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Friday, May 9, 2008

Obama Surpasses Clinton in Superdelegates

From ABC:

For the first time this campaign season, Barack Obama has surpassed Hillary Clinton's support among superdelegates, according to the ABC News delegate estimate.

Sen. Obama, D-Ill., picked up two superdelegates this morning giving him a new metric to tout in addition to his current commanding leads in pledged delegates, popular votes, states won, and money raised.

Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., switched his endorsement from Clinton to Obama and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., endorsed Obama. DeFazio was previously uncommitted.

With these endorsements, Obama has the support of 267 superdelegates and Clinton has 265 superdelegates.

Posted by Metavirus at 5/09/2008 10:54:00 AM 0 comments  

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More Endorsements for Obama

The biggest superdelegate news of the day: Rep. Donald Payne of New Jersey switches to Obama. He's the first black member of congress to switch since John Lewis's migration, and his moves puts pressure on other members of the CBC backing Hillary.

Oregon's Peter DeFazio goes for Obama in time for the primary.

The public workers' union chief in MD, John Gage, a superdelegate, goes with his union and endorses Obama.

Posted by Metavirus at 5/09/2008 10:22:00 AM 0 comments  

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Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Endorsements Pour Forth

The day holds much good news for Obama in terms of endorsements and superdelegates:

1 Superdelegate: Virginia's state representative and DNC member Jennifer McClellan has flipped from Clinton to Obama, the AP reports. (h/t Ben Smith)

2 Superdelegates: Obama picks up North Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jerry Meek and Inola Henry, a member of the D.N.C. from California.

1 Superdelegate: North Carolina official Jeanette Council endorsed last night.

Posted by Metavirus at 5/07/2008 04:09:00 PM 1 comments  

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Seven Reasons Hillary Should Quit

Here is a list of seven reasons Hillary should quit now by Marc Ambinder:

1. It's over. Forget the sideshows and the hypotheticals. Once the party has its nominee, and only then, can the process of healing begin. The longer Clinton stays in the race, the more she postpones the point at which the party comes together.

2. The reality principle. "Anything is possible," is what campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said today. Well, no. Something things are impossible; many others are highly improbable.

3. Her legacy. In many quarters, it's been damaged by the presidential race. The sooner she exits, the more gracefully she exists, the better the chance is for her to shake off this presidential race and resume her Senate career.

4. Bill's legacy. In many quarters, it's been irrevocably (and perhaps unfairly) damaged by this presidential race.

5. Obama. Even if there are plausible, selfish reasons for her to stay in, her duty to her party should trump them. She should devote herself fully to the service of Obama.

6. Her staff. They are tired and many are demoralized, even as they love and lionize their boss. Give them a rest.

7. Florida and Michigan. The sooner she drops out, the sooner those states will find their delegations seated.

Posted by Metavirus at 5/07/2008 04:04:00 PM 0 comments  

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More Calls for Hillary to Quit Soon

I know, I know, don't get my hopes up... But, well, let me dream - just for today.

Richelieu:

He crushed her in North Carolina and lost Indiana only by a slim margin margin (as predicted here last week). Indiana was indeed the tie-breaker. It was a tie, which broke her. Now it is truly over. I think she's out in a week or less.

America Blog:
We've just been told that General Wesley Clark, a strong Clinton supporter and fellow Arkansan, called Hillary tonight to tell her it's over. [Update: His camp denies it.]

Washington Blade (which previously endorsed Hillary):
Last night's results in the North Carolina and Indiana primaries have left Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton out of options. She ran a tough and spirited campaign that will be talked about for a generation. But it's over. The time has come for Clinton to adopt a gracious and conciliatory tone, end her campaign and endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (a huge Clinton supporter)
“I think the race is reaching the point now where there are negative dividends from it, in terms of strife within the party,” Feinstein said. “I think we need to prevent that as much as we can.”

Rep. Dale Kildee (a Clinton supporter)

Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.) told The Hill that Clinton should reassess her prospects after losing to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) by 14 points in North Carolina and edging her rival in Indiana in Tuesday’s primaries.

