Where to begin?

So much McCain craziness, I don't know where to begin.

How about http://therealmccain.com/pac

I'd write a letter to the editor of the Sac Bee, except I had a letter on another topic published today:

Next step: Menu calorie labeling

I am pleased Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made California the first state to ban trans fats in restaurants and other retail establishments ("Eateries soon will be trans fat free"; page A1, July 26). As Dr. Diane Sobkowicz pointed out in the article, it's difficult to know which restaurant foods are healthful. While removing trans fats will help reduce cardiovascular disease, banning trans fats is only part of the equation.

French fries, cake and muffins still have the same number of calories, even without trans fats. The governor now needs to support Senate Bill 1420, which will require chain restaurants to put calorie information on menus and menu boards.

Menu labeling helps people make healthier food choices by giving them the tools they need, where they need them, when they can use them. As someone who recently tried unsuccessfully to find calorie information at two restaurants, I know the restaurant industry's current strategies (e.g., brochures, Web pages) are not sufficient.

Menu labeling is an important obesity-prevention strategy. Many of these same chains have already added calorie content to their menus in New York City, thus demonstrating the bill's viability.

– Michelle J., Sacramento

There's my plug for SB 1420, as requested by my friend, Amanda, who is shepherding this valuable bill through the legislature. The bill passed last year, but the governor vetoed it, so she's back at it. Feel free to contact your representatives and the governor and let them know that this is a great bill that deserves to become lawy!

Who does the media really like best?

Okay, so McCain has been whining this week about how the media likes Barack Obama better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-242UHHczY

Well, let's talk about what the "biased media" is saying (or not saying) about John McCain...

CBS edited out an incorrect statement John McCain made about the surge:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/22/mccain-gets-history-of-th_n_114419.html

Maybe he's complaining to keep the media from mentioning his other errors...
McCain keeps mentioning a country that hasn't existed since 1993, a border that doesn't exist, etc.:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=5441630&page=1


And this man wants to lead our country. Yikes!

I'm back!

Okay, so I must admit that I'd lost interest in blogging, but then the media coverage of the presidential race started to bug me again! So I'm back! First, I want to share an experience I had.

A few weeks ago, I volunteered to help register voters at the St. John's Shelter for women and children. It was graduation night, so it was a very festive atmosphere. I didn't know this great program existed in our community, so learning about them was great: http://www.stjohnsshelter.org/.

But what was even more great was helping many women update their voter registration. They've moved, they've been homeless, they've been in jail, they've been through a lot. In particular, we were able to let two women who were on probation know that they were eligible to vote again. They were so excited to know that they could vote in the upcoming election; it was impossible not to be excited with these strong women who've come through so much.

And lest my brother be disappointed, I did even register one lifelong Republican. :-)

Why I'm volunteering for the campaign

Hi all,

I've seen a lot of Barack Obama speeches, interviews, debates, etc. I must say that these are some of the most motivating words I've heard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnhmByYxEIo

This is why I'm volunteering for this campaign!

A democrats who believes in democratic principles and in working across the aisle! -

There is a great article in yesterday's New York Times that analyzes Obama's voting record in the Illinois State Senate.

They found:
"In all, Obama's record from nearly eight years in the Illinois Senate suggests someone who believes strongly that government can make life better for people, whether by offering financial help, banning dangerous guns or providing health care.

But Obama, now the Democratic candidate for president, was no ideologue. He often cooperated with Republican lawmakers, co-sponsoring their legislation and working with them on compromises."

Sounds like just the kind of person I want as our president!

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Obama-State-Lawmaker.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=%22obama%20record%20shows%22&st=cse&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Campaign appearance locations?

Hillary and Barack will be campaigning together in about a week. Any guesses on where they'll show up?

Here's what the reporter at Politico.com thinks:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11247.html

Maybe we should start a pool...

More good polling news

As the Obama campaign prepares to launch a 50 state campaign, conceding no state to McCain (hmmm, familiar, sounds like the caucuses in the primary), there's more good polling news:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/18/swing.state.poll/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Poll: Obama leads McCain in swing states

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama is leading Sen. John McCain in the crucial swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, according to a new survey.

Obama lost the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania by 9 percentage points. But a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday shows him leading McCain by 12 points, 52 to 40 percent.

In Ohio, a state Obama lost to Sen. Hillary Clinton by 10 points in March, he's leading McCain 48 to 42 percent.

