It’s the MAP, not the Math

Today, The Confluence was invited to speak with Hillary directly via teleconference. She was meeting us from Oregon and didn’t have very much time. Her voice was very hoarse but she sounded clear, energetic and feisty. Peeps, she’s not getting out of the race, not when she’s winning in the popular vote by more than 50,000 votes. There’s still Kentucky, Oregon, South Dakota, Montana and Puerto Rico and more voters to help her put some distance between herself and Obama. So, she’s in it to win it. And why shouldn’t she? She’s won more of the crucial states than he has. Granted, she may not win Texas or Oklahoma in November but he sure as heck isn’t going to win Utah, Idaho and Alaska. When we get right down to it, the superdelegates are going to base their ultimate decision on two things: who is the best candidate and who can win in November. Hillary says she will win it. It will be much tougher for Obama. The electoral map is definitely in her favor because she’s won most of the crucial swing states.

The only two states left in dispute are Florida and Michigan. Hillary says it’s unconscionable that the party is persisting in its plan to disenfranchise these voters. It just goes against everything the party stands for. And while she can take the heat from the negativity hurled her way, after all, she’s auditioning for the toughest job in the world, she think the worst insult is to the voters of Florida and Michigan who are being left out of the process. Obama is going to have to make peace with these voters at some point. The Rules and Bylaws committee is meeting on May 31 and her campaign is working to make sure the process is as transparent as possible. We should all be able to watch.

One final thing, she apologized to her supporters and bloggers for having to put up with the insults. It was very kind of her but I’ve gotten over the worst of it. Oh, I want to hold the media and the party and Obama’s campaign accountable for the offensive remarks they’ve hurled at us. But right now, I’m going to focus my attention on the map, especially MI and FL and let the DNC know that I expect a swift resolution so those voters have a say in how this race is decided.

Florida and Michigan *must* count or the winner is not legitimate. It’s 50 states, not 48. It’s the map, not the math.

This is an open thread.

Full Scale Shmoozy Trolling Already In Progress

Look at what I fished out of the spam filter:

Madrugada Jones | xxxxxxx@yyyy.com | spinachflame.wordpress.com | IP: foo.bar.foo

I respect Hillary a great deal and think she’d make a terrific president. But I’m for Obama and I think you have to ask yourself, if the roles were reversed and Hillary was out ahead in the delegate count (not to mention the superdelegate count) and Barack was trying to get the delegates from MI and FL seated, do you honestly think she’d let them be seated?? You’ve got to be kidding me. She’d do the same exact thing he’s doing, which is well within the rules the DNC established. To me, this proves Obama’s political savvy.

New cartoons here: http://spinachflame.wordpress.com/

Not Spam — May 16, 2:36 PM — [ View Post ]
#

spinachflame | llllllllll@zzzzz.com | IP: Bar.foo.bar

I respect Hillary a great deal and think she’d make a terrific president. But I’m for Obama and I think you have to ask yourself, if the roles were reversed and Hillary was out ahead in the delegate count (not to mention the superdelegate count) and Barack was trying to get the delegates from MI and FL seated, do you honestly think she’d let them be seated?? You’ve got to be kidding me. She’d do the same exact thing he’s doing, which is well within the rules the DNC established. To me, this proves Obama’s political savvy.

Look, I don’t mind if you troll the site but could you at least be original and funny?
Now, I have to go wash the gunk off of my hands.

Action Words

Here are some other things you can do to get your point across to the DNC:

You can send an email to the DNC expressing your thoughts on the FL and MI problem. Ask them to seat the delegations from both states as is as the solution has been obstructed for too long. Be polite but assertive in your email. Here is the link to the form on Hillary’s site. You might want to leave a little something in her tip jar while you’re at it.

Steve Corbett at WILK radio in Scranton, PA is kicking off Operation Turn Down at 3:00pm. If you’re tired of the media haka, the Frat Boys for Obama and the accusation that you are a racist just because you think Hillary is a better candidate, lend your voice to thousands of others. If you call in, be sure to have your talking points prepared in advance. It helps you deliver your message calmly. And I wouldn’t focus on Hillary as a victim in all of this. She’s not. She’s a presidential candidate and has to expect a lot of negativity. The fact that she’s a woman means she has to expect more than most candidates. sort of like Jackie Robinson when he broke the color barrier in baseball. The problem is that the sexist behavior directed at her will have broader repercussions on the society at large if the media and the Obama campaign aren’t held accountable. But the real victims in this primary season are the voters who are being held hostage to the proportional delegation system, undemocratic caucuses and last but not least, the withholding of delegates from FL and MI that will give the necessary critical mass to Hillary’s delegate count. She is being held to a higher standard than Obama. He only has to reach 2025 delegates to be considered a winner while she has to reach 2209. Is that fair to the candidate or the voters?

