The Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet Saturday, May 31st in Washington DC in an effort to decide what to do about Michigan and Florida.  The entire meeting will be broadcast on CSPAN.  Most believe that the DNC will seat half the delegates of each state.  If the DNC decides to seat all of Florida and Michigan’s delegates as is, Sen. Clinton would make a dent in Obama’s lead.  This result is unlikely however given the following statement by Nancy Pelosi after speaking at meeting in front of the San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board in California.  In expressing the neccesity for exacting some sort of penalty to Florida and Michigan, Pelosi said “[i]f you have no order and no discipline in terms of party rules, people will be having their primary in the year before the presidential election,” she said. “So there has to be some penalty.” 

In addition, Pelosi and Harry Reid released a statement Thursday night to the New York times pressing superdelegates to make their decision known by next week.  Reid and Pelosi made clear that they do not want this RBC meeting on Saturday to extend this protracted primary race any further by way of appeals, etc.  The two top congressional democrats plan to urge uncommitted superdelegates to make their decision known by the middle of next week to be exact.  Reid went further by saying that the nominee will be known by Wednesday of next week.  Because superdelegates are members or aspiring members of Congress, word from Reid and Pelosi add a new kind of pressure to the superdelegates. This is bad news for the Clinton Campaign who have been making utterances about taking this to the Credentials Committee at the August convention.

As for the RBC meeting this Saturday, Clinton supporters are expected to protest.  The Obama campaign however has opted to go a different route.  Campaign Obama has asked its supporters not to protest but to take this opportunity to register voters within their community.  The campaign has organized a mass voter registration drive and request that Obama supporters go to www.barackobama.com to find their local registration drive location. The following statement was released by the Obama campaign. 

On Saturday, the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic National Committee will meet in Washington D.C. to determine whether Florida and Michigan delegates should be allowed to participate at the Democratic convention in August. We look forward to the meeting proceeding smoothly—and we’re asking that our supporters not demonstrate or disrupt the proceedings in any way.

The following is a list of members, who are also superdelegates, of the Rules and Bylaws Committee and which candidate each member supports.

Co-Chairs – no endorsement
Alexis Herman (co-chair, Washington , D.C. )
James Roosevelt, Jr. (co-chair, Massachusetts )

Members – Clinton supporters (13)
Hartina Flournay (DC)
Donald Fowler (SC)
Harold Ickes, Jr. (DC)
Jaime Gonzalez, Jr. (TX)
Alice Huffman (CA)
Ben Johnson (DC)
Elaine Kamarck (MA)
Eric Kleinfeld (DC)
Mona Pasquil (CA)
Mame Reiley (VA)
Gary Shay (CA)
Elizabeth Smith (DC)
Michael Steed (MD)

Members – Obama supporters (8)
Martha Fuller Clark (NH)
Carol Khare Fowler (SC)
Janice Griffin (MD)
Thomas Hynes (IL)
Allan Katz (FL)
Sharon Stroschein (SD)
Sarah Swisher (IA)
Everett Ward (NC)

Members – no known endorsement (7)
Donna Brazille (DC)
Mark Brewer (MI)
Ralph Dawson (NY)
Yvonne Gates ( NV)
Alice Germond (DC) – DNC Secretary
David McDonald (WA)
Jerome Wiley Segovia (VA)

There has been significant punditry and widespread rumouring that Sen. Jim Webb would be a great VP for Barack Obama.  I disagree.  Sen. Webb has not endorsed Obama or any democratic candidate for that matter.  Webb continues to say that he has not felt the urge to endorse any of the candidates.  Webb also said that he would strongly discourage either of the democratic candidates from asking him to be their VP.  Okay, in my opinion this gives Obama an easy out.  Webb has quite a bit of baggage with respect to women’s issues and  political decisions.  Webb’s track record would definitely take away from Obama’s message.  When I hear Webb speak I sense an awkward uneasiness with respect to the democratic platform. Perhaps because he is only newly democrat. Also, While Web may be a good politician, word on the street is that he is not very good at the campaigning/running aspect of the the political game.  Rumors are also circulating regarding former Virginia governor Mark Warner.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won Kentucky by a significant margin. With 100% of the vote in, Clinton won Kentucky 65% to 30%.  The fact that Clinton was able to garner such a significant amount of support when it is being reported that her campaign is on its last legs is a testament to her skill and tenacity.  The Kentucky win also increased Clinton’s popular vote count by 250,000.  The Clinton campaign also reported that she raised 22 million in the month of April.  Unfortunately, it will not make a difference in this primary process.  Most have concluded unoficially that Barack Obama is the democratic nominee.  During Obama’s speech he recognized Clinton for her contribution, formidability, and history making campaign.  The Ilinois senator said this about his rival, “Senator Clinton has shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and yours will come of age.”  I agree with this comment wholeheartedly.  Congratulations Sen. Clinton for a race worthy of a significant moment in history.

After John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama last night, one of his delegates did not wast any time in rallying behind the Illinois senator.  Joshua Denton,  a New Hampshire Democratic Party delegate and Iraq war veteran said that he will support Barack Obama now that Edwards has endorsed Obama.  See his statement below.

A New Hampshire Democratic Party delegate who had supported John Edwards says he will support Barack Obama, now that Edwards has endorsed his former political rival for the party’s presidential nominee.
more stories like this

Joshua Denton of Portsmouth, 26, an Iraq war veteran, says he thinks that both Obama and Hillary Clinton would be a better president than Republican nominee John McCain. He thinks that Obama is the change the country needs, along with having the best chance of beating McCain in the general election.

