Edwards Second Place A Boost, Clinton's Third A Blow
by Glynn Wilson
File photo by Glynn Wilson
Illinois Senator Barack Obama campaigning in Birmingham last July
If politics is like a series of horse races, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois just ran away with the Kentucky Derby in the first actual vote in the critical presidential race of 2008, taking the Iowa Caucus with 38 percent of a record turnout vote. In one of the best stump speeches in modern times, Obama argued in his Iowa Caucus victory address that it was a historic moment in American political history - and he may be right.
The record turnout among Democrats, especially young Democrats - and far and away more than the Republicans could turn out in a Republican state of white Protestant farmers, ethanol producers and insurance salesmen - could be a good indication of how fired up Democrats are to end the rein of establishment Republicans like George W. Bush.
Former Arkansas Governor and Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee's Christian populist win among Republicans over rich former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is also a clear indication that Americans are ready for change.
"This is a defining moment in our history. We did what the cynics said we couldn't do," Obama said in a confident speech with perfect cadence. "We are one nation, we are one people, and the time for change has come."
"They said this day would never come. They said our sights were set too high," Obama said. "They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to come together around a common purpose."
Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards' second place showing at 30 percent gives his populist candidacy a major boost, while former First Lady and Senator Hillary Clinton's third place showing with 29 percent should give pause to those who have considered her the run-away front-runner for the past six months, including most of the national media.
Senator John McCain's low third place finish at 13 percent to Huckabee's 34 and Romney's 25 percent, may make it harder for him to make the case in New Hampshire that he is the guy who can beat former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani, lounging down in sunny Florida, in the fear mongering pro-war, anti-terror campaign.
An estimated record number, 220,000 Democrats and independents, showed up at caucus sites, compared to 124,000 who voted for the Democrat in 2004. By contrast, only about 114,000 Republican voters turned out. The last contested Republican caucuses drew about 88,000 when George W. Bush won in 2000.
The surge of young and independent voters to Obama, as indicated in caucus entrance polls, could suggest he has major crossover strength in a general election campaign.
"The one thing that’s clear with the results in Iowa tonight is the status quo lost and change won," Edwards said in his speech, which focused largely on attacking poverty and providing health care for all Americans.
Senator Clinton, flanked by her husband and one of the best presidents in American history, Bill Clinton, along with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, congratulated Senator Obama and Edwards, saying the message from Iowa was clear.
"We are going to have change, and that change is going to be a Democratic president in the White House in 2009,” she said, even though from her demeanor, it appeared to dawn on her that she is not the leading change agent in this race.
Whew! Now that we are finally voting and the race is on, Obama proved he is a major threat to the status quo in American politics. He's by far the best orator in the race, and maybe the best politician with the best campaign team in place with a real chance to go all the way. We'll see what New Hampshire voters have to say next Tuesday - in the Preakness of American presidential politics.
It's a win, place or show bet in Iowa, according to a compilation of all the polls in the Democratic Party's presidential nomination race in the corn and insurance state. It's a three-way tie no matter how you look at it.
It's not going to matter, but we predict a win for Edwards by a nose at the last minute, with Obama coming in a close second and Hillary right behind them in third.
We won't bet the Yuengling on it, but if I was going to the betting window, I would put all the money on a three-way tie - bet on all three front runners to win, place and show.
Iowa is a state made up mostly of white Protestant farmers who raise pigs and cows and grow corn, soybeans and oats. It produces more federally subsidized ethanol than any other state - contributing much pollution runoff that ends up in the Mississippi River and causes a Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico.
Des Moines, the state capital, is also full of insurance salesmen. With a population of only 2.9 million people, the state has just seven electoral votes - two less than Alabama.
Is that the kind of people we want making one of the most important early decisions about who will serve as president of the United States for the next four or eight years?
The Iowa caucus vaulted to the head of the political line in the U.S. presidential nomination process in 1972, thanks to a series of articles in the New York Times, according to Wikipedia.
Democratic operative Norma S. Matthews, Iowa co-chair of the George McGovern campaign, is credited with engineering the early January start for Iowa, as the story goes. McGovern finished second to Edmund Muskie in the first early "Hawkeye state" caucus, giving him the momentum to win the Democratic Party's nomination for president in Miami later in the summer.
But that first famous caucus was held on January 24, not Jan. 3 as it will be this year just two days after the New Year's Day holiday.
In 1976, Jimmy Carter used his second place finish in Iowa to propel his dark horse candidacy into a win in the New Hampshire primary and ultimately the party's nomination for president. The Republicans also made the caucus important in 1976, and since then, presidential candidates have increased their focus on winning the little Iowa caucus.
In the months leading up to the 2004 caucus, predictions showed candidates Dick Gephardt and Howard Dean neck-and-neck for first place, with John Kerry and John Edwards far behind. Negative campaign ads attacking each other by the two front runners soured the voters on the leaders, however. With Gephardt's presidential hopes dashed and Dean's badly battered, Sen. John Kerry reportedly put all his remaining money in Iowa and swung voters towards him. A strong showing by Sen. John Edwards propelled him into the vice presidential slot, but the ticket ended up not being strong enough to blow away George W. Bush's bid for a second disastrous term.
This year, with other states moving their party priimaries up to Feb. 5, Iowa did not want to relinquish its importance in the process and moved its caucus to Jan. 3.
And for the past month, the two Democratic Party front runners, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have been forced to fight it out on the ground in Iowa and largely ignore their important duties on the U.S. Senate floor. Obama has been attacked for missing votes, and well he should be, since only Sen. Chris Dodd showed up of all the candidates to fight a measure to grant immunity to the telecom giants for their role in illegally spying on Americans.
Where do the Democratic Party's front runners stand on that issue? Voters may never know - thanks to the people of Iowa's interest in the nativity and distaste in campaign negativity.
Even National Public Radio has questioned the wisdom of this.
Most party insiders and media pundits believe the presidential race will be over on Feb. 5 due to the winner take all nature of the delegate system. So, what are the campaigns supposed to do from February to November? That would be the longest political campaign in the history of democracy, and it is likely that the public will grow so sick of it that more and more will not participate in the process. And which party do you think benefits from lower public participation? You guessed it. The corporate and Christian Republicans.
