Haloscan comment thread
"I guess this is how the West was won," Clinton told cheering supporters in Las Vegas. She captured the popular vote, but Obama edged her out for national convention delegates at stake, taking 13 to her 12.
This just makes me so angry I see all kinds of colors. This is just so wrong, and they know it. They will do anything to win.
First James Carville, or Mr. Matalin, as I often call him. I found this today about a strategy paper he wrote in December.
Outdoing each other to appear tough on immigration
The issue is also causing trouble for the Democrats. Hillary Clinton’s biggest wobble so far came when she appeared to "flip-flop" on a plan by Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York to grant driving licences to illegal immigrants. A December 2007 strategy paper by James Carville, architect of Bill Clinton’s two victories in the 1990s, urges Democratic candidates to show voters that they appreciate the importance of the immigration issue and convey an understanding that “illegal immigration is out of control.”
Two weeks ago he sent a DCCC-connected candidate training a video of himself haranguing congressional candidates to “move right” on immigration or risk defeat at the hands of Republicans. This is similar to the terrible advice he shoved down candidates’ throats last year, although then he was demanding they move to the right on Iraq, dooming the candidacies of Lois Murphy, Francine Busby, Ken Lucas, Tammy Duckworth, Diane Farrell and several others who went along with his demands. Yesterday Markos asked a blaring question at DailyKos: Is Rahm racist, or merely scared?. While walking the picket line at the WGA strike at Fox today Jane and I came up with the idea of inviting Emanuel over to FDL to ask him why he thinks adopting Tom Tancredo’s immigration ideas is a good idea and why he’s unleashed Heath Shuler to do just that.
Also today, Democrats scored a coup when a powerful Latino clergyman joined with party chairman Howard Dean to denounce the Republicans' harsh rhetoric on illegal immigration.Carville and Rahm are both working against that goal.
The Rev. Luis Cortes, a political independent who founded the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast and a visible ally of President Bush's re-election campaign in 2004, joined Dean on a conference call with reporters, including the Times Peter Wallsten, to lambaste the GOP's presidential candidates. Cortes predicted that many evangelical Latinos who backed Bush in 2004 are likely to abandon the GOP in 2008.
This is from last night's thread, in which we discussed (among other things) Hillary Clinton and how difficult it would be to vote for her. -Renee
I can't imagine any circumstance where I would be willing to be an accomplice to handing the reins of power over the government and the Democratic Party to her and her bunch. I would honestly rather the GOP win. At least then I wouldn't have to pretend that the government *wasn't* broken and corrupt. She is the anti-Dean. Her crowd is the antithesis of why I got involved in politics. I won't help them destroy everything we have worked for.
The Clintons and Carvilles have played a game for YEARS. The game is Keep-Away. Remember that game? Where the big kids grab something away from you and toss it back and forth above your head taunting you that you can't do anything about it? They played that game with Karl Rove and the GOP - understanding that it didn't matter which one of *them* had "posession". As long as *we* didn't get it, they could keep the game going FOREVER.
Wasn't the game worse when one of the "players" was supposed to be your friend?
Demetrius
Haloscan comment thread
I happened on this blog today, and I thought it was powerful. The things the blogger listed are the very same things I still want to know. The questions asked by Howard Dean at the famous speech in 2003 in California.....have never been answered.
What I want to know...2008 version
She was making this post coming up to last night's debate.
It would be a refreshing change tonight to hear about what have they learned from their pasts, and where do they want take the country based on that. Because we’ve got some major challenges ahead, and some key unanswered questions are still hanging. They’ve been out there for a while. Five long years ago, on March 15, 2003, Howard Dean galvanized the Democratic base and ignited a movement with a speech at the California State Democratic Convention. The ”What I want to know” speech is the single-most referenced moment in time people tell me about when they talk about getting passionate about politics.
What I want to know is what in the world so many Democrats are doing supporting the President’s unilateral intervention in Iraq?
What I want to know is what in the world so many Democrats are doing supporting tax cuts, which have bankrupted this country and given us the largest deficit in the history of the United States?
What I want to know is why the Congress is fighting over the Patient’s Bill of Rights? The Patient’s Bill of Rights is a good bill, but not one more person gets health insurance and it’s not 5 cents cheaper.
What I want to know is why the Democrats in Congress aren’t standing up for us, joining every other industrialized country on the face of the Earth in providing health insurance for every man, woman and child in America.
So here’s a few things that I want to know. I want to know why, five years later, is the substance of all of Howard Dean’s questions still unanswered?
What I want to know is that you will renounce preemptive war.
What I want to know is that you will get our troops out of Iraq before the end of your first term in office, without leaving permanent bases.
What I want to know is that you will make finding Osama bin Laden and destroying al Qaeda the number one national security priority of your administration.
What I want to know is that you will take care of the men and women who gave their all for us in Iraq and Afghanistan, how you will end the shameful lack of funding, services, and treatment these brave men and women face when they come home, and how you will ensure they get the help that they not only need, but deserve.
We've discussed this in the comments, but I think it's worth frontpaging on the off chance it can help to get the word out.
Group lobbies for uncommitted vote
Christina Montague of Ann Arbor is disappointed there's so much chaos and confusion surrounding what role Michigan voters will have in what could be a historic presidential election.
In the days leading up to Tuesday's primary, Montague and a group of volunteers are trying to get their message out, urging voters to choose "uncommitted" on the ballot.
They're among those who support Democratic candidates whose names won't appear on the ballot - Barack Obama and John Edwards. Hillary Clinton is on the ballot.
The confusion centers on Michigan's decision to move up its primary election to Tuesday for Democratic and Republican candidates. The move upset the national political parties, so some candidates respected the national stance and withdrew.
Write-in candidates will not count since no one officially filed as a write-in. Those votes are often referred to as "spoiled."
