Sad news today...

John Edwards has dropped out of the race for the presidency. It's a sad day for many Democrats because he has been a force even having been the underdog. I never really cared much for Democrats and now I feel I care even less. Who's the eye candy now? Clinton? I don't think so. But besides Edwards' boyish smile, he was a very good candidate and really thought about the 'underdogs' in the society. Whoever wins the Democratic nomination should pick Edwards to be their running mate.

MSNBC talked about Giuliani comparing himself to the NY Giants, coming back at the end. But, as Shuster said, he's more like the Miami Dolphins subtracting their one win. Giuliani is expected to drop out of the race today in California and endorsing John McCain. I never took Giuliani to be a McCain fan, I had hoped him to endorse Romney, but that's that.

Giuliani is dropping out due to his loss in Florida. The one state he put all his resources in and he only managed to get third. Since Florida is an all or nothing state, the winner, McCain, received all 57 delegates. He now has a hefty lead over Romney, but Super Tuesday has not arrived yet. I'm still rooting for Romney, but with McCain ahead of him and is becoming more and more like-able, things aren't looking good for Willard.

It's over for two candidates right before Super Tuesday. The race will now turn up in intensity; who isn't excited? 21 states for the Republicans and 22 states for the Democrats. Even though this day has over a thousands delegates, it may not decide the nominee. The real delegates come from the 'super-delegates' which is support from people such as congressmen and senators. I find that unfair, but apparently those in the government should have more say than the people.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey still will not say if waterboarding is torture or not. He claims instead that, 'waterboarding is not currently a technique used by the CIA.' Is he less competent than previous Attorney General Alberto Gonzales? So far, I think so.

Once again, it's a surprise that I posted. But I am so upset that Edwards has dropped out that I needed to update. My last exam is tomorrow so after that, things should go back to normal. Have a good day.

State of the Union [Remix?]

The 43rd President of the United States, George Walker Bush, gave his last State of the Union address tonight. The first real piece of American politics I digested was the State of the Union speech Bush gave a couple years back. I feel I'm reminiscing...wait, Bush appears to be as well. As I was taking notes about the speech, I felt a sense of deja vu. Many of the items he stated tonight has been mentioned in his previous speeches. It was like a mash up of his seven prior speeches. I was honestly going to go into deep discussion about it here, typing out all my pretty notes. But unfortunately, I'd feel repetitive and redundant. The stances that Bush has always taken? Yes, they're still the same.

I will quote some things I feel are worth quoting:

This is actually quite a good line

- "Republican and Democrats can compete for votes and cooperate at the same time."

Okay, well, how?

- "The IRS accepts both cheques and money orders."

Bush made a funny.

- "Those whose products say Made in the USA."

All I heard him say that to the tune of "Born in the USA"

- "The pursuit of happiness is the path of service."

So, Mr. President, you don't pursue happiness and never have, yes?

- "Nucular."

I couldn't see him, but I felt Obama twitch a little.

Some side notes:

- Vice-President Dick Cheney did not fall asleep! Not even a small shut-eye because I was watching closely

- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi looked as usual...not satisfied

- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice looked as usual...angry over nothing

- Both she-Clinton and Obama looked bored, but clapped anyway

- I believe there is a cue for every clap and every standing ovation; very annoying

- Why are people asking for Bush's autograph? You people work in the government! Have some self-respect and mail him for an autograph! We can see you!

I only managed to catch some of the post-speech analysis on MSNBC, which is still going on now, but it's the usual. Keith is saying the speech is a 'Best Of' and the Chris is not satisfied with the repetition.

One thing I just caught with a random guest [random because I don't know who he is]: He claims Keith and Chris are cynical. Hmm, I wonder why Mr. biased-Bush-lover -- Andy Card [something like that]. He said Chris was down in the weeds...to which Chris replied: "I'm down there with the old Constitution." Owned!

IN OTHER NEWS:

Mosul, Iraq: 5 American soldiers were killed today by a roadside bomber. This is the deadliest attack in months. Mosul is an area that is said to be the last Al Qaeda stronghold.

