Democratic Women For Voter Participation

This came out yesterday. WOW - good for them!!

Immediate Release: April 2, 2008 Contact: Michal Regunberg
617-547-9525

DEMOCRATIC WOMEN FOR VOTER PARTICIPATION
LAUNCH SUPERDELEGATE CAMPAIGN
TO “COUNT ALL THE VOTES”

BOSTON – A group of Democratic women politicians and other Democratic women leaders--“Democratic Women for Voter Participation”--today launched a campaign to have Massachusetts super-delegates pledge their support – no matter whom they back – for a fair and inclusive process that counts all the votes cast in statewide primaries, including those of Florida and Michigan.

They have drafted a petition that they will ask all Massachusetts’ super-delegates to sign, supporting a full-fledged primary in Michigan and either the counting of the Florida primary results or a full-fledged primary in that state.

“Massachusetts Democrats have long fought for inclusion, fairness and the democratic process,” said Senate President Therese Murray. “Now is no time to back off those principles. We are counting on the super-delegates of our state – a state with a proud tradition of caring about fairness and equal representation -- to speak up for voter participation in this historic primary season,” she said.

“We want our eventual nominee to move into the general election after a scrupulously fair process in which all the voters have had their voices heard,” she added.

“This is not just a matter of basic democratic principles. It is also about practical politics. The Democratic Party cannot afford to move into the general elections with voters feeling as though the party did not want to count their votes or listen to their passionate feelings about our future,” she said.

The group said that despite the fact that super-delegates may be backing different candidates, they hope and expect that, as Democrats, they will be united in their determination to make sure the process is fair to both of the candidates and to the millions of voters who have cast their votes in this primary season.

With memories of the Florida recount of 2000 still fresh in their minds, these women said the Democratic party would not be wise to leave out the voters from these two important and populous states.

Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral, looking ahead to the general election battle said, “We will need to win Michigan and Florida in the general election. Those two states represent 10 percent of the popular vote cast during the primaries and are critical to a general election victory in November.”

These women leaders said they will begin immediately to get their petition signed by each and every one of the 23 Massachusetts super-delegates.

“And once again,” Murray said, “Massachusetts will lead the nation in doing what is right and fair for all the voters.”

Here's the pledge that the voters in MA are asking the super delegates to sign- This should be a national effort- the Revolution has begun today-pass it on!

MASSACHUSETTS SUPERDELEGATES CALL FOR COUNTING ALL THE VOTES

In Massachusetts, we have a long and proud history of leading this great nation in working towards fairness, equality and the enfranchisement of all citizens. We have led the nation many times before in calling for the right thing to be done, and, across our differences, we join in the same call today.

In the Democratic Party, we are in a primary election season like no other: passions are high and engagement is intense. Both of the candidates vying for our Party’s nomination show the best of us and of this country, and both of their campaigns have sparked something extraordinary. There are the obvious measures. Both campaigns have raised historic amounts of financial support, and both candidates have inspired record turn-out in every state where the primary contests have been waged thus far. Each candidate has succeeded in engaging people at very core of our Democratic Party, while getting many who had checked out of politics to check back in.

As super-delegates, we may not all be backing the same candidate in this primary season contest, and some of us have determined to stay neutral until all voters have had their say. We are, however, united in this: we want our eventual nominee to move into the general election after a scrupulously fair process, in which all voters who had their voices heard. This is a basic democratic principle. It is also a matter of practical politics. We can ill afford to leave Democratic voters with the feeling that we did not want to count their votes or listen to their passionate feelings about this race and our future.

We know and appreciate that rules cannot be flouted. We also know that we have waived our rules in the past, and this is no time to appear as though we are inconsistent in the way we apply them. To retreat to formalistic reasons to deny counting the votes in Florida and Michigan, or to offer up to voters back-room deals to distribute the delegates coming from two of the largest states in this country, would be both wrong and foolish. Let us remember: Florida and Michigan account for nearly 10% percent of the popular vote total in this primary season. They also are significant prizes in November and, if we want to succeed in the general election, we should not disenfranchise those voters now.

As Democrats, we remember all too well the 2000 presidential election. The Republican Party used delay and legal maneuvering to stifle the votes of hundreds of thousands of voters. The bitter taste and anger from those times and those tactics are still fresh for many of us. We must be better than that. We cannot let our Party do to the voters of Michigan and Florida what we railed against the Republicans for doing. Ours has been – and must be today – the Party of inclusion, the Party that demands that every vote be counted. Now is not the time to walk away from our principles.

