For South, a Waning Hold on Politics

November 11, 2008 For South, a Waning Hold on Politics By ADAM NOSSITER VERNON, Ala. — Fear of the politician with the unusual name and look did not end with last Tuesday’s vote in this rural red swatch where buck heads and rifles hang on the wall. This corner of the Deep South still resonates with negative feelings about the race of President-elect Barack Obama. What may have ended on Election Day, though, is the centrality of the South to national politics. By voting so emphatically for Senator John McCain over Mr. Obama — supporting him in some areas in even greater numbers than they did President Bush — voters from Texas to South Carolina and Kentucky may have marginalized their region for some time to come, political experts say. The region’s absence from Mr. Obama’s winning formula means it “is becoming distinctly less important,” said Wayne Parent, a political scientist at Louisiana State University. “The South has moved from being the center of the political universe to being an outside player in presidential politics.” One reason for that is that the South is no longer a solid voting bloc. Along the Atlantic Coast, parts of the “suburban South,” notably Virginia and North Carolina, made history last week in breaking from their Confederate past and supporting Mr. Obama. Those states have experienced an influx of better educated and more prosperous voters in recent years, pointing them in a different political direction than states farther west, like Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, and Appalachian sections of Kentucky and Tennessee. Southern counties that voted more heavily Republican this year than in 2004 tended to be poorer, less educated and whiter, a statistical analysis by The New York Times shows. Mr. Obama won in only 44 counties in the Appalachian belt, a stretch of 410 counties that runs from New York to Mississippi. Many of those counties, rural and isolated, have been less exposed to the diversity, educational achievement and economic progress experienced by more prosperous areas. The increased turnout in the South’s so-called Black Belt, or old plantation-country counties, was visible in the results, but it generally could not make up for the solid white support for Mr. McCain. Alabama, for example, experienced a heavy black turnout and voted slightly more Democratic than in 2004, but the state over all gave 60 percent of its vote to Mr. McCain. (Arkansas, however, doubled the margin of victory it gave to the Republican over 2004.) Less than a third of Southern whites voted for Mr. Obama, compared with 43 percent of whites nationally. By leaving the mainstream so decisively, the Deep South and Appalachia will no longer be able to dictate that winning Democrats have Southern accents or adhere to conservative policies on issues like welfare and tax policy, experts say. That could spell the end of the so-called Southern strategy, the doctrine that took shape under President Richard M. Nixon in which national elections were won by co-opting Southern whites on racial issues. And the Southernization of American politics — which reached its apogee in the 1990s when many Congressional leaders and President Bill Clinton were from the South — appears to have ended. “I think that’s absolutely over,” said Thomas Schaller, a political scientist who argued prophetically that the Democrats could win national elections without the South. The Republicans, meanwhile, have “become a Southernized party,” said Mr. Schaller, who teaches at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “They have completely marginalized themselves to a mostly regional party,” he said, pointing out that nearly half of the current Republican House delegation is now Southern. Merle Black, an expert on the region’s politics at Emory University in Atlanta, said the Republican Party went too far in appealing to the South, alienating voters elsewhere. “They’ve maxed out on the South,” he said, which has “limited their appeal in the rest of the country.” Even the Democrats made use of the Southern strategy, as the party’s two presidents in the last 40 years, Jimmy Carter and Mr. Clinton, were Southerners whose presence on the ticket served to assuage regional anxieties. Mr. Obama has now proved it is no longer necessary to include a Southerner on the national ticket — to quiet racial fears, for example — in order to win, in the view of analysts. Several Southern states, including Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee, have voted for the winner in presidential elections for decades. No more. And Mr. Obama’s race appears to have been the critical deciding factor in pushing ever greater numbers of white Southerners away from the Democrats. Here in Alabama, where Mr. McCain won 60.4 percent of the vote in his best Southern showing, he had the support of nearly 9 in 10 whites, according to exit polls, a figure comparable to other Southern states. Alabama analysts pointed to the persistence of traditional white Southern attitudes on race as the deciding factor in Mr. McCain’s strong margin. Mr. Obama won in Jefferson County, which includes the city of Birmingham, and in the Black Belt, but he made few inroads elsewhere. “Race continues to play a major role in the state,” said Glenn Feldman, a historian at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. “Alabama, unfortunately, continues to remain shackled to the bonds of yesterday.” David Bositis, senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, pointed out that the 18 percent share of whites that voted for Senator John Kerry in 2004 was almost cut in half for Mr. Obama. “There’s no other explanation than race,” he said. In Arkansas, which had among the nation’s largest concentration of counties increasing their support for the Republican candidate over the 2004 vote, “there’s a clear indication that racial conservatism was a component of that shift away from the Democrat,” said Jay Barth, a political scientist in the state. Race was a strong subtext in post-election conversations across the socioeconomic spectrum here in Vernon, the small, struggling seat of Lamar County on the Mississippi border. One white woman said she feared that blacks would now become more “aggressive,” while another volunteered that she was bothered by the idea of a black man “over me” in the White House. Mr. McCain won 76 percent of the county’s vote, about five percentage points more than Mr. Bush did, because “a lot more people came out, hoping to keep Obama out,” Joey Franks, a construction worker, said in the parking lot of the Shop and Save. Mr. Franks, who voted for Mr. McCain, said he believed that “over 50 percent voted against Obama for racial reasons,” adding that in his own case race mattered “a little bit. That’s in my mind.” Many people made it clear that they were deeply apprehensive about Mr. Obama, though some said they were hoping for the best. “I think any time you have someone elected president of the United States with a Muslim name, whether they are white or black, there are some very unsettling things,” George W. Newman, a director at a local bank and the former owner of a trucking business, said over lunch at Yellow Creek Fish and Steak. Don Dollar, the administrative assistant at City Hall, said bitterly that anyone not upset with Mr. Obama’s victory should seek religious forgiveness. “This is a community that’s supposed to be filled with a bunch of Christian folks,” he said. “If they’re not disappointed, they need to be at the altar.” Customers of Bill Pennington, a barber whose downtown shop is decorated with hunting and fishing trophies, were “scared because they heard he had a Muslim background,” Mr. Pennington said over the country music on the radio. “Over and over again I heard that.” Mr. Obama remains an unknown quantity in this corner of the South, and there are deep worries about the changes he will bring. “I am concerned,” Gail McDaniel, who owns a cosmetics business, said in the parking lot of the Shop and Save. “The abortion thing bothers me. Same-sex marriage.” “I think there are going to be outbreaks from blacks,” she added. “From where I’m from, this is going to give them the right to be more aggressive.”

Now for sports: A.I. might be in for long haul

Iverson might be in for long haul At 33, star guard said Pistons are the type of organization he'd like to end his career with. Chris McCosky / The Detroit News TORONTO -- He's been here two days, hasn't even played a game yet and already people want to know how long he's staying. "I am starting to feel like a journeyman," Allen Iverson joked before Pistons shoot-around Wednesday. All kidding aside, though, Iverson wouldn't mind if his third team, the Pistons, was his last. "I want to finish my career mainly at a spot where I can be happy first, and have a chance to win a championship," he said. "Hopefully, everything will work out and I can stay right where I'm at. Honestly, I know with the personnel that's here and the organization, with the way they run everything first class, I am going to have an opportunity to win a championship. I have a big-time resume, but there is a big-time hole in it." Iverson, 33, is in the final year of his contract. What he won't do, he said, was chase money. He's looking for the best fit, not the biggest paycheck. "My whole thing is winning a championship," he said. "I have money. I have all the individual accolades. I've done the All-Star thing. I've been the scoring champ and an MVP. What I haven't had was the chance to feel the feeling of winning a championship. That's the most important thing right now." Pistons president Joe Dumars said Monday he had no preconceptions about whether he would pursue keeping Iverson here beyond this season. He's taking the same tack he took with Rasheed Wallace back in 2004. Let it play out and assess it after the season. Iverson said he wants to play until he's 39 -- six more seasons. "I know you guys have put me in a rocking chair already," he said. "When the time comes and we have a game and you put that scouting report up and my name isn't one of the first or second names on that scouting report, and I can't dominate like I used to, then I don't want to play no more. I won't do anything to tarnish my legacy." Iverson wasn't allowed to play Wednesday because Chauncey Billups and Cheikh Samb hadn't yet taken their physicals in Denver. Running with Rip There has been media speculation Iverson's presence will force the Pistons to move Richard Hamilton into a sixth-man role because Iverson and Hamilton couldn't play together without a true point guard. Coach Michael Curry doused that theory. "I look at it as being the same as if Chauncey were still here," he said. For one, Curry said, Rodney Stuckey isn't ready to be the full-time starting point guard. Secondly, Curry thinks Iverson and Hamilton can be a lethal duo. "Stuckey is still learning," Curry said. "He has a lot of talent, but he still has a ways to go. I've always said, if you don't give young guys things and you make them earn it, they will keep it. "If you give them something, you can take it away. He's earning his keep, and he's earning his time on the court." Curry also loves the idea of having two high-energy, aggressive offensive players like Iverson and Hamilton creating mayhem together. Iverson agrees. "I think it's going to be a positive," Iverson said. "(Defenses) can't give me the attention on the court they usually give me with a guy like Rip out there with me, and they can't give him the attention they usually give him with me out there. "Hopefully, I can make the game a lot easier for him and he can do the same for me." Slam dunk TNT has picked up the Pistons game next Thursday at Golden State. Tip-off will still be 10:30 p.m. It will not be carried on FSN.

