As the race for the Democratic nomination for president gets further along (even though we still have 8 months left of this), and with Sen. Clinton’s continued misfires and inane campaign strategies (Mark Penn is a putz), Scott and I have decided to officially disclose our choice for the nomination and the presidency; Sen. Barack Obama.
Yes, Obama may not have the eons of experience as Clinton, but that’s part of the attraction to his candidacy.
After 8 years of Bush and his cronies, the US is in a sad state… loathed around the world… citizens dying for an unjust war… the mastermind behind the worst terrorist attacks against us still free… the economy circling the drain… and the Constitution in peril of being destroyed, we need someone who will strike a chord with the nation while striving to put the US back into balance.
Sen. Obama fits that description… Sen. Clinton does NOT.
Obama has opposed the Iraq war from the start and would start to bring one or two combat brigades home per month until all troops are out of Iraq within 16 months.
He wants to create a new national health plan that would allow individuals without access to affordable insurance coverage to buy coverage similar to that available to members of Congress.
He wants to increase the number of working parents eligible for Earned Income Tax Credits while increasing the benefit available to parents who support their children through child support payments.
He supports implementing an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the level recommended by top scientists.
He supports abortion rights and urges efforts to reduce teen pregnancy.
He wants to use $75 billion in tax cuts and direct spending to stimulate the economy while providing an immediate $250 tax cut to workers and their families, along with an immediate, temporary $250 bonus to seniors in their Social Security checks.
He would encourage, but not require, universal Pre-Kindergarten while rewarding teachers with higher salaries that wouldn’t be tied to standardized test scores.
Ms. Clinton and her campaign on the other hand, over the last few days, has shown her desperation with acts of…well, desperation.
You have her campaign laying out a plan to use super delegates to subvert the will of the Democratic Party electorate… show in a span of days her campaign has gone from saying certain states don’t matter… to saying certain voters don’t matter… to saying the electorate of the Democratic party doesn’t matter and only super-delegates matter… screw the American people.
Good luck Sen. Obama… we’re behind you.
Friday, February 15, 2008
TBWA's Choice: Senator Barack Obama (D-IL)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Presidential Poll Positions
As mentioned in this morning’s ‘BushWhack’ing, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll is showing something interesting.
Granted, I don’t usually trust polls… but the more I think about this one, the more I think it might actually be pertinent to the campaign as a whole.
The poll (1,002 adult Americans conducted by telephone by on December 6-9, 2007 with a margin of error +/- 3%) pit the top 3 Democratic candidates – Clinton, Edwards, Obama – against the top 4 republican candidates – Giuliani, Huckabee, McCain, Romney – in a head-to-head mash-up.
(Aside; notice who is conspicuously absent? The man called the second-coming of Ronal Reagan, Fred Thompson. Once heralded as the savior of the republican party, his campaign has disintegrated and all’s that’s left now is a couple of endorsements and little else…anyway; back to our post…)
In the poll, the Democrats swept the republicans out the door faster than Rush Limbaugh going through a bottle of OxyContin, well, anything really...
The numbers, as the saying goes, don't lie:
Against Guiliani:
Clinton 51% to Giuliani’s 45%
Obama 52% to Giuliani’s 45%
Edwards 53% to Giuliani’s 45%
No large deficits there, but it’s still interesting… and about to get more interesting…
Against Romney:
Clinton 54 % to Romney’s 43% (11 point deficit)
Obama 54% to Romney’s 41% (13 point deficit)
Edwards 59% to Romney’s 37% (22 point deficit)
A pattern starts to emerge…
Against McCain:
Clinton 48% to McCain’s 50% (statistical tie)
Obama 48% to McCain’s 48% (statistical tie)
Edwards 52% to McCain’s 44% (8 point deficit)
Against current gop-darling Huckabee:
Clinton 54% to Huckabee’s 44% (10 point deficit)
Obama 55% to Huckabee’s 40% (an incredible 15 point deficit)
Edwards 60% to Huckabee’s 35% (a staggeringly large - and smug - 25 point deficit)
At first blush we realize a few things about this poll; John Edwards runs stronger against ALL of the republicans in the survey and John McCain is the strongest republican candidate.
So in simpler words; anyone the Democrats run will beat the republicans…
Let’s just hope we, and by we I mean ALL DEMOCRATS, don’t do something stupid and screw this up…
Friday, September 28, 2007
What were they thinking?
