physical harms way, it also has the effect of keeping him out of the American mainstream as well. Polls continue to show that people are concerned about the ever slowing economy, but from all appearances President Bush is not that concerned.

Today, crude oil prices closed just shy of $105 per barrel which will drive gas prices even higher over the next few weeks as well. I remember the price of gas increasing during this same period of time last year as it finally settled in at around $3 per gallon right before summer. What is scary about this current rise in crude oil prices is that it is occurring when gas prices already are sitting at $3 per gallon which makes some people wonder if we could be looking at $4 per gallon gas prices by the summer of 2008? Most people will just complain as gas prices rise once again this year, but at the end of the day they will continue to drive and pay the higher prices.

There is not an infinite amount of money in the world which means if people are spending more money on gas, then there is less money to spend on other goods and services. While there are people that earn a living in the oil and gas business, by in large an increase in the price a gas hurts the US economy because many more people work in other industries that will be hurt by high gas prices. As more American dollars are poured into their gas tanks, less money will be spent on trips and/or other goods at retailers like Wal-Mart. For every product that is sold at a retailer like Wal-Mart there is a person somewhere that is employed to manufacture that product.

If Americans slow their retail spending practices because of high gas prices, then millions of people that produce goods and services will lose their jobs and that is why high gas prices are bad for the US economy and jobs market. Most of the extra money that is spent on higher crude oil prices ends up eventually leaving the United States and finding it's way into the bank accounts of some foreign leader that may or may not be our friends. This over export of US dollars along with the spending of more money than it takes in by the US Congress, will cause the dollar to continue to drop in value while the price of Gold and oil soar.

Make no mistake, crude oil prices above $100 per barrel are extremely bad for the US economy and there will be a bigger price to pay for this situation than just higher prices at the gas pump. Millions of Americans are at risk of losing their jobs if crude oil prices continue to remain high and once those jobs are lost, there will be more pain in the banking sector as foreclosures continue to increase. The only person that can turn this situation around is a strong and smart President of the United States. The strong part will come in his or her ability to convenience the American people that pain will be necessary in the short run to fix these long term problems. The smart part will involve getting Americas financial house in order and to stop wasting American resources on silly and often times pork barrel projects that help no one except a politician that wants to get reelected.

Read more about the Economy:

Rich Get Richer While Most People Suffer
Bernanke Says Signs Of Inflation On Horizon
Housing Market Pain Continues, Foreclosures Up
Panning For Gold In Alaska Once Again?
Another Bad Week On Wall Street, Recession Fears

March 03, 2008 Archives

High Winds Cause Jet To Almost Crash, Video

Recently, in Hamburg Germany a jet almost crashed when trying to land under extremely high wind conditions. Here is video of that event and let me warn you that it is difficult to watch if you have ever flown on an airplane. All I can say is this, the next time I fly I would would prefer to land in a location where there is not high cross winds when my plane comes in for a landing. I have not flown that much lately, but I know friends that still fly several times per week because of their job. This video from Germany almost makes me want to never fly again unless weather conditions are almost perfect.

About 35 years ago, I remember flying back to Amarillo, Texas on a TWA flight from Kansas City. I had been on a business trip to Chicago and there were no direct flights from Amarillo to Chicago at that time so I had to connect to Chicago in Kansas City. When returning from my business trip, my TWA flight was the last one to arrival late one night in Amarillo and there were only 10 passengers on board. The first part of that flight from Kansas City to Amarillo was a bunch of fun because the flight crew forgot about assigned seating because there was so few passengers.

However, as our small 737 was approaching Amarillo, the captain advised us to fasten our seat beats and prepare for landing. I remember how tired I was as that jet approached the Amarillo airport and I just wanted to get home and go to sleep. Everything about our landing was perfect until the jet finally touched down on the runway. As soon as the jet touched down, I knew something was wrong because the aircraft started pulling to the right and as the pilot tried to bring the jet back to the center of the runway I remember being tossed from side to side in my seat. I was seated on the right side of the jet and I became concerned as the runway lights kept getting closer to my window.

I never found out what happened that night to cause that jet to pull so violently to the right when it landed and frankly I didn't care. After that wild ride I just wanted to get off that plane as fast as possible and head home. After watching this video today of an even worse landing in Hamburg Germany, I image that a few people on that jet aircraft will have memories of that event in their mind for decades as well. While it is safer to fly than it is to drive down a busy freeway, when something goes wrong with a jet aircraft it is a terrifying experience to passengers, indeed.

Read more about Weird Weather:

February Tornadoes Strike, Massive Loss Of Life
Storms/Tornadoes Rock Mississippi River Towns
Terrible Weather Conditions Await Holiday Travelers
More Midwest/Northeast Snow Predicted Tomorrow
Heartland Ice Turns Into Northeast Blizzard

March 03, 2008 Archives

Rain/Wind/Cold Could Effect Texas Voter Turnout

The weather here in Waco, Texas is rainy, windy and cold this Monday morning which made me wonder if this same weather continues until tomorrow - what will that mean for voter turnout in the Texas Primary? Most people believe that heavy voter turnout benefits Barack Obama more than Hillary Clinton and I tend to agree with that assessment. There are so many variables that could effect the Texas Primary tomorrow and bad weather is just one of them. Over the past week, I have noticed that Hillary Clinton is starting to look very tired. Of course, after losing eleven straight primaries to Barack Obama - it would be impossible not to let some of that disappointment show through even in a professional politician like Hillary Clinton.

In previous elections, the weather has played a role in voter turnout here in Texas. However, I don't really believe that a little bit of rain and wind is going to cause staunch supporters of Barack Obama not to show up to vote and to caucus in Texas tomorrow. It is hard to know what must be going through Hillary Clinton's mind as she sees the democratic nomination slipping from her hands. In my opinion, no one works harder than Bill and Hillary Clinton to win elections - but this year all of that hard work may not be enough to stop the Barack Obama express from victory.

In what has been referred to as the 'Texas Two Step', tomorrow - democratic voters all over the Lone Star State will be asked to show up twice to vote. On a funny note, Bill Clinton said the other day that Texas was the only state where Democrats could 'legally' vote twice in the same election. I believe he is correct about that observation. After studying the Texas democratic primary process for several days now, it seems impossible to me that Hillary Clinton could walk away with more delegates than Barack Obama tomorrow.

In addition to the Texas system being more favorable to Barack Obama, I believe the poor weather conditions in Texas right now could eat into Hillary Clinton's voters more so than people who support Barack Obama. Barack Obama is like a rock star to millions of people that want to see him win. Just like at Woodstock and other giant rock n roll events over the years, a little bad weather is not going to stop dedicated fans or in this case voters from showing up. It wasn't that long ago that people stood in the snow for hours to vote in New Hampshire. It does my heart good to see more Americans involved in the US political process which would not have been possible without the dreams of hope that have been inspired by Barack Obama.

Read more about 2008 Elections:

Democrats Do The 'Texas Two Step' Tuesday
Democrats In Florida Might Vote Again
Cleveland Fight Night, Obama/Clinton Square Off
Clinton Campaign Racist By Forwarding Obama Muslim Photos?
Ralph Spoiler Nader Enters 2008 Presidential Race

March 03, 2008 Archives