Drudge is headlining an article about people eating sushi off of naked people.
I had that trend almost a year ago. His report is about a special that occurred in Minneapolis, which does pick up trends about a year late, I suppose.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Texas 2008 Round-Up #10
It's Monday, and that means it is time for the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly blog round-up. This week's round-up is compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.
Refinish69 joins John McClelland, Democratic nominee for Texas House District 64n in asking "Where's Myra"?
Seems Shrub has a new title to add to his list. Torturer in Chief doesn't seem like one most people would want but then Shrub is a fool.
Eye On Williamson wraps up Tuesday's primary. Dembones points out that Obama won Williamson County and SD 5, as well as the unprecedented turnout for the caucuses. WCNews has initial impressions and more impressions from the primary.
Offt the Kuff has been busy poring through the data from Tuesday's primary, with posts about the blueing on Harris County, and a series on Republican crossover votes.
The Texas Cloverleaf begs the question, who the hell is Mark Thompson? Is another dead dancer in our midst, or did voter apathy give us another odd run off?
Where is Myra? State Rep Crownover is missing, and the Leaf wants you to watch a video to help locate her.
PDiddie at Brains and Eggs wrote the advance story of Election Day in his precinct with "Today's agenda", and the postscript in "244".
McBlogger had an exciting and mostly hateful Primary Week. Things kicked off with Mayor McSleaze's recap of the primary itself, while McBlogger took the time to bitchslap John McCain for taking an endorsement from some weird-o preacher in San Antonio and chastise adults for following the lead of a child. McBlogger finishes up the week with a plea for relief from a devastating force, Rachael Ray.
BossKitty at BlueBloggin asks democrats to unite and explore Make It So! A Clinton-Obama ticket?
WhosPlayin thanks his city's staff for the help in Tuesday's primaries, and wonders why the big deal about the use of the "M" word.
John Coby at Bay Area Houston wonders When Hope turns into Whine.
Vince at Capitol Annex starts taking a look at the March 4 primary, with the first of many Primary Postmortem posts.
Technorati Tags: Texas, liberal news, progressive, blogs bloggers
Refinish69 joins John McClelland, Democratic nominee for Texas House District 64n in asking "Where's Myra"?
Seems Shrub has a new title to add to his list. Torturer in Chief doesn't seem like one most people would want but then Shrub is a fool.
Eye On Williamson wraps up Tuesday's primary. Dembones points out that Obama won Williamson County and SD 5, as well as the unprecedented turnout for the caucuses. WCNews has initial impressions and more impressions from the primary.
Offt the Kuff has been busy poring through the data from Tuesday's primary, with posts about the blueing on Harris County, and a series on Republican crossover votes.
The Texas Cloverleaf begs the question, who the hell is Mark Thompson? Is another dead dancer in our midst, or did voter apathy give us another odd run off?
Where is Myra? State Rep Crownover is missing, and the Leaf wants you to watch a video to help locate her.
PDiddie at Brains and Eggs wrote the advance story of Election Day in his precinct with "Today's agenda", and the postscript in "244".
McBlogger had an exciting and mostly hateful Primary Week. Things kicked off with Mayor McSleaze's recap of the primary itself, while McBlogger took the time to bitchslap John McCain for taking an endorsement from some weird-o preacher in San Antonio and chastise adults for following the lead of a child. McBlogger finishes up the week with a plea for relief from a devastating force, Rachael Ray.
BossKitty at BlueBloggin asks democrats to unite and explore Make It So! A Clinton-Obama ticket?
WhosPlayin thanks his city's staff for the help in Tuesday's primaries, and wonders why the big deal about the use of the "M" word.
John Coby at Bay Area Houston wonders When Hope turns into Whine.
Vince at Capitol Annex starts taking a look at the March 4 primary, with the first of many Primary Postmortem posts.
