Hillary’s Voice

“If 795 of my collegues decide this election, I will quit the Democratic Party.” (by bostonboomer at The Confluence)
Those are the words of superdelegate and Party honcho, Donna Brazile … [on] February 11, 2008, a few days after Super Tuesday… Um….Donna? Hello? What happened? I don’t see you following through on your vow to resign as a superdelegate if the supers decided the nominee. Are you just waiting until the Convention to resign with a flourish? Or have you somehow forgotten how very “strongly” you felt about “the people” and “the voters” choosing the candidate. How could you, the chairman of the Voter Rights Institute, countenance the kangaroo court that took place at the RBC meeting on May 31? Since Hillary Clinton received more popular votes than the presumtuous nominee (thanks to DNC shenanigans), Barack Obama, why haven’t you resigned in disgust?
Click through for contact information to ask Donna yourself.

What’s Up Hillary’s Sleeve (by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
Why won’t Hillary just concede that she has lost and pull out of the race? Why does she persist in keeping her delegates in line for her and not releasing them to Obama? Why does she feign party unity while, in fact, undermining it? The Clintons never do anything without a lot of thinking and planning. There is no benign explanation for her maneuvers. They have several options that they are deliberately keeping open by their increasingly awkward positioning. Here’s what they’re up to:
1. The Obama Stumbles Option
2. Hillary for VP
3. The I Told You So Option
4. Paying Off Her Debts
Dick Morris is a Clinton hater of the first order.  Nevertheless, this article is probably correct.  Not only that, it’s exactly what I would do, and what I HOPE Clinton is doing, except for the VP part. Clinton haters will call it evil, but I call it smart.

Will Clinton Take Blame for Obama Loss? (Political Wire)
The Politico asks an interesting question: “Will supporters of Sen. Barack Obama blame Sen. Hillary Clinton if Obama loses in November?”
Oh, gosh, I wonder.

Networks Wary of Convention Coverage
Gone are the days when the broadcast networks’ extensive coverage of the Democratic and Republican conventions was the only game in town, competing on late summer nights with a handful of television re-runs. As network viewership has declined and the political junkies have fled to cable, prime-time network coverage of the convention has dwindled.
That’s because they themselves did everything they could to keep the campaigns from being interesting.  If they had encouraged the Democrats to keep the primary going, instead of demanding that Hillary get out of the race, the Democratic convention, at least, could have been a late summer smash hit.

Clinton’s exit a preoccupation for reporters
NEW YORK (AP) — Now that Hillary Clinton has ended her bid for the presidency, political journalists are suddenly deprived of one of their favorite stories: When is she going to drop out? A study shows the only campaign topics that got more attention the past two months were Barack Obama’s talkative former minister, the Pennsylvania primary and the fallout from President Bush’s remarks about appeasement while in Israel. More time was spent talking about when Clinton might call it quits than about how the candidates might deal with the war in Iraq, the high price of gasoline, home foreclosures or the sputtering economy. Or about anything that presumptive Republican nominee John McCain said or did during April and May, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s analysis of political coverage in newspapers, on Internet sites and on television news.
They hounded Clinton to get out of the race.  Now, what will they talk about?

Obama and the Democrats Owe Hillary Clinton and Her Supporters a Formal Apology for the Campaign’s Sexism (by Bonnie Erbe, U.S. News & World Report)
Sen. Hillary Clinton may have come out full bore for the Barack Obama campaign on Saturday, but many of her supporters are having none of it… The Democratic National Committee either doesn’t get it or refuses to admit it. Nothing short of a lengthy, detailed mea culpa by the DNC and by Obama himself, directed to Clinton supporters for the sexist name-calling and personal, nasty characterizations Clinton was alone forced to endure, will do. Even that may not persuade these voters to consider supporting the party this fall. The DNC, Democratic Party leaders in Congress, and Obama should have been at her side, calling her treatment by the media (and even by some Obama supporters) unacceptable. According to most polls, something in the range of 20 to 25 percent of her 18 million supporters say they’ll vote for Senator McCain in November. That’s 4.5 million votes—too many to take for granted. Yet taking them for granted is just what the party and Obama are doing.

