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forget it. forget the primaries. forget democracy. forget all of it. forget obama.
it already is evident that this is a race too close to call. that race will drag on a few more weeks, but already the warnings are out that the democrats cannot allow a split convention.
it is no longer about obama or clinton, it is already about obama AND clinton, or rather clinton and obama, which some poor misguided ones, and others, not poor, but themselves misguiding, misguiding us, have called the "dream ticket".
the only question that remains open is who would run, and who'd be the "mate". isn't it sensible to suppose that, in the end, the party apparatchiks will insist on clinton as candidate? "let's be cavaliers", "he's still young, he can wait", "she's got the experience"... those are some of the nicer reasons i can imagine will be found to explain that decision.
obama for vice-president. or rather: vice-vice-president. there will be no way of getting around the former incumbent, william jefferson clinton -born william jefferson blythe III.
you elect one clinton, you get them both. much more politics is done in the bedroom then we want to recognise. and that said: it would actually make not much difference if hillary were to be only the vice. there would always be billary, obama would always have to handle them both, and it would be far from a comfortable presidency for the new president. it would be an impossible presidency. three kings are two too many.
true is: it is the time for obama! but also true is: time passes.
there might never again be such a moment like this, and certainly there will not be one like this for obama. for the change he represents. for the people that vote for and put their hopes in him. because after four, and then four more years, of clinton dynasty, this moment in time will have passed, and passed long ago.
so forget obama. you won't get the obama you are now voting for. you'll get a clinton anyways.
no! you'll even get two.
for we are up against people so cunning -and at the same time so rotten- that even winning is not winning anymore.
IF!
there is one great if written all over which i just said. or rather, it is an "if not".
obama is about to be sidelined and, ultimately, silenced, IF NOT he makes such a bold move that it would shake the whole country, one that would make all of those shakespearian kings look like pale apprentices.
IF NOT he refuses the ticket that will be offered to him. that he thrice refuses the kingly crown, and thus enters history on his own footing.
obama still has to win some more states, and when then offered "the deal", he must say: "Nay". he must say: no sir, no ma'am, no master... no deal! he must go his own way, to be his own master. to lead!
to lead the way. this is obama's promise. a new way, like there was once a new deal, and far still beyond such thing. he promised, and we do believe. we hope.
obama must win, and he must win entirely, or he is bound to lose it all. he must be the winner-takes-it-all. for all the rest would be just clintonism, over and over again. the old ways. no place for the new. no place for an obama. no place for those who hoped with him, through him, for him. no place for us.
refuse the price. gamble all-or-nothing, but gamble it straight and strong. be obama! and if you lose, you'll lose with grace: uncompromised.
only this would be the obama that we need. only this would be a new beginning.
this is how high the stakes are now. the next president will be a democrat. but will it be obama?
one true obama?
BUT, I know how well fed and comfortable most people are in this country and that kind of comfort makes people politically lazy (myself included).
Unless people really go broke and start losing all their material nonsense, they'll let this moment go by.
I hate to say it and in my heart I hope it's not true, but I think the majority of the trifling people in this country will get and have been getting exactly what they deserve in a president.
They'll all be crying when Billary's healthcare mandates start cutting into their paychecks.
Maybe then they'll wake up, but by then it will be too late.
I say that to my wife and she gives me that look (WTF? they believe the same stuff)
That aint it.
I support Obama primarily because he is an outsider who found his way on the inside and has positioned himself magically (yeah i said it) and managed to co-opted the media lovefest to get enough shine to find himself on the doorstep of history.
There can be NO compromise.
This is about the light of Open government and the darkness of the status quo.
The two cant co-exist.
I can see about 8 weeks ahead.
They fight to a draw.
Dean says put your heads together and workit out...rock paper scissors or whatever.
Clinton says Im older and tougher...you got time.
Obama says.....sign up for open government and full transparancy and ill THINK about it.
She says...dont be foolish...we need the shadows.
Obama says ...YOU need the shadows.