Technorati Tags: Texas, liberal news, progressive, blogs bloggers
Councilman Riggs Defends First Amendment in Pasadena
Newly elected mayor Johnny Isbell is making it illegal to speak about political campaigns at the Pasadena Texas city council meetings. Most of the council is going along with this.
A slim majority of the people voted for Isbell despite questions of his understanding of the law and his flip-flopping on political philosphies.
Gil Guerra, a political science major student at the University of St. Thomas, stood at the podium and said he believes that if a person is a resident of Pasadena and is paying taxes, he or she has the right to speak before the council, even when they are running for an office “as long as they are not being vulgar.”I used to live in Pasadena but I am getting glad I left as it is now going back to its old KKK days.
“I urge this council to vote against this ordinance that limits the freedom of speech of your constituents,” Guerra said.
Jerri Neely, a former councilwoman and a former mayoral candidate who appeared before the council during the last campaign term to speak on non-campaign related matters, said people should be able to speak as long as they are relevant and respectful.
Councilwoman Dana Philibert said because Channel 16 is a municipal channel, it is important that the information provided through the channel is related to the city matters. If the city allows a candidate to speak at the council meeting, it is required to give a chance to all other candidates to do the same, the councilwoman said. She voted in favor of the ordinance.
“Who is going to define ‘make statements concerning political campaigns’?” Councilman Ralph Riggs asked.
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution allows “the public to protest or complain or voice their opinion,” but the council is taking that away, Riggs said.
“This ordinance will result in consequences that are not even thought up if allowed to be passed,” he said.
All the amendment aims at is “to take this council meeting to another level,” Councilman J.J. Isbell said.
He said people do not need to campaign either from the councilmembers’ table or the podium.
A slim majority of the people voted for Isbell despite questions of his understanding of the law and his flip-flopping on political philosphies.
Rumors: Does McCain have cancer?
Unlike 2000, when McCain provided 1500 pages of reports on his medical status, he has yet to provide any this year.
In 2000 he was treated for skin cancer that was diagnosed as stage IIa melanoma with a 65% ten-year survival rate. Some have questioned if it was the more dangerous stage III given the extensive operations McCain undertook. McCain says he will provide medical records later.
In 2000 he was treated for skin cancer that was diagnosed as stage IIa melanoma with a 65% ten-year survival rate. Some have questioned if it was the more dangerous stage III given the extensive operations McCain undertook. McCain says he will provide medical records later.
Who will answer that phone?
"With Hillary’s complete lack of any meaningful experience in foreign affairs, and her lack of the “testing” that she boldly claims, she’ll be yelling for Bill." - Dick Morris
Clinton said to be willing to ask delegates to dishonor their pledges.
Is it time For Barack Obama to ask Hillary Clinton to shut up or forget any chance of being VP?
David Sirota writing about Bill and Hillary spins: "the longer the presidential nominating contest goes on between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the more idiotic the pontificating and candidate spinning."
Another Clinton supporter gives up.:
Here in Texas, I have to prepare for a credentials meeting for my precinct. One of our delegates forgot to sign-in, not normally possible but that was a strange tiring, late caucus, and three others marked themselves down as delegates or alternates instead of being elected. Then there is the little problem that the precinct convention Tuesday night never closed but just petered out with a couple items undone. I was really too tired to be holding it while also trying to shut down the voting place.
Clinton said to be willing to ask delegates to dishonor their pledges.
Is it time For Barack Obama to ask Hillary Clinton to shut up or forget any chance of being VP?
David Sirota writing about Bill and Hillary spins: "the longer the presidential nominating contest goes on between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the more idiotic the pontificating and candidate spinning."
Another Clinton supporter gives up.:
Are the conservatives right about the Clintons? Will they do and say anything to get elected?
I don't know.
All I know is...I'm through apologizing.
Here in Texas, I have to prepare for a credentials meeting for my precinct. One of our delegates forgot to sign-in, not normally possible but that was a strange tiring, late caucus, and three others marked themselves down as delegates or alternates instead of being elected. Then there is the little problem that the precinct convention Tuesday night never closed but just petered out with a couple items undone. I was really too tired to be holding it while also trying to shut down the voting place.
