"Does anyone here really trust the oil companies to give you the savings, when they could just pocket the money themselves? There's not an expert out there that believes that this is going to work. There's not an editorial out there that has said this is actually the answer to high gas prices. In fact my understanding is today, Senator Clinton had to send out a surrogate to speak on behalf of this plan, and all she could find was, get this, a lobbyist for Shell Oil to explain how this is going to be good for consumers. It's a 'shell game,' literally."
Today's Honolulu Advertiser has a profile on Madelyn Dunham, Barack Obama's maternal grandmother who he referred to in his March 18 A More Perfect Union address:
... a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
One main focus of the story is on her being a pioneer for women in the banking industry: "In December 1970, she was named one of the first two female vice presidents at Bank of Hawaii." This was a big deal at the time. She is a very strong woman and those who worked for her obviously have huge respect for her.
One indicates that he never heard her say "anything like that." But it also recounts one anecdote from Dreams from My Father where Barack's grandfather told him she had been scared of a man on the street because he was black.
Folks from Hawaii reading this, and particularly those in HI-02 (neighbor islands and rural Oahu), take note of this in today's Advertiser story on Hawaii's superdelegates:
Hirono, who endorsed former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards in 2004, told the Hawai'i Tribune-Herald last week that she wants to hear feedback from her constituents.
I think it is kind of silly, because her constituents have obviously already spoken by voting overwhelmingly for Obama (16,892 votes to 4,923 for Clinton). But that's what she's saying.
Here's her contact form (it might be more appropriate to communicate with her campaign office at 808-550-2006, but when I called her office previously they said just go ahead and use this form). Be Polite!
Here's my letter to Hirono that I sent a couple weeks ago. Best not to just copy it, write your own, but it may provide some useful points to include.
Obama is getting an overwhelming majority of the young vote and appealing to a generational change in American politics.
"If Obama was an old man, he would not be in this position. And if he was an old person (of any gender) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be 47. And the country is caught up in the concept."
In today's Honolulu Advertiser political columnist Jerry Burris talks about the role of superdelegates in the nominating process, and notes:
Hawai'i has nine superdelegates, the four Democratic members of Congress, four top party leaders and a ninth to be chosen by the state convention.
Three of those nine have made their voting intentions known. U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye and National Committeeman Richard Port will vote for Clinton, while U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie will vote for Obama.
The others have not publicly declared their intention.
I decided to write to the two undeclared members of Congress, Sen. Daniel Akaka and my Rep. Mazie Hirono, to urge them to support Sen. Obama, and soon. Below the fold is my letter.
Earlier in the campaign, before Edwards suspended, I made a comment that basically I would be happy with Obama, would live with Clinton, but only felt truly excited about Edwards. I identified with Edwards' fighting approach to special interests in control of our government.
After he dropped out and I watched the contests unfold, especially watching Obama's primary night speeches, I grew more and more excited and inspired by Obama. And I came to understand and believe in his approach of gathering a strong and engaged majority to support the changes that we need to wrest control from these interests. I voted for him in the Hawaii caucus on Feb. 19.
At the same time, my attitude about Clinton stayed about the same. I was in the camp that favored Obama yet certainly would have supported Clinton were she to win the nomination.
Below, I explore some thoughts about my changing attitude toward Clinton and how I think Obama could/should respond tactically at this time.
Just got this email from the Democratic Party of Hawaii. There are no changes here in terms of final delegate count (Obama 14, Clinton 6), but these are the final official numbers of votes...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION, Contact Democratic Party State Chair, Jeani Withington: 808-936-4839
The State Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Hawaii has completed the tabulation of the results of the February 19th Presidential Preference Poll and has certified the following results as official.
Here's a few photos from our caucus in Hana, Maui.