After that....I dont know what happens.
I know what IMA do.
If Hillary Clinton doesnt emerge as a new creature. I cant do it.
Ill watch.
I almost see what the Right Wingnuts are saying about McCain now. I feel the same way.
its not logical...but in my heart it just dont feel right.
Obama is likely to win more delegates (and very likely most of the states) in the next few primaries and caucuses - leading up to Ohio and Texas. At the moment those are both assumed to be Clinton strengths - but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Obama surprises in at least one (perhaps both). Texas in particular has a complex Primary then Caucus system which could play to Obama's strength of on the ground organizing (not sure how open the primaries are so whether independents and/or republicans switching parties will play much of a factor).
If, and all indications are this will continue to be the case, Obama also continues to lead Clinton nearly 2 to 1 (or more) in fundraising that will give him a lot of options and resources. Already he's raised over 7.5M in a few days since the polls closed on Tuesday.
As he wins states and delegates and continues to raise significant money that should help him in the all too important battle for superdelegates.
I agree it may be very close, but the trends for Obama are quite positive.
I definitely don't want to see another Clinton in the White House (even as VP). On the other hand, I'd be happy to see her stay in the Senate, perhaps to take a cabinet position (though I suspect she has more to offer the nation from the Senate).
My personal "fantasy" VP would be Bloomberg but that's a long shot and truthfully I think Obama should select a VP who would be a great Presidential candidate in 8 years (the current Governor of Kansas might be one option).
[not that it matters but my name does lead to errant assumptions, I'm a white, male currently living in SF but from Chicago]
Shannon
Calls Drive 'Keep Her In...So We Can Win !
Rush Limbaugh is ready to do his part for the GOP by putting on his own fundraiser. Even if that fundraiser is for the only politician that he believes can unite the party -- Hillary Clinton.
From today's show:
RUSH: All right, folks, I need to ask you a question, personal question from me to you. Do I sound like I need cheering up here? I'm getting e-mails from friends, "Boy, you sound like you could use a little cheering up." And they're sending me these stupid little Internet jokes, "for you to smile," like an Internet joke would cheer me up. Spam would cheer me up. But do I sound like I need to be cheered up? I can't wait 'til the Drive-Bys get hold of my thought, my consideration of helping Hillary raise money. They'll miss the reason. They'll just publicize, "Limbaugh is so upset at Romney getting out, he's thinking of raising money for Hillary, period."
But the reason for raising money for Hillary is because that apparently my party is relying on fear and loathing of Hillary to get the nomination, to unite Republicans, who are, some of them, off the reservation. The Republicans do not seem to be relying on leadership in their party to unite the party. They seem to be relying on all these external things, nobody is going to vote for Hillary, negative turnout factor. What if she's not the nominee? We've got make sure she's the nominee if the Republican Party is to be unified. What more loyal thing could I do than to run a fundraiser for Mrs. Clinton? You watch, though, you watch how that will be questioned.
Limbaugh said yesterday that "if Obama is the nominee, we are doomed, and you should get ready and prepared for it now," and previewed what he thinks will be the Democratic arguments against McCain:
RUSH: She just polarizes people. I think she's going to gin up enough anti-Hillary turnout out there to perhaps be a boon to whoever the Republican nominee is.
CALLER: Absolutely.
RUSH: Now, if Obama is the nominee, we are doomed, and you should get ready and prepared for it now.
CALLER: I agree.
