Obama Responds to McCain and Clinton attacks in Terre Haute

The Clintonistas and Repugs are going to try to stop Barack Obama anyway they can with his own words because he's got all of his fingertips on the pulses of America, and Hillary Clinton and John McCain are the ones who are wearing fake political masks. Obama's observations ring a bell of truth, in my opinion, even when he's inartful.

I love Hillary's brain and her grasp of policy details, and I sense she would really know how to fix things. But she tries too hard to convince us that she's sincere, instead of just being sincere. By contrast, few people doubt Obama is sincere.

My partner said tonight that this latest dust-up -- over Obama's comments that people are bitter -- is going to thwack Hillary in the face. Obama, he said, has a way of turning these apparent mis-speaks into opportunities with his "Tai Chi" approach to criticism.

Remember Hillary's slack-jawed head shaking during the last couple of debates -- when Obama would take her fake outrage over (fill in the blank here) and turn her points to his advantage with a quick verbal pirouette?

Well, check out this response to an angry Obama, who makes an Indiana crowd stand up and cheer for him, by calling Hillary and McCain on their hypocrisies.

I've been wanting to see him get righteously angry. Well, he's getting there.

We're all "mad as hell, and we're not going to take this anymore."

Bill Richardson Defends His Endorsement of Obama

Washington Post

Loyalty to My Country

By Bill Richardson
Tuesday, April 1, 2008; 10:29 AM

My recent endorsement of Barack Obama for president has been the subject of much discussion and consternation -- particularly among supporters of Hillary Clinton.

Led by political commentator James Carville, who makes a living by being confrontational and provocative, Clinton supporters have speculated about events surrounding this endorsement and engaged in personal attacks and insults.

While I certainly will not stoop to the low level of Mr. Carville, I feel compelled to defend myself against character assassination and baseless allegations.

Carville has made it very clear that this is a personal attack -- driven by his own sense of what constitutes loyalty. It is this kind of political venom that I anticipated from certain Clinton supporters and I campaigned against in my own run for president.

I repeatedly urged Democrats to stop attacking each other personally and even offered a DNC resolution calling for a positive campaign based on the issues. I was evenhanded in my efforts. In fact, my intervention in a debate during a particularly heated exchange was seen by numerous commentators as an attempt to defend Sen. Clinton against the barbs of Sens. Obama and John Edwards.

As I have pointed out many times, and most pointedly when I endorsed Sen. Obama, the campaign has been too negative, and we Democrats need to calm the rhetoric and personal attacks so we can come together as a party to defeat the Republicans.

More than anything, to repair the damage done at home and abroad, we must unite as a country. I endorsed Sen. Obama because I believe he has the judgment, temperament and background to bridge our divisions as a nation and make America strong at home and respected in the world again.

This was a difficult, even painful, decision. My affection and respect for the Clintons run deep. I do indeed owe President Clinton for the extraordinary opportunities he gave me to serve him and this country. And nobody worked harder for him or served him more loyally, during some very difficult times, than I did.

Carville and others say that I owe President Clinton's wife my endorsement because he gave me two jobs. Would someone who worked for Carville then owe his wife, Mary Matalin, similar loyalty in her professional pursuits? Do the people now attacking me recall that I ran for president, albeit unsuccessfully, against Sen. Clinton? Was that also an act of disloyalty?

And while I was truly torn for weeks about this decision, and seriously contemplated endorsing Sen. Clinton, I never told anyone, including President Clinton, that I would do so. Those who say I did are misinformed or worse.

As for Mr. Carville's assertions that I did not return President Clinton's calls: I was on vacation in Antigua with my wife for a week and did not receive notice of any calls from the president. I, of course, called Sen. Clinton prior to my endorsement of Sen. Obama. It was a difficult and heated discussion, the details of which I will not share here.

I do not believe that the truth will keep Carville and others from attacking me. I can only say that we need to move on from the politics of personal insult and attacks. That era, personified by Carville and his ilk, has passed and I believe we must end the rancor and partisanship that has mired Washington in gridlock. In my view, Sen. Obama represents our best hope of replacing division with unity. That is why, out of loyalty to my country, I endorse him for president.

The writer is governor of New Mexico and a former Democratic candidate for president.

Here's the original article.

Bill Clinton's SF tirade stunned some superdelegates

San Francisco Chronicle
by Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross
Wednesday, April 2, 2008



The Bill Clinton who met privately with California's superdelegates at last weekend's state convention was a far cry from the congenial former president who afterward publicly urged fellow Democrats to "chill out" over the race between his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barack Obama.