Dems vow to pursue an aggressive agenda

Democrats Vow to Pursue an Aggressive Agenda By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and CARL HULSE WASHINGTON — Flush with victory built on incursions in the South and West, Congressional Democratic leaders promised to use their new power to join President-elect Barack Obama in pursuing an aggressive agenda that puts top priority on the economy, health care, energy and ending the Iraq war. By reaching deep into traditionally Republican turf, the Democrats in Tuesday’s elections expanded their majorities in both the House and the Senate. They picked up at least five Senate seats, in Colorado, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina and Virginia. And they picked up at least 19 House seats, with new Democrats coming from Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina and Virginia. The full extent of the new Democratic majorities remained unknown, with tight Senate races still undecided in Alaska, Minnesota and Oregon and a runoff scheduled on Dec. 2 in Georgia. At least six House races remained too close to call. Still, the promise of strong control of Congress also left Democratic leaders grappling with challenges of balancing a wider spectrum of views within their own party while confronting a diminished House Republican conference now decidedly more conservative. The exuberance of Tuesday night’s victories was also tempered by unease over the public’s high expectations for a party in control of both Congress and the White House amid economic turmoil, two wars overseas and a yawning budget gap. On the day after the election, leadership battles were breaking out across Capitol Hill as lawmakers contemplated the prospects of new power and opportunity. The quick start to the skirmishing signaled that some of the more bitter fights in the next Congress could be internal battles among Democrats. For instance, Democratic aides said that Representative Henry A. Waxman of California was expected to challenge Representative John D. Dingell of Michigan, the longest-serving House Democrat, for chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Energy issues are expected to be a major focus of the Obama administration. And before the week is out, Democrats could try to oust Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, the independent who campaigned for Senator John McCain, from the chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who spoke with Mr. Obama by phone on Wednesday morning, said that they had made plans to discuss coordinated efforts for the transition and the new Congress, but that a more ambitious agenda would unfold next year. “Our priorities have tracked the Obama campaign priorities for a very long time,” Ms. Pelosi said at a news conference where she cited the economy, health care, energy and the Iraq war as topping the agenda. She said Democrats were talking with the Bush White House about a potential $61 billion economic stimulus that could be approved in a lame-duck session. But Ms. Pelosi said Democrats could open the 111th Congress in January with efforts to adopt measures blocked by President Bush, including ones to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and embryonic stem cell research. She said Democrats had no choice but to chart a centrist course. “The country must be governed from the middle,” she said. But Democrats on both sides of the Capitol were just beginning to digest the new faces in their expanded caucuses. Those new members include Jim Himes, a Harvard- and Oxford-educated former Goldman Sachs banker turned affordable-housing advocate who ousted Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, the only Republican House member in New England. But even as Democrats tightened their grip on the traditionally liberal Northeast, roughly one-third of this year’s gains in the House came in the West, including two seats in New Mexico and one each in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Nevada. In Idaho, the Democrats scored an unlikely House victory when Walt Minnick, a self-described “gun-owning outdoorsman” who once worked in the administration of Richard M. Nixon defeated Bill Sali, a Republican incumbent. Mr. Minnick, who emphasized his résumé as a businessman and longtime executive in the lumber industry, will join a Democratic conference long dominated by urban liberals and led by Ms. Pelosi, of San Francisco. The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, and other Democrats pointed to their successes in the West as evidence that they were building an enduring majority. They said new lawmakers from the region would bring a pragmatic approach driven less by partisanship and more by common sense. Representative Tom Udall, a Democrat who won a Republican-held Senate seat in New Mexico, said, “I feel like I am coming in as a Western problem-solver, as somebody who has had success working across the aisle on many issues in my home state.” Mr. Udall’s cousin Representative Mark Udall won the Senate race in Colorado. Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana, a Democrat who won a second term on Tuesday, said the results showed that Republicans no longer had a guaranteed hold on the West. “When Democrats win in Idaho, that means that there is not a single place that’s safe left anywhere,” Mr. Schweitzer said. New Mexico was a showcase of Democratic strength in this election, partly because of strong support from Hispanics, as the party won a Senate seat and two more House seats, turning the state’s Congressional delegation thoroughly blue. But even as Mr. Reid was crowing about gun-loving Democrats in the West, Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, was part of a separate conference call focusing on how many Democrats won by embracing progressive economic policies. Mr. Brown said that he expected Republicans and more conservative Democrats to join an array of legislation related to alternative energy, trade, jobs and tax policy. “With a popular president leading,” he said, “we are going to see all but the most closed-minded Republicans joining us.” The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, issued a statement on Wednesday offering Mr. Obama cooperation. Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said he believed that the new House majority would coalesce on most major economic issues but that some disagreements were inevitable. “Clearly we are a big-tent party, and when it comes to social issues there will be some different perspectives in the caucus,” Mr. Van Hollen said. Although Democrats fell short of their goal of a 60-vote Senate majority, which would have given them the power to break filibusters, Ms. Pelosi said it would be far easier to get Republican support for Democratic bills with Mr. Bush out of office. She said Republicans often blocked bills to protect the president. House and Senate Democrats said they believed the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats could mesh in a way that Capitol Hill Democrats and the Carter and Clinton administrations could not. As senators, Mr. Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., built strong relationships on Capitol Hill. President Jimmy Carter and President Bill Clinton, as former governors, were outsiders to Congress. Republicans are already warning that Mr. Obama, a relatively junior lawmaker, will be outmaneuvered by more experienced operators on Capitol Hill, a proposition Democrats dismissed, noting that Mr. Obama would benefit from the counsel of Mr. Biden, a longtime senator from Delaware. “I think both sides realize we need one another and both sides realize that we better not blow this,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York.

Waxman to take on Dingell for house chairman

Californian Waxman targets Dingell's House chairmanshipBY JUSTIN HYDEFREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF WASHINGTON -- It took congressional Democrats less than 12 hours after a sweeping victory on election night to start fighting among themselves for power on Capitol Hill -- and the main target is U.S. Rep. John Dingell. The Dearborn lawmaker and longest-serving current member of the House faces an unexpected challenge from California Rep. Henry Waxman for his job as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- a gavel Dingell first took hold of 27 years ago. The post ranks as one of the most powerful in Washington, and Dingell has used it to influence thousands of bills, from the breakup of AT&T through the 1990 Clean Air Act to this year's $25-billion loan program for automakers. With the Obama administration on the horizon, the committee will serve as the front line for important debates such as health care reform, controlling greenhouse gases and renewable energy. If Dingell loses the chairmanship, Michigan's influence on Capitol Hill will be diminished, as Dingell has been the point man for much of the auto industry's efforts, among other things. Waxman, who runs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has called for stronger fuel economy rules for automakers along with other tougher environmental standards. "I hope Mr. Waxman would reconsider. I don't think this is a battle he wants to put in motion," said Rep. Bart Stupak, a Menominee Democrat and one of Dingell's closest allies on the committee. "No one has articulated to me any reason why Chairman Dingell should be replaced," he added. "You better have a good reason to challenge a sitting chairman." Shortly after Waxman called Dingell on Wednesday morning to announce his challenge, allies of the 82-year-old lawmaker rushed to his defense. Although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom Dingell has clashed with in the past, could side with her state ally and press for his campaign, House Democrats would make the final decision -- if the fight goes that far. "This is unhealthy and does not benefit the party in any way," said Jodi Bennett Seth, a spokeswoman for Dingell. "Tearing a leadership apart is something the Republicans should be doing after their big loss. It shouldn't be the first order of business for the Democrats after a historic election." Waxman confirmed in a statement that he is seeking the post. "Some of the most important challenges we face --energy, climate change, and health care -- are under the jurisdiction of the Commerce Committee," he said. "In large measure, our success as Congress will depend on how the Commerce Committee performs." Several Washington sources said they were puzzled by Waxman's challenge because the committee had run smoothly in recent years, steadily producing complex bills. Committee chairmanships usually go to the member who has served the longest, although junior members have pulled upsets in cases where a chairman was clearly ineffective. Dingell has been recovering from knee replacement surgery last month after spending much of the past year on crutches, sometimes moving slowly and in visible pain around the Capitol. But Dingell, first elected in 1955, has shown few other signs of age. "He's sharper than most members on his bad days," Stupak said. While Waxman has held several high-profile hearings in his oversight committee, such as a recent one focusing on the collapse of Lehman Brothers, he has made little headway in legislation. It's also unlikely that a Democratic administration will create the same kind of opportunities for a Democratic-run oversight committee. While Waxman may count on support from the large California delegation and Pelosi, Dingell could respond with backing from several other parts of the party, including conservative and black Democratic members. Earlier this year, Dingell set up his first leadership political action committee to send donations to freshmen House members and Democratic challengers.

