WELCOME TO “OBAMA SUPPORTERS” DAILY NEWS

Sunday May 25 2008


Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during a rally in
Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, May 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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again from DemconWatch

Sunday. May 25, Hawaii Democrats hold their State Convention, followed by a meeting of the State Central Committee, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort in Waikiki, and name their add-on, and also select a new state party chair and vice-chair, both of whom immediately become superdelegates. Obama won the Hawaii Caucuses. Candidates for the Chair position are Annelle Amaral and Brian Schatz. Schatz is a former member of Obama's campaign in Hawaii, and has been endorsed by Obama. Amaral is a Clinton supporter but has committed to voting for Obama at the convention. In addition, Obama has endorsed James Burns, former chief judge of the state Intermediate Court of Appeals, for the add-on position.

Hillary is guilty as sin, and here's why. When you write or speak publicly for a living, sometimes you screw up, but there's still an internal censor that shuts you off when certain topics come to mind. One of those topics is death, particularly pertaining to political candidates. When Ted Kennedy fell ill last weekend, for example, I wanted to write about what would happen to his Senate seat if he died. But you don't do that in politics (even if, with an evenly divided Senate a lot of political insiders were understandably concerned about the day's events) - you don't do that in civilized society - so I referenced, politely, how succession would work in Massachusetts "if for any reason Kennedy were to step down from his post." I made it sounds as if Kennedy might choose to resign, rather than talk about the very real possibility that he might die.

There have been a number of posts, in the past, where I've wanted to write that Hillary was "dead wrong" about something, and Joe would ping me and say "you can't do that." Why, I'd ask. Because you just can't say anything that sounds like "death" surrounding a political candidate, especially a presidential one. An even more recent, and relevant, example happened only hours before Hillary invoked Bobby Kennedy's assassination yesterday. Joe sent me a paragraph from an MSNBC story in which Hillary's top advisers talked, again, about some unforeseen event bringing down Obama before the convention. The graf was creepy, it gave both of us a ghoulish feel, but we didn't write about it because it would have been equally ghoulish to even bring up the notion of something violent happening to a candidate, even if we were writing about Hillary having been the person to raise the notion.

I'm even having a hard time writing about what Hillary said now. I don't know what to title my posts. I'm not sure when I should even use the word "assassination." For Hillary to invoke Bobby Kennedy at all when talking about this race, let alone to use the word "assassination," is beyond creepy. It isn't done in politics. Even if it's just because of superstitious fears of jinxing things. In Europe, old Europe at least, you don't talk about serious illnesses of another, lest the mere mention bring the illness down on you and yours as well. In politics, we all have a bit of Old Europe in us. That is why what Hillary said is so startling, so offensive, and so horribly telling. You reference, if you must, "the horrible tragedy of Bobby Kennedy." (And even that is a stretch.) But you don't invoke assassinations, out of the blue, especially when there is a lot of fear, sotto voce, about the safety of the other guy in a country with an unfortunate history of political violence (see, even just now, I had written "assassination" and it so gave me the creeps, I changed the word to "political violence").

What Hillary said wasn't just sickening. The very fact that she said it broke a lot of unwritten norms in this town. And that's horribly telling about who this woman is.

The Washington wise men see this as the nadir, and think it could hasten the end of the race. ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “World News”:

***“There seems to be a split inside the Clinton camp, Charlie. Before those comments today, there was a strong view inside the Clinton campaign that they should try to push this MAYBE EVEN BEYOND June 3rd or 4th, and take this fight over seating the Michigan and Florida delegations to the convention, if necessary. This was raising some hackles at the Democratic National Committee. IT’S A LOT LESS LIKELY to go forward now after these comments. As one Obama strategist put it, this could be the last straw.”

The playful Jonathan Martin posts a soundfile to answer the question: “The surest sign the Democratic race is over: Hillary Clinton brings up RFK's assassination, a clamor ensues and what is the response from the McCain campaign and RNC on the topic?”



more at the link

"...I think it's over for her," said University of Maryland professor Ron Walters, who studies race in politics.

Walters said black talk radio has been buzzing with theories about Clinton's motivation for discussing RFK, opening an even wider breach between the Clintons and black voters that began during January's South Carolina primary.

