Breaking: Vilsack to Become First Candidate to Drop Out

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17297085/

Vilsack really never had a chance, and he had a conflict of who he was. He spent 5 years as the head of the Democratic Leadership Council that attacked anti-war Democrats and took a more conservative approach to somethings. He was recently forced out of that position when the org decided to throw themselves behind the Clinton campaign. Vilsack then tried to become an anti-war candidate calling for immeadiate withdrawl. He was just too plain to draw any traction in the crowded field...but he will make an excellent cabinet member in the next administration.

Update: I must say it is a crazy testament to the fast moving timeline that someone has announced, fundraised, and dropped out due to the fact that he is not gaining traction. Vilsack is smart though, he does not want to be embarassed by not finishing well in Iowa.

Clinton's Imperial Presidency?

NO ONE DARE CRITICIZE HILLARY CLINTON!

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
February 21, 2007 -- There’s a new mortal sin in American politics: criticizing Hillary Clinton.Nobody’s allowed to do it.Certainly none of her opponents. If they dare to, Hillary sends in one of her boys, who practically accuses them of being un-American. In January, without ever mentioning Hillary’s name and before she was even a candidate, John Edwards dared to express the view that silence on the Iraq War was “betrayal.” Ignoring the substance of Edwards’ speech, Clinton gun slinger Howard Wolfson immediately shot from the hip, attacking him for waging a negative campaign:“In 2004, John Edwards used to constantly brag about running a positive campaign. Today, hehas unfortunately chosen to operate his campaignwith political attacks on Democrats who are fightingthe Bush administration’s Iraq policy.”

If you like the idea of censorship of critical political speech, you’ll love Hillary Clinton as President. To Hilary, open political discourse apparently means that her opponents and their surrogates are free to compliment her. If they do otherwise, it’s off with their heads.Not even supporters of Hillary’s opponents are allowed to disparage her. If they do, the wrath of Hillary surfaces and it is not a pretty sight.

The latest sinner is Hollywood superstar David Geffen. Geffen used to be an avid supporter of the Clintons – he raised over $18 million for them in the past. But no more. Now the Dreamworld founder is backing Obama – and he’s not afraid to say so.That’s why Hillary wants him banished to political Siberia.Geffen gave an interview to New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. Here’s a few tidbits from him that apparently rankled Hillary:“… I don’t think that another incredibly polarizing figure, no matter how smart she is and no matter how ambitious she is — and God knows, is there anybody more ambitious than Hillary Clinton? — can bring the country together.”“Obama is inspirational, and he’s not from the Bush royal family or the Clinton royal family. ““It’s not a very big thing to say, ‘I made a mistake’ on the war, and typical of Hillary Clinton that she can’t,”Geffen also call Bill Clinton “a reckless guy” who “gave his enemies a lot of ammunition to hurt him and to distract the country.”Hillary was outraged at what she called these ‘vicious’ and ‘personal’ attacks against her and her husband by Geffen.

Vicious? Those comments were vicious?Yes, to Hillary, they were. So, the Clinton camp wasted no time in trotting out Howard Wolfson to once again defend the honor of the heiress apparent and call for Geffen’s head. This time even an apology wouldn’t be enough: Hillary demanded that Obama dump Geffen and return the $1.3 million that he raised for Obama because of Geffen’s negative comments about the frontrunner and her husband. That would make things a lot easier for Hillary, wouldn’t it? In the world according to Hillary, there’s no place in politics for anyone who doesn’t love her and Bill.