There was a scare at the White House today. A man voiced threats against the President today and was arrested. The alarming thing was that he left a duffle-bag behind, but later on, it was cleared.

Onto the campaign trail. Poll leaders in Florida, Romney and McCain, are going on the strong attack and not holding back. Romney throws out 'Liberal-Democrat' while McCain goes for the typical 'Flip-Flopper' and 'Liberal Governor of Massachusetts.'

Latest Reuters polls has:

McCain 33 Romney 30 Giuliani 14 Huckabee 11 Paul 2

The Kennedys' announced today at American University that they are endorsing Barack Obama. They feel he will bring 'change' and 'hope' to the country as he will be able to win. Throughout the next few days, I expect more speculations and whatnot around this endorsement. There's always a scandal when a big named family endorses someone.

Chuck Norris somewhat retracted his comments about McCain today. He is regretful for saying that McCain's age will affect his competency [or ability to live] during his presidency. He expects McCain's 95 year old mother to be on his case soon.

I think that's enough news for today. I hope you enjoyed because I skipped studying for my History exam for this. Good night, and good luck [to me].

South Carolina Primaries

Democrat edition. I missed pretty much the whole process and the analysis, but I do know that Barack Obama won with 55%. Clinton came second with 27% followed by Edwards' 18%. it's unfortunate Edwards didn't get that much support even though he's from the state. Obama is now up to 63 delegates.

Florida will be coming up for the Republicans and Giuliani is not looking good. McCain and Romney are fighting for first and Giuliani is not even mentioned anywhere.

Michigan's Kirsten Haglund, a 19-year old, won today's Miss America pageant. The aspiring Broadway star studying at the University of Cincinnati beat out Miss Indiana and Miss Washington by singing "Over the Rainbow." Apparently all you win is $50,000 scholarship and the chance to travel. I want eternal youth, is that too much to ask?

The former dictator of Indonesia, Suharto, died today. His legacy includes killing millions of people and controlling the country with an 'iron fist' -- no, understatement, fist made out of deadly spikes.

Shocking news today. Spider-Man and Mary Jane has broken up! I don't want to go into details, but this is a tragic event for everyone. I hope they somehow work things out.

It's quite a surprise that I updated today, but I had some time.  Franny says night. Good night.

Almost a week...

Yes, it's been almost a week since I last posted and I do apologize [seems I've been doing a lot of that lately]. I still have to get back to studying so I'll make this post quick.

Let's start with some old-ish news:

The one piece of news I can't stop hearing about is the death of Heath Ledger. The 28 year-old actor died in his apartment in Manhattan on Tuesday, January 22 around noon. He was found naked with bottles of pills nearby. An autopsy has been conducted since then but it has turned out no results. It will be another few days before the result from the tox test will show anything. His body has been moved from the funeral home in Manhattan back to Australia where he will be buried.

Onto the campaign trail:

Fred Thompson has dropped out of the race on the 22nd as well as Dennis Kucinich who dropped out just recently.

Let's start off with the Democratic debate on CNN which occurred early last week. The only thing I left with after watching it was a sense of maturity. Obama and Clinton were at each other's throats the whole time while Edwards took over Richardson's post of trying to keep things calm. I was simply disgusted therefore I looked forward to the Republican debate.

This one was not any better. There was NO fighting. It felt like the world flipped around. The left had gone right and the right had taken a swift left. Everyone played it so safe that I can't even use a 'safety pin' as a metaphor. They were like....q-tips! I was disgusted with their calm behavior even when they asked each other questions. I zoned out after awhile but I swear Giuliani was about to ask Romney how he gets his hair so pristine-looking. Needless to say I had a pretty disappointing week watching these weak debates -- even my wit factor has dulled.

The South Carolina Primaries are today for the Democrats and judging by the ever-so fluctuating polls, a clear winner has not been decided. I'm tired of betting on Democrats but I'll take Obama's side because Clinton cannot win anymore and Edwards isn't rising in the polls fast enough -- even in his home state.

