Hillary’s Voice

Eight in 10 Americans say country is headed in the ‘wrong direction.’ (Think Progress)
A new AP-Ipsos poll finds that nearly eight in 10 Americans believe “the country is moving in the wrong direction…amid soaring food and gas prices, falling home values and unending war. Just 17 percent say the country is going in the right direction.” This figure is the lowest since the survey began in 2003, and when compared with other past surveys, “the general level of pessimism is the worst in almost 30 years.”

Friday: The US Senate Ladies Auxilliary Luncheon (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
The US Senate’s Ladies Auxilliary met on Tuesday to discuss women’s issues.  A luncheon of chicken salad, tea sandwiches (no crusts!) and sparkling lemonade followed the discussion and the event finished with a demonstration on scrapbooking campaign memorabilia. In attendance were Senators Diane Feinstein (CA), Barbara Mikulski (MD), Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Barbara Boxer (CA).  Senator Claire McCaskill, the very junior senator from Missouri called the event to order and represented the Ladies Outreach Volunteers of the Obama campaign.  Senator Hillary Clinton (NY) whose campaign themes were represented at the meeting, was not in attendance. All were in agreement that the topics under consideration were very important to women but no action items were proposed at this time.

Among the issues of greatest importance were, ensuring that women receive equal pay; keeping jobs in America; making healthcare more affordable; providing benefits for military veterans; and protecting the environment.  For the last item, a garden party was proposed for the next event with container gardening as the theme. The subject of abortion was tabled until after the election as some of the ladies felt it was impolite and could be seen as offensive to some constituencies. The group also discussed their plans for Denver and volunteers were recruited to hang the crepe paper bunting.
This is a spoof, of course, but the women of the Senate did meet to discuss promoting issues dear to Hillary’s heart, after having thrown Hillary herself under the bus.

Hillbama (by vastleft at Corrente)

The image above now appears on Obama’s home page. I clicked it with trepidation. And I found good news, bad news, and the “yeah, right” news. The good: It includes a generally gracious (yeah, it’s easy to be gracious once you’ve kneecapped your opponent) speech he gave in Minnesota on 6/3/08, where among other things, he gives a shoutout to Universal Healthcare. Impressively, there’s no booing when he praises Hillary to his supporters (the things you can do with digital technology!). Her commitment to UHC is also praised in text.

The bad: The MN video clip starts with “At this defining moment for our nation, we should be proud that our party put forth one of the most talented, qualified field of individuals ever to run for this office.” Does he really think the qualification card is a strong one for him? Really? I know he had 12 amazing minutes in the Senate before he focused on his presidential run, but still…Finally, at the bottom of the page you’re asked to sign up and “share your story.”… Trust me, you can’t handle the truth. Not that you plan to do anything with the submissions but send vapidtalk e-mails and requests for money. Well, maybe if I posted a “conversion narrative” about my Opiphany, maybe that would get some mileage. But I’ll bet dollars to arugula that no one reads ’em at all. Like a dope, I was kind of hoping to see a little more sense of what Obamanation thinks motivates PUMAs [Party Unity My Ass).

Obama, Hillary Clinton to campaign together
CHICAGO - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s campaign announced Friday that he will campaign with former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton next week, a step toward unifying a fractured Democratic Party after a bruising primary fight.

Obama Privatizes (Capital Eye)
Barack Obama told supporters [Thursday] morning that he’ll be forgoing more than $80 million in public funds for the general election, making him the first major party nominee to reject the taxpayers’ grant since the program began in 1976. Obama called the system “broken” and said he will instead rely on small donations to land him in the White House. “Instead of forcing us to rely on millions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs, you’ve fueled this campaign with donations of $5, $10, $20, whatever you can afford,” Obama said in a video message on his website… Obama’s campaign isn’t built entirely on small donors–about 55 percent of his total haul so far has come from big donors (those giving more than $200), CRP has found.

