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they could have been ruthless this morning and making so much fun of Hilary as well as laughing about everything. they didn't. This is why they are going to Washington baby.
Republicans are not a national party anymore.
by jalapeno on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:25:18 AM PDT
[ Parent ]
Not a lot of drama for a very long primary.
by Yoshimi on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:26:58 AM PDT
strikes me as angry and snotty.
If it was up to me I'd rewrite to have the same info but in language that was robotically nuetral.
The points are valid, but there is a subtext of: we were right all along and now you have to eat it, you assholes.
Second star on the right and straight on til morning
by wren on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:29:17 AM PDT
and which campaign was clearly "angry and snotty."
by Yoshimi on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:32:02 AM PDT
about what it means to be a winner, and what it takes to bring along people devoted to your opponent.
Intelligent Designer Laments Lapse in Intelligence
by mrblifil on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:42:37 AM PDT
and the whole Hillry44, Taylor Marsh, MyDD crowd? I suspect you all are already lost. I suspect some of the better known of your fellow travelers like Taylor Marsh is already doing the calculations to figure if she can be professional Obama heckler in the vein of Rush Limbaugh. You know all the race baiting like Rush but from the left. Why waste energy. History will not take a kind view to the race baiting antics your crowd cheered on. I am glad that we have all these comments online and with in some cases the actual names attached (e.g Jerome Armstrong). Just as neo-conservatives are now trying to fight their own words of 7 years ago in a futile attempt to revise history many of you will be spending the next several years repeating "no what I meant by that was..."
by TMP on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:59:47 AM PDT
You certainly expended a lot of verbiage on a lost cause. Thanks for casting about wildly in order to lump me, whom you don't know from a hill of garbanzos, with people with whom I claim no affinity.
But I forgot, when advancing the view that Obama is not perfect, a price must be exacted. Thanks for sharing your progressive views with me. Nice to know you're keeping record and naming names. Let me know how the plans for the witch hunt work out. I guess now that you won't be able to get off on the possibility of riots in Denver, you need to get your ya-yas out in other ways. Glad I could be of service.
by mrblifil on Wed May 07, 2008 at 11:13:57 AM PDT
you dixiecrats wont vote for Obama.
But I forgot, when advancing the view that Obama is not perfect, a price must be exacted. Thanks for sharing your progressive views with me.
You are part of the group that responds to and defends race baiting, use the most vile slander and then when your "multi-faceted" candidate gets called on her BS you all run around yelling how unfairly you were victimized.
Yes I am progressive but you are not. As I pretty much said history will not be kind to you and your fellow travelers. Just in your last post you did the very same thing that lost your candidate the race.. make stuff up while playing the bully and the victim role at the same time. Rioting? You are projecting. This very minute I can see your comment history consists of nothing but a long long list of troll statements. Please go away to Mydd or Taylor Marsh. Very few people respond kindly to your comments and most of the time no one responds at all.
by TMP on Wed May 07, 2008 at 01:17:44 PM PDT
...but I don't think it is going to matter one way or the other. The nomination is for all intents and purposes Obama's at this point, and will be so officially as soon as the ass-covering fence sitters decide to show some spine (for the good of the party).
Have you read the The Democrats' Da Vinci Code?
by Nate Roberts on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:32:35 AM PDT
old school political spin and I think it is effective.
by Yoshimi on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:35:38 AM PDT
No matter how good the numbers look. They still needed to make light of the situation, and make people feel a bit silly for staying neutral. Its a little risky, but still some people need a little more of a shot in the arm than just seeing the number.
"Invest In America, Instead of Iraq. Vote Democratic"
by manumit on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:36:16 AM PDT
who want to jump on the bandwagon before it pulls away from the curb. As Timmy pointed out last night, there's not much point in being delegate 2026 for Obama. From a purely opportunistic perspective, now is the time for smart SD's to come over, and Plouffe is making that point to them.
It's a good memo.
Some men see things as they are and ask why. I see things that never were and ask why not?
by RFK Lives on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:44:08 AM PDT
yeah, yeah!
by Seele on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:47:41 AM PDT
Just saw a picture in the MSNBC slide show from last night and it appears that Michelle's dress last night was kos orange in color. Was she giving us a nod?!?!?
"How can I tell you everything that is in my heart. Impossible to begin. Enough. No. Begin." Maira Kalman from The Principles of Uncertainty
by orphanpower on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:50:51 AM PDT
the dress, the color and how Michelle absolutely glowed last night. I said to myself "Self, you are looking at the next 1st Lady and I hope to God she never thinks a Pepto-Bismal pink pantsuit is appropriate attire".
