Wow: Obama raises $32 million in January

Bloomberg.com Reports:

Illinois Senator Barack Obama raised $32 million in January for his presidential bid, campaign manager David Plouffe said today. [..]

Plouffe said the campaign counted 170,000 new donors in the last month, bringing its total to 650,000.

``Our strongest day of the whole month was the day after the New Hampshire,'' which Obama lost to Clinton, Plouffe said. ``We took a lot of encouragement from that because it showed the resolve of our donor base.''

Hilary Clinton Remained Silent

ABC news reports on Hilary Clinton tenure on the Wal-Mart board of Directors.

In six years as a member of the Wal-Mart board of directors, between 1986 and 1992, Hillary Clinton remained silent as the world's largest retailer waged a major campaign against labor unions seeking to represent store workers.

Go and read the rest of the report.

Who is actually Running for President? Pt. 3

Is it Bill Clinton or Hilary Clinton?

It’s never a good sign when a candidate has to make a statement on who is the candidate in the race.

ABC NEWS asked Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., if she personally asked her husband to "tone it down" a little in recent days, and she didn't deny it.

"Well, I'm very proud of his promoting my candidacy, and I'm very happy that he is able to travel as widely as he has been, along with my daughter," Clinton told reporters while campaigning in Little Rock, Ark.

"But this is my campaign, it is about my candidacy," she said.

Top Five

A quick rundown of the posts I have read during my travels around the series of tubes.

- The Nation: Ralph Nader may run for President, again. After eight years of President Bush, Mr. Nader still remains an unreasonable man.

- Election Central: It over, the dream has ending. Reports are coming out that Mitt Romney’s Campaign is not running TV ads in the February 5th states. Well, there is always 2012.

- Crooks & Liars: Another House Republican decides to retire rather than run for reelection. As it stands now, the total number of retirees is 28. I willing to bet the number might reach up to 35 or so.

- MyDD: After New Hampshire, I’m very weary about polls. If Obama somehow pulls even in California, a cut into Hilary Clinton leads in the Northeast, and carries the south and Midwest he will be the front runner after February 5th. I know there are a lot of ifs, but Obama can still pull off an upset victory over Clinton.

- Fan House: Is Chicago Bear Devin Hester the greatest of all time?

Quote of the Day

It’s an old quote, but it shows how shameless the Clinton’s campaign is really is. Clinton’s campaign manger backed the DNC decision to strip Florida and Michigan of their delegates if they refused to return their primaries to their original dates.

We believe Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina play a unique and special role in the nominating process, and we believe the DNC's rules and its calendar provide the necessary structure to respect and honor that role."

The Clinton’s campaign could have voice their concerns then and forced the DNC change their policy, but they and the other campaigns went along with the DNC’s rules. It rings hollow now to make a big deal about Florida and the election results, when you had a chance to bring about real change in the process. The Clinton’s campaign is willing to trash any rules in the pursuit of power.

Immigrant Bashing

Mitt Romney has been hitting the illegal immigration issue hard every since Iowa to gin up support within Conservative base. In Florida, Mitt Romney at every campaign stop was preaching against Kennedy/McCain Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill, trying to tie McCain to amnesty. It worked, Conservative did vote for Mitt Romney over John McCain in the primary. But, Hispanics deliver Florida for McCain.

According to the exit polls Mitt Romney and John McCain tied 33% to 33% among the 89% of the Florida Republicans who voterd last night who were not Hispanic. Among Hispanics, who where 11% of the Florida GOP electorate last night, the vote was 54% McCain, 24% Rudy and 14% Romney. So it was the vote of Hispanic voters who put John McCain over the top in Florida, and gave him the most important win of his fight for the GOP nomination.

Thus, John McCain, the candidate who championed immigration reform, may have had the nomination delivered to him by those Hispanic voters he has been fighting for. And Romney, who has led the anti-immigrant crusade in the GOP field this year, saw this strategy explode on him - as it has virtually every other Republican who has invested in it - last night.

John McCain won the non-Cuban Hispanic vote over Romney by 51 to 21.

McCain does not support the Kennedy/McCain Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill anymore in an attempt to win over Conservatives, but this rhetoric has not been over the top. Immigrant-bashing is still going to play a role in the 2008 elections. The Conservative base always need someone to demonize and ‘Mexicans’ are their next target.

Today — with the nation bogged down in a disastrous war, oil prices at $100 a barrel, climate change cooking the planet and the economy veering into recession — the geniuses vying to lead the Republican Party have decided what's really wrong with America: Mexicans. [..]

Exploiting the spasm of xenophobia that has taken hold of the GOP base helped Huckabee win Iowa — where entrance polls found illegal immigration the primary issue among the party's voters. But top Republican strategists are petrified that pandering to a narrow band of nativists will ruin the GOP's future with the nation's fastest-growing bloc of voters.

It is so bad that Grover Norquist is now the voice of reason within the Republican base.

Grover Norquist, a top ally of Karl Rove, believes that the "vicious" rhetoric by GOP candidates could prompt Hispanics to flee "in droves" to the Democrats. "Talking about a strong border is one thing," Norquist says. "It's when you get into enforcing the law — which means deport — that you lose people's votes. Oddly enough, people resent the idea that you might throw their mother out of the country." [..]

Yet despite such evidence, the Republican candidates continue to undercut one another in a race to the xenophobic bottom. At every event, says Norquist, the candidates "get further and further right — it's not even right, it's just further and further hostile — trying to outdo each other. They somehow think that by putting the word 'illegal' in front of immigrant, they've cleared themselves of any ethnocentric bigotry: 'Oh, I'm only against the illegal ones.' Ha."

That equation, experts say, misses the reality of most immigrants, whose families are a mix of citizens, permanent residents who want to become citizens and undocumented immigrants desperate to get legal status. "When the candidates say they're for legal but not illegal immigration," says Sharry, "what they're saying is 'We want to deport your brother. We want to deport your cousin. The child who came with you — but not the children who were born here — would have to go home.'"

The last paragraph is dead on.

My two brothers and I were born here in America, but my parents were illegal immigrants at the time. Under President Ronald Reagan’s amnesty in the 80’s, my parents were able to become citizens in the 90’s. This issue hits me close, if Reagan’s amnesty was never put into law, the Republicans right now would be trying to deport my parents. Some of them are even go as far as trying to rewrite the Constitution to prevent the children of immigrants born in the U.S.A from receiving citizenship.

Why would I and any member of my family or the Hispanic Community vote for a political party that is trying deport our family members or trying to take the rights of citizenship out the Constitution?