“My fear with Hillary was just because she is who she is — for better or worse — she would sink, not just lose the presidency,” but Democrats in Congress, Denton said Wednesday. – Boston Globe

Hours before bitter-gate at a speaking engagement just before the comments about guns and “bitter” were made, Obama revealed his true feelings about guns.  Obama made the following statement, “[w]e need sensible gun laws,” said the Senator. “I just got back from Montana where just about everyone has guns. In that culture, fathers and sons bond over hunting. You can’t take that away from rural America. But the inner city is different, and we should tighten the laws on gun purchases and close the loopholes in gun show sales to unscrupulous buyers. The gun control people and the right to bear arms people are talking past each other about disconnected topics.”  Obama said this just a few hours before the meeting in San Francisco where “bitter-gate” happened.  It’s unfortunate that the main stream media did not pick up this story but instead spun bitter-gate beyond recognition. 

The Obama campaign sent a message to all its surrogates and supporters not to beat up on Hillary Clinton and to allow her time to bow out of the presidential race gracefully and in her own time.  From the top down, the Obama Campaign sent word that it did not want its surrogates to pressure Clinton into a decision before she is ready.  So in repayment for this gesture, Clinton went out on the campaign trail and started the race-baiting once again.  Clinton said in an interview with USA Today:

“I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on,” she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article “that found how Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.” ……”There’s a pattern emerging here,” she said…….”These are the people you have to win if you’re a Democrat in sufficient numbers to actually win the election. Everybody knows that.”

So now Hillary Clinton is openly and unabashedly playing the race card in her last desperate attempt to exploit instead of heal the racial divisiveness that has plagued our country for generations.  Why?  For political gain.    So much for her speech in Indiana emphasizing party unity.  This writer really believed that Clinton had turned a corner on Tuesday night when she for the first time in at least 13 Obama wins, actually acknowledged and congratulated the Illinois Senator for his win in North Carolina.  I guess that was just a weak moment on her part.  Instead Clinton seems to have initiated a new strategy which appears to be to shift the narrative to Obama can’t win “white” voters.  Well just to point out the obvious, democrats usually lose the white vote in the general election.  And, it is actually the black vote that enabled Bill Clinton to become President in 1992 and 1996.  As to this new strategy, it didn’t work when Sen. Clinton referred to such voters as “working class voters” or “blue-collar workers” and it will not work when she just comes outright and says ”white voters.”  At this point, Clinton is only damaging herself with this last ditch effort to polarize the electorate with such racially based undertones.  Working class voters do not want to be branded  as a group that will not vote for the black guy.  Just like men do not want to be branded as men who will not vote for the woman.  We all have higher aspirations of unification and healing.  Just like Rev. Wright is stuck in the 1960′s, Sen. Clinton may be stuck there also if she really believes that such tactics will help her gain votes.  

Clinton seems to be touting the idea that racial divisiveness makes her more electable than Obama in a contest with John McCain.  One problem with her theory, if Clinton were to miraculously win the nomination, she will not have an African-American as her opponent in the general election.  Hence, no racial divide.  It will be a white woman against a white man.  More importantly, it will be Hillary Clinton, with all the Bill baggage, against “maverick” John McCain.  Hmmm, I wonder which way those working class voters will go.  That is the problem when your winning strategy is heavily dependent upon voters voting against the opposing candidate instead of voting for you.  Such voters tend to be disloyal and transient when the object of their distaste is removed from the equation.  The other important point to be made is that Clinton’s statement is not true.  In fact, Clinton has slandered “working class Americans.”  The real truth of the matter is that Obama has increased his support among working class Americans from Ohio through to Indiana.  For voters earning less than 50k annually, Obama increased his support from 42% in Ohio to 50% in Indiana.  For voters with no college education, Obama increased his support from 40% in Ohio to 46% in Indiana.  The percentage of white Americans in Ohio and Indiana is 82.9% and 83.9% respectively.  So one might conclude that Indiana is whiter than Ohio.  Yet, Obama’s support among such voters increased to 50%.  So the “pattern” that Clinton speaks of is a steady increase of Obama support among “working class voters” as this primary winds up.   All that said,  it looks as if Obama’s hope that Clinton would exit gracefully is a different scenario than she has in mind.  Just goes to show you, no good deeds go unpunished.

Congressman and superdelegate Brad Miller endorsed Barack Obama after meeting with Obama during the Senator’s visit to Capitol Hill today.  Miller released the following statement. 

“I will cast my vote as a delegate in Denver for Senator Barack Obama. The decision was not easy. Senator Clinton has run an impressive campaign, and has spoken eloquently to the concerns to working and middle class American families. She is one of the great leaders of this generation.”  Senator Obama understands that he has the chance not just to win the election this year, but to be a great president. Americans know that Republican policies have failed because their ideas are wrong. Americans know that our government has not acted to use Franklin Roosevelt’s words, as trustees for the whole people, but have taken the side of powerful economic interests on every issue. Americans want a fundamental change in course.  Senator Obama seized that opportunity. If Senator Obama and Democratic candidates up and down the ticket win this year and then deliver next year, we can build a consensus that will last a generation.”

Rick Larsen, the Congressman and one of the superdelegates for Washington state, gave the following reasons for his recent endorsement of Barack Obama.  

Larsen said Obama is “the best candidate to turn our best hopes for a better future into reality.”  He went on to praise Obama’s fortitude in North Carolina and Indiana by saying,  ”he can take a pounding and come back strong to deliver his message of hope and change. He is tough as nails…….This week, Senator Obama has proven that he is tough and resilient. He has shown that he can take a pounding, come back and continue to communicate with the public to deliver his message of hope and change.   In my district, Senator Obama has strong grassroots support.  He has inspired and energized my constituents like no other candidate.  I believe that Senator Obama will be the best President for our country. I have been particularly impressed by Senator Obama’s truth-telling on a proposed gas tax policy – a proposal which would make little or no difference for Americans paying too much at the pump.  Our country faces great challenges.  As President, I believe that Barack Obama can unite our country to overcome obstacles and deliver real change.”