And in Florida, where he did not campaign this primary season and lost an unsanctioned Democratic contest, he leads McCain 47 to 43 percent.

I'm back!

Sorry to my loyal blog readers ... both of you (okay, maybe 3 of you). I was on vacation and missed being able to post when Hillary got of out the race. We were in the Philippines and I turned the TV on for a few minutes each day to see what CNN world was running on their ticker about the election. I had a bit of withdrawals, which I dealt with by diving 3 times per day. :-)

So, in honor of Al Gore's endorsement of Barack Obama tonight, I decided to get back to posting. Of course, what are we going to discuss now??? It appears that future topics may be:

• how scary McCain and his donors are
• who each candidate will select as VP
• scandalous comments made by people we don't even know yet
• democratic party unity/disunity

And, in honor of my brother, who sent me funny pro-McCain sticker and t-shirt ideas (and whose birthday is coming up in a few months), I thought I'd post a couple of items:
http://www.cafepress.com/buy/anti-republican/-/pv_design_details/pg_1/id_23157138/opt_/fpt_/c_666/
http://www.cafepress.com/buy/anti-republican/-/pv_design_prod/p_926654.67642777/pNo_67642777/id_13677805/fpt_/opt_/c_666/pg_2

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/anti-republican/-/pv_design_details/pg_2/id_21061336/opt_/fpt_/c_666/

Obama has a 19% lead among women voters against McCain in a recent poll.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/107806/Obama-Gains-Among-Women-After-Clinton-Exit.aspx

Funny SNL piece

A bit less serious, but I couldn't resist posting this SNL clip:
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=252562

She said what?!!

Clearly HRC wants me to post another blog item. No amount of sleep deprivation on her part (or anything else I can think of, for that matter) could excuse her remark today, nor the poor attempt at an apology. I think my hero, Keith Olbermann, said it best:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24798368#24798368

Just another in the long list of examples demonstrating why I feel Barack Obama would do a better job of bringing our country together.

Does she really think these things????

Sorry I've been ignoring my blog the last couple of weeks. So I enter back into the election discussion as HC claims get even more outlandish. Here are some good updates and commentary...

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/05/16/clintons_sexism_dodge/
http://blog.mlive.com/capitolchronicles/2008/05/hillary_clinton_conveniently_h.html
http://www.jedreport.com/2008/05/hillary-clint-2.html

A special prize to any of my readers who can find her quote from early in the campaign when she made some disparaging remark about Michigan and/or Florida voters, back in the day when she had agreed that their votes shouldn't count. I tried to find it tonight, but couldn't.

2 states closer

I believe that David Plouffe said it best in an email from the Obama campaign:

There are only six contests remaining on the Democratic primary calendar and only 217 pledged delegates left to be awarded. Only 7% of the pledged delegates remain on the table. There are 253 remaining undeclared superdelegates, for a total of 470 delegates left to be awarded.

"With North Carolina and Indiana complete, Barack Obama only needs 170 total delegates to capture the Democratic nomination. This is only 36% of the total remaining delegates.

Conversely, Senator Clinton needs 326 delegates to reach the Democratic nomination, which represents a startling 69% of the remaining delegates.

With the Clinton path to the nomination getting even narrower, we expect new and wildly creative scenarios to emerge in the coming days.

While those scenarios may be entertaining, they are not legitimate and will not be considered legitimate by this campaign or its millions of supporters, volunteers, and donors."

And another quote I found interesting:
“I, as you know, have great fondness and great respect for Sen. Clinton and I’m very loyal to her,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D-Calif.). “Having said that, I’d like to talk with her and hear her view on the rest of the race and what the strategy is.”

McCain, Bush or a Carrot

I just took The Bush-McCain Challenge -- an online quiz to see if you can tell the difference between George W. Bush and John McCain. Check it out and see how you do.
http://bush-mccainchallenge.com/?rc=challenge-friends&r_id=12561-9230400-HrOERj

I'm in the Bee

In case you didn't read today's Sacramento Bee opinion page, here's my letter:

I'm voting for Sen. Barack Obama because I believe that he is the best candidate to help bring our country together and begin to solve the laundry list of problems created or enhanced by the current administration.

As a white woman, I'm sure some reporter will write that I'm voting for Obama because I don't want another woman to be successful or because I'm afraid of what a woman president might do, neither of which is true.

