Folks, just a quick update on the supposed results of Super Tuesday.
The media reports of Biden suddenly being ahead of Sanders by 60 delegates are true—from a certain point of view. What is missing is this. 290 delegates are still in play and not assigned to either guy.If you gave all remaining delegates to the candidate that currently leads in that state, Sanders is ahead by two. Biden would have 685 to Sanders with 687. Due to proportional assignment this won’t be the outcome but Bernie is not out of this yet… except…
What is going on with Pocahontas? Will she stay or will she go? Coming in third in your home state is usually an automatic sign to “pack it in” but this is politics. Will Warren stay in as the spoiler to Sanders chances or will she step aside and let the geriatric gents duke it out?
For a Party claiming to represent diversity to come down to the two oldest white guys in the race, it just illustrates the farce of Democrat image versus reality. Lest you think this is an accident, how was it that Jerry Brown has severed two terms as Governor of California in two successive centuries? Do you see a pattern? Power is pried from their cold, dead hands, and only reluctantly.
California votes will take so long to count that even though he won, Sanders will not be helped. The magnitude of his actual victory will probably not even get reported by the media as relevant because they will have moved on to the next shiny object long before the count is completed.
The media loves the drama of the horserace and the dream of beating Trump but somehow I think that the script will not go as planned.
Once Warren exits, stage left, Trump will be the youngest candidate in the race.
However this goes, the Presidential debates this fall will be entertaining; probably the best since Carter v Reagan.
Note: The Chief sent me this post midafternoon yesterday but I didn’t have a chance to get this posted until the following day. — Editor
I wrote this past Friday that the Democrats have a Bernie problem. The problem isn’t so much his electability it’s the down ticket that matters. Bernie is popular in some core constituencies but deeply unpopular in others. The Democrats realized that and I have to give them credit for heeding my warnings. After Hidin’ Biden won big in South Carolina, his only decent showing to date, Tom Steyer dropped out. The following day Mayor Pete decided to drop out, and the “Klob-Butcher” dropped out and flew to Texas Monday to appear with and endorse “Hidin’ Biden.”
My initial reaction was that was odd, as Mayor Pete had actually shown quite well leading up to South Carolina, and had been tied with Bernie in the delegate race! The Klob-Butcher was actually starting to gain traction and the more friendly mid-western states were up next…so I was equally shocked by this. Just seemed like a lot of unnecessary dominoes fell instantly, almost like this thing is being rigged again?
Here is my hypothesis, somebody likely a Clinton appointee showed the DNC Bernie’s polling numbers in areas outside of academia and spooked the entire party. I’m sure campaign debt was paid off (also an opinion shared by the Blog Father) and suddenly…..wham Mayor Pete and Amy jump on the Biden campaign. I say suddenly because when you run for president, your campaign has rallies planned all over the place, on a given day you may visit 3 different states all in different time zones. I find it hard to believe these 2 just folded up the circus tents and jumped on Biden. Additionally I am not surprised on Steyer dropping out, he had a Jeb! One state strategy and it horribly backfired, as of writing I do not believe he has endorsed, only saying they need to beat Trump. Bloomberg I expect drops out after tonight, pending a bigger showing than I think. That would leave Biden, Bernie and Warren, the latter being key to rigging the election.
In essence, Warren and Sanders are competing for the same 40% or so of voters, if you believe like we do that if one dropped out, the supporters would vote for the other, as on policy neither differs that much. Warren needs to stay in, and likely got a promise to wipe out her campaign debt after she drops out. This sets up Biden to try to capture Bernie’s share + “x” and beat Bernie, in every state that remains, and allow him to pick up more delegates. Think back to 2016, Trump always got his 30-34% of the vote in each state, with Cruz and Kasich flopping 2nd and 3rd place finishes allowing Trump to continue winning states and an increasing delegate lead. Neither candidate would drop out, and eventually Trump got enough delegates to earn the nomination.
