Sen. McCain said last night that he too will bring change to Washington DC. Yet the same McCain has voted with Bush 90 percent of the time AND laid out an economic plan last night that is almost exactly the same as the economic policy of George W. Bush. Perhaps someone should define change to Sen. McCain. Simply entering office with a female version of Dick Cheney does not mean that your ticket represents change. It means that it’s Bush style politics dressed in heels and a military cloak. Guess what….George W. Bush also was a governor of a state outside of Washington DC. Sen. McCain has been in the senate for 26 years! After election day, with the amount of Rove and Bush cronies that are running McCain’s campaign, the Arizona senator will owe a slew of favors to lobbyists, special interests (oil companies), etc.. McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, is already involved in her second “abuse of power” investigation in only a very short political career. If this is not a red flag indicating a Bush-Cheney style of leadership, I don’t know what is.
In addition, Palin was an unnecessary, reckless, and impulsive political risk by McCain in a blatant political pander to his far right conservative base. The choice of Palin was also an arrogant, dirisive, and gratuitous risk. There are so many female GOP candidates that would have shook up the race in terms of making history, but McCain, without conducting a proper vet, chose someone that neither he nor his campaign knew much about. By the way, for those who say that McCain is the safer choice, McCain’s history of taking many of these types of unnecessary risks speaks against that conclusion. As a pilot, McCain was involved in at least three crashes that may have been avoided had he bothered to read his flight manuals. This seems like a person that not only takes unnecessary risks with his own life but risks the lives of others in the process. How does anyone get into an airplane and wing it knowing the devastation that crashing could bring to others on the ground and in the air? Perhaps when I was a teenager such a candidate would have been appealing….you know……..when most of us had no sense of our own mortality. However, as an adult member of the electorate, I am not looking for a rebel rouser making decisions regarding peace and war in the White House. Especially a rebel rouser who has a reputation for being a war monger. We had that with the shadow presidency of Dick Cheney. It really takes balls to go into the White House and take a country to war based on your own personal agenda. After the last eight years, we need a safe and steady hand on the tiller.
So, regardless of how “maverick” McCain claims that he will shake up or bring change to Washington, it may be more of a credible argument if his party were not the party currently in power and he had not voted with Bush 90% of the time during Bush’s tenure in office and 95% of the time in this last year. It is McCain’s policies that will be implemented in his administration, and McCain’s policy proposals are very, very, similar to the policies of the Bush-Cheney administration, especially when it comes to the economy and foreign policy. Unfortunately for McCain, CHANGE is much more than a banner.
Well it appears that the the GOP refuses to let anything stand in the way of their need to party. Several lobbyists threw parties that GOP politicians attended in light of the anticipated devastation that hurricane Gustav threatened to provide to an American city. One party goer pretty much said tough luck.
The Democratic Party of Virginia welcomed it’s Virginia delegation like no other. Virginia kicked off the convention with a bar-b-que and concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Red Rocks is Denver’s natural, and geologically formed, iconic outdoor concert theatre. Green Sunday at Red Rocks featured Laurie David and performances by artists Cheryl Crow, Sugarland, and Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds. Pictures to follow
The Obama campaign wishes that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of Detroit Michigan will pass on the Democratic Convention. The Mayor is currently facing felony charges in Michigan stemming from an infidelity scandal. A spokesman from the Obama campaign said that Kilpatrick would serve as a distraction and take away from the Unity message of the Convention. Further, one would think that the mayor would want to stay out of the spotlight given his current legal woes. Unfortunately, the Detroit mayor is a superdelegate and the judge has given him permission to attend. Michigan will be a tight race and the fact that Kilpatrick has all this negative baggage and is refusing to resign is not helpful and can detract from Obama’s efforts to win the state in November.
Brent Colburn, a Michigan-based spokesman for the Obama campaign said in an e-mail “the focus of our convention to people back in Michigan should be on Barack Obama and how the party intends to get America back on track, not (on) a distraction involving the troubles of one individual.”
Not to mention that he will probably have to wear his tracking device to the Convention. Just stay home Mayor.
This is the latest e-mail sent to SUPERDELEGATES (remember those) by PUMA. Originally the acronym meant Party Unity My Ass, but it recently changed its name to People United Means Action. These folks are the die-hard Hillary supporters who are refusing to accept her lost and are aggressively pushing for a roll-call vote at the convention. Apparently, Clinton’s little speech in California regarding “catharsis” got them all riled up again. First, let me say that the total group is nowhere near a representative sample of Clinton’s former supporters. Last I heard there were about 100 of them with very big mouths. They are widely believed to be Republican operatives acting under the auspice of Clinton supporters. The group makes exaggerated claims about the number of members so as to get as much press time as possible. Second, they are still actively campaigning to change the mind of super delegates in a last ditch, desperate attempt, to give Clinton the nomination. Yea Sen. Clinton, a “catharsis” will be very constructive (snark). To think, this writer actually considered giving Sen. Clinton a few dollars to help toward retiring her debt. It is stunts like these that remind all of us of all the emotions stirred up during the primary. Further, last I checked the vast majority of Clinton supporters are now voting for Obama. I’m very happy to hear that former governor Mark Warner of Virginia will also be speaking on Tuesday night, the same night as Clinton. Thus Tuesday night will not be Clinton night afterall, hers will be just one of many speeches given that night. Again, there is no need for a roll call vote. Everyone else has moved on except the die-hard, unable to accept, legitimate defeat, PUMA people. Below is the letter sent out to superdelegates by PUMA representatives.
From:
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 1:19 PM
To:
Subject: Hillary in Nomination
August 11, 2008
Puma PAC
Reply TO:XXXX@pumapac.org
Dear Super Delegate,
I am a Democratic voter and member of Puma PAC, People United Means Action We represent the more than 18 million American voters who supported Senator Clinton and who reject the selection of Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee.
Barack Obama is simply the weaker of the two final candidates for nomination. He is losing ground to Senator McCain every day. Millions of Democrats vow not to vote for him in November because of his inexperience and unreadiness to lead.
Only Senator Clinton can win back the White House for our Party in November.
PLEASE do your job and support Senator Clinton for nomination in Denver.
The Democratic VOTERS want you to support a real winner and leader. The American PEOPLE want you to. Common Sense wants you to. A commitment to DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES wants you to.
PLEASE DO THE RIGHT THING. AMERICAN DEMOCRATS AND VOTERS WILL SUPPORT YOU FOR YOUR COURAGE AND WILLINGNESS TO STAND UP TO PARTY INSIDERS BY REPRESENTING THE VOICE OF THE VOTERS.
Our own former governor Mark Warner will be the keynote speaker for the Democratic National Convention. Gov. Warner is also the democratic senate candidate in Virginia. Because this speaking slot is usually the springboard to the national stage for most local politicians (Obama 2004), this is a huge honor and tribute to Gov. Warner and the state of Virginia. The following statement was released by David Plouffe:
“Like Barack Obama, Mark Warner is not afraid to challenge the status quo to bring people together and get things moving,” campaign manager David Plouffe said in a statement. “Its that kind of spirit and innovation that resulted in his selection as keynote speaker on a night when we will be discussing how to renew Americas promise.”
The Obama and Clinton campaigns released a joint statement announcing that the former president, Bill Clinton, will be speaking on Wednesday night at the Democratic convention in Denver. President Clinton will speak before the vice presidential pick on Wednesday. The role of the former president would play at the convention has been a subject of speculation for a few weeks and in the last week its reached a fever pitch. Up until yesterday, the Democratic party was deciding whether John Edwards would speak at all in light of some tabloid stories alleging a scandal involving infidelity. As a matter of fact, the Party is reported to have told the former North Carolina senator that he would need to clear up the scandal before he would be invited to speak. Now it appears that Bill Clinton has been given that open spot and Edwards is out.
