Super Tuesday Super Post

By Robin Marty
Tuesday, February 05, 2008 at 8:37 am

Today, nearly half of the country will have a chance to weigh in on who should be the parties’ nominees for president. Tonight, starting at 8 p.m., Minnesota Monitor will be providing live results and feedback on local and national stories via CoverItLive, an interactive liveblogging program that will offer a more participatory experience for both us and our commentors.

Until then, you will find all news, tidbits, and other stories right in this post, which will be updated all throughout the day.

Updates begin after the jump…

(image from Wikipedia)9:00 am — local bloggers start to weigh in:

At Centrisity:

The Republicans have had over 7 years in the White House, and controlled both legislative houses early on. They have shown they do not have the judgment necessary to lead this country, in fact, their decision have created a tumultuous environment not only economically, but globally as well. I may agree with them on the 2nd amendment, and fiscal restraint, on public funding options and the War on terror. But support on those issues aren’t enough to allow them to remain in control of the White House. There is a lot more to this race then personal preference on a handful of issues. We have internationally healing that needs to take place, and economy to save, and an education system to salvage. The GOP has shown they just aren;t up to it, so it is time to put the grown-ups back in charge.

9:30 am — Via Polinaut, Pawlenty is being introduced around as being on McCain’s short list” for VP candidates. Governor Molnau anyone?

A Norwegianity reader send him this email:

Our house just got a phone call (real person, according to Wife) from -supposedly- Obama ’08, informing us to caucus at a different location than S.o.S. Mn. The number was local (612) so I tried to call back. Phone rings to the answering service for Meyers Assc. Have you heard about anyone else being redirected to caucus locations?
==

If you’ve had this issue as well, or any other strange pre-caucus experience, we’d like to hear from you.
RM

10:00 am — James Lileks’s daughter supports Hillary, Lileks threatens to not take her to Disney World.

From our sister site, The Washington Independent, how will early voting effect the outcome in California?

In California, the super-strong Service Employees International Union had endorsed Edwards. But after some nudging from Ted Kennedy, it’s now supporting Obama.
This-and other recent developments-could all matter less than we think. Some 2.5 million early ballots have already been returned in California, and just 50-60 percent of ballots in the state are expected to actually be cast on Feb. 5.
Early voting is a factor in other states, too. Anybody want a do-over?

And Smart Politics will also be liveblogging results, with one blog for each of the 24 participating states. That’s sounds like a ton of work, and we are happy to let them do it… RM

12:00 pm — More from the Norwegianity reader:

I called the number for Meyer Assc. back this morning- actually spoke to someone too- telling me that “it must have been a mistake” to give me the Republican caucus location. The person didn’t seem to be too concerned about it though. Next call was to the S.o.S- all I could do was leave a message. I called Obamas local HQ, the volunteer had heard of some similar calls and initially thought it was due to an ill informed volunteer caller. When I informed him that this was a professional marketing firm he got quite excited and went to talk to the higher ups. I got the impression that Obama isn’t using a professional calling service.

More blogger endorsements, as Hal Kimball, Jambo,Gary, Mitch and Michael weigh in.

Did you know you can challenge a person’s right to caucus for your party? I didn’t, either.

And the Uptake has some video from an Obama and a Romney rally. RM

1:30 pm — Is the Minnesota caucus a disaster waiting to happen? Dave Mindeman thinks so:

As we approach the zero hour for caucuses, my confidence in the ability of the DFL structure to maintain an orderly process has approached absolute zero.
The public message is …everybody come…. with little thought regarding “how many can we process in an hour and a half”. That is a question that needed to be addressed long ago, but that ship has sailed.
Because the caucus dates were moved up, school facilities did not have the time to change their regularly scheduled activities. Normal caucus procedures needed to be altered to accomodate a “binding” presidential poll. And there has never been a test of the new registration method…..(which might have worked great in regular caucus years, but this year is nowhere near regular).
So, be prepared for some frustration and lines and confusion.
And be prepared for a late night for posting results. Good luck, DFL, you will need it!

More kids weigh in on the presidential race. My baby, in case you are wondering, will just vote like I tell her to…

Some folks are so excited they just can’t wait to vote. Too bad their state isn’t voting today.

2:15 pm — First results are in, and Mike Huckabee has won West Virginia’s delegates.

Wondering where feminists stand on the Obama v Clinton fight? Here’s the roundup.

Speaking of which, Hillary Clinton has agreed to a Fox News Democratic debate.

National Review Online calls us hopelessly complicated.

2:36 p.m. If you’re interested in minimalist anti-Clinton ads, BoingBoing has you covered.

JKF

2:41 p.m. Barack Obama holds an early lead in at least one of the states up for grabs today: Democrats Abroad, which sends 22 delegates to the national convention. The delegation is made up of Democrats who live outside the U.S. Obama received early support from Democrats living in Indonesia, where Obama spent part of his childhood.

JKF

3:03 pm — Want to talk huge? Tonight’s results will be billboard huge. From our inbox:

Minnesota caucus results to be displayed tonight on digital billboards
If you’re out and about on the road tonight, you will have a new way to stay updated on Minnesota’s caucus results.
Starting at 8 p.m., Clear Channel Outdoor’s 16 digital billboards located throughout the Twin Cities will display results from Minnesota’s DFL and Republican caucuses.
This effort is in partnership with KMSP Fox 9 News to help people stay up-to-date on Super Tuesday as Minnesota caucus goers make their decisions.

3:23 pm — Google Maps + Twitter + Super Tuesday= This.

Just popped up: FrankVanRad in Minneapolis tweets:

Ugh, local republican caucus is at my alma mater. Maybe that will convince them to fund education given the school’s current sorry state.

3:43 pm — Warm weather in Georgia may make for a huge turnout.

4:43 pm — The Obamas vote: “It was close, but in the end I voted for Obama,” joked Sen. Barack Obama. “I still think Sen. Clinton is the favorite,” he said.

6:00 p.m. — First Democratic call of the night: Georgia for Obama. Not a surprise, as he’d been expected to do well.

GOP in Georgia is too close to call.

JKF

6:02 p.m. — Keeping an eye on the economy, sales of boxed Macaroni and Cheese are way up, and not just because of my daughter. The bad news? Well, box Macaroni and Cheese has never been known as the food of the rich, as anyone who’s heard the Barenaked Ladies’ hit “If I Had a Million Dollars” can tell you.

JKF

7:10 — report from caucuses. I just got a call from a goer in edina stating that there is a two mile line of cars trying to get into his caucus. our caucus is already at three times the 2004 turnout. RW