Wednesday’s campaign round-up

June 4, 2008

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* Yesterday was a key campaign day for reasons that have nothing to do with the presidential race, with plenty of down-ballot primaries to watch. In New Mexico, for example, Rep. Steve Pearce barely beat Rep. Heather Wilson in a Republican primary for the state’s open Senate race, 51% to 49%. Given Pearce’s record as a far-right conservative, Dems found his victory yesterday encouraging — he’ll be easier to beat.

* In New Jersey, thankfully, Sen. Frank Lautenberg easily won his primary with 61% support, and is considered the favorite in the general election.

* Montana held a Republican primary for Senate yesterday, and the results were unexpected. Perennial candidate Bill Kelleher — who runs practically every year, but hasn’t won a contest since 1972 — managed to defeat Mike Lange, who enjoyed the overwhelming support of the Republican establishment.

* In Iowa, six-term Rep. Leonard Boswell won his Democratic primary against Ed Fallon, who was challenging the incumbent from the left. Boswell emphasized Fallon’s support for Ralph Nader over Al Gore in 2000. Fallon conceded the endorsement was probably his “worst political decision” and it probably undermined his chances.

* Barack Obama spoke at AIPAC’s national conference this morning, and continued to offer effusive praise for Hillary Clinton, calling her “great,” “extraordinary,” and a “true friend of Israel.”

* Shortly thereafter, Clinton returned the favor, telling the AIPAC audience: “I know Senator Obama understands what is at stake here. It has been an honor to contest primaries with him. It is an honor to call him my friend. And let me be very clear: I know that Senator Obama will be a good friend to Israel.”

* SurveyUSA released a bunch of new general-election polls yesterday. The numbers are at least mildly encouraging — Obama leads McCain in Missouri by two (McCain was ahead by eight in April); Obama leads McCain by five in Massachusetts (Obama only gets 65% support from Bay State Dems, which, one assumes, will go up); Obama leads McCain by 10 in Oregon; Obama leads McCain by 16 in Washington state; and Obama leads McCain by five in Minnesota.

* We can only hope this is accurate: “Are House Democrats on the verge of an unprecedented second ‘wave election’ in a row — one that could win them up to another 45 House seats? That’s the astonishing finding of a new survey by the Democracy Corps, the Democratic polling firm run by Stan Greenberg and James Carville.”

* The Obama campaign released his schedule for the week, and his first stop outside events in DC and NYC is a townhall meeting in Bristol, Virginia. That wouldn’t be especially noteworthy, except Bristol is definitely Appalachian country, and Obama badly lost Bristol in the Virginia primary (despite easily winning the state overall). He is, in other words, kicking off his general election by going directly to those who are most skeptical of him. Good for Obama.

* And finally, the White House congratulated Obama on winning the Democratic nomination. Bush didn’t call him, though.

Boswell emphasized Fallon’s support for Ralph Nader over Al Gore in 2000. Fallon conceded the endorsement was probably his “worst political decision” and it probably undermined his chances.

After being responsible for 8 years of a fascist coup d’etat, the Nader types are going to spend a looooooooooooooooooooong time on the outside.

We can only hope this is accurate: “Are House Democrats on the verge of an unprecedented second ‘wave election’ in a row — one that could win them up to another 45 House seats? That’s the astonishing finding of a new survey by the Democracy Corps, the Democratic polling firm run by Stan Greenberg and James Carville.”

Yep, and think about a 70-seat Senate! The Republican Senatorial candidate in Mississippi is running behind. Mitch McConnell is running behind.

It’s going to be the greatest Democratic victory since 1936.

  • “I know Senator Obama understands what is at stake here. It has been an honor to contest primaries with him. It is an honor to call him my friend. And let me be very clear: I know that Senator Obama will be a good friend to Israel.”

    Excuse me—did I miss something here—or does this look like the first tentative steps toward conceding the nomination to Obama? If she’s selling him to AIPAC, then is sounds like she’s beginning to view him as “presidential material….”

  • yeah, Tom, that was an interesting choice: notorious Bush Dog Boswell versus Flakey Naderite Fallon (and was hardcore, too – said that if he had three hands he could hold his stomach, hold his nose and have one left to vote for Gore if it came to that in a general, but since he didn’t. . .)

