“OBAMA SUPPORTERS” DAILY NEWS Friday May 16 2008

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

WELCOME TO “OBAMA SUPPORTERS” DAILY NEWS

Friday May 16 2008


Michelle Obama, third from left, walks with Puerto Rican Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila,
second from left, and his wife Luisa, during a campaign event in Caguas, Puerto Rico,
Thursday, May 15, 2008. At right is Caguas mayor William Miranda Marin.
Michelle spent two days campaigning in Puerto Rico for her husband,
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, D-IL, ahead of the June 1 primary

Esteemed DUer's, please consider taking a moment (or more) to graciously participate
by posting news and announcements about the Obama campaign on this thread. You can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web. :think:

2. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU,
providing a link to the original thread :applause:

3. Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page :thumbsup:

4. Clinton supporters or “anti Obama posters please start your own “Clinton Daily News Thread”.

Get your DU-o-matic codificator (to format your posts) here
Read the Daily News Archives here

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

1. Edwards endorsement shatters Clinton's Michigan and Florida dreams

Edwards endorsement shatters Clinton's Michigan and Florida dreams

Thu May 15, Jed Report

For several weeks now, Hillary Clinton's only conceivable path to the nomination involved securing a favorable deal for seating the Michigan and Florida delegations. Now that John Edwards has endorsed Barack Obama, however, even that path has disappeared.

To understand why it has disappeared, let's take a step backward and review the situation. Clinton's goal is to seat the Michigan and Florida delegations according to the January primaries, with each delegate counting as one vote. If that happens, the biggest question will be what to do with the 55 uncommitted Michigan delegates.

On election day, 40% of Michigan voters chose uncommitted. Of those, 77% favored Obama and 19% favored Edwards. Since virtually all uncommitted voters were either Obama or Edwards supporters, now that Edwards has endorsed Obama, there's really no fair argument to deny Obama those 55 delegates.

Continue reading this at The Jed Report »

[grantcart]

5. We need to start a "Gore Watch" where is he? What is on his schedule

I am betting that on Wednesday Mr. Gore may be found in the vicinity of Florida.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

2. Tweety Rules (believe it or not)

Tweety Rules (believe it or not)

by John Aravosis (DC) · 5/15/2008

Chris Matthews obliterated a right-wing radio host tonight on his show over Bush's comparison of Obama to Nazi appeasers. Seriously, this is about 6 minutes long. Watch it. In a nutshell, Matthews called the guy on his bs.
The guy kept saying that Bush was right, Obama was like the people who appeased Hitler, so Matthews asked the guy
who Neville Chamberlain was. The guy had no idea, and tried to bluff his way through five minutes of Chris Matthews
repeating the question over and over again. It was wonderful. Some of the best political television ever. (Hat tip, TPM.)

See the video here

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

3. Why Talk to Them When You Can Work for Them? (McCain's advisor/Chalabi lobbyist)

Why Talk to Them When You Can Work for Them?

--Josh Marshall TPM 5.15.08

I hear McCain's top foreign lobbyist advisor Charlie Black (he's the one who now conducts his lobbying business from McCain's campaign bus) was just on the tube knocking Obama for his willingness to talk to international bad actors.
Remember, this is the same Charlie Black who worked on behalf of Ahmad Chalabi (who unless I'm mistaken our government still believes spied on us on behalf of Iran) and then got the contract for creating phony news in Iraq ...

VIDEO HERE

[grantcart]

4. *****Super Delegate Update MiniThread****

We start out the day with Obama's magic number at 128.5 and the pleged delegate majority at 24

[grantcart]

35. Congressman Pete Stark endorses Obama; Delegate Countdown - 120.5 To Go

What is odd here is that the Obama number jumped 8 delegates

[grantcart]

39. **Obama magic number 120.5** Delegate Updated (Thursday Obama +13)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5995585

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

6. David Brock's Tough-Talking Third-Party Group Fizzles

Obama's campaign is playing some serious chess here. What do you think?

David Brock's Tough-Talking Third-Party Group Fizzles

By Greg Sargent - May 15, 2008,

A few weeks ago, Media Matters' David Brock announced to great fanfare that he was taking over Progressive Media USA, a third-party group that would, he vowed, raise $40 million for ads to soften up John McCain in advance of the general election.

Now the group is quietly shuttering those efforts with barely a whimper.

Barack Obama's fundraising team has been quietly putting out word to major donors that they didn't want any money to go to such third-party groups. Instead, they wanted the cash to go to the Obama campaign, so Obama advisers could be in sole control of the campaign's message

It worked. Brock has quietly leaked a statement to The Washington Post saying that his group is, for all practical purposes, defunct.

...Two things about this. First, the speed with which Obama closed this thing down is yet another sign of how rapidly Obama is taking control of the party in advance of his all-but-certain nomination. And second, it looks as if this election is going to be impacted far less than anyone expected by groups like this, at least on the Dem side.

