Merit-bound Alley

I wanted to hear Hillary Clinton bring it tonight, and she did. She brought it and then some. Unity, admonishment of those that would vote for McCain because she wasn’t the nominee, and flat-out attacks on McCain.

Hillary was wonderful tonight! Thank you, Sen. Clinton!

Today, we may be hearing who Obama’s VP pick will be. There will likely be discussion all day today here at Delaware Liberal.

I like Joe Biden. His command of foreign policy is unmatched among the potentials, he’s a fairly quick wit, and his ability to say something a little off-key would keep press coverage on the Obama campaign. After a great deal of consideration, the first reason is why I hope he won’t be the VP. Biden is Secretary of State all the way. Think about it, after the election, the VP has almost no real responsibility except as an advisor. What would Joe best advise on? Foreign policy.

Hillary Clinton would be the wisest choice. She’ll give the Obama Campaign a reputation for balls and backbone that, despite it’s strong words against McCain, it has not yet gotten. Clinton is a veteran of Washington clockwork, and will be able to foresee some of the obstacles that Obama won’t. Plainly speaking, her command of internal politics is something that Obama would be wise to learn from.

What else could be gained from a Clinton Vice Presidency? Yes, she adds a veteran perspective to Obama. I think a point that some aren’t seeing is that Obama can reignite in Clinton a bit of youth and idealism that her campign for presidecy sorely lacked. Not only that, Obama has Bill’s merits with strength of ethics that the first Clinton administration lacked. With that, maybe Clinton can secure the next Democratic Presidency. I would very much like to see the next 16 years of Obama, then Hillary Clinton leadership.

One of the laws of life that few people recognize is that we all have something to learn for every other person in this world. If Clinton and Obama can learn the good stuff from each other, I predict very good things for this country in the future: peace, prosperity, happiness, strength, diplomacy, respect both earned for us but also given by us.

Pick Hillary Clinton, Sen. Obama. Give the real idealists something to believe in!

I remember why it’s okay.

The short of it is, Hillary Clinton is trying to take credit for the passage of the Family Medical Leave Act, a piece of legislation that guaranteed Americans 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a sick child. The twist: the bill was in legaislation since the Reagan years, and was finally passed 16 days after Bill Clinton took office.

The DailyKOS link gives the full story.

Okay, I didn’t get to see Hillary Clinton’s appearance on A Daily Show until now, but heard all the opinions that it was a horrible appearance. In fact, HyerStandard gives it a “piss-poor” rating. HyerStandard is also hosting the video, so please accept my thanks as I accuse you of mindless spin.

I honestly didn’t see anything wrong with Se. Clinton’s appearance. She was funny and she did her job. Again, I don’t support Sen. Clinton, and I don’t think there’s anything that would change my mind on that. However, despite my support of Barack Obama, I can use my fucking brain and decide for myself what is and is not a good fluff appearance. My support of Obama does not blind me to the other candidates, and I think that’s important.

Do you think Sen. McCain’s campaign is blinded to Obama because of their support of McCain? Absolutely not! If they had the deluded opinion that everything Obama did was crap bacause Barack is not John McCain, they’d stand even less chance of  chance of winning.

The point I’m making is, use your brains. Don’t make the assumption that only your candidate can do something right. The moment we stop thinking is the moment we stop trying to make this world a better place.

Senator Clinton made a remark at an Ohio High School that sounds ominously familiar.

“And, yes, there are advisers. There’s all kinds of people who are saying do this and do that. But the president has to decide.”

Seriously, it’s like she doesn’t even want to win.

According to a memo released by the Clinton campaign to “Interested Parties”, Obama’s streak is a prmonition of his inevitable defeat. Huh? Well, just take a look:

To: Interested Parties
From: The Clinton Campaign
Date: Friday, February 29, 2008
RE: Obama Must-Wins

The media has anointed Barack Obama the presumptive nominee and he’s playing the part.

With an eleven state winning streak coming out of February, Senator Obama is riding a surge of momentum that has enabled him to pour unprecedented resources into Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The Obama campaign and its allies are outspending us two to one in paid media and have sent more staff into the March 4 states. In fact, when all is totaled, Senator Obama and his allies have outspent Senator Clinton by a margin of $18.4 million to $9.2 million on advertising in the four states that are voting next Tuesday.

Senator Obama has campaigned hard in these states. He has spent time meeting editorial boards, courting endorsers, holding rallies, and - of course - making speeches.

If he cannot win all of these states with all this effort, there’s a problem.

Should Senator Obama fail to score decisive victories with all of the resources and effort he is bringing to bear, the message will be clear:

Democrats, the majority of whom have favored Hillary in the primary contests held to date, have their doubts about Senator Obama and are having second thoughts about him as a prospective standard-bearer.

