This week’s political cartoons

 

Why Hillary?

Dan Solis from ThinkYouth sent me this video along with this note:

If this doesn’t get you motivated to endorse Hillary on your blog, I don’t know what will.
I gotta admit, this video made me tear up a bit. Have you seen it already?

I’ve seen the video, and I am well convinced that Hillary should make a statement with her hairstyle. So why does her hair look so flat on the video? And why should any of that mean that people should vote for her?

Vote for the candidate who will be the best president! Vote for the one who will be able to fix all the things that Bush and the Republicans broke. Don’t vote based on gender or race.

Here is my tribute to Ann Richards the week that she died.

 

Old enough for 10,000 votes?

Super delegates each have the same voting power as regular delegates. And each of the regular delegates represents about 10,000 actual democratic voters. So …. how can someone who was too young to vote in the 2004 election be old enough to be a super delegate?

Well, there is at least one, Jason Rae, a 21 year old college student from Wisconsin.

Click here for the video.

Huffington Post also has a story on this.

 

Time for Texans to see the candidates

Hillary’s first public rally in Texas is this evening in El Paso. Our primary is March 4, so learn about the candidates and plan to vote!

Clinton launches Texas tour in El Paso

Locked in a tight battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton will kick off the Texas portion of her campaign in El Paso today with a free public rally at the Don Haskins Center, followed by a private $1,000-per-person fundraiser.

“The excitement is obvious,” said U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, one of the organizers of Clinton’s El Paso visit.

The Clinton rally begins at 6 p.m. today She is scheduled to speak at about 6:30 p.m. However, to accommodate the expected large crowd, the doors at the Don Haskins Center will open at 4:30 p.m., officials said.

Among those who plan to attend the rally is West Side voter Yolanda Uranga. She’s going along with her husband and several friends.

“We’ve got to have a good turnout because she needs us right now,” Uranga said.

Reyes urged people to show up early because the arena holds 12,000 people, and entrance is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“In 1996 the Clintons had a rally at the airport with 44,000 people, and what people forget is that we turned away another 12,000 people,” Reyes said. “That’s how much interest there is.”El Pasoan Rick LoBello, who is helping organize Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in El Paso, said some Obama supporters will have their own cordial rally outside the Don Haskins Center today.

“Just like there is a lot of support for Clinton in El Paso and it is going to show tomorrow, there is a lot of support for Obama, and if he ever comes to El Paso it will show, too,” he said.

Clinton and Obama are locked in a tight race for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Among the states left to vote is Texas, which conducts its primary on March 4.

Reyes said former President Bill Clinton is also expected to visit El Paso in the next two weeks.

Ramon Bracamontes may be reached at rbracamontes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6142.

 

Obama

So far, Barack Obama has already won Washington State and Nebraska caucuses this weekend, as well as Louisiana and the Virgin Islands. Maine’s caucus results are not yet complete, but this is what MSNBC has so far:

NBC projects Obama will win Maine caucuses

With 59 percent of votes counted, he had 57 percent to Clinton’s 42 percent

NBC News and news services

AUGUSTA, Maine – NBC News projected that Barack Obama has defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic Party’s Maine caucuses on Sunday, a day after sweeping three other states.

Democrats in 420 Maine towns and cities decided how the state’s 24 delegates would be allotted at the party’s national presidential convention in August. Despite the weather, turnout was “incredible,” party executive director Arden Manning said.

With 59 percent of precints reporting, Obama had 57 percent to Clinton’s 42 percent.

And this is from his campaign website:

Obama sweeps three states

Sen. Barack Obama swept the Louisiana primary and caucuses in Nebraska and Washington state Saturday night… The Illinois senator also won caucuses in the Virgin Islands, completing his best night of the campaign.

 

White House a prison?

No Mrs. Senator Clinton. The White House is a Palace!

Hillary Clinton feels the White House is like a prison

from LA Times

Also, Obama says he’s no bureaucrat, more California voters decline to pick party, Michigan GOP congratulates the wrong fellow and a Lou Dobbs draft?

By DON FREDERICK and ANDREW MALCOLM
January 20, 2008

Not that it’s going to diminish her ambition to get back in there again, but Hillary Clinton says she views the White House as something of a prison.She also thinks that if she is elected president, she’ll have to have a contest on what to call her husband because “first lady” wouldn’t be appropriate.

