Category: Elections

How Hillary got her groove back

Posted on by TL

“Today I am standing with Senator Obama to say: Yes we can!”

With those words, U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton ended her historic run for the White House and endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States. Senator Clinton said everything she needed to say, and more, with her sound endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for president Saturday.

While some supporters called for Clinton to form a third party and challenge both Democrats and Republicans for the White House, there’s no indication that Mrs. Clinton took any of these ideas seriously.

Instead, Mrs. Clinton graciously thanked her supporters, strongly urging them to support Obama’s candidacy.

To all those who voted for me, and to whom I pledged my utmost, my commitment to you and to the progress we seek is unyielding. You have inspired and touched me with the stories of the joys and sorrows that make up the fabric of our lives and you have humbled me with your commitment to our country.

Some have said Hillary dallied too long on her campaign, that she should have spent more time talking about Barack.

But those words ring hollow.  Her supporters stood by her even as she spoke Saturday, and this was their time as much as it was hers.

This has been an extraordinary primary campaign season.  For the first time in the history of the United States, a woman and a black man stood as the front-runners overall in the primaries.  Both Clinton and Obama top John McCain in national polls throughout the primary campaigns.  Senator Clinton stood strong until she decided that it was time to suspend this campaign, and endorse another.

I would caution Democrats who might resent Hillary staying in the campaign as long as she did.  Some, I know, have become angry that she didn’t “get it” like they thought she should and bow out, leave the once crowded stage so Barack could concentrate on November.

But I disagree.

What she did, in fact, was extraordinary, and we owe her our gratitude.  Senator Clinton fought.  This was not ego — this was history in the making.

Hillary did not “get her groove back” by endorsing Senator Obama.

The Senator from New York had it all along.

It’s Hillary-day

Posted on by TL

Today, it’s all about the Senator from New York.

Today, Senator Clinton endorses the Senator from Illinois for President of the United States. Today is Hillary-day.

The Associated Press reported Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton met Thursday at the Washington home of California Senator Dianne Feinstein, and emerged from the meeting laughing.

They spent one hour alone, without aides, without Senator Feinstein, “in two comfortable chairs facing one another.”

No one else was present during the meeting and nothing was served except water.

“There was a desire on both sides, I think, to have private meeting,” Feinstein said.

This has been a spectacular campaign season.

“They called me when it was over,” Feinstein said. “I came down and said, `Good night everybody, I hope you had a good meeting.’ They were laughing, and that was it.”

Today, it’s all about the Senator from New York.

Mrs. Clinton, thank you. Thank you for hanging in there. Thank you for fighting.  Thank you for taking this nation where it has never, ever gone before. Thank you for taking the challenge and not giving up. Thank you for fighting to the end. Thank you demonstrating strength, integrity, and class.

Madame Senator, thank you.

Today is your day.

The best is yet to come.

The Oberweis Reality Tour: Bush on Steroids

Posted on by TL

The way Jim Oberweis sees it, he just needs one more chance to explain himself to the voters. After a past unsuccessful bids for the United States Senate and Illinois governor, Jim simply feels he hasn’t had the chance to really tell the voters who he is. So, he’s going to try to explain himself again to the voters as he makes an attempt to unseat Congressman Bill Foster in the 14th Congressional District.

Before we take the “Oberweis Reality Tour” together, let’s first listen to Jim:

“The opportunity is there,” Oberweis said during a visit to The Courier News. “If we can explain to voters where we are on the issues … I believe I’ll win. I do believe my views represent the majority of views in the 14th District. But we didn’t do a very good job of communicating our views.”

Jim doesn’t want this fall’s campaign to turn ugly and negative. He wants to tell you who he really is.

“It became well-known that my opponent was going to portray me as a George Bush clone,” Oberweis said. “I didn’t think there was any way they could possibly do that. I was wrong.”

So, Oberweis was just misunderstood.

I don’t think so. The reality is, Jim Oberweis is George Bush on steroids, and the voters in the 14th Congressional District need to watch out.

Let’s start with Oberweis’ Final Solution on immigration: send back the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants immediately. Perhaps he’ll even throw in a carton of milk for the bus ride back. According to the ArchPundit:

Oberweis staked out the hardcore send back 12 million people immediately and no exceptions kind of policy and not only embraced the position, but embraced fairly radical anti-immigrant activist organizations.