Why are there no alarmed news reports over the Columbian government?
Every week there are a few stories about the "socialist-communist" dictator Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and how the United States should do something about him. But there are no reports on the right-wing near-dictator of Columbia Alvaro Uribe and his close family ties to the narcotic traffickers. Instead he is praised as a model for Latin America by the SCLM establishment and five billion dollars of U.S. aid has been lavished on him since 2001.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
"Don't Send Sekula-Gibbs Back!"
Most of the Texas GOP Congressman send a letter to the GOP voters urging them not to send her back to Congress. They are hoping to remind the voters of her embarrassing seven weeks as a temp Congresswoman with her temper tantrums and the amazing walk-out of all the experienced Tom DeLay aides that occurred after they had to deal with her for a very short time.
Several of us were commenting just after the election on how stupid the GOP voters must be if 30% of them thought she should have another go.
Several of us were commenting just after the election on how stupid the GOP voters must be if 30% of them thought she should have another go.
"They knew, they did nothing."
What the 9/11 Commission really found.
[Commission member Jamie Gorelick] was astonished by the sheer volume of the warnings. Flood, cascade, tsunami, take your pick of metaphors. She could see that in the spring and summer of 2001, there was a consistent drum beat of warnings, day after day, that al-Qaeda was about to attack the United States or its allies. It was clear to Gorelick that the CIA had gone to Bush virtually every morning for months in 2001 to give him the message that the United States needed to be ready for a catastrophic terrorist strike, and from what she was reading, no one ruled out the possibility of a domestic attack.Richard Clarke had repeatedly warned Condi Rice that a catastrophic terrorist strike would take place in the United States and had grown increasingly frustrated as nothing was done.
"Something is being planned, something spectacular," she said, summarising what the President had been told by George Tenet and what Bush should have read in the briefings. "We don't know what it is, we don't know where it is, but something is happening."
She said CIA analysts were trying to tell Bush, as bluntly as they could, that the threat in those months was "the worst thing they've ever seen - an unprecedented threat," worse than the threats before the millennium.
It seemed to Gorelick that Rice had "assumed away the hardest part of her job" as national security adviser - gathering the best intelligence available to the White House and helping the President decide how to respond to it. Whatever her job title, Rice seemed uninterested in actually advising him. Instead, she wanted to be his closest confidant - specifically on foreign policy - and to simply translate his words into action. Rice had wanted to be "the consigliere to the President", Gorelick thought.
Domestic issues seemed to bore her. Her deputy, Stephen Hadley, had told the commission something remarkable in his private interview the month before: He and Rice had not seen themselves as responsible for co-ordinating the FBI and other domestic agencies about terrorism. But if they weren't responsible, who was? There was no separate domestic security adviser in the White House. They had just demoted Clarke.
Bass told colleagues that he gasped when he found a memo written by Clarke to Rice on September 4, 2001, exactly a week before the attacks, in which Clarke seemed to predict what was just about to happen. It was a memo that seemed to spill out all of Clarke's frustration about how slowly the Bush White House had responded to the cascade of terrorist threats that summer. The note was terrifying in its prescience.
"Are we serious about dealing with the al-Qaeda threat?" he asked Rice. "Decision makers should imagine themselves on a future day when the CSG [Counterterrorism Security Group] has not succeeded in stopping al-Qaeda attacks and hundreds of Americans lay dead in several countries, including the US....
Much as the staff felt beaten down by Zelikow, so did the other Democratic commissioners. By the end, they had given up the fight to document the more serious failures of Bush, Rice, and others in the Administration in the months before September. Zelikow would never have permitted it. Nor, they realised, would Kean and Hamilton. The Democrats hoped the public would read through the report and understand that September 11 did not have to happen - that if the Bush Administration had been more aggressive in dealing with the threats flooding into the White House from January 2001 through to September 10, 2001, the plot could have been foiled.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Why the Texas Two-Step?