FISA in 30 Seconds

Senator Russ Feingold explains FISA.

Obama Rip Clinton for Siding with McCain

The Republican front-runner John McCain is well on this way becoming the nominee of the GOP. On the Democratic side, it’s still a race between Senator Obama and Senator Clinton. Both candidates support bring the Troops home from Iraq, but there is a major difference. Only one candidate in the Democratic race did not support the war from the start and let no one deny this truth.

Senator Obama is going to highlight this distinction in a speech in Denver.

It's time for new leadership that understands that the way to win a debate with John McCain is not by nominating someone who agreed with him on voting for the war in Iraq; who agreed with him in voting to give George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran; who agrees with him in embracing the Bush-Cheney policy of not talking to leaders we don't like; and who actually differed with him by arguing for exceptions for torture before changing positions when the politics of the moment changed.

Wow.

John McCain can not run the same playbook that President Bush used on Senator Kerry in 2004 with Senator Obama. Hilary Clinton voted for the war in Iraq and Republicans are going to beat her over the head with this fact.

Senator Obama continues….

We need to offer the American people a clear contrast on national security, and when I am the nominee of the Democratic Party, that's exactly what I will do. Talking tough and tallying up your years in Washington is no substitute for judgment, and courage, and clear plans. It's not enough to say you'll be ready from Day One - you have to be right from Day One.

Running Hilary Clinton does not offer the American people a clear contrast with John McCain.

Divide and Conquer!

The Clinton Campaign has been quietly pushing the idea into the media that Latinos votes won’t vote for a Black candidate. It has now become conventional wisdom, but their race-bating has a price.

But the social costs of the Clintons' strategy might end up being higher than the country is willing to pay. According to Stanford Law professor Richard Thompson Ford, who just published "The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse," such political stunts can be "self-fulfilling prophecies."

"It could make black voters more hostile to Latinos," he said. "And Latinos who hear it might think that they somehow ought to be at odds with blacks. These kinds of statements generate interracial tensions."

The fact is that Latino voters has and will support Black Candidates.

University of Washington political scientist Matt Barreto has compiled a list of black big-city mayors who have received broad Latino support over the last several decades. In 1983, Harold Washington pulled 80% of the Latino vote in Chicago. David Dinkins won 73% in New York in 1989. And Denver's Wellington Webb garnered more than 70% in 1991, as did Ron Kirk in Dallas in 1995 and then again in 1997 and 1999.

He could have also added that longtime Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley won a healthy chunk of the Latino vote in 1973 and then the clear majority in his mayoral reelection campaigns of 1977, 1981, 1985 and 1989.

Here in L.A., all three black members of Congress represent heavily Latino districts and ultimately couldn't survive without significant Latino support. Five other black House members represent districts that are more than 25% Latino -- including New York's Charles Rangel and Texan Al Green -- and are also heavily dependent on Latino voters.

As Hispanic voters, my whole family voted for Obama in the Democratic Primary in 2004 even with a creditable Hispanic candidate in the race, Gery Chico. Even time I hear this crap about Latinos won’t support black candidates or the other way around base on race, it gets me ticked off.

Who is pushing this conventional wisdom is only out for one thing, to divide and conquer.

Top Five

A quick rundown of the posts I have read during my travels around the series of tubes.

- The Stump: Senator Clinton is full of it. Seriously, after all of the misrepresentation and distortion coming out of her campaign now she once again using misrepresentation and distortion to calling for unity. Shameless.

- Think Progress: According to Republican Joe Scarborough, McCain’s platform is ‘Less Jobs and More Wars’. That sound about right.

- Oliver Willis: Is John McCain the Bob Dole of 2008?

- The Carpetbagger Report: Bye, Bye Rudy.

The reality is Giuliani’s position as a credible candidate was a mirage from the start. He started high, thanks to an unearned 9/11 halo and high name recognition, but fell once voters actually got to know him. John Dickerson noted, “The more he campaigned, the more he went down in the polls.”

- Fan House: Damn. Johan Santana is coming to the National League.

John Edwards is Ending his Campaign

Today, Senator John Edwards will end his campaign for the Presidency.

Former Senator John Edwards, D-N.C., will drop out of the Democratic presidential race on Wednesday.

"It just became clear it wasn't going to happen," a senior Edwards advisor tells ABC News' Rick Klein.

When I hear heard of the news of Edwards dropping out, my first thought was about Senator Kennedy's concession speech in 1980 at the Democratic Convention in New York City.

For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.

I wish you and your family well, Senator.

3-Way Tie in the Florida Democratic Primary

With the results coming in the Florida Democratic Primary, Clinton, Edwards and Obama are in a 3-way tie in the delegates count.

Total Number of Delegates in Florida – 0

Edwards - 0

Clinton - 0

Obama - 0

As it stands now, the Democratic Primary is a delegate battle for the nomination. The Florida Democratic Party, the Michigan Democratic Party and their leaders did a great disservice to their states. Their cause was a noble one to stop the monopoly of Iowa and New Hampshire. Which I agree with, their domination in the Presidential process must stop. By not following the Democratic National Committee regulations, Florida and Michigan was stripped of all of their delegates.

Those states should have followed the rules and had their primaries the earliest possible which is February 5th. All of the 3 Democratic Candidates would have been in Florida and Michigan campaigning rather than ignoring them due to pledge they took not to campaign in those states.

It pure stupidity, the Presidential nominating process needs to be fixed. So, the next time there is a real campaign in Florida and Michigan.

Quote of the Day

Democratic U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona:

"I am proud to support Senator Obama as we move forward toward the nomination. This election is not merely about moving the pieces around in Washington D.C., but to fundamentally change the rules of the game. I am proud to help Senator Obama work toward that change."

The Politics of Sitting and Standing…

… during the President’s State of the Union Address.

Clinton and Obama’s divergent views on the troop surge in Iraq, however, were plainly visible.

When Bush proclaimed, “Ladies and gentlemen, some may deny the surge is working, but among terrorists there is no doubt,” Clinton sprang to her feet in applause but Obama remained firmly seated. The president’s line divided most of the Democratic audience, with nearly half standing to applaud and the other half sitting in stony silence.

Senator Kennedy:

We know the true record of Barack Obama. There is the courage he showed when so many others were silent or simply went along. From the beginning, he opposed the war in Iraq.

And let no one deny that truth.

Senator Kennedy could have also added when so many other were cheering President Bush on or were silent and simply went along. From the beginning, Senator Obama opposed the war in Iraq.

