Chicago Think Squad Protest at the DNC on May 7th, 2008 at 130pm

(from HillBuzz: Please help us spread the word on this protest. We are bringing a large group of Chicago Hillary supporters to protest at the DNC — we are people who know Obama well, and support Hillary because we KNOW what Hillary do for the nation, and KNOW Obama’s done nothing in any job he’s been elected into. dd: I’m from Chicago too and didn’t hear about him until his 2004 speech. He didn’t do anything as my Senator either. Just biding his time to be President.)

Calling all Washington DC metro area Hillary Clinton supporters and Travelers for Hillary from any state who can take part!

The Chicago “Think Squad”, HillBuzz, and other Chicago-based Hillary supporters are heading to Washington, D.C. on May 7th, 2008 at 130pm to protest outside the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in support of voting rights in Florida and Michigan.

Protest Time:
130pm May 7th, 2008

Place:
DNC Headquarters
430 S. Capital Street, SE
Washington, D.C. 20003

Why:
Because the DNC, in 2000, declared itself to be the party that COUNTS ALL THE VOTES. Howard Dean needs to understand that, under his stewardship, the Democratic Party has lost its way. In 2008, the party’s mantra has morphed into disenfranchisement in its most suicidal form: excluding the people of Florida and Michigan from the nominating process, when these two states could tip the election to John McCain. Florida Democrats, in particular, are wholly blameless here, as the Republican governor and statehouse moved the primary, agaisnt the wishes of the Democrats there. Howard Dean has, thus, punished Florida Democrats for infractions they did not commit (and punished them with more severity than DNC Rules allow for). As Chairman, Dean’s job is to fairly employ DNC Rules in the best interest of winning the presidential election for the party. Without Florida and Michigan in our column, we’re likely to lose in the fall.

So, Howard Dean, Chicago has a message for you, and it’s YOU BETTER THINK. Sing it, ‘Retha.

Ode to TheOne

by ufa

tuesday is
not so far away
from now

and which
you are probably
dreading
to see

forgive us when
we’ll then
so sweetly ask
hoosier daddy?

Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing

–Vince Lombardi

NYT:

“It’s about the numbers, and the numbers are the numbers,” said Chris Redfern, the chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party and an uncommitted superdelegate.

Where’s your fighting spirit, kos? Weren’t the netroots all about winning? When did we become the party of beancounting losers?

Former DNC chairs: Hillary would beat McCain today — Obama wouldn’t

CNN: Former DNC chairs: Hillary would beat McCain today — Obama wouldn’t

Seven former Democratic National Committee chairs who support Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid, and the family of one who is deceased, released a letter Friday arguing that she is the candidate best-equipped to beat John McCain in November.

They write that “if the election were held today, Hillary would beat Senator McCain, but Senator Obama would lose to the presumptive GOP nominee.”

“Hillary has run one of the most formidable campaigns in the history of our Party,” the chairs wrote, listing Clinton’s primary season victories. “Her base of support includes women, Hispanics, seniors, Catholics, middle and low income Americans, and rural, suburban and urban voters. That’s a formidable coalition tailor-made for victory in a November general election.

“…We encourage you to continue to fully consider Hillary Clinton and the fact that she is qualified and accomplished. Too much is at stake for us not to consider deeply the choice we must make for our Party and our country.” … ..

U.S. News & World Report: Obama Wins The Media While Clinton Moves Up In The Polls

There is an odd dichotomy emerging in the media coverage of the Democratic presidential race emerging this morning. There are a number of items of good news for Hillary Clinton polls showing her in a dead heat in Indiana and one showing her competitive in North Carolina, which was expected to be an Obama stronghold. In addition, she picked up the endorsement of the Indianapolis Star, and a group of swing state polls show her far stronger in the general election in key states than Obama.

Paul Krugman: Party of Denial

Barack Obama is doing more harm to the Democratic cause by echoing Republican attack lines on issues such as insurance mandates and Social Security.

Family feud

Washington Bureau:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared Thursday with Hillary Clinton in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and reminded the crowd that “there are some members of my family who have decided to do the wrong thing.”

Alas, said Robert, “my party is divided. My family is divided.” But listen to him, he insisted, because “I’ve known Hillary Clinton longer than they’ve known Barack Obama.” Twelve years, he said.