First, the basic numbers:
Approx. registered voters in precinct: 1100
Precinct Dem party membership prior to this evening: 81
Votes counted this evening: 145
Clinton: 20
Obama: 125
First, it seems there are two sides to the argument about how this phrase should be interpreted in regards to eligibility for the presidency, and the Supreme Court has never addressed it:
For those watching the shifting primaries and caucuses, this today from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:
With the Democratic presidential race front-loaded next year, Hawaii Democrats hope that moving their caucus ahead one month to Feb. 19 will give them a little more clout in the selection process.
But that date still puts Hawaii behind about 30 other states, including the Super Tuesday primaries on Feb. 5.
This is an important issue that I don't think has been diaried about yet, re labor's opposition to the "Patent Reform Act of 2007" (aka "Infringers Protection" act), and a call for action to support labor and oppose this legislation.
Opponents of legislation that would overhaul the U.S. patent system have enlisted new allies who may cause majority Democrats in Congress to rethink their support of the proposals.
Since late July, three labor unions -- the AFL-CIO, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), and the United Steelworkers -- have sent letters to lawmakers saying they oppose two current patent reform bills. Patent reform opponents say they hope their alliance with organized labor, which has a long history of supporting Democrats, will stall the legislation.
Steve Elmendorf, notorious in the netroots, has been hired to pressure the unions to back off their opposition.
In the midst of the national election season and the magnitude of importance for Dems to take one or both houses, there is a small nonpartisan election in Hawaii that most won't notice, but has great significance for us here and much larger potential implications, and one candidate that I would like to draw your attention to:
Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele running for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (At-large).
If elected (quite possible due to his very high name recognition) the next Hawaiian political earthquake will be Bumpy (I'll refrain from further puns with his name).
Please take a few minutes to check out this video (taken the afternoon before the Earthquake) and consider the implications of his words:
For those watching the HI-Sen race--in which Republican state Rep. Cynthia Thielen has been selected by her party to run against Sen. Akaka after the Republican candidate who withdrew from the race for health reasons won the primary--there are a couple items worth your attention today.
First, at Poinography.com, local political blogger Doug White on Friday picked up on a position paper on Iraq posted on Thielen's website (maintainted by her son David, who posts here at dKos and comments on Doug's post), which Doug calls "not a ringing endorsement of the national GOP talking points" and includes a call for Rumsfeld's resignation, but not a specific withdrawal date.
Yesterday, Doug followed up, asking: "what does it say about the GOP leadership if Thielen was their pick and she wants Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld to be fired?"
Now that we know that Hawaii's Republican governor Linda Lingle won't be running for Senate as the replacement candidate against Akaka this time, it is worth noting the speculation that Lingle could end up on the Republican ticket for VP in '08 next to McCain, as I was reminded by Ian Lind this morning.
Hawaii's Republican Party has chosen state Rep. Cynthia Thielen to run against U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka in the Nov. 7 general election.
[...]
The Republicans were able to pick a candidate after Jerry Coffee won the GOP primary in the Senate race. Coffee, former Navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war, had withdrawn from the race over the summer because of a heart attack and heart surgery.
The first printout has been announced on local TV and the results which reflect mostly absentee ballots show Akaka up by about 48K to 36K votes, or 12 percent. Akaka worked to get his supporters to vote absentee, but this certainly bodes well for Akaka.
The official first printout of the results should be here shortly.
A Honolulu man, who has tried twice to resign his Army commission as an officer because he believes he "cannot justify or support legally and morally" the war in Iraq, will refuse to deploy with his unit later this month.
1st Lt. Ehren Watada, a 2003 Hawaii Pacific University graduate, is one of 3,900 soldiers with the Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Lewis in Washington state.
A few thoughts regarding the misnamed "Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act" (misnamed because of the non sequitur of "reorganizing" an illegally occupied sovereign independent internationally recognized multi-racial neutral country into domestic dependent native nation wardship), which is about to bring the history of America's occupation of the Hawaiian kingdom into world attention on the Senate Floor:
In There'smoreland I take a look at this opinion piece:
