First, I would like to thank Sen. John McCain for his sacrifice and service to our nation.  He deserves our utmost respect for what he endured and his defense of country.  However, the candidates for President of the United States also deserve our utmost scrutiny before receiving a single vote for the nation’s highest office.  Especially with respect to leadership style and methodology.  Recently, I published a post  listing Sen. McCain’s various approaches to difficult political and personal issues.  As previously stated, I believe that this information is vital in determining whether the Arizona senator should be the next President of the United States.  I have come across additional information profiling the McCain method of dealing with a challenging political issue he faced in his home state of Arizona.  Because McCain is not this writer’s senator, I find illuminating the opinions of the people who know him best.  His fellow Arizona republicans.  This is from the people who have a birds-eye view of how McCain leads.  The leadership of the Arizona GOP have very strong opinions about Sen. McCain and his ability, or inability, to lead.  They are also very dissatisfied with his conservatism.  According to Max Blumenthal of the Nation, Bob Haney, the Republican state committee chairman in Arizona’s 11th District, had this to say:

“People would be calling in to [state committee] headquarters every week, absolutely enraged, threatening to leave the party because of some comments McCain made,’ Haney told me. ‘The guy has no core, his only principle is winning the presidency. He likes to call his campaign the ‘straight talk express.’   Well, down here we call it the ‘forked tongue express.’”. .

Dissatisfied with McCain’s commitment to the state, Haney introduced a resolution to censure the U.S. Senator for “dereliction of his duties and responsibilities as a representative of the citizens of Arizona.”  The resolution was introduced before Arizona’s largest GOP county committee and passed by almost unanimous vote.  That was the wrong move as far as McCain was concerned.  Rather then let stand what was viewed by most as a mere symbolic gesture, McCain wanted revenge.  Target:  Bob Haney and his allies.  McCain recruited a  candidate slate to oust Haney and his allies in that November’s state committee election.  Concerned about a loss and potential rebuke by his party, the Arizona senator put himself on the ballot in effort to makeover his image and increase his odds of winning this battle.  Both McCain and his slate suffered a resounding lost.  Arizona republicans gave their take on McCain’s handling of the situation.

Per Blumenthal: “McCain’s botched revenge has solidified his reputation in Arizona’s Republican circles as a divisive, untrustworthy and even dangerous figure. Haney hopes the general public meets this side of McCain before his penchant for angry reprisals is invested with the powers of the presidency. ‘This just shows that McCain is mentally unstable and out of control and vindictive,’ Haney told me. ‘If he is determined to go through that much trouble to attack a district committee chairman, what does that say about his ability to handle real political problems?”

Yes, what does that say indeed.  Is this the way McCain will handle America’s allies and enemies if they happen to anger him?  Will diplomacy or military might be the first line of defense in a McCain administration?  There are too many instances such as this that raise questions as to his ability to handle, not to mention effectively handle, the litany of challenges facing our nation.  In the Senate, checks and balances on each Senator’s power make it difficult for an individual senator to make a catastrophic blunder.  Not so in the Executive Office.  One word…Iraq.

As a voter, this writer is much more concerned that this person has a fifty percent chance of becoming the next President of the United States.

Hillary Clinton wins Puerto Rico!  Sen. Obama called Sen. Clinton to congratulate her on her win.  Unfortunately for Sen. Clinton, the turnout on the island was not enough to give her what she was hoping for in terms of a lead in the popular vote count.  The turnout was a disappointing 50% below what it has been in previous elections reaching a mere 384,000 of the 3 million registered voters.  The 55 delegates at stake will be divided proportionally.  Puerto Rico cannot vote in the general election therefore the primary does not speak to either candidates electability in November.  The Clinton family made a total of four visits to Puerto Rico in their vigorous effort to boost her popular vote count.  Sen. Clinton is expected to use the popular vote count to argue to superdelegates that she is the more electable candidate.  Also, Clinton’s claim of a higher popular vote count does not include caucus states, Guam, or the Virgin Islands.  States and territories won by Sen. Obama.  Clinton math….you gotta love it.  To clinch the nomination, the victorious candidate must win 2118 delegates by the end of the primary contest.  The previous 2025 number was increased yesterday to 2118 after the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee voted to include half of the Florida and Michigan delegations at the conclusion of their meeting on Saturday.  Thereby increasing the number of delegates to the 2118 number required to reach a majority because of the newly seated Michigan and Florida delegations.  The previous 2025 number did not include the Michigan and Florida delegations because both states delegates were stripped when both states moved up their primaries in violation of DNC rules.  The DNC RBC sat Florida as the voters voted in the Sunshine state giving Clinton 56 delegates to Obama’s 36.  From Michigan, Clinton received 38 delegates and Obama received 31 with Obama receiving the uncommitted votes in Michigan plus an additional four delegates to reach a total of 31 overall.   Including today’s results out of Puerto Rico as they stand now with 29% of the vote in, Obama has 2071.5 needing only 46.5 more delegates to clinch the required 2118 victory number.  Clinton has 1911, needing 207 more delegates to clinch the nomination.  There are a total of 204 undeclared superdelegates remaining.  After the results from South Dakota and Montana, Obama will need a mere 20-25, contingent upon the Montana and South Dakota margins of victory, of the undeclared superdelegates to win the nomination.  Clinton needs 195 of the remaining undeclared superdelegates to win the nomination.  On Tuesday, South Dakota and Montana go to the polls.  It is expected that the Obama campaign, in the next 48 hours, will roll out the additional 30 superdelegates it needs to clinch the nomination.  The Obama campaign is encouraging superdelegates to publicly declare before the Montana and South Dakota primaries so that it can declare an official victory soon after the polls close in these last two states.    

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)

ABC News’ Karen Travers Reports: For the first time this campaign season, Barack Obama has surpassed Hillary Clinton’s support among superdelegates, according to the ABC News delegate estimate.

Sen. Obama, D-Ill., picked up two superdelegates this morning giving him a new metric to tout in addition to his current commanding leads in pledged delegates, popular votes, states won, and money raised.

 Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., switched his endorsement from Clinton to Obama and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., endorsed Obama. DeFazio was previously uncommitted.

UPDATE:  The American Federation of Government Employees endorsed Barack Obama today.  AFGE President and superdelegate John Gage said “[o]ur people, I think, recognize the enthusiasm and vitality behind Senator Obama’s campaign.”  Gage was uncommitted, but to day also personally endorsed Barack Obama for President adding one more to Obama’s increasing superdelegate total.

California DNC member Ed Espinoza endorses Barack Obama for President. 

trickle, trickle, drip, drip

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

In contradiction to Hillary Clinton’s declarations this weekend about a credentials fight on the convention floor in Denver, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that the party will have a nominee soon after the Puerto Rico primary June 3rd.  The official primary period ends on June 10th.  After speaking at the California State Convention this weekend, Pelosi answered a couple of questions  from reporters.  Reporters asked whether the remaining uncommitted superdelegates will make their decision known by July?  Pelosi answered “[i]t will be much sooner, right after the public has voted.”   Another uncommitted superdelegate Bob Mulholland also chimed in, “[p]eople ought to just relax,” Mulholland said. “Whoever is ahead by 50 delegates or so, you’ll see the super delegates move that direction. It’ll just happen naturally.” Mulholland has not endorsed Obama or Clinton.  In her speech, House Speaker Pelosi told democrats to remain focused on November and to “keep your eye on the prize.”  Donna Brazil also said on This Week that the Democratic Party has an “exit strategy” and anyone who thinks that there will be a convention floor fight is sorely mistaken.  Brazil reiterated what seems to be a consensus of the remaining uncommitted superdelegates that the Party will not allow this fight to go to Denver.  Therefore, it looks like regardless of how many tantrums are thrown by the Clinton campaign, the party leaders are ending this fight well before the convention in August.  Thank goodness for small favors…this fight has been an emotional roller coaster for most engaged voters.  An additional fact worth mentioning is that even if the Democratic Party was silly enough to allow this to go to the Credentials Committee, the math still does not work in Clinton’s favor.  Howard Dean has already appointed 25 members to the credentials committee.  Each state sends three representatives to the Credentials Committee in Denver, Obama has won far more states than Clinton, therefore he will have far more representatives and support on the Credentials Committee.  That does not add up to a Hillary Clinton nomination.  Looks like the party leaders have made the decision not to join in on Clinton’s murder-suicide pact.

MI Caucus Likely, Says DNC Rules Committee Member

A member of the DNC’s Rules And Bylaws Committee–the committee that stripped Florida and Michigan of its delegates for moving their primaries before February 5th–told me that Michigan plans to get out of its uncounted delegate problem by announcing a new caucus in the next few days.“They want to play. They know how to do caucuses,” the DNC source said. “That was their plan all along, before they got cute with the primary.” Michigan Democrats had originally planned on caucuses after the legally permissible Feb. 5 date, but then went along with top elected Democrats, including Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who pushed for an early primary.