I’m just staying, let’s compare and contrast.

This is Interesting

During a Democratic debate, Senator Obama helped out his fellow Democrat at a tough moment.

"I had just been asked a question -- I don't remember which one -- and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn't going to listen to the next question. I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, 'So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?' But I wasn't paying any attention! I was about to say, 'Could you repeat the question? I wasn't listening.' But I wasn't about to say I wasn't listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, 'Katrina. Katrina.' The question was on Katrina! So I said, 'On Katrina, my policy . . .' Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, 'Obama, that was good of you to do that.'"

Senator Obama responses to the President’s …

… State of the Union Address.

Senator Durbin responses to the President's …

… State of the Union Address.

Top Five

A quick rundown of the posts I have read during my travels around the series of tubes.

- Oliver Willis: Our long national nightmare is almost over.

Let the next year produce a president whose state of the union addresses don't produce embarrassed cringes but rather make our hearts soar with pride fitting of Americans.

- Open Left: RNC Chairman Mike Duncan is full of it.

- Digby: Is former California Governor Gray Davis that clueless?

- Crooks & Lairs: Republican Presidential Candidates McCain and Romney are calling each other names; it got so bad that each of them called the other a liberal.

- Fan House: I first came across Skip Bayless during this time in Chicago as a sports columnist, but now he is a mainstay at ESPN2’s morning show. Skip Bayless should have stuck to writing, he acts like a fool and the TV.

Senator Kennedy Endorses Barack Obama

For President.

Facts about Obama’s Victory in South Carolina

Finally.

Now we have mathematical proof that President Bill Clinton is full of it when he compares Senator Obama’s victory in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson's victories in 1984 and 1988.

The Clinton camp would like to brush off the weekend primary in South Carolina as not really that representative because so many African Americans voted. That in essence was what former president Bill Clinton was saying when he dismissed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's victory over New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton by comparing it to Jesse Jackson's victories in South Carolina during his runs for the presidency in the 1980s.

But in fact, the numbers don't bear that out. If half as many black voters turned out, Obama still would have beaten Clinton, albeit not by as large a margin. Let's say, for instance, that African American voters represented just 20 percent of the total electorate in South Carolina instead of the 55 percent they did -- closer to, say, their share of the New York Democratic electorate. Assuming each candidate won the same proportionate support within each racial group, then Obama still would have won the primary with 34.6 percent of the overall vote to 32.6 percent for Clinton and 32.4 percent for former North Carolina senator John Edwards. [..]

But the point is that Obama did not win South Carolina solely because the electorate there was disproportionately African American.

February 5th and Beyond

Senator Obama’s Campaign is airing ads in the February 5th States by this fellow Democratic Senators and Gov. Napolitano.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Kent Conrad of North Dakota are appearing in ads as Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, seeks to introduce himself to a large number of people only a week before coast-to-coast contests in 22 states. [..]

The ads are part of $3.5 million in ad placements this week in Feb. 5 states. The message from Napolitano, McCaskill and Conrad is that Obama can win the presidency and govern by unifying disparate political groups.

By featuring those three politicians, the campaign also seeks to show Obama's support from moderate Democrats serving in typically Republican states; George W. Bush carried each in 2000 and 2004.

In addition to the campaign ad, Senator Obama’s Campaign is adding staff not only in February 5th States, but States that vote later in the month.

Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) campaign said Monday that it is adding staff to the states that vote in February after Super Tuesday in anticipation of a protracted nomination battle.

According to a memo from campaign manager David Plouffe, the campaign has hired or will hire staff in those states by the middle of this week. In addition, the memo states that Obama has raised more than $4 million in the last two and a half days just online, allowing the campaign to be “financially competitive — if not superior.”

Sen. Kennedy Rips Apart Clinton’s Talking Points

During a rally at American University in Washington, Senator Barack Obama received the endorsement of Rep. Patrick Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy and Senator Edward M. Kennedy for President. Senator Kennedy’s speech directly took on the Clinton’s campaign rhetoric.

President Clinton claimed Senator Obama opposition to the Iraq war is a fairy tale. Senator Kennedy Answers back:

We know the true record of Barack Obama. There is the courage he showed when so many others were silent or simply went along. From the beginning, he opposed the war in Iraq.

And let no one deny that truth.

Senator Clinton touts her experience in Washington. Senator Kennedy answers back.

What counts in our leadership is not the length of years in Washington, but the reach of our vision, the strength of our beliefs, and that rare quality of mind and spirit that can call forth the best in our country and our people.

With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion.

With Barack Obama, we will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, ethnic group against ethnic group, and straight against gay.

On the campaign trail, Senator Clinton states she is ready on day one. Senator Kennedy answers back:

I love this country. I believe in the bright light of hope and possibility. I always have, even in the darkest hours. I know what America can achieve. I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it—and with Barack Obama, we can do it again.

I know that he’s ready to be President on day one. And when he raises his hand on Inauguration Day, at that very moment, we will lift the spirits of our nation and begin to restore America’s standing in the world.

President Clinton on the campaign trail continues to assert it’s not his time right now, one day he would be proud to vote for Senator Obama for President but today it’s belongs to Hilary Clinton. Senator Kennedy answers back:

There was another time, when another young candidate was running for President and challenging America to cross a New Frontier. He faced public criticism from the preceding Democratic President, who was widely respected in the party. Harry Truman said we needed “someone with greater experience”—and added: “May I urge you to be patient.” And John Kennedy replied: “The world is changing. The old ways will not do…It is time for a new generation of leadership.”

So it is with Barack Obama. He has lit a spark of hope amid the fierce urgency of now.

Senator Kennedy is Fired up and Ready to Go!

The time is now for a new generation of leadership, it is time now for Barack Obama for President.

Top Five

A quick rundown of the posts I have read during my travels around the series of tubes.

- Oliver Willis: Pro-Clinton blogger Taylor Marsh is full of it.

- The Carpetbagger Report: John McCain has a secret plan to capture Osama bin Laden, but he won’t tell anyone in till he is in the White House.

- Election Central: Senators Clinton and Obama will vote against cloture on FISA.

- Digby: Rudy Giuliani has spent around 30 million dollars in this Presidential run and has nothing to show for it besides finishing behind Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee in most of the previous contests.

- Fan House: There won’t be any political ads during the Super Bowl. This is a good thing; Super Bowl Sunday should be focus on football and having a good time.

McCain: "There Will Be Other Wars"

Republican President Candidate John McCain is not satisfied with keeping American Troops in Iraq for 100 plus years, now he warn about other wars.