RUSH: I'm going to tell you something else that's going to happen. In addition to all this emotion that Hillary's going to revive in people, all this, "I don't care, I'm not going to vote for that woman," you know she's going to redefine negative turnout. You know she is polarizing. I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. It's already started, I pointed this out. Last week after one of the primaries, Anna Quindlen, Newsweek magazine, "How Old is Too Old?" she laid the foundation for the Drive-Bys' eventual turning on McCain as an old guy getting older. I want to predict to you that once he's got this sewn up you're going to see the Drive-By Media start doing stories on his age, and they're not going to be mean, they are not going to be vicious, they're going to be almost sorrowful. Somebody wrote about this in American Thinker today, too, and I can't remember the name. I think I've got it here in the Stack, but take a look at some of the pictures from last night on television. Here you had McCain, you've got an aging senator here, and an aging governor, gray-haired governor there, you've got old people, gray-haired, blue-haired Bloody Mary gang, women, blue hair in the hives and so forth, you've got pearls and so forth. You contrast that to the Obama crowd that is youthful, it's energetic, it wasn't stoic. I am telling you, if that doesn't work, they're going to go after this age business, and they'll do it almost regretfully. We're going to get the worst pictures of McCain. We're going to get him looking tired. We're going to hear references to his forgetfulness. "Isn't it just a shame?" And if that doesn't work, then they're going to do stories on the fact he's nuts. Just mark my words. Mark my words and don't doubt me.
Limbaugh says he's calling his fundraising drive...'Keep Her In...So We Can Win !'
Visit: http://www.Blacks4Barack.homestead.com (A Multi-Racial Organization)
the problem with healthcare in this country is that it is a profitmaking enterprise for insurance and drug companies. that's the free market for you. free market principles simply do not work when it comes to this very basic issue: that everyone should be able to have access to health care, no matter what.
we already have socialized medicine in this country. we simply need to expand and improve it. in the last seven years, since my husband became ill, we have spent more than $200,000 out of pocket on health care and we have the best health insurance available through my former employer. premiums of $768 a month, copays of $50-100 for each prescription, doctor's office visits, deductibles and on and on and ON it goes.
i recognize and am grateful for the fact that we managed to get through this. medical bills are one of the leading causes of bankruptcy for most people. no one expects to become ill. it can't be predicted. but no one should have to deal with the disaster that is chronic illness for even the insured in this country.
i will never forget a recent ER visit late one night with my husband. we were waiting for the doctor to come and listening to the man one curtained room over. i'd gotten a look at him earlier, a black man about my age, looking pretty rough, hacking and coughing and retching.
the sounds of it were making me kind of sick, the roiling, liquidy, phlegmy sound of all of that coughing. i am ashamed to admit that i was becoming a little annoyed with him. you know, that selfish, impatient, can't you quit coughing and hush, i have important stuff to attend to. and i can't help but cry as i write this because i remember what happened shortly after my irritation began.
the doctor came in to see him. apparently this man had been there quite a bit longer than we had, long enough to get chest x-rays and a CT.
the doctor told him that he had metastatic lung cancer, that he had spots on his liver, in his brain, that there was an immense mass at the base of his esophagus. and then he said "where have you been getting treatment, i see you had surgery here for removal of that lung two years ago."
the answer: "i didn't get treatment. i didn't have any insurance, i didn't have a doctor. when the surgeon released me, i didn't see anyone again. i didn't have any money and i hadn't been able to work."
i'm paraphrasing, but the essence is that this man had surgery, but none of the usual follow-up of chemotherapy or radiation because he was poor, had no insurance and no money.
i'm sure he's dead by now. the doctor told him he had a few weeks, that they could try to keep him comfortable as the cancer ate up his esophagus and into his lungs. he was hacking and coughing and spitting up so much because he couldn't breathe around the growths.
this is what happens when people are given the option of purchasing health care. people who can't afford it won't get it and they then face the potential of ending up like this man and so many others who lose their lives every day for lack of care.
the corporate ownership of our government has simply gone too far. i love barack obama. i am fond of hillary clinton. i will cast my vote for obama if i get the chance, if the big people, the grownups, don't take that opportunity away from me.
and i have to tell you, as marc pointed out above, if that happens, if the party officials and the super delegates go against the will of the people of this party and those who vote with us for change, i will dust off those canadian immigration papers and get the hell out of this country. i fear it is too late for us in george bush's america.
Real change in the Democrat party will only occur if there is room for 'moderate Democrats.' You may be looking for a voice in a party where there is only one voice. Just ask Joe Lieberman.
