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Iowa Wrap Up
With the New Hampshire primary fast approaching, I wanted to wrap up our trip to Iowa last week. Out trip began with us spending a whirlwind day in Davenport which I blogged about earlier. Here's a photo of Jim leading a discussion at the Live from Iowa Link Up. Nearly 700 of you have now listened to the call via our brand new channel at blogtalk radio. Thanks for all your feedback and a special shoutout to San Diego Meetup #23 which participated in the call from their monthly meeting. 
That night, Jim, Danny, Matt and I headed over to Des Moines to be in the center of things for the caucuses. And, we were not dissapointed. Our day began at 7:30 am as we headed out for a John Edwards rally at the Steelworkers Hall in the southeast part of town. After navigating through the many one way streets, we finally arrived just in time to hear Senator Edwards rally the volunteers on their busiest day yet.
The crowd was excited and enthusiastic, sensing Sen. Edwards' momentum in the state. And there were tons of media outlets in attendence. Of course, they wanted some insights from our very own chair, Jim Dean.
We then headed over to the Village Bean in downtown Des Moines to grab some breakfast and get an internet connection. You know something special is happening when there's a sign on the door saying that they will be "closed at 6:00 today to caucus". Inside the coffee shop, Jim sat down with Dave Ross of Seattle's KIRO radio for an interview about the caucuses. And, we ran into the former Lt. Gov.
After a fantastic lunch, it was finally time for us to caucus at one of the biggest polling places in Des Moines. Here's a shot before the caucus started, and then one with the incredible 554 people in attendance.
The caucus chair was DFA's own Jeffrey Goetz - who was highlighted in the Washington Post. By the way, Jeffrey, thanks for lunch - the view of Des Moines was incredible :-)
Jeffrey ran the caucus amazingly well - just imagine getting 554 opinionated Democrats to do something together. And, in the end, it was Obama 5 delegates, Clinton 2, and Edwards 2 - none of the other candidates were viable.
Once the AP called the victory for Sen. Obama, we sped over to his victory party. And, he delivered a speech that did not dissapoint.
All in all, a fantastic trip to Iowa and an incredible night for progressives. The Unite campaign in action - progressive candidates finishing first and second. Now, on to New Hampshire - tomorrow promises to be another exciting day!
Show: Expand All Reply
Count it down!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSYqEVfFm...
My browser is having trouble with the graphic at the bottom of the previous topic. I will repost here.
As far as VP choice…
Dems cannot afford to lose any more Senate seats. If BO or HC win, Dems are down a set and must depend on Lieberputz to control the Senate. This assumes nothing else changes.
For BO and JE, there are plenty of good, former Senators or Reps such as former Senator Bill Bradley. Dollar Bill talks like he is chewing a jar full of peanut butter but he would do great in the debates. Besides, he can always hit the long J.
Dems need to fully adopt Howards 50 state campaign and add enough Senate seats to get a super majority (if Repubs get the POTUS) and offset the defectors that plague Dems .
But stop reducing Dems numbers in the Senate.
If HC wins, it doesn’t matter who the VP officially is because Bubba has the job. I hear he is out shopping for blue dresses.
down a set = down a seat...
As far as VP choice…
Democrat need to choose their prez nominee first -- and that's who will choose the VP.
How can we unite the two parties, a la BO style, when we are now a one party dick tater ship and congress is united against the American public? That's the first problem.
The second is a saying we have in 12 step programs...(excuse the language) "Hope is a mother-fu**er."
BO already has tons of money. JE needs more to stay in the race and wipe out HC.
5,
It will be one of the three above and two out of the three need strong foreign policy experience. The third will only be a figurehead as her husband will be do one or both jobs; if he isn't too busy chasing interns around.
JE needs more to stay in the race and wipe out HC.
Which drain people pour their money down is their business, but I expect the support Edwards is getting comes more from Obama than Hillary. So if you reall want to knock out Hillary, knock out Edwards.
Confirming the earlier Drudge Report:
Some Hillary Advisers Worry About Staying In Past New Hampshire; Others Urge Her To Fight On By Greg Sargent - January 7, 2008, 3:53PM
Here's some detail on the internal discussions going on inside the Hillary campaign as they brace for the real possibility of a loss to Obama in New Hampshire tomorrow.
According to a Hillary adviser I spoke to today, Camp Hillary insiders who have been with her a very long time, such as Patti Solis Doyle, are worried about the long term damage that could be done to Hillary if she decides to fight on after a New Hampshire loss, though there's no indication they are yet urging an exit.