Unfortunately for Hillary, Obama doesn’t seem to be shaking in his boots. In response to Hillary’s tirade, his campaign pointed out her hypocrisy and ignored her ridiculous demands. Obama’s spokesman pointedly refused to get in the middle of a Clinton- Geffen war.“It is ironic that the Clintons had no problem with David Geffen when he was raising the $18 million and sleeping at their invitation in the Lincoln bedroom.…It is also ironic that Senator Clinton lavished praise on Monday and is fully willing to accept today the support of South Carolina Senator Robert Ford who said if Barack Obama were to win the nomination, he would drag down the rest of the Democratic Party because he’s black.”(Remember Ford: he’s the guy that signed a $200,000 contract with the Clinton campaign right before he endorsed Hillary)

Hillary has never been tolerant of open political debate if that means people can legitimately criticize or publicly disagree with her. Now she’s become even more dogmatic, arrogantly believing that her frontrunner status is tantamount to a coronation. She seems to believe that it is an act of war for a fellow democrat to even challenge her for the nomination. If they disagree with her, they need to be punished and sent to their room.Watch for more of this imperial behavior. It’s her trademark and it will be the signature of a Hillary Clinton presidency. She learned a thing or two from Richard Nixon.

Tom Daschle Endorses Obama

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama won the endorsement Wednesday of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who said the White House hopeful "personifies the future of Democratic leadership in our country." Daschle said Obama has a"great capacity to unify our country and inspire a new generation of young Americans, just as I was inspired by the Kennedys and Martin Luther King when I was young."
Obama began his term in the Senate after Daschle lost his seat in 2004. But the South Dakotan served in the Senate with several of the other Democratic presidential hopefuls, including Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Joe Biden of Delaware, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and John Edwards, a former lawmaker.
Daschle said the party was "very fortunate to have an extraordinary field of candidates."

Round One of Campaign Nasty

I really wish this campaign would be able to avoid the Dems ripping each other to shreds, but as Howard Fineman points out in his article, Hillary must show that she has the ability to counterattack effectively to show she can hold her own against the Republicans.

However, this issue did not come from Obama, it came from someone not even that closely related to his campaign. If Hillary were to get worked up over every donor that did not like her...well, she would have a lot of press releases.

I will just call this round one of the Obama-Clinton battle. Hopefully Barack can rise above the fray, because we know Clinton will fit and scratch as hard as she needs to. Meanwhile the lower tier candidates quietly collect cash and support, waiting to spring into the upper level.

Update: You can find a quick brief summary of the Nevada candidate forum here. More analysis to come later.

First Big Candidate Forum

Today is the day:

A Democratic Presidential Forum focusing on issues that affect working families will take place in Carson City, Nevada, on Wednesday, February 21, 2007. The event is sponsored by AFSCME and will be moderated by ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
More than 500 AFSCME members and retirees will attend this first-of-its-kind event. Confirmed candidates include Senator Joe Biden, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Chris Dodd, former Senator John Edwards, former Senator Mike Gravel, Representative Dennis Kucinich, Governor Bill Richardson and former Governor Tom Vilsack.
The forum will take place on Wednesday, February 21st at 12:00 noon Pacific (3:00pm Eastern, 2:00pm Central, 1:00pm Mountain). AFSCME members and retirees from Nevada will ask the candidates where they stand on today's pressing issues:
Will they pledge to support a vibrant public sector workforce?
What will they do to protect Social Security and ensure that every American retires in dignity?
How will they make college more affordable for poor and middle class families?

Where, you might ask, is Barack Obama? Obama will be campaigning in Iowa today, skipping out on this event. My guess is that he wants to take his time before he puts himself on stage to get shredded by his opponents, so he has little to gain by appearing with them this early in the game. To me it seems like a good move.

If Obama were to attend, Hillary Clinton would be guns blazing on him since he is her chief rival at this time. She may still blast away at him, but the effect will be different because....
All of the other candidates will be gunning at Hillary, who is clearly the front runner. John Edwards has already been unleashing a hard line against Hillary, and now he stands to be the direct line of assault to her without Obama there. If the candidates get into a nasty place, Obama can rise above it by simply not being there. He is still riding his media buzz and does not get hurt by not attending.

I look for Edwards and Richardson to assert themselves in this forum and hopefully make some headway. Full coverage after the event tomorrow or later today.