Most amazing is that John McCain, long a reasonable voice on the immigration debate embraced Oberweis as McCain’s flip flop to the dark side of several issues continues.

Oberweis is a Board of Director for NumbersUSA which is one of the leading right wing anti-immigration groups.

He’s spoken at Illinois Minutemen meetings such as this one on May 6, 2006 mntmn017.wav

And despite railing on the businesses using undocumented workers, Oberweis Dairy never wondered why the company cleaning for them could afford to do the work they were doing. Turns out the contractor were paying below minimum wage for undocumented workers.

According to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, two undocumented workers brought a complaint to the Illinois Department of Labor against Oberweis Dairies for violating Illinois and federal minimum wage laws and failing to fully pay its employees:

Meet Rosa Ramirez and Jorge Ibarra — two undocumented workers who live and work in northwest suburban Chicago. Rosa, who is 41, and Jorge, who is 34, were both hired on May 1, 2005 to clean three Oberweis Dairy stores. The stores are located at 9 East Dundee Road, Arlington Heights, 1405 Palatine Road, Hoffman Estates, and 30 South Roselle Road in Schaumburg.

In fact, according to the ICIRR, these workers were paid less than half of minimum wage to clean Oberweis’ Ice Cream Stores:

“Mr. Oberweis has exploited these workers twice,” says Joshua Hoyt, Executive Director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. “First he exploited them for cheap labor, and then he exploited them by demagoging their illegal status for cheap votes. We have asked that the Illinois Department of Labor conduct a full investigation into Mr. Oberweis’ employment practices. No one likes a hypocrite,” Hoyt continued, “and Mr. Oberweis’ hypocrisy just shows how our economy is powered by the labor of undocumented immigrants like Rosa and Jorge.”

So, we need to deport 12 million people, but, in the meantime, it’s okay to hire them to do our dirty work?

Who’s cleaning your toilets, Mr. Oberweis?

Hillary Clinton will ‘strongly’ back Barack Obama

Posted on by TL

From HillaryClinton.com:

Dear Friend,

I wanted you to be one of the first to know: on Saturday, I will hold an event in Washington D.C. to thank everyone who has supported my campaign. Over the course of the last 16 months, I have been privileged and touched to witness the incredible dedication and sacrifice of so many people working for our campaign. Every minute you put into helping us win, every dollar you gave to keep up the fight meant more to me than I can ever possibly tell you.

On Saturday, I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy. This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, but as I have always said, my differences with Senator Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Senator McCain and the Republicans.

I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democratic Party’s nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise.

When I decided to run for president, I knew exactly why I was getting into this race: to work hard every day for the millions of Americans who need a voice in the White House.

I made you — and everyone who supported me — a promise: to stand up for our shared values and to never back down. I’m going to keep that promise today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.

I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.

I know as I continue my lifelong work for a stronger America and a better world, I will turn to you for the support, the strength, and the commitment that you have shown me in the past 16 months. And I will always keep faith with the issues and causes that are important to you.

In the past few days, you have shown that support once again with hundreds of thousands of messages to the campaign, and again, I am touched by your thoughtfulness and kindness.

I can never possibly express my gratitude, so let me say simply, thank you.

Sincerely,

Hillary

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Full-speed ahead to the White House.  Republicans are terribly overconfident, and Democrats have a ton of work to do.  Focus must remain on policy differences: McCain/Bush II, or a strong voice for diplomacy and common sense in Barack Obama.

The candidates couldn’t be more different.

History and Barack Obama

Posted on by TL

Barack Obama has clinched the Democratic nomination for president, and Hillary Clinton is ready to call it quits on Friday or Saturday:

‘Senator Clinton will be hosting an event in Washington, D.C., to thank her supporters and express her support for Senator Obama and party unity. This event will be held on Saturday to accommodate more of Senator Clinton’s supporters who want to attend,’’ her communications director Howard Wolfson said.

For months, the right wing has been calling on Republicans to vote for Clinton in open primaries. I have a long-time Republican friend who told me he took a Democratic ballot in Illinois to vote for Hillary Clinton, because Republicans thought she was the easy win.

