Poll: Obama struggling to win over Clinton voters

By ALAN FRAM and TREVOR TOMPSON – 8 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama's support from backers of Hillary Rodham Clinton is stuck smack where it was in June, a poll showed Tuesday, a stunning lack of progress that is weakening him with fellow Democrats in the close presidential race.

An Associated Press-Yahoo News poll shows that among adults who backed his rival during their bitter primary campaign, 58 percent now support Obama. That is the same percentage who said so in June, when Clinton ended her bid and urged her backers to line up behind the Democratic senator from Illinois.

The poll shows that while Obama has gained ground among Clinton's supporters — 69 percent view him favorably now, up 9 percentage points from June — this has yet to translate into more of their support.

In part, this is because their positive views of Republican presidential nominee John McCain have also improved during this period. The share of Clinton supporters saying they'll vote for McCain edged up from 21 percent to 28 percent, with the number of undecided staying constant, according to the survey, conducted by Knowledge Networks.

Clinton backers' reluctance to support Obama helps explain why he is having a tougher time solidifying partisan supporters than McCain. Overall, 74 percent of Democrats say they will vote for Obama, compared with 87 percent of Republicans behind the Arizona senator. About nine in 10 Clinton supporters are Democrats.

The problem that supporters of Clinton, the New York senator, have with Obama seems to flow from their measure of him as a candidate, not from issues. From establishing a timeline for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq to abortion to canceling tax cuts on the rich, their views of the importance of issues are virtually identical to Democrats in general.

Yet they find Obama less likable, honest, experienced and inspiring than Democrats overall do, and have a better view of McCain. And while majorities of Clinton supporters say Obama shares their values and understands ordinary Americans, they're less likely to say so than Democrats overall.

"It's just a gut feeling, my gut tells me he's not it," Leslye Burgess, 53, a federal Treasury Department manager and Clinton supporter from Fairfax, Va., said of Obama.

The GOP's selection of Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate has had no net impact on Clinton loyalists — a group Republicans were hoping to lure by picking the Alaska governor. Twenty-one percent in the poll said Palin on the ticket makes them likelier to back McCain, 21 percent said it makes them less likely, and 58 percent said it had no impact.

The choice of Joe Biden as Democratic vice presidential candidate makes them a bit likelier to vote for Obama, but seven in 10 said it didn't matter.

Whites saying Clinton should have been the nominee were twice as likely as whites preferring Obama to choose at least one negative adjective to describe blacks, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll conducted three weeks ago aimed at testing racial attitudes. Given a list of possible descriptions of blacks, four in 10 Clinton backers chose at least one derogatory one, compared to one in five of Obama's.

Other September polls have shown Obama making progress in recent weeks with one-time Clinton backers and doing better with them than in the AP-Yahoo News survey. One by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center had Obama with 78 percent of their support and McCain with 18 percent; another by ABC News and The Washington Post showed Obama ahead 72 percent to 23 percent.

Those figures measured Clinton supporters who are registered voters — who in the AP-Yahoo News poll leaned toward Obama over McCain 61 percent to 26 percent. The discrepancies in the polls might come from how they were conducted.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Clinton supporters are turning to Obama "in huge numbers" and noted that the AP-Yahoo News data differed from other polls. He said strong feelings by Clinton supporters were understandable considering the length and intensity of the Democratic primaries and said of Clinton, "She's done everything we've asked her to do."

Asked about the AP-Yahoo News poll Tuesday on MSNBC, Clinton said she was working to persuade more of her supporters to back Obama, saying, "I'm working hard to close that gap."

The AP-Yahoo News poll has surveyed the same nationally representative group of about 2,000 adults seven times since November, in an effort to understand how individuals are reacting to the presidential race. Nine in 10 Clinton supporters who said in June they were backing Obama were still with him in September, while three-quarters of those with McCain stayed with him.

As during her primary battle against Obama, Clinton supporters are likelier to be female, white and less educated than those who did not back her.

They trust Obama more than McCain on important issues, though not by as much as Democrats overall do. They prefer Obama over McCain on the economy by 30 percentage points, compared with Obama's 50-point edge among all Democrats. They like Obama on Iraq by 17 points, while all Democrats give Obama a 40-point margin.

The starkest contrast comes from comparing Clinton backers still refusing to support Obama with other Democrats.

Just three in 10 Clinton supporters still not backing Obama view him favorably, compared with eight in 10 of all Democrats. While most Democrats and former Clinton supporters strongly prefer Obama over McCain to handle key issues, those Clinton voters still opposing Obama opt for McCain: On the economy by 32 points, and on Iraq by 47 points.

The AP-Yahoo News poll of 1,740 adults was conducted Sept. 5-15 and has an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. It included interviews with 502 people who in AP-Yahoo News polls in January and April identified themselves as supporting Clinton in one or both of those months, for whom the margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4.4 points.

The survey was conducted over the Internet by Knowledge Networks, which initially contacted people using traditional telephone polling methods and followed with online interviews.

In contrast, the Pew and ABC-Post polls relied on people saying in September whether they supported Clinton earlier this year. Those polls were conducted by telephone; some studies have shown people can be less reluctant to disclose embarrassing behavior — like not supporting their party's presidential nominee — in an online survey than to a live telephone interviewer.

On the other hand, people in the AP-Yahoo News poll who backed Clinton in earlier waves of the survey might not want to appear inconsistent by suddenly backing a candidate — Obama — they opposed earlier.

AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

Do What You Pledged To Do

"If Barack is the nominee, he is the nominee," Diana Carpenter-Madoshi, 62, a retired nurse from Rocklin, California, and a Clinton delegate, said in a follow-up interview. "I'm still pledged to Hillary because I was elected by my district to be her pledged delegate and I'm honoring the voters who voted for her."

When Your Name Is Called...

vote Hillary. There are millions behind you.

Biden and Trent Lott have something in common...

Biden to Strom Thurmond on his 90th birthday: "You have been an inspiration to me in so many ways."

Cover (Up) Story: Red Herring Leaked On Purpose

Politico

Hillary gets stiffed

By MIKE ALLEN 8/22/08 12:38 PM EST Updated: 8/22/08 12:38 PM EST

There’s one Democrat who would seem to have little or no chance of being picked by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to be his running mate – his former opponent, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

But it’s not for the reason you think.

Obama has often said, most recently on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on July 27, that Clinton “would be on anybody’s short list.” But apparently not his.

“She was never vetted,” a Democratic official reported. “She was not asked for a single piece of paper. She and Senator Obama have never had a single conversation about it. How would he know if she’d take it?” The official also said Clinton never met with Obama’s vetting team of Eric Holder and Caroline Kennedy. And the official said she was never asked for medical records or for any financial 2008 information about her or former President Bill Clinton. The last information the couple has disclosed about taxes and financial holdings was for 2007.

The Clintons also were not asked about donors to the William J. Clinton Presidential Library.

“This would be the biggest leap of faith ever,” the official said. “She’s waiting for the text message like everyone else.” An Obama aide said "absolutely exhaustive research was done on her over the course of the 16 month primary. She was researched more closely than any candidate in history."

Veepstakes / Buy-Off

"New York Daily News": Hillary Clinton for Barack Obama’s VP
August 22, 2008 12:34 PM ET Bonnie Erbe
The Daily News editorial board adventurously puts forward Sen. Hillary Clinton's name as Sen. Barack Obama's best vice presidential running mate in an editorial today.
The News admits the choice is highly unlikely, but the paper concurs with many Clinton supporters who feel that she is Obama's best chance to win the White House in November. Will Obama listen? It would truly make news if he did.

