WELCOME TO “OBAMA SUPPORTERS” DAILY NEWS

Friday May 9, 2008


Almost there May 8th 2008 From The Economist print edition


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WINSTON-SALEM -- Heavy storms moved across central North Carolina Thursday evening, leaving reports of damage and tornado activity.

Tornado Touch Down Reported In Davie County

POSTED: 11:34 pm EDT May 8, 2008

...WXII’s Lanie Pope said winds in excess of 80 mph were reported across the area, and Doppler radar indicated rainfall of at least 3 inches in several areas

...WXII reported that cars had been blown off the road near Highway 68 in Colfax.

At least three tractor trailers overturned on I-40 east near the Sandy Ridge Road exit, and damage was also reported to several small planes at Piedmont Triad International Airport.

Power outages were also reported throughout the Triad. Click here for the latest outages numbers.

...more at the link

As The Economist went to press, Mrs Clinton was publicly still promising to keep on fighting right the way to the Denver convention. That remains her right. But it is hard to see what she, her party or her country can gain from the struggle.This is largely to do with mathematics. After this week's two primaries, Barack Obama now leads by 166 elected delegates, and counting in the declared “superdelegate” party bigwigs only reduces his lead to 152. A mere six states are still in play. Mrs Clinton would stand a good chance in the first two, West Virginia and Kentucky. But thanks to the Democrats' proportional system, all the states will divide their delegates fairly closely. Mrs Clinton thus needs to win around 70% of the remaining superdelegates—a tall order when she will be behind in the popular vote. Even if she manages to get the hitherto disqualified primaries in Florida and Michigan counted (which, as it stands, would be unfair because nobody campaigned in one and Mr Obama was not on the ballot in the other), then she will come up short in terms of delegates and almost certainly in the popular vote count as well.
If Mrs Clinton bows out in the next week or so, her reputation as a tough fighter—one who has definitively forged a personality separate from her husband's—will have been enhanced. The only justification for her struggling on (assuming the money is there for her to do so) and probably plunging her party into legal warfare, would be the idea that her opponent is somehow unworthy of the nomination—in particular that Mr Obama is bound to lose in November, or that he is bound to be a poor president.

…Meanwhile, Mr Obama attracts other voters in a way Mrs Clinton never has. For every white bigot who switches sides because of Mr Obama's skin colour, there is likely to be a white independent—especially a young one—running to support him. The data show that young people, both black and white, prefer Mr Obama. Against Mrs Clinton, Mr McCain might have swept up all the independents; with Mr Obama he will have to split them. Mr Obama has raised money from close to 1.5m individuals, far more than anybody else ever has. That will stand him and his party in good stead come November. Each of those donors will be working hard to make sure that their investment is not wasted: an army of footsoldiers to fight the Republicans.
…
There is one final reason why Mr Obama is almost there. More than any other candidate this year, he has articulated an idea of a nobler America. That is partly because of who he is. When Mr Obama's parents married, in 1960, a union such as theirs, between a white woman and a black man, was illegal in over half of America's states. Now their son stands at the threshold of the White House. But it also has a lot to do with what he says and how he comports himself. Despite considerable provocation, he has never wavered from his commitment to bipartisanship—nor from the idea of America once again engaging with the world. There are severe problems with the details, on which Mr McCain will hopefully push him even further than Mrs Clinton has, but the upside of an Obama presidency remains greater than that of any other candidate.

...more at the link

This issue of Time is going to sell well. Mothers and fathers will get it to show their kids its not a pipe dream, it is no longer theoretical. I’ll be getting one to show the children I have in the future.
“I was there. I remember when it happened. Right at the start of it all. Obama.”



…To this day, I don’t know how he withstood the things he did without lashing back. I’ve been through a lot in my time, and I consider myself to be a patient man, but I know I couldn’t have done what Jackie did. I don’t think anybody else could have done it. Somehow, though, Jackie had the strength to suppress his instincts, to sacrifice his pride for his people’s. It was an incredible act of selflessness that brought the races closer together than ever before and shaped the dreams of an entire generation.