This and other minutiae Clinton shared with Tyra Banks during a recent taping of Banks’ syndicated TV show.”Do you ever get lonely?” Banks asked the New York senator. “Do you ever sit in your room by yourself sometimes and just feel alone?”

“I don’t feel lonely,” Clinton said. “But I do feel sometimes isolated. Because when you are in these positions that I have been in, it can be very isolating. It is one of the reasons I [used to] put on the dark glasses and the baseball cap and go out of the White House. President Harry Truman once said that the White House was like the crown jewel of the American penal system because you can feel confined.”

“And kind of [like jail],” Banks added.

“Yeah,” Clinton replied. “Because you feel so set off and really isolated.”

Banks also wanted to know what Clinton’s husband would be called if she won. “He will always be Mr. President,” Clinton said. “But now we need to do a nationwide contest for a name.”

“Like a reality show,” Banks suggested.

“Like a reality show,” Clinton agreed. “This is good, because think about it — here are some of the things that have been suggested like First Mate. His Scottish friends say ‘First Laddie,’ but we need ideas. I’ll just keep calling him Bill.”

Banks didn’t get around to asking policy questions, but she was curious about something that so many of us have also long wondered about: which reality show Clinton might like to be on someday — “Dancing with the Stars,” “American Idol” or “America’s Next Top Model”?

“In my dreams,” Clinton said, “I would be on ‘America’s Next Top Model,’ but in reality I would have to choose [among] my limited talents, and of them, dancing is better than singing. You do not want me to sing.”

Finally, Clinton announced her decision: “I think it would have to be ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ ” she said, “especially if I could have one of those really good partners.”

 

Huckabee, the Constitution and the News

Update below!

Would someone please tell me why the story about Huckabee wanting to change the Constitution and start a theocracy here is NOT in regular newspapers? I am not allowed to use AlterNet or TPM or the blogs as sources for weekly “current events in politics” assignments. And if it isn’t even news for a high school history class, then it’s really not news for the American public!

Here’s what Google News Search had for the search terms huckabee “god’s standards” constitution:

Huckabee Advocates Changing the Constitution to Live By “God’s …
AOL News Newsbloggers, VA – 1 hour ago
… means what he says, he wants the turn the US into a Christian Taliban state, where we would be ruled by what Mike Huckabee believes is “God’s standards. .

Huck, the Constitution and ‘God’s standards’
MSNBC – Jan 15, 2008
WARREN, Mich. — Huckabee’s closing argument to voters here this evening featured a few new stories and two prolonged sections on illegal immigration and …

Huckabee trades God for jobs in Michigan Guardian Unlimited, UK – Jan 14, 2008 The former Baptist minister Mike Huckabee today discarded the emphasis on conservative social values that propelled him to victory in the Iowa caucuses …

Huckabee, 3rd In Michigan, Looks Ahead To So. Carolina WCPO, OH – Jan 15, 2008 By LIBBY QUAID, AP Writer LEXINGTON, SC (AP) — Mike Huckabee, nursing a second third-place finish in northern states, looked ahead to the South where he … Mike Huckabee Doesn’t Believe in Constitution Stop the ACLU, PA – Jan 15, 2008 by Jay @ 9:42 pm on January 15, 2008. If I may quote a famouse liberal…”You say you wanna change the Constitution, well you know…we all wanna change your …

Why not the New York Times or the Chicago Tribune or a newspaper my teacher accepts as real?!?!? Here’s what Huckabee ACTUALLY said:

“I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution,” Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. “But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that’s what we need to do — to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view.”

He’s a FFFFing candidate for President who has already won a state! Tell me why that this shouldn’t be front page news on all the newspapers this week.

Update: It IS in a real newspaper! Just not in the United States. The UK Guardian has the story.

 

What does the win really mean for Hillary Clinton?

In tonight’s New Hampshire primary, Hillary Clinton has just been named the winner, but she is only a little bit ahead of Barack Obama. Here are the results as of now:

ELECTION RESULTS

New Hampshire

Democrats	Vote	%
Clinton	67,828	39%
Obama	62,736	36
Edwards	29,126	17
Richardson	8,212	5
Kucinich	2,478	1
Gravel	240	0
66% reporting

There are 30 delegates from New Hampshire, 22 of which are pledged to specific candidates. So Clinton gets 39% of 22 votes, or 8.58 delegates. Obama’s share is 7.92 delegates and Edwards gets 3.74 delegates. Richardson would receive 1.1 delegates and Gravel and Kucinich none. If all are rounded, then Clinton gets 9, Obama 8, Edwards 4 and Richardson 1.

