Howard Dean is first!

Darn tootin he's first. Good going Susan.

11. previous thread

Barack Obama Counts On "The Closer"  Michelle Obama Has Played A Key Role In Campaign Of Democratic Presidential Hopeful

What a closer she is, too. I'd want her for my closer too. A comment made at one of her rallies for Barack, was that Barack would make an excellent president and Michelle would make a valued VP.

Michelle attended Princeton U. graduating with honors. Like Barack, Michelle is also a Harvard Law School grad.

From the Obama website:

For three years after law school, Michelle worked as an associate in the area of marketing and intellectual property at Chicago law firm Sidley and Austin, where she met Barack Obama. She left the corporate law world in 1991 to pursue a career in public service, serving as an assistant to the mayor and then as the assistant commissioner of planning and development for the City of Chicago.

In 1993, she became the founding executive director of Public Allies - Chicago, a leadership training program that received AmeriCorps National Service funding and helped young adults develop skills for future careers in the public sector.

Michelle began her involvement with the University of Chicago in 1996. As associate dean of student services, she developed the University's first community service program. Michelle also served as executive director of community and external affairs until 2005, when she was appointed vice president of community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center. She also managed the business diversity program. 

Hope everyone's New Year is starting out right. Florida is supposed to have it's first frost in five years beginning tonight. Hard to believe because it's quite Carribeanish out today -- beautiful day.

bbl

Back for a sec to say MontcoDFA seems to have done a terrific job for 2007. Congrats and keep up the hard work.

Happy New Year Blog!

May the new year bring you peace.

We should keep our eyes out on Ohio and Texas.  Even with Brunner in Ohio,  they still have Rod Parsley. 

Rod Parsley 2005: Ohio will be a training ground to launch a national reformation....a theocracy.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1726

He is a dominionist who still stop at very little to win.   Also has met with Gov. Perry in TX who appears to support his stances. 

I haven't been here for a while, so I don't know how many here still read Howard-Empowered People. But if you do, you might be interested in my current post.

Iowans Debate the Merits of Edwards' Populism

"...this rabble-rousing underbelly of Edwards' rural, "up from the mills" message turns off some Democrats, particularly younger urbanites. At an Edwards rally in Des Moines Saturday evening, King Au and his wife were among a handful of audience-members who raised their hands to indicate they were undecided caucus-goers. The packed high school cafeteria was dominated by enthusiastic Steelworkers, but Au, a photographer, wasn't convinced by Edwards' speech.

"I'm looking for someone with a global perspective, someone who will work within the system to reform it," said Au, who caucused for John Kerry four years ago. He questioned Edwards' promise to muscle China into reducing its carbon emissions. "As a Chinese American, I know we can't just make China meet us on the environment," he said. "They're a major power." Au and his wife said they would also attend upcoming Clinton and Biden events.

If Edwards can't convince late-deciding voters like the Aus to support him here in Iowa, where he's spent more time since 2004 than any other Democrat, it's unlikely he'll get the chance to test his theory of electable, progressive populism in the general election. Edwards has accepted public financing, and has raised less money than either Clinton or Obama. He trails them by more than 10 points in New Hampshire, which will hold its primary just five days after the Iowa caucuses.

 (From American Prospect....an Edwards rally in Iowa on Sunday)

from same article above:

If Edwards can't convince late-deciding voters like the Aus to support him here in Iowa, where he's spent more time since 2004 than any other Democrat, it's unlikely he'll get the chance to test his theory of electable, progressive populism in the general election. Edwards has accepted public financing, and has raised less money than either Clinton or Obama. He trails them by more than 10 points in New Hampshire, which will hold its primary just five days after the Iowa caucuses.

But are Iowa Democrats over-thinking the contours of Edwards' electability? On the ground, there's some evidence that the candidate's fighting words do appeal to swing voters. Republican Mary Hamilton accompanied her Republican mother-in-law to the Edwards rally in Boone on Sunday. Hamilton's brother-in-law is a quadriplegic, and the family supports stem cell research. Edwards told them he'd be the most pro-science president in American history. "If my mother-in-law liked what Edwards said today, she might switch parties for the caucus," Hamilton confided.

