I'm not happy about Senator Obama's position on the FISA bill that just passed.  I elected not to send money in late June because I just couldn't push the button at that point.

But for Senator Clinton to send her "spokesblogger" out to pander to unhappy progressives in this way -- when she didn't have ANY courage in her voting patterns when she thought she was the nominee -- is disgusting.  If she wanted to fight hard to filibuster the bill, or get amendments passed, great.  But to vote no and then reach out to the progressive wing of the party in this manner is divisive and disheartening.

Is this how she's going to help get a Democratic elected President in November?  Because that is what she has pledged to do -- not herself in 2012, but Barack Obama in 2008.

A Choice - More of the Same or Something Different

On November 4th, voters will have a choice to make, not only in the race for President between Senator John McCain (More of the Same) and Senator Barack Obama (Something Different), but also in each of the contested races for seats in the US Congress.  

Voters have to look no further than two recent congressional roll call votes to see a contrast between the Democratic and Republican parties.  On May 21st, with solid Democratic support, HR 6049 passed on a 263 for / 160 against vote.   HR 6049 provides energy, business and personal tax breaks totaling $55.5 billion to spur the production of non-fossil fuels, promote energy conservation, stimulate business activity and help homeowners and the working poor.  In order to offset the costs of HR 6049, the bill tightens accounting rules on multinational corporations and eliminates certain offshore tax shelters and loopholes utilized by some US hedge fund managers.  Most important, HR 6049 does not add any additional burden to the national debt.

First off let tell you how impressed I was with Hillary Clinton and her speech Sautrday.  This time last year I was prepared to support Bill Richardson's campaign.  That changed after Barack Obama's Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Day speech.  That was, in my mind, the single best speech of the campaign.  Senator Clinton's speech Saturday is a close second.  Come January 20, 2009, as President Barack Obama is sworn in, we will look back on Senator Clinton's endorsement speech as the practical beginning of the general election campaign.  

With the nominating contest at an end, I have watched this community's outreach to Clinton supporters with wry disgust. For months we have verbally abused her and her supporters without mercy. Now the contest is over, and we are reaching out to them with an outstretched hand, asking them—expecting them—to return to our side in the name of Democratic unity. We pretend our own abuses never occurred. Even in victory I see our community offer little acknowledgment of its misconduct, and no apologies.

Even before news broke that Hillary Clinton would concede, most of her supporters on dKos and MyDD came out with class and dignity expressing sadness at their candidate's loss and support for the new Democratic nominee. Yesterday we learned her top advisers organized a meeting of party leaders to talk her down from the ledge, and I have no doubt that the Hillary I expected and hoped to see on Tuesday night will show up Saturday and make us proud.  

I like to play with iMovie to mash up political videos with music and in the spirit of unity, here is my latest. I borrow freely from the Brave New Films videos to remind us why we must unite now. It's rough. I'm no pro, but it's from the heart. Enjoy.

(Cross posted from Docudharma)

A hearty and sincere congratulations to Barack Obama and all of his supporters.  The only other thing I have to say about that is to ask you to please reach out to our brothers and sisters in the HRC camp, many of whom have been abused in this process.  We are all Democrats, we are all progressives, and we all have a lot of work to do in fixing our sadly and badly broken country.

Who is the man known as the Goracle?
Who is the man who won a Nobel Prize, an Emmy, an Oscar, and the Tennessee Amateur Bowling League Team Championship in the same year? Al Gore, of course.
Who's the man who won't cop out, when there's danger all about?
Al Gore, that's who.

No, I won't hush my mouth, I'm just talking about Al Gore!
So why hasn't Al Gore endorsed? What is he waiting for? Why won't he put an end to all this dreariness in favor of the candidate of your choice?

This weekend thanks to Art Torres and Crystal Strait and the internet outreach team of the California Democratic party (thanks Matt and Penny!) I joined a crew of local California bloggers from up and down the state at the California Democratic Party Convention in San Jose.

I have a really simple message to convey from that convention (which was ably covered among other places at the local California blog Calitics.)

Despite what the media and a false impression on the blogs might tell you, in 2008 we Democrats are in this together. Not only do we know how to get along but we can do so with respect for our array of identities and backgrounds and our diversity of viewpoints.

I have posted, here and there, my opinion that there is a good case to be made for a Unity ticket consisting of our two Democratic finalists, in one order or another.

I Received some polite replies, pro and con, and a slew of replies expressing horror at the suggestion.

Some voiced their certainty that Obama would never do it in a zillion years (based on the commenters' own opinion/wish, and their close relationship with Obama of nearly zero years.)

Others mocked my naivete', to think Hillary would dismount her BitchRocket long enough to laugh at an idea she surelydespised. These opinions came from peoople who have been close to Sen. Clinton and privy to her thinking for, um, never.

First and foremost, can I respectfully remind everyone here of the DKOS diary Guidelines:

Especially #22, which states:

Diaries on contested Democratic primaries: Be positive. Make an affirmative case for your favored candidate. If you do criticize a Democratic candidate, don't make ad hominem attacks - stick to substantive criticisms, and back them up with hard evidence. Be very cautious if you go after a fellow Democrat. Odds are, that candidate will have supporters on this site. Reasonable people will accept reasonable criticism - unfair criticism will only needlessly inflame. And remember, deliberately inflammatory diaries are prohibited.

