2008 Primaries Thread

(see how conciliatory i'm being, even though i think you are all TOTALLY WRONG and are buying into a GINNED UP controversy that BENEFITS REPUBLICANS?)

if that's not good enough what about getting sued by the NAACP for failing to enforce the voter's rights act in arkansas?

re: thursday's debates. i'm not sure - will HRC be a bit more subdued? i don't know. it might be a more civil debate due to the unpopularity of the bickering stuff.

uh how does recognizing bill's sliminess benefit republicans?

xxpost i haven't gotten to that part in the book yet, so i'm not sure what the clinton-approved answer to that question is

division, hatred and fear always benefit republicans

tracer, it grosses me out that people like kristol are acting all high and mighty about race, too, but it's not like i'm all, "bill clinton's racebaiting! guess i'll vote mccain in the general." whatevs.

i still don't hate Hillary, for what it's worth.

haha, ok dude, whatever. i'm giving up trying to understand you. xpost

division, hatred and fear always benefit republicans

-- Tracer Hand, Monday, January 28, 2008 1:12 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

then maybe the clintons should stop promoting these

In that William Kristol column linked above, he loses a bit of credibility by suggesting Edwards may drop out of the race before Thursday's debate.

My reading is that Edwards will stay in to the last dollar and well beyond and won't release his delegates before the convention. The only reason why he wouldn't would be if Obama or Clinton walk off with enough delegates on Super Tuesday to wrap up the nomination.

via TPM election central:

Here are the Hillary talking points on Bill's Jackson comment:

DAILY Q&A:

JACKSON, FLORIDA, KENNEDY AND MOMENTUM

Wasn’t former President Bill Clinton playing the race card when he sought to downplay Barack Obama’s victory in South Carolina by comparing him to Jesse Jackson?

* No.

* Look, President Bill Clinton has spent his entire public and private life repairing the breach in this country.

* Both his Presidency and his post-presidency career have focused on unity, not division.

* So I reject the premise of the question.

* We need to focus on the challenges facing this country – the state of our economy, the continuing war in Iraq, the need for universal health care.

* And those challenges require a President who can come to the office ready to lead on day one, Hillary Clinton

LOL I REJECT THE PREMISE OF THE QUESTION, NOTHING TO SEE HERE LOL

soooo anyway - Kennedy endorsements seem well-timed to undercut Clinton's standing with institutional Democratic forces...? (how many Dem voters actually listen to the Kennedys anyway?)

Edwards' continued presence is really starting to be irritating - what's the point, get out of the way, no one's buying your grandstanding act, etc.

what do u guys think of the ROMNEY WHISPER???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x_KIpTVmC8

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/MSNBC_blames_Romney_whisper_on_microphone_0125.html

i mean what was the point of hillary's lbj/mlk comparison if not to say 'blacks talk pretty but whites get things done'

no, her point was that it took an old Senate hand in the Presidency to actually change the law, never mind the size of the people's movement led by a non-politician. never mind that Obama, unlike MLK, is also a Senator, with arguably comparable or greater legislative experience or horse-trading skill vis-a-vis hillary.

did you see John Edwards on David Letterman recently? he looks like 30 Rock Kenneth when he grins. also, I still like him, too.

the Republicans are doing more damage to their party by playing the liberal card than the Democrats are doing to theirs by playing the race card

oh by the way i fully support any reporter's right to be a wise-ass smart-aleck but they should try to stay away from "when did you stop beating your wife" type questions and they should also try asking questions that will actually elicit an enlightening reponse

i like edwards too! it's kinda hard to hang when you're contending with personalities the size of clinton and obama though

also when you continually vote one way in senate while positioning yourself as the opposite

i dunno i feel pretty enlightened by bill's answer to that question

half the registered democrats in SC are black, and 4 out of 5 of them voted for obama -- should we all pretend this isn't so?

from a political-trainspotting perspective, absolutely not. that doesn't mean it should be a talking point that implies that whites won't vote for Obama and will vote for Hillary. especially when Hillary couldn't beat him among white men in a red state.

did you see John Edwards on David Letterman recently? he looks like 30 Rock Kenneth when he grins. also, I still like him, too.

