Posts with the tag Bill Clinton

My 2009 Political experiences

Ayaz from Edison, NJ — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:03:01 EST

I need to make more of a habit of posting here whenever I update my own personal blog but for now real quickly I wanted to fill you guys in on my perssonal political experiences so far in 2009.

7/16/09 - PNC Arts Center with Barack Obama/Jon Corzine

10/19/09 - Middlesex County College with Joe Biden/Jon Corzine

10/20/09 - Rutgers University with Bill Clinton/Jon Corzine

10/21/09 - Fairleigh Dickenson Univerity with Barack Obama/Caroline Kennedy/Jon Corzine

11/1/09 - Prudential Center with Barack Obama/Jon Corzine

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter.

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Its a Wonderful Life

James — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:03:03 EDT

They're back. Oh not those two chicks who did whatever the hell they were doing on the border of N. Korea. No, I mean Al Gore and Bill Clinton. Al arranged for the great swooping rescue by the great swooping rescuer (that would be Bill) so both of those two "whatever the hell they are now" guys are talking like crazy inside a private airline hanger to CNN and the world. Al has introduced Bill, telling us all what a heartfelt sacrificing individual the big galoot really is...to go over and save two young American women from the clutches of that horrid simian dictator. Al smiles that wonderfully vapid Gore smile (which certainly had something to do with his having his election as president stolen) and says great things about Bill. He then introduces the man, expecting, without a doubt, that the great rescuer will say great things back. And Bill does not fail in that department. With one minor exception. He says great things alright, but he says them about himself. Clinton, strange faux blue dog democrat that he is, will go down in history as the greatest credit taker of all time. Al Gore, if he could have maintained the "I'm the guy who invented the internet" phrase credibly, would have secured that title. But no. We get Bill instead. His white hair almost iridescent inside the well coifed hangar, his body thin and in good shape. Gore nearby, sweating, with used car salesman hair and the 'I really am losing weight' girth.

It was also stated, prior to the huge plane rolling in, that Bill was on a private mission (totally unsupported by the U.S. government) to save those girls. I don't know why they bother with such giant introductory lies at events like this staged Hollywood production. Look at the plane! Its a 767, flying all over the world. That alone is about a million bucks of expense. Then there is the protecting of the plane because a former president, with Secret Service protection, is aboard it. How about five million or more to make sure Bill gets to and returns from a hostile country like North Korea. Who is paying all that money? We know damn well it is not Bill or the families of those girls. You and I are paying. Once more. The girls have been 'bailed out.' Now they too can write their books. They do need to take a little time to come up with a story though. Wandering about the country side near the N. Korean border isn't really going to fly.

I am very happy to see that the democrats have done a better job of getting the news away from healthcare, however. That last story they stuck in the way worked wonderfully well, but it did carry some ugly baggage. The Gates affair. This one has more positive elan. Young beautiful ladies of asian extraction saved from the world's most notorious pint-sized dictator. What if the girls had been black? You can tell that I write for Hollywood. Black would have been over the top.

Diane Sawyer, playing her well rehearsed role as the idiot-reporting blond, had the best question though. She posed it to the television audience when the plane was very slowly and majestically rolling into the hanger: "Do you think that Bill Clinton had a chance to discuss succession with Kim Jong?" I did get a kick out of that. I can picture the meeting in my mind. The somber Bill (his affected role for the exchange) leaning to the brightly smiling Kim (his affected role for the exchange) and whispering: "...so,when you're dead, soon who's getting the nod?" I liked the mental image of that. Thank you Diane. Kim is a generous man. I know he will leave that rocky mess of a country to his son. Unlike Bill. Bill would just take it with him. And Bill is still talking as I finish writing this. Al Gore is smiling that silly smile and darting his eyes sideways, waiting for Bill to say something great about him. Bill Clinton is talking about Bill Clinton and Al Gore is waiting for somebody to say great things about Al Gore. It is indeed a wonderful life.

http://www.jamesstraussauthor.com

http://www.themastodons.com

http://www.from-the-chateau-dif.blogspot.com

Obama on Clinton: A 'Loose Cannon' Who Tells 'Bald-Faced Lies'

LindaLu Nordling — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:04:44 EDT

Obama on Clinton: A 'Loose Cannon' Who Tells 'Bald-Faced Lies'

Politics Daily More Links

Carl M. Cannon Senior Washington CorrespondentPosted: 06/3/09Filed Under:Barack Obama, Bill Clinton

Referring to the link below:

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/06/03/obama-bill-clinton-is-a-bald-faced-liar/?icid=main%7Cmain%7Cdl1%7Clink3%7Chttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2009%2F06%2F03%2Fobama-bill-clinton-is-a-bald-faced-liar%2F

Just IN CASE for y'll out there supposedly SUPPORTERS of Democracy and HOW we got here...AND WHY THIS SITE and we EVEN Exist or have some little INPUTS in our Daily LIVES.

PULL ALL of Ya A..es OUT OF YOUR SleepyHEADS!

SI SE PUEDE!!!

THANKS...AMERICA...reply

Citizens for Change in America! — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:55:16 EST

Where are the thanks for AMERICANS...

we pay our taxes

we pay our bills

we pay our house off

we pay our car off

we pay our childrens educational expenses

we pay our childrens college expenses

we pay into our 401k

we pay into our retirement

we pay for our business expenses

we pay for our food

we pay for our clothes

we pay for our gas

we pay for our heat and electricity

we pay for our cost to be an American...explain it to me...

WHAT DID I DO WRONG...what went wrong in AMERICA?

tell me your thoughts...

A Paean to Barack Obama. The Twelve Days of Choosing Obama's Top Team

mathpol — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:08:01 EST

This is an enhanced version of my earlier post. To be sung to the tune of The “Twelve Days of Christmas“, whose lyrics are modified to apply to Obama's picks for his Cabinet and other key posts. The list is intended to be cumulative (that is, each person is picked only once). At the end I present those left out due to time constraints (Only twelve days!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWDpTKwZO-w

The Twelve Days of Choosing (Obama's Top Team)

mathpol — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 11:19:17 EST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuUFFGbuiUo

Parody on The Twelve Days of Christmas, as applied to Obama's picks for his Cabinet and other key posts. The list is intended to be cumulative (that is, each person is picked only once). At the end I present those left out due to time constraints (Only twelve days!)

Will Obama End Pay-to-Play in Mideast Policy?

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:25:15 EST

Will Obama End Pay-to-Playin Mideast Policy?

by Grant F. Smith @ antiwar.com

The incoming Obama administration is scrambling to distance itself from the scandal emanating from the president-elect's home state. It is still too early to tell how much Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's alleged attempt to sell the president-elect's Senate seat in exchange for $1 million may taint Obama advisers. But we may soon discover the answer to a larger question. Is pay-to-play going to be the modus operandi for Obama's Middle East policy appointments?

Two former Clinton administration officials, Dennis Ross and Martin Indyk, may provide the answer. They have recently been energized by Hillary Clinton's nomination as secretary of state, and both are attempting to stage a comeback. Absent any record of accomplishment – policy or electoral – Ross and Indyk have always counted on a presidential nod for influence. When placed alongside Bill Clinton's auctioneering of the levers of power, Blagojevich's does not seem particularly corrupt. Blagojevich at least evidenced a modicum of patriotism by limiting his sale of positions to U.S. nationals. Bill Clinton and the Democratic National Committee squeezed more cash out of the Israel lobby for highly sensitive appointments than Blagojevich would have ever dreamed possible. Clinton received the highest bid from Israeli-American media entrepreneur and American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) super-donor Haim Saban........

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.antiwar.com/orig/gsmith.php?articleid=13909

The Mossad decided to 'trade out' Hanssen in order to keep the FBI pre-occupied trying to ferret out a mole within their own ranks and take the heat off Emanuel and the Clinton White House over the knowledge that Israel had penetrated WH communications

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:52:41 EST

November 20, 2008 -- Hanssen's confessions clued Opus Dei and Mossad in on his espionage for Moscow.

from waynemadsenreport.com

On November 10, 2008, WMR reported on the compromise to Israel's Mossad of the espionage being carried out on behalf of Moscow by former FBI counter-intelligence chief Robert Hanssen and how that information came to the attention of Bill Clinton's policy adviser Rahm Emanuel.

We reported: "WMR has learned that Hanssen also spied for Mossad at the same time he was spying for the Russians and that this information was known to Emanuel. WMR has learned that the FBI established that there was a relationship between Hanssen, a Chicago native whose father was a Chicago police officer, and Emanuel, also a native of Chicago. The Mossad decided to 'trade out' Hanssen to the FBI's counter-intelligence division in order to keep the bureau pre-occupied trying to ferret out a mole within their own ranks and take the heat off Emanuel and the Clinton White House over the knowledge that Israeli intelligence had penetrated White House communications and this fact was related by Clinton to White House intern Monica Lewinsky during a phone conversation. Hanssen was convicted of espionage after he was pressured into not going ahead with a jury trial. Hanssen was warned that his wife would be denied his FBI pension if he insisted on a full jury trial. He is serving a life sentence in solitary confinement at the Federal Supermax Prison in Colorado."

SOURCE - http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/articles/20081120

Sometimes It's Stupid Not to Ask Conspiratorial Questions...

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:05:02 EST

Sometimes It's Stupid Not to Ask Conspiratorial Questions...

by Philip Weiss @ "Mondoweiss"

The Washington Post editorializes that likely-AG-designate Eric Holder had a spotless record as a prosecutor until one dark dread night in 2001, when he signed off on the Marc Rich pardon. His sole blot. The Post sucks its thumb:

why did Mr. Holder not object to the pardon of a fugitive millionaire politically connected to the president?

Good question. The Post doesn't bring up my favorite angle, of course. Ehud Barak wanted Rich pardoned. So did Scooter Libby. Is that significant? Rich, who was born in Belgium, had given loads of money to Clinton and to Israel. Is there a way to even talk about this stuff? Evidently no.

SOURCE-http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2008/11/sometimes-its-stupid-not-to-ask-conspiratorial-questions.html

11/19 Cabinet updates... Do you agree?

EMK — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:52:09 EST

HHS Sec. Tom Daschle: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27805121

HRC still going for SoS via Bill Clinton: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27802004/

Your Thoughts?

EMK

Hillary for Secretary of State -- A Wise Choice for Obama

Al Pao in San Francisco — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:45:27 EST

While I am sticking to my first and second choices for Secretary of State, Fareed Zakaria and Colin Powell respectively, I find Barack Obama’s naming of Hillary Clinton to the post politically deft.

Firstly, since either John Kerry and Bill Richardson can claim credit for contributing to Barack Obama’s success (Kerry naming Obama the keynote speaker in 2004 and an early supporter of his run for presidency, and Richardson bringing the Latino vote), Hillary’s appointment silences them both since she got 18 million votes during the primary and unites the division within the democratic party.

Secondly, Hillary will provide a necessary counterbalance to Vice-president Elect Joe Biden whose knowledge of foreign policy made him the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That way, Barack Obama can play one against the other so that neither one of them can become overbearing.

Thirdly, Hillary has substance: intellect, articulacy and poise. All she needs is a scintilla of humility and she would be nearly perfect.

Fourthly, the goodwill that Bill Clinton has been generating with his organization, the Clinton Global Initiative, cannot be overlooked or minimized. Hillary will automatically bring all that goodwill with her wherever she goes.

Lastly, politics aside, I think Barack and Hillary genuinely like each other.

Together, they have all the ingredients to make an amazing team. I can’t wait to see how quickly and effectively they can unscramble Bush’s mess and restore respect around the world.

No to Hillary as Sec. of State

David from Brooklyn, NY — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:17:17 EST

It is difficult for me to imagine that Senator Obama, as President-Elect, would choose Ms. Clinton for the most important foreign policy post in his administration. Her views on the Iraq War alone seem sufficient to me to cancel her out of consideration by a man whose early campaign focused so much on his principled and minority opposition to the war. Furthermore, Ms. Clinton means Bill, too. I have had enough of the Clinton years - I don't want that old regime running anything this important. I fear a continued politicized State Department; how could it be otherwise with Senator Clinton in that office?

My faith in Mr. Obama and my joy at his election and my renewed hope for the country's climb out of its dark depths -- all this would be compromised, even undermined, by such a choice. Please, Mr. President-elect, don't do it!

President-elect Barack Obama’s advisers have begun reviewing former President Bill Clinton’s finances and activities

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:58:23 EST

Clinton Vetting Includes Look at Mr. Clinton

By PETER BAKER and HELENE COOPER

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama’s advisers have begun reviewing former President Bill Clinton’s finances and activities to see whether they would preclude the appointment of his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as secretary of state, Democrats close to the situation said Sunday.

The examination of the former president suggests how seriously Mr. Obama is considering bringing his onetime rival for the Democratic presidential nomination into his cabinet. He met with Mrs. Clinton in Chicago on Thursday to talk about the prospect and word quickly filtered out. Many Democrats close to both camps said Sunday that it seemed likely that Mr. Obama would ask her to take the job, assuming they could work something out regarding Mr. Clinton’s role......

ARTICLE - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/us/politics/17memo.html?partner=MYWAY&ei=5065

Barack Obama No Friend to the Philippines?

Unknown user — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:06:44 EST

In his Philippine Daily Inquirer column, Amado Doronilla argues that US President-elect Barack Obama is "no friend to the Philippines" because Obama snubbed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's congratulatory call.

Amado Doronilla is wrong. Since when did we equate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with the Philippines? Certainly, Gloria as an unpopular leader comes strong in Barack Obama's radar. Joc Joc Bolante's trial in Chicago, put in spotlight by very vocal anti-Gloria protesters outside the courthouse, was too scandalous to escape Obama's attention. (Joc Joc Bolante, a Department of Agriculture under- secretary, was accused of pocketing for the the first couple 3 biilion pesos that were intended for farmers and was eluding Philippine Senate investigation when arrested in Chicago). Gloria's misconducts are also all over the Web. Even US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is no fan of Gloria.

Secretary of State

BlueDotInRedState — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:10:50 EST

Beginning with the Democratic Primaries I assigned myself this task: stay abreast of the conservative and right-leaning media's take on this presidential election. This endeavor was more enlightening and uplifting than I could ever have imagined, with the word "onerous" applying only to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

One night close to the end of the ongoing Barack-Hillary battle I was watching a panel of Fox Cable News pundits weigh in (read "whine") about the probability of an Obama candidacy. You remember when the prevailing thought was that a Republican could more easily defeat Hillary. I'll never forget hyperconservative Bill Cristol's comment: "If Obama gets it and if he's elected, he needs to pick Hillary for Secretary of State. She's TOUGH."

I agree whole-heartedly with Cristol, for whom I developed much comparative respect during my sojurns into FCN and (shudder) talk radio programs. Plus, you get a bonus, if you need one, with Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State:

the rest of the world LOVES Bill. She doesn't NEED him, but what an asset he can be.

Although we know whomever Barack chooses will be outstanding, my suggestion is Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State.

NO to Clinton for Sec'y of State

mary1114 — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:44:21 EST

When I heard that Hillary Clinton was being considered for the post of Sec'y of State, I cringed. It would be an insult to appoint a woman who LIED about being under sniper fire and LAUGHED about it when speaking to the press. I KNEW IMMMEDIATELY THAT SHE WAS LYING BECAUSE NO ONE WHO HAS EVER BEEN UNDER SNIPER FIRE WOULD ACTUALLY LAUGH ABOUT IT.

Hillary Clinton's attack ads during the primary gave McCain all the ammo he ever needed to fuel his camapaign against Obama in the general election. It is a continuing source of anger to hear the Clinton attack ads re-played on the air.

MOREOVER. Bill's global travels and financial deals can only be deemed INFLUENCE PEDDLING under the guise of soliciting contributions to his Global Initiative and his presidential library. BILL CLINTON will not survive the scrutiny of the press when it comes to these deals and other aspects of his personal life. Bill Clinton, as he has so often on the past year, will continue to embarrass the Obama Administration.

Hillary's 2 terms as First lady do NOT qualify her for the post of Secretary of StatE AND her husband in fact, should DISQUALIFY HER FROM THE POST.

Beware of the Clintons: they do nothing that does not advance their personal agendas. Hillary cannot and will not separate the interests of the Clintons from those of the Obama Administration.

Please, Mr. President-Elect, DO NOT APPOINT HILLARY CLINTON TO YOUR CABINET UNLESS IT'S IN TRANSPORTATION. THE CLINTONS DO NOT PLACE YOUR INTERESTS OR THOSE OF THE COUNTRY AHEAD OF THER OWN.

RE: Cafferty File - Most Important Issue For American Election

Marcus Cyganiak — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:11:50 EST

RE: Cafferty File - Most Important Issue For American Election CNN.com - Cafferty File question: What single issue was most important to you?

As a Canadian I don’t have to care, but I do. Just as I care for my next door neighbours, I care for America too.

I want to see that America I once loved during the 90’s. President Bill Clinton was commander and chief and riding high with an economical surplus. Times were certainly good, up until George W. Bush took control in 2001.

For the past 8 years, President Bush has managed to plunder a country down from the greatest economical surplus to the greatest economical deficit in history. As a result, we are now in what we call an "economic crisis," or we can blatantly call it a recession bordering another Great Depression.

So Jack Cafferty, you ask what the single most important issue is for the 2008 US Presidential Election. Well I’m no bandwagon jumper but I will go with the majority this time in saying that the economy is the number one issue that America has to aid right now.

One of the big contributors to this problem is the fact that the US government is predominately being fed US dollars by the middle-class citizens. Some of these citizens are people that have troubles maintaining their own way of life financially, much less paying taxes. The upper-class and big corporations are sitting comfortably with their money free as can be, and that’s the big reason in why America is plundering to a Great Depression.

During President Clinton’s term, he mandated a leveled taxation plan that saw classes of all kinds in America contributing their fair share with regard to their level of income. What Barack Obama plans to do now is once again tax the big corporations and upper-class to the level they were paying in the 90’s. The middle-class, those with incomes less than a quarter of a million dollars, will see their taxes reduced and that accounts for 95% of Americans.

As I said earlier, I care for my neighbours and when I see my neighbour unhappy, I feel unhappy because it’s an atmosphere around me that begs for help. Big corporations and the upper-class of America should share those same feelings. This new taxation plan set force by Barack Obama will feed those feelings and put the economy back on track to another eventual surplus.

Source:
1) http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/04/what-issue-is-most-important-to-you/http://marcuscyganiak.blogspot.com/2008/11/re-cafferty-file-most-important-issue.html

Good Or Bad Presidential Motives – What Inspires Your Vote?

Marcus Cyganiak — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:03:25 EST

Good Or Bad Presidential Motives – What Inspires Your Vote? With anything, there has to be a captivating subjectivity that lures an individual into any given matter in order to prompt an invested action. When you look at Barack Obama and John McCain campaigning for President today with Election Day drawing near, you realize their inspired emotional connection they’re extracting on all of us. They’re living their lives to inspire you to vote for them, which in turn will allocate them the control over your country.

How do they do it?

They instill fear in you, sometimes for legitimate reasons or other times to dictate. Once you’re scared you scramble for a new direction and you’re likely to turn to your elected President or Prime Minister because that person has the biggest title in the country. The reason you turn to the commander and chief is because you were inspired to do so during a crucial time early on – the campaign trail. Depending on if that commander and chief stays true to his or her word during their time in office will determine whether or not you will remain inspired on following their word.

Bill Clinton inspired us all during the 1990’s when he took a country in great deficits and overturned the economy into one of the richest and most stable economies in the world, with its biggest surplus in history. Clinton stayed true to his word from words spoken on his campaign trail in 1992 and that’s why we followed him, and in most cases we still do today.

Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 and brought into the oval office in 1993 because the United States was entering a recession at the time under George H. W. Bush, and there were fears of that transcending into another Great Depression. Bill Clinton was able to use that fear and use proceeding Bush’s track record of some of the greatest deficits in US history as a way to inspire Americans for their vote, and it worked despite Clinton being “young” in comparison and “inexperienced.”

Fast forward to 2001, George W. Bush was elected into the oval office and he sure did not fall short from his father’s footsteps. He took America’s largest grossing era and detracted the economy down to its now largest deficit in history. Both George Bush’s have set records during their Presidential terms, and they’re both gutter performances. The United States are trillions of dollars in debt and are in a current recession, which brinks yet another Great Depression during a time of “economic crisis,” that is now spreading worldwide.