Now, for the substantive portion of my diary, which is to support the primary process adopted by the democratic party, and call out what I feel is poor form by both sides (but largely the Obama supporters) in attacking fellow democratic candidates.  

I will vote for the Democratic nominee this November.
Whoever it is - Clinton, Edwards, or Obama.
To do otherwise would be insane.
To threaten to withhold my vote is selfish.

I don't know about you, but I want to see the Republicans out of the White House.  I would prefer that my candidate be the nominee, but if he is not then I would have no difficulty voting for either of the other two Democratic candidates.  That's how the Democratic Party works.  We air our dirty laundry during primary season, but then we put on the asbestos underwear for the general.

If this is the new face of hope and unity then I guess I will stick with what I know.

I apologize in advance for the short diary.

Let me explain. I still support Obama and plan on voting for him in my home state of Wisconsin. That being said, while I may have taken a different tone in the past, I think it can only be good for the democratic wing of the Democratic party for John Edwards to compete all the way until the convention.

The DLC must be stopped from regaining control of the party apparatus. If Hillary gets the nomination, I will vote, donate, and volunteer for her campaign. I don't have a problem with Hillary, but I have major problems with her supporting cast. Terry McAuliff, Mark Penn, Al From (especially Al From), and the whole bandwagon of corporate apologists.

Corporate power is clearly the log jam of American progress. When John Edwards ran in 2004, he spent a lot of time talking about poverty and the Two Americas. Now he's talking about why there are two Americas.

Happy New Year! On 4 November we have a chance to put a jarring halt to the conservative insanity that has been killing our country since 2001. We have a chance to put a Democrat in the White House and greatly expand our majorities in Congress (and make the repulsive Joe Lieberman utterly irrelevant). But we will only do that if we deserve to--that is, if we take a stand against the people who are strangling this country to death, and if we aggressively push for a progressive agenda, an agenda the American people want. What, specifically, will this entail?

One of yesterday's top comments (number 23, last I looked) says in part, "I can't vote for Clinton in the GE".
So far, it's been recommended by:
James Earl, Paolo, Sharon, TheC, nolalily, areucrazy, Christin, DelRPCV, cosbo, mattman, jakbeau, cookiesandmilk, Spider Jerusalem, RFK Lives, object16, Smallbottle, Dumbo, Dazy, Morague, oceanspray, dejavu, mrkvica, Sycamore, BmoreMD, TerraByte, Bulldawg, lcrp, forrest, jmm57, TheJohnny, DelicateMonster, ScienceMom, greeseyparrot, humphrey, 3goldens, William Domingo, ichibon, docangel, rlteiken, mjd in florida, frandor55, snacksandpop, Ranting Roland, Salo, reflectionsv37, majcmb1, concerned, podster, cassidy3, mikolo, ikrisarus, ZinZen, Jim P, Uthaclena, trashablanca, Prognosticator, Nestor Makhnow, FreeTradeIsYourEpitaph,

While the need for a resolution condemning Rush Limbaugh's insensitive remarks towards 'phony' soldiers is certainly up for debate, especially in a time of war, there was one key element of the debacle that has caught my attention:

More than 40 Democratic senators signed a letter sent Tuesday to the company that syndicates the radio show, asking that Mr. Limbaugh’s remarks be repudiated.

But no Republican senators signed the letter, highlighting a significant difference between the responses to the MoveOn advertisement and the Limbaugh comments. The Republican-backed plan to condemn the Petraeus advertisement drew substantial Democratic backing in the House and Senate, while Democrats have been unable to splinter Republicans on Mr. Limbaugh.

Some Democrats who voted for the MoveOn resolution claimed they were doing so because the ad represented the views of a far-left portion of their camp - yet Limbaugh certainly represents a far-right portion of the Republican camp. Why is it that, even on issues of little consequence, Republicans are able to present such a unified front, while Dems fall over themselves in their race to appear 'reasonable'?

This blog community has lined up.  Many are Edwards people.  A few less, but still many, are Obama people.  The Edwards people accuse the Obama people of not being able to take criticism of their guy - drinking the Koolaid and attacking those who don't agree.  The Obama people accuse the Edwards people of ignoring his voting record and falling for his rhetoric - drinking the Koolaid and attack those who don't agree.

The problem is - one of them is going to be on the ticket, either at the top or the bottom - perhaps even together.  It's inevitable.  So let's clear some things up, shall we?

I thought that the Civil War ended more than a hundred years ago, but apparently it continues on and on here at DailyKos.  Some of the bitterest diaries and comments during the election season had to do with a certain Southern senate candidate who ultimately lost.  In the past few days it has returned with a vengeance.  I regret it.

Richard Nixon may have been a lot of things, but he was no idiot.  He realized that the progressive and Southern traditions of the Democratic Party were at loggerheads and he was determined to exploit this division.  Nixon’s Southern Strategy has been the basis for the reemergence of Republican power in the latter part of the 20th century.  It was a classic case of divide and conquer.  And it still is in effect right here among us.