Here we are today, the eve of the “Super Tuesday” election primary and it’s going to get wild tonight. I say that because millions of folks have already voted, and the votes cannot be changed. Look for some wild finishes tonight, remember if a candidate gets above 15% they win delegates even if no longer in the race. Amy could well win Minnesota, Pete should do well in the mid-west states. Bloomberg is an absolute wild card in all of this, if he does well and presses on, it will be a brokered convention. The key is he needs to drop out ASAP and get behind Biden, because again, more and more states vote in the next few weeks, and his name is still on the ballot! Bernie is very aware this is happening, actually he is one of the most self-aware candidates remaining. He knows he has to ramp it up, and look for him to attack Biden big on the stump, as he knows Biden’s voters are not “hard support” like he enjoys from his voters. The key tonight is to watch Warren, if she drops out, Bernie’s chances of winning go exponentially higher, if she does not, Bernie knows this thing is rigged again, just like the last one.
My only words of advice: be very careful with Bernie’s supporters, the worst look possible is a smoke filled convention, with Bernie leading his folks out like the Pied Piper. If this plays out the way I think it will, Bloomberg, Biden, and Bernie in a smoke filled room, Biden will get routed at the polls and the Democrats could be looking at a super minority. Bloomberg can only buy off so many people.
Stay tuned,
Chief
Bernie Baby
Editor’s Note: I agree with Chief that it is unusual for so many people to drop out of the race the day before Super Tuesday. These folks have campaigned for almost two years to get to this point in the election—remember there were once 24 candidates in the field—and now the day before the Olympics of politics they all drop out??? What happened to the brokered convention? Clearly somebody connected with Clinton or Obama organizations dropped a dime on the candidates in the race. Also, if Biden is so great for blacks, why is it that no black candidates were part of the last minute endorsement or campaign blitz? Where are Harris, Booker, etc.?
Just a quick note on Mike Bloomberg’s campaign for President. Mike has reportedly spent close to half a billion dollars (~$500 million for folks in Rio Linda) yet I have not seen a single ad for his campaign. Not on radio, television, or the Internet! How can this be? Where is all that money going?
Truthfully, I think the answer is that Bloomberg’s pockets are being picked by his political consultants. It’s not unusual that consultants get as much as 15 percent of whatever the candidate spends. Bloomberg is also paying extra for media buys since many people want to advertise and there are only so many slots. In economic terms, demand is higher than supply so the supplier can pick their price for their product. As a result, “Mini” Mike is not getting much bang for his buck.
While I vote Conservative, I’m registered as having No Party Preference (NPP)—the second largest political block in California—yet I have not heard from any candidates other than President Trump. The County Clerk has offered me the opportunity to vote in one of four party primaries—none of which was Republican—so in theory I could vote for “Mini” Mike, or Crazy Bernie. About 30 percent of California is NPP and yet nobody is reaching out to us. I vote in every election so frankly I’m surprised.
Thus far, Bloomberg is not getting his money’s worth; however, there is one area that I expect he may drop even more funds. I think Mike will make candidates an offer that many can’t refuse; namely, I look for him to offer to pay campaign debts of those that drop out in exchange for their endorsement of his campaign and pledge of their delegates. I will qualify this idea by acknowledging that this might hinge on the outcome of Super Tuesday.
For a guy that’s supposed to be this big shot billionaire, Bloomberg is more out of touch than Biden or anyone else. He also has a deficit in charisma and personality and no amount of money can fix that.
H. Ross Perot–a Presidential candidate that was all ears
Bloomberg really makes me miss Ross Perot. Perot was entertaining to watch and had a much larger following than Mike ever will.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg, which is apparently pronounced Boot Edge Edge…I prefer Booty Judge due to obvious reasons but I digress. Ignoring his obvious homosexual tendencies (as in Seinfeld not that there’s anything wrong with that) he is a confirmed sociopath and not electable. Allow me to make my case.
Exhibit A: How he eats a cinnamon roll.
Just look at that, that’s a crime against humanity.He apparently unrolls his cinnamon roll like a crazy person, and proceeds to cut it up, and eat it like a chicken wing. Literally, he is not electable. Almost as bad as his next culinary fallacy. I still recall President Donald J Trump telling his young son Baron, cut up the pancake and take small bites while on the campaign trail, apparently Booty Judge took it literally.
Exhibit B: Mayor Pete likes to mix salsa and ranch together to form a secret sauce.
