Just A Friendly Reminder

According to Facebook, tomorrow is International Hug-A-Jew Day. So wherever you are, go find your favorite Jew, give them a hug, and tell them how special they are to you. If you can't find any Jews, just go hug Adam Kleinheider at Volunteer Voters, because he has a Jewish name and is probably secretly one of us anyway (but don't tell that to the Ron Paulies, he'd lose all street cred if they found out).

But if I'm your favorite Jew, then instead of hugging me, please come out to the IBEW Hall at 2001 Elm Hill Pike next Saturday at noon to vote for me as your delegate from Tennessee to the Democratic National Convention! There will be plenty more reminders about this over the next week!

California Dreamin', On Such A Winter's Day

I'm dreaming of getting out of Ithaca and going to Venice Beach. And the labor unions are dreaming of the candidate who will best support labor now that John Edwards has dropped out. Who might that candidate be?

First, a national union, the Transportation Workers Union:

The 200,000-member Transportation Workers Union will move from Edwards to Obama tomorrow, according to sources close to the union. The union would be the first national AFL-CIO union to endorse Obama.

The California United Healthcare Workers:

The head of the United Healthcare Workers is urging the union's umbrella group, the SEIU state council, to support Barack Obama now that John Edwards has dropped out of the presidential race.

"We feel Obama is the best candidate for working families, and we will urge the Service Employees International Union's state council to officially endorse him at their meeting on Friday," United Healthcare Workers President Sal Rosselli said Thursday in a statement.

He said his union, which has 140,000 members in Southern and Northern California, "has a huge capacity to make a real difference in the California primary, given our extensive and experienced field operation, ability to phone bank, precinct walk and reach union members throughout the state."

And possibly the California SEIU?

"In light of Sen. John Edwards' departure from the race, United Healthcare Workers strongly supports Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. We feel Obama is the best candidate for working families and we will urge the Service Employees International Union's state council to officially endorse him at our meeting on Friday."

Stay tuned...

Biggest Endorsement Yet For Obama

This is huge:

n a move that's sure to provide a boost to Obama's fortunes among time-travelling high school kids from the early 1980s, Hulk Hogan - professional wrestler and reality teevee divorcee - has backed the Illinois Senator on the the Jimmy Kimmel show. Hogan, in picking Obama, cited something about "cards" and how Obama doesn't judge people based upon "the way people dress."

You may laugh, but come on, this is Hulk Hogan we're talking about! He could take down Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris...simultaneously! For heaven's sake, Hulk Hogan beat Andre the Giant! So don't tell me Obama won't be a fighter!

Edwards Advisor--No To Hillary

Former John Edwards advisor David "Mudcat" Saunders on whom Edwards might endorse, on MSNBC:

I can't speak for John. I can say this that, you know, being a southerner, being a rural American who's been completely devastated by the trade policies of the Clintons, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that he does not endorse Hillary Clinton.

This may not matter, ultimately--it doesn't look like Edwards is going to endorse anyone before Super Tuesday. But it's a good sign nonetheless.

Another thing I wonder about--it remains to be seen how much Edwards dropping out will affect Obama in the South. But look at another region, which was presumably safe Clinton country until now--the West. Look at the California numbers--Obama today pulled ahead of Clinton. True, it's only by two points, and it's just showing trends, but Edwards may very well put Obama over the top there on Tuesday. You have to think there's a lot more antipathy towards Clinton in California than there is in the South. If Obama were to pull of a win in California, and pick up a respectable number of delegates in New York (he'll get at least a few from the Central New York/Southern Tier area!), this thing could be over far sooner than anyone expected.

UPDATE: Edwards may not endorse anyone, but what about the California SEIU, who endorsed him months ago?

Why Is Edwards Dropping Out?

This is all I'll be able to say on the subject for awhile, I have my next class in 10 minutes and likely won't get back to my apartment until after the announcement has been made. I just wanted to make one point.

To me, dropping out now makes absolutely no sense. Super Tuesday is less than a week away, and even if he has no money left to campaign, he'd still likely get some delegates, maybe even enough to truly sway it. So why drop out now rather than wait one more week?

There are only two possible scenarios I can think of:

1. Someone cut a huge deal with him--"Drop out now and we'll put you on the ticket as Vice President." The problem with that scenario is that I can't see either Obama or Hillary saying it. As I've said several times, Obama would need Edwards to stay in it through Super Tuesday to hold Hillary down in the South. Hillary would be more likely to do it, but I'm sure Edwards would not be her first (or second or third) choice for VP.

2. I'm really hoping it's not this, but...Elizabeth Edwards has been conspicuously absent from the campaign trail over the past few weeks. If it is because of her health, then it would make sense--get out now rather than having to campaign past Super Tuesday. Again, I REALLY hope that's not it.

I'll update this again after class.

A Profound Sadness, And Why I'll Always Be A Democrat

Earlier today, R. Neal at KnoxViews posted a sad anecdote about how his wife went to the drug store and witnessed a woman being forced to decide which of her six prescriptions to fill, because she could not afford all of them. It's the kind of story you hear all too often these days, and all you can do is shake your head and look forward to next year, when we have a Democratic president in the White House and we see some real work being done on reforming our health care system in this country.

Then Volunteer Voters reposted the story, and the wingnuts attacked.

Here’s who you have to depend on: yourself, your family, your church, and charity. In that order. The government isn’t going to help without making something else even worse. Life isn’t fair. Sorry. Get used to it.




I don’t understand why people feel they are entitled to buy things they can’t afford. There are lots of thing I can’t buy, because I haven’t earned enough money to buy them. That’s life. Wear a helmet.




If this lady truly needs six different prescriptions in order to continue living, she needs to prioritize her spending and budget accordingly. Prescription drugs aren’t cheap and there’s many people who have to sacrifice in order to afford them.

And my personal favorite:

• You do realize, don’t you, that your first experiment in socialized medicine (Medicare) is the sole cause of our health care crisis?

Instead of leaving me angry, it just leaves me with a profound sadness. The story was immoral. The reaction to it was inhuman.

We don't know anything about this woman, or her circumstances. But a liberal looks at the situation, sees that there is someone who can't afford her medications even if she may have insurance, and we see a huge problem with that. We don't understand why, in the wealthiest nation in the world, we can't do SOMETHING to make medicine more affordable. We further believe that it should be a right, not a privilege, to receive the treatment you need to stay alive.

You might say that liberals are, in this regard, pro-life.

On the other hand, a conservative sees it, and immediately assumes the worst. If you can't afford your medications, then you are just getting what you deserve for being lazy and not saving your money properly. You should have anticipated getting sick (or being in a car accident or needing a liver transplant), and if you didn't have that kind of clairvoyance, then you shouldn't rely on society to help you. You should rely on your family, your church, or charities to do so. Never mind that your family may not be able to afford it either, or that aid from churches and charities can only go so far.

But of course, the conservatives arguing this ALWAYS have that kind of foresight, you see, they've saved up their money and are prepared to shoulder the burden. The fact that insurance companies can deny their claims or their medications for basically whatever reason they see fit doesn't add into the equation. Because remember, they're good hard-working Americans, and by God, bad things don't happen to good people!

It brings me back to the question I pondered after the death of Nataline Sarkisyan--what would have happened to Terri Schiavo had the whole family agreed to keep her alive, but couldn't afford the life support? Would the conservatives have been as quick to jump in and help out, or would they have told the family to stop mooching off of the taxpayers? Is the "culture of life" truly just for those who can afford it?

To me, this notion is devoid of any trace of humanity whatsoever. I come from a family of doctors (even though I'm the pre-law black sheep), and I don't believe that profit is more important than human life. I do believe that bad things can happen to good people, and all the foresight in the world won't save you. I believe that yes, it is my problem when someone in the wealthiest nation in the world can't afford their medications. I believe in the idea that I am my brother's (and sister's) keeper, whether I want to be or not.

And that is why I will always be a Democrat.

Dammit Fred

Watching Rudy 9iu11ani's concession speech, I have to conclude that it looks like Fred Thompson has started an unfortunate trend. It's the "I'm Dropping Out But I Won't Actually Say It" speech. It's been confirmed that 9iu11ani is in fact dropping out, and will endorse John McCain tomorrow. But if that's the plan, then why not have the guts to say that to your supporters, to the people who worked really hard for you?

Also, it looks like John McCain will take the Republican nomination, although it's not over yet. Romney will stay in it as long as the trust fund will allow, and Huckabee will likely pick up several more states on Super Tuesday. He may end up like the Republican version of John Edwards, sticking in it through the convention despite having no money and not enough support.

State Of The Union Wrap-Up

Really, I don't have any thoughts on the State of the Union addres. It sounded like every other State of the Union this President has given, with talking points from each of them oddly sewn together. It's as if now that he's on his way out, he decided to do a "Best Of..." speech.

Thoughts?

What NOW?

Yes, I realize I'm a few hours behind everyone else in commenting on this story, but honestly, I didn't think it was real at first. And once I realized that it was, I was so angry that I had to go do a kickboxing class at the gym just to get some of the aggression out, to calm down enough to write anything.

I am, of course, referring to the statement released by the New York state chapter of NOW regarding Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama:

“Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that his support for the compromises in No Child Left Behind and the Medicare bogus drug benefit brought us the passage of these flawed bills. We have thanked him for his ardent support of many civil rights bills, BUT women are always waiting in the wings.

“And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! He’s picked the new guy over us. He’s joined the list of progressive white men who can’t or won’t handle the prospect of a woman president who is Hillary Clinton (they will of course say they support a woman president, just not “this” one). ‘They’ are Howard Dean and Jim Dean (Yup! That’s Howard’s brother) who run DFA (that’s the group and list from the Dean campaign that we women helped start and grow). They are Alternet, Progressive Democrats of America, democrats.com, Kucinich lovers and all the other groups that take women’s money, say they’ll do feminist and women’s rights issues one of these days, and conveniently forget to mention women and children when they talk about poverty or human needs or America’s future or whatever.

“This latest move by Kennedy, is so telling about the status of and respect for women’s rights, women’s voices, women’s equality, women’s authority and our ability – indeed, our obligation - to promote and earn and deserve and elect, unabashedly, a President that is the first woman after centuries of men who ‘know what’s best for us.’”

First of all, a critique--this does nothing to dispel the myth that women can't take criticism, that we whine, cry, and generally get way too emotional in response to slights, that we take everything personally. In my first real job, I learned really quickly that as a woman, you have to keep all those emotions in check if you want your superiors to take you seriously. Is that fair? Maybe not, but that's the situation we're in. So when the women in NOW write something like this, it's hard for them to not come off as a bunch of whiny little brats.

And yeah, I just called them a bunch of whiny little brats. What are you going to do, accuse me of sexism?

Second, the obvious point--we're seeing the talking point that has been couched in somewhat more subtle terms now laid bare for everyone to see: All women should support Hillary Clinton, and if you don't, if you support another Democratic candidate, then you obviously are not REALLY a feminist. In fact, you're such a bad feminist that you might as well chain yourself to the stove in the kitchen! And if you're a male progressive who supports another candidate, then you obviously can't handle a strong woman and you're just trying to keep women down!

But of course, women are not a monolithic voting bloc, just as Jews and Christians and atheists are not, just as whites and blacks and Latinos are not. And maybe I'm just completely misunderstanding history, but I thought the point of the feminist movement in the 1960s was that women should NOT be defined solely as women, but as human beings with our own identities.

So these tactics are bringing us right back to Square 1, where women are defined not by their minds or opinions, but solely by our genitals. Who is the real sexist here? Who's really trying to hold women back here?

P.S. Congratulations, NYS NOW and Tennessee Guerilla Women. As much as I dislike John Edwards, he is now my second choice over Hillary.

UPDATE: I really appreciate Aunt B's take on this.

Man-Dogs Against McCain

Funny story from Mike Lux at OpenLeft from Friday that got overlooked in the South Carolina primary madness. Seems Mike was on the Amtrak going home from NYC, and heard an obnoxious guy behind him bashing John McCain:

So then the guy sitting behind me starts making phone calls on his cell. He's got a fairly loud and authoritative voice, so I can't help but overhear, and he's making call after call after call to tell various people that we've gotta find a way to beat McCain, just would be just awful, and going on and on about how much McCain sucks and that even having Hillary or Obama would be better than having McCain because he would just be horrible for the conservative movement because he just doesn't get the movement and he's always using liberal language to talk about things and how that's a terrible thing.

So who was it?

...and it turns out the guy sitting behind me was Rick Santorum, which makes it all the more fun and all the more interesting. So pretty much the whole trip this guy is working his cell phone, talking to people about how anyone is better than McCain and Giuliani would be better than McCain because then at least he wouldn't betray the conservative movement....

And y'all think Democrats are the ones who are divided right now? Geez. I know a lot of people feel that Hillary Clinton would be bad for the Democratic Party overall, but no one would say that they'd rather see McCain or 9iu11ani become President instead. As angry and divisive as the situation looks right now, everyone will get behind the eventual nominee. I don't think Republicans can say the same thing about themselves right now.

The Sunday Liberal Blog Roundup, 1-26-08

The Sunday "Palmetto pummeling with rejoicing in the streets and mournful rending of garments" edition of the TennViews weekly liberal blog roundup showcasing the best and brightest bloggers in Tennessee and what they are talking about...

• 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: SC exit poll results here and here

• 55-40 Memphis (a new addition to the blogroll and roundup): Dilemma: So, short of something drastic happening to make me wrong, I predict it's going to be a long, painful slog to November -- and (at best) a nailbiter election night.

• Andy Axel (at TennViews): America 2001-2008: Enter The Bush Leagues: Not even the Reagan Revolution or the Contract On America was as successful at creating so much ruin in such little time:

• Aunt B. (another new addition to the blogroll and roundup): Who Owns Tennessee’s Women?: Do we have the right to decide for ourselves what happens to our bodies or are we just walking condos, with the State acting as mostly-absentee landlords.

• BlountViews: Blount GOP to back Ron Paul?: What's not to like?

• The Crone Speaks: Are TN’eans/All Progressives Falling for the Symbolic Vote, or Do They Want a Real Leader?: The current state of our union does not afford voters the luxury for a symbolic vote. Voters should be considering the state our country is in, and which candidate has the most progressive platform to lead us out of the dire straights the previous administrations have placed us.

• Cup of Joe Powell: TV News Covers 'Baloney' In Campaign For President: Does the news matter to anyone anymore?, and Your Communication Is Not Yours Anyway: The argument that only the guilty need be concerned about this type of constant surveillance is an argument which has neither merit nor logic., and A Vast Database of Deception: And sadly, the general response to the report is a rather exhausted yawn. "It doesn't even matter anymore," said a friend of mine.

• The Donkey's Mouth: The $9 Trillion Bear in the Room: The fact of the matter is, however, that were it not for Democrats at the table there would not be a stimulus package.

• Enclave: Infrastructure? Who Needs Infrastructure?: Cost to fix these hazards: $1.6 trillion., and Bredesen's TDOT Welcomes Bush Transportation Chief in Support of Toll Roads: The traveling medicine show designed to pull public funds to private coffers (George W. Bush's prime directive) has come to Tennessee, and our so-called Democratic administration is embracing it with open arms., also Bubba's Brutality and Obama's Egotism

• Fletch: The Sand Man, and Afternoon Walk

• KnoxViews: Milestones unnoticed... (on KnoxViews anniversary), and a funny flashback from a reader (and RoaneViews co-conspirator), plus mark your calendars, Seymour Hersh Speaking at UT, Feb 6th

• Lean Left: Lean Left: The question now is where are the front runners? Why are they not in DC, right now, holding a press conference where they clearly state that they will be supporting the filibuster of this cowardly provision., and They're just politicians: They aren’t going to save us all with a well timed legislative victory and a cheery wave to the camera. Every single one of them will, at one point or another, betray something you consider vitally important to get something else, usually something you think is ridiculously over-valued. (as they say, read the whole thing...)