I don’t know how Bush, Jr. was able to do it, but he beat out his daddy on this one!

So who can fix this next round of recessionary times in America? Do we stick with the Republicans and pick John McCain because he wants to tax the middle class and keep rich families and corporations on top as they are? Or do we want to once again turn to the Democrats, the quintessential saviors of the 1990’s, and elect Barack Obama because he wants to reform America and cut taxes for 95% of Americans, while implementing standard taxation rules for the rich?

In 1992, George H. W. Bush was planning to enforce further military use in the Middle Eastern regions upon re-election, in continuing a Gulf War during recessionary time; however, the Americans said no by electing a new face in Bill Clinton to repair the economy.

Americans can basically copy and paste the history of 1992 and insert it into 2008, because now John McCain wants to continue George W. Bush’s plan in the Middle East by attacking Iran. Furthermore main staple countries like Russia, China, and Korea are on McCain’s target list while Barack Obama rather set his attentions on the fast sinking economy.

This is an example of history never being so important like it is right now folks. You can say no to John McCain today, just like you said no to George H. W. Bush in 1992, by electing the “young” Barack Obama, who has often been deemed “inexperienced.” Obama definitely cannot overturn the deficits into greens across the board during a 4-year term, but he can set America on the right track of surplus with the help of Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden, a man with over thirty years of involvement in politics. After the first term, the second term would be the time of economical surplus once again for America.

I have warned you all already that if you do choose to vote John McCain as your next US President, you will have to be prepared for the absolute worst. McCain would be continuing off the Bush path, essentially serving a 4-year extension of George W. Bush.

President Bush has already started the preliminary stages of a potential World War III by invading Iraq in 2003, and that war is still on-going. Bush has also in recent weeks invaded Pakistan and Syria. Let us not forget that a tie in with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has also been brought to forefront in regards to Georgia’s attack on Russia in August 2008 that prompted the Russian invasion in Georgia. Apparently President George W. Bush wanted to antagonize Russia into another war, and that immediately brought up fears of a new Cold War.

With all these future wars in sight during a John McCain Presidential run, why would you in your right mind vote for him and the Republican Party? McCain takes great pride in fighting a war, it’s what inspires him into thinking he’s a great patriot of America when really he would be sending more young men and women down to the depths of hell.

You have to ask yourself this question. Whose motives inspire you more? John McCain, who will continue to tax you in large scales while fighting countries around the world with the use of military force, or Barack Obama, who looks to change the financial direction of America through democracy as Bill Clinton did during the 1990’s?

Barack Obama delivers that captivating subjectivity that should surely lure your vote, because your vote should be one subjected towards a better America and a better world. History is on Barack Obama’s side for this one.

Truth Media Presents a Song For Barack Obama

Jennifer Purnell — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:01:49 EST

PLEASE GO TO:

http://truthmediagroup.podbean.com

WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT.

REAGAN AND TEDDY ROOSEVELT SUPPORT OBAMA'S PROGRESSIVE TAX PLAN

Juli Norwood — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:28:55 EDT

Obama is not taking money from one and giving it to another. This is what McCain wants you to believe.

All Obama is doing is cutting taxes for the majority which just happens to be the middle class. You know... the ones who have been paying an unfair amount of taxes over the past 8 years to support the rich and wealthy Republicans!

You know the same rich and wealthy whom made tons of money off of the middle classes backs via the Wall Street CEOs... the same rich and wealthy whom made ridiculous amounts of money thru the McCain backed de-regulations put into motion in financial institutions and in the oil futures.

McCain is a hardcore supporter of De-Regulation!

The Rich and Wealthy Republicans are DE-REGULATORS!

De-Regulation is the reason for this financial crisis!

Read My Lipsticked Lips...

The Rich and Wealthy REPUBLICANS are the folks to thank for the financial mess that we are in right now!

Remember Phil Gramms, whom just happens to be filthy rich, McCain's buddy and economic advisor whom called us a nation of whiners. He and Enron made a ton of money as did speculators when he created and pushed de-regulation. He's the one you can all thank for the $4.00 - $5.00 per gallon for gas fiasco. Maybe you heard of the Enron Loop hole! After it got passed his wifey pooh received a real nice cushy job at Enron. Gasp! Can anyone spell Corruption?

Obama is simply not going to let Bush's Welfare Tax Plan for the Rich and Wealthy Republicans continue. He is rolling it back to what we had in the Clinton era. Which by the way was a prosperous time. In the past 40 years the ONLY administration to actually have a balanced budget instead of a deficit is Bill Clinton's administration. In fact he had a SURPLUS!

Ronald Reagan ... A republican president promoted the Progressive Tax system on this video and he also berated the republicans as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFhoM6xZpEQ

Teddy Roosevelt also a republican president ALSO believed in the Progressive tax system!

Both Reagan and Teddy Roosevelt have been listed by McCain as being his hero's. So by damning Obama for the progressive tax system by calling him a socialist aka redistributor also means his hero's Ronald Reagan and Teddy Roosevelt were also socialist and redistributors.

The Republican party, John McCain and Palin will go down in history as an absolute disgrace for their fear, hate, lies, racist, smear tactics in 2008.

Juli Norwood

Thursday: Join President Clinton, Sen. Klobuchar, and Al Franken in Minneapolis

Xavier Lopez-Ayala — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:49:07 EDT

This Thursday, October 30th, please join President Bill Clinton with special guests U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senate Candidate Al Franken in Minneapolis, where they will talk about Barack's vision for creating the kind of change we need.

Five Days to Change Rally
with President Bill Clinton
and Special Guests Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken

Minneapolis Convention Center
Exhibit Hall A
1301 2nd Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN

Thursday, October 30th
Doors Open: 7:00 p.m.

http://mn.barackobama.com/MinneapolisChange

The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required; however an RSVP is strongly encouraged.

For security reasons, do not bring bags and please limit personal items. No signs, banners, or umbrellas permitted.

Online Poll: Who should Obama pick as his Sec. of State?

XDOW — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:40:38 EDT

You can vote at http://www.ObamasPrayer.com

I believe Barack will win this election by a landslide. However, we must continue to post on blogs and support Barack in our home towns to accomplish that goal.

How to Decipher CHANGE to Undecided Voters. (Helpful for Phone Calls)

Amy — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:31:02 EDT

Introduce voters to CHANGE.

Obama in this campaign offers change in its most absolute way: change from failed policies but also change in terms of opening a new page which will burry the racial divide in this country. That change, as exciting as it sounds, needs to be defined so it doesn't scare older and less informed people, into voting for Obama. Change should not be perceived as ‘the unknown’ but “the fundamental”

You guys need to emphasize the long terms effect of Change so they understand the impact their vote will have on their children and future generations.

In terms of communicating race, I think you need to confront racism in a very considerate way so people understand this is not about electing the first African American president in history but electing the one who has the judgement to lead us out of this financial turmoil.
(Insist on the numbers: over 600,000 jobs lost)

When someone tells you the only reason why they wouldn't support Barack Obama is because he is black, tell them “this is not about Obama, this is about you and your children”.

When someone tells you, I like Sarah Palin tell them, “I hate to break it to you but chances are you're never going to sit with her. Once these elections are over, whoever wins will be presiding from the White House, and what will strictly matter then on are the ways in which their policies are going to affect your life, your children. Children can't vote but the impact of your vote, will be part of the legacy you are going to leave them.”

Talk about the power of democracy. (Insist on everything they are going against by supporting the McCain Palin ticket)

If we have a democracy today where women can vote it is because:

Þ Democratic President Woodrow Wilson stood up for Change in 1918 in support of the 19th amendment which forbid any state to deny any woman a right to political expression.

Þ It is the Democratic Party that promulgated Hillary to almost becoming the first female president.

Þ Sarah Palin goes against every thing Hillary has ever fought for:

Þ she is on a ticket which rejects Equal Pay for women.

Þ Insist on the fact that there are 10.4 million single moms in the United States who live with children younger than 18, up from 3.4 million in 1970 and that today more than ever, we need to support those moms so they can have a decent lifestyle and give to their children a sense of education. You can't say you support those women if you stand against equal pay and you stand against raising the minimum wage.

Þ And make the case that if you support the McCain-Palin ticket, you are also denying those proud American citizens the right to a better existence.

The Democratic Party never stopped fighting for the women's rights.

Þ In 1994, President Clinton provided $1.6 billion to enhance investigation and prosecution of the violent crime perpetrated against women by signing the Violence Against Women Act, which John McCain firmly opposed.

Þ This VAWA was drafted by Joe Biden who now runs on the democratic ticket as VP

Þ It is thanks to Biden that domestic violence became a public health policy and human rights concern. (You need to insist on that)

Þ According the National Organization for Women, which stepped out of its usual neutrality to proudly endorse the Obama-Bide ticket, every day in America:

Þ Four women die as a result of domestic violence bringing the number to 1,400 women a year.

Þ two to four million women of all races and classes are battered each year, and 170,000 of those violent incidents are serious enough to require hospitalization

Thanks to Joe Biden, this has become a real human rights concern.

If Hillary Clinton chooses to put pride aside and step up for a "rally for change" it is because she understands the vital necessity to all be on the road for Barack Obama.

By helping each others, women pave the way for their daughters, granddaughters in ensuring that they won't be denied any fundamental human rights.

As you know, many of these women are affected by the economy crisis and for McCain to stand firm and say that he won't raise the minimum wage is simply unacceptable when he supports sending 10bn$ monthly in US taxpayers' money to a country which has an 80bn $ surplus.

Yes, the war in Iraq needs to end and it will end under the presidency of Barack Obama.

Painting the surge as having worked does not take away the fact that this war, which killed 4,152 (as of September 3rd 2008) and wounded 30,568 American soldiers should have never been authorized. Isn’t it fair to remind people that 600, 000 Iraqi civilians, who had absolutely nothing to do with September 11th, were also killed in this war, along with thousands of other soldiers and journalists.

Careless of all the critics Obama has heard on his experience and position against the war, "soldiers have donated more presidential campaign money to Democrat Barack Obama than to Republican John McCain, a reversal of previous campaigns in which military donations tended to favor GOP White House hopefuls, a nonpartisan group reported Thursday", according to USA Today. (8/14/2008)

Yes, soldiers are putting their trust in Obama and so should we when it comes to handling the economy and the foreign policy of this country.

So when John McCain says he is going to fight, ask yourself for what…or better yet, against what? Is he going to keep fighting against the elements so desperately needed for Change, like funding for education, funding for healthcare…?

John McCain doesn’t have a record to claim that he can bring real change. What has long years in Washington ever brought to a candidate? If it mattered so much why is Palin in a position which puts her heart bit away from the presidency, when more experienced Republican candidates are available? If he just wanted to rally the right wing base, he could have chosen Huckabee, if he cared about the economy, he would have appointed Romney but instead he opted for someone with absolutely O experience.

Are you ready to have Palin as President and take a 10% risk of having change? Well after all, McCain voted 90% of the time with Bush and a 100% in 2008.

If Obama wins, America wins and therefore you win.

You should have banners saying If Obama wins, America wins / If Obama wins, you win.

Live from Scranton...

Voter4Change — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 19:16:58 EDT

Last weekend we made the drive to Scranton to see Bill and Hillary and Joe and Jill Biden. Lovely scenery through the Poconos, and about 7,000 people showed up. We waited in a long line along the Lackawanna River for over an hour to get into the indoor recreation complex where the rally was held.

Many people from different backgrounds, different walks of life were there: senior citizens, Hillary supporters, Biden fans, veterans, Catholics...such a diverse group all there for one thing: change. People were selling t-shirts and campaign buttons (and other things--one creative guy was selling men's red briefs with white trim that said "No more Bush" on the front. The gentleman behind us bought a pair for $15). Dozens of volunteers wandered around with clipboards to register everyone and remind us all of the security rules (no liquids brought inside, electronics on so they could make sure they were working).

When we finally got inside, rally signs were handed out to the VIP section ahead of us (firefighters and FTA teachers' union, I believe), but we got a few passed back to the rest of us. Lots of "Hillary Sent Me" buttons, too. Handpainted signs endorsed Biden and reminded us that Scranton supports Obama. A giant flag hung on one side.

The heat overcame a few people, despite the air conditioning. We were packed in tightly trying to see. We had a good spot next to the stage. Jill Biden spoke first, and then Bill took the stage. Hillary spoke next and introduced Joe Biden. The crowd was excited throughout and were really charged up.

I highly recommend attending a rally if you can.

Obama Rhinestone T Shirt-First Day with 01 20 09 in rhinestones

Cassandra M. Bellantoni — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:01:12 EDT

We call it Obama's First Day and it is the hot seller of the week! I think people didn't really believe until this last week that it was going to happen, but now they are confidently purchasing this hopeful Obama Shirt. We have many styles of Obama Rhinestone shirts selling all over the country and even in Euorpe. Check out our latest commercial about to Air on BET next week!

Scranton Rally Photos

Anthony from Scranton, PA — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:55:44 EDT

Get Up and Volunteer

Barbara from White Plains, NY — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:59:47 EDT

We trekked over to Scranton, PA from North White Plains, NY to listen to Hillary, Bill, Joe and Jill. After a 2 hour trip we found a tiny driveway almost obscured by a car wash and I wondered if this was the place. When we arrived we found an almost empty parking lot, since we got there at 10:30 AM for a 3:00PM show. Technically the doors were set to open at 1:15 PM. After finding way too many t-shirts that we loved we settled on a few and donned them. We walked toward the line forming outside the Sports Arena, which was a metal sided building similar to the Office's Dunder Miflen building. Waiting in the hot sun we met a few really great people and it helped to pass the hours away as we all shared our stories and how we came to be there in Scranton today.

At about 12:00 a Volunteer came over and asked us if we wanted to be on the stage and we said of course. So we all got green bracelets and were sent to stand with the media trucks until it was time to go inside. We were sent through security ahead of everyone else on the line, which had grown to the entire length of the parking lot, and they sat us on bleachers directly behind the stage. We were told that we had to be on our best behavior and they gave us all signs to hold. Cameras pointed at us directly. After standing in the sun for 3 hours it was great to be in an air-conditioned building even if we had to sit sqashed together on metal bleachers that swayed when we all stood on them.

But after a brief speech by Jill Biden who introduced Hillary Clinton who then introduced Bill Clinton, it was all worth it. Bill Clinton is still charismatic and sounds so genuine. He still looks great too! Then Hillary talked and I had never seen her speak in public. I have met her and spoken with her personally, but she is such a great speaker. Then we heard Joe Biden, and if I liked him before today, I love him now. He is a great speaker and he had everyone in that place screaming. I had heard a lot of his speech in bits and pieces, but altogether it is very impressive. At one point he stopped the teleprompter to say a few words about Hillary Clinton and how they were really friends. But the end of his speech was so powerful. He said: "Get up", and fight. He kept saying Get Up and the crowd went wild. I really love Joe Biden and he is such a strong candidate.

Biden said a few choice things about Palin, but when the crowd booed her he said it was okay. He also talked about why the McCain/Palin ticket has gone into the negative because they have no plan to save the economy. He says that the Obama/Biden ticket has a plan for taking care of small businesses and jumpstarting the economy. He talked about Health Care and one thing he said that got the greatest ovation: "We will stop the war in Iraq!!!" As he kept repeating it he got enthusiastic loud cheering.

We need Barack Obama and Joe Biden to win this November and it is time for everyone who has been sitting home and thinking that will do it to think again. Unless you are physically unable to get out please try to volunteer in your local campaign office. Also, talk to your friends and family and try to sway those undecided voters or even those who are leaning toward McCain/Palin. Joe Biden said that "this is the single greatest election we have ever had." We all need to make sure that this time we don't fail to elect the right people. Could you stand another 4 years of McSame? Or do you want to see a way out of this chaos that the Bush Administration has left for us? It is time to do whatever you can to get out the vote.

After being at this rally I am going to donate as many hours as I can to electing Obama and Biden. My children's future and my own and more importantly, 90% of this country needs them to be elected. So don't wait. Do whatever you can. If you speak to an undecided voter ask them which candidate is going to do the most for them. Get Up and go speak to whomever you can. Our country's life depends upon it.

Pres Bill Clinton @ VCU Sunday (OCT 12) @ 8PM

Dave — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:02:54 EDT

Change We Need Rally
with President Bill Clinton

This Sunday, October 12th, please join President Bill Clinton in Richmond, where he will talk about Barack's vision for creating the kind of change we need.

Change We Need Rally
with President Bill Clinton

Virginia Commonwealth University
University Student Commons
Commons Plaza
907 Floyd Ave
Richmond, VA

Sunday, October 12th
Gates Open: 8:00 p.m.
Program Begins: 9:30 p.m.

This event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required; however, an RSVP is strongly encouraged. Space is limited and is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For security reasons, do not bring bags and please limit personal items. No signs or banners permitted.

4th quarter,4th quarter, 11th hour, see the finish line, FighttheSmears

Johnathan Waters | Advocacy4change — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:14:50 EDT

Hello Johnathan,

The smear onslaught has begun.

Realizing that the American public has woken up to their destructive policies, desperate Republicans are launching an 11th-hour smear offensive of lies, distortions, and slanders. The McCain campaign went so far to announce the smear offensive in the pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times.

They even admitted, flat-out, that this was just an attempt to stop talking about the financial crisis.

One McCain advisor was quoted in the New York Daily News saying, "It's a dangerous strategy, but we have no choice. If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we're going to lose."

It's a very dangerous strategy, and we need to make him pay for it. Warn your neighbors about what John McCain is doing and influence the way it's covered with a letter to the editor of your local paper:

http://www.truthfightsback.com/onslaught

This is the ground on which the rest of the election will be fought. The McCain campaign is making it as obvious as possible: they will try to win this election with a smear campaign unlike any our country has ever seen. This is the moment we started TruthFightsBack.com for, this is the reason many of you joined. It's our time, and we need to fight back.

This is a critical time. We have to make as many people aware of this despicable and dishonorable strategy as we can.

WE CAN'T LET JOHN MCCAIN GET AWAY WITH THIS.

http://www.truthfightsback.com/onslaught

We want to make sure every newsroom in the country knows exactly what's happening, and what we all think of it. We want every story about a McCain smear to point out that he's doing this because he doesn't want to talk about the issues that matter. And if we can do that, we will make it that much easier to beat back every smear from here on out.

So please do what you can to help us on this important project. If we win this fight, the election is ours, and we can get a new start in our country.

Thanks,

Brian Young
Director
TruthFightsBack.com

P.S. Please forward this message to anyone else you know who should join our campaign.

Sarah Palin’s IQ

Unknown user — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:56:45 EDT

I would like to know what Sarah Palin's IQ is?

The IQ is not the end all tell all of intellegence but it usually is a good indicator.

For example George Bush's IQ was considered low and it was a concern.

JFK and Bill Clinton both had very high IQ's.

So the pattern or trend seems to be that Presidents with high IQ's do better.

Thank you Bill

Ian — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:21:31 EDT

I must admit, I've had my doubts about Bill Clinton's commitment to the Democratic Party of late. He didn't seem too enthusiastic about Barack Obama when he talked to the press, apparently still stung by his wife's failure to secure the nomination. And while I don't think anyone should exercise blind allegiance to any political party, even former presidents, I know Bill and Barack represent the same American ideals to move this country forward.

But today, President Clinton came up big. Today in Florida, Bill gave a speech that reminds us why he was elected in the first place. He doesn't underestimate us. He gives us the facts in a form that we need to hear, the form we can understand. He tells us not only what is best for us, but why, and in simple terms. And today, his eloquence was a throwback to the politics of a time when several sectors of our economy were growing, when we weren't embroiled in a foreign war with no exit strategy, and when America still had an unmistakable luster about it.

And hopefully, he let everyone know not only that Barack Obama is the the right choice, but why. Let's face it, Bill has nothing to gain by campaigning for Senator Obama. But he understands right and wrong, and he's come to share that with us.

So, thank you, Bill. You are today just as inspirational as you were throughout your tremendous presidency.

A Note to Bill Clinton: An Obama Loss Will Be on Your Head

Don DePasquale — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:02:38 EDT

A Note to Bill Clinton: An Obama Loss Will Be on Your Head By Paul Slansky, Huffington Post
Posted on September 25, 2008, Printed on September 26, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://www.huffingtonpost.com//100312/

Given that we would never have had the odious George W. Bush in the White House in the first place if it wasn't for your blow jobs, Bill, it seems obvious that you owe it to the people of this country, and especially to the parents whose kids died in the Iraq War that Gore would never have started, and to all the parents whose kids would be killed in the WarFest that would be a McCain/Palin -- sorry, Palin/McCain -- administration to do everything in your power to get Barack Obama elected.