Let’s Keep Our Heads, Conflucians

Oh, yeah, we’re really fired up and ready to eat the first water buffalo that strays into our path! Damn straight their going to pay for this. And they’re sending a troll over here?? Bring. It. On

Hang on a sec. Before we get too moblike, let’s think about this.

First, I want to lay out what I want to see happen with the party and this primary season:

I want the process to proceed fairly.

I want all voters to be counted and respected.

I want Florida and Michigan delegations counted so they make an impact on the nomination.

I want Obama and his enablers to back off.

I want Donna Brazile and anyone else at the DNC to stop putting their thumb on the scales for Obama and against Clinton.

I want the Rules and Bylaws Committee to waive the rules for FL and MI and seat all delegates as voted on by their voters on the dates of the primaries of those states without any “gifts” to Obama to make the process seem fair to him. The votes are votes. He lost Florida. He took his name off Michigan’s ballot in order to game the system. He obstructed revotes in both states. It’s too late to do one in Florida while they change their voting machines and almost too late in Michigan. He displayed poor sportsmanship and doesn’t deserve a redo at the expense of counting those votes toward the nomination. And Tom Harkin, the purpose of voting is to determine an outcome. It doesn’t matter if Michigan goes first or last, if their votes do not help determine an outcome, then the whole primary was a waste of time and the voters of Michigan will not forget come November. The time to act was back in February-March when counting the votes in both states would have had minimal impact. Obama squandered that opportunity. Tough for him.

The Haka needs to stop- NOW. Barry needs to cancel his “in-your-face'” celebration next Tuesday. I’ll give the Rules and Bylaws committee until May 31 to settle MI and FL and save face.

In short, I want to give the DNC the opportunity to do the right thing. i don’t want to destroy the party. The party power structure seems to be doing a pretty good job of that on its own. And besides, there are worthy down ticket candidates that need our help in case of a McCain presidency. But the party can no longer count on my vote for president if it proceeds down this reckless path to a preordained Obama nomination by screwing his more worthy opponent. I am not advocating that anyone vote for McCain. Let him get his own party’s voters.

Now, the haka towards the Hillary bloggers will start to get intense in the next couple of days. They are going to sound all shmoozy and reasonable. And we’re going to look like a bunch of frothing at the mouths nutcases if we don’t get control of our anger. While they pull, we will look like we’re pushing too hard. There is a better way to combat them. This whole situation is one big theater of the absurd. Keep that in mind. And don’t get mad, get even.

400 bloggers fighting for Barack Obama’s desperate delusion?

News is spreading that the Obama campaign has hired 400 faithful friends to “throw elbows” at Hillary supporting blogs. My original thought was that this was an Obama-inspired rumor (like the one last week that Obama’s already got a Paid Transition Team) designed to make us tremble and go home. But I got a message in my personal email last night that makes me wonder:

Katie,

I read your comment on Talk Left about Obama declaring “Mission Accomplished”. Found it confusing and even a bit troubling that you’d compare Obama’s pending victory in the Democratic nomination race with the Iraq War.

Obama might be tired, but his millions of supporters and donors (including myself) are not.

I am tired of fighting my own family members. I am tired of defending against both McCain AND Clinton supporters.

I’m not tired of working for justice.

I’m not tired of reaching out to new friends.

I’m not tired of discussing the solutions to our nation’s pressing problems – economy, healthcare reform, educating our kids, training a 21st century workforce, stopping corporate greed, preventing torture, ending the Bush Doctrine approach to foreign policy, etc.

So, I look forward to getting acquainted. Feel free to visit my homepage on the Obama website – and feel free to ask questions.

Take care,

http://my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/gG3sNX

Ben Vos

Obviously, I’m devastated that my comment is so troubling for poor Ben (if his name really is Ben). Or I would be if this didn’t sound so much like something written from a template. He’s picked out one phrase from some comment I wrote (who knows when, there’s no link) and launches into a lecture that has no connection to the issue that concerned me.

Friday: Fast II and call to action

Ok, folks, it looks like this ball is starting to roll. With HCFP doing a haka and Steve Corbett at WILK launching Operation Turndown today, we are seeing thousands of people finally losing patience with the DNC and pushing back against Obama as the inevitable candidate.

We know that Clinton is the stronger, more qualified candidate. We know that the Republicans would like nothing more than to be running against an unvetted, inexperienced weak candidate like Obama. And we know that Obama got to be where he is by suppression of Clinton voters by a.) undemocratic caucuses in heavily Republican states, b.) the active participation of the DNC Rules and Bylaws committee who imposed an unnecessarily harsh penalty on Florida and Michigan c.) the refusal of the Obama campaign to work towards a solution for those two states before the primary season ends , d.) discouraging donors from contributing to Clinton’s campaign or any outside group that might be friendly to her and e.) the unconscionable media narrative of the past two weeks that Obama is now our nominee with the clear intention of depressing voter turnout. In short, Barack Obama “wins” by suppressing the votes of his opponents.