...more at the link

[slinkerwink]

7. Any more pictures of Michelle in Puerto Rico?

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

9. Michelle Obama campaigning in Puerto Rico - more pictures

Michelle Obama aplauds while holding a Puerto Rican flag during a
campaign event at the Botanical Gardens in Caguas, Puerto Rico,
Thursday, May 15, 2008.


Michelle Obama greets the daughters of a supporter during a campaign event
at the Botanical Gardens in Caguas, Puerto Rico, Thursday, May 15, 2008.
Michelle spent two days campaigning in Puerto Rico for her husband,
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, D-IL, ahead of the June 1 primary.


Michelle Obama attends a campaign event at the Botanical Gardens in Caguas,
Puerto Rico, Thursday, May 15, 2008. Michelle Obama will spend two days
campaigning in Puerto Rico for her husband, Democratic presidential hopeful
Barack Obama, D-IL, ahead of the June 1 primary. The sign behind reads in Spanish
'Puerto Rico is with Obama 2008.' (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)


Michelle Obama, second left, attends a campaign event as she sits by Puerto Rico's
Gov. An (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

[Tatiana]

11. We are going to WIN Puerto Rico. Vamos a ganar! n/t

[FrenchieCat]

13. Some from yesterday as well....

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

8. McHypocrite: Two years ago, McCain was all for talking to Hamas

Two years ago, McCain was all for talking to Hamas

by John Aravosis (DC) · 5/15/2008

Oops. That would make McCain a McHypocrite for blasting Obama for proposing the EXACT same thing McCain proposed only two years ago. But in all fairness to McCain, nearing the age of 72, maybe he simply can't remember his positions anymore. More in Jamie Ruben's op ed in Friday's Washington Post.

[FrenchieCat]

10. CBS News Report on Obama v. Bush!

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=7833995&src=news

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

12. Betrayal

Good contrast between Clinton campaign and Obama campaign.

Betrayal

By Phoebe Fay - May 15, 2008,TPM Cafe

In politics, people pick sides. Sometimes they pick the side you like, and sometimes they pick the other side.
It's how the system works. Part of the point of a primary is to convince more people to come over
to your side. Voters, delegates, and organizations all pick sides. It's to be expected.

Yet, to Clintonites, picking the other guy is betrayal.

On NARAL:

“This action by NARAL is a betrayal. If they can dump Hillary they can dump any of us,”
said Rep. Jane Harman , D-Calif. “This is really personal.”

On Bill Richardson:

"An act of betrayal," said James Carville.
"Mr. Richardson's endorsement came right around the anniversary of the
day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing
is appropriate, if ironic."

...
Is there anything comparable on the Obama side? Has the campaign ever responded to any of
Clinton's endorsements with more than a shrug and "we're disappointed"?

...more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

14. Pure Idiocy

Pure Idiocy

By: John Cole at Balloon Juice

On display here:

Just talked to a 55-year-old Columbus, Ohio resident named Cynthia Ruccia, a spokesperson and organizer for a group calling itself “Clinton Supporters Count Too.” She said the group—numbering in the hundreds, and organized in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Michigan—stands ready to boycott the Democratic Party if Clinton doesn’t win the nomination, and will work against superdelegates who support Obama over Clinton as a means of registering their displeasure with the party.

“We have a plan to campaign against the Democratic nominee,” the group said in a press release Thursday. “We have the (wo)manpower and the money to make our threat real. And there are millions of supporters who will back us up in the swing states. If you don’t listen to our voice now, you will hear from us later.”

Let’s put aside the tone deaf “BLACK GUYS HAVE IT SO EASY” aspect of this idiocy and instead focus on two words: John McCain. Focus. John McCain.

Christ, these people are stupid, even if they only number in “the hundreds.” Maybe they are just in the anger stage, and this will taper off in time for the general election. Regardless, I was a late supporter of Obama’s, deciding to support him in early February. However, had I known it was this easy to distract Hillary supporters, I would have just re-released the Real Gilligan’s Island pie-fight commercials, distracted the Clinton base, and Obama would have sealed up the nomination by mid-March.

...As a side note, if you look at the states these folks claim to be organizing in, I would bet any amount of money this is a rat fuck.

...more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

15. Late Night Jokes as of May 14 2008

Compiled by Daniel Kurtzman

May 14, 2008

"Let's get started with the breaking story late this afternoon. Senator John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama for president of the United States. Wow! Wow. He is going to need more than two Americas to hide from Hillary Clinton. Well, with that endorsement, I believe the Obama camp has won the support of its first white male." --Stephen Colbert

"Hillary Clinton won the West Virginia primary with nearly 70% of the vote. That's a lot. Yeah, apparently Hillary would've gotten even more votes from the West Virginians, but on the way to the polls, some of their houses got a flat tire." --Conan O'Brien

"Well, after Hillary won the West Virginia primary, she held a campaign rally and she said, this is a quote. 'It's not over and I will never give up.' Yeah. And she flew off on her broom and said, 'And I'll kill your little dog, too!'" --Conan O'Brien