For Hillary it is great because she was third (by a tiny percentage) in Iowa and because she was not predicted to have this many votes or to win in New Hampshire. But it is not a blow-out. And the race is very far away from being over.

 

John Edwards WINS in Iowa

OK, he didn’t get the biggest percentage of delegates from the caucuses, but he did win by beating Hillary.  He also showed that people want change and that you can get a lot of votes without having to spend zillions of dollars.

Congratulations Mr. Edwards!

Here is his campaign website.

 

John Edwards and corporations

Corporations can be very good for a country because they employ people, create things, sell things, and provide services. But there can be problems when corporations have too much influence over government and when they refuse to negotiate with unions or use union workers. John Edwards is the democratic candidate who is talking the most about corporate greed and the problems that it can cause. Here’s part of an article from Huffington Post that explains what he said in Iowa on Friday.

While Edwards has consistently campaigned on an economically populist program, his speech today in Dubuque was marked by a noticeable ratcheting up and radicalization of his critique of corporate wealth and power.

“Why on earth would we expect the corporate powers and their lobbyists, who make billions by selling out the middle-class, to just give up their power because we ask them nicely?” Edwards asked. He made no mention of rivals Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in today’s speech; in the past, he has slammed Clinton for being too indebted to powerful Washington lobbies.

Edwards is in the midst of a final 38-county push to win next Thursday’s Iowa caucuses. Even his own supporters will concede that taking Iowa is a do-or-die must for a campaign running third in national polls, but in a virtual dead heat in the Hawkeye State with rivals Clinton and Obama.

Nestled on the gritty Illinois border, Dubuque has been hit hard by the collapse in American manufacturing jobs and offers itself as a perfect venue for Edwards’ message of economic fairness. The local Flexsteel plant has lost about two-thirds of its 800 jobs over the past decade. Paper maker Georgia Pacific, another big employer in town, has also been hit hard by job exports.

“Iowa has lost twice as many jobs to unfair trade deals than it’s won in the so-called technological revolution,” Edwards adviser Dave “Mudcat” Saunders told the HuffPost before today’s event started. “What kind of revolution is that?” Saunders said Edwards would stay on his message of opposing “unchecked greed” and that it was a theme that resonated deeply throughout the state.

 

 

Governor Perry is an idiot about terrorism

Why is it that the newspaper quotes politicians or any people without fact checking or making them justify their opinions. If Governor Perry wrote sentences like the following on a paper in my history class, he’d get a 50 for failing to provide any evidence at all for his opinions. But the Austin-American Statesman quotes things he said at a party and acts like he’s making sense.

Perry predicted too that if Democrats prevail next year, the war on terrorism will return to U.S. soil.

No evidence offered.

Then this:

And although Giuliani would keep up the war on terrorism, Perry said, “if we elect the Democrats across the board, the war on terror is not going away. It’s just going to have to happen here. And I want the war, and I want the conflict, to be over there in their country. I want to stop it over there before they get back over here.”

First of all — Mr. Governor Good Hair, which is “their country”? Saudi Arabia (like 15 of the 19 9-11 terrorists)? Iran? Iraq? Syria? Mexico?

Second of all — Dear Editor, why do you print the governor’s comments without some commentary about how outrageous they are?

Finally, who cares about the governor’s opinions about terrorism anyway?

 

Texas Primary — no choices

I am not sure when the Texas primary is, but it’s really clear that we have NO CHOICES AT ALL. Look at this!

So far in Texas, it’s John Edwards or nobody

from Star-Telegram

By AMAN BATHEJASo far, Texas primary voters will have two choices for president on March 4: John Edwards and none of the above.

The former senator from North Carolina is the only candidate to have filed as a candidate for president in Texas.

The filing period for next year’s primary began Monday. It ends Jan. 2.

A few more Democrats and Republicans are certain to file for president in the coming days.

More than 30 local incumbents are also up for re-election next year.

