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Farewell 2008 Campaign; Congratulations President-Elect Obama

5:35 PM, November 11, 2008 | Comments (3)
Congratulations to Barack Obama, soon to be our 44th President and a man who had made history this week by becoming the first person of African-American descent to be elected to chief executive of the nation. With the end of the 2008 Presidential Campaign...

The Moderate Voice: For McCain, It May All Come Down to Pennsylvania

2:30 PM, October 23, 2008 | Comments (9)

The World According to Oatney: What Landslide?

8:27 AM, October 23, 2008 | Comments (11)

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  • The Moderate Voice: How I Read Rev. Wright

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 03:59 PM
    After I wrote my well-received post on Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Black Conservatism, my former history professor contacted me and asked if I would like to lead a seminar on it for his African-American history class this term. I happily agreed. But when I met with him a few days ago, he said that we might have to change the topic. Wright is old news, he said. But it seems he spoke a bit too soon. While Obama's resignation from the Trinity Church was not precipitated by Wright but by comments from Rev. Michael Pfleger (who is not completely unknown to me but with whom I am far less familiar with), it certainly has brought back into the limelight the Black Liberation Theology that Trinity preaches. The knowledge of politically engaged... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Senator Obama’s Letter Resigning from Trinity: Trinity’s Response

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 03:22 PM
    Just so you can see a fuller picture. (hat tip to Roland S. Martin www.rolandsmartin.com CNN Contributor) Obama resignation letter from Trinity May 30, 2008 Dear. Rev. Moss: We are writing to make official our decision to end our memebership at Trinity. We make this decision with sadness. Trinity was where I found Christ, where we were married and where our children were baptized. We have many friends among the 8,000 congregants who attend there and we are proud of the extraordinary good works the church continues to perform throughout the community to help the hungry, the homeless and people in need of medical care. We also have come to appreciate your ministry and both think you have been, and will be, a wonderful pastor for years... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Senator Obama’s Press Conference About Resigning from Trinity

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 02:27 PM
    caveat: there may be more, but have not yet found it. If I do, will post it here. Barack Obama at press conference this afternoon re resigning from Trinity United Church of Christ This is not a decision I come to lightly and it is one I make with some sadness, he said at a news conference after campaign officials released a letter of resignation sent to the church on Friday. I'm not denouncing the church and I'm not interested in people who want me to denounce the church, he said, adding that the new pastor at Trinity and the church have been suffering from the attention my campaign has focused on them. Obama said he and his wife have been discussing the issue since Wright's appearance at the National Press Club in Washington last... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Senator Obama’s Statement About Resigning from Trinity

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 02:27 PM
    caveat: there may be more, but have not yet found it. If I do, will post it here. Barack Obama at press conference this afternoon re resigning from Trinity United Church of Christ This is not a decision I come to lightly and it is one I make with some sadness, he said at a news conference after campaign officials released a letter of resignation sent to the church on Friday. I'm not denouncing the church and I'm not interested in people who want me to denounce the church, he said, adding that the new pastor at Trinity and the church have been suffering from the attention my campaign has focused on them. Obama said he and his wife have been discussing the issue since Wright's appearance at the National Press Club in Washington last... More
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  • TalkLeft: Late Night: For Puerto Rico

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 02:09 PM
    Tomorrow it's on to Puerto Rico. Here's your last open thread of the... More
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  • TalkLeft: Puerto Rico Goes to The Polls . . .

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 02:02 PM
    7 hours from now. Starting at 8 am and closing at 3 pm, the people of the Isla del Encanto go to the polls for the Presidential Primary. Clinton is favored. the questions seems to be margin and turnout. Clinton wants big for both. I'll try and give an early indication of turnout in the morning. My predictions remain the same - Clinton 57-43. Turnout 500,000. Clinton wins the delegate race 31-24. Any late night predictions for Puerto Rico? By Big Tent Democrat... More
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  • Crooks and Liars: Help Leslie Byrne defeat Bush Dog Gerry Connolly

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 02:00 PM
    A week from Tuesday (June 10) Virginia holds its primaries and the one we're watching most closely is between the progressive Blue America-endorsed Leslie Byrne and a reactionary Joe Lieberman/Zell Miller-type Insider, Gerry Connolly, who worked for a major war profiteer firm, a story I broke at DownWithTyranny a few days ago. Friday, it hit the Washington Post and suddenly the Blue America donations for Leslie Byrne have gone through the roof. We're in the middle of a contest with Air America and to vote which candidate gets an Air America check, all you have to do is add one penny to your donation on our Blue America page . Leslie and Gerry Connolly are in a neck and neck race that will go right down to the wire. It's a case of... More
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  • TalkLeft: Hillary's Popular Vote Lead

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 12:52 PM
    Now that the DNC has recognized the Florida and Michigan primaries by agreeing to seat all of their delegates, the party has to recognize the popular votes in those states. The elections are no longer "illegitimate." Flawed, perhaps, but illegitimate, no. The way I see it, the DNC cannot change the numbers of votes cast the way it did delegates. These were certified state elections with firm vote totals. Barack Obama removed himself voluntarily from the ballot. Hillary has to be allotted her votes, and he has to accept the consequences of his action, which is that he gets none of the popular vote in Michigan. As a result, by any count, Hillary Clinton now leads in the popular vote. From Real Clear Politics : Total votes with... More
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  • TalkLeft: Obama's Popular Vote Lead . . .?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 12:44 PM
    Yes, it is the delegates, pledged and super, who decide the nominee. But the popular vote remains an important metric to me at least. Now that Florida and Michigan have had their delegations seated, we can discuss the popular vote a bit more concretely. RCP is the semi-official keeper of the numbers, but, as I have stated, I have problems with their numbers. [More...] Unlike RCP, I include the Washington state primary numbers and I assign the uncommitted vote in Michigan to Obama (there is a good argument that he should have only 75% of the uncommitted vote based on exit polling of those voters, this would narrow Obama's lead by about 60,000 votes.) I also include all caucus votes where there was not a primary (with the exception of... More
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  • Oliver Willisk: We Move On

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 12:18 PM
    * I'm glad to see the party finally standing up to the Clintons. Florida and Michigan both get their delegates in with penalty, supported by Obama and opposed by the Clintons. The Clintons no longer control the party. * Harold Ickes is clearly among the more odious of the Clinton goons. The way he threatened the entire party is just like the big money Clinton donors trying to tell the Speaker of the House what she can and cannot say. * Clinton's imported Jerry Springer crowd was truly odious. They are quite pathetic. * Please, superdelegates, get off your asses. Sen. Obama is only about 65 delegates away from the new 2,118 number needed for the nomination. * The main thing we learned from the Clinton arguments here is that they... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Senator Obama Resigns His Membership at Trinity Church

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 11:52 AM
    OBAMA RESIGNS FROM TRINITY CHURCH Posted: Saturday, May 31, 2008 6:23 PM by Mark Murray Filed Under: 2008, Obama From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones and NBC's Mark Hudspeth ABERDEEN, SD Barack Obama resigned his membership at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, campaign communications director Robert Gibbs confirmed this afternoon. The resignation came just more than a month after Obama denounced former Trinity pastor and friend the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and days after another long-time Obama associate, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, had delivered a sermon at the church ridiculing Hillary Clinton. Both men's comments were captured on video... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Obama Breaks With Trinity UCC

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 11:31 AM
    CNN Breaking News Email: Barack Obama has resigned as a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, his campaign says. I was actually tipped off by Jazz' earlier post and went looking for this : (CNN) — Barack Obama resigned Saturday from his Chicago church — where controversial sermons by his former pastor and other ministers had created repeated political headaches for the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination — his campaign confirmed. The resignation comes days after the Rev. Michael Pfleger, a visiting Catholic priest, mocked Obama's Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, for crying in New Hampshire during the runup to the primary there. Previously, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — former pastor at... More
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  • Hot Air: Breaking: Obamas quit Trinity United Church of Christ

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 11:26 AM
    According to Ace o' Spades and The Corner , CNN reports that Barack and Michelle Obama have resigned from the congregation of the radical church to which they have belonged for over 20 years... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Topsy-turvy: Republicans for Obama… Today’s Hillary protesters?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 10:52 AM
    McClatchy reports, Former Bush donors now giving to Obama: Beverly Fanning is among the campaign donors who'll be joining President Bush at a gala at Washington's Ford's Theater Sunday night, but she says that won't dissuade her from her current passion: volunteering for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. She isn't the only convert. A McClatchy computer analysis, incomplete due to the difficulty matching data from various campaign finance reports, found that hundreds of people who gave at least $200 to Bush's 2004 campaign have donated to Obama. Among them are Julie Nixon Eisenhower, the granddaughter of the late GOP president Dwight Eisenhower; Connie Ballmer, the wife of Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer; Ritchie... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: On the Radio today: Don’t step outside that DNC meeting!

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 10:50 AM
    This evening (Saturday, May 31) at 7 pm Eastern time (6 pm Central, 4 pm Pacific) we will take to the airwaves on Mid Stream Radio to try to wrap our heads around the events in and outside of the Democrats' RBC meeting in Washington, DC. We've written about it here quite a bit already, but join us for an internet radio meeting where you can join in the chat or call in to air your opinions. (Call 646-595-3963 or follow the link above and make sure you have a free user account to join in the always lively web chat.) We'll cover what's gone on in the committee meeting thus far, and even more to the point, what the heck is going on outside ! Howard Dean may hope that the healing will begin today, but two blocks away from the northwest... More
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  • TalkLeft: Alcee Hastings To Boycott Convention Due to FL Delegate Travesty

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 10:45 AM
    I do not blame him . Florida got the shaft today. Part of Rep. Hastings' statement: Florida Democrats have been serially abused and the DNC is the latest of offenders. How the DNC has the authority to ignore the votes of Jack and Jane Lunch Bucket is beyond my understanding. The insiders who actively sought to disillusion and disenfranchise the more than 1.75 million Florida Democrats who voted on January 29 give new meaning to collective arrogance. . . . I suppose the DNC has the right to block Democrats in Florida from attending the National Convention. They also have the right to be stupid, and stupid they are. MORE . . . . . . [O]n May 31, 2008, a group of elitist insiders of the DNC have effectively said that some of my... More
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  • TalkLeft: Things That Happened Today

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 10:30 AM
    Is the drama over? Yes and No. To review the day, Big Tent Democrat, Back From Ohio and I started at 9:00 am ET getting live threads going to cover the day's big Democratic Rules Committee meeting. We finished at 6 pm. There was lots of drama at the committee meeting, you can read our five or six live earlier threads on it. There was also drama behind the scenes as our server went down and the site crashed repeatedly. All day. Sometimes for five minutes, once for almost an hour. No one knows why. . [More...] They don't know if it's the hardware (the server) or internal coding for the site. It usually happens on debate and primary nights and days like today when not only are there more visitors than normal, they stay on the site... More
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  • Crooks and Liars: It’s Tough Out There For A Republican

