Category: Elections

Pennsylvania racism alive and well

Posted on by TL

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a heartwarming story about an 85-year-old woman who came to vote on a stretcher, right after a dialysis treatment.  Perhaps we should somehow be more understanding because of her age, but this is what Mary Hilferty told reporters:

“I’m here for Hillary, and I hope everyone else is, too.  There are some black people who are ready to be president, but [Illinois Sen. Barack Obama] is not one of them. [New York Sen. Hillary Clinton] has made some goofy mistakes, but she’s a woman and she thinks like a lady.”

Evidently thinking like a lady entails making a decision as to whether one of those “black people” is ready to be president.

Take a trip to Pittsburgh, sometime.  It is still very, very segregated.  Century III Mall in West Mifflin is a haven for white people.  Eat’nPark on Clairton Blvd. just up the street from the mall is whiter than white.

How much was race a factor in Pennsylvania?

It was huge.

Republicans help Clinton tip the scale in Pennsylvania

Posted on by TL

The alerts are already arriving. Hillary Clinton has won Pennsylvania. The victory is not an overwhelming, but it is sound.  Unofficial AP numbers at 9:51 p.m. ET show Clinton leading 55 to 45 percent. This trend among Republicans was reported by the Boston Globe last month:

Spurred by conservative talk radio, GOP voters who say they would never back Clinton in a general election are voting for her now for strategic reasons: Some want to prolong her bitter nomination battle with Barack Obama, others believe she would be easier to beat than Obama in the fall, or they simply want to register objections to Obama.

There are numerous reports of Republicans crossing party lines in Pennsylvania, a process which is a bit more involved in the Keystone state. Republicans must officially changing registration to the Democratic Party to take a Democratic ballot in the primary.

Democratic superdelegates need to keep this in mind as we get closer to the convention. These numbers are significant and warrant consideration. According to the Boston Globe, “About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show.”

Sources in Pittsburgh report watching media interviews with PA Republicans letting everyone in on the game plan.

How many Republicans changed parties in Pennsylvania for the primary? We’ll learn that soon. But I would certainly not award Senator Clinton the nomination based on the wishes of Republicans.

Pennsylvanians not phased by ‘bitter’ quip

Posted on by TL

Much ado about nothing.  While the mainstream media salivates over ‘bitter’ nonsense, Pennsylvania voters appear to be focused on issues, of all things.

Yes, just as Pittsburgh still has the most intelligent sports fans in the nation, Pennsylvania is home to very astute voters.  They’re forming their opinions on issues, not nonsense.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Theodore Wheeland, 21, a Penn State University senior from Troy, Pa., said he was outraged when he first read that comment from Obama.  He had been volunteering for Barack, but left the campaign after he heard this remark — and the way it was played up by the media.

But then Wheeland read more stories that gave more of the context of Obama’s remarks. He read Obama’s responses. Then, he read Obama’s “call to renewal” from 2006, urging Democrats to embrace religion. Wheeland got back on board the campaign.

“His point was not one of deep condescension to rural voters,” Wheeland said.

Wheeland is back on board with the Obama campaign.

Barack’s appeal is reaching voters who have seen many candidates and public officials come and go.

Howard and Harriet Schwartz, 83 and 80, respectively, are of the demographic that generally more strongly supports Clinton. But, despite the “bitter” comment, the couple from Lewisberg, Pa., population 5,600, say he excites them like no other candidate in a generation.

“He reminds me of Roosevelt and Kennedy — he gives me hope,” Harriet Schwartz said.

To their credit, voters in Pennsylvania are voting on the issues.  They’re ignoring the media nonsense.

Months ago, my father in Pittsburgh told me he didn’t think many would be paying attention to the Pennsylvania primary.  Everything would be decided.  After all, that’s what the media was saying at the time.

Not so.  Their votes really matter this time.  Each and every one.

George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson are morons

Posted on by TL

What a missed opportunity. What a stupid line of questioning for a Presidential Debate.

You two gentlemen were in the enviable position of asking questions of two of the most intriguing political minds in this country, and you played like children.