Stories that take a small margin of victory (e.g., 55 percent vs. 45 percent) among a particular demographic to imply that a candidate who gets 45 percent of the vote in the primary wouldn't be able to win the general election, fail to acknowledge that the Democratic Party currently has two strong candidates.

Once we have selected our nominee, many who voted for the other nominee will vote for the Democratic candidate. By continuing to divide our country into a demographic pie (53 percent of left-handed, beer-drinking accountants in North Carolina are voting for...), the media only make it more difficult for our next president to begin to reunite our sharply divided country.

- Michelle J., Sacramento

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/888905.html

Her spin spins in circles

Here's a great article on the circular logic of Hillary Clinton's arguments:
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/22/932967.aspx

And I was disgusted to learn that her campaign owes my employer money:
http://cbs13.com/local/clinton.campaign.debt.2.694498.html

Dear MoveOn member,

Moveon.org members have submitted 30 second Obama ads.Now, help them pick a winner: watch some of these ads today, and tell themwhich ones you think are most powerful. The finalists will be seen by a panel of top film professionals, artists, and netroots heroes—and the winning ad will be aired on national TV.

One warning: this may be addictive. Some ads may make you laugh, some may make you cry, and we can pretty much guarantee that you won't be able to watch just one. So, that being said...

If you want to start voting in MoveOn's Obama in 30 Seconds contest, click here to begin:

http://www.obamain30seconds.org/vote/?t=3&id=12485-1849532-RL8tA5

The 10 highest ranked ads will go to the finals, and 5 more will get to the finals by being the most viewed on their site before voting closes on Sunday night.

They're right. It is addicting, especially because as soon as you vote on one, the next one pops up. But there were some very good ads ... and each is only 30 seconds.

So if negative politics of an unnamed candidate who is behind in the popular vote, pledged delegate vote and overall delegate vote are getting you down, watch a few of these to lift your mood.

Good news & a funny

Thanks to Karen for the following 2 items from the CNN political ticker:

Poll shows Obama gaining, holding steady in key states

Posted: 06:07 PM ET

A new poll shows good news for Obama.

(CNN) — Despite a weekend of negative coverage following his controversial remarks about some small town Americans, Barack Obama appears to be holding steady or making gains in the next three primary states, according to a just released poll.

Most surprisingly, the new LA Times/Bloomberg poll shows Obama ahead of Hillary Clinton by 5 points in Indiana (40 to 35 percent), a state with demographics that favor the New York senator and one where other recent polls have shown her with a lead.

The poll also shows Clinton only holds a 5 point lead in Pennsylvania (48 to 43 percent). That margin is among the slimmest measured between to the two candidates and is significantly less than the double digit lead Clinton held there two weeks ago.

In North Carolina, the new survey shows Obama with a 13 point lead (47-34 percent), a margin that is consistent with other recent polls in that state.

Pennsylvania votes April 22 while Indiana and North Carolina vote two weeks later on May 6. Should Clinton win in Pennsylvania, some political observers have said she must score a victory in at least one of the May 6 states to make a compelling argument to continue her presidential campaign.

The poll was conducted over five days (April 10-14), the majority of which came after Obama's now famous "bitter" comments first surfaced.

From: CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

McCain camp pulls its proposal — for passion fruit mousse

Posted: 04:20 PM ET

The McCain camp pulled the offending passion fruit recipe.

(CNN) – For a few hours Tuesday morning, the latest campaign trail drama seemed to center not on policy or politics — but on pasta farfalle.

At least three “McCain Family Recipes” posted on John McCain’s campaign Web site and credited to his wife Cindy – including Ahi Tuna with Napa Cabbage Slaw, Passion Fruit Mousse, and Farfalle Pasta with Turkey Sausage, Peas and Mushrooms — appeared to be direct copies of dishes created by the Food Network. Another seemed to be a slightly altered version of a dish prepared by TV chef Rachael Ray.

The similarity was first noted by a New York attorney and appeared in a report on the Huffington Post Monday night.

The McCain campaign quickly moved to quell the controversy over cabbage slaw. “Apparently a web intern added Rachael Ray to our policy team without her knowing it,” McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds told CNN Tuesday morning. “He was swiftly dealt with and the page is down for revision. Our apologies to Food Network …but according to our press assistant the passion fruit mousse is really worth trying.”