There was a gop presidential debate last night… but four of the so-called ‘front-runners’ weren’t in attendance.
Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter and Alan Keyes participated, but Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mitt Romney didn’t…
Did I mention that the debate was specific to issues facing/effecting minorities in general and “people of color” specifically? And that the quartets refusal to attend drew a harsh response from moderator Tavis Smiley in his opening remarks, when he said; “Finally, some of the campaigns who declined our invitation to join us tonight have suggested publicly that this audience would be hostile and unreceptive. Since we’re live on PBS right now, I can’t tell you what I really think of these kinds of comments.”
For a group who want minorities to help elect them to the most powerful seat in the land, ignoring this, along with the previously-ignored Hispanic debate, is not only reprehensible… but incomprehensible. Here they had a chance to speak to these large segments of the population about issues facing them, and they didn’t… sure they had excuses, but they were just that; excuses.
And their decision to ignore the debate even led to some outrage from some of the others attending, with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee saying he was “embarrassed,” that they didn’t attend and Sen. Sam Brownback (r-KS) saying that their absence was a “disgrace.”
Here’s a nickels worth of free advice to the so-called frontrunners; if you expect to lead a nation, you have to lead the entire nation, not just particular parts of it… as George Bush is now finding out…
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Apparently, money does grow on trees
First quarter campaign fundraising numbers have been announced, and Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton (D-NY) raised a whopping $26 million (with an additional $10-11 million being transferred from her Senate campaign war-chest), thus easily surpassing her opponents with Senator John Edwards netting $14 million, Senator Joseph Biden $3 million, Senator Chris Dodd $4 million (whom also transferred an additional $5 million from his Senate account) and Governor Bill Richardson $6 million.
Senator Barack Obama, as of this writing, hasn’t officially released his numbers in what is either an astute move to keep his cards close to the vest or avoiding the risk of embarrassment over a lousy quarter… though there are reporting starting to come out that Obama raised approximately $20 million, but nothing official has been announced.
On the republican side, Mitt Romney (R-MA) packed away an impressive $21 million (or $23 mil, depending on which article you read…), easily pulling away from party rivals Rudy Giuliani ($15 million) and John McCain ($12.5 million).
What about the others you ask? Well… they barely raised enough to get noticed (for instance Governor Mike Huckabee raised a scant $500,000), so we’ll ignore them for now…
To date, Democratic and republican candidates have reported more than $80 million in combined campaign fundraising for the first three months of the year, and in the process obliterated the old record of $30.9 million set in the corresponding period of the 2004 campaign.
This election is going to put a lot of stock into early cash because candidates will have to bankroll a plethora of cross-country flights, a veritable army of political consultants and a slew of advertising… and that’s only going to be for the “First Elections” of nominating.
Think about it, with so many states trying to squeeze their primaries into January and February, all candidates will have to focus a lot on those states all at once rather than separating them out as they did in the past.
Then comes the “real” election in November… and who knows how things will be shaping up at that time.
Why is all of this important? Because the huge fundraising hauls with 10 months to go before the first nominating ballots are even cast are an indication of just how competitive (and dirty?), and tight this race is going to be.
Add to that that experts are already declaring that the 2008 election may reach one billion dollars and will go down in history as the most expensive presidential race on record (at least until 2012 rolls around…), and you have the makings for one heck of a political side-show.
And furthermore… by ignoring public money and the restrictions that go with it, we are once again seeing the corporate purchase of
Stay tuned…
Friday, February 23, 2007
The Weekly Rewind
Today’s post takes place between 5:00 pm and 5:15 pm...
...
Sorry, I’ve apparently been watching too much “24”.
It’s Friday, and we all know what that means… it’s time for Blog of the Week winner; The "Bush"-Whacked Administration’s ‘Weekly Rewind.’
So sit back… relax… and allow us to wrap-up the week that was in the world of poltics…
Applaud: to funny news items. According to ABC’s he Blotter’: If the jury finds Scooter Libby guilty it could spur Fitz and his merry band of investigators to “explore further whether Cheney was involved in conspiring to obstruct justice.” (Wait a minute… can the Prince of Darkness really be investigated??)