Do you really think the pull-out of Iraq now, greens, and big government spenders like Peolsi will really allow those positions to be heard?
'Old White Republicans' will ultimately vote for McCain, because he has already staked out these positions and he is liked by some in his party, and disliked by others. But he will be embraced by the Republican Party, not exiled. And independents will vote for him because he is a known entity and not and eloquent enigma.
Exactly.
Peggy Noonan(R)/Wall Street Journal
Peggy Noonan(R)/Wall Street Journal 02/08/08
Ah,I see we have more anonymous republican fear mongerers today.
Give it a rest guys to quote public enemy"Too Black!Too Strong"
Define Is?
I agree with the 29-year-old wallstreet worker...just because you work on Wall Street doesn't make you an "evil" interest. Wall Street is the embodiment of America--an independent, free enterprise meritocracy where the key color is neither black nor white but GREEN.
We can debate whether institutionalized racism pervades the Street, but the capitalist concept remains purely meritocratic...and having said that, individuals and not corporate pacs are backing *O* who gave a searing speech condemning Wall Street hedge funds and executive compensation during Summer 2007.
Even in Barack's stump speechs, he makes it clear that he will raise Warren Buffet's taxes despite Warren Buffet giving him a fundraiser.
So, who does Barack owe? If he wins, he will owe the American People...not Warren Buffet, not Oprah.
Truly wealthy individuals realize that their wealth is only as valuable as the society in which they live...and our society has been devalued over the last seven years.
That is what is making me think about voting for him. If he can make me feel hope for this country again, I agree with enough of his proposals that he deserves my vote at this point. He's earned it.
Coming from a mentored secondary education, one in which the emphasis was not on what to think, not on how to get a job, but HOW to think, I have, ever since, believed in weighing each candidates qualities, qualifications and voting record regardless of political party. And though I don't agree with some of Obama's platform, i do believe that the part I'm interested in won't simply fall by the wayside when he is elected.
Wow. Did I just say "when"?
Maryland's primary is the 12th and I'm voting by absentee ballot. I cried during the last election when I found out I had ordered it too late when temporarily living in NV, and thus, couldn't vote. That's how seriously I take the political future of our nation, and it's wonderful to see so many people doing the same. Thanks for a great post, Baratunde. If you put more of them in your FB status, I'll be sure to read them all.
Warren Buffett is in the vanguard of a movement urging his fellow billion-billion-billion-billion-aires and their lesser million-million-million-aire brothers and sisters to pay more taxes. He wants his taxes raised, believes it's necessary, has given away billions and billions of dollars to the Gates Foundation, who use the $$ to address childrens' health issues in 3d world countries and other overlooked needs in this cruel world.
Buffett asserts that it is outrageous that he, as the 2d richest man in america (the world? can't recall) pays an effective tax rate less than his secretary. I agree. It's outrageous.
Buffet is one of the good guys who opposes the misnamed "death tax" and recognizes that those who have benefited from society, from good fortune of birth and advantage, owe something to those not so well positioned.
That's a humane view of people and it contrasts directly with the view of the average republican, which can be boiled down to "i got mine, to hell with you."
Just a bit of info on one of my heroes, Mr. Warren B, who drives an ordinary car and has lived in the same house for years and years.
He's a good guy who has given money to Obama and to Clinton because he believes the democratic approach is good for all people and he's in favor of their views on healthcare and education.
Skeptical Brotha has written a searing piece on Obama, and to him I posed this question:
Is this vote for him for US? Or is it for our past and our future? For those who have lived and seen things we never did, and for those yet to come.
I thought about Mama and Daddy, both inching towards 50 when I was born. I thought of Mama, permanently attached to an oxygen tank now- it was unthinkable that I wouldn’t be taking her to vote on Tuesday, tank in tow. I honestly do believe that my vote is for her and those like her, and for my great-niece arriving in May.