An update for the delegate count:

Obama 38

Clinton 36

Edwards 18

Romney 67

McCain 38

Huckabee 26

Next week is full of exams for me so I doubt I'll be posting until late next week. After that, I should fall back into the steady pattern of posting everyday. I shall leave with a quote I enjoyed: "Appoint Mitt Romney Secretary of Lookin' Good" - Obama on Letterman.

And a reminder! The State of the Union Speech [the last one for Bush] is Monday. I'll be doing my exam, but don't miss it if you aren't forced to!

Good day.

Champs all around!

My two teams won tonight! AFC Champs are the New England Patriots and NFC Champs are the New York Giants!! They're going to the Bowl!! Brady v. Manning! I am so excited that this is the only news tonight from me. I had made my avatar awhile ago and it's still relevant! =D The avatar is on my msn, but it's the Pats logo and the Giants logo in one.

The scores:

Patriots 21

over

Chargers 12

Giants 23

over

Packers 20

By the way, the Patriots are still perfect in their season and post season so far so it's 18-0. I love both teams going to the Super Bowl, but I would love to see the Patriots achieve perfection.

Good night and good luck.

Nevada/South Carolina

The Nevada Caucuses occurred today for both the Democrats and the Republicans and the South Carolina Primaries happened for the Republicans.

Mitt Romney won by a mile [51%] in Nevada with Ron Paul coming in at second place [14%], which is quite surprising. Hillary Clinton won Nevada with 51% and Obama came second with 45%. Edwards came in a distant third with a disappointing 4%.

In South Carolina, John McCain won with 33%. Huckabee followed with 30%, then Thompson with 16%, and Romney, the Nevada winner, came fourth with 15%.

The delegate count shows:

Republicans:

Romney 66

McCain 38

Huckabee 26

Thompson 8

Paul 6

Giuliani 1

Hunter 1

Democrats:

Obama 38

Clinton 36

Edwards 18

Gravel 0

Kucinich 0

Remember during all last year, the very clear front runners were Giuliani and Clinton? Who's leading now?

South Carolina Primaries are next for the Democrats which will be on January 26. This state should show a clear winner and widen the tight race between Obama and Clinton [in favour of Obama].

Florida Primaries are next for the Republicans [and Democrats have it on the same day, but no delegates] and this is where Giuliani 'hopes' to win big. January 29th is the date that will make or break the once front runner and may even show a clear winner elsewhere.

'Super Tuesday' is coming up quick. Mark your calendars: February 5th.

That's all for Franny for today [and maybe the next few days]. Good night, and good luck. [By the way, my delayed order for 'Truth and Consequences' came in today =D Should I study or read?]

Apologies once again

Yes, I blame it on school [again]. I just wanted to update so I can keep my new years resolution, which is no longer to post everyday but to post as much as possible =).

Romney and Clinton won Michigan, but it only counts for Romney because the Democrats were stripped of their delegates for moving their date up. The debate in Nevada between Clinton, Obama, and Edwards went well and in my opinion, Brian Williams won because he was so funny.

Nevada is coming up and I'm going for Romney [SC for the Pubs too] and Obama. C'mon boys, lucky snake eye! =P

I promise I will update more often after my exams, but at this moment, I can only do a bit. On a personal note, I have an interview Social Code tomorrow and I'm pretty excited.

I'm Franny, good night.

A bit of this and that

I'm going to start off with some news that's happened in the past couples days that I had forgot to post about. Firstly, Bill Richardson has dropped out of the presidential race the day after the New Hampshire primaries. He did receive 5% of the votes which is a number that either of the front runners, Obama or Clinton, would love to have. But Richardson did not say which candidate he will endorse.

