Obama '08?

Hey, we're a country where movie mavens has more public interest than our politics. Quit being so hard on Americans.

Although we reported on October 14th, that Andy Martin was considering entering the Senate race in Illinois as of today his FEC filings still reflect that he is running for Senate in Florida. However, his website says that he is running for Senate in Illinois and he filed his signature petitions with the Illinois State Board of Elections this Monday.

Martin has a storied history including multiple Senate and Presidential runs. He drew national attention during the 2000 Presidential Race when he ran an ad accusing Bush of taking cocaine:

ANDY MARTIN, REPUBLICAN FOR PRESIDENT: George Bush had a cocaine problem. His brain suffered from alcohol abuse. Don't trust Bush with your vote until he trusts you with the truth about his past. Bush wants to regulate the Internet because he is angry at the Web site gwbush.com. He wants to bomb Iraq. Bush is dangerous, and he wants to be president.

He verbally sparred with FOX News Bill O'Reilly over the ad. O'Reilly called it, "the most unfair political ad I have ever seen in my 25 years of political reporting." Martin responded by saying he would run the ad everywhere in the country and that he would beat President Bush.

Martin's website states the following about his military experience:

Andy comes from a family with four generations of clandestine and special operations service. He is a member of The Special Forces Club (U.K.) and an associate member of the Special Forces Association. He has been associated with Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia and South Viet-Nam.

He came back from Iraq in April and held a press conference in New York where he claimed he found Saddam:

On April 30, 2003, I held a New York news conference at which I said Saddam was in Baghdad. This was based on my extensive original research, including the use of local Baghdad dogs (called affectionately the Royal Baghdad Canine Constabulary).

My prediction on April 30th is a matter of record. Subsequent events have proven me correct. The U.S. government is finally paying some attention. Almost two months after I first investigated bomb craters for evidence of Saddam's death, the American military replicated my research. July 9th the New York Post reported Special Forces troops were searching downtown Baghdad, close to where I had originally pinpointed Saddam's location. My investigative efforts and April 30th prediction have been fully confirmed and vindicated.

Throughout his press releases he claims to be the following, "military security and intelligence consultant and a specialist in cyber war tactics," a "respected voice in America's intelligence community," and the host of "Andy Martin's America" and Out2.com column which are "are fulcrums of foreign policy debate, political analysis and contemporary commentary on the Internet."

He also states that he was assistant to former Illinois U.S. Senator Paul H. Douglas, and that he was known as a maverick that fought Daley Machine corruption and helped light the fire that led to Operation Greylord. Martin is a graduate of the University of Illinois and U.I. College of Law.

His press releases include the following statements:

Sharon is the 'new Hitler.' He is a bloodthirsty murderer who kills without conscience. Israel has become a pariah nation under his leadership; not one nation in the world supports Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people.

Ariel Sharon is becoming the Adolph Hitler of the 21st century," says Martin. "He slaughters human beings for sport, while his demented mind slips slowly into societal madness."

I have asked President Bush to ban travel by Americans to Israel," says Martin. "The recent tragedy in Jerusalem, and former President Clinton's offer to 'carry a rifle for Israel' mandate emergency restraint by the U.S. Government.

I favor abolition of child support and reinstatement of Victorian
principles of divorce. The parent who can support the kids gets custody.

A news story out of the New Times Broward-Palm Beach written July 31, 2003 said this of Martin:

Martin, of course, is mad. Quite mad. He's an enigma wrapped in a riddle who probably should be wrapped in a straitjacket. The would-be senator is one of the most prolific and compulsive lawsuit filers in the United States, a first-class shadow-dwelling fugitive from justice, and a perennial also-ran political candidate whose stance on the issues has changed about as often as Michael Jackson's proboscis.
Martin claims his English grandfather fought with T.E. Lawrence against the Turks before joining a British military intelligence unit and disappearing for good.

The Illinois Supreme Court, however, refused to admit him to the bar, pointing to a military psychiatric exam that allegedly found him to have personality defects that include delusions involving both paranoia and grandeur.

Obama projected winner in South Carolina
Economy remained top concern; half of electorate was black

NBC News and news services
updated 6 minutes ago
COLUMBIA, S.C. - NBC News declared Sen. Barack Obama as the projected winner in South Carolina's Democratic primary.

Obama won South Carolina by a substantial margin, with Hillary Rodham Clinton running second and John Edwards third, NBC reported.

Obama reached out for victory over Clinton in a racially charged primary, a prelude to the Feb. 5 coast-to-coast competition for more than 1,600 national convention delegates.

Clinton campaign strategists denied any intentional effort to stir the racial debate. But they said they believe the fallout has had the effect of branding Obama as "the black candidate."

By week's end, one poll indicated that Obama's support among whites in the state had dropped sharply, a danger sign for him in the rush of primaries and caucuses that begins on Feb. 5.

Barack Obama wins South Carolina, CNN projects

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/26/sc.primary/index.html

Butrflynet wrote:

Barack Obama wins South Carolina, CNN projects

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/26/sc.primary/index.html

Yes. With 0% of precincts reporting.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#SC

How do they do that?