Kennedy: No veep slot for Clinton
It's fun to think about, but there are so many obstacles, and Ted Kennedy isn't buying, he said on Bloomberg Television's "Political Capital With Al Hunt," which airs this weekend.
Obama should choose a running mate who "is in tune with his appeal for the nobler aspirations of the American people," Kennedy said. "If we had real leadership -- as we do with Barack Obama -- in the No. 2 spot as well, it'd be enormously helpful."

This morning it hit me what feels familiar about many of Obama's online fans -- I've met these people before.

In 1988 I was in downtown Seattle where a group of aging liberal peacenik types were standing on the sidewalk in front of a hotel.  On the top floor of the hotel, hanging from the windows, was a dozen or so young men, all in white shirts and narrow ties, all with closely trimmed hair and big orthodontist smiles on their faces.

The aging liberals were out there to protest something (sorry but I don't recall what) and the young men were in town for a gathering of Young Republicans.  These were the heady days at the end of the 2nd Reagan term . . . the triumph of the Soviet fall just around the corner . . . big tax cuts, de-regulation all over the place, nothing but contempt for the old liberal base, talk of welfare queens in Cadillacs milking the system, scorn for the very idea of peace.

The Young Republicans were in a triumphant mood, cat-calling to their elders below and enjoying themselves.  They owned the future; these old people were on the outside with no power and no plan.  It feels to me like that's where we are right now.  The smug, "you don't count because we won" feel of things like the Chris Bowers post is precisely the same.

What happened to the Young Republicans?  Did they stick it out with W through 2 elections?  Do they regret anything?  What will happen to their current incarnation?  

The solution: investments in education, universal healthcare, expansion unemployment coverage and, get this one, "steps must be take to ensure that service sector jobs are a road into the middle class." Hmmmm... It would would seem that HRC was the one candidate (after Edwards dropped out) who was actually advocating several of these provisions, but she gets slammed again today on their editorial page.

Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi

Sunday, June 1, 2008   ~ San Francisco
5:00pm ~ Co-Host Reception        5:30pm ~ Cocktail Reception       7:30pm ~ Co-Chair Dinner

Monday, June 2, 2008   ~ Silicon Valley
6:30pm ~ Co-Host Reception          7:00pm ~ Cocktail Reception

Pelosi 100 Chair: Raise $100,000 in 2008 by May 31st
(Qualifies for Pelosi 100 Convention Package, Sunday evening San Francisco Pre-Reception and Dinner,
and Monday evening Silicon Valley Pre-Reception and Reception)
Chair: Raise $50,000 by May 31st
(Qualifies for Speaker's Cabinet Gold Convention Package, Sunday evening San Francisco Dinner
and Pre-Reception, and Monday evening Silicon Valley Pre-Reception and Reception)
Co-Chair: Write $28,500 by May 31st
(Qualifies for Speaker's Cabinet Gold Convention Package, Sunday evening San Francisco Dinner
and Pre-Reception, and Monday evening Silicon Valley Pre-Reception and Reception)
Host: Raise $10,000
(Qualifies for Supporter Convention Package, Pre-Receptions and
 Receptions in San Francisco Sunday evening & Silicon Valley Monday evening)
Co-Host: Write $7,500
(Qualifies for Supporter Convention Package, Pre-Receptions and
Receptions in San Francisco Sunday evening & Silicon Valley Monday evening)
Guest: Write $1,000
(Receptions in San Francisco Sunday evening & Silicon Valley Monday evening)
 

See Gallup, where Hillary has opened up a bigger lead against McCain than she had before:

Link

When the WV results come in, Clinton surrogates should point to them and say "West Virginia says to the Democratic Party that after being told that Barack Obama would be the nominee, overwhelming numbers of voters sent a message to the Democratic party -- he might be YOUR nominee, but he's not OUR candidate."  

and...

But I'm really curious about how things would go if the shoe were on the other foot. So suppose Clinton had turned things around more dramatically at the end of February, picked up huge delegate margins in Texas and Ohio, got near parity in PA, found a wellspring of new SD support, and fought to a draw in NC and a huge win in Indiana. I.e., suppose Clinton had become the all-but-certain nominee on Tuesday.

"Ya know, it's nearly tied," Schweitzer said in an interview. "I think it's been good for the Democratic Party. There's millions of new voters, lots of excitement and energy. I don't know, let the voting continue. Might as well let Montana finish the voting."

link

To: Interested Parties
From: Mark Salter, Senior Advisor
Date: May 8, 2008
Re: Senator Obama's Attack Today

First, let us be clear about the nature of Senator Obama's attack today: He used the words `losing his bearings' intentionally, a not particularly clever way of raising John McCain's age as an issue. This is typical of the Obama style of campaigning.

We have all become familiar with Senator Obama's new brand of politics. First, you demand civility from your opponent, then you attack him, distort his record and send out surrogates to question his integrity. It is called hypocrisy, and it is the oldest kind of politics there is. ...

It is important to focus on what Senator Obama is attempting to do here: He is trying desperately to delegitimize the discussion of issues that raise legitimate questions about his judgment and preparedness to be President of the United States.

Through their actions and words, Senator Obama and his supporters have made clear that ANY criticism on ANY issue -- from his desire to raise taxes on millions of small investors to his radical plans to sit down face-to-face with Iranian President Ahmadinejad - constitute negative, personal attacks.

Senator Obama is hopeful that the media will continue to form a protective barrier around him, declaring serious limits to the questions, discussion and debate in this race.