Sen. John McCain told a crowd of supporters on Sunday, "It's a tough war we're in. It's not going to be over right away. There's going to be other wars." Offering more of his increasingly bleak "straight talk," he repeated the claim: "I'm sorry to tell you, there's going to be other wars. We will never surrender but there will be other wars."

Senator Kennedy Endorsing Barack Obama

This is big. The Liberal Lion of the Senate is endorsing Senator Obama for President.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy will endorse Barack Obama for president tomorrow, breaking his year-long neutrality to send a powerful signal of where the legendary Massachusetts Democrat sees the party going -- and who he thinks is best to lead it.

Kennedy confidantes told the Globe today that the Bay State's senior senator will appear with Obama and Kennedy's niece, Caroline Kennedy, at a morning rally at American University in Washington tomorrow to announce his support.

This endorsement is more than just a press release and a photo-op, Senator Kennedy is going to hit the campaign trial.

Kennedy plans to campaign actively for Obama, an aide said, and will focus particularly among Hispanics and labor union members, who are important voting blocks in several Feb. 5 states, including California, New York, New Jersey, Arizona and New Mexico.

During the immigration debate in Congress, the Kennedy/McCain Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill received a lot of positive media play in the Spanish language media. The Hispanic community knows where Senator Kennedy stands on the issues of immigration and with Kennedy hitting the trial for Obama it would only help his standing with in the Hispanic community. Even my Grandmother who does not speak English and has no clue about politics recognizes Senator Kennedy.

Top Five

A quick rundown of the posts I have read during my travels around the series of tubes.

- Matthew Yglesias: The Clintons are full of it.

After all this time being told by the Clinton campaign that Barack Obama is some kind of closet Reagan-worshipping right-winger, it's a bit confusing to be told that he's the second coming of Jesse Jackson, too.

- Slate: Is ESPN going to start calling blow outs an Obama?

Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton so badly in South Carolina it may spawn some new kind of Southern colloquialism. When Clemson spanks an opponent by five touchdowns it will be called an Obama. Fans will taunt the losing team as they walk off the field by making an "O" against their foreheads.

- Talk Left: The blogger Big Tent Democrat and rest of bloggers over at Hliary-land are having a melt down over the Clintons loss in South Carolina. Give it a read, if you want a good laugh.

- Crooks & Lairs: The Republicans Presidential candidates McCain and Romney are fighting who is going to keep American Troops in Iraq the longest.

- Fan House: This is ridiculous, $230 for a pair of sneaks.

Caroline Kennedy: Obama 'A President Like my Father'

Caroline Kennedy:

OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.

Please, go and read the rest of Caroline Kennedy's Op-Ed in the New York Times.

Barack Obama Wins South Carolina!

Senator Obama put the beat down on the other Democratic candidates in the race. It was a blow out.

Obama 55%

Clinton 27%

Edwards 18%

Here is the video of Barack's victory speech...

Bill Clinton: Jesse Jackson = Barack Obama

What does it say about Barack Obama that it takes two of you to beat him?”

Bill Clinton responds, “Jesse Jackson won South Carolina twice, in ‘84 and ‘88, and he ran a good campaign. And Sen. Obama’s run a good campaign here; he’s run a good campaign everywhere. He’s a good candidate with a good organization.”

Basically, Bill Clinton just discredited Obama’s South Carolina Victory as a ‘black thing’ and it really does not count because ‘black’ people shouldn’t pick the Democratic Nominee.

Bill Clinton has no creditably or honor left.

Photo of the Day

(Photo via My.Barack Obama.com)

Just hours before South Carolinians begin casting their vote in the Democratic Primary, Barack rallied a capacity crowd at the Koger Center in downtown Columbia, SC.

Who is actually running for President? Pt. 3

It is Senator Clinton or Bill Clinton?

Hilary Clinton pollster Mark Penn is making the case for Bill Clinton third term.

"President Clinton put this country on a fundamentally different path. He changed the fiscal nature of this country, he changed the international relations of this country…He left the country on a totally different trajectory where people felt they were prepared for the 21st century."

Did President Clinton really put this country on a fundamentally different path or just continued the path of the Republicans?

Clinton did essentially govern like a moderate Republican. His accomplishments, when the sentimental gestures are set aside, are indistinguishable from George Bush's. Like Bush, Clinton increased the top income tax rate a bit, raised the minimum wage modestly and expanded tax credits for the working poor. He reduced military spending somewhat but, like Bush, failed to restructure the military for post-cold war realities. He got tough on crime, especially drug offenders, and built many more prisons. He championed educational reform. He completed the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was mainly negotiated by the Bush Administration. On these and other matters, one can fairly say that Clinton completed Bush's agenda.

Go and read the rest of William Greider article about Bill Clinton's legacy, "Unfinished Business: Clinton's Lost Presidency."

When Did Bill Clinton become the First ‘Black’ President?

I now its conventional wisdom to assert the Clintons have strong ties to the African-American community, but Bill Clinton during this 1992 Presidential run under performed with black vote compared to other Democrats.

Back in 1992, the Clintons were decidedly not heroes to black America. Bill ran on a platform of welfare reform. He was tough on crime, and some felt he gratuitously supported the execution of the brain-damaged African American killer Ricky Ray Rector on the eve of the New Hampshire primary. When Clinton scolded the obscure rapper Sister Souljah at a meeting of Jesse Jackson Sr.'s Rainbow Coalition, Jackson called it a "Machiavellian" gambit for white votes. That fall, Clinton carried 82 percent of the black vote--a low sum compared to other Democratic nominees. (In 1988, for instance, Mike Dukakis carried 89 percent of the black electorate.)

In 1996, President Clinton once again under performed with the black vote.

In July 1996, Bill signed a tough welfare-reform bill crafted by the Gingrich Congress. Behind the scenes, Hillary supported his decision--a stance that ruptured her friendship with her one-time mentor, Children's Defense Fund chairwoman Marion Wright Edelman, who called signing the bill "a great moral and practical wrong. " That fall, Clinton was reelected with another deflated 84 percent of the black vote.

When did the African-American community rally around President Clinton?

It wasn't until the Lewinsky scandal that Clinton won over skeptics. Black voters appeared to sympathize with him as the target of a rigged right-wing prosecution and, moreover, feared a conservative power play that might threaten their political interests. On the House floor, Clinton's African American lawyer, Cheryl Mills, even described impeachment as a threat to "civil rights."