• Left of the Dial: Maybe in South Carolina...: But something tells me that unless Oprah campaigns in Tennessee and starts giving out new cars, he won’t see the same numbers here., and an Information Highway Road Trip

• Left Wing Cracker: THIS is why I'm for John Edwards , and in case you missed it at TennViews, A tale of two legislators

• Liberadio (another new addition to the blogroll and roundup): We use these too: If "ES&S iVotronic" and "paperless touchscreen voting machines" sound familiar to some of you it’s because 17 out of 95 counties in Tennessee use these machines and, if things don’t go well next week, we’ll be using them again in the November election., plus Our Money’s Already Spent

• Loose TN Canon: The albatross of Iraq around McCain's neck: John McCain is a hypocrite. During Clinton's presidency, he argued vehemently to bring the troops home from Haiti and Somalia - regardless of the consequences.

• NewsComa: Anthem Of Change: It backfired. The whole Hillary/Bill wrassling tag team blew up in their faces yesterday when Barack Obama beat the tar out of the two. , and I Have Some Time To Figure Super Tuesday Out: I only have one vote. And it’s mine.

• Pesky Fly: Clinton Destroying the Party: If our three Democratic candidate were steaks, they would be ribeye, t-bone, and porterhouse. Saying one cut of meat from the same cow will destroy the party is - there's no gentle way to say this - f***ing nuts., also Lost in the Funhouse: Obama's been misrepresented. ... And I really don't care much about this beyond the fact that I worry how, should they reach the general, the whiners will deal with an attack machine that took down John McCain for a lack of patriotism.

• Progressive Nashville: The right time for health care reform?: It's easy for the rich and powerful to ignore the problems of the poor, but now health care costs are tapping into profits and that means everyone's well-being is at stake., and Who will speak for the poor?: So divided has the Democratic Party become from wedge issues generated by the GOP, that its vision of prosperity for all has been all but abandoned.

• Resonance: Potpourri: I report, you decide., plus an interesting survey at TennViews: How much do political TV or radio ads affect your voting decisions?

• RoaneViews: Connected Tennessee: On the home page there is a place where you can check your Internet connection speed. There are also maps of the state by county that show that counties connectivity., and Green Development Conference

• Russ McBee: Congressional Dems cave to Bush twice in one day: The Democrats were not handed control of Congress last year just for the purpose of caving to every whim of the most unpopular president in recent history., plus: The clueless Michael Chertoff speaks: Showing your papers, removing your shoes in airports, and that Real ID nonsense do not foster security; they merely provide what Bruce Schneier calls "security theater:" the illusion of security, intended to foster a feeling of well-being, whether deserved or not.

• Sean Braisted: "You People": I knew the Clintons would attempt to dismiss the results in South Carolina as a hollow victory because South Carolina had a high black population; I didn't see Obama do the same thing because New Hampshire is one of the whitest states in the union., also: The Challenge: ...to list 10 things I like about Hillary...I'll start, and perhaps get to ten.

• Sharon Cobb: Subdued Republican Debate Allows Romney To Perform Well.: By his looks and family, Mitt Romney is straight out of central casting for the role of President. However, his acting skills have been less than up to par. ... Then there was the obligatory Hillary bashing. I guess a bunch of old, conservative white guys can't conceive that their opponent in the general election might be a black man.

• Silence Isn't Golden: South Carolina Results Live-Blog: No word yet on whether or not she'll address the loss, although she already released a statement mentioning the Super Tuesday states, and also Florida. Unsurprising, since she's already indicated that she will undermine the DNC and Howard Dean by pushing for Florida and Michigan delegates to count., also in case you missed it at TennViews, GoldnI's analysis of the WSMV Tennessee presidential primary poll.

• Southern Beale: Fred Watch: Democratic voters don’t tend to blame their candidates when they don’t win primaries; at least, I don’t hear anyone blaming Dennis Kucinich or John Edwards for underperforming this primary season. , also Not That There's Anything Wong With That: Obama's not Muslim, people.

• Tennessee Guerilla Women: Media Bias Against Clintons Borders on Mental Illness: I don't recall ever seeing so much overt and shameless media bias in any previous election. I may as well be watching Fox News., also Everybody But Obama Knew About Rezko, and Nashville: Hillary Congratulates Obama & Says 'We Have Only Just Begun'

• TennViews TN GOP coming unhinged on abortion amendment: The bottom line is that this is a pathetically transparent political stunt to get yet another wedge issue on the ballot for the 2010 gubernatorial election in an effort to get right-wing extremists out to the polls. Tennessee deserves better leadership than this., also Sasser: As iron sharpens iron

• Vibinc: Real life intervenes, blogging will resume shortly...

• Whites Creek Journal: Who do I vote for? (a celebrity endorsement roundup): So ultimately, the burning question of the day boils down to , "Can that fat oatmeal guy beat both fake blondes, Rick Flair and Anne Coulter?", and Oh, Great! (on not being stimulated by the stimulus package): Republicans repeatedly demonstrate that they are ethically unequipped to do anything except serve rich people, and our Democratic Congressional leadership repeatedly proves that they are ill equipped to do anything except let them and whine about it.

• Women's Health News: Best Cities to Have a Baby: This year’s winner was Portland, followed by Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver. My own city ranked 33rd, just below D.C. Among the factors weighing Nashville down...

South Carolina Results Live-Blog

You know how we do. Check back here in about an hour.

7:00 p.m.: MSNBC calls it for Obama, "by a substantial margin." No word yet on who's getting second, and that's what I'm curious about. I'm also curious to see how the vote breaks down, i.e. black and white and male and female.

7:01 p.m.: MSNBC is just Olbermann and another guy. Did they finally decide to get rid of Tweety? Hope so!

7:03 p.m.: Congressman Clyburn says that from what he's seen, Obama got a respectable amount of votes in white precincts.

7:04 p.m.: CNN also calls it for Obama.

7:05 p.m.: ABC via Daily Kos--This was the highest turnout among African-American voters in a Democratic Presidential primary since 1984, and there was a very high turnout among female voters as well.

7:07 p.m.: Olbermann just said that the AP headline calls it a "rout"

7:08 p.m.: 81% of the black vote goes to Obama!

7:09 p.m.: Obama won nearly 50% of the 18-29 vote, and it was apparently close to a three-way split among the white vote.

7:11 p.m.: MSNBC has 30 seconds to get Pat Buchanan and his racist trap off the screen, otherwise I'm switching to CNN.

7:21 p.m.: Sorry, the number of young voters I cited above was just for white young voters. Accounting for all 18-29 voters, the number actually goes up to 65%.

7:25 p.m.: Looking at the exit polls--Obama takes 55% of the female vote, including 82% of the black female vote. Also, Obama gets strong majorities across the liberal-moderate-conservative spectrum. Another interesting statistic--Edwards beats Clinton among voters who have done postgraduate study.

7:29 p.m.: Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a Clinton supporter, just said that the campaign will "stay the course" in terms of strategy. Which pretty much sums up her whole campaign right there.

7:32 p.m.: Interesting Republican news--Olbermann just said that one of the NYC police unions (representing sergeants I believe), and Florida governor Charlie Crist just endorsed McCain rather than 9iu11ani. Looks like Rudy will get the next Nelson Muntz "Ha-Ha!" graphic.

7:37 p.m.: Scarborough just pointed out that Florida has a closed primary, so that could blunt Crist's endorsement somewhat. But the timing is huge.

7:39 p.m.: MSNBC calls second place for Clinton. Obama to speak at 9 ET.

7:40 p.m.: Bill Clinton--South Carolina doesn't matter because "Jesse Jackson won it twice"? What the...

8:03 p.m.: 70% of voters think the Clinton campaign unfairly attacked Obama. Yet Congresswoman Sanchez would LOVE for Bill Clinton to come campaign for her. Suit yourself...

8:07 p.m.: MSNBC just showed the Clinton event in Nashville about to start. No word yet on whether or not she'll address the loss, although she already released a statement mentioning the Super Tuesday states, and also Florida. Unsurprising, since she's already indicated that she will undermine the DNC and Howard Dean by pushing for Florida and Michigan delegates to count.

8:16 p.m.: Look, I know how important it was for Hillary to get to Nashville so that she could raise money try to get votes, but if I were in South Carolina and I had worked really hard for her, I'd be kind of pissed that she couldn't have stuck around for one more hour.

8:18 p.m.: Lots of news flying around--Olbermann just said that Caroline Kennedy will endorse Obama in tomorrow's New York Times. Could Ted Kennedy's endorsement be far behind?

8:23 p.m.: Kleinheider just e-mailed me an interesting article, and I have to admit that this didn't even occur to me. For observant Jews, Shabbat ended tonight at 6:25, but the polls were only open until 7. Granted, there aren't that many Jews in South Carolina, and that's not as bad as Nashville holding an election on Rosh Hashonah (where even not-too-observant Jews go to synagogue) but that's still pretty bad. Charleston has one of the oldest communities in the country, and I have relatives in Columbia. I realize that holding elections on weekends is more convenient, but it runs into so many religious objections that it's really for the best to hold it during the week.

8:31 p.m.: Scarborough points out how the Clinton campaign keeps saying "On to Florida!". Let me make this very clear--by saying that, they are undermining the DNC and Howard Dean! The fact that they wouldn't be pushing for Florida and Michigan to count had they not been in the lead there is beside the point.

8:34 p.m.: Rather than listen to Pat Buchanan, I'll point out something that an interesting point that another African-American politician just made, Hotline via Kleinheider:

Ex-Rep. Harold Ford. Jr., on Obama receiving a quarter of the white vote: “We must remember how well he performed in Iowa and New Hampshire” among white voters (FNC).

Very true.

9:06 p.m.: Obama speaking.

9:11 p.m.: This sums up his campaign very nicely--it's not enough just to change the party in power in Washington, you also have to change the Washington status quo. And Hillary Clinton is that status quo.

Hillary Goes Negative...Against Edwards!

All of those Edwards supporters who say that Hillary Clinton would be their second choice over Obama should probably consider the implications of that decision. I'm just sayin'.

Voice: Hello, This is the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign. Before you vote on Saturday, you should know that John Edwards voted for permanent trade relations with China. That’s right, John Edwards voted for the bill that cost thousands of jobs. Like the ones in the textile mills he talks about so much down here.

You should also know that John Edwards made nearly a half a million dollars working for a Wall Street investment fund. A fund that’s been profiting on foreclosing on the homes of families; including 100 homes right here in South Carolina. That’s according to The State newspaper. Here in South Carolina, Edwards says he’s one of us, but up on Wall Street he was just another one of them.

Can you trust John Edwards? This call is paid for by the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign.

You can listen to the audio of the commercial here.

Looks like Chris Bowers' original theory is holding up--that Edwards hurts Hillary more than he hurts Obama. And Edwards supporters, though you may think that Hillary is somehow more proressive than Obama, just wait. This robocall is the tip of the iceberg. Hillary will scorch Edwards once she realizes just how much of a threat he is to her. I'm honestly surprised that the "ambulance-chasing trial lawyer" line hasn't been trotted out yet.

Let The Sun Shine In (On Rutherford County)

In light of the recent discussions over the Sunshine Law in Tennessee, this story out of Murfreesboro seemed particularly important.

As many of you know, there is a fight going on in Rutherford County over the proposed construction of a new theme park, "Bible Park U.S.A." The developers of the park, who have the support of many political and business leaders in Rutherford County, fully expected that all of the "good Christians" in the county would support them as well. They didn't realize, of course, that the forces of NIMBY cut across religious and political lines, and that quite a few people really don't like the idea of putting a huge theme park in a residential area.

One of the biggest complaints that the residents here had was that the whole process of debating this proposal had not been particularly transparent. Something tells me that this story from today isn't going to do a whole lot to allay their concerns:

Developers say they have been meeting with commission members both individually and in small groups for months.

It is illegal for two or more government officials to meet to discuss public business in private.

Several commissioners say they did not violate the law because they only listened to presentations.

Now, I'm not very well-versed in what the Sunshine Law states specifically, but it was my understanding that meetings of two or more members of governing bodies must be open to the public, unless the two of them just happened to meet by chance.

So, can someone please explain to me how groups of county commission members meeting to listen to presentations, meeting on a matter of public business, would not be in blatant violation of the Sunshine Law?

New TN Presidential Poll Finally Released

(Cross-Posted at TennViews)

Someone (in this case, WSMV in Nashville) finally decided it was time to do a Presidential poll in Tennessee. It's about damn time! Of course, if they could have waited maybe three days later to do it, the results probably would have been far more accurate.

On the Republican side, the poll is basically worthless as it was done before Fred Thompson dropped out. Fred Thompson receives 25% of the vote, with Huckabee close behind with 24%, and 26% still undecided. I suspect that had they done this poll after Thompson dropped out, Huckabee wouldn't have nearly as much of a lead as Thompson's supporters would have spread out among Romney and McCain.

It does beg the question of how many people will vote for Thompson seeing that he's on the ballot, not caring that he's already dropped out. Anyone want to start taking bets on that? We could do it as a spread, like we do for the Super Bowl score.

On the Democratic side, I wish they'd do this again after South Carolina. The poll says what we already knew--Hillary's winning, but there are a large number of undecided voters. That is, in my opinion, good news for Obama--he'll have all of the momentum and the media buzz after South Carolina, and the final result is going to be far closer than what the poll is indicating now.

I'm not sure about where Edwards fits in here--barring an unexpectedly close second-place finish in South Carolina, I think he's more or less hit his ceiling in terms of how many more Democratic voters he's going to attract. I don't think he necessarily hurts Obama, especially not in West Tennessee, which is by far Obama's strongest area of support at this point. If anything, Edwards may be what holds Hillary down here. I get the sense that most people have made up their minds about whether or not they're going to vote for Hillary, so she will likely not get very much of that undecided bloc in the end. She has also hit her ceiling here. Obama's the only one who hasn't, which is what makes this primary so exciting.

So, in conclusion, you'll only hear me say this once, but...go Edwards!

UPDATE: Thinking about this further, the other good thing about Edwards staying in for now is that it forces economic issues to stay in the spotlight. Anyone who watched the Republican debate tonight knows that all they have on that is a set of tired talking points.

SEE? I am capable of saying something nice about Edwards!

Obama To Do Letterman Top 10 Tonight

Just got an "Obama Mobile" text, and it's up on their blog too, that Obama will be presenting tonight's Top 10 list on Letterman at 11:35 my time/East TN time, 10:35 Nashville/Memphis time. So in the meantime, here are the Top 10 reasons why you should vote for Obama:

10. Because he was against the war in Iraq before it was "popular" to be against it. True, others have since come around to the idea that it was wrong, but he has the foresight to not get us into another one.

9. Because he has just as good of a record on choice and reproductive rights as Hillary does.

8. Because he's the only candidate who will give us a working majority in Congress to pass progressive legislation.

7. Because he himself is a proud and principled progressive on ALL of the issues, no matter who tries to paint him as a "centrist." Read this if you don't believe me.

6. Because after the Republican debate tonight ("weak lib'ruls, Reagan, 9/11, rinse, repeat") you'll need to watch something more uplifting.

5. Because it's not just that he brings out the youth vote. He brings out them plus every other demographic.

4. Because if you don't, then you're an elitist who obviously hates working people and are also a DLC-triangulating centrist (oh whoops, that should have gone in the "Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Vote for John Edwards" list).

3. Because if he can survive the Clinton smear machine, he can survive the GOP.

2. Because he can win this election without dragging the entire Democratic Party down into the mud.

1. Because I really, REALLY want to go to Denver!

This Woman Is Also A Bad Feminist

Lorna Brett Howard, pro-choice activist and former President of NOW in Chicago, is a bad feminist, just like me.

Because if she were a good feminist, she'd believe the lies about Obama's voting record on reproductive choice. If she were a good feminist, she'd still be supporting Hillary.





Yes, Hillary is a woman. But that doesn't mean she' s the only candidate a feminist can support. Obama has stood up for reproductive rights throughout his career. The "present votes" in the Illinois legislature that the Clinton campaign has tried to make an issue out of were in fact a carefully-constructed strategy that had the approval of pro-choice organizations in Illinois.

Obama will be just as good of a President for women as Hillary would be, maybe even a better one.

WBC To Picket Heath Ledger's Funeral

The death of Heath Ledger yesterday hit me really hard. At a time when other girls my age were in love with Leonardo DiCaprio and N*SYNC, my main "celebrity crush" was Heath Ledger. I first saw him in "10 Things I Hate About You" and immediately fell for the smoldering bad boy. But as I grew older, I began to appreciate him for the fine actor he was and not just for his looks. I have never cried in a movie as hard as I did during his last scene in "Brokeback Mountain." I was really looking forward to seeing him play The Joker in the new "Batman" movie, since such a role would have shown a whole new side to his acting abilities.