In fact, before his speech Clinton had one of his famous meltdowns Sunday, blasting away at former presidential contender Bill Richardson for having endorsed Obama, the media and the entire nomination process.

"It was one of the worst political meetings I have ever attended," one superdelegate said.

According to those at the meeting, Clinton - who flew in from Chicago with bags under his eyes - was classic old Bill at first, charming and making small talk with the 15 or so delegates who gathered in a room behind the convention stage.

But as the group moved together for the perfunctory photo, Rachel Binah, a former Richardson delegate who now supports Hillary Clinton, told Bill how "sorry" she was to have heard former Clinton campaign manager James Carville call Richardson a "Judas" for backing Obama.

It was as if someone pulled the pin from a grenade.

"Five times to my face (Richardson) said that he would never do that," a red-faced, finger-pointing Clinton erupted.

The former president then went on a tirade that ran from the media's unfair treatment of Hillary to questions about the fairness of the votes in state caucuses that voted for Obama. It ended with him asking delegates to imagine what the reaction would be if Obama was trailing by just 1 percent and people were telling him to drop out.

"It was very, very intense," said one attendee. "Not at all like the Bill of earlier campaigns."

When he finally wound down, Bill was asked what message he wanted the delegates to take away from the meeting.

At that point, a much calmer Clinton outlined his message of party unity.

"It was kind of strange later when he took the stage and told everyone to 'chill out,' " one delegate told us.

"We couldn't help but think he was also talking to himself."

When delegate Binah - still stunned from her encounter with Clinton - got home to Little River (Mendocino County) later in the day - there was a phone message waiting for her from State Party Chairman Art Torres, telling her the former president wanted him to apologize to her on his behalf for what happened.

Still, word of Clinton's blast shot all the way back to the New Mexico state Capitol, where Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley reiterated Tuesday that his boss had never "promised or guaranteed" Bill and Hillary his endorsement.

Obama Cuts Into Clinton's Delegate Lead Among Elected Officials

Note: Normally I would cut this article at the first subhead and link it to Bloomberg's posting. But I had trouble loading the link the first time and had to do a search for the story. So I am posting the article in its entirety here. --Wes



Barack Obama, U.S. senator from Illinois and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks at a campaign rally in Columbus, March 10, 2008. Photographer: Suzi Altman/Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

By Julianna Goldman and Catherine Dodge

March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama has pulled almost even with Hillary Clinton in endorsements from top elected officials and has cut into her lead among the other superdelegates she's relying on to win the Democratic presidential nomination.

Among the 313 of 796 superdelegates who are members of Congress or governors, Clinton has commitments from 103 and Obama is backed by 96, according to lists supplied by the campaigns. Fifty-three of Obama's endorsements have come since he won the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, compared with 12 who have aligned with Clinton since then.

``That's not glacial, that is a remarkable momentum,'' Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, a superdelegate and Obama supporter, said in an interview. ``I don't think there is anything that will slow that down.''

Democratic elected officials have the most at stake in the nomination because the candidate at the top of the ticket in November will have an impact on state and local races.

In the overall race for superdelegates -- elected and party officials who automatically receive votes at the Democratic National Convention that will choose the nominee -- Clinton leads Obama in commitments by 249 to 212, according to an Associated Press tally.

The trend, though, is running against the New York senator. Since March 5, the day after she won primaries in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Obama took Vermont, the Illinois senator has won backing from nine superdelegates and Clinton one, according to the campaigns and interviews.

Obama's Lead

Both sides agree her chance to win the nomination rests on winning a significant majority of superdelegates because Obama is likely to maintain a lead of at least 150 pledged delegates - - those won in primaries and caucuses -- after the last contest is finished. If he does, Clinton, 60, would have to snag more than 70 percent of the remaining 334 or so superdelegates.

Clinton also has suffered defections, notably Georgia Representative John Lewis, a prominent civil-rights leader and early backer of the New York senator, who switched to Obama.

Underlying the movement to Obama, 46, is some politicians' calculation that he'll be the strongest candidate to face Republican Senator John McCain in November.

``All along he has been the one person McCain does not want to run against and that is still true,'' said Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat who endorsed Obama last month.

A Chance in Nebraska

Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska said Obama, unlike Clinton, stands a chance of winning at least part of his state, which has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1964 and is one of two states that award some presidential electoral votes by congressional district rather than winner-take-all.

``Obama has coattails in Nebraska,'' said Nelson, who endorsed his Senate colleague two months ago. ``Our internal polls show he can win one, possibly two, congressional districts.''

Clinton's advisers contend that most of the uncommitted superdelegates will hold off taking sides until the last 10 primaries and caucuses are held.

