I remember this refrain over and over again from everyone who demanded that California move up its Presidential primary to February 5. The most populous state should have a say in the nomination, everyone said. The candidates will have to start talking about “California issues,” they said.
Chris Bowers has a post showing the number of public appearances made by all of the Presidential candidates thus far this year.
There have been more trips to Iowa and New Hampshire than to every other state and territory combined. And I wish Courage Campaign was still doing their ATM Watch, because they would clearly see, as Bowers mentions…
…looking at upcoming events in California, one can see that over 60% of all scheduled appearances in the state are fundraisers, and virtually every non-fundraiser campaign appearance in the state is accompanied with a fundraiser.
over…
When California moved up their primary, I was adamant in saying that this move would do nothing but enhance the power of Iowa and New Hampshire. And that’s exactly what’s happening. By putting this giant electoral prize on February 5, close to the early states, you make it imperative for candidates to be in front early to have any chance to win the nomination. Any strategy to tread water until Super Tuesday will fail, and by the looks of the appearance schedule all of the candidates know it.
Furthermore, this June primary with no Presidential race and no statewide candidates on the ballot will almost surely have a very low turnout, and Republican dirty tricksters are falling all over each other to take advantage of that, with the electoral college split and other nefarious initiatives. Was it worth it? Did everyone get what they wanted?
The only way to change the primary system is to actually change the system, with a complete overhaul. Change the way California practiced it was pointless, debilitating to democracy (a nine-month general election campaign will not be beneficial to anyone), and dangerous for the future of the state if some of those pernicious ballot measures squeak by.
I knew we were close when the bus started crawling along at 5 miles per hour and candidate sign wars stretched out as far as my eyes could see. I was fortunate enough to have caught a ride from my Drinking Liberally friends so when the bus slowed to a crawl most of us decided to disembark and walk the rest of the mile down the road to the Indianola Balloon Field. The excitement was palatable as Fry attendees 15,000 of them according to the Des Moines Register, streamed through the parking lot at times dodging candidate volunteers as they tried to hand you stickers much like the perfume spritzers you have to dodge in department stores. As I walked along I was happy to see a piece of Bay Area art, the Topsy Turvy bus was there espousing budget priorities.
Once inside the main gates I decided to visit the candidate and issue tables that were set up along the perimeter. Every table had swag to give away, from buttons to bumper stickers to placards and cowbells. I remarked to my friend that it was like a Democratic Christmas. As I was inspecting the goods a ripple of excitement ran through the crowd, the first candidate had walked through the gates. There was Senator Barack Obama surrounded by his supporters as they were chanting “I-O-W-A, Barack Obama all the way!” This is what I had been waiting for, the opportunity to see Presidential candidates up close and in person practicing retail politics. Unlike in California, where candidate events have price tags starting from $250 and up here in Iowa, if you’ve caucused before and are undecided, getting a personal phone call from a candidate or their spouse is not unexpected. And for only $30 you can see and shake hands with all the candidates at Harkin’s Steak Fry. I came to Des Moines to see candidates engage with Middle America and hopefully come away with my own choice for President. Senator Obama did his part by working his way through the crowd with the help of his Secret Service agents and a few staff members. Throughout the process he was genial and would happily stop for a photo, and plenty of handshakes.
My next stop was over to the food tents to get a plate of Iowa steak, beans, potato salad and a bread roll. I was disappointed to see all the food being placed on thousands of Styrofoam plates. I hope next time around Senator Harkin will consider using a more environmentally friendly option. The steak itself was very well done and after a few tough bites I decided that I’d be better off sparing my digestive system. Luckily enough at the same time another ripple of excitement was coursing through the crowd and I looked up to see boom mikes, cameras and supporters surrounding Senator Hillary Clinton. I proceeded to hustle my way to the throng of folks to snap a photo. Her supporters were chanting “H-I, H-I-L, H-I-L-L-A-R-Y, Hillary our nominee!” They were brandishing Hillary for President placards and ringing their blue cowbells. Unfortunately for the attendees Sen. Clinton did not walk through the crowd because there was a 3-foot plastic fence separating her from everyone else. The fence had been erected earlier for the photo opportunity by the grills where the candidates had a chance to greet volunteers and flip a steak. I thought it was an odd choice for her to make and an unfortunate one that differentiated her from how the rest of the candidates were able to network with the Fry crowd. She spent about 20 minutes till she was escorted away by her staff and Secret Service agents.
Senator John Edwards came through the crowd next, his supporters were brandishing placards and more than a few handmade signs some of which read “Iowa Loves Edwards” “Labor for Edwards” and “Iowa is Edwards Country.” Much like the other candidates, he seemed happy to be there and would , sign autographs and of course shake plenty of offered hands.