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 10:20 AM
    I'm just enjoying the implosion of the party after they've proven so well how inept they are at the actual business of government. DCCC : The DCCC has launched a multimedia campaign to highlight House Republicans' hypocrisy in claiming to support our troops and veterans, but then playing politics with funding them. The ad is playing in the following vulnerable races: AZ-03: John Shadegg FL-12: Adam Putnam FL-18, FL-21, FL-25: South Florida Republicans FL-24: Tom Feeney NY-29: Randy Kuhl OH-01: Steve Chabot In addition, the DCCC has put together radio spots and robo-calls that hit on what has developed as the GOP's kryptonite this election year: lobbyists. Indeed, we've won three seats that were considered safe... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Dem RBC Meeting. Who is on this thing and where are they?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 10:16 AM
    I was looking at Chris Cillizza's commentary on how much harder the Michigan case will be to settle than Florida when some other questions crossed my mind. One of the chief ones is, how do they decide who gets (and more importantly keeps ) a voting seat on the Rules and Bylaws Committee? There are a couple of members who CNN regularly labels as Obama Superdelegates and others (who seem to be in larger numbers) who are marked as being supers for Clinton. Most puzzling of all is the fact that Howard Ickes is sitting on the panel that will effectively decide how many delegates (if any) each of the candidates receives. Ickes is actually one of the honchos on Hillary Clinton's campaign and every question he has asked or comment he's made has... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Is The Obama Campaign Making A Mistake ?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 09:38 AM
    In watching the debate at the DNC rules committee I am starting to wonder if the Obama campaign is making something of a tactical mistake of being so aggressive in pursuing its position regarding Michigan and Florida. To begin with, I think they could have chosen a better spokesman from Florida. Perhaps it is just me but Congressman Wexler comes off as quite arrogant and seemingly unable to conceive that any fair minded person could disagree with him. Given the problems Obama has had on this topic recently I might have chosen a different spokesperson. Further, I'm not sure that they need to fight so hard to win' this fight considering where the math is. Right now Obama has a lead of about 180 delegates and about 500,000 popular votes... More
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  • TalkLeft: Unity?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 09:23 AM
    As usual, I have severe criticism for everybody involved in today's fiasco. Let me start with the Clinton camp. You know my beef about the Clinton camp's tactics and strategy on this. Look at their statement just released after the meeting: Todays results are a victory for the people of Florida who will have a voice in selecting our Partys nominee and will see its delegates seated at our partys convention. The decision by the Rules and Bylaws Committee honors the votes that were cast by the people of Florida and allocates the delegates accordingly. [MORE]. Um what? Florida lost half its delegates when it did NOTHING wrong? Hooray? It is true the Clinton campaign is the only reason even half the delegates were seated. But Florida deserved... More
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  • TalkLeft: Obama Resigns From Trinity Church

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 06:49 AM
    CNN and others are breathlessly reporting Obama is resigning from Trinity Church... More
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  • Oliver Willisk: Harold Ickes Is Ridiculous

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 06:45 AM
    I haven't been watching this thing in full - even I am not that boring - but I've now seen Harold Ickes have his butt handed to him twice. First was up against Rep. Robert Wexler, and later against Sen. Carl Levin (who seriously has issues with the Iowa-New Hampshire monopoly - and I agree with him). Ickes is the chief representative of Clinton logic in this fight, claiming that Sen. Clinton should be awarded all these delegates even though both contests were FUBAR from the get go. It's kind of like a track athelete demanding the gold medal after someone whacked everyone else's knee with a baseball bat right after the starter's pistol has been blown. Nice touch by the Clinton campaign bussing in partisans to make noise in the room, but... More
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  • Crooks and Liars: McCain Campaign Ad Features Gen David Petraeus

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 06:20 AM
    Donklephant : Obviously this is a really bad call on McCain’s part, especially since the Joint Chiefs have recently said , very explicitly, that members of the military should not be involved with these political campaigns… WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has written an unusual open letter to all those in uniform, warning them to stay out of politics as the nation approaches a presidential election in which the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be a central, and certainly divisive, issue. “The U.S. military must remain apolitical at all times and in all ways,” wrote the chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, the nation’s highest-ranking officer. “It is and must always be a neutral instrument of the state,... More
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  • TalkLeft: FL/MI Live Blog: The Belated Afternoon Session

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 05:39 AM
    They are an hour and a half behind schedule. We smell a back room deal. This is Big Tent Democrat's and my continuation of live-blogging the afternoon non-session of the Democratic Rules Bylaw Committee meeting on seating Michigan and Florida. The live-blog appears below the fold so it can be bigger. Comment in this thread as usual if you want others to see your comments. Only BTD and I can see those you submit through the live blog software. Comments here will open when they reconvene. If you'd like to donate anonymously, here's the Amazon link . Thanks everyone... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: At the RBC meeting, it’s all about the respect?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 05:39 AM
    Continuing on Pete Abel's coverage, as of 12:25 PM Eastern time, we have concluded the statements and QA by the representatives of both the Clinton and Obama campaigns. This was the portion of the proceedings where the the tone really began to change. During the early speakers' sessions, while there may have been a few elbows thrown, it was done so in a very muted, professional fashion. There was one supporter of Senator Clinton on the committee who seemed to be setting the stage for a very confrontational session later, asking only one question of each speaker - Would you be opposed to the seating of all of Florida's delegates? It really did appear as if she was setting up an ambush for Rep. Wexler, who represented the Obama campaign, and... More
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  • TalkLeft: MI/Fl DRC Hearing: Afternoon Session Live Blog I

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 05:03 AM
    Big Tent Democrat and I will live-blog the afternoon session of debate over seating Michigan and Florida delegates here. Comments will open at 4:15 pm ET. Back From Ohio will continue live-blogging from the meeting room here . The blog is below the fold. You can comment as usual or send us comments through the live blog. If you want others to see your comments, comment below the normal way. Only BTD and I see those submitted on the... More
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  • Hot Air: One potatoe, two potatoe, three potatoe, four

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 04:45 AM
    How many moments does it take for the media to start a doofus narrative on a candidate?... More
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  • TalkLeft: DNC Rules Meeting: On Scene Live-Blog

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 04:45 AM
    Bump and Update: Back From Ohio will continue live-blogging the afternoon session here. *** A huge thanks to BackFromOhio, TalkLeft's credentialed blogger on site at the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting today. BackFromOhio is an attorney well-versed in these kinds of hearings. Please comment below as usual if you want to live blog along with BFO or post comments that all can see. If you use the commenter screen in the live-blogging software, only BFO will see the messages. We'll start new threads when comments reach about 200. The live-blog is below the fold so that we can make it larger than the front page allows... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Bill Clinton Last Month Privately Told Fundraiser Solution Is To Seat Half Disputed Delegates (UPDATED)

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 04:20 AM
    The Drudge Report has just put up a link to a You Tube of an audio of a fundraiser last month where ex-President Bill Clinton said in private on April 29, 2008 at the Westglow Spa in Blowing Rock, NC that solution is to seat half a delegate for each delegate in the disputed primary states. VIDEO IS BELOW. Also listen to what Clinton said about Democratic party rules. Apparently the participants had a tape recorder and this was not supposed to be an official public pronouncement. Here's the You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uluCnBctpHU FOOTNOTE: Nothing official has been announced yet, but The Huffington Post political reporter Sam Stein reports that two sources have told him that a compromise has been reached over Florida... More
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  • TalkLeft: Recess and Morning Review: Reader Thread

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 03:55 AM
    They will reconvene at 4:15 pm for extended debate. Here's a thread to review this mornings events. Update : Here's the link for BTD and my afternoon live-blog. It won't work until 4:15 pm. Back From Ohio will continuing blogging from the meeting room here... More
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  • TalkLeft: Recess and Morning Review: Thread Four

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 03:55 AM
    They will reconvene at 4:15 pm for extended debate. Here's a thread to review this mornings events... More
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  • Hot Air: Lanny Davis’ Last Gasp for Hillary

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 03:29 AM
    With Democrats meeting today to attempt a compromise on seating delegations from Florida and Michigan at the national convention in Denver, Hillary Clinton surrogate Lanny Davis tries making an eleventh-hour plea to superdelegates on behalf of his candidate... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: And so it begins

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 03:22 AM
    The long awaited meeting of the Democratic RBC has kicked off. As Pete Abel already pointed out , CNN is covering the entire affair live. Some early observations follow. Howard Dean needs a new speech writer. Could he have used the words extraordinary and extraordinarily any more times? I counted at least two sentences where they were used three times. If this had been a drinking game, I'd have passed out in the first five minutes. However, he certainly did set the tone for the day. While being respectful for all parties concerned, he seemed to make it crystal clear that he expected a resolution to come from this and had no intention to leave matters hanging in the breeze until the convention. The word made a number of appearances,... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Watch the DNC-RBC Meeting

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 03:07 AM
    CNN.com is streaming the session live. As of 10:01 a.m. ET, Howard Dean was still talking with a less-than-rousing-but-still-oft-applauded speech about the strength of the party, volume of voter turnout, red states turning blue, need for unity, etc. I'm unfortunately not in a position to live-blog the entire meeting, but I will try to check back in occasionally and offer some updates. Otherwise, if you're not motivated to go into the office or work in the yard or do something else you might find the CNN feed a semi-entertaining way to spend your time. Enjoy... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: UPDATED: The DNC-RBC Meeting

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 03:07 AM
    For those who can't watch the video, but can take time for periodic updates (more frequent than Jazz or I might be able to offer), Ben Smith is live-blogging the minutiae. - CNN.com is streaming the session live. As of 10:01 a.m. ET, Howard Dean was still talking with a less-than-rousing-but-still-oft-applauded speech about the strength of the party, volume of voter turnout, red states turning blue, need for unity, etc. I'm unfortunately not in a position to live-blog the entire meeting, but I will try to check back in occasionally and offer some updates. Otherwise, if you're not motivated to go into the office or work in the yard or do something else you might find the CNN feed a semi-entertaining way to spend your time. Enjoy... More
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  • Oliver Willisk: They Really Don’t Get It, Do They?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 03:07 AM
    One of the more revealing elements in this primary fight has been the utter cluelessness of the Clinton campaign in a modern media environment. It's pretty wild considering these were the same folks who brought the Democrats out of their 1970s and 80s mindset with the exact set of skills needed to deal with the press in the 90s. What a difference a decade makes. Today you've got Lanny Davis making yet another ridiculous pro-Clinton argument in the pages of the Wall Street Journal editorial section . To the modern progressive, he may as well be making his case in The Hitler Times. In the modern communications sphere we operate in, there is a constant flow of information between the blogs, the print press, and cable news. It is from... More
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  • TalkLeft: Live Blog: Michigan Hearing , Part Two