…more at the link

Apparently, way before this election began, Paul Begala got together with Lou Dobbs in heathen New York City, where they ate the Food Of The Working Class and pinned Barack Obama's electoral hopes on whether he could prove that he was able to accommodate dwarves with their insatiable need for marmalade. Or something. Begala may be drunk, or filling the performance-art vacuum left by his absence of pal James Carville. We don't know. But Begala did find a way to denigrate "Volvo drivin', NPR tote bag totin'" liberals, and claim Obama needed to "put the jam on the lower shelf where the little folk can reach it."
WATCH.]

BEGALA: The challenge now for Barack, both the key to the primary and the general election for Barack will now be white, working class voters. At the very, very beginning, of this entire election season, Lou, you and I and a bunch of us all got together in New York and talked about what the election will be about and I said then and I say it again tonight. My advice to Barack Obama is put the jam on the lower shelf where the little folk can reach it. In other words, talk more about those blue collar, economic populist issues that John Edwards first raised and now Hillary Clinton is raising so effectively. If he can do that, he'll hold this wonderful base built but he needs to reach out now to the white working-class voters and means a different message than he generally talks about. He's got to stop with all the arguments for the Volvo drivin', NPR totebag totin' liberals, he needs to talk to middle class working people.

Of course, if Edwards' supporters are anything like Edwards' donors, the populist break for Obama has already begun. Begala and I may differ on whether Clinton's been "raising" these issues "so effectively," but that's only because I don't think duping blue-collar voters with a phony "gas tax holiday" amounts to "effective" populism.

Donna Brazile, however, wasn't having any of it, and minutes later took the opportunity to dress Begala down (and in front of her boo, Lou Dobbs, to boot!). Begala protested, "We can't win with eggheads and African-Americans." Brazile, on the other hand, seemed to think that unifying the entire Democratic base would be preferable to alienating and insulting large demographic cross-sections of it in order to make blue-collar voters feel sufficiently pandered to. "You've got a hearing problem," Brazile jeered, "I've drank more beers with Joe Sixpack and Jane Sixpack than most white Democrats." She also took issue with Begala's continually referring to the Democratic Party as "my party." "It's our party, Paul."

...more at the link

Miller represents the 13th district, which includes Raleigh and Greensboro.
Miller met with Obama today.

*** UPDATE *** So with Miller's endorsement, here's NBC's delegate breakdown:

PLEDGED: Obama 1590, Clinton 1426
SUPERS: Clinton 273.5, Obama 261
TOTAL: Obama 1851, Clinton 1699.5
There are now 260.5 undeclared superdelegates.

ABC News has learned that David Bonior, the campaign manager for the 2008 presidential race of Sen. John Edwards, D-NC, will endorse Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, today.
Bonior, a former Michigan congressman, was once the second highest ranking Democrat in the House, and is influential with labor unions.
Tuesday night's results were said to be key to Bonior's decision -- specifically the fact that Obama's lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, appears insurmountable.
Bonior is also said to like Obama's general positive tone, as well as Obama's message of change and stance against taking money from federal lobbyists. Edwards has not yet endorsed either candidate

If you've been listening to the pundits, the campaign staff and the candidate herself, Hillary's pugilistic display is a prime reason to back her. Surely we want this fighter in the White House. It doesn't matter that the election numbers are overwhelmingly against her. It doesn't matter that party leaders and political experts are screaming about the damage to the Democratic Party. Pay no heed to glaring reality; damn the torpedoes -- full speed ahead.


Who does this remind you of? Who else is a fighter in the face of overwhelming opposition? Who else listens to no one holding contradictory opinions? Is there another politician who ignores the numbers, the advice of experts and the popular consensus on critical issues?

Can you say 'George Bush'?

Yes, Hillary has displayed great tenacity. Yes, she is impressive in her drive and commitment to her campaign. But these characteristics are not inherently valuable. We have an outstanding example of this residing in the White House right now.