"I don't belong to any organized party, I'm a Democrat." Will Rogers
by Do Tell on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:56:35 AM PDT
on the national stage in, well, forever. She doesn't have the perpetual fawn of Nancy, yet you know she will scratch eyes out to defend her husband against baseless attacks. I would be so proud to have her represent this country. Smart, well-educated, independent, loyal and classy. I am a fan.
Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it. - Harry S Truman
by parker parrot on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:09:39 AM PDT
are such wonderful role models and inspirations to all who come from difficult backgrounds.
She will be one of the best 1st Ladies that we will ever have, I am sure of it.
by Do Tell on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:32:40 AM PDT
Michelle will be an outstanding first lady. I love her style and they way that she and Barack interact- clearly a dynamic loving marriage. Go Barack and Michelle! I think we saw our next president and first lady last night.
by orphanpower on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:53:16 AM PDT
It would seem natural that he might run as a pledged delegate, I'm assuming he's not a super of any kind :)...
by Exhausted Pennsylvanian on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:58:21 AM PDT
He's also saying, If you people buy in to the 'electability' alternative universe, we'll fight.
How long will it take to get rid of Billary?
by muddy paws on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:36:54 AM PDT
from this memo, as i read it
Politics is not arithmetic. It's chemistry.
by tamandua on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:37:43 AM PDT
It's quite strong on some points, such as reminding the superdelegates of the very thing that the Clinton campaign has tried to obscure:
Obama ran the race that he was given.
His strategy was based on how to win that race, the rules of which he didn't invent. He and his campaign won that race, handily, and brilliantly, given the odds against them.
So it IS strong in insisting that the superdelegates now recognize that fact, and not fall for Clinton spin which insists that the rules be changed towards the end of the game.
It was a necessarily forceful reminder, in my opinion. The Obama campaign has earned that right, having fought quite civilly against a reckless opponent. But at some point the party has to recognize the damage being done, and do their part.
This was a wake-up call.
JOHN McCAIN = George W. Bush's 3rd term.
by chumley on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:38:47 AM PDT
I must be missing something, because I read the memo as calm and businesslike, stating the facts.
We're all in this together.
by JTML on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:40:13 AM PDT
I found it professional, strong and businesslike.
Also, some need to keep in mind that Wolfson and the Clinton campaign is still arguing the same old talking points this morning. They are now moving the goalposts to West Virginia and insisting Obama cannot win Key states.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Martin Luther King Jr.
by wishingwell on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:44:08 AM PDT
and have a good deal of contempt for HRC although I would vote for her over McCAin. But I don't think the tone of this is good.
There's the crack about wild scenarios, the joke about deciding who wins by determining who is taller, the direct statement the HRC's only remaining base of support is the DNC.
It would be a better memo in my opionion if the tone was intended to convince Hillary supporters in a nice way, by laying our the facts and leaving the conclusions to be drfawn, rather than in effect saying, "Your candidate is a delusionsl loser and so are you if you keep buying her crap."
It hurts people less to draw their own conclusions thatn to have a conclusion they don't like shoved in their face along with some jokes at their expense.
And we do need to think about healing now.
However the deed is done. And probably not much harm done either.
by wren on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:49:04 AM PDT
given the circumstances - and what could still be thrown at Obama.
"Statistics are people with the tears washed away." Sociologist Ruth Sidel
by Vicky on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:56:18 AM PDT
Haven't we been bothered for months that Obama won't go on the offensive, leading him to fend of silly, distracting attacks?
This forcefully makes a case, using humor and intelligence to prevent exactly the ridiculous goalpost-moving that has been presented before. "We can expect to see some nonsense about what matters" - because that's what has been seen every other time.
If Clinton drops out this morning, this looks mean and snarky. However, if Ickes says "only West Virginia matters now" or something, Obama won't have to defend himself from that attack - the media will bring this point up, and do it for him.
This is what Obama's campaign going on the offensive will look like.
by Exhausted Pennsylvanian on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:05:36 AM PDT
why people think it is rude to be brutally honest.
Your spouse putting on some weight? If you don't mention it, who should? Your child sucks at singing, is it NOT your responsibility as a loving parent to point it out instead of waiting for him/her to get humiliated in public?
Why do people prefer to go blissfully through life completely divorced from reality?
Tone, shtone. The campaign is stating the TRUTH. Deal with it.
Compulsively Combative
by akogun on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:28:23 AM PDT
And let's not forget the intended audience - several hundred politicos, probably 90% of them attorneys, addressed directly. If you want to convince these people, you're not going to send them a stump speech about hope and change. That shit's for people like us.