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 03:00 AM
    There's a big storm in DC and the tv coverage blanks out occasionally. BackFromOhio is live-blogging for TalkLeft from the meeting room here . I'm going to start with Hillary's representative arguing her case. On Obama, I was surprised he asked for 50% of the delegates when the news yesterday was he abandoned that in the spirit of compromise. Apparently not. Howard Wolfson is on MSNBC now being interviewed... More
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  • TalkLeft: DRC Hearing Live Blog V: Michigan Portion Two

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 03:00 AM
    There's a big storm in DC and the tv coverage blanks out occasionally. BackFromOhio is live-blogging for TalkLeft from the meeting room here . I'm going to start with Hillary's representative arguing her case. On Obama, I was surprised he asked for 50% of the delegates when the news yesterday was he abandoned that in the spirit of compromise. Apparently not. Former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard is up for Hillary. I'll live blog below the fold: He associates himself with remarks of Carl Levin. On behalf of Hillary and Gov. Granholm, we urge you to make Michigan count. Michigan has close elections. Kerry only took state by 3%. But we have been reliably Democratic. Don't turn your back on MI and our 600,000 voters. That's more than IA, NV... More
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  • TalkLeft: DRC Hearing Live Blog IV: Michigan Portion One

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 01:37 AM
    Mark Brewer the Chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party is arguing for Michigan. the problem for Michigan is it has no rules based argument to support it. In essence, Brewer argues that if you want to win Michigan in November you better seat us. Brewer speaks of asking for the waiver. No one questioned the Committee's power to grant a waiver. The RBC granted waivers to other states that violated Rule 11, we are asking for that type of waiver. Michigan has no argument imo. In terms of dividing the delegates, Michigan proposes a 69-59 split. Brewer argues that uncommitted was trumpeted as the placeholder for those candidates who took their names off the ballot. This is a strange argument indeed, Because if you want to give Obama all... More
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  • TalkLeft: Michigan's Argument Live Blog

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 01:37 AM
    Mark Brewer the Chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party is arguing for Michigan. the problem for Michigan is it has no rules based argument to support it. In essence, Brewer argues that if you want to win Michigan in November you better seat us. Brewer speaks of asking for the waiver. No one questioned the Committee's power to grant a waiver. The RBC granted waivers to other states that violated Rule 11, we are asking for that type of waiver. Michigan has no argument imo. In terms of dividing the delegates, Michigan proposes a 69-59 split. Brewer argues that uncommitted was trumpeted as the placeholder for those candidates who took their names off the ballot. This is a strange argument indeed, Because iof you want to give Obama all... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Washington Post Reporter: Undecided Superdelegates Just Waiting For Clinton To Drop Out

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 01:30 AM
    In his webchat with readers yesterday, Washington Post Congressional reporter Paul Kane had two juicy political tidbits: (1) undecided superdelegates have actually concluded the race is over and are just waiting for Senator Hillary Clinton to drop out, and (2) supporters of front-runner Senator Barack Obama shouldn't lose sight of just how narrow a victory (if it occurs) their candidate has over Clinton. Here are the parts of the chat: Washington: Looking at the most recent Rasmussen daily polls, I see that Hillary manages a tie today against McCain, but Barack is down by five points to McCain. What piqued my interest was that while Hillary had a highly unfavorable rating of 32 percent (i.e., as I see it, people who never will vote... More
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  • TalkLeft: DNC Rules Meeting: Review of Morning Florida Session

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 01:29 AM
    What did you think? What stood out to you? What will happen?... More
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  • TalkLeft: DNC Rules Meeting: Review of Florida Speakers

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 01:29 AM
    What did you think? What stood out to you? What will happen? Comments closed, new threads are... More
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  • Crooks and Liars: McCain takes the lead — by not showing up for work

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 01:00 AM
    When John McCain is asked how he’s substantively different from George W. Bush, the senator has a programmed response he repeats without hesitation. At the top of the list: “climate change.” Indeed, McCain, at least recently, has made his “green” credentials a key part of this early stage of his campaign. Two weeks ago, he traveled quite a bit to talk up his plan to combat global warming. “I’m proud of my record on the environment,” McCain told reporters . “As president, I will dedicate myself to addressing the issue of climate change globally.” There are more than a few problems with McCain’s boasts. For one thing, McCain’s environmental positions shift all the time , and some of his policy opinions contradict each other. For... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Will This Be Hillary Clinton’s Lost Weekend?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 31, 2008 12:38 AM
    It sure looks that way. But as Publius notes , the big news won't be that the DNC 's rules committee hasn't given Miss Shot A Beer what she wants, which is more or less a forgone conclusion, but how she reacts... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Obama Donors Now Include Former Bush Donors: Moderate Republicans And Independents

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 11:52 PM
    Democratic Senator Barack Obama is getting donations for his drive for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination from a batch of people who used to donate to Republican President George Bush: moderate Republicans and independents. The Republicans, in particular, feel their party has left them as they've seen it during the Bush years and even under presumptive GOP nominee Senator John McCain gear itself in appeal and policies largely to its conservative base and social conservatives. And an underlying issue for both Republicans and independents is the conduct and/or impact of the Iraq war. Beverly Fanning is among the campaign donors who'll be joining President Bush at a gala at Washington's Ford's Theater Sunday night, but she says... More
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  • TalkLeft: DNC Rules Meeting: Live-Blog III With BTD and TL

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 11:34 PM
    Big Tent Democrat and I will be live-blogging here. Please comment below as usual if you want to live blog along with us or post comments. If you use the commenter screen in our live-blogging software, no one will see the messages but us. We'll start new threads when comments reach about 200. The live-blog is below the fold so that we could make it larger than the front page allows. Comments now closed, new threads are up... More
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  • TalkLeft: FL/MI Rules Hearing: Reader's Open Thread II

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 10:32 PM
    The Rules and Bylaws Committee Hearing should begin momentarily. Here's a thread for readers to live-blog or post reactions. We'll be joining you shortly. Comments now closed, new threads... More
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  • TalkLeft: FL/MI Rules Hearing: Reader's Open Thread

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 10:32 PM
    The Rules and Bylaws Committee Hearing should begin momentarily. Here's a thread for readers to live-blog or post reactions. We'll be joining you shortly... More
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  • TalkLeft: DNC Rules Meeting: On Scene Live-Blog (I)

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 10:32 PM
    A huge thanks to BackFromOhio, TalkLeft's credentialed blogger on site at the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting today. BackFromOhio is an attorney well-versed in these kinds of hearings. Please comment below as usual if you want to live blog along with BFO or post comments that all can see. If you use the commenter screen in the live-blogging software, only BFO will see the messages. We'll start new threads when comments reach about 200. The live-blog is below the fold so that we can make it larger than the front page allows... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Public Is Entitled To Corzine E-Mails

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 04:42 PM
    A judge has ruled that the public is entitled to read a series of e-mails exhanged between New Jersey governor John Corzine exchanged with a union leader he once dated. They have become a source of major controversy in the state and could possibly threaten his position as governor. The issue goes back to 2006 and 2007 when the guv was dating Carla Katz at the same time the state of NJ was negotiating with the union she heads. “The relationship created a clear potential for conflict,” Judge Innes wrote. “These types of communications would be the sort of communications the Supreme Court felt the public had the right of access to understand and evaluate the reasonableness of the public body’s actions. Judge Innes also wrote, “The public... More
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  • Crooks and Liars: The U.S. military ‘must remain apolitical’ — but McCain doesn’t care

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 03:11 PM
    In the coming issue of Joint Force Quarterly, an official military journal widely distributed among officers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff writes a welcome but unusual open letter to everyone who wears an Armed Forces uniform: stay out of the political arena during the election season. “The U.S. military must remain apolitical at all times and in all ways,” wrote the chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen , the nation’s highest-ranking officer. “It is and must always be a neutral instrument of the state, no matter which party holds sway.” It’s good advice, and a good policy. Mullen realizes that there will attempts to politicize the military, and with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan playing a huge role in the election-season... More
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  • Crooks and Liars: KS Democratic Party Re-Writes Invitation To Local Bush Fundraiser

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 01:15 PM
    ( click here magnify for full image ) Kansas Democratic Party Suggests Revised Invite to President Bush’s Campaign Fundraiser for Nick Jordan Topeka - In light of Sen. Nick Jordan’s welcome association with President Bush, Dick Cheney and the failed policies of the Bush administration, the Kansas Democratic Party is suggesting a more appropriate invitation to this Thursday’s fundraiser. “A lifelong Kansan, Nick Jordan is a strong supporter of President George W. Bush, and Bush’s policies at home and abroad. “For 12 years, Nick has worked tirelessly in the Kansas Senate to create a moderate public image, while never wavering from his true conservative credentials and his... More
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  • TalkLeft: 1,000 Attend Hillary Event in Puerto Rico

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 01:02 PM
    Hillary Clinton is back in Puerto Rico where she will remain all weekend. 1,000 showed up to greet her tonight . (In Spanish.) 500,000 are expected to vote out of the more than 2 million registered voters. Recent polls had Hillary up by more than 10 points. Prison inmates, by the way, are allowed to vote in Puerto Rico , even in the presidential primary. They vote at the prison. (article is in Spanish.) Here's the translation of the article on Hillary's event tonight prepared from one of our new correspondents, a criminal defense attorney on scene in Puerto Rico: [More...] San Juan (AP) _ More than a thousand persons gathered Friday night in Old San Juan to close the campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton, who will face Barack Obama... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Pelosi Warns Clinton Supporters About “Scorched Earth” Policy

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 12:59 PM
    It sounds like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's patience is wearing thin as she watches the the increasingly divisive battle between Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Presidential nomination: she has issued a pointed warning to Clinton supporters about the need for unity ASAP: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Friday warned supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who are threatening to take the delegate fight as far as the Democratic National Convention, that they are pursuing a scorched earth philosophy that would seriously damage the chances of electing a Democratic president in November. There is too much at stake in our country for us to be thinking that we can afford the luxury of intra-party... More
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  • Hot Air: Ferraro: I want a study done on sexism in this campaign

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 11:20 AM
    Geraldine Ferraro has not gone away, quietly or otherwise, since becoming a focal point of the charges of racism and sexism in the Democratic primary campaign... More
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  • TalkLeft: Obama Leads McCain in Wisconsin

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 11:16 AM
    For once, a primary result is a good indicator for the general election as Barack Obama wins white voters in Wisconsin and defeats McCain by 6 points, according to SUSA . Obama won white Wisconsin voters against Hillary Clinton by 9 and he wins them by 5 over McCain. Wisconsin will not be a problem for Barack Obama in my view. Now Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida? Well, that could be another story. By Big Tent Democrat... More
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  • Hot Air: Lobbyist pas de deux continues