``We think the momentum has been stopped, not cold, but very much stopped,'' Clinton adviser Harold Ickes said.

Clinton's aides argue that because she has won big states such as New York, New Jersey, California, Texas and Ohio, she would be the better general-election candidate.

Polls so far show little difference in head-to-head match- ups between McCain, 71, and either Clinton or Obama. Clinton and McCain are tied with 46 percent each, according to an average of national surveys compiled by Pollster.com. Obama would have a 2 percentage-point edge over McCain, a result within the margin of error.




Hillary Clinton, U.S. senator from New York and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks at a campaign rally in Harrisburg, March 11, 2008. Photographer: Mike Mergen/Bloomberg News

Swing States

The same holds true in Ohio, which Clinton won, and Pennsylvania, where voter surveys say she is leading in the April 22 primary. Polls show Obama does as well or better than Clinton against McCain in those crucial swing states.

In Iowa, a February Des Moines Register poll showed Obama beating McCain 53 percent to 36 percent, while McCain beat Clinton 49 percent to 40 percent.

That is one of the reasons he's won support from governors in Republican-leaning states, including Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Iowa's Chet Culver.

``It comes down to electability in red states like Iowa,'' Culver said this week.

Among pledged delegates, Obama has 1,390 to Clinton's 1,248, AP's unofficial estimate shows. A total of 2,025 delegates is needed for the nomination.

Even if Clinton scores a net gain of 10 delegates in Pennsylvania, Obama can make that up with wins in smaller states such as North Carolina and South Dakota, which vote later.

Feeling Pressure

Meanwhile, superdelegates are being pressured by both sides. Joyce Beatty, the minority leader of the Ohio state legislature, has heard from Clinton; her husband, former President Bill Clinton; their daughter Chelsea; Obama; and his wife, Michelle.

Beatty, the first black female minority leader in Ohio's history, is torn by competing allegiances. While her district in Columbus voted for Obama, Clinton won overwhelmingly statewide.

The toughest pressure she's feeling isn't coming from the campaigns. With a mother who supports Obama and a father who supports Clinton, she will eventually have to choose between her parents.

``I think my mother puts a lot more pressure on me than anyone,'' she said. ``I have to look at her every day.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net; Catherine Dodge in Washington, at Cdodge1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 14, 2008 00:01 EDT

See the original story at Bloomberg News

Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on the Ferraro Fiasco

Here's the story on HuffPost.

Here's the video:



Here's the transcript.

California Primary Recount Adds Delegates to Obama Column

Confirmed: Obama Did Gain Delegates From California Vote Count
TPM Election Central
By Eric Kleefeld - March 11, 2008, 12:23PM

We've just confirmed with the California Democratic Party that reports in the blogosphere, which said that Barack Obama picked up additional delegates from the vote count in California, are correct.

Election Central spoke to Bob Mulholland, campaign adviser to the California Dems, and he confirmed that the delegate estimates for the California primary have been revised from the initial media estimates.

To put this in perspective, over one-million votes were yet to be counted when the media estimates were first made. Those estimates had Hillary at 207 delegates to Obama's 163. The new projection: A small alteration to Hillary 203, Obama 167, which Mulholland said is not expected to change when the election is officially certified this Saturday.

Barack: I Am Running for President, Not VP

Excuse me, Billary, you wouldn't be trying to pull the old okeydoke on us now, would you? Naw.....

Child in Hillary's 3 a.m. Ad Supports Obama

Imagine that....

Monster Mash!

Just for the fun of it, I think we should make the word "MONSTER!" the new shibboleth of our political present and future.

Poor Samantha Power. She channeled all of our rage and had to resign, but in the end she made it okay for all of us to scream at once what we've been feeling inside: "Monster! Hillary Clinton is a MONSTER!"

Hillary and her once-beloved Husband (I won't speak his name aloud any longer), for many years have comprised the vision of the "anti-Bush" that so many Americans (and not just Democrats) looked back to like a shimmering blue and green oasis in the barren, dessicated desert that had spread out all around us like a granulating cancer under a glowering sky.

All at once, in the space of two nightmarish months, our golden pair of heroes morphed into hissing, sharp-fanged political MONSTERS in the face of competition from a quiet, beautifully spoken man of true integrity and elegant bearing, a man no one had expected, especially the Clintons.

Hideous green vapors of jealousy waft from Hillary's skin every time she looks at Obama when they are together for their so-called "debates." Flustered and tongue-tied, she can't seem to believe that people heckle her stubborn, tone-deaf and petulant complaints about Obama. She only looks more pathetic every time I see her. I want to vomit, honestly.