Inside Baseball

We have friends:

"The majority of our contacts/voters are low propensity voters. Your propensity to vote is determined by looking at the last 4 statewide elections. (2 most recent statewide General Elections and 2 most recent statewide Primary Elections). Depending on which ones you voted in you would be given a score of [(1/4)-voted in 1 of the 4 above-mentioned elections----(4/4)-voted in all 4 of the above-mentioned elections]. The 4/4 dont need our encouragement to go out and vote and are probably old and arent going to be swayed by our pitch anyway so we dont focus on them. The 3/4 will get a little attention as they may be people who voted because of our previous encouragement/harassment. The 1/4 and 2/4 are where we focus 80-90% of our efforts. They tend to be young and we've hoped that we can increase our vote totals among this group by about 60+%. But that's not happening. The thing is, these people also tend to be more moderate (and you would think more inclined to vote dem this year given the current political environment), but it's just not registering. They become un-connected to our messenger. It seems the more they learn about him, the more same/stagnant/typical politician he becomes. It's gonna be a long fall.

Yes, She Can, excerpted

By MAUREEN DOWD NY Times Op-Ed Columnist
Published: August 12, 2008

While Obama was spending three hours watching “The Dark Knight” five time zones away, and going to a fund-raiser featuring “Aloha attire” and Hawaiian pupus, Hillary was busy planning her convention.

You can almost hear her mind whirring: She’s amazed at how easy it was to snatch Denver away from the Obama saps.

Now they’ve made Barry’s convention all about them — their dissatisfaction and revisionism and barely disguised desire to see him fail. Whatever insincere words of support the Clintons muster, their primal scream gets louder: He can’t win! He can’t close the deal! We told you so!

Hillary’s orchestrating a play within the play in Denver. Just as Hamlet used the device to show that his stepfather murdered his father, Hillary will try to show the Democrats they chose the wrong savior.

Her former aide Howard Wolfson fanned the divisive flames Monday on ABC News, arguing that Hillary would have beaten Obama in Iowa and become the nominee if John Edwards’s affair had come out last year.

She’s obviously relishing Hillaryworld’s plans to have multiple rallies in Denver, to take out TV and print ads and to hold up signs in the hall that read “Denounce Nobama’s Coronation.”

In a video of a closed California fund-raiser on July 31 that surfaced on YouTube, Hillary was clearly receptive to having her name put in nomination and a roll-call vote.

She said she thought it would be good for party unity if her gals felt “that their voices are heard.” She said she wanted it for Chelsea. Ever since she stepped aside in June, she’s been telling people privately that there might have to be “a catharsis” at the convention.

The way the Clintons see it, there’s nothing wrong with a couple making plans for their future, is there? That’s the American way and, as their pal Mark Penn pointed out, they have American roots while Obama “is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values.”

The Clintons know that a wave of buyer’s remorse has swept the Democratic Party; many Democrats are questioning whether Obama is fighting back hard enough against McCain, and many are wondering, given his inability to open up a lead in a country fed up with Republicans, if race will be an insurmountable factor.

Take It To Denver

TENNESSEE GUERILLA WOMEN
Saturday, June 07, 2008

'Hillary - Take It to Denver!' Postcard Campaign

IT's HILLARY

We've all seen the unprecedented amount of openness given to the "challenger" at this year's convention, even to the point of having Hill-friendly 'whips' pacing the floor handing out Hillary signs. Any fair look at this has to agree it's an unbelievably weak allowance from an election "winner." The Politico reports today:

Clinton creates 'whip team' to quell anti-Obama protests
In an unusual move, Hillary Clinton's staff is creating a 40-member "whip team" at the Denver Democratic convention to ensure that her supporters don't engage in embarrassing anti-Obama demonstrations during the floor vote on her nomination, according to people familiar with the planning.

"Is it typical for a losing candidate to have their own whip team? No. But it's also not usual for a losing candidate to get 18 million votes either," said the person.

“We have been and are working closely with the Obama campaign to make sure we have an exciting and unified convention," Strand said. "Our delegate whips, along with the Obama delegate whips, are a part of a team that will be on the floor of the convention to make sure delegates have everything they need, whether that’s answering questions or passing out signs during Hillary's speech. The whips are a traditional part of every convention's floor operations.”

Do you notice the pressure being put on by the mouths of Hillary? The two camps have been "working closely" and plan to host a "unified" convention. That is some pretty heavy-handed talk coming from the "also-ran."

It's obvious isn't it? All this pressure has paid off. The way our side was treated in the Primary will haunt Senator Obama throughout the remainder of the year, only this haunting will be done by real people - us. He has to take her, she's already dominating his convention. The only way he can escape her (and our) ire is to carry her with him. It's also the only way he can win.

Hillary is it. You heard it here first.

An Open Door

ABC News' Kate Snow reports: A deal has been brokered between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that will allow Clinton's name to be placed in nomination at next week's Democratic nominating convention.

"Both sides agree that it is in the best interest of party unity and making sure that everyone's voice and vote is honored to make sure her name is put into nomination," a person close the negotiations said.

It is also apparent that Clinton is not being seriously considered as a running mate for Obama. The deal that allows Clinton's name to be placed in nomination is meant to help mollify those hurt feelings.

The statement said Obama's office "encouraged" Clinton's supporters to place her name in nomination. Nevertheless, it has taken weeks for today's agreement to be reached.

Some details are still being worked out, but Clinton's name will be put into nomination at the Denver convention on Wednesday. That will be one day after Clinton addresses the convention.

What also hasn't been settled yet is who will nominate Clinton and whether she will stand up with the New York delegation when they are called on. What has been settled, however, is that after both Clinton and Obama names are placed into nomination there will be a roll call vote.

Get that? The candidate with arguably the majority popular vote has to work out a deal in order to have a roll call vote on the floor. In other words, following normal Party rules have to be okayed by Mr. Obama now. This is sad. The voters spoke and not until the Superdelegates get a say does Mr. Obama get his lead.

Let's examine, why did Mr. Obama suck up the majority of Superdelegates (assuming he does)? Could it be because he is a novice in Washington, that his A-team in Chicago was hacks who'd be lost or indicted in DC? Could he be an easy tether to a four-year post for a lot of these nobodys? Meanwhile, Hillary knows the players, she's been around long enough to give a good answer when asked what should be done to Russia for invading Georgia. Further, she knows the people who can get the right decisions done. Barry, he thinks George Clooney is an expert.

It is my hope that my fellow Democrats will look at the case for each candidate and, yes i'm going to say it, look at who is the best choice for the future of America, and stand up for the right choice when you're given a chance. That chance, now, will come in Denver, and soon. The tide is turning, the push will be loud, but the facts are what counts. Make the right decision. Our Party's leaders made the decision to hold a roll call vote for a reason - they can see that they've made a bad public choice. But it's not final, the vote is what counts... or at least it will once again in this party. In Denver. The door is open, let's move America in the right direction. Go with Hillary.

Plans for Clinton convention rallies intensify

By Bob Cusack
Posted: 08/10/08 11:37 PM [ET]
http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/plans-for-clinton-convention-rallies-intensify-2008-08-10.html

Frustrated supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) are planning multiple rallies at the Democratic convention in Denver, coupled with television and print advertisements.

The disenchanted Democrats want to express their disappointment with the party’s presidential primary process.

The Denver Group, formed a couple of months ago by two Clinton backers, says it has filmed a television commercial and is looking to air it soon. The fledgling group adds that it has received such a strong response to its scheduled Aug. 26 reception in Denver that it had to book an overflow room.