AND MICHAEL MAKES THREE: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
In Sunday’s New York Times, Michael Kinsley explained why Clinton didn’t win the Dem nomination. In the process, he made it three about the way your “press corps” actually functions… According to Kinsley, Clinton’s comment about Kennedy’s assassination “was willfully misinterpreted to suggest that she was wishing that fate on her opponent,” Barack Obama.. It would be hard to imagine more squalid conduct, but Kinsley doesn’t bat an eye as he describes it—as he seems to say it’s OK when journalists make the nastiest possible statements, knowing their statements are false… But then, we’ve told you this, year after year… At this point, the commissars don’t even feel the need to disguise their cohort’s astounding misconduct. And don’t worry: Housebroken house-boys like Kevin [Drum] and Josh [Marshall] won’t mention what Michael has said.

Media Whores Online (by Anglachel)
One question that no one in the MSM or the “serious” blogosphere has tried to answer is why have so many hard-core Democrats, people in the party for decades, rallied so strongly to Hillary’s side, their support becoming stronger and more obdurate the more she was declared a failed candidate?… When else have we seen this pattern in the rank and file? When Bill was under impeachment. The regular Democrats evidently know when someone is being railroaded by the media and they push back. The press did to her what it did to Al Gore in 2000, inventing faux scandals and alleging words and behaviors that never happened…

The difference between the rightwing hunting of the president in the 90s and the wilding of Gore in 2000 is this time the allegedly opposition blogosphere and “left” media fell all over itself to lap up the sewage flowing out of the same sources that have been brutalizing the Democratic Party, the left, liberalism and, frankly, democracy, since Reagan’s ascendency in 1980. They have picked up the crap, eager gobbled it down, and have fully incorporated it into their perspectives, rhetorical methods, and standards of evidence.

The liberal opposition has disappeared, all too eager to do the Right’s work for it.

Political Viagra (by Mark Stein, New York Sun)
The short version of the Democratic Party primary campaign is that The short version of the Democratic Party primary campaign is that the media fell in love with Barack Obama but the Democratic electorate declined to. “I felt this thrill going up my leg,” said MSNBC’s Chr my leg,” said MSNBC’s Chris Matthews after one of the Senator’s speeches. “I mean, I don’t have that too often.” Au contraire, Chris and the rest of the gang seem to be getting the old tingle up the thigh hairs on a nightly basis. If Obama is political Viagra, the media are at that stage in the ad where the announcer warns that, if leg tingles persist for over six months, see your doctor.

Is Olbermann’s snide act on MSNBC the future of TV news? (by Howard Rosenberg, Los Angeles Times)
“Countdown With Keith Olbermann” is the bean ball between “Hardball With Chris Matthews” and “Verdict With Dan Abrams” in MSNBC’s weekday lineup. This trio has spent the election season heckling Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton from deep inside Sen. Barack Obama’s hip pocket and hammering Sen. John McCain since Day One…  On “Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” a smirk is worth a thousand snide words… But is his ends-justifies-means credo good for the news biz? The answer is no, even if you dislike the president and his policies as much as Olbermann does. I do, and can still testify that watching Olbermann collect Republican scalps like baseball cards is only marginally more rewarding than watching his favorite foil, O’Reilly, batter guests who don’t share his wacky views.

You Killed a Tree For That? ‘Vanity’ Blah (video)
Joanna Ossinger and Simon Constable discuss a ‘Vanity Fair’ epic about former President Bill Clinton.

Why We Fight (by Taylor Marsh)
It’s simple, though the times right now ar not and it won’t be easy. It will also take time. But some way we need to find a way to work together. Everything is riding on it.
A good first step would be for the Obamabots to stop bullying us, Taylor.  No one has ever bullied me into changing my position on anything, but these crazies seem to think it will work.