Dems add one more to the senate

Democratic challenger wins Senate race in Oregon By BRAD CAIN, Associated Press Writer Brad Cain, Associated Press Writer 48 mins ago PORTLAND, Ore. – The Democratic challenger in Oregon's Senate race, Jeff Merkley, has defeated Republican Sen. Gordon Smith. The victory will bring at least 55 Democrats to the new Senate, with three more races involving Republican incumbents yet to be decided in Alaska, Minnesota and Georgia. The party breakdown so far includes two independents who caucus with Democrats and 40 Republicans. It was one of the last Senate races to be decided. A flood of votes Oregonians delivered on election day kept election workers tallying ballots for two days. Merkley, speaker of the House in Oregon, planned an appearance Thursday morning to claim victory, and Smith planned a press conference in the afternoon. Smith's spokeswoman Lindsey Gilbride said she couldn't say whether Smith would concede at the press conference he scheduled for 2 p.m. The Democratic tide led by Barack Obama's election overwhelmed Smith, a moderate Republican who was seeking his third term. Smith was the lone Senate Republican on the Pacific Coast. Early Thursday, about 81 percent of the vote had been counted statewide. Merkley had a margin of nearly 40,000 votes.

Add North Carolina to the list

Obama adds symbolic NC victory to White House win By MIKE BAKER and BARBARA RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press Writers Mike Baker And Barbara Rodriguez, Associated Press Writers 27 mins ago RALEIGH, N.C. – President-elect Obama won North Carolina on Thursday, a symbolic triumph that underscored his political strength as he turned nine states that President Bush won in 2004 to Democratic blue. The Associated Press declared Obama the winner after canvassing counties in North Carolina to determine the number of outstanding provisional ballots. That survey found that there are not enough remaining ballots for Republican John McCain to close a 13,693-vote deficit. North Carolina's 15 electoral votes brings Obama's total to 364 — nearly 100 more than necessary to win the White House — to McCain's 162. Missouri is the only state that remains too close to call, with McCain leading by several thousand votes. Obama's win in North Carolina was the first for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter won the state in 1976. Of Bush's 2004 states, Obama captured Virginia, Florida and North Carolina in the South, Ohio, Indiana and Iowa in the Midwest and Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico in the West. Obama ran an aggressive general election campaign in North Carolina after his wide primary victory in the state over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested he could win a trove of electoral votes that most assumed would belong to McCain. McCain spent months watching North Carolina from afar during the summer as Obama visited regularly, but the GOP nominee returned to the state in the campaign's final few weeks as polls suggested an Obama victory was possible. Obama spent millions of televisions ads that were buttressed by hundreds of staff members in dozens of offices to take advantage of North Carolina's rapidly changing demographics and a large bloc of black voters galvanized by his bid to become the first African-American president. North Carolina's growing population includes a booming urban corridor from Charlotte to Raleigh along Interstate 85, while retirees from northern states — who are more willing to vote for Democrats — are filling the state's coast and mountains. Exit polls also showed that some 30 percent of voters considered race a factor in their decision, with the numbers split evenly among voters who backed McCain and Obama. Nearly one in five voters considered race an important factor. The economy also played a role — with 60 percent of voters considering it the top issue, with those voters breaking slightly to Obama. The state's manufacturing industry has been devastated by competitive imports, and the state's banking economy centered in Charlotte was struck by economic turmoil that led to the downfall of Wachovia Corp., in the weeks before Election Day. Obama's win completed the party's sweep at the top of the North Carolina ticket. Beverly Perdue was elected the state's first female governor, while Kay Hagan unseated one of the GOP's most respected figures in Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Emanuel accepts job as White House chief of staff

Emanuel accepts job as White House chief of staff By LIZ SIDOTI and NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writers Liz Sidoti And Nedra Pickler, Associated Press Writers 8 mins ago CHICAGO – Barack Obama's fellow Chicagoan Rahm Emanuel, the hard-charging No. 3 Democrat in the House, has accepted the job White House chief of staff, Democratic officials said Thursday. One of Obama's first decisions as president-elect was to ask the Illinois congressman to run his White House staff. The selection of the fiery Democrat marked a shift in tone for Obama, who chose more low-key leadership for his presidential campaign. Emanuel, who served as a political and policy aide in the Clinton White House before running for Congress, weighed the family and political considerations before accepting. He will have to resign his seat, relinquish his position in the House Democratic leadership and put aside hopes of becoming House speaker. Democratic officials who disclosed Obama's acceptance did so on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering Obama's team; it had not planned to announce the chief of staff position on Thursday. In offering the White House post to Emanuel, Obama turned to a fellow Chicago politician with a far different style from his own, a man known for his bluntness as well as his single-minded determination. House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio called Emanuel "an ironic choice for a president-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil, and govern from the center." Before accepting the job, Emanuel told Chicago's WLS-TV that he was honored to be considered but needed to weigh the impact on his family. "I have a lot to weigh: the basis of public service, which I've given my life to, a career choice. And most importantly, what I want to do as a parent," Emanuel said in an interview aired Wednesday. "And I know something about the White House. That, I assume, is one of the reasons that President-elect Obama would like me to serve. But I also know something about what it means to a family." As word of Emanuel's acceptance spread Thursday, Obama was meeting privately in Chicago with U.S. intelligence officials preparing him to be commander in chief and transition team leaders tasked with building his entire administration in 10 short weeks. The president-elect planned his first public appearances since his victory for Friday. Aides said he planned to meet with economic advisers to discuss the nation's financial woes that Americans listed as their top concern on Election Day, and also was slated to talk to the news media afterward. They also said Obama and his wife, Michelle, will visit the White House on Monday at President Bush's invitation. Obama advisers said he was selecting the leaders of the new government with a sense of care over speed, with no plans to announce Cabinet positions this week. Aside from Emanuel, several Obama aides said other White House officials were being lined up, including Robert Gibbs as the likely pick for press secretary. Gibbs has been Obama's longtime spokesman and confidant and was at Obama's side from his 2004 Senate campaign through the long days on the presidential campaign trail. Obama planned to stay home through the weekend, with a blackout on news announcements so that he and his staff can get some rest after a grueling campaign and the rush of their win Tuesday night. He is planning a trip to Hawaii in December to get away with his family before their move to the White House — and to honor his grandmother, who died Sunday at her home there. Obama began Thursday as he usually does, with a workout. Later, he planned to visit with the transition team he officially announced Wednesday but had been under way for weeks. Officials had kept deliberations under wraps to avoid the appearance of overconfidence in the weeks leading to Tuesday's election. He also spent time at the FBI office in Chicago, a secure location for him to receive his first president's daily brief. The document is mostly written by the Central Intelligence Agency and includes the most critical overnight intelligence. It is accompanied by a briefing from top intelligence officials that typically lasts 45 minutes to an hour, although Obama's first is expected to be longer. ___ Liz Sidoti reported from Washington. Associated Press Special Correspondent David Espo in Washington and AP reporter Beth Fouhy in Chicago contributed to this

For our Republican friends

Yesterday was rough you lost more seats in both house and John McCain got beat badly so this song is for you.

Other election night results

Prop 1 and 2 passed: http://detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081105/POLITICS01/811050406 Diane Hathaway wins: http://detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081105/POLITICS01/811050407 Democrats gained more seats: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-11-05-1a-cover_N.htm

Peters win, Schauer beats Walberg

Peters ousts Knollenberg; Schauer declares victory over Walberg Deb Price, Mark Hornbeck and Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News

BATTLE CREEK -- Democrat Mark Schauer declared a narrow victory this morning over

