The news outlets are writing lots of material about Tuesday’s primary and how the various candidates are doing. It made me think about the calendar of primaries. I found it on NPR.

As you can see this is an exhaustive list. Unfortunately for most of the country the choice will be made before they get a chance to vote. I’m guessing that after all the primaries on February 5th (known as Super Tuesday) we’ll know who the nominees will be.

The winnowing has begun; today Bill Richardson withdrew from the race, though he didn’t endorse anyone. Look for more in the next few weeks.

As I’m reading the news about yesterday’s Iowa caucus, the process of winnowing the race has begun. Joe Biden has withdrawn from the race for the Democratic nomination. His web page has this note from his NH Chair, Jim Ryan:

Tonight, we witnessed a great man, a great American, and a great friend of mine fight a proud fight out in Iowa. He didn’t spend millions of dollars, he didn’t throw the mud, and when the dust settles tomorrow, nobody will question Senator Biden’s conviction, nobody will question his passion, nobody will question his experience, and nobody will question his integrity.

The problems that we faced at the beginning of the day are the same now. We need to get our troops out of Iraq responsibly, we need to change our policy towards Pakistan and ensure that nuclear weapons will not fall into the hands of terrorists, we need to make sure that our children have health care, that we fix No Child Left Behind so that we can actually educate our children and give teachers the support that they need, and that we restore America’s moral authority.

Senator Biden has stood entire life for those who didn’t have a voice, in his authoring of the Violence Against Women Act and his call for support for the countless victims of genocide in Bosnia under Milosevic.

I am proud to have had the opportunity to have come to know Senator Biden, to have worked with and to help shape the debate in this race.

Christopher Dodd also left the race, saying this:

I count the past year as one of the most rewarding in a career of public service. Unfortunately I am withdrawing from the campaign tonight. Thank you for all your efforts throughout the course of this entire Presidential campaign. I will be in touch.

Looking at the South Carolina primary web page I found a few minor Republican candidates and have added them.

As for Iowa, I have to say that I’m pleased to see Barack Obama win as he is the candidate I intend to vote for. Hillary Clinton finished third, behind John Edwards; I don’t think Edwards has a realistic chance of winning the nomination and this news has more to do with Hillary. I like Hillary now as I did when she was First Lady, but I worry that she is such a polarizing candidate that she will become a target in the general election. I’m also aware that this may continue the “Bush/Clinton/Bush” dynasties. On January 20, 2009 I hope to wave goodbye to the Bush family forever from the White House, and I wonder if a Hillary presidency will cause the Bush family to try to find another family member to win the Presidency back.

I’m also concerned with the idea that Mike Huckabee won. Truth be told there is no Republican candidate I would consider voting for but Huckabee worries me. He believes that creationism should be taught instead of science and I don’t think this will be good for the country. I’ll probably write more later.

I’m writing this at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time (9:30 p.m. in Iowa) and it appears that the winners are Barack Obama for the Democrats and Mike Huckabee for the Republicans. I’m writing this not to comment on the winners and losers, but to defend the Iowa process.

Iowa begins the process of electing the new president, and now we move to New Hampshire. Lots of people (including my wife and sister-in-law who are commenting as I write this) believe this isn’t good because a small group of people have an undue influence on the process. That’s true in the sense that the winners in Iowa have a leg up on fundraising and media attention. Many of my fellow Californians believe that since we have the largest state population (with over 36,000,000 people) we should have a more significant say (or at least a say) in selecting our next president; as it stands now the selection may be done by the time we get to vote.

On the other hand…there is something to be said for our current system. California is such a large state that the largest fundraisers are locks for the winners. In Iowa anyone with a minimal amount of interest can meet any of the major candidates, and they can decide for themselves. There comes a saturation point where all the extra money in the world can’t change a person’s vote, and states with small populations hit that point sooner. As for me, I think the good people of Iowa study the candidates and platforms, and make reasoned choices that benefit all of us. Perhaps the voting population is not as diverse as the rest of the country but I’m willing to trade some of the diversity for the care that they give.

As I write this Barack Obama is winning for the Democratic ticket, and he is African American. African Americans comprise 2.3% of the state population; it’s clear that at least some of the 97.7% of the rest of Iowa are supporting him. Perhaps the good people of Iowa are thinking of the rest of us.

Also, Mike Huckabee beat Mitt Romney even though Romney outspent Huckabee 20 to 1.

Oh, and by the way, the phrase “on the other hand” was made famous by President Harry S Truman. He demanded to have a one armed lawyer because he was tired of hearing the phrase “on the other hand.”

As they year draws to a close I’ve made a few minor changes in this page. On the left side of column I’ve added a few buttons. In the weeks (and even months) before Christmas we were being flooded with catalogs from companies we’d never heard from and never intended to purchase from. Earlier in the month I found out about Catalog Choice. You have to register and give them your name and address but it gives you the opportunity to list the catalogs you don’t want to get. They will then notify the company and ask them not to send anything to you. Additionally when you receive a catalog you don’t want, you can put in the name and customer number and they will ask the company to take you off their list. I know, I know, this depends on the catalog company actually doing it, but it seems that they wouldn’t want to send you more catalogs if you’ve told them you don’t intend to order anything from them. If this turns out to be a complete failure I’ll remove the link.

Just below the link to the Hunger Site I have a link to Donors Choose. If you have children in school, or live near a school, or work with people with children in school, or….OK, if you’re reading this, you know that schools are increasingly underfunded. If you’re tired of having to sell cookie dough or wrapping paper or other assorted stuff, or feeling like you are expected to buy, this is your site. Teachers from all over the country develop ideas and submit proposals that are put on the site. Donors can identify projects they want to support and make targeted donations. Great idea!

Finally, if you scroll down a little to the list of Presidential candidates you’ll see some changes. A few have dropped out of the race and I’ve taken them off. I’ve also included several names of people who are running as independents. I’ve gotten their names from a number of places, mostly Google and Wikipedia. I purposely didn’t include people like Al Gore and Michael Bloomberg because while there are groups that want them to run, they haven’t declared. As always, I’m always looking for updates.

Yesterday my friend Ann and I went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. The scrolls were found in a cave near Qumran in Israel starting in 1947. They date back 2000 years and several of the scrolls contain passages from the Jewish Scriptures (also called the Tanach or the Old Testament).

Scholars disagree but many think they belonged to a group that was active in the 1st Century of the Common Era (CE) called the Essenes. They were massacred by the Romans in 68 CE and may have hidden these scrolls to prevent them from falling into enemy hands or being destroyed. However it happened, these scrolls are an international treasure and nobody should pass up the opportunity to see them.

The beginning of the exhibit was little more than a travelogue to visit Israel but the second part was incredibly inspiring and moving. You can see a photograph of one of the scroll pieces here. If you have a chance to see these, do it.