Meanwhile, another pro-Clinton group called “18 Million Voices” is organizing a march on Aug. 26 in Denver “and nationwide to support Sen. Clinton and advocate for women’s rights worldwide.” It will also be holding “a celebration in a beautiful Denver City park during the day, and throughout the evening on Aug. 26,” according to the 18 Million Voices website.

Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) campaign has been in contact with Clinton aides to come up with a plan that will unify the party as well as honor Clinton and the roughly 18 million people who voted for her during the presidential primary.

But any compromise is unlikely to satisfy Clinton’s most ardent backers.

For example, some of the Denver Group’s goals are contrary to the Democratic Party’s. Its goals include: an open convention; Clinton's name placed in nomination with no symbolic roll call vote; speeches allowed by supporters of Clinton on behalf of her candidacy; a genuine roll call vote with Clinton as a legitimate candidate; and “no coronation.”

Asked about Clinton last week, Obama said, “As is true in all conventions, we’re still working out the mechanics, the coordination.” When pressed if he would favor a roll call for Clinton, Obama responded, “I didn’t say that.”

Heidi Li Feldman, co-founder of the Denver Group, said, “There is going to be a steady stream of activities for the first three days of the convention” and predicted thousands of Clinton backers will appear at the events.

Feldman said her group has raised between $30,000 and $40,000, enabling it to buy six print ads and produce one television ad. The TV ad is scheduled to run on CNN and during a local news broadcast in Denver the week before the convention begins. The ad strategy for convention week has not been finalized.

[The Denver Group is planning on advertising in The Hill.]

One print ad that ran in Congressional Quarterly showed a picture of Franklin Roosevelt and asked, “Would Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi have kept his name off the ballot?”

The ad noted that Roosevelt went into the 1932 Democratic convention short of the necessary delegates to clinch the nomination and subsequently won on the 4th ballot.

Regardless of any accord Clinton and Obama come to, the planned rallies could become a focus of the media’s attention instead of the heavily scripted themes of the convention.

The Denver Post recently reported that Clinton backers will hold signs that read, “Denounce Nobama's Coronation.”

Clinton and many of her backers believe that, if there is a strategy of recognizing the New York senators’ delegates at the convention, it would be a cathartic experience and lead to a more unified Democratic Party.

During a recent fundraiser in California, Clinton stressed that Democrats must unite behind Obama and said talks are ongoing with the Obama campaign and Democratic National Committee about her role and the role of her delegates.

Clinton, whose appearance at the fundraiser was posted on YouTube, did point out that putting her name in nomination and a roll call vote “are the usual kind of process that occurs at conventions.”

Feldman said many Clinton supporters “were reassured and relieved” by the former first lady’s remarks, especially after a media account reported that she had asked not to be nominated at the convention.

Clinton is expected to address the convention on Aug. 26 while her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will speak the next night.

Marc Rubin, the other co-founder of the Denver Group, said Clinton supporters will “absolutely not” be appeased by the speaking slots.

Rubin said there is “palpable anger” at the Democratic National Committee.

Jenny Backus, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee Convention, said the party has become more unified and cited Clinton’s strong support of Obama as the strongest signal of that unity.

“Sen. Clinton is one of our biggest assets,” Backus said.

While Obama and Clinton have said their bitter primary battle is behind them, there is still animosity between the supporters of the two senators.

The person who posted the Clinton You Tube video indicated that he or she had disabled some viewer comments, stating on the site that “Obama trolls have started to post horrible negative comments regarding Hillary Clinton and her supporters.”

Meanwhile, Feldman said she has received nasty e-mails since launching the Denver Group. Feldman, who is a college professor, said one e-mail she received at work was reported to the FBI.

Feldman said she is not disgruntled or bitter, but she has an objection to the Democratic Party’s process. And she stressed that she will not be voting for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) this fall.
“It would be a tragedy for Democrats to lose this year,” Feldman said.

Don't Do It

Please don't drop out. There's still plenty of time for the SuperDelegates to come to our side. This amateur is gonna slip up big time. You have to be there with your delegates ready to lead this nation.

Who Said It?

1) "Whoever wins the elections, I'm sure that the United States will change, it will have a different approach. The United States will have a reduced sphere of influence in the world. The new president will have to respond to the real demands of the American people.”
2) “Change is realizing that meeting today’s threats requires not just our firepower, but the power of our diplomacy.”
3) “40 million American citizens do not have health insurance.”
4) “45 million Americans who don't have health insurance.”
5) “47 million Americans — including nearly 9 million children — lack health insurance.” -
6) “The victims of the New Orleans hurricane still have no homes."
7) "The lack of affordable housing in New Orleans has prevented many Katrina victims fromreturning to the city."
7) “The United States will have to withdraw the soldiers from Iraq (since) the American people will not tolerate continued spending of billions of dollars on weapons."
8) “…a policy where all we look for are reasons to stay in Iraq, while we spend billions of dollars a month on a war that isn’t making the American people any safer.”
9) "It is they who cut off the links with us, hoping to suffocate us. Today Iran is an advanced country. We are ready for dialogue with anyone in relations based on mutual respect and fairness.”

Statements #1, 3, 6, 9 were made by Mahmoud Ahmadenijad in an interview published June 4 in the Italian daily La Repubblica. He was in Rome to attend the UN food agency's summit on food security. The full quote for #6 is "It is they who cut off the links with us, hoping to suffocate us. Today Iran is an advanced country. We are ready for dialogue with anyone except with the Zionist regime, in relations based on mutual respect and fairness."
Statements #2, 4 was made by Barack Obama, Speech in Iowa City, IA, May 29, 2007
Statements #4 and 5 are from http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/ June 4, 2008
Statement #7 is on http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/KatrinaFactSheetFinal.pdf June5, 2008
Statement #8 is again Barack Obama, Speech in St. Paul MN,, June 3, 2008

Take It To The Floor

Be Sure To Go To HillaryClinton.com and leave a message urging Hillary to stay in this race. We must remind everyone that our Party cannot win if she’s not on the ticket.

Remind Hillary that she wins the battlegrounds and the big states:

Kentucky, West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Florida, Michigan

Ask what Barry states Barry will take from McCain:

South Carolina, Alaska, Kansas, Utah, Alabama, Georgia, Texas?

He needs her or we have another Michael Dukakis on our hands.

And in perhaps the most seriously troubling set of gaffes of them all, Obama told a Portland crowd over the weekend that Iran doesn’t “pose a serious threat to us” — cluelessly arguing that “tiny countries” with small defense budgets can’t do us harm — and then promptly flip-flopped the next day, claiming, “I’ve made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave.”

Last March, the Chicago Tribune reported this little-noticed nugget about a fake autobiographical detail in Obama’s Dreams from My Father: “Then, there’s the copy of Life magazine that Obama presents as his racial awakening at age 9. In it, he wrote, was an article and two accompanying photographs of an African-American man physically and mentally scarred by his efforts to lighten his skin. In fact, the Life article and the photographs don’t exist, say the magazine’s own historians.”

Earlier this month [May] in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Obama showed off his knowledge of the war in Afghanistan by homing in on a lack of translators: “We only have a certain number of them, and if they are all in Iraq, then it’s harder for us to use them in Afghanistan.” The real reason it’s “harder for us to use them” in Afghanistan: Iraqis speak Arabic or Kurdish. The Afghanis speak Pashto, Farsi, or other non-Arabic languages.

Obama has as much trouble with numbers as he has with maps.

Last March, on the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Ala., he claimed his parents united as a direct result of the civil rights movement: “There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Ala., because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born.”

Obama was born in 1961. The Selma march took place in 1965. His spokesman, Bill Burton, later explained that Obama was “speaking metaphorically about the civil-rights movement as a whole.”