Hillary Clinton won that Jan. 15 primary, but was the only major candidate on the ballot. Barack Obama and John Edwards had removed their names, see story

Well here we are……Michigan and Florida as states of confusion within the Democratic Party.  The Clinton campaign, Michigan governor and Clinton supporter Jennifer Granholm, republican governor of Florida who is a staunch supporter of John McCain and serious contender for the VP spot on the McCain ticket,  Bill Crist,  and Clinton supporter Bill Nelson, are all pushing for Florida and Michigan to be seated at the convention in Denver.  As mentioned in earlier writing, a decision as to how to deal with this issue should have been released long ago.  Further, there is no way that Michigan and Florida can be seated without it being patently unfair not only to the Obama campaign but to all the voters of other states that worked within the rules of the DNC.  Regarding Michigan, Clinton’s name was the only one on the ballot and there is no way that anyone can legitimately argue that it was a fair race, end of story.  As for Florida, millions of voters did not vote and thereby will be disenfranchised because they were informed by the DNC, and the state government, that their vote will not count.  Therefore, the Florida result does not represent the will of all the citizens of Florida.  To seat Florida according to the primary that was held in January would be patently unfair to citizens who did not vote based on incorrect information.  How can anyone argue that it would be fair?  How is that the democratic process?  This is not a situation were voters made an informed decision and decided not to vote. If Florida is seated, the voters of Florida were essentially lied to, the voters relied on that lie when they did not show up at the polls and will be severely damaged as a result.  Last I heard we are suppose to trust that our government will not punish us for listening to the rules and making decisions based on such rules.  Howard Dean said yesterday that the rules will not be changed in the middle of the game.  The DNC Chairman went on to say that to change the rules in the middle of the game would not be fair to either candidate.  Further, Dean said that the candidates agreed to or were aware of the rules with respect to Michigan and Florida before each of them began their run for the presidency. Dean concluded by saying that if Michigan and Florida wants to be seated at the convention in Denver, both states will have to work within the rules that were in place at the beginning of the 2008 presidential campaign.  What that means is that the states will either have to host another primary or appeal to the credentials committee at the Denver  Convention.   Dean also said that there is no way that Florida and Michigan can break the rules and then be rewarded by being given the power to decide this election.  I agree.  All the other states were aware of the rules and worked within them.  The official statement from DNC Chairman Howard Dean went as follows:

The rules, which were agreed to by the full DNC including representatives from Florida and Michigan over 18 months ago, allow for two options. First, either state can choose to resubmit a plan and run a process to select delegates to the convention [another primary or caucus]; second, they can wait until this summer and appeal to the Convention Credentials Committee, which determines and resolves any outstanding questions about the seating of delegates. We look forward to receiving their proposals should they decide to submit new delegate selection plans and will review those plans at that time. The Democratic Nominee will be determined in accordance with party rules, and out of respect for the presidential campaigns and the states that did not violate party rules, we are not going to change the rules in the middle of the game.  “Through all the speculation, we should also remember the overwhelming enthusiasm and turnout that we have already seen, and respect the voters of the twelve states and territories who have yet to have their say. 

Most are estimating that the cost of hosting another primary will be $25 million dollars for each state.  The Florida and Michigan governors are pushing for the DNC to pay for new primaries.  So the republican governor, and John McCain supporter, Bill Crist would like the DNC to go into it’s war chest for the general election and fix a problem that such governor and the republican controlled legislature created.  I am quite sure that the Republican Party of Florida is an a back room chuckling hysterically at the pickle that they have put the democratic party in.  Whatever money the democratic party throws at the Florida and Michigan situation is money that cannot be used in the general election race against John McCain.  Because Florida and Michigan violated the rules, each state should be financially responsible for for hosting a re-do in its respective states.  I am sure that all the voters who have donated funds to the DNC from all over the “United States” are not interested in encouraging the temper-tantrum bad behavior of Michigan and Florida by financing a do-over. 

