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Morgan: Why Should Hillary Clinton Supporters Be Happy, Now?
Tweet Share on Facebook August 18, 2008 Comment (114)My colleague Morgan Felchner got a torrent of response to her blog posting of last Friday asking, "Hillary Clinton supporters: Are you happy now?"
I also posted on Sen. Barack Obama's decision (yes, the DNC was part of the negotiating team, but the Obama campaign in essence runs the DNC these days) to allow Clinton's delegates to vote for her when her name is placed in nomination at the Democratic convention next week.
But I would like to respectfully report on the perspective of former Hillary supporters who disagree with the tone of the question: "Are you happy now?"
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Democrats Should Not Be Surprised the Untested, Inexperienced, Ultraliberal Barack Obama Is Lagging
Tweet Share on Facebook August 18, 2008 Comment (9)This falls into the "You heard it here first" category. It also falls into the "Ho, hum: Should we be surprised?" category.
Let's see. The party that's predicted to make significant gains in Congress and should be winning the White House in a walk (due to the retirement of an unusually unpopular president heading the other party) acts surprised because the party's presidential nominee is in a precarious position in the national polls. Perhaps that is because party elders and primary voters and caucusgoers fell in love with an unknown with extremely liberal views. Perhaps it is because they nominated a freshman senator with no legislative accomplishments to his name. Anyway, take a read:
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Giving Keith Olbermann a Worst Persons Assist
Tweet Share on Facebook August 15, 2008 Comment (13)I didn't set out to make Fox News Channel's Gregg Jarrett one of Keith Olbermann's "Worst Persons in the World" when I appeared with Jarrett last Saturday, but I suppose I could have seen it coming.
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Hillary Clinton's Name Will Go Into Nomination
Tweet Share on Facebook August 14, 2008 Comment (76)After weeks of tortured negotiations, the Obama campaign (which now in effect controls the Democratic National Committee) has agreed to allow Sen. Hillary Clinton's name to be placed in nomination.
This is more than just symbolic. It shows the degree to which Obama's team is now willing to try to woo former Clinton supporters into the Obama camp in November. One might also call it an admission that the Obama campaign is desperate to win the support of the 20 percent or so of her 18 million supporters who have been telling pollsters they will not vote for Sen. Barack Obama.
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Bush to Environment: First Do More Harm
Tweet Share on Facebook August 13, 2008 Comment (34)The Bush administration is almost history. The environmentalists among us were on the verge of conjuring mental images of the administration heading off into the environmental netherworld. As close as they are to losing power and authority, the president's anti-environment minions at the Interior Department felt compelled to pull yet one more harmful stunt. This time, on the way out the door to richly merited oblivion, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed major changes to the Endangered Species Act, so as to (what else?) endanger more species.
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Obama's View From On High
Tweet Share on Facebook August 12, 2008 Comment (5)More evidence of a candidate faux pas. "O-Force One" as CBS' Allison O'Keefe describes Obama's campaign plane, contains a luxurious section for the candidate more reminiscent of an airborne corporate executive suite than a presidential candidate who has to appeal to working class American voters.
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Russia's Invasion of Georgia, Not John Edwards's Love Life, Is an Important News Story
Tweet Share on Facebook August 11, 2008 Comment (35)The story dominating the Saturday headlines—former Sen. John Edwards's admission of an extramarital affair and his continued denial of fathering an out-of-wedlock child—is a distraction, not true political news.
It is a story full of ego (mainly Edwards's) and pathos (poor Elizabeth Edwards). But John Edwards is not on the Democratic ticket, and his permanently besmirched reputation will have no impact on Sen. Barack Obama's run.
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Barack Obama Needs to Carefully Handle Hillary Clinton's Supporters
Tweet Share on Facebook August 11, 2008 Comment (158)One media outlet described the release of the draft Democratic platform as a "compilation of Obama stump speeches," with just a nod to former candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards.
But a close Clinton ally tells me the Clinton camp is quite happy with the platform's inclusion of language to the effect that Clinton placed 18 million "cracks" in the glass ceiling (an allusion to her winning 18 million votes during the primaries).
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John McCain's Sexist Gaffe: Cindy McCain in a Topless Biker Pageant?
Tweet Share on Facebook August 6, 2008 Comment (58)Was John McCain aware that when he touted his wife Cindy's beauty and suggested she compete in a biker beauty pageant, the contest features topless women?
If so or even if not, in the words of the late, great Desi Arnaz, McCain has some 'splainin' to do. He made the gaffe at a motorcycle rally in South Dakota on Monday that featured an Obama-size crowd (most of whom showed up no doubt to see Kid Rock, Def Leppard, and REO Speedwagon.) Follow the link to see the video.
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Barack Obama Is Flip-Flopping Himself to a November Defeat
Tweet Share on Facebook August 5, 2008 Comment (30)I said it three weeks ago. And I've been sensing it ever since Sen. Barack Obama won the Democratic presidential nomination two months ago. Where's his massive lead in the polls? Democrats score higher than Republicans on generic polls this season. And why wouldn't they, given the destructive impact of the Republican Bush administration on our nation's economy, military prowess, and strength as the world's leader? Nonetheless, Senator Obama has failed to pull convincingly ahead of rival Sen. John McCain, and some daily presidential tracking polls show them dead even. As I wrote way back in July:
Taking all these caveats into account, Obama should still be ahead by 10 to 15 percentage points at this moment in the contest. It is a tight race, when it should have been an easy sprint for the Democratic nominee.