    Steve, I thought that too being the optimist I generally am, and then it occurred to me she could have said “President Obama will be a good friend to Israel,” but didn’t.

  • And finally, the White House congratulated Obama on winning the Democratic nomination.

    So the White House is farther along the curve than Hillary?

    And let me be very clear: I know that Senator Obama will be a good friend to Israel.

    That would sound better had she said ‘I know that President Obama will be a good friend to Israel.’

  • “After being responsible for 8 years of a fascist coup d’etat, the Nader types are going to spend a looooooooooooooooooooong time on the outside.”

    In a way we can thank Ralph Nader for this “wave” if it happens. He single-handedly enabled the worst president ever to be elected, which made this backlash almost inevitable.

  • That would sound better had she said ‘I know that President Obama will be a good friend to Israel.’

    Indeed. If she starts using that kind of language it would be a lot better. Unless she thinks McCain might win?

  • Kelleher ….. managed to defeat Mike Lange, who enjoyed the overwhelming support of the Republican establishment.

    Maybe this is why this Lange character lost. With friend like these….., is all I am saying.

  • doubtful said:
    That would sound better had she said ‘I know that President Obama will be a good friend to Israel.’

    Yeah, but like they say, when you ask a donkey to fly you don’t complain if they don’t get very far. I think she’s easing into acceptance.

  • Why an Obama-Clinton ticket is the best thing for America. Think about it. America is more messed up than ever before thanks to the current non-administering administration. It will essentially take THREE Presidents to fix this mess. So, Obama’s integrity, ‘git ‘er done’ attitude and willingness to do only what he believes is right-no matter the opposition is exactly what we need for our next leader (no more shafting America so your friends can get richer!) In his corner, we NEED Hillary’s determination, contacts, experience and prior knowledge of what worked and didn’t in the healthcare saga and numerous other areas. We NEED Bill’s global good will, vast experience, and insider info. He can travel the world-as he does now, but in a more important capacity, to help us regain the respect of other nations again, and continue his prior work to reduce global warming, clean up the air, water, food, etc. right along w/ Obama and Hillary. We get THREE highly qualified, dedicated Americans to fix this mess and end the war too! THEN, after Obama’s 8 incredibly productive years, we get Hillary (and Bill) another 8 years to continue what they started!!! If you are a Hillary supporter rather than Obama’s then THIS is the ticket you WANT! It’s the ONLY chance Hillary (or any VP) has of actually getting 16 years in the White House! Think about it. 16 years of getting the added value of either two or three President-qualified people in there to sort this out. Obama, Hillary, and Bill are ALL qualified individually for the job (granted Bill can’t run, but he’s had the job), so let’s put them TOGETHER and really make big, huge, amazing, life and world-saving things happen. It’s absolutely our best hope for survival in a world that’s limiting our future by the second. The three of them together can make the difference we need. Obama-Clinton ’08 – Before it’s too late! Dream team indeed!

  • I’m inclined to give Clinton some credit for the statement to AIPAC. She is far down the rabbit hole, and every inch closer to the light is encouraging. Think of it as training a puppy: you wish she weren’t still peeing in the house, but you gotta praise her for learning to go for the puppy pad before she lets loose.

    Unfortunately, this patronizing reinforcement is the best I can do, given that Clinton and some of her surrogates have set her up for condescension by indicating that she’s “not ready” to concede, “needs time to grieve” and must be “given space,” in contrast to what’s been expected of practically every other losing primary candidate we’ve ever had.

  • Lyn Canon (9) – Would you want a “do-anything” VP with no principles or sense of truthfulness. One who undermines your message. One who says you don’t even believe in the principles of Democracy? As an American, I DO NOT!!!

  • Clinton and some of her surrogates have set her up for condescension by indicating that she’s “not ready” to concede, “needs time to grieve” and must be “given space,” in contrast to what’s been expected of practically every other losing primary candidate we’ve ever had.

    Call it “the soft sexism of low expectations.” I keep waiting for someone to point out that this is language one would hardly expect to see applied to a defeated male candidate.

  • Nice to see Clinton say that but the history books will still treat her poorly because of the way she has handled her campaign.