Personally, I hope the early caucuses and primaries result in ties all around, so that the party fight continues into the summer. Wouldn't it be nice to see the party nominating conventions matter once again?
Due to changes in election laws and the manner in which political campaigns have been run since 1972, the conventions have virtually abdicated their original roles and today act mostly as ceremonial television shows that matter little if at all.
Maybe with the disastrous war in Iraq and the stumbling economy - and without a clear-cut winner for the Republicans or the Democrats through the caucus and primary process - perhaps this is the year conventions will matter once again. Imagine both parties being forced to reach out and draft another kind of candidate - maybe Al Gore or Ron Paul.
The national media is missing the lead on this story. The latest poll shows John Edwards leading ALL the Republican candidates by wider margins than ANY of the other Democrats on the stage...
Edwards vs Giuliani- 53/44
Edwards vs Romney----59/37
Edwards vs McCain----52/44
Edwards vs Huckabee--60/35
Average is 56/40
Obama vs Giuliani---52/45
Obama vs Romney-----54/41
Obama vs-McCain-----48/48 a tie
Obama vs Huckabee---55/40
Average is 52+/43.5
Clinton vs Giuliani-51/45
Clinton vs Romney---54/43
Clinton vs McCain---48/50 McCain wins
Clinton vs Huckabee-54/44
Average is 52-/45.5
CNN makes it all about Arkansas Baptist Preacher Mike Huckabee (Wantabe)....
It’s been a while since his last video, throwing the rock into the lake, so Mike Gravel is back with a new rap on “Power to the people: Give peace a chance.”
With Gore AWOL in this race for president, and with the public mostly not watching, I'm reluctant yet to take sides as I watch the Democrats debate.
But I will say this. Hillary looked really firm at times, but she took it on the chin from Edwards and Obama. Kucinich is right on the issues, but since he's seen a UFO, I guess that knocks him out, according to the national press corps. I like Biden's experience, intelligence and record, so I'm glad he's on the stage. Same with Richardson, who has a bright future in my political book.
So, I will sip a Yuengling and drink about it a little more, and wait for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and Congress. And know this. At least we ain't cleaning toilets in a Louisiana jail - having seen one big one from the inside.
Everybody just can't wait to run against Giuliani, but I think that entire scenario is one huge mistake on everybody's part, including the Dumbocrats.
I didn't take notes, but I believe it was Edwards who said it best, about telling it straight and standing up against Bush. Obama performed admirably, but seemed to get tripped up again on the name thing.
It was much easier as a prognosticator to see the Kerry-Edwards ticket in 2004 than to decipher who will emerge in this horse race.
I say whoever buys the most blog ads wins. It's the information superhighway equivalent of the roadside sign. You can reach far more eyeballs for way less money ... and have way more fun doing it!
"Loyalty is a word which has worked vast harm; for it has been made to trick men into being 'loyal' to a thousand iniquities, whereas the true loyalty should have been to themselves - in which case there would have ensured a rebellion, and the throwing off of that deceptive yoke."
- Mark Twain's Notebook
Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul in this world - and never will.
- Mark Twain, from his essay and speech on "Consistency"
by Glynn Wilson
Let us please dispense with the need for loyalty to pseudo-monarchs in the socialist-democracy that is the United States of America.
Have we not had enough of loyalty and monarchy? Was it not a demand for loyalty from George W. Bush what gave us a Republican Congress that authorized this disastrous war in Iraq?
"You are either for us, or against us," Bush proclaimed after 9/11. Then, he went on TV, and said to the Muslim extremists who hit us, "Bring it on."
Was it not loyalty that gave us "good job" Brownie, which cost the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast so much grief after Hurricane Katrina hit?
Was it not such a loyalty that gave us Alberto Gonzales, who resigned as Attorney General in August and is now under investigation for turning the Justice Department into a political fiefdom for Bush loyalists who have run roughshod over the Constitution in state after state, including Alabama?
Loyalty to the crown is for peasant subjects in the land of kings and queens.
This is a democracy, by damn, as Benjamin Franklin said, "…if you can keep it."
Loyalty has been creeping back into the lexicon since Bush got himself appointed president by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000.
And loyalty is the concept behind the Alabama Democratic Conference endorsement of Hillary Clinton in Birmingham this weekend.
Alabama's Joe Reed was able to call on the Clinton's when Bill was in the White House, so now he must remain loyal to her because she is leading in the polls this early in a presidential campaign?
What happened to loyalty to one's oppressed race? Barrack Obama, the first African-American who may have a chance to be president in American history, was passed over for the endorsement - because of political loyalty?
Personally, I think Bill Clinton did about as good a job as president as we can expect in these times. I did not agree with the way he compromised with the military, the intelligence community or law enforcement. And I did not agree with his compromise of labor by not only supporting NAFTA, but by using his political capital to push it through.
But the government worked under Clinton. And it is pretty obvious that Al Gore had a role in why it worked as the most powerful vice president in American history before Dick Cheney came upon the scene. Remember the "re-inventing government" program? Moral was good at the IRS and the U.S. Post Office. Lance Armstrong wore the post office jersey in winning the Tour de France a record seven times.
The economy boomed in the 1990s, and as that decade came to a close, the Reagan deficit had been erased and the government had a surplus. Remember the "peace dividend?"
Now we are in debt up to our eyeballs again, this time to the Chinese, who are in a position to pull the rug out from under our economy any time they get ready. And of course, we are in the direct opposite of a state of peace.
I think Hillary Clinton did a good job as first lady, except for getting trounced by the insurance lobby on her attempt to bring national health care to the one industrialized democracy in the world that doesn't guarantee insurance to all its citizens.
But that effort failed, so now she wants to be president - as a compromiser? She compromised on the vote on Iraq. She compromised on a vote that gave Dick Cheney and Bush what they need to potentially attack Iran. It just does not seem the time to elect a compromiser as the Democratic Party standard bearer.
And let's just go ahead and say it, and bet the Yuengling 12-pack on it: Hillary Clinton will not be the next president of the United States. It ain't gonna happen people.
While the early polls show her leading against the other Democrats in the race, and even beating Republican front runner Rudolph Giuliani at this point, it is WAY too early to make predictions on who will survive the onslaught once the people engage in the race as caucus and primary votes begin next year. Hillary's negatives are still way to high for her to be a viable candidate in the general election.
