About Us
riverdaughter aka GB: Some of you may know me by my DailyKos username, goldberry. Since the Presidential Primaries of 2008 started to heat up, I’ve found DailyKos to be a less lucid place to post. I totally respect Markos. He’s created a beautiful thing. But he is running a business so the more the merrier. Unfortunately, that means the barbarians have crashed the gate and are marauding. So, *this* Kossack is in exile until the ravagers run out of fuel to burn.
My bio: I am a forty something resident of the deepest, darkest jungles of the central New Jersey suburbs. My hometown is Pittsburgh, PA and my relatives all had houses within site of one of the four rivers. The picture in the header is of the convergence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers to form the Ohio at The Point in downtown Pittsburgh. It seems like an apt metaphor for bringing the divided together again. We will start with the Democratic party and then work to bring together the rest of the country. We will come together at our common goals and go forward together, strengthened and mighty.
Politically, I am a lifelong Democrat who leans to the moderate side. I prefer to call myself a “rational” Democrat. In the mid-90’s, I ran for and was elected to my local school board. I support Hillary Clinton although I didn’t always. But she convinced me that she was better than the others at YearlyKos07.
I am not a paid staffer for any campaign.
Ronk from Seattle
Posted previously on the blog “Cogent Provacateur”.
Hi goldberry. I finally found your blog. Great night, wasn’t it?
Yes, it was a great night but the spin is out that winning CA, NJ, NY, MA, AZ and a bunch of other states is no big deal because the delegate count is near even.
IHeck, even karl Rove said Clinton had a great night. Too funny.
Yeah, it matters not that three days ago the schmundits had HRC at death’s door once again, because a month ago, before Indiana, the polls had HRC 20 points up.
Also, HRC is a girl. Did you know that?
Thank you for starting this site and standing up to the sexist boy bloggers. I have ranted over Obama’s demagoguery and media worship of him for weeks. So welcome to the good fight. Taylor Marsh is one on my heroes willing to call Obama out on his record. Other pro-Hillary writers to add to your blogroll: No Quarter: http://noquarterusa.net/blog/ and MyDD: http://www.mydd.com/
G’day, I followed a link from Shakesville here, and just noticed that your post formatting is a bit askew. I’m pretty sure it’s because of you choosing to have the drop-down box for your category listing in the sidebar. Try editing that sidebar module (uncheck the “show as dropdown” option) and see if it fixes the formatting alignment for the posts? You don’t have that many categories, so it shouldn’t spoil your sidebar to list them in full rather than dropdown.
tigtog: I tried your suggestion and you can see the result. I’m not sure what the problem is but maybe it has to do with the fact that this is a “page” not a “post” as designated by WordPress. When I created the About Us page, I was using a different theme and it looked fine. But when I switched theme, this was the result. I think the previous theme had flexible width and could accomodate the text but the current theme has fixed width. So, I suspect that the only way to fix this is to delete the current pages and recreate them.
I’ll think about it.
Thanks again,
Hi, ya’ll.
Glad to see your post at Taylor’s place, Riverdaughter, it was a good read. Yeah, I’m a “kossack in exile” these days, though I keep my blood pressure up by actually trying to insert some truth into the place once in a while. This is a tough week for all of us who are supporting Hillary Clinton. But, I’m hoping for some bright news out of Maine to carry us into the Chesapeake voting on Tuesday. All the best, thanks for being there.
The 4th tab doesn’t show up in Firefox. And the p element in content needs more margin. Perhaps overflow is set to hidden?
No worries, riverdaughter. I was hoping that might be a quick fix for you, that’s all.
Add me, too. Took me a while to find you, glad I did.
I can’t provide technical help, but I can provide cross-posted content, if that will do. Or something else. Let me know.
Hi Riverdaughter. Great to find your blog here. I am hoping you might be able to direct me as I am relatively new to wordpress.
I have a blog here too, but it is secondary to our news site http://www.mtrnews.com/
At MTR we would like to get individuals writing for us from local communities across the states. How do I find them?
Also, you are welcome anytime to submit something of your own.
Cheri: Thanks for the link and the invitation. Just so you know, I am not a professional writer and no one has ever offered to pay me for this drivel.
