Showing posts with label convention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label convention. Show all posts

Monday, March 31, 2008

Superdelegates Should Not Wait Until The Convention


2024

Hillary will not quit until Barack gets past that magic number. But he should not have to wait until the convention to get that number. The superdelegates must all cast their votes one way or the other now. Do it in full public view now instead of waiting to get into smoke filled rooms at the convention.

To ask Hillary to quit is chauvinistic, but for the superdelegates to all come out of the closet one way or the other now is democratic.

If we wait until the convention, we are giving McCain a headstart. The guy is already leading in the polls. He just made a trip to France. He is acting like he is the future. We thought he was the past.

By the time the final primary/caucus is held, all superdelegates must have cast their preferences. Conventions are supposed to be when the nominee puts on a show. Conventions are not designed to be events where we pick our nominee. We decided on that decades back.

If we wait until the convention to decide, our nominee might not get the poll bounce that conventions are supposed to give. We might still win, but it might end up an unnecessarily scary, close election. Why take that chance?

The nominee must have all of summer to crisscross the country, preferably with a running mate, I think Hillary. If we can do that, we are looking at 60 Democrats in the next Senate. Otherwise it will be hard to build the momentum.

Deciding early is not about who the nominee will be or who will get the White House. Barack will be the nominee and the Dems will get the White House. That we already know. What we don't know is if we will end up with the magic number of 60 in the Senate. If we wait until the convention to decide on the nominee, we will not get the 60 we need. This is about the US Senate, this is not about Barack.

The superdelegates are all hard core political animals. They already know who they want. They should not keep the party waiting. It hurts the party to wait.

The nominee needs the summer to go full throttle. Don't deprive the nominee of the summer. After that the temperature goes south. We all know that.

Personally I want a million strong rally in Central Park for Barack this summer. We set a record in Washington Square Park. (The Largest Rally In US Presidential Campaign History) Oprah broke it. We would like to break her record.

Barackface: OO Oprah, Sa Sa Santa

Oprah, looks like you will draw 80000 people to your South Carolina event. I forgive you for breaking our record of 30000 in Washington Square Park here in ...
Kick Mugabe Out Of Zimbabwe

Mugabe is the weirdest head of state on the planet. It is high time he got kicked out. An inflation rate of 100,000 a year? The man is nuts. He is a thug. His time is up.

What Tibet Needs Is A Political Party

And it can't be headed by the Dalai Lama.

Don't Forget Burma, Pay Attention To China
Imagining A Federal, Multi-Party China Of State Funded Parties

Rosemary

Rosemary at Planned Parenthood is fat, but I did not want to say it like that, so I said she has a comfortable body size.

Barack's Cutting Edge Mother

In the movie about Rwanda, the good, white guy says to the good, black guy, "You are not even a n____, you are an African." This white woman did not marry a black dude, she married an African. Few people marry outside their race even today. Back then it was illegal many places. This Ann Dunham person was cutting edge.

She also got into microfinance for women in the poor countries before Yunus did, decades before Yunus won a Nobel for it. This Ann Dunham person was cutting edge.

And to give birth to and raise a guy who is poised to become one of the top five US presidents, that is also cutting edge.

Bill Clinton In Top 10, Barack Obama In Top 5



In The News

Nepal Muslims call general strike to protest mosque bombing International Herald Tribune
Muslims call strike after Nepal blasts
Times of India