But don’t despair, said Robert–”we’re all coming together after August,” family, party, etc.

Indianapolis Star Endorses Hillary

Experience makes Clinton better choice in primary

In this extraordinary election year, Indiana’s Democratic voters have been presented with an extraordinary opportunity: Choose for their party’s presidential nominee between a gifted senator from Illinois who has enthused millions of new voters and an equally talented senator from New York with years of high-level experience.

It’s been difficult for voters in other states to decide a clear favorite between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It’s also a difficult choice for The Star’s Editorial Board, which recently questioned each candidate in person about key issues facing the nation.

Obama offers an attractive vision for the way things could be. He speaks eloquently of hope and change. He connects with voters, many who formerly felt disenfranchised, on a level few political leaders have attained.

Clinton offers a clear-eyed view of the way things are. She offers nuanced positions on how to address the war in Iraq, trade with China and economic expansion. Her depth of knowledge is remarkable.

As impressive as Obama appears, he is still in his first term in the U.S. Senate, and only four years ago was serving as an Illinois state senator. His inexperience in high office is a liability.

Clinton, in contrast, is well prepared for the rigors of the White House. She is tough, experienced and realistic about what can and cannot be accomplished on the world stage.

Clinton regrettably has pandered more to voters, particularly on gas prices, than Obama. Both have taken stands on free trade that give in to protectionism.

Clinton also was an integral part of her husband’s political machine, which earned a reputation for flattening opponents. That factor understandably gives many voters pause about whether another Clinton should serve as president.

Yet, one thing is clear: The next commander in chief will take office at a time of extraordinary risk for this nation, both at home and abroad. The challenges — including those posed by a sagging economy, rising energy and food costs, the gap in health care, wars in two countries and threats from Iran — are complex.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is the better choice, based on her experience and grasp of major issues, to confront those challenges. She earns The Star’s endorsement in Tuesday’s primary.

Women Push Back in Support of Clinton

ABC, March 30, 2008, New Albany, IN:

Debra Starks has heard the calls for Hillary Rodham Clinton to quit the presidential race, and she’s not happy about it.

The 53-year old Wal-Mart clerk, so bedecked with Clinton campaign buttons most days that friends call her “Button Lady,” thinks sexism is playing a role in efforts to push the New York senator from the race. Starks wants Clinton to push back.

“The way I look at it, she’s a strong woman and she needs to stay in there. She needs to fight. If you want to be president, you have to fight for what you want. If she stays in there and does what she’s supposed to do, I think she’ll be on her way.”

Amid mounting calls from top Democrats for Clinton to step aside and clear the path for rival Barack Obama, strategists are warning of damage to the party’s chances in November if women — who make up the majority of Democratic voters nationwide, but especially the older, white working-class women who’ve long formed the former first lady’s base — sense a mostly male party establishment is unfairly muscling Clinton out of the race.

“Women will indeed be upset if it appears people are trying to push Hillary Clinton out of the way. If you are going to ask her to withdraw, you’d better be making a strong case for it — both to the candidate and the public.”

But Clinton advisers believe many superdelegates remain at least persuadable, due in no small part to the influence of women voters on the party and in the general election.

“My e-mail is bursting with women who are furious, and it’s grown in the last week,” said Ann Lewis, Clinton’s director of women’s outreach and a longtime Democratic activist.

“These women are the volunteer infrastructure of the Democratic Party who’ve been proud to support Democratic officials for what they believe and stand for. They are very angry that people they’ve worked for so hard would be so dismissive of Hillary and, by extension, of them and what they value.”

Indeed, the gender gap in most of the primaries thus far has been stark.

In California, Clinton bested Obama by a margin of 59 percent to 36 percent among women. She beat him by 54 percent to 45 percent among women in Ohio, an important general election battleground state.

Obama, in turn, has walloped Clinton among men in nearly every state. But he’s prevailed among women in just a handful of places, including his home state of Illinois and states with large black populations.

“There are millions of reasons to continue this race: people in Pennsylvania, Indiana and North Carolina, and all of the contests yet to come,” she told reporters Friday in Hammond, Ind. “This is a very close race and clearly I believe strongly that everyone should have their voices heard and their votes counted.”