By this time it was around 2:30, the scheduled time for the candidates to start making their speeches so I cut through the field and made my way to the stage for a good view. Suddenly, cheers and chants from all the campaign supporters and staff rose up from the crowd of viewers. All of the candidates and Senator Harkin and his wife Ruth were making their way towards the stage. Edwards, Obama and Richardson were walking side-by-side behind them were Dodd and Biden and behind them were Clinton and the Harkins. An attendee told me that Mrs. Harkin was endorsing Senator Clinton while Senator Harkin had decided to remain non-committal. Once all the candidates made it to the stage, the National Anthem was sung and then the candidates took their seats on stage in the order that they would be speaking which had been decided earlier by a random draw. This meant that on stage right it was Obama, Richardson and Clinton and on stage left it was Dodd, Edwards and Biden. It was an inspiring visual to look at all the candidates on the right. It made me proud to be a Democrat to see an African American, a Latino and a Woman vying to be President. All of these candidates represent change in American politics just by virtue of their birth.
Each candidate was allotted 15 minutes of time to make their case for why Iowans should caucus for them. Ruth Harkin was the first speaker and she stepped to the mike to introduce her husband. After Senator Harkin said his piece he welcomed Senator Obama who took the mike and made his case. Some of his key quotes include, “Fundamental change, that’s why I’m running for President.” And most importantly, “We are going to bring an end to this war and I will fight hard in the United States Senate to make sure we don’t pass any funding bill that does not have a deadline.” This was his most important statement to me and it helped distinguish himself from Clinton who has remained silent on the issue. As far as I’m concerned if you are in a position to lead against the war you should. Obama also came out strong in the visibility wars, his staff turned out 2,000 people and a marching band.
Governor Bill Richardson was next and made the most impressive and electric speech of the day. He crammed as much policy as he could in his 15 minutes as he outlined what he would do if he were President. Highlights include: no residual troops in Iraq, 50 mph fuel standards, a Hero’s Health Card for Veterans to use any medical facility if their VA hospital is too far, $40,000 minimum salary for all teachers and a 1-year community service requirement for graduating college students so that their loans would be offset. He also gave the best joke of the day when he said that he is the Presidential candidate who offers caucus goers both change and experience, a riff on Obama and Clinton’s tedious speeches that focus on “experience” versus “change”.
Senator Clinton went third and hinted at the health care policy that she would reveal the next day. She also spoke about the mothers and daughters that she saw on the campaign trail and how she was happy when the mothers would tell the daughters that they too could be President one day. Her best line that afternoon was when she said that if she was elected in November she would immediately send envoys with both party members “around the world with a very simple message: The era of cowboy diplomacy is over. America is back.” She was also the first candidate to reference the Field of Dreams movie, when she spoke about “What we’re doing today is building a new ‘Field of Dreams'”. Chills ran up my spine when she said that line because as I looked at all of the qualified candidates on stage, I realized that they do represent a ‘Field of Dreams.’ The dream that hard working American’s will take their country back in 2008.
Senator Chris Dodd was next and unfortunately I felt like he spent half his time talking about how great Senator Harkin was, he even mentioned as he was wrapping up “Now having successfully pandered to Tom Harkin..” It seemed like a waste of a good opportunity to distinguish himself from the top tier candidates. He did have a good line when he said, “Politics of fear is what destroys our country. And the other side engages in it every day, and we need to fight back.’
Senator Edwards took the mike next amid chants of “Go John Go!” After the crowd quieted down he gave a shout out to his wife Elizabeth who was in attendance and said, “I don’t know about you, but I kind of enjoyed it when she went after Ann Coulter.” This of course erupted into another loud cheer from the crowd. He continued on his populist message and came out strong for working families and union labor. Some of his best lines of the day started with “You can’t sit at a table with lobbyists, drug companies, ect., and come away with a good health care plan. If you give them a seat at the table, they’ll take all the food!” He also said that we couldn’t replace ‘corporate Republicans’ with ‘corporate Democrats’. On healthcare he said he would “Outlaw pre-existing conditions,” and asked “What man, woman or child is not worthy of healthcare?” He mentioned unions explicitly and he also called organized labor “the single best anti-poverty movement in history.” He thanked Congress for raising the minimum wage but said it wasn’t enough and as President he would raise it to $9.50 an hour and have it indexed to rising inflation. He closed with stating, “You can’t just declare yourself the change candidate,” and asked caucus goers to “trust your heart.”
Senator Joe Biden was on last and opened with a joke, “I’ve also seen Field of Dreams and if I’m not mistaken, this has taken longer than 9 innings.” He went on to say that this “election is as serious as a heart attack folks.” He stated that it is obvious to him that Bush is not going to end the war and that the “responsibility is going to fall on one of the candidates sitting on stage and that is deadly serious.” After listing his foreign policy goals he wrapped up his speech by calling for an end to “the obscene amounts of money that is being spent” and advocated for public funding for elections along with a “Supreme Court that recognizes individual and civil rights.”
As the day came to an end the PA system blasted out September by Earth, Wind and Fire. Each of the candidates clasped hands and raised them in celebration as the crowds cheered on their choice. I walked away from the field knowing who I would vote for in February and proud that each of the individuals that spent their Sunday afternoon in that balloon field did so because they
August 19, 2007 – Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa (ABC) 8PM
August 27-28, 2007 – Cancer Forum, Cedar Rapids, IA (MSNBC & Live Streaming)
September 26, 2007 – Hanover, New Hampshire
October 30, 2007 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
November 15, 2007 – Las Vegas, Nevada
December 10, 2007 – Los Angeles, California
January 6, 2008 – Johnson County, Iowa
January 15, 2008 – Las Vegas, Nevada
January 31, 2008 – California
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly….
he’s only human, guys….let’s go….
