Letters to the Editor
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@ Fester: NH and Other Matters
I don't see how NH going first has anything to do with Obama. NH going first is a tradition that has gone on far longer than this campaign cycle. The dustup with FL & MI started way before Obama was on anybody's radar. Way before his win in IA. I really don't get your implication here at all. Please explain.
Did you read Levin's article? If so, then you understand what the significance of "going first" has to do with Florida and Michigan and Obama. Changes were made in the number of states that could participate in January primaries, including New Hampshire. New Hampshire moved up its primary date because Iowa moved up its caucus date. New Hampshire "broke the rules" but the DNC decided to selectively enforce its own rules by giving a waiver to New Hampshire, but refusing to do so to Michigan and Florida. Florida is important here because the process was controlled by Republicans.
RE: "...way before Obama was on anybody's radar..." What are you referring to? If it is his interview with reporters in Florida, after attending a campaign fundraiser there for his presidential campaign, after the DNC had announced and published the rules re: Florida and Michigan, then how can it be "...way before [he] was on anybody's radar..."?
My point is that he knew precisely what he was doing in Florida when he said what he did about seating Florida's delegates. To say now with a straight face that he has no interest in "disenfranchising" voters in Florida OR Michigan is ludicrous and disingenuous.
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@ Uncle Fester: Arguing For A Candidate
I'm arguing for Hillary Clinton, not Barack Obama. And, by the way, I hate double standards. I haven't been at all happy with Clinton/Penn flip-flops on several issues, either. But it IS politics.
The thing that bugs me the most about Obama's followers is that many of them cannot or will not admit or see the glaring inconsistencies between his "words" and his actions. Accusing Hillary Clinton of being the devil incarnate in order to boost Obama's image or status is just childish. It is also one of the things that hardens Clinton supporters.
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Mon Oncle
I've been so hoodwinked and bamboolzed (heh) it's hard for me to tell who started what and when with respect to the AA community. I do think the LBJ comment was stupid (have opined at length on same).
It was more calculated that stupid, along with all the subsequent put downs of Obama, from Jesse Jackson, to he can be my VP but not my president, McCain is more experienced, and then the silly assed remark today. Bill is self destructing, but carry on Clintons. Every slight only strengthens Obama. His speech on race was an opportunity out of a potential loss and Obama keeps rising and rising and rising.
Keep up the good work Mon Oncle and thanks for the Salon watch.
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@lj
It is also one of the things that hardens Clinton supporters.
Then it should be really easy to spot the same thing happening to Obama supporters. They've stopped listening to anyone they consider a Hillary supporter, because they think the Hillary supporters are in denial, for similar reasons.
P.S. I'm still slogging through your FL comments!
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@lj da rules
Levine may have a legitimate gripe. I'm also skeptical of politicans saying one thing now, when they said very different things earlier, such as in the case of Florida. The state dems lied big time. There's also this:
New Hampshire law stipulates that the New Hampshire primary will be the first primary held in the United States, and although the Iowa caucuses are held before the New Hampshire primary, because the Iowa event are caucuses, for the purposes of New Hampshire law it is not counted as a primary.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_primary
But I don't get the point. MI still wasn't one of the states chosen for early primaries. Both Hillary, Edwards, Obama (etc) knew the rules ahead of time. I don't see the intrinsic Obama advantage here. If MI counted, Hillary would have gotten less than 55% of the vote, with Edwards and Obama somewhere in the mix. Any one of the three could have won.
TAMPA - Barack Obama hinted during a Tampa fundraiser Sunday that if he's the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, he'll seat a Florida delegation at the party's national convention, despite national party sanctions prohibiting it.
Obama seemed unaware the pledge he signed prohibits news conferences. Asked whether he was violating it, he said, "I was just doing you guys a favor. … If that's the case, then we won't do it again."
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/30/obama-vows-do-whats-right/?news-breaking
Well, A florida delegation could still get seated. And it sounds like he screwed up and broke his pledge.
I still think you're not giving enough credit to the basic difficulty in revoting. These state govs are not exactly limber and used to thinking out of the box. I've heard the following:
- A lot of voter machines are being swapped out and not available in FL counties
- Voting by Mail is illegal in FL
- Having outside contractors view voting rolls is illegal; making outsourcing the vote near impossible.
- The govt doesn't want to pay for the revote.
I don't see how any of that is the fault of the Obama campaign, and I don't know how they could change those things.
What did you think of the Obama Camp's memo regarding legal issues with the MI revote. I'm not a legal person, but I'm not ready to dismiss those issues either. Salon needs to hire a legal interpreter.
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@madam
Keep up the good work Mon Oncle and thanks for the Salon watch.
Thank you for the kind words and always interesting posts. One of these days, though, real life will intrude and I'll and that glorie will sweep me beyond the horizon.
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Children and the future
There is a Whitney Houston song that goes “I believe the children are the future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them the beauty they possess inside….”
When the campaign started, I said I will vote for whoever gets nominated among the Democratic candidates because surely he/she will be good for the country. Top of my list however is Sen Obama who stands for the new politics of change and unity. My impression of him is he is a man of integrity, honesty and truthfulness.
When the revelations of Rev Wright and Antoin Rezco were exposed, my impression of him drastically changed. The most that bothered me is the question of Sen Obama’s leadership and judgment in relation to Rev Wright.
I believe that Sen Obama did not have the leadership and good judgment when he let the YOUNG CHILDREN even his own children be exposed to the unpatriotic and racial comments spewed by his pastor? Those comments were made in church where religion is reinforced. We know that religion is the most powerful influence in our life. We know that religion when practiced in extreme can cause havoc in this wonderful world of ours.
Aren't parents supposed to protect their children from influence of unpatriotic words, hatred and racism? Parents should take an active role in determining what goes into their children’s young mind because it will be reflected in their behavior during their adult life. Otherwise, the cycle of hate and racial divide will just continue. As parents are responsible for what seeps in to their children’s subconscious, more so is required from those who profess to be leaders. Sen Obama should never run in a public office until he addresses the patriotism, racism and hatred in himself, his family, his congregation and his campaign.
I cannot imagine a person who wants be elected as a President of the United States of America, the most powerful position in this world, allow such sermons to be left unchallenged. Worse he condoned it by making the pastor his African American Religious committee member.
To make great speeches in national TV and declare that we should be united and racial divide should end but be complacent when confronted with it is tantamount to hypocrisy and grandstanding.