While many Iowa voters are like Hamilton's mother-in-law, carefully weighing the issues and reconsidering their party affiliation, others are much more typical Americans -- less than fully acquainted with the details of candidates' policy proposals, and relying mostly on their guts to make a decision. Canvassing for a few hours quickly bursts the myth that Iowans are uniquely qualified to choose the next president.

On Monday in Des Moines, Cecil and Miller stepped into the crowded kitchen of a couple in their 50s. The man quickly left the room. "He don't vote," apologized his wife, who had planted an Edwards sign on the front lawn and amassed a bulletin board full of the candidate's flyers. But she was still confused as to what exactly a caucus was. "I don't mean to be stupid, but when do I actually vote? When do I go into the booth?" she asked.

When she learned she'd have to physically stand up for her candidate, she exclaimed, "Then I'm definitely going! John Edwards is a good family man and that's why I'm voting for him. He loves his wife."

Is John Edwards still running? The MSM seems to have missed it.

Last part of American Prospect article:

No matter what Iowans think about John Edwards, they do believe they know him well. It's far too close to call how this familiarity will play out on caucus night, but it's good news for Edwards that 62 percent of voters identify him as their second-choice candidate, meaning some will switch into his column when candidates like Bill Richardson and Joe Biden fail to reach the viability threshold of 15 percent of voters per precinct.

If Edwards takes Iowa in a convincing victory, progressive populism could gain national legs. But three days out, it's looking probable that no matter who wins in Iowa, the victory will be razor-thin. That would leave Edwards' anti-corporate strategy with neither a clear mandate nor a clear rejection, and his presidential hopes without a clear path forward.

"Represented at DemocracyFest'07 in Manchester, NH"

Yup.

Damned heathen....

Airborne condoms amok, Kevin!

http://www.tellercreations.com/pod/condo...

I liked this part:

Republican Mary Hamilton accompanied her Republican mother-in-law to the Edwards rally in Boone on Sunday. Hamilton's brother-in-law is a quadriplegic, and the family supports stem cell research. Edwards told them he'd be the most pro-science president in American history. "If my mother-in-law liked what Edwards said today, she might switch parties for the caucus," Hamilton confided.

Edwards would win in a landslide if only those registered as Democrats as of the Secretary of States lists from the second week in December that are included in our caucus packets

every cycle brings out new people though and with motor votor registration and high school government classes registering the youngest voters, we have a very large number of "independents" who never really thought about joining a party, and for some this is their first opportunity

very few of the independents are those that have rejected the Democratic Party

so of course we welcome newcomers, and they will be disproportionately Obama supporters, with a good number of moderate Republican women who have no home anymore with Republicans

huge turnout and Obama wins and I think it has more to do with joining a movement as your first committment and since Obama did not vote for the war has an edge, and have cultivated an inclusivity that makes participants part of something larger

Hillary is also an historic choice

Edwards has to make it integral to his message in asking all of us to join him in his "epic battle" 

those three are the front runners because they have made it about more than them, which the others never were able to do

so the numbers of second choices going to Edwards will make him a strong contender and Hillary with her impressive organization will get it done as well and be in the mix

there will not be a clear winner unless there is low turnout, but don't bet against the guy who has the rank and file with him, in a caucus state

Baghdad, Dec 15, 2007 (VOI) – Iraq's anti-corruption board revealed on Saturday that there were five million Iraqi orphans as reported by official government statistics, urging the government, parliament, and NGOs to be in constant contact with Iraq's parentless children.