Brazile Piece on Southern White Endorsements

Donna Brazile has a great piece in the Washington Times about the importance of Tim Kaine endorsing Barack Obama. In short, it is symbolic for a white Southern Governor to endorse a Black Northern Senator. The article makes some great points, so check it out. An excerpt:

Mr. Kaine's endorsement could help Mr. Obama immensely in the South by helping him raise money, select delegates and organize volunteers to help compete in neighboring states. Can you imagine if other Southern governors like Phil Breseden of Tennessee or Michael Easley of North Carolina or Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana (my home state) would wave the Obama banner and stand next to him as he competes for the support of their constituents? Richard Nixon's famous "Southern strategy" would become history, and America would finally turn the page on what Obama calls the "politics of yesterday."

Gore Makes Pretty Strong Statement That He Is Out

"I have no intention to run for president," Gore said in an interview conducted in Los Angeles and broadcast Thursday by the BBC."I can't imagine in any circumstance to run for office again," said the former Democratic vice president under then president Bill Clinton.

Another Big Obama Endorsement...This Time in Virginia

This is a great endorsement for Obama in a state that is really trending purple in the last few elections. They recently elected a 2nd consecutive Democratic Governor and Jim Webb as a new Senator.

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will endorse Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, perhaps as early as the weekend,
two officials said Wednesday.Kaine, a Democrat who took office last year, has decided to endorse the Illinois senator in his bid for the party nomination, according to two officials with political ties to the governor.They spoke on the condition they not be identified because the decision had not been made public.Obama will headline the Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Day fundraising gala in Richmond on Saturday night, an event Kaine will attend along with Democratic Sen. Jim Webb and former Gov. Mark R. Warner.Kaine has a strong political relationship with Obama, who traveled to Virginia the past two years to campaign for Kaine's gubernatorial campaign in 2005 and for Webb last fall."He has been real helpful, yeah," Kaine said at a news conference Wednesday. He would not directly confirm the report, but said there would be weekend developments."I'm still pondering (it) in deep detail and am likely to make an announcement sometime soon," Kaine said with a grin. "I think it's going to be a great day Saturday is what I think."

Warner was my choice for president until he backed out, I would love to see him as a VP candidate on any Democratic ticket. Maybe it will be a great Saturday with Kaine, Webb, and Warner endorsing Obama. Obama gained a lot of loyalty and friends by using his celebrity to campaign for Democratic candidates during 2006...expect that to help him land even more endorsements in the months ahead. Stay tuned.

Clinton Gets Endorsement from Two Black S.C. State Senators

The endorsements are not really all that noteworthy, except for the quotation from one of the men talking about what would happen if Obama was the nominee:

“Then everybody else on the ballot is doomed,” Ford said. “Every Democratic candidate running on that ticket would lose because he’s black and he’s at the top of the ticket — we’d lose the House, the Senate and the governors and everything.”

It makes me sad to hear this, but I also can't presume to know the challenges of running for office in the South as a black man or woman. If what Ford says is true, then it is a huge challenge for Obama to overcome. It feels partly like fear mongering, but everyone will always wonder whether a black politician can pull the support they need in the South. My hope is a candidate would be able to pull the support, otherwise it would just make Southern voters look out of touch with reality.

AFL-CIO Endorsement to come in March

As the primary calendars get moved up, apparently so do the endorsements in the never ending race to have your voice or your organization matter in the political process. Something seems broken with the current system...

According to AFL-CIO spokesperson Steve Smith, they are "working out details right now" for their WH '08 endorsement and are likely to announce their decision in early March, following their first Executive Council Meeting since the Nov. '06 elections in Las Vegas, NV, March 6th - 8th.Each of the 54 national and international labor unions within the AFL-CIO has their own respective endorsement processes and must be considered in forming the general AFL-CIO endorsement. The AFL-CIO endorsed Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) in Feb. '04, but Smith noted they "do not usually" make their endorsement decision as early as they plan to this cycle.