Republican Rep. Tim Walberg in Michigan's 7th Congressional District -- hours after fellow Democrat Gary Peters defeated longtime Republican Rep. Joe Knollenberg in Oakland County. "It's been a long night and I wanted to make sure you were able to get some sleep tonight and went to bed with some certainty on how this is going to turn out," Schauer told his supporters at a hotel in Battle Creek. "Bottom line: Tim Walberg can't catch us," Schauer said as the crowd erupted into cheers. "... We did it!" But Schauer spokesman Zach Pohl said Walberg had not conceded he'd lost the seat that he won just two years ago, when he ousted Rep. Joe Schwarz in the Republican primary. Walberg's campaign didn't return a call for comment. The Schauer campaign said that with 96 percent of precincts reporting, Schauer had 137,527 votes to Walberg's 129,657 votes. The unofficial Associated Press tally showed 324 of 356 precincts -- 91 percent -- had Schauer with 145,388 votes (48 percent) to Walberg's 141,023 (47 percent). In the 9th District, Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Hills, was soundly beaten by Peters, a former state senator and lottery commissioner. Neither result was a huge surprise, because Democrats had targeted both districts with money and resources, and the electorate in both had been trending away from the GOP. They were among the Republican congressional districts targeted nationwide. If final numbers confirm Schauer's proclamation, Michigan's U.S. House delegation will swing from nine Republicans and six Democrats to eight Democrats and seven Republicans. The last time an incumbent U.S. House member from Michigan was defeated in a general election was in 1996, when Debbie Stabenow -- now Michigan's junior U.S. senator -- ousted freshman Republican Dick Chrysler in the Lansing-area congressional seat. Meanwhile, the state's senior senator, Democrat Carl Levin of Detroit, cruised to winning his sixth term against Republican Jack Hoogendyk. A somber Knollenberg, who thanked supporters beside his tearful wife and two sons, said late Tuesday night he was overtaken by a "perfect storm" of Barack Obama's popularity and a deluge of money sent to unseat him. Peters acknowledged he was helped by Obama's huge national wave. "But it also takes a lot of effort on the ground. It was a very tall mountain. We climbed it one step at a time," Peters said. Oakland County hasn't been represented by a Democrat in Congress in more than a half century. In the campaign, Knollenberg told voters he deserved re-election to the two-year term because of his ability to bring home money as a senior Republican on the Appropriations Committee, as well as his record of fighting for the domestic auto industry. But he struggled to withstand a bare-knuckles challenge by Peters. Beverly Liberty, 48, who has lived in Farmington Hills for more than 20 years, said she chose Peters. "Sometimes people (Knollenberg) are in a bit long and need fresh ideas," she said. In the Walberg-Schauer contest, Walberg accused Schauer of being a tax-and-spend liberal; Schauer portrayed Walberg as an ineffective extremist who failed to help average people battered by job losses, rising health care costs and home foreclosures. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee shoveled more than $1.6 million into each of the two hotly contested House races, helping Peters and Schauer with TV and radio ads and mailings. The Levin-Hoogendyk race was never competitive. Hoogendyk, a state representative from Kalamazoo, had an uphill battle from the start. "A lot of people think Carl Levin is too liberal for them, but they vote for him anyway because they think he's a good senator and more important than anything else, they like him," said pollster Bernie Porn of EPIC-MRA of Lansing. Levin, a 74-year-old Detroit native, raised $8.2 million to $247,326 for Hoogendyk, 53, who boasted that he had never voted for a tax increase. Bobby Atanasovski, 40, of Allen Park said he voted for Levin because "he's good for the working class. He's been in for a long time and has done a good job."

History: Barack H.Obama: 349, John S. McCain:147

Obama: 'Change has come to America'BY TODD SPANGLERFREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF

Invoking Lincoln and promising “a new dawn of American leadership,” Barack Obama assumed the historic mantle of president-elect of the United States on Tuesday night, capping a campaign that saw him rise from unlikely candidate to the first Democrat since 1976 to win 50% of the popular vote. Obama, who five years ago was unknown nationally, is now poised to become the first African-American president in U.S. history. Speaking to tens of thousands gathered at Grant Park in his adopted hometown of Chicago, the 47-year-old junior senator from Illinois said the nation faces enormous challenges but “at this defining moment, change has come to America.” With the crowd chanting “Yes, we can,” Obama spoke of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and economic turmoil facing the country. He said, “The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But America, I have never been more hopeful. I promise you, we as a people will get there.” His rival in the hotly contested campaign, Republican John McCain, called from his home state of Arizona to concede the race shortly after news media outlets, including the Free Press, declared Obama the winner with the closing of polls on the West Coast. He held a 338-159 Electoral College vote lead over McCain with several states still in play. Obama needed 270 to win. “Sen. Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country,” McCain said in his concession speech to supporters in Arizona, calling on them to show “goodwill and earnest effort to come together.” In a lighter moment in Chicago, Obama said he would make good on another promise — to get a puppy for his daughters, Malia and Sasha. His historic rise was felt intensely by people in metro Detroit and across the nation. “I'm extremely proud of him,” said Nicole Jackson, a 35-year-old Detroit real estate broker who took her son, 10-year-old Horatio Williams, with her to vote for Obama on Tuesday. “He has stood out.” Indeed. For Michigan, which was called based on exit polls for Obama just after voting concluded at 9 p.m., and the rest of the country, there's much on the line. The nation's economic struggles that have been felt here for years and the credit crunch is hitting automakers at a time when they can ill afford it, sapping consumers' ability to buy cars. Obama, hoped many, could turn things around. Like Royal Oak's Susan Payne, who is in real estate and said she's hoping Obama “will bring confidence back to consumers.” It's a tall order perhaps — but voters turned out in record numbers to give their full-throated approval to his message of change. Inevitably, his election will be greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm for its historic nature. But he takes on a nation divided by partisan politics that is fighting two wars and is wrestling with how best to answer questions about its economic future on Wall Street and Main Street. His calibrated, careful, dogged campaign paid off Tuesday on a night as Democrats picked up congressional seats across the nation, and a sense of history pervaded the electorate. One by one, the battleground states that McCain needed to compete — New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, New Mexico, Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Nevada — fell to Obama, meaning that even if McCain took the others in play, like Missouri or North Carolina, he still couldn't catch the Democrat. Obama was the first African American to be the presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party — and he entered Tuesday as the front-runner. McCain had proven through the years — and through this campaign particularly — to be a formidable candidate, one capable of preaching a bipartisan message tied to a conservative agenda. But he failed to hang onto the coalition of states courted and won by President George W. Bush four years ago. The campaigns took vastly different paths to get to this point. Announcing his candidacy on the steps of the old Statehouse in Springfield, Ill., Obama was virtually unknown before a Democratic convention speech in 2004 and his election that year to the U.S. Senate. Improbably, he mounted a campaign that burst fund-raising records, invigorated a generation of young voters and methodically defeated the favorite — former first lady and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. McCain, on the other hand, had been seen as a player in this election as far back as his 2000 loss to Bush. Those chances seemed to disappear in the summer of 2007, when his campaign suffered organizational disarray and a lack of money. He put together a shoestring campaign and, building off a win in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary, defeated all comers, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who grew up in Bloomfield Hills. Labeling himself “the original maverick,” McCain's campaign was characterized by strong — and sometimes erratic — moves in the general election season. He named the virtually unknown Palin his running mate — energizing the conservative base which had been slow to warm to McCain but raising questions about her level of readiness to take over for him in a crisis. McCain — a prisoner of war in Vietnam, former Navy pilot and Arizona senator — would have been the oldest man ever to ascend the presidency at age 72. Meanwhile, Obama's reserve came in handy as an issue that already worked to the Democrats' benefit, the economy, came to the center of the race. Across metro Detroit and the nation, the election generated record interest — and turnout, which was widely expected to benefit Obama. Voting at the William A. Pfromm Educational Center in Warren, 77-year-old Bob McBean backed McCain but expected Obama to win. “I don't like either one of them very well,” he said. At Second Ebenezer Church in Detroit, the mostly African-American congregation was far from being so cynical. Said the Rev. Edgar Vann to his flock during a prayer session Tuesday: “History's being made and you're here. You're part of it.”

Note:

Before you say ah he's jumping on the bandwagon now.. Here's the deal after long hours of soul searching I came to understand this is larger then my disappointment of Hillary losing or how other dems treated one another during the primaries. A McCain victory would mean four more years of Reagan and Bush like policies something the US couldn't withstand. Now I ask for forgiveness because I was wrong and I hope those who voted for Obama in 2008 will come back and ensure an existing Democratic majority in 2010. The Republicans might took the lose this round be sure they will be back.

Don't let Knollenberg buy his seat

Knollenberg has more cash than Peters Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg has a huge money lead over his Democratic opponent Gary Peters, a former state Lottery Commissioner, going into the final weeks of one of the most watched congressional races in Michigan. Based on reports filed Wednesday, Knollenberg of Bloomfield Township had $1.9 million on hand to Bloomfield Hills resident Peters' $472,108. The reports also showed that for the election cycle, Knollenberg has raised $3.1 million to Peters' $1.9 million. The 9th Congressional District covers a large portion of Oakland County. In Michigan's other hotly contested congressional race, Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, has come up short in money raised against challenger state Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek. Schauer has raised $1.8 million and has $856,158 cash available, while Walberg raised $1.5 million with $691,635 left. By Kathleen Gray

Auditor to get Kilpatrick's office credit card records

Auditor to get Kilpatrick's office credit card recordsBY ZACHARY GORCHOWFREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Credit card records requested as part of an audit of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's administration were deliberately withheld from auditors while Kilpatrick was still in office, the city's new chief financial officer said Wednesday. Joseph Harris, named chief financial officer by Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr., said the Finance Department has the records sought by auditors and will make them available. "I was told by my staff for political reasons, they were told not to respond," he said. The Detroit City Council ordered an audit of spending in the Mayor's Office after the text message scandal broke earlier this year, but just before Kilpatrick resigned on Sept. 18, the Office of the Auditor General reported it could not complete the audit because it had not received all the information requested. Kilpatrick's staff has insisted it cooperated with the auditor general and made its staff available, but said auditors kept coming back with excessive follow-up requests. Norm White, who was chief financial officer this year until Cockrel took office and reassigned him to be director of the Detroit Department of Transportation, could not immediately be reached Wednesday. One of the areas in question was credit card records, according to an Oct. 6 letter from Auditor General Loren Monroe to the council. Kilpatrick came under scrutiny in his first term after the Free Press reported he used his taxpayer-funded credit card to pay for swanky meals, spa visits and chauffeured sedans, purchases the former mayor said were made while he was traveling on city business. Under the city's Finance Directive 137, the chief financial officer must maintain a list of all city credit cards, gasoline cards, purchasing cards and telephone cards. The list must include the authorized user and credit limit. Without the records, auditors could not complete an audit, Monroe said. Monroe also said the Finance Department had failed to turn over records regarding travel expenses for the mayor's Executive Protection Unit. Finance Directive 150 requires the Mayor's Office to provide the Finance Department with travel expense records each month related to the Executive Protection Unit. But Harris said the Finance Department has no such records in its possession.