Obama’s campaign tightens control of image and access (by Jim Rutenberg and Jeff Zeleny, International Herald Tribune)
Strategists for Obama, the country’s first black nominee, have made it clear that they believe they need to take extra steps to control his image and protect against attack. But such efforts at times appear to conflict with the candidate’s stated desire to be unusually transparent and open… In spirited discussions with reporters barred from Monday’s meeting with African-American civic leaders, aides said that no cameras were allowed because the participants wanted the meeting to be private, even though it was announced on the daily hotel roster of events. Later, other aides said the lighting was not properly set up for television quality. When Obama met with religious leaders last week, his campaign kept out photographers and reporters and refused to share a full list of participants. Professor Douglas Kmiec, a conservative constitutional scholar at Pepperdine Law School, said Obama told him and others in attendance that he was keeping the meeting private so everyone could speak without fear of public judgment.
Isn’t that what George Bush has said about the need for presidential privacy?

Barack Obama is a Muslim, and other stories (by Mike Madden, Salon)
The Democratic nominee’s campaign is working overtime to combat rumors — yet misinformation is still running rampant across the Internet

From the Fact Check Desk: What Did Obama’s Half-Brother Say About Obama’s Background? (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
It was a sloppy paraphrase that emerged as false evidence. Malik Obama, the older half brother of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, gave a brief interview to Israeli Army Radio. The Jerusalem Post listened to the interview, apparently, and produced a story saying “Malik Obama says his brother will be good president for the Jews. Barack Obama’s half brother Malik said Thursday that if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background.”… So is it true? No. ABC News got a hold of the audio of Malik’s interview with Israel Army Radio, and Malik said nothing of the kind… [N]owhere in there does Malik expressly say anything about Obama having a Muslim background. And nowhere does he “confirm” anything about Obama having a Muslim background.
Click through for a link to the cached version of the Jerusalem Post article, which I told you about yesterday, and for a link to the audio of the Malik Obama interview.

Bloomberg defends Obama before Jewish audience (AP)
NEW YORK - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is urging Jewish voters to denounce the online whisper campaign that for months has pushed the false rumor that Democrat Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim.

WSJ Reports that Obama Uses Paperclip: Common Older-Style Big-Government Device (by Dean Baker)
The WSJ’s dislike for Senator Obama is overflowing from its editorial page. A front page piece complained that: “Sen. Obama cited new economic forces to explain what appears like a return to an older-style big-government Democratic platform skeptical of market forces.”… If Senator Obama thinks that the government should try to regulate the financial industry so that executives are not able to enrich themselves by mass marketing bad loans that leave homeowners homeless and stockholders out of luck, is this “a return to an older-style big-government Democratic platform skeptical of market forces?”

Obama could win vote, lose election (by Harry Siegel at Politico)
Here’s the scenario: Obama racks up huge margins among the increasingly affluent, highly educated and liberal coastal states, while a significant increase in turnout among black voters allows him to compete — but not to win — in the South. Meanwhile, McCain wins solidly Republican states such as Texas and Georgia by significantly smaller margins than Bush’s in 2004 and ekes out narrow victories in places such as North Carolina, which Bush won by 12 points but Rasmussen presently shows as a tossup, and Indiana, which Bush won by 21 points but McCain presently leads by just 11. One possible result: Even as the national mood moves left, the 2004 map largely holds. Obama’s 32 new electoral votes from Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and Virginia are offset by 21 new electoral votes for McCain in Michigan and New Hampshire — and despite a 2- or 3-point popular vote victory for Obama, America wakes up on Jan. 20 to a President McCain.

DNC Gets More From Accountants Than From Lobbyists (Capital Eye)
Here’s further evidence that the political significance of the Democratic National Committee’s refusal of lobbyists’ contributions is greater than the new policy’s financial significance: In 2004, federally registered lobbyists—whether they work at lobbying firms or in-house for corporations, trade groups or unions—contributed only about $581,000 to the DNC, or not quite two-tenths of 1 percent of the committee’s overall fundraising in ‘04. That’s less than the party collected from accountants—and 27 other industries—in 2004. And before Barack Obama ordered his party to fall in line with his presidential campaign’s anti-lobbyist (and PAC) policy, the DNC had collected less than $100,000 from K Street types for the 2008 election—again, less than professional number-crunchers but also the tourism industry, livestock producers and many others.

