“OBAMA SUPPORTERS” DAILY NEWS Saturday March-29-2008

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

WELCOME TO “OBAMA SUPPORTERS” DAILY NEWS

Saturday March-29-2008


Bob Casey Backs Barack Obama

Hey, remember Bob Casey? He's the one everybody voted for last November because he was running against Rick Santorum.

Esteemed DUer's, please consider taking a moment (or more) to graciously participate
by posting news and announcements about the Obama campaign on this thread. You can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web. :think:

2. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU,
providing a link to the original thread :applause:

3. Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page :thumbsup:

4. Clinton supporters or “anti Obama posters please start your own
“Clinton Daily News Thread”.

Get your DU-o-matic codificator (to format your posts) here
Read the Daily News Archives here

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

1. Obama’s political crucifixion and resurrection (highly recommended)

Curtis E. Gatewood
March 25, 2008
Obama’s political crucifixion and resurrection

First let me commend Fox News Sunday's Host, Chris Wallace for being decent enough to publicly question why his colleagues at FOX News would “spend two hours Obama Bashing” and “distorting” Senator Barack Obama's words.

Unfortunately, Obama-bashing tactics are not limited to FOX News. What should Americans expect from the likes of Sean Hannity, Bill O’Rielly, Lou Dobbs (CNN), Pat Buchanan (MSNBC), Carl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, and other hosts, whose prime-time race-baiting sounds more like KKK recruitment. Do we truly expect to hear helpful views regarding Obama and race relations from such syndics who were quick to defend Geraldine Farro and encourage Republicans to cross over in an attempt to sabotage Obama’s success? Obama’s candidacy has innocently brought attention to our need as Americans to no longer tolerate the prime-time hate speech which long distracted us from more relevant issues such as a 5-year misguided, deadly, and costly war which increased al Qaida recruitment, heightened world-wide anti-American sentiments, and left us more vulnerable to “terrorism” and economic hardship.

The irreparable damage to America caused by nearly eight years of lies, deceit, no-bid contracts, and breaches within the U.S. Constitution from President Bush and Vice President Dick Chaney received less scrutiny from such pundits than the ongoing blistering blather regarding words from Obama’s Pastor. Obama brings a unique bi-racial upbringing, superbly organized campaign, and consistent acts toward positive racial/political unity, yet media and pundits find it necessary to charge him with the unusual crime of “guilt by association” and repetitiously use partial words of the candidate's pastor to attack the heart of Obama’s fresh appeal to a variety of enthusiastic voters (especially newly energized youth and young adults). The media lynching mob seems determined to use Pastor Wright’s words as the cross to politically crucify Obama. Similar to the crucifixion, decreasing poll numbers had begun to reflect a political burial after the relentless whippings from media pundits, but Obama’s new poll numbers rose above Clinton and John McCain while indicating a political resurrection during the Easter Holiday.

I believe Hillary’s recent ploy to rehash the Rev. Wright controversy to deflect new questions regarding untruths she clearly told in describing her 1996 trip to Bosnia; and continuous statements by her and Bill to promote Republican McCain’s qualifications and patriotism over Obama, only confirm the Clintons’ flawed character and their desire to win at all costs. With the media’s help, Hillary continues her politically-destructive efforts to “throw the kitchen sink”, throw the bathtub, and throw the commode filled with the malodorous feces of the Clintons and media. Meanwhile, Obama keeps rising, keeps smiling, keeps working to wipe off their mess, looks blessed, and makes God, a new generation of Americans, and the whole world proud.

Curtis E. Gatewood

http://www.triadblogs.com/curmilus/6942/

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2. Rice hails Obama race speech as "important"; for U.S.

Rice hails Obama race speech as "important"; for U.S. - Yahoo! News
By Sue Pleming Fri Mar 28, 3:55 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sometimes touted as a contender for the Republican vice-presidential slot, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has aired her thoughts on race in the United States, a prominent issue in the presidential election campaign.

… "I think it was important that he (Obama) gave it for a whole host of reasons," said Rice in a transcript of the interview released by the State Department on Friday

… While saying repeatedly she did not want to talk about the election campaign -- "I don't do politics" -- and also reiterating her lack of interest in the vice presidential slot, Rice said the United States had a hard time dealing with racial issues.
"There is a paradox for this country and a contradiction of this country and we still haven't resolved it," she said in a detailed reply to questions about Obama and race issues as a whole before next week's 40th anniversary of the slaying of civil rights leader Marin Luther King.
"But what I would like understood as a black American is that black Americans loved and had faith in this country even when this country didn't love and have faith in them, and that's our legacy."

more at the link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080328/pl_nm/usa_politics_obama_rice_dc

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3. Sinbad's Bosnia lie (humor, comments are funny)

Sinbad's Bosnia lie

By Ben Hocking – TPM Café March 28, 2008, 11:04AM

Much like destor23, I don't enjoy posting this. I've been a huge supporter of Sinbad ever since Bosnia-gate first came to light. However, after watching TPMtv's detailed coverage of it, I was shocked to find that Sinbad himself has been less than forthcoming.

You'll remember that Sinbad wrote about the horror of trying to decide between eating at this place or the next (which we later found out had sushi). Well, Hillary (perhaps out of petty spite) has revealed that for the lie it is: they ate MREs. Go ahead, re-watch the TPMtv clip. You'll see what I'm talking about. Yep, MREs. What else has Sinbad lied to us about?

So, with sadness, I'm announcing a change of the candidate I support:
Crow/Crowe '08: One has passed the C&C threshold, the other knows how to swing a sword.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/03/sinbads-bosnia-lie.php

[SunsetDreams]

24. ha ha ha

"According to the troops that have to eat them the MRE stands for Meals Rejected by Ethiopians."