Heckle: to spinning statistics that shouldn’t be spun. A government audit found that a majority of the statistics on terrorism cases from the Justice Department are “highly inaccurate” and they routinely counted cases that involved “drug trafficking, marriage fraud and other unrelated crimes.” (Foregoing any of the standard marriage jokes, this is just wrong. We are talking about terrorism here, and we should only be counting the true cases of terrorism – not using things that aren’t terrosim-related just to pad the statistics)
Applaud: to the
Heckle: to this sobering statistic from the National Health Statistics Group: U.S. spending on health care is “expected to double to $4.1 trillion over the next decade” with health insurance premiums expecting to rise 6% annually as well.
Hopeful Applaud: to Army Vice Chief of Staff Richard Cody, who stated earlier this week that he will “take responsibility” and will make sure that all problems are fixed at the hospital. (Let’s hope problems are fixed and changes are made… our brave men and women deserve better care and better residance)
Heckle: to news that, somehow, doesn’t take me by surprise. According to a stufy done by Mother Jones, the “rate of fatal terrorist attacks around the world,” along with the “number of people killed in those attacks” has “increased dramatically after the invasion of Iraq.” Even if you discount terrorist acts in Iraq and Afghanistan, which the study did, there was still a “35% rise in the number of attacks and a 12% rise in fatalities.” (Color me; not surprised.)
Applaud: to UK lame-duck Prime Minister Tony Blair. Since he’s a lame-duck now, he’s seemingly cleaning his conscience. Days after announcing that the UK would be going againt the White House and withdrawing some of its troops, he continued to show his own will yesterday when he “declared himself at odds with hawks in the US Administration” over Iran, telling BBC News, “I can’t think that it would be right to take military action against Iran. What is important is to pursue the political, diplomatic channel.” (What’s that saying; ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ Apparently Blair has finally grown himself some balls realized that Bush lied about Iraq – welcome to the Club Mr. Blair, we’ve got jackets – and he is NOT going to let that happen again. Mark my words, everytime Blair opens his mouth from now until he leaves office will be against whatever Bush may be proposing)
Heckle: to, once again, something that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Even though the Bush(whacked) administration swears that it’s not considering military action against Iran, the BBC reports that US contingency plans for air strikes on Iran “extend beyond nuclear sites and include most of the country’s military infrastructure.” (But we’re not considering military action… just like we exhausted all avenues of diplomacy towards Iraq… and if you believe that, I have a bridge to seel you in Florida. Good traffic, mostly drug smugglers, but )
Applaud: to targeting the proper demographic. According to a new study by the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC), Ballot initiatives for increasing the minimum wage boosted “voter motivation in five targeted states in 2006.” The study went on to say that voter motivation and reported interest in the election was “disproportionately high” among African-Americans, unmarried voters and women. (And with Senate Finance Committee member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) saying that he may block the recently passed minimum wage bill unless a larger tax cut package is included, the Democrats should continue to reap the rewards for republican idiocy and hypocrisy. Now, if only the Democrats can unite and stop arguing like toddlers, we’d be golden)
Heckle: to “revolving doors” (no, this isn’t about Michael Dukakis’s 1988 crime plan) Remember those 39 lawmakers who got booted out of office last November? Seems that five of the 39 are now at firms that lobby Congress including Sen. Conrad “Don’t Call me Monty” Burns (R-MT), who just last year said that “Congress is not for sale.” (Hey Congreess, that ‘revolving door’ lobbying restriction is working really well… it’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form…)
Half-hearted Applaud: to Rep. Thomas M. Davis (R-VA), the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Applauds for ripping the army a new one earlier this week when he released a statement that said the army has known for years about “shortcomings at Walter Reed” but did nothing. The applaud is half-hearted because, being a member of Oversight, don’t you think he would have known about this before… and maybe he could have done something?? But obviously, that’s merely conjecture…
Heckle: to Rush “Drug Mule” Limbaugh. The conservative blow-hard radio host said on his program earlier this week: “If we launched attacks on Iran and Syria today and went heavy metal, pedal-to-the-wall, this country would be cheering. The Democrats and the media would be in panic, but the people in this country would be cheering.” (Okay, first of all, Limbaugh wouldn’t know what the people in this country wanted if it came up and bit him on his fat ass… second, the people in this country have clearly shown that they don’t want the U.S. to attack Iran, at least not yet… and third, Limbaugh needs to stop wearing his rose-colored-conservative glasses long enough to see what is going on in this country. A change is coming… God willing…)