"The government should set up an institutional or legislative program to help the Iraqi orphans. Iraqi is an oil-rich country and it is not acceptable that its orphans remain groaning in this tragedy," the anti-corruption board chief, Moussa Faraj, said during a conference in Baghdad dedicated to orphans in Iraq.
"The board on its own cannot meet the Iraqi orphans' needs, but there should be an organization or even a ministry to provide care for orphans," he said.
The Iraqi parliament's women & family committee had proposed a draft law to set up a fund for the orphans.

During the conference, Wijdan Salem Mikhail, the Iraqi minister of human rights, said in a speech that the phenomenon "is one of the most passive things that grew immensely during the past few years due to destructive wars and unbridled violence in the country to unprecedented heights."

"These factors have logically caused the number of widows and orphans to greatly increase," she said.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0801/S00011.htm

'Tis a valid point.

Destroying torture tapes pales by comparison to these tragedies, all a result of the illegal invasion:

Have you heard or read that 9% or Iraq’s population is either dead or injured to date due to the 2003 invasion? This is rarely addressed by U.S. media or politicians.

The announcement that 19% of Iraq’s population now consists of orphans hasn’t hit mainstream media’s radar yet. This shocker seems destined for the same fate as the death and injury figures.

Snuff Tapes and One Dead Terrorist Dominate Coverage

Odd isn’t it? All this emphasis on the CIA’s destruction of Abu Zubaydah torture tapes instead of the pervasive and ongoing human loss and suffering visited on Iraq by Bush and Cheney?

16.  Reminds me of the "yellow cake" kerfuffle.

there will not be a clear winner unless there is low turnout, but don't bet against the guy who has the rank and file with him, in a caucus state"

Exactly.

People who are unwilling to devote a few hrs. outside of their home (and are able to attend, sans childcare & transportation needs, differing work shifts, college breaks, and lack of quick-fix nanosecond results) aren't likely to stick it out...or show up, for that matter.

Obama attracting college students is backfiring on him; as both NH & IA colleges are on break...moving things up on the national schedule backfired.

Another topic I'm not seeing in the news media is the millions of folks in the country who've dumped their landlines.

Doesn't jive w/old methods of phone-banking into oblivion/ransacking people's privacy.

I'm one of 'em (two yrs. ago).

Very few folks have my phone#; and I transpose the numbers intentionally--just to keep it that way!

IA and NH are both crapshoots.

Low turnout will occur in both; which means that every vote will indeed be crucial (considering the hardcore anti-war base's ire w/the so-called "front-runners").

"Toss the DLC bums out in '08" is more like it=low turnout.

Pathetic bunch, if I do say.

Not worth motivating into a shower, and down the road to a precinct (only to A.B.H., if necessary--I can do that absentee).

Horrors, if she becomes "inevitable" early on.

That'll bring out the base!

50 most loathsome People in America

Buffalo Beast

http://www.opednews.com/articles/12/genera_buffalob_071231_the_beast_50_most_lo.htm

A selection

1. George W. Bush

Charges: Is it a civil rights milestone to have a retarded president? Maybe it would be, if he were ever legitimately elected. You can practically hear the whole nation holding its breath, hoping this guy will just  leave come January '09 and not declare martial law. Only supporters left are the ones who would worship a turnip if it promised to kill foreigners. Is so clearly not in charge of his own White House that his feeble attempts to define himself as "decider" or "commander guy" are the equivalent of a five-year-old kid sitting on his dad's Harley and saying "vroom vroom!"

2. Dick Cheney

Charges: Worst president ever. So openly horrible, he now makes jokes about being Darth Vader. Unashamedly advocating for executive abuse of power and corporate theft. In and out of public office since his congressional internship during the Nixon Administration. Didn't care about the quagmire he foresaw in '94, because since then he'd deftly maneuvered to profit from it. Polling lower than HPV.

Exhibit A: His Halliburton stock options rose 3000% in value from 2004-2005. No joke.

5. Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid

Charges: Graduates of the Neville Chamberlain school of appeasement, the Democratic leadership continues to ignore the constitution-and the American people-by keeping impeachment "off the table" and refusing to defund the war. True pushovers, they're too stupid, cowardly, weak and outmatched politically to accomplish anything substantive, their "strategy" essentially boiling down to whining a lot while handing Bush whatever the hell he wants. There is just no way that appearing this weak and ineffectual could be any better for them politically than impeachment. Everything that the White House gets away with, it gets away with because congress allows it.

Exhibit A: Failure to woo the two thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto is moot: They could defund the war with a 41-senator budgetary filibuster. But that would take guts and conviction

6. Rudy Giuliani

Charges: 9/11 Tourette's syndrome, compounded by compulsive lying.

10. Alberto Gonzales

Crimes: The most truckling, amoral flunky to ever serve as Attorney General. A jurisprudent organelle, he manifests no concept of the law independent of its expediency to the president. Would smilingly accuse himself of providing material support to al Qaeda at President Bush's request, hurriedly plead guilty, sign his own death warrant and flip the switch himself. His testimony before congressional committees is to public service what cholera is to the small intestine.

17. Hillary Clinton

Charges: Began in politics as a teenage Nixon supporter -- that's twisted. Moved on to corporate law, representing Wal-Mart and bravely defending Coca-Cola from disabled employees. Married out of ambition. Failed miserably as the first lady of health care. Has spent whole of senatorial career as a hawk and a panderer. Would have no shot at becoming president if she didn't just happen to be married to one already.

22. David Petraeus

Charges: Two-star schlub elevated to four-star cheerleader, because all the experienced generals retired out of shame or dignity. Under Dave's leadership training Iraqi security forces from 2004-05, the Pentagon lost track of approximately 30% of weapons distributed, including some 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles. "Petraeus Report" rife with statistical manipulations, discounts pre-surge trends, claiming them as its own, and was heavily vetted, if not written entirely, by the White House.

26. William Kristol

Charges: Bears the burlesque Cheshire grin of a sophist born with a large silver spoon jammed sideways in his mouth. A second generation neocon raised in the tradition of Straussian perception management and myth creation, Kristol is basically lying about everything -- always -- and he knows it.

31. Dana Perino

Charges: In a nation weary of White House press secretaries who feign ignorance, the Bush administration took an innovative step this year, appointing one who genuinely doesn't know anything. No more lies, America -- Dana Perino really can't answer your questions, honest! This slightly comely, over-promoted office wench not only didn't know what the Cuban missile crisis or the Bay of Pigs even were; she actually thought it was a funny story to tell on NPR.

35. Tim Russert Charges: Mountainously inert, he explained his failure to verify the Bush administration's prewar claims with other government officials by lamenting, "I wish my phone had rung." Smirks defiantly at his own humorlessness.

37. Mitt Romney

Charges: America's first clip-art presidential candidate, Romney is a strange mixture of game show host looks and android charm. A true flip-flopper, Romney's ability to turn on an ideological dime is unparalleled, but his excuses are so inauthentic that even Republicans have trouble suspending their disbelief.

Monica, 16, this is so horrible.

...on the other...this is what I have compiled so far

I guess this IS a Beauty Pageant. And the Sponsors are deciding who moves on to the next round!

Like a Fascist government, our airwaves, being used by ABC, is advising their decision to choose from the selected top winners from Iowa Caucuses who can be heard from in the next Presidential Debate, BEFORE OUR FIRST PRIMARY ELECTION-NO LESS.

THis is truly UNBELIEVABLE. They are actually talking of possibly allowing only the top 4 highest caucus winners to be heard from. Isn't the debates the time to speak to the voters for the VOTERS to decide whom they wish to vote for?

"New Hampshire has a long and proud tradition of serving as a level playing field and is the one state where each candidate can be given an equal opportunity to be heard by the voters. I would strongly encourage any NH media outlet holding candidate debates or forums not to eliminate a sitting US Senator or member of Congress"

"Talk of excluding candidates was said to be a factor in the decision of the New Hampshire Union Leader to decline a sponsorship offer like it shared with WMUR and CNN for the St. A's debates last June."
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs...