:rofl:

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4. Barack *is* a Law Professor: Clinton Smears Continue Unfounded

Barack *is* a Law Professor: Clinton Smears Continue Unfounded
By Chris McIntosh - March 28, 2008, 5:26PM

I am currently sitting in the middle of a conference of academics. The terms lecturer, senior lecturer, assistant professor, and associate professor, to name just a few, all mean very particular things to us. Is it a tenure-track position? Is it tenured? Do you get a three year or indefinite contract? Visiting or permanent? Spousal Hires?

This is pretty much why we're here, so we can go out on the market and hopefully attach a meaningful title in front of our names.

I also have to confess that I have unique knowledge of this situation for a second reason--I both go to school and work at the University of Chicago, so I know whereof I speak.
Hillary's campaign has called out Obama because even though he claims to be a former professor of law he was in fact merely a "lecturer". The release ominously ends with "details matter".
Damn straight they do. And they've got them wrong.
Obama was a "Senior Lecturer" not a Professor of Law. That part is technically correct, but like most things with their campaign it misses the actual point. When you look up the faculty of the law school--a group that is exclusive of fellows and lecturers and all other sort of hangers-on who are not professors--all of the Senior Lecturers are included.

There are senior lecturers in nearly every university around the country, but at Chicago I can say with some authority that they are considered to be "professors". After all, what else would you call them? They're not fellows or mere lecturers hired to fill in on some classes. They certainly are, most importantly, part of the faculty. Further complicating mattters, in law school it doesn't appear that they have assistant (untenured), associate (tenured), and full professors (tenured plus). So there are fewer titles around the term professor to make distinctions around.

More at the link
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/03/barack-is-a-law-professor-clin.php

[caseycoon]

25. U of C website statement.

This pretty well explains it.

http://www.law.uchicago.edu/media/index.html

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

5. At This Point You Either Understand The Problem With Hillary Or You Don't

Getting Mrs. Clinton

Peggy Noonan March 28, 2008 Wall Street Journal

I think we've reached a signal point in the campaign. This is the point where, with Hillary Clinton, either you get it or you don't. There's no dodging now. You either understand the problem with her candidacy, or you don't. You either understand who she is, or not. And if you don't, after 16 years of watching Clintonian dramas, you probably never will.

That's what the Bosnia story was about. Her fictions about dodging bullets on the tarmac -- and we have to hope they were lies, because if they weren't, if she thought what she was saying was true, we are in worse trouble than we thought -- either confirmed what you already knew (she lies as a matter of strategy, or, as William Safire said in 1996, by nature) or revealed in an unforgettable way (videotape! Smiling girl in pigtails offering flowers!) what you feared (that she lies more than is humanly usual, even politically usual).

…Many in the press get it, to their dismay, and it makes them uncomfortable, for it sours life to have a person whose character you feel you cannot admire play such a large daily role in your work. But I think it's fair to say of the establishment media at this point that it is well populated by people who feel such a lack of faith in Mrs. Clinton's words and ways that it amounts to an aversion. They are offended by how she and her staff operate. They try hard to be fair. They constantly have to police themselves.

…What, really, is Mrs. Clinton doing? She is having the worst case of cognitive dissonance in the history of modern politics. She cannot come up with a credible, realistic path to the nomination. She can't trace the line from "this moment's difficulties" to "my triumphant end." But she cannot admit to herself that she can lose. Because Clintons don't lose. She can't figure out how to win, and she can't accept the idea of not winning. She cannot accept that this nobody from nowhere could have beaten her, quietly and silently, every day. (She cannot accept that she still doesn't know how he did it!)

More at the link

http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html

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6. Senator Leahy To Clinton: Drop Out Of The Race

Senator Leahy To Clinton: Drop Out Of The Race
ABC News | March 28, 2008

Obama-backing Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) has become among the most senior Democrats to explicitly call for Sen. Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race:
Any clear-eyed appraisal of the campaign at this stage adds up to two conclusions:
The bottom line is that, first, Senator Obama continues to hold a lead that appears to be insurmountable, and recent indications are that more and more unpledged delegates have begun to add their support to his column.

And second, John McCain, who has been making one mistake after another, is getting a free ride on those gaffes, because the Democratic candidates have to focus not on him but on each other.
Senator Casey's endorsement of Senator Obama in Pennsylvania is the latest sign of how the race is going.

…Senator Clinton has every right, but not a very good reason, to remain a candidate for as long as she wants to. As far as the delegate count and the interests of a Democratic victory in November go, there is not a very good reason for drawing this out. But as I have said before, that is a decision that only she can make.

… more at the link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/28/senator-leahy-to-clinton_n_93878.html

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7. Is Wright Right About Racism? - race is Clintons' "new firewall"

Is Wright Right About Racism?
David Sirota, 03.28.2008

The intolerance the media lynch mob has shown toward Wright is a telling double standard proving his fundamental thesis correct.

Is Jeremiah Wright right about racism? There, I asked the question - a question that should be at the center of the "controversy" surrounding Barack Obama's former pastor, but which has been completely ignored. Somewhere deep down, I am guessing Wright feels some shred of vindication, because the entire "controversy" surrounding him now answers that question resoundingly. As I discuss in my newspaper column out today, Wright has become the latest target of the media lynch mob - and in becoming that target, he has proven his very assertions about the persistence of racism in our culture.

There are some things Wright has said that I strongly disagree with, and I certainly may disagree with more of his statements that come to light in the future. However, as the column shows, the specific statements at the center of the Wright "controversy" today are rooted in undeniable fact. Yes, there is a black community in America - and acknowledging that does not make one a "black separatist." Yes, terrorist attacks are often the product of what our own government calls "blowback" - even if that "blowback" is undeserved, criminal and immoral. And yes, bigotry is still a powerful force in American culture - and our society would do well to understand that bigotry makes African-Americans unhappy. As archconservative Mike Huckabee (R) said, "I grew up in a very segregated South and I think that you have to cut some slack...we've gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names."