China asks Dalai Lama to use his influence' to stop Tibet violence Hindu Facing mounting international flak for the crackdown on Lhasa, China on Monday gave first signs of softening its stand by asking the Dalai Lama to use his "influence" to stop violence in Tibet and said the "channels" for dialogue with him are "always open." ..... and recognise both Tibet and Taiwan as inseparable parts of China .... an apparent softening of China's stand on the 72-year-old exiled Tibetan spiritual leader .... taking the number of those arrested to 414
Zimbabwe tense after opposition victory claim Christian Science Monitor "The police chief says he will not allow a Kenya to happen in Zimbabwe," says Mr. Boshoff, a military analyst at the Institute for Security Studies. Postelection violence in Kenya last December is blamed for the deaths of nearly 1,500.
Zimbabwe Slowly Releases Vote Results The Associated Press inflation of over 100,000 percent a year, by far the world's highest. ...... Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Changes said vote counts it saw posted at polling stations in 128 of the country's 210 parliamentary districts showed Tsvangirai taking 60 percent of the vote over 30 percent for Mugabe. ...... Tsvangirai narrowly lost disputed 2002 elections ...... The Movement for Democratic Change said the opposition won 96 seats of the 128 for which it had gathered results. Parliamentary and local council balloting was held alongside the presidential vote. ..... The Electoral Commission acknowledged that one of Mugabe's Cabinet ministers lost his seat in a district seen as a ruling party stronghold. ..... Zimbabweans shared election results among themselves, sending cell-phone text messages and e-mails that congested the country's networks.
Obama Pushes Superdelegates to Declare Support Washington Post the rumored support for the Illinois Senator by the entire North Carolina Democratic House delegation ..... she had been leaning his way since her state's Feb. 5 caucuses, which were won overwhelmingly by Obama. .... his campaign in exerting ramped up pressure behind the scenes for superdelegates who are with Obama privately to be with him publicly. .... the only way this race will end is if a clear majority of the remaining superdelegates come out against Clinton between now and June 3. Short of that, Clinton will win enough states -- Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, Puerto Rico and, potentially, Indiana -- to keep her in the game.
Second Female Senator Endorses Obama The Associated Press Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar ... Obama has the support of 13 senators .. Clinton also has the support of 13 senators, including six women.
Klobuchar Endorses Obama Washington Post she compared him to homestate icon Hubert Humphrey, lauding Obama's "different voice, bringing a new perspective and inspiring a real excitement from the American people." ..... Campaigning across Pennsylvania by bus, Obama is taking a new approach to engaging with Clinton, urging her to continue campaigning as long as she wants while asserting that their 15-month battle is "historic" and would do no lasting damage. .... presumptive GOP nominee as "clinging to the past," while offering himself as the stronger contrast, with generational overtones.
Party Leaders Migrating To Obama? U.S. News & World Report Clinton promised over the weekend to fight for the nomination all the way to the convention ...... North Carolina's seven Democratic House members "are poised to endorse...Obama as a group -- just one has so far -- before that state's May 6 primary ..... Klobuchar said Obama 'has inspired an enthusiasm and idealism that we have not seen in this country in a long time. ...... the ex-president met privately with about 15 of the state's uncommitted superdelegates, trying to move them into his wife's camp ....... a mostly male party establishment is unfairly muscling Clinton out of the race ...... the candidate played nurse maid to a one-month-old calf" ..... "one of several stops this weekend designed to show Obama not as an ivory tower elitist, but as a regular guy. At a diner in Altoona, he ordered hot dogs, French fries. Later, he and his chaperon, Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, went to a bowling alley." ...... Obama has opened a 10 point lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton in their national tracking poll. Obama leads Clinton 52%-42% .... McCain leads Obama 47%-44% and Clinton 48%-44%. .... Pennsylvania Democratic voters taken March 26-27 shows Sen. Hillary Clinton leading Sen. Barack Obama 51%-39%. ...... Jay Leno: "I know we have a lot of college students here. Now, here's kind of a philosophical question. Now, if a sniper fires a gun in the woods and nobody is around, does Hillary Clinton still hear it?" ..... Jay Leno: "Big movie opening this weekend is 'Run, Fat Boy, Run.' Isn't this what the Democrats are trying to get Al Gore to do now?" .... Jimmy Kimmel: "Hillary Clinton was in Indiana trying to get more people there to like her. She claims to have taken some incoming sniper fire at the Indianapolis Airport baggage carousel, but other than that, they say the trip went very well."
Clinton faces tough odds as Obama's lead widens AFP a new opinion poll showed rival Barack Obama consolidating his nationwide support. ..... 52 percent versus 42 percent, Obama's largest lead of the year so far. ..... Governor Edward Rendell, speaking on ABC television, also said he would "love" for the two star Democrats to join forces .... idea of a gathering in mid-June of the nearly 800 party luminaries ..... the last primaries in Montana and South Dakota on June 3 .... "You guys look good," Obama told reporters forced to wear blue plastic boots to keep disease out of the dairy complex. "I bought some new shoes," he said, explaining why he escaped the barnyard chic look.
Obama snags more superdelegates Boston Globe The trickle of Democratic superdelegates declaring for Barack Obama is turning into more of a gusher ..... Obama, boasting a more than 6-1 edge in superdelegate endorsements since Super Tuesday, is quickly catching up to Clinton in that count. He already leads in overall delegates and popular vote
Clinton Heads Back to Pennsylvania CBS News
Ex-president Bill Clinton defends wife's choice to fight on
San Jose Mercury News
Clinton faces tough odds as Obama's lead widens AFP