"People who are close to Hillary personally are worried about what this is doing to her, what it might do to her career," the adviser says. "This is about protecting her future. That's the way it's being presented. You have a number who are saying to her, `Consider the Senate career.'
"They're worried about the way the media might characterize her -- a woman being on the attack, that kind of thing," the adviser continued. "There's a real debate going on within the campaign." (Solis Doyle didn't immediately respond to a request for comment left through a spokesperson.)
Meanwhile, another camp of insiders -- what the adviser characterized as the "political warriors" -- is urging her to fight on in the event of a defeat in New Hampshire. The people in this camp include pollster Mark Penn and top communications adviser Harold Wolfson, the adviser says.
"The political warriors are telling her to hunker down and stay in the fight," the adviser confided, adding that this faction believes that the new "talk versus action" message could work if given the time. "Give the message time to sink in,'" the adviser says this group is urging.
According to this adviser, the second group's argument seems to be taking hold for now. We'll see what happens.
Separately, there's been some talk today to the effect that James Carville has privately been urging her to stay in and fight it out through the later states. In an interview, Carville told me that this was indeed his position, but he also said that he had not been privately counseling Hillary to do this.
More as I learn it.
Another Clinton will never win the White House. It's ABH for me, period. Take a look at this video. The Repugs and the Corporate media are ready and waiting for another Clinton candidancy. The Democrats are in a lot trouble if a Clinton wins the 2008 nomination.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F054Slq07...
It will be one of the three above and two out of the three need strong foreign policy experience.
Cheney had strong foreign policy experience. I prefer a president and VP who aren't psychopathic personalities and who will let the real experts provide the information they need to make sound judgements.
The third will only be a figurehead as her husband will be do one or both jobs;
I don't think Bill would be calling any shots. Hillary is a strong personality with her own knowledge and experience.
Another Clinton will never win the White House.
The tide is seeming to turn against a presidency of the two dynasties.
We'll have to wait until 2016 to see if Repo voters will reject Jebthro.
JE is the realist.
BO is the idealist.
HC is the nilhist. :-)
BO is the uniter. So is Bush. Wow! Doesn't work.
JE is the fighter. What we wanted Pelosi to do and she didn't.
HC is the experiencer. Dodd and Richardson have more.
This is not rocket science. Do we want our heads in the clouds or our feet on the ground? We can't have both, which we could have had with Gore.
Shall we negotiate with the fundis and only half of us hang crosses around our necks and sign pledges to take JC as our personal savior? Or maybe we should let the corporations rape only half of us..and the earth?
Or do we want to render them powerless by keeping them out of the WH, out of congress, out of our bedrooms, out of our health care, out of the oil programs, out of our schools. And out of war!!!
It's all about the corporations and the fundis, who are funded by corporations. All of it. Absolutely all of it. They are behind the destruction of the Constitution as well. Cheney = corporations = Unitary Executive = Fascism.
JE may just have as well have said, *I will fight fascism.*
BO is saying that he will either negotiate with fascism or maybe it doesn't really exist.
How can so many of us who loved Dean's fighting spirit now get behind a man who's totally opposite? Very odd. Indeed.
HC is the past.
BO is the future.
JE is the present. This is where things happen and where we would be wise to live our lives.
A JE/BO ticket would be a winner IMO. The election is going to be about fighting. It's not gonna be about philosophizing, using lovely rhetoric and compromise.
Disclaimer: I'm a Gore/Kucinich/Dodd supporter. And wish to see the Clintons GONE.
JE is the fighter. What we wanted Pelosi to do and she didn't
When was in the ring as a senator who threw in the towel just like Pelosi -- and even worse, he openly advocated and voted for the worst of Bush's agenda.
When was in the ring as a senator who threw in the towel just like Pelosi
s/b When hewas in the ring as a senator he threw in the towel just like Pelosi
I'm a Gore/Kucinich/Dodd supporter. And wish to see the Clintons GONE.
It seems like you would the guy who is actually beating Hillary.
It seems like you would support the guy who is actually beating Hillary
As I said on the previous thread, this is one seriously stupid woman--
In a radio interview--
Clinton and Obama, Johnson and King
Clinton rejoined the running argument over hope and "false hope" in an interview in Dover this afternoon, reminding Fox's Major Garrett that while Martin Luther King Jr. spoke on behalf of civil rights, President Lyndon Johnson was the one who got the legislation passed.
Clinton was asked about Obama's rejoinder that there's something vaguely un-American about dismissing hopes as false, and that it doesn't jibe with the careers of figures like like John F. Kennedy and King.
"Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act," Clinton said. "It took a president to get it done."
Clinton didn't explicitly compare herself to Johnson, or Obama to King. But it seems an odd example for the argument between rhetoric and action, as there's little doubt which figure's place in history and the American imagination is more secure.
"The power of that dream became real in people's lives because we had a president" capable of action, Clinton said.
The interview was taped, and I listened in. It's set to air later today.
Susan, I never heard of ChinaGate till you just posted it. Yes, of course, the Clintons must be stopped. Look at how they helped destroy Dean.
So...which countries are illegally funding BO, HC or the repugs? Didn't we read that Israel is illegally funding some neo-cons or other? How do we find this out?
Is the horse race a cover for the funding coming in from other countries?
It seems to me that all of the candidates have laid out all their arguments and poses (and smears) and Obama is the one who's surging.
Sitka
Mon, 01/07/08
It is my understanding that The Talking Points Memo is a liberal site. But I guess no politician, web site, etc. is as pure and perfect as youself.
Think a little more deeply.
I resent that.
But you're the one saying that you don't REALLY support Edwards except to stop Hillary. It doesn't require deep thinking to conclude that Obama is much more likely to achieve it at this point.
Of course foreign policy experience is only one of many criteria. It is harder to hide the past today. Most folks did not know what kind of monster Cheney would be. We can google and find out all the horrible things Cheney did that were unknown in 2000. After all, in 2000, Al Gore had just invented the internet (grin). In fact, Cheney chose himself for the job and Bush was praised for it. Cheney was a good Sec Def for Bush1 who continued the money spending ways until the evil empire fell. He then started the military downsizing, which was continued by Clinton (and used as a club on Kerry who approved it). This was the primary reason for the economic downturn, which was already starting to turn around, during the 1992 elections.
But the point is still valid...Two out of the three candidates need foreign policy help. Add that to the list of qualities.
None need a domestic policy heavy.
Anyone who thinks Bill is going to sit on the sidelines while HC gets all the attention has not been paying attention. Everytime Bill is with HC, the focus is on Bill. His ego has no bounds.
The two for the price of one thing is real for them. The question is which one is on top?
The convention following the one where she glared at Howard who was accepting his very extended ovation. will be the one where the same man will be lowering the gavel on her in a brokered convention. How delicious. Much more compensation is due however.
It is my understanding that The Talking Points Memo is a liberal site.
Confirming the earlier Drudge Report:
The gossip came from Drudge. And nothing in the TPM link confirmed anything.
Sorry, Sitka, that did sound harsh.
BO has tons of money and "momentum" from IA. He doesn't seem to be in danger. The CMWs are making this a one man, one woman race and that annoys me greatly.
JE needs to take second. He needs money to do that. IMO
Sitka
Mon, 01/07/08
Except that they are quoting their sources in the campaign...not Drudges.
Why is Trippi on Matthews talking about how HC can recover?
19,
My point is made by 25. Why was Clinton invited? Is it because as a former POTUS he has star power? Why not another civil rights leader from the time? His ego will doom HCs campaign and if she is elected, will doom her presidency.
JE needs to take second.
It is what he's best at.
He needs money to do that. IMO
And it's your money. If you want to spend it on #2 go for it.
Using Drudge as a referance source is not a good idea. He admits to using gossip and inuendo as facts. I treat him like the comics section.
Maybe that isn't Trippi. Who is that guy with Scarborough?
Except that they are quoting their sources in the campaign...not Drudges.
<>LOL....the source being quoted is "the advisor."
Gossip plain and simple.
Sea,
I just saw Lou Dobbs refusing to rule out running for president. If you've got any money left after Edwards, you might want to send it to him. ;-)
The perfect running mate: in between jobs,leaves no congressional vacancy, broad National appeal. heavy on the experience and charisma, knows many foreign leaders, in fact they have been known to tell him that they are waiting for a Howard Dean America. We are too. We could do it.
OK, to clarify. JE needs to take at least second in NH and beyond. Once HC is knocked out, then it's a race between the two guys and I will support JE.
Maybe we're talking seriously about a brokered convention.
Why is Trippi on Matthews talking about how HC can recover?
Because now that Obama is surging, Edwards needs to slow Obama down so that he doesn't get left too far behind.
And I expect Edwards' polling or intuition tells him that Obama's increasing support is coming partly from him.
20.
seashell :-)
Mon, 01/07/08
I live in Central California. Just about every Republican I have ever met here knows all about it. The Democrats have a tendancy to speak in whispers and look down at the ground when it's mentioned.