McCain says he’ll take public financing (On Politics, USA Today)
Republican John McCain told reporters traveling with him today that he will accept public financing for the general election. That means he’ll have $84.1 million to spend between Sept. 4, when the GOP convention ends, until Election Day on Nov. 4.

Bush rallies GOP support for McCain at annual dinner fundraiser
Seeking to energize party loyalists, President Bush on Wednesday gave his most extended public support to Sen. John McCain, his former foe for the White House. The president said McCain is the only candidate in the race who can face tough decisions and “will not flinch.”

McCain ignored request to cancel visit to flood-ravaged Iowa. (Think Progress)
Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) visited areas of Iowa hit hard by recent flooding. His press secretary said the trip was “practical” for McCain because he happened to be “on his way to Minnesota for a town hall meeting.” Iowa Gov. Chet Culver (D), however, disagreed with the practicality of the trip as his state undergoes a massive flood recovery effort, noting that McCain ignored his request to cancel the visit… While these high-profile politicians bring attention to the disaster, they cause headaches for hard-pressed law enforcement. For President Bush’s visit to the state [Thursday], “hundreds of law enforcement officers were diverted from flood recovery to provide security for him.” Last week, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) canceled a visit at the request of state officials.

McCain Calls For Nuclear Power Expansion
Sen. John McCain called Wednesday for the construction of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030 and pledged $2 billion a year in federal funds “to make clean coal a reality,” measures designed to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

Driller Instinct (by Paul Krugman)
[T]he administration has spent the last eight years trying to convince Congress that the key to America’s energy security is opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling — even though estimates from the Energy Information Administration suggest that drilling in the refuge would make very little difference to the energy outlook, and the oil companies themselves aren’t especially interested in punching holes in the tundra. But it still comes as a surprise and a disappointment to see John McCain joining that unfortunate tradition… Mr. McCain has now aligned himself with an administration that, even aside from its blame-the-environmental-movement tendencies, has established an extensive track record as the gang that couldn’t think straight about energy policy.

Bush And McCain Try To Steal Credit For Webb’s GI Bill That They Consistently Worked To Defeat (Think Progress)
[Wednesday], House leaders in both parties struck a deal on a war supplemental bill that includes expanded college benefits for veterans. The GI Bill is Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) version, as well as a provision allowing troops to transfer the benefits to family members. President Bush has promised to sign the legislation. Now, however, Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — the two most vocal opponents of Webb’s bill — are trying to take credit for it.

Bolton Fearmongers: ‘Best Outcome’ Of Obama Presidency Is ‘More Embassy Bombings, WTC Attacks’ (Think Progress)
[Wednesday], Fox News’s John Gibson hosted former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton on his radio show. They discussed Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) foreign policy. Bolton charged that “the best outcome” of an Obama presidency would be “a replay of the Clinton administration,” meaning “more embassy bombings” and “more World Trade Center attacks”.
Click through to listen to the audio.

Republicans Choose ShadowTV for RNC Streaming (Who?) (by Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins at Mashable)
Not to be outdone by the Democrats in their tech savvy, the RNC continues to announce technology partnerships. Last time it was with the behemoth Google, but this time it’s a virtually unknown company called ShadowTV for their video streaming solution. It took a bit of poking around time for me to figure out exactly what it is that ShadowTV does that’s particularly unique to the streaming market… The aim of ShadowTV’s coverage for the RNC seems to be capturing every last second of news coverage of the event and streaming them to a centralized location… It’s an interesting concept, and I like to see new ideas being advanced in the world of online video, but it is indicative of the addiction that the Republican Party has to Old Media… [A]t least online, the Republicans will continue to be outclassed by the Democrats, even when in terms relative to the potential usage of the toolsets available the Democrats are only using a fraction of what’s possible.

Lots more really good stuff at MakeThemAccountable.com.

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com