So hearing this news today was like another punch in the gut (sorry for the Fox News link, but bear in mind Fred Phelps hates them too):

A radical Baptist church in Kansas known for picketing the funerals of soldiers who perished in Iraq said it intends to protest Heath Ledger's memorial service with signs claiming the actor died and is in Hell because he played a gay character in “Brokeback Mountain.”

Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka said that she and other members will picket Ledger’s United States memorial services, not those held in his native Australia.

Between this and what they do at soldier's funerals, these assholes have really tested my belief in the First Amendment. I guess it shouldn't come as any surprise that they're doing it, seeing as how they're so out of touch with reality that they can't distinguish between the actor and the fictional character.

It's often asked what the response to these people ought to be. Should we counter-protest and drown them out, or ignore them knowing that they thrive on media attention? I honestly don't know.

I guess the only thing you can do is try to set the better example, and wait for the day (and it will come) when the compromising photos/e-mails/phone calls of someone in the Phelps family show up.

But Who Is Larry Bird Endorsing?

Last week, the Clinton campaign released a radio ad in South Carolina featuring Magic Johnson in what had to be the worst analogy ever:

My rookie year, we won our first game on a last second shot. I was so hyped. But the captain of my team said, “take it easy rookie, it’s a long season, it’s a long road to the championship.” He was right. Winning comes from years of hard work and preparation. Whether it’s winning championships or a President who can lead us back to greatness, I’ll always want the most prepared and experienced person leading my team. That’s why I’m asking you to join me in voting for Hillary Clinton for President.

This, of course, conveniently left out the fact that Magic Johnson had an incredible rookie season. But now, the captain of the team in question has a response and an endorsement of his own:

The team captain that Magic is referencing: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who told the Huffington Post that Magic has it wrong about Obama. "I don't think he's a rookie. He's served as a senator very capably, and he is very skilled in terms of his ability to organize and lead people. And that's what we need right now."

Abdul-Jabbar, who recently authored a book charting the lasting impact of the Harlem Renaissance, said he doesn't fault Magic Johnson for his endorsement. "Mrs. Clinton is not a bad choice, I just think Mr. Obama is the best choice."

But he noted, "Unfortunately, Mrs. Clinton has been at many times a divisive figure, and I don't think that's intentional on her part, but I do think that's the case."

Now, I'm sure the Clinton campaign will not be happy about this response. Expect to hear unfounded criticisms circling around Abdul-Jabbar, such as the insinuation that he doesn't work hard enough on defense, that he doesn't run down the court, and that he doesn't even try, except during the playoffs.

But remember, he's been hearing that crap ever since he was at UCLA! Tell Hillary to drag Walter and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes every night!

A Heartfelt Message For Fred Thompson Supporters

UPDATE: The TNDP statement on Fred Thompson:

“After a slow start, it’s clear that the now-defunct campaign of Fred Thompson typifies the sort of disunity within the Republican Party unable to find a cogent message of substance over style,” said Tennessee Democratic Party spokesperson Wade Munday. “From poorly-managed internal operations to public resignations of chief campaign staff, there were signs of trouble from the beginning.”

“While Senator Thompson might not be in this race anymore, we are certain that a Republican with a similar brand of marketing gimmicks and soundbites will arrive in Tennessee,” Munday continued. “However, with Senator Thompson now out of the race officially we can see that Tennessee is once again a battleground state.”

South Carolina Debate Thoughts

I'm not going to do a whole formal wrap-up, just a few thoughts that I can't post on Daily Kos because I apparently broke it (long story).

• If there was any doubt about what kind of candidate Hillary Clinton is, this debate should have erased it. I wanted to throw something at the TV and yell "Liar!" but in the end I decided that my TV is more important than Hillary Clinton. What gets me is how she continued to push these stories about Obama that have been thoroughly debunked, like what he said about Ronald Reagan or his present votes in the Illinois state legislature. She knows that they've been debunked, yet continues to push them. That's not just "the political game", that's positively Rovian. And what was hilarious was after being called out in a lie about the Reagan comments, she responded with "Well, that's how they're being presented." Yeah, because that's how YOU'RE presenting them! And I was pretty disappointed to see Edwards going along with it.
  

• That being said, Edwards came off looking pretty good, if for no other reason than because Hillary was so unhinged and desperate-sounding. Those of you in Memphis may not get this, but I still can't get past the fact that when he's talking on TV and I close my eyes, I start expecting to hear "Ahm Bob Clement and ahm gonna take Nashvull from good to grayte!" But there's no doubt that Edwards is a good debater, and certainly benefitted from the back-and-forth between Hillary and Obama.

• If Obama can survive the Clinton machine, then he'll be able to survive anything that McCain can throw at him. Tonight, he brushed off every untrue claim that Hillary tried to pin on him and only succeeded in frustrating her. The audience picked up on it too, they were booing her after awhile. Obama looked sharp--he defended himself without getting overly defensive, and never once lost his cool.
  

Fun With Fundies

It seems that a "creation museum" in Texas is having such a hard time staying in business (too dumb even for the fundies apparently) that it has to sell a prehistoric mastodon skull to pay off its debts:

The founder and curator of the Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum, which rejects evolution and claims that man and dinosaurs coexisted, said it will close unless the Volkswagen-sized skull finds a generous bidder.

"If it sells, well, then we can come another day," Joe Taylor said. "This is very important to our continuing."

Heritage Auction Galleries says the skull is estimated to be 40,000 years old, and projects it will fetch upward of $160,000. The artifact discovered in La Grange in 2004 is believed to be the largest of its kind, Heritage spokesman David Herskowitz said.

You know what would really be poetic justice? If the Smithsonian or another REAL scientific organization bought the skull and proudly displayed it with the correct information.

But the best part of the story is how the museum got into such dire financial straits to begin with:

Taylor said he's been financially crippled by about $136,000 he's been ordered to pay in a legal dispute over finder's rights to an Allosaurus skeleton unearthed in Colorado.

You know, I realize they're trying to promote a Biblical message here. But last time I checked, there was also a little blurb in the Bible about how thou shalt not steal. And somehow, I don't think you're allowed to override that commandment simply to get your gospel across.

Bellevue Blues--Leave My Library Alone!

Over the summer, Councilman Eric Crafton promoted the possibility of moving the Bellevue Library to the mall campus as a way of revitalizing the mall area. It was a terrible idea then and it's a terrible idea now.

So naturally, Charlie Tygard is running with it:

City officials are exploring proposed plans for the revitalization of the Bellevue Mall to see if there’s room for a new library, said Councilman Charlie Tygard.

Tygard, who was previously the District 35 representative, but now serves as an at-large member, said the council deferred decision last week on the tax increment financing plan proposed by mall owners, California-based Foursquare Properties Inc, in part to look at the possibility of putting a library on the mall site.

This is ridiculous on so many levels. First, the library would hardly bring in a significant amount of money, decreasing the site's attractiveness to any other investors besides Foursquare. But aside from the economic concerns, there's a practical reason to not move the library. Where it is now, next to the Red Caboose park and across from Bellevue Middle School, is a very child and family-friendly area. If it needs to be expanded, then expand it where it is! Moving it to a place where it would be surrounded by a mall and a bunch of big-box stores would destroy the library's appeal. It just doesn't "fit", and the move would be bad for all sides.

And meanwhile, the core issue of how the new mall is going to work and how much money Metro is going to put into it is being delayed so that the Council can discuss this, which shouldn't be an issue at all.

Ridiculous.

Payback Time?

I can remember back in the day, before we had the lottery in Tennessee, driving with my family up to Kentucky about once or twice a year every time their lottery got really high. The lines of people at the gas stations just north of the border were by and large all from Tennessee. The need to go up to Kentucky (for pretty much anything) was negated by the introduction of the Tennessee lottery, but I always wondered just how much money they made off of folks like us back then.

I guess it's payback time now, of a sort:

Right now, Tennessee has the highest cigarette tax in the southeast at 62 cents per package but that could soon change.

Kentucky is considering a tax hike and that could help the Tennessee economy.

Since Tennessee raised its cigarette tax to 62 cents in July, cigarette sales have taken a dip. In Kentucky, the current tax is currently 30 cents.

Lawmakers in Kentucky are considering raising the cigarette tax. Some health advocates would like to see it jump to 73 cents, making it higher than Tennessee's tax.

So instead of thousands of desperate gamblers from Tennessee going up to Kentucky, you'll now have thousands of desperate smokers from Kentucky coming here. It's also a complete reversal from just a few months ago, where the state of Tennessee was actually monitoring cars bringing cigarettes into Tennessee to escape the taxes.

Part of me finds it pretty sad that folks would go through all that trouble to feed an icky and destructive addiction (no offense to anyone who does smoke, but you know it is). But hey, at least we'll be on the receiving end of the lost tax dollars now! And although I'm sure this point will be lost on the conservatives, should Kentucky pass their tax, the state will take in a lot more revenue with a 62 cent tax than we would have with a 30 cent tax.

Yay Kentucky! Thank you for smoking!

The Sunday Liberal Blog Roundup, 1-20-08

You know how we do.

The "don't stand on 16 when the dealer's showing an ace" edition of the TennViews weekly liberal blog roundup of what the best and brightest bloggers in Tennessee are talking about...

• 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: LV Democratic Debate: The winners tonight were all the Democrats out here who want to unite to beat the Republicans.

• Andy Axel (at TennViews): "...When First We Practice To Deceive": Note the use of the word "legal." No word regarding whether or not this conduct is "ethical."

• BlountViews: Meeting of the media: A reporter's request for anonymous bloggers to reveal their identity for a story leads to some interesting discussion. More discussion here.

• The Crone Speaks: Increasing the Pool of Slave Labor: The very ugly fact is that if one doesn't work at the big-box stores at half the wages one used to make, with little to no chance of union protection, I might add, one is relegated to slave labor, with little chance of regaining the way of life one used to have.

• Cup of Joe Powell: Why Make It Illegal to Own A Dog??: Whatever made Tennessee Senator Tommy Kilby (D) think that a state law banning ownership of one particular breed of dog, a pit bull, a good idea, I do not know.

• The Donkey's Mouth: GOP leader stands against Ramsey, Mumpower: The GOP leader’s attack is the latest move that highlights demarcated lines between Republicans that voted for and against the FY 2007-2008 budget.

• Enclave: Why a President Mattered to the Civil Rights Movement: The whole debate on race and civil rights during this 2008 campaign was unnecessary and ugly and it was spurred on by the mainstream media.

• Fletch: Everywhere a Sign: Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?. Also: Exposure

• KnoxViews: GM: We need to talk (R. Neal): GM is (for now) the world's largest auto manufacturer with 246 models and $207 billion in revenues last year. They should be able to do better than this. Plus, One good thing Fred Thompson did (Elrod): I salute Fred Thompson for one thing and one thing only. He managed to waste millions of dollars from Tennessee Republican donors on an idiotic campaign.

• Lean Left: That "liberal media" at work again: Now, this is not just an obvious example of putting the worst possible spin on things - it isn't even reasonably representative of what happened in political terms.

• Left of the Dial: Fred: exit stage right: C’mon, Fred. Hurry up. Just quit the race already.

• Left Wing Cracker: This is yet another reason to support our Congressman: Today, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) announced that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded grants of more than $36,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and $73,000 to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Also: If you're not a Country Music fan, then skip this post.

• Loose TN Canon: Huckabee the Theo-con... one of the most dangerous men in America: Mike Huckabee is the embodiment of the American version of the Taliban.

• NewsComa: I Write Letters: But I would rather vote for an iguana on crack than vote for you after all the stuff you've said this week. Also, We Give What We Can

• Pesky Fly: Feed the chickens: Sure, they know how much a gallon of milk costs. But only because an intern did the research and sent a memo.

• Progressive Nashville: Ay!: Lamar is introducing another bill to "protect English," this time in the workplace, where apparently we're all at risk of sudden spontaneous Spanish-speaking that will leave us unable to otherwise perform our jobs. Also: Michigan: Speed Bump or Brick Wall?

• Resonance: How Will The Right-Wing Noise Machine Spin South Carolina?: Today the GOP destroyers finished 1-2 in South Carolina. What gives? Also: Vote For the Chameleon: One of Romney's talents seems to be his ability cast his image differently depending on which audience he's playing to.

• RoaneViews: GOP control of the State Legislature: The TN GOP campaigns on the hot button issues to energize particular constituencies. That's why they oppose a woman's right to control her own medical care, wave rifles in the air, have their picture taken beside a fence in New Mexico.

• Russ McBee: White House email: my dog ate it: Destruction of federal records is a criminal offense... Also, Huckabee shows his theocratic urge: No person so breathtakingly ignorant of this country's founding should ever be considered a serious candidate to run the show.

• Sean Braisted: "Beer, Soda, Chips and Fred Thompson": His message was text-book "conservatism" and most of his speeches seemed to be an amalgamation of conservative bumperstickers. Also, Prospective Voters

• Sharon Cobb: Congressman Steve Cohen Remembers Dr. Martin Luther King On The Floor: Tuesday evening, Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, Congressman Steve Cohen went to the floor to deliver an eloquent speech about Dr. Martin Luther King. Also, One Year From Today

• Silence Isn't Golden: Obama Wins Nevada: You may be confused by that title. After all, Hillary won Nevada, 50-45, didn't she? Also, Forward This To The Obama Haters: Now understand, you normally can't even get Jews from the different branches to agree on what kind of bagels to serve at the Hillel brunch, let alone agree on major political policy. So this is truly a coup, and proof of just how bad it's gotten.

• Southern Beale: Bye, Bye Fred?: Indeed, this was the huge flaw in the Fred Thompson candidacy that gave liberals so much comedy gold from the beginning. Folks, when picking future GOP stars, make sure the candidate likes politics.

• Tennessee Guerilla Women: Chris Matthews' Lame Apology for Being a Sexist Creep (Video): Oh, and Matthews made the point that he has a really great show and he is a really really great guy. Also, Nevada Debate: Democrats Win. Moderators Lose.: Democrats looked good last night. The 'we're family' debate was sorely needed after the recent squabbles.

• TennViews State GOP seeks to limit medical malpractice victim's rights | TennViews: Where's the bill to protect patients from incompetent doctors and negligent hospitals? Where are the bills to improve patient safety and outcomes? Where's the bill to make all malpractice and regulatory actions public and easily accessible so consumers can make informed choices about their health care and providers? Also, Civics 101: Take your kids with you when you vote!

• Vibinc: Vibinc: Something to Consider...: We have an opportunity to vote for REAL change in the coming days. Real change doesn't come in a race or a gender, it comes in a conviction to make America all it can be.

• Whites Creek Journal: INC...Mark of the Beast: You and I have to obey the law...Not the President... Not Corporations...Just You and I.

• Women's Health News: Health Disparities A-Go-Go: Rural residents were also less likely to be added to waiting lists for organs in the first place.

The Packers' Prayer

This is making the rounds on the Internets. Since I'm rooting for Green Bay tomorrow (there would be no greater poetic justice than for New England to go so far just to lose the Super Bowl to Green Bay, so that Brett Favre can finally retire), I figured this might be appropriate.

"Our Favre,

Who art in Lambeau,

Hallowed be thine arm.

Thy bowl will come,

It will be won.

In Phoenix as it is in Lambeau.

And give us this Sunday,

Our weekly win.

And give us many touchdown passes.

But do not let others pass against us.

Lead us not into frustration,

But deliver us to the valley of the sun.

For thine is the MVP, the best of the NFC,

and the glory of the Cheeseheads,

now and forever.

Go get'em. Amen."

More Of A Money Gasp Than A Bomb

On Friday, the John Edwards campaign decided to do a "money bomb" a la Ron Paul, to try and raise $7 million in one day. I was very curious what the results might be.

Today, this post appeared on the John Edwards blog from campaign manager David Bonoir:

As a result of your support, Friday was one of the best online fundraising days ever for our campaign. And, importantly, the great majority of those contributions will be eligible for matching funds, doubling the impact of your extraordinary effort.

Translation: We didn't raise anywhere near $7 million.