As for finding writers in the various states, you might be able to set up a wordpress blog surf thingy that will bring up posts based on states that you specify. Someone may mention where they are writing from in a tag or category. I have a category called NJ politics and I suspect there are thousands of others. You might also check the DailyKos, Blue Jersey or MyLeftNutmeg(CT) blogrolls for links to others. It shouldn’t take you long to track down most of the state political blogs.
Good Luck!
I’m working with a group of women on a fundraiser for Clinton, called The Hillary 1000. We’re hoping you’ll consider supporting her or spreading the word. We’ve got a blog with all the details and links:
http://hillary1000.wordpress.com/welcome-to-hillary-1000/
Your blog is great!!
Hi Goldie - miss you over at Barackos. I swear every day to leave that place and never return but the addiction is powerful. I probably need counseling. Nice gig you’ve got here.
Sherry Shirk,
I keep trying to quit DKos too, but I keep going back — even though there is are an ever-decreasing number of diaries worth reading God, you used to be able to keep up with so many different issues there!
Mostly now I dart in and out of a hijacked thread either defending someone who is being swarmed, or shaming a particularly obnoxious Hillary hater, and then I get out quick, before being drawn in.
It’s Guerrilla blogging.
LOL! Guerilla blogging. Too funny. Yeah, that’s what it felt like before I left. I think I warned Norwegian Chef to get out of my last diary before he became collateral damage.
It shouldn’t be like that. OTOH, getting put on hiatus was the best way to kick the DailyKos habit. The thing that keeps you there is he interactivity. Take that away and there’s not much reason to go there. So, If you want to get the monkey off your back, go post a diary about how much the Obama Movement resembles Scientology or something. Thirty minutes later, you’re all done. It’s better than methadone and you’ll be amazed at the depth and diversity of the rest of the political blogosphere.
Hi Kids. I’m baaaaack! Took a time out for a couple of weeks…shouldn’t have had so many martinis or so much smoked salmon at the bar on my last visit.
I agree with litigatormom…it’s guerilla blogging darting in and out at the OO (Orange Obamathon). Mostly tedious and depressing now…what a shame. The blogs have become a mirror of that which they despise…the MSM without a stylebook or editors.
Sanity at TalkLeft keeps me going these days. Good stuff, mostly. They don’t take any crap and don’t stand for bad behavior.
Glad to see RonK back in the saddle here. Must’ve survived his Seattle caucus intact…no better here on the peninsula. Can’t wait to see how our primary comes out next week…substantially more positive for Hillary is my bet.
This campaign and this year are beyond imagination. I knew people were gullible but…good gawd.
Wonderful!!!
Count me in:
No Blood for Hubris
http://nobloodforhubris.blogspot.com
I tried to delete my Kos account, but couldn’t. Why is that?
No Blood: I think it’s because they are running a scoop site and it’s just a f%^&(ing pain-in-the-ass to administer.
I recommend that you ask them to suspend your priveleges if you want to be polite about it. Or post a diary where you rip the Obamaphiles good, if you don’t care about manners.
Like I told shainzona and katiebird, you should check this with Hillarysvoices first to make sure this is Ok with them. Because if a bunch of you leave, that leaves even fewer Kossacks for Hillary and her campaign might not want that. On the other hand, if you all go Judean People’s Front at the same time, the impact will be greater.
It’s up to Hillarysvoices to decide what kind of statement they want to make. The best thing to do is talk it over with them and decide on it together instead of taking action on your own.
So glad I found tis page Riverdaughter, thank you providing
shelter in an Obama storm where no Hillary supporter or undecided Dem can post without retaliation
Link to Tina Fey video to download, avoid all the C&L Hillary bashing.
thanks for being here
Nice website; thanks for all the good work.
One thing–the center frame overflows on the right side. Internet Explorer 7.0.
Adam: I’m sorry. I don’t use IE. I’d rather gouge out my eyes with icepicks. Firefox is highly recommended as a substitute browser. Trust me, you will like it better.
As for the overflow, yes I know it does that with the pages I created using a different theme before I moved to this one. I tried to correct it but it looks like short of retyping the whole damn thing, it is not fixable. (I’ve tried new page, copy/paste. Same damn problem)
I hope you were able to read it anyway. Thanks for stopping by.
Anyone notice that immediately after Hillary’s Children at 3:00 a.m. ad, Obama DENOUNCED AND REJECTED that type of fear-mongering ad only to turn around and release the same type of ad? He said, “We’ve seen these ads before. They’re the kind that play on people’s fears to try to scare up votes.” He even added he doesn’t think it will work.