But the intolerance the media lynch mob has shown toward Wright - and the tolerance the same media has shown toward the real extremists around John McCain and Hillary Clinton - is a telling double standard proving Wright's fundamental thesis correct. While Wright has dominated the news, anti-Catholic pastor John Hagee and anti-Semitic Reverend Billy Graham have received scant attention for their close relationships with McCain and Clinton, respectively. The Serious Media have followed modern day Bull Connors like Sean Hannity, Pat Buchanan and Charles Krauthammer into the ugliest gutter - the gutter of racial politics. And these three racist lynch mob leaders will undoubtedly retain their perches on cable networks and on the op-ed pages of Serious Newspapers. They will continue championing what one expert calls "colorblind racism" - the kind of racism that hides itself in platitudes against racism and extremism itself.

Clinton, of course, has fueled the fire. Just this week, she granted an interview to the fringe right-wing Pittsburgh Tribune Review - the tiny newspaper owned by the same Richard Mellon Scaife who financed Republicans' anti-Clinton infrastructure in the 1990s. Clinton used the interview to specifically stoke the Wright "controversy" ahead of Pennsylvania's primary. Her much-vaunted political "firewall" that she says will stop Obama has very clearly become a "race wall" (more on this in a new In These Times article set for release on Monday).

... more at the link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/is-wright-right-about-rac_b_93924.html

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

8. Obama Campaign Official: People Shouldn't Call On Hillary To Drop Out Of Race

Obama Campaign Official: People Shouldn't Call On Hillary To Drop Out Of Race
By Greg Sargent - March 28, 2008, 1:45PM

Asked on MSNBC moments ago about the calls coming from Obama supporters for Hillary to drop out of the race, Obama campaign national co-chair Bill Daley said...

"I don't think people should be calling on a candidate to drop out. The Clintons are smart people. I think it's very hard to see the numbers for them to pull this off..."

He added that eventually the Clintons would realize the game is over.

The Obama campaign doesn't want to be directly associated with demands that she leave the race right now, something that would politicize the calls for her to drop out and minimize the degree to which they're seen as being all about what's good for the party. Instead, the Obama campaign will hover above the fray while his surrogates -- and neutral parties -- do it for them.
Late Update: Here's video. Watching it again, I see that Daley does basically say that she'll be dropping out before the convention, which is as far as I've heard any Obama official go...

more at the link
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/obama_campaign_official_people.php

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9. Obama Defends Wright on ABC's 'The View'

Obama Defends Wright on ABC's 'The View'

Democratic Candidate Speaks Out on Controversial Pastor's RemarksBy SUNLEN MILLER March 27, 2008


Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., appears on "The View" on Friday, March 28,
at 11am E.T. nationwide on ABC.

...The hot subject on the minds of the co-hosts at "The View"? The controversial remarks of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor of 20 years.

..."The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people," he said in a 2003 sermon. "God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."

...Obama's 'View': Defend Man, Not Words
The senator, who is currently leading Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., in the pledged delegate count for the 2008 Democratic nomination, agreed Wright's remarks are "rightly offensive
Obama described Wright as a "brilliant man who was still stuck in a time warp."

...The candidate explained, "Part of what my role in my politics is to get people who don't normally listen to each other to talk to each other, who crazy things, who are offended by each other, for me to understand them and to maybe help them understand each other."

Obama said he talked to Wright after the controversy erupted.

Obama's Pastor: God Damn America, U.S. to Blame for 9/11"I think he's saddened by what's happened, and I told him I feel badly that he has been characterized just in this one way, and people haven't seen this broader aspect of him," Obama said.
...
more at the link

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Politics/Story?id=4536957&page=1

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

10. Limpballs: OpChaos North Carolina Bulletin - Update

NC republicans asking Limpballs to cool it on getting republicans to
cross over to vote in the Dem primary. They have impt GOP primary, we have some real nut cases
running in GOP primary, and even the state party doesn't want the most insane ones to get elected.
There's also the gubenatorial contest, very important.

OpChaos North Carolina Bulletin

March 28, 2008

...RUSH: Got a lot of time then, you got a little over two weeks to make up your mind as to whether or not as a Republican you want to change registration and vote in the Democrat primary in North Carolina. I've been getting e-mails. I must be honest about this. I've been getting e-mails from North Carolinians who have literally been begging me to suspend Operation Chaos in North Carolina because of the importance of many of the down-ballot races on the Republican side --

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: -- for local races, the statehouse, US Congress and that sort of thing.

CALLER: Right. But we've got a pretty important governor's race going on, too, right now.

RUSH: A pretty important governor's race. Yes. That's all very true, and these things have to be taken into account. Why don't you wait for guidance from me as to what to do with North Carolina, because we may be able to sacrifice a state here in Operation Chaos. If that state has some truly, truly important Republican down-ballot races that people need to participate in, we might suspend and exempt North Carolina, special dispensation. I haven't decided on it yet.

... more at the link

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_032808/content/01125111.guest.html

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

11. But again and again the pundits have got it wrong!

Speaking Truth to Power - But again and again the pundits have got it wrong!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Posted in Speaking Truth To Power Column by DCN

Obama make(s) the double point that 'America is in a desperate predicament and that only a great wave of communitarian action can salvage it.' JR

Mary Ratcliff and Prince Chambliss, have jump started my day by introducing me to Jonathan Raban who downright 'gets Obama' and shares cogent thoughts outlining his reasonings which hopefully may serve in jostling the mindset of skeptics begrudging support, while the multitudes of Barack Obama supporters fill school stadiums and community meeting halls as if awaiting the second coming - the amalgam of Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Madre Teresa, and Che!, and gosh their hearts are present in the man! And, those considering themselves politically savvy, either on the left or feminist perspectives, feel as though justice is served by lessoning the worth of Obama's merits, may yet read this essay and at least understand those of us considering ourselves as progressives, feminists, and even r/evolutionaries, are engaged with passion and fervor in helping further this candidacy as a sacred rite in taking back this land of the sacrificed and embracing the struggle against the stranglehold of our highjacked country by the neocons, believing she is on her last breathe!