Though Sen. Clinton has been given a prime time speaking role at the Democratic Convention, she still does not seem to be satisfied. The senator from New York may seek to put her name in nomination/roll call vote. This is regardless of the fact that such an act will result in more division within the democratic party. Instead of unifying the party at the democratic convention, this will result in division by stirring up old wounds from the primaries. Why?? And again, Clinton and her former supporters are being recognized on the second night of the Democratic Convention where she has a prime-time speaking role. Placing Clinton’s name in the nomination will result in a floor fight on the Convention floor. Why is this necessary?? Even though the Republican party would take great delight in the democrats fighting amongst themselves, this would be a disastrous for the democratic party. The fact that Clinton would even put this out there as an option make me question her motives. Is she interested in recognition of her supporters or is there a more sinister motive at play? At what cost should the democratic party do such a thing. Is it worth……increasing the risk of division within the party thereby subjecting Obama to at least a month of valuable campaign time after the Convention to re-unite the party? Is it worth……increasing a possibility of lost in November? Sen. Clinton says that placing her name in nomination will increase the likelihood of unity after the Convention because her delegates will be recognized. First, that is already happening on Tuesday. Second, look at the polls Sen. Clinton, all the groups that you say need to be united are already united behind Obama. What is the point of creating unnecessary division where none exist? This is needless drama and for what? Pundits continually put the onus on Obama to use his diplomatic skills to bring in the Clintons. How about putting the onus on the Clintons to grow up and accept the fact that they lost fair and square and start putting the Democratic party first?
See Clinton’s full quote below.
“Because I know from just what I’m hearing, that there’s incredible pent-up desire. And I think that people want to feel like, ‘OK, it’s a catharsis, we’re here, we did it, and then everybody get behind Sen. Obama.’ That is what most people believe is the best way to go,” she said.
“No decisions have been made. And so we are trying to work all this through with the DNC and with the Obama campaign.”
Tuesday night, August 26th, has been deemed Hillary night at the Democratic National Convention. Sen. Clinton will give her speech on what will be the 88th anniversary of women’s right to vote. The Senator will be joined on stage by several other female democratic senators. Sources close to Clinton also say that there is little chance that she will be chosen as Sen. Obama’s running mate. Many also speculate that because the vice presidential pick usually speaks on the Wednesday of Convention week, the fact that Clinton is speaking on Tuesday confirms that she is out of the running. However, the New York senator is in serious talks with the Obama campaign about hitting the campaign trail in the next couple of weeks.
By any means necessary is how Hillary Clinton plans to win the democratic nomination. So let me get this right…even though the voters have gone out to the polls and made their choices as to who they want as President, Hillary Clinton plans to override their will through backroom dealing at the Democratic Convention. It appears as if Clinton believes that she is entitled to the presidency regardless of what the American voters have to say about it. What is going on? First, she tries to seat the phantom delegates of Michigan and Florida in an attempt to override the will of the voters. Now she attempts another, deemed by some as “subversive,” tactic to secure the nomination. Does Clinton actually have a campaign strategy to thwart the will of the american people and disenfranchise millions of voters? Below is an article from Politico where the Clinton campaign confirms its strategy.
Clinton targets pledged delegates POLITICO
By: Roger Simon
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign intends to go after delegates whom Barack Obama has already won in the caucuses and primaries if she needs them to win the nomination. This strategy was confirmed to me by a high-ranking Clinton official on Monday. And I am not talking about superdelegates, those 795 party big shots who are not pledged to anybody. I am talking about getting pledged delegates to switch sides. What? Isn’t that impossible? A pledged delegate is pledged to a particular candidate and cannot switch, right? Wrong.
Many of the same arguments being leveled against Obama’s candidacy were made against JFK by the democratic party establisment during Kennedy’s run for president in 1960. The experience argument, the national security argument, all of same arguments were used during the Kennedy-Johnson primaries of 1960. Kennedy was dubbed too young and inexperienced to be trusted with the Presidency. Kennedy was asked by Truman to “be patient” until he had more seasoning. Kennedy responded with winning the nomination and then the Presidency in November of 1960. Just like in 1960, the democratic party is resisting change with tooth and nail. Unfortunately, for those political veterans who have been in Washington for too many years, change is coming. Those who expect the usual rules of old school politics to dictate the outcome of this election will be sorely disappointed. Just as most voters must have felt on November 7, 1960…..it is a new day in Washington.