I fail to see how he is an example of the “new style of politics”. I guess he was against these type of ads, before he was for it. (Also, after being accused of copying other people’s speeches, one would think he would stay away from copying Hillary’s ads. This is even after stealing her economic plans. Doesn’t he have an original thought in his head?)
In my view he’s just a talking head– here’s my youtube video:
Obama Talks Too Much. He’s All Hat, No Cattle. Just Words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77XqG8p6-GE
Frankly, at 3 a.m., I want a President who will PUSH THE RIGHT BUTTON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7KQnD1nXUI
(reference to the times he pressed the wrong button in voting.)
Sorry- corrected signature website url.
A gentle suggestion for you to consider, thanks!
Hi, riverdaughter Was linked to your website and I find your thoughts on the Clinton/Obama campaign interesting, as they are quite similar to mine. I’m a retired (male) caseworker in Altoona, PA, and am rooting for Hillary all the way. No more Olbermann for me, either.
Hey riverdaughter:
In reading your post on Jeremiah Wright this morning, I had a fear that my screenname might be considered offensive. If it did offend at any point, I apologize, and offer this explanation, from my blog:
http://saltandbitchery.blogspot.com/2007/01/what-makes-bitch-salty.html
I’ve always tried to reclaim it as a term of empowerment.
BTW, I’ll likely be working in Philly while you’re working in your sister’s hood elsewhere in PA. My mom’s family is from there. We’re going to turn that state out for Hillary!
Cheers!
Your site has been added to the list of women political bloggers at The Political Voices of Women. I hope you will also consider joining our community.
[...] course, Alegre is not the first Hillary blogger to abandon dkos. Riverdaughter (aka Goldberry) left for similar reasons and The Confluence, where she posts, exists for that reason. [...]
Hello, I just wandered in via Taylor Marsh whom I totally love! DailyKos has been famous but never attracted me that much - I spend hours and read or browse atleast sixty political blogs or websites, over a hundred opinion sites - sorry, but simplly the layout of the kos site did not appeal to me. Huff Post was great for while, until Arianna went off the deep end with her Hillary hatred that is more reminiscent of Malkin (no kidding). Confluence seems nice. I wish you luck. The real question is how do I donate, where is the tipjar?
I like your blog. Good collection of writings. Keep up the good work.
http://www.jonesview.wordpress.com
Hello!
My name is Katharina Goetze. I work with a team based in London which produces a weekly global media watch show called the Listening Post for Al-Jazeera English.
For our upcoming broadcast, we will be looking at the media’s treatment of the candidates in the US election and the success of supporter-generated viral videos. A section of our show is called Global Village Voices and we ask for people’s opinions on media issues via webcam. We look for informed opinions from people who are interested in the US election campaign and the media issues surrounding it.
I just had a look around your website and thought you might be interested in contributing your views. You could either talk about the candidates in the media, possibly giving us your opinion on how each of the candidates has been treated by the media, e.g. has Hillary been vilified, John McCain been given an easy ride, has Obama been swaying the media with his charm?
Or, alternatively (or additionally, if you like) you could tell us what you think about the role of viral videos, (such as the “Yes we can” music clip by Will.i.am)
Some of the issues you could address are:
1. Why are viral videos so popular in the US election campaign?
2. The most popular ads are not produced by the candidate’s themselves. Why is it that independent supporters create the sexiest videos?
3. How important or influential are viral ads in gaining support for one candidate or the other?
Just in case you are able to do this, I have attached our list of hints and tips for video blogging. We would like to get your video file by Friday please, but please let me know as soon as possible whether you can do it or not. The file will need to be uploaded, and I have attached instructions on how to do it below.
You need not answer all the questions I have put up there. They are just for you to get an idea of what we are looking for. Feel free to pick just one and give us your reply. You could even break the mould completely and give us an opinion about the media’s coverage that’s all your own. It shouldn’t take long, a clip of around 40 to 50 seconds would be perfect length.
We would love to hear from you! Do check out our website and here’s a list of some of our episodes - watching them will probably give you an idea of what we are all about.
Also, if you can think of anyone else who may be suitable for the show and interested, please do forward this email to them. We are always looking for new Global Village Voices!
Do e-mail me if you have any questions or doubts.