I defer to Will Bunch, journalist from Philadelphia, on this one. In An open letter to Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, he says everything I felt:

With your performance tonight — your focus on issues that were at best trivial wastes of valuable airtime and at worst restatements of right-wing falsehoods, punctuated by inane “issue” questions that in no way resembled the real world concerns of American voters — you disgraced my profession of journalism, and, by association, me and a lot of hard-working colleagues who do still try to ferret out the truth, rather than worry about who can give us the best deal on our capital gains taxes. But it’s even worse than that. By so badly botching arguably the most critical debate of such an important election, in a time of both war and economic misery, you disgraced the American voters, and in fact even disgraced democracy itself. Indeed, if I were a citizen of one of those nations where America is seeking to “export democracy,” and I had watched the debate, I probably would have said, “no thank you.” Because that was no way to promote democracy.

And there’s more. Read the entire post.

Obama, God and guns – Barack was right

Posted on by TL

Yes, senator, you could’ve handled this one better.

I know Obama did not intend to insult anyone in Pennsylvania, but he played right into the hands of those who parse words for their own benefit.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, and Barack is right.  It was hard as hell watching the steel mills close.  When I was young, we would watch the workers pour slag on the next mountain over from the top of our street.  The glow of the molten stone as it slid down the hillside somehow added to the heat of summer, even though we were a few miles away.

Barack was right.  Some people in Pennsylvania are bitter.  They did not see the middle class prosperity of the 90s.  Instead, they did fall through the cracks.  While the riverfront in Homestead may be thriving, there are many Homestead residents who did not get the new jobs.

The senator from Illinois is right.  Dead on.  People do cling to God and guns when all else is lost.  That is not a slam at religion or the first amendment, nor is it “elitist”, as the senator from New York insists.  While many in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh might be better off, there are plenty of people in the center of the state who never saw the prosperity of the 90s, and they’re hurting now.  They’re especially hurting as gas prices approach $4.00 a gallon.

Something has to give, eventually.  Senator John “McBush” McCain will ruin this country if he wins.  We cannot win Iraq, especially since no one knows what “winning” entails, exactly.  We need to leave, and allow Iraq to move in whatever direction the people there wish it to move.  As Dahr Jamail says, “Many Iraqis have come to believe that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is just as much a dictator as Saddam Hussein was.”

We’ve won nothing, and the people of Pennsylvania will be paying over $4.00 a gallon for gas soon enough.

Look, Obama was right.  Quit the silliness and stop with the election rhetoric.

Here’s what Obama said.  Please read all of it:

Obama in context

 

Here is the larger context of Obama’s comments as reported on the Huffington Post web site.  Please read it all:

“The places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people are most cynical about government … everybody just ascribes it to ‘white working-class don’t wanna work — don’t wanna vote for the Black guy.’ … There were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today — kind of implies that it’s sort of a race thing.

“In a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long. They feel so betrayed by government that when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn’t buy it. And when it’s delivered by — it’s true that when it’s delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama, then that adds another layer of skepticism,” Obama said to laughter.

“So the questions you’re most likely to get about me, ‘Well, what is this guy going to do for me? … we’ll give you talking points about what we’re proposing — to close tax loopholes … roll back the tax cuts for the top on perent. Obama’s gonna give tax breaks to uh middle-class folks and we’re gonna provide healthcare for every American.

“Our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

“Now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you’ll find is, is that people of every background — there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you’ll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I’d be very strong and people will just be skeptical.”

He’s not being elitist. He’s being honest.  People in Pennsylvania are hurting.  Twist that any way you wish.  It’s the truth.

Has the Well Run Dry for Clinton?

Posted on by TL

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Michael Sneed reports on rumors circulating among Democrats that Hillary Clinton’s campaign is running out of money:

Scoop du jour? Sneed hears major money problems in the Clinton camp may soon become a coroner knocking on her campaign door.

To wit: Word is the cash feeding into Hillary Clinton’s campaign coffers has not only slowed down in a big way, undisclosed campaign debts that have yet to be made public could signal the end and have insiders biting their nails.Translation: “It won’t necessarily be politics which may force her out of the race,” said a top Dem source. “There is no hanky panky going on, but Hillary needs to raise money to stay alive . . . and word is she may not be able to climb out of the money hole.”

The buckshot: “I think it’s safe to say Hillary’s not going to dip into her pocket again,” the source added. “And if her employees start taking pay cuts while chasing the dream . . . it’s usually the beginning of the body becoming totally cold.”

That would be too bad, but yet another sign that Mrs. Clinton might want to consider another path for herself.

Look, I could be dead wrong, and Hillary could somehow wrap up the Democratic nomination for President.  Mathematically, it does not appear that either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton will have enough delegates to claim the prize before the convention.  However, Senator Obama has the energy right now, and I don’t see that lapsing. 