Obama Appearances
August 12, 2007 – Michelle Obama, Chicago, IL
August 13, 2007 – Keene, NH
August 13, 2007 – Nashua, NH
August 15, 2007 – Cedar Falls, IA
August 16, 2007 – Council Bluffs, IA
August 16, 2007 – Atlantic, IA
August 17, 2007 – Clear Lake, IA
August 18, 2007 – Waverly, IA
August 22, 2007 – KICKOFF, Brooklyn, NY
August 24, 2007 – KICKOFF, Tallahassee, FL
August 26, 2007 – KICKOFF, Lexington, KY
Well, I am back with the weekly roundup. I took the week off, due to being at the Yearly Kos Convention in Chicago. I thought I “might” be able to provide last week’s roundup, but was tired, drained, and reflective of the events when I got home. So, I posted a diary about my reflections of the convention, instead. All I have to say is, GO NEXT YEAR, start saving your pennies, NOW. Next year is critical, it is the year of the presidential election, but more importantly we must work hard to get more democrats in the congress, in our state houses and state races. Yes, we were fired up this year, but next year the flame is ON!!
August 5, 2007
Thanks, lovingj!!!!
Senator Obama was in Park City, Utah for a fundraiser, but held an impromptu rally of over 500 and expected just a small number, at Utah Olympic Park. Kudos to the Obama Campaign for getting this together on the “fly”, and just look at the people grateful to see him.
Obama was next in Elko, Nevada, the senator’s first trip to rural Nevada. Attending a townhall type meeting of 900, Obama again, backed up his statements about Pakistan. And the crowd loved it:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Sunday stood by foreign policy comments that sparked an anti-U.S. protest in Pakistan and attacks from his opponents this week.
Obama told a group in Elko, Nevada that he didn’t think he’d made a mistake in suggesting that he would use military force in Pakistan if necessary to root out terrorists.
Pakistan has been considered a U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.
Obama also sought to clarify his assertion, prompted by a reporter’s question, that nuclear weapons would be “off the table” in such an attack.
Senator Hillary Clinton criticized him by saying leaders should not discuss hypotheticals involving nuclear weapons. Obama portrayed the question and Clinton’s critique as absurd. more, My Silver State
The ongoing “flux” with Senator Clinton’s answer about lobbyists, their monies, “our friends”, “don’t influence”, me answers from Yearly Kos. And the stepping up of ousting Clinton by Obama and Edwards.
…”A lot of those lobbyists, whether you like it or not, represent real Americans,” the New York senator said. “They represent nurses, they represent social workers, yes, they represent corporations that employ a lot of people…I don’t think, based on my 35 years of fighting for what I believe in, I don’t think anybody seriously believes I’m going to be influenced by a lobbyist.”
A less hypocritical answer to the question might have looked something like this: “Yes, I am taking lobbyists’ donations and I too am concerned about the disproportionate influence wealthy interest groups have on the political process. I have often had to compromise my beliefs for lobbyist cash and that troubles me as a Senator, as a citizen, as a human being. And that’s why we desperately need to switch over to a public campaign finance system. But with the system we have, in order to win, I need to take their money. If I elected, I will do my utmost to enact a public campaign finance system.”
But Clinton seems to be in denial about the power of campaign cash even though, as a matter of historical record, she has flip-flopped like a trained marine mammal at Sea World for major contributors. For example, as First Lady, Hillary Clinton convinced her husband to veto a credit card company-backed bill to make it harder for Americans to declare bankruptcy. Inspired by Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren’s speech about the devastating impact the legislation would have on single mothers and their children, Hillary informally lobbied the president on what she termed “that awful bill.” Yet a few years later, Hillary, now in the Senate with the help of copious contributions from the credit card companies, voted for the same bill. “The financial services industry is a big industry in New York, and it’s powerful on Capitol Hill,” Warren later explained. “It’s a [testament to] how much influence this industry group wields in Washington that…they can bring to heel a senator who obviously cares, who obviously gets it, but who also obviously really feels the pressure in having to stand up to an industry like that.”
So please, Hillary, let’s not pretend that Washington lobbyists defend the interests of social workers — or single mothers — and that their contributions don’t affect your positions anyway. The power of entrenched wealth perverts the political process and turns politicians–even those whose hearts are in the right place, as Hillary’s often is — into paid corporate spokespeople. more
Obama is criticizing Clinton over her “lobbyist snafu” and the criticism is warranted. Americans need to have their eyes wide open about these candidates. We must select the right candidate who is supporting us, not the corporations who are the largest recipients of corporate welfare in the history of this government. Those are the real welfare “kings and queens”, and not the people.
…In an interview with The Associated Press and later at a town hall-style event, Obama said the matter would be a critical issue in his campaign for the party nomination.
Obama pointed to Saturday’s bloggers forum in Chicago where he touted his promise not to take money from lobbyists. Clinton argued at the event that taking money from lobbyists was acceptable because they represented real people and real interests.
Obama declined to use Clinton’s name, though he told the AP, “I profoundly disagree with her statements.”