At the height of impeachment, in a now-infamous New Yorker essay, Toni Morrison declared Bill "the first black president," saying that he "displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working- class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas."

Under right wing attacks the African-American community stood tall with Bill Clinton when his back was against the wall, but the Clintons has shown wiliness to turn their back to them when it suit their needs.

Who else is tried of Edwards ‘Cheesy’ Campaign Rhetoric?

Yes, John Edwards is running a progressive campaign for the Democratic Nomination. I would definitely vote for him in the primary if I was not supporting Senator Obama. Heck, I voted for John Edwards in the 2004 primary in Illinois even after John Kerry was well on this way to Boston as the Democratic Nominee. This blog post his not about this progressive stands on the issues, rather it’s about his lack of a better word 'Cheesy' rhetoric.

"This is the New York and Chicago-style politics of personal attacks and trying to tear people down. South Carolina deserves better than that."

Senator you are full of it. South Carolina’s politics is no different than big city politics. It might be a bit dirtier, let’s not forget what happen to Senator McCain in 2000 in your beloved South Carolina.

Get off your high horse.

"I'm proud to be part of the 'grown-up' wing of the party"

If you were in Senator Obama place and getting attacked day in and day our by the Clinton Campaign, you would be hitting back just like Obama did. I know this type of rhetoric scores cheap political point, but it’s still very corny.

Top Five

A quick rundown of the posts I have read during my travels around the series of tubes.

- Washington Post: Go read columnist Colbert I. King Op-Ed about the Clintons.

If they make it there -- a big if -- the only unanswered question is where Bill will choose to hang his hat. Will it be in her old space in the East Wing, or will he set up shop in the West Wing?

Smart money is on Billary settling in the Oval Office with "his" and "hers" desks.

Who would have thought, eight years ago, that the country might get back Billary, two people reeking of self-pity and spoiling for fights with anyone who has the temerity to stand in their way?

No.

- The Plank: Conservative icon Rush Limbaugh has a new girlfriend. Which is not a big deal, but if they get married she would be wife number 4.

How can anti-gay marriage conservatives even make their argument with a straight face anymore?

Easily, they are shameless.

- McClatchy Newspapers: If your skin color is brown the fundamental American principle of "innocent before proven guilty" out the window.

"The burden of proof is on the individual to show they're legally entitled to be in the United States," said ICE spokeswoman Kice.

- The Carpetbagger Report: Unhinged gun nuts continue to get in the way of modest legislation which would close the loophole that allows people to buy weapons at gun shows without undergoing a background check.

- Crooks & Liars: Republican Senator John McCain is full of it.

You can not Shame the Shameless

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI):

"The conduct of Senate Republicans yesterday was shameless. After weeks of insisting that it is absolutely critical to finish the FISA legislation by February 1, even going so far as to object to a one-month extension of the Protect America Act, they obstructed all efforts to actually work on the bill. Now they want to simply ram the deeply flawed Intelligence Committee bill through the Senate. [..]

“Democrats should not allow the Republicans to ram this bill through the Senate without amendments. Monday's cloture vote will be a test of whether the majority is willing to stand up to the administration and stand up for our rights."

Quote of the Day

9/11 widowed Kristen Breitweiser offers Rudy Giuliani some advice after he drops out of the Republican Presidential race.

If he really wants to be a 9/11 hero, then Rudy should devote his time, money, and name to getting every single 9/11 rescue worker the proper health care benefits and support they deserve.

A rough three weeks ...

... and it is getting worse.

I’m a liberal and a Democratic partisan who is supporting Senator Obama for the Democratic Nomination. Even if my preferred candidate lost the nomination, I would strongly support the Democratic ticket in 2008. Now, that is becoming very difficult to do. I lost all respect for Senator Clinton, the former President and increasingly Clinton’s Congressional supporters. As a partisan, I will show up on Election Day and support the Democratic ticket in Illinois if Senator Clinton is leading the way. This election is too important not to vote, but I would have to hold my noise, take a cold shower after I vote.

Yes, I’m bitter.

The Democratic Party had a chance to bring sweeping change to the Country by electing a Progressive President with an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress. Hilary Clinton could have been this candidate, but her campaign lead by former President decided to put their lust for power over the needs of the Country and the Democratic Party.

This diary on Daily Kos by Dengre sums up my feelings pretty well on the Clintons and the 2008 elections.

In the last few weeks, I have found my own rhetoric and feelings getting more and more heated. As the race-baiting, dirty-tricks, voter suppression efforts and outright lies have multiplied, I have found myself getting as angry at some Democrats as I have been at most Republicans—and I have been angry at most Republicans since 1964 when I was eight.

One of those Democrats is Bill Clinton.

I can see the political reasons for why Bill Clinton has reduced his wife’s campaign to the stark parameters of race. It is the best way to elect her. Appeals to fear and racism always work better than appeals to hope—especially with an electorate and news media pre-condition to always embrace stereotypes and fear over logic and hope.

It is smart politics to reduce Obama to the "inexperienced black guy" and Edwards to the "angry white guy". These over-the-top framings of these Candidates are sticking and driving the narrative. If either Edwards or Obama were to win the nomination the damage done by Bill Clinton will follow them into November. If Senator Clinton wins, the damage of her path to "victory" will follow her as well. It is powerful stuff, to unleash super-charged narratives shaped by five-hundred years of American racism. These are framings that will shape the rest of this Election year. They have been released and they can not be stopped.

Go and read the rest.

CNN Bans James Carville And Paul Begala

Finally.

CNN admits that James Carville and Paul Begala are Clinton partisans.

Okay, this is interesting. I've just learned that CNN has told top Dem strategists James Carville, Paul Begala, and Robert Zimmerman -- who are CNN mainstays but are all Hillary supporters -- that they will not be doing any more political analysis on the network until the Democratic primary has reached a conclusion.

CNN took action only after the Obama Campaign complained to high level officials. I don’t agree with CNN banning Carville and Begala off the air. I much rather they stop calling them Democratic strategist and label them as Clinton hacks when ever they appear on the TV.

Top Five

A quick rundown of the posts I have read during my travels around the series of tubes.

- E. J. Dionne Jr.: The Clinton(s) are full of it.

Clinton argued over and over that Democrats could not win without new ideas of their own. To reread Clinton's "New Covenant" speeches from back then is to be reminded of how electrifying it was to hear a politician who was willing to break new ground.

That's why the Clintons' assault on Obama is so depressing. In many ways, Obama is running the 2008 version of the 1992 Clinton campaign. You have the feeling that if Bill Clinton did not have another candidate in this contest, he'd be advising Obama and cheering him on.