But that's not what you're doing, Bill, and it's not going unnoticed. We see your rage, Bill, it's too huge to hide. We see that -- as Chris Rock so brilliantly pointed out -- it pains you to even speak Obama's name. We see you petulantly rooting against him even as you go through the motions of doing the barest minimum on his behalf to avoid being blamed if he loses.

You're not fooling anyone, Bill. You've gotten so caught up in yesterday that you've stopped thinking about tomorrow. You have the power to influence millions of voters and you're spitefully sitting on it. Surely you've noticed what's going on in the country. Surely you're aware of what's at stake on November 4th. This is not a game that you can afford to take your ball and go home with if you don't get to play the position you want. An Obama loss will most certainly be part of your legacy.

There's still time to fix it.

How about this for an October surprise? Bill Clinton gets on the road and spends every day until the election sincerely and wholeheartedly communicating the urgency of electing Obama. You're the greatest politician of your generation, Bill. Surely you can fake enthusiasm for a month.

Oh, and stop talking about how much you like Senator McCain. Have you forgotten the vile joke he told a decade ago at your wife's and daughter's expense? Let me remind you: "Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? She's the child of Janet Reno and Hillary Clinton." Are you saying, Bill, that you can forgive McCain for calling Chelsea "ugly" but you can't forgive Obama for defeating Hillary?

If Obama loses a close election -- one in which even one state where you could have made a difference goes for McCain because you sat home and pouted -- it will be on you. We will remember that you couldn't be bothered to rise above your petty resentments for something as trivial as saving your country from the enemies of everything you profess to believe in. We forgave you for Monica, Bill, but we won't forgive you for this.

AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own.

© 2008 Huffington Post All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://www.huffingtonpost.com//100312/

Low Blow Obama Team

SRG_Legal — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:39:37 EDT

I loves you, but I ain't a fool.

That McCain ad about him not being able to use a computer was skanky. If I were voting for McCain, it wouldn't matter to me a hill of beans that he can't use a computer or doesn't know how to email. That is not a qualification for being president and it shouldn't be.

Overall, this campaign has been highly negative and based on the wrong things, and that is coming ot of both parties. Can we please get off the tabloid soap operas about pigs, lipstick, who's too old, how beautiful Sarah Palin is compared to Michelle Obama (as if there IS any comparison between the two who are both gorgeous in their own rights), Palin's abstinent-but-knocked-up daughter and her redneck son-in-law-to-be, but her abuse of office charges are valid and should stick as an issue. It says a lot about how she does or does not manage to keep her oath of office and personal affairs separate, as they should be.

This whole campaign is starting to sound like a bitchy PMS-ing slapfest that's just missing the mud and wet t-shirts and I am getting sick of it.

I KNOW we, the nation, have important business coming up: Finance and economy, putting America back on track and fiscally sound, dealing with world affairs and re-establishing our reputation on the international scale, wars and impending wars, sliding scale dollar issues, racism, crime control, poverty, death penalty injustices, medical and healthcare, abortion, family rights, women's issues, escalating costs with no cost of living salary increases, the whole nine. Nobody's got time for this 'yada yada' that has nothing to do with anything that's on the table. Time to grow up children.

We're down to the wire on November 2, and nothing matters now except that Mr. Change and Mr. Country First need to be looking forward to the next four-eight-16-32 years instead of backward. Sorry, but Bush's last-minute attempt to revive his presidential legacy mean absolutely nothing to me.

I look forward to some good and serious debates on Sept. 26 and Oct. 2. Obama and Biden kick BUTT! (And please spare us the rest of the "pointless noise" for the remainder of this campaign year, PLEASE.)

McCain tried to leverage the race and gender cards against Obama's campaign because it was all he had left to deal...meaning he's a loser on all counts. He knew it when he announced Palin as a running mate. It was his last trump and he played it with all his might.

If Obama loses it won't be due to racism, it will be because of white privilege 'in favor of' Sarah Palin, because she is absolutely not qualified to be vice president OR president of the United States by ANY means, so if she is put in office, it will be only to keep Obama out. They put this in the media as a duel between Obama and Palin when it was anything BUT that. The two couldn't even compare, mainly because one was running for president and the other for vice president. McCain, earlier, spoke to Obama's "experience" level and then turned around and put a pure political Zero up front and center to prove his point? Palin is so inexperienced, she ought to vote against herself. McCain himself is more experienced than she, and should have named himself president and vice-president -- the McCain/McCain ticket.

Bottom Line: I can't stay enthusiastic about this lean mean Democratic campaign machine if I have to keep hearing petty crap about people's families and looks and motor skills and computer capabilities. Let's get to the meat of this election, so dessert can be served on November 4.

If we want to talk EXPERIENCE, I'm all for that, because McCain absolutely shot himself in the booty with that one. I don't think them trying so hard to bring Palin "up to speed" in the next 5.5 weeks is going to work out as well as they think.

Why it Will Be Slickness, Not Substance That Carries This Election

Brian M Ross — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:15:40 EDT

While doing my round of phone calls on Sunday for Obama/Biden I had a very nice chat with a die-hard McCain supporter who was 51, whose husband was 71 and had served in the Viet Nam war. It was not a moment of conversion, I'm sad to say, but it does illustrate a really interesting issue for Obama supporters: Overcoming perception with reallity.

She told me that George W. Bush was going to be judged by historians as the greatest president of our time. She liked Mr. Obama, thought he was a bit young, and would be happy to see him as a president in, say, twenty years. She wanted her grandkids "safe" from terrorism, and was convinced that the Republicans, and McCain as an ex-military man in particular, was key to that safety.

Safety comes in many flavors. One can argue, quite effectively, that all politics flows from the management and control of resources: Man made, natural, and intellectual capital.

How John McCain, who has working in his campaign the scum and villiany of lobbyists, and the people who either legislated into being or lobbied on behalf of the deregulation of the financial industry that has brought us to the edge of financial collapse, can be said to understand anything about how to manage anything as complex as the government that is about to tackle some of the most monumental fiscal and social safety net challenges of the last 78 years, would seem to be...

The Democratic National Convention 2008 –Highlights

Stephanie Williams — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 09:59:23 EDT

My previous blogs have VANISHED (apparently into thin "web" air)!! Oh well, I am not going to spend anytime crying about that. I am also not going backwards (i.e., trying to repost items lost) because the election is less than 60 days away! That being said, I have few exceptions: highlight speeches of the historical 2008 DNC, Obama's acceptance speech, Fact Checking Gov. Sarah Palin and Republican Pres. Nominee John McCain's RNC Acceptance Speeches. With respect to the highlights of the 2008 DNC, I have compiled a list of my favorite speeches with links to the video. The list is in reverse chronological order. If, for some reason, a link is broken, you can always Google the speech or search for it on YouTube.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

Denver, CO (August 25-28, 2008)

Pres. Nominee Barack Obama’s Acceptance Speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZCrIeRkMhA

Sen. Joe Biden’s VP Acceptance Speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVH58DeUThg

Beau Biden Introducing his father, Sen. Joe Biden:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFNdA6fxKpo

Sen. John Kerry’s Speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO2PAm4iCtE

Fmr. President Bill Clinton’s Speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3r6xvwPGcY

Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=268ncnoitEc

Congressman Dennis Kucinich “Wake-up America” Speech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE_eKhUC9rI

Gov. Deval Patrick (D-Mass) Speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAwKHriAj5Q

Michelle Obama’s Speech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTFsB09KhqI

Ted & Caroline Kennedy’s Speech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE_eKhUC9rI

from POLITICO:Bill Clinton's advice to Barack Obama

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:13:56 EDT

By: John F. Harris

September 12, 2008 10:28 AM EST

There they were in Harlem Thursday, the 42nd president and the Democrat who hopes to be the 44th, for a two-hour lunch hour chat at Bill Clinton’s office.

It is not at all clear that Barack Obama particularly wants Clinton’s advice about how to win the presidency—after all, he kept the former president at a cool distance, with just occasional phone calls, for months—but many Democrats believe it is increasingly clear that he could use it.

The fact that Obama is even with or behind John McCain despite so many favorable trends for Democrats shows that there is still plenty he could learn from the master—the political Houdini who is the only Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win two terms.

We do know that Clinton was happy to share his thoughts. He recently shared ten minutes of “here’s what Obama needs to do” wisdom while standing in the popcorn line with someone he just met at a New York movie theater, according to one Democrat privy to the conversation.

The Clinton-Obama meeting was closed. We don’t know for sure what they said. But it is not hard to make an educated guess. Here, based on 16 years experience watching Bill Clinton campaign—and interviews with a half-dozen veterans of his political teams—is a reasonably safe bet about his campaign advice to Barack Obama:

1. Don’t make this about you.

Clinton is always skeptical of politicians who try to win races on the basis of their life story or supposed personal virtues. Those can be nice side dishes (“The Man from Hope”) but they can’t be the main entrée. Voters just don’t care that much about you, they care about themselves and what you will do for them. Clinton believes, plausibly, that this is why he emerged from sex scandals and all manner of other controversies with his job approval ratings intact. See Also Obama vows new 'speed and ferocity'

Obama to pressure McCain on openness --- “What Bill Clinton always told me is, ‘If we make this about their lives instead of mine, we’ll be better off,” recalled Paul Begala, who served as strategist in the 1992 election and the second-term White House. “It’s always about the voters, never about the candidates.”

What’s more, the politics of biography can turn in an instant, as happened to John F. Kerry in 2004 when what was supposed to be an asset—Kerry’s Vietnam service—was turned into a distraction and even liability by the Swift Boat Veterans. Clinton thinks Obama has erred by putting too much focus on himself, and on his supposedly transformational brand of politics—it’s too airy, and puts him at risk of being branded a hypocrite when, as inevitably happens, he needs to play rough.

2. Define yourself through policies—yours and theirs.

Clinton would often dismiss proposed speech drafts handed him by his staff writers with a mocking phrase, “Words, words words!” He has never thought much of Obama’s rhetoric-driven campaign. While Obama has plenty of policy proposals, there are not many that he has managed to make recognizable signatures, the way Clinton promised to “end welfare as we know it” in 1992.

Most people know Obama claims to represent “Change you can believe in.” But Clinton believes people won’t believe him—or any politician—unless change is defined with specificity. That means describing, in language that sounds plausible rather than partisan, what you believe in versus what the other guy believes in.

3. Have more fun.

Bill and Hillary Clinton are both obsessed with how—as they see it—Republicans have perfected the art of the bogus attack, the distracting wedge issue, “the politics of personal destruction.” From the Clinton vantage point, both Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004 lost when they allowed Republicans to get under their skins and hijack their public images. Obama has hinted that he believes that, too, and has signaled that he will fight back hard.

But that is not as easy at it might sound. A candidate needs to do more than just complain about the unfairness of it all, as when Obama this week shouted “enough!” and denounced “lies, outrage and swift-boat politics.” The trick is counter-punching without looking rattled, and without letting your opponents set the agenda of the conversation. Though he did not always follow his own advice, Clinton believes humor is one tool that can help a politician connect with audiences and convey toughness rather than whininess. Mark Penn, the Clintons’ long-time pollster and strategist, said Obama may have listened too closely to people urging him to “fight back, fight back.” “He’s got to learn how to completely eviscerate the guy with a smile,” he said.

4. Make the election about something big.

It’s a mistake, Clinton believes, for a presidential nominee of one party to be arguing about the vice presidential nominee of the other party, as Obama has been over Sarah Palin in recent days. The best way for Obama to convince people he’s ready to be president is by talking about ideas that sound presidential. During both his presidential runs, Clinton gave major speeches at Georgetown University that were not partisan or even in the strict sense political—they were wide-ranging discourses about where the United States stood at that moment in history. Clinton believes Obama is on losing terrain if he allows the election to be about pigs and lipstick. Obama needs to soar above that by talking about large themes like energy and global warming, and how to harness the opportunities of a global economy.

5. Spend more time speaking to your opponents.

Most Democrats, Clinton believes, spend too much time enjoying the cheers of the home crowd—and not enough trying to persuade people who do not already agree with them. One of his favorite rhetorical tactics is to describe an opponent’s ideas in ways that sound perfectly fair and reasonable—as a prelude to why the opponent is dead wrong. Successful politicians, he believes, look for opportunities to speak to skeptical audiences. Clinton went to New Hampshire to talk to gun owners—even though many hunters there were furious over passage of a crime bill that hunters feared would take away their guns. “All our guys in Washington, thought I was crazier than the March Hare,” Clinton once told me and Mark Halperin. “And they said, ‘Well, you don’t want to talk about this.’ I said, ‘Oh, yes, I do.’” Obama’s convention speech in Denver was a spirited performance that thrilled Democrats, but did not have enough passages aimed at people who don’t already support him. What’s more, Obama has not taken enough positions that make clear he is not a standard-issue Democrat.

6. Don’t take Hillary voters for granted.

Obama’s strategists believed that they did not have to worry that much about Hillary Clinton’s women backers, because they figured that most of them were liberal, abortion-rights supporters who will vote for the Democrat even if the nominee was not their first choice. That was probably true for about two-thirds of those voters, according to one Clinton strategist’s appraisal of polling data. But another one-third of Clinton’s women supporters were more conservative-tilting working-class women, who were drawn to Clinton because they admired her pluck—and these voters are now a key target group for McCain-Palin.

7. Stop smoking whatever it is you are smoking.

In his cool treatment of both Clintons over the summer, and in the way he allowed expectations among Democrats and the news media to build, Obama has acted as if he were on a glide path to a relatively easy victory. Clinton knows this attitude is delusional. Someone who grew up in Arkansas as the state—and much of the South—was growing more conservative, can never forget how hard it is for Democrats to win in what for the past two generations has been a center-right country.

Democrats have only won more than 50 percent in a presidential election there twice since 1944. Republicans have done it seven times.

One important thing to remember: Obama has never faced a serious race against a Republican. His important victories in Illinois and this year have all been against other Democrats in nomination battles. Some Clinton allies say this may tend to warp his perspective about how politics works, and what kind of issues and stories matter in a presidential context.

Bottom line: it does not matter who is getting better coverage in the New York Times. “This is a new experience for Obama – facing a Republican who will do and say things far different from the Democrats he has faced – Republicans don’t care what Frank Rich, Maureen Dowd or establishment media has to say about them,” said Penn.

8. And while you are it, give me an apology.

The meeting in Harlem was friendly, and Obama could have hardly hoped for a more lavish endorsement than he got from Clinton at the Democratic convention in Denver. But he errs if he thinks the former president does not still have resentments toward Obama, and that those resentments might not surface at unwelcome times, in the view of many former aides.

Simply put, Clinton will never be fully at peace with Obama until the Democratic nominee makes clear—in emphatic words, in public—that Clinton is not in any way racist, and did not try to “play the race card” during the Democratic nomination contest, as some commentators have suggested. There’s no question that Clinton was impolitic in comparing Obama’s victory in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson’s victory 20 years earlier.

But Clinton is understandably outraged that people would argue this remark negated a career-long commitment to racial equality—and that Obama stood by mute while such charges were made. Clinton swallowed his medicine with his speech for Obama in Denver. Obama has still not fully swallowed his by making a public defense of Clinton on race.

Harris, the editor in chief of Politico, has written two books about Bill Clinton and his politics, “The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House,” and “The Way to Win; Taking the White House in 2008.”

Bill Clinton says Obama will win 'pretty handily'

Dave — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:47:25 EDT

NEW YORK: Former President Bill Clinton met with presidential candidate Barack Obama on Thursday and predicted that the Democrat will win the presidential race "pretty handily."

While a group of reporters and photographers watched, the two began their lunch meeting at the Clinton Global Initiative offices in Harlem with small talk about Clinton's commute from suburban Chappaqua, New York.

Clinton kept his answers short when he was asked about his involvement with Obama's campaign this fall. The former president noted an already-announced trip on Sept. 29 to Florida.

Obama said, "We're putting him to work."

Asked if he would be doing more, Clinton said, "I've agreed to do a substantial number of things, whatever I'm asked to do."

Before reporters were ushered out, Clinton was asked where he sees the race between Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain.

"I predict that Sen. Obama will win and win pretty handily," he said.

Obama added: "You can take it from the president of the United States. He knows a little something about politics."

Obama and Bill Clinton appeared less friendly toward each other at times during Obama's Democratic primary battle with Clinton's wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. After Obama clinched the party's nomination, both Clintons gave strong speeches in Obama's favor during the recent party convention in Denver.

Barack Obama for president would bring about such a sweat change...

Mon — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:13:44 EDT

I agree with former president Bill Clinton, Barack may not have much experience relative to presidency, and he may be a Illinois back alley thug politician, but that is exactly the kind of leader we need in this country. An eloquent Harvard Law School degree explaining homosexuality to kindergartners. Fills my eyes with tears just thinking about it. When I saw that P. Diddy is his appointed Get Out the Vote Celebrity I could hardly contain my enthusiasm. When a drug using adulterering, lying, thug endorses a candidate and puts that old crocker McCain in his place on his Myspace videos, I move all my chips to the middle of the table. You?

I'd like to share a conversation I had with my wife this evening.

Bob, Seattle WA — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:46:26 EDT

She is an exceptional, professional artist.

She was concerned ... 'would Hillary and Bill really go all out for Barack and Joe ... really ... no calculating or triangulating or 'don't get too close because if they don't get elected ...'

In other words, she was concerned about the abundant cynicism expressed by many regarding just how hard Hillary and Bill would work, during the next two months, to avert a tipping point, a 'black swan,' i.e., something that on 5 Nov 2008 none of us really have any way of knowing the cascading consequences of capitulation to a total corporatist, dominionist controlled executive branch of our government.

It has been my, albeit novice-to-politics, opinion that Hillary and Bill knew it was over in Feb 2008.

Unless Obama did something totally reckless he was going to take the nomination.

Neo-Cynicism

Guinevere from Woodinville, WA — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:18:32 EDT

AND WE THOUGHT THE GREATEST THREAT FROM WITHIN WAS THE NEO-CON.....FOLKS, MEET THE NEO-CYNICISTS!

I am, like so many women I know of a certain age, a dyed-in-the-wool feminist. Much as I would love to have seen a competent female Commander-In-Chief, I chose to support Obama; I made that decision during the South Carolina primary. If there’s any aspect of American politics I hate, it’s cynicism. I could only characterize the Clinton shadow campaign strategy in SC as deeply cynical, appealing to the worst instincts of some Euro-derived Americans. And today (8/29), we are presented with Sarah Palin, currently Governor of Alaska, as Senator John McCain’s selection for Vice President. This time, I had to laugh. If the Senator’s reasoning that the choice of this woman for his running mate would appease disappointed female Clinton supporters, he greatly underestimates our intelligence and good sense. Governor Palin is 44, the mother of five children, whose prior executive experience consists of being Mayor of a small suburb of Anchorage for 2 years. Her credentials – across the board - are unimpressive, and her policy positions nonsensical. She has a narrow life experience in sharp contrast with Obama and Biden; she has traveled very little, has little experience with other cultures and foreign policy. She opposes choice and abortion, even, reportedly, in the cases of incest and rape. Exactly how shallow do they think these Clinton supporters are? How could they imagine we would place the opportunity to put a woman in the White House over our compassion for each other, with the days of illegal abortion still within our remembrance? This is a fundamental failure to understand what the “women’s movement” was all about. Perhaps even more craven was Mrs. Palin’s immediate appropriation and recasting of an image from this week’s Democratic Convention speech. She refers to the “18 million cracks in [the hardest] glass ceiling in America.” “The hardest” is her addition, code to describe limitations experienced by the female contingent alone, and it is meant to suggest that there are other, less daunting, glass ceilings for other interest groups. It is a very cynical ploy for white votes. This is exactly the behavior that drove me from the Clinton camp to Barack Obama, someone who can challenge and inspire us to rise above divisions, to reflect what is best about the human spirit and heart. If we fail, we face an inauguration ushering in the oldest new President in American history, someone with a not insignificant medical history. I hate to run the risk of being ageist. However, I cannot live with the very real risk that our collective destiny could be in the hands of a truly inexperienced Vice President. If this prospect were not so deeply frightening, I would simply consider this decision, and its staging today, as comic relief. But there is nothing comical about the threat this represents. I know my “sisters” who care about the plights of other women, of their families, and of the world, will not be fooled by this simplistic strategy, this choice that represents a deeply cynical view, and underestimates us in every regard.