Well, that's it. Now I've relieved myself. Move along, please. Nothing to see here. Except perhaps how much I'm really beginning to hate Hillary.

Hiss!



Here's a summary on Huffington Post of La Samantha Power "Monster!" Affair.

Now This Guy Gets It

To Vilify Obama for his Ability to Inspire is to Ignore the Principal Lesson of the Last Three Decades of American Politics

Huffington Post
Posted by ROBERT CREAMER
February 19, 2008 | 11:30 AM (EST)

It's one thing for supporters of Hillary Clinton to make the case that her experience in Washington politics would make her a better president than Barack Obama. But it's quite another to actually vilify Obama's ability to inspire as a "cult of the personality" or "nothing but words."

It is particularly disturbing when serious progressive writers who should know better repeat this attack on Obama's inspirational abilities. It demonstrates a failure to grasp the principal lesson of the last thirty years of American politics.

In fact, it is precisely the absence of inspiration in progressive politics that has kept Progressives on the political defensive for decades.

That's because to inspire people, Progressives have to appeal to something much more important than endless lists of policies and programs. To inspire people, Progressives have to appeal to our values and to our vision for the future.

Read the rest of this insightful Huffington Post editorialist's essay here.

ABC News: Bill Clinton Tells Texans It Could Be Over

Texas Could Be Hillary's Last Stand
Former President Tells Lone Star Crowd Wife Needs Wins in Texas and Ohio

By RICK KLEIN and SARAH AMOS
Feb. 20, 2008

There's a Texas-sized stumbling block on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's comeback trail.

Even Clinton's most devoted surrogate -- her husband, Bill Clinton -- acknowledged the do-or-die stakes on Wednesday in Beaumont, Texas, conceding that a loss in Texas or Ohio would likely doom her candidacy.

"If she wins Texas and Ohio I think she will be the nominee. If you don't deliver for her, I don't think she can be. It's all on you," the former president told the audience at the beginning of his speech.

Read the whole article here. Huffington Post has the AP version of a similar story here.

An Overseas Perspective on the Dem Primaries

If you listen to the regular gaggle of talking blatherheads on CNN and MSNBC -- many of whom I like most of the time -- you might think that the campaign for the Democratic nomination is now all about the latest picayune verbal misstep, and all Hillary has to do is catch Barack in some epistomological hiccup (or his wonderful intelligent wife Michelle, who has five times the speaking skills that Hillary has; if you doubt my estimation, just go review her amazing speech at UCLA on Feb. 4 on YouTube).

Well, time to turn off the local so-called analysts. Only Howard Fineman and Bill Schneider have the good sense to see this race with an even temper. The more Hillary goes negative, the more it boomerangs on her. The Clintons are daily spoiling their 90s legacy with too-clever-by-half snide comments and knowing looks. She should have kept crying. It worked better.

Here's a well-considered editorial from Britain's Guardian this morning. Mull this over a cup of coffee, and then tell me that Barack Obama doesn't have the experience or the acumen to handle the presidency. He's beat the pants off of Billary on every level of the three-dimensional chess game they thought they were playing in this campaign. And I think the American people simply grok all of it very clearly.

I will leave you with this thought: none other than Pat Buchanan pointedly noted last night on MSNBC that Obama had accrued more votes by himself than the entire Republican field together in Wisconsin Tuesday. In fact, by midnight, the Dems had together received more than 1 million votes. The Republicans earned half that all told. The same was true in Virginia last week. In Virginia. Shall I say that again?

-------------------------

Lost in Wisconsin
US elections 2008:
Hillary Clinton's campaign has made a series of strategic and tactical blunders that will ultimately cost her the presidential nomination

by Richard Adams
February 20, 2008 4:00 AM

If Hillary Clinton loses the Democratic presidential nomination - and after another hammering at the hands of Barack Obama in Wisconsin, it's increasingly looking as if she will - then it didn't just happen overnight.

Nor did she lose it last week, when she was devastated in the "Potomac primary" of three big losses in one day. Nor was it the series of defeats she suffered in states such as Washington, Louisiana and Nebraska. No, the day when the first nails went into the Clinton campaign's coffin was exactly two weeks ago - on February 6.

Read the rest of the article http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_adams/2008/02/lost_in_wisconsin.html">here.

NY Times Praises Obama, but Endorses Hillary

The New York Times Editorial Board , as was earlier rumored, has endorsed Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic nominee for president. This endorsement comes with a few caveats, however. Here are a few select paragraphs from today's editorial in the Times' Opinion section.