Thanks,
Katharina
katharina.goetze@gmail.com
The Listening Post @ Moonbeam Films
43-51 Gt Titchfield Street
London W1W 7DA
listeningpost@aljazeera.net
Here are our tips for contributors:
• Install any software that comes with your webcam - unless you already have it
• Plug in your webcam
• Find a quiet place to record your comment, so that background noise doesn’t cause a problem. Overhead fans, open windows, air conditioning – all of these can create a hum in the background. Try to switch them off before you make your final recording
• Think about what is behind you in the picture. A plain backdrop is usually the best
• Secure the camera on an even surface so that it doesn’t wobble or shake
• Frame the picture so that you have your head an shoulders in frame with about a quarter of the frame left empty at the top, for head space (the more of your face we can see the better!)
• Make sure there is light on your face – a lamp facing you is a good option
• Make sure that your microphone (often part of the webcam) is directed towards your face
• Think about what you want to say before hand, but don’t worry about getting it all word for word, it’s good to be as natural as possible
• Don’t worry about getting it right first time you can always re-record as many times as you like
• If you find it difficult to look into the lens of the camera and talk, find a spot to focus on just above the camera and talk to that
• Record on your webcam software OR quicktime (.mov)
• Once you start to record count 5 seconds in your head while looking at your spot, before you start to talk, and when you have finished count 5 seconds before stopping the recording. This will give us clean in and outs for edit.
• Start your piece by saying your NAME, PROFESSION and LOCATION
• Speak clearly and not too quickly.
• Around 45 seconds is the optimum length.
• Once you are happy with your piece, save it and upload it to http://www.yousendit.com (you may need to register for free first). Direct the file to listeningpost@aljazeera.net.
Hey, RiverDaughter,
After slogging through weeks of battle on the DU GD:P, I needed somewhere else to go before I dismembered a member. Through like minded bloggers, I stumbled on your site last night and have been feeling like I’m back at home in my biggirl bed being fed soup and toast. Comforting AND nourishing.
And I must say never underestimate the good feeling knowing that you’re not crazy. We’ll get this thing done.
there’s a beautiful face in your avatar,
Hi, riverdaughter! I grew up in N. Jersey but lived most of my life in Central Jersey–Milltown,Princeton, S. Brunswick, Hopewell Twp.! We’ve probably shopped at the same stores!!
Am now in New Mexico because I was suffering with respiratory problems in Jersey…
For the last 7 years, I did the Media Watch, then the World Media Watch and World Energy Watch for Buzzflash. Until about a month or so ago, when they jumped the shark. I didn’t want my name associated with a site that had gone over the top against Clinton. Sad, very sad.
But I’m enjoying my new free time in the garden!!!!
PS–must be fate that you’re from Pittsburgh! While living in Jersey I always wanted to visit Pittsburgh!!! Unfortunately, I never made it….just passed by on the train once.
By the way, I also wrote commentaries at Buzzflash over the years…but not lately, because of the tenor of the place…My website is defunct now because I changed ISPs but some of the pages are still floating around.
Maybe I’ll start a blog sometime….but don’t want to get involved with GOOGLE. I see you’re with wordpress….I will check them out!
so glad to have found this. I’ve given up on dkos; it actually became hazardous for my health. a strange thing happened to rile up my ptsd. something they cannot possibly believe over there is that women have been (are being) harassed to the point of ptsd. of course didn’t know it at the time, but I think the connection was the original harassment was done in such a way as to be virtually impossible to fight as well as physically dangerous…….you know you get to the point where you are physically ill before going to work and all through the shift. the same constant vitriol and insane remarks, made (virtually) anonymously and hard to fight toward my comments or even my reading them at others really brought the whole thing up again. it took me a while to make the connection, but I figured it out. I’ve gone back because there are a few bloggers I respected and like to read some of the environmental posts. but even those seem to deteriorate to anti-clinton venom/bashing!
so, here I am a clinton supporter for many deep thought out reasons. another reason that is really confirming this is the behaviour of some obama supporters.
plus would you consider adding http://katalusis.blogspot.com/ to your blogroll. I’ve been reading it for some time and it is fantastic.
regards,
k
Well, riverdaugher…I went ahead and created my blog/website…and have put up my Under Construction post which outlines the direction I’ll be aiming for…
It will take some time, but I hope to have an interesting site….