Please contact them and request they see their error of their ways before their own sponsors start backing out as the viewship is lost.

ABC/WMUR
email form
http://abc.go.com/site/contactus.html?li...

ABC, Inc.
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-4551
(818) 460-7477* (and alot of dancing through the prompter to get to the place to leave a 30 second message)

WMUR
http://www.wmur.com/contact/index.html

Walt Disney Company/owners of ABC
CONTACT: George Mitchell, Chairman, The Walt Disney Company
mailto:george.mitchell@piperrudnick.com
Phone: 818-560-1000

Democratic National Committee
Main Phone Number:
202-863-8000

LIST OF ADVERTISERS:

Captiol One
investor.relations@capitalone.com

Radio Shack
http://www.radioshackcorporation.com/con...

Dodge

Go Daddy

Anheiser/Bush/Bud

Olevia

sorry...major grammar issues...will correct befor sending out.

I wish the rest of America would simply wake up and read what Monica just posted. It's absolutely sickening and heartbreaking.

Happy New Year BFA bloggie bloggers!!

I value each of you for your input and am glad that we still have a space to gather. I hang out at HEP, too (link posted above by Renee) for those who want a different flavor sometimes.

Lovely big flakes coming down again - got several inches of snow last night and it's sparkling in the trees.

Last party of the season starting soon and I have to go as the hostess has been a pal since grammar school.

Enjoy the day and go Illini!!

Edwards would win in a landslide if only....

......everyone agreed with Phil. 

cC wrote "I hope you're not deluding yourself into believing that your daily/hourly bloviation on this blog is particularly insightful or prescient, sheez."

Oh no.  I haven't deluded myself into believing that anyone's bloviation here is insightful or prescient. 

Presidential Candidate Shut Out by ABC
http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/23418...

U.S. seen internationally as an ‘Endemic Surveillance Society.’

In the recently released annual survey of worldwide privacy rights by Privacy International and EPIC, the United States has been downgraded from “Extensive Surveillance Society” to “Endemic Surveillance Society.” As Glenn Greenwald notes, this is “the worst possible category there is for privacy protections, the category also occupied by countries such as China, Russia, Singapore and Malaysia.” ...full post with links: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/12/30/us-s...

cC wrote "Tom, seemed to be implying that I'm only posting polls because they (yesterday) indicated and Edwards 'surge'.....maybe, maybe not."

I did impy that, for the reason I stated, which was you favored us with a series of polls that showed Edwards' numbers in a good light with some commentary to support that, followed by a later poll in which Edwards' numbers lagged, accompanied by a clutch of critics' comments to help undercut the validity of the results. This is referred to as spin in politics.  I thought I should point it out. 

Susan wrote "The idea was Trippi's. He talked us all into supporting it on a conference call."

Then I'm corrected.  Not only is having an idea not doing anything, but Dean didn't even have the idea, so Monica is correct that Dean did virtually nothing. 

Happy New Year, bloggie!

7. Renee, read your post and I empathize. I have long said we suffer from one party in two flavors and, wile there are members of both parties i respect, the sad fact is that money and power compromise the ideals of most eventually.

It's logical to feel a great deal of ennui towards the system. We are still struggling to find an effective means to reform it. I'm hard-pressed to think of what it might be.

-----

Predictions of an Edwards victory in Iowa. I see this as possible, and the possibility is due to the shuffling of other candidate supporters as those with less than 15% support surface on Thursday night. The ony one of the second/third tier candidates whose votes might accrue to Hillary would be Richardson. The others, I think, will go more heavily to Edwards primarily because he's a familiar face in Iowa. And those votes might be the margin of an eventual Edwards victory.

-- volney

Wow, typos there. Can you tell I broke my glasses and have tape all over one side? Bleah.

Other stray thoughts:

Don't know if I was happy or sad to see the huge "impeach" sign being held up at the Rose Parade. Happy we still have the freedom to hold up such signs on national TV, sad we need to.