When you want to convince lawmakers - and those who work with law - you'll do best reminding them of the inevitability of their own rules.
I wouldn't be surprised if Obama wrote this himself.
-Isaac
by falsified on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:20:25 AM PDT
"They were like a broken record..."
Obama's people are not serving him well by acting as if they are under siege. They need to start sounding and acting like confident victors, ready to take on the responsibility of leading the party, and the nation.
by mrblifil on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:41:57 AM PDT
out and graciously endorses Obama, they ARE under siege...
Inconceivable! You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
by hopeful on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:47:04 AM PDT
taken the opportunity presented by yesterday's rebuke at the polls to gacefully exit the stage and let the healing and unification begin.
Her first sentence from last night was a defiant (and devoid of rationality) as you could find. She demostrated neither grace, class, nor humility.
by akogun on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:31:46 AM PDT
it's addressed to professional SD's, i.e. politicians. The tone is perfectly appropriate for this audience, imo.
by CeeusBeeus on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:34:37 AM PDT
the last few weeks? Obama's team is under siege. Clinton controls the media narrative and they have adopted her talking points wholesale. It is one of the things her campaign has excelled at throughout this primary. Obama's people should pick up some tips from them on that score.
Given that these talking points are being repeated ad nauseam on every outlet, it's not a surprise that Obama's campaign would feel the need to point that out and it's not surprising that they might sound defensive about it. We all know that talking points can easily become the CW. By coldly stating the facts they are saying the same thing.
Personally, I find the "broken record" comment slightly awkward. I think the sentence could have been stated in a more formal way. Then, I always find cliches awkward in correspondence that should strike a strictly professional and business-like tone.
News Pundits - The Dopplerless weathermen of our time. Jon Stewart
by mentaldebris on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:57:18 AM PDT
call?
They were still insisting Obama cannot win key swing states and important states like Florida, Ohio, PA, West Virginia. They were still harping on how he cannot win white working class voters.
by wishingwell on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:42:02 AM PDT
by parker parrot on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:11:58 AM PDT
I'm not seeing it, wren. This strikes me as a calm but implacable reminder of the rules. Anything more would be seen as pleading, or manipulative.
It's intended to counter a last desperate reframing of those rules--something that hasn't emerged yet from the Clinton camp, but could at any minute.
Superdelegates will be reading this in contrast to an memo from HRC that we haven't read yet. It needs to be judged in that context.
I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. -- Thomas Carlyle
by Jsn on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:42:33 AM PDT
But I agree -- the tone should have been factual and conciliatory. Instead it was arrogant and bitchy, starting with "a startling 68%".
The message is right on, but that was a little classless.
Make your voice heard! MichiganDecides.com!
by cartwrightdale on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:43:21 AM PDT
what the Clinton campaign is saying this morning. They are saying that the Obama campaign said they would win Indiana by 7 pts ( a total lie) and that Clinton had a huge win in Indiana. They are now saying the campaign starts anew in West Virginia, they are harping on how she can win Michigan and Florida and how only Hillary can win Ohio and PA.
by wishingwell on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:45:59 AM PDT
Of course, it's laughable and pathetic that they are grasping at this. This number is based on the projections spreadsheet that Obama's campaign leaked back at the beginning of February (53/46-O). Obama's team were also wrong on NC. They predicted 53/45 and it was 56/42.
It was their projections about the contests. Where they thought the contests were going to end up before the primary got started. Obviously Obama's team didn't figure in the Wright resurgence or Clinton's kitchen sink, oven and dishwasher.
Which is why it's laughable the Clinton team are clinging to this metric. It's like pointing to a single poll done before the primary started. By this metric, Obama's campaign can go back and point to all the polls predicting it would be over for everyone after Super Tuesday in order to convince the supers she can't close the deal. It was simply a long-term prediction that turned out to be wrong. Yet another pathetic show by Mark Penn, et al.
by mentaldebris on Wed May 07, 2008 at 10:13:05 AM PDT
to jump on the bandwagon before it pulls away. Most SD's who are still uncommitted now are still trying to see which way the winds are blowing. Plouffe is giving them a weather report.
by RFK Lives on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:46:49 AM PDT
pre-emptive reminder to stop spinning away the numbers.
Nothing classless at all with this memo, IMO. As long as the Clinton campaign uses seating the FL and MI delegates as a threatening tool, it is appropriate to remind everybody what the rules were and who has undermined or disregarded the rules to begin with.
by mimi on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:26:48 AM PDT
to set. It is especially unfortunate to see them discounting the legitimacy of the popular vote. While I agree with the argument, it runs the real risk of turning off some SDs. Better to just explain the strategy and leave the conclusion of illegitimacy to the reader.