OMG, maybe it's because I watched like 5 episodes of 30 Rock last night, but I was just thinking this.

Shakey, the point of Edwards campaign as of now is to stay relevant and get a seat at the table when the pie is sliced. He likes the idea of making a difference in the outcome.

Never mind that his ideas aren't really very different. He thinks the differences are worth more than they are and that he is fighting for something important - his nuances. Like many politicians, it comes down to his ego getting tied to his politics to where he can't really tell them apart.

looooooo @ rudy

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2344/2201854062_3e12ecae01.jpg

RUDY RECORD

- "Fought on the front lines of the culture wars and won: He cleaned up Times Square, driving out prostitutes and pornography, making it safe for families."

- "Pioneered initiatives that increased adoptions by 113 %, while the number of abortions in New York City fell faster than the national average."

- "Fought to stop the use of public funds for the desecration of religious symbols and values."

lol i love standing in front of the chris ofili that's in the walker and going "now this is just shit." thx rudy~!

SOTU theme = earmarks - http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/8138.html

ie McCain '08

Like manyall politicians, it comes down to his ego getting tied to his politics to where he can't really tell them apart.

fixed

haha i get so gleefully schadenfreudy about rudy. the bastard could have ridden 9/11 to the bank for the rest of his life on these dubious speaking and consulting engagements but now nobody is going to listen to the pathetic fucker about anything ever again

http://www.offbeatenough.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/ferret.jpg

RUDY 08: YOU HAVE A SICKNESS

a people perverted

have you guys seen his new campaign commercial where he brags about not getting newspaper endorsements

haha, yeah

it's here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4iD0JVIYmI

lol Hitchens:

How can one equal Bill Clinton for thuggery and opportunism when it comes to the so-called "race card"? And where does one even start with the breathtaking nastiness of his own conduct, and that of his supporters, in the last week? Barack Obama carries South Carolina having made no sectarian appeal to any specific kind of voter, and the best Clinton can say is that this is no better than Jesse Jackson managed to do. Really? Did Jackson come south having already got himself elected the senator from Illinois? And, come to think of it, was Jackson so much to be despised and sneered at when he was needed as Clinton's "confessor," along with Billy Graham, during the squalor of impeachment?

This calculated willingness to shop on both sides of the street of racial politics was actually analyzed quite shrewdly by Dick Morris, the former consigliere of the gruesome twosome, in conversation with Sean Hannity last week. The Clintons, he thought, would be quite happy to lose big to the "black vote" in South Carolina. It would enable them to signal that they were the ones to stem the flow of the color tide. Morris' host protested that this seemed a touch cynical. Morris jovially assured him that he knew the people he was talking about.

Does Hillary really want the Florida & Michigan delegates so bad that she will risk looking inconstant and disloyal to her own party by going against her previous commitments?

I understand that the Dem candidates were pressured by party officials in IA, NH, NV, & SC -- the early primary states -- not to campaign in MI and FL, and now that those contests have passed, it just seems like a huge slap in the face to those early states.

Classic Clinton, really.

I really don't see the party reversing its position re: MI and FL just to appease Clinton and hand her some extra (and dubiously "earned") delegates. That would look like some really craven, undemocratic, backroom manipulative bullshit to a large part of the Democratic Party.

how's "craven, undemocratic, backroom manipulative bullshit" any different from primary politics of years past?

well, touche - its hard to conceive of a scenario wherein such a move would NOT look like the party bending the rules and "crowning" Hillary against the will of the actual voters

I don't know, it just seems like a huge gamble for her campaign to even attempt it -- Does she not realize the risk she runs, i.e. appearing in the exact image of the cynical political operator that she's worked for months to counter?

She'll risk it.

the Democratic electorate got John Kerry last time. Anything's possible.

but why would the Party capitulate to her demands? What do they gain from it? They'd be risking alienating their voting base (and in turn suppressing turnout in the GE), they'd look like idiots for going back on their previous policy, etc.

i don't know why i'm feeling this NOW but her condescension and contempt towards voters is really upsetting to me

like, who the fuck does she think she is? ugh.

(don't answer that ^^^, rhetorical)

SHE IS THE PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE.

when you assume you make an ass etc