There have been some complaints about the fairness of the Texas Democratic two-step primary caucus system. This reflects a lack of understanding of the purpose. The primaries are not designed for the voters but for the parties to choose their nominees. Many states and parties do not have a primary vote but only caucuses and conventions. In the Texas two-step the primary shows the will of the general voter. The precinct conventions are for those willing to work for the candidates and for the party. Normally there is a much smaller ratio of caucus goers to primary voters but Texas Democrats got a huge number of new workers this year. The GOP should be very, very worried.
UPDATE - This is a separate issue than the over abundance of super-delegates, which is now an abuse of the system. We would have better caucuses if the heads of the party had to participate in them to become delegates.
One thing this election showed was that the primary day and the caucus day may need to be split up. Caucuses are absolutely needed to elect the delegates although, like the Republican party in Texas, delegates could all be assigned based on the results of the primary. All of these new primary delegates now control the party. Let's see what changes they propose.
Technorati Tags: Texas primary, two-step, caucus
UPDATE - This is a separate issue than the over abundance of super-delegates, which is now an abuse of the system. We would have better caucuses if the heads of the party had to participate in them to become delegates.
One thing this election showed was that the primary day and the caucus day may need to be split up. Caucuses are absolutely needed to elect the delegates although, like the Republican party in Texas, delegates could all be assigned based on the results of the primary. All of these new primary delegates now control the party. Let's see what changes they propose.
Technorati Tags: Texas primary, two-step, caucus
The Gossip in the Clinton Camp
The people working for Hillary hate Mark Penn too.
A lot of leaks in this article, all trying to take down Mark Penn and showing a disorganized campaign.
How is the camp going to feel when this hits the Headlines?
Clinton Also Reassured Canada NAFTA Tough Talk was all Political Rhetoric.
Clinton thanks Karl Rove on Fox News.
A lot of leaks in this article, all trying to take down Mark Penn and showing a disorganized campaign.
How is the camp going to feel when this hits the Headlines?
Clinton Also Reassured Canada NAFTA Tough Talk was all Political Rhetoric.
Clinton thanks Karl Rove on Fox News.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Hillary's Attack Ads and 'Scandals That Aren't' Are Ruining Her Dream Ticket
This little NAFTA Obama scandal looks to have nothing to it. Expect more opposition research attacks and leaks from the Hillary camp.
Hillary eked out a 'victory' yesterday with fear tactics and throwing the kitchen sink at Obama and hoping something stuck.
It worked enough for Hillary to spin Tuesday into a Pyrrhic victory that perhaps gives her grounds for arguing for a position on the top of a Democratic unity ticket. Throwing a kitchen sink load of garbage also means the ticket would be more damaged and should strengthen Obama's resolve not to let Hillary be on top.
FEAR! FEAR! Who do you want to answer the White House phone at 3 AM?
My answer: someone who has better advisers than Hillary and displays better judgement.
Hillary eked out a 'victory' yesterday with fear tactics and throwing the kitchen sink at Obama and hoping something stuck.
It worked enough for Hillary to spin Tuesday into a Pyrrhic victory that perhaps gives her grounds for arguing for a position on the top of a Democratic unity ticket. Throwing a kitchen sink load of garbage also means the ticket would be more damaged and should strengthen Obama's resolve not to let Hillary be on top.
FEAR! FEAR! Who do you want to answer the White House phone at 3 AM?
My answer: someone who has better advisers than Hillary and displays better judgement.
With more 'victories' like Texas, Hillary is over
The Hillary campaign is sure better at spin.
Follow this -
Hillary Texas popular primary vote 51% - delegates 65, Obama 47% - delegates 61.
In the Texas convention caucus system it is estimated by the Wall Street Journal that Obama will get 37 delegates to Hillary's 30 delegates.
This gives total Texas pledged delegates to the national convention - Hillary 95 but Obama 98. (With an inside knowledge of how the system works I would estimate more for Obama - his delegates are more committed to going to the state convention.)