If it was your best fundraising day, why wouldn't you tell us how much you raised? I've done enough campaign work to know that you don't release exact numbers, in fundraising or in internal polling, if those numbers fall too far below your expectations. I have a feeling that they may not have even broken seven digits, because even that could've been spun in a positive way.

Maybe his supporters took the idea that "it's an election, not an auction" to the extreme. After all, if you CLEARLY have the best grassroots support, you don't NEED money, do you?

Now, some Obama supporters have called on Edwards to drop out, saying that he's like Ralph Nader to Obama's Al Gore. I don't necessarily buy into that characterization, if for no other reason than Nader has been way more consistent in his beliefs over the years than Edwards has. In all seriousness though, I do give some credence to what Chris Bowers said the other day, that Edwards staying in the race helps Obama by splitting the white vote in the South with Hillary. My concern though is that by staying in, Edwards would pull just enough delegates to prevent either Clinton or Obama from getting a clear majority, so that he can play kingmaker at the Convention.

Who would he go to then? Go to Obama because they're both on the so-called "change ticket", or to Clinton just out of spite that the anti-Hillary vote coalesced around someone other than him?

Edwards supporters...do y'all understand what the phrase "cutting off your nose to spite your face" means?

Obama Wins Nevada

You may be confused by that title. After all, Hillary won Nevada, 50-45, didn't she?

Yes and no:

A source with knowledge of the Nevada Democratic Party's projections told The Nation that under the arcane weighting system, Obama would win 13 national convention delegates and Clinton would win 12 delegates. The state party has not released an official count yet.

Barack Obama released an official statement celebrating a delegate victory. "We came from over twenty-five points behind to win more national convention delegates than Hillary Clinton because we performed well all across the state, including rural areas where Democrats have traditionally struggled," he said.

And as Markos notes, Obama is pushing this victory for every penny it's worth, using the Clinton campaign's own words against them:

Senator Obama was awarded 13 delegates to Senator Clinton's 12. As Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson said, "This is a race for delegates…It is not a battle for individual states. As David knows, we are well past the time when any state will have a disproportionate influence on the nominating process."

Of course Hillary actually won this thing in terms of the popular vote and the media buzz. But in a year like this, with the off-chance that we could end up with a brokered convention, the delegate counts certainly do matter. So this loss definitely doesn't hurt Obama, and whatever media buzz Hillary might have generated from this is currently getting lost in the shuffle of the GOP South Carolina primary.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: There are apparently widespread allegations of voter suppression and dirty campaign tactics against the Clinton campaign. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe has released a statement claiming over 200 reports of voting irregularities. In addition, several DailyKos diarists are reporting their own experiences from the ground in Nevada. Stay tuned...

More Jewish Leaders Condemn Smear Of Obama

Following the release of an open letter signed by several influential leaders in the Jewish community, six Jewish Democratic Senators have signed their own open letter condemning the racist smear e-mails that have circulated about Barack Obama:

An Open Letter to the Jewish Community:

Over the past several weeks, many in the Jewish community have received hateful emails that use falsehood and innuendo about Senator Barack Obama's religion and attack him personally. As Jewish United States Senators who have not endorsed a candidate for the Democratic nomination, we condemn these scurrilous attacks.

We find it particularly abhorrent that these attacks arc apparently being sent specifically to the Jewish Community. Jews, who have historically been the target of such attacks, should be the first to reject these tactics.

We won't dignify these falsehoods by repeating them in order to refute them. Instead, we will express our outrage at these tactics, which are being used to demonize a good and
decent man and our friend and colleague. Attempting to manipulate voters into supporting or opposing one candidate or another based on despicable and fictitious attacks is disgraceful. These false and malicious attacks should not be part of our political discourse.

All voters should support whichever candidate they believe would make the best president. We sincerely hope that Americans will make that decision based on the factual records of these candidates, not false charges circulated by anonymous mass emails.

Sincerely,

Carl Levin

Barbara Boxer

Ben Cardin

Russ Feingold

Frank Lautenberg

Bernie Sanders

Ron Wyden

What's notable about this is that to my knowledge, none of these Senators have yet endorsed a candidate.

"Those Meddling Kids" Pick Obama and McCain

(H/t Newscoma)

"Nick News with Linda Ellerbee", a show I often watched when I was younger, decided to hold a presidential primary just for kids. The results are in:

Kids nationwide who cast their votes online at www.nick.com/kpp chose Sen. McCain, who received 24% of the Republican vote, and Sen. Obama who received 46% of the Democratic vote. Nickelodeon received almost 80,000 votes in the kids' primary election.

"What better way to explain to kids how the primary system works then to actually hold a primary for them?" said Ellerbee, Host and Executive Producer of Nick News. "This year we have given kids a voice early on and allowed them to become part of the election process from the very beginning. I am thrilled to see that so many kids have come out to exercise their right to vote."

In a related story, Hillary Clinton has just accused the kids of intimidating their friends into voting for Obama, John Edwards has both accused the kids of hating working people and Linda Ellerbee of blacking him out for not saying his name at least three times in the above sentence, Mike Gravel yelled at the kids to get off his lawn, and Bill Hobbs is preparing a presser explaining why all this means that the kids should have had to show ID before they voted.

Worst. Analogy. Ever.

Hillary Clinton is running a new ad to appeal to African-American voters in South Carolina, featuring Magic Johnson. In the ad, he implies that Obama is like a sports rookie, while Hillary is the seasoned veteran:

My rookie year, we won our first game on a last second shot. I was so hyped. But the captain of my team said, “take it easy rookie, it’s a long season, it’s a long road to the championship.” He was right. Winning comes from years of hard work and preparation. Whether it’s winning championships or a President who can lead us back to greatness, I’ll always want the most prepared and experienced person leading my team. That’s why I’m asking you to join me in voting for Hillary Clinton for President.

Now, any sports fan will very quickly realize the problem with Magic Johnson using his rookie season in this analogy. Not only did Magic Johnson have quite possibly one of the greatest rookie seasons in basketball history, he led the Lakers to the NBA Championship that year and won the Finals MVP. So if you follow the analogy all the way out, there's no reason why Obama shouldn't be able to win the championship as a rookie (which he's not, but that's beside the point).

But hey, that didn't fit into the narrative!

(h/t Kleinheider)

Maybe I'm Heading Back South After All

In one quick blow today, I got respectively deferred and rejected from my top two law school choices. Now I'm pretty sure I'll get into GW in the end, it'll just be without the money.

Maybe this all means that I'm destined (or doomed, depending on how you look at it) to head back South. I've already gotten into Emory and Wash U (both of which are ranked higher than GW), so we'll see.

New Obama Ad To Air In Tennessee

On another note, I received my absentee ballot yesterday and sent it in this morning. True, the Election Commission may not have the best security in the world, but at least they got the ballots sent out quickly this time (as opposed to 2006, where my ballot had to be sent to London. I requested it over the summer, and got it a week AFTER the November election).

gObama!

Just Out Of Curiosity....

Can you really say anymore that it's a "shocker" or a "stunner" when Andy Roddick goes on a hot streak only to choke when it really matters? Doesn't that happen, oh I don't know, during EVERY SINGLE Grand Slam event? And this is the best we Americans can do?

Thank goodness for Serena and Venus, otherwise this would be yet another sport in which the U.S. simply cannot be competitive at the international level.

Russ Feingold--An Elitist Who Hates Working People

That's the only explanation for it, isn't it? Senator Russ Feingold, once known as a progressive champion for leading the fight against the war in Iraq, torture, and government corruption, is obviously really an elitist who hates working people.

He isn't yet endorsing a Presidential candidate:

I'm having a hard time deciding between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, as are many people. Those are the two I take the most seriously.

I go back and forth, to be honest with you. I'm torn on this whole issue of who's more likely to be progressive and really seek change vs. who's ready to do the job today. It really is a true dilemma in my mind.

But what about Edwards? He's progressive, isn't he?

The one that is the most problematic is (John) Edwards, who voted for the Patriot Act, campaigns against it. Voted for No Child Left Behind, campaigns against it. Voted for the China trade deal, campaigns against it. Voted for the Iraq war … He uses my voting record exactly as his platform, even though he had the opposite voting record.

When you had the opportunity to vote a certain way in the Senate and you didn't, and obviously there are times when you make a mistake, the notion that you sort of vote one way when you're playing the game in Washington and another way when you're running for president, there's some of that going on.

Oh, come on Senator! You know that any discussion of the discrepancies between Edwards' rhetoric and his voting record is just snobbery on your part! Of course he's made the change from conservative Southern Democrat to the Second Coming of Huey Long in only a short time, politics had NOTHING to do with it!

Well Senator Feingold, I guess we'll just have to add you to the list of people who are involved in a massive conspiracy to suppress THE PEOPLE and keep John Edwards from the Presidency!

New Palmetto Polling

With just over a week to go before the crucial South Carolina primary, some very interesting new numbers from MSNBC/Mason-Dixon. Huckabee and McCain are statistically tied, and Obama continues to hold a strong lead over Hillary:

McCain--27
Huckabee--25
Romney--15
Thompson--14
Paul--6
9iu11ani--5

Obviously, it's starting to look like "Freddie's Last Stand" is going to play out just like Custer's. But as far as I'm concerned, after Iowa, South Carolina is Huckabee's to lose. He'd probably still win a few states on Super Tuesday, but a loss here would be an incredible boost for McCain. He's the true "comeback kid" here, not Hillary.

Speaking of which, on the Dem side:

Obama--40
Hillary--31
Edwards--13

Now, you may be wondering why Edwards is doing so poorly in the state he won handily in 2004. There's a very simple answer for that--it really is all a (insert one: Corporate Media/Centrist Democratic Establishment/DLC/Insurance Industry/Elitists Who Hate Working People/Jewish-Zionist) conspiracy against him.

In all seriousness though, there were some interesting crosstabs in this poll:

In the Democratic race, Obama bests Clinton among men (42%-27%), women (39%-34%), African Americans (56%-25%), and voters under 50 (47%-21%). Clinton leads Obama among whites (39%-20%) and those over 50 (39%-35%). In fact, it's worth noting, Obama's third among whites, at 20% with John Edwards garnering 28% of the white vote, 11 points behind Clinton. Edwards is virtually shut out among African-Americans, receiving less than the poll's 5% margin of error.

I guess the novelty of Hillary's crying moment among female voters has started to wear off. And while Obama clearly dominates in the "under 50" bracket, he's within the margin of error on the "over 50" bracket.

So what was that "Generation Gap" y'all were talking about again?

Steve Cohen On The Daily Show Tonight

The esteemed Memphis mensch will surely give Jon Stewart a decent show even without writers.

Shoot, I didn't Tivo this. Rush doesn't end tonight until 7:30, and then we have to vote. And at the rate we're going, looks like I'll just have to catch the 1 a.m. rerun!

Obamania Heading West

And not just to Nevada:

Presidential candidate Barack Obama is opening a second office in Memphis, a Democratic stronghold in Tennessee.

The senator from Illinois already has a campaign office in Nashville in preparation for the state's primary election on February 5th.

The Memphis office is located in the Eastgate Shopping Center and will host an open house on Friday, January 18, 2008.

At some point during the Harold Ford War of 2006, someone accused us Ford supporters of treating Memphians like "the redheaded stepchild of Tennessee". I would just like it to be known that the Obama campaign is NOT taking y'all for granted this time around!

(h/t Sean Braisted)

UPDATE: The open house is actually tonight, not tomorrow.

Back To Normal

Sometimes, after watching Olbermann, I'll keep the TV on MSNBC and watch the first few minutes of Dan Abrams. He often has Pat Buchanan on, and lately I've been disturbed--Buchanan had actually started making sense to me, talking about how Congress isn't standing up to Bush on Iraq, torture, anything really. He's especially fun when he's on the show at the same time as an actual Republican, because he can lay the smackdown better than most Democrats.

But I'm glad to see that he's said something to snap me out of that illusion and we're back to normal now:

MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan asserted that Obama would use "that refrain he used in New Hampshire: 'Yes, we can.' " Buchanan continued: " 'Yes, we can. Sí, se puede.' That's Hispanic. That's the cause of the illegal immigration movement and the amnesty movement." Obama has recently used the refrain "yes, we can" in speeches.

What?!

Apparently, that's the slogan of the United Farm Workers, popularized by Cesar Chavez. The Culinary Union in Nevada has been using it in their rallies.

But it means something else in Buchanan's twisted logic:

"But again, this "sí, se puede" thing. It means one thing to the culinary workers, but I'll tell you, to Middle America, which saw those, you know, all those Mexican flags and all those guys chanting it, it means something else entirely."

So, to summarize--Obama uses the Spanish translation of the slogan he's been using for months. Doing so shows solidarity with the unions who support him. However, according to Buchanan, by doing so, he's responsible for illegal immigration.

Anyone else following this?

Forward This To The Obama Haters

Ever since announcing his candidacy last year, Barack Obama has been the target of a virulently racist e-mail campaign, claiming that he's secretly a Muslim and some sort of "Manchurian Candidate" sleeper terrorist cell. These e-mails have unfortunately been widely circulated among the Jewish community (I've gotten a few myself). But now, some of the most important leaders in American Judaism are fighting back against it:

January 15, 2008

An Open Letter to the Jewish Community:

As leaders of the Jewish community, none of whose organizations will endorse or oppose any candidate for President, we feel compelled to speak out against certain rhetoric and tactics in the current campaign that we find particularly abhorrent. Of particular concern, over the past several weeks, many in our community have received hateful emails that use falsehood and innuendo to mischaracterize Senator Barack Obama’s religious beliefs and who he is as a person.

These tactics attempt to drive a wedge between our community and a presidential candidate based on despicable and false attacks and innuendo based on religion. We reject these efforts to manipulate members of our community into supporting or opposing candidates.

Attempts of this sort to mislead and inflame voters should not be part of our political discourse and should be rebuffed by all who believe in our democracy. Jewish voters, like all voters, should support whichever candidate they believe would make the best president. We urge everyone to make that decision based on the factual records of these candidates, and nothing less.

Sincerely,

William Daroff, Vice President, United Jewish Communities

Nathan J. Diament, Director, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America

Abraham Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League

Richard S. Gordon, President, American Jewish Congress

David Harris, Executive Director, American Jewish Committee

Rabbi Marvin Hier, Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center

Rabbi David Saperstein, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Phyllis Snyder, President, National Council of Jewish Women

Hadar Susskind, Washington Director, Jewish Council for Public Affairs

As you'll notice, there are representatives from Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism among the signatories. Now understand, you normally can't even get Jews from the different branches to agree on what kind of bagels to serve at the Hillel brunch, let alone agree on major political policy. So this is truly a coup, and proof of just how bad it's gotten.

So if you get that e-mail again, please forward this letter in response.

Two More Key Endorsements For Obama

First, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the largest paper in Nevada, has officially endorsed Obama for President, calling him "the most viable of the remaining candidates for the party".

Also, Obama, who supposedly hates unions and can't pull the Latino vote, scored the endorsement of Los Angeles labor leader Maria Elena Durazo, the secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, a much sought-after endorsement for the California primary.

UPDATE: My good friend DemocraticLuntz, aka The Hat Thief, found a very interesting statistic in today's Michigan Democratic "primary." Obviously, Hillary Clinton won big, as the only serious candidate on the ballot. But 70% of African-American voters voted "Uncommitted" rather than vote for Clinton. What that means is that either African-Americans in Michigan were incredibly turned off by the Clinton campaign's tactics, or the African-American vote is starting to truly solidify behind Obama.

Whatever Happened To Bill Clinton?

Look, I know he has to defend his wife. I understand that. But who does he think he's fooling over the Las Vegas lawsuit?

Bill Clinton today defended a state NEA-backed lawsuit over caucus sites, saying that all Democrats should play by the same rules.

Clinton was asked about the suit this morning by a student at Green Valley High School, located in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson. He said that, in essence, state Democrats made "a special rule only for" members of the Culinary union, the most powerful in the state, to be able to caucus at their work sites rather than at their home precincts. "I think the rules oughta be the same for everybody," he said. "I question why you would ever have a temporary caucus site and say only the people that work there -- i.e. the people that we know are going to vote in a certain way or we think they will -- should be able to caucus here. I think that we oughta make it more possible for everybody to vote."

