Martin Luther King, III Praises Edwards For Leading The Fight For Economic Justice In America.
Following a meeting at the King Center in Atlanta on the afternoon of Saturday, January 19th, 2008, Martin Luther King, III sent John Edwards a letter praising Edwards' commitment to fighting poverty and speaking out for those without a voice. King, the first son of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the President and CEO of Realizing the Dream, said his father was a fighter and urged Edwards to continue the fight for justice and equality. He also urged the other candidates to follow Edwards' lead.
So, I urge you: keep going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice. My dad was a fighter.
As a friend and a believer in my father's words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father would be proud.
January 17, 2008 - Palm Springs Village Fest Voter Registration and Presidential Candidate Information Tabling at Palm Canyon & Arenas, Palm Springs, CA, Thursday nights from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. (Adult beverages enjoyed thereafter at the local pubs).
A cool desert night saw thousands of proud, progressive Democrats as well as supporters who were Independent-thinking. The trend in the Coachella Valley and in Palm Springs is crystal clear...red-to-purple-to-blue in 2008!
The Democratic clubs were represented as usual with the Desert Stonewall Democratic Club (DSD) staffing the tables thanks to George Zander, President of DSD, Bob Silverman, Treasurer of DSD, and Greg Cain-Rodriguez. Silverman reported that he has already voted in the California primary by sending in his Vote-By-Mail ballot. BluePalmSpringsBoyz and his partner plan to do the same in person at the Registrar's office in Moreno Valley this coming Friday. Re full disclosure, bluebeaumontboyz iz a proud member of DSD.
The National and local news media usually only focus on who 'wins' the caucus or primary race. They provide little information on election night regarding the important race, that for delegates.
This is interesting stuff from CNN.com, see http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/20... for the Republican totals and http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/20... for the Democratic totals (kudos to grodriguez for providing the link in his blog).
The magic number of delegates for the Democratic nominee is 2,025. Thus far, 386 Democratic delegates have been chosen, including those from today's Nevada Democratic caucuses as well as the so-called Super Delegates (e.g., governors, U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives). This means that only 9.53% of the Democratic delegates are committed to date. Hillary Clinton leads the field far and away (I have deleted the Democratic candidates who have thus far dropped out of the race). The results are as follows:
In 1983, 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the U.S.
...
in 2000, the number had fallen to six. Since then, there have been more mergers and the scope has expanded to include new media like the Internet market. More than 1 in 4 Internet users in the U.S. now log in with AOL Time-Warner, the world's largest media corporation.
In 2004, Bagdikian's revised and expanded book, The New Media Monopoly, shows that only 5 huge corporations -- Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch's News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom (formerly CBS) -- now control most of the media industry in the U.S. General Electric's NBC is a close sixth.
On a union rooftop in downtown LA, I stood and waited for John Edwards. I took day off from work to drive from Irvine to LA. The traffic was bearable and I managed some parking as well. I ran into other local Edwards supporters from Orange County who were volunteering through the Progressive Democrats of America. It was nice to see some friendly faces and I was eager to hear John Speak, as was the rest of the crowd. They broke into changing "John Edwards" and their enthusiasm gave me the chills.
It seemed like people were paying attention, that they knew we had to give him a chance to speak and I really hope more than the people on the rooftop will have a chance to hear what he said, it's for all of us.
Go here, to Brad Blog for the entire speech, it is well worth the listen and it was amazing.
(more pics, courtesy of the Edwards campaign, at this photo set.)
John Edwards has generated a bit of notoriety today for smacking down Barack Obama's suggestion that Ronald Reagan can be credibly seen as a model of change. Edwards didn't mention any of this today at a rally before hundreds (I'm really no good at judging crowd size, but there were a lot of people there) in downtown Los Angeles at the SEIU Local 721 headquarters, but he did have some choice words for another actor-turned-politician.
Last year at this time, CNN ran a piece about the Courage Campaign's petition drive to move the California presidential primary forward from June to February 5th. Many doubted that our premise would be born out, namely that by having California competitive in the presidential primary, we might actually have a say in policy formulation and make long term political alliances that would benefit the state, not just export money to finance campaigns in other states.
Put simply, we were right. After the tumult of Iowa and New Hampshire and Michigan, followed Saturday by a first-ever caucus in Nevada and then an election in South Carolina, California has become a key "battleground" state for all of the leading candidates. While no one, least of all the pollsters, has a clue what will happen, the people of California have already won.
I remember four years ago, when as the Chair of the Dean Campaign in California, we could but sit and watch as Iowa and New Hampshire and then Arizona and New Mexico, decided that John Kerry would be the nominee. Not this year.
We've got ourselves a heck of a horserace shaping up as the PickYourPresident poll continues. In just 24 hours we've seen a lot of movement in the standings, with John Edwards cutting Obama's California lead in half. Elsewhere, Clinton bumped Edwards for 2nd in Ohio and the two are separated by a whisker in Michigan- further evidence of a Clinton surge over the weekend.