- The Nation: Is Senator Harry Reid (D- NV) the Democratic Majority Leader or the Republican Majority Leader?

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cleared a key hurdle for the FISA Amendments Act on Thursday, advancing President Bush's preferred version of the spying bill, a move opposed by the majority of Reid's Democratic colleagues.

- Election Central: Republicans McCain and Huckabee are full of it.

- Americablog: Rudy Giuliani never lets facts get in the way of a Republican talking point.

- Fan House: Are there any healthy Chicago Bulls left?

Who is actually running for President? Pt. 2

It is Senator Clinton or Bill Clinton?

I want to thank you for twice giving me the chance to serve as president. The 1990s were a time of prosperity. We created more than 22 million new jobs, moved eight million people out of poverty, and turned our economy around.

This is the new Clinton(s) Campaign ad for South Carolina. If Bill Clinton is going to tout the ‘1990s’ as a reason to vote for Hilary Clinton then the Senator must account for all of the Republican-light DLC polices of Bill Clinton.

Well, you have to get Bill Clinton some credit he does mention at the end of the ad to vote for Hilary.

It’s time for another comeback, time to make America great again. I know Hillary’s the one that can do it.

That was nice of him.

Clinton's campaign Pulls misleading Ad

Why pay for a negative ad when the media gives President Bill Clinton free air time for his disingenuous attacks on Senator Obama?

It's all about Bill Clinton's attacks

Ari Melber:

Bill Clinton has a negative outburst a few days before each state race in the Democratic primary. There was "roll the dice" before Iowa, and "fairy tale" in New Hampshire. A few days before Nevada voted, he aggressively confronted a reporter on camera, and just pulled the same stunt on a CNN reporter in South Carolina. Each time, the media fixates on the spectacle, dutifully debating whether he is too angry or too misleading. But as Clinton knows, it doesn't even matter what people say, as long as they are talking about him and his latest attacks on Barack Obama. Like clockwork, these supposed outbursts give airtime to attacks while pulling attention away from Obama in the crucial, closing days of each primary. [..]

Bill Clinton's latest attack was on both Obama and a CNN reporter, whom he blasted for focusing on Clinton's misleading statements about Obama, instead of issues. "This is what you want to cover. This is what you live for!" he chided, adding that voters' concerns are "not going to be in the news coverage tonight because you don't care about it."

But as Clinton understands perfectly, now the "news coverage" is once again about his latest outburst. Even his advisers admit that some of "his criticism of Mr. Obama" are "choreographed" with Hillary's campaign. It has worked well every week since the race began in Iowa. Now the "news coverage" is not about Obama's new speech -- which is literally breaking records in public viewership. It's not about John Edwards' stimulus plan -- which has driven the economic policy debate since he unveiled a populist proposal weeks before any other candidate. Come to think of it, the news isn't about that other candidate for president, either. It's all about Bill Clinton's attacks. And as he said, that's a bad thing. Except for the frontrunner in this race.

Quote of the Day

Michelle Obama:

"The one thing that is clear is that when power is confronted with real change, they will say anything"

Once again, President Clinton is playing the media for fools.

Election Central:

Must-see TV: Bill lays into a reporter big time, suggesting that those covering the racial dust-ups, rather than the issues, are proving that they're "determined to take this election away" from the people of South Carolina...

This is pure spin from a master political operative.

Bill Clinton is laying the groundwork to discredit an Obama victory in South Carolina. Just like in New Hampshire and Nevada, Bill Clinton is playing the media for suckers. In New Hampshire, Bill Clinton claimed if Senator Clinton loss it is due to the fact that she is not a male or tall enough. In Nevada, Bill Clinton declared Unions supporting Obama has an unfair advantage.

Now, the Clinton(s) campaign is going to try discredit Senator Obama victory this Saturday because the media is playing the so called race card and not covering the important issues facing the American people. In the Clinton(s) world, Senator Obama win does not really count if margin of victory is on the backs of the African-American vote.

I have lost all respect for this man.

Hillary Clinton. She’ll say anything, and change nothing.

Obama Radio Ad:

Announcer: It's what's wrong with politics today. Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected.

Now she's making false attacks on Barack Obama.

The Washington Post says Clinton isn't telling the truth. Obama "did not say that he liked the ideas of Republicans"

In fact, Obama's led the fight to raise the minimum wage, close corporate tax loopholes and cut taxes for the middle class.

But it was Hillary Clinton, in an interview with Tom Brokaw, who quote "paid tribute" to Ronald Reagan's economic and foreign policy.

She championed NAFTA – even though it has cost South Carolina thousands of jobs.

And worst of all, it was Hillary Clinton who voted for George Bush's war in Iraq.

Hillary Clinton. She'll say anything, and change nothing.

It's time to turn the page.

Democrats, Bush Reach Deal on Tax Rebates

AP:

Democratic and Republican congressional leaders reached a tentative deal Thursday on tax rebates of $300 to $1,200 per family and business tax cuts to jolt the slumping economy. [..]

Pelosi, D-Calif., agreed to drop increases in food stamp and unemployment benefits during a Wednesday meeting in exchange for gaining rebates of at least $300 for almost everyone earning a paycheck, including low-income earners who make too little to pay income taxes.

Families with children would receive an additional $300 per child, subject to an overall cap of perhaps $1,200, according to a senior House aide who outlined the deal on condition of anonymity in advance of formal adoption of the whole package. Rebates would go to people earning below a certain income cap, likely individuals earning $75,000 or less and couples with incomes of $150,000 or less.

Paul Krugman:

If this description is correct, the stimulus bill will be a real disappointment. As I pointed out in an earlier post, economic theory — Milton Friedman’s theory! — suggests that if we want stimulus funds spent, they should go to people in temporary economic difficulty who are likely to be liquidity-constrained. But it appears that most of the measures that would do that — benefits to the unemployed, food stamps, aid to state and local governments — are being bargained away. Even the tax credit is apparently not fully refundable, so those who need it most, and are most likely to spend it, won’t get the full amount.

You can blame the Bush administration, whose hostility to helping those in need is now getting in the way of good economic policy. But I’m also disappointed with the Democratic leadership, for not standing up more forcefully.

Top Five

A quick rundown of the posts I have read during my travels around the series of tubes.

- Think Progress: Why does Fox News host John Gibson still have a job? Oh yeah, he works for Fox News where it’s ok to mock the death of a young man with gay jokes.