Obama moves in on GOP ground

Obama moves into GOP states after final debate By CHRISTOPHER WILLS, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 49 minutes ago Leading in polls and exuding confidence after last night's debate, Democrat Barack Obama is edging into traditionally GOP states — now including West Virginia — as Republican John McCain looks to protect his turf less than three weeks before the election. On the heels of the campaign's final debate, the Democrat is launching TV ads in West Virginia, which George W. Bush won four years ago and hadn't been on the list of target states until recently, according to two Democrats with knowledge of the strategy. Obama lost West Virginia's Democratic primary to Hillary Rodham Clinton by 41 percent last May as he struggled to win over working-class whites. But Democrats say the economic turmoil in the hard-hit state and TV ads Obama has been running in its neighbors have made West Virginia competitive. These Democrats spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering the campaign. They say Obama's campaign also is considering pouring money into reliably Republican Kentucky and may yet return to the airwaves in North Dakota and Georgia. Those are two states Obama had tried to put in play over the summer, but he pulled out when they appeared out of reach. The Illinois senator sounded increasingly optimistic at a breakfast fundraiser at the New York City Metropolitan Club. "We now have 19 days," Obama said. "We are now 19 days not from the end but from the beginning. The amount of work that is going to be involved for the next president is going to be extraordinary." But, he said, for anyone getting cocky or giddy, "two words for you: New Hampshire. I've been in these positions before where we were favored and the press starts getting carried away, and we end up getting spanked." Obama won the Iowa caucuses, only to lose to Clinton in New Hampshire in the primary. McCain, for his part, was returning to the argument that Obama's credentials are too thin for the White House, his campaign and the Republican National Committee releasing ads focusing on experience and judgment. McCain planned to visit swing state Pennsylvania, but he also was being forced to go to Republican territory as polls show Obama with the edge in such places as Virginia, Colorado and Florida. Obama was heading in the next few days to Virginia and Missouri, states often out of reach for Democrats but up for grabs in a year with Republicans under fire. Wednesday night, McCain tried to blunt a familiar line of attack when he asserted, "Sen. Obama, I am not President Bush." But Obama quickly turned that argument against his rival in a new TV spot. "True," the ad's announcer responds, "but you did vote with Bush 90 percent of the time." One unique debate watcher was "Joe the Plumber" — Joe Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, whose exchange with Obama about taxes and small businesses a few days earlier elicited dozens of references from the candidates during the debate. "It floored me. It's not something I expected, ever," Wurzelbacher told "Good Morning America" on ABC. Though he wouldn't say for whom he was voting, Wurzelbacher said Obama had a "very socialist view" of taxes "and that's incredibly wrong." The 90-minute debate at Hofstra University marked the beginning of a sprint to Election Day. Obama leads in the national polls and in surveys in many battleground states, an advantage built in the weeks since the nation stumbled into the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Looking to shake up the race, McCain questioned Obama's character and his policies. He linked Obama to a 1960s radical, accused him of planning tax increases that would cripple the economy and said he was dishonest about a promise to accept public campaign financing. "You didn't tell the American people the truth," the Arizona senator said. Obama ignored that charge and remained calm throughout the debate. He often turned the accusations against McCain, calling them examples of the petty politics harming the country. "The important point here is, though, the American people have become so cynical about our politics, because all they see is a tit-for-tat and back-and-forth," the Illinois senator said. "And what they want is the ability to just focus on some really big challenges that we face right now." McCain went on offense from the opening moments, accusing Obama of waging class warfare by seeking tax increases that would "spread the wealth around." He also demanded to know the full extent of Obama's relationship with college professor William Ayers, once a Vietnam War protester and part of a group that bombed government buildings, and the Democrat's ties with ACORN, a liberal group accused of violating federal law as it seeks to register voters. McCain said the group could be on the verge of "destroying the fabric of democracy." Obama condemned Ayers' violent activities and denied any significant ties to ACORN, mocking McCain for bringing them up. "I think the fact that this has become such an important part of your campaign, Sen. McCain, says more about your campaign than it says about me," he said.

Michigan GOP: McCain threw us under the bus

Michigan Republicans: McCain 'threw us under the bus' RAW STORY While John McCain seems to have recognized his inability to win Michigan's electoral votes, his decision to give up on the state has angered some local Republicans who fear the decision will prevent GOP voters from turning out to vote in local races."He's a general who left the battlefield in the middle of the fight," said L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County executive and a GOP leader, tells the Washington Post's Al Kamen. "I'm disappointed in his behavior; he's thrown a lot of good Republican candidates under the bus."Vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin says she still wants to go to Michigan, despite her campaign's nearly nonexistent chances of victory there. If anything, the McCain campaign's decision to abandon the state has left some fertile ground for Republicans who might be gearing up for another shot at the party's presidential nomination in four years. It's not unlikely that Palin counts herself among their numbers.Kamen reports on some of the other big names who have stopped by the Wolverine state. But not to worry. Big-name Republicans have stepped into the breach, coming to the rescue, as one recent state party e-mail put it, to "fire up the troops and raise money for our party." Native son and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney was there recently for a two-day tour doing events for the state organization, various Republican candidates and Rep. Tim Walberg (R), who's in a tough race.Romney even came by the state headquarters in Lansing after an event for Walberg, the e-mail said, and "thanked everyone for their efforts, encouraged folks to never give up and left us with a surprise check for $50,000 towards our statewide efforts!" There was chatter that Minnesota governor and former vice presidential wannabe Tim Pawlenty (R) might come by to help. President Bush is headed there today for a meeting in Grand Rapids with business leaders and then off to nearby Ada for a closed-door fundraiser to help GOP congressional candidates.And don't forget that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R) is heading to Michigan next Wednesday for a luncheon fundraiser for Hoogendyk in Farmington Hills -- $500 for a photo op. Huckabee is also going to be at the other end of the state that day for a speech at the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan, in Benton Harbor.Whether it reflects a lack of optimism for McCain's chances, or simply a hope that he'd only serve one term if elected, it seems the race for the 2012 GOP nomination has already begun.

An American Carol: EPIC FAIL

By Frank Scheck Tue Oct 7, 9:19 AM ET NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Arriving at least one election cycle too late, David Zucker's "An American Carol" uses the less-than-original tack of using Dickens' Yuletide classic to spoof left-wing politics and provocateur filmmaker Michael Moore in particular. Although it's refreshing to encounter a parody that doesn't use tired movie genres for inspiration, "Carol" squanders its comedic potential with a near-total absence of laughs. Audiences will be mostly stone-faced, though it's a pretty good bet that Moore will be laughing his ass off. The film opened Friday without advance press screenings, and earned just $3.6 million for the weekend, good enough for No. 9. Zucker, whose credits include such major successes in the genre as "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun," apparently felt that combining right-wing political arguments with cheap gags about Moore's slovenliness was a surefire recipe for laughs. Actually, even those who find Moore's politics anathema will have some sympathy for the main character, none too imaginatively dubbed "Michael Malone" and played appealingly by Kevin Farley. A framing device featuring Leslie Nielsen relating the story to kids at a Fourth of July barbecue adds little comedic value to the proceedings, which involve the portly filmmaker -- whose latest effort is "Die, You American Pigs" -- being visited by the ghosts of JFK, Gen. George Patton (Kelsey Grammer), George Washington (Jon Voight) and the Angel of Death (country singer Trace Adkins). The ensuing episodes -- including Neville Chamberlain shining Hitler's shoes, the happy slaves at Malone's plantation (there was no Civil War thanks to Lincoln's pacifism) and ACLU zombies being gunned down by a trigger-happy judge (Dennis Hopper) -- are meant to depict how leftist ideas inevitably lead to ruination. Unfortunately, the seriousness of the arguments -- Zucker even brings the charred ruins of the World Trade Center towers into the mix -- work against the gags, few of which are remotely funny anyway. The sole laughs are scored by Robert Davi, amusingly playing it straight as a Muslim terrorist who wants to hire Malone to make a suicide bomber recruitment film. Besides the presence of such Hollywood Republicans as Grammer, Voight and James Woods, there also are cameos by Kevin Sorbo, David Alan Grier and Gary Coleman. Bill O'Reilly shows up as himself, somehow managing to be more dignified and restrained among these farcical proceedings than he is on his own TV show. Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

How in the world did this right wing dog turd make 3.6 million dollars? I saw a preview for this movie on Larry King few weeks ago and I expected the movie would make couple thousand to a million because right wingers have a odd habit of bulk buying to help boast sells of something. It seems conservatives have the strange idea of patriotism Democratic president: Free speech Republican President: STFU or you're terrorist, commie or whatever the new boogie man the right has created.