“I urge her to take the day off and think very seriously about doing what’s best for the country and best for the party,” said Kildee.

“I got straight A’s in math,” added Kildee, implying that Obama’s delegate lead would be impossible to overcome in the few primaries left on the Democratic calendar.


And, just for fun...

Chicago-Tribune:
The Clintons are like a cat that gets run over but refuses to die. It crawls off the road and makes it to a backyard, hiding under the deck, in the shadows, eyes like slits, panting for days, stubbornly refusing to give it up.

Andrew Sullivan:

Hillz is now that person at the party who's had 6 too many jello shots, is talking abnormally loudly and is incapable of understanding the fact that she has overstayed her welcome. And she's starting to hiccup.

C'mon Hillz, let's get your coat and we'll walk with you to the door..."

Lawrence O'Donnell:
A senior campaign official and Clinton confidante has told me that there will be a Democratic nominee by June 15. He could not bring himself to say the words "Hillary will drop out by June 15," but that is clearly what he meant. I kept saying, "So, Hillary will drop out by June 15," and he kept saying, "We will have a nominee by June 15."

Posted by Metavirus at 5/07/2008 01:32:00 PM 0 comments  

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McGovern Calls for Hillary to Quit

Former Senator (and now former Clinton supporter) George McGovern called today for Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race. We could only be so lucky.

Posted by Metavirus at 5/07/2008 12:02:00 PM 0 comments  

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Contra-Hillary

I just found a phenomenal list over on Think on These Things that sums up many of the reasons why I do not support Hillary Clinton's candidacy. My apologies for the copy-and-paste but it's just too good:

Democracy

  1. In Iowa, the Hillary Clinton campaign actively worked to suppress the votes of Iowa students.
  2. In New Hampshire, the Hillary Clinton campaign harassed “get-out-the-vote” workers at the polls to hinder their efforts.
  3. In Nevada, the Hillary Clinton campaign’s supporters filed a lawsuit that aimed to suppress the vote of culinary union members.
  4. In Nevada, the Hillary Clinton campaign shut the doors on caucus-goers 30 minutes earlier than the official rules stated. Caucus-goers were not allowed to participate.
  5. The Clinton campaign announced that they would go after Barack Obama’s pledged Democratic delegates (the delegates he won in the primaries and caucuses) if the nomination went to the convention. In other words, if you voted or caucused for Obama, your vote may not count. After public outrage, the Clinton campaign backtracked.
  6. Hillary’s name was on the Michigan primary ballot. Barack Obama and other major candidates’ names were not on the ballot. Hillary believes the Michigan primary was fair and should count in her favor. What is this a dictatorship?!
  7. It is a sad day when America becomes dominated by two political families–the Bush family and the Clintons. America should be a democracy, not a dynasty.

Economic Concerns

  1. In 1998, Hillary Clinton praised NAFTA, the bill President Bill Clinton signed into law. Now she opposes it. Barack Obama opposed it. NAFTA has been devastating to rural America.
  2. Hillary Clinton has gone to other countries and proclaimed that “outsourcing will continue.” However, in front of American audiences she tempers this and talks about the problems with outsourcing American jobs. Why isn’t she saying the same things in both places?
  3. Hillary Clinton misled an Iowa voter about her position on social security. The voter is still unsure where she stands.
  4. Hillary Clinton argued that Americans who make over $97,000 per year are the middle-class.
  5. The Washington Post gave Barack Obama an A- for his economic stimulus plan and gave Hillary Clinton a C+.
  6. Hillary Clinton has had numerous problems with debt and unpaid bills to small business owners, universities, charities, and even health insurance companies. How people run their campaigns may give us insight into how they will handle a national job market, housing market, or health care system.

Electability

  1. The polls consistently show that Barack Obama does better against John McCain than does Hillary Clinton.
  2. Hillary may have trouble winning Iowa and New Hampshire in a general election after she trashed the Iowa caucuses once they were over and went back on her word to New Hampshire, leading the New Hampshire Union Leader to declare, “New Hampshire voters, you were played for suckers.”