My precinct awarded 7 delegates to Hillary and 7 to Obama to the next convention. In this area, our primary vote in Southeast Harris County Senate District 11 awarded 2 Hillary and 2 Obama to the national convention.
Bottom Line - after Hillary Clinton's "victory" in Texas, it is Obama who gets more of the votes that count.
Hillary's overall gain for March 4, which had 370 total delegates up for grabs, will be about +8. Hillary remains after today more than 140 delegates behind.
There are only 611 pledged delegates left to win in the upcoming contests. Unless Hillary wins about 75% of the remaining delegates she loses in the pledged votes. The convention will start with more delegates pledged to Obama and Obama will have won more states and more of the popular vote.
Follow this -
Hillary Texas popular primary vote 51% - delegates 65, Obama 47% - delegates 61.
In the Texas convention caucus system it is estimated by the Wall Street Journal that Obama will get 37 delegates to Hillary's 30 delegates.
This gives total Texas pledged delegates to the national convention - Hillary 95 but Obama 98. (With an inside knowledge of how the system works I would estimate more for Obama - his delegates are more committed to going to the state convention.)
My precinct awarded 7 delegates to Hillary and 7 to Obama to the next convention. In this area, our primary vote in Southeast Harris County Senate District 11 awarded 2 Hillary and 2 Obama to the national convention.
Bottom Line - after Hillary Clinton's "victory" in Texas, it is Obama who gets more of the votes that count.
Hillary's overall gain for March 4, which had 370 total delegates up for grabs, will be about +8. Hillary remains after today more than 140 delegates behind.
There are only 611 pledged delegates left to win in the upcoming contests. Unless Hillary wins about 75% of the remaining delegates she loses in the pledged votes. The convention will start with more delegates pledged to Obama and Obama will have won more states and more of the popular vote.
Obama wins Texas delegates race
Hillary wins popular vote. After the state convention delegates are counted Barack Obama will narrowly win the Texas delegate count after Hillary Clinton narrowly wins the popular vote.
Obama won the early vote but polls showed a sudden surge for Hillary the last couple days to give her the win. With 85 percent of the precincts counted Hillary has a lead of 2 in primary delegates. Obama has a much greater lead in delegates beginning the process of contesting for delegates to the national Democratic Convention.
Here is a Texas Democratic Primary results page.
Here is a Texas Democratic precinct conventions page.
Obama won the early vote but polls showed a sudden surge for Hillary the last couple days to give her the win. With 85 percent of the precincts counted Hillary has a lead of 2 in primary delegates. Obama has a much greater lead in delegates beginning the process of contesting for delegates to the national Democratic Convention.
Here is a Texas Democratic Primary results page.
Here is a Texas Democratic precinct conventions page.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Texas 2008 Round-Up #9
It's Monday (and primary-eve to be exact), and that means it is time for another Texas Progressive Alliance Blog Round-Up. This week's round-up is compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.
This election cycle is all about the change America so desperately needs. TXsharon at Bluedaze implores: Texans, don't settle for more of the same!
Many wonderful things happened at McBlogger this week, from McBlogger's discovery of a scrumptious new foodstuff, to Hillary's decision to co-sponsor a bill turning back the privatization of our military. Finally, we take a look at Cornyn's pathetic attempt to call out his better, Lt.Col. Rick Noriega.
WhosPlayin has photos and man-on-the-street interviews from the Barack Obama rally in Fort Worth on Thursday and his 7 year old son wonders whether Democrats will change the Pledge of Allegiance.
Off the Kuff has been closely following the early voting turnout data in Harris County and statewide. Read all about R versus D ballots in State Rep districts, why some Republicans are voting for Obama, projecting record statewide turnout, and what it all means for November.
For the last time with feeling Viva Obama! Vote or caucus at your precinct Tuesday. Caucus convention starts 15 minutes after voting at the precinct closes. - Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News.