Democrats face summer of bitter infighting Reuters
Hillary Clinton Says She Won't End Campaign Voice of America
Rudy Giuliani: Governor of New York PoliGazette Rudy Giuliani “is eyeing a run for governor in a special election this fall should Gov. Paterson be forced to resign.” ... Sadly for Giuliani however Paterson’s admissions have created little to no outrage.
Major bureaucratic reshuffle in Bihar Hindu
Opposition Claims Win in Zimbabwe on Unofficial Tally New York Times the Movement for Democratic Change had unseated President Robert G. Mugabe, the man who has led this nation for 28 years. ..... a state of suspended animation, with people awaiting the first official results, wondering if the numbers were being carefully tabulated or craftily concocted. ..... a signal event for Africa itself, with another of its enduring autocrats beaten against long odds ..... “It’s a tsunami for M.D.C.,” was a phrase frequently repeated. ..... Seven of Mr. Mugabe’s cabinet members were defeated in their races for Parliament, according to reports phoned in by journalists. It appeared that Mr. Mugabe was being thoroughly repudiated. .... Prior to the election, Zimbabwe’s security chiefs each said they would support no one but Mr. Mugabe ...... “It’s hard for me to believe that Mugabe will go peacefully,” he said. “When autocrats fall, that’s the most dangerous time.”
China Says It Has Evidence Dalai Lama Incited Riots New York Times riots erupted March 14 in Lhasa .... Pressure continues to mount for China to negotiate with the Dalai Lama and find a solution to a problem that has already begun to affect preparations for the Olympics.
Clinton says she will fight to the finish Guardian
Bill Clinton urges superdelegates to be patient Los Angeles Times Before his speech, the former president met privately with more than a dozen superdelegates
Hillary Clinton portrays calls to quit as chauvinism Telegraph.co.uk Clinton is falling back on what she sees as her trump card - her gender. ...... televised tearful moments. Now she is portraying the calls for her to quit as male chauvinism. ..... compared her plight to "big boys" trying to bully a woman. ...... Howard Dean, the Democratic National Committee chairman, called for the nomination to be decided by July 1 at the latest and counselled "super-delegates" - the 796 party officials who will have the final say - to make their choice known before then. ..... not all her staff support her win-at-all-costs strategy. Two senior advisers and one close ally told the New York Times that they would recommend she pull out if she loses in Indiana on May 6. ...... On the social networking site Facebook, among the anti-Clinton groups there are seven with names around the theme "Life's a Bitch - Don't vote for one." ...... Another is entitled "Hillary Clinton Stop Running for President and Make Me a Sandwich". As of Sunday, it had 43,432 members.
Obama leads in ongoing tally of Texas county caucus results Dallas Morning News
Nepal royalists warn of civil war if king ousted Daily Times
Al Qaeda Trying to Change the Look of Terror
ABC News the United States faces an imminent threat of attack from al Qaeda fighters ...... the attackers, he says, will look like many of us. ...... operatives that ... wouldn't attract your attention if they were going through the customs line at Dulles with you ...... al Qaeda knows it can't return again with an attack by 19 Arabs ....... these days they favor blond-haired, blue-eyed recruits ...... attackers bearing European passports would breeze through U.S. airports. ....... their current rhetoric is much more aggressive and confident