Gradual replacing of the national anthem with "God Bless America"... this scares me. The most recent instance was today at the outdoor hockey game between the Sabres and the Pens. "O Canada" was sung and then "God Bless America" instead of "The Star Spangled Banner".

There was a sudden uptick in public singing of "God Bless America" right after 9/11 that seemed natural for people in mourning. But now it seems more like a deliberate meddling with our national iconography and it bothers me.

For one thing, it's a song strongly associated with WW2. Singing it now in a premeditated fashion seems to be a way to make people feel as if the Iraq invasion is somehow analagous to the liberation of invaded countries in WW2.

Second, it further blurs church and state separation, being a song that invokes God, which the anthem, at least in the first verse, does not.

But it's hard to sing the anthem of a small, hardy, picked-upon nation when time has turned us into the chief picker-onner. "We have met the enemy and he is us" indeed.

-- volney

Don't know if I was happy or sad to see the huge "impeach" sign being held up at the Rose Parade.

Never hurts to spread the word. 

Wel, true. But I wish the people with the ability to do it would just go ahead and not be waiting for a "sign".

-- volney

Predictions of an Edwards victory in Iowa.

Hard to say. The lastest DMR poll shows "Obama as the preference of 32 percent of caucus-goers compared with 25 percent for Mrs. Clinton and 24 percent for John Edwards."

Obviously too fluid to predict. 

Wel, true. But I wish the people with the ability to do it would just go ahead and not be waiting for a "sign".

Making more people aware of the need is unfortunately necessary. 

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/01/kucinich_urges_supporters_to_c.php

01 Jan 2008 03:37 pm

...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

DES MOINES, IA– Democratic Presidential candidate and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich opened the New Year by publicly asking his Iowa supporters to vote for him in the caucuses this Thursday, and suggesting that if he did not make the 15% threshold, their second ballot should be for Senator Barack Obama. "This is obviously an 'Iowa-only' recommendation, as Sen. Obama and I are competing in the New Hampshire primary next Tuesday where I want to be the first choice of New Hampshire voters.

"I hope Iowans will caucus for me as their first choice this Thursday, because of my singular positions on the war, on health care, and trade. This is an opportunity for people to stand up for themselves. But in those caucus locations where my support doesn't reach the necessary threshold, I strongly encourage all of my supporters to make Barack Obama their second choice. Sen. Obama and I have one thing in common: Change."

...

Don't know if I was happy or sad to see the huge "impeach" sign being held up at the Rose Parade.

Never hurts to spread the word.

+++

I saw a big Kucinich sign in the Rose Bowl parade.  Nothing fancy, black lettering on a white background but it stood out against all the colorful floats going by in front of the parade stand.

36.

Interesting. Edwards strikes me as more change-oriented than Obama, at least lately.

Sounds like Dennis' intel might indicate a stronger position for Hill than I thought she had.

-- volney

cnn reported that ralph nader has endorsed edwards during a blitzer interview of edwards.

38.

volney -

http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20080101/cm_thenation/45264482_1

Kucinich Backs Obama in Iowa

1 hour, 38 minutes ago

The Nation -- Barack Obama got a boost among progressive Democrats in Iowa today when Dennis Kucinich announced that he was asking his supporters to back Obama in the second round of voting at the caucus.

...

In '04 Kucinich urged his supporters, in a surprising move, to back John Edwards, helping to boost his margin in liberal areas. Edwards has moved to the left since then, yet this time Kucinich went with Obama. "Sen. Obama and I have one thing in common: Change," Kucinich said in a press release today.

Kucinich hasn't campaigned much in Iowa this time around but he retains a loyal band of followers. In a tight race between Edwards and Obama among liberal Democrats here, Kucinich could give Obama an edge.

fyi - new front thread

My brother went to Chris Dodd's New Years Eve Party last night and got into a discussion of the dirty wars in Central America that Chris Dodd helped end.