The AFL-CIO was the group of Unions that had much strife in 2004. A group of unions broke away and endorsed Howard Dean earlier in the primary season. Of course neither candidate won, thus furthering the weakened position of organized labor. The same unions that endorsed Howard Dean formed a new consensus called Change To Win. They are a more progressive group and I could see them going for Obama possibly, as he had wide support from them in his Illinois campaigns. As for the AFL-CIO, it has to be either Edwards (who has been very invested in courting labor the past four years) or Clinton (for ties to Bill). Of course, they could always come out and say "no endorsement", but then why would they have all this press about the decision? The choice to endorse continues to hurt the lesser known candidates who have very little time to establish themselves to stay viable in the mix of the big 3. Stay tuned!

Update: Hotline got it wrong. The AFL-CIO will announce its endorsement process in the coming weeks, NOT its endorsement. (Thanks to poster in comments for pointing this out).

Latest Rasmussen Poll

Rasmussen's latest national primary poll, 2/5-2/8, 435 LVs, previous numbers in parenthesis:

Clinton: 28 (34)
Obama: 23 (18)
Edwards: 13 (10)
Gore: 8 (10)

Keep in mind that Obama made up this ground without the huge media buzz surrounding his announcement.

This is a national poll, which matters little except to show where people's heads are at.

Obama Scores Two Big Iowa Endorsements

Typically you won't see big endorsements like this in Iowa so early, but Obama must have been doing some big time work in Iowa the last few weeks to score these two big endorsements so early.

AMES, IA - U.S. Senator Barack Obama's campaign today announced that Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and Iowa State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald have endorsed Barack Obama for President.
"Between the two of us, we have served the great state of Iowa for nearly 50 years, and we share a deep respect for this state and for the Iowa caucus process," Miller and Fitzgerald said in a joint statement. "Endorsing a candidate this early is no ordinary occurrence in the Iowa caucuses - but Barack Obama is no ordinary candidate. He spoke out in opposition to the war in Iraq before it started, and today he has an aggressive plan to redeploy our troops out of Iraq by the end of March of 2008. We believe that Senator Obama has the vision to meet the challenges America faces, and that his message of hope and unity will lead us to a new kind of politics where we are not defined by our divisions but united by our love of country."
Attorney General Miller and Treasurer Fitzgerald will join Obama Sunday at a campaign rally in Ames. On Saturday, Obama attended packed events in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo."I am honored and humbled that two public servants with such distinguished records of service have offered their support, their counsel, and their endorsements to my campaign," Obama said. "I look forward to working with them, hearing their ideas, and listening to the hopes and concerns of thousands of Iowans as we work together to change our politics and our country."

Why is this so important? Iowa Governor Chet Culver has already announced that he will not endorse a candidate, following the lead of former Gov. Tom Vilsack in 2004 (although Vilsack's wife campaigned hard for John Kerry....). So these endorsements represent the highest levels of state government and will open up the doors to a lot of connections and money in the state. It is also a major coup for Obama to score these endorsements over not only Hillary Clinton, but over Tom Vilsack who had been the Governor in Iowa for 8 years. With Culver sitting out, the only other high profile endorsement to score in Iowa will be that of Sen. Tom Harkin...who will be very cautious in who he endorses after endorsing Howard Dean in 2004 over Senate friend John Kerry. He paid the price later on for slighting Kerry, but Harkin may also be considering retiring and may not give a flip. Otherwise Iowa has three Congressional House members, two of them freshman. Stay tuned.

Obamarama!

While I fully inteded for this website to become a sounding board for candidates until I ultimately chose the candidate I would support, I have found that I am in a heavy fever for Barack Obama right now. I would still love to see Al Gore enter the race and I am still giving Edwards and Richardson a chance, but I am going to start doing some preliminary organizing for Barack Obama. My mind may change by summer, but I feel the need to launch in to help Obama organize and fundraise.

I will still be providing analysis of what is going on and be impartial to all candidates as I continue to work, just look at this as the next step in my 2008 journey!

Barack Barnstorms Iowa

Thanks to Nick Schrunk for some great pictures of Barack in Waterloo, IA yesterday after his announcement of candidacy. Nick is a great photographer and you can check out more of his work at his website, www.NickSchrunk.com

"I want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union, and building a better America."

Nick and Barack.