Do Democrats really want to use loyalty as the benchmark they use in determining who their nominee becomes?
John Edwards is a great guy and a fine candidate, but he is just not catching on with the public enough to provide a bullet-proof candidacy against the Republican slime machine.
What about Al Gore? Now that he has won the Oscar and the Nobel Peace Prize for working to focus our attention on the key issue of our time, global warming and climate change, doesn't he deserve another look? None of the other Democrats are talking about the environment, which is a bread and butter issue to the vast majority of Americans.
Gore won the popular vote in 2000 and some still say he was the legitimately elected president that year, except for stolen votes in Florida, including thousands of votes from African-Americans who were clearly disenfranchised there.
I think Gore has the credibility and yes the celebrity to beat any Republican candidate, including Senator Fred Thompson from Gore's home state of Tennessee, or even the flip-flopping Mitt Romney from Massachusetts. John Kerry proved that the South will never vote for someone from there, even if he is religious. The polls may not be picking up all the Baptist resentment of Mormonism, but when the race gets close in the final hour, it will matter.
Can any candidate win the presidency of the United States with zero votes from white men or Southerners?
Just ask Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean. The answer is no.
Don't mistake Gore's coyness for a lack of interest in the presidency. He is looking to see if a "draft Al Gore" campaign can emerge with enough support to propel him into front-runner status. If not, he can go on making tons of money in the private sector and have a nice life. But you have to know that deep down, he would like to get back into the White House.
Exploring the subject of monarchy and the divine right of kings in his lifetime, Mark Twain wrote the time-travel satire A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, in which he challenges Sir Walter Scott's romanticized view of the South's decision to fight the Civil War.
It is the story of an American citizen named Henry Morgan who travels back to the Middle Ages and encounters people who have no inkling of what a world might be like where every person gets a vote in who will lead their country, because they have lived under the fealty of kings and queens forever.
Mr. Morgan tries to explain democracy to them this way.
"You see my kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions, or its office holders," Morgan says. "The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death.
"To be loyal to rags, to shout for rags, to worship rags, to die for rags - this is loyalty to unreason, it is pure animal; it belongs to monarchy, was invented by monarchy; let monarchy keep it."
So let us dispense with loyalty and monarchy - and draft Al Gore to run for president.
The Democratic candidates for president debated in front of the AFL-CIO at Chicago's Soldier Field Tuesday night, and all of them performed OK, but...
Democratic rivals accused Sen. Hillary Clinton of being too cozy with lobbyists and Wall Street Tuesday, but the party's presidential front-runner portrayed herself as a champion of working people and commonsense policies, drawing cheers from a crowd of union activists.
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, running second to Clinton in most polls, leveled some of the criticism but was forced to defend his own recent statements on Pakistan during the 90-minute debate sponsored by the AFL-CIO at Chicago's Soldier Field.
... I still say - if Fred Thompson jumps into the race with the support of the Bush royal family and their political guru Karl Rove, and it looks like he will in September, according to recent news reports - then we have no choice but to draft Al Gore. He was on Oprah today talking about global warming, so even little old ladies who watch that show know who he is and they just might go into a voting booth and vote for him - and not even tell their conservative friends.
At least that's the view from Locust Forkland, where the river runs cold and true, the great blue herons all dance like Elvis and the people like to shoot the breeze (and they are usually right).
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., July 9 - Illinois Senator Barack Obama brought his bid to be the first black president of the United States to Birmingham, Alabama Monday and drew a diverse crowd of about 2,000 people who cheered the most when he challenged the Republican Party and President George W. Bush on the war in Iraq.
Photo by Glynn Wilson
Presidential candidate Barack Obama campaigns in Birmingham, Alabama
"This war should never have been authorized," he said. "It has already cost us a trillion dollars, with a T, and thousands of precious lives," he said. "We should bring the troops home now. If you elect me as your president that is what I will do."
He mentioned the selective political justice going on in America with a Republican administration jailing a Democrat governor and commuting the sentence of Scooter Libby, who was convicted of obstruction of justice in the investigation of White House officials leaking the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson.
"We know what's wrong with Scooter getting off," he said. "Even Paris Hilton got a little jail time."
Obama said he was inspired as a youngster by the Civil Rights movement that came largely out of Alabama, and he said in all his travels while running for president, people are coming out in a similar way.
"They feel in their gut that something's got to change," he said. "People are hungry for change."
He attacked the "nonsense" going on in Washington and said he senses people have "had enough," with the health care system broken, the education system "leaving children behind" and the "absence of an energy policy" that puts a strain on the poor and middle class with $3 a gallon gas.
"Wall Street never had it so good," he said. "While the growing gap between the rich and poor just keeps getting wider."
He said in spite of stories about veterans having to search for food in dumpsters, he was still optimistic about the future, even though he gets ribbed by the national press corps sometimes for being "a hope monger."
"America still has the capacity to come together," he said. "I am obsessed by the idea that we can bring out that core decency. We should all aspire to something higher, and say yes, we are our brothers' keeper."
Charles Barkley says he'll run for governor of Alabama "and win" in 2014
by Glynn Wilson
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., July 9 - Former Auburn and Philadelphia basketball star Charles Barkley came to Birmingham on behalf of Senator Barack Obama's bid to be the first black president of the United States, and said he still planned to run for governor of Alabama – in 2014. He said he would run either as Democrat or an independent – definitely not a Republican - and that he would definitely win.
"The Republicans are off the deep end now with this war, immigration, you name it," he said.
When asked what he thought about the political prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman and the President George W. Bush's commutation of the prison sentence of Scooter Libby, he said, "Libby has bigger friends in high places, I guess. It's unfortunate Libby got off."
Barkley said he came to support Senator Obama because he has believed in him ever since he interviewed him for his book, Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man?, published in 2005.
"Our political system in America is broken, with the divide between the rich and poor growing, and it's getting worse every day," he said. "And the media talking heads are part of the problem, not the solution."
He introduced Obama as a "uniter," and said all the other politicians on the right and left are simply good at "divide and conquer."
"Obama would make a fantastic president," he said. "He's got the intellect, the charisma, everything it will take."