Pictured: Most Reverend Alfredo Sharpton and Mayor Pete praying their sacrifice may be accepted to which ever god they believe in. Sharpton had just washed the blood of his hands from a local BLM demonstration, Mayor Pete fresh off filling the number 2 hole.
Seriously what kind of crazy person mixes salsa and ranch together? Only a completely out of touch Mayor. He literally said this last week:
“I realize this might become one of my most controversial statements,” says the first openly gay Presidential candidate. “But you gotta understand, where I come from, we’re not purists about these things. Obviously, salsa is salsa and ranch is ranch, but if somebody’s gonna mix ‘em up, I’m not above dipping a tortilla chip in it and enjoying the mix of flavors.”
Umm so I guess were calling that piece of genitalia a tortilla chip now? Wild move.
In closing, this guy is guilty of pre-crime your honor. Let’s arrest him for something before we read about him have a ton of bodies buried in his back yard. What kind of crazy person eats their cinnamon roll like a chicken wing, and who the heck thinks salsa and ranch together makes a decent combination?
MacQue’s is a local family owned BBQ joint which recently expanded into Elk Grove, from their humble beginnings in South Sacramento. The joint is located right by a freeway, so it has prime real estate. Being born in the Deep South, I am a big BBQ guy. Frankly I consider BBQ a basic food group. I’ve previously reviewed two BBQ places on this blog during my employment here, just to remind you, one of which is no longer with us. William said the first lady, and child went and weren’t impressed. I figured that was why my reimbursement request was denied for this place…alas here goes.
Ambiance: This place really isn’t that big. If memory serves correct, it was a former Mexican restaurant and florist which was reconstituted to be an Arby’s/MacQue’s, and Golden 1 ATM. It had some nice flare to it, a little homage to BBQ, but not much about their local roots. This was puzzling to me because younger folks have shunned chain places and a growing number of people are willing to pay a little more for a local joint, especially a family owned one! You order at the counter similar to a fast-casual joint, and it was a disorganized mess. 1.2/5
Food: Typical BBQ faire, ham, pork, tri-tip, brisket, chicken, ribs, and homemade links. It reminded me of Dickey’s or Side Burn (RIP), because you could order combo’s, sandwiches, etc. The sides were consistent with any other BBQ joint. I asked the cashier, who doubled as the owner, what the best thing on the menu was, he stated the “Link Trio.” It was priced at $14.99. He claimed the links were all made in house from a special recipe and I could choose 3! I obliged. He said it comes with a chicken Louisiana link, a hot link, and a house made link. When I asked what choice, I got…he responded you want the house made link to be mild or hot…. I ordered hot. He recommended I try the house made kettle chips, and the mac n cheese, I obliged. You pay, take a seat and wait…. wait…. wait…. wait… and guess what? More waiting.
MacQue’s Mac ‘n Cheese
About 20 minutes later the food was out. I figured it has to be good…. nope. The Mac wasn’t bad, mostly because, as William said in his review, it was not drowning in cheese. The kettle chips were very stale, like expired 3 weeks ago stale, even though the owner claimed they were being freshly cooked…yikes. But wait it gets worse. The homemade links…. literally trash. They had a vinegar and pasty-like dry taste. Sausage shouldn’t taste this way, all three were awful, like I threw away half of it.0.5/5
MacQue’s Sausage 3 ways–all bad
Overall: Yikes, this was horrible. I guess there is a reason it shares a parking lot with an Arby’s and a Big Lots, it was awful.Actually, KFC may be the best food in the shopping center which isn’t saying much. First get your employees to grab a bag of Kettle Brand Chips, hit ’em with some seasoning and claim they are yours own, at least they would suck a little less. The sausage…woof, drop from menu, it tasted like the rations provided by the government calledSoylent Green. Trust me your sausage is just like that movie…straight to DVD.0.7/5
For a far better use of your money, light it on fire, or flush down nearest toilet.
And OMG the waste. I literally filled up a dumpster with all the plastic that came with my meal…. the folks in Davis and Berkeley have never been so triggered.
Yep, I’ll get to the audio tape in a minute but wow. Folks Kirk is a lifelong Republican. Lest you doubt me, I call as my key witness Aaron F. Park—Uhler’s 2020 campaign manager.