Cindy McCain appears to be the only candidate spouse this year to devote a share of the official campaign Web site to recipes; neither Bill Clinton nor Michelle Obama currently have posted their favorite dishes on their spouse’s presidential sites. No word yet on when the Arizona senator's wife might unveil a new plan for the nation's Ahi tuna lovers.

Published on: April 15, 2008 at 8:45 am

From: CNN's Rebecca Sinderbrand
Filed under: Cindy McCain

What would you buy with $3 trillion dollars?

Sorry I went AWOL on the blog last week. A helpful reader (my only?) reminded me that the blog was getting stale. Anyhow, then I saw this: http://3trillion.org. Think you can spend $3 trillion better than President Bush?

“Just counting the zeroes on the $3 trillion price tag of the Iraq War is enough to induce hyperventilation. But what does $3 trillion really mean? It’s difficult even to comprehend a number that big. Well, try filling your shopping cart with what the cost of the Iraq War could buy: healthcare for every American? A new home for every subprime borrower now facing foreclosure? An Ivy League university? You haven’t even gotten started.”

-Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz
co-author of The Three Trillion Dollar War

Browse through our departments or use the search box to find a product. Once you've found something you like, simply add it to your cart. If you want to add more than one, keep on clicking—after all, our government just loves to spend spend spend. (Can't locate something you want? Simply "add a product" and follow the steps.) When you're all finished, proceed to the checkout, where you'll be able to complete your order and e-mail your virtual gifts to friends.

$3 TRILLION isn't just how much the Iraq War will cost our government, it's how much it will cost our sputtering economy. When the Bush administration launched this war, they claimed Americans would not have to make sacrifices. They even cut taxes with the help of a Republican-led Congress, rather than raising them as had been done historically in times of war. According to Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard professor Linda Bilmes in their book The Three Trillion Dollar War, we're fighting an unnecessary war on borrowed money. The war has caused our skyrocketing national debt. And more than anything else, the war has caused our recession.

Here's how $3 trillion breaks down:

• $526 billion — borrowed money poured into Iraq so far
• $615 billion — total interest costs for taxpayers
• $280 billion — to rebuild our military
• $590 billion — disability benefits and health care for Iraq veterans
• $1.5 trillion — estimated costs through 2017

So I tried to spend $3 trillion, but even with items like world peace, healthcare for all Americans, reusable shopping bags, rebuilding New Orleans, etc., I still couldn't make it.

It's a great website to help give a bit more of a sense of what a waste this war has been in dollars (not counting lost lives - Iraqi, American and other, families torn apart, a country's infrastructure destroyed, etc.).

So as you think about who you want to help lead our country for the next 4-8 years, maybe thinking about the costs of the war will be informative.

Check your polls here

Hi all,

For those obsessed with the Democratic Primary but short on time, here's a great place to go to check out the latest polls, summarized in one location: http://www.pollster.com/08presidentialprimary.php

What You Should Know About McCain - SCARY!

Hi all,

Here's a message from moveon.org with some very helpful information about John McCain (AKA Teflon John) that isn't getting much coverage...

10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.¹
2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."²
3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.³
4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."⁴
5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.⁵
6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.⁶
7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."⁷
8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.⁸
9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."⁹
10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.¹⁰

John McCain is not who the Washington press corps makes him out to be. So forward this email to your personal network! And if you want stay in the loop on MoveOn's work to get the truth out about John McCain, sign up here:

http://pol.moveon.org/mccaintruth/

Thanks!

SOURCES:

1. "The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day," ABC News, April 3, 2008
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/the-complicated.html

"McCain Facts," ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008
http://colorofchange.org/mccain_facts/

2. "McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq," Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aF28rSCtk0ZM&refer=us

"Buchanan: John McCain 'Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi,'" ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/06/buchanan-gandhi-mccain/

3. "McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill," ThinkProgress, February 20, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/20/mccain-torture-veto/

4. "McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned," MSNBC, February 18, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17222147/

5. "2007 Children's Defense Fund Action Council® Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard," February 2008
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=act_learn_scorecard2007

"McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion," CNN, October 3, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/03/mccain.interview/

6. "Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady," Associated Press, April 3, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-S1sWHm0tchtdMP5LcLywg5ZtMgD8VQ86M80

"McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End `Systemic Risk,'" Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHMiDVYaXZFM&refer=home

7. "Will McCain's Temper Be a Liability?," Associated Press, February 16, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4301022