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 10:25 AM
    With the Barack Obama campaign continuing to hammer away at John McCain for having lobbyists on his campaign staff, Soren Dayton wonders why turnabout hasn't been made fair play yet... More
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  • TalkLeft: Saturday's Argument Schedule for Florida and Michigan

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 08:16 AM
    McClatchy reports : Party officials and challengers will make presentations first Saturday, and the campaigns will then make their cases. Former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard and Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa, Fla., civil rights activist, will present Clinton's case, while Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., and former Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich., will argue Obama's side. Levin is also expected to speak. Mark Bubriski, a spokesman for the Florida party, said that while Democrats there want all delegates seated, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who will present the state's case, is expected to use a conciliatory tone. According to Bubriski, Nelson is likely to argue, "We want this to be over. Our goal is that this is the day to end it, to move on, to put this... More
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  • TalkLeft: What's Fair for Michigan and Florida

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 07:28 AM
    Here's Richard E. Berg-Andersson of Green Papers who says he has no dog in this fight on the correct solution to seating Michigan and Florida: On Michigan [W]hat is fair is that 73 pledged delegates be seated for Mrs. Clinton and 55 be free to vote for whomever they might wish (after all, they are 'Uncommitted'!)-- for Michigan constitutionally set its Presidential Primary date as 15 January 2008 under State law, held said election- again, under State law. The voters who wished to do so, thereby, voted on that date and the results, if the rules set for all jurisdictions under Democratic Party national rules be applied, would be 73 Clinton/55 Uncommitted... period! ....To my mind, the Michigan Democratic Party has done both their... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: The Other Sermon at Trinity Last Sunday

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 06:56 AM
    It was delivered by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite. Her take on Pfleger's ill-chosen words can be found here . Two reactions: 1. I now feel bad about chuckling when I watched Fr. Pfleger's You-Tubed diatribe. Yet more evidence as my wife frequently reminds me that even at the age of 43, I still have some growing up to do. 2. I have to wonder why snippets of Thistlewaite's sermon didn't make the same splash as Pfleger's? I know the answer, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Even the open-minded Big Tent Democrat at Talk Left held up Pfleger's remarks as indicative of a possible, systemic problem with Trinity, failing to miss as did I, as did so many of us that there was another sermon that day, at the same church, of a much... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: If She Can’t Make it There …

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 06:35 AM
    Per Rasmussen : Fifty percent (50%) of New York Democrats say it’s time for Senator Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race for the White House Forty-seven percent (47%) of New York voters believe Obama is the stronger general election candidate. Forty-three percent (43%) believe Clinton would be better Sixty-two percent (62%) of New York voters have a favorable opinion of Barack Obama while 55% give Hillary Clinton such positive reviews... More
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  • TalkLeft: Blanchard, Joyner and Nelson to Argue for Hillary and FL Democrats

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 06:23 AM
    Update : FL State Senator Arthenia Joyner will argue for Hillary . Bill Nelson is arguing only for the Fla. Democratic Party. Katherine Seelye of the NY Times was mistaken. Update: Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman sent out an email saying Bill Nelson will be arguing for the Florida Democratic Party. Is he arguing for both Hillary and the Florida Party? She says she expects the Committee will "restore at least half of our delegates." From the e-mail, which was forwarded to me: The Party has not made any specific recommendations to the DNC since we submitted our delegate selection plan, but we have consistently noted that a record-breaking 1.75 million Florida Democrats voted in the state-run January 29th primary, which had... More
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  • TalkLeft: Blanchard and Nelson to Argue for Hillary

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 06:23 AM
    Yesterday I noted that David Bonior and Robert Wexler would be presenting the arguments tomorrow on behalf of Barack Obama and wondered, since the news article omitted the information, who would be arguing for Hillary. Here's the answer , from the New York Times: The Clinton campaign also announced that former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard would be arguing the Clinton case on behalf of Michigan at the committee meeting. Senator Bill Nelson will be arguing for the Clinton campaign on behalf of Florida. The Times also says that no matter what the Committee does tomorrow, Barack Obama won't reach the magic pledged delegate number. Nor will he after the June 3 primary. He needs superdelegates to get there. If the DNC, as now widely... More
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  • TalkLeft: Fairness, Rules and Self-Interest

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 05:55 AM
    When discussing the Florida and Michigan situations, I believe the Clinton campaign had viable arguments based on fairness, self interest and the rules for fully seating the Florida and Michigan delegations based on the results of their respective primaries. Today, I believe the Clinton camp damages the viability of its rules-based argument for Florida. I also believe they damaged the fairness-based argument for Michigan. They are now left solely with a self interest argument for the Democratic Party. As I explained earlier, by conceding that Florida and Michigan Democrats broke the DNC rules, I believe that the Clinton camp has lost its rules argument for full seating of the delegates based on the existing primary results. The Clinton... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Gay Marriage: Where The Right Is Wrong

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 05:04 AM
    With the recent ruling by the California Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage I thought it a good time to rework a post I made regarding the topic several months ago. As a lawyer I have become the go to guy for many of my friends when it comes to legal issues. As you might imagine, they have contacted me to decry the ruling and go into the usual mantra about how evil/bad/dangerous that gay unions are. Continuing discussions we have had before, I have tried to convince them of why they are wrong on this issue, and will offer my views as follows. The first point often made is that it is wrong for us to approve of' or allow' gays to have the same romantic activities that normal people' do (please note the quotes there). Now perhaps... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: John McCain and The League of Global Antagonism

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 04:57 AM
    Of the many ideas floated by John McCain - some good, some not so hot - one of the truly alarming ones is his endorsement of the formation of a so-called League of Democracies . (With a tip of the hat to Hot Air .) Gaining ground this political season is a proposed League of Democracies designed to strengthen support for the next president's overseas agenda and ensure a global leadership role for the United States . John McCain, the virtually certain Republican presidential nominee, has endorsed the concept of a new global compact of more than 100 democratic countries to advance shared views and has discussed the idea with French and British leaders. It could act where the U.N. fails to act , he said last month, and pressure... More
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  • Hot Air: Hillary: Even I’ve been to the war zone more often than Obama

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 04:40 AM
    While Barack Obama tries to cast John McCain's invitation to tour Iraq into a political stunt, Hillary Clinton recalls with fondness her trips with McCain to both Iraq and Afghanistan... More
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  • TalkLeft: DNC Rules Committee Meeting: Live-Blog With BTD and TL

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 04:34 AM
    Big Tent Democrat and I will be live-blogging here. This is thread one. Please comment below as usual if you want to live blog along with us or post comments. If you use the commenter screen in our live-blogging software, no one will see the messages but us. We'll start new threads when comments reach about 200. The live-blog is below the fold so that we could make it larger than the front page allows... More
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  • TalkLeft: Hillary's Excellent Arguments for Fighting for Florida and Michigan

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 03:19 AM
    illary is not conceding seating Florida and Michigan by any stretch of the imagination. She is fighting as hard as ever. Here is the letter her campaign sent out today. The Rules and Bylaws Committee has the authority to seat all of the delegates from Florida and Michigan with full votes. Actual election results must control the allocation of Michigan's delegates. Although they oppose any 50% solution, seating all the delegates with 1/2 vote is less harmful than seating 50% of the delegates and giving those 50% a full vote. The campaign asks the committee to rule promptly rather than waiting for the Credentials committee to... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: It’s all about Israel

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 02:33 AM
    In one of the more provocative columns I've read in quite a while, Rick Moran of Right Wing Nuthouse yesterday penned a somewhat dismal bit of prognostication called Embrace the Horror . I have now read the piece three separate times, as well as listening to a discussion of it between Rick and Ed Morrissey on his Hot Air show yesterday. The article is a comprehensive look at the trials and tribulations facing President Obama during his first (and possibly only) term and I highly encourage you to read it if you've not done so already. There was something about it, though, which simply didn't sit right with me, though I couldn't put my finger on it until this morning. One of the basic disagreements I have, though certainly not the chief... More
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  • TalkLeft: Clinton Campaign Concedes The Rules Argument On FL/MI

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 02:03 AM
    In today's conference call , the Clinton campaign conceded any rules-based or fairness-based argument for the full seating of the Florida and Michigan delegations. The Clinton campaign declared that, unlike Iowa, NH and South Carolina, Florida and Michigan did indeed break the DNC rules and without justification. The Clinton campaign expressly disagreed with the Michigan Democratic Party's contention that the DNC had selectively enforced its rules by allowing New Hampshire and South Carolina to break the sanctioned primary schedule, that Florida was not entitled to a safe harbor or waiver, and that the DNC had acted properly and within the rules when it stripped Florida and Michigan of its delegates. The Clinton campaign's only argument... More
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  • TalkLeft: Clinton Campaign Concedes The Argument On FL/MI

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 02:03 AM
    In today's conference call , the Clinton campaign conceded any rules-based or fairness-based argument for the full seating of the Florida and Michigan delegations. The Clinton campaign declared that, unlike Iowa, NH and South Carolina, Florida and Michigan did indeed break the DNC rules and without justification. The Clinton campaign expressly disagreed with the Michigan Democratic Party's contention that the DNC had selectively enforced its rules by allowing New Hampshire and South Carolina to break the sanctioned primary schedule, that Florida was not entitled to a safe harbor or waiver, and that the DNC had acted properly and within the rules when it stripped Florida and Michigan of its delegates. The Clinton campaign's only argument... More
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  • TalkLeft: Clinton Campaign Accepts FL/MI Broke Rules

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 02:03 AM
    In today's conference call , the Clinton campaign conceded any rules-based or fairness-based argument for the full seating of the Florida and Michigan delegations. The Clinton campaign declared that, unlike Iowa, NH and South Carolina, Florida and Michigan did indeed break the DNC rules and without justification. The Clinton campaign expressly disagreed with the Michigan Democratic Party's contention that the DNC had selectively enforced its rules by allowing New Hampshire and South Carolina to break the sanctioned primary schedule, that Florida was not entitled to a safe harbor or waiver, and that the DNC had acted properly and within the rules when it stripped Florida and Michigan of its delegates. The Clinton campaign's only argument... More
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  • TalkLeft: Pew Report: Support for Obama Slides Among White Women

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 01:54 AM
    Via Politico , the Pew Research Center has a new report, available here , finding 49% of white women and 35% of Democratic white women now have a negative perception of Obama. Politico summarizes: Forty-nine percent of white women view Obama unfavorably, while only 43 percent hold a favorable opinion. In February, 36 percent of these women viewed Obama unfavorably, while 56 percent had a positive perception of the likely Democratic nominee. Over the same period, Democratic white women's negative view of Obama increased from 21 percent to 35 percent, while their positive view decreased from 72 percent to 60 percent roughly the same rate as white women overall. For men, White men, in general and among Democrats, have shown only a... More
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  • TalkLeft: S.D. Argus Leader Endorses Hillary Clinton