Enter Jonathan Raban, the esteemed writer who breaks it down for all to mutually envision beyond the doubts by reaching deep into the essence of the man and illuminating why scores of people of all ages and experiences take heed and pledge their trust and energies in becoming the ground forces that will finally change America into the promised land. For each volunteer on the phone banks as Patrick of North Carolina, and the many walking precincts as Ariel, the Brown University student who wrote the 'Open Letter to Gloria Steinem', and Asher, the l4 year old selling buttons and sending donations to the campaign, and the multitudes working the blogs, each and all understanding that this 'great wave of communitarian action' will finally help make America, America...

Dorinda Moreno
Grassroots4Obama
'We Are The Ones'


Please read, enjoy, and forward. Most important, vote - hopefully for Obama.

http://www.triadblogs.com/curmilus/6944/

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

12. Everyone listen to Rachel Maddow

Everyone listen to Rachel Maddow
by Joe Buck
Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 08:19:03 PM PDT

Yesterday Rachel Maddow said this on Countdown:

"I feel like I‘ve become kind of a semi-pro listener to the news, where I‘m always listening for Democratic candidates and even their surrogates to say John McCain. Every time I hear them say it, a little bell goes off in my mind, because that‘s what I think Democrats—anybody who has an interest in John McCain not becoming president, whether or not you support Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton or Ralph Nader or anybody else in the race, Mike Gravel as the Libertarian, if you want John McCain to not win, you have to start hitting him now, because the default position of the press toward John McCain is so positive that unless other candidates are actively and specifically going after him all the time, his free ride takes him right to the White House."

But too many Kossacks spend all their energy attacking Hillary Clinton instead, even though she's already lost. Vastly more recommended diaries attack Clinton than attack McCain. And surrogates for both campaigns are fighting each other in destructive terms (mostly from the Clinton side, since they are desperate).

more ...

Folks, we need to be gracious in victory, or we risk having it be a poisoned victory. The Clintons are aggressive competitors, and like many competitive people they sometimes lose perspective. But they aren't evil, and we need enough good will remaining to pull the party back together. I see discussions on dKos just assuming that it must be Hillary's people telling Texans to go to the wrong places for the convention, recirculating Ken Starr / Drudge Report lies from the 90s, and otherwise missing the point. You can stop hating on Hillary now, she's not getting the nomination. In any case, when she's seen as the target of unfair attacks she gets a sympathy vote, that's how she won New Hampshire. Everyone be polite to her and she'll lose faster.

At this stage, I'd like to see a competition for the diary that can zing John McCain the best.
link
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/28/23053/8536/660/486485

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

13. Move Over Florida & Michigan (many states' vote didnt matter in 88, 92, 96, 2000, 2004)

Move Over Florida & Michigan

by ratmach at DKOS Fri Mar 28, 2008

We keep hearing all this talk about "disenfranchising" the voters of Florida and Michigan. Commentators, columnists, politicians, and sometimes even "regular people" scream and shout that "Every state should have their votes count! We all deserve to have a say in the outcome!"

And, of course, leading the chorus is the Hillary Campaign.

ratmach's diary :: ::

At first it seems like a legitimate complaint. I mean, let’s just ignore the fact that Florida and Michigan pretty much did this to themselves. Basically they gambled and they lost. But still, isn’t it true that it’s unfair to keep the voters of these states from having a big say in the outcome? All the other states get to play a role after all ...... don’t they?

Well, not really.

Here’s what I’m talking about: If we look back at the past several Democratic primary seasons, what we find is that MANY states, including some large ones, are "disenfranchised". To be sure, it doesn’t usually happen the way it has this year (through their disqualification because of rule-breaking). But it happens all the same. And the way it happens is that, by the time a given state has its primary, the race is often already over. Which, in effect, means their votes DO NOT COUNT.

Check this out:

2004 – Kerry became the nominee after his last major rival (John Edwards) dropped out after Super Tuesday. So every state that voted after that had virtually no say in the outcome. Those states?: Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Kansas, Illinois, Alaska, Wyoming, Colorado, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon, Alabama, South Dakota, Montana, and New Jersey.

...more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

14. ALERT: CLINTON CAMPAIGN SEEMS TO BE USING ROBO-CALLS TO TELL TX DEL CONVENTIONS CANCELLED!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5299306&mesg_id=5299306

[grantcart]

15. 3/28 SUPERDELEGATE UPDATE**** with Pelosi Club SDs Clinton 245 Obama 220

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5303825

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

16. Gallup: Obama Takes Eight-Point Lead Over Hillary

Gallup: Obama Takes Eight-Point Lead Over Hillary

By Eric Kleefeld - March 28, 2008

Today's Gallup tracking poll shows Barack Obama taking an eight-point lead over Hillary Clinton,
beyond Gallup's three-point margin of error. Here are the numbers, compared to yesterday:

Obama 50% (+2)
Clinton 42% (-2)

Late Update: From Gallup's analysis:

Obama clearly has weathered the Wright storm, while the dark clouds have shifted to Clinton
over whether she has exaggerated her foreign policy credentials.
This week she has had to defend her repeated claim that she came under sniper fire
while visiting Bosnia as first lady, which news video clearly disputed.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

17. "I'm for Obama" - gravity and intentness as a listener & observer: a negative capability so unusual

Those who hear only empty optimism in Obama aren’t listening. His routine stump speech is built on the premise that America has become estranged from its own essential character; a country unhinged from its constitution, feared and disliked across the globe, engaged in a dumb and unjust war, its tax system skewed to help the rich get richer and the poor grow poorer, its economy in ‘shambles’, its politics ‘broken’.