The Environment

  1. The League of Conservation Voters gave Barack Obama a higher score on his environmental voting record than all the other Democratic nominees.

Ethics and Lobbyist Reform

  1. Barack Obama has a superior record to Hillary Clinton on confronting lobbyists and special interests.
  2. Barack Obama does not take federal PAC or federal lobbyist funding for his Presidential campaign, while Hillary Clinton does. In fact, Hillary Clinton said, “Lobbyists represent real Americans.”
  3. Barack Obama has released his personal income tax returns to the public for scrutiny, while Hillary Clinton has not. (Update: Hillary Clinton finally released her tax returns in April 2008.)
  4. Hillary Clinton uses more earmarks and pork spending than any other Democratic nominee or Republican nominee.
  5. Barack Obama passed the toughest ethics reform legislation in the U.S. Senate since Watergate, while Hillary has not passed a bill yet of this magnitude.
  6. The majority of Barack Obama’s campaign funding comes from small donors, while the majority of Clinton’s comes from large donors.
  7. Barack Obama was the leader in revealing to the public all of his federal earmark requests, while Hillary Clinton was not.

Experience

  1. Barack Obama has both sufficient experience and a record of good judgment.
  2. Barack Obama will have held elected office for 12 years before becoming President. Hillary Clinton will only have held office for 8 years
  3. She cited her experience as the reason she voted to go to Iraq, so that nullified her experience argument.
  4. Even Bill Clinton said when people criticized him for being inexperienced in the 1990s that, “The same old experience is not relevant.”
  5. Barack Obama will be older than Bill Clinton, Teddy Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy were before they took the presidency. He can’t help that he takes care of himself and ages well.
  6. As John Kerry argues, Barack Obama has more legislative experience than either Hillary Clinton or John Edwards.
  7. Barack Obama has passed more progressive legislation in his lifetime than Hillary Clinton. As an Illinois Senator he passed over 200 of the bills he wrote. These bills include:
    1. A bill that expanded healthcare to over 100,000 people in Illinois.
    2. A bill that set up community health centers to serve underserved populations.
    3. A bill that provided the earned income tax credit to thousands of Illinois families.
    4. A bill that reformed the death penalty that had sent innocent people to death row
    5. A bill that banned gifts and meals from lobbyists.
    6. And much more.
  8. While Hillary Clinton has spent more time in the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama has gotten more substantive legislation that affects the American people passed while he’s been there. Many of Clinton’s bills were about naming post offices and buildings. However, Obama’s legislation includes:
    1. A bill with Senator Richard Lugar which bans the development of nuclear weapons.
    2. A bill that created a public database where average Americans can see how the government is spending their money.
    3. A bill that provided important assistance to address the situation in the Congo.
    4. A bill that Nancy Pelosi calls “one of the toughest ethics reform” bills in this history of the Congress.

Foreign Policy

  1. Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq War, while Barack Obama opposed the war from the start.
  2. Hillary Clinton did not read the National Intelligence Estimate report before voting to send troops to Iraq.
  3. Barack Obama agrees that America should talk to countries that are our foes, while Hillary Clinton takes issue with his position.
  4. Barack Obama understands the basic facts about Pakistan’s electoral system better than Hillary Clinton.
  5. While Barack Obama has proposed a detailed foreign policy plan, Hillary Clinton has not provided Obama’s level of detail.
  6. Hillary Clinton’s current foreign policy advisers were largely supportive of the war in Iraq. Obama’s current foreign policy advisers are more “forward thinking” and generally did not support the war. We need people advising our president who have good judgment on foreign policy, not people who carry the old conventional wisdom.
  7. Hillary Clinton said she would like to create an “umbrella of deterrence” in the Middle East which means that the U.S. would get involved in Middle East conflicts to an extent that even George Bush and John McCain have not advocated.

Health Care

  1. Hillary Clinton should be applauded for her work trying to get health care passed during the 1990s. However, Obama should be applauded as well for his eight-years of writing health care legislation and getting it signed into law at the state level. Obama has a lesser known, but impressive record of getting results on health care.
  2. Hillary Clinton has said that she would be willing to garnish people’s wages if they do not sign up for her health care plan. Is that really politically feasible to get passed?