Or was that just more Republican “Strategerey,” as “W” would say? Were they really hoping for Obama? Could it be that the last several months were just a ploy to set up Obama as the nominee, and usher in an easy win for John McCain?

I don’t think so. McCain has reason to worry. If Hillary and Barack do finally embrace sometime this weekend, it’s history.

History.

This entire primary season has been about history, and I’m extremely proud to be a Democrat. It was the Democrats who had a woman and a black man as the last “men” standing from an outstanding field of potential nominees.

A woman and a black man, front and center, as our potential nominees. Think about that when the Republicans roll out their closet minorities onto that Minneapolis stage in September. The Republicans play lip service to those who have been stepped on in history.

The Democrats nominate them to lead.

Hillary Clinton deserves our thanks. She and Barack have written a new history together.

I’m thinking of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present. It’s often said that history is written by the winners, but that doesn’t mean those who lost didn’t write history. Zinn tells the history of the United States through the eyes of those who did not fare as well as white men. This is a history that has gone unnoticed for too long in the schools, but is finally making its way into mainstream textbooks in the grade schools and high schools.

A more recent publication by Dahr Jamail, Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq, tells the same sad story again. Thanks to the Internet, we don’t have to wait hundreds of years to hear the people speak. Jamail and those working with him give voice to Iraq, reporting different voices from the Iraqis than the mainstream press, the “embedded” journalists, would tell.

History, rewritten. And last night, rewritten again by Barack Obama.

As we finally enter the last months of this presidential campaign, we must remember first that John McCain is a good man who served this country well. His wife, Cindy, is a wonderful humanitarian. They are good Americans, but that is not enough.

John McCain is the wrong choice for president.

John McCain has closely allied himself with the philosophy of President George W. Bush. He didn’t have to embrace Bush, but he did. John McCain is running a campaign to continue the policies of George Bush. But more than seven years of history, and ages before that for anyone who has studied history, demonstrate the failures of those many policies that have left the United States with a dollar weaker than both the Euro and the Canadian dollar.

I recall my first meeting with Senator Obama at “the Barn” in Olympia Fields. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., had introduced Barack Obama to a relatively small group of elected officials who had gathered to learn more about the man, who was running for the U.S. Senate at the time. He was approachable, and he listened. No Secret Service. No huge, screaming crowds. Just Barack Obama making his case to a small gathering of elected officials. He listened to me. He spoke with me. I was satisfied that I had been heard.

He listens.

It’s time for change — a radical break from the imperialist policies of the past seven-plus years. It’s time for healing, to reestablish relationships and rebuild our squandered credibility with the rest of the world.

It’s time for history.

It’s time for Barack Obama.

Pfleger Pflummoxes with Pfustian Prelection

Posted on by TL

Archbishop George must have turned Cardinal red.

What was the Rev. Michael Pfleger thinking? Was he jealous of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright? Did he really want to make his debut on the world stage on You Tube?

Pfleger’s rant was juvenile and sad:

”I really don’t believe it was put on,” Pfleger said. ”I really believe that she just always thought, ‘This is mine! I’m Bill’s wife, I’m white, and this is mine! I just gotta get up and step into the plate.’ And then out of nowhere came, ‘Hey, I’m Barack Obama,’ and she said, ‘Oh, damn! Where did you come from? I’m white! I’m entitled! There’s a black man stealing my show!’ ”

Mimicking Clinton mopping tears, Pfleger added, “She wasn’t the only one crying, there was a whole lot of white people crying.”

Cardinal George clamped down:

“To avoid months of turmoil in the church, Fr. Pfleger has promised me that he will not enter into campaigning, will not publicly mention any candidate by name and will abide by the discipline common to all Catholic priests.”

Pfleger apologized:

“I apologize for the words that I chose. I apologize for my dramatization that was, for many people who do not know me, simply typical dramatics I often use in sermons,” said Pfleger, reading from a statement as nearly two dozen church leaders surrounded him. “I apologize for anyone who was offended and who thought it to be mockery, that was neither my intent, nor my heart.”