We are the ones we've been waiting for.
by Same As It Ever Was on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:53:13 AM PDT
Is NOT decided by popular vote - TRUTH.
Just because Clinton world says so, doesn't make it so. Bill Clinton won his primary by delegate count - not popular vote.
A proud sponsor of the Hope and Change movement - Go Obama!
by America Jones on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:19:55 AM PDT
But that doesn't mean some supers don't think it is important. What we think is no longer relevant. The supers are going to decide this. Obama has now made his best case and largely secured a majority of the pledged delegates.
by Same As It Ever Was on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:36:45 AM PDT
they are NOT "discounting" anything. They are stating that it IS NOT a legitimate measure of strength as defined by the rules book. That is the truth.
In addition, they are stating that, at the end of the day, Obama is likely to have more popular votes than HRC, but they are still not going to use it as the metric because, again, it is not what the rules book says. This, again, is true.
If rules mean anything to you, you will have to agree with the statement.
by akogun on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:36:44 AM PDT
I don't like this at all. Anyway, Obama is WINNING the popular vote even if you throw in Florida! (Don't see how you can add Michigan since he wasn't even on the ballot.)
He didn't even have to mention it. I'm sorry to say it seems sort of Clintonista to me.
Remember, Obama has won more pledged delegates, more states, AND more votes! The supers don't buy into Hillary math.
by batgirl71 on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:42:18 AM PDT
I think it's measured and respectful.
Republicans shaking in their shoes: Now that's a beat I can dance to!
by writerswrite on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:54:53 AM PDT
you are reading your own feelings into this press release
It is not angry and snotty to remind super delegates that they have the right to make their own decisions based on their own criteria while at the same time reminding them that Obama based his campaign on the DNC rules and is winning based on those rules. And that he is the most electable come fall.
by Heart of the Rockies on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:57:39 AM PDT
it sounds whiny, and the letter repeats itself. I think that they should have waited to see what happened today before they released that strikingly poorly written letter.
by kate mckinnon on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:02:59 AM PDT
Sorry, but that was a nice, tidy, almost lawyerly exposition of the facts.
I'd say case closed. We'll be seeing angry/snotty from the Clinton folks before too long. She really should have booted Penn a long, long time ago ...
by Stranded Wind on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:06:21 AM PDT
Maybe not 'snotty' perse but it definately struck me as much more aggressive than it needed to be. A simple statement of the facts without all the superflous digging at the Clinton Campaign and avoiding the whole popular vote digression (which made them sound defensive) would have been much better in my opinion.
I am and will remain an ardent Obama supporter, but I really think they fell short on this particular letter. Probably should have got more sleep before drafrting this one. heh
...honor is a harder master than the law. It cannot compromise for less than 100 cents on the dollar and its debts never outlaw. - Mark Twain, a Biography
by billd on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:09:39 AM PDT
I'm reminded of John Kerry sitting calmly during the Swift Boat "controversy". All he needed to do was hold a press conference with his x-rays showing the shrapnel still embedded in his freaking thigh. Instead he was told to keep calm because he would be seen as arrogant and pushy. No. These are the rules, they are stating the rules, to those who made the rules and are now waffling on whether or not they should use them. This is ridiculous.
by falsified on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:25:18 AM PDT
He has been criticized for being soft most of this campaign. If he tried to be forceful and determined, you call him angry and snotty.
Can't win either way huh?
by MarketCapitalistPig on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:23:17 AM PDT
In fact, I thought this might be a joke when I first started reading it. It doesn't read like something from the usually respectful Obama campaign. Though as you've said, the points are valid.
It doesn't matter that HRC's campaign was over-the-top "angry and snotty" (which, I agree it was). Obama's campaign has no reason, at this point, to stoop to the same kind of language we've sadly come to expect from HRC.
by monkee on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:25:55 AM PDT
internal drama and strife that's leaked to the media, like HRC.
Politics is highschool drama taken to a new level.| 08ama! | -5.50 -6.26
by vertexoflife on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:36:31 AM PDT
http://www.slate.com/...
This is their take on last night.
by MariaWr on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:38:58 AM PDT
I think it's high time for the Obama campaign to start acting like he's the nominee, and create the expectation that its time for the party to fall into line. There's a hint of that here, but I'd have liked to see it spelled out more explicitly.
This primary race is wasting time and money and effort that should be going into running against McCain. We can't afford to do that any longer, and Plouffe should be delivering that message loud and clear.