Last week, in front of a roaring Sioux Falls, S.D., audience, Obama exulted: “Thank you, Sioux City. ... I said it wrong. I’ve been in Iowa for too long. I’m sorry.”

Explaining last week why he was trailing Hillary Clinton in Kentucky, Obama again botched basic geography: “Sen. Clinton, I think, is much better known, coming from a nearby state of Arkansas. So it’s not surprising that she would have an advantage in some of those states in the middle.” On what map is Arkansas closer to Kentucky than Illinois?

But what about Barack Obama? The guy’s a perpetual gaffe machine. Let us count the ways, large and small, that his tongue has betrayed him throughout the campaign:

Earlier this month [May] in Oregon, he redrew the map of the United States: “Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.”

I'm Barry Obama?

Over the weekend, Obama said, 'On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today...'

What do we do on Memorial Day? We honor people who have died in the military.

SuperDelegates, is it possible Obama does not know this?

Yes!

I'm Barry Obama?

Michelle Malkin writes:

But what about Barack Obama? The guy’s a perpetual gaffe machine. Let us count the ways, large and small, that his tongue has betrayed him throughout the campaign:

Last May, he claimed that tornadoes in Kansas killed a whopping 10,000 people: “In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed.” The actual death toll: 12.

The Count

There are currently 4,050 total delegates to the Democratic National Convention, including 3,253 pledged delegates and 797 superdelegates. The total number of delegate votes needed to win the nomination is 2,026

Delegates remaining: 302








TOTAL DELEGATES

Barack Obama
Pledged: 1656
Superdelegates: 306
Total: 1,962

Hillary Clinton
Pledged: 1498
Superdelegates

I Have a Scheme

Free Concert by Popular Band Preceded Obama’s Big Rally

By Robert Knight May 20, 2008 - 17:16 ET


From CNN to the New York Times, the media hyped Barack Obama's Portland, Oregon rally on Sunday, some comparing him to a rock star.


Unmentioned in national reporting was the fact that Obama was preceded by a rare, 45-minute free concert by actual rock stars The Decemberists. The Portland-based band has drawn rave reviews from Rolling Stone magazine, which gave their 2005 album Picaresque four and a half stars (out of five), and another four and a half stars for 2007's The Crane Wife.


How many of the people showed up to hear Obama, and how many to hear the band?


Here's how the local paper The Oregonian, which estimated the crowd at 72,000, reported the rally:


"Obama was the biggest star at Sunday's gathering -- though a popular Portland band, The Decemberists, provided the warmup act. With blue skies and temperatures in the 80s, many in the crowd said Waterfront Park was simply the place to be."


CNN headlined its 10 p.m. segment on May 18 with "Barack Obama: Achieving Rock Star Status in Oregon."


The New York Times, which ran a color photo of the crowd, estimated the throng at 75,000, noting that it was "the largest crowd of his campaign so far." There was no mention of The Decemberists, and the Times described the weather as "an unseasonably hot day."


Indie rock Web sites were abuzz with news of the impending concert, which was also announced on the Obama campaign's Web site.


Here's the report from the Indie rock Web site Pitchfork:

By land and by sea, they came to see the great man speak. An estimated
75,000 in all turned out to see presidential hopeful Barack Obama at Portland's
Waterfront Park yesterday afternoon-- a record crowd for Obama's own campaign,
according to The New York Times, and a record crowd for Oregon political
events, according to The Oregonian. Just look at them all!


And hey, they got to see a pretty sweet opening act too. Calling
themselves the
Decemberists and led by lovably literate Steve Novick endorser Colin Meloy, this feisty fivepiece
charmed the gathered for a good 45 minutes before Senator Obama took the stump.
They even closed out with a sing-along entitled "Sons & Daughters", which
had the masses joining the band to declare "Here all the bombs fade away..."
Something tells me this Decemberists band is going places. Just like Senator
Obama.

Here's how Pitchfork primed the pump for the concert/rally:

Indie rock's #1 candidate crush Barack Obama is sittin' quite a bit prettier than he was a few
weeks ago when the Arcade Fire and Bruce Springsteen went to bat for him, but the dashing junior
Senator hasn't quite clinched the Democratic party nomination yet. Next up on
the primary agenda are Oregon and Kentucky, whose voters hit the polls Tuesday,
May 20. Should Obama win a heaping majority of the delegates up for grabs that
day, he'll be within inches of securing the hotly-contested nom.


And look who's arrived to give Obama the extra push he needs to get on
the ballot in November. Why, it's none other than those kings and queens of the
month after, the
Decemberists!

There's nothing wrong with a candidate using celebrity power to draw a crowd, but the media have a responsibility to report their presence. By ignoring the free concert, the Times and other outlets made it appear that 75,000 people were drawn only by Sen. Obama's considerable charisma.

The Count

Barack Obama
Pledged: 1612
Superdelegates: 292
Total: 1,904

Hillary Clinton
Pledged: 1443
Superdelegates: 274
Total: 1,717

Poor Barry's Under The Table

Take Me Home (To The White House)

West Virginia goes HANDILY to HILLARY. Let's go over the ramifications... West Virginia is in play in this election cycle, as I believe more states are than ever before. At this point we have to be looking at who can win what states, because the delegate count isn't going to pick the nominee... the SuperDelegates are. The SuperDelegate is an institution created to make sure the strongest candidate comes out of the nomination process and lives on to battle in the general. Hillary is far and away that strongest candidate.

Consider: when did the most recent new revelation come out about Hillary that could be an obstacle in her nomination? 1999?

Consider: who can't seem to extend his winning grip on voters past college kids and black Americans? Barry.

Consider: who's pulling real voters to switch parties and push the button for her? Our Hillary.

Consider: who's admittedly getting new voters to turn out in this primary like new voters have never turned out before? Barry.

Are new voters dependable and can Barry seal the deal with record numbers of new voters? No.

SuperDelegates! Pick a winner.

Tell Him to Run, Forrest

For those of you who have stuck with me for a while - and a big 'Thank You' to those of you who have - then you already know this. But to the newbies who might be randomly searching for Hillary, Barry, Tom Hanks, Britney Spears, Star Wars, Pamela Anderson, etc, you've found us. Welcome. The Associated Press reports this:
Tom Hanks announces support for Obama's presidential bid

But as you've readon this site for the last few months, Tommy and his wife have been giving money hand over fist to Barry, and encouraging all of their limosine-liberal friends to do the same. Tom Hanks. A war-film monger, a renounced cross-dresser, a marriage fiend. This guy irks me. Anyway, here's the story...

NEW YORK (AP) - entertainmentminute Tom Hanks is supporting presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Hanks has taken to his MySpace.com page to pledge his support for Obama, who is competing to be the first black president. Obama, who faces rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination, has also been endorsed by Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Springsteen and Scarlett Johansson.

"As an official celebrity, I know my endorsement has just made your mind up for you," the 51-year-old actor says in a short video titled, "Beware: Celebrity Endorsement."

"History with a capital `H' is going to be made this November, no matter who the president-elect is. I want Barack Obama to be president of this country, a country that once said people with his skin color were only three-fifths of a human being."

Preach On Brother.

Barry's having serious problems after failing to seal the deal in Pennsylvania. Or maybe I should say "Losing by double digits." Attention super-delegates! It doesn't matter who wins the rest of these races... YOU must decide who will be our standard bearer.

Do you want a multi-term Senator with a known track record who's already had everything thrown at her that the Republicans could ever come up with?