Congressman and superdelegate, Brian Baird also of Washington state, endorsed Barack Obama today. Baird gave the following statement regarding his endorsement.

“Our nation faces extraordinary challenges domestically and abroad,” Baird said in a statement released by the Obama campaign. “I believe Sen. Obama will bring a vision of unity that will rekindle the very best of our society and help all Americans move past the partisanship of the past and into the progressive partnership of the future.  It has been many years since Americans, particularly young Americans, felt the sense of enthusiasm, hope and involvement that Senator Obama has inspired. We need to nurture that enthusiasm for the good of all Americans, and I look forward to working closely in Congress with President Obama.”

I guess Sen. Obama’s trip to the House floor during session today really paid off.  That puts the total delegates, including superdelegates,  for Obama at 1851.5, and for Clinton at 1695.  Obama needs 173 to hit the 2025 that clinches the nomination.  Clinton needs 329.5 to reach the 2025 number. 

Trickle, trickle, drip, drip. 

ABC News has learned that David Bonior, the campaign manager for the 2008 presidential race of Sen. John Edwards, D-NC, will endorse Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, today.Bonior, a former Michigan congressman, was once the second highest ranking Democrat in the House, and is influential with labor unions.

Tuesday night’s results were said to be key to Bonior’s decision — specifically the fact that Obama’s lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, appears insurmountable.

Bonior is also said to like Obama’s general positive tone, as well as Obama’s message of change and stance against taking money from federal lobbyists.

Yesterday after Obama’s decisive North Carolina victory and Clinton’s squeaker win in Indiana, the Obama campaign announced three new superdelegates: Jerry Meek, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party, Jeanette Council, a member of the D.N.C. from North Carolina and Inola Henry, a member of the D.N.C. from California.   Obama also gained a fourth superdelegate– Virginia Assembly member Jennifer McClellan, who switched from Clinton.  McClellan is the ninth Clinton superdelegate who have switched to Obama since the Super Tuesday primaries on Feb. 5.  Thus far there have been no switches from Obama to Clinton.  McClellan gave the following statement in a conference call with reporters as to why she decided to support Obama,  “I think the time has come to support Senator Obama as the likely nominee,”….. “Given what happened last night, it’s very unlikely we will have a different result, and it is time to come together as a party and prepare for victory against John McCain in November.”  The current delegate count, including superdelegates is Obama 1847.5, Clinton 1697.  A total of 2025 delegates are needed to win the democratic nomination.

The defections from the Clinton campaign have begun.  George McGovern, who endorsed Clinton back in 2007, has just endorsed Barack Obama!  McGovern is also urging Clinton to get out of the race.  The former Iowa Senator has been a long time friend of the Clintons since the then unmarried couple were instrumental in the Texas effort of McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign bid. McGovern says that he will call Bill Clinton to inform him of his decision.  UPDATE:  McGovern says that he has talked to President Clinton and informed him of his decision.  The former Senator also said that he and Bill had a pleasant conversation with no voices being raised.  McGovern gives as his reason for endorsing Barack Obama the following; ”the time has come for democrats to unite and get ready for a tough race against John McCain.”  He says that he is “hopeful that Sen. Clinton will see fit fairly soon.” 

Barack Obama wins North Carolina by a whopping 14 point margin 56-42!  Sen. Clinton wins Indiana by a slight margin of 51-49.  Sen. Clinton said in the days leading up to the North Carolina that the state would be a game changer.  Apparently North Carolinians made the decision that they would not be gamed.  Both states experienced record turnout during this primary.  Over 1.5 million voters turned out in North Carolina.  Over 1 million voted in Indiana.  Obama shifts to general election mode and most say that the elected delegate is over.  Most say that Obama is now the nominee.  Obama improved his numbers with women in both states.  Clinton has had arguably the best four weeks of her campaign with allies such as the press, republicans, and John McCain.  Obama on the other hand has had the worst four weeks of his campaign and the Clinton campaign was unable to capitalize on it.  For the past two months Obama was hit from all sides; the media, all the Clintons, the republican party, John McCain, Rush Limbaugh, etc.,  and Sen. Obama weathered the storm beautifully.  The idea that this freshman Senator from Illinois will be the nominee for the President of the United States is an absolutely extraordinary accomplishment of Obama, his campaign, and the American people.  Anyone who says that he cannot beat Sen. McCain in the general election are simply blowing smoke.  Obama has shown numerous times what he is made of and now it’s time for the superdelegates to put us all out of our misery and call this thing.  Clinton’s numbers with core democratic groups such as African-Americans are becoming more and more dismal.  While Obama’s numbers with women and low income white voters have steadily improved.  Clinton won a mere 6% of the African-American vote in North Carolina and only 8% in Indiana.  These numbers are down from Ohio and Pennsylvania which were 13% and 10% respectively.  Obama increased his popular vote number by 240,000 votes.  This is more than Clinton the 200,000 votes than Clinton won Pennsylvania by.  The question now is when will Clinton bow out gracefully?  Does not make sense for Clinton to continue this race if there is not a realistic chance of her winning in the popular vote or in elected delegates?  Not really.  There is no rational reason to continue.  Superdelegates now do not have a reason to hold back and drag this race out until June.  Clinton has lost her last chance to pull an upset and it is time to unify behind the nominee.  UPDATE:  Tim Russert proclaims Obama the nominee and Clinton cancelled all morning interviews and campaign appearances for today.  It looks like this is finally coming to its conclusion folks.