Vince at Capitol Annex notes that there is some right-wing cash coming into some unexpected Democratic campaigns, and notes that Obama has a push card in Texas highlighting faith issues.
Eye On Williamson has been chronicling the Turnout Gone Wild in Williamson County. Dembones wrapped up the early voting with a Final Early Voting Report, and is Fired Up, Ready To Go, for the primary. WCNews has a look at the HD-52 8 Days Out Ethics Filings leading up to the primary.
Refininsh69 from Doing My Part For The Left thinks it is time that supporters of both Obama and Hillary GROW UP! Doing My Part For The Left endorses Glen Maxey for Travis County Assessor-Collector. While listening to both campaigns and watching commercials and interviews, Refinish69 realizes it is 3AM and Hillary Seems Desperate.
The Texas Cloverleaf jumps into the final weekend of primary action. The Leaf meets up with Forest Whitaker, Max Kennedy, and Ron Kirk in Dallas at Obama HQ. After the star studded event, attack mail hits the mailboxes in Texas. Find out what half truths are being spread by the Clinton attack machine before the primary vote comes to a head.
Jaye at Winding Road asks Hillary Clinton to not quit, and take it to the convention.
-----
Just For Harris County - why don't you print out these endorsements. I forgot to take them into the booth and then I drew a blank on a couple of judges races.
This election cycle is all about the change America so desperately needs. TXsharon at Bluedaze implores: Texans, don't settle for more of the same!
Many wonderful things happened at McBlogger this week, from McBlogger's discovery of a scrumptious new foodstuff, to Hillary's decision to co-sponsor a bill turning back the privatization of our military. Finally, we take a look at Cornyn's pathetic attempt to call out his better, Lt.Col. Rick Noriega.
WhosPlayin has photos and man-on-the-street interviews from the Barack Obama rally in Fort Worth on Thursday and his 7 year old son wonders whether Democrats will change the Pledge of Allegiance.
Off the Kuff has been closely following the early voting turnout data in Harris County and statewide. Read all about R versus D ballots in State Rep districts, why some Republicans are voting for Obama, projecting record statewide turnout, and what it all means for November.
For the last time with feeling Viva Obama! Vote or caucus at your precinct Tuesday. Caucus convention starts 15 minutes after voting at the precinct closes. - Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News.
Vince at Capitol Annex notes that there is some right-wing cash coming into some unexpected Democratic campaigns, and notes that Obama has a push card in Texas highlighting faith issues.
Eye On Williamson has been chronicling the Turnout Gone Wild in Williamson County. Dembones wrapped up the early voting with a Final Early Voting Report, and is Fired Up, Ready To Go, for the primary. WCNews has a look at the HD-52 8 Days Out Ethics Filings leading up to the primary.
Refininsh69 from Doing My Part For The Left thinks it is time that supporters of both Obama and Hillary GROW UP! Doing My Part For The Left endorses Glen Maxey for Travis County Assessor-Collector. While listening to both campaigns and watching commercials and interviews, Refinish69 realizes it is 3AM and Hillary Seems Desperate.
The Texas Cloverleaf jumps into the final weekend of primary action. The Leaf meets up with Forest Whitaker, Max Kennedy, and Ron Kirk in Dallas at Obama HQ. After the star studded event, attack mail hits the mailboxes in Texas. Find out what half truths are being spread by the Clinton attack machine before the primary vote comes to a head.
Jaye at Winding Road asks Hillary Clinton to not quit, and take it to the convention.
-----
Just For Harris County - why don't you print out these endorsements. I forgot to take them into the booth and then I drew a blank on a couple of judges races.
Vote and Two-Step Tomorrow
Find your voting location from the Obama Campaign.
A very good Texas video is there, too.
I am pretty prepared but could use another part-time person.
A very good Texas video is there, too.
I am pretty prepared but could use another part-time person.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Obama gets gay rights
Gets religion too.