Pelosi Backs Emanuel for Obama’s Senate Seat (Political Wire)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “is reported to be privately talking about Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the House Democratic Caucus chairman, as the next senator from Illinois if Sen. Barack Obama wins the presidential election,” according to Robert Novak. “The same source said Pelosi indicated that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer would be her eventual successor as speaker, even though she opposed his election to the second-ranking leadership position. Emanuel has been widely mentioned as the speaker of the next decade.”
So THAT’s Emanuel’s payoff for remaining neutral in the primary, rather than endorsing Hillary Clinton, whose husband raised him up into national politics, or endorsing his Illinois compadre, the DNC favorite, Barack Obama.  And, uh, dare I ask the question:  Is Obama’s senate seat Nancy Pelosi’s to give away?  Honestly, the longer I observe the political process the more sickened I am by the favoritism and corruption.

Obama Embraces 50 State Strategy (Political Wire)
Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign announced in an e-mail to supporters that the campaign will compete all over the country this fall, according to USA Today. Wrote deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand: “Today, I am proud to announce that our presidential campaign will be the first in a generation to deploy and maintain staff in every single state.”

Obama outlines economic plan that includes foreclosure aid (McClatchy)
RALEIGH, N.C. — Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama told a Raleigh audience Monday that Republican John McCain’s economic policies would echo those of President Bush, and he pledged to restore prosperity from the bottom up.

Obama VP vetter tied to controversial mortgage company (On Politics, USA Today)
Presidential candidates are under scrutiny these days for connections they and their associates may have to companies involved in the subprime mortgage foreclosure crisis… The Wall Street Journal first reported the story Saturday… The New York Sun has more details…, including some from the Journal, along with Obama’s charges that Countrywide helped “infect the economy” and create the foreclosure problem, and his critique of its executives for taking $19 million in bonuses while people were losing their homes.

Obama Plans Major Outreach to Young Evangelicals and Catholics (by Jeralyn at TalkLeft)
What do Barack Obama and the Democrats have to offer young evangelicals and Catholics? We’ll soon find out. Obama is launching the Joshua Generation Project to bring more of them on board with his campaign. The name is based on the biblical story of how Joshua’s generation led the Israelites into the Promised Land… Why would evangelicals and Catholics support a pro-choice candidate? Is he planning on modifying his position? Are his campaign speeches going to incorporate religion even more than they have in the past? Where is this headed?… I’ve opposed the faith-based programs of George W. Bush. I’m not looking forward to more of them. It’s fine for Obama to be religious and spiritual in his personal life. I don’t think either belongs in Government.
But his outreach to Clinton supporters?  Not so much.

Obama To Team Up With Elizabeth Edwards On Health Care Reform (by Logan Murphy at Crooks and Liars)
Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, kicked off his two week, swing state tour today in Raleigh, NC. In a speech about economics, Senator Obama made clear the differences between his health care platform and the failed Bush/McCain policies that cater to the “healthy and wealthy” and have left some 47 million Americans without health insurance. Obama pledged to make it easier for every American to get good health care, do away with exemptions for pre-existing conditions, stop drug companies from price gouging, and then said something that was greeted with great enthusiasm by the crowd: “By the way, I’m going to be partnering up with Elizabeth Edwards, we’re going to be figuring all this out.”
It’s a good move to reconsider your health care plan, Senator Obama, but isn’t Elizabeth Edwards one of us dead enders?  Also, ponder how disrespectful this move is to Hillary Clinton.  Elizabeth Edwards didn’t get one vote, but Hillary Clinton got 18,000,000, in part for her stance on health care.  Click through to watch the video.

Not getting hassled, not getting hustled (by hlr at The Confluence)
The butterfly nets are out for the last holdouts from the movement: the Clinton supporters, an oddly incalcitrant bunch. Not responsive to treatment. Difficult to manage. We see where this is going; what, with multiple references to dead-enders in the Wall Street Journal and The New Republic, no less… [A] more accurate label might be people who don’t buy into the fairy tales of the new and improved DNC… I expect a full assault on the bat-shit crazy dead-enders, picking at the scabs of our discontent until we plead, nay beg, for permission to re-enter proper society, an event to be heralded by a Speech! Speech! Not getting hassled, not getting hustled. And you?