Sen. Hillary Clinton said yesterday that all the economists who disagree with her gas tax holiday are “elite.”  Sen. Clinton went on to say that she thinks if “we did it right”  then it can be done.  However, if you cannot name a single economist who thinks that this is a good idea then how exactly will you, Sen. Clinton, “do it right.”  Do you have a special kind of knowlege that the people whose life work is studying, writing about, and problem solving the economy do not have?  Economist say that this is a horrible idea and even if by some miracle you were able to get such a bill passed through the Senate before the summer, during your free time while competing in a highly contested presidential race, that oil companies and retailers will raise their prices in order to capture the tax relief.   American families will not see any of the relief of which you speak when they fill up at the pump.  Clinton supporter, Paul Krugman of the New York Times called the idea “pointless and disappointing.”  Krugman also says that the “gas tax plan is a giveaway to oil companies, disguised as a gift to consumers.”  Obama has called the plan a political gimmick designed to pander to Indiana and North Carolina voters and does not give any relief to the American people.   Also, in a recent CBS poll, the overwhelming majority of Americans agree with Sen. Obama and see this tax suspension plan as a political ploy by Clinton designed to get votes and has nothing to do with helping out ordinary Americans.  It is occurrences like these that may explain why 60 percent of voters think that Sen. Clinton is dishonest.  This is a new day, voters are engaged and they are listening….don’t insult our intelligence.  Progress

Joe Andrew, who Bill Clinton appointed Chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1999, has just switched his support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama.   Andrew has been a supporter of Sen. Clinton since she first announced her bid for the presidency.  Andrew made is announcement at a press conference in his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana Thursday morning.   During the press conference Andrew encouraged his fellow Democrats and Hoosiers to end this madness and unite behind Barack Obama for Tuesdays primary.  In his telephone interview with the Associated Press Andrew said “I am convinced that the primary process has devolved to the point that it’s now bad for the Democratic Party.”  Andrew also cited additional reasons for his switch in a letter to superdelegates.  In the letter the former DNC Chairman says ”a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue this process, and a vote to continue this process is a vote that assists (Republican) John McCain.”  Andrew went on to say  “[w]hile I was hopeful that a long, contested primary season would invigorate our party, the polls show that the tone and temperature of the race is now hurting us,” Andrew continued. “John McCain, without doing much of anything, is now competitive against both of our remaining candidates. We are doing his work for him and distracting Americans from the issues that really affect all of our lives.”  Andrew said that teh Obama campaign never asked him to switch his support but he did so after witnessing the principled way that Obama has handled two recent issues that have challenged his campaign.  The Wright controversy and the gas tax holiday qestion.  Andrew praised the fact that Obama stuck to his guns with respect to the gas tax holiday even though the politically expedient thing to do would have been to go along with Clinton and McCain on this issue.  And, he also praised Obama’s handling of the Jeremiah Wright controversy saying that Obama “has shown such mettle under fire.”  Andrew’s decision also increases Obama’s superdelegate count thereby clossing in on Clinton’s current lead.  The current count for superdelegates 247-263 Clinton.  However, Obama leads in the delegate count overall 1735.5 to 1597.5 for Clinton.  Last count, 230 superdelegates remain undecided, and about 60 more will be selected at state party conventions and meetings throughout the spring

CBS News reports: 

During the question and answer session, an 82-year-old woman encouraged Obama not to attack his opponents. “Don’t hit on Hillary, bring us all back, let her do that stuff,” said Jean Weiss, a Wilmington resident. “Leave her alone, you don’t need to do that, you are higher than that. Bring us up higher than that.”

“Will you be my running mate?” Obama asked as the crowd cheered. “That’s my running mate there, she got me fired up!”

As much as the media continue to act as if Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Sen. Barack Obama are the same person, they are not.  In the last 24 hours, the main stream media has given Rev. Wright a total of 15 hours of uninterrupted air time.  Newsflash:  Rev. Wright is not running for president!  Sen. Barack Obama is running for president!  Does anything that Rev. Wright has to say affect how we can solve the mortgage crisis?  Does anything that Rev. Wright has to say solve my problem with $4 a gallon gas?  Can anything that Rev. Wright says bring our soldiers home from Iraq sooner?  Can Rev. Wright do anything about our sinking economy?  I’ll answer those questions for you…..No.  So why is the main stream media giving him a national platform to indulge in his self serving, egocentric agenda?  Why?  I’ll tell you why.  It is the the mains stream media’s and the pundit class’ full frontal attack in trying to shape public opinion.  Rev. Wright is on a publicity tour  promoting his own agenda and his book that apparently will be coming out at the end of the year.  The traditional media continues to focus on Wright’s words as if they were the words of Barack Obama himself to the glee of Hillary Clinton.  Why you ask….ratings, lack of material directly from Obama himself, the illigitimate guilt by association argument, creating the illusion of a horse race.  Jeremiah Wright made these inflammatory comments, not Barack Obama.  But with the amount of media attention that Wright has received you would swear that he is the presidential candidate.  Alas, to the mainstream media’s disappointment, Wright is not the candidate, Obama is the candidate.  Last I checked, guilt by association is not a valid argument when attempting to impune a presidential candidate’s character.  Ask John McCain? 

Side question: Why has the the media refuse to focus on religious extremist John Hagee whose endorsement was heavily sought and enthusiastically accepted by John McCain?  Before announcing yesterday that Wright is fair game, and after emphatically promising not to use the Wright issue in his bid for the presidency, McCain had already broken his word when he used the Wright controversy to deflect attention from his Pastor Hagee problem.  Sen. McCain then used an explanation made by Obama to justify future use of the Wright issue in his bid for the presidency after-the-fact.  But Obama has rejected and denounced Rev. Wrights comments.  Unlike McCain who actively sought and continues to “appreciate” and be “very grateful” for Hagee’s support and  endorsement with full knowledge of Hagee’s bigoted and divisive comments and viewpoints.   How then does McCain have the unmitigated gall to come out and criticize Obama for his association with Rev. Wright?  Why….because the traditional media allows McCain to get away with it.  The same way that the media allows Hillary Clinton to get away with criticizing Obama for actions that she herself has engaged in to a much more substantial degree.  The same way the media accepts and gives maximum traction to a characterization made by two candidates, each of whose household income  last year was over 100 million dollars,  that an African-American male reared by a single mother that collected welfare is an elitist. And, one of those 100 million dollar candidates attended the elite institutions Wellesley College and Yale law school.  The media accomplishes this jedi mind-trick through the continuous looping of the same story ad nauseam.  Every single time that the media asks McCain about Rev. Wright, the very next question should be….what about your sought after endorsement and knowing voluntary political affiliation with Pastor Hagee.  That is called “fair and balanced” investigative reporting. 