Note from me

I consider myself a strong Clinton supporter and I actually did thought about sitting this election out but with McCain picking Sarah Palin as his vice president got me to come out of whatever I was thinking.. What makes Sarah Palin dangerous is she's cut from the same cloth as George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan air head Republicans who let the guys in the smoke filled rooms run the government at our expense. Granted if McCain wins she's only the vice president McCain is old and he's health isn't up to par so in his case the role of the vice president has increase. While I'm not fully in the Obama camp rather have four years of him then risk a single month of McCain and Palin.

Joe B. says McCain is a "sidekick" not maverick

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 45 minutes ago TAMPA, Fla. - Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden says Republican John McCain isn't a maverick, but President Bush's sidekick. Barack Obama's running mate ridiculed McCain during an appearance at the University of South Florida on Wednesday. He said McCain is "an angry man, lurching from one position to another" and making ugly attacks against Obama instead of offering solutions to a troubled country. The Delaware senator said McCain is trying to distract voters from his support for President Bush's policies. He repeated Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey's line, "You can't call yourself a maverick when all you've ever been is a sidekick." MCL note: I hope we can retire the term Maverick after this election... From Palin, McCain and the hordes of GOP zombie pundits on cable news you would thought McCain first name is Maverick.. If this was McCain from 2000 ok but McCain has been Bush butt buddy since 2004.

McCain's ties to abortion doctor shooter

McCain connections coming back to haunt him Nick Juliano

Shared stage with abortion doc shooter sympathizerJohn McCain, who along with his running mate has been attacking Obama over decade-old associations with unseemly figures, is not without his own nefarious associations.One association, which seems to have gone unreported until now, involves a delegate who represented McCain at this year's Republican convention and previously expressed sympathy for an activist accused of shooting a doctor who performed abortions. Applying the same logic as Sarah Palin, one could argue that the members of the GOP ticket are "palling around" with abortion clinic attack sympathizers, supporters of right-wing militants, perpetrators of political espionage and revolutionaries seeking to secede from the United States.More attention is falling on the Arizona senator's own past since his attacks on Obama and former radical Bill Ayers. The Obama campaign's disquisition on Charles Keating just scratches the surface of what's out there, as reporters and liberal activists dig into McCain's web of connections. Blogger Jed Lewison highlighted McCain's opposition to a 1994 law that made it a federal crime to bomb or blockade abortion clinics or to attack abortion doctors. McCain's vote against the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act put him in league with the Senate's most radical anti-abortion advocates, who split with more than two dozen anti-abortion senators who voted to crack down on clinic bombers as a matter of preserving law & order.What's received less notice is where McCain was a few months before casting that vote. In August 1993, McCain traveled to the Pacific Northwest where he earned the illustrious distinction of becoming the first major politician to address the ultra-far-right Oregon Citizens Alliance. He was apparently making good on a promise he had made to the group the year before as he and other GOP leaders negotiated to prevent the Christian conservatives from running a third-party candidate against Sen. Bob Packwood, who would resign a few years later amid a sex scandal. The OCA attracted national attention in 1992 for sponsoring an anti-gay ballot initiative in Oregon, and McCain ignored advice to steer clear of the gathering. At the Portland fundraiser, McCain gently admonished the group to observe the "essence of tolerance," according to contemporaneous news reports.His speech was preceded by some kind words for an anti-abortion activist accused of shooting a doctor. McCain quickly got a first-hand flavor for the OCA. Marylin Shannon, the vice chairwoman of the Oregon GOP, had a spot on the program to give an opening prayer. In short order, she praised the Grants Pass woman accused of shooting an abortion doctor in Wichita and thanked the Lord ``for Lon Mabon and the vision you put in his heart.''Shannon, the GOP chairwoman, referred to the accused shooter of the abortion doctor as a "fine lady," who shouldn't be judged solely based on the single act of violence, according to a letter she wrote to The Oregonian, which was accessed via Lexis Nexis. While she did not endorse violence against abortion providers, she wrote, she recognized the "debate stirring within the anti-abortion movement" over whether killing abortion providers was a "just cause." My kind comments about Shelley Shannon, the Grants Pass woman accused of wounding abortion provider George Tiller, (``I'm not related to Shelley Shannon, but I think she's a fine lady,'') reflected what I had learned about her from people who have known her for many years. They say she has led a responsible life as a wife, mother and concerned citizen and don't want her judged by this one action. Acknowledging this side of her does not meant that I approve of others doing what she did. I do not. However, since that night I have learned much about the current debate stirring within the anti-abortion movement: Is killing abortion providers a ``just cause''? There's no indication that McCain took issue with Shannon's comments, and it's unclear whether any group members lobbied him regarding the abortion clinic protection bill. A search of the Congressional Record in 1993 and 1994 indicates McCain did not speak during debate over the bill, and McCain's campaign did not immediately return RAW STORY's request for comment.Shannon traveled to the Republican convention as a McCain delegate, and she proclaimed herself a huge fan of Palin as McCain's VP pick. She could not be reached for comment.To be sure, there is nothing to suggest that McCain supports bombing abortion clinics. But there's also nothing to suggest Obama supports the Weather Underground bombings, which by the way were carried out when he was 8 years old. McCain at least was a sitting member of Congress who took a legislative position on clinic bombings when they were a current issue. Other ties McCain might prefer to forget include his membership on the board of the US Council for World Freedom, which The Associated Press describes as "part of an international organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America." McCain was something of a de facto member of the group as he launched his political career in the early 1980s, just one of several prominent "names on a letterhead," as the council's founder told AP. But, that membership at least seemed to indicate a tacit endorsement of its goals in Central America, supporting the contras. Elected to the House in 1982 and at a time when he was on the board of Singlaub's council, McCain was among Republicans on Capitol Hill expressing support for the Contras, a CIA-organized guerrilla force in Central America. In 1984, Congress cut off CIA funds for the Contras.Months before the cutoff, top Reagan administration officials ramped up the secret White House-directed supply network and put National Security Council aide Oliver North in charge of running it. The goal was to keep the Contras operational until Congress could be persuaded to resume CIA funding.[Retired Army Maj. Gen. John] Singlaub's private group became the public cover for the White House operation.McCain says he was unaware of the full extent of the group's activities and claims to have resigned from the council in 1984 and asked to have his name removed from its letterhead two years later. According to AP, that's all news to founder Singlaub."I don't ever remember hearing about his resigning, but I really wasn't worried about that part of our activities, a housekeeping thing," Singlaub said. "If he didn't want to be on the board that's OK. It wasn't as if he had been active participant and we were going to miss his help. He had no active interest. He certainly supported us." Earlier this year, when Obama's past connection to Ayers first crept into national headlines, some observers began to remember McCain's "own Bill Ayers -- in the form of G. Gordon Liddy." The Watergate break-in mastermind, who spent more than four years in prison for his crimes, has called McCain an "old friend" and hosted the candidate on his conservative talk radio show. Palin, McCain's running mate whose "gloves off" approach has aided Ayers return to the headlines is not without her own questionable connections. Her husband is a past member of the Alaska Independence Party, and she has addressed the group on several occasions. The party's goal is Alaska's secession from the United States and its founder has said "the fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government." Beyond a 13-minute documentary on Keating, who was a key player in the savings & loan crisis of the late 1980s, the Obama campaign doesn't seem too concerned about publicly digging for dirt in McCain's past. Economic concerns have spurred a spectacular rise in Obama's poll numbers, and a struggling McCain campaign seems to be doing all it can to stop the election from slipping away. window.google_render_ad();

On hiatus until after the election

I'm out of the blogging business until after the election, I cannot support a candidate I don't believe in nor do I trust. So if you want Obama cheerleading this blog isn't going to do it and if you're a Clinton supporter needing to vent trust me there's a growing counter pro Obama blog community that will help with you that i.e. No Quarter, Liberal Rapture and Uppity woman so they do a far better job then I ever could. So in saying the only team in November I will be concerned with will be the Detroit Pistons and maybe the Lions in Madden 09.