In their bids for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) have touted their environmental credentials. Yet despite compiling generally pro-environment voting records, at key moments each one has succumbed to pressure from powerful home-state polluters -- casting doubt on how much they will fight for the planet when special interests stand in the way.
Clinton's moment of truth came in 2005, when executives at the International Paper mill in upstate Ticonderoga, N.Y., were pressing to cut costs by burning old tires to provide power for their operations. Tires are one of the most toxic fuels known to man, and people downwind from the plant (including Republican Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas) were organizing a campaign to stop IP from poisoning their air with mercury, benzene and other deadly chemicals.
To counter this effort, IP launched an aggressive effort to woo New York politicians, including Clinton, in part by resorting to an old polluter trick: threatening to shut down the plant if it wasn't allowed to burn the tires.
Seen from outside a political lens, it should have been an easy choice for Clinton: Tires are so toxic that even limited exposure can cause permanent health damage, especially to children, whose developing brains and immune systems are hypersensitive to the pollutants tires produce. Tire pollutants can cut years off a child's life and impair mental development, according to the American Lung Association. For someone who had once been chairwoman of the Children's Defense Fund and who had forged her political identity around protecting kids' well-being, it would seem like a no-brainer.
But in 2005, Clinton had things on her mind in addition to children: She was determined to boost her margin of victory in upstate New York in her 2006 Senate reelection campaign - even if it meant sacrificing children's health for, at most, a few hundred votes from people who bought into IP's empty threats.
And so, despite the pollution concerns, Clinton went along with IP and lobbied to allow it to go ahead with a two-week test tire burn. Although that may not sound like a lot of time, tires are so toxic that the acrid cloud they produce can cause damage after even just a few hours of exposure.
The tires turned out to be so polluting that the emissions exceeded even IP's extremely lax permit. The company was forced to suspend the incineration three days after it started. It didn't go out of business, but Clinton had provided her critics with more evidence that political calculation was her real first priority.
I wish I could report that Obama was offering a more principled energy policy. Unfortunately, even a cursory glance at his record shows a politician at least as willing to sacrifice his lofty principles for political expedience.
Exhibit A is Obama's enthusiastic support for "coal to liquid" technology, which allows auto fuel to be squeezed out of coal. Obama touts it as a way to free America from reliance on Saudi oil fields and to tackle global warming. However, coal-to-liquid technology produces twice the amount of greenhouse gases that regular old oil does; additionally, it's so expensive that it's unlikely to displace one drop of cheap Saudi oil anytime soon.
So why would he support it? What's more, why did he vote for other anti-environment policies, such as President Bush's 2005 energy bill, which funnels more than $27 billion in taxpayer subsidies to big polluters?
A huge factor in Obama's decisions was his desire to support Illinois agribusiness (Bush's energy bill contained massive ethanol subsidies) and the southern Illinois coal industry. His votes mean that he's willing -- sometimes, at least -- to put these kinds of parochial interests ahead of the global environment and Americans' health (pollution from coal-fired power plants kills more than 30,000 people every year, according to EPA consultants Abt Associates).
Obama has explained his positions by saying that sometimes you need to "trim your sails" -- by which he means cutting back on goals to avoid becoming marginalized.
But it's exactly that kind of political calculation - special interests versus doing what's right - that Obama is promising to reject. Obama's energy policy shows that so far he is at least as much a creature of establishment influence-peddling as Clinton is.
So is there any hope for the Democrats' energy policy, or will it just be a liberal version of Bush's polluter bonanza?
The environmental and energy platforms of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson provide some reason for optimism. While both Democratic presidential candidates have in the past surrendered to big polluters on key issues, lately they've been showing real grit when it comes to defending the planet.
Edwards has called for a ban on construction of coal-fired power plants that don't capture all their greenhouse gases. He also has released an ambitious plan to cut global warming pollution by 80 percent by 2050. Richardson has one-upped Edwards by proposing the same cuts by 2040 and speedier conversion to clean electricity sources and dramatic cuts in oil consumption.
Edwards and Richardson seem to have learned that at least when it comes to energy policy, courage can trump calculation. For their sake and the planet's, let's hope that Sens. Clinton and Obama can learn the same lessons before they face the voters.
Glenn Hurowitz is the president of www.DemocraticCourage.com DemocraticCourage.Com , an organization dedicated to promoting progressive values in the Democratic Party. He is the author of the forthcoming book Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party.
The League of Conservation Voters has published a scorecard rating members of Congress on how they voted on such issues as offshore oil drilling, protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, permitting logging in old-growth forests and other environmental issues.
Here's how some of the potential presidential candidates rank according to the percentage of time they voted in Congress for the position favored by the League of Conservation Voters. Only those candidates who have compiled a congressional voting record are included. Candidates with higher scores are the ones who most favor measures to protect the environment and bird habitat.
Republicans
John McCain
41
Ron Paul
37
Sam Brownback
15
Tom Tancredo
10
Chuck Hagel
7
Duncan Hunter
3
Democrats
Dennis Kucinich
100
Barack Obama
96
Christopher Dodd
93
Joe Biden
93
John Kerry
89
Hillary Clinton
89
Is it any wonder people who favor pro-environmental policies in Washington tend to vote for Democrats?
For more information on the records of presidential candidates of both parties on issues relating to birds and their habitats, see the Birders United 2008 Election page.
Gov. Howard Dean, Chairman of the National Democratic Party, will be the keynote speaker at a breakfast at the Sheraton in Birmingham, BJCC East Ballroom, Thursday, May 24 at 7:30 a.m., according to Joe Turnham, Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party.
It's a $50 per person affair, and you can R.S.V.P. at this address: democrats.org/page/contribute/ALBreakfast or contact Jen Gonçalves at 202.863.8195 or email Goncalvesj@dnc.org.
He will also attend a luncheon sponsored by a group of Birmingham Democrats, including Bill Baxley and Doug Jones, Thursday, May 24, at noon at The Home of Thomas E. Baddley, 4504 Old Brook Way.
Sponsorships are $10,000, hosting is $5,000 and to attend, a contribution of $1,000 is required.
GOP Birders Might Take John McCain Under Their Wings
Birders who prefer the Republican Party on such issues as taxes, national security, and social issues, but who have been displeased with President Bush’s policies on the environment and bird habitats, may be attracted to the presidential candidacy of John McCain, according to Birders United.
