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Samantha Power damage spreads
I see that Samantha Power has now resigned from the Obama campaign.
From a previous BBC interview that has come to the attention of the media and the Clinton campaign, it now seems she expressed doubt about Obama's ability to withdraw from Iraq within 16 months. This undermines his stated anti-war stance of a quick withdrawal. Here's the story which was also cited in the NYT.
This is arguably even more embarrassing to the Obama campaign because it undercuts one of his perceived advantages over HRC.
March 7,2008
Venus against Obama
Barack Obama may be feeling the pinch of that double Venus problem I mentioned previously with the revelation that an aide and close friend, Samantha Power, said that Hillary Clinton was "a monster" in an interview with a Scottish newspaper. She has apologized for the embarrassing comments.
In keeping with the symbolism of Venus, it is noteworthy that the source of Obama's embarrassment was a female aide. Obama's natal Venus is currently opposed by Pluto and conjoined by Mars. Meanwhile, transiting Venus conjoins his natal Ketu (south Node). Ketu is known as the "dragon's tail", which is not that far from a "monster".
I think this is only the beginning of Obama's problems over the next few days. Either this story will evolve and become more damaging to him, or more likely he will experience annoyance and obstacles from new developments.
February 15, 2008
Hillary wins New Mexico
A small ray of hope fell upon the Clinton campaign yesterday when it was
announced that Hillary had won the Feb 5 New Mexico primary after a
lengthy recount. While this only gives her two more delegates than
Obama for her victory, it was a much-needed bit of good news in her
beleaguered campaign.
Polls released yesterday also showed her leading Obama by a wide margin
in Ohio and Pennsylvania. While these are seen as pro-Clinton states,
there was some question whether Obama's momentum might be eroding her
base. These positive poll numbers show that she may be able to not only
win these states, but also pick up the delegates needed to close Obama's
lead. All in all, yesterday was a mostly good news day for Hillary --
although a prominent member of the Black caucus John Lewis did come out
in support of Obama.
This up day for Hillary seems to confirm what I had forecast back on Feb
10th that Hillary would lose the Potomac primaries but would have some
gain shortly thereafter. Here's what I wrote then:
"More problematic for Obama is the 13th and 14th when the Venus conjunct
comes exact to Saturn and Sun lines up with the Ketu. Mercury is coming
to station in a square against his natal Neptune. Due to the time lag,
I don't see this difficult pattern being related to primary results but
it will be a noteworthy problem. Hopefully, it will have a public
manifestation so we can check our progress. Will HRC benefit from
this? It's very likely. Sun Venus and Mars all sync up around 2 degree
of their respective signs and set off her Uranus. By itself, the tr
Mars station to the natal Uranus has not done her any favours, but the
presence of these other planets may bring her an unexpected benefit that
helps her campaign."
February 10, 2008
Potomac Primaries
Obama trounced HRC in all three contests last night by huge margins,
despite my prediction to the contrary. In retrospect, I did not take
into full account the negative effect of Tr Sun that opposed Hillary's
Saturn. It formed a t-square with her natal Mercury as well and with tr
Neptune there in the mix as well, she is at her weakest right now,
flailing helplessly, unable to stop Obama's momentum. Astrology 101
really -- I just missed seeing it in the chart, plain and simple. I
have to admit I am biased towards Mrs Clinton in the long term because I am predicting her to win the contest eventually. Her more favourable
time really doesn't get going until March, however. On March 4, Texas
and Ohio will vote and likely go Clinton's way since Latinos and working
class voters tend to favour her. As it happens, the corruption trial of
a major Obama backer Tony Rezko begins the day before on March 3 so this may be a source of embarrassment for him.
On Tuesday Feb 12, the so-called Potomac primaries take place in
Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. Like Washington, Nebraska, and Louisiana,
these are must-win states for Obama since the demographics favour him,
as these states have an over-representation of black and educated
voters. And with pro-Clinton states looming next in the nomination
calendar in early March, any losses here would put his campaign in
jeopardy. Expectations are that he will win all three although again
there is some room for interpretation depending on the margin of victory.
While the Sun will have past exact opposition to her Saturn by Tuesday,
it's still pretty close. And there is an absence of any offsetting
favourable influences. Meanwhile, Obama will have tr Venus approaching
his natal Saturn which can be a disappointing combination. However, it
will still be two degress short of conjunction, so there isn't enough of
an affliction to get us to think of huge losses on Tuesday. So Obama
should win these primaries, as advertised. His margin may be smaller
than Saturday's, but that's not saying much. He won Washington by 35
pts. I don't foresee much good news here for Clinton.
More problematic for Obama is the 13th and 14th when the Venus conjunct
comes exact to Saturn and Sun lines up with the Ketu. Mercury is coming
to station in a square against his natal Neptune. Due to the time lag,
I don't see this difficult pattern being related to primary results but
it will be a noteworthy problem. Hopefully, it will have a public
manifestation so we can check our progress. Will HRC benefit from
this? It's very likely. Sun Venus and Mars all sync up around 2 degree
of their respective signs and set off her Uranus. By itself, the tr
Mars station to the natal Uranus has not done her any favours, but the
presence of these other planets may bring her an unexpected benefit that helps her campaign. Rather than anything good happening to her perhaps she will merely reap the perceived media boost from Obama's troubles.
Politics is a zero sum game where your opponents' headaches are a source of your own happiness.
Nonetheless, I don't think this event will be big enough to change the
basic dynamic of the campaign.
