Sherri_Ly's Blog

It's time to kiss and make up.  Today Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama joined together in Unity, New Hampshire for a campaign event.  Clinton says it's time to "stand shoulder to shoulder" with each other... after going "toe to toe" in the democratic primary.

Can it be real?  Water under the bridge?  We'll see.  The problem for Obama is that some of Clinton's supporters may not swing his way even with Clinton vouching for him.  Clinton's supporters-- who are seeking experience-- are leaning more toward the GOP and John McCain. 

There's just a few months left and Obama is going to need Clinton's supporters.  Polls show Obama has a big lead but  just look at past elections.  Polls now don't always mean a lot and the race  between McCain and Obama may very well narrow come November.

Clinton supporters? Will you go to Obama or McCain?

Senator Hillary Clinton was minutes into her speech Tuesday night after the Wisconsin primary when the cable networks pulled the plug on her in favor of Senator Barack Obama and stayed on him for his entire 45 minute speech.

Seems to me Obama is playing political hardball.  Normally the unwritten etiquette on primary night is the loser speaks first, then after the loser is done the winner speaks.  Both candidates get equal time.  Obama had to know if he started to speak while Clinton was still on that he would kill her airtime on tv that night.  Clinton's campaign is steaming but some might say that's the way the game is played.  Is Obama giving the Clinton machine a taste of its own medicine?  Is the media playing favorites?  Should Obama have stuck to tradition and given Clinton her say before taking the stage?

I do think it was a bit underhanded but politics can be dirty sometimes and this race is starting to get ugly.

Tonight the gloves come off with the head to head debate between the two.  Can't wait to see the fireworks.

So much has been made of the caucus in Iowa-- the winners-- the losers.  By tonight we'll have the winners and losers in New Hampshire.  The winners typically gain momentum for future primaries.  But history has shown the winners in Iowa and New Hampshire don't always go on to win the nomination.

How will these two primaries affect your vote here in the DC area?  A FOX poll of likely voters in Virginia shows for 29% of people, the Iowa and NH contests would "somewhat" impact their vote, 65% "not at all", 3% "very much" and 3% "not sure."

However our poll also shows 44% don't believe the Viriginia Primary on February 12 will make a difference in who wins the presidential nomination.

Interesting that most people didn't feel Iowa and NH would affect their vote, yet they also feel like their vote really won't matter in the overall presidential nomination process.

Does today's NH primary matter to you?  Are you even watching it closely?  What does that mean when Virginia, Maryland and DC vote on February 12.

Congress headed home for the holiday finishing up some spending bills to keep the government running. They gave funding for the War in Iraq and yes there were billions of dollars in special earmarks for their favorite pet projects.

This Congress came in with many promises: to end the war in Iraq, provide health insurance to more poor children, improving energy policy and to reign in spending. 

So what's your take on the job Congress did in 2007?  Did they accomplish what they set out to do or at least make progress?  Or did they fail?  What do you expect in 2008?  History shows us less seems to get done in Presidential Election Years because everything gets mired in election politics or the just wait attitude for a new President.

I do love some of the pet projects I heard about tucked in the spending bills... Alaska gets money to fight rats.  Are the rats there any more potent than the ones in DC?  Maryland too got it's share... like money for growing coffee beans. Hmmm?  Do we really think the tropical climate in Maryland will put Juan Valdez out of business.

What's your two cents?

This weekend John McCain got a much needed boost for his campaign winning the endorsements of the Des Moines Register and the Boston Globe.  Could McCain become the "comeback  kid" of the 2008 election?  It could boost McCain's numbers among the important independent voters but the reality is the endorsement of what are considered more liberal newspapers won't help as much with conservative Republicans.

It does however breath some fresh air into McCain's campaign.  He's been forgotten over the past few months, mired in money problems, overtaken by Romney, Guiliani and now Huckabee.  Perhaps this is the lifeline McCain's campaign needs to resuscitate it.

Will it be enough or is McCain's campaign still in trouble?

Mitt Romney tried to answer his critics and voters concerned about his Mormon faith.  He reassured voters who perhaps believed his religious beliefs would dictate his public policy saying "Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church or that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions."

He went on to say that as president he would "serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause."  Romney spoke at great length about his respect for people of all faiths. At the same time he tried to appeal to Christian conservatives-- many who have raised concerns about his Mormonism-- by decrying attempts to completely remove God from our public life.

Romney even recalled John F. Kennedy's speech about his being Catholic.  It worked for JFK.  Will it work for Romney?  Do you think he would have talked about his religion if polls didn't show him dropping in Iowa?

Voters in Maryland, Virginia and DC may feel jilted during this presidential primary season.  The process is so frontloaded, 33 states will have had their democratic caucuses/primaries and 29 state will have republican caucuses/primaries before VA, MD, DC voters even go to the polls February 12.  If you add them all up... enough delegates will be up for grabs in those early contests that the nominees may be decided by then.

Political experts say these late primary states don't matter to the candidates because the votes essentially are irrelevant.  Do you see presidential candidates stumping for votes here?  No.  They do come by to  grab endorsements and collect cash at fundraisers but truly campaigning, you just don't see it here.

Why not have a national primary day or regional primaries that rotate every four years.  Why should a handful of states decided the nominee?  There has to be a better and more fair way to nominate the democratic and republican presidential candidates.

Will you go to the polls even if the nominees are decided?

John McCain is getting all kinds of flak for what he did not say when a woman at a campaign stop asked him "how do we beat the b****?"  The reference to Hillary Clinton drew laughs from the crowd.  But critics say McCain should have made it clear to his supporters that it was inappropriate to use that language in reference to Clinton.