We know and trust that, if we are good stewards of our Party and conduct a fair process, we will have a Party unified behind whichever candidate becomes the nominee. Working together, we will then usher in a new era of Democratic leadership in January of 2009.

http://www.bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11158

Take Action!

There is an action at hillaryclinton.com to have MI and FL seated. There is a section for comments, as well. This is what I wrote:

It is ESSENTIAL that the voices of Michigan and Florida are heard! Anything less than that makes a mockery of the democratic process, and of this nominating process. The voices of over 2.2 million Democrats MUST be recorded.

Florida should be seated as is, and MI, too, in my opinion. Obama made a strategic decision, one that seems to be backfiring on him now, but there are no do-overs in primaries, or there SHOULDN'T be! Let him take responsibility for his own decisions - he would be LUCKY to get all of the Uncommitted votes, since surely many of those folks were Edwards supporters. He needs to stop standing in the way of the VOTERS, and let the people SPEAK!

Senator Clinton, we are BEHIND YOU!!! Please do not give up - PLEASE!!! Perhaps it will do your heart good to know that Lou Dobbs has started speaking out on the incredible media bias with which you have been dealing. And all I can say is, keep talking about the issues, keep doing what you are doing, because who you are, and for what you stand, means a LOT to millions of us!!! (Just think how far ahead you'd be WITH MI and FL, and if the media wasn't so darned biased! Your momentum would have been unstoppable had those states been allocated, as they should be. That you are essentially tied speaks VOLUMES!)

Keep the faith, Senator Clinton!!

Now it's your turn, people - speak up!

"Run, Hillary, Run"

This is a nice piece from someone in my home state of North Carolina (and from the area where John and Elizabeth Edwards live). I think he's right - Hillary needs to stay in this until the end, and continue to FIGHT for MI and FL no matter how hard Dean and the DNC keep trying to disenfranchise those voters.

And Dean seems to have a different take on MI and FL every day - there have been TWO different takes on it by him in TWO days. I think the current take is that FL will most likely be seated, but unless Obama agres to a re-vote in MI, which he seems unlikely to do, those voters will have no voice - even though - AGAIN - Obama is the one who set the strategy of taking his name off the ballot. I just cannot get over how HE is getting over with this crap, except that it seems the DNC Powers-That-Be want to game the election in his favor. Why else would they leave it up to HIM to decide if a re-vote (which I do not favor) should even happen?!?! Why doesn't the DNC set the remedy, or LET IT STAND? Obama made a dumb decision - he should have to live with that, and Clinton should get the delegates and popular votes she WON in both states. If that gives her more momentum, so be it - it was momentum she EARNED, dadgummit - she's not stealing this from Obama. If anything, he and the DNC have stolen the momentum from HILLARY!! So - let the people decide. And while they're at it, get rid of these HORRIBLE caucuses - what an incredibly undemocratic way to determine the victor. Sheesh!!

Ahem. Back to the piece below. Besides Martinez mentioning not going into the gutter in the same sentence as Clinton (even though OBAMA is the only one who seems to have done that so far with his constant, and VICIOUS, attacks on Clinton), it's a pretty nice opinion piece. Here it is:


Rick Martinez: Published: Apr 02, 2008 12:30 AM Modified: Apr 02, 2008 06:49 AM
Run, Hillary, Run
Rick Martinez, Correspondent

I'm not quite ready to slap a "Hillary" bumper sticker on my carbon-belching SUV (I'd put it next to the Dale Earnhardt license plate), but I do admire Sen. Clinton for digging in her heels and refusing to be pushed out of the Democratic presidential race.

Given that she's a member of a party whose Senate majority leader has already declared the war in Iraq lost, and whose House speaker refuses to utter the word "victory," Clinton may be the only Democrat comfortable with the concept of doing what it takes to win. If she becomes the second Clinton to occupy the Oval Office she would do well to display the same toughness and resolve in Iraq as she's showing in the campaign.

With the race so close, Clinton would be a fool to hand Sen. Barack Obama a nomination he has yet to legitimately earn.

It's true there is practically no way Clinton can secure the 2,024 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination on the first ballot of the August nominating convention. However, the same math applies to Obama. What's rarely reported is that it's doubtful he'll have 2,024 votes on the first ballot either. Sure, he'll have more, but not enough. And although Democratic party leaders squirm each time Hillary or husband Bill mentions it, they are correct when they point out that the rules allow delegates to vote for whomever they want -- even on the first ballot.