McCain was one of the early voices in the GOP to warn about the dangers of global warming. One of his heroes is Teddy Roosevelt, who was a strong supporter of protecting the nation’s environment.
On McCain’s presidential campaign Web site, the environment is featured as one of the key issues of his campaign.
“John McCain believes that we are vested with a sacred duty to be proper stewards of the resources upon which the quality of American life depends," one passage says. "Ensuring clean air, safe and healthy water, sustainable land use, ample greenspace - and the faithful care and management of our natural treasures, including our proud National Park System - is a patriotic responsibility. One that must be met not only for the benefit of our generation, but for our children and those to whom we will pass the American legacy.”
McCain described his ranch in Oak Creek, Arizona, to OnEarth magazine as: “Lots and lots of flowers. Lots and lots of wildlife, especially birds - wild ducks, quail, humming birds, yellow-billed cuckoos, which are very rare. A pair of black hawks. It’s the most beautiful place on earth.”
It appears that McCain would champion the protection of bird habitats. But birders should keep a close eye on campaign statements and issue papers to see if McCain will sound the retreat on his support for the environment.
There are indications that McCain is moving to the right on several issues to appease the right wing of the Republican Party who make up a large percentage of GOP primary voters.
I'm beginning to like this new Politico.Com for inside political analysis and an alternative to the phat WashingPost.Com.
They ask in a story today:
Is John Edwards playing possum to hide the strength of his fundraising operation?
That's the betting inside Democratic political circles as the overheated 2008 presidential primary races toward its first critical deadline: the March 31 financial disclosure reports.
Unlike other campaigns, Edwards hasn't released the names of fundraising team members, and the campaign demurs when asked its quarterly goal, saying only that it intends to exceed the $7.4 million Edwards raised in the 2003 first quarter.
***
The Edwards camp is getting (attention) because he has pulled off a March surprise before. In 2003, Edwards held 175 fundraising events in the first quarter and stunned the political community by posting $7.4 million in donations. That sum set a first-quarter record and bested the front-runner, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), by about $400,000. It also catapulted Edwards to the top tier of a crowded primary field and contributed to Kerry's decision to make Edwards, then a North Carolina senator, his vice presidential running mate.
As we have been saying since meeting him at his announcement in New Orleans, Edwards is running a smart third in the race while Hillary and Obama get most of the media spotlight, where potentially campaign damaging mistakes can be made, as Hillary has found out of late.
Looks like Edwards is going to run close to the rail and make a March surprise move around the 31st, when the campaign finance reports are due. If Gore were to be recruited into the race by his new Hollywood connections, that would cause Edwards' campaign some trouble. But most experts think Gore will stay on the sidelines.
We doubt either one would be satisfied with the Veep spot, so no chance for a Gore-Edwards ticket. But think about it. That would be a winner over any poltergeist the Republicans could raise to run, including Ronald Reagan.
McCain is still suffering from war-itis, while Guliani continues to climb in the polls. Could Hillary or Obama beat Giuliani? Many pundits say any Democrat will win this one, since Bush has screwed everything up so badly.
Is it really time to take a chance on a woman or a black candidate? We will see. If things go well, we'll be in Selma Sunday to do some reporting.
An event steeped in civil rights symbolism offers rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama an opportunity to show unity with the black community while they spar over support from a crucial Democratic constituency. The two leading candidates for the 2008 presidential nomination are scheduled to give nearly simultaneous speeches behind church pulpits just half a block apart from each other in Selma, Ala., on Sunday, according to the Associated Press and other news organizations.
The events will commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the bloody civil rights march there that helped rollback segregation in the American South. Later, the candidates will join civil rights leaders, public officials and others in what has become an annual walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where state troopers stopped civil rights marchers in 1965, turning them back using nightsticks and tear gas.
Alabama officials estimate that blacks make up between 40 percent and 50 percent of the state's Democratic vote, so any candidate who can capture the bloc would likely win the state. The Rev. Jesse Jackson won the state's primary in 1988.
Rep. James Thomas, a Democrat and former president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, predicted that Clinton, Obama and former North Carolina senator John Edwards would split the black vote.
Hollywood mogul David Geffen angered Hillary Clinton with a comment about the "ease" with which the Clintons tell political lies. Though Geffen's comment may have been harsh, the reality is that the Clintons showed little commitment while in the White House to bring to light important historical truth.
Bill Clinton was in a unique position as the first President to take office after the end of the Cold War, but he established no truth commissions, ordered no widespread document declassifications and even turned his back on existing investigations of government wrongdoing by his Republican predecessors in the 1980s.
For the full story of how the Clintons view the value of truth, go to the independent ConsortiumNews.Com.
Edwards to Reveal Plan to End the War on 'Larry King Live'
Editor's Note: Edwards' appearance on Larry King Live had to be rescheduled. He was stuck somewhere in L.A. traffic and couldn't get to the studio.
File photo by Glynn Wilson
John Edwards in New Orleans' Ninth Ward
Former Senator and Presidential Candidate John Edwards will appear on CNN's "Larry King Live" tonight at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. Central to announce what he is calling "a comprehensive proposal to end the war."
The key points are:
* Stop the escalation and force an immediate withdrawal by using funding caps to restrict the total number of troops in Iraq to 100,000, which would require an immediate drawdown of 40,000-50,000 combat troops without stranding or underfunding a single soldier still in Iraq. Any troops beyond the 100,000 level should be redeployed immediately.
* Block the deployment of troops that do not meet readiness standards and that have not been properly trained and equipped. American Tax dollars must be used to prepare and supply our troops, not escalate the war. It is simply wrong to send our troops into harm's way without all the training and equipment they need.
* Make it clear that President Bush is conducting this war without authorization. The 2002 authorization did not give Bush the power to use U.S. troops to police a civil war. President Bush exceeded his authority long ago. He now needs to end the war and ask Congress for new authority to manage the withdrawal of the U.S. military presence and to help Iraq achieve stability.
* Require a complete withdrawal of combat troops in Iraq within the next 12-18 months without leaving behind any permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.
You will hear about this story for a day or two, although I suspect it will do John Edwards' presidential campaign more good than harm, at least compared to Hillary's singing, Joe Biden's mouth and Obama's "newness."