The other day, John Kerry announced that he will endorse, no you'll never guess...Barack Obama. He snubbed his ex-running mate, John Edwards, to completely support Edwards' opponent, Obama. I know what you're thinking, "That's really mean!" No, that's not mean, that's Kerry being a complete ass. I heard that Kerry and Edwards had many problems during and after Kerry's failed candidacy, but to those who don't know about it, it makes Kerry, and linking to Obama, look really bad. I feel for you Edwards, hang in there, you don't need that guy.

For some new news about the race for the White House, Dennis Kucinich is calling for a recount in New Hampshire. He wants to make sure that every vote was accounted for the Democrats. I already know how this is going to go...

Kucinich: "Can we get a recount please?"

Vote counting person: "Can I sleep with your wife?"

Kucinich: "No."

Vote counting person: "Ok, then no."

In Taiwan, the recent election in the parliament showed the KMT winning the majority of positions over the DPP. This is a hard blow to DPP since the presidential elections are coming up in March and this loss may mean that the KMT will assume all power. Chen Shiu-bian has already been president for 8 years so he must step down in March. His hopefuly successor, Frank Hsieh is up against the Nationalist Party's Ma Ying-jeuo. The politics in Taiwan will change drastically if the KMT wins due to their want for closer relations with mainland China. I do believe that Taiwan's politics and economy will stabilize if they reach out to China, but the people of Taiwan may be torn about this.

In sports: The Green Bay Packers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 42-20. The best part of the game, besides Green Bay whooping the Seahawks' butts, was the heavy snow. It is amazing how the players can play in such harsh weather.

The most exciting part of my day today was watching the New England Patriots beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-20. Tom Brady was amazing! Only two incomplete passes in the whole game. That play with him faking his pass was amazing as well. Still perfect even in the playoffs, and up to the Bowl as well!

That's all for Franny tonight. Good night.

My Apologies

I haven't posted in the last two days and I am very sorry for that. School has been keeping me busy with the deadlines and exam time coming up all too soon. Excuses aside, I may not be able post everyday for this month due to...well, the reasons mentioned above. But let's start the news informing.

I'd like to start with some stuff from yesterday, January 10th. It was the 1 year anniversary of the 'surge', which sent 30,000 more troops to Iraq. Opinions are divided though about whether it's been a success or not. But the new news about the day is that 40,000 lbs. of bombs were dropped South of Baghdad by the American soldiers targeting Al Qaeda. It really doesn't sound appealing to me even though it's an act to suppress the enemy, but 40,000 lbs is A LOT.

Moving on to something much lighter. I actually don't have a lot of heavy news today so I'll have to do some fills. Mr. Bill O'Reilly is doing what he does best. Since the puppet show of him pushing a member of Obama's campaign [courtesy of the lovely Keith Olbermann from Msnbc], he's been expected the act rashly about it. The call has been answered because recently, he targeted not NBC, but its owner, General Electric. He sent one of his goons to harass one of the people who work at GE while he was having a meal with a group of people. I seriously think O'Reilly could get into some deep trouble with this one.

This may not be surprising for many, but O.J. Simpson is back in jail. He had apparently violated terms of his bail and sits in jail now waiting for a court hearing on Wednesday.

I just read this piece of news. Even with the growing attacks by Al Qaeda in Pakistan, President Musharraf is prohibiting U.S. troops from helping. He is not just refusing help, but he is not allowing the troops to set foot on his land at all. It has long been speculated that Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan but it appears that Musharraf has not done much to find him. Much of the billions of dollars that the U.S. had sent to Pakistan to aid in fighting terrorists has been wasted and not used well. It is unfortunate that Musharraf is being stubborn and not accepting aid from a willing ally.

That's all from Franny tonight. Good night.