On December 17, 2019, Park wrote:
Some people on the Placer GOP Cent Com were trying to defeat Kirk Uhler, even though Kirk was the endorsed candidate of the Placer Cent Com. I think several of them did not know Kirk and may well have been following Tom Hudson and Suzanne Jones’ lead. Deborah Jackson and Ken Campbell, both former officers in the Placer GOP, actually showed up as a donor to Viktor Bekhet against the Republican Kirk Uhler, writing checks to Bekhet while sitting members of the Placer GOP.
Ok, lots to unpack here but Park is a Placer County Republican operative that runs a pay-to-play blog that is part of his personal campaign operation. He has a checkered track record. Park will routinely trash someone leading up to an election and if his guy should loose, once the winner writes Park a large enough check, Aaron dutifully purges his website of offending material and will then go all in on his new patron. My advice to Park watchers is go to Archive dot org (also known as Way Back Time Machine) and archive the crap out of his writings so he can’t cover his tracks so easily. Do it now, before election day.
Aaron and Kirk’s relationship goes way back as we have chronicled on this blog. When Park calls Uhler a Republican in the above quote, please trust that this is the case. However, not all is happy and harmonious in the last Republican area of California. Park and his allies are arrayed not just against Democrats but fellow Republicans.
Aaron and George Park we once business partners and political allies with Tom Hudson (also mentioned in the above quote) long before Uhler came along but in recent years, Aaron often takes shots that are harsh on Hudson and in my opinion beyond what civilized people who call themselves “Christian” should say on their blog. Tom and Aaron were fellow travelers for many years, but Tom has the good sense not to excavate all their past deeds. Aaron likes to weaponize things in Hudson’s personal life and then beat him mercilessly with them to score cheap points against his onetime friend.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have occasionally been on Aaron’s good side in the past but over time his methods were such that I could no longer associate myself with him.
There are two kinds of folks in Aaron’s world, his friends and everyone else.I think many people that he goes after on his blog were once his fellow travelers or potential allies but for a variety of reasons, they disagreed with him on some issue and then became targets of his ire. I think that is true of all the people that he attacked in the above quote except Victor Bekhet— Suzanne Jones, Deborah Jackson, and Ken Campbell are all Republicans active in Placer County.
Anyway, Republican Kirk Uhler is currently robocalling registered Democrats in Placer County, asking for their vote while attacking his opponent as a divisive Republican. Folks, you can’t make this stuff up.
Here’s the transcript and the audio link.
This is Rob Haswell, lifelong Placer County resident and former regional director of the California Democratic Party. With an important message for fellow Democrats.
I am asking you to vote to re-elect Kirk Uhler for Placer County Supervisor on March third. In assisting local Democratic elected officials over the years, I have worked with Kirk on a number of issues that matter to most of us. Kirk has addressed traffic problems impacting our quality of life, he has focused on the real threat of catastrophic wildfires and has lead Placer County’s effort to adopt groundbreaking conservation plan.
His opponent is vice-chairman of the Placer County Republican Party, one of the most divisive and partisan organizations in the county. She is trying to hide that fact, don’t be fooled.
Please join me in supporting Kirk Uhler for Placer County Supervisor.
Paid for by Kirk Uhler for Supervisor.
Audio Kirk Uhler Robocall by Rob Haswell
So as is usual, the pot is calling the kettle black. Based on this transcript, it is Kirk Uhler that is trying to hide the fact that he is a Republican by pretending to be a Democrat. Folks this is classic Aaron Park in action. Since Aaron claims to be Uhler’s campaign manager, I’m happy to give him credit for this charade.
Folks, Republicans in California have very little reason to go to the polls on March third. There are no Republicans on the ballot in most parts of the State and Trump is the nominee, but Democrats do have more of a reason to vote.
From a strategic point, it makes sense to get Democrat votes when running for a nonpartisan office but to do so by calling your own Party’s Central Committee WHICH HAS ENDORSED YOU“one of the most divisive and partisan organizations in the county” is over the top.
If Republicans are dissing their own Party to get support for a nonpartisan office in the last remaining Republican stronghold in California, then I would conclude that Kirk Uhler and Aaron Park have made a dumpster fire in their own backyard.