“If lobbyists for well-heeled interests in Washington are setting the agenda on the farm bill, in the energy bill, on health care legislation and if we can’t overcome the power of those lobbyists then we’re not going to get serious reform in any of those areas,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they don’t have a seat at the table. We just don’t want them buying every chair.” more, KC Star, Ari Melber, Newsday, Politico
Barack Obama has been in the hotseat for his position on Pakistan, but many are coming around and agreeing on his position, Atlanta Constitution Journal, Washington Post, to name a few. Now the pundits are talking and discussing the “same policy” as Obama. Relevant it was on ABC, for the Republican Debate in Iowa on Sunday Morning, when Giulilani was pressed and “quoted verbatim” of agreeing with Obama’s stance on Pakistan, Giuliani, squirmed the question away.
So, while Obama may have gotten folks upset, as they grilled him in Iowa, the fact of the matter is that Osama bin Laden is still running amuck. He is being harbored in PAKISTAN, the United States know it, Musharraf knows it, and the man should be caught or killed, period. You can not play two sides of the fence on this. And for those afraid of Pakistan retailiating, they won’t. We have harbored and aided Musharref for too long. He can “publicly” denounce the United States, but he will play politically and hand this man over. Why? He is in a hot seat, as well. While re-emphasizing, strongly, that Pakistan is not harboring or aiding al-Qaida.
The Republicans are on their last gasp of breath coming into 2008, they know it, but more importantly, we know it. For any kind of public ratification of this party, they must get Osama bin Laden, in hope of regaining public trust and retaining the White House. Clear and simple. So clear, that this should have been done in the beginning, or we would not be in Iraq. But of course, Iraq is all about lining corporate purses, period. Isn’t it?
Obama’s Camp is reassuring its base that the national numbers are not important. And realistically, these nubmers are not. Not this far out. This all comes about from the Clinton Camp releasing another “inevitablity poll number memo”. David Plouffe has reminded the base that it is the “early states” in which polling is important. And this statement is true. Because if you look at the individual state polling the numbers are solidifying and he is doing well. And from the Obama Camp, it does not look like the money train has “stopped”.
“As the Washington insiders focus on irrelevant and wildly inconsistent national polls, there are strong signs in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina of the growing power and potential of this candidacy,” Plouffe wrote.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll last week showed Clinton, Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards in a virtual tie in Iowa.
A recent poll by the American Research Group in New Hampshire put Clinton and Obama at 31 percent apiece, and a poll by the same group in South Carolina gave Obama a 4 percent lead over Clinton in that state.
“Remember, each contest affects the next,” said Plouffe. “Our strategy has always been to focus like a laser on the early states to create the momentum crucial to later contests.”
Plouffe also pointed to Obama’s prowess at raising money from 258,000 individual donors as a sign of his strength. Obama raised about $5 million more than Clinton during the second quarter. more
‘You blew it,’ student tells Obama, yes a student told Obama over the controversy of meeting with leaders of hostile countries from the YouTube Debate. And you know what, Obama is not going to have everyone agree with him. That is a fact. When I was in Edwards’ breakout at Yearly Kos, there was a person who did not agree with one of his points, and he stated, I don’t expect you too. And I don’t expect folk to agree with Obama on everything. But if you want change, YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.
Strategist Says Blacks Are Obama’s‘Base’ ObamaVows to Stand Up Against Corporate Mega-Farm Lobbyists
Why are the GOP candidates, ganging up on Barack Obama? What does that tell you? Obviously, he has hit a nerve with somebody, somewhere? And why aren’t the GOP candidates worried about “their” nomination and trekkin’ over to spit in our pool? Yes, these are the questions, one must ask and try to answer. I have been saying alot about poll numbers and to start looking at them in the fall, and I still mean it. But their poll numbers must be awful to come sniffin’ around Obama. Especially, Mitt Romney. Matthews, from Hardball on Today Show, stated something that caught my attention, quick. He stated that Brownback has been coming after Romney “hard” about his “flip/flop” on the right to life and questioning his “religion”. Matthews stated that Romney’s anger was real in his response and that his gut feeling is that Romney’s “poll numbers” must be slipping in Iowa.
Well, Matthews was RIGHT. The current polling numbers for Republicans by the University of Iowa, Obama comes in THIRD, as the candiate Republicans will caucus for. Unbelievable? NO. We know that Clinton is the candidate the Republicans want to run against, Obama is the one they do not want to run against. If Obama gets the nomination, he will win. He will siphon off enough Republicans, get the independents and the Democrats will be behind him. No wonder Romney spewed all those “cheap shots” against Obama on Sunday, he knew what the polling numbers, would be. Oh, and who won on Sunday?
Barack Obama: Obama was all over this debate and was even the basis of one of the questions. That’s great news for the Illinois Senator. It shows he has become a major center of gravity in this race although he has not yet reached the villain status enjoyed (and we do mean enjoyed) by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) It also allowed him to put out a statement of his own that drew a bright line between him and the GOP candidates on the war. “The fact that the same Republican candidates who want to keep 160,000 American troops in the middle of a civil war couldn’t agree that we should take out Osama bin Laden if we had him in our sights, proves why Americans want to turn the page on the last seven years of Bush-Cheney foreign policy,” Obama said. more
Pure Horserace
Obama Rising? Agree with him or not, Barack Obama has become the hot candidate over the past week, gaining the attention of presidential candidates from the other party as well as his own. Obama and Hillary Clinton have sparred recently over what conditions they would or would not set for a presidential-level meeting with some of the world’s most shady characters. And at yesterday’s Republican debate in Iowa, the Illinois senator’s insistence that, as president, he would attack terrorists in part of Pakistan – with or without that nation’s cooperation – triggered discussion. more
Will Clinton Sever Ties With Penn?
