Clipmarks | kmcolo's politics collection

For Clinton, Uncertainties

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:15:02 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is bracing for one of the most difficult days of her presidential race on Wednesday, anticipating new pressure to quit the race and facing a set of financial and logistical decisions that will determine just how robust a campaign she can continue to wage

And that is only for starters

Mrs. Clinton is also bound to think over a question in her own head and to hear it from at least some supporters — should she continue running?

The advisers and allies to Mrs. Clinton said in interviews on Tuesday night that her victory in Indiana — even by less than 2 percentage points — made it less certain that she would withdraw from the race.

Yet these supporters said that North Carolina had come to be seen as a major test in the eyes of the Clintons and their aides, and the severity of her loss to Mr. Obama there was dispiriting.

Her campaign is deep in debt and believed to be near broke

Tags: politics, election08, clinton, obama, hillary

The Double Standard: Wright & Hagee

Sun, 04 May 2008 16:37:10 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo
clipper's remarks: nail - head - hit

Clip Source: www.pbs.org

Behold the double standard: John McCain sought out the endorsement of John Hagee, the war-mongering Catholic-bashing Texas preacher who said the people of New Orleans got what they deserved for their sins. But no one suggests McCain shares Hagee's delusions, or thinks AIDS is God's punishment for homosexuality. Pat Robertson called for the assassination of a foreign head of state and asked God to remove Supreme Court justices, yet he remains a force in the Republican religious right. After 9/11 Jerry Falwell said the attack was God's judgment on America for having been driven out of our schools and the public square, but when McCain goes after the endorsement of the preacher he once condemned as an agent of intolerance, the press gives him a pass.

Tags: politics, obama, mccain, media

France24: The Best Primaries Videos

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:56:30 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo
clipper's remarks: At least from the perspective of the French.

Clip Source: observers.france24.com

Can YouTube win you an election? Probably not. But it certainly plays a role in amplifying certain key moments of the campaign. A little phrase, a few tears, a bad joke. Many campaign anecdotes become huge YouTube hits. These clips are cut out of their original context, dissected, and then thrown into the grazing ground of millions of web-users. From a vast collection of videos spewed out during this year's campaign, here's our Observers' pick of the best, just in time to warm you up for ‘Super Tubes-day'.

[Video]

Tags: election, election08, video, france

Dobson: I Will Never Support McCain

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:23:44 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo
clipper's remarks: More of the Bush blow back. You guys got what you wanted in Bush now you are getting what was coming to you. In reply? We get "whine, whine, whine."

Clip Source: tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com

[Video]

With John McCain on the verge of winning the Republican nomination, the once-complacent anti-McCain forces on the right are getting louder than ever. This morning, James Dobson released a statement to Laura Ingraham's radio show, declaring that under no circumstances would he support McCain in the general election — a potential blow to the Arizona senator, since it could discourage turnout among some evangelical voters.

Tags: politics, election, election08, mccain

Yes We Can

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:31:42 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo

Clip Source: www.dipdive.com

Dip.finition

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: obama, election, election08

Michelle Obama: "I'd Have To Think About" Supporting Hillary

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:40:37 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo
clipper's remarks: More of the new politics of hope?

Clip Source: tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com

Michelle Obama went on Good Morning America today and sent decidedly mixed signals as to whether she'd back Hillary, should she become the nominee. Michelle did say that everyone would work hard for "whoever the nominee is." But when asked directly whether she'd back Hillary, she said: "I'd have to think about that."

[Video]

Michelle also said that Obama was the "only" candidate who could take the country in a new direction, suggesting that Hillary represents nothing but a continuation of the status quo. This is a pretty harsh assessment, both because Hillary would of course be our first female president, and because, as Paul Krugman says, Hillary and Obama "are far closer to each other on every issue than either is to any Republican." Take a look...

Tags: obama, hillary, clinton, election, election08

Polls: Super Tuesday

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:06:07 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo
clipper's remarks: McCain vs. ??? in November.

Clip Source: talkingpointsmemo.com

Today's Rasmussen national tracking poll is out.

Clinton 49%, Obama 38%. Two days ago it was 43% to 37%.

Gallup track swings in the other direction. A two point race. Clinton 46%, Obama 44%.

The Pew poll has it's pre-Super Tuesday poll out.

Clinton 46%, Obama 38%.

On the Republican side, it's all McCain: McCain 42%, Romney 22%, Huckabee 20%.

John Zogby has his first set of rolling numbers out of the Super Tuesday states he's tracking. And it's very good news for Barack Obama.