A conversation between a former HRC supporter and myself

Beth from ColoradObama — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:08:52 EDT

One of my coworkers, who supported Hillary Clinton during the primaries, has a respectable grasp of the issues, and I asked her if I could blog a recent e-mail exchange. Private information has been deleted.

I felt like posting this because I'm feeling some anxiety because of how easily McCain's VP pick is getting away with HER lack of experience and fiery rhetoric. I can only hope the Obama campaign is waiting to pounce at the right time. I wish they would pounce NOW. I need reassurance before I have an anxiety attack meltdown! You know it's bad for me when I won't watch The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. :>(

The Dawn of a New America

Jerry from Round Rock, TX — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:33:57 EDT

The Dawn of a New Integrity

Let me begin by saying that I am a Patriot. I am a Patriot for America. I am a Patriot for Europe, for China, for Russia, for India, and for all Earthlings; for countries yet unnamed and for children yet unborn; for every bird that flies and for every butterfly that flutters; for the wealthy and for the oppressed; for the working and for the jobless; for those who agree with me and for those who disagree with me. I am a Patriot for all in a time where Patriots must do more than speak. Patriots must act.

As I sit here, fortunate to overlook a lake in Texas from a balcony at a resort, and as I see the sun rising through the clouds to illuminate another day, I feel the symbolism those early Earthlings must have imagined as Apollo hitched his chariot to the sun to help it make another day; the baby sun, struggling from the womb of night, struggling to breathe the breath of a new dawn, helped by a hero who saw his duty to more than himself and did it.

So, with the same conviction and dedication, I hitch my chariot to Hope; hope that my daily efforts will usher in the Dawn of a New Integrity - a new integrity that is inclusive of all Earthlings, regardless of their geography or humanity, regardless of their wealth or lack, regardless of their agreement or disagreement with me.

But, just as Apollo needed horses of great faith and fortitude, horses of great passion and endurance, horses that knew teamwork was the only way to succeed, I ask for your faith and fortitude, for your passion and endurance, for your teamwork. Without it, we will all succumb to darkness.

You may find it strange for a businessman to speak in such terms. You may even find it unbelievable. But, before you dismiss my words completely, believe this: our new world demands that we must now always consider everyone’s words prior to dismissal because we must now listen first to everyone before we draw conclusions, before we decide, before we judge, and certainly before we act.

I began by saying that I am an American Patriot. Therefore, let me address the need for a New Integrity from that perspective. In the past 63 years since the end of World War II, America emerged as the leading world power. But, like a child who suddenly finds himself alone in a candy store after hours, we assumed ownership and gorged ourselves on our newfound fortune with no regard for the future. We neither took heed of our forefathers, nor remembered the lessons previously learned by ancients and ancestors. We ate all of the candy and left the wrappers on the floor. Then, when the store opened the next morning, we wondered why the previous owners and the other children were upset.

So, let’s begin the Dawn of a New Integrity in America first. Hitch your horses to our Chariot of Hope. Let’s drag a new day kicking and crying from the darkness. Let’s pay for the candy we’ve eaten and pick up our discarded wrappers. Let’s join with others in sharing agreements instead of commandeering the Earth’s resources as only our own. Let’s stop bombing and start listening. We may find that Integrity was the only thing they wanted in the first place.

Warm Regards,

Jerry Kemp, Founder of Text Voting Network, Inc. and the TVN GREEN BOOK

www.tvnblog.org

For computers: www.textcoupons.info

For mobile/PDA: www.gogreenbook.mobi

Open Letter to Hillary John Rodham McClinton Supporters

SRG_Legal — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:48:09 EDT

Either John McCain thinks you're not smart enough to check Sarah Palin's very short political record, or he's basically just told you to kiss off.

This woman stands for everything you say you're against, so you have no excuse NOT to vote for Obama now. And no excuse not to vote at all if you want to keep her out of office.

None. No excuse whatsoever.

Unless the rumors about you are true...

Bill's Speech

Ben — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:15:22 EDT

"Nations around the world have always been more impressed with the power of our example than the example of our power." I think Bill left no doubt that he is a amazing orator and that he is completly behind Barack. I think he will be a invaluble asset to Barack when he is elected. Under Bill we had a record surplus and under this adminstration we are 9 and a half trillion dollars in debt. Bill created over 22 million new jobs will George Bush has only created 5 million. Yet John McCain promises more of the same. If that is what we can expect from him I can see no good reaseon to vote for him.

Daily Gallup Tracking

Michael Wells — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:27:35 EDT

Nice to see the bump from the most recent Daily Tracking poll by Gallup.

Gallup Daily: Obama Moves Ahead, 48% to 42%

Couple of thoughts on Last two nights:

Hillary speech was an A
Mark Warner speech a B+
Bill Clinton A+
John Kerry (where the hell was this speech and tone in 2004?) B
Joe Biden A- (good content - good delivery, not enough)

The GOP campaign is negative and as much as I had to say this, it's time to play their game.

From New Mexico Wishing I was In Denver

Erin Oliver — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:36:48 EDT

Watching the DNC made me wish that I was able to make it to Denver. I am so proud and hopeful of the sort of people that are working with this campaign. I have to say that Joe Biden is an amazing man and I have so much respect for Barack Obama for choosing such an ethical, stand up, salt of the earth type of man and I have no doubt he will be a great vice president. Beau Biden's speech made me cry which I have a lot in the last three days. John Kerry was great too I wish they had featured him more. And big props to Barack for calling invesco field, mile high stadium. End corporate Terrorism!

I was unable to make it to Denver because I have had to borrow from my 401k to pay my bills this month. I was already -500 in my bank account. I am on the verge of getting my water shut off my fiance is going to have to go get a payday loan so he can get his son a birthday present. I feel horrible about it but I am on disability for a work accident that my corporate job denied me workers comp for. I have had to file suit in court to try to recover from the devistation this caused financially. I am now also having to file for social security disability. State won't give me medicad or any assistance until Verizon verifies that I am on disability so I am the closest I have ever been to being homeless. At 28, growing up with parents who were very successful in acheiving the "American Dream" I sit, and I feel sorry for myself sometimes about this precarious situation I am in. But I think about my parents being first generation college graduates getting scholorships via athletics lifting themselves out of dire poverty in Texas and moving on to graduate school where they became VERY successful and powerful people in new mexico: one a lawyer and the other became well now she is the Deputy Secretary of Prison reform and reentry. I envy their success. I guess I have to learn things the hard way. Motherhood at 17 to a little boy who is now in 4th grade with a 7th grade reading level and in a gifted program. Of all that I sacrifice- I will sacrifice all I have for him. I will figure out a way to pay for the water, and my books for school next week--Sadly it is asking my parents for help which at 28 I didn't want to ever do.

Anyway, I donated to Barack despite financial issues with my 401k money because that's my future and I believe that this election is where my future lies. Honestly if he doesn't win, it is so bad here that once my degree is finished I am going to try to get sponsored for citizenship to the EU, France specifically because of my medical issues and I used to be fluent in french. This election is just that important to me. These promises are just that important to me.

In 1992 Bill Clinton had a rally in albuquerque at 3 am-the morning of the election. I was in 7th grade at Sandia Prep School at the time. My mom woke me up and took me in the cold cold of November early morning waiting for him. When he arrived he electrified the sleep deprived followers of the Clintons. Afterwards my mom and I went to the closest indoor place to find coffee and she and I talked about politics for about 2 hours. That night made me more aware and I can really think back to that time as to when I got into loving politics more than any poli sci class that I have taken. We even named our two cocker spaniels puppies Tipper and Hillary! Bill Clinton has been somebody I have admired my whole adult life and although I have supported and voted for Barack because of the inspiration I got from reading the Audacity of Hope. I am really pleased to see that there was so much of the convention tuned to Hillary. She had 18 million votes! She deserves the accolades that she has received. Bill Clinton, getting the 3.5 minute standing ovation pleased me as well. He said some things he shouldn't during the campaign but he was a husband speaking for his wife who was fighting a hard fight. I would have been disappointed if he hadn't reacted emotionally.

I am very excited to listen to Al Gore and hear Barack's speech. I have met Al Gore at a fundraiser shortly after he won (but lost) the election with Bill Richardson. He is such a funny guy.

Well I'm hopping around subjects. Today was a great day though. I am going to give as much as I can to make sure that Obama is elected.

Seriously though? Why would anybody vote for Mccain? c'mon he's 72 years old and he has a growth growing out of his face. You know he's not the same senator he used to be. I mean granted he's a tough guy but I think if you have to be at least 35 to be president there should be a cap on that as well. What if dementia sets in or alzheimers? Who his VP nod goes to is probably the most important thing in his whole campaign. But I wont be watching the republican convention-- it almost seems like a new standard has been set in women in politics this year and the sexism and mysoginy that oozes from certain Republican's angry and sick. Speaking of sick I have been watching MSNBC and I cannot STAND Pat Buchanan and the way he pronounces the word "woman" it really is very offensive in my opinion.

Well goodnight Barack Land! what a great convention you all are lucky if you got to go!

xoxo

Erin

President Bill Clinton still has it.

Justin — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:22:40 EDT

The former president's speech at the DNC tonight hit the nail right on the head. He manged to touch on several key issues that eccentuate what the democratic party stands for while hopefully assuring more votes for Barack in november.

Clearly supporting Obama and pushing Hilary's supporters to follow suit:
"Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she'll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama.
That makes two of us.
Actually that makes 18 million of us - because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November."

"Everything I learned in my eight years as President and in the work I've done since, in America and across the globe, has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job."

Recognizing the most crucial problems in the world and highlighting the necessity to handle them:
"Our nation is in trouble on two fronts: The American Dream is under siege at home, and America's leadership in the world has been weakened.
Middle class and low-income Americans are hurting, with incomes declining; job losses, poverty and inequality rising; mortgage foreclosures and credit card debt increasing; health care coverage disappearing; and a big spike in the cost of food, utilities, and gasoline.

Our position in the world has been weakened by too much unilateralism and too little cooperation; a perilous dependence on imported oil; a refusal to lead on global warming; a growing indebtedness and a dependence on foreign lenders; a severely burdened military; a backsliding on global non-proliferation and arms control agreements; and a failure to consistently use the power of diplomacy, from the Middle East to Africa to Latin America to Central and Eastern Europe.

Clearly, the job of the next President is to rebuild the American Dream and restore America's standing in the world."

A quote to remember:

"People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power."

Support of Joe Biden pick :
"And in his first presidential decision, the selection of a running mate, he hit it out of the park.
With Joe Biden's experience and wisdom, supporting Barack Obama's proven understanding, insight, and good instincts, America will have the national security leadership we need."

Concise, accurate, bashing of the republican administration:
"They took us from record surpluses to an exploding national debt; from over 22 million new jobs down to 5 million; from an increase in working family incomes of $7,500 to a decline of more than $2,000; from almost 8 million Americans moving out of poverty to more than 5 and a half million falling into poverty - and millions more losing their health insurance.
Now, in spite of all the evidence, their candidate is promising more of the same: More tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that will swell the deficit, increase inequality, and weaken the economy. More band-aids for health care that will enrich insurance companies, impoverish families and increase the number of uninsured. More going it alone in the world, instead of building the shared responsibilities and shared opportunities necessary to advance our security and restore our influence.

They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more. Let's send them a message that will echo from the Rockies all across America: Thanks, but no thanks. In this case, the third time is not the charm."

Bill Clinton's speech tonight was utterly brilliant.

Hillary and Barack: History in the Making

Jude — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:03:06 EDT

What an amazing time to be a citizen of The United States of America!

2008 will be remembered by our descendents as the year a woman and a black man proved to the world that The United States of America actually IS a nation built on diversity!

Historically, you would expect that the United States was mainly made up of rich, white men!(grin)

I am, by no means, trying to dishonor those talented (and brave) men and women that paved the way for Hillary and Barack to get this far in politics. Without those that came before them; there would be no Hillary and Barack.

While I am THRILLED that Barack Obama is my (Democrat) Presidential Candidate; I am also so very proud of Hillary Clinton.

Whether you love her or hate her; she is an inspiration to us all! In fact, I bet in a hundred years or so, history books will talk a lot more about Hillary Clinton and her accomplishments than her husband; the ex-President.

Nothing against Bill Clinton, but Hillary Clinton is a Powerhouse. She has shown a lot of strength, wisdom and grace. And, when it became clear that Barack Obama was the choice; she showed CLASS!

History will remember her as a woman that not only put "18 Million cracks in the glass ceiling", but also as the woman that actually BROKE that ceiling!

Because of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, our daughters and sons can aspire to be WHATEVER they want to be; whatever their race; whatever their gender! And I am so proud of them!

The first black man in United States' history to become a major party candidate for President! Hopefully, Barack Obama will soon BE the President of The United States!

We live in an exciting time, folks! Lets not take anything for granted. But, we can and should CELEBRATE these history-making events!

Jude Bourff
http://heyjude.name

Democratic Convention

Mary H. — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:01:51 EDT

I'm sure all of you have been just as excited as I am to see the Democratic Convention going so well & so strong! One can almost feel the excitement and energy through the TV! Hopefully many of you attending will Blog about your experiences, the people, the excitement, & what you've learned. Those of us grounded in our hometowns would love to hear about all going on!

Let's Define What LEGACY Is - Who Has It, and Who Doesnt Have It

Tanya — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:04:29 EDT

As of recent..we have been hearing a lot of talk of the Clintons. They have been invading the space of the airways with what they want, how they want it, and who they want it from.I've shared my feelings over and over again about this so I won't repeat anything you've already read. I am going to make some points though.

Following the Clinton Money Trail

Stephen — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:50:24 EDT

If you want to know what type of support the Clintons will extend to the Obama/Biden ticket, you ought to be looking into where her money has been coming from. There were reports last year that many of the same organizations that had poured money into the McCain race also were contributing to Hillary Clinton's campaign. It should come as no surprise that the two ganged up on Obama in the primary, and are doing it again in the general election.

With the convention ready to start, perhaps some fresh news pieces on her sources of money and connection to John McCain might cause her supporters to re-think their support of her. Elected office is supposed to be "public service," not "self service!"

Here's the link to my discussion following Obama's clinching the nomination:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stevadore/gGBy5v

Democratic National Convention SCHEDULE

Michael in Ohio — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:21:52 EDT

Tomorrow begins the four day Democratic National Convention in Denver, with everything leading to Barack's official nomination on Thursday!

In Ohio, supporters will be hosting Watch Parties all across the state--click here to find a watch party near you.

Below is the official schedule for the Convention. There are no set times for each speaker, but the speaking program begins every night at 8 PM Eastern Time.

MONDAY AUGUST 25th- "ONE NATION"

Monday's headline speaker will be Michelle Obama.

Other speakers include: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri; Barack Obama’s sister Maya Soetero-Ng and Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama’s older brother; Jerry Kellman, mentor and long-time friend of Barack Obama; Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr.; former Indiana Representative Lee Hamilton; Tom Balanoff, President of Illinois SEIU; Nancy Keenan, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America; NEA President Reg Weaver; AFT President Randi Weingarten; Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan; State Comptroller Dan Hynes; Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulis; Chicago City Clerk Miguel del Valle; and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.

Monday night will also feature a tribute to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

TUESDAY AUGUST 26th - "RENEWING AMERICA'S PROMISE"

Senator Hillary Clinton will be the headline prime-time speaker and former Virginia Governor Mark Warner will deliver the keynote address on Tuesday night. Pay Equity pioneer Lilly Ledbetter will also address the Convention on Tuesday.

Other speakers include: Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana; Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts; Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas; Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona; Governor Joe Manchin of West Virginia; Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin; Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania; Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio; Governor David Paterson of New York; Governor Chet Culver of Iowa; Senator Bob Casey, Jr., of Pennsylvania; Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont; former Secretary of Energy and Transportation Federico Peña; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer; House Democratic Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel; Representative Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Assistant to the Speaker of the House; and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chair Chris Van Hollen, who will use his time to showcase his top candidates for change.

Representatives Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Mike Honda (D-CA), California Controller John Chiang, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, Change To Win’s Anna Burger, and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney will also speak.

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE SCHEDULE.

A Thought For Hilary’s Disgruntled, Die-Hard or Dumbfounded Supporters

Charley James — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:59:13 EDT

John McCain is sneaking up on Barack Obama in the latest still-too-early-to-mean-much polls. But what is meaningful is that around 30% of former Clinton supporters are still declaring themselves as undecided or supporting McCain. To those people, I have three words to think about as the convention convenes in Denver: Supreme Court appointments.

If you sit out this election or vote for McCain and he wins, he will appoint at least one and possibly two people to Supreme Court of the United States during his first term. I guarantee you he won’t be nominating people like Hillary or Barack. Instead, picture another Scalia or Alito or Roberts staring down from the high court bench. That possibility alone is enough to keep me living in Canada for the rest of my life.

This means a lot to everyone, but it should special meaning for women.

It will mean Roe v. Wade and a woman’s control over her own body will be gone, probably within two years.

It means that the growing backlog of lower court decisions on women’s rights in the workplace, especially those involving pay, promotion, discrimination and harassment will go against women in favor of corporate interests.

It means conservatives dominating the court will successfully dissemble the Bill of Rights as narrow minorities on the bench tried and failed to do – usually by one vote – in the Gitmo cases over the past two years.

Essentially, it means all of the gains in women’s rights over the past half-century will be at risk as a lop-sided, right wing court recasts the face of America into something not just you but your daughters and their daughters will be forced to live.

I understand you’re disappointed that your candidate lost, and sympathize with your angst; been there, done that, felt it myself. But more often than not, politics – like life itself – is disappointing.

Had Hilary run a better campaign, had she better senior advisors, had Mark Penn not gone public with every internal dispute he was losing to Terry McAuliffe (and vice versa), if her staff with all of its pre-primary polling had understood that change trumped experience this time around, had she been a better candidate, had Bill stayed on message and not tossed out subtle racial smears, things might have been different.

Might-a. Could-a. Should-a.

Simply put, Obama was a better candidate with a better run, better organized, better funded campaign. Party insiders did not give Obama the nomination. Chris Mathews did not up-end the Clinton effort. The news media did not have it in for her. It wasn’t sexism among voters or reporters; I promise you that people who would not vote for a woman would not vote for a black man, either.

I have covered state and national campaigns since Nixon beat Humphrey way back in 1968. I’ve learned in watching the best (and, more often, the worst) politicians is they remember the old saw about “politics makes strange bedfellows.” When they lose, they lick their wounds and then close ranks to win the election.

So, if you truly think John McCain would be better for America than Barack Obama, then vote for him. But if you’re voting for him out of spite, or not voting at all as an ill-advised and, frankly, petulantly churlish protest, remember another old adage: Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.

You won’t like having to explain to your daughters, their daughters and their daughter's daughters why you did what you did in 2008.

More afraid of the Clinton's than McCain's Dirty Tricks

rwordplay — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:45:29 EDT

I think we can anticipate and disarm any attack from the McCain camp or others who want to stop Obama. In fact, I think we, as a country, won't accept any more "Swift Boat kinds of attacks. Saying this, I am more afraid of the megalomanical Clintons, who will try to subvert our campaign. I was deeply disturbed when I read that Obama gave both Hillary and Bill a night to "strut their stuff," at our expense. )See Maureen Dowd: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/13/opinion/edowd.php )

As I've said and written from the beginning, not only can we win without the Clintons, I believe the Clintons will prove our biggest obstacle to overcome.

In closing, I'm a little surprised that Obama and his advisors still believe in the Clinton magic. The pair are as 21st Century as the SUV and McMansion.

Now is the time to jettison them, before they can further their mischief.

Fight Back with Focus

Libby - San Francisco — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:43:01 EDT

Sen. John McCain has a long history of lying to his constituents. If we can harken back to his heroic days in Vietnam, let's then fast forward to the 1980's and the Keating Five*, (Senator McCain was one of the five involved in the S&L scandal). Or his own party in his home state of Arizona calling for his censure in 2006.

I recently heard a pundit on MSNBC say that the Republicans are very good at being focused and consistent with their messages, no matter how untruthful the claim, or how nuanced and shallow the topic, everyone gets on board with the mantra, giving it the credibility it does not deserve.