I've got big plans to head for Reno at the end of the week (Friday, also when the poll ends), and I've got no idea what to expect from the Nevada caucus. Given that Nevada has never seen a caucus like this, it's impossible to predict with certainty what will happen there. But given how unpredictable the nomination process has already been on both sides, I can't imagine it'll be definitive. I'm waiting right now for Michigan results to be finalized, but that won't matter much on the Democratic side. Momentum is a fickle beast, but Super Tuesday is the one time it could actually matter. Polling throughout Feb 5 states have shown that races are tightening all over. Who knows what could happen at this point, but if you have a candidate that you support, the more public your support, the better.
Edit: Also, of course, go to PickYourPresident.org before the voting closes on Friday to cast your vote.
National Rankings:
1. Sen. Barack Obama
2. Sen. John Edwards
3. Sen. Hillary Clinton
4. Rep. Dennis Kucinich
5. Gov. Bill Richardson *
6. Sen. Mike Gravel
And the California Rankings:
1. Sen. Barack Obama
2. Sen. John Edwards
3. Rep. Dennis Kucinich
4. Sen. Hillary Clinton
5. Gov. Bill Richardson *
6. Sen. Mike Gravel
*Richardson received votes before withdrawing from the race.
Finally, the primary comes to Davis. Former President Bill Clinton will be speaking tonight at the ARC Pavilion (that's the Rec Hall to you old timers) at 9pm, in his second trip to UCD campus. The speech will be free and open to the public, doors will open at 8:15pm, with an opening performance from the Cal Aggie Marching Band-Uh (have they endorsed Hillary?).
Finally, the primary comes to Davis. Former President Bill Clinton will be speaking tonight at the ARC Pavilion (that's the Rec Hall to you old timers) at 9pm, in his second trip to UCD campus. The speech will be free and open to the public, doors will open at 8:15pm, with an opening performance from the Cal Aggie Marching Band-Uh (have they endorsed Hillary?).
This is going to be a very short diary, because I just want to give Edwards supporters some excellent news.
The race for the Nevada caucus is in a statistical dead heat, according to a new poll.
A new poll by the Reno Gazette-Journal shows a neck-and-neck three-way race among Democrats for Saturday's caucus. On the Republican side, U.S. Sen. John McCain has taken his first lead in Nevada of the election season, and Mitt Romney, who has been working Nevada harder than any other Republican, is trailing in fourth place.
A look at the top line results (more will be posted later this morning):
January 10, 2008 - Palm Springs Village Fest Voter Registration and Presidential Candidate Information Tabling at Palm Canyon & Arenas, Palm Springs, CA, Thursday nights from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. (Adult beverages enjoyed thereafter at the local pubs).
A cool desert night saw multitudes of proud, progressive, Democrats and throngs of supportive locals, visitors, and prospective voters. The trend is clear...red-to-purple-to-blue.
The Democratic clubs were represented as usual with Desert Stonewall Democratic Club (DSD) staffing the tables thanks to George Zander, President of DSD, and Bob Silverman, Treasurer of DSD. Remember, the montly meeting of the DSD Democratic Club occurs on Saturday, January 12, 2008, beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the Desert Pride Center, 611 S. Palm Canyon, Palm Springs. Re full disclosure, BluePalmSpringsBoyz iz a member of DSD. Eleanor Jackson staffed the Democrats of the Desert Democratic Club table.
Thanks for tuning in once again, hopeful Americans
And welcome to what John Edwards has called "the Fight for America's Middle Class". This is a fight to reclaim a Voice in our Democratic process -- to speak up for those people, who need a Champion, like you and me.
1st a Question: Who is the Middle Class?
America is sometimes called a "middle-class country," but nobody - not economists, sociologists, or the U.S. Census Bureau - seems to have a clear definition of who the middle class actually is. The notion of where a dividing line between "middle class" and "working class" might be is an elusive one ...
a non-partisan and non-profit organization, reports that the middle class has conventionally come to mean families with incomes between $25,000 and $100,000 each year.
...
As NOW reported in "Middle Class Squeeze" (Dec 13, 2002), the shape of income distribution in America is changing and many are finding it increasingly difficult to afford housing while keeping up with necessities such as food, clothing, transportation, and health care.
With the nation's economy increasingly becoming a volatile issue in the presidential campaign, the president of the United States Chamber of Commerce is about to issue one very tough promise to spend millions of dollars against candidates deemed to be anti-business. (Are you listening John Edwards?)
It seems if you dare to tell the Truth about the wholesale "sell off" of hopes and aspirations the American Middle Class -- well the "powers that be" just might get a little UPSET with you ...
But will that shut Edwards up about it? ... I hope not!
Sunlight afterall, is the best disinfectant! (not capitulation and compromise)
(full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)
Look out! Hillary Clinton just passed Dennis Kucinich and is now in 3rd place both in California and nationally in the Pick Your President Poll. Barack Obama is still leading John Edwards. I know for sure that the Obama supporters and network are encouraging their people to vote in the poll. What about John Edwards? He was doing quite well before Obama supporters started working on GOTV. Who knows maybe Clinton will catch up?