Come visit!
http://insightanalytical.wordpress.com/
I’d like to thank riverdaugher for spurring me on…I had been investigating other hosting sites, but I like THE CONFLUENCE so much and when I researched WordPress.com, it really seemed perfect!!!
Thanks for the nudge to get going, riverdaughter
Sorry…PS…I signed my earlier message as Gloria, but on my site I will probably be using “SunnyLC”….it’s where I live!!
I wonder if you would be kind enough to consider becoming one of our ‘1001 bloggers’ at http://mencap.wordpress.com
My apologies if I’ve asked you this before. Through the site we are hoping to link 1001 people who blog regularly and I picked up your blog through the ‘blogosphere’ tag on the wordpress homepage.
Please take a look and consider joining. Let me know what you think.
Do email me at david [at] theheads.co.uk if you would like to know more. If you can link to the site or forward this message to others I’d be very grateful.
Kind regards
David
david [at] theheads.co.uk
I found you by way of the Hillary Clinton website, and Bostonboomer’s recent (first) post.
I completely resonate with what he expressed.
It is such a relief to be reading comments from other people who perceive and appreciate Senator Clinton’ s active, deep, interested, and committed intelligence.
I intend to find a way to communicate more of what I am reading to more people, who may otherwise simply jump on the Obama bandwagon because the media and others keep insisting that it is the dwelling place of ALLTHAT IS GOOD.
And, yes, I admit it, I identify with Senator Clinton and the millions of other women whose intelligence and capability was trashed by popular misogynist agreement.
Bless all the men and women with clear heads able to recognize, value, and work hard, to support such a brilliant and hardworking woman.
Ruth, Welcome to The Confluence. Glad to have you.
So glad to join your company, Riverdaughter. We do need one another’s support as we stand with Hillary Clinton.
RD–
Thank you, thank you, thank you for tapping all that sanity, reason and fire into your keyboard…you’ve kept me from going postal with all of my “ridiculous hysteria” with this eye-opening 2008 Dem primary season.
I am definitely worrying my pretty little head and had no idea so many in this country are as immature, sexist and ugly as it’s shown itself to be lately. Or at least the media pundits who want us to THINK it’s the whole country feels this way. However, something tells me it doesn’t…this Democratic party would crash and burn w/o the support, sweat and money given by the weaker sex and men who aren’t blinded by fear that they are somehow emasculated if they support a female candidate for president.
Maybe it’s naiveté but I had no idea there was such an organized, deliberate effort in 2008 to make women (and men) who support Sen. Clinton feel so discounted, unimportant and irrelevant as Democratic voters. But here it is–live, in concert. Good luck doing anything without us–say bye-bye to the House, the Senate and the opportunity to make any REAL change.
It’s been hard to put this occasional fury somewhere constructive–I’m so sick of writing the various toe-heads at MSNBC, CNN, their sponsors and other news outlets to point out the blatant and offensive rants against Sen. Clinton and women, in general. I wish there was something else I could do but I’m not done fighting–no way. Not this year, not this fight.
But, again–thank you for all of your wit, wisdom and acumen on the various BS that’s come up this campaign season. You’re a fabulous writer, you dig up some great stuff and I think you represent the voice and opinions of FAR more people than the stupid DNC, BO worshipers and talking heads could ever imagine are out there.
No, we won’t go quietly into the night, acquiescing to BO and turning over our support by default. No way. Oh, yeah–last I checked, it’s NOT OVER YET!
Enough ranting but mucho mahalo for being such a kick-ass voice of reason and inspiration and we could definitely use more of that.
Hi,
I’m introducing myself as mostly a lurker, but definitely relieved to find The Confluence and all of you. My world of favorites is much smaller than it was a year ago. I’ve been so discouraged by the misogyny and vitriol and outright lies. It feels like an oasis here. Thank you riverdaughter.
A message to Gloria if I might. I have read you on Buzzflash but didn’t know you left because the tone had taken a huge spike in Obamania. I was/am sorry to see that as I have been a supporter of Buzzflash for a very long time. Now I can barely check out the headlines any more. Recently, when I wrote to buzzflash, I received a respectful response and am grateful for that. But I am just not drinking that Kool Aid.
I hope your breathing is easier in your new abode. I’m glad to find a “familiar being” here at the confluence. I love reading everyone, and knowing when I come home at night, i have a safe haven.
Hey Rd, can you drop me an email at the above address - minor matter to discuss.