Former Gore Staffers Mounting Draft Al Gore Campaign

It seems that a group of former Gore backers is meeting to strategize ways to encourage him to enter the race:

Veterans of Al Gore's past are quietly assembling a campaign to draft the former
vice president into the 2008 presidential race _ despite his repeated statements that he's not running. His top policy adviser from his 2000 presidential campaign and other key supporters met Thursday in Boston to mull a potential Gore campaign. The participants and Gore's Nashville office both said Gore, who is in London, is not involved.

One of the involved persons, Dylan Malone mounted a draft Gore campaign in 2002 and was asked to stop by Gore himself. The difference now:

In 2002, Gore asked Malone to stop a draft effort he had begun; Malone did.
Malone started up again and, so far, Gore hasn't waved him off.

Many interested folks would like to see Gore get into the race. He currently sits 4th in New Hampshire polls at 8 percent. His star will only get brighter as he is focused on at the Academy Awards and Nobel Prize ceremonies. He would be able to raise money quickly and shake things up. Will he run? Stay tuned...

Big Weekend for Obama. Hillary Like Bush, and Why the Dems Have All the Momentum.

Two great pieces on MSNBC this morning highlight a couple of things going on.

The first piece is an article about how Hillary is echoing the campaign of George Bush with her massive roll out, huge media response team, and lofty fundraising goals ($75 million by the end of the year, which she will likely surpass). The article also talks about her message she is leading with...that her candidacy is inevitable. To be sure, her roll out over the past three weeks has been masterful and orchestrated just like you would expect from the Clinton machine. She has taken all of the steam out of any other campaign and is reshaped herself as a softer version...I don't buy it for a second, but voters may like seeing her softer side, in part because there is no expectation for her to be warm and compassionate, so when she does come off that way it makes big headlines. I also dispise her methodology in making people think that her candidacy is inevitable...voters have a funny way of reacting to this and I hope that the Democratic primary voters will remind her that nothing is inevitable until we vote and say it is. She is clearly gaining traction in national and state polls, but it is still too early...at this point in his first election, Bill Clinton was polling in 11th place...so the race still has a long way to go.

Which brings me to Obama who will roll out his campaign starting tomorrow. MSNBC First Read has a nice article on why he is choosing the Old State Capitol in Springfield, IL as his location. It is the same location where Abraham Lincoln gave his famous speech about "A Nation Divided"...of course that was for the Illinois Senate race, which Lincoln lost...maybe not a great omen! For me as a voter, I need to see some substance and clear goals from Obama to help offset my worries about his inexperience. From reading his book it is clear to me that he has some bold visions and ideas, he just needs to articulate them now and start stealing some of the thunder from Hillary. I suspect that there is a large block of folks just waiting to jump on the Obamarama train, but he has to give them a reason to jump on board. Obama already has a huge following on Facebook, which is popular with college students, and the group there organized a rally at George Mason University last week with no help from the campaign that drew 3,500 students. He has the rock star appeal, now he needs the killer message.

The same First Read article highlights an interesting point about the two parties and their nomination processes so far. I quote directly below:

This weekend brings an exceptional series of events in the presidential race, with Barack Obama giving his announcement speech and Hillary Clinton making her first foray to New Hampshire as a candidate. But the crowds and attention certain to be drawn by these two reinforces that all the energy at this early stage of the race is with the Democrats, and that the Republican field is failing to enthuse the party base, inspire the press, or -- with the exception of Rudy Giuliani -- capture the public's imagination.

Conservatives lack a favorite among the party's top tier of candidates. The media's love affair with John McCain's underdog, shoestring effort of 2000 dissipated as the 2008 version grew into McCain, Inc. The press corps is also skeptical of Giuliani's ability to go the distance and win the nomination. Former Gov. Mitt Romney is too little known. And overall, the party is still contending with the cold front of public opinion that froze them out of the majority last November and continues today because of President Bush's unpopular policies on Iraq. All three of the top candidates support a US troop increase.