Senator Obama has responded with denouncements. But when McCain tells out-and-out lies about Barack, "Mr. Maverick" turns the remarkable events of Obama's recent tour of Europe and the Mideast into a sophomoric mocking of his rival's "celebrity", it's time to set the record straight.

Obama's ad response to the "celebrity" issue is very clever, but it focuses on McCain's theme of the week, not Obama's. The Obama campaign's response to the Republican Senator's attack ads and negative jabs on the campaign, should be that of outrage – by Mr. Obama, David Plouf and the heavy hitters of endorsers such as the Clintons, the Kennedys, Govs. Richardson, Sebelius, Kaine and Rendell, Al Gore, Speaker Nancy Peliosi – the whole team. Let's get them in a room together – unified –on camera, facing the viewers and calling McCain on his baggage. The public has a right to know more about the real John McCain in clear, direct terms.

The backdrop has signatures of the backbone of Obama's successful rise to the Democratic Party's nomination: us, the grass roots, volunteers and supporters. On the national stage, for the general election, WE NEED THE PARTY LEADERS TO STAND UNIFIED.

Speaking of the Clintons, why are there still reports in the mainstream media about her "bitter" supporters? I heard a comment on the news today that Clinton supporters (or was it the Clintons themselves?) believe that had John Edwards confessed to his affair before the Iowa primary, Hillary would have won the nomination. This is not unity, folks. Or reality.

How can such a well oiled campaign such as Obama's allow the Hillary factor to continue to try and dilute his leadership and rightful place as the party's nominee for President? Reign her in before it's too late.

It's impressive that Obama is responding to current events "as if" he was the President. I understand that line of thinking.

But first, Senator Obama, you have to win the election.

Libby Klitsch, San Francisco

Obama Volunteer, Supporter and convention volunteer

You can't roll the stone back up the hill

Reynaldo A. Macias — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:34:58 EDT

As Senator Obama takes a much needed family vacation, and Senator McCain continues to “campaign”, several things have been on my mind:

A month after Rolling Stone endorsed Senator Obama for President of the United States, they are now suffering “media remorse” for appreciating him as a candidate. The current issue has an article trying to paint Senators Obama and McCain as lackeys to money. While that may be the case with the latter (the article is full of names and details of large checks and policy issues), the former has until now shown that money or not, he is doing what needs to be done and while he is pragmatic (he is a politician, after all), he has not shown himself beholden to corporate interests in the same way as Senator McCain. The article attempts to infer, by innuendo, that Senator Obama has been guilty of the same fault. The whisper campaign is now being spoken, even if it is with an inside voice. Perhaps the reason the media “is in love with Senator Obama” is because the American people are ready for a candidate (and President) with vision, forethought, A PLAN, and are interested in hearing from him about what he believes, thinks, and plans to do with the job once he is elected. I hope that RS starts using facts to support their arguments, not just making blanket statements and hoping no one calls them on it. That would make them FOX-like.

As I’m watching Michael Phelps win the first of his gold medals inBeijing, I’m also being subjected to more “campaigning” from Senator McCain. His “Families” advertisement running on NBC during primetime contains outright lies about Senator Obama’s tax proposals. Is there no shame? Senator Obama is taking a week off, deservedly so. President Bush is taking another vacation on our tax dollars, and Senator McCain is spending his contributors’ money to desecrate the Olympics. I know that NBC is making millions of dollars on the advertising revenue, but the commercials for products are vetted for their factual nature, aren’t they? Campaign ads don’t have the same standard, I guess.

I miss Tim Russert. Tom Brokaw this morning let Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury, sit on Meet the Press for thirty minutes and not say anything substantive. He advocated for a bailout of Fannie May and Freddie Mac, but pooh-poohed a second stimulus package for actual taxpayers; he complained that going in front of Congress to ask for money was “unpleasant,” but “easy, because the alternative was bad”; he said that China “has learned that it is hard to operate outside of the world community,” but that the United States cannot dictate China’s record of human rights abuses (is that because of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo?)

Oh, and I almost forgot . . . all of these Caucasian politicians, Bill Clinton and John McCain chief among them, who are bent out of shape about being called racist. Race is the third rail of life in the United States – period. From “the first thanksgiving” to Columbus Day; from Metacomet to General Custer; from Juneteenth to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln; from Phyllis Wheatley to the Declaration of Independence; from Nas to Bill O’Reilly; Michelle Obama to terrorist fist jab; from Thomas Jefferson to Jesse Helm’s black children (that they didn’t emancipate or claim); the list is exhausting and quite long. If you’re not of Euro-Caucasian stock, then race is a constant factor of life everyday, in both positive and negative ways. I got stopped by a Mexican security guard as I was walking into a predominantly-white, affluent beach club yesterday to pick up my son. It wouldn’t have been so obviously racial if he hadn’t cut through five white people who were walking in at the same time to get to me. It must have been my Perry Ellis polo that said “Danger!” On the presidential campaign, Senator Barack Obama’s observation that he “doesn’t look like those other presidents on the dollar bills” was portrayed by SenatorMcCain as “playing the race card”? He doesn’t look like them. And what is the race card? Are we playing bachillerato? It’s not a joker to be used when you don’t have anything else to say. Recognition of race, and actual racism (Bill O’Reilly, Fox News, President Clinton’s “Jesse Jackson” remarks in South Carolina) are part of the conversation because this is politics in the United States. Perhaps they should be honest about their motives and attacks, and I mean honest with themselves. FOX “News” is honest – they put their crap out there and make no apologies. The problem with Bill and John is that they think because they don’t use pejorative racial terms, that they are somehow outside racial thinking. News for both, and everyone else: Barack Obama is black and white; John McCain is white; both of them live in the United States, which means that those adjectives are part and parcel of who they are – deal with it. And President Clinton, let me clear something else up – you were not the first black president, that will be Barack Obama. Alice Walker said that you were being treated disrespectfully, with complete disregard for your family or status, almost as if “you were the first black president.” Get it straight.
www.powerfulbeyondmeasure.wordpress.com

And If It Wasn’t For THEM You Wouldn’t Even HAVE BEEN

Tanya — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:47:20 EDT

I’m going to go ahead and spend some time writing my own blog tonight. I’m a little irritated. Well, a lot! I got a few bones to pick all with the same theme.

I’m going to go ahead and start with the ignorant bitchasses that keep saying…

“You’re just voting for Obama because he is black!”

I will try and respond to this without cursing or getting angry.
Since I’m a factual kinda gal, let’s look at the facts.

Randi Rhodes: Obama And Abortion And The Smell Of BS

Tanya — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:46:06 EDT

This woman is great

How Should Obama Fight Back Against a Bully, like McCain and even the Clintons?

Steve Sulkin — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:25:22 EDT

How Should Obama Fight Back Against a Bully?

School Yard axioms apply.

1. Don’t stoop to the bully’s level

2. Don’t let the bully hit you without defending yourself
3. Be smarter then the bully
4. Believe in yourself
5. We all know right doesn’t always win, but it can if you outsmart wrong
6. Call upon others to help
7. Make the bully the outcast
8. Be proactive and figure out how to stop the bully before they bully you

So if I was charged with applying the above schoolyard axioms to the political campaign here is what I would do (and not do). Following the above 8 points:

1 If you’re going to mock, it shouldn’t make you look bad. Senator Obama, you went too far when you quipped, “Is that the best you can do”? You were stooping, it made you look petty and that is not who you are, I’m confident of that.

2. When McCain attacks, you, your staff, your supporters (meaning us in a coordinated campaign) must be all over the news, the Internet, everywhere immediately with the most eloquent and effective retort, one that would stand up against any pundit’s analysis. A rebuttal that is infallible.
3. McCain is not anywhere near your intelligence. Use your sharp mind to rise above the attacks, to show the American public that they should not want a President who, when we have such serious issues in this world, acts like a child. How, when soldiers are dying, when our world is dying, when our economy is dying, can McCain be acting like a child taunting the smart kid in class?
4. I am sure you have lapses, sometimes believing what they say, that you’re not ready, but you are of course, more then most anyone ever has been.
5. Wrong, evil, can be so intelligent; you just need to outsmart them. Even within your own party, there are those trying to knock you down, which are despicable, but you are smarter then they are.
6. Your supporters are less energized; there are less of them doing less. We must get back to fighting back in unison. You are a great organizer. Organize us.
7. Turn the tables on McCain. Make his attacks seem, as they are, petty especially in light of the real problems, real Americans face. Make his attacks lower him to a level that make him seem unqualified for the job of President of the United States. Make the world see that a person who acts childish, a person who bullies is the last person in the world we need with their finger on the trigger of our very existence.
8. Pre-empt his attacks by calling upon this campaign to elevate itself to a new level, a level that does not force you to defend yourself against attacks, that does not force you to attack yourself, but to a level that is respectful to the American public. And pre-empt future attacks – they are not hard to figure out for you of course. They will tear you down for being popular, they will hint at your race, your difference (and defending yourself does not mean playing the race card – you are the victim), they will call you unprepared, young, elitist (all intelligent people are bullied by those less intelligent) and they will think of other ways to attack you which I’m sure you can figure out prior to the attack.

I truly believe that without you in office, and especially with Senator McCain in office, our world is in grave jeopardy.

Show the world how you can lead them to a new beginning. Be the charismatic man of hope, ideas, intelligence and mostly, the man of the people, all people, not above them, but with them, arm in arm.

What are you doing?

Ron Domino — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:46:53 EDT

(original Barack Out With My Cock Out posting - Tuesday, February 19, 2008)

After seeing the more prominently known Bill that is competing for the White House this year, I am shaken and disturbed. The only man with a better resume than our own Governor Bill, graced the University of New Mexico -- the Flagship University of the state -- and bellowed through the indiscernible PA system (still intact from the days before the Pit when the Lobos played in Johnson) his plan to unite America and win back the white house.

With a few references to the accomplishments of his first two terms, Bill highlighted what he would do better in his third and fourth terms. Left un-addressed, was the absence of the magical touch that brought him into office in 1992 and accomplished his agenda; the glow that dropped people's jaws in the same manner as Tiger Woods and John Lennon was gone. There was no jam-packed hall with people crammed into every last corner. There were no throngs of on-lookers sitting in silent respect for the President that created international bridges over impassable waters. A few hundred, maybe a thousand interested persons were scattered across the gym floor and upper deck. A few waved signs to remind the President of his wife's name. Applause was given out of respect, not jubilation.

At the onset of this election cycle (Dem Convention 2004 when we nominated a guaranteed loser) I began saying "If it came down to it, I could stomach voting for his wife if it brought President Clinton back into the White House." While today reaffirmed my belief that they are – politically-speaking – one person in two bodies, I cannot say that it reaffirmed my devote support of the eventual Democratic nominee. He is not the President that is adored in history books and on the History Channel. He is the President of the 90's - a great leader that provided great deeds, but it is now time to honor his past service by doing what he has always advocated to do; we must continue looking to the future, continue moving forward as we learn from our past failures and work to elevate new leaders to guide our nation away from failed policies and toward a new, better future.

The changes of the future came the next morning. At the Albuquerque Convention Center any and everyone that wasn’t chained to a desk lined up to catch a glimpse of the other remaining candidate in the Democratic Primary. While I had walked straight into Johnson Gym the day before, I arrive an hour early to sneak into line about 3000 deep. In the third or fourth extra ballroom, Senator Obama passed through to keep from disappointing the extra 3000 attendees that didn’t stand a chance of sneaking into the Kiva. Another throng of supporters assembled on Civic Plaza to see him after a long speech followed by many questions.

What I witnessed in two days was incomparable. As meaningless as running on the words of “change” and "hope" can be, it has already produced results. Across the nation people who had lost hope, People who have never previously voted or followed an election have taken action and become involved. Changes have already taken place. Records are set each time another state holds their primary or caucus. The opportunities currently presented to the Democrats are only just being recognized. To quash their new-found interest would be to shoot oneself in the foot to even the race for the competition.

As a pragmatist that compromises to win rather than adhering to ideals in defeat, it is imperative that we work to inform and educate our own communities. Thus, as any provider of news, I will bring you announcements of events of the 2008 election. I will sift, sort and edit for you, not to deceive and distort, but to place the focus on the facts that carry real importance.

As New Mexico is a state that goes to the eventual winner every year except for two in its entire history, a focus will be placed upon the state. In addition to being a key state in the Presidential Race, all three current Congressmen are competing for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Pete Domenici for the first time in 36 years. While two of the congressional races will be all but decided in the June primary, the Albuquerque congressional district and Senate race could easily bring out provisional ballots to decide the winners.

It may not be remembered as an historic election, but you will hear of its historic implications many times in the next year (enough to make your ears bleed on dry days, so don’t make a drinking game based on its repetition). I welcome anyone interested in staying informed and up to date to join me often as we watch the election transpire.

Bill Clinton says he's ready to campaign for Obama

Jamal - It's not Mr. Obama, It's President Obama! — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:31:06 EDT

NEW YORK - Former President Clinton said Thursday he is eager to campaign for Barack Obama whenever the Democrat needs him, but has not given any thought to whether he wants to speak at the party convention in Denver.

"I told him that whenever he wanted me to do it, I was ready, and so it's basically on their timetable," Clinton said. "He's got a lot of things to do between now and the convention, of which this is simply one, so I'll do whatever I'm asked to do, whenever I can do it."

Relations between Clinton and Obama have only just began to thaw since Obama defeated the former president's wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, in the bruising Democratic primary that ended last month. Throughout that bare-knuckle race, Bill Clinton had portrayed Obama as too inexperienced to be president.

Since Obama clinched the nomination, it has remained an open question as to what role Clinton would play in the campaign.

Just weeks ago, Obama called the former president to ask for his help in winning the White House.

At a news conference for his foundation's work, Clinton said he had not thought about whether he would like to be a convention speaker. Typically former presidents get a prime-time speaking spot at the party gathering.

Clinton said he had a "good talk" with Obama on the phone and is eager to get out on the road for the Illinois senator.

Clinton also was asked whether he had spoken to the Rev. Jesse Jackson regarding the crude off-air remark Jackson made about Obama in what he thought was a private conversation during a taping of a "Fox & Friends" news program.

Clinton said he had not spoken with Jackson, but added that Jackson was right to apologize to Obama for the comments. He also was a bit sympathetic.

"If all of us lived on live mics, then 100 percent of us in this room would be embarrassed from time to time," Clinton said.

What's $2300 Buy These Days? Not Much Unity.

Mark Wiznitzer — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:06:28 EDT

The Obama campaign has launched an all-out effort to help Hillary Clinton retire her debt. Obama’s national finance team members (bundlers) are being asked to go back to the well and get their donor friends to kick in up to $2300 (maximum allowed by law) to Hillary Clinton’s primary campaign. Donations will be designated for Hillary Clinton’s “2008 Primary Election Debt Retirement”. Donors are being assured that the money will not be used to pay back Hillary and Bill Clinton’s personal loan to her campaign, which they reportedly are recognizing as a loss. The campaign’s message is that this financial help is critical to ensure party unity and secure the support of Clinton’s backers – both donors and voters – for Obama in the general election. I’m not convinced.

The major sticking point with most Obama donors revolves around the nature of and reason for the debt, which are obvious to backers of both candidates. No one can blame Obama supporters for not wanting to pay off Hillary’s debts to Mark Penn and his firm, estimated to be anywhere from $2.5 to $10 million dollars. There is also the widespread belief that Clinton’s debt is due in large part to her drive to win a few more states and rack up more delegates even after her decisive loss in North Carolina and bare victory in Indiana made it mathematically impossible for her accumulate enough delegates to win the nomination.

Most small Obama donors also reason that Clinton should get those “die-hard” supporters of hers, those 18 million ceiling-crackers she keeps talking about, to kick in just a couple of bucks each and she’d be home free. Even without Limbaugh’s crossover chaos Republicans in Ohio, Texas and Indiana, who never intended to vote for Hillary in the general. Even discounting the poor white Democrats the Clintons mobilized so effectively in places like western Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Kentucky, who just can’t spare the change right now. Hillary should still be left with over 12-15 million voters who are not maxed out. But getting voters to back their electoral choices with cash -- even if it is only one or two bucks -- is as hard as getting them to agree voluntarily to pay more taxes to retire the federal debt. It ain’t gonna happen.

And how much unity do Obama supporters who dish out up to $2300 get for their money? So far, it looks like the answer is “not much.” In fact, some Hillary supporters like the Denver Group and P.U.M.A. who should be out there asking her voters to kick in are instead investing in confrontation with DNC Chairman Howard Dean and a strategy to revisit Chicago ’68 if she does not get the nomination after all.

An unintended consequence of these die-hards' efforts is that they are undermining efforts by serious Clinton supporters like that other former Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin to memorialize through a roll call vote Hillary’s historic achievement as America’s first major female candidate for President while confirming Obama as the party’s legitimate nominee. Until Hillary herself publicly rejects these distractions from unity and indicates she will personally call for the unanimous convention endorsement of Barack Obama’s nomination you maybe want to keep those 2300 dollars in an FDIC insured account.

wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat and fan of the late columnist Art Buchwald who writes serious analysis and political satire. If you would like to be notified whenever wizinit posts a new article click and join Food Tasters For Obama.

Its Time For America To Graduate

Scott Foval — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:56:26 EDT

For a while now numerous American leaders have called for a change from business-as-usual politics. Barack Obama arguably has the most star power of this new generation. In reality, though, he is boiling down the complex web of issues that America needs to address into a core message for a mass audience to digest. “Change” is the mantra, because in these days of “sheeople” that can't pay attention long enough to see the train that's about to hit them, one word is just about all that can get through the noise coming from their iPod.

His advisers understand this intimately. His top “commander” is David Ploeff, a member of my own generation of political operatives who grew up with TV, worked for the old school candidates, and cut our teeth on Baby Boomers' perceptions of the world – often having more than a few misgivings about how the old ideas were working out. Barack Obama himself straddles the two generations, but is arguably more “Next Generation” than “Boomer.” To put it in TV terms, our parents liked Captain Kirk, but our generation knew that Jean Luc Picard was better.

So now the next generation political campaign is setting records in nearly every area of American politics. Ploeff, with a ripened, old-school mentor in strategist and media guru David Axelrod, is hatching a plan to be competitive in 50 states, many that haven't voted for a Democrat in two to three generations. They are raising money that out-paced even the money machines of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush using a hybrid of small donors and big money supporters woven into a symbiotic patchwork, rather than big lobbyists just running the table. Finally, and this may be the most important part, they've managed to boil the campaign down to “change” and make it stick.

Yes, they are stealing a page from Bill Clinton's own playbook. Anyone who's seen “The War Room” remembers the two mantras that James “Semper Fi” Carville (a.k.a. “Copperhead”), Paul “Motormouth” Begala (a.k.a. “The Texan”), and George “The Whiz Kid” Stephanopolous (a.k.a. “The Greek”) drilled into staffers' heads. “Change vs. More of the Same” and “It's the Economy Stupid” are as famous now for how closely they followed the good old P.R. rule of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid), as Bubba is for actually taking it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. When you remember this factoid it might explain why the former POTUS was more than a little hurt and uncharacteristically hypersensitive when Obama kicked him and his wife in the tail on the campaign trail.

The fact remains, when Barack Obama was a young “Barry;” he was exposed to the lessons that were taught during the Reagan and Clinton eras. What he and his own “War Room” understand now is that those political lessons need to be improved upon and revised for the next generation. They understood at the campaign's outset that K.I.S.S. was going to have to be boiled down even further for today's “Ritalin Kids” to absorb. The result of their work is that he has a bigger army of diverse, excited, and energized young activists joining his campaign organization (i.e. the “movement”) than anything modern American politics has ever seen.

If you take the 100,000-foot view of the two major Presidential campaigns, there is a stark contrast between the messages preached out on the stump. It is so simple, really; but not everyone is seeing it -- either because they are blinded by the hubris that got them where they are today in the first place, or they are just part of a different generation. John McCain is a product of an older generation, the Clintons are Boomers (and so are Al Gore and John Kerry, mind you – part of the reason they never captured the next generation's imagination), while Barack Obama is recognized "one of us” in the minds of these young activists. He “gets it” and “means it.”

The older folks don't believe it though, because they think they've seen this dog-and-pony-show before.

They're right. His name was John F. Kennedy, and if you've been paying attention you'll quickly remember that Kennedy's brother Ted and daughter Caroline are major players in Barack Obama's kitchen cabinet of advisors. So is Gore, and hopefully so will be the Clintons if the former POTUS can put his ego in his pocket.