TW
I wanted to ask your permission to aggregate your blog. Please contact me.
Hi River Daughter,
I’m looking to obtain a photo of you for an article that I am writing for a major US magazine - can you please get in touch with me as soon as possible?
Best,
Dana
Check this out! Even the National Review was impressed with Hillary’s performance at the PA debate!
Notable quotes:
“I don’t like Hillary Clinton. But I respect her as an adversary. And every once in a while, when she demonstrates she has the guts to “go there” in front of a Democratic audience that want their debates to be criticism-free lovefests, I’m tempted to say, “I like the cut of your jib, Senator.” It’s like watching a linebacker perfectly execute a blitz and flatten a quarterback from the blind side. It’s brutal, and tough to watch when it’s your guy being hit, but it’s within the rules and almost artistic when it’s perfectly executed.”
“After about forty-five minutes, David Axelrod probably should have thrown in the towel and stopped the fight.”
The rest is here, but you’ll have to scroll down to find it:
http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/
followed you from a link from Rezkowatch. So glad to find this spot. DailyKos is vile and extremely upsetting to even read. So thanks for putting this up!
It’s not the theme, it’s the parameters you’ve set on your homepage design.
I have this same theme on a blog, no problems. My gray areas on either side are much narrower than yours.
Good luck.
Can you remove a blog comment for me? Riverdaughter - I mistakenily attributed a quote in my previous article: “You Can’t Have it Both Ways –A Glaring Look at the Neurosis of Hillary Clinton”
This Quote:
“Someone who conducts a campaign like this is likely to govern like this. After what we have gone through with the Bush administration, we do not need a president who repeatedly does not tell the truth.” WAS NOT SAID by Jake Tapper of ABC. It should be attributed to Ron Chusid from the “Liberal Values” blog. There was a link to Mr. Tapper’s article and I made a mistake in cutting and pasting. I apologize to Jake and everyone reading the blog.
Find the ACTUAL QUOTE HERE:
http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=3171
Ron Chusid
River, could you send me an e-mail please (michael@poligazette.com)?
Dear RiverDaughter,
Here is how Karl Rove/GOP thinks about Mr. Barack Obama:
Karl Rove will peg Obama as a do-nothing senator who talked big and achieved little
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/29/rove-turns-his-attention-to-obama/
Republicans feel good about Obama match-up
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4583814
How Obama Fell to Earth (Mr. Obama is rather weak in general election in key states)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/opinion/18brooks.html
One of the major reasons for Mr. Obama’s recent ascending is that he gets mainstream media’s VIP treatment while the same media have been bashing his opponent harshly almost on a daily basis. Why do the mainstream media boost Mr. Obama? They want him to be the nominee of the Democratic Party, after that they and the right-wing machine will turn against him, to burst the bubble Mr. Obama created around himself, so that a not-strong McCain can easily beat a weak Obama.
Typical examples are AP and Yahoo News: look at the headlines and AP articles at http://news.yahoo.com/ and its Politics section in the past 3 or 4 months:
AP, Yahoo biased news => Affect people’s thinking about Mr. Obama => Jack up his poll numbers while beating down his opponent’s => The polls further affect more people’s views => Boost Mr. Obama’s election results
It seems the mainstream media such as AP have partially worked for Mr. Obama’s campaign for the Democratic Party Primary, and it is an ugly example how the mainstream media manipulate the election results.
For those billions of people around the world watching the US election, what do they think about the words “fair” and “balance” in the world top democracy, the United States of America? Will the people look up the US as their role model of democracy, especially those in the communist China, Cuba or authoritarian Russian?
20 years ago, Michael Dukakis led George H. Bush by double digits, then lost on the Election day. Barack “Empty Suit” Obama will repeat the history. It is amazing how the top Democrats leaders are still in the day-dream.
Let’s look at who the core supporters are for Mr. Obama: the Blacks, young people, and elite white liberals. The Democratic Party is virtually hijacked by Mr. Obama because of fearing to offend the Black voters, while the party does not care losing the support of women voters, senior voters, Latino voters, Jewish voters, Asian voters.., they do not care losing big states, swing states…
Mr. Obama’s candidacy is mainly based on propaganda – most of the other 2008 candidates have worked very hard to serve the country for many years as national leaders, while Mr. Obama’s thin resume forces him to do the lip service for the country and American people, and he blames other candidates for not doing perfect jobs from time to time. Had all US presidents been like Mr. Obama, the United States of American would likely have been still a poor developing country.