One of the public relations heavyweights at the Democratic National Committee needs to inform Chairman Howard Dean that all the pressure exerted on Clinton to get out is not only un-Democratic-like, it's also undemocratic. Clinton is right when she says her pulling out would nullify the voices of voters in North Carolina and seven other states, plus Puerto Rico and Guam, that have yet to weigh in.

The argument that a Clinton nomination would nullify the popular vote (provided she doesn't overtake Obama in the remaining primaries) is downright laughable as well as hypocritical. DNC leaders had no problem nullifying the voters in Michigan and Florida for the sin of trying to make their votes relevant by rescheduling their primaries closer to the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.

Democrats shouldn't be fretting about the close race they have on their hands -- they should be reveling in the lessons it teaches. Their system of awarding delegates proportional to the popular vote is fairer and more democratic than the predominant winner-take all primary rules employed by Republicans.

Democrats like to brag that the appeal of Obama and Clinton, not the delegate system, is why they have a prolonged fight on their hands. But Republicans had a pretty good lineup too. Their final three of John McCain, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee was every bit as good as Obama, Clinton and John Edwards.

It was the do-or-die delegate system that allowed McCain to dispatch Romney after the Super Tuesday primaries, even though Romney had won 11 primaries and caucuses. At that point, McCain had won 13, hardly a mandate. Had the GOP doled out delegates proportionately, it's a good bet North Carolina Republicans would be choosing between McCain and Romney on May 6, a choice many conservatives still long for.

True, Clinton's continued underdog candidacy could split her party, but only if she or her supporters drag the campaign into the gutter. Despite media reports and punditry that Obama and Clinton are two sides of the same coin, they have significant policy differences.

In foreign policy, Clinton favors the traditional approach of using diplomacy and working through international organizations. Obama has signaled that he won't shy from using personal diplomacy and buying American prestige by passing out economic development programs like candy.

Domestically, Clinton sees government as the mechanism to solve social problems, while Obama seems at least willing to try private-sector solutions.

Both are liberal, and certainly much more progressive than John McCain. But by staying in the race and not backing down from a convention floor fight, Hillary Clinton is giving Democrats a choice of what shade of blue their banner will be in November.

Instead of subverting her act of democracy, Democrats should embrace it.

Contributing columnist Rick Martinez (rickjmartinez2@verizon.net) is director of news and programming at WPTF-AM. http://www.newsobserver.com/2756/story/1021640.html

Tuzla - Not a Day at the Beach

This very good op-ed was in the NY Times yesterday about the twisted and demeaning coverage of Clinton's trip to Bosnia. It is sad that the MEDIA has portrayed this trip as nothing but a big Clinton lie, and that it has been used by the Obama campaign to dismiss ALL of Clinton's international experience (aided and abetted by the MSM). So, here is a little context - something that was SORELY lacking in all of the bruhaha:

Op-Ed Contributor
Straight Shooting From Tuzla

By LISSA MUSCATINE and MELANNE VERVEER
Published: April 1, 2008
Washington

AS staff members who traveled with the first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, to Bosnia in March 1996, we have followed with more than passing interest the extensive news coverage of her landing in Tuzla. Video footage clearly shows that Mrs. Clinton’s assertions that she landed “under fire” and that the arrival ceremony was canceled were wrong. She said so herself last week.

Yet even since she acknowledged her mistake, the commentary has continued unabated. Reports are now being embellished (to borrow the term du jour) to suggest that Bosnia was not really a danger zone. Her visiting American troops on a peacekeeping mission in a hostile environment is now being treated as if it were a trip to the beach. During a week of nonstop coverage, few journalists went beyond the irresistible video footage to ask what else happened on this trip and how Mrs. Clinton might have erred in the details about the landing in Tuzla. So here are some facts that provide context:

We flew in a C-17 cargo plane from Germany to Bosnia precisely because it was capable of steep descents and ascents into and out of areas of conflict. We were issued flak jackets on the plane before landing in Tuzla and were told the tarmac ceremony might be canceled or curtailed due to sniper fire from the surrounding hillsides. The first lady and Chelsea Clinton were moved to the armored cockpit for the landing. Armored vehicles were placed around the tarmac, and Apache helicopters hovered overhead.

In a recent e-mail message to a British blogger, Ejup Ganic, who was the acting president of Bosnia during Mrs. Clinton’s visit, wrote: “I remember that visit quite well. Although the NATO troops were in Tuzla, we still believed that some positions on the hills were occupied by radical Serbs, so I was worried about the overall safety.” The planned welcoming ceremony was shortened, he said, but it still lasted a bit longer than expected because a nongovernment group brought along a little girl to sing to the first lady.