Now this is the kind of message of inevitability that I like to see! It is clear that the Democratic side is carrying a ton of positive momentum right now. If our candidates keep it clean, stay on message, and continue to showcase how many stars we have I think it will be hard for the Republican candidate to grab much traction. Our top candidates have broad appeal to moderate as well as liberal voters and the Republican side is really lacking candidates with the same kind of charisma or excitement. I could be proven wrong in the long haul, but right now I like our chances very much with any of our top 3-5 candidates.

I will wrap up this lenghty post with my newest round of where I see the candidate...in an abreviated format!

1. Hillary Clinton: See has all the momentum now and is coming off very confident...she still is an outlier in regards to her stance on Iraq and this could hurt her when the debates start.

2. Barack Obama: Still has the hope of the people, needs substance and to get a better functional website!

3. John Edwards: He is hammering away at Hillary and the Senate Dems without mentioning them by name, however people don't seem to be latching onto his message like they did in 2004.

4. Bill Richardson: Many say he was the big winner coming out of the DNC winter meetings. He is gaining traction with his focus and experience on foreign issues...does he have the ability to climb into the top tier?

5. Chris Dodd: His roll out has surprised me...he is doing some good talking about the war in Iraq and has impressed me with some of his other policy stances.

6. Joe Biden: I rank him here because of his name recognition factor...but he is done. His mouth gets him into trouble and his comments about Obama relegated him into a very very long shot.

7. Tom Vilsack: He is talking, but is anyone really listening?

8. Wesley Clark: How much longer can he afford to wait if he really wants a shot at this?

9. Dennis Kucinich: Reintroducing legislation for a Department of Peace.

10. Michael Gravel: Speech at DNC widely panned, I won't be surprised if he doesn't get invited to debates.

My top favorites have not really changed...I am starting to think my dream ticket would be Al Gore and Barack Obama, but I would equally be pleased with a Obama and Mark Warner ticket. A Hillary Clinton and Evan Bayh ticket just makes me want to sit on my couch.

Obama's Saturday and Sunday Announcement Blitz

If you had any questions on whether or not Obama was going to back out or announce on Saturday, they are answered with a multi-city barnstorming tour after the Springfield, IL kick off.

Visits to Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Ames, and Chicago mean you could go to see him.

Check this link for more details:
http://www.barackobama.com/news/announcement_tour/

Obama Becomes First Candidate to Clearly Call For Timeline of Iraqi Withdrawl

Obama really does have the upper hand regarding Iraq as he can back up that he was against the invasion from the beginning, never voted for it, and is fighting to bring troops home. Not even Edwards has proposed a timeline. To be fair, Vilsack has asked for troops to come home immeadiately, but with no real plan. Obama now has introduced the plan.

(Washington, D.C.) - Today, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA) called for a stop to President Bush's escalation in Iraq and for an end to the war. At a press conference in the U.S. Capitol, Senator Obama and Reps. Thompson and Murphy discussed the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007 - legislation they introduced in the Senate and the House which puts forward a plan to stop the recent escalation in forces and a plan to redeploy American troops from Iraq starting May 1, 2007. Senator Obama introduced the bill in the Senate and Reps. Thompson and Murphy introduced the companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
Congressman Thompson is a Vietnam Veteran and a former U.S. Army staff sergeant/platoon leader with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and Congressman Murphy is a former U.S. Army Captain and Iraq war veteran."Our troops have preformed brilliantly in Iraq, but no amount of American soldiers can solve the political differences at the heart of somebody else's civil war," Senator Obama said. "That's why our plan not only stops the escalation of this war, but begins a phased redeployment that can pressure the Iraqis to finally reach a political settlement and brings all U.S. combat troops home by March of next year."
"Our troops have done an amazing job, but success in Iraq will only be achieved by the Iraqis themselves," said Congressman Mike Thompson. "Sending more troops into the heart of Iraq's civil war will only put more American lives at risk. This legislation provides a practical plan for ending the war as safely and quickly as possible."
"As someone who served in Baghdad with the 82nd Airborne, I can tell you that what's needed in Iraq is a surge in diplomacy, not an escalation of force. This legislation seeks a much-needed political solution and puts forward a tough and sensible plan to end the war," said Congressman Patrick Murphy. "We shouldn't be sending American men and women to referee a civil war. Our troops have done their job, now it's time to start bringing them home and to force more Iraqis to come off the sidelines and fight for their country."