So, what it comes down to is that Obama campaigned so hard in these states, if he only wins by a small margin, it only shows how weak he is as a candidate. Unlike a gyroscope, fast and furious spinning will not lend stability to the Clinton clusterfuck.

(/t to Wonkette)

I think I’ve made it fairly plain that I don’t suport Hillary Clinton’s candidacy for President. I’ve pointed out a lot of her bad points, and alluded to certain unethical practices that the Clintons have been guilty of.

Do you know why I have the freedom to do that?

Because I’m not in a position to have to be fair or balanced. I have the choice to support whatever candidate I like and tell anyone who will listen exactly why.

Debate moderators do not have that luxury. Their job is to ask questions and keep time. That’s it. Not so for Tim Russert, apparently. The debate started with Hillary being completely grilled on every campaign foible, then Obama being asked, compassionately even, how he felt about that.

Hillary was visibly upset rather quickly, as this set the theme for the whole debate. Throughout the debate, Clinton was privy to answering questions about every shady campaign move she’s made while Obama got more fair questions about policy. A couple of times, Obama rose to Clinton’s defense against the constant stream of stones being thrown by the “moderator” Russert.

I have never been made so aware of the skew in the MSM. MSNBC showed zero adherence to the ethics of journalism or to the foundation of debate. For that, I have no respect for them or any journalist who doesn’t point out the blatant disregard for neutrality in this debate.

If this is the type of “news” that MSNBC shovels out, then you can count on me to not be watching. I don’t give a shit how smart and funny Olbermann is.

is Hillary Clinton, who is changing attitude and persona so often, she just may win the presidency of Arkham Asylum. “Am I emotional? Am I the realist? Am I the peacemaker and full of respect? Am I the angry one? Am I the realist again? Am I the latest incarnation of Dr. Who?”

Latest is her switch back to realist with an healthy dollop of sarcasm, because we all know that gets you love.

“Now I could stand up here and say, let’s get everybody together, let’s get unified the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing,” she said, to a smattering of giggles. “And everyone will know we should do the right thing, and the world will be perfect.”

She added: “But I have no illusions about how hard this is going to be. You are not going to wave a magic wand and make the special interests disappear.”

This seems like a great way to earn back some of the support of the people flocking from the Clinton gulag to Camp Obama… in Bizarro World. Mock the voters and the ideals that draw them to a candidate and all will be fine. I imagine that it’s hard to run a campaign, but it must be twice hard if you’re both ingenuine and batshit insane.

Clinton campaign advisers are showing a very different side to the Hillary Clinton campaign than is forwarded by her recent optimism.

“One adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak freely, said Obama’s 17-point Wisconsin victory on Tuesday had started to sink in as a decisive blow, given that the state had been viewed weeks earlier as a level playing field.”

“‘The mathematical reality at that point became impossible to ignore,’ the adviser said. ‘There’s not a lot of denial left at this point.’”

“Despite Clinton’s public pronouncements of optimism, this adviser said: ‘She knows where things are going. It’s pretty clear she has a big decision. But it’s daunting. It’s still hard to accept.’”

After 11 straight wins for Sen. Obama, the Clinton campaign faces an uncertain future. There doesn’t seem to be much support at this point for the continuation of her campaign, unless she scores decisive victories on March 4th. Also narrowing is he gap in superdelegate support, with Obama adding 25 superdelegates in the last two weeks and Clinton losing 2.

Clinton’s pledge to take the race all the way to the convention is not provoking the support that she expected either, with some in the party viewing her perseverance with a jaundiced eye.

“Some Democratic political sources said discussion has begun about encouraging Clinton to transition into a different party leadership role, one that could carry her on a path to becoming Senate majority leader. That course had been discussed even before Clinton announced her presidential campaign. ‘People who care about her are worried about her long-term future,’ the adviser said.”

In other words, it’s looking fairly grim for the Clinton campaign. The current feeling seems to be that a continuation of the Clinton campaign will be so divisive as to damage the party. I giess being a Clinton is less important than being a Democrat after all.

Read the full story via the Washington Post here.

At Clinton’s Ohio rally, Machinist Union president Thomas Buffenbarger* had some unkind words for Obama and his supporters. Indeed, the screed was so long and vitriolic, that it earned boos and jeers from the audience. This just blows my mind:

“The Barack show is playing to rave reviews sold out at college campuses after college campus. Standing room only crowds to hear his silver-tounged orations. Hope, change, yes we can? Give me a break! I’ve got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak. This guy won’t last a round against the Republican attack machine. He’s a poet, not a fighter.”

Well, that’s a great way to alienate half of the Deomcratic public, you braying jackass!

Also, it bears telling that yet again, Hillary Clinton neglected to mention her losses in WI and HI or to congratulate Barack Obama on the wins.

* “Buffenbarger” sounds like “Barfenburger”. I love that!