Sen. Bob Casey’s endorsement in Pittsburgh today was an extraordinary coup for Obama. Casey is a moderate, pro-life Democrat with wide appeal to the voters of Pennsylvania.  My father called me today from Pittsburgh, and he was beaming.  Dad is already a strong Obama supporter, but was especially heartened to hear about Casey’s “thumbs-up” for Barack.

I said earlier that Obama would close the gap.  I’m not foolish enough to make predictions.  Many in the media made that mistake many times in the past.  Forget Dewey Defeats Truman (Thank you Chicago Tribune for that).  I remember going to sleep late on election night in 2000 after Peter Jennings told me that Kerry had won Florida.

Oy.

I disagree with some of my friends on Facebook who say that White America will be scared off by a black face.

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. has the worst conceivable name for a politician in the post 9-11 era.

But I know he can to do it.

Americans are ready for hope again.

And this time, the path to hope does not lie with a Clinton.

She’s Come Undone

Posted on by TL

With Bill Clinton’s tantrums in the not too distant past, Hillary’s woes magnified this week with reports that her campaign finished February in the red:

Despite a strong month of fund-raising in February in which she brought in $35 million, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton finished the month essentially in the red, once her campaign’s outstanding debts are factored in, as well as her personal loan, according to filings submitted late last night to the Federal Election Commission.

After spending about $31 million in her efforts to keep up with Senator Barack Obama, Mrs. Clinton finished February with more than $33 million in cash on hand, but $21.5 million of that is earmarked exclusively for the general election, leaving her with $11.7 million for the primary.

Sen. Clinton loaned her campaign $5 million. During the same month, Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign brought in $55 million, leaving him with $31.6 million in cash on hand for the primary and $7.3 million for the general election.

Hillary has not weathered second place well. While currently sitting comfortably ahead in polls in the Keystone State, look for Obama to close the gap and perhaps surpass her by the April 22 primary.

Pennsylvania Democrats are a unique lot, and they will closely scrutinize both candidates. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia both have strong background in labor, and both have been hit hard by the erstwhile decline in the steel industry. My grandfather worked for years in the J&L Steel Mill on the South Side of Pittsburgh. I remember the smokestacks blowing black smoke into the sweltering summer afternoon sky, and my grandfather waving to us from a window far above as we drove past on E. Carson St.

You always knew to avoid Carson St. during the shift changes at the mill. Men would cross the street in an almost endless stream as they went to or from work.

Those mills are gone, and the South Side has been reborn. The Hot Metal Bridge has been rebuilt for automobiles, cyclists and pedestrians. The mills have been replaced by a riverfront quasi-yuppie haven, but the old homes staring down from hillsides remain. The South Side is booming again. The spirit of the mill worker remains strong in Pittsburgh.

While the mills were crumbling in Pittsburgh, Hillary Clinton was on the board of Wall Mart. We cannot ignore this. That’s the history.

Earlier this week, in a speech at George Washington University on St. Patrick’s Day, Mrs. Clinton claimed she was actually sent to some trouble spots in the world because they were “too dangerous” for her husband. Of course, that sounds like perfectly credible United States police: when the danger is real, protect the POTUS and send the First Lady. We remember the numerous times the Secret Service has sent Laura Bush to the front lines in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Or not.

Here’s what she said:

“I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base. But it was a moment of great pride for me to visit our troops, not only in our main base as Tuzla, but also at two outposts where they were serving in so many capacities to deactivate and remove landmines, to hunt and seek out those who had not complied with the Dayton Accords and put down their arms, and to build relationships with the people that might lead to a peace for them and their children.“

–Hillary Clinton, speech at George Washington University, March 17, 2008.

Sounds like this was a harrowing experience. The First Lady landing in a war zone, visiting with troops, supporting those in the midst of danger while accepting the risk for herself and her daughter.

Her daughter? Yes, Chelsae was there too. Apparently it was the foreign policy of the United States under the Clinton Administration to protect the President of the United States — and put the rest of the First Family at risk in a war zone.

Here they are at the dangerous greeting ceremony at the Tuzla military airport, Bosnia, March 25, 2996:

Hillary and Chelsae Clinton in Bosnia

Perhaps Mrs. Clinton is “mis-remembering” the trip.

She’s come undone, and it’s sad. Mrs. Clinton is an incredible person. Don’t get me wrong. In no way is it my intention to treat Mrs. Clinton and the former President Clinton in the horribly ugly way the Weird Right does. As I’ve said before, the biggest problem Democrats face right now is that we have two incredible Americans running for President of the United States. The Republicans had to settle — many Republican friends have told me just that.