Republicans and Democrats have attacked the presidential candidate.  McCain did say in his response "I respect Senator Clinton" but is that enough?  McCain's camp came back accusing CNN in particular of blowing things out of proportion.

What do you think?  I certainly think the woman's question was disrespectful.  I'm sure it took McCain off guard.  In reality I'm not sure how I would react if I were one of the candidates and someone asked me that question.  I would hope I would handle it appropriately but as they say "hindsight is 20/20."

In a straw poll of "values voters' done by the Family Research Council in conjunction with its summit this week here in Washington, D.C., Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee come out on top.

Huckabee was a close second... and too most of the votes from the conference.  Could the votes of Evangelical Christians make Huckabee a real contender.  Until now he's way behind in the polls but an endorsement like this in Republican circles could go a long way.

For Republicans who aren't happy with Romney or Giuliani, could Huckabee be the alternative they've been searching for in this election.  I'm not so sure.   But one thing's for sure... there's no doubt this will give Huckabee's campaign some steam. 

We hope you've noticed our efforts to bring you more political coverage in the past few months.  There are many different candidates and many issues important to our voters.  So I'm asking you to help us out here at FOX 5.

If you could ask the candidates any questions or their campaigns what would you like to know?  Ask anything and perhaps we'll try to get the answers for you on our air.

Want to know something personal?  Remember the Bill Clinton boxer or briefs question?

Want to know something about the issues? Immigration? Economy? 

Give it a shot and let us know your questions.

Barack Obama is in Prince George's County tonight courting votes and money.  What makes this such a big stop for Obama is Prince George's is the largest and wealthiest african american county in the nation.  He needs their support.

Strangely Obama is not "winning" the black vote.  Polls show he's neck and neck with Hillary Clinton among african american voters.  She and her husband President Bill Clinton have a history of strong support for black issues.  Voters I talked to say they like Obama but don't really know where he is on the issues.  Perhaps as they get to know him more their opinions will change.

Despite all of Obama's support, Hillary Clinton still shows a huge lead in national polls.  The lead is much slimmer in Iowa and New Hampshire.  Do you think Obama can overcome Clinton's lead?  Can he take the african american votes from Clinton?

One thing is for sure.  Obama will not be able to win on the black vote only.  Experts say he has to attract more blue collar voters.  Things can change quickly in politics and we've still got a few months before the first primary.

Rudy Giuliani went before the NRA today to try and convince everyone he is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, despite his record in support of gun control.  He sued the gun industry as Mayor of New York City and he's called the NRA extremist.

How do you explain your way out of that?  Let me say as someone who saw his entire speech today I don't think he did a very convincing job.  After telling everyone that his position wasn't going to change, that the right to bear arms is an important constitutional right he ended his speech by saying essentially that his position might change if something dramatic happened.  In that case he said he'd tell them.  If I was looking for something to solidify Giuliani as a gun rights advocate, I don't think that would convince me.

Giuliani is the frontrunner.  Thompson is on his tail.  There is still plenty of time in the primary season.  I don't think this race is anywhere close to over.

Giuliani did say people should remember to nominate someone who can "win", otherwise the democrats would take the White House back.  But given his performance today can he even win the Republican nomination?  Many NRA members we talked to weren't so sure and were equally unimpressed.

President Bush and the US Congress have reached new lows. A Reuters/Zogby poll just released says only 29% of Americans give Bush a positive rating and only 11% rated Congress positively.

It seems it's not just Republicans or just Democrats that Americans are dissatisfied with, it's BOTH. Bush is essentially a lame duck at this point and isn't getting much accomplished. Democrats on the other hand took the reigns of Congress and haven't gotten much accomplished either. If you look at polls before the mid-term elections I think many Americans voted Democrat in hopes they would end the war in Iraq. Yet things haven't changed.

There seems to be an overwhelming dissatisfaction with the "institution" itself. People seem tired of all the politics. My question is.. if we're not satisfied with BOTH parties then what choice is left?

Do you have a problem with Congress and the President? What can they do to improve their approval ratings?

Too many Americans don't have health insurance. Hillary Clinton just announced a plan for universal health care that would require people buy health insurance.   Its been explained that it would be just like the mandate for people to maintain car insurance.  I just wonder how you're going to make people buy health insurance.    I know many people can't afford health insurance but I also know people who can afford health insurance but don't buy it.  They just choose to buy things they want instead of budgeting money for health care.

I do understand medical insurance is very expensive these days.  Five years ago, my union health insurance plan provided free coverage to my family and I.  A year later the family benefit was taken away and not long after that everyone started paying.  Something should be done but is universal health care the answer?

World leaders come to the US to see our doctors.  Our pharmaceutical companies pioneer new drugs. Much of our innovation is based on a profit motive.  Will universal health care under a government mandate reduce our medical care system to socialized medicine?

What do you think?  Is Hillary's plan a good place to start?  Do you think it has a better chance today than the first time she tried?  Do you have a better solution?

Tonight President George Bush will address the nation.  He's expected to announce he will accept Gen. David Petraeus' recommendations for a gradual draw down of troops in Iraq.  The adminstration is hoping this will allow them more time for the troop surge to work.  

Only about 5,700 troops will come home by Christmas.  Yet many Americans want to see a larger faster drawdown.  This week, thousands of protestors will take to the streets of Washington, D.C. again.  With the growing discontent do you think the President's plan is enough?  Do you think the troop surge is working?  

I keep saying to myself, the one thing we know is that whatever the President's plan is, it's only going to affect Iraq policy for a little more than a year.  A new President will be elected and will ultimately create their own plans for Iraq.  At this point,  I think the future of Iraq is really dependent on who gets elected in 2008.

What do you think?