No. My take on all of this with the Penn/Clinton association is that he has been effective for her, period. He is associated with a firm that prides itself with parrying union pressure. When I look back on growing up, I grew up in a union home. A home that allowed my parents to become middle class, to afford the dream home, to purchase a new car every 3-4 years, a home that produced four children who graduated from college. We need more than a tax break and lip service. We need “living wages” for workers in America, along with “living wage jobs”. We need a president who is not a sell-out to corporate America. We need a leader who will stand with us and beat back the influx of China in this country. We surely do not need anymore Penn’s, and I am confident many will agree with me on this one.
AFL-CIO Debate, Soldiers Field, Chicago, IL
I watched the debate and came to this conclusion. Chris Dodd and Joe Biden want a “cabinet position” with the “hopeful president to be”, that is Clinton. The way they went after Obama was comical, at best, with tints of desperation, to be nice. But this gave Obama a chance to speak and clarify (video here) his position on Pakistan. As Ben Smith from Politico wrote:
…”Well, look, I find it amusing that those who helped to authorize and engineer the biggest foreign policy disaster in our generation are now criticizing me for making sure that we are on the right battlefield and not the wrong battlefield in the war against terrorism,” Obama said to applause for the crowd. more
One shameless moment came from Senator Biden. This was during the union members Q&A, when the widow, Deborah Hamner, whose husband died at the Sago Mines, addressed Senator Biden about federal safety regulations for mine workers. Instead of him answering the question, he was still in tag team form of answering a question about Pakistan!!! He was booed soundly and loudly. The most stupid question of the night went to Senator Obama from Keith Olbermann. Will you invite Barry Bonds to the White House? Umm, can I categorically let you know that we don’t give a damn. The most passionate and one that left impressions was Dennis Kucinich. Even my husband, had to sit up and take notice. Kucinich was the only one who would ban NAFTA for good. And wouldn’t any union household cheer that?
During the analysis on MSNBC former Mayor Willie Brown stated something that stuck with me, and I have been writing about it on the boards. He stated that Senator Clinton need to address and put to bed, the “lobbyist” snafu. She had an opportunity to address this tonight and her answer was everthing but the “right answer”. The former mayor also stated that this issue could run like a “virus”. I have posted my comments on this and agree. Everyone must understand this. We follow these candidates, polls, campaign stops, etc. The average public does not. So, when hearing about this “lobbyist snafu”, they only have one reminder, the Jack Abramhoff lobbyist scandal. To publicly, admit, that it is “okay” to take monies from lobbyists, puts you in the bed of “business as usual”. This is something her campaign need to address and expect ads out “very soon”, on this issue.
Overall, Clinton is unscathed. Obama held his own and scored some points on foreign policy. Biden and Dodd are riding out to “Desperado”. Edwards was just OK for me. With the exception of calling Clinton out for being on the cover of “Fortune” or is it “Money” magazine? Richardson better, but forgettable. And the winner is Dennis Kucinich. The only candidate that will send NAFTA out to pasture, and kick WTO to the curb. AP, Washington Post, Newsday, Chris Cillizza, Full Debate Transcript And the moment of the debate, was here, Steve Skvara, retired LTV Steel Worker:
…Despite becoming this presidential race’s phenomenon, with the power to draw huge crowds and raise millions of dollars, Mr. Obama remains relatively unknown among the country’s fastest-growing electorate: Nearly half of Latino voters have never heard of him, according to a June Gallup poll.
Even as he gains awareness among Hispanics, he may find wooing them to his campaign a challenge. Across the U.S., tensions simmer between Hispanics and blacks who regard each other as rivals for jobs, educational resources, housing and political power. In Los Angeles, Hispanics have become the majority in traditionally black enclaves and clashes have erupted between the groups in schools and on the streets.
For Mr. Obama, this has created a tricky situation. The fiery debate over immigration in Congress alienated many Hispanics, pushing conservatives among them into the Democratic camp and encouraging others to register to vote. But to tap into that, Mr. Obama must navigate past Democratic primary opponents who are better positioned to capitalize on those voters.
“If Obama were the Democratic presidential nominee, he would do well in the Hispanic community,” says Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster. But “he will have to fight for their support in the primaries.” more
Well, the Yearly Kos Presidential Forum has unleashed the “real”. From new polling data 48% believe Senator Clinton will be “influenced” by lobbyist monies. Since this blunder, or we can say the “keepin’ it real Hillary moment”, this put the pause in folk to say, “hold up, lobbyist represent average americans”? Yes, folk are questioning this. See, when you are in the “beltway”, you do get “disconnected” with how people feel. That is why I do give kudos to Clinton for consistantly polling to keep up with the “pulse” of people. But to come out and say that “lobbyist” gaffe is just another question to throw onto the “who is Hillary” pile. Lastly, former Mayor Willie Brown from San Francisco summed it up. That Hillary Rodham Clinton need to address the lobbyist issue, if she does not it will be come a virus. And this may just be the start.