"John McCain, of course, no one is really paying attention to him right now, but he's everywhere, trying to get attention. Yesterday on 'Live with Regis and Kelly,' John McCain showed one of his baby pictures. That was nice. Yeah, the picture was on loan from the Museum of Natural History. Yeah, it was beautiful. It shows him discovering fire and bringing it to the village." --Conan O'Brien

"Congratulations to Hillary Clinton. She was the big winner in West Virginia last night, with 67 percent of the vote versus 26 percent for Barack Obama, who hasn't had numbers that low since the last time he went bowling." --Jay Leno

"You can tell Hillary was kind of pandering to voters in West Virginia. Like today, she promised if elected, she would impose a heavy tax on anybody with teeth." --Jay Leno

"No, but, hey, give her credit. Hillary Clinton is living proof of the American dream. Think about it. If you work hard and really put your mind to it, you can watch someone else become president." --Jay Leno

"More bad news for Hillary. Just a few hours ago, John Edwards announced he will be endorsing Barack Obama. Well, the rumor is that Barack Obama promised him, if elected, he would offer him the cabinet position of Secretary of Shampoo and Highlights." --Jay Leno

"Although, Hillary Clinton was quick to point out Dennis Kucinich still has not endorsed anyone yet. Still on the fence there. I don't want to say Hillary is doing badly in the delegate count, but she's so far behind, her Secret Service code name is now NBC." --Jay Leno

"And according to a survey in U.S. News & World Report, 32 percent of Americans think John McCain is too old to be president. When they told John McCain about this, he said, 'Huh?'" --Jay Leno

"And the Energy Department said today that gas prices will peak next month at $3.75 a gallon, which surprised a lot of people. We actually have an Energy Department? Hey, where is it?" --Jay Leno

"Howard Dean on the show tonight. Now, anybody here from Florida or Michigan? All right. You can't be seated. You'll have to leave. I'm sorry. It's the Democrats' ruling." --Jay Leno

"No, Howard Dean was once the biggest Internet phenomenon until that 'Leave Britney alone' guy came out." --Jay Leno

"Where is President Bush? Well, I'll tell you where President Bush is today. President Bush is in Israel. That's where he is today. He is there looking for kinishes of mass destruction." --David Letterman

"You know who was in town this morning? John McCain. Do you like John McCain? He was on the 'Regis and Kelly' program this morning. And I don't know, maybe he was tired. I don't know what the deal was. He seemed a little confused. He kept calling Regis 'Maury.'" --David Letterman

"Here's the reason, the day before, John McCain was in the Pacific Northwest, and one of the things he did, he strolled through a redwood forest, took a nice, long walk through a redwood forest, and you know what, folks? He was the oldest thing in the forest." --David Letterman

"Hillary won big in West Virginia, Hillary won big. But here's the thing, her campaign is broke. They're out of money. $21 Million in debt. That's a lot of money to be in debt running for president, you know. And here's how desperate it is. Today, Hillary is so broke, she was shopping at Bob's Discount Pantsuits." --David Letterman

"Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama in the West Virginia primary last night. She raked in 20 of the 28 delegates for West Virginia, which means now she has even more of no chance to win this thing. She still refuses to quit. Hillary said she's going to continue to run, no matter what the voters say." --Jimmy Kimmel

"To add to Hillary's misery today, former North Carolina senator John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama in Michigan. ... And if there was ever any doubt that Barack Obama has what it takes to be a president of the United States, that doubt was erased during a campaign stop in Oregon . As you can see there, he's definitely ready to take over for President Bush. He needs rest. Some crazy lady keeps calling him at 3:00 a.m. every night." --Jimmy Kimmel

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bldailyfeed3.htm

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

16. How Silicon Valley made Barack Obama this year’s hottest start-up

The Amazing Money Machine

June 2008 Atlantic Monthly by Joshua Green

How Silicon Valley made Barack Obama this year’s hottest start-up



History has a way of prizing timeless qualities like vision and oratory above temporal things like money. So if Barack Obama becomes our nation’s first black president, civics textbooks will probably never note his fund-raising prowess or the financial challenges he had to overcome simply to compete with the likes of Hillary Clinton. But Obama would not be where he is today if he did not possess a preternatural ability to elicit huge sums. Obama prompts an impulse in people to reach for historical antecedents when describing him—as a speaker, Martin Luther King Jr.; as an inspiration to young voters, Robert F. Kennedy. No one I’m aware of has suggested an apt comparison for Obama, the mighty fund-raiser. But whenever I think about the quarter billion dollars he has raised so far, the image that leaps to mind is Scrooge McDuck diving joyously into his piles of gold.

The story of Obama’s success is very much a story about money. It provided his initial credibility. It paid for his impressive campaign operation. It allowed him first to compete with, and then to overwhelm, the most powerful Democratic family in a generation—one that understood the power of money in politics and commanded a network of wealthy donors that has financed the Democratic Party for years.

