Here’s a twist: The woman who made Hillary Clinton tear up voted for Barack Obama a day later — because he’d made her cry.
Marianne Pernold Young, a 64-year-old freelance photographer, thought the policy talk was getting boring Monday at the New Hampshire coffee shop, so she asked Clinton: “As a woman, I know it’s hard to get out of the house and get ready. My question is very personal. How do you do it?†Clinton’s emotional, human response may have warmed some other voters’ hearts, but Young told the Los Angeles Times she disliked how Clinton “went right into political rhetoric again.†So Young voted Tuesday for Obama, whose oratory had her tearing up last weekend.
The nation’s slumping economy is now the No. 1 concern of voters, notes a Washington Post article. “The virtual halt in job growth, the climb of oil prices above $100 a barrel, the New Year’s stock market tumble and the continuing mortgage crisis have fueled fears of recession and crystallized the nation’s growing economic anxiety,†the article reports.
Exit polls in New Hampshire showed that the economy was the top concern of both Democratic and Republican primary voters.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke (in photo) talked of need for “decisive†action to head off the economic slump.
Expect the economy, jobs and health care to figure larger in the primary debate in coming weeks.
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More evidence that U.S. health care doesn’t stack up globally: In a new study, America ranked last among 19 industrialized nations — with France, Japan and Australia at the top — in timely treatment of preventable illness, a key indicator of the quality of a health care system. If America had the same quality system in place as the top countries, it would have 100,000 fewer deaths a year, the study said.
Researcher Ellen Nolte said the United States has good medical care for those who have access — but there’s the rub. About 47 million of America’s 300 million citizens don’t have health insurance.
Here are some interesting statistics: 46 percent of New Hampshire voters thought Barack Obama was the Democratic presidential candidate most likely to win in November, and 36 percent thought Hillary Clinton was. Yet, as we know, Clinton won the primary. So why did some people vote for a candidate they thought would be less likely to win? Because more than 50 percent of Democrats said that what was most important about a candidate was the ability to bring about needed change, and only 7 percent said it was “the best chance to win in November.â€
Of course, you can’t bring change unless you get elected. Still, it’s refreshing that voters went with their own priorities, rather than voting based on what they think others might do — especially when, as New Hampshire also showed, predictions of what voters will do aren’t always accurate.
Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, wants to extend the current three-year school finance plan by locking in another year of funding. She and Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, and Senate Vice President John Vratil, R-Leawood, are calling for a $65 million funding increase for the 2009-10 school year, or a 2.2 percent increase. That’s barely enough to cover inflation, state education officials say, and wouldn’t address low teacher salaries. But K-12 education spending must compete with other pressing budget demands. And if last month’s much-lower-than-expected state tax collections reflect a slowing economy, locking in a modest increase now may be better than holding out for a bigger increase later that may never come.
Here’s a twist: The woman who made Hillary Clinton tear up voted for Barack Obama a day later — because he’d made her cry.