The JFK comparisons have been all over the place, but most commentators haven't quite been able to nail the “why.” What is it about Barack Obama's candidacy that reflects John F. Kennedy's? The reason is simple. It's the “movement,” not the particular candidate, something the older generation was unable to achieve in the post-JFK-assassination political landscape. The people who were there for the inside discussions in some of those aforementioned campaigns know and privately might even admit -- it has been tried numerous times.

So Obama is going for it, not for himself, but for “the movement” and this time the Secret Service is hopefully going to keep him alive to actually make it happen. Hopefully the Clintons will go the way of Gore and Kerry and work with the Obama juggernaut to bring the Boomers into the fold. Obama's folks will hopefully keep just enough independence there to insure that the next generation campaign continues adding independent voters, Reagan Democrats, and maybe even a few Republicans willing to cross over and vote for “change.” If that happens (and the polls are looking like McCain doesn't have a snowball's chance in his supporters' favorite tax-dodging land of Barbados), the Obamakins will have proven they have learned all the lessons necessary to go out and lead. They will have earned the right to “graduate” to The White House.

The question is, are the American people ready to graduate from the new school of political and diplomatic leadership? I think so; otherwise people wouldn't be so passionate about crossing over in the first place. They are tired of the divisive ways of George Bush, Newt Gingrich, and Karl Rove, and Jesse Helms is now gone (R.I.P. to the 'ol hate-monger). They're tired of being looked at as “those people,” with a pariah as a leader, by other countries. In this economically connected global community, it is time that we start acting as the 232 years our country has aged. In short, it is time for the United States to graduate into genuine long-term leadership.

We're no longer the new kid on the block that needs to prove its greatness to the rest of the world. We don't need to lead by shoving “our way” down the throats of those who don't understand that Democracy is better. We need to adapt a higher level of leadership than even our own country has been called to deliver before. It's called “demonstrative leadership,” and it is how truly great societies go from historic to legendary. Rather than having to invade to get what we want, as George W. Bush has attempted and failed to do, we are going to have to raise the bar of democracy and show that it works for the long term. This is arguably the single greatest challenge for any society in human history, and even the great ones don't always make it.

Of all the times in our country's still young life, though, it is time that “America” stands for a unified and flexible definition of a democracy that works well, innovates, and really leads the world rather than representing an ideological slice of the past. People like Obama are pushing us in this new direction, not because they don't like America as it is, but because they understand that our country must evolve to survive. Like everything in our young country's fast ascension, our adolescence was painful and difficult, and sometimes reckless. It is time for us to prove that we are ready to leave behind the imperialism, the nukes, the Cold War, and the Culture Wars. We have learned enough now to know that pushing our way upon others isn't authentic leadership.

As an adult nation, ready to “graduate” from those ideas and actions, we must show the world that we know how to behave, be responsible, and truly lead as the great country we profess to be. After all, there are a lot of other adolescent countries out there who are learning from the lessons we must teach.

100K Movement

Manesh from New York, NY — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:20:11 EDT

There has been some rumors that, instead of having BO's Convention Acceptance Speech in the standard covention hall with Delegates and High Value Donors (which would amount to a few thousand people), the campaign is thinking about having it at Mile High Stadium which will seat around 75K people in the seats and another 25K on the field...almost a hundred thousand supporters kicking off this movemonet for change.

In order to Win! (and we must), this has to turn into a major movement. The repulicans are openly conceding that if it becomes a movement, their entire strategy will have to be reworked. It is their biggest fear.

The republicans know that no one will care about policy flip flops, crazy reverends, or shady real estate dealings. No one will care about MO's patriotism, the Iraq pull out strategy, or your word on public campaign financing. No one will care about the cocain, fist bumps, or drilling. No will even care if you're a Muslim...Ok we won't go that far ;)

No one will care because its a Movement

We need to make this happen. BO, if the DNC can't afford it, we need to pay for it.

And I also hear Grateful Dead is thinking of getting together for an Obama Concert...thats also a great movement event...We'll save that for another post.

This event will prove to the nation that its a movement and its calling the masses to join. We are nowhere close to that right now although it may seem like that to a lot of you reading this. Our entire nation and generation needs to see this.

http://www.politicswest.com/democratic_national_convention/26547/mile_high_obama_invesco_field_may_be_venue

His FISA Stance

Eddie C. — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:59:59 EDT

These days, I find myself defending Senator Obama from the attacks of card carrying liberals like myself. Something I'd foreseen having to do one day, but not for another ten or twelve months. His reversal on the issue of immunity for telecom companies does not bespeak of "yes-we-can-change" in my house, nor in the houses of most who lifted the Senator up to his current political standing. If he will not run on his principles, but rather choose the electorally smart thing to do, he may win, but he will never be half the president he claims this country needs. Look at what's happened to the great centrist Bill Clinton. His legacy is indeed tarnished, but not due to Obama's defeat of Hilary. Rather, Bill Clinton's perennial leaning toward the center while in office has made punching holes in his legacy popular sport for both the right and left. The nickname "Slick Willie" stuck. And what do we remember of the speeches he made while running for president in 1992? Nothing.

I find it less than coincidental that the very people who benefitted from Clinton signing the Telecommunications Act of 1996 are the same constitutional rapists who stand to benefit from Senator Obama's vote to end Senator Feingold's upcoming filibuster.

I'm thoroughly disappointed by the statements Mr. Obama has made regarding this bill, and can only hope and pray that Ralph Nader isn't right after all. There IS a difference between Democrats and Republicans. Isn't there?

A Talk with Bill

rwordplay — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:14:06 EDT

We're past the need to placate Bill Clinton. It's time to separate the names, Obama and Clinton, once and for all. I doubt they have much to say to each other, and would be bet any sum that Bill talks and expect Obama to take notes. These demonstrations/shows of submission to the Clintons diminish Obama authority and thus his credibility. The 90's are gone--I don't think Bill's career as Governor in the 80s has much relevance today. (In fact, I'm sure no right thinking Democrat wants to go there.) As for the man's presidency, it's a different world, and Bill's current experience as entrepreneur extraordinaire and peripatetic philanthropist might also involve relationships and results that can only tarnish Obama. We don't need the Clintons. They are figures from a past that brought us not only ugly scandals but also the SUV and McMansion and FORBES 400 mentality. The nostalgia for Clintons is badly placed and we ought to rid Obama's campaign of it toxic residue. Let's stop believing in fairy tales, like those the Clinton's and those in their pocket keep repeating. He's not the most gifted politician of our time: Ross Perot handed him his first victory over an out of touch Bush, and he barely beat Bob Dole, a decent but a tired old man in his second contest. We have to remember this "great" politician never managed to get 50% of the electorate to vote for him.

Bill Clinton says Barack must....."kiss his ass"...for his support

Candy Barr 4 Obama! — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:06:00 EDT

Bill Clinton is so bitter about Barack Obama's victory over his wife Hillary that he has told friends the Democratic nominee will have to beg for his wholehearted support.

Bill Clinton is still very bitter that Barack Obama beat his wife Hillary

Mr Obama is expected to speak to Mr Clinton for the first time since he won the nomination in the next few days, but campaign insiders say that the former president's future campaign role is a "sticking point" in peace talks with Mrs Clinton's aides.

The Telegraph has learned that the former president's rage is still so great that even loyal allies are shocked by his patronising attitude to Mr Obama, and believe that he risks damaging his own reputation by his intransigence.

A senior Democrat who worked for Mr Clinton has revealed that he recently told friends Mr Obama could "kiss my ass" in return for his support.

A second source said that the former president has kept his distance because he still does not believe Mr Obama can win the election.

Mr Clinton last week issued a tepid statement, through a spokesman, in which he said he "is obviously committed to doing whatever he can and is asked to do to ensure Senator Obama is the next president of the United States ."

Mr Obama was more effusive at his unity event with Mrs Clinton on Friday, speaking fondly of the absent former president, who attended Nelson Mandela's birthday celebrations in London instead. The candidate told the crowd: "I know how much we need both Bill and Hillary Clinton as a party. They have done so much great work. We need them badly."
But his aides said he has so far concentrated on cementing relations with Mrs Clinton first. They say they are content to let relations with Mr Clinton thaw gradually.
It has long been known that Mr Clinton is angry at the way his own reputation was tarnished during the primary battle when several of his comments were interpreted as racist.
But his lingering fury has shocked his friends. The Democrat told the Telegraph: "He's been angry for a while. But everyone thought he would get over it. He hasn't. I've spoken to a couple of people who he's been in contact with and he is mad as hell.
"He's saying he's not going to reach out, that Obama has to come to him. One person told me that Bill said Obama would have to quote kiss my ass close quote, if he wants his support.
"You can't talk like that about Obama - he's the nominee of your party, not some house boy you can order around.
"Hillary's just getting on with it and so should Bill."
Another Democrat said that despite polls showing Mr Obama with a healthy lead over Republican John McCain, Mr Clinton doesn't think he can win.
The party strategist, who was allied to one of the early rivals to Mr Obama and the former First Lady, said Mr Clinton was "very unhopeful" about the nominee's prospects in November.
"Bill Clinton knows the party will unite behind Obama, but he is telling people he doesn't believe Obama can win round voting groups, especially working-class whites, in the swing states," the strategist said.
"He just doesn't think Obama will be able to connect with the voters he needs."
Joe Klein, the author of Primary Colours, a fictionalised account of Mr Clinton's 1992 election, who has known the former president for 20 years, said he also heard that he was "very, very bitter", from people who have spoken with him.
"It's time for him to get over it or go off and do his charitable work. He knows the rules of the road. What's going on now is kind of strange. I think his behaviour is really, really shocking."
Bill Clinton is so bitter about Barack Obama's victory over his wife Hillary that he has told friends the Democratic nominee will have to beg for his wholehearted support.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/

Bill Clinton: Obama Will Have to "Kiss My Ass" To Get My Support

jgabriel — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:22:06 EDT

Very surprising word coming from sources around Bill Clinton. Seems he's still pretty angry. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/2211812/Bill-Clinton-says-Barack-Obama-must-%27kiss-my-ass%27-for-his-support.html

There is word, however, that Barack and Bill will have a brief meeting within 48 hours. Hopefully it will help to patch up differences.

Oh Happy Day!

Andrew Lietzow — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:21:50 EDT

By Andrew L. (And old blog post but a good one, IMO -- Of course, I'm more than a little biased!)

May 24, 2008 6:48 AM | Link to this

As for Obama’s experience, what we’re trying to do here is elect a leader of the Federal Government; not just someone who knows how to attack or fight (which leads to an impasse, like with HRC and WJC over health care reform -- Eight years and nothing accomplished. Or GW Bush' "Your either with us are you're with the terrorists" -- a simpleton's analysis of a very complex issue, the U.S.'s response to which has yet to capture the primary perpetrator of the crime), but someone who knows how to unite people around a common cause, then to accomplish great goals. It does take cooperation in DC to get things done!

Note that Abraham Lincoln had about the same experience level as Obama when he entered the Oval Office and he didn’t turn out too bad as a President. Lincoln had his detractors and opponents, even to this day, so no matter how good you are, there will always be people standing by at ready to draw darts at whatever our President's say, or do.

If Obama didn’t have great skills to lead, would it make sense for Ted Kennedy to endorse BHO over HRC? With all the weight of the importance of such an endorsement from Ted, Caroline, and Patrick if there was any doubt at all that he would make a great President, why would Ted Kennedy risk such an action? The Lion of the Senate is beholding to no man.

And from Laurence Tribe, arguably one of the most astute Constitutional scholars of our day, a testimony, “I can’t pretend that I had any idea then that he would be a serious presidential candidate — that would have been a crazy thing for anyone to project at that stage of a career — but he was certainly the most all-around impressive student I had seen in decades,” said Tribe, for whom Obama served as a research assistant.

Unfortunately, those who claim Obama is “just an empty suit” shows serious signs of having an empty head!

In November, Obama will defeat McCain by a minimum of 341-197, with 525-13 being possible, if people can get beyond their stupid race concerns.

Incidentally, Obama is not black, he is both white and black. He is simply sporting a “natural tan” and I think if most people were honest with themselves, they would realize that color of skin scores a zero on importance of qualifying a candidate for the Presidency. It matters zero, nada, zilch. Race and gender are simply the issues the under-educated fret over — not even relevant in today’s world.

In November, the down ballots loses for the Repubs will be extensive, leading to a 60-40% majority in both chambers of Congress. Mark my word, it’s going to be a Democratic Party rout come November.

Oh happy day!

LA Times Today....

Mike P — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:42:25 EDT

In today's LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama28-2008jun28,0,7896641.story, retrieved June 28, 2008) there is an analysis of Barack Obama shifting to the center. Frankly, I don't see anything wrong with that. All of us who wish to chart a course that is different than the past eight years need to realize that we have to be pragmatic and work on solutions. To me, that's one of the many legacies of Bill Clinton. We must be pragmatic and focus on the end result. I don't think that we should compromise on our principles. But, we should continue to be practical for the greater good. Supposedly, George W. Bush never compromised on his principles. This so-called principles has given us Iraq, a near-bankrupt U.S. Treasury and a country that all soverieign Wealth Funds are starting to buy up on the cheap.

Obama's Best Strategy for Clintons, Vice President Nominee

Stephen — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:23:47 EDT

In Obama's consideration of his selection for Vice President, among the prospects discussed were retired military commanders, including, Senator Jim Webb of Virginia. Obama must not only select a solid VP, but he needs to bring in a military person in a key position to go toe to toe with John McCain on foreign policy and terrorism, as well as he must find a way to reach the blue collar male voters in states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. And, he must figure out a STRATEGY where he can not only APPEASE the CLINTONS, but UTILIZE them to his political benefit.

Obama is already gaining good numbers on the economy, and I believe his VP selection strategy must focus on the war and terrorism and his selecting a respected military/foreign policy mind. Perhaps someone like Jim Webb of Virgina, who might also help Obama with the blue collar vote. With Senator Edward Kennedy's failing health and age limiting his role as the senior spokesperson in the Senate, Hillary Clinton's new found popularity makes her a shoe-in to take over the leadership of the Senate. She needs Obama to gratefully give her the floor at the right time at the convention, a promise from Kennedy and a few others, and she's set. I believe this would make her very happy as leader of the Senate, though she'll also ask Obama to agree in principal how he would work with her as President. I think Hillary looks taken care of.

Bill Clinton is a different story. I think he and Obama BOTH need to appologize to each other for things that were said in the primary, even though most would agree it was more Bill Clinton's doing. But, Bill is the senior of the two by age and tenure, and Obama should give him this. Next, I think what would make Bill happy, as well as Obama, is if Bill could speak and work within the party (and possibly his campaign) on domestic, states, and economic issues. Bill Clinton has a lot of skill in state matters and governments, and between this, the economy, and kind appothetic words from Obama, I believe Bill Clinton could become very happy. But - Clinton must understand it is Obama's turn at the wheel! Not easy for Bill, but with Hillary happy in the Senate, it increases the prospects Bill could be made happy too. I actually see Bill Clinton helping Obama more in the 2008 general election than Hillary, as he still is the "brand," where Hillary is more an unproven brand, and more the image or brand for the new "woman" in politics. Bill can help heal the chasm in the white working male vote I think more than Hillary, and it won't look like either are kissing ..., and Hillary keep her promise to women, and albeit thru husband Bill and Obama.

That's my proposal. How many of you think it holds water?

Stephen Dolle, California, Former life long Republican

Paris vaut bien une messe, I understand, but "she rocks,"

rwordplay — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:34:59 EDT

I understand why, as Henri IV, said,"Paris vaut bien une messe" ("Paris is well worth a Mass") and so understand Obama's attempt at the bit theater in Unity today. But when he said,
"We need them. We need them badly," "Not just my campaign, but the American people need their service and their vision and their wisdom in the months and years to come because that's how we're going to bring about unity in the Democratic Party," he has all but thrown me from the campaign.

The Clintons are a toxin in America's body politics. They represent a particular kind of greed and opportunism that is as responsible for our countries current problems as the actions of George Bush.
I do not need the Clintons, and I know I don't need Obama playing Charlie McCarthy sitting on Bill's knee.

I am ashamed of his performance. As for HIllary, her parsed poisoned language revealed a depth of commitment to Obama that can be measured with a salt spoon.

This is a bad day for people who believed that Obama represents change, at least for those of us who don't agree with Michael Corleone, that one keeps one's friends close but one's enemies closer.

I am revolted and feel betrayed.

Voter Registration Drive - Pt. 2

DMC — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:59:06 EDT

Last night while I was at the Arizona Democratic Headquarters making phone calls, I asked for any information I could get about what they were doing with the voter registration and if they had any advice for the people who went to the Voter Registration Workshop. I learned a couple of things from one of the staff. First, the Arizona Democratic Party or their headquarters is divided into the state party and the county party. The state party that ran the phone bank event is concerned with turning out the democratic voters and getting a sense of how the voters are going to vote. They were the ones running the events I have been going to. The county party is responsible for registering new voters in Maricopa County. I was surprised that one doesn't know what the other is doing.

I did find out that there is an upcoming event at Indian Steel School Park to register voters at the event and get polling information but I have to wait until I go back and volunteer next week at the phone bank before they have the details to this event.

Beware of Clintons Bearing Gifts

rwordplay — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:03:54 EDT

Apropos of Bill's offer to help Obama to bridge a divide in the Democratic party.
First, while the notion of a divide is entirely manufactured, it has the potential to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Second, it's time to acknowledge that the Clintons for what they are--not opportunistic, not delusional, but pathological liars, who hold those inside and outside their circle with a contempt bordering on a kind of psychological violence.

For reasons I can not understand their supporters--a number thinning every day--both invested and lay, excuse their opportunism, their dishonesty, their venom.

I believe both Bill and Hillary's days of delivering voters are long gone. They're in the game for their own gain, even if it should damage Obama. In fact, I think it's Bill's intent to hurt Obama.

Keeping Up With the Clintons (06.05.08)

scotthpayne — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:30:00 EDT

http://politicsofscrabble.org/?p=165

There is a lot of talk right now about to feel about the Clintons’ actions throughout this primary race. In this video, Andrew Sullivan, who has not been shy about expressing his distaste for Bill and Hill, engages in some venting with Marc Ambinder:

On the other side of the street is Ross Douthat with a helpful reminder:

It would probably been better for the party if Hillary had conceded defeat somewhat earlier (though there would have been the potential embarrassment of having the presumptive-nominee lose primaries to a rival who’d dropped out), or at the very least campaigned less fiercely against Obama once his victory became a near-certainty, and certainly her non-concession speech on Tuesday night was bizarre and faintly pathological. But I think that once a few months have gone by, at least some of outrage that Hillary Clinton has generated among liberal pundits by campaigning to the bitter end in a race that she ended up losing by just over a hundred pledged delegates and roughly half a percent of the popular vote will seem, in hindsight, faintly hysterical.

My take: I agree that Hillary and Bill have not lived up to their reputations (or have out done their reputations, depending on whom you’re asking) and have both done things in this race that are regrettable. But, that said, it seems like a lot of people’s outrage is a projection on to the Clinton’s about their general frustration about the ineffecitiveness of Democrats over the past eight years. Hillary, and by extension Bill, represents, in many people’s eyes, the failures of the past, of which many Democrats still feel impotent and and insecure, despite the fact that they are poised to clinch certain victory. Barack, obviously, represents a fresh break in many ways.

It seems like a lot of liberals are, at least in part, incensed that anyone would have the gaul to stand between them and new start for the Party/Country. Now, granted, Bill Clinton had something to do with getting Liberals into that past slump, but I’m just not convinced that the Clinton’s are the narcissistic demons that a lot of people have made them out to be and both have done a lot of good in their time.

I tend to agree with Ross, I think given some time and distance people will calm down a fair deal, Bill and Hillary included. I’m also reasonably convinced, after some reflection, that Hillary Clinton, despite the hard feeling, will come out and campaign hard for Obama, which will help to heal wounds all around (pundits included).

Obama, not McCain, will prevent abortions

Mike Serfas — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:43:32 EDT

John McCain's confused flip-flopping on abortion may officially be over, but it underscores an unavoidable truth: After 45 years of promises, including periods of Republican control of White House, Congress, and Supreme Court, the Republicans still have not carried out the anti-abortion program that motivates so many of their core voters. It is an understandable fault, since they know that any actual prohibition on abortion would hurt them at the polls for generations to come by motivating voters on the other side of the issue.