A message to Rev. Wright: 

Why?  Rev. Wright sir, you accuse the media of reducing your 30 years in the ministry to three or four 30 second soundbites.  Now sir, after viewing your performance at the National Press Club yesterday, you are reducing all the good accomplished during your 30 year ministry to a 60 minute self-made mockery.  You claim to be a preacher not a politician but you give your latest performance in front of the National Press Club in the political capital of America, Washington, DC.  Is this a pathetic attempt to battle Obama for the spotlight? Even your ” longtime friend” Roland Martin of CNN, whom you referred to in your speech to the NAACP, has criticized your National Press Club performance.  And lets be clear, that is exactly what it was….a performance. The national stage can be an enticing seductress, its up to you to remember that your role is to minister, not to entertain.  It is being reported that many people close to you begged you not to go on this media tour now.  Your answer was to do it anyway.  Result, Obama is a a week away from two pivotal primaries and what is the media talking about….you.  They are talking about the self absorbed preacher who seems to want to sabotage Barack Obama.  But then that is exactly the way you wanted it.  Using this media blitz as a pretense to allegedly redeem the “black church” when such blitz possess all the trappings of a selfish, ego-driven, egomaniacal, narcissitic, tirade to fan publicity for a book to be released year-end is just disappointing and insulting.  This writer takes extreme pause as to your true motivation and your character.  It seems that your repayment to a friend, who stood by you during a time when most would have walked away, is to throw that friend under the bus in pursuit of your own personal gain.  Fame is fleeting….and your 15 seconds will be up soon.  You could have taken the high road and continued to advocate for your real and legitimate causes but you chose to yuck it up in front of a national audience.  Fame can also be a fleeting seductress.  The only ones remaining when all the cameras are gone…..loyal friends.  It seems that you are still heavily mired in and exploiting the battles of the 60′s and 70′s.  Some of your talking points are dated and from a different time.  Perhaps now is a time to pause and reflect.  Now would also be a good time to heed your mother’s advice, you know…”better to remain silent and be thought of as a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”

For the last six weeks and post Ohio we have heard the following question asked by the main stream media…….why can’t Obama get the white, low-income or blue-collar worker vote?  Why can’t Obama close the deal with these voters?   Recently I was listening to a pundit panel when a viewer asked…..why so much emphasis on the blue collar vote in the general election?  What about the fact that if Clinton, by some miracle, wins the nomination…wouldn’t she have a significant problem with the African-American vote?  Why no questions as to how will Clinton ever be able to regain the support of one of the most significant Democrat constituencies in any general election?  Joe Scarborough dismissed the concern as not important because African-Americans are going to vote Democrat because they have voted Democrat for the last hundred years.   

Okay…never mind the insult to African-Americans that they mindlessly and automatically check the Democrat box without any thought about the candidate.   But, if you think that there will be no backlash against the Democratic party if they deny the first credible African-American candidate the nomination after such candidate has played by the rules and won by the rules,….you are in a fantasy world.  The backlash will not just be from African-American voters but from voters of every race who believe in a fair contest. This is a primary without a precedent.  So for those who are using history to conclude inevitability as the AA vote, think about how your predictions have played out in this race so far.  Remember, Hillary Clinton was once the inevitable nominee.  This is by every measure, an historic election that has deviated from the norm so much that the the abnormal is considered the norm when it comes to this race. 

As for African-Americans specifically, they may not be shouting in the streets….oh wait… I forgot about Al Sharpton…..okay, most African-Americans will not be shouting in the streets, but I am willing to bet money that they will not be in any hurry to get to the ballot box in November.  Especially not for someone who is widely perceived within the African-American community to have used race-baiting and dirty tricks to steal the nomination from the first contending African-American candidate. 

A significant segment of the African-American community have really been turned off by the Clintons….period.  Because of the tactics employed by the Clinton campaign in this nomination contest, the Clinton name no longer carries the cache that it once did within the AA community.  South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn came out and said as much last Friday.  The statesman from South Carolina said that African-American leaders and many within the African-American community  perceive the Clintons as trying to destroy Barack Obama.  Though African-Americans will probably not come outright and cast a vote for Sen. McCain, they will certainly not be in any hurry to cast a vote for someone who they perceive to have stolen the nomination from their candidate. 

Most pundits use the exit polls to conclude that Clinton supporters are less likely to vote for Obama than Obama supporters for Clinton.  I’ll say this once…Obama supporters are happy to “say” that they will support Clinton because it is clear that Obama will be the nominee.  My prediction is that if there is a threat of Clinton getting the nomination after Obama has won by most metrics, the tide will shift significantly.  Obama supporters will not be so willing to support a party, let alone a nominee, that would let that happen.  Newsflash to Pundit Class:  politics as usual do not apply here. 