Campaigning across the state Saturday, Clinton was greeted by large, heavily female crowds that shouted “You go, sister!” and “We’ve got your back!” in support of her pioneering candidacy. Indiana votes May 6.

“Women have always been asked to step aside if it was somehow for the greater good. In this case, Clinton, and a lot of her female supporters, clearly feel that she would make the better president and that it would not be for the greater good for her to step aside,” Wilson said.

Ouch

Only an Improvised Explosive Device will take out Senator Clinton.

–Joe Klein, on Campbell Brown’s CNN Election Center, May 1

Anyone have a video?

Elites lose

Obama’s father attended Harvard graduate school. Obama attended Harvard Law School.

Stevenson’s grandfather was 23rd Vice President of the US. His father was a strong contender for the VP nomination in 1928. He attended Princeton and Harvard.

Dukakis’ father attended Harvard Medical School. He attended Harvard Law School.

Gore’s father was a former US Senator. Gore attended Harvard. (He won but would have gotten more votes if he did not appear elite and out of touch.)

Kerry is a descendant of the wealthy Forbes family.

Neither of the Clinton’s forbears attended Ivy League schools, were public servants or descendants of wealthy families. This along with Bill Clinton’s lower white class roots make the Clintons more in touch with the average voter.

A girl after my own heart

It’s not just about race — for example, your example below. I think for the most part they are feminist issues. But if they have nothing to do with gender or a mix of gender and some other characteristic, they are not. eg, I am a woman and a former lawyer. If someone said to me: “lawyers suck!” that’s not a feminist issue. If someone said “bitchy lawyers suck!” that’s a feminist issue.

Similarly, if a black woman is offended by the natives in Amanda’s book, that’s a feminist issue because even if the natives are men, it makes a statement about a white feminist’s view of race and by extension WOC. If a black woman is offended by statements about black men, it’s a racial rather than a feminist issue. If she is called Mammy, that’s a feminist issue. If she reads in a magazine “black people all want to be rap stars” and rightfully finds that offensive, it’s not a feminist issue. If she is harrassed by an immigration official, it’s a feminist issue. If she is unfairly denied a job, even if it’s unclear whether it is due to gender or race, it’s a feminist issue.

Sean Bell, with no link to women at all except “he’s married to one and has a daughter,” isn’t a feminist issue. With an exploration of how police violence can have a specific gendered element, it becomes one. With an exploration of specific issues concerning black women whose husbands are dead or in jail, it becomes one. But these efforts weren’t made in the treatments by Feministe and Feministing, rendering them still good pieces, but indistinguishable from what you’d find in any liberal blog.

In other words, I don’t think everything that affects a woman, whether she’s white, black or green, is a feminist issue. If it involves dimensions of race and gender, or any other characteristic and gender, it is.

eg: environmentalism. If an environmentalist is told she has shitty taste in music, it’s not an environmental issue. If she is told that she is a “save the whales bitch” it’s an environmentalist and feminist issue.

For a little experiment, I looked at the last 25 posts on your blog and the last 25 posts on Feministe. All 25/25 of your posts had some relation to the core issue of race, although you touched upon feminism, issues of nationality, music, media, etc. But you kept on theme, and readers got a sense of a growing and developing theme, rather than a scattershot of issues.

Feministe, on the other hand, and don’t get me wrong, I like the site quite a bit, had 18 out of 25 articles relating in some way to feminism. And I interpreted that liberally — some of these were just about the bloggers themselves — I counted those. There were 7 articles with no interconnection.

Brilliant too.

Thanks from Hillary

CONTRIBUTE

The Matrix of Domination

by Patricia Hill Collins

Additive models of oppression are firmly rooted in the either/or dichotomous thinking of Eurocentric, masculinist thought. This emphasis on quantification and categorization occurs in conjunction with the belief that either/or categories must be ranked.

Replacing additive models of oppression with interlocking ones creates possibilities for new paradigms. The significance of seeing race, class, and gender as interlocking systems of oppression is that such an approach fosters a paradigmatic shift of thinking inclusively about other oppressions, such as age, sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity.

In this system, for example, white women are penalized by their gender but privileged by their race. Depending on the context, an individual may be an oppressor, a member of an oppressed group, or simultaneously oppressor and oppressed.