Hanoi didn't break John McCain, but Washington did.
by Dallasdoc on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:28:18 AM PDT
hard-working Dems. The healing needs to begin NOW.
by Spoonfulofsugar on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:31:45 AM PDT
I'm sorry, but I won't puff on that peace pipe just yet.
Out here on the West Coast, NPR is playing segments which feature news that the Clinton campaign is becoming even more insistent that delegates representing their stolen Florida and Michigan votes be seated.
And Sen. Clinton, whose public appearances supposedly were cancelled for today, will be campaigning in West Virginia. I can guess what lies she'll be telling.
The damage to our party and to our nominee by the bitter-enders continues.
I wonder how much of the advice that the Clinton campaign continue is presented by people committed to that campaign who thought that they had a sure thing.
by JTML on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:49:11 AM PDT
already had the drapes she picked out on the sewing machines back in January! Now they are fretting over what to do with them now that they don't match the new party theme. Awww crap...what's an interior designer to do now? It's gonna be hard to get the cash back for the material already cut out and sewn.
by Spoonfulofsugar on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:00:15 AM PDT
It was an end of an era. The Clinton dynasty is over. You can't hit too hard for fear of backlash. Give them a few days to come down. The dynasty since 1992 (16 years) was not going to be easily brought down. Now let it happen properly.
by jalapeno on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:32:46 AM PDT
John W. McCain, Bush's third term.
by aaraujo on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:36:56 AM PDT
when I see the thistles sprouting from its grave.
Bush Administration: Proving the saying, "You can fool all most of the people some of the time, and 30% 24% all the time...."
by Helpless on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:50:07 AM PDT
putting down Obama and saying he cannot beat McCain. It would help if her campaign was not telling everyone they had a huge victory in Indiana and that Obama failed to win in his backyard..etc.
by wishingwell on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:48:54 AM PDT
or till she's completely out of it.
right now she still has a ghost of a chance. She will come closer in pledged delegates over the next week or so (WV and KY). She can draw it out if she wants.
Her stubbornness is what prevents us from going forward to the general.
An ambulance can only go so fast - Neil Young
by mightymouse on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:36:45 AM PDT
this afternoon?
President Barack Obama. I *like* the sound of that!
by BlueSky221 on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:43:02 AM PDT
Only if the Superdelegates do their job and start announcing...
TexasDemocrat Giggity giggity giggity...Iraq's a Quagmire
by TexasDemocrat on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:49:26 AM PDT
by JTML on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:50:18 AM PDT
is saying ..ie that the campaign starts again in West Virginia, they want Florida and Michigan delegates to count as is, and how Puerto Rico could put her ahead in popular vote. Then they went on to say Obama cannot win in Florida, Michigan, OH, PA, WV but they can.
by wishingwell on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:50:20 AM PDT
two friggin hours before he gave his concession speech. I am still smarting over the email the night before, when he knew he was out, asking me for money to "take it to the convention."
I can't fathom that she won't concede today. Stupid dittoheads!
by kate mckinnon on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:06:45 AM PDT
If she wants to stay in for the last 6 contests (which everyone knows will split 3/3-- Kentucky, W Virginia, and Puerto Rica to Hillary-- Oregon, Montana, and South Dakota to Obama) and campaign positively, i.e. this is why I'm a good candidate and not run negative against Obama, I'm okay with it. I'd prefer she drop out but it might also be good to let her supporters in these states vote for her while still in the race.
Problem is she has shown no signs of giving up her negativity and desire to destroy Obama.
by batgirl71 on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:48:37 AM PDT
time to start the General campaign.
Besides, I actually listened to the cable news today and Mike Barnicle nailed it when he said in reference to the Clinton campaign message this morning via their conference call:
This is just plain silly. This is ridiculous. They keep moving the goalposts. Now they are saying, in fact, that Obama cannot win White voters. Enough.
by wishingwell on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:47:59 AM PDT
nominee of his party, and I think you will see more and more of that type of rhetoric from them from now on.
by Do Tell on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:58:55 AM PDT
then they shouldn't have the honor (and power) of being a SD.
GOBAMA...BARACK the VOTE
by eswey on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:36:52 AM PDT
this is why we are going to Washington
by keepingitstraight on Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:54:31 AM PDT
...this quote:
"Essentially, the popular vote is not much better as a metric than basing the nominee on which candidate raised more money, has more volunteers, contacted more voters, or is taller."
A nice reminder, while not actually bragging, that all of these metrics are on Obama's side.
The America I knew and loved is finally dead at the hands of bipartisanship.
by TheOrchid on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:42:03 AM PDT
wide narrow
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