First of all, in regards to that last sentence--isn't that the point of the at-large precincts in the first place?

Second of all, as has been already said several times, the process to create the precincts began almost a year ago, and no one had an objection to it at the time. Surely the Clinton campaign had people on the ground while this was going on?

Third of all, these precincts wouldn't just be for the Culinary Union, it would be for everyone who works on the Las Vegas Strip. But by saying that you think the state party is creating the rule just for them, and that's what you're opposed to specifically, is an admission that this wouldn't be a big deal had that union endorsed Hillary.

And finally, the money quote from Chris Bowers:

I will further add that a campaign doesn't offer verbal support to a lawsuit to shut down only nine precincts in a state with over 1,500 precincts if that campaign thinks it is in a strong position in the state in question. This is the sort of thing a campaign does to try and secure victory in what it views as a close election.

The polls confirm that. Clinton's still winning, but the lead is within the margin of error. So that's what this is--trying to secure victory through voter suppression.

Shocking

Lately, whenever I see a news link that says "Titans player involved in altercation in strip club", I always click it and pray as the page is loading, "Please don't let it be Pacman again, please don't let it be Pacman again, please don't let it be...DAMMIT!"

A woman is seeking an arrest warrant against suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones, claiming he punched her at an Atlanta strip club.

Fulton County Magistrate Court officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Wanda S. Jackson asked for the warrant after a Jan. 3 altercation at the Body Tap Strip Club.

In this instance, the woman he hit was an attorney, handling a divorce case for the club owner. So you better believe that she'll prosecute this all the way through.

I know I've defended him in the past, but really, it's time to get rid of him. I know he has one more year on his contract, so let's see how much we can get for him in a trade. I can think of several teams offhand who would probably be that desperate, that they would take him with all his baggage. How about Miami? He and Ricky Williams could unwind together after the games with a blunt! Or Oakland or Baltimore--he'd fit right in with all those thugs. Maybe in Baltimore, Steve McNair could whack some sense into him.

Bellevue Blues, Deferred

A message from our good friends at Bellevue Now and Foursquare Properties:

Dear Bellevue residents,

We continue to work to find a solution on the issue of tax incentives for the Bellevue Mall. Until those discussions bear more fruit, we are unable to bring the matter before the Metro Council. Therefore, the incentives proposal will be deferred once more and will not be debated at tonights meeting of the Metro Council.

Please continue to send me your e-mails of support at isupportbellevue@mpf.com as we will present those to the Metro Council when a final proposal is discussed. We will keep you posted on the status of developments.

Thank you for your continued patience and support.

Sincerely,
Jeff Vitek
Foursquare Properties

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, and I say this as someone who fully supports the project. Karl Dean and Metro didn't rush into the Predators deal, and they shouldn't rush into this. Yes, some form of tax incentive will most likely be necessary, but give them time to figure out exactly how to do it in such a way that puts the least burden on taxpayers.

Speak English Or We'll Cut You!

That's essentially what Lamar! Alexander is saying with his new legislation. This bill, the "Protection of English in the Workplace Act", would bar the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from getting involved in lawsuits against companies with "English-only" rules for employees.

So what prompted this legislation?

The bills followed two suits filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year. One was against a Houston ship captain who reportedly threatened sailors with a knife after they spoke Spanish in violation of his English-only policy on board. It was settled in December in favor of the plaintiffs for $31,000.

Uh, gee Senator. I'm just a pre-law student, I'm not an actual lawyer, so I could be wrong about this. But something tells me that attempted assault with a deadly weapon is a pretty good grounds for a lawsuit. It seems to me that there were probably other ways to handle this situation.

As for the other cases, I suppose I can understand having an English-only policy for businesses that need all employees to be able to communicate with one another, for safety or security reasons. But a blanket policy that disallows any form of legal recourse against it doesn't make any sense:

"What we are concerned about is extreme situations," Grinberg said. "We filed one suit on behalf of employees who were fired for speaking Spanish in the break room, talking to family members on the phone and in another case saying good morning in the parking lot."

If it's on their own time and not affecting anyone else, then what does it matter what language employees speak in?

I agree that private businesses that have a good reason to need an English-only policy should be allowed to create their own rules. But it seems to me that this bill really isn't about that. It's about taking away a form of legal recourse from a group that is very vulnerable to workplace exploitation and abuse, simply to appease the anti-immigrant base of the GOP. If it were really about allowing businesses to make their own policies, why call it "Protecting English in the Workplace"?

See Also: Brainstem

Campaign Volunteers In The Volunteer State.

(Cross-Posted at TennViews)

The Tennessean reported today on the grassroots efforts on the behalf of the different candidates happening in Tennessee. Sean Braisted noted the differences between the two campaigns that have by far the largest presence, Barack Obama and Ron Paul.

I, on the other hand, would like to take a look at the similarities. I don't think it's a coincidence that it's those two campaigns in particular that have attracted the largest grassroots support here.

In a way, it doesn't make sense. Hillary and Edwards probably have more connections here than Obama does, and the Republicans have a "native son" in Fred Thompson. Yet all Freddie has is an office that no one seems to know where it is, and Hillary is just now opening an office here a full month behind Obama. As for Edwards, I'm sure he does have a robust network of volunteers that the Tennessean simply didn't report on because the corporate media is engaged in a conspiracy to black him out (/snark).

But there's another dynamic at work in Tennessee, in my humble opinion. Regardless of what you thought about Harold Ford, there's no question that the 2006 Senate race left everyone, on all sides, completely drained. And in the absence of a strong challenger to Lamar! Alexander this year (on that note--Kevin Doherty, please run! Please don't let Chris Lugo be the best we can do!), I think it's left a lot of people looking for something different. Something beyond the usual "divide-and-conquer" politics and beyond the cynicism that marked the 2006 elections.

That's certainly the case with Obama. I was talking to one of the volunteers at the HQ in Nashville last week, an elderly African-American man. He told me that he was 75 years old, that he could remember living under FDR, and in all that time he had never seen a candidate that has inspired him the way Obama has (and by the way, this should serve to disprove the notion that it's just a bunch of kids who support Obama!). The cynics will laugh and say it's cliche, but it's true--Obama's positive message of change we can believe in inspires all sorts of people to go out and volunteer.

In Ron Paul's case, as distasteful as I find him and his positions, there's no doubt that he's hit on a raw nerve among conservatives and some independents. The folks who don't fit into the neat little categories of the Christian Right, the business conservatives, or the neocons have been marginalized by the Republicans since the 1970s, and now Ron Paul has given them a voice. He's given them a message of change as well (even if "change" in this case really means "regression") and they've been inspired to go out and spread the message. Even if I disagree with pretty much everything he says, I have to admire him for that.

At this point, this is just a hypothesis. I'll be interested to see what happens once the Hillary office opens here, whether they'll be able to inspire the same sort of efforts.

Nevada Teachers--It's All About Politics

A group of teachers in Nevada have sent a letter to the Nevada State Education Association leadership urging them to drop their baseless lawsuit against the state Democratic Party over the decision to create at-large precincts on the Las Vegas Strip for the caucus:

Dear President Warne:

As teachers in Nevada, and members of the Nevada State Education Association, we are deeply dismayed that our union is trying to stop our students’ parents from caucusing on Saturday. We urge them in the strongest terms to drop this lawsuit immediately.

Many of our students are Hispanic Americans and come from low-income families. Their parents are construction workers, McDonald’s employees, and other shift workers on the strip, who work around the clock, and won’t have time to travel to their caucus locations on Saturday. That’s why the state Democratic committee set up nine at-large precinct locations on the strip – to provide nearby caucus locations for Nevadans who otherwise wouldn’t be able to caucus.

These at-large locations were approved back in March of 2007, and no one raised any concerns about them for nearly a year. But now, our union is filing a lawsuit making the baseless charge that these at-large caucus locations are discriminatory, when the fact is they were set up to make sure as many Nevadans could caucus as possible.

This lawsuit is all about politics. It’s widely known that many of our union’s top officials support Senator Clinton and now that the Culinary Workers Union has endorsed Senator Obama, they’re using our union to stop Nevadans from caucusing for Senator Obama.

We never thought our union and Senator Clinton would put politics ahead of what’s right for our students, but that’s exactly what they’re doing. As teachers, and proud Democrats, we hope they will drop this undemocratic lawsuit and help all Nevadans caucus, no matter which candidate they support.

Sincerely,

Tamara Anderson, Elementary School Counselor

Monica Baldwin, 3rd grade teacher

Jodi Brant, Government teacher for 12th graders

Mari Calderon, Kindergarten teacher

Jessica Cohn, 3rd grade teacher

Ketica Guter, 3rd grade teacher

Sarah Irby, Kindergarten teacher

Padmini Jambulapati, 7th and 8th grade teacher

Tracy Kamhi, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade teacher

Jennifer Kehs, 4th grade teacher

Clara Munk, Primary Reading teacher

Matthew O’Keefe, 4th grade teacher

Frances Rabbitt, Special Education teacher

Chantae Readye, 5th grade teacher

Jessica Tolliver, 1st grade teacher

Note to Camp Clinton--you're fooling no one with these tactics. These teachers saw the lawsuit for exactly what it is, and were willing to publicly rebuke their union leadership to stop the political games.

Hail To The Losers

I got my first law school rejection today. I will not be singing "Hail To The Victors" in Ann Arbor next year. Not that I particularly wanted to go there anyway, I think Michigan is probably the one place colder than Ithaca in the winter.

Also, I'm not going to any school that can't beat Appalachian State!

The Sunday LIberal Blog Roundup, 1-13-08

From R. Neal at Tennviews:

The "things are heating up and it's not just Global Warming" edition of the TennViews weekly liberal blog roundup and what the best and brightest bloggers in Tennessee are talking about...

• 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: US Elections in Crisis: "We are supposed to be the greatest nation on earth and yet we appear to be incapable of holding an election and then having confidence in our returns."

• Andy Axel (at KnoxViews): Fred Thompson is losing to this guy?: "It speaks volumes that the hapless Thompson can't put up even a one-point victory on this lunatic..."

• BlountViews: Why they come here: "Immigrants from Mexico do not come to Tennessee to live out their lives. They come to work."

• The Crone Speaks: Economic downturn?: "So, it’s no wonder I’m looking at these reports and saying "what the f*** took you economists so long to realize the reality?"

• Cup of Joe Powell: The spelling disqualification: "Question: What's the first sign of the return of the TN State Legislature? Answer: A flurry of goofy, useless and grandstanding bills from Teh Rep, aka Stacey Campfield of Knoxville." ALSO: The good, the bad, the primaries: "...good news is that how a person votes matters more than the opinions of the bobble heads."

• The Donkey's Mouth: Tennessee Republican Party Advocating Legislator Pay Raises: "From the keystrokes of TNGOP communications director Bill Hobbs, comes perhaps a new GOP initiative -- legislative salary increases."

• Enclave: The Monster Tennessee Media Could Become : "...if his numbers and prominence start to rise, we should be as vigilant of the closing distance between media noses and Mr. Thompson's own bum." ALSO: Extensive coverage of the Davidson Co. election office breakin and identity theft.

• Fletch: Long-haired Middle-Aged Dude and the Sea: "This outing was my first on a small sailboat on the open ocean..."

• KnoxViews (Bill Young): The Democrats in Michigan: "We got a battle in Michigan - Uncommitted vs Clinton", ALSO (metulj): Obama on My Block: "I asked her if hope was important right now. She said that the last 7 years was like being held captive by aliens."

• Lean Left: ACLU: Close Gitmo Now: "The prison camp at Gitmo is a symbol to the world of our leader’s cowardice and viciousness and it is the single most effective propaganda tool the terrorists have." ALSO: New Hampshire: Beating the Press: "With its focus on trivia and personalities, with its mistaking high-school level jealousies and phobias for insight, with its insistence on substituting story lines for reporting, the political press in this country is an enormous threat to the health of our democracy."

• Left of the Dial: Meth Seizures In East Tennessee: "While the number of meth labs seized in Tennessee decreased in 2007, the numbers are still staggering especially in east Tennessee."

• Left Wing Cracker: Jim Kyle, you da man!: "Look, something has to be done here; as I have noted previously, the citizens of District 29 have no representation, and the Senate, even though tied at 16-16-1, could be run roughshod by the Republicans, and that is NEVER a good thing."

• NewsComa: Don McLeary, Convictions and Not So Smart Politics: "Trust is important in politics because it’s hard to discern. And in partisan politics, loyalty is everything."

• Pesky Fly: Two Feathers Short of a Full Chicken : "There's an openly racist anti-Obama email making its way around the internets." (Ed. Note: I got it, too.) ALSO: Power Blackout : "I believe that Barack Obama is much smarter and more shrewd than anyone is giving him credit for. I would make the case that Obama is first and foremost a student of power, and that his conciliatory approach is intended to disarm his opposition rather than wave a white flag of surrender."

• Progressive Nashville: Bush becoming a dangerous joke: "Nearly a year is left in the Bush administration and like a cornered, wounded animal, it is at its most dangerous."

• Resonance: Another Electoral Compass Quiz: "One notable aspect of the grid is how closely the candidates within each of the two parties are clustered together. In other words, primary voters aren't being offered substantive choices on the issues."

• RoaneViews: Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival: "Patagonia is cosponsoring the event with the Tennessee Clean Water Network..."

• Russ McBee: The topsy-turvy state of human rights: "Today, a mere sixteen years after the Soviet Union collapsed, the US is the country building gulags, and the former Soviet republics are abolishing the death penalty because it's barbaric." ALSO: FBI wiretaps canceled for not paying the phone bill: "Neither Congress nor the courts seem willing to stop warrantless wiretapping, but apparently the phone company will."

• Sean Braisted: Custer's Last Stand: "As his aides most elegantly put it, South Carolina's is Thompson's "Custer's last stand." The place where Custer went to die." ALSO: Republican Circus: "The predictable fare of "taxes bad" and "me kill terrorists" was on full display, with the occasional interjections of Ron Paul calling for a return to a 19th century economic system."

• Sharon Cobb: CNN Poll: Clinton or Obama would beat any Republican, ALSO: Watching The Republican Debate Last Night Reminded Me Of The Importance Of Getting A Democrat Elected In 08 For President: "All and all, it was a huge, macho hate fest."

• Silence Isn't Golden: Will he or won't he?: "Allowing someone to run unopposed shows weakness, complacency. The Republicans know this--they knew damn well that they couldn't beat Phil Bredesen in 2006, yet they still ran someone anyway." ALSO: Candidate lightbulb jokes: "How many McCain supporters does it take? We don't know. They're still in shock over the fact that the lightbulb didn't go out in New Hampshire."

• Southern Beale: No one could have anticipated this!: "And now this privatization trend has trickled down to state and local governments--surprise surprise--so has the fraud, abuse and waste."

• Tennessee Guerilla Women: Without Writers, Bill Maher is Still a Sexist Pig: "And there you go, when you have a lefty comic who behaves like the Rush Limbaugh of the Left, even Tony Snow gets to have rational moments." ALSO: Hillary's Victory -- Women Vote Against Misogyny: The Tweety Effect: "...there can be no doubt that the misogyny oozing from media pundits like Chris Matthews got New Hampshire women good and mad and they showed it with their votes."

• TennViews (Joe Powell): Real ID Redux - Still A Bad Idea: "While DHS now says it will reduce the cost of implementation, a cheaper bad idea is still a bad idea." ALSO (in case you missed it): New Hampshire reaction from Tennessee liberal bloggers, BONUS: Middle class help: "John Edwards has done a pretty good job identifying the problems facing the middle class. But what does he propose to do about them? The mainstream media is all over that question, hot damn!"

• Vibinc: What I Want in a President: "What we want, as Democrats, is more important than who we want as the nominee."

• Whites Creek Journal: Not again...: "Does [Kucinich] think he'll pick up 120,000 votes and win it? Hell no! he sees this as a perfect opportunity to test the reliability of electronic voting machines against a paper ballot." ALSO: Iranian Speedboat incident "Probably Faked": "The only conclusion I can come to is that our Country's International Policy is in the hands of amateurs. Stupid ones."

• Women's Health News: Education of the Pregnant Teen: "One advocate for the change was told, 'You can’t have maternity leave. If you have your baby on Wednesday, you better be back on Thursday.'"