I'm for Obama

Jonathan Raban London Review of Books March 20, 2008

....Always by necessity a chameleon, Obama picked up in Chicago the style and rhythms of the black charismatic preacher, just as he'd picked up vernacular Indonesian when he was a child in Jakarta. He can now instantly turn a basketball stadium, a high school gym or a university auditorium into the pumping heart of a black church, with uninitiated whites taking their cue from him ('Yes, we can,' he murmurs into the mike, to signal that a hallelujah would not be out of order) and from the blacks in the audience who've been doing this on Sundays all their lives. For the suburban white kids, it's a novel transportation into an exuberant community of souls. No wonder the French class was a wash-out.

But his rallies, galling as they must be to the Clinton campaign, convey a misleading impression of his political skills.
Better to eavesdrop on him, via unedited video on the internet, at dinner with four constituents in a DC restaurant or answering questions from the editorial board of a local newspaper. What strikes one first is his gravity and intentness as a listener and observer: a negative capability so unusual in a politician that, when one watches these clips, it's hard to remember that he's running for office and not chairing a seminar in a department of public policy. When his turn comes to speak, he is at first hesitant, a man of many ums and ers, but as he articulates his answer you realise that he has wholly assimilated the question, inspected it from a distance and seen around its corners, as well as having taken on board both the character and the motive of his questioner. The campaign trail is the last place where one expects to see an original intellect at work in real time, pausing to think, rephrase, acknowledge an implicit contradiction, in such even tones and with such warmth and sombre humour.

...Hillary Clinton, armed with a relentlessly detailed, bullet-pointed position paper for every human eventuality, is a classic technocrat and rationalist; Obama is that exotic political animal, a left-of-centre empiricist. The great strength of his writing is his determination to incorporate into the narrative what he calls 'unwelcome details', and you can see the same principle at work in the small print of his policy proposals. Abroad, he accepts the world as it is and, on that basis, is ready to parlay with Presidents Ahmadinejad, Assad and Castro, while Clinton requires the world to conform to her preconditions before she'll talk directly to such dangerous types. At home, Obama refuses to compel every American to sign up to his healthcare plan (as Clinton would), on the grounds that penalising those who lack the wherewithal to do so will only compound their problems. Where Clinton promises to abolish the Bush education programme known as No Child Left Behind, he wants 'to make some adjustments' to it (like moving the standardised tests from late in the school year to the beginning, so that they are neutral measures of attainment, and don't dictate the syllabus like an impending guillotine).

Clinton's world is one of absolutes, with no exceptions to the rules; Obama's is far messier and less amenable to the blunt machinery of government. During the last televised debate in Cleveland, Ohio, he won a big round of applause when he said, 'A fundamental difference between us is how change comes about,' meaning that for her it comes about by legislation from the top down, for him by inspiring and organising a shift in popular consciousness from the bottom up.

...more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

18. Leahy: Hillary Has "Every Right, But Not A Very Good Reason" To Stay In Race

Leahy: Hillary Has "Every Right, But Not A Very Good Reason" To Stay In Race

By Eric Kleefeld - TPM Cafe March 28, 2008, 3:35PM

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has put out a statement clarifying his comments that Hillary Clinton should drop out of the race.
Leahy lays out his case that Barack Obama's delegate lead "appears to be insurmountable,"
and that dragging out the race is not good for the party, but acknowledges that she has every right to stay in...

"Senator Clinton has every right, but not a very good reason, to remain a candidate for as long as she wants to. As far as the delegate count and the interests of a Democratic victory in November go, there is not a very good reason for drawing this out. But as I have said before, that is a decision that only she can make."

More at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

19. North Carolina County Projections based on Demographic Characteristics

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5303475&mesg_id=5303475

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

20. Mini me version of Hillary at you tube - La Pequeña Hillary Clinton

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x110836

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

21. The Five Stupidest Things Elizabeth Hasselbeck Has Ever Said! The Definitive Rebuttal To Pastorgate

We all need a laugh now and then

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5301732&mesg_id=5301732

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

22. Ed Rendell Jumps on the Racism Bandwagon

The title should say "again".

Ed Rendell Jumps on the Racism Bandwagon

by Omar Little Fri Mar 28, 2008

Ed Rendell couldn't help himself. One of the most entrenched Clintonites, who without them in power faces
a dismal political future... Ed's thrown his kitchen sink into the pile.

Another sycophant bites the dust.
These kinds of Clintonites are as marked for purge as any Bushist, because racism is out of bounds.
Period.

Ed, shame on you. But then again, you're mixed up in the Peter Paul nonsense aren't you?
The crazies you folks associate with, you must take a lot of showers with lots of other men
at a lot of exclusive all white country clubs.

Enjoy your ice tea, Ed. Your political career is dogshit.

“Just flip it for a second,” Mr. Rendell said.
“Let’s say Senator Clinton was ahead by about 110 delegates and ahead by less than 1 percent of the vote cast,
and she and her supporters started to call on Senator Obama to get out. Just picture what the media would be saying.
They’d be saying you’re being racist, you’re being everything in the world. It’s nuts! It’s nuts!” -
in NY Times

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

23. U Of Chicago debunks Clinton claim, affirms Professor of Law Barack Obama

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5304029&mesg_id=5304029

[fight4my3sons]

26. Obama Works

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5305330

Hello from Philadelphia!



I want to share with you a new grassroots movement, one that empowers citizens to organize public service events that both demonstrate support for Senator Obama, and make meaningful, concrete contributions to their communities. It's called Obama Works, and we've had great success so far in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut. But we're going national, and we need your help.



We just made the national Obama Blog after MTV News featured a video of us. Check it out (and see what I look like!) here: http://think.mtv.com/044FDFFFF0098A0C600170098DA45/



Senator Obama talks about a new kind of politics, but he won't change this country single-handedly. Supporting Barack Obama isn't an endorsement of politics as usual - it's about being part of a movement for change in this country. That change starts with us, in our own communities, from the bottom up.