Or do you want this unknown, empty vessel of a politician? The guy whose campaign speeches are merely whispering sweet nothings into voters' ears? Fainters aside. (In fact, maybe the fainters were the people who figured him out and had their world so shaken that they switched off.) "Can we get some water over here? She seems to have fainted." How phony did all that seem? So obvious, but people continue to fall for it.

And how about this hate monger preacher that seems to be fastened at the hip of the transcendent candidate? Looks a little phony, huh? You super-delegates think there's nothing left to be found out about Mr. Obama?All those Hawai'i connections? All those Chicago political connections?

And what about the Weathermen? He's buddies with guys who set bombs in New York, D.C, our own nation's capitol building for crying out loud. And Obama's friend the terrorist said in the newspaper that he didn't believe he went far enough! And what day did that story with that quote get published in New York? September 11th 2001!

Super-delegates, this guy is bad for our Party! Now YOU must live up to your name, and save our Party!

Barry's at it again

He's sent this ridiculous email to supporters. When you read it, just in your head repeat this line: "Because you're a bitter, America-hating, self-promoter who believes his own hype!"


Dear Friend,
In the last 24 hours we saw renewed attacks from Senator McCain and Senator Clinton.
The same John McCain who voted to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest few said I was "out of touch" when I spoke about the frustrations that working people in this country are feeling.
Maybe that's to be expected from John McCain. But I was disappointed to hear the exact same talking points from my Democratic colleague, Hillary Clinton. When a candidate who believes lobbyists represent "real people" says that I'm out of touch, that's when you know politics is being played.

Here's Where the Next Attacks Are Coming From

Obviousley the word is out among the Husseinaphiles that the only way to make Barry look like the "man" in this primary fight is to attack our soldiers. Below is an ad I found for an Obama ad being shot right here in Austin - it seems as though the first-term Senator's campaign is turning against the work ethic and the abilities of our brave soldiers, sailors, air force, and marines. Here you go:

UT-Austin student filmmaker casting for Obama adPosted: April 4, 2008
UT-Austin student looking for 2 middle age actors, one male, one female to play a role as a solider and the other a widow. Also looking for a younger actress or actor around the ages of 5-10 who can play the widows child. This is for an Obama ad and will involve limited or no talking at all. Food and drinks will be provided. Day of shooting will be the weekend of 11-13. Please e-mail me at bigb@mail.utexas.edu.Thanks you.Brian KalehThe University of Texas at AustinTSTV Productions Director
Contact: Brian Kaleh bigb@mail.utexas.edu

Torch Song

The violent clashes in Tibet and the failure of the Chinese government to use its full leverage with Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur are opportunities for Presidential leadership. These events underscore why I believe the Bush administration has been wrong to downplay human rights in its policy towards China. At this time, and in light of recent events, I believe President Bush should not plan on attending the opening ceremonies in Beijing, absent major changes by the Chinese government.I encourage the Chinese to take advantage of this moment as an opportunity to live up to universal human aspirations of respect for human rights and unity, ideals that the Olympic games have come to represent. Americans will stand strong in support of freedom of religious and political expression and human rights. Americans will also stand strong and root for the success of American athletes who have worked hard and earned the right to compete in the Olympic Games of 2008.

- Hillary

EXCLUSIVE -- by Drudge

Makes sense to me. I mean, just look at how eerily similar the pics are.

Clinton compares herself to 'Rocky'
4/1/2008, 11:07 p.m. EDT
By BETH FOUHY The Associated Press


PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Perhaps the analogy was inevitable: Hillary Rodham Clinton as Rocky Balboa, the scrappy underdog boxer from Philadelphia memorably depicted in the 1976 Oscar-winning film. Even if Rocky did lose his first big fight.
Addressing a meeting of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Tuesday, the former first lady and New York senator said she, like Rocky, wasn't a quitter.
Recalling a famous scene on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Clinton said to end her presidential campaign now would be as if "Rocky Balboa had gotten halfway up those art museum steps and said, 'Well, I guess that's about far enough.'"

Leave Em' Laughin' Leahy

It came to light today that a dear colleague of America's Senator has turned against her. This is obviously a petty partisan play by Senator Patrick Leahy to get some of the left-over ink after Bill Richardson shot his mouth off a week ago. So look for Leahy to run to head up the DNC or more likely the Senatorial Committee next round.

But is this the face of the party we want out there? We've got better liberals in Vermont, much less the whole party. And when people find out the kind of business he got into on the Smithsonian Board...
Join Hillary.

He sure says "you know" a lot.

Excerpted from Politico with my comments italicized.

In an interview in conjunction with his big economic speech in New York, Senator Obama tells CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo he favors increasing the capital-gains tax rate. Bartiromo reported after her interview: “Right now, as you know, the cap gains tax is at 15 percent. He has yet to give us a specific number. How high he wants that number to go? He has said, and he told me today, that he won't go above 28 percent. So we are talking about the possibility of a doubling in the capital gains tax. He was averaging at about 25 percent.”

Why is this news? This was part of the economic plan in the first Clinton Admistration, and obviously raising capital gains taxes is big on the Hillary to-do list.

Sen. OBAMA: It is true that I think that having the minimum wage go up every 10 years is a bad idea and it's not good for small businesses...

What? This guy may drinking the Republican Kool-Aid but America's Senator knows that in so many instances it's the minimum wage that keeps folks on the assembly line and off the bread line.

Sen. OBAMA: ...the cap and trade system that I've proposed to deal with climate change and to increase energy independence. That potentially generates billions of dollars that we can reinvest in solar, wind, biodiesel, creating jobs here in America that can't be exported.

Oh please, if you remember back, it was Hillary who came up with the term, Green Collar Jobs.

Sen. OBAMA: And if you talk to any executive, as well as any actuary who's looking at government spending, our biggest crisis looming in the horizon has to do with our health care costs. And the only way to really solve it long term is to make sure that we are making for a healthier America and improving the quality of care so that we get more bang for our health care dollar.

Two things. First, our nation's health care future isn't a crisis, it's an opportunity. It's an opportunity to invest in America. If we just take the money people don't need for their own health care, and put it into the hands of people who do need help with their health costs, then we can save America. For all of us. Second, he talks about getting more bang for our health care buck, but the truth is that his plan would leave millions of people behind. Millions of hopes and dreams. Millions of Americans. Millions of voters. If you don't want to be one of those millions, vote for Hillary.

Sen. OBAMA: I am concerned about NAFTA because they don't have the environmental and labor protections written into this legislation that ensure some basic standards, make sure that child labor laws aren't being circumvented, making sure that you don't have forced labor. I think it is important in our dealings with China to make sure that we are tougher bargainers.

Barry, baby, China is in Asia. The NA in NAFTA stands for North American. Oh, and by the way, real brave stand against forced child labor. Did your Obama girl fall for that? Speaking of the Obama girl...

BARTIROMO: And this is just in the news right now, away from business, the church bulletins. A lot of people say that they were--are anti-Semitic, anti-American. How often did you read them? Did you find them troubling?

Sen. OBAMA: You know, the--you know, I've, I think, talked thoroughly about, you know, the issue with Reverend Wright. And, you know, everybody, I think, who examines the church that I attend knows that it is a very traditional, conventional church. Reverend Wright has made some, you know, troubling statements and some appalling statements that I have condemned. He's the former pastor of that church.

Still Black... Still Talking About It

Typical Black Person

Sound racist?

Probably so. It's not my intent though, because I'm a liberal and racism is wrong. Heck, I actually feel uncomfortable when the word 'black' is used at all. But I'm just trying to make a point here. Let's turn the wayback machine to the 1970s when young Barry Obama lived in Hawai'i...

Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham (born October 1922) is the maternal grandmother of Barack Obama. She raised Senator Obama from age 10 in her Honolulu, Hawaii high-rise apartment, where she still lives today. In his book, Obama described his grandmother as "suspicious of overwrought sentiments or overblown claims, content with common sense." She is said to have been "quiet yet firm", in contrast to Obama's "boisterous" grandfather Stanley. Obama considered his grandmother "a trailblazer of sorts, the first woman vice-president of a local bank."

But one fateful day waiting for the bus which she rode to the bank everyday...

"I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother - a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe." -Barry, March 18, 2008 in a speech on race relations and in defense of his Pastor Jeremiah Wright.

He even expounded on this remark 2 days later...

"The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity - she doesn't. But she is a typical white person, who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know...there's a reaction that's been bred into our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way, and that's just the nature of race in our society."

But wait, years earlier, in his first autobiography, published in 1995 when he was 34, he told of that bus stop incident in his grandmother's own words...

"Her lips pursed with irritation. 'He was very aggressive, Barry. Very aggressive. I gave him a dollar and he kept asking. If the bus hadn't come, I think he might have hit me over the head."

So no, she didn't confess her fear of a black guy who passed her on the street, but instead by an aggressive beggar who confronted her, demanded money, and then gave her reason to believe he would have gotten violent if she'd been at the bus stop alone with him any longer.

But you don't have to take my word for it...

Speaking of Change...

On Dec. 12, 2002, Obama, then serving as an Illinois state senator and filling in as host of the Cliff Kelley radio show on WVON, challenged the Republican Party to demand Lott's resignation.

"It seems to be that we can forgive a 100-year-old senator for some of the indiscretion of his youth, but, what is more difficult to forgive is the current president of the U.S. Senate (Lott) suggesting we had been better off if we had followed a segregationist path in this country after all of the battles and fights for civil rights and all the work that we still have to do," said Obama.

He added: "The Republican Party itself has to drive out Trent Lott. If they have to stand for something, they have to stand up and say this is not the person we want representing our party."

Meanwhile...

"The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church."

And This Guy Is Supporting Him...

Wright's Rantings Won't Sink Obama

By Dick Morris

Will the Gospel According to Jeremiah Wright sink the Obama candidacy? Not very likely.
Let's start with two basic facts:

(b) Wright's rantings are not reflective of Obama's views on anything. Why did he stay in the church? Because he's a black Chicago politician who comes from a mixed marriage and went to Columbia and Harvard. Suspected of not being black enough or sufficiently tied to the minority community, he needed the networking opportunities Wright afforded him in his church to get elected. If he had not risen to the top of Chicago black politics, we would never have heard of him. But obviously, he can't say that. So what should he say?

He needs to get out of this mess with subtlety, the kind Bill Clinton should have used to escape the Monica Lewinsky scandal -- but didn't. As the controversy continues, Americans will gradually realize that Obama stuck by Wright as part of a need to get ahead. They will chalk up to pragmatism why he was so close to such a preacher. As they come to realize that Obama doesn't agree with Wright but used him to get started, they will be more forgiving.

But if he handles the situation with subtlety and lets what he cannot say -- that it was opportunism that led him to stay in that church -- sink in among the electorate, he can and will survive this battle.

Vs.

Regarding Hillary's advisor, Geraldine Ferraro: In the first interview with the Daily Breeze of Torrance, Ferraro had said, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

This caused a firestorm on cable TV news shows and at political blogs. But the Breeze reported late today that "far from backing off from her initial remark, Ferraro defended it and elaborated on it."

Ferraro told the paper: "Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up. Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?"

The article continued: "Ferraro said she was simply stating an obvious truth, as seen in exit polls that show Obama taking as much as 80 percent of the black vote in the Democratic primaries. 'In all honesty, do you think that if he were a white male, there would be a reason for the black community to get excited for a historic first?' Ferraro said. 'Am I pointing out something that doesn't exist?'"

Regarding Barry's advisor, Rev. Wright: The fracas started Thursday morning, when ABC’s “Good Morning America” ran a Brian Ross expose on Wright that included old video of him saying: “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God bless America’? No, no, no. Not God bless America. God [expletive] America.”

"We've got more black men in prison than there are in college," he began. "Racism is alive and well. Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run. No black man will ever be considered for president, no matter how hard you run Jesse [Jackson] and no black woman can ever be considered for anything outside what she can give with her body."

Mr. Wright thundered on: "America is still the No. 1 killer in the world. . . . We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns, and the training of professional killers. . . We bombed Cambodia, Iraq and Nicaragua, killing women and children while trying to get public opinion turned against Castro and Ghadhafi . . . We put [Nelson] Mandela in prison and supported apartheid the whole 27 years he was there. We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God."

His voice rising, Mr. Wright said, "We supported Zionism shamelessly while ignoring the Palestinians and branding anybody who spoke out against it as being anti-Semitic. . . . We care nothing about human life if the end justifies the means. . . ."

Concluding, Mr. Wright said: "We started the AIDS virus . . . We are only able to maintain our level of living by making sure that Third World people live in grinding poverty. . . ."

Blacker Than Ever

Black presidential-candidate B. Hussein Obama today gave quite a speech concerning, if you listen to the TV news, race. They point to his ability to "stand up for" the struggles of black people who have faced racism head-on. And likewise, they drool over his "understanding" of white folks' distrust and resentment of a people who may seem to get all the breaks in hiring, public assistance, college admission, whatever. And he denounced those who would continue to draw lines, to separate people by color, to think of their fellow Americans as anything but brothers and sisters. These are the people who are the scourge of American society. These are the people who have walked among us for too long.

But guess what he didn't denounce. That's right, his racist anti-Semitic preacher. This guy is an embarrassment to America's greatness. Hey, I learned Oprah used to go to this church but she stopped attending. I wonder why? Better yet, I wonder why this guy who's so big on change was willing to just sit there in his favorite pew and let his little daughters hear this venom coming from the pulpit. Which one is the real Obama?

I guess there's good news for B. H. O. in all this: At least now folks might stop saying he's a Muslim.

I Just Got Chills

Someone posted a HillaryYouth rally on YouTube! I guess we're pretty much stars now! Every American needs to watch this 10 times. Hat tip to my buddy two states away for clueing me in. This was really the greatest day. I'm gonna watch it again...

Sisters

I've been asked by a diehard HillaryYouth supporter to "tout these diehard Hillary supporters at Hillary Youth." I do so proudly. Hopefully they'll show me the same kindness.

http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/

No More Barry Jumpin on the Bed

LEVINSON, BARRY

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
SELF-EMPLOYED/DIRECTOR
3/30/2007
$2,300
Franken, Al

LEVINSON, BARRY

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
SELF-EMPLOYED/DIRECTOR
3/30/2007
$2,300
Franken, Al

More People Who Will Not Be Jumping on the Lincoln Bed

ALEXANDER, JASON

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
SELF-EMPLOYED/ACTOR
9/20/2007
$2,500
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte

ALEXANDER, JASON

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
SELF-EMPLOYED/ACTOR
3/12/2007
$2,300
Franken, Al

ALEXANDER, JASON

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
SELF-EMPLOYED/ACTOR
3/12/2007
$2,300
Franken, Al

DONNER, RICHARD

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
FREELANCE/DIRECTOR
10/5/2007
$1,200
Directors Guild of America

DONNER, RICHARD

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
BRONX PARLOR/DIRECTOR
5/23/2007
$500
Moveon.org

DONNER, RICHARD

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
BRONX PARLOR/DIRECTOR
9/4/2007
$250
Moveon.org