Doherty Decision Imminent?

The Senate 2008 Guru (who uses the same nifty Blogger template as I do) contacted Kevin Doherty to personally ask him whether or not he's still in the running. The response?

I hope to have a decision within a week or two.

I've been wrong about stuff like this before, but I'd say the fact that he didn't say no is a good sign!

(h/t LeftWingCracker)

More Clinton Voter Suppression Tactics

Because it wasn't enough for them to try and confuse the question of students voting in the Iowa caucuses, now Clinton supporters are trying to keep Obama-supporting union voters away from the polls in Las Vegas.

As you'll recall, several important Nevada unions, including the Culinary Local #226 and the Nevada SEIU, have endorsed Obama. Well before any of this happened, the Nevada Democratic Party decided to create "at-large" voting precincts inside several hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, so that hotel workers who worked long hours could still have a chance to participate in the primary. Given Las Vegas's unique situation, this seems like an idea that would give all Democratic voters a chance to vote.

The teacher's union, however, has sued to stop the party from doing so. Why?

The lawsuit argues that the Nevada Democratic Party’s decision, decided late last year, to create at-large precincts inside nine Las Vegas resorts on caucus day violates the state’s election laws and creates a system in which voters at the at-large precincts can elect more delegates than voters at other precincts. The lawsuit employs a complex mathematical formula to show that voters at the other 1,754 precincts would have less influence with their votes.

But does anyone honestly think that's the only reason?

The at-large precincts are being established because thousands of hotel workers cannot leave work to participate in the midday caucuses in their home precincts. The Nevada State Education Association has said it would not endorse any Democrat, but some of its top officials have endorsed Mrs. Clinton. The association’s deputy executive director, Debbie Cahill, for instance, was a founding member of Senator Clinton’s Nevada Women’s Leadership Council.

Now, you may think I'm making a leap in logic to connect the two. But take a look at what the original article from the Las Vegas Sun had to say about the party's actions:

“This has been a fully transparent process,” party spokeswoman Kirsten Searer said. “These rules have been approved by the Democratic National Committee and the campaigns have been fully informed throughout this process, which started in May.”

********************

She [Nevada State Education Association President Lynn Warne] acknowledged that she did not approach the state party about the problem.

“We’re approaching them now,” she said.

So, to summarize--the process to create the at-large precincts began back in May, and no one raised objections at the time, nor have they raised objections up until now. Two unions that would have a large presence in these precincts endorse Obama, and two days later the Clinton supporters all of a sudden don't think it's constitutional. Still think it's a coincidence?

Can't wait to see what they try to do in South Carolina. Perhaps a poll tax?

Programming Update, 1-11-08

Well folks, it's been fun. During pretty much every vacation home from school, I've been biting at the chomp to get back up to New York. But this time around, I have to admit that I had a great time back home, meeting everyone with the Obama campaign and the DCYD.

I'm heading back up to Ithaca tomorrow morning, but I'll be back on February 8 when I run to be a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. There will be A LOT more information about that as we get closer to it, if you live in Davidson County I hope you'll come out and support me.

This is not one of those programming updates to say I'll be out of commission for several days. You see, I'm heading back up to Cornell a week before classes actually start for Sorority Rush. I've volunteered to work the computers for my house during the week, communicating with Panhel and recording every rushee's score. It's tedious, but it beats making awkward conversations! So that probably means I'll be around next week, a lot.

And just to give you an idea of what level of crazy Rush entails, I've uploaded the pre-Rush letter everyone in my house got sent a month ago to Scribd. I've edited it slightly to remove identifying details. Enjoy!

Candidate Lightbulb Jokes

I was talking to someone earlier this week about our favorite lightbulb jokes. It got me wondering about what sort of lightbulb jokes you could do for the Presidential candidates. These probably aren't that good, but here you go:

The Dems:

-How many Obama supporters does it take to change a lightbulb?
-None. If the lightbulb would just come and listen to Senator Obama speak sometime, it would be so inspired that it would change itself! After all, the lightbulb is just as sick of divisive partisan politics as everyone else!

-How many Clinton supporters does it take to change a lightbulb?
-Two. One to cry about the burnt-out bulb until someone changes it for her, and one to simultaneously attack Obama for being inexperienced on light.

-How many Edwards supporters does it take?
-We don't know! The triangulating-centrist Democratic Party Establishment and the Corporate Mainstream Media are blacking out JRE and his light because they FEAR THE CHANGE that a new lightbulb would bring! ELITI$T$, all of them!!!

-How many Kucinich supporters does it take?
-Both of them.


The Republicans:

-How many Giuliani supporters does it take?
-The lightbulb changed forever on 9/11. Because of 9/11, the President must have full authority to wiretap all lightbulbs in this country. Doing so will help prevent another 9/11. Giuliani (who by the way was the Mayor of New York City during 9/11) saved a bunch of lightbulbs from going out on 9/11.

-How many Romney supporters does it take?
-Well, our opponents try to claim that Romney was liberal on light during his tenure as Governor of Massachusetts, but he has since had a COMPLETE change of heart and blah blah blah flip-flop.

-How many McCain supporters does it take?
-We don't know. They're still in shock over the fact that the lightbulb didn't go out in New Hampshire.

-How many Huckabee supporters does it take?
-Only One. Huckabee is the candidate of the Lord, and the Lord will change the lightbulb for him. Praise Jesus!

-How many Thompson supporters does it take?
-None. It's easier for them to take their naps when it's dark.

-How many Hunter supporters does it take?
-Both of them. But don't worry, they're willing to do it in order to prevent the illegal Mexican lightbulbs from coming into this country and stealing jobs from hardworking American lightbulbs.


And of course...

How many Ron Paulies does it take to change a lightbulb?
101. One to point out that it doesn't say anywhere in the Constitution that it is the responsibility of the federal government to change the lightbulb, and 100 to go repeat that point on every. single. damn. blog.

If you've got any better punchlines, please post them in the comments.

UPDATE: Two more punchlines for Clinton and Edwards:

How many Clinton supporters does it take?
What's your hurry to change the lightbulb? Can't you see? The lightbulb has experience, it doesn't need change (h/t Autoegocrat)

How many Edwards supporters does it take?
101. One to write a Daily Kos diary about how John Edwards is going to change the lightbulb by fighting it, and 100 to recommend the diary without even reading it just because it said "John Edwards" in the title.

Ja Wir Können Es!

Apparently, there's a news station in Cologne, Germany, that's doing a documentary on the U.S. elections, and specifically what Christians in the U.S. are looking for in a presidential candidate.

And somehow, that brought them to the Obama campaign office in Nashville, to film shots of the volunteers working. The camera is on me right now as I'm typing this.

Ja Wir Können Es = Yes We Can!

Ned Lamont Endorses Obama

In a diary on Daily Kos:

Today, with our Presidential primary in Connecticut less than a month away, I am announcing my support of Barack Obama for President because I am convinced that his forward-looking, progressive vision provides the best chance to enact meaningful reforms in the way Washington works.

Sen. Obama has the tone and temperament to bring out the best in our people and our nation, and to bring new coalitions together in support of the progressive policies we all want to see enacted. His campaign has already reflected this, not only by bringing hundreds of thousands of new voters of all ages to the polls, but by inspiring so many who are new to politics to become activists as well.

But, but, but...I thought Obama was a LIEBERCRAT! I thought he was a DLC-triangulating centrist! Surely he's not progressive!!

UPDATE: In the comments of that diary, the worshippers of St. John the Methodist are already calling Ned Lamont an ingrate for backing Obama over Edwards. And they accuse us of being cult-like. Geez.

Earl Bennett To Go To The NFL

According to a Vanderbilt football source, WR Earl Bennett will forego his senior season at Vandy and declare himself eligible for the NFL Draft:

The 6-foot-1, 202-pound Bennett had 75 receptions for 830 yards and five touchdowns as a junior, giving him 236 career catches — 28 more than the previous SEC record-holder, Kentucky's Craig Yeast. He's also ninth in SEC career receiving yardage with 2,852, and has 20 career touchdown receptions.

He is the league's only receiver to post three 75-catch seasons. Bennett, who had 82 receptions as a freshman and 79 as a sophomore, is 80 short of the NCAA Division I-A record for career catches. Former Purdue receiver Taylor Stubblefield had 316 all-time receptions.

From what I hear, this year's draft is going to be thin at the WR position, so he could very well go mid to late first round. The shaky situation (and really, is there ever any other kind of situation when talking about Vandy football?) at QB probably affected his decision as well.

Over at VandySports.com, everyone is itching for the Denver Broncos to draft Bennett, so that he could be paired up once again with Jay Cutler. However, I want him to go to the Titans! The Titans need a WR, badly. Roydell Williams, Justin Gage, and Eric Moulds are solid, but they're not explosive the way Bennett is. The combination of Vince Young and Earl Bennett could (in time) be right up there with Peyton Manning/Marvin Harrison or Tom Brady/Randy Moss.

Will He Or Won't He?

Ever since Bob Tuke announced that he would not run for Lamar! Alexander's seat, there haven't really been any signs of a Democratic challenger rising to the occasion. There have been rumors, but nothing tangible. I was beginning to worry that we wouldn't challenge the seat at all.

But all of a sudden, and very quietly, potential candidate Kevin Doherty is back in the picture.

I almost didn't notice this, and I'm not sure how many others did. I only got around to reading Wednesday's Tennessean very late tonight (I check the headlines on the Internet, but I read the hard copy as well because the Tennessean doesn't put everything online). Today's editorial topic was on Benazir Bhutto and the crisis in Pakistan. I read Bob Corker's op-ed about how we should encourage democracy by standing by Musharraf (which has got to be the most ironic headline I've ever read), while Congressman Cooper pointed out, rightly, that we in the U.S. don't really understand what's going on in Pakistan, and we need to find the people who do and get them on the ground there.

Voila. Right below his column, an op-ed from someone who has spent time in Pakistan, someone who DOES understand what's going on there, written by none other than Mr. Kevin Doherty himself:

My years in Pakistan gave me the opportunity to gain a unique and valuable insight into what it means to be American and how our nation is viewed by the world. During my time there, Americans were generally liked and respected by Pakistanis. For most of my Pakistani classmates and friends, America was the shining beacon on the hill. All wanted to go to America for college; many live here now and have become U.S. citizens.

Things are much different today. The majority of Pakistanis do not trust the U.S. and are not interested in coming to America, for education or otherwise. The U.S. is viewed as a bully, largely because of our misadventure in Iraq, and we are perceived as being one-sided in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Pakistanis also do not believe that we have the will or ability to follow through on our promises. After all, in the early days after 9/11, we bungled the opportunity to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, and we have not committed the resources necessary to suppress the Taliban. The more the Taliban controls Afghanistan, the harder it is for Pakistan to maintain control of its religious factions.

I won't go into the fact that he's someone who's been on the ground there, who clearly knows what he's talking about. That should be fairly obvious to anyone who reads the column.

But, and of course I may be reading too much into this, I have to wonder if he's trying to get his name out there. Having your name published in the paper right next to a Congressman and a Senator is a damn good way to do it.

Look, I know that the odds of beating Lamar! are slim and none. But I still feel as though someone needs to challenge the seat, even if it is futile. Allowing someone to run unopposed shows weakness, complacency. The Republicans know this--they knew damn well that they couldn't beat Phil Bredesen in 2006, yet they still ran someone anyway. And if nothing else, it could allow a promising Democrat like Kevin Doherty to start the operation necessary for a future political run.

So, Kevin Doherty...will he or won't he?

From The Donkey's Mouth To God's Ears

For too long, the TNDP has not had an official voice on the blogosphere, while the TNGOP has enjoyed the flackery talents of Bill Hobbs. However, the TNDP has now started their own political blog, The Donkey's Mouth. Go check it out.

By the way, if anyone from the TNDP is reading this...thank you very much for linking back to me in your blogroll, I always appreciate that. But TennViews, KnoxViews, and Newscoma all need to be up there too.

Obama Gets Huge Boost in Nevada

Yesterday, UNITE HERE, the parent union of powerful Las Vegas union Culinary Local #226, seemed set to endorse Obama. The endorsement was thrown into question, however, with Hillary Clinton's win in the New Hampshire primary. Some speculated that the union endorsements in Nevada could go to Clinton as the "established" candidate, or even to Edwards.

However, that was simply wishful thinking:

The powerful Las Vegas Culinary Workers Union today endorsed Sen. Barack Obama. Last night, the Service Employees International Union, Nevada, also endorsed the Illinois senator, who finished second in yesterday's New Hampshire primary. In a memo, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe today called the SEIU endorsement "a significant boost to our efforts."

****************************

While the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union is one of the most powerful political forces in Las Vegas, and is expected to help turn out caucusgoers for Obama, the 17,500-member Nevada SEIU endorsement's most significant impact may be its negative one, say observers of Nevada politics. The endorsement effectively blocks the more than 600,000-member California SEIU, which has endorsed former North Carolina senator John Edwards, from streaming supporters into neighboring Nevada to do organizing work, thanks to union rules that bar the participation of outside locals on behalf of a candidate not endorsed by the local SEIU.

Now, I know that there will certainly be grumbling from other candidate supporters over these endorsements, that the unions are simply jumping on the bandwagon.

Well, yeah.

Unions are political interest groups. They may not be corporate lobbyists, but they're still interest groups, and interest groups will do what they can to gain and retain as much political clout as possible. They wouldn't be acting in the interests of their members if they did otherwise. It's not a good thing or a bad thing, it's just politics.

And so it makes sense for them to want to back a winner. Should Obama go on to win the nomination, it would put them in a very good position. Perhaps some of the union leadership wanted to go with Edwards, but it seems that they've realized that he is not a winner.

But that wasn't the only reason. The Secretary-Treasurer of the Culinary Local gave an excellent analogy for why they went with Obama, when so many unions in Iowa and New Hampshire went for Edwards:

“I have a lot of respect for those folks in Iowa and New Hampshire, but we’re not just Wonder Bread, here,” said D. Taylor, secretary treasurer of Culinary Workers Union Local 266, of Nevada and the union's racial diversity. "We’ve got pumpernickel; we got whole wheat; and we got rye.”

And Taylor couldn’t resist leaving it at just that. He went on to compare the decision to pick Obama to a trip to Baskin Robins: “Maybe you have a certain flavor you want. But you generally look around, don’t you? And you test a few.”

Maybe. Personally, I'm the sort of person who always says "This time, I'm going to get a different flavor!" when I go for ice cream, but almost always end up getting cookie dough. But I digress. The point is, they realized that Obama is the candidate who represents ALL of their members.


UPDATE: The United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters also endorsed Obama today.

UPDATE 2: Just to clarify, the national UNITE HERE endorsed him as well.

How's That Strategy Working Out For You?

In light of Hillary Clinton's come-from-behind primary victory in New Hampshire yesterday, the pundits have focused on whether or not Hillary's "crying" moment succeeded in garnering sympathy for her, especially among women voters. I was skeptical--yes, I understand that for high profile women to show emotion, it's damned if you do and damned if you don't, but it still seemed somewhat calculated, especially when you consider that she immediately went from crying to attacking Obama.

However, in an interesting twist, there was at least one woman voter whom Hillary's tears did not sway--the woman who actually asked the question that led to the exchange:

Marianne Pernold-Young told CNN Wednesday she ultimately picked Barack Obama in Tuesday night's primary because of the Illinois senator's performance at a recent rally she attended.

"I was moved to tears. Not once, but twice," she said. "And he has this enormous electricity. And I was just taken aback. And I just had to go with my feelings."

But, but, but....I thought only young, naive women voted for Obama! I thought older women, because they know what's best, voted with their heads, while it's only us children who voted for the more inspiring candidate!

This Seems Appropriate Right About Now

Over the next few days, you're going to hear a lot of spin. The Clinton Camp will be talking about how their miraculous comeback and how they have all the momentum now. And the line about how "real" feminists support Hillary is going to be repeated ad nauseum.

And of course, if you go over to Daily Edwards Daily Kos, you'll get to see the twisted logic of why Obama losing by 3% means he should drop out and defer to a candidate who got less than half the votes he did (because, you know, Edwards is more "electable", the fact that he's in distant third in his home state is irrelevant).

But nothing is over until WE say it is! It wasn't over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor, and it's not over now!