What is truly sad in all of this is, Pfleger is a good man. He is. And we desperately need a dialog on race in this country. White entitlement is real, but Hillary Clinton is not running because she feels entitled. That’s just silly. Hillary is doing something historic, and she should stay there as long as she pleases.

But the Democratic nominee will be Barack Obama, and the overwhelming majority of Democrats, whether they support Clinton or Obama not, will support Obama in November.

Pfleger will, well, pfade. He’ll be a priest again, and that is as it should be.

Barack Obama resigned his membership at Trinity, and that’s probably a good thing for now. Republicans are salivating, but that is only temporary. Only Democrats are having a dialog on race — and every other social issue, for that matter. Republicans embrace social issues and “compassion” once every four years, tops.

Look, McCain/Bush2 will no doubt fill the stage at the Republican Convention with every minority and minority child he can find in the Republican ranks, but that will be an artificial statement.

It’s still time for change. That’s the only constant in this election cycle.

Obama’s “Sweetie” Nightmare

Posted on by TL

Barack Obama called reporter Peggy Agar “Sweetie,” and now he’s apologizing for it. That bodes well for America. We have yet to hear the first apology from George “Great job, Brownie” Bush.

This is all absurd, yet another sanctimonious diversion from real-world issues.

Saying “Sweetie” is so “Chicago” of Senator Obama.

I moved here from Pittsburgh in 1990. I remember begin surprised when I would go to restaurants and the waitress would call me “Hon,” “Honey,” or “Sweetie.” Turns out it’s all over Chicago, too easily slips off our tongues.

I can see that it might sound odd to the ears of others outside the Chicagoland area, but, here, well, Sweetie, it’s all the rage.

John Edwards to Endorse Barack Obama

Posted on by TL

The alerts just started pouring in from the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and others:

John Edwards will endorse Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination tonight at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign said.

This is tremendous news for the Democrats, and should seal the deal for Obama.

50 Superdelegates ready to endorse Obama

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Without providing specific names, The Huffington Post reports that 50 superdelegates are prepared to endorse U.S. Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States.

Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO), Sen. Barack Obama’s Missouri co-chairman and pledged Obama superdelegate, said Obama will gain the support of 50 undecided Democratic superdelegates later this week, according to the Columbia Missourian.

It’s over. While Senator John McCain may sound magnanimous, friendly and at peace, he’s got to be nervous. This is the Republican Nightmare and the Democrats’ dream.  Senator Clinton would have been a great nominee, but Barack will be incredible.

It’s gotta be Obama

Posted on by TL

Barack Obama

The stage is set for tomorrow’s primary elections in Indiana and North Carolina. 218 delegates are up for grabs: 84 in Indiana and 134 in North Carolina.

If any Democrats are undecided, listen: It’s gotta be Obama. Here’s why.

First, let me be clear. If Hillary Clinton somehow wins the nomination, I will fight for her as if the future of the world depended on it. But if anyone in North Carolina or the Hoosier state has any doubts, go with Obama.

Don’t worry about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. We all have a crazy uncle in our families. I had the highest respect for Rev. Wright until last week. The National Press Club appearance was unnecessary and narcissistic. He says he’s not a politician but a pastor. I don’t buy it. He’s sounding more and more like a politician attempting late night comedy — and that’s never a good thing.

Forget the Reverend. No matter who wins the nomination for the Democrats, we’re going to find a lot more people they know or knew who occasionally went off the deep end. And we’ll find the same for John McCain. Remember, John McCain’s wife Cindy has already been outed for drug addiction, and steeling the drugs from her own nonprofit medical organization.

Oh, my.

Look, we need Barack Obama. Hillary is wonderful, but she’s running on a 90s redux platform, and that’s not good enough for the primaries. Yes, Bill was wonderful back then, but his time has passed.

I’m not endorsing change for the sake of change. I’ve had the pleasure of talking to Barack Obama on a few occasions, and I am convinced he’s the best candidate for President of the United States. Lock it up now, and we can spend the next six months convincing rest of America that Barack Obama will help us rediscover what it means to be an American after 8 years of the Bush Administration throwing America in the mud.

It’s gotta be Obama. It’s time for change. It’s time for Barack.

(Photo: Barack Obama at the Rialto Theater in Joliet, IL, courtesy eNews Park Forest)