Maybe we're talking seriously about a brokered convention.
At the monent it's looking like another Dem stampede -- this time to Obama.
HC is talking change. Agree with thine adversaries. The repugs will pick up the refrain. It's designed to make them all seem alike so people will vote for the one they want to have a beer with
JE needs to start using "progress."
I don't like to see any candidate so bruised but there is a bit of karma with Clinton (and her hangers-on) since they had much to do with Dean's demise.
S/b the demise of Dean's candidacy. We all know that Howard is the one who is largely responsible in breaking down all the barriers with respect to trying to win in red places - 50 state strategy.
What with this Iranian thing going on in the Gulf of Tonkin, or near it, Putz may have time to start two more wars - 3 if he hurries up.
What is the over and under when we bomb Iran?
End of January to end of February?
45,
HC better watch it; she'll start crying again.
The more Hillary bashes Obama the more I like him.
Sitka
Mon, 01/07/08
Reply to this
It will be one of the three above and two out of the three need strong foreign policy experience.
Cheney had strong foreign policy experience. I prefer a president and VP who aren't psychopathic personalities and who will let the real experts provide the information they need to make sound judgements.
The third will only be a figurehead as her husband will be do one or both jobs;
I don't think Bill would be calling any shots. Hillary is a strong personality with her own knowledge and experience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
totally agree but if the last is really true she would can the pollster at the top of her campaign and just go with her own instincts
Hillary deserves to lose.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/7/1...
McCain/Huckabee is serious trouble for us. I'm hoping the independents stampede to Obama and the Democrats favor Edwards like happened in Iowa.
53.
Explain please?
How do we know it was the Revolutionary Guard that approached the ship?
Putz now has what he needs and the American public will condone it, most likely. What was in the white boxes?
Keeping up this kind of scare tactic makes McCain/Huck a shoe in...one to bomb bomb bomb them all and the other to pray for it.
Billary now "cleans house" on weekends (and enjoys unwaged slavery within the domestic sphere in Chapaqua)--when her hired "domestics" are presumable off duty...they're really reaching.
Pass me a barf bag, pls. This feminist needs to seriously hurl a load....
Good news--her burn-rate is outrageous; and she's nearly broke.
Shoulda dumped "Big Dog" years ago (this is also pecker backlash from the base, methinks).
I'm lovin' this. "Big Dog" can't control the spin anymore.
Phil, agree.
dog, IMO the bombing has to begin before Super Tues. to give McCain the edge.
I'm quite sure everything's in place to bomb Iran and invade and bomb Pakistan. As I said, he has time to do some nasty work in Syria as well.
Gore/Dodd
Talk about hope!
HC nearly broke? Do you have stats for this?
McCain smeared "French" people a few times in Hanover today.
His handlers forgot that the Franco-American culture (although not in Hanover, per se) still have deep roots in New Hampstuuh.
Dumb sh^t.
Sense of place, and all--I hope he tries that here in ME, too (while stumping for Collins).
It's just something you don't *do* up here.
I received this notice. There are no longer any words to describe this BH.
Dean Baker | Insurers Whack Elderly to Celebrate New Year
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010708B.shtml
Dean Baker, writing for Truthout, says: "What better way to start the new year than to sock it to grandma and grandpa with big price increases? That may not have been the exact nature of the conversation at the insurance companies that participate in the Medicare prescription drug plan, but it sure was the outcome, as premiums are scheduled to rise by an average of almost 25 percent in 2008."
pecker backlash...LMAO
Big Dog put out an APB for funds today; and they had poor Chelsea phone banking for moula.
Her female supporters are moving to Obama (again--top>down campaigns in New England backfire).
Independence is a mighty strong character trait.
That's one HELLUVA burnrate for Ms. Presumptive "inevitable."
I doubt that Begala and Carville will work pro bono, huh?
Great news for Edwards, re: hopeful 2nd spot.
I only feel sorry for her (although, she's an adult now--not a kid), to have had two idiots for parents during her formative teen/young adult years.]
Shoulda thrown his arse out years ago....
I love it.
FWIW
In my last email to you, I wrote how your support for our efforts to hold impeachment hearings for Vice President Cheney has helped us get some attention from the mainstream media. My editorial was recently published in the Philadelphia Inquirer and newspapers from coast to coast have covered our success. 175,000 supporters have now signed up at WexerWantsHearings.com and the number continues to build.
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By Susan Rowe on Jan 7, 2008 4:06 PM ESTThe Deans, DFA and DFA Grassroots and Netroots are first!