How does Hillary Clinton get elected without the African-American vote?  Given the fact that McCain will probably get many of those independents.  And, the very real and strong possibility that all those newly registered voters, who have been  motivated solely because of Obama’s candidacy, will probably stay home?  Perhaps a month or two ago, the party could have rallied such voters, even with a perceived unjust result.  Perhaps this could have happened by both candidates dawning the stage together in Denver and singing kum-ba-ya.  However, now voters are firmly entrenched in their preferences.  If Hillary truly believes that African-Americans are just going to fall in line with the democratic party just to get her elected…especially after denying an African-American this historic opportunity, she is truly living in a parallel universe.  Especially because she did so by marginalizing Obama among low-income white voters into the scary black man.  Good luck trying to explain that away.  Just stating the facts folks.  The Clintons have made this personal.  They have done so by quickly attempting to deminish Obama wins in states with significant African-American populations (South Carolina, Mississippi etc… ).   At “The State of the Black Union” Sen. Clinton offered as an apology for her husband’s words “you know his heart.” Actually, after witnessing the way he has conducted himself during this primary and his easy willingness to throw African-Americans under the bus when his viability is threatened, I do not think that any American knows either of the Clintons, let alone their hearts.   

Finally, Clinton continues to push the claim that the GOP will use the Rev. Wright issue in the general therefore making Obama unelectable.  However, does Clinton really believe that the GOP will not push the fact that Clinton stole the election from the one viable African-American candidate thereby incensing members of the African-American community even further.  Clinton probably thinks that most democrats will search out information on her policies and the policies of McCain  and come to the logical conclusion that she, as the democratic nominee, is the obvious choice.  This writer predicts that most voters will not be INSPIRED to do that however.  Voters are more likely to make their choice based on what they see in the 30 second spots put out during the general by both campaigns.  When the GOP starts running the “she unfairly stole the nomination from your candidate,” ads, I guarantee that they will have an effect.  Who is more unelectable Sen. Clinton? 

Given the current state of this nomination race, it is virtually impossible for the superdelegates to give this nomination to Hillary Clinton without it not looking unjust, unfair, disillusioning, and disheartening to new voters and the African-American community.

Why do you think that the North Carolina republican party is running an attack ad against Senator Barack Obama and nothing against Clinton?  Why do you think Clinton remains in this race even though she, being the very smart woman that she is, realizes that there is no way that she can win this nomination without ripping the democratic party apart?  2012 is the answer to the second question.  By prolonging the race, Clinton helps out her self described “very good friend” John McCain get elected in the fall.  Given McCain’s age, and the current state of the union, it opens up the possibility for another Clinton White House in 2012.  As to the first question regarding the GOP attacks.  The GOP has much more material against Clinton than they do Obama, yet they decide to release two attack ads during a democratic primary.  The GOP continues to spout that they think Clinton will be the harder candidate to beat in a general election….yet they are running attack ads against Obama.  Why not let the candidate that you (GOP) allegedly perceive as the weaker opponent win the primary thereby making a GOP win in the fall much easier?  If I thought that the weaker opposing candidate was about to become my opponent in a general contest, I certainly would NOT put out attack ads against that weaker candidate so as to get the person I view as a stronger opponent nominated.  If I were the opposition, I would try and destroy the stronger candidate before he/she becomes my opponent in the general.  Think about it.  The GOP has issued two attack ads against Obama in a democratic PRIMARY!  Unprecedented!  And please do not drink the kool-aid suggesting that Clinton has been vetted and that the GOP does not have a war chest of Clinton ammunition that has been built up since the idea of Hillary Clinton as President first surfaced six years ago.  The GOP is salivating over the possibility of running against Clinton.  An email was sent last night from Rick Davis, chairman of the McCAIN campaign, pushing Clinton’s candidacy and talking up what a better candidate she is in comparison to Barack Obama.  Clinton is a tremendous fundraising tool for the republican party.  The GOP knows that a Clinton candidacy is a unifier like no other.  What also seems to be a new hot topic for main stream media is the fact that a larger percentage of Clinton than Obama supporters say that they will not vote for Obama in the general election but will instead vote for McCain.  HEY MEDIA!!!……it’s called posturing!  Given the way Hillary has run her campaign, are you surprised that her supporters will consider false threats as a tool in this race?  In other words, use fear to scare up your preferred result.  I very seriously doubt that when McCain puts all his cards on the table with respect to Iraq, the economy, education, etc., that few voters will actually vote McCain over Obama.  Especially for those whose only issue with Obama is that he is not Hillary Clinton.  Give me a break.  Has Obama run the U.S. into a ditch like the Bush policies…which McCain has pretty much vowed to continue?  Really, lets be honest…for democrats, the most important thing is getting a democrat into the White House.  Perhaps initially there will be anger and discontent among some disgruntled Hillary supporters…but I guarantee you that once the plans of Obama and McCain are laid side by side, democrats will have a clear choice.  Not to mention that Obama has played by the rules and won by the rules.  If Clinton were somehow to get the nomination, it would be through favoritism and a subsequent changing of the rules just to give Clinton the nomination.  How do you stay angry because your candidate did not illegitimately gain the nomination when the majority of the electorate legitimately voted for the other candidate?  Supporters may be angry for a second, but there is no sustainable basis for such anger.  The opposite can be said of Obama supporters if Obama were to be denied the nomination at this point.   A real test to the voting public’s resolve in demanding a different kind of politics will be whether it will reject the attacks of Clinton and the GOP attack machine as the distractions that they are intended to be. 

Clinton wins Pennsylvania.  As of Wednesday morning, according to the most recent tabulation from the Pennsylvania Secretary of State,  the current spread is 54.6% to 45.4% with 99.99% of the votes counted.  This is only a 9% spread which is much different than what the main stream media is reporting as 10%.  