Other groups may encounter different dimensions of the matrix, such as sexual orientation, religion, and age, but the overarching relationship is one of domination and the types of activism it generates.

To superdelegates

Quinnipiac Poll, May 1:

Winning among white working class voters, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton holds strong leads over Arizona Sen. John McCain - and runs much better than Illinois Sen. Barack Obama - in three critical swing states, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to three simultaneous Quinnipiac University Swing State polls released today. If Sen. Obama is the Democratic nominee, he’s in a tight race with McCain in Florida and Ohio, but takes Pennsylvania.

This is Sen. Clinton’s strongest overall performance since the independent Quinnipiac University began special surveys two years ago in the three largest and most important swing states in the Electoral College. This latest survey finds:

Florida: Clinton tops McCain 49 - 41 percent; McCain gets 44 percent to Obama’s 43 percent;
Ohio: Clinton beats McCain 48 - 38 percent; McCain gets 43 percent to Obama’s 42 percent;
Pennsylvania: Clinton tops McCain 51 - 37 percent; Obama leads McCain 47 - 38 percent.

Among white working-class voters, Clinton ties McCain 45 - 45 percent in Florida, leads 46 - 40 percent in Ohio and 48 - 40 percent in Pennsylvania. These same voters back McCain over Obama 51 - 34 percent in Florida, 49 - 34 percent in Ohio and 45 - 38 percent in Pennsylvania.

“If the super delegates are looking at electability, these results could be a shot in the arm for Sen. Clinton. No one has won the White House since 1960 without carrying two of these three swing states, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. And she clearly is running much better against Sen. McCain than is Sen. Obama, at least for now,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“There is no indication that Obama’s problems with white working class Democrats in the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries have gone away,” Brown added.

Hillary at Her Best

h/t Taylor Marsh:

The chemistry between O’Reilly and Clinton was tremendous, with the fun factor on “The Factor” appealing and endearing. It will drive the Progressive Liberal Village nuts. Watch Hillary Clinton. This is how you “take on” Fox News, to use the Obama team’s words. You do it with charm, though knowing the facts helps a lot. Review on the Bill O’Reilly two-day interview: flawless. Obama couldn’t come close to this performance, nor could any other Democrat. It takes a woman to tame Bill O’Reilly. It’s clear he enjoyed it. So did she.

Clinton will appear in a town hall meeting in Indiana hosted by ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulous.” It will include viewer questions from NC also. ABC News has extended offers to both Sen. Barack Obama and John McCain.

So a former DNC head thinks Clinton would be a better President but is wringing his hands like other Obama supporters to end the primary. It’s only Obama supporters who are wringing their hands. Democrats are going for Clinton so he’s as clueless as all the other white men who called to end the primary. It’s only white men who called to end the primary. We can’t win if it looks like men pushed her out of the race. Women make up 54% of the electorate so stop pissing us off. Like the Indiana union leader said, get some test-TIC-u-lar fortitude. Tell Barry to get some balls too.

Riverdaughter: DNC, Show Us Clinton’s WMDs *NOW* Or Stuff a Sock In It

She’s going to destroy the party! We must act now or it will be curtains for us. John McCain will win in November if we allow Clinton to continue her reckless and dangerous quest for the nomination. The Party is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.

Will you people get a grip?!

Does the fact that Obama’s campaign cut a deal with the DNC on joint fundraising have anything to do with it? The DNC is headed towards insolvency but instead of settling FL and MI so that it is fair to voters and to Clinton, they’d rather screw the voters in those states and, by extension, every other state that Clinton won. And voters are rightfully withholding their DNC contributions until the problem is solved to their satisfaction. Too bad solving it gets in the way of the party’s beautiful plans to take over the presidency.

So, produce the evidence, Mr Andrews. Bring forth the nukes and the poisoned gas or stop the stupid fearmongering and STFU.

Todd Beeton: Witness the Destruction of the Party

Preferences for the outcome of the election:

4/28 3/10 Nov. 07
Democrat (strongly) 45 44 41
Democrat (not strongly) 6 6 8
Republican (strongly) 25 29 31
Republican (not strongly) 8 8 8

Damn shame isn’t it?