What’s intriguing to Democrats and worrisome to Republicans is how someone lacking these deep connections to traditional sources of wealth could raise so much money so quickly. How did he do it? The answer is that he built a fund-raising machine quite unlike anything seen before in national politics. Obama’s machine attracts large and small donors alike, those who want to give money and those who want to raise it, veteran activists and first-time contributors, and—especially—anyone who is wired to anything: computer, cell phone, PDA.

...Silicon Valley was a notable exception. The Internet was still in its infancy when Bill Clinton last ran for president, in 1996, and most of the immense fortunes had not yet come into being; the emerging tech class had not yet taken shape. So, unlike the magnates in California real estate (Walter Shorenstein), apparel (Esprit founder Susie Tompkins Buell), and entertainment (name your Hollywood celeb), who all had long-established loyalty to the Clintons, the tech community was up for grabs in 2007. In a colossal error of judgment, the Clinton campaign never made a serious approach, assuming that Obama would fade and that lack of money and cutting-edge technology couldn’t possibly factor into what was expected to be an easy race. Some of her staff tried to arrange “prospect meetings” in Silicon Valley, but they were overruled. “There was massive frustration about not being able to go out there and recruit people,” a Clinton consultant told me last year. As a result, the wealthiest region of the wealthiest state in the nation was left to Barack Obama.

...more at the link

[Cha]

26. Thanks, this is another great

article on the phenomenon that is Obama and his money among other phenomena.

Rec'd this article!

[FrenchieCat]

30. Yes, excellent.

the entire article was fascinating.

[MadBadger]

17. On the Subject of Obama supporters

That "guy from the tropics" is not fickle. He isnt going back and forth between candidates because he is just so unsure of Obama's electability. He is simply trying to pull one on us, and I'm not falling for his bullshit anymore.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

18. Obama Kicks

Obama Kicks

Tavis Vocino



I’m not sure what the story is on these fly Obama kicks but I need a pair. Do you think I could pull them off?

What would the McCain shoes look like? Velcro lunch lady sneakers maybe? With premium bridge support.

[Cha]

31. Nice Kicks, Imagine a President's face

on Basketball or workout shoes!

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

19. NARAL Blowback (Clinton's fans don't understand the math)

NARAL Blowback

Matthew Yglesias 15 May 2008

Dana Goldstein notes that there appears to be a massive backlash from state NARAL chapters and major financial supporters against the group's decision to endorse Barack Obama. National NARAL seems to have gotten too clever by half here. They essentially endorsed Obama in an Obama-McCain race, which would have been a non-story, but by jumping the gun by a couple of weeks thought they could earn themselves some brownie points and get some attention.

But it got attention, of course, because the timing made it a bit of a shivving of Hillary Clinton even though in the real world they waited until after Clinton had dropped well below the threshold of viability. And now people are mad. At the end of the day, this seems to be a situation where a little less clever PR and a little more education and outreach could have done some work -- it's clear that many of Clinton's fans genuinely don't understand that it's not possible for her to make up the ground she needs to and view efforts to get her to drop out as unfair efforts to rig things for Obama

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

20. Pro Israel, Pro Peace group takes issue with Bush over statement

J Street First Back

Matthew Yglesias 15 May 2008

J Street, the new pro-Israel, pro-peace PAC is doing one of it's first actions around the fact that, referring to his political opponents, Bush "likened us to those who favored talking to rather than defeating Adolf Hitler on the eve of World War II. How dare he invoke the memory of the Holocaust to justify his disastruous policies. Write to Bush now and tell him - Shame on you!"

As they say, we've had years to see what Bush's policies accomplish -- not much for the United States and not much for Israel either -- just more war, instability, growing al-Qaeda recruitment, and more nuclear proliferation.

[Cha]

21. Nice Pic of Michelle and the Puerto Rican

officials, WYVBC..thanks.

Here's a nice AP Obama bio I found on the Net tonight..

"Obama rises from political obscurity to verge of history"

By CHARLES BABINGTON
Associated Press Writer

<snip>

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The amazement was on their faces. Hundreds waited for Barack Obama on that evening in South Carolina, 15 weeks ago, to claim victory - a surprising victory, surprisingly large.

And amazing it was. It made it possible for him to stand today on the verge of being the first black person ever nominated for president by a major party.

One could guess the thoughts of the blacks and whites in that crowd: Can you believe that our state - South Carolina, first to secede and first to open fire in the Civil War - is now catapulting a black man to the front of the presidential contest in a year that bodes well for Democrats?

"Race doesn't matter," some began to chant. "Race doesn't matter!"

The cry soon gave way to more familiar chants of "Yes we can," and everyone in the auditorium surely knew that race does still matter in so many ways. But in a pinch-me moment, they seemed to realize that a barrier had been broken with a swiftness and certainty that even they had not foreseen.

<read more>
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_ODYSSEY?SITE=DCUSN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

22. Driving Miss Hillary---

This is a scream.