Former Sen. John Edwards, the "working man's" presidential candidate, is getting some grief for his new, plantation-sized estate outside Chapel Hill in Orange County, North Carolina. Even a few folks who are close to the Edwardses have expressed "alarm?" to political reporters about the 29,000-square-foot house and connecting recreation-and-media arena.
But that's nothing. The rural estate near Chapel Hill in Orange County, North Carolina, is worth a mere $6 million, a drop in the bucket for many rich lawyers or oil men who run for public office with estates in more expensive realms such as Florida, California, or even Texas.
The Raleigh News and Observer quoted Elizabeth Edwards, wife of the former senator, as insisting the estate in no way contradicts her husband's campaign rhetoric about the plight of poor people. She compared her family to the Kennedys, who similarly, she pointed out, were both rich and fighters for the working poor.
Unlike former President John F. Kennedy, however, Edwards did not inherit his wealth, according to the newspaper, which quoted an Edwards' spokeswoman in his defense.
"As Senator Edwards has said, he has lived the American Dream and has had everything this country has to offer," Jennifer Palmieri said. "He worked hard to do well, but he did not succeed on his own. He had the support of his country; a good family, good public schools and loans for college. Too many of those opportunities are closed off to working class people today. He is running for President to make sure everyone has the same opportunities he has had."
The main house on the compound is more than 10,000 square feet, joined to a large red barn by a long enclosed walkway housing a large photo gallery. "The Barn," as it's called on the Edwards' building plans, houses a basketball court, a squash court, a four-story tower, two stages and a swimming pool.
Yet operatives say the stages in the recreation barn are amphitheaters that will function as presidential debate prep rooms.
Looks to us like a great place to prepare for the presidency...
As George W. Bush and Dick Cheney make clear they won't reverse course on Iraq, the new Democratic congressional majority finds itself facing a difficult dilemma.
Many Americans who put the Democrats in power want serious action to bring U.S. troops home now and - if necessary - to launch impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney.
But the Democratic leaders are afraid strong steps might open them to Republican attack ads in Election 2008.
For the full story on the challenges facing the Democratic leadership, go to the independent ConsortiumNews.Com.
As Rev. Sun Myung Moon's media operations have done for two decades, the Korean cult leader's Insight magazine has stepped up to inject an early dose of poison into Campaign 2008.
In this case, Moon's weekly magazine was peddling a bogus story suggesting that Barack Obama is a clandestine Islamic agent and that Hillary Clinton's operatives were dishing the dirt.
Though the anti-Obama agit-prop was quickly disproved, it revealed again how valuable Moon and his mysterious money have been to the Republicans and especially to the Bush family.
For the full story of how Moon's foreign money continues to distort the U.S. political process, go to the independent ConsortiumNews.Com.
NEW ORLEANS, La., Dec. 28 - In one of the most novel presidential announcements in American political history, John Edwards stood in a muddy back yard in the Ninth Ward in blue jeans and said he chose the site to formally say he would run for president in 2008 because the neighborhood is a prime example of the two America's he's been talking about for years.
The growing divide between the rich and poor is a theme he's pitched since leaving a lucrative law practice in North Carolina nearly a decade ago to give something back by getting involved in politics.
Photo by Glynn Wilson
John Edwards announces for president as a modern-day populist, in blue jeans...
"New Orleans is a place where you can really see the two America's I've been talking about. You can get out here and see what the problems are and take action to do something about it," he said. "Instead of staying home and complaining, we're asking Americans to help. We want people to take responsibility, to join this campaign to actually take action now, not later, not after the next election."
The former Democratic Party vice presidential nominee and U.S. Senator said his campaign will be a grass roots, ground-up campaign for people "not afraid to get their hands dirty."
The domestic economic issues in his campaign platform will include raising the minimum wage, pushing for universal health care and rolling back President George W. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. And in a nod to labor, which could help swing the Democratic Party's nomination to Edwards next year, he said he has already been involved in and will continue to push for the organization of American workers.
"We need to ask Americans to be patriotic on something besides the war," he said. "We need to get rid of some of the tax cuts for the people at the very top."
He said he will also champion taking action on global warming, including raising taxes on the oil companies and investing in alternative energy sources.
"We need to ask Americans to be patriotic and conserve energy," he said.
He also said America needs to lead by beginning to pull the U. S. military out of the quagmire in Iraq.
"We need to reestablish America's moral leadership in the world. We can't do that without beginning to pull our troops out of Iraq," he said. "This needs to be done now, not after the next election."
He said it would be a major mistake to escalate the U.S. military's involvement in Iraq with more troops, as the president seems to be on the verge of announcing - in part at the urging of Sen. John McCain, who could be the chief competition for Edwards in the run for president if both win their party's respective nominations.
In fact the entire presidential race in 2008 could come down to opposing philosophies on this issue, some experts already think, especially if the war continues to go badly and the conflict still holds center stage as the campaign heats up next year.
"If America doesn't lead, there is no stability in the world. It's just chaos now," Edwards said. "It's our responsibility to lead. The world needs to see our better angels, and they will respond to us differently."
As he has in the past, Edwards admited his vote in support of the resolution Bush used to justify the invasion of Iraq was a mistake.
On the controversial issue of national health care, Edwards said he would not shy away from pushing for universal health care unequivocally.
"We need it desperately," he said.
When asked at the press conference about one of his alleged weaknesses, his limited experience in government, especially in foreign affairs, Edwards took his biggest swipe at the Bush administration.
"Rumsfeld and Cheney had a lot of experience, but the war is a disaster," he said. "Experience does not guarantee good government, vision or the ability to adapt to a changing world."
Bush was also criticized in 2000 for his total lack of experience in foreign affairs and was expected to focus on domestic economic issues as president, until 9/11 intervened. Historians now say the outcome of the war in Iraq is likely to define his presidency, and not in an altogether flattering way - unless something changes drastically in the next few months.
Edwards said he has been traveling around the world since the 2004 campaign and has learned a lot that will help him if he is elected president.
On MSNBC's political show "Hardball" a couple of weeks ago, Edwards handled this issue by proving he could name most of the world leaders thrown out by Chris Mathews - unlike Bush in 2000, who got stumped.
