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Debbi Kempton-Smith writes:
President Barack Obama was sworn in as America's
new president on 20 January 2009 at 12.05 pm EST in Washington D.C.. If you
check the tables, The Moon was Void of Course until 12.30 pm EST.
(This need not be a deal-breaker; President
Clinton's second term inauguration occurred on a Void of Course Moon.)
But there was a little problem. Chief
Justice John Roberts 'flubbed the oath' The Moon was Void, of course!
President Obama retook the Presidential oath a day
later, on 21 January 2009, at 7.35 pm EST No Voids. (Legally, however, a
president becomes the president at noon on 20 January, no matter what. See the
20th Amendment to the Constitution So, the Void rules.
Here is that story.
Doink! Doink!
Backstory: Nominations of the Presidential
Candidates and the Void of Course Moon
On Wednesday, 27 August 2008 at 4.48 pm Mountain
Daylight Time in Denver, Colorado (6.48 pm EDT), the words rang out: 'Hillary
moves - is there a second?' There was, and at that moment Senator Barack Obama
officially became the Democratic nominee. Three minutes later, at 4.51 pm MDT
(6.51 pm EDT) the announcement came: "I inform you, Barack Obama accepts the
nomination.' Deal done, wa-a-a-ay before the Moon went into the void.
Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden's nomination
became official after his speech the same evening when he was proposed, seconded
and he accepted at 10.20 pm EDT.
The Moon was void of
course at this time.
But it was a big surprise to see Barack Obama
himself, now the Democratic Presidential nominee, appear onstage
unexpectedly at 10.55 pm EDT, a mere four minutes
after the Moon left the void and entered his own sign, Leo. Hmm.....
Our brilliant eagle-eyed Stargazers write:
From R: I have been e-mailing every
influential Democrat I can think of...and especially Obama's people....to direct
their attention to your web-site. In almost every case, I've received the
standard "canned" response; you know the ones that thank you for your e-mail and
assure you that your concerns will be carefully considered, and then ask you for
your continued support. BUT one time, just once, I got a reply e-mail from
someone in the Obama camp that just said: "Is that Mountain time?"
(In response to my warning to avoid the 8:13 to 10:51 pm VOC period.) Maybe,
someone WAS listening.
Debbi Kempton-Smith comments: Omigosh. R, you
deserve a medal for service above and beyond the call of duty to your
country...and to astrology. This may be as close as the public ever gets to the
true story of the all-important nomination time.
From J: Hey girl...Just saw the Democratic
nomination, and since Hillary waived the rollcall formality to declare Obama the
nominee, he got officially nominated before the
Moon went void at 8:13pm. YAY! Go Hillary. Happy livin'.
From M: The nominations were finished before the
void.
From 'A Reader': Hi Debbi Kempton-Smith!
Thanks first of all for providing easy access to void-of-course tables They’re
too important to be stingy about. (Of course, people can consult their
ephemerides, but not everyone has access to an ephemeris.)
Re: the 2008 Democratic National Convention:
Indeed, it is true that prime time on television is when the candidate is
usually nominated, but in this event, Barack Obama was nominated well before the
void-of-course period, when Hillary Clinton asked the party to suspend the rules
of the committee and nominate Obama by proclamation. So, those who support
Barack Obama can rest easy about his nomination. Not so easy on Joe Biden,
though, his vice-presidential choice, who accepted his nomination narrowly
before the VOC period of Thursday evening ended. I have never read anything
about the effects that the nomination or acceptance of a nomination of a
vice-presidential candidate might have on a president’s candidacy – or his (or,
someday, her) presidency. Time will tell how this plays out.
In any case, if we’re doing things right, it’s all
one big research project – review the data when they are available, and then
make only those pronouncements that the data support. Thanks again.
From R, again: Republican Presidential candidate
John McCain's official nomination was 12:06 am today (September 4 2008) after an
unusual-timed roll call vote just after Sarah Palin finished her speech at
around 11:06 pm on Wednesday September 3.
So, it appears that, for this election year at
least, neither Presidential candidate will have been nominated during a
void-of-course moon.
Backstory to the backstory:
Barack Obama officially announced his presidential
candidacy at 10.13 AM CST on 10 February 2007 in Springfield, Illinois (BBC)
... during a Void of Course Moon. But he filed the official papers to open a
presidential exploratory committee with the Federal Election Committee with no
Void Moon, at 10.06 am 16 January 2007 in Washington D.C.
Dear readers, sort that one out!
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The Original Void of
Course Moon Sheet 