Senator Obama has good reason to think this plan will succeed, as serious journalists have written of the need for `de-tox' to cure 'swooning' over Senator Obama, and others have admitted to losing their objectivity while with him on the campaign trail.

Full text can be found here: The Page

You see the DLC types did not take into consideration a couple of realities about the American electorate;

1. Any woman running would have a percentage of the voters in the GE voting against her just for the fact that she was a woman.  Add the fact that it was Hillary and in the extreme right it gave them motivation to vote in GE so they could vote against her.

2. Any black person running would also have a percentage of the voters in the GE voting against him/her just on the basis of the color of their skin.  Add to that the fact that the person they chose was not necessarily a person that a large number of Democratic voters felt was the best choice to be the nominee and it could spell trouble in mobilizing the vote come the GE.

"Mr. Obama has not spent much time in Washington during the campaign and he has hardly ever been spotted in the House, where all senators have floor privileges. He didn't exercise those privileges in his own chamber Thursday, missing two Senate votes on a flood insurance bill."

Happy Mother's Day

Overall, 4th graders F-CAT writing scores are not only down from last year, their not even passing."

Clinton's new supporter was Rep. Chris Carney, D-Pa. His congressional district voted overwhelmingly for the former first lady in the Pennsylvania primary on April 22.

Since Pelosi "impeachment off the table" and "gas tax is DOA" (god forbid FISA be DOA)...shows how little if any cajones the Dems have (save the Clintons).

LINK

Kennedy: No veep slot for Clinton

It's fun to think about, but there are so many obstacles, and Ted Kennedy isn't buying, he said on Bloomberg Television's "Political Capital With Al Hunt," which airs this weekend.

"I don't think it's possible," he told Hunt of the joint ticket, continuing that:

    Obama should choose a running mate who "is in tune with his appeal for the nobler aspirations of the American people," Kennedy said. "If we had real leadership -- as we do with Barack Obama -- in the No. 2 spot as well, it'd be enormously helpful."

here

http://tinyurl.com/3e977x

"Michelle Obama's Tale of Woe"

"'OK, get him because we got more important work to do on the street tonight,'"

The RCMP claims they had no other option but to taser the old man.  Not like he was going to be running around or anything, seeing as he was post-bypass surgery and delirious from lack of oxygen and all.

Here's a sample from his "Green Deal"-

Energy, Water, the War in Iraq, Healthcare, Education, the Economy and Jobs: these issues are not mutually exclusive, but literally one single issue. Rand Knight's proposal for solving this one, over-arching issue, is called `The Green Deal'. The Green Deal is a vision for a new future. One in which a strong green economy provides opportunity and security for all Americans.

1.)    Create Green-Collar Jobs- Green-Collar jobs would provide a stable, career oriented growth economy to support our middle class for generations to come. Green jobs exist in manufacturing, construction, operations and maintenance, and new installations of water and electrical-power infrastructure. Retrofitting buildings for energy and water-efficiency; building new, energy efficient mass transportation networks; building cars that are plug-in hybrids and that run on clean energy; revolutionizing energy and focusing on solar, wind and hydro power as well as biofuels are all examples of green jobs that build green profits and green savings. Every dollar we invest in Green-Collar jobs will strengthen the middle class, reduce carbon pollution, improve quality of life and provide a federal and local tax base to pay for healthcare, Social Security, education and infrastructure, which, in turn, will generate more jobs.

2.)    Use tax base garnered through Green-Collar jobs to fund domestic programs- As the richest country in the world we must provide healthcare for our citizens- right now in Georgia one and a half million people are without health insurance, that's about 18% of our population. We also need to provide a world-class public school system for our children, in Georgia less than 62% of high school freshmen graduate. Here and in many other parts of the country our infrastructure is literally crumbling before our eyes. 20% of Georgia's bridges are classified as functionally deficient or structurally obsolete. It is mandatory to make these improvements soon. As Senator, I will always vote to fund programs which directly affect the health and wellbeing of the people of Georgia.

3.)    Amend Trade Agreements- American workers are losing their jobs to countries that have no regard for labor rights or environmental standards. We must close the loopholes that make it profitable for companies to ship our jobs overseas. Additionally, we must use our market power to encourage our trade partners to adopt environmental and labor friendly standards. We must embrace a mirror trade system that will require our trading partners to meet our standards-- the standards of a new green economy coupled with our labor regulations- otherwise corporations will continue to ship jobs off shores.

4.)    Improve Physical Health- Clean energy means cutting carbon emissions- which will lead to improvements in general health as we will be polluting the environment far less. These health improvements will save us money on healthcare. Also, cutting carbon emissions will reduce the progression of global climate change, which means fending off an increase in infectious diseases, droughts and natural disasters that already extract enormous costs in our health, our food supply and our job base.

5.)    Make Corporations more aware of their demands for natural resources and the implications for resource extraction and consumption on climate change, ecosystem health and the general health of the citizens- Georgia needs a fighter who will restore democratic values. Democrats want to take care of each other- we want to make sure our people are healthy, educated, and safe. Rand Knight is ready to go to battle for Georgia and stand up for working people. For too long we've allowed George Bush, Dick Cheney and Saxby Chambliss to take from the American people and give to the corporations- they abuse the power of the government and weaken the economy of our Country.  The United States' debt has reached almost 9 and a half trillion dollars and has been increasing, on average, 1.5 billion dollars per day since 2006. Our total debt is over 65% of our Gross Domestic Product.