When asked what he would do to counter the notion held by the national punditry that Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were the early front runners - even though neither have announced - Edwards refused to go negative. He said America needs good people in government and politics, especially in the presidential campaign in 2008.
But he indicated he has hope that the "ground will begin to shift" after his announcement, set as it was in New Orleans' Ninth Ward, one of the most devistated areas in the country by the nation's worst national disaster ever.
If he had been president at the time, he said, he would have been on the ground finding out what needed to be done and taking action.
While for some crazy reason the staff of former Democratic vice presidential nominee and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards tried to keep the details secret, the plan went awry on Wednesday when an election Website went live and the place for the announcement in East New Orleans had not been released.
The New Orleans bureau of the Associated Press broke the story anyway, and why shouldn't they, since everyone knew it was coming?
This is no way to start a campaign, although the New Orleans backdrop could prove powerful if the Edwards campaign can gets its act together by in the morning.
The Locust Fork News and Journal staff will be there to cover the event live with photos, so check back about mid-morning Thursday. We are stopping to blog in Tuscaloosa on the way from Birmingham.
John Edwards, the former North Carolina Senator and the Democratic Party's nominee for president in 2004, has the inside track for organized labor's support in the run for president in 2008, inside sources confirm.
Edwards will announce his candidacy for president in New Orleans next Thursday, December 28, sources say - after spending some quality volunteer time in the Ninth Ward on Wednesday.
Conservative columnist Robert Novak broke the story on Edwards' likely labor support in the Washington Post today under the headline: Labor's Man In '08: John Edwards.
Excerpts:
While Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama soak up media attention, John Edwards has pushed for organized labor's support. No decisions have been made, but the former senator from North Carolina and 2004 vice presidential nominee is the front-runner for winning over the big, dynamic unions that left the AFL-CIO almost 18 months ago.
Edwards is a leading prospect for backing from Andrew Stern's Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and James P. Hoffa's International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the unions that led the breakaway, forming the Change to Win coalition.... Their interest in him reflects largely unspoken discontent in Democratic ranks over a choice limited to Clinton and Obama.
Withdrawal from presidential consideration of former Virginia governor Mark Warner and Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana prompted the analysis that Clinton and Obama consume all the political oxygen, leaving nothing for another candidate. But many labor leaders question Clinton's electability and worry about Obama's inexperience....
While some of these unions fret about Edwards's closest political associates, he personally is a big hit with labor leaders who left the AFL-CIO unhappy about a lack of fervor in recruiting new members. With the same eloquence and careful preparation that made him a multimillionaire trial lawyer, Edwards boosts trade restrictions and other elements of organized labor's agenda.
Edwards's game plan begins with the caucuses in Iowa, the state where he burst out of the pack in 2004 by finishing second. A Des Moines Register poll this summer showed him ahead of Clinton there, and an October survey conducted for an environmental group gave Edwards a 20-point lead. An Iowa win in 2008 could propel him into the New Hampshire primary with momentum, leading next to South Carolina - the only state where he won a 2004 primary.
Edwards has (also) been making points with two other Change to Win unions: Unite Here (apparel and hotel and restaurant workers) and Laborers' International. He is also popular with AFL-CIO unions, especially the United Steelworkers, Iron Workers and Communications Workers. He won the AFL-CIO's Wellstone Award for backing labor initiatives in 2006.
The day is long past when Big Labor moved in lockstep. Stern, saying he was following SEIU's rank and file, backed Howard Dean in 2004. Hoffa supported his old law school classmate, Richard Gephardt. Both endorsed John Kerry as soon as he clinched the nomination, but they were not happy with him. Nobody is about to move toward an endorsement before next summer, and labor sources say Stern will wait until September.
Edwards's unusual step of selecting former representative David Bonior of Michigan as his national campaign manager has been described as enlisting a laborite politician to woo labor. But Teamsters officials regard Bonior as less their friend than a friend of the United Auto Workers. Some believe Edwards would have been better advised to stick with his former campaign manager, Nick Baldick, an experienced political operative who has been given the task of advising Edwards on the early tests in Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire. Baldick is renowned for saving Al Gore from oblivion in the 2000 New Hampshire primary.
The labor operatives pondering their '08 decisions also confess they are less than comfortable with a prominent role in the campaign for Edwards's wife, Elizabeth, who never has been a political spouse who stays in the shadows. It is not good news for Edwards if some Teamsters are put off by the triumvirate of John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards and Dave Bonior.
But Edwards's sunny aura and commanding presence can transcend the negative impact of anybody at his side. When Bayh dropped out last Saturday, there was speculation that Edwards would be the next to go. On the contrary, Edwards is where he wants to be, hoping for a big shove forward from labor.
Edwards' decision to announce his candidacy in New Orleans could turn out to be a brilliant move and makes sense considering his populist, anti-poverty campaign. He could make serious inroads in Katrina-ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi with the move and begin to line up some support in the African-American community as well.
In Alabama, the Over the Mountain Democrats have already indicated support for Edwards, especially his anti-poverty program. And Edwards will certainly generate support from the trial lawyers here and around the country.
Watch the announcement in New Orleans next week and see how the momentum begins to shift in the race for president in 2008. It's way early in the race and the public is not engaged yet, but . . .
We're still betting the Yuenglings on Edwards. Any takers?
Looking under the hood of the muscle car in the Krystal parking lot, it looks like John Edwards could be the next president of the United States.
Here's why.
In this early week in the race for president in 2008, rendered important due to new Democratic Party rock star Barack Obama's early hints he may run and the resulting flurry of activity in Hillary Clinton's campaign schedule, Edwards also stepped up in the public eye. Edwards, the highly successful trial lawyer and vice presidential candidate, and his smart yet southern wife Elizabeth, out hardballed Chris Mathews of MSNBC on Tuesday.
Edwards already has a head start in the early primary and caucus races in Iowa and New Hampshire, and will emerge from the pack as the electable moderate southerner with the strength of character to pull off being president. When you think about it, he even looks a bit like Tony Blair - but without the penchent for supporting George W. Bush.
