By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Chris Bowers joins the Obama supporter chorus - the nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee is a certainty. (I also believe this to be so, but I have a bit more humility than to assume my believing something makes it so.)

But like Meteor Blades and Markos before him, Bowers does not make the logical leap - that since Obama will be the nominee, he must and should start thinking about November and move to unify the Party and to secure his being viewed as the legitimate nominee by the near half of the Democratic Party that supports Hillary Clinton.

As I wrote yesterday, the most important thing Obama must do is accept a valid result, preferably through revotes, in Florida and Michigan. Until I read anything from these "not in doubt" Obama supporters, like Bowers, Kos and MB, urging Obama to act on Florida and Michigan, and to act to unify the Party, it seems to me they are acting as if the contest is actually in doubt.

On the Ellen DeGeneres show today, Hillary Clinton unveiled her $300 million breat cancer plan.

Hillary's plan would provide $300 million a year in increased funding for breast cancer research at the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.

In addition to funding research for new treatments, these investments will also go to investigate the cause of breast cancer, including the role that environmental pollutants may have, as well as, potential genetic and hereditary links. The plan would also improve access to screenings and treatment by making mammograms more affordable and providing funding for treatment for low-income women. Under Hillary's American Health Choices Plan, all women will have affordable, quality health insurance regardless of employment, marital status, or pre-existing conditions so they get the care and treatment they need.

Hillary's goal: To find a cure for breast cancer in our lifetimes.

Hillary has had a long record of being involved in the fight against breast cancer. [More...]

The Senate Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee are holding hearings on Iraq Tuesday. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain will all be in attendance.

All will be hoping to establish their bona fides through questioning of key witesses, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocke.

Someone suggested that Obama be moved up past his seniority level in the order of questioning. Joe Biden, Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, put the kabosh on that idea.

"The biggest mistake we could make is politicizing this, looking at this in terms of political advantage," he said. "The American people are sick of this."

McCain has the advantage, as ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee: (More...)

The first view of Barack Obama's handling of the Jeremiah Wright issue was rosy....he had survived.

Not so quick, reports the Wall. St. Journal:

It has not been defused," says David Parker, a North Carolina Democratic Party official and unpledged superdelegate. He says his worries about Republicans questioning Sen. Obama's patriotism prompted him to raise the issue of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.'s remarks in conversations with both the Obama and Clinton campaigns.

I'm concerned about seeing Willie Horton ads during the general election," Mr. Parker says, referring to campaign ads that Republicans widely credited for helping defeat Michael Dukakis in 1988. Mr. Parker said the Wright controversy didn't hurt his opinion of Mr. Obama.

More...

By Big Tent Democrat

mcjoan has a live blog going with NY Times reporter Eric Lichtblau who broke the warrantless surveillance story. He is discussing his new book on the subject:

As political bombshells go, the headline that popped up on New York Times Web site on December 15, 2005, "Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts," was a pretty big one, the biggest in the chronicling of the Bush administration's "war on terror." The story had been well over a year in the making, the process of it coming to light filled with nearly as much intrigue as the story itself.

More...

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

I was struck by this post, by the invaluable Meteor Blades. It is wonderfully written, as we expect from him. The tone was just right. But I was not struck by that - I expect that from him. Nor was I struck by the conclusions on the state of the race, they largely mirror my own (that Obama will be the Democratic nominee.) Instead, I was struck by the idea that it is incumbent on the loser in the Presidential nomination race to move to unify the Party and think about winning in November. My view is that it is the responsibility of the likely nominee to move towards unifying the Party. Since, like Meteor Blades, and one presumes, Barack Obama, I expect Obama to be the nominee - I believe it is incumbent upon Obama to move towards unifying the Party. More.

No human being is illegal. Kudos to San Francisco:

The city of San Francisco has started an advertising push with a very specific target market: illegal immigrants. And while the advertisements will come in a bundle of languages — English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese — they all carry the same message: you are safe here.

In what may be the first such campaign of its kind, the city plans to publish multilanguage brochures and fill the airwaves with advertisements relaying assurance that San Francisco will not report them to federal immigration authorities.

Mayor Gavin Newsom said the campaign was simply an amplification of a longstanding position of not cooperating with immigration raids or other enforcement. The city passed a so-called sanctuary ordinance in 1989.

The rationale behind it: (More...)

Oregon has a law allowing assisted suicides. Yesterday, the Register-Guard conducted an interview with Hillary and asked her views on the topic;

Q: What’s your attitude toward Oregon’s assisted suicide law?

A: I believe it’s within the province of the states to make that decision. I commend Oregon on this count, as well, because whether I agree with it or not or think it’s a good idea or not, the fact that Oregon is breaking new ground and providing valuable information as to what does and doesn’t work when it comes to end-of-life questions, I think, is very beneficial.

Q: Would you have voted for it if you were a resident of the state?

A: I don’t know the answer to that. I have a great deal of sympathy for people who are in difficult end-of-life situations. I’ve gone to friends who have been in great pain and suffering at the end of their lives. I’ve never been personally confronted with it but I know it’s a terribly difficult decision that should never be forced upon anyone. So with appropriate safeguards and informed decision-making, I think it’s an appropriate right to have.

In March, the Medford Mail-Tribune asked Obama his views: (More...)

By Big Tent Democrat

"I want to send a message to Florida."

- Donna Brazile, 8-25-08 DNC Meeting

Here is the video of the 8-25-07 DNC meeting where Florida was stripped of its delegates. I will watch it now and add my analysis to this post.

The DNC Staff recommended that the rule the Florida delegate selection plan to be not in compliance. The DNC Staff did NOT recommend a punishment.

Florida, through its Dem Party Chair Karen Thurman, then presented its case for why it was in compliance. More . . .

The weather's too nice in Denver to stay indoors. For those of you online, if you've got something to say, here's a place. As always, please keep it civil.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

I watched Howard Dean's appearance on CBS's Face The Nation. He did a fine job I thought. Then I saw his appearance on ABC's This Week. He blew it there.

First and foremost, Dean decided to comment on the importance of the popular votes. After saying "we must listen to the voters," Howard Dean then decided to mash up this point by dismissing the importance of the popular vote. Interestingly, I do not think Dean meant to do that. I think he meant to say this is a delegate race (and Dean NEVER treated the pledged delegate count as particularly meaningful). Dean wants the delegates to decide, as they will. But the Super Delegates can, should, and I believe, WILL look at the popular vote as an important, maybe even decisive, factor. I do not think Howard Dean has any objection to that. More . . .