Tags: Obama, Houston, Texas, gay rights
An interesting moment came when he was asked a question about LGBT rights and delivered an answer that seemed to suit the questioner, listing the various attributes — race, gender, etc. — that shouldn't trigger discrimination, to successive cheers. When he came to saying that gays and lesbians deserve equality, though, the crowd fell silent.Barack and Michelle Obama will have a big Houston rally Monday night.
So he took a different tack:"Now I'm a Christian, and I praise Jesus every Sunday," he said, to a sudden wave of noisy applause and cheers.
"I hear people saying things that I don't think are very Christian with respect to people who are gay and lesbian," he said, and the crowd seemed to come along with him this time.
Tags: Obama, Houston, Texas, gay rights
Saturday, March 01, 2008
One More Time, With Feeling
Now is the time to go for broke, to challenge not only the ruling party but also the governing ideas of the previous political era and the political coalition that allowed them to dominate public life. - E.J. DionneYes, We Can
Viva Obama! Viva Obama!
To the candidate who is Barack Obama
I sing this corrido with all my soul
He was born humble without pretension
He began in the streets of Chicago
Working to achieve a vision
To protect the working people
And bring us all together in this great nation
Viva Obama! Viva Obama!
Families united and safe and even with a health care plan
Viva Obama! Viva Obama!
A candidate fighting for our nation
It doesn't matter if you're from San Antonio
It doesn't matter if you're from Corpus Christi
From Dallas, from the Valley, from Houston or from El Paso
What matters is that we vote for Obama
Because his struggle is also our struggle, and today we urgently need a change
Let's unite with our great friend
Viva Obama! Viva Obama!
Families united and safe and even with a health care plan
Viva Obama! Viva Obama!
A candidate fighting for our nation
Barely Political - John McCain: 'No, You Can't' - Video
Vote at your precinct Tuesday. Caucus Tuesday at 7 PM at your precinct.
Vote for the other good candidates as well.
A pregnant pause for the Clinton campaign
Slate's John Dickerson asks an obvious question on a conference call with Hillary Clinton's campaign: "What foreign policy moment would you point to in Hillary's career where she's been tested by crisis?" After an uncomfortably long moment during which neither Mark Penn, Howard Wolfson and Lee Feinstein have anything to say, and then Lee Feinstein tries to step in with a save and starts talking about Clinton's endorsement by high-level military officials.
A Season of Change in Texas
Mary Mapes in The Nation:
Disappointment with the Bush Administration helped create a voting blowback in Dallas in November 2006, when Democrats swept forty-two judicial races and won the County Judge and District Attorney spots.
The abrupt switch from red to blue caught veteran political watchers off guard. "It sure took me by surprise," says Cal Jillson, Southern Methodist University political science professor. "I thought it would roll slowly to the Democrats in Dallas, not overnight."
Jillson credits the growing Hispanic vote and the change in atmosphere with convincing the "closeted Democrats to come out."
The language used here is instructive. Only in Texas could publicly supporting Democrats be compared to announcing the secrets of your sexual identity. But that is changing, too.
"For years, the Anglo Democrats down here were so beaten down, they just quit. They gave up. Now there is a bandwagon effect that is bringing them out again," Jillson says.
A Texas Republican strategist agrees. "The Democratic groundswell here is so deep and so energized," says the consultant, who didn't want to be identified. He says he believes the Republicans have made poor tactical choices in recent state races and that the party's split over religious issues is costing it voters.
"The right wing of the Republican party, the ultra-conservative religious right taking hold is turning people off," he says.
Among those turned off by the strength of the religious bent in the GOP? This consultant.
"So I am volunteering for Obama, delivering yard signs, making calls, whatever I can," he says. "I told them I am not doing this to look for business. I just want to help the campaign. I believe in his message for change."
In this season of change, it seems all eyes are on the Texas Democrats. And many here feel they are finally getting the attention they deserve. After all, they'll tell you, they were smart enough to reject George W. Bush long before the rest of the country.
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