We've only been around for a month or so, but we already have a website up at www.whyobamaworks.com, where you can learn more about us and see photos and videos from our first few events. Most importantly, we have resources available if you'd like to organize a neighborhood cleanup (we call them "Obama Sweeps!") or related event in your own community. We all know people who are inspired by Senator Obama, but who are uncomfortable with more traditional campaigning activities. Obama Works projects can mobilize these citizens in an unconventional grassroots way, giving them the opportunity to serve their communities as part of a national movement for change. And for the frequent Obama volunteer, this is another great way to get involved!



So join us. We're starting Obama Works chapters across the country, and we'd love for you to participate! It doesn't matter if your state has had its primary already. This is about showing people that we're not supporting Obama because we want a change in rhetoric, but because he's inspiring us to change reality.



If you'd like to start something up or find existing Obama Works projects in your area, email us at [e-mail] and we'll help you in every way we can. Let's show this country what a "movement" really is!



Together, We Can!



Best Regards,

Adam LeGrand

Obama Works

[blonndee]

27. .

[Me.]

28. K & R

[grantcart]

29. Gallup has a big jump

This seems to be extremely significant to me because it is a 'rolling' poll that averages 3 days together. It is almost impossible to get that big a jump in one day.

Either it was a freak bump and will be corrected tomorrow or it shows the clinton campaign collapsing.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

30. Obama's Race Speech on YouTube Tops Cable News Ratings

Obama's Race Speech on YouTube Tops Cable News Ratings

Posted by Ari Melber, The Nation at 11:08 AM on March 26, 2008.

About 3.8 million people have now watched Obama's "race speech" through the campaign's official YouTube channel, which has over 40,000 subscribers.

One week later, it's clear that Americans heard The Speech.

About 3.8 million people have now watched Barack Obama's Philadelphia address through the campaign's official YouTube channel, which has over 40,000 subscribers. "It is the highest viewed video ever uploaded by a presidential candidate to YouTube, surpassing Mike Huckabee's Chuck Norris endorsement video," says Steve Grove, who directs News and Politics for YouTube. Aside from the Obama channel, which promotes videos through blogs, news sites and supporter networks, another 520,000 people watched excerpts of the speech uploaded by random YouTube users. Taken together, the total YouTube viewers for Obama's speech over the past week beat all the cable channels combined. Last Tuesday, about four million viewers tuned into one of the three cable channels to watch the speech.

more at the link
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/80568/

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

31. Bill Clinton is Campaigning for John McCain Again

Bill Clinton is Campaigning for John McCain Again

For sometime Bill and Hillary Clinton have been boosting the electability of John McCain by continuing to offer effusive praise of his character, his "maverick" nature, and his ability to be Commander-in-Chief. Senator Clinton supporters remain blind to the two-pronged Clinton strategy of holding out some sliver of hope of grabbing the Democratic nomination or elevating McCain to such a pedestal that it will be that much extra work for Barack Obama to beat McCain.

.....But even the most ardent of Hillary Clinton supporters must in their hearts be puzzled by the following and unusually accurate excerpt from the right wing publication NewsMax, posted at 1:45 PM on March 28:

"For the second time in a week, Bill Clinton offered high praise for Republican presidential nominee John McCain — the candidate who could end up squaring off against Clinton’s wife Hillary."

more at the link

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/editorblog/073

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

32. The Top Ten Craziest Things John McCain Has Said While You Weren't Watching

The Top Ten Craziest Things John McCain Has Said While You Weren't Watching

By Cliff Schecter, AlterNet. Posted March 29, 2008.

Much of McCain's madness has been lost in the fog of the ongoing battle for the Democratic nomination -- so here's a recap of what you've missed.

John McCain has been saying a lot of downright nutty things lately. You've probably come across some of them, such as his admitted lack of knowledge about economics or his excitement at the prospect of remaining in Greater Mesopotamia for the next ten decades. Yet, alas, much of his craziness has been lost in the fog of the ongoing battle between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. So here's a recap of some nuggets of wisdom you may have missed -- from McCain's mouth to Bellevue's Ears.

10. Responding to a student who criticized his remark about our staying in Iraq for 100 years, McCain quipped, "No American argues against our military presence in Korea or Japan or Germany or Kuwait or other places, or Turkey, because America is not receiving casualties."
...
9. John McCain is "very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support."
...
8. "In the shorter term," said McCain, "if you somehow told American businesses and families, 'Look, you're not going to experience a tax increase in 2010,' I think that's a pretty good short-term measure."

... more at the link, get the picture??
http://www.alternet.org/story/80622/

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

33. The Wright Controversy Revealed America's Gutless, Panicky, Deeply Insecure Side

The Wright Controversy Revealed America's Gutless, Panicky, Deeply Insecure Side

By Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com. Posted March 27, 2008.

A society at peace with itself wouldn't have reacted in the way it did to the partly true/partly crazy remarks of Obama's former pastor.

The word "squeeb" is a crude mix of squid and dweeb, and by inventing it I mean no disrespect to the squid, which in most respects is an excellent and admirable animal. In the ocean there's almost nothing you'd rather be than a squid, one of nature's most perfect predators -- fast, resilient, ruthless, more intelligent by leaps and bounds than your average fish, and able to squeeze into impossibly tiny cracks. In the ocean, there is no hiding from a squid, I tell you.

But on land, a squid is about as useless as it gets. It's a spineless, squishy little hunk of seafood that wouldn't stand a chance in a cage match with a baby squirrel. It has no heart, and its first instinct when trouble comes is to hide in a cloud of its own excretions. This is why a squiddy word like squeeb seems to me to be a good way to describe the American voter during a presidential election season.

That's especially true now, during a "controversy" like this latest flap over Barack Obama pastor Jeremiah Wright. This Wright business is a perfect example of the American electorate at its squeeby worst -- panicky, gutless, acting more on reflex than thought, incapable of retaining information for more than a few minutes at a time. It's also a great example of how the presidential election process has become more about enforcing the attitudes of a cultural orthodoxy than a system for choosing leaders.