Edwards, who served a full six years in the U.S. Senate (unlike Obama who has only been in that position two years) has been traveling the world since focusing on his major populist theme of solving the poverty problem here and abroad, was the recent top choice among likely Iowa caucus-goers. Asked to say who they would support in the 2008 caucuses, 36 percent said Edwards, who has traveled to the state extensively since the 2004 campaign. U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., finished second with 16 percent. Obama got 13 percent.
Edwards has been working on an upgrade to his profile as the son of a mill worker, the story he used to get the Veep nod after strong early primary showings in 2004.
Trust us when we say this will become even more important as the 2008 election approaches and economists officially announce the economic recession. Yes, it will be out of the bag by then.
Edwards has not declared his candidacy yet, so to learn about his recent activities you have to go to his One America Website.
Edwards may also be in a good position from a horse racing point of view. He can refine what his plan is riding loosely in third or fourth and wait for the next turn, while most of the media spotlight shines on the two early leaders on the rail, Hillary Clinton and Obama.
A Cook/ RT Strategies poll looking at the Democratic Party's crowded field of contenders shows Clinton leading public opinion with 34 percent. Obama is a distant second with 20 percent, even though he may not even run.
Former Vice President Gore, who has been testing the track's surface of late while fishing for an Oscar for his Global Warming film, still gets the support of 11 percent of the people, while Edwards gets 9 percent.
Sen. Joseph Biden (Mr. split Iraq) of Delaware and Sen. John (foot-in-his-mouth) Kerry of Massachusetts tied with 4 percent.
Everyone else - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (for legalization of marijuana), Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, retired Gen. Wesley Clark and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio - scored 2 percent or less in the survey of Democratic voters and Democratic-leaning independents.
Taking Gore out of the race, Clinton rises 5 points to 39 percent, Obama gains 1 point to 21, Edwards goes up 2 points to 11 percent. Kerry picks up 2 points to 6 percent.
Without Gore or Obama in the race, Clinton goes up to 51 percent and Edwards grabs second place with 13 percent. Without Gore, Obama and Kerry, Clinton gets 52 percent and Edwards polls 14 percent, for now.
But that is before the race has officially begun and people see Hillary on the stump. Let's just say she ain't no Bill Clinton. And the only major public policy initiative she pushed as First Lady, nationalized health care, was an abysmal failure. She was beaten by the insurance companies. What has she done as a senator other than vote for the war in Iraq?
We still like Al Gore and think he should have won in 2000. He would prove to be a much more loose and effecitve campaigner now, we suspect. So if he runs, he will be a major contender and may even get our votes.
But then, why would he want to go through it all again - when he can have far more fun and potentially be even more effective on the outside?
Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland, Ohio, who ran as the Ralph Nader of Democrats in 2004 and didn't get very far, made an impasshioned speech for peace this week in making his announcement that he would run again.
His key point: "What kind of credibility will our Party have if we say we are opposed to the war, but continue to fund it?"
He says the Congress has already set aside the $70 billion it would take to get American troops out of Iraq and home, and he is suggesting we face facts and do that - rather than give President Bush another $160 billion supplimental appropriation to continue the war for another year. He's a smart guy and we like him, but still do not believe he is electable, even with his new British wife at his side.
Which brings up another reason Edwards could emerge as the front runner during the primary process.
Expect to hear Bush take John McCain's advice, not Jim Baker's. Watch this.
In a month, Bush will go on national television and ask Congress for even more money to send another 40,000 to 50,000 MORE troops to "win" a "victory" - "Over there." He still doesn't get it.
Coupled with the inevitable recession, if this war is still dragging on, that will make it very hard for any Repubican to "win" in 2008.
The obvious leader will be Sen. John McCain of Arizona. A few months ago he looked like the only hope the country had.
But since his foray to see the major-domo of the Christian Right, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, and his recommendation for more troops, McCaiin is likely to sink like a horse with a stone embedded in his hoof before this is all over.
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will pursue the GOP nomination (ho, hum) and may well be joined by Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas (yech!), Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (yawn), Rep. Hunter of California (who?), and Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado (give us a break).
The question marks in the Republican race are former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (har, har).
Although national polls of Republican voters often show Giuliani at the front of the GOP's 2008 pack, most observers with a real grasp of the Republican nominating process think Giuliani's support for abortion rights, gay rights and gun control knock him out of any real chance of winning the nomination.
Cook Political Report/RT Strategies polled Republicans and Republican-leaning independents about the 2008 contest. When Giuliani was included in the list of candidates, he ran first with 27 percent, followed by McCain at 25 percent and Gingrich at 10 percent. Romney ran fourth with 9 percent. Everyone else was in the low single digits.
Taking Giuliani out of the mix, McCain's support rose from 25 percent to 34 percent and Gingrich's climbed from 10 percent to 16 percent. Romney edged up to 10 percent. No one else drew more than 5 percent, according to the Cook Political Report.
Then there's today's front runner on both sides, Hillary Clinton. But does anyone really think she can really win the presidency? Her negatives with men are way too high for her to have a chance in the general election, unfortunately.
If the Democrats really choose 2008 to be the year of the woman in American politics, then McCain could very well be the next president.
You will recall that one of the early front runners in the 2004 presidential race, now Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean, said that to win, the Democrats need to appeal to the NASCAR vote.
If John Edwards is listening, here's a tip on how he can win this thing. Get yourself a muscle car, go to Nashville and make some CMT-style music videos. In essence, start hanging out in the Krystal parking lot and talking it up. Get yourself a cowboy hat. Go country.
The liberals in New York, D.C., California and the other cities, can't win this thing without some working class votes in the South. And they will never, not in a million years, vote for Hillary.
Edwards has the union bona fides to talk the talk and walk the walk. He may even be able to carry Alabama in two years - once the economy goes in the tank and the war gets even worse.
How about Obama for Veep in '08 and president in 2016?
Democratic Presidential Candidate Mark Warner To Speak in Birmingham
The Magic City Democrats are hosting likely 2006 Presidential Candidate Mark Warner Tuesday night at Workplay, 500 23rd Street South, Birmingham, Alabama, at 4:45 p.m. Governor Warner will likely be speaking between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m.
Some Main Democrats have kicked off a new PAC today in an effort to draft Al Gore to run for president in 2008.
These Maine Democrats also overwhelmingly support the concept of public financing of political campaigns, a position we have taken for a long time, as the best answer to stopping the corporate corruption of America politics.