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 01:31 AM
    The South Dakota Argus Leader has endorsed Hillary Clinton in the state's June 3 primary. Its reasons: Clinton is the strongest Democratic candidate for South Dakota. Her mastery of complex policy detail is broad and deep, and her experience as a senator and former first lady matches that. Measured against her opponent, Clinton is philosophically more moderate. That is likely a good thing for South Dakota. ....Clinton has demonstrated a real commitment to Native American issues and will have visited several South Dakota reservations before the race is over. Clinton is precisely correct when she says that people outside the region have a poor understanding of the troubling trends on our reservations. Federal attention could help. That... More
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  • Crooks and Liars: What McClellan’s revelations tells us about McCain’s judgment

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 01:15 AM
    At first blush, Scott McClellan’s criticism of the Bush White House wouldn’t necessarily have anything to do with the 2008 presidential race. McClellan hasn’t had anything to do with John McCain, and most of the people McClellan calls out are not part of McCain’s campaign. But perhaps that’s an unimaginative approach. McClellan’s book apparently has quite a bit to say about the war in Iraq — clearly, a key campaign issue this year — including charges that Bush relied on “propaganda” to sell the war. The former White House press secretary added that the president failed to be “open and forthright on Iraq” and worse, “rushed to war” with inadequate planning and preparation for its aftermath. What does this have to do with McCain? Chief... More
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  • Hot Air: League of Democracies idea gains steam

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 01:00 AM
    John McCain has proposed that the US should sponsor the creation of a new multilateral organization that includes the world's legitimate democracies... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Lysis for The Democratic Primaries: Stop Doesn’t Always Mean Cease

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 12:47 AM
    TO PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS , means one would, in a project, a war, in love, in politics, in family life, in rage, in celebration, tear out or ignore all normal signals indicating that cessation ought be at hand; that one must bring all locomotion to a halt, that reason ought rule. The ancient king, Midas pulled out all stops. He was rich beyond belief, yet beyond all reason he began to wish that all he touched could turn to gold. This was granted to him by the gods, and he pranced about touching everything in sight, delighted that it instantly turned to gold. But, then he touched his own little daughter who turned into a beautiful golden trophy. But, she was then incapable of humanity, mirth or love. STOP AT NOTHING, means... More
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  • TalkLeft: Clinton MI/FL Media Call Live Blog

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 12:29 AM
    A heads up. At Noon EST, I will be live blogging the Clinton conference call on the May 31 DNC Rules and Bylaw Committee hearing on the Florida/Michigan Fiasco. Let me tell you the question I hope to ask In reading the DNC Staff Memo on the FL/MI situation, I noticed it did not discuss some critical issues. First, it did not address Florida's argument that it was entitled to a "waiver" or "safe harbor" pursuant to Rule 21. Second, it did not discuss the validity of the RBC's granting of "waivers" or "safe harbors" to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina for violating Rule 11, the primary schedule rule. At the same time the memo stated that a 50% penalty was the automatic and mandatory penalty for violating Rule 11. Can you explain to... More
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  • The World According to Oatney: Nunn of That

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 30, 2008 12:17 AM
    Barack Obama has-as has been written here before, a dire need to win over white blue collar voters. If he fails to do so, he will lose the election in the fall. Who could Obama choose that has appeal to the voters that he cannot seem to win, no matter how hard he tries. If David Brooks is to be believed , it could be former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn : Obama will need a vice president who knows the millions of ways that power is exercised and subverted in Washington. He’ll need someone who can be a senior, authoritative presence in a cabinet that may range from Republican Senator Chuck Hagel to the labor leader Andy Stern. He’ll need someone who can supervise his young reformers and build transpartisan coalitions more effectively than... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Gallup Daily: Obama Regains Double Digit Lead Over Clinton And Now Statistically Ties Clinton Against McCain

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 07:38 PM
    If the latest Gallup Daily tracking poll indicates a trend, Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton will stop pointing to Gallup when she makes her pitch this weekend to a Democratic party committee in Washington in an effort to get the Michigan and Florida delegations seated. In recent days, Clinton got into political hotwater by claiming poll showed her beating John McCain in a matchup which was not true. She was mostly pointing to Gallup polls, and her later comments were more accurately focused. But the latest Gallup Daily tracking poll shows rival-for-the-Democratic nomination Senator Barack Obama now regaining his double-digit lead over her among Democrats and statistically tied with Clinton in the votes a Democrat would get against... More
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  • Anderson@Large: D-Day at the Marriott

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 07:32 PM
    I am off to DC to attend Saturday’s meeting of the Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee. I will be an eyewitness to history as the committee decides whether delegates from Florida and Michigan should be seated at the national convention in Denver. The next act in the long-running Clinton-Obama drama will unfold at the Marriott Wardman Park . This is not one of Marriott’s cookie-cutter properties. The hotel’s historic elegance and charm stand in the stark contrast to the unresolved mess that’s on the committee’s plate. While there will be only 500 spectators inside the meeting room, thousands are expected on the outside of the hotel. WomenConnect , a political action committee that backs Hillary Clinton, has... More
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  • TalkLeft: More On Puerto Rico

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 04:45 PM
    I just spoke with some knowledgable folks on the Puerto Rico Democratic Primary (see my earlier post here and here is what I gleaned. these are not their predictions but mine based on what I heard. Warning, this is fairly uninformed bloviating by me. First, some facts. The breakdown by Senatorial district is as follows: San Juan 6, Bayamon and Carolina 5, Ponce, Humacao, Mayaguez, Guayama and Arecibo 4. Now, some bloviating. Turnout will likely be in the 500,000 range. Clinton is almost certain to win and by a healthy margin. How healthy? No one really knows. She should win San Juan and Bayamon handily but will it be enough to gain the extra delegates? Not clear. Carolina will split 3-2. Ponce will be Obama's best district. Clinton... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Obama Says Uncle

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 02:32 PM
    On Memorial Day, Barack Obama told a group of veterans, “My grandfather marched in Patton’s army, but I cannot know what it is to walk into battle like so many of you. He went on to talk about an uncle, part of the American brigade that helped to liberate Auschwitz and, returning from the war, spent six months in an attic: “Now obviously, something had really affected him deeply, but at that time there just weren’t the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain.” Since then, the GOP gaffe police have been gleefully pointing out it was the Russians who freed Auschwitz and that Obama's mother was an only child, causing his campaign to scramble and admit that he should have said great uncle and Sloppy as he may... More
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  • TalkLeft: Obama To Overturn Bush Laws and Orders He Finds Unconstitutional

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 01:39 PM
    Via Suburban Guerilla and Reuters : During a fund-raiser in Denver, Obama a former constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago Law School was asked what he hoped to accomplish during his first 100 days in office. I would call my attorney general in and review every single executive order issued by George Bush and overturn those laws or executive decisions that I feel violate the constitution, said Obama. He'll overturn laws? What about the separation of powers? How can a President overturn a law passed by Congress? Presidents issue exective orders. It's Congress that passes and repeals laws. Our courts decide the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress. [More...] From a reader e-mail: Doesn't this sound... More
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  • Hot Air: Veep watch: Sanford scores big on immigration enforcement

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 01:30 PM
    After John McCain clinched the nomination, several names floated among conservatives as potential VP choices to bridge the gap between McCain and the party base... More
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  • TalkLeft: Colorado's Purple Status Gets a New Wrinkle

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 12:39 PM
    Colorado will be a hotly contested race in November. It's considered a toss-up, a red state that has trended bluer in recent years, although Bush won it in 2000 and 2004. How will this affect voter turnout, and which way? In November, Coloradans will be asked whether they favor amending the state constitution to include a provision that defines a "person" as "any human being from the moment of fertilization." Colorado for Equal Rights, the grassroots group seeking a measure to extend constitutional protections to the earliest individuals, fertilized eggs, succeeded in submitting more than enough valid voter signatures, the secretary of state said Thursday morning. Not surprisingly, the group believes this amendment could result in... More
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  • TalkLeft: Obama and Alice Palmer Back in the News

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 12:04 PM
    CNN is doing a big segment tonight on how Barack Obama won his first state senate seat by booting Alice Palmer from the ballot. (Article here .)Palmer now supports Hillary Clinton. Shorter version: How did Obama win his first Senate seat? By challenging his opponents' right to be on the ballot and succeeding, so he could run unopposed. I wrote about this in detail in April when Palmer campaigned for Hillary in Indiana. Here's the back story, from the Chicago Tribune : [More...] Palmer served the district in the Illinois Senate for much of the 1990s. Decades earlier, she was working as a community organizer in the area when Obama was growing up in Hawaii and Indonesia. She risked her safe seat to run for Congress and touted Obama... More
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  • TalkLeft: Bonior, Wexler to Represent Obama at FL/Mi Meeting

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 11:46 AM
    The Detroit Free Press reports that former Congressman and campaign manager for John Edwards, David Bonior and FL Rep. Robert Wexler will argue for Barack Obama at the Florida Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting Saturday. Who is arguing for Hillary? The article doesn't say. The hearing is televised and BTD and I will be live-blogging from our respective locations while TalkLeft commenter (and attorney) BackFromOhio will be TalkLeft's credentialed blogger at the meeting and live-blogging on scene. Should be a big day, I hope you'll join us... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: The Demonstration For Hillary Clinton In Washington D.C. May Not Be What It Appears To Be

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 11:28 AM
    It turns out some of the people swelling the ranks at what is expected to be a large pro-Clinton demonstration in Washington to pressure the DNC rules committee to seat the Michigan and Florida delegations as per Clinton's demands won't just be Clinton supporters but some others (for instance, some McCain Republicans) as well. All's fair in love, war and politics but this was probably not supposed to get out as widely as it will now that it's on the Internet. If this report is correct it is sooooooooo old politics. And it'll be interesting to see if some enterprising mainstream reporters at the scene interview some McCain and Huckabee supporters to ask them why they're out demonstrating in a Democratic party rules controversy. P.S.... More
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  • Crooks and Liars: When McCain breaks with Bush — even when Bush gets it right

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 10:50 AM
    One of the more glaring and obvious flaws in John McCain’s pitch to voters is that he’s fundamentally running on a more-of-the-same platform when voters are desperate for a change. It appears that McCain has realized it’s to his advantage to break with the president more than he has been. Unfortunately, in this case, McCain is abandoning one of the few issues Bush got right (eventually). McCain and (who else?) Joe Lieberman teamed up this morning for an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on U.S. policy towards Asia, and specifically presented McCain’s preferred approach towards North Korea. American leadership is also needed on North Korea. We must use the leverage available from the U.N. Security Council resolution passed after... More
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  • Calitics: ALP is Alive!