Does anyone believe that the independent/GOP voters can be fooled by Mr. Obama’s empty talks, who has few substantial records to back up his rhetoric? Does anyone believe that the majority of voters in the general election will choose a person who has little hands-on experience (creating jobs/economy/financial, military/war, budget/national debt, healthcare, diplomacy, trading, environment, crisis handling…) to lead a country with hundreds of millions of people, the world largest economy, the most powerful military in the world …? “The Emperor’s New Cloth” is a good reading for those who believe it. It is very likely that majority of American voters are smart enough not to elect such an under qualified candidate in the general election, especially those moderate/independent voters.
Historically, Mr. Obama is much weaker than Al Gore/John Kerry in general election:
• Lack of hands-on experience, accomplishments
• There is a lot of water in his poll numbers and election results, the inflated numbers will evaporate as the right-wing machine and the mainstream media turns against him in the general election
• Mr. Obama gets extremely strong support from the Black voters, who account to about 1/3 of the overall voters in the primary, but in general election the Black voters account to less than 1/6 of the totals, the lack of diversified core voters will be Mr. Obama’s clay feet in Nov. Mr. Obama is likely to lose much more white and other groups of voters due to backlash than he gains from the Black voters in the general election, which already started to show in recent primary.
• A large portion of the votes/delegates Mr. Obama gets are from the red states in the primary, but he has little chance to win these states in the general election. He claimed he gets majority of the votes - excluding Michigan and Florida. His team and supporters killed all the re-vote efforts because the polls show he can not win either state should re-elections were held, these tactics may give Mr. Obama an upper hand in the short-team, but they are definitely losing strategies in the general election
• In recent 3 contests, TX, OH, PA, Mr. Obama had at least 2:1 money advantages, but these tens of millions of dollars did not buy him a single victory, why? Because his candidacy has little substance. In term of dollar/per vote, Mr. Obama breaks all the records. The general election will be much less friendly, how much money will Mr. Obama throw in the big/key states in order to beat Mr. McCain?
• Mr. Obama gets the least endorsements from the former top military officers among the major candidates - the generals have less confidence in a junior, untested national leader, who may control thousands of nuclear war heads which are capable of destroying the entire human being many times - they have no way to know under extremely tough/stressful situations if Mr. Obama can handle it and make sound decisions. His awkward performance in a less favorable environment at the recent Pennsylvania debate does not bode well, that is why he dares not to have another debate before the North Carolina election, but it will come to light again should he debate Mr. McCain in the future. This kind of tactics is consistent in his campaign: hide all the weaknesses to at least after the primary, so that it will be too late for the Democrats to change causes when the weaknesses are exposed.
• Mr. Obama does not win the majority of the women voters, the senior voters, the Hispanic voters, the Jewish voters, the Asian voters…; he hardly wins any big states, he is rather weak in majority of the key/swing states…No Democratic presidents ever lost so many groups of voters, big states/key states in the primary, and finally won in the general election
• Other issues may not be important in the primary, but can be lethal in the general election:
a. Bitter comments about small towns; patriotism
b. Jeremiah Wright, Trinity United Church of Christ, Louis Farrakhan, James Meeks, Rashid Khalidi
c. Tony Rezko, Nadhmi Auchi, William Ayer, Emil Jones
d. Double talk on Iraq (S. Power, Colin Kahl), on NAFTA (Austan Goolsbee); oil money falsehood; sub-prime insider: Penny Pritzker; lobbyists’ money, Excleon
e. Mr. Obama’s legislative records, which can be used to attract conservatives; voting “present”, 129 times in Illinois Senate
f. Bypass public financing of the 2008 presidential campaign
It is very likely that Mr. Obama can manage to win the primary battle but will lose the presidential war in a crushing defeat. The Democratic Party has lost one presidential race after another in the past 40 years except a few, why does not it learn the lessons, especially under very favorite conditions like this year and likely they will lose it again?
Had Mr. Obama waited for 4-8 years: accomplishing something with his hands not only his mouth for the people, getting solid experience, he will be a much stronger candidate and potentially an excellent president. What is the big deal for Mr. Obama to wait for a few years to avoid being another ex-nominee in the rest 40/50 years of his life, like John Kerry, Al Gore, Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale, George McGovern …?