Hillary Clinton has surged to a big lead in national polls for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination but her chief rivals say the polls are overblown and the race is far from over.
According to a realclearpolitics.com average of recent polls, the New York senator and former first lady is enjoying a gap of 18 percentage points over her closest challenger, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, 41 percent to 22 percent, while former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards has 11.5 percent.
Democratic strategist Jenny Backus, who is neutral in the 2008 nomination race, said the national polls are important but that Obama and Edwards are making the race a more difficult one for Clinton than her camp had anticipated.
“I think Hillary is the front-runner but not the front-runner she thought she was going to be when this race started. She was supposed to be this colossus striding over a field of pygmies. But instead she’s in a hand-to-hand battle with one very ferocious competitor and a couple others breathing on her heels,” said Backus. more
“President Musharraf has a very difficult job, and it is important that we are a constructive ally with them in dealing with al-Qaida,” the Illinois senator said.
Obama did not repeat the most incendiary line from his foreign policy speech last Wednesday, when he promised: “If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will.” more
With a television crew and photographers in tow, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama spent Wednesday morning mopping floors, cleaning cobwebs and preparing breakfast for an 86-year-old wheelchair-bound amputee, as he accompanied a home health care worker on her daily duties.
A day on the job has become a new ritual of the Democratic presidential campaign this year, after the powerful 1.9 million-member Service Employees International Union demanded that candidates “Walk a Day in My Shoes” with a union member in order to be considered for endorsement.
On Wednesday, it was the Illinois senator’s turn. Obama joined 61-year-old Pauline Beck, an African-American woman with gray hair and an easy manner, as she cared for John Thornton, a retired cement mason and widower who lives in a modest clapboard home in a low-income neighborhood of Oakland.
“I’m not going to lie to you. It’s been a while,” Obama said, after mopping the kitchen and bathrooms.
“I probably haven’t mopped a floor since I started my Senate race,” Obama continued, though he quickly added, “Before that, that wasn’t something I was averse to doing.”
Obama gamely assembled Thornton’s customary breakfast of coffee, frosted flakes and watermelon cubes, washed and folded laundry and gingerly approached the task of making the bed.
The conventional thinking – especially in Washington – is that Barack Obama is flunking foreign policy. But this is one case where conventional thinking may be too closely tied to convention and not all that well thought out.
Yes, we’ve had a glimpse of the world according to Obama. And it doesn’t look half bad.
Not the world itself, which is as dangerous and unpredictable as ever – full of petty tyrants, enemies posing as friends, and rogue states in search of nuclear weapons.
I’m talking about the worldview of the junior senator from Illinois. What seemed like a rookie mistake – i.e., suggesting that, as president, he’d meet with dictators from countries such as Cuba, Iran or North Korea – may actually wind up serving Obama well.
First, it let him draw a distinction between himself and the front-runner. Hillary Clinton helped the cause when she blasted Obama’s comments as “irresponsible and frankly naive.”
That’s baby boomer code for “young and immature.” The 46-year-old Obama stresses the fact that he’s of a different generation than his opponents. This was Clinton pushing back. She might as well have sent the whippersnapper to his room without dessert. After all, Clinton lectured, the president of the United States must be careful not to be used “for propaganda purposes.” more
..Over the past few weeks, Obama has been working to create a commander-in-chief moment, and it has resulted in a rough patch for his campaign. But if he wants to win the nomination, he can’t give up working for this moment.
Obama made the right decision in not backing off his comments about pursuing terrorists in Pakistan. At the AFL-CIO debate earlier this week, Chris Dodd urged Obama to admit that his statement about Pakistan was a mistake — but Obama forcefully defended himself.
Obama is correct to stand by his statement because what he originally said makes perfect sense:
“It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al-Qaida leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will.”
Since when did going after al-Qaida become a controversial platform? Bush, Cheney and Giuliani have based their entire political identities on the vague assertion that they will hunt down the terrorists and kill them, but Obama suggests we might actually want to do this and he is hit for being naïve.
The truth is that Bush and Company gave up on catching bin Laden four years ago to focus on what they thought would be an easier time in Iraq. Intent on solidifying her hawkish credentials, Hillary went along for the ride. more
As ABC says: “She said vs. She said?”
Hillary Rodham Clinton need to hire a staff just for canvassing “youtube, “audio, “print”, files before she opens her mouth, for criticism. In fact, I would hope “all these campaigns” are doing just that, if not, “heads up”, you should. Back to Clinton, who publicly “berated” Obama stating that he would not resort to using “nukes” to rule out terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The bait and switch is that Clinton said almost the exact same thing.
“I would certainly take nuclear weapons off the table,” Mrs. Clinton told Bloomberg Television in an interview in April 2006, responding to a question about how the Bush administration would try to prevent Iran from building up its nuclear program.
Last week, Mr. Obama said it would be a “profound mistake” for the United States to use nuclear weapons to fight terrorism in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Asked to reply, Mrs. Clinton said: “I think that presidents should be very careful at all times in discussing the use or non-use of nuclear weapons.”