Applaud: to what I am sure is more Dog and Pony show theatrics, but the fact they’re doing it is still a sign of hope. A few Senate Democrats are going to unveil a plan next week that will aim to repeal the 2002 Iraq war resolution. (Ok, it probably is all for show, but still… it could work. This is something to definitely keep an eye on next week…)
Heckle: to Vice President Dick “Bunker King” Cheney. When he was asked about Tony Blair’s announcement that the U.K. will cut troop levels in Iraq by 1,600, Cheney said the move was “actually good news and a sign of progress in Iraq.” Never mind the fact that a Pentagon report starkly contradicted the White House’s “rosy” rhetoric. (Noooooooo…. Cheney bent the truth???? I can’t believe that. After all, Cheney is a stand-up guy who never lies... Ow, I think I just rolled my eyes right out of my head…)
Applaud: to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who gave a “detailed and businesslike” summary of the prosecution’s case against Scooter Libby earlier this week that was a stark contrast of the summary of the defense laywer, Theodore Wells, who decided to go the “Drama Queen” route and countered with an “intensely emotional defense” complete with a crying episode at the end… (Who does Wells think he is, Judge Larry Seidlin?? Thank you, thank you… I’m here all week…)
Heckle: to Bush’s escalation plan. Because of his plan 14,000 National Guard troops will return to Iraq next year after seeing their time between deployments shortened in order to “meet the demands of President Bush’s buildup.” (Nice… just nice. I’m sure the troops and their families are thrilled by the prospect of having their time cut just so Bush can try to save his ass legacy…)
And finally...
Yesterday I wrote a post about the Obama/Clinton feud. Give it a read if you haven’t yet. As Democrats and Liberals, we need to send a message to the party that we need to stop the in-fighting, come up with a united front and do what we can, all of us, to defeat the republicans in 2008 and beyond. It’s a moral imperative…
Take ‘em as you will...
Thursday, February 22, 2007
My plea to Obama & Clinton: "Stop It!"
This is going to be a long campaign… not for the candidates so much as for we the voters.
We are barely months into a race that has started WAY too early, and already we have two contenders barking at each other and slinging mud over the opinions of someone who, in all honesty, shouldn’t matter when speaking about the next President of the United States.
David Geffen is not a politician, David Geffen is not a political strategist… his political dealings are only as a donor. He’s in the entertainment business… so why should we be putting so much stock into what he says?
Plus, seeing as how this is the United States, Geffen is entitled to his opinion, and it should not be taken as anything but one person’s opinion…
Instead, it’s turned into a battle with the campaigns of Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) trading accusations of nasty politics.
The root issue is that the Clinton campaign is demanding that the Obama campaign not only give back Geffen's $2,300 contribution, but also denounces the comments made by Geffen, who once backed Bill Clinton but now supports Obama, in a New York Times articles where he said "Everybody in politics lies," and added that Bill and Hillary “do it with such ease, it's troubling.”
Uh… correct me if I’m wrong, but people are entitled to change their minds about something… and people are also entitled to voice their own opinion about something… something Geffen pointed out when he released a statement that said “My comments, which were quoted accurately by Maureen Dowd, reflect solely my personal beliefs regarding the Clintons.”
Granted, what Geffen said was harsh… but I’m not quite sure why a candidate should apologize for something said by a campaign donor (something that Obama himself questioned)
If Ms. Clinton expects this of Obama’s campaign… then shouldn’t her campaign do the same?
Recently Sen. Clinton won the support of South Carolina state Senator Robert Ford. Ford is on the record as saying that if Obama were to win the nomination; he would drag down the rest of the Democratic Party “because he's black.”
Where’s Hillary’s crusade against obnoxious stinging quotations now?
Bear in mind I am not throwing support behind either candidate yet… it’s still too early for that… but I am on the side of Obama’s campaign on this issue. Making someone apologize for something a campaign donor said is wrong…wrong and, quite frankly, pretty damn stupid.
I’ve said it before on this blog. Rather than throw mud and insults at each other the Democratic party needs to unite itself as one entity and come out against one enemy and one enemy only; the republican nominee… and “President” Bush, but that’s a given.
If that doesn’t work, maybe we could feed off the voyeuristic reality-show tendencies our nation has become enveloped in and arrange a steel-cage match… winner takes all.
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