Driving Miss Hillary---Never Again!!

Posted by Miss Caldonia Wednesday, May 14, 2008

http://bp0.blogger.com/_3IycwU-oXnQ/SCvDGKyPoUI/AAAAAAAAAU8/pOIpCV2YMcE/s400/driving+Miss+Hillary.jpg

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

23. Barack Obama Visit Oregon Saturday May 17 and Sunday May 18

Barack Obama Visit Oregon Saturday May 17 and Sunday May 18

May 15, 2008

PENDLETON, Wash. - Barack Obama will be in Oregon Saturday May 17 and Sunday May 18th.

Saturday he will be in Roseburg, Oregon. Sunday morning he'll be in Portland.
Then he is expected in Pendleton Sunday afternoon to hold a town hall meeting at the Pendleton Convention Center.

The Pendleton Convention Center is located at 1601 Westgate, Pendleton, Oregon 97801.
Sunday the doors open at 4:30 p.m. and the program starts at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public but you need to get a ticket.

Anyone interested in going to the Town Hall Meeting with Obama can get tickets at the Pendleton Obama for America Office located at 27 South-West Frazer Avenue starting at 5 o'clock Friday night. If there are tickets left they will also be available Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
Tickets will also be available Saturday at the Farmers Market in La Grand at the corner of 4th Street and Adams Street.
There will be a booth set up called Union County For Obama from 9 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=8333048&nav=menu484_2

[Cha]

27. Closely following Obama in Oregon

'cause my daughter is voting in her first primary there in Portland, May 20th:)

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

24. Obama Townhall in Pendleton Kentucky Sunday May 18

Obama Townhall in Pendleton Kentucky Sunday May 18

How You Can See Barack Obama in Pendleton

By Robin Wojtanik
The town hall meeting Sunday will be held at the Pendleton Convention Center.
Doors open at 4:30 p.m., and the program begins at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets for the event are free, but you must have them to get in.
You can pick them up at the Pendleton Obama for America Office located at 27 SW Frazer in Pendleton.

Tickets are available Friday, May 16 from 5:00pm-9:00pm and
Saturday, May 17 from 9:00am-3:00pm (or as long as tickets are available).

You can also pick them up at the Union County for Obama Booth at Saturday's Farmers Market
in La Grande on the corner of 4th Street & Adams Street.
Tickets are available Saturday, May 17 from 9:00am-2:00pm.

You're asked to limit bringing personal belongings and bags because of security.
No banners or signs are alllowed.


http://www.keprtv.com/news/local/18992219.html

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

25. The Impact and Transformational Appeal of Barack Obama

The picture doesn't really fit the story, but I love it and it DID come with the story.

The Impact and Transformational Appeal of Barack Obama

May 15th, 2008

Trying to explain Barack Obama and the impact his appearance is having on people around the world is a gargantuan task.This article from France’s Liberation takes a good stab at it by examining his influence on young people - especially on those in the French suburbs which are so often areas of violent confrontation between police and that nation’s alienated minority population.

In describing how immigrant minorities in France, both young and old, view Obama, François Durpaire and Jean-Claude Tchicaya write for Liberation:

“Products of postcolonial immigration, the older generation - around the age of Obama’s father - say it’s extraordinary to see this in their lifetime and didn’t dare imagine such a fate for their own children. The younger generation, whose hostility against the United States took root during the war in Iraq, are finding something to smile about. One high school student told us that Obama’s victory would mean the “liberation of all Blacks in the world!”

In describing why his mixed-race background is so appealing in France, the duo write:

“French born in France have to fight constantly with employers or in communicating and dealing with police against the idea that “being French is something observable.” Tired of having to respond to the eternal question, “Do you feel more Malian (Cameroonian, etc.) or French?” They have begun to dream of a country where when someone asks a Black person from whence they came, it’s to find out whether they were born in Ohio or California. They recognize themselves in Obama’s ambiguity of identity. …”

…more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

28. No Veep Slot for Hillary

Say what you will about Dick Morris, he knows the Clintons and politics well.
Morris pointed out something most have overlooked, a segment of Hillary supporters who are
"racially motivated" and won't follow her to support Obama.

No Veep Slot for Hillary

By Dick Morris at Real Clear Politics. May 14, 2008

It would be an act of terminal insanity for Barack Obama to name Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential candidate. It would not help him get elected, it would drag all the Clinton controversies into the general election, and having her down the hall in the West Wing would be a recipe for disaster, dissension and civil war. Other than that, it's a hell of an idea!

Start with the election. There are two kinds of people who backed Hillary in the primaries: her original supporters and those who joined her later in the game. Her original backers are all solid Democrats whose arms would fall off before they would back anyone who is pro-life.
They are true believers, feminists, pro-choice advocates, older party loyalists who would prefer Hillary, may have doubts about Obama,
but will always fall in line and vote Democratic. The more recent converts are people who are turned off by Obama's connection to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and who worry that he might be a closet black radical. Their latent racial fears were heightened by the revelations about Obama's links with Wright, and they voted for Hillary as the lesser of two evils. Putting Mrs. Clinton on the ticket will do nothing to assuage these fears. One wonders if these blue-collar, downscale, racially motivated voters would actually support Hillary against John McCain if she were to win the nomination. They certainly wouldn't follow her into Obama's camp just because she was on the ticket.