- The Carpetbagger Report: The more time Rudy Giuliani spends in the Sunshine State the more this poll numbers go down.

- Political Wire: If I was one of Mitt Romney sons, I would be pretty piss off if he does not win the Presidency.

- MyDD: Another Republican leaves the House rather than facing a strong Democratic challenger. With this latest retirement, House Republicans must now defend an even 24 open seats this cycle.

- Fan House: If these charges are true, this hockey mom went too far in her support of the team. It’s one thing to have a victory party, but you don’t have to provide the drugs, sex and beer.

Did Senator Clinton really stand-up for Diversity at Wal-Mart?

Presidential Candidate Hilary Clinton claims she took a very active role in promoting diversity and involvement of women during her time on the Board of Wal-Mart, but this the truth?

Did Senator Clinton bring real ‘Change’ to Wal-Mart?

No.

Wal-Mart critics say her presence brought little lasting change to the firm. And former executives say she was not a voice for bold reform.

'She was not a dissenter,' said Donald G. Soderquist, Wal-Mart's former chief operating officer and the board's vice chairman during Clinton's tenure. 'She was a part of those decisions.'

Was Senator Clinton a ‘Champion Change Agent’?

No.

'There was no change for the better during that period for women at Wal-Mart,' Sellers said. 'If there was change, it was minimal. Nobody knew about it or else it was just too subtle to recognize.'

Did Senator Clinton use her ’35 years of Experience’ to help Unions?

No.

Clinton 'clearly knew the company's reputation.' Tate said that when he 'made presentations on what we were doing' during board meetings, Clinton did not raise objections. [Former Wal-Mart COO] Soderquist agreed, saying there was 'no sign that she had any criticism.'

Senator Clinton ‘found her Voice’ during the 2008 New Hampshire primary, too bad she could not find her voice sooner.

Mrs. Clinton largely sat on the sidelines when it came to Wal-Mart and unions, board members said. Since its founding in 1962, Wal-Mart has fought unionization efforts at its stores and warehouses, employing hard-nosed tactics — like allegedly firing union supporters and spying on employees — that have become the subject of legal complaints against the company.

A special team at Wal-Mart handled those activities, but Mr. Walton was vocal in his opposition to unions. Indeed, he appointed the lawyer who oversaw the company’s union monitoring, Mr. Tate, to the board, where he served with Mrs. Clinton.

During their meetings and private conversations, Mrs. Clinton never voiced objections to Wal-Mart’s stance on unions, said Mr. Tate and John A. Cooper, another board member.

Did Senator Clinton show any 'emotion' for the plight of the working women at her time at Wal-Mart?

No.

'There's no evidence she did anything to improve the status of women or make it a very different place in ways Mrs. Clinton's Democratic base would care about,' said Liza Featherstone, author of 'Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Worker's Rights at Wal-Mart.

Does Hilary Clinton six-year tenure as a director of Wal-Mart count towards her 35 years of experience of bring real change for the American people?

All the facts point towards NO.

Who is actually running for President?

It is Senator Clinton or Bill Clinton?

Along the way, he often sounds as if he's campaigning for a third term. Here in Aiken, he tried mightily to talk about Hillary, but he kept lapsing into the first person: "My position on that is simple. . . . When I was in law school. . . . When I was president. . . . When I was governor of Arkansas. . . . When I started this schools program. . . . I made the governor of South Carolina secretary of education. . . . I got a Mercury mini-SUV."

Quote of the Day

Maureen Dowd:

If Bill Clinton has to trash his legacy to protect his legacy, so be it. If he has to put a dagger through the heart of hope to give Hillary hope, so be it.

Photo of the Day

(Photo via My.Barack Obama.com)

Top Five

A quick rundown of the posts I have read during my travels around the series of tubes.

- The American Prospect: If you are running a campaign like the Republicans, then you are going to govern like the Republicans.

Three weeks ago, I wrote that Clinton was working to make voters uneasy, utilizing just enough fear to encourage them to stick with the known quantity in the race. But in the time since, her campaign has begun to appear more and more as though it's being run by Karl Rove or Lee Atwater. Pick your tired metaphor -- take-no-prisoners, brass knuckles, no-holds-barred, playing for keeps -- however you describe it, the Clinton campaign is not only not going easy on Obama, they're doing so in awfully familiar ways. So many of the ingredients of a typical GOP campaign are there, in addition to fear. We have the efforts to make it harder for the opponent’s voters to get to the polls (the Nevada lawsuit seeking to shut down at-large caucus sites in Las Vegas, to which the Clinton campaign gave its tacit support). We have, depending on how you interpret the events of the last couple of weeks, the exploitation of racial divisions and suspicions (including multiple Clinton surrogates criticizing Obama for his admitted teenage drug use). And most of all, we have an utterly shameless dishonesty.

- Think Progress: Why does Chris Matthews of MSNBC still have a job?

- Talking Points Memo: Lies, Lies and more lies.

The Bush Administration's 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq are finally cataloged.

- Election Central: Oh second thought, Florida is not really that important to Rudy ’08.

- The Fan House: Life is good when you are Shaquille O'Neal, really good.

Quote of the Day

Senator Barack Obama:

In the debate last night, we spent some time talking about the economy. And one of the things I brought up that concerned me was that when Senator Clinton first released her economic stimulus plan, she didn't think that workers or seniors needed immediate tax relief. She thought it could wait until things got worse. Five days later, the economy didn't really change, but the politics apparently did, because she changed her plan to look just like mine.

It’s a good Day to be a Clinton

A really good day.

Former President Clinton stands to reap around $20 million -- and will sever a politically sensitive partnership tie to Dubai -- by ending his high-profile business relationship with the investment firm of billionaire friend Ron Burkle.

On a related note, Ron Burkle raised $1 million hosting a dinner for Hillary Clinton Presidential campaign.

Mr. Clinton initially signed on with Mr. Burkle as a senior adviser to closely held Yucaipa. As part of that arrangement, Mr. Burkle agreed to give Mr. Clinton a share of the profits from two Yucaipa domestic investment funds if their returns reached a certain threshold. Mr. Clinton's adviser arrangement ended in early 2007, five years after it began. But Mr. Clinton still hasn't settled the issue of his payout. [..]

Mr. Clinton's duties and activities as a Yucaipa adviser have never been completely clear to outsiders. He has met at times with people involved in various Yucaipa business deals. And the former president's vast global network of contacts probably has been an asset for Mr. Burkle in dealings with business, labor and political leaders. Over the years, Mr. Burkle has said publicly that Mr. Clinton's prestige and connections have helped Yucaipa get its business proposals in front of top corporate decision makers.