DONNER, RICHARD

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
BRONX PARLOR/DIRECTOR
7/19/2007
$200
Moveon.org

HANKS, THOMAS J

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
SELF EMPLOYED/ACTOR
5/3/2007
$2,300
Clinton, Hillary

HANKS, TOM

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
SELF EMPLOYED/ACTOR
3/21/2007
$4,600
Obama, Barack

HANKS, TOM

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
SELF EMPLOYED/ACTOR
3/21/2007
($2,300)
Obama, Barack

HANKS, TOM J
BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
SELF-EMPLOYED/ACTOR
3/15/2007
$2,300
Franken, Al

HANKS, TOM J

BEVERLY HILLS,CA 90211
SELF-EMPLOYED/ACTOR
3/15/2007
$2,300
Franken, Al

These friends of mine

Visit these brothers and sisters of mine out there in the wild wild web if you get time. They're on our page when it comes to supporting the next president, America's greatest Senator, and the person more qualified than any other person ever to sit in that Oval Office:

http://hillaryforum.org/live/YaBB.pl





http://www.hillaryspeaksforme.com/





And if you go to the forum, apparently you can get a t-shirt. Neat huh?





Oh, and tell 'em HillaryYouth sent ya!

Obama Stoops To New Low

There's an anti-American Progress website out there that only serves as a repeater in the echo chamber of right-wing red America. In other words, nobody reads it. Except, we discovered today, Senator B. Hussein Obama's foreign policy advisor. He, or someone using his name, posted this ridiculous trite today...

Obama Foreign Policy Memo
To: Interested Parties
From: Greg Craig, former director, Policy Planning Office, U.S. State Department
RE: Senator Clinton’s claim to be experienced in foreign policy: Just words?
DA: March 11, 2008

When your entire campaign is based upon a claim of experience, it is important that you have evidence to support that claim. Hillary Clinton’s argument that she has passed “the Commander- in-Chief test” is simply not supported by her record.

There is no doubt that Hillary Clinton played an important domestic policy role when she was First Lady. It is well known, for example, that she led the failed effort to pass universal health insurance. There is no reason to believe, however, that she was a key player in foreign policy at any time during the Clinton Administration. She did not sit in on National Security Council meetings. She did not have a security clearance. She did not attend meetings in the Situation Room. She did not manage any part of the national security bureaucracy, nor did she have her own national security staff. She did not do any heavy-lifting with foreign governments, whether they were friendly or not. She never managed a foreign policy crisis, and there is no evidence to suggest that she participated in the decision-making that occurred in connection with any such crisis. As far as the record shows, Senator Clinton never answered the phone either to make a decision on any pressing national security issue – not at 3 AM or at any other time of day.

When asked to describe her experience, Senator Clinton has cited a handful of international incidents where she says she played a central role. But any fair-minded and objective judge of these claims – i.e., by someone not affiliated with the Clinton campaign – would conclude that Senator Clinton’s claims of foreign policy experience are exaggerated.

Northern Ireland:
Senator Clinton has said, “I helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland.” It is a gross overstatement of the facts for her to claim even partial credit for bringing peace to Northern Ireland. She did travel to Northern Ireland, it is true. First Ladies often travel to places that are a focus of U.S. foreign policy. But at no time did she play any role in the critical negotiations that ultimately produced the peace. As the Associated Press recently reported, “[S]he was not directly involved in negotiating the Good Friday peace accord.” With regard to her main claim that she helped bring women together, she did participate in a meeting with women, but, according to those who know best, she did not play a pivotal role. The person in charge of the negotiations, former Senator George Mitchell, said that “[The First Lady] was one of many people who participated in encouraging women to get involved, not the only one.”
News of Senator Clinton’s claims has raised eyebrows across the ocean. Her reference to an important meeting at the Belfast town hall was debunked. Her only appearance at the Belfast City Hall was to see Christmas lights turned on. She also attended a 50-minute meeting which, according to the Belfast Daily Telegraph’s report at the time, “[was] a little bit stilted, a little prepared at times.” Brian Feeney, an Irish author and former politician, sums it up: “The road to peace was carefully documented, and she wasn’t on it.”

Bosnia:
Senator Clinton has pointed to a March 1996 trip to Bosnia as proof that her foreign travel involved a life-risking mission into a war zone. She has described dodging sniper fire. While she did travel to Bosnia in March 1996, the visit was not a high-stakes mission to a war zone. On March 26, 1996, the New York Times reported that “Hillary Rodham Clinton charmed American troops at a U.S.O. show here, but it didn’t hurt that the singer Sheryl Crow and the comedian Sinbad were also on the stage.”

Kosovo:
Senator Clinton has said, “I negotiated open borders to let fleeing refugees into safety from Kosovo.” It is true that, as First Lady, she traveled to Macedonia and visited a Kosovar refugee camp. It is also true that she met with government officials while she was there. First Ladies frequently meet with government officials. Her claim to have “negotiated open borders to let fleeing refugees into safety from Kosovo,” however, is not true. Her trip to Macedonia took place on May 14, 1999. The borders were opened the day before, on May 13, 1999.
The negotiations that led to the opening of the borders were accomplished by the people who ordinarily conduct negotiations with foreign governments – U.S. diplomats. President Clinton’s top envoy to the Balkans, former Ambassador Robert Gelbard, said, “I cannot recall any involvement by Senator Clinton in this issue.” Ivo Daalder worked on the Clinton Administration’s National Security Council and wrote a definitive history of the Kosovo conflict. He recalls that “she had absolutely no role in the dirty work of negotiations.”

Rwanda:
Last year, former President Clinton asserted that his wife pressed him to intervene with U.S. troops to stop the Rwandan genocide. When asked about this assertion, Hillary Clinton said it was true. There is no evidence, however, to suggest that this ever happened. Even those individuals who were advocating a much more robust U.S. effort to stop the genocide did not argue for the use of U.S. troops. No one recalls hearing that Hillary Clinton had any interest in this course of action. Based on a fair and thorough review of National Security Council deliberations during those tragic months, there is no evidence to suggest that U.S. military intervention was ever discussed. Prudence Bushnell, the Assistant Secretary of State with responsibility for Africa, has recalled that there was no consideration of U.S. military intervention.

At no time prior to her campaign for the presidency did Senator Clinton ever make the claim that she supported intervening militarily to stop the Rwandan genocide. It is noteworthy that she failed to mention this anecdote – urging President Clinton to intervene militarily in Rwanda – in her memoirs. President Clinton makes no mention of such a conversation with his wife in his memoirs. And Madeline Albright, who was Ambassador to the United Nations at the time, makes no mention of any such event in her memoirs.

Hillary Clinton did visit Rwanda in March 1998 and, during that visit, her husband apologized for America’s failure to do more to prevent the genocide.

China
Senator Clinton also points to a speech that she delivered in Beijing in 1995 as proof of her ability to answer a 3 AM crisis phone call. It is strange that Senator Clinton would base her own foreign policy experience on a speech that she gave over a decade ago, since she so frequently belittles Barack Obama’s speeches opposing the Iraq War six years ago. Let there be no doubt: she gave a good speech in Beijing, and she stood up for women’s rights. But Senator Obama’s opposition to the War in Iraq in 2002 is relevant to the question of whether he, as Commander-in-Chief, will make wise judgments about the use of military force. Senator Clinton’s speech in Beijing is not…

Conclusion:
The Clinton campaign’s argument is nothing more than mere assertion, dramatized in a scary television commercial with a telephone ringing in the middle of the night. There is no support for or substance in the claim that Senator Clinton has passed “the Commander-in-Chief test.” That claim – as the TV ad – consists of nothing more than making the assertion, repeating it frequently to the voters and hoping that they will believe it…

Barack Obama does not use false charges and exaggerated claims to play politics with national security.