...If Obama put Hillary on the ticket, it would re-raise all of the questions about Bill's income sources, what he did for Dubai, what he did for Frank Guistra -- the Canadian mining executive who gave millions to the Clinton library and whom Bill introduced to the president of Kazakhstan -- and whether he will make public his library donors. Who needs those issues, especially when Obama is trying to wage an anti-Washington-influence-peddling campaign?

...Hillary would add no votes to Obama, she would dog his campaign with scandal, she would be disloyal in office, and her husband would be, at best, a huge distraction. Case closed.

[kid a]

29. Obama will be in Billings and Bozeman, Montana Monday 5/19

Obama will be in Billings and Bozeman, Montana Monday 5/19

I'll be @ the 10:30 AM Billings Town Hall at Billings West High School and post pictures later Monday night.

He then travels about 140 miles west to Montana State University in Bozeman for an afternoon town-hall.

One-stop voting is happening now and we are getting new voters down to vote every day!

Have a great weekend everyone.

GOBAMA!

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

32. I'm No Monica

I'm No Monica

By Kathy Brown - May 15, 2008

From Ben Smith's Blog at Politico:

An Ohio-based group of Democratic Hillary Clinton supporters say
they’ll work actively against Sen. Barack Obama if he becomes the
nominee, arguing that Clinton has been the subject of “intense sexism”
by party leaders and the media.

Sexism, what a joke! How about acknowledging that the biggest sexist of the Clinton campaign is the one closest to Hillary, her husband Bill Clinton. How soon those boomer woman forget that the President they voted for in 1992 and 1996 had oral sex with a young intern in the White House! (I don't see how they could with all that Bill Clinton campaign finger wagging.)

Have they twisted history so much to believe that Bill just couldn't
control himself against the femme fatal ways of Monica Lewinsky? I'm no boomer prude. I even thought impeachment was an over the top Republican stunt to humiliate both Bill and Hillary but I also admit I felt just as disgusted and betrayed by both of them. They sat for a Sixty Minutes interview in 92 and declared and then asked us to believe that Bill's "problems" were in the past.

So to all the women supporters singing "I Am Woman" for Hillary listen up. I'm not going to stand by and have Bill Clinton shoved down MY throat . You want Hillary Clinton elected based on her merits then you make your candidate understand that for some of us her being elected to the Presidency doesn't include Bill Clinton.

...more at the link

[DU GrovelBot]

33. ## DON'T DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

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This week is our second quarter 2008 fund drive. Democratic Underground is
a completely independent website. We depend on donations from our members
to cover our costs. Whatever you do, do not click the link below!

[jefferson_dem]

34. Pete Stark (CA) endorses Obama

Pete Stark endorses Obama
The Fremont Democratic superdelegate says it's time to unify the party.
By Josh Richman
Oakland Tribune
Article Created: 05/16/2008 06:00:47 AM PDT

Rep. Pete Stark is throwing his endorsement and support as a Democratic National Convention superdelegate to presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

"I could've supported either, but I think he has captured the imagination of the American public, I think he's responsible for bringing millions of new voters, new Democrats into the party, and I haven't seen that kind of movement among young voters since I first ran and saw (George) McGovern do the same thing in 1972," the 18-term incumbent Democrat from Fremont said Thursday.

Obama now seems "on his way to capturing the nomination," Stark continued, and "with the greatest respect for Senator Clinton and her service, I just think we're at a point now where we can begin a move to unify the Democrats — which is why I've held out this long — and bring us to focus entirely on (apparent Republican nominee John) McCain."

Stark said he has "never been happy with Senator Clinton's explanation or statements on votes going into the war in Iraq."

However, "I'm not comfortable "... with Senator Obama's statements that he doesn't like mandates in universal health care."

<SNIP>

"That's something I think she has to decide — I don't think you tell people to get offstage," he said. "That's something that's between those two. It could very well be that Senator Obama could offer her "... a way to get offstage with a great deal of dignity and with the approval she should get, or she could decide to do it her way."

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_9281004

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

36. Belittled Woman

Belittled Woman
The Candidate Refuses to Bend, Or Bow Out. Cue Another Chorus of 'Poor Hillary.'

By Libby Copeland
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 16, 2008; Page C01

At some point along the way, Hillary Clinton became "poor Hillary" and it stuck.

She went up against a charmer who once made an audience cheer just by blowing his nose (poor Hillary), and she lost states and delegates and she bet on a filly that died (poor Hillary), and nobody cares that she won West Virginia because it's over, except she can't see it because she's . . .