But in the meanwhile, real progress has been made in reducing the number of abortions. In the early years of the Clinton administration, the number of abortions in this country dropped from 1.4 million to 0.9 million. A reason for this improvement is not hard to find: fully 21% of women surveyed say that they have an abortion because "they can't afford a baby". Others, like the 25% who say that it is too early for them to have children, may well be influenced by this issue. The prosperity that results when the bulk of the population enjoys some fraction of the fruits of their labor allows women to have hope for their unborn children.

The progress in the Clinton era was enormous - the same as the ratio between Protestant and Catholic abortion rates - but there is still plenty of room for improvement. Minorities continue to have rates of abortion up to four times higher than whites. Obama can address these things by having the perspective and experience to address the economic problems that have left these people in an underclass of society. But the high minority abortion rates are not just due to poverty, but to a greater rate of unwanted pregnances. The self-respect that Obama can help people to find may be as good a defense against abortion as the secure job and the decent wages his policies make possible.

By contrast, McCain has said he supports the Bush policy of abstinence-only "sex education", which will not do much to prevent unwanted pregnancies, or deadly diseases for that matter. (With classic McCain ambiguity, he then responded to a question about whether he would support teaching about contraception only by saying "You've stumped me")

Abortion opponents need to know that while the Republicans may promise to take this country back to before 1973, Obama can actually bring the number of abortions to below the 1973 level. Clinton brought us most of that way toward that goal, and Obama can tackle the spots he missed. Because abortion usually goes against a woman's instinctive feelings, it is even worth considering that laws against it may not be very relevant: that most women get an abortion because they are in some sense forced to do so economically, and it is more effective to remove that societal coercion than to pass a law to contradict it.

Clinton's Sequel to The Willing Suspension of Disbelief

Mark Wiznitzer — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:36:03 EDT

Hillary the Inevitable

Like the rest of us, Barack Obama learned from the media that Hillary Clinton will announce the suspension of her campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination for President this Saturday. And while there is all sorts of gossip about what will happen next, for now the drama continues.

Just last week, Bill Clinton complained that he'd "never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running." Well look again, Bill. Because your wife just succeeded in performing a 10-point-perfect double-dis against Barack Obama. First she stiff-armed his historic claim to the party's nomination with her "victory" speech on Tuesday night. Then the next day she ignores the most basic courtesy of telling her party's nominee she is dropping out of the race. She even passed up the opportunity to do so in person at the AIPAC conference. What a class act!

All's not well in Hillarywood. The problem with this picture show is the "suspension of disbelief."

Suspension of Disbelief
In the world of fiction you are often required to believe a premise which you would never accept in the real world. Especially in genres such as fantasy and science fiction, things happen in the story which you would not believe if they were presented in a newspaper as fact. Even in more real-world genres such as action movies, the action routinely goes beyond the boundaries of what you think could really happen.
In order to enjoy such stories, the audience engages in a phenomenon known as "suspension of disbelief". This is a semi-conscious decision in which you put aside your disbelief and accept the premise as being real for the duration of the story.
Suspension of disbelief only works to a point. It is important that the story maintains its own form of believability and doesn't push the limits too far.

Hillary Clinton herself introduced the concept last September when told General Petreus that his Iraq progress report required "a willing suspension of disbelief." But then so did much of her production of "Hillary the Inevitable", which regularly stretched the imagination to convince the media and public that she really had earned the nomination.

For example, her suggestion that party caucuses are undemocratic, that caucus state voters don't count, or that popular votes including the unsanctioned primaries in Florida and Michigan determines the winner. For five months we almost forgot that the story was all about delegates. So we have to concede she put on a fine show.

Sure, there were those plot lines that just did not seem to work because the evidence was so obvious. Like landing under sniper fire at Tuzla, or the policy on drivers licenses for non-resident foreigners, or the gasoline tax holiday. But as always, the talented Clinton Producer-Director-Acting team gave us a performance that spanned the spectrum of emotions. In fact, those scenes, from tears in NH to that distinctive laughter at the debates, will live on in memory long after show is over.

Sequel: Dream Ticket

Before we have even seen the last episode of their previous production, here comes the sequel, in which Bill and Hillary decide she would make the ideal Vice President. But now the suspension of disbelief is really to be tested.

First item is the casting. We don't yet know what part if any Geraldine Ferraro, who in the original production effectively portrayed the angry-older-white-woman with a hint of racist rage, will be allowed to play this time around. It looks like Bill Clinton, who previously as the male lead pretentiously suggested Barack take the minor part as her running mate even though he was ahead by every measure, will have fewer lines and be assigned a far smaller role at best. This is bound to make the entire story far less exciting.

BET founder Bob Johnson has already proven himself entirely miscast as the supplicant to the Congressional Black Caucus for Hillary-as-running-mate, which was just plain unconvincing. And everyone will miss Terry McAuliffe (last seen doing shots of Bacardi with Mika Brzezinski, presumably on their way to rehab) and Howard Wolfson, both of whom should be way too busy selling their tell-nothing books in the months ahead.

However, the greatest challenge to the suspension of disbelief will be those plot lines we just skimmed over the last time around. There is that little matter of being "fully vetted" and 35 years of experience. For a start, the new script-writing team of Johnson, Kennedy and Holder will have to struggle with Hillary's first radical law work in San Francisco and the performance review of her part in the Watergate investigation. And of course there are all those comments she made about Barack Obama over the past several months.

It's also not clear how the next episode will treat the problems hinted at by Vanity Fair. Forget about undocumented sexual innuendo. After Sex in the City and Larry Craig in the Minneapolis airport, that part is probably a sleeper. No, I'm thinking of Bill's high-flying friends and library donors. And those hints of influence peddling disguised as speaking and consulting fees on the joint tax returns. Now those issues could be a real problem reconciling with Obama's political themes. And if he adheres to the "no-drama" genre of inspiring documentary, the Clinton sequel could well be scrapped for a lack of both political and financial support. Just stay tuned.

[Cross posted at www.onemillionstrong.us and www.dailykos.com]

WELCOME, ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE.....

C42D — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:46:32 EDT

Well, here I am, smack-dab in the worst year of my life... Over $50,000 in debt, an ex-drug addict, and exactly $1.53 in my bank account. Today, one of only two remaining credit lines I have was closed due to a king-hell f*ckaround at the bank involving all kinds of fun things like the fact the VISA transactions take priority over electronic funds transfers, even if that transfer is for $220.00 and its the only thing standing between you and another credit card being closed. But hey, there are some things money can't buy, like me throwing my phone through the wall when I found out about this. For everything else, there's VISA. And Big Money. And crap like the bullsh*t Bush has laid on us for the past seven years while we laid around in a post 9-11 coma... Listen I was ON A PLANE THAT MORNING... to BOSTON. My ex-girlfriend (who broke up with me when I got addicted to drugs after the attacks) was literally STAMPEDED by a mob in downtown Manhattan when the towers fell. I know depression, and I know 9-11. I live in Queens. And no one knows better than me that I was gung-ho to support ol' Bush right after the attacks. But something happened. I came to my senses, and watched as the good-will of the planet collapsed into a mess of orange jumpsuits and Abu Gihrab torture manuals, slimy and dripping with oil. Something is wrong here.

So yeah, another Morning in America: Wake up, no money, another credit card closed, gas at $4.85 a gallon for hi-test, but it doesn't matter because in 15 days the car insurance will be cancelled, borrowing $20 from my girlfriend to eat, recovering from a shattering addiction, and wondering- how the fu*k can I do something to ensure this freaking Republican Party never gets another president elected? That's when, just out of instinct, I stumbled upon barackobama.com. And then I realized something else — not only to these fiends have a kick-ass web site that shoud have McCain shaking in his boots, they allow ALL OF US TO TAKE PART... and do what we want. Hmmmm so here I am: Another lone, ex-coked-out-American who wants Change, and wants it badly. Not just for myself but for my Country...

Listen up, Barack: You talk a lot, and we like your talk, and you better deliver. I am sick of being sold down the river. I saw our current President flush an entire planet's good will and intentions down the toilet and I will be dammed if I believe in another round of bullsh*t about "change-this" and "you-are-the customer-" that. YOU BETTER DELIVER. I read today that you said the Democratic National Comittee would no longer accept money from federal lobbyists or political action committees. Well, holy sh*t!! Isn't that about time! I LOVE YOU man, Because that is exactly what 99% of us want. Because... well, 99% of us get screwed when the DNC DOES accept those donations... but if you back down on that, BO, you are a chickensh*t and you will lose all the momentum you are buliding, just like Bush did. So be strong, man. I believe in you, you beautiful son of a.... and this is a man who hasn't EVER believed in ANY president since...well... EVER. I never knew what it felt like to believe until today. Cherish those words as proof that its working BO, and its working WELL.

Heck, I haven't even seen you speak. I never even read your campaign platform. It doesn't matter. I believe in the idea of you and if that doesn't get your fire burning, I don't know what will. This washed-up, broke, ex-drug-addict is writing a full page of single-spaced words and joining your team based on the idea of BARACK OBAMA. Now that is some power you have there, BO, Downright JFK-like and you better use it wisely... Our country needs you!

So yeah, you got me BO, for now... just don't do any of that good-ol' flip-floppin' that FOX News loves to report on. You seem like a good guy. And God knows we need a African-American President already. Hillary as VP? I dunno, man that's your call. You know how Billy rocked that oval office. But I think a female VP and a Commander-in-chief with a little bit of soul will do this country some good. And screw anyone who says that's a racist comment because its not. I am white, I can't boogie, and I sure as heck can't pay my bills on time— but I can write like no other.

I encourage everyone with an affinity for passionate debate, motorcycles, football, overdue credit card bills, web design, and the Money-Grubbing Elite that are strangling our country, to post something in this Blog.

You have found your home. Now go to it, my sons and daughters...

Yrs,

C42D

Flushing, NYC

Bill Clinton Was Hillary's 'Mixed Blessing'

Social Activist/Writer — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:35:29 EDT

Bill Clinton, Once 'Huge Asset,' Was Hillary's 'Mixed Blessing'

Indira A.R. LakshmananWed Jun 4, 12:01 AM ET

June 4 (Bloomberg) -- When Hillary Clinton launched her presidential bid 17 months ago, her husband -- with his formidable political talents and popularity among Democrats nostalgic for the 1990s -- was seen as her greatest strength.

Democratic primary is far from over

Stephen — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:45:14 EDT

I hate to be the bearer of "bad news," but the democratic primary is far from over. Read between Hillary Clinton (and Bill) statements. She's not going away. Just a week ago, she was suggesting he could be assassinated. Now, she's suggesting that if Barrack Obama chose her as his vice presidential candidate, that she'd be willing to go along "in the interest of the party."

In reality, there probably aren't two more different people in the entire democratic party than Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama, and at its core, the differences are a matter of political philosophy rather than party philosophy. Clinton represents the old say and do whatever it takes hard sell to get elected philosophy. Obama represents the new intellectual, more transparent, soft sell, team player philosophy. I liken trying to mix these two philosophical styles to that of trying to mix water and oil. It just isn't going to happen. AND - Hillary Clinton is not going to go away. It's not in she nor her husband's character to think more of the greater good of the party. Lest us not forget, the former president Clinton referred to Obama's candidacy as a "fairy tale."

Where do we go from here? Hillary needs to be KO'd. That's the only way she's going to leave, on a stretcher! And the man who could deliver that knock out punch is AL GORE, the man who has been quietly looming in the shadows for nearly 8 years, knowing, that some day he may have to FORMALLY speak out about the Clintons and the harm they brought to the White House and party.

If this gets as ugly as I think it could get, you better break out the prozak and a team of psychologists and political experts. We're in for a SHOW!

If Hillary is chosen, We Should Accept It.

Chris Comninel — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:57:46 EDT

Tomorrow night, or on Wednesday, Barack Obama will successfully obtain the required number of delegates to become the nominee of the Democratic party for President of the United States. After this, we must begin, or continue, to unite the Democratic party around Barack Obama.

Of course, Senator Clinton has said many things that a great number of us in the Obama campaign, along with many around the country, have found to be disgraceful, or unsettling. However, we must evaluate her based on her past accomplishments and the base which she has been able to galvanize herself.

By evaluating these two factors, only then can one distance him or herself far enough from the primary fight, and begin to focus on the prospects of the general election. By assessing these aspects of Hillary Clinton and her political and governmental skill, we may need to put our "politics" difference behind us, and focus on her governmental accomplishments and her ability to win over people who we need to win over.

Here's why...

My Concerns About Bill Clinton's Behavior

COL Mo — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:21:00 EDT

I voted for Bill Clinton twice and believe that, overall, he was an excellent president. I love the way he and his economic team performed, returning our budget to surplus and strengthening our economy. The only area where I seriously disagreed was sending US forces abroad for peace keeping missions, where their was no peace to keep.

I have been more concerned with his behavior during this campaign. I believe the way he has comported himself has lessened the esteem in which he was previously held. Specifically, I have been concerned with the lies he tells in campaign appearances and the anger he continues to show to anyone who disagrees with him or questions him. His comment "I don't have to take that shit," direceted at a reporter, is just the most recently recorded lapse.

I wondered if I was the only one seeing this. In the latest Vanity Fair magazine (in newstands this week) Todd Purdum (who happens to be former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers' other half) writes of similar concerns. Entitled "Bubba Trouble: The Comeback Id," the article can be found at the link below. I disagree with the speculation that Bill's anger stems from heart surgery. To my mind, after eight years of being surrounded by "yes men" which continues in the Clinton center, which naturally revolves around him, he finds it difficult and unnecessary to deal with free women and men, who rationally question his statements. That is why I believe that BC is rapidly diminishing his presidental image. The article does raise excellent concerns about our former president's recent behavior and whether he is, one again, on a ego-centric and self destructive path.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/07/clinton200807

we're through, bill ... or how heroes fall hard

Pennsylvania Pam — Sat, 31 May 2008 23:12:53 EDT

The last time I felt so excited and passionate about a candidate running for *any* office was a long time ago ... 1992. That was the magical year that Bill Clinton and Al Gore ran for the White House for the first time.

How Hillary Shot Herself in the Foot ... and the Mouth

SRG_Legal — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:10:46 EDT

I hope Obama isn't crazy enough to choose Hillary for a running mate. She'll have him whacked just to move him out of the way. She as much as said it with that Robert Kennedy remark, which I'm certain Ted could not have been thrilled that she used his brother's memory in that manner.

Obama's best bet would be a female/woman VP running mate; but a stronger woman than Hillary, along with her crying old man.

Her weaknesses have come through in this campaign and it appears she would not have made a good president after all.

Nobody's being 'unfair' to Hillary, as Bill sobs, she was unfair to herself. She could have run a smart woman's campaign--dignified and professional--and she chose to campaign like a 70-year old Klansman instead.

We've gone over and over this and she waivered so much and couldn't decide who's side she was on. One moment, she was talking like a Democrat, the next like a Republican, the next second, she was talking and acting like she'd simply lost her ever-loving mind, and then had the nerve enough to have some crocodile output -- tears -- to go along with all that hatefulness.

This is proof positive that if a woman will run this nation, it shouldn't be her. Now, she can't even take defeat gracefully and give Obama his due for running a gentleman's campaign all the way. It was up to her to decide how to mastermind her White House bid, and she shot herself in the foot and in the mouth--numerous times.

This isn't "unfair," this is Hillary thinking the world had not changed and that she could go on with politics as usual. She pulled out the worst people in this country, and the ones with the nastiest attitudes, rather than good people who just want a decent America to call home, and it was no one's fault except her own.

Jim Webb seems to think its Affirmative Action that has po'd whites in the Appalachias, but I beg to differ. They've been ticked off since Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. They are the kind that don't think black people are entitled to what they earn, let alone what their ancestors earned for them in uncompensated pay long before any of us were ever even born.

Besides, Webb forgot something else: White women are the major beneficiaries of Affirmative Action -- always have been; always will be.

Hillary supported NAFTA hands down, even with all the trepidation; and helped run these rural "hard-working Americans, white Americans" out of their jobs in their coal mines and factories, and they'd vote for her over Obama just because he's black? ...What a hoot. I don't marvel that they find themselves where they are in life, considering that kind of attitude.

I would have hoped that Hillary would run a campaign that would have made American women proud, but she may as well have aimed the gun that killed RFK at herself. She did not run a good campaign, one that I, a woman, could be proud of; one that I could have called professional, inspiring, courageous, uplifting and a credit to all women the world over. Her name was up to be added to the list with Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, Corazon Aquino, even Benatar Bhutto. Then, she crashed and crapped on her own glass ceiling.

I can't cry at the loss, especially considering how sad it is that she would say such a thing. With that, I will repeat Robert Kennedy's dying words [paraphrased], "Is every ELSE alright?"

What'll you have, "sex or oil?" (Or tripple serving of Barack Obama)

Stephen — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:42:15 EDT

This was a question and thread I authored on the "Physics Forum" in September of 2005, just weeks after the Bush White House's horrendous response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. I pose it here today because I believe through this symbolic perspective on where the two major political parties had been for some 15 years, it helps us "move on" with the kind of change needed today - and one that Barack Obama clearly has brought to bear.

In September 2005, Bill Clinton still stood for the successful image of the Democratic party in the 1990's, something to emulate, and George W. Bush represented the image of a successful Republican leader. The Democratic party had no new front runner, though rumors were tossed about as to Hillary Clinton being the party successor. At that time, Al Gore had yet to return to popularity with his movie on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth." And it was also right before the country began seriously questioning Bush on the war, and around the time music artist Neil Young introduced his big anti-war song. The country and parties were lost and clinging to the past in what they only knew: "sex and oil."

Bill Clinton stood for anything and all things related to "sex" and people, whereas, George Bush stood for all things related to "oil." But, today in late May 2008, everything has changed. What we thought to be true then, as for party leaders to emulate, has been proven false, and new leadership has arisen. The leadership of Senator Barack Obama.

I believe our country and party needs to move forward and away from the old and failed leadership of the Clintons and Bush's. So, What'll you have, sex or oil? Or a tripple serving of better times and new leadership through Barack Obama?

Below, is my original discussion from back in September 2005.

http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-90991.html

Hooked on Hillary by Nora Ephron

Bill from BC, Obamican, Veteran, Husband, Father, Educator — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:13:22 EDT

I would like to put myself among the growing chorus of people demanding that Hillary Clinton withdraw from the election. I don't really think it's fair to ask her to withdraw, and I certainly don't believe she's going to; she'll hang in there till the last dog dies, or till she runs out of money, whichever comes first. I'm not asking her to withdraw because I prefer Obama, and I don't think she should withdraw "for the sake of party unity," or whatever current bromide is being flung at her to get her to pull out. I think she should withdraw because I'm losing my mind.

Don't get me wrong, this primary election has been swell. Like Michelle Obama, I feel proud of my country for the first time in a long time. I loved Dennis Kucinich, and I had a big sneaker for Chris Dodd. But now that we're down to two contenders, it's turned into an unending last episode of Survivor. They're eating rats and they're frying bugs, and they're frying rats and they're eating bugs; no one is ever going to get off the island and I can't take it any more.

I am particularly sensitive to this because I'm a woman of a certain age, and this means that part of the pie that passes for my brain contains a large slice called Hillary. I've been thinking about her in a fairly pathological way ever since 1992 and dreaming about her as well. She is me, and then again she's not. I used to love her and I no longer do, but unlike what usually happens when love dies, I still think about her far too much.

When she tells a big lie, like her recent Bosnia episode, I can lose hours trying to figure out why. I mean, why? Was it one of those things that she'd said so often that she'd come to believe it? Was it a story that had worked in the past so she thought she'd gotten away with it? Did she honestly think that no one would rat her out? Does she not understand that if you're famous, there's almost nothing you do that someone doesn't have a picture of? I have no idea what the answer is to any of this because I'm not a liar and she is. (By the way, I don't think she was always a liar, the way some kids are born liars and never get over it. I think she was once a truthful person and her lying skills were forged in the early years of her marriage, forged in the crucible of Bill's infidelities and in her role as point person in dealing with them. This is what happens when you marry a narcissist: he spills the milk, you clean it up and your love grows. And then you end up a liar, just like him.)

But the point is that it doesn't matter why Hillary lied; what matters is that I'm hooked on Hillary and on the Rorschach process that defines my relationship with her: she does something, I spend far too much time thinking about it, I superimpose my life and my choices onto hers, I decide how I feel about what she's done, I bore friends witless with my theories, and then, instead of moving on, I'm confronted with yet another episode of her behavior and am forced to devote more hours to developing new theories about her behavior. I don't have time for this.