  • Obama leads McCain by five in Massachusetts? I live here and this will change, I talked to my Mom this morning and she’s not to happy that Clinton lost. But when I told her that her generation has been screwing mine for the last 25 yrs and it’s our turn, she agreed with me. She said she felt the same way when Bill was elected. She’ll come around.

  • In a way we can thank Charlemagne for Obama’s success. Backtracking political credit or blame can get silly or trivial quickly and is very seldom constructive. A dna trace indicates, I believe, that most of us are related to Carlemagne, but so what? Obama is all about the future; imho, he knows the ‘we were stabbed in the back’ perspective just creates roadblocks. He is going to be asking us all to be better than we are. That’s what good leaders do.

  • Anyone who uses the phrase “git er done” with anything other than irony or scorn can’t be taken seriously in a discussion with grownups.

    Obama is going to get hammered by the right fir his lack of military experience. Without offering names, his running mate needs to be someone with credibility throughout the military, someone even the putzes at Fox News will have trouble attacking without alienating some of their core viewers.

  • Thinkprogress doesn’t have one single post of Obama’s victory!
    Talk about sore losers…

  • Clinton is the Determinator. If Gore had shown such grit, we wouldn’t have had Bush. Every virtue can turn into a fault if one is virtuous to a fault.

    That said. To paraphrase McCain, “Hillary, cut that shit out.”

  • Here’s a good website for helping keep track of the supers and other Dem presidential news:

    http://www.demconwatch.blogspot.com/

    Today Obama has added (so far) 12 supers, including Walter Mondale, who switched from Clinton.

    Good on Hillary for being gracious in her AIPAC speech. I hope she’ll do the right thing and concede soon. Bit no VP spot for Hillary please, Lyn. Of course we need Bill Clinton’s expertise, but in a defined role. As VP spouse, he would be too much of a loose cannon (he’s already proved this over and over) and could not be fired if he goes against the Obama administration. Just a thought.

  • Wilco I though the same thing. I like their site, but come on give the guy his due.

  • I realize that it’s very easy to blame Ralph Nader for the last eight years of George Bush, but is this really an argument based on facts?

    Shouldn’t we be blaming Gore for agreeing with Bush on 95% of the debate points?

    Shouldn’t we be looking more closely at the relationship between Diebold and the Bush Administration?

    Shouldn’t we be taking aim at the Florida Republican machine, Supreme Court, and the acquiescent Democrats, all of whom allowed the vote count to stop?

    It’s easy to find a scapegoat, it’s much more difficult to wade through the series of unfortunate events that led to the worst administration in U.S. history…

    …just a thought.

  • I personally like these updates on Moms and Dads views. It humanizes this stuff.

    14.
    On June 4th, 2008 at 12:46 pm, Rick said:
    She’ll come around.

  • I backed Hillary Clinton and I am now backing Obama. I think he will make a great president. But I have to say I find many of his supporters incredibly obnoxious.

    You guys might try a little graciousness in your victory dance. There has been no contest for a presidential nomination in the modern era that has been this close; certainly none since primaries became the main way in which a nominee was chosen. No losing candidate for the nimination has gotten more votes than the winning candidate. Like it or not Clinton IS different than any other losing primary candidate. She had every right to stay in there until Obama had enough delegates to clinch the nomination. In the weeks and weeks of calls for her to drop out, there was never any mention of the fact that he didn’t have enough delegates to clicnh the nomination unless Clinton dropped out. If enough superdelegates had gone his way to give him the nomination weeks ago and Clinton continued the fight theh you would have a valid reason for criticizing Clinton. If she continues to run now, which I see no evidence that she intends to do, I will join you in criticizing her. In the meantime, just shut-up and enjoy your victory. I sincerely hope we will all enjoy an overwhelming Democratic victory in November. We need to turn this country around.

  • #17 Not much at Think Progress, but there is one article in reference: “Bush congratulates Obama on becoming the Democratic nominee”

    TP is still one of my favorite sites for news, though.

  • Rick (14) But when I told her that her generation has been screwing mine for the last 25 yrs

    This is something that has bothered me for years. As the “greatest generation” and soon the “boomers” reach retirement, we are seeing a pattern of increased alienation. I really don’t want to see a point where people already retired and receiving SS are saying, OK now you can raise the age for social security, or raise the taxes, or make the economy more investment oriented. But I fear the day will come when either the young will become slaves to the old (we may be there now) or the young throw the old overboard (a logical reaction).