Obama actually improved his numbers since Ohio, even though Pennsylvania is tailor made for Hillary Clinton.  In Ohio the spred was 10%, in Pennsylvania it is only 9%.  Pennsylvania has the second oldest population in the country, a demographic that is primed for a Clinton win.  This was also a closed primary where independents and republicans, two groups that Obama usually carries, were not allowed to vote.  Pennsylvania will divide 158 delegates proportionally between Obama and Clinton.  Turnout was 52%, double the turnout in 2004.  Exit polls reveal that voters whose primary issue is the economy are voting for Clinton 57 to 43.  Voters whose primary issue is Iraq are voting for Obama 57% to 43%.  There were 300,000 new voters in Pennsylvania, 35% of which are in Philadelphia and suburbs also known as Obama country.  17% of undecided voters made up their minds in the last three days.  Seniors vote to Clinton 61 to 38.  African-American vote to Obama 92 to 8.  White male to Clinton 55 to 45.  42%  says U.S. in a serious recession.  Less than 1% consider electability an issue.  Pennsylvania voters rated the following issues as most important: change 49%, experience 26%, cares about me 14%, electability 8%. 54% think that the economy is the most important issue, and 28% think that Iraq is most important.  1 in 5 Clinton voters feel that Obama will be the nominee.   64% of women voted for Clinton.  55% of white males voted for Clinton, 45% voted for Obama.  As for voters who thought that either candidate attacked the other unfairly, 67% thought that Clinton attacked Obama unfairly, and 48% thought that Obama attacked Obama unfairly.  Late deciders who decided within the last three days went to Clinton.  Newly registered democrats backed Obama.  In addition, 29% of those newly registered voters said that they would not vote for Clinton if she is the nominee. Clinton will probably net about 14 more delegates than Obama out of Pennsylvania, in addition to increasing her popular vote count by 200,000. 

Barack Obama is currently being accused by Hillary Clinton and John McCain of being “out of touch with real Americans.”  Why are both campaigns jumping on the “bitter”  comment.  The media is their partner in crime.  Because there is a lull in the political environment, the media has jumped on this like bees to vinegar trying to make it stick.  Not to mention that the fourth estate (media) is taking its direction directly from the Clinton campaign.    The media is overplaying this and the funny thing is that they are admitting that they are overplaying it while they are overplaying it.  News Flash main stream media: U.S. Representative of Kentucky, Geoff Davis, recently made this statement “I’m going to tell you something: That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button…….He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country.” Okay, a sitting U.S. Congressman just called a sitting African-American U.S. Senator a “boy.”  Are you kidding me?  Why is this not in a single news loop covering this election?  Even Clinton’s own surrogates see bittergate as a non-issue.  Governor of Philadelphia and Clinton supporter, Ed Rendell said yesterday that the ”bitter” comment is not a big deal and will disappear by the general election.  Even though his candidate Hillary Clinton is making the opposite argument.  Also, by saying that the media generated issue will disappear by the general election….is Ed Rendell saying that Barack Obama will be the democratic nominee? 
 

Apparently not everyone agrees with Sen. Clinton’s chracterization of Barack Obama’s comments regarding the frustrations of American workers.  Appointed as Secretary of Labor during the Clinton administration, Robert Reich sounds off about his native state of Pennsylvania and the role the mass media plays in this protracted political contest. 

I was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, 61 years ago. My father sold $1.98 cotton blouses to blue-collar women and women whose husbands worked in factories. Years later, I was secretary of labor of the United States, and I tried the best I could – which wasn’t nearly good enough – to help reverse one of the most troublesome trends America has faced: The stagnation of middle-class wages and the expansion of povety. Male hourly wages began to drop in the early 1970s, adjusted for inflation. The average man in his 30s is earning less than his father did thirty years ago. Yet America is far richer. Where did the money go? To the top.

Are Americans who have been left behind frustrated? Of course. And their frustrations, their anger and, yes, sometimes their bitterness, have been used since then — by demagogues, by nationalists and xenophobes, by radical conservatives, by political nuts and fanatical fruitcakes – to blame immigrants and foreign traders, to blame blacks and the poor, to blame “liberal elites,” to blame anyone and anything.

Rather than counter all this, the American media have wallowed in it. Some, like Fox News and talk radio, have given the haters and blamers their very own megaphones. The rest have merely “reported on” it. Instead of focusing on how to get Americans good jobs again; instead of admitting too many of our schools are failing and our kids are falling behind their contemporaries in Europe, Japan, and even China; instead of showing why we need a more progressive tax system to finance better schools and access to health care, and green technologies that might create new manufacturing jobs, our national discussion has been mired in the old politics.  Continue reading

There is a battle of leverage going on in politics between the House and the Bush White House.  Pelosi said in a press conference yesterday that the House plans to change it’s rules in order to not vote on the Colombian Free Trade Agreement this year.  The Bush administration unilaterally sent the Agreement to the House without following proper rules set in place by the TPA.  Pelosi accused the Bush administration of attempting to force the bill instead of letting Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) fully do its job.  Pelosi insists that the Bush Administration is not considering the state of our economy.  The democrats also say that many American workers are losing their jobs and homes and the government is not doing enough to return American’s workers to their original position.  Pelosi insists that we need to address the economic insecurities of America’s working families who have been displaced by free trade.  Ways Pelosi believes that the Bush Administration can do so is with a good faith effort toward the passage of a Healthcare bill and a Housing bill that addresses the home mortgage crisis.   Pelosi says that she warned the President against this unilateral action, now the House will take it’s action today by changing House rules that will avoid a vote on the Colombian Trade Agreement this year.  I guess you have to play the hand you’re dealt.  This is the same Colombian Bilateral Trade Agreement that Bill Clinton and Mark Penn of the Clinton campaign were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote and help get passed.  So much for  Sen. Clinton being the ”fighter” for the working class.