Tags: election, election08, obama, clinton, hillary, politics

With Us & Against Us

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 02:23:02 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo

Clip Source: action.credomobile.com

Tags: comic, humor, politics

Obama's Harry and Louise

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:44:43 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo
clipper's remarks: And destructive of health reform too. This is one out of the Republican books. Make your weakness your strength. But in doing so you denigrate the best policy. Is this the politics of hope?

Clip Source: www.prospect.org

The Obama campaign kept their hairstyles and barely even changed their clothing -- which is really quite unfair to Harry and Louise, who probably let go of the plaid years back. What's worse is that the argument they're making is applicable to any kind of universal health care arrangement, including the arrangements Obama himself will eventually have to adopt:

In the end, his plan is not universal, does not attempt to be, and is probably less generous in its affordability provisions than Clinton's. And even so, I wouldn't really care, as it's still a pretty good plan, except that he's decided to respond to the inadequacies of his own policy by fear-mongering against not only better policy, but the type of policy he's probably going to have to eventually adopt. It's very, very short-sighted.

Tags: obama, hillary, clinton, election, election08, politics

Why I might vote for Hillary

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:22:13 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo
clipper's remarks: This mailer from the Obama campaign really pissed me off. If there is one area where Obama is dead wrong it is in health care. And then he has the nerve to send out a negative ad like this? I am now firmly on the fence.

Clip Source: krugman.blogs.nytimes.com

Next time you hear someone telling you that the dispute over mandates is unimportant, remember this table.

Tags: obama, hillary, clinton, election, election08, politics

The Essence of Neoliberalism

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:06:52 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo

Clip Source: mondediplo.com

What is neoliberalism? A programme for destroying collective structures which may impede the pure market logic.

By Pierre Bourdieu

Tags: social capital, neoliberalism

The Edwards Effect

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:15:19 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

But Mr. Edwards, far more than is usual in modern politics, ran a campaign based on ideas. And even as his personal quest for the White House faltered, his ideas triumphed: both candidates left standing are, to a large extent, running on the platform Mr. Edwards built.

Yes, Mr. Obama is also running as a “change” candidate. But he isn’t offering the same kind of change: Mr. Edwards ran an unabashedly populist campaign, while Mr. Obama portrays himself as a candidate who can transcend partisanship — and given the economic elitism of the modern Republican Party, populism is unavoidably partisan.

It’s true that Mr. Obama has tried to work some populist themes into his campaign, but he apparently isn’t all that convincing: the working-class voters Mr. Edwards attracted have tended to favor Mrs. Clinton over Mr. Obama.

But if he gets the nod, watch how quickly conservative pundits who have praised him discover that he has deep character flaws.

Tags: edwards, clinton, obama, hillary, politics, election, election08

"The Jesus Machine", Dobson and power

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 14:12:27 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo

Clip Source: www.npr.org

Interviews

'The Jesus Machine' Tracks James Dobson's Rise

Listen Now add to playlist

Fresh Air from WHYY, March 5, 2007 · Journalist Dan Gilgoff is the author of the new book The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America Are Winning the Culture War.

Gilgoff — a senior writer at U.S. News & World Report — gained rare access for a reporter to the Focus on the Family organization. He writes about how Dobson's group became the most powerful group in the Christian Right.

Tags: interview, politics, podcast, religion, fresh air

Obama: Grassroots Empowerment Online

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:36:38 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo
clipper's remarks: Obama wins the Democratic web largely through the sense of "empowerment" to organize in his name. According to this analysis.

Clip Source: www.ndnblog.org

An interesting factoid was thrown into play today by Micah Sifry at TechPresident. He did a comparison of how the supporters of the three major Democratic presidential candidates are using online tools at the campaign websites to organize offline activities like throwing house parties, fundraisers and phone banking.

The short answer is that Obama is overwhelming Clinton and Edwards. The numbers are really striking.

Los Angeles: Obama 170, to Clinton 8, and Edwards 0.
San Francisco: Obama 189, to Clinton 9, and Edwards 29.
San Diego: Obama 55, to Clinton 6, and Edwards 30.

New York City: Obama 292, Clinton 13, Edwards 0.

Obama has clearly encouraged a bottom-up campaign that empowers his supporters to make things happen in his name.

We’ll see how this plays out by the primary day on Feb. 5th. My guess is that this is a ticking time bomb that is unnoticed

Tags: politics, obama, clinton, edwards, election, election08

Senator or President, not both(?)

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:57:12 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo
clipper's remarks: Interesting little factoid.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Of the 100 sitting senators, 16 have run for president. Since John F. Kennedy won the presidency in 1960, becoming only the second person elected from the Senate to the White House, 47 senators have unsuccessfully sought residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Tags: politics, election, election08