In summary, if he wins the nomination, Mr. Obama will be the least experienced and weakest nominee in history, and he will be defeated in Nov. for sure. The party and country will suffer greatly in the next 4-8 years with Mr. McCain, the third-term Bush, in the White House, and Mr. Obama’s unrealistic ambition, short sight and selfishness will be the root reasons for that.
Someone please explain how Hillary’s actual experience and accomplishments in the Senate are so astronomically superior to Mr. Obama’s? And First Lady experience doesn’t count.
As far as Ayers goes, more information about Hillary’s past connection w/ terrorists. http://www.dickmorris.com/blog/2008/04/18/hillarys-terrorist-ties/
“Clearly Barack Obama should not have stayed in Rev Wright’s church and his campaign should not maintain a “friendly” relationship with William Ayers. But what about Hillary’s service on a board that gave money to a terrorist organization? And her hosting of a terror supporting group in the White House? And her acceptance of a $50,000 contribution from that group? And the statements of terrorists that they are hoping for her to win.
These are far more serious connections than have been established for Obama and either Wright or Ayers.”
This is from Dick Morris but they are still cold hard facts.
bostonboomer-
I think you may have exaggerated a little bit, a tiny bit, when you imply that Obama wants to destroy social security and prevent universal healthcare. That would be impossible if he is considered the most liberal member of the senate.
You can’t argue both ways. You can’t disparage him for being a “lefty”, as many on this blog have referred to Mr. Obama, and state these untruths about his platform.
Dear RiverDaughter,
I’ve made the best argument I can for sweet Hillary on my blog at:
http://a-civilife.blogspot.com
I hope you’ll read it, and if it’s ok, I hope you’ll put a link to it onThe Confluence. I’m also asking this of Talkleft and No Quarter. It’s down to the wire, and I’ve done all I can for the cause celeb! Thanks for listening.
WillBFair
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DearRiverdaughter.
Thank you for your work on behalf of Hillary and Truth. So today looks like MSM Is trying Shock and Awe to end Hillary as a viable, um … Human being; NYTimes leads the charge: Racist, Destructive, No Class they say.
What are your thoughts on a Hillary write in campaign targeting the Big States? I’m so over the DNC, Dean, Brazille. The Democratic deck is stacked — McCain will have to work hard to lose come November.
I’m a 62 year old FDR Democrat and this is not my beautiful party. If Obama is the nominee we need to make a united stand. Destroy the village to save it? Well maybe.
Please let me know what you think.
Sinecrely,
Richard Holsworth
Sonoma, California
Word of the Day Archive
Saturday January 8, 2005
Today’s Word
putsch \PUCH (’u’ as in ‘push’)\, noun:
(Sometimes capitalized) A secretly planned and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government.
Hitler operated from Munich where he enjoyed a fair degree of support, and it was here that his Putsch took place in an effort to seize power in Bavaria.
— Alan Jefferson, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Putsch comes from German, from Middle High German, literally, “thrust.”
I actually changed my lifelong Democrat Card for an Unaffiliated one, right after Howard Dean lost the primary to Kerry. I was so pissed off at the media pushing for Kerry to be the nominee by saying he was more elect able, yada.yada. The only Democrats I thought had a spine back then was Kucinich, Gore, Edwards, and the Clintons. Then when Pelosi, Reid et al showed they definitely had no spine after the last election, I felt my decision was definitely the right one. I never thought I could also despise a group of people other than Republicans, but when this primary season kicked off and I saw all the vile from the Obama folks - I could not believe fellow democrats could be worse than Republicans to the Clintons. I personally think the Clintons are too good for the Democratic Party. Seriously, they have no business being in the room with the likes of Brazilla, Pelosi, Reid, and especially Howard Dean now that his mind is gone. The Clintons should start a third party RIGHT now and call it the Party Of The Uber Spine (POTUS) and only candidates that actually demonstrate they have a spine are allowed to run for the nomination in that Party. Seriously – if you want the DNC and super delegates to get a WAKE UP CALL, just have a pollster ask the question to all Hillary supporters, “If Hillary was to announce right now that she would quit the Party and run as a third party candidate, would you still support her? If all or most say that they would, and if Hillary would just tease the press and say she might think about running as an Independent because she is deeply concerned about worries that most Americans are having and she knows she can help - I think those super delegates might start coming to their senses.