The binding legislation ends President Bush's escalation by capping the number of troops at January 10, 2007 levels, puts forward specific benchmarks for success in Iraq and establishes a timeline to redeploy our troops. Redeployment, according to the bill, would begin no later than May 1, 2007, with the goal of all combat brigades redeployed by March 31, 2008 - a date consistent with the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. Troops would be sent either home to their families in the U.S., to Afghanistan where more troops are needed to fight the war on terror or would remain in the region to train Iraqis, protect against more violence and perform counterterrorist activities. The Iraq War De-Escalation Act will refocus the efforts of American armed forces on Afghanistan and the hunt for Osama bin Laden and urges the president to send, within 60 days, a Special Envoy to Iraq to begin the
important work of diplomacy with key nations in the region.

Obama announces his candidacy officially on Saturday...I had thought about driving down to attend, but I will instead by covering it from computer.

DNC Winter Meetings: Candidate Speech Summaries

This past weekend the Democratic National Committee held it's winter meetings. Each of the major candidates gave a speech. Wesley Clark also spoke (how much longer can he afford to stay undeclared?). Each link below is to Hotline who did a fun summary of each speech with categories such as standing ovation, suck-ups to Howard Dean, and cliches.

Chris Dodd
Barack Obama
Wesley Clark
John Edwards
Hillary Clinton
Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, and Tom Vilsack

Sounds to me like Bill Richardson came out ahead by playing to the crowd. Richardson does have a lion's share of great experience. If he can start to convince folks from the DNC to back him, it could make things interesting. Remember that each DNC member gets a vote to cast at the convention which makes them important allies. It was at this very winter meeting four years ago that Howard Dean made a big splash by beginning his speech by saying:

What I want to know is why in the world the Democratic party leadership is supporting the president's unilateral attack on Iraq.

What I want to know is why are Democratic party leaders supporting tax cuts. The question is not how big the tax cut should be, the question should be can we afford a tax cut at all with the largest deficit in the history of this country.

What I want to know is why we're fighting in Congress about the Patient's Bill of Rights when the Democratic party ought to be standing up for health care for every single American man, woman, and child in this country.

What I want to know is why our folks are voting for the president's No Child Left Behind bill that leaves every child behind, every teacher behind, every school board behind, and every property tax payer behind.

I'm Howard Dean and I'm here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic party.

Sigh. I am still waiting for a "Howard Dean" type moment from the current candidates. I really question if there is that much fire in any of these candidates, but only time will tell.

Oh yeah...Al Gore's former campaign manager strongly hints that Gore may just be biding his time before entering the Presidential race.

Joe Biden's Obama Screw UP

A comment from poster Rob:

Joe Biden is a jackass. Calling Barack the first Black that was worth anything as a political candidate (basically) is just stoopid.I'd vote for Chuck Hagel, (R)-Neb. before I'd vote for Biden. What a train-wreck he is! How many blunders can one man make...stealing speeches from other people, making insensitive remarks time and time again...Please, God, help Dems see that he just can't be the candidate we put forth.

Well put and an apt summary for Biden again sticking his foot in his mouth when it comes to minorities. While some will call it an accidental slip or other being overly PC, it is a major messup during the launch of his campaign and will likely end the small shred of hope he did have to try and compete for the nomination. In case you did miss it, the story was from the New Your Observer.

In the New York Observer article, Biden called Clinton's plan for Iraq "nothing but disaster"; said Edwards doesn't know "what the heck he is talking about" on Iraq; and said this about Obama: "'You got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy... I mean, that's a storybook, man.'"

This comes after comments earlier from Biden that you couldn't walk into a 7-11 or Dunking Donuts in his home state of Delaware unless you had an Indian accent.

Credibility questionable, sensitivity low, presidential chances....zero. The next round of rankings will reflect this.