They have also told me they want Hillary Clinton to win. I have one friend who took a Democratic ballot in the February 5 Illinois Primary for the first time in his life so he could vote for Hillary Clinton — because he and many Republicans believe Clinton is not as electable. I find it difficult for me to believe my friend is the only Republican who did that.

The Republicans fear Obama for a reason. Barack Obama is electable. He can win.

Yes, he can.

Mrs. Clinton’s campaign is struggling. A victory in Pennsylvania will not secure the nomination, and with Senator McCain stands by waiting. Sir Elton John’ April concert and the thrill of the campaign notwithstanding, there are bigger issues to consider. She has a decision to make. The present moment is too serious.

Let’s take the White House and put America first. Let’s make history together.

Passportgate: Big Brother Watching The Dems

Posted on by TL

Yet another sleazy scandal from the Republican Regime. From WTEA TV’s The Pittsburgh Channel:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday that the passport files of both Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama were accessed without authorization by employees of the State Department.

News organizations this morning were reporting that Sen. Barack Obama’s passport files had been accessed by the State Department. Now it’s Hillary as well. Now it’s Condi Rice making the Apology Circuit:

“We are very concerned about this,” Ms. Rice said. “I told him that I was sorry and I told him that I myself would be very disturbed if I learned that somebody had looked into my passport file.”

The breaches occurred in 2007. Two State Department employees have been fired over the incident.

So, what did they know, and when did they know it?

And who else did they take a peek at?

UPDATE: 11:37 a.m.

According to The Swamp at the Chicago Tribune, Sen. John McCain’s “passport files got an unauthorized viewing at the State Department.”

Will someone in the Bush Administration please speak up for the Bill of Rights?

Obama and the Complexity of Race

Posted on by TL

Barack Obama in PhiladelphiaNo doubt we will be studying this one for years.

In a 38 minute speech to supporters in Philadelphia, PA, this afternoon, Barack Obama delivered the quintessential statement on race relations in America.

He did not strike me as a giant. The cameras zoomed out slightly, Barack stood dwarfed by the two tall American flags behind him. He looked small — not the towering Obama who filled the screen at the 2004 Democratic Convention. Here, I saw man standing alone, lifting up a critical discussion on race that recently had become bogged down in careless rhetoric. I saw a man struggling with race issues so complex they have confounded this country at every turn.

It was perhaps the most intelligent and compelling discussion on race this generation has ever heard.

With one stroke, Obama embraced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his white grandmother, two people separated by the chasm of race, yet very similar:

As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

They are a part of all of our families. We all have a Rev. Wright or a grandma, aunt, uncle, cousin or parent whose racist rhetoric makes us cringe. Sometimes they go too far. Sometimes they speak a truth in a way that wouldn’t sit well with many if we captured them on video and put them on You Tube.

Perhaps we’ve even been the Rev. Jeremiah Wright or that white grandma, caving in to our own fears and slamming those different from us in our exasperation.

Today, something happened that was different. Barack Obama presented to us in 38 minutes the complex problem of race in America. He took the silly discourse of the past few weeks and elevated it to a sublime oratory. In doing so, he elevated us all in the process.

No doubt some Republicans and extreme conservatives will pounce, mince the Senator’s words and serve them to their far-right audiences with cries of, “See! I told you he was black!” Obama summarized it well:

Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

No doubt they’ve continued the attacks on Democrats, just as they laughed at us as Geraldine weighed in, Hillary countered, Barack reacted, and Rev. Wright sang from You Tube. But their laughter sounds from a lonely island. We argue at times as Democrats because we are at the table. We are having that discussion on race that Obama so eloquently expressed today. With Democrats, race is not about “them”, it’s about “us”. We may not get it right all the time, and, yes, sometimes we sound foolish when we fall, but the Republicans as a party are absent from the table. They’re not even in the same room. Instead, they are observing our dialog from afar. Senator McCain, respected as he is by Republicans and many Democrats, is watching from the outside. McCain’s party is not having this discussion — although they would be wise to start.

We need them on board with us so we can all feel the complexities of these issues together. We will never advance alone.

I’ll close with Jon Stewart, who summarized Obama’s presentation as only he can:

“And so, at 11 o’clock on Tuesday, a prominent politician spoke to Americans about race — as if they were adults.”

And we must continue the discussion — as adults.