Hillary Clinton’s chief campaign strategist steps down after it was revealed that he met with the Columbian government regarding promoting its bilateral free-trade agreement.  Oh, and by the way, his employer and candidate Hillary Clinton….she opposes it…”as far as I know.”  Penn’s firm, Burson-Marsteller has represented the Columbian government regarding this trade deal all while being the chief driver and archetect of Clinton’s campaign.  After meeting with the Colombian government and getting caught, Penn attempted to apologize for the blunder by calling it “an error in judgement.” The Columbian government, insulted by Penn’s apology, fired Penn soonafter he made it.  Penn’s firm signed a $300,000 contract with the Colombian government in March 2007.  Uhhhh…didn’t his firm collect $8 million from the Clinton campaign for work completed just through February 2008 alone.  That was a serious “error in judgement!”  Penn has been a walking, talking, conflict of interest since campaign Clinton’s inception.  Not just for this most recent conflict but also for other clients represented by the firm that are in direct contrast to positions held by his candidate and boss, Hillary Clinton.   The most glaring contradiction is Clinton’s current positing of a  pro-labor stance and pandering to the working class while Penn’s firm is advising numerous anti-labor corporations.  Penn is the person who crafted Clinton’s primary campaign message based on strength and experience.  He also was responsible for the 3AM phone call ad.  Representatives from the Clinton campaign says that Howard Wolfson will now “coordinate” the campaign “strategic” messages.  This past weekend, seven labor unions called on Hillary Clinton to get rid of Penn.  Which she allegedly did on Sunday night….kinda.  The Clinton campaign claims that he will  no longer be “chief strategist” but the campaign will continue to seek advice from him regarding the campaign.  Is he fired or not?  Because Clinton is trying to win Pennsylvania, a state disproportionately and adversely affected by free trade, she may be engaged in a game of smoke and mirrors.  Apparently only Penn’s title has been taken away but Penn will still be doing the job.  The campaign is saying that Wolfson will now be “coordinating” the message, not developing or creating it.  Who will be developing and creating the message?  I am guessing that when asked about the Mark Penn situation during campaign stops, Clinton will respond….well, he is no longer my Chief campaign strategist.  Yes, he did lose his title, but he is still being paid and is doing the same job.  Simply tweaking Penn’s title does not change the serious conflict of interest that Penn’s presence poses for the Clinton campaign.  If Penn is surrounding himself by various anti-labor corporations and governments, it is very difficult to understand how that fact does not affect the advice that he gives to Hillary Clinton.  It is also difficult to believe, given Clinton’s knowlege of this obvious fact, that Clinton is not complicit in this blatant conflict of interest.  Or even worst, believes the exact opposite of what she claims on the campaign stump.    Penn’s firm also represents Blackwater, a notorious private security company contracted by the State department who is accused of various illegal activities and atrocities during it’s tenure in Iraq.   Another of Penn’s clients is Cintas, a notorious anti-labor uniform and laundry supply company currently on an agressive mission to block 20,000 of it’s garment workers and truck drivers from forming a labor union.  Should a candidate claiming to be “AGAINST NAFTA  from the beginning” and currently CLAIMING to OPPOSE all future trade agreement deals, be employing such individuals to direct her campaign.  Probably not.  Simply changing the title of Mark Penn does not rectify the problem….you’re still employing him, and the American public, and more specifically, Pennsylvania voters, are not so easily fooled.

Barack Obama raised $40 million for the month of March.  Just during March!  The $40 million was raised from 442,000 donors, 212,000 of which were first-time donors.  The average donation was $96.  Total donors that have donated to the Obama campaign thus far, 1, 276,000.  Unbelievable!  It looks like the Senator’s strategy of partnering with the American people has paid off big time.  Not to mention that it is validation for his opposition to special interest groups.  It looks like when Obama says that he will not be beholding to the lobbyists in Washington, the American people has put their money where Obama’s mouth is.  Hillary Clinton raised a respectable $20 million, still outraising McCain by a substantial margin.  McCain has not yet released his numbers.  One important thing to note is that the Internet has truly been an equalizer in this election.  It has democratized the political process in a significant way.  Citizens are making their voice heard.  The candidates are raising record amounts of money through the click of an email.  I believe that this election will be a pivotal turning point in our nation’s history.  Not just because we will have either our first African-American, or our first female democratic nominee; but because of the unprecedented access that technology has enabled the ordinary citizen and the presidential candidates to have to one another.  The Internet has enabled candidates to reach out to their supporters in an instant.  Millions of dollars can be raised in a matter of hours.  Whether its for fundraising, damage control, motivation, or reassurance, all that is needed is a simple inexpensive email communication.  Long gone are the days were a press conference was the most effective way to reach out to supporters, the Internet is much more effective and further reaching.  The same cannot be said about traditional media.  Though, technology does supplement traditional media, e.g., youtube, VOD, etc..  Ordinary citizens have unprecedented access to the candidates via the technological advances of the last decade.  Such advances require elected officials to answer to their constiuents more readily and consistently.  Citizens have become more engaged and informed thus more likely to be involved in the process.  And, more likely to hold officials accountable through their vote, and their pocketbooks.  This new development decreases the liklihood of politicians being controlled by political action committes and special interest groups.  I suspect that corporations and lobbyists will be be looking for an alternative route to influence legislation and officials moving forward.  For example, by rallying support from the new power brokers………American voters.  This is campaign finance reform at its best.  With reformation of campaign financing in full effect, the deep pocket route of political influence may be on its way to obsoletion.  Replaced by the influence of the ordinary citizen.  It is a new day in Washington.  Technology has enable citizens to become much more aware of the power they harness.  Because of the Internet, constituents are seeking out information that is actually important to them, instead of being told by the media what is important.  We, as voters, have become a much more significant part of the process simply by listening, reading, and getting involved.  More citizen involvement leads to much more accountability, which leads to a much stronger democracy.  Technology has caused our country to truly become a democracy of its citizens.  A democracy where the will of the people will be done.  Progress.