UPDATE: You know what the worst part about all of this is going to be? The lecture I'm probably going to get from my mother about how I need to support Hillary once she's the nominee, because "Obama had a good run, but now it's time to get serious."

New Hampshire Results Live Blog

I'll live-blog the results starting in about half an hour. Check back here.

6:08 p.m.--Interesting AP article, according to early exit polls 60% of independent voters in New Hampshire voted in the Democratic primary rather than in the Republican one.

6:32 p.m.--Results starting to come in...6% reporting, Obama 36, Clinton 36, Edwards 17

6:34 p.m.--Tweety with the ridiculous metaphors, Olbermann looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

6:53 p.m.--Having some difficulties with the Internets, sorry for the delay.

6:56 p.m.--10% reporting, Clinton 38, Obama 36, Edwards 17

7:06 p.m.--Still really close. But the polls in the larger cities (if you can call them that) in NH didn't close until 8 Eastern, so the results should start coming in a little faster now.

7:09 p.m.--MSNBC saying it's still too close to call. With 11% of the vote in, still too close to call? I'm SHOCKED.

7:12 p.m.--MSNBC calling the Republican primary for McCain.

7:22 p.m.--Sticking with the Republicans for a little bit, Fred Thompson is in 6th with 1.5% of the vote, behind Giuliani (who barely campaigned there) and Ron Paul. It's time for him to get out and stop embarrassing himself.

7:28 p.m.--14% reporting, Clinton 40, Obama 35. Crap.

7:29 p.m.--Looking at the MSNBC results, Joe Biden, who has already dropped out of the race, is still beating Mike Gravel. Haha!

7:40 p.m.--I'm nervous. I know that's ridiculous at this stage, with only 16% of the vote in, but I'm not liking the trends so far. Sean Braisted says that the cities haven't even begun to report yet so I hope he's right.

7:53 p.m.--The DJ in here started playing "Don't Stop Believin'". I yelled out that it's too early for that, and he moved onto another song.

8:02 p.m.--26% in, Obama has moved back up to 36%. He had previously been down to 34%.

8:17 p.m.--Clinton moved down. Clinton 39, Obama 36. The whole room breathed a massive sigh of relief.

8:18 p.m.--Clinton lead down to under 3000 votes!

8:20 p.m.--From what I'm hearing, the Clinton lead is from Manchester. Concord and another big county haven't reported 100% yet, and supposedly Obama is winning big there.

8:30 p.m.--Clinton 39, Obama 37. Heeere we go....

8:41 p.m.--Clinton lead moves back to over 4000 votes with 48% in. However, according to Daily Kos, none of the college towns have yet reported. And according to Politico, it doesn't look like any of the larger towns save for Manchester have fully reported yet.

8:48 p.m.--51% in, back down to Clinton 39 Obama 37.

9:09 p.m.--College towns still not in yet. Sean Braisted pointed out that New Hampshire uses paper ballots, which is part of why the votes are slow coming in.

9:22 p.m.--I know everyone is going to disagree with me on this, but I think it's absolutely shameful the way John Edwards is exploiting the Nataline Sarkisyan story. Especially when you consider that his plan would do nothing to help them--yeah, we're going to get the insurance companies to back down by forcing people to buy more insurance! That'll show 'em!

9:32 p.m.--NBC calls it for Hillary.

9:36 p.m.--Bob Tuke, TN Political Director for Obama, just pointed out that Hillary was up by 20% in the NH polls two weeks ago, so I guess it's a small consolation.

9:42 p.m.--I'm closing up shop for now, I may post later depending on my mood.

Obama To Receive Huge Labor Endorsement

But, but, but....I thought Obama HATED unions! Paul Krugman told me so!

From the New York Times:

Unite Here, the union representing more than 450,000 hotel, restaurant, apparel and laundry workers, is likely to announce its endorsement of Senator Barack Obama on Wednesday, a top union official said yesterday.

The union’s leaders are to vote in a conference call at 11 p.m. Tuesday night, following the New Hampshire primary, and they are expected to back Mr. Obama unless he stumbles badly in New Hampshire.

UNITE HERE is the parent union of the Culinary Local 226, the largest union in Nevada.

Something tells me this is just the first of a whole bunch of endorsements that are going to start flooding in tomorrow morning.

Gloria Steinem Says I'm A Bad Feminist

(Cross-Posted at Daily Kos)

I'm a bad feminist!

There, I said it. In fact, I'm such a bad feminist that I can hardly be considered one at all. I shouldn't be in my room blogging right now, I should be in the kitchen or in the laundry room.

I already had one strike against me due to the fact that I see no conflict between being a feminist and wearing makeup. But in a New York Times column linked by both Tennessee Guerilla Women and Eleanor A at TennViews, feminist pioneer Gloria Steinem further reminded me of my unworthiness on the grounds that I don't support Hillary Clinton for President:

So why is the sex barrier not taken as seriously as the racial one? The reasons are as pervasive as the air we breathe: because sexism is still confused with nature as racism once was; because anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects “only” the female half of the human race; because children are still raised mostly by women (to put it mildly) so men especially tend to feel they are regressing to childhood when dealing with a powerful woman; because racism stereotyped black men as more “masculine” for so long that some white men find their presence to be masculinity-affirming (as long as there aren’t too many of them); and because there is still no “right” way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what.

*******************************

What worries me is that some women, perhaps especially younger ones, hope to deny or escape the sexual caste system; thus Iowa women over 50 and 60, who disproportionately supported Senator Clinton, proved once again that women are the one group that grows more radical with age. . .

It’s time to take equal pride in breaking all the barriers. We have to be able to say: “I’m supporting her because she’ll be a great president and because she’s a woman.”

Implication: Young women who support Obama are at best naive about sexism and at worst are actively hurting the feminist movement. Because if we were REAL feminists, we'd want to use our votes to break the gender barrier. Otherwise, we're just putting the racial barrier before the gender barrier (and oh yeah, that's why we're supportng Obama, it has nothing to do with his policies or his record, it's all for racial or generational reasons).

I am well aware that I would not have any of the opportunities I have today had it not been for the gains made by the women of my mother's generation. The fact that I won't be considered a spinster if I'm not engaged by the time I graduate college, the fact that I can go to law school and embark on a successful career, the fact that I can control my own sexuality--none of this would be possible without the women's liberation movement.

And I am well aware that the fight is not over. Our reproductive rights are still under attack, women still get paid less than men for equal work, and domestic abuse and rape are still as big of problems as ever.

And I am even well aware of the huge leap forward that electing a woman president would be for this country, I even admitted it when I was still toying with the idea of supporting Hillary.

But in the state this country is in, to say that you should vote for someone strictly because of their gender is madness (and with all due respect to Ms. Steinem, that's exactly what she's saying we ought to do. She gives lip service to "Hillary has more experience" and spends the rest of the column talking about the need to break the gender barrier). You have to vote for the candidate whom you think will be the best for America, not just for women. Remember, it's not just the traditional "gender issues" that matter to the average American woman today. There are also the little matters of Iraq, the economy, and health care, all of which affect women in so many different ways. I looked at all of the candidates and decided that Barack Obama would be best. Other women decided on other candidates, for their own reasons. Electing ANY of the Democratic candidates, whether Hillary, Obama, or John Edwards, would be a huge step forward in undoing the damage done to women in the last seven years.

So don't tell me I'm a bad feminist just because I don't support the female candidate. I admire and respect Hillary Clinton for all that she's accomplished and all that she's been through, and she'll certainly have my support in the increasingly-unlikely chance that she wins the nomination, but I simply do not believe that she's the best candidate for America right now. We will have a woman president soon, in my lifetime I believe, but it has to be the right one.

And these people wonder why women my age shy away from the "feminist" label. Sheesh.

UPDATE: Aunt B. makes an interesting point about the way Steinem seems to gloss over Jim Crow and how African-Americans were systematically denied the right to vote until almost a century after the 15th Amendment was passed.

"We're Not Falling For It Anymore!"

Few things warm my heart more than watching conservatives fight each other. Feast your eyes on Sean Hannity being chased through a New Hampshire street by an angry mob of Ron Pauies, outraged that their candidate had been unfairly excluded from a Faux News debate:



All that was missing was the torches and the pitchforks. Reap what you sow, Faux!

BREAKING--Obama Dominating In South Carolina

I've repeatedly stated that if Barack Obama pulled off dominating victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, the African-American vote in South Carolina, previously divided between Obama and Clinton, would strongly unite behind Obama. Two new polls out of South Carolina show it happening, in a more dramatic fashion than I would have ever predicted.

Rasmussen:

Obama--42%
Clinton--30%
Edwards--14%

SurveyUSA:

Obama--50%
Clinton--30%
Edwards--17%

More tellingly, among African-American voters in the SUSA poll, Obama wins 69% of their vote.

Someone in Camp Clinton must be having a heart attack right about now!

UPDATE: After dominating in the national Democratic polls for so long, a new national Gallup poll has Obama and Clinton tied at 33% each.

UPDATE 2: Sean Braisted with additional commentary on the SUSA poll. It should also be noted that in addition to African-Americans, Obama is now winning among female voters in South Carolina, 47-33.

More Conservative Judicial Activism

I've been closely following the current case before the Supreme Court over whether or not lethal injections used by most states in executing people should be considered "cruel and unusual punishment" and therefore unconstitutional. It seems pretty clear-cut to me...they use a three-drug cocktail, and the first drug is supposed to render the prisoner unconscious for the procedure, but doesn't always take hold. If the person is not fully anesthetized beforehand, then the third drug, which stops the heart, can cause excruciating pain, fitting the definition of "cruel and unusual". There have been documented cases of this happening in executions in Ohio and Florida.

This case is asking the Court to weigh in on the matter of what constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment," not to rule on the death penalty in general. But some conservative activist judges seem determined to legislate from the bench:

Justice David Souter urged his colleagues to take the time necessary to issue a definitive decision about the three-drug method in this case, even if it means sending the case back to Kentucky for more study by courts there.

Scalia, however, said such a move would mean "a national cessation of executions. We're looking at years. We wouldn't want that to happen."

In other words, even as other justices want more information about the method of executions in order to fully determine whether or not it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, Scalia wants it to go ahead so that the implementation of the death penalty will not be hindered. Justice Scalia, if you don't think that it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, then say so, that's what the case is asking!

If this isn't a clear-cut case of attempting to legislate from the bench, I don't know what is. What say you, conservatives who like to whine about "liberal activist judges"?

Panic In Camp Clinton

On the heels of Barack Obama's stunning win in Iowa and the accompanying bump in the polls in New Hampshire, aides to the Hillary Clinton campaign are now privately saying that they fear they will lose both New Hampshire and South Carolina. The Clinton campaign decided not to unleash a new attack ad on Obama for fear of a backlash. But:

...Clinton advisers also fear the New Hampshire strategy is a stop-gap measure, with a harsher approach likely if she loses New Hampshire. Conversations with campaign officials make it clear they feel besieged, and unsure how to sap Obama’s momentum.

In Iowa, Clinton aides have said she drew levels of support that might have been enough to win in an ordinary year, but she was swamped in the stunning turnout produced by Obama’s popularity among young voters. While taking pains to insist in public that New Hampshire’s turnout model is very different from Iowa’s, Clinton’s aides say privately that they still fear a similar wave on Tuesday.

In other words, after leading in New Hampshire for so long, they're beginning to realize that unlike Hillary, Obama actually motivates people to turn out. And should Obama win in New Hampshire, the Clinton campaign will be reduced to using attack ads in order to gain any kind of traction. The whole country will get to witness the Clinton campaign, lauded for so long for being so well run, go into complete meltdown mode.

Besides, how do you think negative ads will play in South Carolina, considering that Obama may very well unify the black vote there behind him?

The adviser added that the campaign has come to accept another reality of the early process, which is that African-American voters are convinced that Obama is viable and shifting rapidly in his direction.

“We’re going to lose South Carolina,” he said.

Clinton officials have urged reporters to think ahead to Feb. 5, Super Tuesday, when she expects to do well in New York, California, New Jersey and Arkansas.

But the problem is, those could be the only states where she does well should she lose both New Hampshire and South Carolina. And California isn't a sure thing either, especially if Obama can muster another high turnout there. So she may win those states--and that still leaves 18 or 19 for Obama.

I guess that some people just don't like being told that a particular candidate is "inevitable."

2.5 Out Of 4

That's my sports score for this weekend.

The Predators played before the first sellout crowd of the season, and did not disappoint, defeating the Minnesota Wild 4-1. I think it's safe to say that the Preds are going to stick with Dan Ellis in goal for awhile now. The Predators have now won six of their last eight, and have jumped over Chicago to no longer be in last place in the Central Divsion.

Even more exciting is Vanderbilt basketball. After coming from behind yesterday to beat UMass, Vandy is now the first team in the country to reach 15-0, and is only one of 6 undefeated teams remaining in Division I. In the course of the UMass game, Shan Foster scored eight 3-point baskets, thus tying Ronnie McMahan for the most career 3-pointers in school history. The haters will whine about how Vandy hasn't played anyone yet, which isn't true--Georgia Tech and UMass are both good teams, and after we struggled to beat TSU, they went on to beat Illinois! On Wednesday, when Vandy opens up conference play against South Carolina, everyone will see that the Dores are for real (that sentiment will be reinforced next weekend, when Vandy will humiliate Kentucky on national television).

The ".5" part of the 2.5 comes from Cornell basketball. Cornell played Duke today, in Durham. A friend of mine who's a big Duke fan called me before the game to trash-talk. Well, after the #8 team in the country beat a no-name Ivy League team by only 14 points, while not leading by more than 10 points until the very end of the game, color me very impressed! Yes, we lost, but if Cornell could keep it that close against Duke, just imagine how close we'll be able to keep it as a #13-seed playing a #4 in the NCAA Tourney!

And of course, I have to talk about the Titans. What happened? The first half of the game, it was like a flashback to the 1999 team. It was pure retro Titans--grind them down on offense, shut them down on defense. I was beginning to enjoy hearing "Tomlinson on the carry for no gain," "Tomlinson for no gain," "Tomlinson tackled for a 3-yard loss." That was how Steve McNair and Eddie George got to the Super Bowl (well, that and the Music City Miracle!). Then in the second half, it was like they had no desire to win anymore.

During the course of the game, my dad, my brother and I all started talking about whether or not we'd see Pacman Jones back next season. He's still under contract, after all, but does anyone even still want him to play? Personally, I think he'd be too much of a distraction, and our defense has done quite well without him--Cortland Finnegan has been great and Michael Griffin will only get better. Unfortunately, there is a place where we still need Pacman, and that's on the return game. Chris Henry is simply nowhere near as an explosive runner as Pacman. It may be a small part of the game, but it's still important. There were several games last season (like the Houston one where Vince Young had the 30-yard run to win it), that we never would have won had Pacman not gotten us in good field position at a crucial moment.

Regardless, I do think the Titans are heading in the right direction, even if it didn't look like it today. Now we'll have pick #21 or 22 in the draft, and we need a WR!

The Liberal Blog Roundup, 1-6-08

A "corn fed" edition the TennViews weekly liberal blog roundup, with Iowa caucus/straw poll reaction from some of Tennessee's best and brightest bloggers:


• 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: Almost spot on prediction, and The Kids are Alright
• Andy Axel (at TennViews): The latest unbelievable wingnut spin
• BlountViews: Respect for Dodd and Biden
• The Crone Speaks: Electability over issues, and Voter turnout is the big story
• Enclave: The Obama Edwards dilemma
• Fletch: The Gaussian candidate
• KnoxViews: Down to the wire, and Knoxville News Sentinel has a sense of humor
• Lean Left: Caucus thoughts: A mess for the GOP, a remarkable win for Obama, and The "Not Clinton" problem
• Left of the Dial: Sick babies and loose meat sandwiches
• Left Wing Cracker: So much for Iowa being a Republican state
• NewsComa: Going against the grain, and Bold predictions for the aftermath
• Pesky Fly: Interpreting the tongues, and Fear of success
• Progress Nashville: Status quo: 0, Change: 1, and The young and the restless, plus Two miracles
• Russ McBee: Thoughts on Edwards, bonus: Quote of the day
• Sean Braisted: The awesome power of hope, and The defeat of absolutism
• Sharon Cobb: Iowa votes for change, plus Cause and Kucinich/Nader effect?
• Silence Isn't Golden: Post Iowa scenarios
• Tennessee Guerilla Women: Only fools are dancing on Hillary's grave and a Hillary provides baby sitters for caucus goers, right wing whines
• TennViews: Results and observations, and More questions than answers?
• Vibinc (a new addition to the Tennessee liberal blogroll): Snakes on a campaign, and About last night, and Live Blogging the Iowa Caucuses from Drinking Liberally Memphis, bonus: Hilarious predictions
• Whites Creek Journal: What happened


And folks that's just what they're saying about Iowa. There's a lot, and I mean a lot, of other stuff going on. Check out the "Volunteer Blogs" blogroll at TennViews and read what Tennessee's best liberal bloggers have to say about it.