Just thought you Husseiniacs should know whose side you are on

Brzezinski currently lives in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. He is married to internationally recognized sculptor Emilie Anna Benes (grandniece of Czechoslovakia’s former president Edvard Beneš) and has three children. Ian is Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO. Mark is a partner in McGuire Woods LLP, Washington, D.C., and a foreign policy advisor to Barack Obama. His daughter Mika is a reporter who is currently the co-host and news reader on Morning Joe on MSNBC.

Brzezinski has endorsed the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama.

Major foreign policy events during his term of office included the normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China (and the severing of ties with the Republic of China), the signing of the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II), the brokering of the Camp David Accords, the transition of Iran to an anti-Western Islamic state, encouraging reform in Eastern Europe, emphasizing human rights in U.S. foreign policy, the arming of the mujaheddin in Afghanistan[2] to fight against the Soviet-friendly Afghan government and later to counter the Soviet invasion, and the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties relinquishing U.S. control of the Panama Canal after 1999.

Associated Press still attacking Hillary

In what can only be called an October Surprise in March, the Barack Obama campaign, with the clear and obvious assistance of the Associated Press, has really turned nasty.

The quote was painless, it was candidate-Clinton sort of talking out her feelings about a couple of states' inability to vote statewide for a woman. Here's her actual quote from the Des Moines Register:

"How can Iowa be ranked with Mississippi? That's not what I see. That's not the quality. That's not the communitarianism; that's not the openness I see in Iowa."

Now reading that sentence without all of the noise and hullabaloo to cut through, it is obvious that she didn't mean that Iowa should vote for her so as to not be as backward as Mississippi. I mean, she wasn't saying that the Southern state is backward or racist or misogynistic at all. That would be a little too stereotypically insensitive, especially since the accusation is a) not true, and b) just dumb to say about people who will later be voting for you. She's just saying that they need to vote for more women. Here, I'll let her speak for herself, which she did in a Mississippi radio interview:

"What I said is what I learned is that neither Iowa or Mississippi had ever elected a woman statewide and I referenced the fact that I was the first woman elected statewide in New York and I told the Iowans that they had a chance to try to change that and now in Mississippi [I'm] giving Mississippi voters a chance to change that," Clinton said in the radio interview.

Clinton said she was surprised that "neither Iowa nor Mississippi has broken through to being able to elect a woman statewide."

"You know there's a lot of strong women from both those states, and it's time that women had a chance to have full equality in the political process. It didn't happen in Iowa, it hasn't happened in Mississippi. and it's time that it be changed," she said.

Now, to be fair, I should point out that Mississippi has elected several women to statewide office including two lieutenant governors. But of course they haven't elected a female governor or member of Congress, and this is most certainly what the next President meant when she asked "How can Iowa be ranked with Mississippi?"

Here's the scoop: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8V8QUGO0&show_article=1

With him as an enemy, she must be doing something right.

"A few weeks ago, I started to feel sorry for her. Oh Christ, let her win already...Who cares...It's not worth it. There's not that much difference between them. She can have it. Anything to avoid watching her descend into madness. So I switched. I started rooting for her. It wasn't that hard. Compromise comes easy to me. I was on board."

He claims his "blog," note from a liberal insomniac, is funny. Back to him:

"There have been times in this campaign when she seemed so unhinged that I worried she'd actually kill herself if she lost. Every day, she reminds me more and more of Adele H., who also had an obsession that drove her insane.

"I watched, transfixed, as she took the 3 a.m. call...and I was afraid...very afraid. Suddenly, I realized the last thing this country needs is that woman anywhere near a phone. I don't care if it's 3 a.m. or 10 p.m. or any other time. I don't want her talking to Putin, I don't want her talking to Kim Jong II, I don't want her talking to my nephew." (posted by Daniel Finkelstein on March 7, 2008)

If only Larry David would take his own advice.

Hillary for Peace Prize!

Nobel winner: Hillary Clinton's Irish peace

Mrs Clinton has made Northern Ireland key to her claims of having extensive foreign policy experience, which helped her defeat Barack Obama in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday after she presented herself as being ready to tackle foreign policy crises at 3am.

"I helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland," she told CNN on Wednesday.

"I actually went to Northern Ireland more than my husband did," she said in Nashua, New Hampshire on January 6th.

"I remember a meeting that I pulled together in Belfast, in the town hall there, bringing together for the first time Catholics and Protestants from both traditions, having them sitting a room where they had never been before with each other because they don’t go to school together, they don’t live together and it was only in large measure because I really asked them to come that they were there.

"And I wasn’t sure it was going to be very successful and finally a Catholic woman on one side of the table said, ’You know, every time my husband leaves for work in the morning I worry he won’t come home at night.

"And then a Protestant woman on the other side said, ’Every time my son tries to go out at night I worry he won’t come home again’. And suddenly instead of seeing each other as caricatures and stereotypes they saw each other as human beings and the slow, hard work of peace-making could move forward."

Among those attending were women from groups representing single parents, relationship counsellors, youth workers and a cultural society. In her 2003 autobiography "Living History", Mrs Clinton wrote about the meeting in some detail.

The "Belfast Telegraph" reported the next day that the café meeting was crammed with reporters, cameramen and Secret Service agents. Conversation "seemed a little... bit stilted... at times" and Mrs Clinton admired a stainless steel tea pot, which was duly given to her, for keeping the brew "so nice and hot".

Conall McDevitt, an SDLP negotiator and aide to Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume during the talks said: "I’ve always had a theory that... [Mrs Clinton] was an ideal focus point." Once a peace deal was in place, Mrs Clinton supported women politicians and was always available if they visited Washington "to give them a pat on the back, give them moral support", he added. "So in a classic woman politicky sort of way I think she was active...She was certainly investing some time, no doubt about it."

During Bill Clinton’s last visit to Northern Ireland [in December 2000]... she [even] hugged and kissed [Sinn Fein leaders] Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness."

Responding to inquiries from this newspaper, Hillary Clinton’s campaign issued a statement: "I can state from firsthand experience that she played a positive role for over a decade in helping to bring peace to Northern Ireland. She visited Northern Ireland, met with very many people and gave very decisive support to the peace process.

"There is no doubt that the people of Northern Ireland think very positively of Hillary Clinton’s support for our peace process, due to her visits to Northern Ireland and her meetings with so many people. In private she made countless calls and contacts, speaking to leaders and opinion makers on all sides, urging them to keep moving forward."

Big.

OHIO

*CLINTON 716,912 58%

OBAMA 496,181 40%

He doesn't have legs.

This should've been it for Barry.

The results are not in. The two large states have not been called. No one knows how the delegate counts will wind up. But with all of that said, Barack should be winning huge right now. But he's not.

I have to reiterate my call for Senator Obama to bow out.

Let's think about it. First, Senator Obama has ridden a wave of young people's political action. That's not something we can count on in the general. Second, if this were any other year the Florida and Michigan delegates would've been counted (and still may), which means Senator Obama would be through now anyway. Third, Hillary has an almost 50% disapproval number and is now lending her campaign money. So even if Senator Obama does eventually win (he won't), he's going to look like a weak, also-ran by limping out of this close-call race. The money, the minorities, and the press are all on his side, yet he's working as hard as he can to get 50.1%? It shouldn't in a million years be this close. But still it is. Why?

Because the guy is weak.

Step away Senator. This isn't your fight anymore.