New Hampshire Primaries

The New Hampshire Primaries were today and I must say, they weren't as exciting as Iowa. I'll just give the results and there is one shocker. Clinton won for the Democrats. In every poll Obama was expected to win, but this just proves that polls aren't as correct as you think. But on the other hand, McCain beat Romney and it was projected very early into counting the ballots. Here are the numerical results:

Democrats:

Clinton 39%

Obama 36%

Edwards 17%

Richardson 5%

Kucinich 1%

Gravel 0%

Republicans:

McCain 37%

Romney 32%

Huckabee 11%

Giuliani 9%

Paul 8%

Thompson 1%

Hunter 0%

Iowa kept me on the edge of my seat but this one really put me to sleep. I predicted Obama and McCain to win [as did many] so Clinton's win really surprised me. But like in Iowa, voter turnout surged from 2004, having about 70% of the population voting. Some more stats:

- New Hampshire has an 'open' vote which means independents can vote either Democrat or Republican

- Independent voters make up 38% of Republican voters; 43% of Democratic voters

- In an exit poll conducted by Msnbc, 93% of Democrats and 49% of Republicans are dissatisfied with President Bush

Although I was half asleep, I heard Tom Brokaw talk about how early polling and all the places that conduct them distort the process. He had a great bit about it but unfortunately I was pretty out of it so I can't remember details. But I remember agreeing with him and that they seem, to me anyway, to be able to influence a regular voter. Due to the possibility of a candidate winning, they may vote him/her so they feel they've voted for the winner.

In other news, two rockets were launched from Lebanon to Israel today. The fighting is still quite brutal and this event comes just a bit before President Bush's visit to Israel.

Since the recent cancellation of the Golden Globes, other award shows are deciding whether or not to continue. The Oscars have recently released a statement about how the show will still go on even without writers. But the writers are confident that without the writers and SAG on the side of the writers, the show won't go on.

That's all for Franny tonight. I'll be back tomorrow, as usual. Good night.

Live Free or Die time

New Hampshire is on our doorsteps! Due to the time difference, voting has already started in two towns [they started right at midnight]. McCain has an early lead for the GOP and Obama has the lead for the Democrats. Although it is still early, New Hampshire will make or break candidates.

In a last minute effort today, she-Clinton spoke to a group of her supporters in a more, shall we say, 'human' manner. She became emotional [albeit slightly] and said that running for president is a personal matter as well as political. But right after she said this, she goes on to attack Obama. She also pulls a trick out of Giuliani's play book. She mentions that when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown took office, the second day there was a terrorist attack. Using threats to win the nomination? Getting Republican are we?

Last bit of political news for tonight and it's a funny. Everyone is voting for Obama because he's the 'change' candidate. But he hasn't actually brought any real change yet. He's just saying he will when he gets to the White House. The REAL change candidate is Willard Mitt Romney. He's the only one who's actually changed. His positions have changed throughout his political career. Even his fellow candidates have noticed and started picking on him about it. Vote Mitt Romney for real change.

In entertainment news, the Golden Globes have been cancelled. The SAG decided to show their support for the WGA by telling all members to not attend the Golden Globes. I don't care too much for the Golden Globes, but the Oscars are coming up. The very lovely Jon Stewart is/was going to host it!

Speaking of Mr. Stewart, his show is back on-air today along with the Colbert Report. I'm really excited for this one and I'm actually staying up to watch them both [screw homework, I have time for it...eventually]. I'll probably add some stuff after the episodes either today or just put it in tomorrow's post. I heard there's going to be a toss =)

That's all for me tonight. There most likely will be a full coverage from yours truly on the New Hampshire primaries tomorrow. That's from Franny this evening, good night.

Football Fever

NY Giants beat Tampa Bay today!! 24-14! I did cheer for them, which I promised I wouldn't, but doesn't matter because they won.

I actually don't have a lot of other news. New Hampshire is in 2 days and Obama has just won the lead over Clinton in the polls. McCain is still beating Romney on the Republican side.

Sorry for not having anything today. It's my last day off before school starts. Franny says good night.

Pubs fight with claws, Dems fight with pillows

The main story today is the New Hampshire Debates on ABC. Charlie Gibson hosted first the Republican debate then the Democratic debate. I'm sure my title tells it all, but I will go through it anyway.