New Hampshire Debate Wrap-Up

I'll leave the more in-depth analysis to the media and the pundits and other Serious People, but I have a few thoughts on the Democratic debate from tonight (I missed the Republican debate because I was at a very successful Obama fundraiser here in Nashville, but I'm sure it was...entertaining):

• Poor Bill Richardson. He spent most of the night looking like a deer caught in the headlights. He got in a few laughs, like noting that he'd been in hostage situations more civil than the debate, but otherwise was left fumbling around and constantly referring to his gubernatorial experience to gain any sort of traction. There really wasn't much purpose to his being up there.

• That being said, if they were going to have him up there, why not have Dennis Kucinich as well? Even though I don't particularly like him, he's still running, and just having one non-frontrunner candidate up there seemed very awkward.

• Favorite line of the night--Obama to Hillary, "You're likeable enough." I know some people thought that this wasn't a very good moment for Obama, but what do you want him to do? The woman's been demonizing him for several months now, and then tries to say that of course she thinks he's likeable! You know, I've heard that he's also clean and articulate.

• Hillary lost her cool several times during the night. I suppose it's very easy to stay calm when you're the "inevitable" nominee, but when all of a sudden you risk going 0-2 in the early states, I suppose you're a lot more stressed and a lot less composed.

• We were wondering before the debate whether Edwards would go after Obama now that he's in the lead, or try to finish off Hillary. Clearly, Edwards knows which way the wind is blowing, and pounded Hillary pretty well. I will give Edwards full credit for one thing--he's a very good debater, and not just because of what he says. He's good at knowing what to say to elicit certain reactions, and he seems to have figured out what he can say that will set Hillary off.
  

• On the other hand, it does make me wonder if Edwards is angling to be a potential VP for Obama. I can't see it--Edwards can't deliver the South, he's already proved that he can't.
  

Oh, The Vapors!

I'm positively scandalized, I tell you! Thank you to that bastion of insight, Taylor Marsh, for pointing out this horrible crime that Barack Obama has committed to me!

In May 2007, the Chicago Tribune reported that while he was in the Illinois State Senate, “Nowhere was Obama’s ability to navigate Springfield’s subcultures on better display than at The Committee Meeting. That was the code name for Wednesday night poker games attended by about a dozen lawmakers and lobbyists.” (Chicago Tribune, 5/3/07)

According to the Associated Press, “Under [Illinois] state law, it’s illegal to play poker for money, but the law is seldom enforced when low-stakes games are involved.” (Associated Press, 9/24/07)

This is almost as bad as those kindergarten essays he wrote about wanting to be President! How DARE he play poker with his colleagues? Gambling is a SI-YIN!

Say, maybe I ought to forward this whole thing to my 19-year old little brother. He doesn't care much for politics, but maybe I could use this to convince him to support Obama--"he shares your interests, poker and basketball!" Not quite what you had in mind, was it Ms. Marsh?

I Need a Voter I.D. Card That Says I'm 21

The Tennessee GOP is trying to take advantage of the recent theft of voter information at the Davidson County Election Commission to push for laws that would require voters to show ID when they vote. Never mind that you already have to provide your Social Security number when you register, or that making voters show ID would not have prevented someone from breaking into the Commission (under the new law, would thieves be required to show ID before they broke in?), but they want everyone who registers to vote to be given a new photo voter ID card so that the information wouldn't have to be stored on computers.

First of all, one of the biggest concerns about requiring voters to show ID is that such laws are thinly-veiled attempts at voter suppression, to ensure that those who may not have drivers' licences can't vote. The GOP tries to claim that providing new photo ID voter cards to everyone who registers to vote will prevent that problem. Maybe, but that would still suppress voter registration. Right now, it's very easy to register to vote in Tennessee, all you have to do is fill out a form. Political campaigns (on both sides--Republicans, this hurts you too!) will hand out voter registration forms at campaign events or while canvassing. Requiring the people you're trying to register to submit photos at the same time would make the whole process extremely time-consuming and make it difficult for anyone to register.

Second of all, how are you proposing we make these new ID's? You'll still need some sort of computer to do that. Ever been down to the DMV? They use computers to make drivers' licenses. While those computers may not store that information permanently, there's still the possiblity that they could be hacked into. Besides, to make new voter ID cards would require buying the Election Commission a whole bunch of new equipment. And that would require new government spending! Still in favor of that, Republicans?

Third of all, as any college student can tell you, photo IDs can still be faked, fairly easily (I actually am 21, just wanted to throw that out there). While I'm sure that making fake voter ID cards wouldn't be quite as lucrative as making fake drivers' licenses for college freshmen, there probably are plenty of people out there who could use that to their advantage.

Priorities, people. Would it not be cheaper, more sensible, less time-consuming, and equally effective to simply hire better security people and require that the Election Commission password-protect and encrypt everything in their system? I do that on my own laptop and I don't even have anything in here particularly valuable. Even better, fire the whole lot of them and hire new people who know not to leave user names and passwords on notes attached to their computers.

I guess my question is, why add a whole new level of bureaucracy to address an issue that is simply a byproduct of the original problem? Isn't that kind of waste what the Republicans usually accuse the Democrats of doing?

(H/t Kleinheider)

After Iowa: Possible Scenarios

As elated as I am over Barack Obama's 8-point win in the Iowa caucuses, I've already begun thinking about future possible scenarios for the rest of the primaries, through Super-Duper Tuesday. Here's the way I see it, feel free to disagree.

For both Obama and Huckabee, the next biggest test would be in South Carolina at the end of the month. For Obama, the question would be whether or not he could unite the sizeable South Carolina African-American vote behind him. Currently, some in South Carolina are skeptical of his electability as a black man, but winning a predominantly white state like Iowa should put those questions to rest, for now anyway.

In Huckabee's case, the question would be whether he could get enough Southern evangelical support to counter both Mitt Romney, Rudy 9iu11ani, and Grandpa Fred. In a way, I hope he does, seeing how that would hasten the implosion of the "Reagan Coalition" of the Christian Right and the business/anti-government Republicans.

The polling seems to indicate that we're heading towards both of those scenarios. According to Pollster.com (granted, this hasn't been updated since mid-December, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt), Huckabee and Romney are both surging in South Carolina, while Rudy and Freddie are both on the decline. In South Carolina, while Hillary is still in the lead, her support has hit a plateau, while Obama is clearly on the rise and closing the gap. It remains to be seen how much more of a bump he'll get from the Iowa results.

Now, at this point, you may be thinking, "GoldnI skipped a primary. What about New Hampshire?" I haven't forgotten about it, but I'm not sure whether it will ultimately be as important as South Carolina.

I was talking to some people last night who seemed convinced that Obama can pull off a win in New Hampshire now. I'm a little more skeptical, I think Hillary has had a lead there for so long that turning it around in five days seems unlikely (although, again, the gap is closing). Granted, John Kerry translated an Iowa win into a New Hampshire win, but the primaries weren't five days apart in 2004. Should Hillary win New Hampshire, while Obama wins South Carolina, then it would come down to who wins the most states on Super-Duper Tuesday. This scenario would be the most likely to cause a brokered convention (which would piss me off as an Obama supporter, but thrill me to no end as a potential delegate to the convention). However, should Obama win New Hampshire, another predominantly white state, then you would think that any remaining questions about race and elecatability would be put to rest. What will undoubtedly help Obama in New Hampshire is his ability to capture independent voters, which can decide that primary.

The Republican side is a little bit more confusing. There are simply not enough evangelicals in New Hampshire to deliver him a victory (by the way, Republicans, this should concern y'all--if a candidate only has one clear "base" and can only win in places where that base lives, that is NOT a viable candidate!). John McCain has had a late surge in New Hampshire. You would have to think that Romney would be done if he can't win either of the two early states, unless he can figure out a way to overcome Huckabee in South Carolina. New Hampshire could throw the entire Republican nomination into question. Really, I think it's more likely that they would be the party to end up with a brokered convention.

Now, supporters of a certain other Democratic front-runner are probably thinking I forgot about them too (or, they're probably saying to themselves that I deliberately didn't mention him because I'm an ELITI$T CORPORATE DEM), but I didn't, it's just that John Edwards no longer figures into the question. He's running a distant third in what's supposed to be his backyard, and he's barely even registering in Nevada, which isn't as important as the other three early states, but was supposed to give him a boost due to the heavy union presence there. Again, as admirable as his support for labor has been, you can't rely on just one base to deliver an election (cue the "It's an election, not an auction!" chants). Unless he has a dramatic turnaround at some point in the next month, I can't seem him surviving past South Carolina.

But there's something that all Democrats should be thrilled about from last night. The Iowa caucuses had a record high turnout, and most of that was for the Democrats:

Percentage of total vote
24.5% Obama
20.5% Edwards
19.8% Clinton
11.4% Huckabee (R)

Regardless of the disagreements, we Democrats are clearly far more enthusiastic and willing to turn out for our slate of candidates than the Republicans are. That bodes well for November, regardless of who the nominee ends up being.

UPDATE: According to Politico, Edwards refused to call Obama to congratulate him on his victory last night, and is apparently pushing the meme that they were "co-winners" on the "change ticket". If that's true, Edwards has absolutely no class whatsoever and really is a sore loser.

Top 10 Reasons to Watch David Letterman Tonight

10. Because Letterman reached a deal with his striking writers to so that they could return to work, while Leno and Conan will be going without writers. Leno and Conan are not crossing the picket lines per se, since they're under a different contract, but showing support for a show that honors its writers will help pressure the studios.

9. Because Letterman will be able to do a monologue with his writers back, while Leno and Conan won't. Ergo, Letterman will be a lot funnier tonight.

8. Because Leno just isn't that funny anymore, anyway. Lately, you can see the punch lines of his jokes coming from a mile away. I like Conan a lot more.

7. Because Letterman's guest tonight is Robin Williams, and Leno's is Mike Huckabee. Again, that means Letterman will be funny tonight, and Leno won't be. As the strike goes on, look for Letterman to attract better guests.

6. According to Access Hollywood, Hillary Clinton will make a "surprise" appearance on Letterman tonight. Again, more interesting than Mike Huckabee.

5. Because with less than 24 hours to go before Iowa, we need someone who can really skewer the whole thing and put it all back into perspective.

4. Because the Fiesta Bowl should be over by that point. The question is how early in the game will Oklahoma start to choke.

3. Because we STILL don't have The Daily Show or Colbert back yet.

2. Because Letterman's Top 10 lists are funnier than mine.

1. Because I just got into Emory Law and therefore can tell you what to do.

I'm Running To Be a Delegate To The Democratic National Convention

(Cross-posted at Daily Kos)

I've hinted at it for a few months now, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I decided that I would definitely do it. I'd heard stories of previous conventions, and it sounded like something I really wanted to do. In particular, considering how close the primary votes may be, this year's convention could be one for the history books.

But I wasn't sure if it would be feasible. First of all, the dates of the county-level and district-level conventions would require me to make the gruelling Ithaca-to-Nashville trip twice in one month. I just didn't know if I could work it in while also worrying about my grades and my law school applications at the same time. There's also the fact that I've never had much luck with elections in general. It wasn't until Karl Dean won the Nashville mayoral election this past summer that I had ever been associated with a winner. Between Harold Ford, my friend who ran to be President of the TN College Dems, and my own attempts to get on Student Council in both middle and high school, I had become convinced that I am an election jinx.

But then I said to myself, "Self, I'm already in two law schools, and if I don't get into any others, I'd be thrilled to go to either one of those. Also, I managed to get out of Friday classes this semester, so the trip doesn't have to be so gruelling. And the jinx? That's just a superstition, and besides, I'm less of a dork now than I was in high school (albeit only slightly less)."

The paperwork has all been submitted, and so I would like to officially announce that I, GoldnI, known in the real world as Ilissa Gold, am running to be a delegate from the Tennessee 5th Congressional District to the Democratic National Convention.

But once I made that decision, I had another, equally daunting decision to make--for which canddiate should I declare my support? With the exception of Kucinich and Gravel, I've considered supporting all of the Democratic candidates at one point or another. I supported Bill Richardson early on, and only a month ago I still considered myself officially "undecided," and toyed with the idea of supporting Hillary (at least until she made it clear that she did not want my vote or that of many of my peers)

However, in the back of my head, I always knew which candidate I would end up supporting.

Senator Barack Obama first entered my consciousness at the same time he entered many others', during the 2004 Democratic National Convention.



I remember thinking, "Damn, I like him better than John Kerry! This is what the future of the Democratic Party should look like!"

But it didn't really cross my mind again until July of 2006. That summer, while interning in Washington for Congressman Jim Cooper, they announced that Senator Obama would be giving a lecture just for the Capitol Hill interns. My group of interns decided to go thirty minutes early so that we could get good seats, but the largest auditorium on the Senate side of the Capitol was already standing-room only by the time we got there.

What he said there made a lasting impression on me. It wasn't enough for us students to spend the summer working in the bubble of Washington. If we really wanted to affect political change, we'd have to go home and fight for it there.

Long story short, I went home and discovered how much more personally satisfying it was to work the campaign trail (my election luck aside). I campaigned for Harold Ford, for Karl Dean, and most recently, gone canvassing for Barack Obama.

I discovered something else during that period. Part of the reason why I had gone up to New York for college was to get away from the Bible Belt and to try and find people who were more like me, as I alluded to in my very first blog post. But, as cliche as it sounds, you can never quite escape where you come from. And I've realized in the past four years that it was wrong of me to look at my home state as a hopeless sea of Red with a couple islands of Blue in the middle and the west. It's one big purple mess (that really is true, look at the map). Most folks are just looking for someone who can offer them hope, offer them change, regardless of whether there is a D or an R after that person's name. Senator Obama verbalized this best of all in his 2004 speech:

The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

*********************************************

Let's make one thing perfectly clear though. The politics of hope is NOT about capitulating in the name of "bipartisanship". It is NOT about compromising our progressive ideals for fear of offending someone, somewhere. It is about winning through setting the best example, rather than by having the most damning rhetoric.

It's still difficult for me to verbalize exactly why I support Obama (although I promise I will come up with a way to verbalize it in the next month). Maybe it's because the "politics of hope" speaks to me. Maybe it's because I feel that of all of the Democratic front-runners, he'll do the best job of getting us out of Iraq and rebuilding the image of the U.S. across the world. Maybe it's because of his specific policy proposals, like health care and the economy. Maybe it's simply because, as my Hillary-supporting mother says, that Obama speaks to my generation better than any of the other candidates.

But whatever it is...



...I'm fired up and ready to go.

It's Snowing!

I go to school in a part of the country where we basically have a permanent layer of snow on the ground from November until late March, so the only reaction a new snowfall usually elicits from me is a sigh as I go to switch from Uggs to snowboots.

But I still get excited like a little kid when it snows down here. It actually is accumulating on the dirt somewhat in my end of town. It's always fun to see, even if it won't stick any more than this and whatever does stick will melt by the weekend.

However, just to be on the safe side, Metro has already announced that even though classes don't start back until Monday, they'll be cancelling classes for the next two weeks :)

Valentine's Response

Phil Valentine has responded to my deconstruction of his column on torture from Sunday night:

Actually, reading your drivel is torture. Please! Make it stop!

First of all, Mr. Valentine, thank you for reading! It always makes me happy to know that someone at least semi-well known is reading what I have to say, no matter their political situation. Thank you for taking the time at 9 p.m. on New Years Eve to respond.

I just hope that next time, you'll give a substantive response rather than trying to make a funny.