The potential upside of a great Obama presidency is enticing, but this country faces huge problems, and will no doubt be facing more that we can’t foresee. The next president needs to start immediately on challenges that will require concrete solutions, resolve, and the ability to make government work. Mrs. Clinton is more qualified, right now, to be president.

We opposed President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq and we disagree with Mrs. Clinton’s vote for the resolution on the use of force. That’s not the issue now; it is how the war will be ended. Mrs. Clinton seems not only more aware than Mr. Obama of the consequences of withdrawal, but is already thinking through the diplomatic and military steps that will be required to contain Iraq’s chaos after American troops leave.

On domestic policy, both candidates would turn the government onto roughly the same course — shifting resources to help low-income and middle-class Americans, and broadening health coverage dramatically. Mrs. Clinton also has good ideas about fixing the dysfunction in Mr. Bush’s No Child Left Behind education program.

Mr. Obama talks more about the damage Mr. Bush has done to civil liberties, the rule of law and the balance of powers. Mrs. Clinton is equally dedicated to those issues, and more prepared for the Herculean task of figuring out exactly where, how and how often the government’s powers have been misused — and what must now be done to set things right.

As strongly as we back her candidacy, we urge Mrs. Clinton to take the lead in changing the tone of the campaign. It is not good for the country, the Democratic Party or for Mrs. Clinton, who is often tagged as divisive, in part because of bitter feeling about her husband’s administration and the so-called permanent campaign. (Indeed, Bill Clinton’s overheated comments are feeding those resentments, and could do long-term damage to her candidacy if he continues this way.)

We know that she is capable of both uniting and leading. We saw her going town by town through New York in 2000, including places where Clinton-bashing was a popular sport. She won over skeptical voters and then delivered on her promises and handily won re-election in 2006.

Her ideas, her comeback in New Hampshire and strong showing in Nevada, her new openness to explaining herself and not just her programs, and her abiding, powerful intellect show she is fully capable of doing just that. She is the best choice for the Democratic Party as it tries to regain the White House.

Read the full editorial here.

First posted 1-25-08 on the original Whistling Dog.

I Just Called Hillary Clinton's Office

Watch the above Chris Matthews interview with Ed Schultz and Mark Green of Air America Radio, and see what you think to the question: Is Bill Clinton helping or hurting Hillary and the Democrats. Ed Schultz says categorically Bill Clinton is hurting. I agree with him.

I called the press office for Hillary Clinton's campaign this morning. I wanted them to hear what I feel, and I know a lot of us have felt similar emotions this past month:

The attacks by Hillary and Bill on Barack Obama are not helping her campaign and are dividing the party, and this friction could conceivably hand the next election to the Republicans, however unthinkable that might have seemed even a couple of weeks ago.

I told them to stop, in no uncertain terms. I said their strategy would make it impossible for a Clinton/Obama ticket to be realized if they kept this up, that when Hillary announced with Obama and John Edwards in Las Vegas that they were all calling a truce, that everyone expected her to follow through on that. I said that because she and Bill did not quit their disingenuous sniping at Obama, she and Bill were losing credibility.

And I told them that everyone expects the Clintons to be the heroes right now, to be above the fray, to ride to the rescue of the country, and that is what the country wants, not this divisive bickering that they've started.

As my partner said this morning: every time Hillary shakes her head and purses her lips when Barack Obama says something during a debate, she only makes herself look like the pinched school marm we always thought she was. And none of us want to elect a school marm for president. We've already had seven years with a school bully in the White House.

If you want the Clintons to start embodying once again the best of what they can be and who they are, call the Hillary Clinton campaign in Washington now. Here is their contact info:

Hillary Clinton for President
4420 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203
703-469-2008
Fax: 703-962-8600
email: go to this URL and send a message of hope:
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/help/contact/

First posted 1-24-08 on the original Whistling Dog.

Sen. Obama on the Today Show

From this morning's Today show on NBC. I am so disappointed in the snarky and disingenuous tone both Bill and Hillary Clinton have taken since New Hampshire to try to cut Barack Obama down. If they are trying to test his mettle to make him a better candidate, I believe they are going to succeed.

First posted 1-23-08 on the original Whistling Dog.

Anne Rice Pitches for Hillary and Barack as the Democratic Party Ticket

David Kuo, of all people, just posted this Anne Rice YouTube video in support of a Hillary Clinton candidacy -- with Barack Obama as Hillary's vice presidential candidate -- on the Huffington Post. If you don't remember David Kuo, he was once deputy director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives for the Bush White House, until he walked and took his evangelical friends and credentials with him, then wrote and promoted the book Tempting Faith -- before the 2006 election.

VERY interesting...

First posted 1-10-08 on the original Whistling Dog.