"Famed McCain temper is tamed," Boston Globe, January 27, 2008
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/famed_mccain_temper_is_tamed/

8. "Black Claims McCain's Campaign Is Above Lobbyist Influence: 'I Don't Know What The Criticism Is,'" ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/mccain-black-lobbyist/

"McCain's Lobbyist Friends Rally 'Round Their Man," ABC News, January 29, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4210251

9. "McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam," Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3519

"Will McCain Specifically 'Repudiate' Hagee's Anti-Gay Comments?," ThinkProgress, March 12, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/12/mccain-hagee-anti-gay/

"McCain 'Very Honored' By Support Of Pastor Preaching 'End-Time Confrontation With Iran,'" ThinkProgress, February 28, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/hagee-mccain-endorsement/

10. "John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental Record," Sierra Club, February 28, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/environment/77913/

You go, Nancy!

If you want to hear what Nancy Pelosi said on NPR this morning regarding the democratic race (and Tibet), go here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89260071

Here are my favorite quotes from the story:
"These two candidates, and others who were in the race before, attracted record numbers of new people to the political process and I don't think that the success in November is well-served by saying to those people, 'You worked hard, you produced a result, but the powers that be in Washington, D.C., have a different view.'"

In a recent letter, major Democratic donors and Clinton supporters pressured Pelosi to change her position that the superdelegates should back the candidate with the most delegates. "I said this when Sen. Clinton was ahead, too," Pelosi says. "I don't remember receiving a letter from them at that time," Pelosi says. "But let me be as clear as I can be: That letter is unimportant."

Interesting articles

Thanks to one of my loyal readers for passing on this interesting article on Politico.com http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9259.html on fundraising problems in the Clinton campaign. Here's the person that's going to help the working class, but won't pay her vendors on time so it looks like she has more money...

And from another loyal reader, the following story on Obama's bowling skills (among other things):
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/30/obama-with-bowls-with-casey-in-pennsylvania/

Is my phone bugged?

As the Eliot Spitzer story broke a few weeks ago, my friend K. and I were talking about our current favorite topic, the democratic primary. We both confessed that we thought HRC should exit the primary to become the governor of New York.

Tonight on Countdown, the commentators were discussing the possibility of HRC exiting the primary campaign to become ... guess what ... the governor of NY! And they speculated that the story may have been planted by an Obama supporter.

After hearing that, I could only come to one conclusion - either my phone or K's phone is bugged!

Bake Sale for Obama?

I know several people who support Barack Obama, voted for him in the primary, donated to his campaign, but have yet to volunteer their time. Some people are turned off by the thought of phone banking. I admit that I was too, until I started doing it. It was much better than I thought it would be. There's still phone banking to be done, but there are a lot of other activities, even in states where the primary has already occurred.

Sacramento for Obama had a meeting last week. With over 120 people (my estimate) crammed into the new office space, committees formed. I'm not sure I can remember them all, but here are some of them:
- special events - help plan and participate in events to recruit other Obama supporters, new voters, volunteers, etc.
- volunteer - contact people who've agreed to volunteer and let them know about volunteer opportunities
- database management - like it sounds
- communications - included the speakers bureau
- media - help write letters to the editor to keep positive messages about Barack out there
- tabling - go table at weekly events and get the word out about Barack
- canvassing - help get new voters registered, find volunteers, identify Barack supporters so we're ready for November
They're also looking for people to volunteer to staff the Sacramento headquarters, so the office can be open more hours.
And there's still phonebanking on the weekends. If you speak Spanish and are willing to phonebank, you're a premium volunteer. :-)

So if you've put off volunteering because you don't want to phonebank, there are plenty of other options.

While I know I can always do more, I decided several months ago that I didn't want to feel at the end of this campaign that I should have done more to make sure Barack got elected.

If you want to volunteer, go to Barackobama.com and click on volunteer. That will get you hooked up with the local office, whereever you are.

California has a caucus!

As I've been calling voters in states that have a caucus, I must confess to a bit of "caucus envy." It sounds like a fun way to express one's presidential candidate preference. Well, it turns out that California has a caucus.

District-Level Delegate Elections - Sunday, April 13 at 3:00 pm
A Caucus is a meeting held in each of California's 53 congressional districts [by the Clinton and Obama campaigns] at which Democrats express their Presidential candidate preference and vote for Delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Caucuses are open to all Democratic voters who are registered to vote in the appropriate CD. One can register to vote at the Caucus.