It was pretty obvious throughout the whole debate that it was everyone against Mitt Romney. I totally felt bad for him, but it did make me like him more. I wouldn't say he faired well against them, but he came out alive. There were multiple times where the other candidates would attack Romney on his changing positions. Romney had said to Huckabee, "Don't characterize my position" to which Huckabee replied, "Which one?" Another one was when Romney said he was misquoted and McCain just snipes in, "When you change your position time-to-time, you will get misquoted." The punches were thrown and Romney somehow got in front of every single one, but in the polls, he is still close second to McCain.

On a side note, Romney did win the Wyoming caucuses today, but no one really paid attention to it. Hunter came second, but we missed him at the debates? [he wasn't invited to those who didn't know].

Now onto the Democrats. As expected, Obama was in the spotlight, but wasn't really getting punched. This debate was pretty tame but when things got a little bit out of hand, Richardson would just jump in and call for peace. "I've been in hostage situations that were more civil than this," was what he said when they all spoke at once [which happened multiple times during the Republican debate]. Nothing else really worth mentioning except the last bit of the debate where Gibson asked the four candidates what was one thing they regretted saying during one of their previous debates. Obama and Clinton just talked about what the debates were about, boring stuff. Richardson said he regrets naming White his favorite Supreme Court Justice before researching that he was against Wade vs. Roe. Edwards said he regretted teasing Hillary about her jacket and said she looked beautiful [to which she looked flattered. If Edwards said that to me, I'd melt into a pool of jello; yes, jello].

One thing that caught my attention was that both a Democrat and a Republican quoted the Declaration of Independence. I think it was Richardson for the Dems and Huckabee for the GOP. I just find it amusing that at least they can agree on something. It almost reminded me of how O'Reilly doesn't know the difference between the Declaration and the Constitution.

Speaking of O'Reilly, he apparently "roughed it up" with a member of Obama's campaign. He was trying to Obama's attention but one of his campaign members was in his way, so he pushed him aside. When he finally got to Obama, he bullshitted about how he liked him and blah blah. I honestly love how much of a lie O'Reilly is but he believes that he is giving the truth to the people.

Now onto sports! Redskins lost against Seahawks today 35-14 *cries* Obama was apparently watching the game as well while the Republican debates were going on. It was a good run for the Skins, and I'm sure they'll pick up where they left off next season. The Steelers lost today as well 31-29 against the Jags. I will now stop making predictions, yes, I take partial fault for their losses. Good news in sports though is that Tom Brady of the Patriots won the MVP award! Well deserved!

Some home sports news. The Canadian junior team beat the Swedish junior team today for the gold. The final score was 3-2 in OT; congratulations Juniors! I knew they'd win so I didn't really follow the games, but apparently they had only lost one game during the tournament.

A reminder that the New Hampshire Primaries are in 3 days. This is Franny, good night and good luck.

The Aftermath

Every major news outlet is still talking about the Iowa caucuses that, in case you missed it, happened yesterday. Many are shocked at how well Obama did because 90+% of Iowa is caucasian and the majority that voted were women. He did well amongst all people: women, those under 30, independents. The more shocking news is the increase in Democratic voters, up 90% since 2004. This is a sure sign that people are looking for change and Obama appears to be the candidate for them.

Huckabee, as well as Obama, is riding strong into New Hampshire. Even though polls place him at around 10%, those were taken before his win in Iowa. If what people believe is true, then the win in Iowa will propel him up the polls in New Hampshire. The two enjoying the top spot right now are Mitt Romney and John McCain. Some polls say they're at a tie but others are saying that McCain is sitting as sole leader. Some are saying that if Romney doesn't come out on top in New Hampshire, his campaign will struggle the rest of the way, which will cause him to lose the Republican nomination.

A name that hasn't been mentioned in a long time is that of Rudy Giuliani. He ditched Iowa early since he knew he wouldn't fair well at all, but is New Hampshire treating him well? Nope. He is bottoming out in every poll and isn't expected to do well in any of the caucuses/primaries until Floridy and maybe the February 5th ones. Is it too late for him? The national poll leader should be in panic mode right now and take a page out of Romney's book and change his stance on something so the attention could be turned back to him. Or, he could stop threatening the American people by basically telling them to vote for him or a repeat of 9/11 will happen.