Several incumbents, including U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, State Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, and state Reps. Paula Pierson, D-Arlington, and Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, have attracted challengers.

Office	Incumbent	Who’s filed
President	George W. Bush (R) cannot run for re-election.	John Edwards(D)
U.S. Senator	John Cornyn(R)	Rick Noriega (D); Larry Kilgore (R)
U.S. Representative, District 6	Joe Barton(R)	Barton
U.S. Representative, District 12

Please note that exam week us coming up and I have two projects to finish as well, so a lt less writing until Dec 20.

—FrecklesCassie

 

Nobody wants to win the 2008 election

Looks like the whole bunch of them are being morons sometimes, doesn’t it? Who wants to win? Who isn’t an idiot?  Look at these stories:

Giuliani to ignore first three primaries

h/t Josh Marshall

Pleading the Fifth

Rudy Giuliani got the memo about the importance of early primary states. He’s just choosing to ignore it.

While Iowa and New Hampshire are crucial states for most Republican candidates, Rudy Giuliani thinks of them more as a nuisance. Giuliani’s campaign told reporters today that they think Giuliani can lose the first three contests in the cycle and still win the nomination. They essentially conceded defeat in Iowa and New Hampshire to Mitt Romney, who has double-digit leads in the polls and has poured millions into radio and television advertising.

What’s Rudy’s plan again???

Lotta Cuts

from TPM Josh Marshall by Josh Marshall

Okay, we’re starting to get some good tips to help us flesh out Rudy’s new promise that he’ll replace only 50% of federal workers slated to retire over the next decade.

TPM Reader JR points us to this article in Government Executive magazine that notes that …

The government faces a potential wave of exits over the next decade as about 60 percent of federal workers overall and 90 percent of senior executives become eligible for retirement.

Now, I’ve never been much of a math wiz. But half of 60% is I think 30%. So Rudy seems to be saying he’ll cut the federal workforce by about 1/3, which sounds like it would likely have some pretty serious consequences.

Meanwhile, another recent study says that over the next two years alone the federal government plans to hire 193,000 new workers for “mission-critical” jobs. And about 1/3 of those are in “security, protection, compliance and enforcement.”

The study also notes that most of those new hires are for the Department of Homeland Security for stuff like customs enforcement, border security and immigration enforcement. Presumably he’s willing to gut those enforcement responsibilities.

Clinton camp accuses Edwards of acting like Bush

CNN – 54 minutes ago
DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) — In a sign of the increasingly bitter feud between the leading Democratic presidential contenders, Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign Monday accused John Edwards of acting like President Bush and dividing Democrats.

Clinton and the Press

from Reality Based News Feed by Ezra Klein

Michael Crowley’s examination of the Clinton campaign’s press strategy is one of those must-read type pieces. The short version is the Clinton campaign has been beating the shit out of the media and tightly controlling the flow of information, and it seems to be working. Pieces like this always unnerve me, though. As plausible as it is, you can imagine the very same article being written, with different adjectives, in the aftermath of a Hillary Clinton loss. “Her campaign’s fearsome press operation slowly enraged reporters, subtly coloring their coverage of the tight-lipped candidate…”

 

Are we ready to fight?

    My brother was 6 when he decided to join the military and 18 when he did. He was not drafted. It was his choice. I do not want to get drafted when I turn 18 in 2 yrs (and a few months). Do you? If Bush doesn’t ever let this war end, and if Congress never pushes for it to end, then we all might end up fighting. Even with enlistment bonuses and 5th tours of duty, the military is going to run out of soldiers and marines.

This is an ad that is being run in Maine where Susan Collins is up for re-election, but it could run anywhere. Watch it. Share it with people. Keep me and my friends and our classmates and our generation from having to get drafted to fight Bush’s war.

Are you ready to fight? Are you ready to go on 3 or 4 or 5 deployments? Are you ready for PTSD? Are you ready to die?

 

When can we leave Iraq?

So …. If half the republican people want us to withdraw troops from Iraq, we can assume that even more of the democratic people want to withdraw troops. So when will the politicians in Washington know what the people know? When will they listen? When will they start a withdrawal?

This is from ThinkProgress:

51 percent:

Number of Republicans in Iowa who “favor a withdrawal of all United States military from Iraq within the next six months.” Just 39 percent are against a withdrawal. (via Atrios)

 

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