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 10:10 AM
    he American Leadership Project , a California based 527 lead by a pair of folks the CA-blogosphere knows something about, Roger Salazar and Jason Kinney, is alive again. It had been quiet after posting after some half-hearted attempts at media buys in Ohio and Indiana . Well, they birthed 2 new ads, one for Montana and one for Puerto Rico. Not sure on the ad buy for these, but for context, in Ohio they had some ads up on YouTube for weeks and only got them on the air for the last couple days. (h/t TPM ) Montana: Puerto Rico: (Spanish)... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Attorney General Swanson Investigates!

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 10:01 AM
    While much of the national media has not caught on, here at The Moderate Voice we have been following the saga of Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson and the troubles plaguing her office. Following numerous charges of questionable behavior and the blocking of union formation, whistleblower and Deputy Attorny General Lawson has been fired. As we find at Lady's Logic , (our point source for this story from a local level) Ms. Swanson has quickly swooped in to get some answers, and done so by appointing someone herself to investigate her office . The story only becomes more convoluted from there. I mentioned yesterday, that the Mengler Report (on AG Swanson's office) was released. For those that have been in a cave for the... More
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  • Crooks and Liars: Top McCain Fundraiser, War Profiteer Sued Over Iraq Fuel Deal

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 10:00 AM
    MSNBC : A little-noticed civil lawsuit in Florida is shining a light on an unusual but hugely profitable Pentagon contract to ship millions of gallons of aviation fuel to U.S. bases in Iraq through the kingdom of Jordan. The deal involves a cast of influential characters, including the king of Jordan’s brother-in-law, who is suing Harry Sargeant III, a top Florida-based fundraiser for Sen. John McCain's presidential bid. Al-Saleh alleges in the lawsuit that after he arranged the deal, he was cut out in a scheme meant to defraud him. He claims that he and Sargeant and the third partner, Mustafa Abu-Naba'a, a Jordanian businessman, had invested in IOTC Jordan in 2004. But, he says, Sargeant and Abu-Naba'a committed fraud by... More
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  • TalkLeft: DNC National Blogger Credentials Announced

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 09:43 AM
    I've just been notified by the DNCC that TalkLeft will be a credentialed as a blogger at the Democratic Convention in August. From the e-mail: Congratulations. The Democratic Convention staff has completed its review of blog credential applications and I'm writing to let you know that your blog will be credentialed at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. We're excited to welcome so many blogs to the Convention (about 3 times as many as 2004). And we know you're eager to make travel plans for August. We'll contact you next week with logistical information regarding housing, credential distribution, and other key details. You probably have several questions. Please be patient as our goal is to distribute this information... More
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  • TalkLeft: All Four Caucus-Primary States Show Same Trend

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 09:30 AM
    The Idaho primary was last night. In the Feb. 5, caucuses, Barack Obama won 79% of the vote to Hillary's 17%. A total of 21,224 Idahoans participated. In last night's primary, Obama won 56% to 38% , with 42,000 voting. Twice as many people voted in the primary as the caucus and Obama got 23% fewer votes. The same thing happened in Nebraska, Washington and Texas, the other three states that have held both primaries and caucuses. DaveOinSF at MyDD has a new graphic up showing the trends. [More...] And from P. Cronin's Caucus-Primary report (pdf): Turnout was 30 to 40% higher in Washington and Nebraska at the primaries: Washington (34%) 238,000 Caucus turnout 691,381 Feb 19 2008 State Primary At the caucuses, Obama beat... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: U.S. ‘Caligula’ Has No Standing to Advocate for Cuban Freedom

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 08:22 AM
    Many Americans are unaware that most of the world considers Washington's decades-old blockage and general treatment of Cuba to be - if not a war crime - certainly a case of human rights abuse. For those interested in sampling the general mood, this article written by a former member of the Mexican Congress is a good place to start. Comparing President Bush alternatively to the Roman emperors Caligula and Nero, Jaime Martínez Veloz writes for Mexico's La Jornada: As he has done repeatedly, U.S. President George W. Bush - so discredited in his own country and in some ways bordering on mental retardation - persists in harassing the Cuban people under the ridiculous pretext of advocating liberty in that nation, which has for almost... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Tim Russert On Political Impact Of McClellan Anti-Bush Memoir

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 08:11 AM
    Tim Russert, appearing on the Today Show, notes that former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's book could have considerable impact on the Bush administrations' reputation AND on campaign 2008. Watch it in full. Russert hits the nail on the head. Also be sure to keep watching for the MSNBC early report on the book, which follows Russert. Russert's report makes it clear why the White House and its supporters are in full discredit mode right now to try squelch the allegations in the book (which polls show many Americans already believe and have believed for some time about an administration that will be mentioned in the same credibility gap sentences as the Johnson and Nixon administrations by future historians and political... More
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  • Hot Air: Obama played hardball in Chicago … so?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 08:00 AM
    I've gotten this on numerous e-mails this afternoon, but honestly, I don't see the issue... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: But Remember, this has NOTHING to do with Obama

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 07:52 AM
    Some of the coverage of the Democratic presidential primary race certainly swerves into the realm of with other adjectives (e.g. arcane, jaw-dropping) coming into play. The trend continues today. Though Barack Obama has rejected the support of his controversial pastor, some of his fellow Democrats continue to keep a close watch on anything and everything said at Trinity Church from his home stomping grounds. This just in from (among other sources in his own party) Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft. First of all, this has nothing to do with Barack Obama but I have to ask, what in the world is going on at Chicago's Trinity Church? This is simply outrageous: What follows is a video of yet another guest pastor talking about Hillary... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: The Obama Dream and then some…

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 07:52 AM
    Senator Obama represents much to many black folks in America. Perceived barriers in America seemed to have been shattered in the black psyche due to Obama's run. Seeing a black man become the next POTUS represents the realization of a dream. Stories will be told to black children that history was made and Martin Luther King Jr's dream has been fully realized: a black man is leading a nation where his ancestors used to be slaves. Doesn't matter that Obama is mixed race with an African father and American white mother. He's married to a real black woman has real black kids and heck, looks like a real black man. I'm even caught up in the historic nature of his run. But unlike some of my family members and friends, I have great disdain for the... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: The Ultimate Threat To Discredit Former White House Press Spokesman McClellan?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 06:38 AM
    In our first post on former White House press spokesman Scott McClellan's explosive book that blasts former President George Bush, Karl Rove, the White House and the Bush administration's honesty with the American people and Congress, we noted that there would be an attempt to discredit him that would be aimed at obscuring his book's content. Is this the ultimate attempt to him? BE SURE YOU READ THIS. P.S. These efforts at going after him to make him seem like a disgruntled employee will likely backfire. Rush, Sean and their listeners won't buy the book but it's already number one on Amazon.com and could provide a ticklish political context for presumptive GOP nominee Senator John McCain. McCain doesn't have to worry about the... More
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  • TalkLeft: Michigan Calls Out DNC For Its Hypocrisy On "The Rulz"

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 06:16 AM
    Great letter from Michigan to the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee: . . . .While Michigan Democrats were disappointed that our state was not selected for one of the pre-window contests, we appreciated the new rule for adding a bit of much-needed diversity to the early nominating process, and as a first step toward breaking the Iowa-New Hampshire lock on the process. We notified the DNC that we would abide by the new calendar and its sequence provided that other states did the same. To be clear the key issue which the new rule resolved was the sequence of the pre-window states, not just the number of pre-window states. But at a press conference in Dover, New Hampshire last August 9, the New Hampshire Secretary of State indicated he... More
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  • Hot Air: WaPo scolds Obama for “striking a pose” on GI Bill

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 05:40 AM
    Did someone leak the results of the Pew study to the press yesterday?... More
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  • TalkLeft: Important PR Figure Supports Hillary

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 05:29 AM
    No, I am not talking about Ricky Martin , I am talking about Jose Alfredo Hernandez Mayoral , the son of the still popular ex-Commonwealth Governor Rafael Hernandez Colon, who has endorsed Barack Obama. This is significant in my estimation, because after the current Commonwealth Governor Acevedo Vila, an Obama supporter, loses his reelection bid badly in November, Hernandez Mayoral will become the leader of the Commonwealth Party I predict. Hernandez Mayoral said: [T]he Puerto Rican people are clear that Clinton's proposals on the economy, heath care, the environment and against crime are superior to her rival's. An interesting development to me at least. By Big Tent Democrat... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: A Homage to High Gas Prices (and Taxes)

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 05:10 AM
    I've started looking for a new car and I've decided to pick the Toyota Prius. No, I'm not trading in my SUV; I am getting it for a few reasons. First, my partner Daniel purchased a Smart Four Two so, we need a car that can haul stuff efficiently and my current high-mileage Jetta Turbo Diesel ain't cutting it. The Prius has good cargo and passenger room (another deficit on the Jetta) and good gas mileage to boot. Having a fuel-efficient car appeals to my green sensibilities and not having to fuel up as much appeals to my Republican sensibilities of being miserly. Someone like me would consider buying a fuel-efficient car even if gas prices were low. But the fact of the matter is, most people are driven by the market and will make choices... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: An Homage to High Gas Prices (and Taxes)

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 05:10 AM
    I've started looking for a new car and I've decided to pick the Toyata Prius. No, I'm not trading in my SUV; I am getting it for a few reasons. First, my partner Daniel purchased a Smart Four Two so, we need a car that can haul stuff efficiently and my current high mileage Jetta Trubo Diesel ain't cutting it. The Prius, has good cargo and passenger room (another deficit on the Jetta) and good gas mileage to boot. Having a fuel efficient car appeals to my green sensibilities and not having to fuel up as much appeals to my Republican sensibilities of being miserly. Someone like me would consider buying a fuel efficient car even if gas prices were low. But the fact of the matter is, most people are driven by the market and will make choices... More
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  • Hot Air: NYT: Obama waffling on diplomatic policies

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 04:15 AM
    Some reversals are so blatant that they just cannot be ignored... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: The Obama Auschwitz Controversy Is Over, Right?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 04:13 AM
    To most it is. It was clarified and most people on both sides who believe there are other issues out there (things such as the war, economy, gas prices, energy policy, the economy, even the strategical positioning of various candidates in the upcoming election) have decided to kindly pardon the expression move on. But some haven't and some have clearly had enough... More
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  • TalkLeft: Obama's New Politics Doesn't Encompass New Policies

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 03:36 AM
    The Washington Post analyzes Barack Obama's campaign from an issues standpoint and finds he breaks little new ground. When Obama changed his mind and decided to run for president after only two years in the Senate, however, he effectively dismissed the importance of policy proposals, declaring in one speech in early 2007, "We've had plenty of plans, Democrats," and in another: "Every four years, somebody trots out a white paper, they post it on the Web." He cast his "new kind of politics" in terms of his ability to transcend divisions and his unique biography and offered few differences on issues from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and the other Democratic presidential candidates. His "new politics" mostly refers to tone and leadership... More
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  • Hot Air: Study shows media treats McCain negatively, Obama and Clinton kindly