"Poor Hillary," write the op-ed writers and the bloggers and the newspaper letter-writers. "Poor Hillary's done," writes a gleeful reader in Portsmouth, Va., on Mother's Day. "The Billstone Around Poor Hillary's Neck," reads a New York Daily News headline yesterday. The talk show host Bill Maher has used the phrase, and the occasional CNN anchor, and, of course, the conservative yakkers who like the pure, distilled schadenfreude of those two words.

"Poor Hillary," Sean Hannity said at one point during this never-ending primary. "Running out of money, couldn't pay her staff."

..."Poor Hillary" is their response, an attempt at death by condescension. "Poor Hillary" means Clinton finally is being brought low (she is forever being brought low, isn't she?), the know-everything who tries so hard but never gets enough votes to be class president. Eons ago, the smart folks at Slate likened Clinton to Tracy Flick, the hyperactively ambitious teenager played by Reese Witherspoon in the movie "Election." And it's true; somewhere in our collective gray matter, Clinton is still wearing those schoolgirl headbands from when Bill first ran for president.

...more at the link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051504058.html?nav=hcmodule

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37. The Danger of Fighting On

The Danger of Fighting On
By Robert S. Strauss
Friday, May 16, 2008; Page A19

This has been a strange political year, particularly for a man who has been consumed by politics and governance for seven of his nine decades. I have read, watched, listened to and studied this campaign. I was impressed by the strength and breadth of our Democratic candidates and believed that the country would have been well served by the nomination of any of them. But over the past few, very contentious months, and especially in recent weeks, I have come to feel compelled to insert myself into the debate on behalf of the party to which I have devoted my life.

I understand the consequences of a bitter nomination fight that goes to the floor of a national convention. I became chairman of the Democratic National Committee in December 1972, just a month after our disastrous presidential defeat and five months after a brutal and divisive Democratic convention in Miami. I was elected to put the party back together. It was perhaps the most difficult task of my life.

The fissures and distrust that became manifest over the 1972 campaign took years to heal. Veterans of that battle may still carry some of the scars. If I have one more contribution to make to the Democratic Party, it is perhaps to help us avoid repeating past mistakes.

...Democrats should rally around our nominee as soon as possible so the general election campaign can begin and the contrast between John McCain and the Democratic Party can be drawn for the American people. Having put our party back together after the 1972 convention, I know that every week of delay tempts a hardening of irreconcilable differences. If we are to win for America, the Democratic Party has to unite now.

Robert S. Strauss was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1972 to 1977.

...

more at the link http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051503578.html

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38. Florida, Michigan cannot save Clinton

Florida, Michigan cannot save Clinton
By NEDRA PICKLER
The Associated Press
Friday, May 16, 2008; 10:58 AM

WASHINGTON -- Michigan and Florida alone can't save Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign.

Interviews with those considering how to handle the two states' banished convention delegates found little interest in the former first lady's best-case scenario. Her position, part of a formidable comeback challenge, is that all the delegates be seated in accordance with their disputed primaries.

Even if they were, it wouldn't erase Barack Obama's growing lead in delegates.

The Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee, a 30-member panel charged with interpreting and enforcing party rules, is scheduled to meet May 31 to consider how to handle Michigan and Florida's 368 delegates.

...The Associated Press interviewed a third of the panel members and several other Democrats involved in the negotiations and found widespread agreement that the states must be punished for stepping out of line. If not, many members say, other states will do the same thing in four years.

..."We certainly want to be fair to both candidates, and we want to be sure that we are fair to the 48 states who abided by the rules," said Democratic National Committee Secretary Alice Germond, a panel member unaligned with either candidate. "We don't want absolute chaos for 2012.

...more at the link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/16/AR2008051600474.html

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40. Agitated? Irritable? Hostile? Aggressive? Impulsive? Restless?

Republicans motto admits that if you vote for them, you will need to take
powerful anti depressants. I wonder if the sales of anti depressants was boosted by
the Bush years.

Agitated? Irritable? Hostile? Aggressive? Impulsive? Restless?
By Dana Milbank
Thursday, May 15, 2008; Page A03

House Republicans may be heading off a cliff in November, but give them credit for perseverance. Even after the new slogan they floated -- "The Change You Deserve" -- was discovered to be trademarked ad copy for the antidepressant drug Effexor, GOP leaders decided to go with the rollout anyway.

"The Republican agenda, 'The Change You Deserve,' is directed at America's families," Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tex.) announced at a televised news conference with House Republican leaders yesterday morning. "And you may be a little surprised at this agenda."

Why, yes, we are. And Democrats are manic over the medicinal mantra.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) called reporters into his office. "Democrats, not drugs, is what the American people need," he said. He flashed the Effexor side effects on a large flat-screen television. "Nausea, up to 58 percent," Hoyer said. "Actually it's higher than that for Republicans."

