It's over for Hillary

Once Indiana and North Carolina were tallied up, Obama firmly positioned himself as McCain's opponent -- not Clinton's.

Never the less, Hillary continues to act as though she has a fighting chance.

Does she know something the rest of us are missing? Do the Clintons have an ace in the hole they haven't brought out yet? Is there a gotcha moment in Obama's near-term future?

Doesn't appear so. The supers are all lining up behind Obama and it's pretty much a sealed deal. In fact, she's done all the damage she can do to the party, as long as Obama continues to fix sights of MacCain and stays clear of mixing it up with Clinton, and it's really her own position that will falter as she continues to fight this losing battle.

And when you look at McCain's abortion flip and add that to his scam healthcare plan, I think he's washed out too.

Random Show Notes

EXPORTING WEALTH
Are the Chinese siphoning off American wealth?

DEBT
Why isn't the $9.5 T national debt part of political discourse? From 1980 to 1992, the national debt rose from $1T to $4T. In 12 years, it quadrupled. From 1992 to 2000, its growth slowed and began to decrease, settling at $6T in 2000. From 2000 to May, 2008, the debt once again climbed by another $3T, leaving us $9T in debt.

ANTIQUATED COMBUSTION ENGINES
Why aren't presidential candidates offering non-combustion alternatives to the discussion on gas & oil prices?

NUCLEAR ENERGY
With nuclear power, there is the question about spent fuel. Energy companies won't deal with it, so tax payers fund cleanups, transportation and hiding of radioactive waste.

US OCCUPATION OF FOREIGN NATIONS
It's a gross understatement to suggest that many in the Mideast don't particularly care for US military occupation.

CRIMINAL REFUSAL TO RENDER AID
Refusing to render medical aid is criminal and morally repulsive unless perpetrated by an entire industry.

THE PROBLEM WITH CAPITALISM
Name a large company that doesn't name growth as a major aim. But isn't the whole concept of growth unsustainable?

INSURANCE AMOUNTS TO RACKETEERING
Who invited insurance companies to sit at the table? In the health care field and auto industry, instead of paying as you go, you hand decision-making authority to a third party whose only aim is to extract the highest possible profit from your paycheck in an organized fashion.

Realty strategy: monopolize

Interesting observations in this story and a unique setup for hungry brokers.

The Sunday paper has always been a realty mainstay, but it can't offer virtual video tours. Radio can develop, host and drive traffic to video tours for audiences on their way to work, where they become online listeners/web visitors. Same story for the return commute: radio listeners become online consumers when they get home.

The key here is that a real estate broker could easily own a station if not the entire medium of radio/online. You combine reach & frequency with well-known online services -- and the scarcity of competition in this apace. Wouldn't that be the killer app in marketing?

While cohorts are in the Sunday paper, hitting their traditional weekly audience like a slow drumbeat and you've already shown homes to dozens, virtually, through online video -- and maybe even set several appointments.

The article gets into the nuts and bolts by asking how many new homes must one close to pay for a moderate radio campaign.

Let's look at that. If frequency builds preference, then you want to be able to mention to your prospects three times a week, which translates to an ad schedule of 21 units per week. In Central Iowa, that can easily be done for under $3,000.