Clinton Supporters Making A Statement About Not Supporting Obama

Clinton supporters are making a statement that they are NOT going to unite behind Barack Obama. There are a variety of reasons why; Michigan and Florida, poor treatment of Senator Clinton by the media, disrespectful behavior by Obama supporters, or simply doubts about Senator Obama and his qualifications. For these, or other reasons, many Clinton supporters are actively campaigning for Senator McCain. The site Just Say No Deal lists over 125 sites, many newly started, that agree that they will not be voting Obama in November. Some like Savage Politics are even raising money for Senator McCain. Many are planning to donate to the McCain campaign on July 4th to show their committment. Here are just a few of the numerous sites committed to NOT unifying the Democratic Party.

clintondems.com
hireheels.com
hillarysupporters.com
clintons4mccain.com
riverdaughter
hillaryclintonforum.net
womenforfairpolitics.com
donedems.com
pumaparty.com
savagepolitics
hillarygrassrootscampaign.com
pumapac.org
millionwomenmarch.blogspot.com

Obama Politics - "The Two Obama's"

David Brook's excellent article The Two Obama's does an excellent job laying out how Senator Obama talks reform and inspiration, but plays old school politics as well as anyone out there...

"God, Republicans are saps. They think that they’re running against some academic liberal who wouldn’t wear flag pins on his lapel, whose wife isn’t proud of America and who went to some liberationist church where the pastor damned his own country. They think they’re running against some naïve university-town dreamer, the second coming of Adlai Stevenson..."

"...But as recent weeks have made clear, Barack Obama is the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier who spent this past winter thrilling the Scarlett Johansson set and feeling the fierce urgency of now. But then on the other side, there’s Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol who’d throw you under the truck for votes..."

Brooks goes on to explain Obama's history of old school politics. That he is smart and calculating, and has laid out a path for himself that any old-school Chigago politician would be proud of...

"...Back when he was in the Illinois State Senate, Dr. Barack could have taken positions on politically uncomfortable issues. But Fast Eddie Obama voted “present” nearly 130 times. From time to time, he threw his voting power under the truck.

Dr. Barack said he could no more disown the Rev. Jeremiah Wright than disown his own grandmother. Then the political costs of Rev. Wright escalated and Fast Eddie Obama threw Wright under the truck.

Dr. Barack could have been a workhorse senator. But primary candidates don’t do tough votes, so Fast Eddie Obama threw the workhorse duties under the truck.

Dr. Barack could have changed the way presidential campaigning works. John McCain offered to have a series of extended town-hall meetings around the country. But favored candidates don’t go in for unscripted free-range conversations. Fast Eddie Obama threw the new-politics mantra under the truck.

And then on Thursday, Fast Eddie Obama had his finest hour. Barack Obama has worked on political reform more than any other issue. He aspires to be to political reform what Bono is to fighting disease in Africa. He’s spent much of his career talking about how much he believes in public financing. In January 2007, he told Larry King that the public-financing system works. In February 2007, he challenged Republicans to limit their spending and vowed to do so along with them if he were the nominee. In February 2008, he said he would aggressively pursue spending limits. He answered a Midwest Democracy Network questionnaire by reminding everyone that he has been a longtime advocate of the public-financing system.

Full David Brook's article The Two Obama's

McCain Blogger Call 2/13

Much of this blogger call revolved around the current state of the race. Should Huckabee get out? Who would Senator McCain choose as VP? How would he unite the party? The short answer is; he respects and likes Governor Huckabee it's up to him to decide whether he wants out; he hasn't started the selection process for VP yet; and he's working to unite the party. He mentioned that it takes some time after a primary as many people have worked passionately for their candidate, and can't be expected to immediately accept a different nominee. His CPAC speech and his increased support among self-identified conservatives was also noted.

One of the major topics of the call was the difference between Senator McCain and the Democrats on Iraq. He noted that there is a new bill that was recently passed in Baghdad that addresses some of the concerns about the budget and elections. He said how this illustrates that the Democrats were wrong about both the military and political aspects of the surge. The new bill shows political progress that many said was impossible. This also is similar to many of the statements by Democrats that military progress was impossible, showing them to be wrong on both fronts.

Another major topic was that of earmarks. Senator McCain reitterated his support of illiminating earmark spending and his dedication to vetoing any bill with earmarks attached. He mentioned that the Bridge to No Where has become more famous than the Brooklyn Bridge as it has become an icon of government waste.

Several callers congratulated him on recent primary wins one noting his incredible, and almost unbelievable, comeback. One blogger thanked Senator McCain for continuing to do blogger calls even after he had become the presumptive nominee. Senator McCain noted that bloggers were the only people willing to listen to him a few months ago, so he certainly wasn't going to bail on us now.

From: http://www.broadsideofthebarn.com/purplepeople.htm