Heckled

Wednesday's open-air rally at a Shepherd University hall drew a thousand or so students and others who crammed the lawn, spilling onto the shop-lined street.

But Obama signs were plentiful. When Mrs. Clinton appeared, a man waving one of them began chanting "Withdraw now! Withdraw now!" David Hostetter, an adjunct history professor at the college, conceded that he can't vote next week, since he lives in Silver Spring, Md.

Mrs. Clinton spoke for 20 minutes, vowing to fight for West Virginia and reiterating well-worn stances on the gas tax, student loans, the Iraq war and veterans care. Daughter Chelsea introduced her.

As the senator shook hands afterward and autographed campaign signs, a history student, 21-year-old Adrian Philp, sparked a minute of raucous booing that drowned out the pro-Clinton buzz by shouting a question: That care for veterans, he demanded, would that be before or after she sends them to attack Iran?

Keith Olbermann is reporting that Howard Wolfson and Patti Solis Doyle are currently negotiating
book deals about their time on the Clinton campaign. As Olbermann notes,
you don’t negotiate for book deals in primary season if you think you’re
going to be working a campaign in the fall.

Tough crowd asks tough questions.

Hillary Clinton booed in Shepherdstown West Virginia.
Mrs. Clinton endured boos when she mentioned her proposal for a gasoline tax holiday, catcalls when she spoke of ending the Iraq war and, most difficult of all, the heckling of her daughter, Chelsea, who introduced her.

“End the dynasty!” a young man holding an Obama poster shouted when Chelsea Clinton stepped to the microphone.

...more at the link

DeFazio throws his support to Obama

Posted by Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian May 08, 2008 22:21PM

Tonight Rep. Peter DeFazio became Oregon's third Democratic congressman to endorse Sen.Barack Obama, putting the Illinois politician one delegate closer to the presidential nomination.

DeFazio said that Obama, who will begin a two-day campaign trip to the state Friday morning, "represents our best chance of winning in November."

"We must not allow Senator McCain to continue the failures of the Bush foreign policy, war in Iraq and disastrous economic policies," DeFazio added.

...
http://blog.oregonlive.com/elections/2008/05/defazio_throw_his_support_to_o.html

Sen. Barack Obama spoke for about eight minutes at a cocktail reception tonight sponsored by the Israeli Embassy marking the 60th anniversary of Israel independence. The event was held at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.

According to the campaign, Obama was there in his capacity as a senator. According to the campaign: All Senators were invited to attend (not necessarily speak at) the Israel independence event. Other speakers were Vice President Cheney and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Ind Dem-CT). Other presidential candidates would have been treated the same. In the time we were there, he was the only senator to address the crowd of several hundred guests. (Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) was spotted in the crowd.)

Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor introduced Obama.

“We are particularly honored and extremely happy to have amongst us tonight a very special guest and friend, the distinguished senator from Illinois, Sen. Barack Obama,” Meridor said.

“Senator, rumor has it in Washington that you are running quite a hectic schedule nowadays,” Meridor continued. “We deeply deploy appreciate your special effort to join us here tonight and to celebrate with us the independence of Israel. The state of Israel is honored by your presence here with us tonight.”
http://thepage.time.com/

Idaho Dems miffed at Bill Clinton's comments

Source: Times News

Idaho Democrats sounded off Wednesday against former President Bill Clinton and his campaign comments about Gem State politics.

Clinton, while campaigning in Indiana for his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, was quoted in national media as saying she would "bag" No Child Left Behind laws.

"Every time I say this, it's a guaranteed applause line," he said. "You can drop me in the middle of Idaho where there's not a Democrat in 200 miles and an elk would applaud me on that."

Idaho Democrats called Clinton's comments an insult. They said the state party is making a comeback - after suffering setbacks during Clinton's two terms in office.

"If Bill Clinton had done for elk in Idaho everything he did for Democrats, we'd have far fewer elk," said Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Keith Roark - an uncommitted superdelegate

Sen. Clinton's campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/05/08/news/local_state/136326.txt