Howard Dean, the Chair of the Democratic National Committee, is very upset with John McCain.  Apparently, when the McCain campaign was not doing very well back in December, McCain was strapped for cash and applied for federal matching funds using the promise of Public Financing as collateral for the loan.  Public financing is funded by taxpayers checking the box on their tax returns indicating that they would like to donate to the Federal Election Commission.  Candidates opting into the public finance system are also subject to public finance regulations.  Public finance regulations set spending limits for candidates in primaries and the general election.  In primaries, the cap is set at $54 million.  McCain has already spent $49 million on his campaign.  Therefore, if he were to abide by the election laws, that McCain is responsible for reforming, the Arizona Senator will only have $5 million left to spend in this primary season ending in September.  Because McCain does not want to be limited by the spending cap, he has formally requested a withdrawal from the program.  McCain’s lawyer argues that McCain is allowed to opt out of the program because it is voluntary.  FEC lawyers announced on Thursday that it may not be possible for McCain to withdraw at this point because he used the promise of federal matching funds to secure the bank loan.  Okay, didn’t McCain attempt to slam Obama for not responding, and according to McCain breaking his word, regarding a pledge Obama signed last year regarding public campaign financing.  Even though the actual wording of the pledge is to “aggressively pursue an agreement” with the GOP to preserve a publicly financed election.  Last I checked, an agreement to “agressively pursue” agreement, does not mean actual agreement.  Participating in the public finance system caps each candidates spend in the general election to $85 million and neither candidate cannot accept additional funds.  But I digress.  Looks like Mr. McCain should be in fact, Mr. Pot calling Mr. Kettle.  Currently four of the six member seats of the Federal Election Commission are vacant so no decision can be made on this issue until the FEC has quorum.  Gridlock between the Bush administration and the Senate is stalling the nominations for these posts.  The reason this is such an issue is because McCain has built his reputation, after the Keating Five scandal (five Senators, including McCain, accused of Savings and Loan corruption in 1989), on being a reformer and the champion of campaign finance reform. 

Dear Democratic Party Leaders,

What an exciting race?  I have never experienced such an adrenalin rush from a political campaign.  As an outsider looking in, the democratic race is like being at the horse races at the final stretch.   Even with all the exciting contests, debates, and back and forth between the two candidates, I find myself wondering…is all this for naught?  Are we going to wake up one day before the convention and hear that, despite all our efforts and all the newly generated excitement, the Democratic Party establishment has decided the nominee for us?  Are we going to hear that some backroom deal was brokered in the middle of the night by Washington insiders?  Please say it isn’t so.  Now that you have our keen interest, awakened our spirit, motivated us toward change, inspired us to be more politically involved than any electorate in history, I hope that you do not now steal our spirit by meeting behind closed doors in a smoke filled room to make a decision that will affect the American people for decades, and maybe centuries to come.  If such an outcome were to occur, I believe that there would be a backlash toward the election system and the democratic party of epic proportions.  The last thing that we need as voters is to feel that going out to polls and casting our vote does not really matter.  Many people felt this way after the Bush-Gore election.  To have this confirmed inside the Democratic party would be completely demoralizing for the “electorate.” The idea that a few people within the Democratic Party have the power to override the will of the general population seems contrary to what the Democratic Party stands for.  Not to mention, pompous and arrogant.  The whole Superdelegates system does not necessarily instill in voters the confidence that our will will prevail in the end. The archaic system was developed at a time when the electorate did not have the technology and improved communication available to us today.  Because of such improvements, we are much more informed about the issues facing our country and our everyday lives.  The Superdelegates idea is based on the erroneous premise that politicians have better judgment than their constituents as to who should be our President.  But don’t we elect the politicians?  Well, it’s a new day, and voters of the 2008 election are more informed about the issues affecting their political decisions than voters have been in the last thirty years.  So I ask…..is such a system needed in this incredibly technologically advanced climate?  I think not.  I suggest that after the 2008 election the antiquated system be scrapped.  As for this election, my suggestion is that you make some process decisions as to how the worst case scenario can be resolved and you make them quick.  Read the rest of this entry »

In the Democratic party you have delegates (the popular vote of the State), and then you have Super Delegates who are allotted a heaping portion of delegates and are Democratic party leaders (members of Congress, democratic governors, and elected members of the Democratic National Committee).  Super Delegates can vote for whomever they choose and are not beholding to the popular vote of his or her state. The total number of Super Delegates in the Democratic Party is 796 and make up about 20 percent of the entire convention. On Feb 5^th , several states delegates will be up for grabs.  For the Republicans, 975 delegates are at stake, and for the Democrats, 1681 delegates are at stake.  The Democratic National Committee awards delegates on a proportional basis, which means that all of the candidates will pick up delegates if they clear the 15% viability threshold.  The Republicans have a combination of proportional and winner-take-all system.  In winner-take-all, if a candidate wins by just one vote he receives all the delegates for that state.  There are 22 Super Tuesday states for the Democrats and 21 for the Republicans.  The Democratic National Committee stripped Florida of all its delegates because the Sunshine state moved up its primaries in violation of DNC rules.