    In any case, Rick. Good for you.

  • Hannah said:
    Today Obama has added (so far) 12 supers, including Walter Mondale

    Trivia anyone? The place Obama gave his victory speech last night is not only the site of the upcoming Republican convention, it’s also the site where Mondale conceded to Reagon.

  • Before Obama consider Hillary for VP he might want to check the rules to see if he will be able to fire her if he needs to.

  • It’s ironic that when we will no longer need a veto proof majority in the senate we will have one. This demonstrates how disgusted the public is with republican obstructionism. The public seems to be paying more attention than ever before out of the necessity to rid ourselves of this republican disaster. Only a few months left.

    I watched that pathetic phony McCain speech last night which amounted to a speech 75 course where the speaker is practicing being enthused and when to smile, pause and make eye contact. I doubt after this that McCain will even remain a senator. Few people knew he was this bad. The more public exposure he gets the more he is exposed. What a small little man who owes his political career to marrying into wealth.

  • Trivia update for Dale

    Same site, different building. It was the St Paul Civic Center in 84. That building was torn down. Several shaman have indicated that the hex died with the building.

  • After being responsible for 8 years of a fascist coup d’etat, the Nader types are going to spend a looooooooooooooooooooong time on the outside.

    Couple of things — I voted for Ralph in 2000, while living in Tampa, FL. So I’ve had time to give this a great deal of thought.

    First, when you say I am ‘responsible for 8 years of a fascist coup d’etat’, I can only thank you, but humbly demur. I believe you are mistaking me and a few million of my co-voters for the 40 million or so idiots who voted for Bush. Or you may simply be mistaking me for Katherine Harris, Jeb Bush, or just over half of the U.S. Supreme Court. Either way, I suggest you see your eye doctor; clearly, you need a new set of glasses.

    It is important to remember that, while it is surely human to want to find a scapegoat for nearly every misfortunate that befalls us, nonetheless, it is unreasonable and illogical to blame the supporters of Ralph Nader for causing George W. Bush to win the Presidency in 2000, as he did not actually win the Presidency in 2000. Precisely what he’s doing in Al Gore’s office I could not tell you, but having given the subject meticulous thought, I can state quite firmly and definitively that I didn’t put the #@%!er there.

    Thank you, though, for your consideration in this regard.

  • Lyn Cannon @ #9: You’re probably just kidding, but…

    Hillary doesn’t have to be the VP to play a key role in the Obama Administration. She could be energetic Senator from New York who rides herd on the healthcare bill until it becomes law. She could be the Secretary of HHS. She can be any damn thing Obama wants her to be.

    Bill Clinton can fill the same roles in the Obama Administration as he could if Hillary were VP. I’m sure that he would like something useful to do.

    Hillary should formally suspend her campaign immediately, disappear for a month or so to grieve, and then she and Bill should campaign like tigers for Obama, all the way through November.

    Anything but VP. What a mess that would be!

  • “being responsible for 8 years of a fascist coup d’etat”

    By using the term coup d’etat you invalidate your own argument that Nader voters are responsible for the Bush presidency unless you are asserting that Nader voters disenfranchised voters, intimidated counters, rendered a bogus scotus decision, etc.

  • its our long lost JKap! your buddy Paul did a nice job in Montana last night – too bad the MSM isn’t giving McCain a little more of an embarassing ribbing today about coming in, what, third?

  • tim w @ #21…
    yeah, all that’s true. but it’s still fun to blame nader, too.
    oh, and now doc nebula as well.

  • All Al Gore had to do to win was carry Tennessee, his home state. period.

    You ppl who continue to defame Ralph Nader are so full of it.

  • About the Montana race, this may sound like quibbling, but the GOP Golden Boy in the Senate race was actually Kirk Bushman, who finished third.

    Mike Lange was the disgraced state House Majority leader famous for his invective-laden tirade against Gov. Schweitzer and despised by party stalwarts for participating in a last-minute compromise with the Gov on budget issues.

    The point of this is to emphasize the magnitude of the upset.

    Also worth noting, is that in the Democratic MT-AL House race, John Driscoll — a guy who vowed neither to raise money nor campaign — beat the party’s annointed candidate, Jim Hunt.

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