...more at the link

http://www.alternet.org/election08/80577/

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

34. Endorsement of Obama Points Up Clinton’s Obstacles (look at this photo)

Endorsement of Obama Points Up Clinton’s Obstacles
By ADAM NAGOURNEY New York Times
Published: March 29, 2008


While Hillary Clinton leads in the polls in Pennsylvania, Barack Obama has his supporters, too.

The surprise endorsement of Senator Barack Obama by a popular senator in a battleground state on Friday underlined the ferment in the Democratic nominating race and the serious obstacles facing Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as she tries to rescue her candidacy.

Compounding the challenge, one of Mr. Obama’s most prominent supporters, Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, said Mrs. Clinton should quit the race because she hurt Mr. Obama “more than anything John McCain has said.”

The Clinton campaign showed resolve in the face of the developments, rallying supporters and donors and enlisting prominent surrogates to fight back. Mrs. Clinton told aides that she would not be “bullied out” of the race.

...The developments, including the endorsement of Mr. Obama by Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, a state where Mrs. Clinton is looking for a large primary victory, occurred as uneasiness grew among Democrats over a race that has become closer, more extended and more bitter than expected. In interviews, Democratic leaders said they were concerned that the increased tensions between the campaigns and the sharpening exchanges between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama were hurting the party’s chances of winning the White House in November.

...more at the link
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/us/politics/29dems.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

35. Surprise Backing From Senator Reflected Frustration and Desire for Healing (another great photo)

This article explains why Senator Casey's endorsement should be very helpful to Obama.

Surprise Backing From Senator Reflected Frustration and Desire for Healing

Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, left, toasted beers with Senator Barack Obama
on Friday at Sharkey’s in Latrobe, Pa.

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and MICHAEL POWELL
Published: March 29, 2008

“...He spent a lot of time thinking about it,” a person close to Mr. Casey said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for the senator. “He was asking himself, What’s more important than this? He was also just terribly frustrated with where Bush is going on Iraq and the economy, and he felt he had to jump into the fray.”

Mr. Casey concluded that he would endorse Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, and he did so on Friday in Pittsburgh, joining Mr. Obama for part of his six-day bus trip across Pennsylvania ahead of that state’s Democratic primary on April 22.

...
But the endorsement by Mr. Casey — an Irish Catholic who won 59 percent of the vote in his 2006 race for the Senate — may carry some weight, especially with white working class voters, who are known as Casey Democrats.

The Casey family dynasty is also based in the northeast Pennsylvania city of Scranton, which is a stronghold for Mrs. Clinton, who has deep family roots in the area.

more at the link

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/us/politics/29penn.html?ref=politics

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

36. They Shoot E-Mails, Don't They? Who says Hillary didn't come under sniper fire?

They Shoot E-Mails, Don't They?
Who says Hillary didn't come under sniper fire?

By Dana Milbank
Thursday, March 27, 2008; Page A03

Yes, her story about dodging bullets in Bosnia turned out to be a figment of her imagination. But that doesn't mean people aren't gunning for her.

The latest hostile fire directed at Clinton began at precisely 11:55 a.m. yesterday, in an e-mail from Barack Obama's press secretary, Bill Burton.

To: Interested Parties

From: Obama Campaign

Re: Clinton's Exaggerations: The Domestic Record

Date: March 26, 2008.

"Unfortunately, Clinton's fantastic invention of a sniper-raked landing is only one in a growing list of instances in which she has exaggerated her role as First Lady," the memo said. "Clinton has credited herself with 'creating the State Children's Health Insurance Program' and 'helping to pass' the Family and Medical Leave Act. Like the Tuzla story, both of these claims turn out to false" -- the Obama side fired so hastily it forgot the word "be" -- "raising serious questions not just about the rationale for Senator Clinton's campaign, but about her willingness to adhere to the truth."

Incoming! Of course, the Clinton campaign had reason to expect some sniping from the Obama forces; just 47 minutes before this fusillade, Clinton's press office had fired its own "memo" at Obama.

...more at the link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/26/AR2008032603157.html

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

37. What Made Richardson Flip?

What Made Richardson Flip?

Clinton insiders speculate about Obama's offer to him.
By John Dickerson
Posted Friday, March 28, 2008, at 4:52 PM ET

What did Barack Obama offer Bill Richardson for his endorsement? Nothing, say both the Obama and Richardson camps, but this is the question angry and jilted Clinton supporters are asking in the wake of Richardson's announcement a week ago that he would support Obama rather than their woman.



...On Larry King Live on Thursday night, James Carville, who branded Richardson "Judas" for what Carville said was a particularly high level of betrayal, named a handful of Clinton fundraisers who say they had similar cheery conversations with Richardson. Richardson also gave former President Bill Clinton the impression that he would ultimately back Hillary Clinton as well as Bill Clinton's top aides. When Bill Clinton called Richardson on hearing the news of his endorsement switch, Richardson refused to return his phone calls. "I wouldn't treat President Bush the way he treated President Clinton," says Carville. Richardson's communication director, Gilbert Gallegos, says no such representations were made to anyone connected to Clinton and that when Bill Clinton flew to New Mexico to watch the Super Bowl with Richardson, the governor was clear about his intentions. "Gov. Richardson told President Clinton not to come to New Mexico for the Super Bowl if he expected an endorsement," says Gallegos.

This has been a bad week for Clinton's financial backers. In addition to the Richardson betrayal, they also feel that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has turned on them. Despite their years of supporting the party, they have been unable to use their leverage to move Pelosi away from what they see as her public support for Obama. Though Pelosi says she is neutral, she has said that the superdelegates should follow the will of the pledged delegates. Since Obama holds an insurmountable lead among the pledged delegates, this is just a long way for her to say, "Elect Barack." Clinton fundraisers wrote to Pelosi asking that she retract her remarks and support the party rules that allow superdelegates to vote their conscience. Furious at the letter, she refused to.