For weeks, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama have tangled over their foreign policy views, judgment and experience in their quest to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Mrs. Clinton has challenged Mr. Obama – at one point, calling his foreign policy stands “irresponsible and frankly naïve” – while he has sought to portray his positioning as an example of how he would change Washington.
But during the television interview more than a year ago, the comments of which were reported by The Associated Press, Mrs. Clinton also discussed the role of nuclear weapons.
“I have said publicly no option should be off the table, but I would certainly take nuclear weapons off the table,” Mrs. Clintons said. “This administration has been very willing to talk about using nuclear weapons in a way we haven’t seen since the dawn of a nuclear age. I think that’s a terrible mistake.” more, ABC, Bloomberg
Sen. Barack Obama said Thursday he wanted to tap into the “core decency” of Americans to fight discrimination against gays and lesbians, and argued that civil unions for same-sex couples wouldn’t be a “lesser thing” than marriage.
At a televised forum focusing on gay rights, the Illinois senator was asked to explain how civil unions for same-sex couples could be the equivalent of marriage. He said, “As I’ve proposed it, it wouldn’t be a lesser thing, from my perspective.
“Semantics may be important to some. From my perspective, what I’m interested (in) is making sure that those legal rights are available to people,” he said.
“If we have a situation in which civil unions are fully enforced, are widely recognized, people have civil rights under the law, then my sense is that’s enormous progress,” the Illinois Democrat said. more, post conference
Over onmydd bloggers for their “candidate” will be given featured author status. This event starts Monday, and on Wednesday check out psericks and Max Fletcher, blogging for Barack Obama. Don’t miss it.
Obama was compared to a rock star at the LGBT forum and received a strong welcome from the crowd. He acknowledged his experience as an African American, and how it helps him relate to the LGBT community. “When you are a black guy named Barack Obama, you know what it’s like to be on the outside.” He also said, “It is important not to look at the black candidate and wonder whether or not he’s going to be more sympathetic, or less sympathetic to these issues. I’m going to be more sympathetic not because I’m black, but because this has been the cause of my life and will continue to be the cause of my life making sure that everybody is treated fairly and we have an expansive view of America, where everybody is invited in and we are all working together to create the kind of America we want for the next generation.” Link
Obama at National Association of Black Journalists
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday that rival Hillary Rodham Clinton was wrong when she said politicians shouldn’t discuss hypothetical decisions on foreign policy.
Speaking at a conference of the National Association of Black Journalists, the Illinois senator defended his recent call for military action to hunt down terrorists if Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf doesn’t act. Obama also said it would be “a profound mistake” to deploy nuclear weapons in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Clinton, who has tried to cast her rival as too inexperienced for the job of commander in chief, said presidents shouldn’t make “blanket statements” with respect to the use or non-use of nuclear weapons.
“She said, I don’t I think we should talk about it. Well, I think we should talk about it. I think the American people ought to have a debate about our foreign policy because it’s so messed up and if we don’t talk about it we’re going to end up repeating the same mistakes,” Obama told an audience at a conference of the National Association of Black Journalists.
“Being experienced is not enough. The question is, what lessons do you learn from your experience?” he said. “Nobody had a better track record in experience than Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, but they had bad judgment … The people who have been criticizing me over the past two weeks are the people who engineered what is the biggest foreign policy fiasco in a generation.”
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Saturday served as grand marshal of the annual Bud Billiken Parade, an event founded in 1929 by the Chicago Defender newspaper to celebrate area children.
Before the parade began, Obama said he was glad to be on the South Side.
“Everybody here has looked after me for years,” Obama said.
Asked if participating in the parade was part of a strategy to court black voters, Obama said, “This is my crew. I don’t worry about them. We’re doing fine.” more, ABC7 Chicago, Video
Barack Obama appears to be winning the faculty lounge straw poll — his presidential campaign is cultivating academics and pacing the field in collecting cash from them.
Obama, whose website features an “Academics for Obama” page, raised nearly $1.5 million in the first half of the year from people who work for colleges and universities, according to an analysis of campaign finance data by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. And that’s 55 percent more than the $939,000 brought in by the next biggest professor’s pet, fellow Democratic senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. more
A Series of Fortunate Events
This piece is slated for August 12, 2007, Washington Post. I decided to include this piece with this week’s roundup because it is a facisnating read about Obama’s rise in politics.
In the summer of 2002, a little-known Illinois state legislator named Barack Obama thought he saw the political opening he’d been looking for. It was a long shot, a flier — a race for the U.S. Senate against a sitting Republican. Obama believed he could beat the incumbent, Peter Fitzgerald. The immediate and, in some ways, harder challenge would be getting the Democratic nomination.
Obama was about to turn 41. An attorney and law lecturer at the University of Chicago, he had been elected to the state Senate in 1996, but had been chafing for some time at the limitations of legislating in Springfield. In 2000, he’d overreached by challenging former Black Panther Bobby Rush for the seat Rush held in the U.S. House of Representatives. It had been a disastrous bid, but understandable given that in Illinois, as around the country, paths to higher office for black politicians are few.