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 03:30 AM
    Hillary Clinton has accused the media of being in the tank for Barack Obama, but according to a new study by Pew Research , she received a fairly positive reception during the primaries, at least through Texas and Ohio... More
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  • TalkLeft: How Puerto Rico Awards Its Delegates

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 03:05 AM
    According to CQ : According to its delegate selection plan, Puerto Rico has 63 delegates, of which 55 are to back a candidate and eight are unpledged . . . Of the 55 pledged delegates, 36 are district-level delegates that are distributed among eight senatorial districts based on population. . . . [M]ost of the pledged delegates [in Puerto Rico] are allocated to districts on the basis of population. MORE . . . Each of the eight senatorial districts in Puerto Rico is assigned four to six delegates. . . . [D]elegates will be awarded proportionally to Clinton and Obama based on the primary vote; a candidate needs 15 percent of the vote to qualify for delegates. A six-delegate senatorial district, for example, would produce a 3-3 tie... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: News Corp’s Murdoch: Democrats Will Win 2008 Presidential Election In Landslide

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 03:01 AM
    News Corp maven and Fox News boss Rupert Murdoch, the man Democrats love to hate, has made a surprising prediction: he says Democrats will win the 2008 Presidential election in a landslide. And he has notably nice things to say about Democratic Senator Barack Obama. His comments can't be good news for GOP presumptive nominee Senator John McCain, or for Senator Hillary Clinton who in the past 12 months was featured in news stories about how she was burying the hatcet with the owner of Fox News, New York's potent New York Post, the nationally respected Wall Street Journal and a host of other worldwide media properties: News Corp Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch on Wednesday predicted a Democratic landslide in the U.S. presidential election... More
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  • Hot Air: Don’t blame Big Oil or Arabs for high gas prices

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 03:00 AM
    If any one entity should take the blame for high gas prices in the US, Mackubin Thomas Owens writes in today's Wall Street Journal , it should be Congress... More
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  • Hot Air: Obama on policy: er, Hope! Change!

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 02:00 AM
    The Washington Post runs a front-page analysis of Barack Obama's policy positions today, and they find... More
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  • Crooks and Liars: Far-right base balks at a possible McCain running mate

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 01:30 AM
    Over the weekend, John McCain hosted an event at his home, ostensibly as a social occasion, but what actually appeared to be something of an audition opportunity for three possible Republican running mates — Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. By some estimations, Crist was the most likely choice of the trio. And why not? Crist is a very effective campaigner, and a popular governor of one of the nation’s most important electoral states. With Crist on the ticket, Dems probably wouldn’t even try as hard to win Florida. Crist is inexperienced — he was elected governor just 18 months ago — but that probably isn’t a deal-breaker. The problem, though, is that Crist may... More
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  • TalkLeft: Do Dems Want To Win In November? The Unity Ticket Is the Answer

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 12:57 AM
    Via Todd Beeton : WXYZ-Action News/EPIC-MRA poll out of Michigan (600 LVs, May 19-22, MOE +/- 4%) finds Obama/Clinton beating McCain/Romney by 7 points. Obama/Clinton 51 McCain/Romney 44 . . . Obama's numbers in a head to head match-up against McCain[:] McCain 44 Obama 40 Hey Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy, you want to win in November? Or do you want to purge the Clinton Wing of the Democratic Party? I am prepared to step in if Pelosi and Kennedy do not agree with me on this . . . By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only... More
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  • The World According to Oatney: McClellan and the Discussion

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 12:39 AM
    ormer White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's book is creating waves in the press and among liberal Democrats-and certainly among both Democratic presidential candidates-but this morning I've taken the time to read an excerpt from McClellan's work . In it, we find that Scott McClellan feels the same way about the Bush Presidency that many conservatives do: ...Let me observe that much of what the general public knows about Bush is true. He is a man of personal charm, wit, and enormous political skill. Like many other people, I was inspired to follow him by his disarming personality and by his record as a popular, bipartisan governor who set a constructive tone and got things done for the people. We all hoped and believed he could... More
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  • TalkLeft: Prepared To Step In And do What?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 29, 2008 12:25 AM
    What is Nancy Pelosi contemplating ? In an interview with her hometown newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, the California Democrat said she is prepared to "step in" if the presidential race does not resolve itself by the end of next month. "I will step in," Pelosi told the paper. "Because we cannot take this fight to the conventionIt must be over before then. Step in and do what? At least this article gives us a good laugh: Pelosi . . . has largely stayed on the sidelines during her party's prolonged primary race. Heh. Thanks for the laugh CNN. by Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Mass. Senate 08: Wait… there are Republicans in Massachusetts?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 11:39 PM
    It seems that the GOP in Massachusetts (yes apparently there is still a Republican party in the state) have been hatching a plan to take a run at John Kerry's Senate seat. Their choice for this daunting task is Jim Ogonowski. It is probably not a good sign, however, if you don't get enough signatures to even make it on the ballot. When the deadline for certification passed yesterday, Jim Ogonowski, the Republican leadership's choice to challenge US Senator John F. Kerry, was 82 signatures short of qualifying for the GOP primary ballot, according to the state's central voter registry. Local election clerks were legally required to finish their certifications yesterday. The majority of those clerks have shipped their results to the... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: McCain Gets Hung Out To Dry On The Iraq War As The Scales Fall From Conservative Eyes

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 09:02 PM
    All things considered, and that is saying an awful lot, things seem to be going pretty well in Iraq some five-plus years and hundreds of thousands of shattered lives later. But just as the faces of many a right-of-center pundit break into Alfred E. Newman-like grins, a growing number of prominent long-time war supporters are having serious second thoughts that will give John McCain chest pains. Take Byron York of National Review Online , who in a break with his peers finally acknowledges the war for what it is – a tragically misguided mistake : For many of us, the war was supposed to be about U.S. national security and only about U.S. national security. It would be nice if we could make Iraq a better place, just as it would be... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: John McCain Gets Hung Out To Dry On Iraq As The Scales Fall From Conservative Eyes

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 09:02 PM
    All things considered, and that is saying an awful lot, things seem to be going pretty well in Iraq some five-plus years and hundreds of thousands of shattered lives later. But just as the faces of many a right-of-center pundit break into Alfred E. Newman-like grins, a growing number of prominent long-time war supporters are having serious second thoughts that will give John McCain chest pains. Take Byron York of National Review Online , who in a break with his peers finally acknowledges the war for what it is – a tragically misguided mistake : For many of us, the war was supposed to be about U.S. national security and only about U.S. national security. It would be nice if we could make Iraq a better place, just as it would be... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: (Updated) Saturday: A Mess in the Making?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 07:29 PM
    As I assume most of you know, the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) will meet Saturday to help decide the fates of the Florida and Michigan delegates and hence the fates of the campaigns of Senators Clinton and Obama. Along with others, I predict Saturday's meeting will end not with a resolution but with a non-conclusion, a mere speedbump on Clinton's push to the August convention. Here are my top five reasons why: (1) The members of the RBC are already being warned that the meeting could go into Sunday . When you're confident about reaching a durable solution, you usually don't extend the meeting before it even starts. (2) The Clinton camp has pre-defined absolute success via four criteria, the third of which (seating all... More
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  • Anderson@Large: Before They Die

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 05:48 PM
    Back in the day, the Gap Band had a big hit with “You Dropped a Bomb on Me.” The group is from Tulsa, Okla., where in 1921 white vigilantes looted and burned America’s most prosperous black community. More than 300 people were killed, 1,200 homes and businesses destroyed, and 10,000 citizens displaced. As my friend Harvard Law Prof. Charles A. Ogletree Jr. likes to tell audiences, the band’s name memorializes the site of the race riot. Gap is short for G reenwood Avenue, and A rcher and P ine streets that were the heart of the Greenwood business district known as the “Black Wall Street.” Ogletree is the lead counsel in a lawsuit to get reparations for the survivors, who include 105-year-old Otis Clark and Dr. John Hope Franklin .... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Hillary Clinton: Why Does Her Campaign Endure?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 04:51 PM
    A good question. Hilary Rosen's interesting explanation appeared in HuffPost recently. She wrote: Lately I am asked by lots of friends, including my new colleagues at the HuffPost who I am so privileged to work with just what it is about Hillary (Clinton) that makes me stick with her now, knowing that her chances to gain the nomination are slim to nonexistent There are all of the political reasons that keep her campaign going like the popular vote, the polling in swing states, finishing out the primary states before the superdelegates make their judgments, etc. But that doesn't explain the passion. It endures out of, not just the determination of Hillary Clinton to be heard, but of her supporters desire to send a message to this... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Obama Picks Up Support Among Groups Needed To Defeat McCain

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 04:47 PM
    Both Senator Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama got good poll-related news today: Clinton continued to get good news to bolster her electability argument via the latest Gallup poll but another report suggested other polls are, in fact, working against her suggestion that the party must choose her or go down to defeat. The issue: is Barack Obama's political coalition actually somewhat flimsy and doomed to failure if he runs against presumptive Republican nominee Senator John McCain a candidate who remains highly appealing to independent voters and Reagan Democrats? A new report suggests Obama is picking up new support among the groups he needs to defeat McCain. Clinton's tidbits of good news came as she was making a last-minute appeal to... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: An Affair to Remember

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 03:26 PM
    John McCain is cheating on voters with George Bush, but he's not good at it, getting caught in a quickie at the Phoenix airport before going off for their fund-raising tryst at a Scottsdale hideaway. Barack Obama, the public moralist, ratted out the couple during an appearance in Las Vegas: “John McCain is having a different kind of meetingbehind closed doors in Arizona. No cameras, no reporters. And we all know why. History shows it's hard for candidates to run away from their past. In 2000, to take voters' minds off Monica Lewinsky, Al Gore ran a Clinton-free campaign and may have lost the election as a result. McCain's problem is even stickier. He has to hide his love child with Bush, the war in Iraq, while persuading voters... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: The ‘Undeniable Surge’ in American Democracy

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 02:09 PM
    Whatever the blemishes of the United States - it's democracy is alive and kicking. Such is the verdict of Daniel Vernet of the French newspaper Le Monde. Vernet writes: Out of the interminable campaign of primaries has emerged an undeniable surge of American democracy. To find a successor to the most unpopular president since polling began, Americans are mobilizing more than since after the election of John Kennedy in 1960. Of course there are dirty tricks, negative ads on television, catch-phrases distilled by the candidates' entourages and the massive machinery of the parties, all of which sheds a less-than-idyllic light on the election. But the fact remains that this year, three atypical and in many ways unexpected candidates... More
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  • Crooks and Liars: Obama’s uncle and an extreme example of molehill politics

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 02:00 PM
    In a sign of just how desperate far-right conservatives have become — and just how odd their standards are — we saw one of the dumber outrages of the 2008 presidential campaign this week. Speaking in New Mexico on Memorial Day, Obama said a great-uncle had helped to liberate the Auschwitz death camp at the end of World War II. “I had a uncle who was one of the, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps,” Obama said (a YouTube clip of the remarks quickly went viral online). He continued: “And the story in my family is that when he came home, he just went into the attic, and he didn’t leave the house for six months. All right? Now, obviously something had affected him deeply, but... More
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  • TalkLeft: SUSA MI Poll: More Support For Unity Ticket

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 01:17 PM
    For the first time SUSA included Hillary Clinton among the potential VP picks for Obama. This was in Michigan and with the exception of Edwards, every other one of the names being floated in the SUSA polling got Obama destroyed against a McCain/Romney ticket. Michigan is actually the kind of state where you might think John Edwards might help Obama more than Clinton but it simply was not the case. More and more it becomes clear that Hillary Clinton is the must pick VP should Obama become the nominee. By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only... More
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  • Crooks and Liars: What’s up with Admiral Mullins?