I think the big pink elephant in the middle of the living room or whatever is that i think Asians and Hispanics are perhaps more conservative than white liberals and even maybe more racist. We seem to think that minorities will support minorities but they haven't been and I think that without some sort of inclusionary strategy he's not going to get the nomination and then we'll be left with a lot of hard feelings toward Hillary.
We can hope that McCain seriously lies to try to get the hardcore conservatives to believe in him and if he wins he'll remain true to his pro-choice, and other moderate beliefs.
There are actual differences and health care is one of them. Out here in California the SEIU endorsed him after their experience with Arnold's mandated health care.
And maybe with Mark Penn in charge of her campaign, other union people and lots of people that aren't in unions should be wondering about what her health mandates will mean to them.
What if the top two candidates were both the same race, the same gender, had the same amount of experience? For the sake of argument throw in that they are equals in debate and oratory.
One built a brand new grass roots organization from the bottom up. The other tried to work the establishment levers.
One has organized in all the states, including little ones the party has blown off for years. One concentrated on a few big states and pitted party constituencies against each other while looking for a knockout.
One talked about us and we and you. The other talked about I.
One wants to create a new majority that can create solutions and have the power to defeat entrenched interests. One will settle for 50 + 1 and impose expert solutions from the top down that are going to remind everyone of No Child Left Behind and the drug benefit because the top down solutions are guaranteed to suit the entrenched interests.
The media don't understand the difference. Everyone that supports Obama is a young dreamer, in search of a celebrity fix, or something.
I do know a few conservatives that are absolutely ga ga over Obama changing the world and life as we know it. I think that is a lot to ask for.
Obama's role in African American life and history is something I don't feel qualified to comment on. I do follow the discussion with curiosity.
I'm just happy to have a Democratic candidate with a sense of humor, some brains, and some speaking skills.
Obama has just been my favorite Democratic candidate in thirty years or so and I'm glad I got to vote for him at least once.
I didn't think he would make it to California. I'm starting to get optimistic that I can hope he has a real shot. His type don't come along very often, so I'm going to enjoy this as long as I can.
-- Obama-Clinton ticket, or vice-versa. I really don't see his wife being interested in that at all. I'ld be really surprised if he was -- at the very least out of deference to his wife and her career and goals.
I'ld be really disappointed if Obama took the second spot. I wasn't going to vote for the royal family anyway. And that was before all that we have seen since Iowa. So he isn't going to help Billary get my vote.
And if he goes down in flames with her versus McCain I doubt he would get a second look in 2012. The party just doesn't reward losers very often.
One point I would like to clarify. It was not really Goldman Sachs (the company) giving the Obama campaign $400K. It was individual Goldman Sachs employees, who individually gave $2300 (max) or less for the primary phase ($4600 max for the general election).
Note also that some of these same individual donors gave to other candidates, even Republican candidates. This is all a matter of public record.
http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/
We all have the right to give $2300 during the primary phase to any candidate, regardless of our employer.
As a new Community Organizer, I am not naive about money and power. But I just wanted to make sure the readers know that all individuals have limits about the money they can give.
Of course, the Obama campaign does not take money from Washington DC lobbyists.
Peace,
Thomas Brooks
These are what they ask of all contributors online:
1. I am a United States citizen or a lawfully-admitted permanent resident.
2. I am at least 16 years old.
3. This contribution is not made from the general treasury funds of a corporation, labor organization or national bank.
4. This contribution is not made from the funds of a political action committee.
5. This contribution is not made from the treasury of an entity or person who is a federal contractor.
6. This contribution is not made from the funds of an individual registered as a federal lobbyist or a foreign agent, or an entity that is a federally registered lobbying firm or foreign agent.
7. The funds I am donating are not being provided to me by another person or entity for the purpose of making this contribution.
i.e. they don't take money from federal contractors, corporations, PACs, labor organizations, banks, federal lobbyists, or foreign agents. And only from US citizens or permanent residents.
I suspect this is going farther than current election regulations require - and I highly respect Obama for doing so.