Dem lawyers: Fla., Mich. can't be fully restored

Dem lawyers: Fla., Mich. can't be fully restored By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press A Democratic Party rules committee has the authority to seat some delegates from Michigan and Florida but not fully restore the two states as Hillary Rodham Clinton wants, according to party lawyers. Democratic National Committee rules require that the two states lose at least half of their convention delegates for holding elections too early, the party's legal experts wrote in a 38-page memo. The memo was sent late Tuesday to the 30 members of the party's Rules and Bylaws Committee, which plans to meet Saturday at a Washington hotel. The committee is considering ways to include the two important general election battlegrounds at the nominating convention in August, and the staff analysis says seating half the delegates is "as far as it legally can" go. Saturday's meeting is expected to draw a large crowd, with Clinton supporters among those encouraging a protest outside demanding that all the states' delegates be seated. Proponents of full reseating have mailed committee members Florida oranges and pairs of shoes to get their attention. DNC officials are concerned about a potentially large turnout at the "Count Every Vote" rally outside the event and have asked the hotel staff to increase security to keep everyone safe. The DNC says the roughly 500 seats available to the public inside were taken within three or four minutes of becoming available online Tuesday. The DNC analysis does not make recommendations for how the Rules and Bylaws Committee should vote, but gives context from the party's charter and bylaws for the committee to consider. The analysis said there are two options to include half the delegations — either allow half the number of delegates from each state into the convention or allow the full delegations to attend, but give them each half a vote. "The rule does not actually specify whether the reduction is to be accomplished on the basis of delegate positions or delegate votes," the analysis said, giving committee members some justification for sending the entire delegations with half-votes as some leaders in the states want. The analysis also underscores a prickly problem: If the Rules and Bylaws Committee decides to restore any of the states' delegates, there is not a simple way to divide them between Clinton and Barack Obama. That's especially true in Michigan, where Obama had his name pulled from the ballot. He didn't have the option of removing his name in Florida, but all the candidates signed a pledge not to campaign in either state. Clinton won the majority of the vote in Florida and Michigan and has been arguing that the delegates should be fully restored according to the results of the January primaries. But even if they were, it would not be enough for her to overtake Obama's delegate lead. As it becomes clear that Obama likely will win the nomination, he has been working to win over voters in the two states with visits in recent days. He plans to return to Michigan on Monday. The DNC staff analysis argues that the Rules and Bylaws Committee was fully within its rights to strip all 368 delegates from the two states when they scheduled primaries in January. Party rules said their nominating contests could be no earlier than Feb. 5. Michigan voted on Jan. 15, Florida on Jan. 29. The analysis also said there is an option to restore 100 percent of the delegates — by a recommendation of the Credentials Committee that meets later this summer. However, that would mean a final decision would not be made until the first day of the convention in Denver since Credentials Committee decisions have to be approved by the full convention as it convenes — risking a floor fight. Alice Huffman, a member of the Rules and Bylaws Committee from California who is supporting Clinton, said she has been barraged with e-mails in the past few weeks. She said the senders include Floridians who are upset that they are being disenfranchised, and she has started printing out the messages so she'll have a record to explain her decision. "This is a really, really significant issue to women. Obviously it's a significant item to people of color too. So I'm just preparing myself as best I can," said Huffman, president of the California NAACP. The shoe shipments are being organized by WalkAMileInOurShoes.org and1 the orange idea was promoted by a group called Florida Demands Representation, which plans to bus Floridians to Saturday's rally outside the meeting. Blaine Whitford, a volunteer helping organize the effort, said they are unaligned with any candidate. Susie Buell, one of Clinton's top fundraisers, has formed a political action committee encouraging women to support full seating of the delegates. The WomenCountPAC has taken out ads in USA Today and The New York Times promoting attendance at the rally. ___ Associated Press writer Juliet Williams in Sacramento, Calif., contributed to this report. ___ On the Net:

A Special Comment: Keith Olbermann

Via: Taylor Marsh.com A Special Comment Guest post by Grey Five days later, and people are still coming unhinged? Eugene Robinson and Bob Herbert, without an ounce of self-awareness, fed on yet another manufactured controversy like starved pigs at the trough, salivating at another opportunity to slander Sen. Clinton. Still, their opprobrium didn’t match Keith Olbermann’s. After Sen. Clinton's agonized apology; after Randell Beck, Executive Editor of The Argus Leader, issued a statement in support of the Senator's stated intent; after Robert Kennedy’s son defended her, you have the audacity go on the air, as though none of it had happened, to castigate her for all manner of sins, real and imagined? Have you no decency? Your special comment, Keith, was a disgrace. "We"? "We have forgiven"? Do not dare cower behind me to spew your partisan drool, sir. Has your newscast not been sufficiently prejudiced? Have you not taken every opportunity to defend and protect your Chosen One form even the remotest hint of criticism? Your diatribe was irresponsible, a collection of the worst kind of disingenuous prattle one should only hear from FOX News. How gleefully you’ve manipulated and distorted the facts just so you could look into that camera to oh so mournfully share your disappointment in the Clintons, who stood by you when no one else would, who defended you, but. But what, Keith? But she can’t run a campaign? But she can’t make a point? But she can’t make historically sound comparisons? But she can’t run ads? But she can’t criticize her opponent? But she can’t praise a colleague? But she must denounce newspapers you don’t like? But she must not be interviewed by your rivals? But she can’t answer the questions she’s asked in a debate if you don’t care for the premise? Your vituperative sermons are an insult to the memory of the man whose name you carry around like a protective shield. You're no better than O'Reilly, who, for all of his disgusting, hateful rhetoric, at least makes no claims to the pantheon of the greats. You'll be lucky if they let you in with a mop and a bucket. You are not a journalist, sir: You are an impostor. Leave that chair and get a blog. MCL take: If RFK jr didn't take offense why are so many pro Obama bloggers and mouth pieces are going bat shit crazy over her comment? It seems this is the latest effort from team Obama to find excuse for not picking Hillary for VP. Another point I remember when Obama mouth pieces like Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller were doing political yoga explaining what Obama meant when he used the word "bitter" to describe small town or rural voters.

Division, fake outrage

Op-Ed Columnist Divided They Stand By PAUL KRUGMAN It is, in a way, almost appropriate that the final days of the struggle for the Democratic nomination have been marked by yet another fake Clinton scandal — the latest in a long line that goes all the way back to Whitewater. This one, in case you missed it, involved an interview Hillary Clinton gave the editorial board of South Dakota’s Argus Leader, in which she tried to make a case for her continuing campaign by pointing out that nomination fights have often gone on into the summer. As one of her illustrations, she mentioned that Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June. It wasn’t the best example to use, but it’s absurd to suggest, as some Obama supporters immediately did, that Mrs. Clinton was making some kind of dark hint about Barack Obama’s future. But then, it was equally absurd to portray Mrs. Clinton’s assertion that it took L.B.J.’s political skills to turn Martin Luther King’s vision into legislation as an example of politicizing race. Yet the claim that Mrs. Clinton was playing the race card, which was promoted by some Obama supporters as well as in a memo by a member of Mr. Obama’s staff, achieved wide currency. Why does all this matter? Not for the nomination: Mr. Obama will be the Democratic nominee. But he has a problem: many grass-roots Clinton supporters feel that she has received unfair, even grotesque treatment. And the lingering bitterness from the primary campaign could cost Mr. Obama the White House. To the extent that the general election is about the issues, Mr. Obama should have no trouble winning over former Clinton supporters, especially the white working-class voters he lost in the primaries. His health care plan is seriously deficient, but he will nonetheless be running on a far more worker-friendly platform than his opponent. Indeed, John McCain has shed whatever maverick tendencies he may once have had, and become almost a caricature conservative — an advocate of lower taxes for the rich and corporations, a privatizer and shredder of the safety net. But elections always involve emotions as well as issues, and there are some ominous signs in the polling data. In Florida, in particular, the rolling estimate produced by the professionals at Pollster.com shows Mr. McCain running substantially ahead of Mr. Obama, even as he runs significantly behind Mrs. Clinton. Ohio also looks problematic, and Pennsylvania looks closer than it should. It’s true that head-to-head polls five months before the general election have a poor track record. But they certainly give reason to worry. The point is that Mr. Obama may need those disgruntled Clinton supporters, lest he manage to lose in what ought to be a banner Democratic year. So what should Mr. Obama and his supporters do? Most immediately, they should realize that the continuing demonization of Mrs. Clinton serves nobody except Mr. McCain. One more trumped-up scandal won’t persuade the millions of voters who stuck with Mrs. Clinton despite incessant attacks on her character that she really was evil all along. But it might incline a few more of them to stay home in November. Nor should Obama supporters dismiss Mrs. Clinton’s strength as a purely Appalachian phenomenon, with the implication that Clinton voters are just a bunch of hicks. So what comes next? Mrs. Clinton needs to do her part: she needs to be careful not to act as a spoiler during what’s left of the primary, she needs to bow out gracefully if, as seems almost certain, Mr. Obama receives the nod, and she needs to campaign strongly for the nominee once the convention is over. She has said she’ll do that, and there’s no reason to believe that she doesn’t mean it. But mainly it’s up to Mr. Obama to deliver the unity he has always promised — starting with his own party. One thing to do would be to make a gesture of respect for Democrats who voted in good faith by recognizing Florida’s primary votes — which at this point wouldn’t change the outcome of the nomination fight. The only reason I can see for Obama supporters to oppose seating Florida is that it might let Mrs. Clinton claim that she received a majority of the popular vote. But which is more important — denying Mrs. Clinton bragging rights, or possibly forfeiting the general election? What about offering Mrs. Clinton the vice presidency? If I were Mr. Obama, I’d do it. Adding Mrs. Clinton to the ticket — or at least making the offer — might help heal the wounds of an ugly primary fight. Here’s the point: the nightmare Mr. Obama and his supporters should fear is that in an election year in which everything favors the Democrats, he will nonetheless manage to lose. He needs to do everything he can to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Dems may suffer from an Obama candidacy