This isn't 'real' news, but it's 'entertainment' news. I, at one point, did wish to pursue that path, but right now, it's way too repetitive. Britney Spears has lost custody of her children and is not allowed to see them for some time. She apparently refused to give her children back to 'K-fed' and even locked herself in a room with the youngest one. She was 'arrested' [and I use the quotes because she's not really in jail, just taken away from home] and will undergo some tests; mental ones I'm assuming.

I apologize for the short post today. I have been fussing over an essay that I waited too long to do. Franny out [yes, I used something from Ryan Seacrest]. Good night, and good luck [to me].

The beginning has begun

The Iowa caucuses are here! The voting is about an hour in and the results are as expected: close. Republicans Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are head to head for first place. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are head to head for first place. Keep in mind that this is only about an hour into voting. My predictions of Romney and Edwards are still in the running [one more so than the other].

UPDATE:

Edwards 30%

Clinton 29%

Obama 38%

From NBC News: Projects Barack Obama as winner of Iowa Democratic Caucus

Huckabee 34%

Romney 25%

Thompson 13%

From NBC News: Projects Mike Huckabee as winner of Iowa Republican Caucus

Some information I have collected so far:

- Iowa has 7 electoral votes

- 130,000 Democrats are expected to vote tonight; 80,000 Republicans are expected to vote tonight

- 2.75 million Iowans are not caucusing tonight

- 737,000 Iowans are independent/undecided

- Ad money in Iowa: Obama 9 mil. Clinton 7.2 mil.; Romney 7 mil. Huckabee 1.4 mil.

- In 2000, Al Gore won in Iowa; In 2004 George W. Bush won in Iowa

Now that NBC has said that Mike Huckabee is the winner for the Republicans, let's look to New Hampshire. Romney had taken obvious damage since he's spent so much more money in Iowa and not winning. Even though McCain placed fourth in Iowa, it doesn't matter in New Hampshire because he has a solid lead. January 8th is the date to look at now that Iowa has passed.

The race is still tight for the Democrats. Obama, Edwards, and Clinton are literally toes ahead and behind each other. But, the end has [almost] arrived. Barack Obama has been projected as the winner for the Democrats. This is a big push for Obama and well deserved. He has spent 9 million in Iowa and, unlike Romney, every dollar was worth it. Edwards and Clinton are still very close for second place with Edwards only a few votes ahead of Clinton.

My predictions did not win, but Romney did place second and Edwards could very well place second.

The Iowa caucuses were very exciting indeed and now my eyes water from watching and reading so much coverage. January 8th will be the next date for the caucuses in New Hampshire. Franny is out [like a light].

UPDATE: The beginning marked the end for two candidates. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd both Democrats have dropped out of the race. Dodd receiving 0% and Biden 1% in Iowa ended their bid for the presidency altogether even though this is the beginning. More candidates are expected to be dropping within the next few caucuses/primaries.

Apologies for the misinformation. Mike Gravel has not dropped out.

All about the Iowa

It's time [almost]. The Iowa caucuses are tomorrow and the polls are still tight. The only real change is that Huckabee is now about 5-6 points ahead of Romney. Giuliani actually made a smart move by leaving Iowa early and moving on to New Hampshire where he may still have a chance [though I doubt it because McCain is looking pretty good there].

Moving on quickly, the late-night shows have returned. Both Letterman and O'Brien are sporting beards [white and flaming red if you were curious =P]. I don't know if that's supposed to symbolize something, but it's funny to look at. All the shows showed support for their striking writers [or in Letterman's case, the striking writers because he has his back]. Huckabee apparently didn't know about the strike and didn't know he wasn't allowed to cross. He did anyway and even played some of his music. I don't know if he gained or lost voters, but either way, his appearance was...something. HIllary Clinton also made an appearance  on Letterman's show by introducing it back on-air. Though it was very obvious that there was a lot of time filling on the NBC shows. O'Brien was spinning his wedding band on the table while Leno asked the audience questions. The shows have definitely changed, but hopefully when the strike ends, everything will be back to normal.