Ron Burkle calls President Clinton invaluable.

He's invaluable," Burkle says of his idol. President Clinton "is unique, he brands us to people who matter. He got us in with the Teamsters, and that's important for deal flow going forward."

Yucaipa arranged for Clinton to make a speech at a Teamsters conference in 2003, and later Clinton urged Teamsters President James Hoffa Jr. to trust Burkle and present him with possible deals. Result: This spring Yucaipa paid $100 million to buy a controlling stake in Allied Holdings, a trucking outfit in bankruptcy proceedings. "Clinton got it to the point where Hoffa actually helped us with that deal, something I couldn't have gotten on my own," Burkle says. [..]

Burkle says. "My best call in corporate America isn't one-hundredth of what President Clinton is just picking up the phone and saying 'Hey, we've got this is idea, want to come talk about it?'"

I guess you can put a price on invaluable, 20 million dollars.

Debate Summary: South Carolina

Steve Benen:

The problem for Obama is getting dragged into the mud when he wants to aim higher.

Indeed, the moment the campaign gets ugly, he’s at a decided disadvantage — if he returns fire, it’s politics as usual, with politicians bickering and getting personal. If he doesn’t return fire, and aims for a “new kind of politics,” the attacks from Clinton start to stick, and questions about general election “toughness” emerge.

It’s not that Obama couldn’t compete in a street fight — he seemed pretty good at it — it’s that he was fighting on Clinton’s terms.

Matthew Yglesias:

But still, if voters are considering being persuaded by the merits of Clinton's arguments about Obama and the war, or about the "present" votes or whatever else they ought to be aware that this is all basically bogus. What's more, I think it's worth pointing out that Clinton seems to have gotten herself firmly into "flip-flop" territory on the war at this point; hawk was bad, substantively and politically, but this may be worse.

David Sirota:

Later in the debate, when John Edwards gave perhaps the most eloquent answer of all on a question about poverty, Clinton tried to one-up everyone by saying "when I graduated from law school, I didn't go to work for a law firm. I went to work for Marian Wright Edelman at the Children's Defense Fund." Yes, folks - forget about her time at Arkansas most powerful corporate law firm. Forget that she ignored potential conflicts-of-interest to serve at that corporate law firm even as her husband was governor of the state. Forget her role helping build Wal-Mart into the monster it is today. Forget even her sitting by and cheering as her husband's administration - which she now overtly asks voters to re-embrace with her candidacy - rammed NAFTA and welfare reform through Congress, throwing millions of people into poverty. Yes, just remember that for a few moments right out of college, she worked at a non-profit.

This is truly the politics of hopelessness - a politics mastered by a Clinton machine deft in all the dark arts of corruption and demagoguery.

The Clinton(s) won the Democratic Debate in SC

The Clinton(s) operate the best in the gutter.

Last night showed why I oppose the candidacy of Bill Clinton Senator Clinton for the Democratic Nomination for President. The Clinton(s) are willing to say and do anything to get themselves elected. Yes, themselves. During the Bill Clinton Presidency the Democratic Party lost the Senate and The House and if the Clinton(s) get back in the White House history might repeat it self again.

I’m all for tough attacks, but the Clinton(s) is taking it a step too far. They want to destroy Senator Obama for the simple fact that he dared to run against them. In their world, the Democratic Party is only their in the service of the Clinton(s).

I fully expect the Clinton(s) to continue their gutter politics, its working.

Top Five

A quick rundown of the posts I have read during my travels around the series of tubes.

- Washington Monthly: How low can Rudy Giuliani poll numbers go?

- Think Progress: Mitt Romney airs a Spanish language ad in Florida, not included in the ad is his support of English-only policies.

- The Carpetbagger Report: The Democratic Party going into 2008 election cycle will not have money advantage over the GOP.

- Matthew Yglesias: Chuck Norris, a Mike Huckabee supporter, calls Senator McCain old. According to Mr. Norris one of reasons not to support McCain is because he might die in office.

- Foulballs: Why does Emmitt Smith of ESPN still have a job?

McCain Voted Against Creating Martin Luther King Holiday

1983:

McCain voted against the Hall (D-IN) motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill to designate the third Monday of every January as a federal holiday in honor of the late civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

President Clinton is Not Above Criticism

Matthew Yglesias:

This is pretty neat. According to Howard Wolfson, pointing out that Bill Clinton is lying is a "right-wing talking point" and thus all good liberals have a duty to grant Clinton a blanket license to fib. So when Clinton said he opposed the Iraq War, that must have been true, because I'm a liberal. And when Clinton said Barack Obama didn't oppose the Iraq War, that must have been true too, because I'm a liberal.

Look, obviously Bill's in an odd position because we've never had an ex-president's wife run for president before. But if he wants to be treated as an elder statesman figure for fellow progressives, he needs to act like one. If he wants to be Hillary Clinton's attack dog in a primary campaign, then he's going to be treated as one. Certainly he's not above criticism.

President Clinton could have stayed above the fray and continue is role as an elder statesman while support Senator Clinton campaign, but he choose not too. His all out attacks on Senator Obama show is true colors, it is not about the good of the Democratic Party is all about the continuing the supremacy of the Party of Clinton.

'Unity is the Great Need of the Hour'

Senator Barack Obama:

We are told that those who differ from us on a few things are different from us on all things; that our problems are the fault of those who don't think like us or look like us or come from where we do. The welfare queen is taking our tax money. The immigrant is taking our jobs. The believer condemns the non-believer as immoral, and the non-believer chides the believer as intolerant.

For most of this country's history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man's inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays - on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system.

And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community.

We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.

Every day, our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender and party. It is played out on television. It is sensationalized by the media. And last week, it even crept into the campaign for President, with charges and counter-charges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation.

So let us say that on this day of all days, each of us carries with us the task of changing our hearts and minds. The division, the stereotypes, the scape-goating, the ease with which we blame our plight on others - all of this distracts us from the common challenges we face - war and poverty; injustice and inequality. We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late.

Go read the rest of Senator Barack Obama speech at Martin Luther King Jr.’s Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam"

Quote of the Day

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

With former President Bill Clinton standing not 20 feet in front of her, Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin took what appeared to be a political shot at the former president's comments about Barack Obama's candidacy.

Speaking at the 40th annual MLK commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Franklin said the country is on the "cusp of turning the impossible into reality. Yes this is reality, not fantasy or fairy tales."