Grumbling Clinton supporters make Democrats nervous
WASHINGTON (CNN) — While Sen. Hillary Clinton was endorsing Sen. Barack Obama, some of those weighing in on her campaign Web site were less willing to concede. As Clinton wrapped up her remarks Saturday in Washington with a plea for supporters to work “as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me,” many were posting messages saying they would never vote for the presumptive Democratic nominee. A few even called on her backers to visit Sen. John McCain’s campaign Web site… A newly released CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that if Obama does not select Clinton as his running mate, 22 percent of her supporters would stay home this fall — and another 17 percent would vote for McCain.

What Obama Told Lieberman (Political Wire)
“In a brief but animated Senate floor confrontation last week,” according to a campaign aide who asked Newsweek for anonymity when talking about private discussions, Sen. Barack Obama told Sen. Joe Lieberman “he was surprised by Lieberman’s personal attacks and his half-hearted denials of the false rumors that Obama is a Muslim.” The aide also said Lieberman was “strangely muted” during the exchange, while a Lieberman spokesman says the conversation was “private and friendly.”
According to some folks, it didn’t look like such a friendly discussion.  Also, the next day, Lieberman agreed to head an organization to promote John McCain’s candidacy.

Barack Obama sets up internet ‘war room’ to fight slurs
A crack team of cybernauts will form a rapid response internet “war room” to track and respond aggressively to online rumours that Barack Obama is unpatriotic and a Muslim.

Regnery Publishing Begins Its Swift-Boating Assault On Obama (by Cliff Schecter at Crooks and Liars)
Buried in this piece on Obama books coming out this summer and fall, I spotted this little tidbit: “…The conservative Regnery Publishing just announced two books for August: David Freddoso’s ‘The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media’s Favorite Candidate,’ and Thomas Blood’s ‘The Clinton Collapse: How Bill Clinton Lost Hillary Her ‘Sure Thing’ Nomination (And Might Even Make Obama Lose Too).’ ‘We intend to put him under the microscope, and we think readers will be very interested to learn what we uncover,’ says Marji Ross, president and publisher of Regnery, which in 2004 released ‘Unfit for Command,’ the best-selling attack against Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry.”
Can “The Obama Chronicles” be far behind?

‘Willie Horton’ admaker taking aim at Obama (Chicago Tribune)
WASHINGTON — On a Web site he calls ExposeObama.com, Floyd Brown, the producer of the “Willie Horton” ad that helped to defeat Michael Dukakis in 1988, is preparing an encore. Brown is raising money for a series of ads that he says will show Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to be out of touch on an issue of fundamental concern to voters: violent crime. A video already on the Internet attacks the presumptive Democratic nominee for opposing a bill while an Illinois legislator that would have extended the death penalty to gang-related murders.

Quote of the Day (Political Wire)
“Sen. Obama says that I’m running for a Bush’s third terms.  It seems to me he’s running for Jimmy Carter’s second.” — Sen. John McCain, in an interview with NBC News.

GOP insider: ‘I think we’ve got a world of problems’ (by Steve Benen at Crooks and Liars)
Just two weeks ago, the Politico ran an item about the enormous confidence the Republican establishment has about John McCain’s chances in November. As the piece put it, “[M]any top GOP strategists believe he can defeat Barack Obama — and by a margin exceeding President Bush’s Electoral College victory in 2004.” In some Republican circles, the Politico’s article explained, there’s talk of a McCain “blowout.” Two weeks later, that sense of bravado seems to be in short supply.
Democrats fall for this kind of disinformation at their peril. John McCain came from way behind in the polls and no money to being the presumptive Republican nominee. George Bush is about to start a war with Iran to help get him elected. Do not let down your guard.

Lots more really good stuff at MakeThemAccountable.com.

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com