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."