I understand that asking Hillary to withdraw from the race has more to do with me than it does with her, but that's my point.

Bill Clinton is Upset

Kat — Sun, 25 May 2008 22:30:18 EDT

Bill stumps in South Dakota and he is upset that his wife is being treated so badly... now we get the pity party angle...

I look upon all the negatives for Obama and negatives for Clinton and then I go and look up the facts. You know.. GOOGLE is a wonderful thing.. and I guess a lot of people don't bother using it.. instead, they take some soundbyte and spin it into truth...

I think that the Clintons never realized the power of the internet. They are so outdated that they think that what they used to win back then will work now... Well, sorry to say this... IT WON'T
You have a more educated electorate now because we can verify every word you say... we parse every single thing that you say....

Obama gets several days of gaf because he said 57 instead of 47 states due to campaign fatigue.. but he doesn't get the same break that Hillary gets because she landed in Bosnia under SNIPER FIRE... and she misspoke due to campaign fatigue....

There has been no sexism in this race that I have seen... and the Obama Campaign has never said that she won Kentucky because she gets the Redneck White Vote.... unlike Bill Clinton saying that Obama won South Carolina because Jesse Jackson won there and blacks vote black... DID YOU FORGET THAT BEFORE IOWA.. YOU and Hillary had 60 percent of the black vote in South Carolina???

You have convenient memory lapses... you also forget that YOU SIGNED THE DECREE that penalized Florida and Michigan.. and now you are coming back like you are the SAVIORS TO THE AMERICA by saying that their votes count in this primary.. I

T'S A PRIMARY FOLKS... Fair is fair.... you either abide by the rules or you accept what the DNC decides for the outcome.. YOU DON"T GET TO MAKE UP THE RULES as you go along.... YOU DON'T.... you can continue to be juvenile about this and ruin any political standing you have within the Democratic party.... (I will say this out loud because nobody else will say it for political correctness)... or you can be gracious and smile in your defeat and beg your followers to endorse the Dem nominee... because, quite frankly..

YOU,Senator/President Clinton have done more to shatter our Democratic party than anyone else.. and you are so sociopathic to not even realize what you have done...

So now, President Clinton.. you pull the last card.. THE PITY CARD... my wife has been treated so unfairly....

Well, line up peoples.. I have a lot of violins to hand out.. and we can all play them as we say goodbye to Hillary and Billary..........

Bill Clinton earned $250,000 in April while at Puerto Rico!

Candy Barr 4 Obama! — Sun, 25 May 2008 17:52:27 EDT

In the spring of 2007 Bill Clinton visited Puerto Rico on Hillary’s behalf, and earned $250,000 from their politicians.

He was planned to visit Luis Lloréns Torres residential housing. It should be known that all of the people who live there are extremely poor, needless to say that it is a high crime area. Bill Clinton’s "three strikes and you’re out" policy not only meant that the criminal would lose his or her own liberty, but the ENTIRE family would have to move out of the residence and locate elsewhere. Guess what? Most of the victims of that policy in Puerto Rico were in Lloréns Torres.

Then, he was supposed to visit the "Asociación de Industriales", an association of industry investors in Puerto Rico. Well ... they deeply resent the fact that despite their advice, Clinton eliminated all the benefits of Section 936 in Puerto Rico. The members of the Asociación de Industriales suffered heavy losses as manufactures in Puerto Rico located elsewhere.

Following that unfortunate event, he was supposed to visit Barceloneta, the municipality that suffered most of Clinton’s elimination of Section 936. Its poverty rate increases as more manufacturing industries keep locating overseas.

What does Clinton promise? That if his wife becomes President, she will reinstate the benefits to attract more American capital to Puerto Rico. Of course, this is nothing less than deception. Everyone who looks at the global economy knows that to place such incentives to benefit Puerto Rico alone would go against the best interests of NAFTA and other free trade treaties with Latin American countries.

The only way Puerto Rico could do this is if eventually Congress gives it power to establish treaties world wide, contract those ships that we want, and establish commerce throughout the region, trade with the U.S., trade with European countries, trade with Asia, and so on. In other words, the only possible incentive for Puerto Ricans is to be able to have as much political and economic powers we can, either in the form of a sovereign free association with the U.S. (which is recognized by International Law), or independence.

To hope that in our current status, Hillary or any candidate to the presidency will give us any incentives to attract American capital, is like waiting for Christ’s Second Coming: people always say it’s close, and he doesn’t arrive.

Crossing Boundaries--Interview4Obama

Madama Ambi — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:22:39 EDT

How Hillary has crossed them and how Barack is bridging them, Jennifer's take on lines in the sand in this Democratic primary campaign might push a few of your own boundaries. She discusses Hillary's recent gaffe in the context of addiction, power & control, and the Clinton marriage. Hillary doesn't represent her. Obama offers real hope and will bring prosperity to America, she says. Listen to this episode...48:39 min.

Bill Clinton Shopping a Yenta*

Mark Wiznitzer — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:01:22 EDT

Word on the streets from Brooklyn to Boca is that former President Bill Clinton is shopping for a matchmaker. He wants to arrange a dream ticket between Hillary and “presumptive” Democratic Party nominee for President Barack Obama, a prospect that has Food Tasters For Obama salivating. That may help explain why New York Governor David Patterson reports “we’re starting to see a little desperation on the part of the woman who I support and I'll support until whatever time she makes a different determination.”

Hillary still insists she is within her legal rights to keep fighting for the nomination, which would allow her to tie the knot with Evan Bayh. You may remember that the Indiana Senator helped save Hillary’s honor in his home state’s primary, where she won by a scant 14,000 votes out of over 1.27 million. She is actively seeking out venues for a simple civil ceremony in Michigan or Florida, hoping such a chaseneh will be blessed by the Democratic Party’s Rules Committee on May 31. But Gov. Patterson dismissed Hillary’s strategy saying, “I don't think anybody in their right mind would do that, nor would they see it as a civil rights issue."

Meanwhile, Bill Clinton is trying to impress Obama with promises of a dowry. In order to arrange a graceful exit for Hillary from a losing race for delegates, Bill has offered to pay for a gala party in Washington DC next January. Hillary of course would invite her 10 million women supporters to celebrate the Obama-Clinton union. Bill boasts it would be “a party beyond anything anyone has ever seen before, beyond the imagination even of the biggest Hollywood machers.” But Obama has shown by raising lots of gelt for his campaign that he has no problem paying for his own simchas. In any case, with both his grass roots approach and green philosophy, Obama is more likely to encourage communities across American to organize their own celebrations when he takes office, rather seeing hordes of farshikkert supporters descending on Washington.

Obama is said to be unimpressed by Bill Clinton’s shtick, especially after the recently failed Bubba Tour in western North Carolina. Instead, the Obama team is apparently demanding through Veep Searchmeister Jim Johnson that Bill publish a list of donors to his opulent Presidential Library in Little Rock. According to Johnson, “after we can talk about a kalleh.”

Friends of Obama say he is far more intrigued by a possible union this November with Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Not only is she the chief executive of the state from which his maternal grandparents emigrated, she is also the daughter of former Ohio Governor John Gilligan. Political observers agree that Sebelius is a better turn-the-page match than Hillary. And as someone who has shown great interest in his own genealogy, Obama is undoubtedly fascinated by Sebelius’ pedigree. Little wonder that Bill Clinton has threatened Obama with lots of tsuris if he rebuffs Hillary, noting he and his Ozark kinsmen can always arrange a shot-gun wedding in Denver this August.

*For Yiddish purists, the proper term for matchmaker is “shadchen”, but the name Yenta, referring to the character in Fiddler on the Roof, has become a widely-used title.

wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat who is a fan of the late columnist Art Buchwald and comedian Andy Borowitz. If you would like to be notified whenever wizinit posts serious analysis or political satire, click on the logo to join Food Tasters For Obama.

ABC and both Clintons Misrepresenting the Popular Vote

haydenlh — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:10:30 EDT

I canvased in Kentucy and noticed this lie that both Hilary and Bill Clinton were telling at their rally. Stating that she had the lead in the popular vote. There is no liget mathmatical method that the case could be made.

First, they are not counting any votes from any of the cacus states--That is trowing away 12 states worth of votes. Second they are counting both FL and MI. Only counting the MI cacus votes for her. I have no issue with that, But in including MI they are not giving Barack any of the Uncommited vote. It is basically giving her an extra state to make up the difference of how bad she has lost the rest. This is giving her over 600K votes. She needs all the 600K to give her a 100K lead. Barack would only need 5 percent of the uncommited to still have the lead. It is this misleading of the numbers that feeds her supporters to believe she can still win. It is just simply false! Second at the rally's they state that Barack Obama is trying to steal the election from Hilary, which is again just a lie.

Next just a quick extra few notes, the sexism she has claimed on the 21st of May, 2008. Out of everywhere I have canvased I only came in 2 people (one Republican) not voting for her because she was a woman. That is out of several thousand. I found a lot of woman that voted for her only because she was a woman! They did not care about policy or anything other then the usual statment girl power. So this is another false claim to try to confuse voters and make up an event to seem like she has overcome more. No different then the Irish peace process and Bosnia, just straight mistruths.

Last note about ABCNEWS.com is they state that OR was the reason that Barack Obama won the majority of pledge delegets. This is wrong, Barack won the majority before the polls closed in OR with just the 30 percent from KY.

This was my complant to ABCNEWS.com

Your results on popular vote is extremly misleading. The note with the FL and MI should include that you are not giving Barack Obama any percentage of the 45 percent of Uncommited vote in MI. That is how she is over coming 500K amount of votes in your tally. As I have clearly explained this, you should correct your information. If you do not I will seek information on reporting this misleading content and post on every blog that I can your baised and trying to manufacture numbers that do not exist. Thank You

Please leave comments, I am willing to engage!

Barack, Please Start Praising the Clinton Presidency

Herman — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:16:18 EDT

Greetings Barack,

You will need President and Mrs. Clinton along with all their supporters for the General Election. One way to start bringing them close is to greatly praise the Clinton presidency as you contrast it with the Bush presidency. Please start praising Bill Clinton and his Presidency.

Michelle, please talk more about your admiration of Hillary Clinton when she was first lady. I read an interview of yours in 2004 in which you said that you greatly admired her. That will truly bring the Clintonites in.

Thanks.

Bill Clinton Uses Police to Expel Obama Supporter from Hillary Rally in KY

Patrick Henry — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:47:45 EDT

It was reported over the weekend that Bill Clinton directed police to expel two people holding a sign asking Clinton about the $2 million Clinton obtained from Peter Paul for Hillary's Senate election.(see www.peterfpaul.com). The Clintons have personally refused to answer any questions about the donor and the $2 million he dontaed which has never been reported or admitted to by Hillary Clinton. While the media compelled Brak Obama to personally answer days worth of questions about his relationship with donor Tony Rezko whose $85,000 was refunded by Obama, the media have never asked either Clinton personally about the landmark civil fraud suit pending against them in California by theor top donor since 2003.

See the case that caused 8 million views of a documentary trailer on the internet at www.paulvclinton.com.

Nevada State Convention in Reno.

Rae — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:06:14 EDT

Well it was a blast and a lot of work!! I figured I would give a brief update on how it went and share some photos.

I arrived at the airport on time and sat and waited with the other passengers for a completely full flight to Reno. Very few people were wearing campaign gear so it was hard to figure out who was with which camp. I sat amoungst what turned out to be some very bitter Hillary delegates. Do not get me wrong, not all Hillary supporters are bitter or mean but the ones that are ...well they are down right scary! They were griping about how stupid Obama people are and how any woman could betray Hillary like this was beyond them. Did I mention I was wearing my Obama shirt?

Appreciating Kentucky's Idiosyncratic Politics

Mark Wiznitzer — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:14:23 EDT

Why the ‘Bluegrass State’ Is No ‘Land of Lincoln’

Barack Obama is expected to lose tomorrow’s primary race in Kentucky to Hillary Clinton, and it is not even expected to be close. Clinton leads Obama in the latest public opinion polls by anywhere from 25 to 36 percent, with an RCP average of 29.2 percent. But do not be surprised if her margin exceeds this range, perhaps approaching, that of her victory last week in West Virginia. Here are some things to keep in mind as you try to understand the results of the Kentucky primary.

The demographics favor Clinton, as seen in these statistics and state rankings. It is 90.4% white. It ranks 44 with a median household annual income of $37,369. It has 19% and ranks 48 in persons 25 and older with a Bachelors degree. Recent voting patterns also favor Hillary. Bill Clinton won the state in 1992 by a margin of 3 and carried it in 1996 by just 1 percent. By contrast, George W. Bush won in 2000 and 2004 by a decisive 15 and 20 percent, respectively.

A former colleague of mine who has represented the state of Kentucky overseas for several years last week forwarded a letter to the editor he had read that led me to some more curious facts and the unique historical roots of the state’s conservatism. Kentucky was admitted to the Union as a slave state in 1792, but did not secede and join the Confederate States of America. Although Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, when this “native son” first ran for President in 1860, he came in last in a four-man race, receiving less than one percent of the vote. And even in the election of 1864, running only against George McClellan, Lincoln mustered only 30.17%. That made Kentucky one of only three states that did not go for Lincoln. And by comparison, he only lost New Jersey and Delaware by less than 6% and 4%, respectively.

So remember as you consider the results of the Kentucky primary, this is the state where at his peak Abraham Lincoln lost by almost 40%. Barack Obama may have good company in the record books on this one.

[Enjoy this author's work? Receive a notice of every new article posted when you join Food Tasters for Obama.]

Cross Posted at www.onemillionstrong.us

George Bush Following in Bill Clinton's Footsteps?

Mark Wiznitzer — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:50:15 EDT

Cross Posted at www.OneMillionStrong.us

George W. Bush injected himself into the 2008 presidential race today when he took a swipe at Barack Obama in a speech to the Israeli Knesset. Without naming the Illinois Senator, the President criticized Obama's call for diplomatic engagement with Iran. Former Republican Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, commenting on MSNBC, described the President’s attack on a domestic political opponent in a formal speech in a foreign capital as “astonishing”. White House spokesmen said the speech was not a slam on Obama. However, CNN’s headline declared “Bush suggests Obama wants 'appeasement' of terrorists.”

[begin satire]

Speaking to a group of Americans Abroad in Tel Aviv after his speech, the President echoed Bill Clinton’s appeal on behalf of Hillary in January in New Hampshire, asking voters to give John McCain a "fighting chance" to continue the policies of the past eight years. “We can’t be a new story, I’m sorry,” he said apologetically, “there’s nothing we can do. I can’t make him younger, hairier, or African American. There’s lotsa things I can’t do. But if you want a President and you need one, he would be by far the best.”

These comments of course have led some political and psycho-analysts to see other strong similarities with former President Clinton's sometimes controversial role in his wife’s campaign. They speculate Bush is trying to make up for the public humiliation he subjected McCain to during his failed contest for the Republican nomination in 2000. Others note a McCain victory may be the last opportunity for Bush to restore the legacy of his own Presidency, stained by the scandals of a failed war, an economy on the brink of depression and the Administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina. However, most analysts do not expect Bush to follow the example of former Presidents Clinton and Bush’s own father, George H.W. Bush, in promoting philanthropy after he leaves the White House. With all the catching up he has to do on the golf course, unfortunately they just don’t think there will be enough time left for fighting AIDS or helping disaster victims.

In other news, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino confirmed that the President has asked the Justice Department to provide him with a list of all Administration officials who may have committed crimes while in office. “The President wishes to ensure that before he leaves office his Article II powers to grant pardons are exercised to the fullest extent, whether just for directing lucrative contracts to cronies or the commission of war crimes. This is one section of the Constitution that the President considers sacrosanct.” Perino would not indicate, however, if the President was prepared to make public the names of all donors to the George W. Bush Presidential Library that will be constructed starting next year at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and is expected to cost as much as $500 million. "It is too early to make that call," said Perino, "and we were frankly hoping Bill Clinton would break ground on that precedent. We'll just have to wait and see what he does if Hillary becomes Vice President."

wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat whose career highlight was lunching with the late Art Buchwald in an Eighth Floor dining room at the US State Department in the mid-eighties. He is now a registered Fan of Andy Borowitz at the Huffington Post.

Dirty Political Campaigning...

Patti — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:49:39 EDT

To ALL Americans,

I for one do not understand why “the Clinton’s” and others in “her” campaign have and continue to run a dirty political campaign. The same goes for McCain, especially after his wife stated her husband promised to run a clean campaign. I will speak about him at another time.

Yet, I do remember H. Clinton stating the same facts at the beginning of this campaign over two years ago. Well, I see she did not keep her promise.As a 45 year old Caucasian/Latino woman (for those who care) and born in OUR “United” States of America. Who has finally gotten involved in politics because of Barack Obama’s stance regarding his, my, our issues. I am extremely proud of myself for getting involved because of Barack Obama. I am even more proud and honored to have Barack as OUR future President of “The UNITED” States of America.

It is unforgivable in my opinion, how “the Clinton’s” as well as others have used the race card time, and again. However, when the Clinton team, have been questioned regarding this topic they deny it, get defensive, or say Barack was doing this. Sadly, to state, B. Clinton has used the race card on several occasions and dares to deny it.

Geraldine Ferraro as well as others used the race card before the Pennsylvanian primaries. She tried to reverse it by stating, she was the one discriminated against because she is white. She later “quit” H. Clinton’s campaign and I use the word quit loosely because I do not know whom to believe anymore due to Mark Penn (which is another topic needing more serious discussion).

Thus far, H. Clinton has allowed others to do her dirty work for her. Recently, just prior to the West Virginia and Kentucky primaries, H. Clinton spoke. Stating, I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on. She as well stated she has support among “white” working, hard working Americans. White Americans is weakening against Barack. She then stated how “whites” in both states who had NOT completed college were supporting her. Then to top it off she said, there is a “pattern” emerging here, as well as stating she does better with independents than Barack does.

Yes I would agree with the Clinton’s and their campaign, there is a pattern emerging here, which would be you, the “Clinton’s”, your campaign, and a few select others that ARE THE ONE’S INJECTING RACE INTO THIS CAMPAIGN AND FEAR MONGERING TACTICS. I find this to be so incredibly LOW and SAD.

I FIND THESE TACTICS TO BE DISTASTEFUL, DEGRADING, AND PATHETICALLY SAD. DO YOU NOT REALIZE WHAT THESE DISGRACEFUL WORDS SOUND LIKE TO US, THE “UNITED” STATES OF AMERICA! IS THIS THE REASON BOTH YOU AND McCain CHOSE TO CALL BARACK OBAMA AN ELITIST? SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHTS – THINK – AMERICA – PLEASE THINK – PRIOR TO VOTING!Thank you,

Patti

Bill Clinton's Actions Forfeit His Dem Leadership Role

COL Mo — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:55:27 EDT

Americans have certain expectations regarding the comportment of former presidents. "Formers" are expected to be senior statesmen above the partisan fray. They are expected to behave in a dignified and "classy" fashion and are given a special measure of respect in return. Thus, Bill Clinton had a tightrope to walk in campaigning for his wife. He proved himself signularly unfit for this high wire act and in failing has forfeited any claim to being the leader of the Democratic Party.

How did he manage to lose the respect we once had for him? He committed several gaffs - overstating his wife's experience, whining about disequal treatment, lying (Yep, that again - at least this time it wasn't a felony), playing the race card, repeating and trying to excuse his wife's fairy tales (Bringing peace to N. Ireland and landing under fire in Bosnia, indeed), and worst of all, acting as if he were superior to his fellow citizens. WJC evidently forgot that he is no longer president (hint Bill you've been gone for more than 7 years). Perhaps, he had gotten used to his presidential hangers on bowing to his every wish and whim. That, I guess, is what made him think he could lie under oath. On the campaign trail, when faced with a reporter's question he did not like, not only did he excoriate his interlocuter but microphones recorded his opinion that, "I don't have to put up with that shit." It is not shit ,Willy; what fascist world are you living in?

I voted for the man twice and I think he did an excellent job as president. But his time has come and gone. I find myself now agreeing with William Benett, "the Clinton's should just GO AWAY." Bill Clinton has sacrificed his our good will, has shown himself to be a small minded man and is unworthy of being a respected elder of the Democratic Party. He has lost my respect and support two things his wife never had to begin with.