The very good news is that Keith Olbermann is back in his anchoring chair doing a very good job. David Shuster also made an appearance, which I very much enjoyed. Oh, Joe Scarborough appeared on Hardball, which was nice as well. I like all my Msnbc boys to be together. Yes, I'm weird that way. This may be old news, but Joe and David had a disagreement on waterboarding [which I take the side of David by the way] so they  may not like each other so much. Trouble in Msnbc paradise? I blame Tucker because he wasn't there so David had to fill in and this is how it all started. I should write a story about Msnbc drama, how [exciting/boring] would that be?

Nothing else from me today because I am worn out and have to clean my room tomorrow [so weird eh...]. I did watch Charlie Wilson's War today though and it was amazing. Go see it if you haven't.

This is Franny. Good night. [very short, I like it =P]

EDIT: Just an add on. Oil hit $100 per barrel shortly today although it ended slightly lower. everyone expected this to happen but not so soon.

First day of 2008

I don't have much time to blog so I'll get right down to it. Iowa caucuses are in two days and the candidates in both the Republican and the Democratic parties have situated themselves nicely in Iowa. Their task is to appeal to the masses as much as they can and it's been more difficult as the days are ticking. The top three Democratic candidates are all within margin of errors although Obama is currently in the lead over Clinton and Edwards who are pretty much tied at second place. Romney had previously been leading Huckabee but it's really going back and forth. Looking a little bit more into the future, New Hampshire is coming up and of what I know, John McCain is leading for the GOP. I don't know about the Democrats, but I'm assuming a pretty close race between the three.

In other news, much violence has broken out in Kenya due to the recent elections. The Kibaki, the current government, was re-elected with 51.3% over the 48.7% for the Odinga. Close to 200 people have been killed in an area that have not faced such chaos in a long time. A church was burned with refugees inside, killing adults and children in the flames. Even though it's a close election, the victor has been declared and the people must comply. It will take awhile before the opposition can accept the facts, but the police are hoping they'll stop the violence before the enforcement takes it into their own hands to do so.

Much controversy has been surrounding the death of Benazir Bhutto and news reports has not been slowing down. Before her death, she had stated that if anything were to happen to her, it would be Musharraf's fault. Now, another 'before her death' report has her warning the Americans about the elections. She claimed that there was a plot to rig the parliamentary elections, but was killed before she could tell the US representatives.

Another much debated topic is the election itself. talks have been postponed multiple times about whether or not the elections in Pakistan will be postponed. It is speculated that the elections will be moved at least a month due to the death of Bhutto. Many believe it is a ploy by the Musharraf government to gain whatever they are trying to gain.

On a lighter note, the late-night show hosts will be returning tomorrow night. I'm particularly excited because there really is nothing to watch that late in the night and I really need tv at that time. I still support the WGA, but the hosts have to do what they have to do or they'll face consequences as well. I just hope nothing really changes for the hosts or the audiences.

Brian Williams was back today doing his anchor duties, which was very enjoyable for me. I just wish Keith Olbermann will be back soon as well. About the Nightly News tonight, I usually try to catch the eastern one first, then reabsorb everything from my time zone. But tonight, I only caught the sign off from the eastern show, and Brian, maybe due to his many days off, made a stutter on one of his words. He recovered just fine of course, so I didn't do much but let out a tiny laugh. When I watched it again, I was waiting for his mistake so I can get another small chuckle. BUT they changed it! He made no stutter! Either I went crazy, or they re-taped that part of the west coast. I forgive him though, but I doubt many people watch it twice to catch corrected mistakes. Only I am that pathetic =)

I'm too lazy to think of a cool sign off, so I will go with one I've already used. I'm Franny of Franny's News of the Day. Good night, and good luck.