I can't share with you the actual vote margins, but suffice to say they do not match up with your average daily kos poll. There is plenty of time for anybody to claim first place. The poll will run until the 18th. You can follow the results on this page. The numbers are current as of 2 PM PST. We will be updating over the weekend.
Here are the current California standings, which are now identical to the national rankings:
1. Sen. Barack Obama
2. Sen. John Edwards
3. Sen. Hillary Clinton
4. Rep. Dennis Kucinich
5. Gov. Bill Richardson *
6. Sen. Mike Gravel
(Richardson is starred because he dropped out, but people voted for him prior to that, so he retains his rankings.)
Here are the Republican rankings. The vote totals are many magnitudes less on the Republican side than the Democratic side. RONPAUL (yes all one word) is leading, not a surprise given his online organizing strength. Being from California really isn't helping Duncan Hunter.
1. Rep. Ron Paul
2. Sen. John McCain
3. Gov. Mike Huckabee
4. Gov. Mitt Romney
5. Mayor Rudy Giuliani
6. Sen. Fred Thompson
7. Rep. Duncan Hunter
As an aside, it has been a real pleasure to work side by side with other state based progressive groups on this poll. People I met in Chicago at Yearly Kos are now partners on this poll. It's been a lot of fun and we are happy to see people having fun and firing up their networks.
(full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)
The Courage Campaign in coalition with five other progressive state groups have launched PickYourPresident.org, as the name suggests it is an open primary poll. Yes, you can vote for both Democrats and Republicans, though the response rate as one would imagine is exponentially higher for the Democrats.
Edwards had been leading in almost all of the states, but in the most recent update that flipped nationally and most of the other states. His lead has narrowed here in California, so supporters of either, it's time to get to voting.
Obama's supporters have turned the tide in California. He is now leading in CA and nationally. Will the Edwards supporters rally back? Or will the Obama folks keep up their momentum and put it out of reach?
Here is the current order:
1. Sen. Barack Obama
2. Sen. John Edwards
3. Rep. Dennis Kucinich
4. Sen. Hillary Clinton
5. Gov. Bill Richardson
6. Sen. Mike Gravel
Only one vote per person please, though do pass it on to your friends and family members. This is a great opportunity to do some person-to-person outreach on behalf of your favorite candidate. It's a good icebreaker to start the conversation.
And here is the national order:
1. Sen. Barack Obama
2. Sen. John Edwards
3. Rep. Dennis Kucinich
4. Sen. Hillary Clinton
5. Gov. Bill Richardson
6. Sen. Mike Gravel
Have some fun with the poll, but start some serious conversations with it.
While everyone's still in shock about N.H., I wrote this for today's Beyond Chron.
The polls in the final days showing Barack Obama with a double-digit lead in New Hampshire were not wrong, and I was not unreasonable - though a bit cocky - to gloat that the Clintons were history. Instead, what happened was 17% of New Hampshire voters made up their minds on Election Day. And Hillary Clinton's huge gender gap suggests that last-minute media attacks on her "crying" swayed women to her side. Just like Iowa, New Hampshire voters said that change was more important than experience - which continues to be her Achilles heel as the race moves to Nevada and South Carolina. Last week, the New York Senator was in danger of losing because voters saw her as "Clinton" - the establishment candidate who will carry on a political dynasty when voters want something new. But on Election Day, enough came to view her as "Hillary" who would create change by becoming the first woman President. This explains the unexpected result, and the tide of public opinion can still shift back.
One Obama fundraiser used the word "tsunami" to describe the flow of money coming from donors seeking to find a place inside a campaign that has substantial new momentum. In addition to filling banquet halls for events in Boston and New York tomorrow, the campaign added an event in Los Angeles for Jan. 16.
"Of course, everybody's calling and checking in," said Suzy Tompkins Buell, one of Clinton's top California fundraisers. "I'm just saying to them, 'You've got to understand, the process has just begun. Those voters [in Iowa and New Hampshire] represent a very small percentage of this country. You've got to take all that into consideration.' "
My absentee didn't hit today (probably tomorrow). What do you think will be the headline in my local paper tomorrow?
UPDATE: Talked with Mark Buell tonight and next to Hillary, he seemed like the happiest guy on earth who is not named 'Bill' and married to a candidate. What a fabulous race and a great time to be a political junkie. The last paragraph here pretty much sums up my stance and goes far beyond T-Mac. Yet despite me rooting against Hillary, I have a hard time feeling anything but optimistic about the growing progressive movement.
One final thought after re-watching the speeches. Damn, if we don't have a great pool of public speakers. Tonight, Hillary was better than her husband on most nights, Obama lacked some of the confidence of late, but still rocked and John Edwards gave a better speech tonight than any speech I saw from a Democratic hopeful in 2000.
I asked earlier about the headline tomorrow. I'm thinking: Clinton Comeback.