But this new opportunity looked, to him, feasible. In 1992, another Chicago politician, Carol Moseley Braun, had demonstrated that it was possible for an African American to win a statewide U.S. Senate primary, as long as there were at least two white Democrats to split the white vote. And several were already lining up to take on Fitzgerald.
There was just one problem, and it was a big one: Moseley Braun was talking about running herself. Only the second African American U.S. senator since Reconstruction, she had lost to Fitzgerald in 1998, in part as a result of allegations, never proved, that she had misused campaign funds. After the loss, she had been appointed U.S. ambassador to New Zealand. But now she was back in Hyde Park, the neighborhood that surrounds the University of Chicago, where Obama also lived. If she did run, there would be two credible black Democrats in the primary — one far better known than the other. more
Leave it to Barack Obama
Leave it to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to stir up an international incident by acknowledging something everyone already knew.
Obama’s bombshell: If the Obama administration knows Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan and President Pervez Musharraf doesn’t act to take him out, President Obama will. Obama’s rivals in the race for the White House pounced, calling his stance naive and a sign of his lack of foreign policy experience. They didn’t disagree with the policy. They didn’t like the way he said it.
The gloves are coming off. We’re seeing a new debate emerging in the dog days of summer that’s centering on how much Obama has to learn about foreign policy. The former first lady and second-term senator, who has been widening her lead over Obama in polls, certainly has the edge on experience. But Obama has a big comeback of his own: If experience got us into the foreign policy mess we face today, that kind of experience is overrated.
Yet, Clinton and other leading Democratic rivals, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware and Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, saw an opportunity to criticize Obama and they took it. So did former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on the Republican roster.
Yet, Obama’s critics acknowledged that his policy is already the Bush administration’s policy. Furthermore, none of the leading candidates disagreed with it.
So what was the problem? The issue quickly became a question of international etiquette. more
If you want “business as usual”, and believe “lobbyists represent the average american”, well you know who your candidate is. If you want change, real change, you know WHAT TO DO.
Missed YKos Presidential Forum? Right Here
yearly kos presidential forum part I and part II;
Missed AFL-CIO Debate? Right Here
afl-cio debate part I, part II, part III, part IV; part V; part VI; part VII; part VIII; part IX
icebergslim’s final word: This week’s final word is about a “supposed to be” Democrat by the name of Harold Ford, Jr.
I don’t really know where to begin. One thing I do know for sure, we can have knockdown, drag out fights, arguments, amongst each other. Even when our candidate does not win the primary, we begrudgingly rally behind the Democrat. Now this is something I have not witnessed in a while, a “Democrat” assaulting a Democratic Progressive Website, Daily Kos.
I don’t know what Mr. Ford is trying to accomplish by “bashing us”, but let me remind him a tad bit of what this community is about. During his campaign he got a “hell of a lot of money” from the community of that site and all through the progressive community. Many did not believe he could win, but many of us, did. He may not be on the same “page” as many of us, but he is a Democrat and thus so, we supported him.
Now, since Mr. Ford did not win, he is working as a correspondent with the Fox News Channel, Vice Chairman and Senior Policy Advisor for Merrill Lynch, and is Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Conference.
He started with an op-ed piece, tag-teaming with Governor O’Malley of Maryland titled, “Our Chance to Capture the Center”, and his opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal. I am not going to comment about these articles, it speaks for itself. But, what I found rather “odd” is that this is not how most Democrats think. It is not. Nor are we trying to get back to “center”, look what that has done for us? Nothing. So, is he out of touch? Is he ranting because the presidential candidates decided to support and address, the Yearly Kos Convention, instead of the DLC, which they did a “no-show”? If so, what kind of “cheese” do you wish with your “whine”?
Moving on, Mr. Ford presumes that we think next year will be a “cakewalk”, I hardly think so. Every vote will be fought for, we totally get that. We, Democrats, have been fighting this battle for as long as I can remember, which includes for me, my mother, dragging me and my brothers and sister, through the neighborhood knocking on doors, for DEMOCRATS.
What I am getting from Mr. Ford’s article is a “throwback” to the “Clinton Years”, the “90’s”. That reads well on paper, but this is 2007, driving into 2008. People are different, times are different, and issues are different, period. And to think “that time” will fit into “this time” is wishful thinking, at best.
Mr. Ford can continue to go on Bill O’Reilly’s show, continue to write op-ed pieces, rant and rave, all he want Oh, by the way, Mr. Ford, did you read Markos’ op-ed, by chance? Anyway, he has assaulted us, the many of us who commune at Daily Kos because many do not agree with him, and many of us are Democrats. And he has taken it public. On this note, for me, he is just like Joe Lieberman, ’nuff said on that one. Mr. Ford has lost any support or admiration he got from me, and if it was up to my husband this would not be “readable”. So, in closing, Mr. Ford definately will not get another check for his endeavors from, icebergslim, again.
Obama @ YKos breakout, thanks casperr for the pix!!
email me for any questions, read ya next week, remember to focus on Obama, not the drama….
donate to next year’s netroots nation conference/convention, (a.k.a. Yearly Kos)here
and plenty of handshakes. 
till she was escorted away by her staff and Secret Service agents. 
, sign autographs and of course shake plenty of offered hands. 