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 12:30 PM
    He told the troops to keep quiet in voicing their opinions when it comes to the presidential race: The highest-ranking U.S. military officer has written an unusual open letter to all those in uniform, warning them to stay out of politics as the United States approaches a presidential election in which the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be a central, and certainly divisive, issue. Keeping our politics private is a good first step, he added. The only things we should be wearing on our sleeves are our military insignia. Mullen said he was inspired to write the essay after receiving a constant stream of legitimate, if troubling, questions while visiting U.S. military personnel around the world, including, What if a Democrat wins?... More
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  • TalkLeft: Obama Says He Will Be the Nominee Tuesday

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 12:23 PM
    Barack Obama said today the nomination for President is effectively his to claim on Tuesday or Wednesday. I heard him say it on CNN, here is the Wall St. Journal: Is the long Democratic primary finally over? Barack Obama says it will be on Tuesday. When asked by reporters if the general election begins on June 3, Obama gave a one-word answer: When asked if he will be the nominee, he said I hope so. I believe so. So, to Obama, the one plus million voters in Puerto Rico, South Dakota and Montana are irrelevant to the outcome. He perpetuates the myth that the nomination is decided solely on the basis of pledged delegates when the superdelegates can consider pledged delegates merely as one factor, also considering the popular vote... More
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  • TalkLeft: Ricky Martin and Others Call on Puerto Ricans to Vote for Hillary

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 12:09 PM
    Hillary Clinton got more support in Puerto Rico today.(in Spanish, my translation skills are minimal but here is what I get): The president of the Office of Dominican Subjects in Puerto Rico, Luis Aguasvivas, today exhorted to his compatriots in the Island to vote for Hillary Clinton. ....The triumph in Puerto Rico of the senator Hillary Clinton will contribute to the development of social projects in favor of our community, in the fields of migratory reform federal aid to programs of improvement of health, education, allocation of resources for the development of micro-enterprises, as well as of technical-vocational programs of education, it maintained in an official notice. Singer Ricky Martin issued this press release in Puerto... More
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  • TalkLeft: The Famous DNC "Waivers" For the 4 Early States

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 10:18 AM
    The defense you will hear to my strict DNC rules argument is that the early states received "waivers." In fact, they did not until AFTER they had scheduled their primaries in violation of DNC Rule 11, which was never formally amended. According to the DNC Memo of today, this makes these "waivers" against the DNC Rules. But worse than that, there is nothing in the circumstances of those waivers that are in any way different from the Florida situation. In short, the rules are rules for the DNC, except when they are not. Wayne Barrett told the story well: The national party had tried - before New Hampshire's case wound up on its docket - to leave the impression that zero tolerance was automatic once violations of the schedule occur. Back... More
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  • Hot Air: Ronulan alert: Globe notes Paul high-water mark in Idaho

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 10:00 AM
    How difficult should it be for Ron Paul to win votes in states where John McCain doesn't campaign in a primary the Senator has already won?... More
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  • TalkLeft: Hillary's 11 Page Memo To Superdelegates

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 08:36 AM
    Bump and Update: Here is the 11 page memo (pdf)that accompanied Hillary's letter today that went out to more than 800 superdelegates and party officials. Some good points: On February 8th, Senator Obama said that if someone had the most pledged delegates and the most votes in the country, that it would be problematic for political insiders to overturn the judgment of the voters. It appears that when all the votes are counted on June 3rd, Hillary Clinton will be the candidate with the most votes. The automatic delegates then face the choice between one candidate with more pledged delegates and another candidate with more popular vote [More...] Hillary leads among these core constituencies: women, seniors, Latinos, working classs and... More
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  • TalkLeft: The GOP Talking Point On FL/MI

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 08:03 AM
    Rich Lowry : [T]he Democrats attachment to the unadulterated popular will has gone the way of the hanging chad. Suddenly, Democrats are sticklers for rules. . . . A mere matter of timing has been enough to to use the 2000 argot 2.3 million Democratic voters. Its easy to imagine what Democrats circa 2000 would say about this. Denying the votes in Florida and Michigan would betray the generation of patriots who risked and sacrificed on the battlefield in the American Revolution, and be tantamount to the poll taxes and literacy tests, violence and intimidation, dogs and tear gas of the Jim Crow era. Counting the votes ensuring that every voice is heard and every vote is counted would be a cause worthy of the abolitionists and... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Saturday: A Mess in the Making

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 07:29 AM
    As I assume most of you know, the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) will meet Saturday to help decide the fates of the Florida and Michigan delegates and hence the fates of the campaigns of Senators Clinton and Obama. Along with others, I predict Saturday's meeting will end not with a resolution but with a non-conclusion, a mere speedbump on Clinton's push to the August convention. Here are my top five reasons why: (1) The members of RBC are already being warned that the meeting could go into Sunday . When you're confident about reaching a durable solution, you usually don't extend the meeting before it even starts. (2) The Clinton camp has pre-defined absolute success via four criteria, the third of which (seating all delegates)... More
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  • TalkLeft: If The DNC Is Going To Strictly Apply The Rules . . .

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 05:46 AM
    And if the DNC Memo expresses the views of the Rules and Bylaws Committee then the following action should occur on May 31: Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina must be stripped of at least 50% of their delegates. As Florida Representative Ted Deutch states : Rule 11 clearly prohibits primaries or caucuses from being held prior to the first Tuesday in February, except in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, each of which is assigned very specific limits on when they may hold their contests. Florida Democrats were penalized for violating Rule 11 when our state moved the primary seven days too early. Michigan Democrats, whose state moved 21 days early, were penalized, too. Oddly, Democrats in three other states [the three... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Around The Campaign 2008 Sphere May 28, 2008

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 05:27 AM
    The general election campaign has informally begun. And there's the usual spate of stories wondering when and if Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton will get outand blogs blasting those who are wondering. Here's our highly popular linkfest that takes you to blogs of various opinions. IS EVERYONE WRONG ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON? Is her camp really hoping for a decision on seating Michigan and Florida that isn't in their favor so they can whip up their supporters? John Cole thinks everyone is missing what is really going on. BUT HERE'S ANOTHER VIEW from Talk Left's Big Tent Democrat , one of the best pro-Clinton bloggers on the Internet (who also wrote great stuff some years ago on Daily Kos). TO SOME THE POLITICAL QUESTION OF THE... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: The 13 Keys To The White House

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 05:20 AM
    With the two major party nominees all but settled, speculation has begun to flow as to the outcome of the November election. Almost every day we see polls from the key swing states which are analyzed by all of the pundits, and yet most of them are guessing from day to day who will win. Of course this is hardly a new situation; pundits have been trying to predict the outcome of the elections for decades and usually with mixed results at best. In the early 1980's, a political scientist named Allan Lichtman decided to try and figure out a way to predict the outcome of Presidential elections without having to rely on the polls. Over the last 25 years he has worked to modify and perfect this system with considerable success. In... More
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  • Hot Air: Indistinguishable obfuscation: The NYT and Obama on Iran

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 03:30 AM
    After their news desk reported on the IAEA's conclusion that Iran has acted with malice in hiding its nuclear-weapons program, one might have expected the New York Times editorial board to put the blame on... More
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  • The Moderate Voice: Hillary Clinton Falsely Claims She Leads In Every Poll

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 03:10 AM
    Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton is now saying that unlike Democratic nomination rival Senator Barack Obama she beats GOP presumptive nominee Senator John McCain in every poll. The problem: it is not true. On May 26th this site ran THIS POST about Bill Clinton making the same claim - -and we offered links to pages that clearly show that in some polls Obama beats McCain and in some polls by a bigger margin than Clinton. Now CBS' Fernando Suarez reports on Hillary Clinton picking up her husband's line and he calls her on it: During an evening rally in Montana’s largest city Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton explained to the crowd why she should be the Democratic Party’s nominee, but what ensued was a list of overstatements and... More
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  • TalkLeft: New Puerto Rico Poll: Clinton By 13, 19 Among LVs

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 03:03 AM
    A new Univision/El Vocero poll of Puerto Rico has Clinton ahead by 13 over Obama, 51-38 (59-40 among LVs). However, the reporting of the results makes it somewhat difficult to interpret what it all means. For example, the poll says it found that 50% will not vote. Now, that sounds bad for Puerto Rico (where turnout is usually over 80% of the electorate), but imagine 50% turnout in the states in a primary. That is remarkable. I would add that that would project that a million voters will vote on Sunday. If Clinton wins by 13, and a million voters come out, then Clinton would gain 130,000 in the popular vote contest. Not a bad day at all for her. The was a Greenberg poll done in the way Puerto Rico polls generally are done - in face to... More
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  • TalkLeft: New Puerto Rico Poll: Clinton By 13

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 03:03 AM
    A new Univision/El Vocero poll of Puerto Rico has Clinton ahead by 13 over Obama. However, the reporting of the results makes it somewhat difficult to interpret what it all means. For example, the poll says it found that 50% will not vote. Now, that sounds bad for Puerto Rico (where turnout is usually over 80% of the electorate), but imagine 50% turnout in the states in a primary. That is remarkable. I would add that that would project that a million voters will vote on Sunday. If Clinton wins by 13, and a million voters come out, then Clinton would gain 130,000 in the popular vote contest. Not a bad day at all for her. By Big Tent Democrat... More
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  • Hot Air: Isolationism you can’t afford

    Anonymous [Edit] | May 28, 2008 02:30 AM
    The Asia edition of the Wall Street Journal rips Barack Obama's efforts to block the US-South Korea free-trade agreement today... More
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