Party may suffer from an Obama candidacy By Gene Lyons If Hillary Clinton had no other reason to keep running for the nomination, it would be to demonstrate that Tim Russert, Keith Olbermann, Maureen Dowd, David Broder and the Beltway media gas bags don’t decide American elections. Last week, Obama, the supposedly inevitable Democratic nominee, lost the West Virginia primary by 41 points. Democrats haven’t taken the presidency without winning the Mountain State since 1916. To use a geographically appropriate metaphor, if there has ever been a canaryin-a-coal-mine primary, that was it. Naturally, the media consensus saw a meaningless result in a race they’d already called for Obama. Evidently, bitter West Virginia rednecks don’t watch cable TV. In 2000, the same pundit chorus urged Al Gore to quit in Florida for the sake of the country (and the Republican Party ). Everybody knows how that worked out. Today, Gore’s a Nobel laureate. George W. Bush, like Obama a uniter, not a divider, became the most unpopular, ineffective president in U. S. history. Ever heard any media princelings explain how they went so comprehensively wrong ? Me neither. If nominated, Obama can’t possibly defeat Sen. John McCain without bringing Clinton voters to him. Recently, however, I’ve been hearing from many passionate Democrats who say they can’t and won’t vote for him in November, so I asked a few to explain why. Mine is no scientific survey. Ranging from 26 to 86, my correspondents live in seven states, North, South and Midwest. They don’t know each other personally. None participates in politics except on a local, volunteer basis. I chose them because they’re unusually articulate. Most think Obama a sure loser in the McGovern, Dukakis tradition. They believe he’s totally unqualified. “I’ve voted for every Democrat from president to dog-catcher since 1952. That will end with Obama,” insists H. in Maine. “He won’t get 150 electoral votes, more than he deserves. The Democratic Party’s been teetering on the edge of extinction. Obama’s arrogance will kill it.... “ Just four years out of the state Senate. If he were white or female, his candidacy would be a joke. Imagine if he’d opted to run for vice president with Hillary. Mc-Cain would lose, Democrats would come close to 60 Senate seats and pick up 35 in the House. The Democratic left’s need to swoon after eight years of a moron, coupled with unbridled Clinton hatred, will produce a disaster for the party and country.” It’s the Obama campaign’s cynical use of race beginning in South Carolina that’s the deal-breaker for others. “He is making his way to Denver by dividing our party over race, which is maybe the most idiotic campaign tactic ever,” writes C. in Kansas. “This time the witch hunt is coming from our side. It’s heartbreaking. Obama supporters want you to think Bill and Hillary Clinton are lifelong members of the KKK. The audacity of hope campaign has had the audacity to go there.... This fall, they’ll try to make nice and talk unity, but the people they alienated in the most hateful way won’t be there. They deserve to lose for being so callous and childish.” J. in Florida agrees: “Obama and his supporters’ use of the ‘race card’ against the Clintons (with the help of the in-the-tank media ) is sickening. Now we have vile, racist, crazed-for-power Hillary. Obama means to avoid the ‘divisiveness’ of the Clinton years by blaming it on them. That’s a despicable lie, and he knows it. The only way of avoiding divisiveness is to cave to the Republican agenda, which I believe he’s more than eager to do.” “He and his supporters, “ J. adds, “ have systematically sacrificed the central constituency of the Democratic Party —the poor and working class—on the altar of constituencies who look to politics for reaffirmation of their identity: college students and childish Sixties neo-libs. (The African American constituency makes sense, so no gripes there. )” By abandoning the principle of universality in health insurance, most think Obama has guaranteed that meaningful reform cannot be achieved. Z. in Georgia adds that Obama’s vagueness on economic issues foretells disaster. “He has no perceptible position on the economy other than ‘We can do better. Yes, we can. Say it with me.’ I foresee broken campaign promises followed by belt-tightening austerity measures in a one-term presidency. In short, Jimmy Carter in a better-tailored sweater.” “ I view the Obama candidacy as a narcissistic endeavor by a mediocre politician dividing Democrats along social vs. economic progressive lines, ” J. insists. “He’s forcing a choice between winning in 2008 and possibly saving Roe vs. Wade and promoting gay marriage vs. fighting for the poor and working class. “ I’ve decided I won’t help Obama and his personality cult transform the Democratic Party into an organization that represents only the interests of rich, social liberals.” What do I think? I suspect most will grudgingly return by November, but that non-African American working-class voters won’t. MCL comment: Obama followers have burned too many bridges over the past couple of months. The Obama folks well the grown ups at least now realize they can't win with only 13% of the population not all blacks vote Democratic, college students who are not always reliable when it comes to elections and old hippies. You need to get that blue collar, poor, white vote and Barack Obama can't do it. He can't keep the plan of well that state isn't going to vote for me so who cares about them. Gore did that and "lost" John Kerry did it and lost.

The Obama Bolshevik Mentality: Coup, Purge, Purify. Obama, not Democratic, Party

The Obama Bolshevik Mentality: Coup, Purge, Purify. Obama, not Democratic, Party By Bud WhitecloseAuthor: Bud White Name: Joyan and Bud White WhiteEmail: susanunpc@gmail.comSite: About: See Authors Posts (20) on May 15, 2008 at 9:10 AM in Advertising, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Clinton, Current Affairs, David Axelrod, Democrats, Electability, George McGovern, Infrastructure, John Kerry, MoveOn.org, Swift Boat Veterans For Truth Obama is attempting to take control of the progressive infrastructure built over the last 15 years. Ben Smith reports that Obama is seeking to essentially shutdown outside progressive groups and funnel their funding to his campaign: Senator Barack Obama’s campaign is steering the candidate’s wealthy supporters away from independent Democratic groups, calling into question what had been expected to be the groups’ central role in this year’s Democratic offensive against Senator John McCain. Obama’s national finance chairwoman, Chicago hotel mogul Penny Pritzker, told supporters at a national finance committee meeting in Indianapolis May 2, and in other conversations, not to give money to the groups, people familiar with her comments said.“From the beginning of this race Obama has told supporters that if they want to help his effort, they should do so through his campaign,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton, who confirmed that Pritzker has told donors not to give to the groups. “And he means exactly what he says.” Many of these progressive groups were established to counter movement conservatives’ dominate infrastructure. In 1971, in a reaction against the New Left, Lewis F. Powell drafted a memo for business groups and the Nixon administration on building a conservative infrastruture to counter what he saw as an anti-capitalist, anti-freedom movement of the New Left. This plan was followed and we have had a third of a century of conservative governance, interrupted by 4 years of Carter and 8 years of Clinton. Similarly, after what many progressives saw as an attempted coup d’état by movement conservatives against President Clinton, the left began building its own infrastructure to counter the Rush Limbaugh/American Spectator magazine/Newt Gingrich assault on our first progressive president in a generation. MoveOn.org was born as a muscular defensive of Clinton in a era where the left consisted of stale periodically like The Nation and Mother Jones. Now Obama is seeking to use the fragile progressive infrastructure for his own electoral gain: But in recent days, major donors have begun to conclude that Obama is serious in trying to cut off funds to the outside groups. “It’s given donors pause,” said one prominent Democratic donor of Pritzker’s words. Obama’s remarkably swift and complete consolidation of Democratic Party power. It’s an unprecedented seizure of control that has built him, over the course of a year, the most powerful field organization and the largest financial network in American politics, leaving many existing structures – traditional party organizations in many states, the Clintons’ long-nurtured national network – in the dust. Outside groups, of course, can alter the electoral landscape. Just ask Michael Dukakis and John Kerry, both victims of brutal attack ads run by groups more affiliated with movement conservatives than with the campaigns themselves. But some liberal activists argue that Obama is making a big mistake by consolidating all the power and money into his campaign: But Democrats who support the work of the media 527s say Obama’s making a mistake. Progressive Media USA has aired anti-McCain television ads and developed a website intended to be a hub for negative information about McCain. As I wrote previously, the Republicans and their conservative shock troops have prepared their plan to dismantle Obama, assuming he becomes the nominee. Obama may be disarming himself in his attempt to deny Hillary the nomination, and consequently we can look forward to Obama joining the pantheon of defeated Democrats: McGovern, Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore [updated], and Kerry.