"Blacks are giving 92 percent of their vote, and they're talking about this all over the country. And they're angry about these comments. If he's at all sensitive, he cannot put her on the ticket."

...Clinton's RFK comments "should never have been made" and "goes to all sorts of questions about her judgment and motivation," said Merle Black, a political-science professor at Emory University in Atlanta.

"It'll be very hard for her to walk away from," Black said.

....more at the link

The growing syllabus of arguments against Senator Clinton's seemingly endless candidacy has yet to successfully convince the remaining superdelegates to end this primary nominating process. But this newest quote from the Senator today ought to be the inciting incident -- the scream that stirs the avalanche.

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."

To translate from Desperate Clinton into English: Senator Obama could be assassinated at any moment, and such an event would represent another -- goddamn, this is awful -- another path to the nomination for her. It's all about her path to the nomination. A possible assassination of Senator Obama. Yep. This is what it's come down to.

Coupled with the well-known, ridiculous and dangerous rumors about Senator Obama, invoking an assassination attempt against him represents a new and ghoulish low for already bottom-feeding campaign.

...more at the link

Even as she continues her longshot presidential bid, Hillary Rodham Clinton faces a political rift in New York, where black leaders say her standing has dropped due to racially charged comments by her and her husband during the campaign.

African American elected officials and clerics based in New York City say Clinton will need to defuse resentment over the campaign's racial overtones if she returns to New York as U.S. senator.

State Sen. Bill Perkins, who represents Harlem, said constituents recently phoned him because they wanted to demonstrate outside Bill Clinton's Harlem office against comments by the former president.

...Assemblyman Karim Camara of Brooklyn contributed $500 to Hillary Clinton's Senate reelection campaign in 2006 and described Bill Clinton as a political hero. He said: "Once the campaign is over there has to be a lot of work to heal the wounds. She needs to go back to the black churches she visited in the course of her campaign and have a frank conversation about who she is and how much the support of the black community means. There would not have been a first Clinton presidency in 1992 if not for the African American community."

...much much more at the link

CUBAN-AMERICAN RESPONSE
Foundation warm to Obama's ideas
Sen. Barack Obama spoke to an enthusiastic Cuban-American crowd.

<snip>

In a lunchtime speech to the Cuban American National Foundation, Obama offered a new Cuba policy approach to an audience accustomed to presidential candidates coming to show solidarity, but not to challenge the long isolation of the island's communist government.

Obama, greeted by a standing ovation and scattered chanting of his campaign slogan, ''Yes we can,'' touched on one of his more controversial ideas: a willingness to meet with Cuban leader Raúl Castro.

''I know what the easy thing is to do for American politicians . . . Every four years, they come down to Miami, they talk tough, they go back to Washington and nothing changes in Cuba,'' he said.

``After eight years of the disastrous policies of George Bush, it is time, I believe, to pursue direct diplomacy, with friend and foe alike, without preconditions.''

He said again that if elected president, he would immediately lift the limits on Cuban Americans who want to visit Cuba or send money to relatives on the island.

''There will be careful preparation. We will set a clear agenda'' before any meeting with Castro, Obama said.

<snip>

When Obama arrived, the room burst into a standing ovation as people yelled and snapped pictures. His speech was frequently interrupted by applause.

<snip>

In the audience: Alina Fernandez, Fidel Castro's daughter living in exile.

''I believe he is the only candidate who has spoken sincerely about the intentions that he has toward Cuba,'' she said.

http://www.miamiherald.com/political-currents/story/545276.html

Obama tries to woo Cuban-Americans

By Edward Luce in Miami
Published: May 23 2008 21:08 | Last updated: May 23 2008 21:08

For the second consecutive day, Barack Obama on Friday stood up in front of one of the toughest groups of voters in America’s toughest, large-swing state in what is rapidly turning into a full-scale general election campaign.

On Friday in Miami it was Cuban-Americans, who have been one of the most stalwart backers of the Republican party since they fled to the US after the Castro revolution in 1959.

On Thursday, it was Florida’s Jewish community, whose vocal support for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary has been reinforced by rumours about Mr Obama’s association with radical Palestinian groups and his allegedly lukewarm support for Israel.

Mr Obama chose to address the groups at the earliest possible stage in the general election campaign, though 10 days still remain before the conclusion of the increasingly overshadowed Democratic primary.