I recommend that you go to www.bararckobama.com/ - go to the events and put in your zipcode.

It's important to make sure that the individuals who are elected as Obama pledged delegates are actually Obama supporters, since the delegates can vote however they want when they get to the convention. Kim Mack, Nathan Osburn, and Serena Kirk have all been very active in the Sacramento Obama campaign. They also support Cirian Villavicencio as the alternate delegate.

Meet you at the caucus!

Today's speech & scary McCain misspeak

Hi all,

Probably not a surprise that my top recommendation is that you watch Barack Obama's speech today: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stateupdates/gGBbTW
It's about 30 minutes, but it's well worth watching.

And just to give you another candidate to look at occasionally, watch this clip of John McCain from my good friend, Keith Olbermann's show: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/ (it's the third part of the clip). This is the man the Republican party wants to handle foreign policy...

Am I a hippie?

As a new blogger, I was happy to see a couple of comments. Of course, this means that someone is reading my blog. One person accused me of being a "liberal hippie." While clearly I'm liberal, I wouldn't call myself a hippie. But then I thought, what really classifies someone as a hippie?

Dictionary.com says a hippie is:
"a person, esp. of the late 1960s, who rejected established institutions and values and sought spontaneity, direct personal relations expressing love, and expanded consciousness, often expressed externally in the wearing of casual, folksy clothing and of beads, headbands, used garments, etc."

Well, I don't really reject established institutions. I'm more of a planner, although I'm not against spontaneity. I do enjoy loving relationships (but don't most people). I'm pretty sure that expanded consciousness refers to drug use - not my thing. I don't think my clothing style would be classified as "hippie-like."

Here's another one (also from dictionary.com):
"a usually young person who does not wish to live by the normal rules of society and who shows his rejection of these rules by his unusual clothes, habits etc."

I'm not much of a rule breaker and I don't think my clothes or habits are that unusual. I do have a garden in my backyard, but I don't think that's all that hippie-like.

So, "Rush and Coulter," I think you missed the mark on the hippie comment (along with most of your other remarks). But thanks for reading my blog.

Stolen Yard Sign, CA polling data

In California, while either democratic candidate would trounce McCain, Barack currently holds a bigger lead in the polling. That latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the nation’s most populous state shows Barack Obama leading John McCain 53% to 38%. Hillary Clinton leads McCain 46% to 39%.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/california/california_2008_presidential_election

This morning we received a call from a friend, neighbor (2 streets over) and fellow Obama supporter. We'd given them an Obama yard sign a couple of weeks ago. As of this morning, their sign was missing. And when we checked our yard, our sign is gone too. Of course, this leads to the question, who stole our signs? Clinton supporter? Bored teenagers? Someone who wants to sell Obama signs? What do you think?

Keith Olbermann, I think I'm in love

Okay, in terms of the men I love, I don't love Keith Olbermann as much as my fabulous husband, the men in my family (even the very conservative ones), or Barack. But after seeing his special comment to Hillary Clinton tonight, he has officially become my favorite news commentator:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23601329#23601329

And thanks to my friend, Mac, for passing on this posting from Roland Martin on why Florida and Michigan shouldn't get to vote again in the democratic primary:
http://www.rolandsmartin.com/blog/?p=139#more-139

My first blog

Okay, I have become so frustrated with the democratic primary and how it's currently being handled by a large segment of our media, that I just started my own blog.

First, Hillary lost in Texas!
http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/03/11/its-official-clinton-lost-texas/

And take a look at the delegate math:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/119010

Hillary pretends to be in the lead, but it still doesn't make it so. Just like my pretending that the George Bush presidency never happened doesn't make it so either (if only it were that easy).

As Barack said in his email to me tonight, after his victory in Mississippi:

"But just turn on the news and you'll see that Senator Clinton continues to run an expensive, negative campaign against us. Each day her campaign launches a new set of desperate attacks.

They're not just attacking me; they're attacking you.

Over the weekend, an aide to Senator Clinton attempted to diminish the overwhelming number of contests we've won by referring to places we've prevailed as 'boutique' states and our supporters as the 'latte-sipping crowd."

Yep, she's attacking me. And I'm pissed! So I sent more money to the Obama campaign. And if you're pissed too, go ahead and donate: www.barackobama.com.