Later, Mrs. Clinton flew from Tuzla to two military outposts by helicopter, escorted by Apache gunships.

As has been reported, Mrs. Clinton’s trip to Bosnia included a U.S.O. component with the comedian Sinbad and the singer Sheryl Crow. The helicopters that carried them to performances at American base camps zigzagged just above the trees to avoid potential ground fire, according to Carey Cavanaugh, who was then a State Department official traveling with Sinbad, and helicopters flew alongside to deal with the threat of anti-aircraft fire or snipers. These facts explain why many of us, including the first lady, believed that the conditions on the ground were precarious. We were worried about sniper fire and were prepared to rush off the tarmac when we landed.

In their single-minded focus on the landing in Tuzla, reporters and commentators have omitted any discussion of what Mrs. Clinton accomplished on her trip. In addition to showing support for our troops and for the peace accords in Bosnia, Mrs. Clinton met with Bosnian religious leaders, women and community activists and, when she returned to Washington, was able to give administration officials her firsthand assessment of the nascent reconstruction effort.

After leaving Bosnia, she met with leaders of Turkey and Greece and in those countries promoted efforts on behalf of international development and democracy. In Istanbul, five years before 9/11, Mrs. Clinton presciently convened representatives of some of the world’s major religions to advance a dialogue about religious reconciliation and ways to counter religious extremism.

The video of her arrival on the tarmac in Bosnia may be great theater and easy fodder for commentators, but it shouldn’t be allowed to obscure what else was happening on this important trip when the cameras weren’t rolling.

Lissa Muscatine was the chief speechwriter and Melanne Verveer was the chief of staff for Hillary Rodham Clinton when she was first lady. Ms. Muscatine is an adviser to Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/opinion/01muscatine.html?_r=3&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Holy Toledo, or Should I Say, PHILADELPHIA!

I am reprinting the following from NoQuarterUSA.net in its entirety. This is just shocking - sure would be nice if the MEDIA and the DNC exposed any of this!! Anyway, here it is:

Obama Thugs Force Mayor Nutter to Shut Down his E-mail Server
By Fleaflickerclose

As I wrote yesterday, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter’s office was flooded with angry calls from Obama supporters after he came out in support of Hillary. Some people doubted my statements but those that bothered to call Mayor Nutter’s office confirmed everything that was written. But, as Hyper Educated Uppity Woman reports (all quotations are from Hyper Educated Uppity Woman, the rest is from Fleaflicker), his e-mail server was overwhelmed and had to be taken down.

I’ll let her describe the well deserved contempt so many of us have.

"As part of NoQuarter’s encouragement campaign, many readers emailed Mayor Nutter in support of his courage under harrassment. His email was returned by Mailer Daemon. The poor guy had to shut down his email address, so you can just imagine how badly he was harrassed by these savages. My God, these people are fear mongers and race baiters. What’s next? Coming to your home and beating the crap out of you? Lining us up and shooting us dead until there are no more Hillary voters left?"

We all know how passionate those Obama cultists can be. And they have the Obamedia wrapped around their scrawny little fingers. So we cannot back down, however often they threaten us. We represent the heart and soul of the Democratic party. They represent the far left wing radical wing of the Democratic party. Yet they are so determined to take over the party that they aren’t afraid to destroy the party if they can’t.

This is the time to come together and gather up whatever hidden strength you have. Because the next few months are going to be a tough battle. Expect the worst and prepare to fight back with everything you have.

"I give Hillary Clinton a lot of credit for doing the right thing during all this fear-mongering. She is surrounded by party cowards who have even helped Obama blame her every time he is in trouble. Reverend Wright is even her fault. This is downright surreal!"

My personal thanks to Hyper Educated Uppity Woman. And an extended thanks from everyone at No Quarter. Let her example be a guiding light for the battle onward.

As she says so eloquently:

"Give me the “Politics of the Past” any day of the week. At least I felt safe. Barack Obama is like a frightful nightmare upon America. I’m even afraid to publish this post. Where did America go? I thought George Bush was frightening. He is comfort next to the fear being generated right now.

….Shiver…."

For more information on Mayor Michael Nutter please visit:

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/03/31/the-courage-of-your-convictions/
(with phone number for Mayor Nutter + his e-mail address, which no longer works)

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/03/29/history-doesnt-pay-the-bills/
(with the story of his endorsement and a video of Mayor Nutter)