What's significant about the Pelosi and Richardson duet is that both seem to have made a calculation that in the long-brewing tension between party elites and the new grass roots, they're siding with the latter. These veteran Democrats may be making their moves based on their assessments of Obama as a candidate, but they also may be informed by his success in raising money online and from a huge number of small-dollar donors, which may mean a dilution in the power of traditional rainmakers. As a sign of the new landscape, Moveon.org sent out a fundraising letter asking Pelosi to stand her ground.

more at the link
http://www.slate.com/id/2187560?nav=wp

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

38. Superdelegates! Bring back the days of James Carville and the Clintons!

Superdelegates! Bring back the days of James Carville and the Clintons!

by Bob Johnson at DKOS
Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 09:16:32 AM PDT
Ah, the glory days! How we miss them!

James Carville, front and center, as the know-it-all political genius (married to the Republican public relations mastermind, Mary Matalin, who built the phony case for war in Iraq, to which Carville's good friend, Senator Hillary Clinton, subscribed).

The same James Carville who, today, reiterates his insult of fellow Democrat Bill Richardson for having the audacity to endorse Barack Obama.


Can we get enough of these guys in Washington? Carville, Terry McAuliffe, Mark Penn, the Clintons and their never-ending sagas and dramas?

Hey, superdelegates, can you please bring all of that back for us to enjoy?

McCain is a weak candidate in a horrible year for Republicans. He will be thumped in the Fall by Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

....more at the link
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/29/112739/184/463/486698

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

39. The Hillary Deathwatch - Hillary's chance of winning nomination...

The Hillary Deathwatch
A great day for Obama means a nasty day for Hillary.
By Chadwick Matlin
Posted Friday, March 28, 2008,



Friday was not kind to Hillary Clinton. Based on Deathwatch's top-secret morbidity formula, Hillary tanked on four metrics today, reducing her chances of winning the nomination by 1.7 points to 10.3 percent.

The nastiest news for Clinton is in the polls. She has drifted eight points behind Obama in a national Gallup survey—the first time that she has trailed Obama by a statistically significant margin since the Rev. Wright imbroglio. Every point she loses in the national polls pushes her a bit closer to Davy Jones' locker.

In Pennsylvania, she suffered a setback in her efforts to win endorsements and superdelegates when Sen. Bob Casey endorsed Obama even though he said he was staying neutral in the race. Casey comes from a long political lineage that is well-known in the eastern part of the state and among Catholic Pennsylvanians. Rubbing salt in the wound, Obama said he didn't even court Casey's support—he entered the House of Obama on his own volition.

Meanwhile, Sen. Patrick Leahy—an Obama supporter—called for Clinton's withdrawal yesterday but then removed his foot from his mouth and backed off the assertion today, saying it's a decision "that only she can make." Even though he dialed back his original statement, it adds another high-profile voice to the growing din that Clinton is doing more harm than good by sticking around. Chris Dodd—another Obama devotee—has made similar comments.

...more at the link
http://www.slate.com/id/2187679/

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

40. Denouncing and Renouncing - maybe this is what Obama should have said....

March 23, 2008, 7:07 pm

Denouncing and Renouncing

Some years ago when a high ranking official of the Nation of Islam was being interviewed on TV, he was challenged to denounce another prominent member of the Nation who had called Jews “bagel-eating vermin who had escaped from the caves of Europe to pollute the world.” He replied, “I’m not in the denouncing business.” He did not elaborate further, but I understood him to be saying, It is not my job either to defend or repudiate every statement made by someone I know. Neither my integrity nor my life’s work depends on my clearing myself of suspicions provoked by the words of others.
At least I hope that’s what he was saying, because it is definitely what I want to say.

In politics, and in much of the rest of life, being held responsible for your own words comes with the territory. Once you’ve opened your big mouth, others have a perfect right to ask, “Do you really mean that?” or “What did you mean by that?” or “If you say that, would you also say…?” (a question that usually has you frantically disassociating yourself from Hitler). But why should you be held responsible for words spoken by someone else, even if that someone else is a person you work with or share a bed with? I frequently say things that make my wife cringe, but whatever blame attaches to my utterances certainly should not be extended to her, and it would be entirely inappropriate to ask her to denounce me or to fault her if she didn’t.

...

This denouncing and renouncing game is simply not serious. It is a media-staged theater, produced not in response to genuine concerns – no one thinks that Obama is unpatriotic or that Clinton is a racist or that McCain is a right-wing bigot – but in response to the needs of a news cycle. First you do the outrage (did you see what X said?), then you put the question to the candidate (do you hereby denounce and renounce?), then you have a debate on the answer (Did he go far enough? Has she shut her husband up?), and then you do endless polls that quickly become the basis of a new round.

more at the link

http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/denouncing-and-renouncing/index.html?ref=opinion

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

41. Open Letter to Florida Dems - Stop Your Whining! You Wanted to Be Relevant!

Open Letter to Florida Dems - Stop Your Whining! You Wanted to Be Relevant!

by Laura Roslin Page 1 of 1 page(s)

http://www.opednews.com

Open Letter to Florida Democratic Leaders - Stop Your Whining! You wanted to be "relevant." Stop attacking and blaming Howard Dean for the mess you are in.

Stop pretending that Florida Democrats were helpless -we have the video and the news articles that show otherwise.

The vote for the change was 115-1. Thats right, Democratic lawmakers were complicit in this mess, and made no real effort to stop it. Clinton advisor Howard Ickes voted for the rules you broke and penalties that you are facing now.

Here you will see two news articles, one video of Sen. Steve Geller (D),and the famous Mad Floridian's journals, all of which prove the complicity and posturing of Florida Dems in moving their primary up.

Democrats did offer an amendment, but sarcastically so - according to this Tampa Bay Times reporter's blog (video included).
You can hear Gelber's tone of voice and that he doesn't really want to correct the primary date

....more at the link
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_laura_ro_080327_open_letter_to_flori.htm