...For House Republicans, the diagnosis is obvious: They are suffering from Election Anxiety Disorder. Tuesday night, they lost the third special election in a row to Democrats in heavily Republican congressional districts. Eighty-two percent of Americans say the country is on the wrong track, and they're largely holding President Bush and his party responsible. This week, panicked House Republicans defied Bush and voted with Democrats to pass a farm bill and to divert oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

...more at the link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/14/AR2008051403186.html

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

41. Do not trust Republican strategists

Do not trust Republican strategists
Elliot 5.14.08

(This isn’t mutually exclusive, the same is true for Democratic strategists and Republican primaries, but right now, it’s quite relevant for Democrats)

I happen to throw MSNBC on, they had Dan Abrams and a couple of Republican strategists on working the late shift (and, in the case of the Republicans, trying to play up Hillary Clinton) and a caller makes two separate points (the second was just a lousy point) but the first one was exactly the point I’m making here. Naturally one of the Republican strategists answered that “Oh, I just think that Clinton is the stronger candidate!” with some crap about “working class voters” and whatnot.

This has been a pattern which has gone on since March, Republican stategists (and Fox News as a whole) have tried fairly aggressively to push Hillary Clinton as the “strongest” nominee in the fall. Now, I’m sure that Clinton partisans are going to try to say “see, see, even the Republicans know it” but here’s something to chew on: If Republicans really thought that Hillary Clinton were the stronger candidate, they wouldn’t be aggressively pushing her. Remember, these are not people who want to see the Democratic nominee win in November, they have a vested interest in the Republican winning. It’s the reason why I don’t listen to guys like Pat Buchanan, J.C. Watts, Mary Matalin, or Joe Scarbourough.

Remember, if you’re quoting Fox News or Republican strategists as proof of either candidate’s strength, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

http://electioninspection.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/do-not-trust-republican-strategists/

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

42. The RBC Update: Another goddamned appeaser

(((((((((((((( The RBC Update: Another goddamned appeaser ))))))))))))))

2008.05.16 07:25:13


------------------------------------------------------------------------

John McCain, two years ago, about negotiating with Hamas:

"They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have
to deal with them, one way or another."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://WWW.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/05/another_goddamned_appeaser.php

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43. just now -Jonathan Alter: Bush broke 60 years of bi partisanship

by political comments made while in Israel this week.

Heard on MSNBC just a moment ago (around 12:15 eastern standard time).

Alter was quite serious.

Now Obama is speaking at town hall in South Dakota.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

44. Perfect timing: Obama's super show-stoppers

Perfect timing: Obama's super show-stoppers
By JEANNE CUMMINGS | 5/16/08

With her deep party ties, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was supposed to own the superdelegate primary.

But in the last two months, it’s been the rookie, Democratic rival Barack Obama, who has maximized his superdelegate moments.

In the aftermath of another staggering wave of Wright publicity, and after Obama was thrashed in the Pennsylvania primary, it was former Democratic National Committee chairman and one-time Clinton backer Joe Andrew’s turn to stanch the bleeding, as Obama fought for a close finish in Andrew’s home state of Indiana.

And then there was former presidential challenger John Edwards on stage this week in Michigan, endorsing Obama and putting the brakes on any momentum Clinton might have seized from her West Virginia primary rout.

It is unclear whether the timing of these show-stopping endorsements was the product of luck or design. Both the candidates and the superdelegates are on virgin turf, feeling their way through a primary phase that hasn't been tested since the nominating rules were written in the late 1980s.

...more at the link

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10396.html

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

45. The Ticket That Imploded

The mainstream media manipulated the public into buying the "dream ticket' scenario,
in order to fluff up its ratings and earnings. Read on:

The Ticket That Imploded
Michael Carmichael, Huffington Post 05.15.2008

In recent months, weeks and days the American people have been programmed by the MSM to anticipate a Democratic presidential ticket that simply defies logic. Theoretically, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will lock themselves together in a strange and troubling political embrace under the time-honored captions, "Opposites attract," and "Politics makes strange bedfellows."

The earliest intimations occurred some time ago in the immediate aftermath of the presidential debate before Super Tuesday moderated by Wolf Blitzer of CNN who boldly mooted the possibility of a dream ticket: a black man and a white woman united together in a quest for the White House. One month later, these titillating intimations escalated to a higher level in the aftermath of the Texas and Ohio primaries.

...In a long and witheringly embarrassing series of overt maneuvers, the Clinton campaign floated their trial balloon for the ticket of their broken dreams. When the public negotiations eventually reached the dowry stage, representatives of Obama balked leaving a jilted bride committed to a shotgun wedding alone at the proverbial altar in her faded wedding dress with the wilting flowers and the stale wedding cake as props adorning a rapidly decaying backdrop fit for Miss Havisham.

...Every American knows that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are incompatible partners for a political marriage. While Burroughs defined language as a virus, we can now define the offspring of language, politics, as a virus -- a psychic virus that compels us to fantasize about the impossible while careering headlong aboard an express train towards a terrible explosion in an insoluble conflict leading to what would certainly have become a political nova.

...more at the link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-carmichael/the-ticket-that-imploded_b_101972.html