Homeland Security

  1. CIA officials agree more with Barack Obama’s approach to finding Osama Bin Laden than with Hillary Clinton’s.
  2. Hillary Clinton’s assessment of America’s homeland security status contradicts the assessment offered by national intelligence agencies.

Human Rights

  1. Hillary Clinton was the last Democrat to support the torture pledge.
  2. Hillary flip-flopped on the issue of whether America should use nuclear weapons.
  3. Obama voted to ban the use of cluster bombs in civilian areas. Hillary Clinton voted against the ban. Cluster bombs have a high failure rate and are often mistaken by children for toys. They are indiscriminate and result in thousands of civilian deaths.

Judicial System

  1. Hillary Clinton attacked Barack Obama for his position on mandatory minimum sentencing behind-the-scenes, while she touted her support for it in front of minority audiences.
  2. Hillary Clinton was the only Democratic nominee to oppose retroactivity for mandatory minimum sentencing. All the other Democrats supported it. Even George Bush and the Supreme Court supported it.
  3. While Hillary Clinton is opposed to retroactivity for crimes of poor people, she does not hold this standard for crimes of the rich.

Lying

  1. News reporters have shown that Bill Clinton lied to voters about being opposed to the Iraq War from the start. The reporters have video of the Clintons expressing support for Bush’s actions back in 2002.
  2. While Hillary Clinton gives traditional Washington non-answers to questions, Barack Obama has been praised by commentators for telling the truth.
  3. All the Democrats made a pledge not to campaign in Florida or Michigan because the two states broke Democratic rules by moving their primaries ahead of other states. While Obama and Edwards abided by the rules and took their names off the Michigan ballot, Clinton kept her name on the ballot. Right before the Florida primary, Clinton started working to get the Florida delegates counted even though she agreed not to do so at the beginning of the primary season. If she cannot keep her promises during the campaign season, how will she keep her promises as President?
  4. Hillary was found to have been dishonest about her support for NAFTA. She has told voters that she opposed it, but after an advocacy group sued to have her First Lady records released, the records revealed that she had indeed advocated for the policy.
  5. Hillary was found to have been dishonest about a trip to Bosnia in 1998 that she used to explain her foreign policy credentials.
  6. Hillary was found to be dishonest about what she did in the peace efforts in Northern Ireland.
  7. Hillary Clinton told supporters at her rally that she began criticizing the Iraq War before Barack Obama did once he got to the Senate. As ABC News reports, that was completely untrue.

Poverty

  1. Hillary Clinton has the weakest formal platform of the top three Democratic nominees on addressing urban poverty.
  2. Barack Obama has gotten more anti-poverty legislation signed into law in his lifetime than Hillary Clinton has. He passed numerous bills during his work in Illinois.

Technological Innovation

  1. TechPresident rated Barack Obama’s technology platform as superior to Hillary Clinton’s.

Women’s Rights

  1. In New Hampshire, the Hillary Clinton campaign misled female state senators to sign a letter attacking Senator Barack Obama’s women’s rights record. After the New Hampshire primary, the senators apologized for misleading people about his record and took issue with the Clinton campaign’s practices. This incident left great division among women’s rights activists in New Hampshire.
  2. When women’s rights came under attack in South Dakota, women’s rights activists asked all the senators in Congress to write a letter and help fundraise on their behalf. Barack Obama was the only Senator who wrote a letter and fundraised on their behalf. Hillary Clinton did not.
  3. Hillary Clinton also tried to mislead voters about Barack Obama’s commitment to helping victims of sexual abuse, an issue on which he has been a strong advocate.
  4. Hillary Clinton has declined to give back campaign money from a company that has been accused of wide-scale sexual harassment of its female employees. Many other Democrats, including Senator Barack Obama, have chosen to give back money from men working for this corporation.

Posted by Metavirus at 5/07/2008 10:40:00 AM 1 comments  

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