Who do you like?

[wil]

Originally Posted by Pathless

I am going to my county's Democratic caucus today to put my support behind Kucinich, if that is at all still possible.

Namaste Pathless,

I'd love to participate in a Caucus someday, I'm stuck with Primaries. I have been in a few third party events, they are great because the candidates are right there, and they come into your circle and try to convince you to move over to their circle...

[Pathless]

And that was discouraging. I had to fight to speak at all, and stood alone in my vote for Kucinich in my tiny precinct, which means no delegates for Kucinich from my tiny precinct. Not too surprising, really, and in the end it makes no difference--except for me personally. It was good to stand up and resist, in this small way, the shanghaiing of the electoral process.

We ended up with the majority of the delegates going to Obama, the classic lesser of two evils. I just finished reading this article by Paul Street, which indicts Obama on the charge of hypocrisy: while he goes on and on about the "Movement" that his campaign is and how he does not take money from lobbyists; while he has created a myth that he is stands in staunch, principled opposition to the war in Iraq; while he preaches to the economically disadvantaged about the shame of home foreclosures, it seems he is playing the traditional role of politician: making promises that he will break, acting as if he is "of the people," when indeed, he is of the elite and power-hungry.

My next step is to change my registration to "Independent" and support Cynthia McKinney in her bid for the Green Party nomination.

[Pathless]

Interesting commentary from Bill Fletcher, Jr of The Black Commentator:

Originally Posted by Bill Fletcher

So, let’s look at the scorecard and see where we are. No, not the delegate count, but the political scorecard. On the major issues, there is no significant difference between Obama and Clinton. Yes, there is some nuance, and, yes, Obama opposed the Iraq war. But as readers of my commentaries know, I have not discovered particularly fundamental differences.


Despite this, there is a clear Obama-mania underway and there are two aspects to this that we must address head-on. On the one hand, Obama is inspiring millions with the notion of “change.” Now, the “change” that is mentioned in speech after speech is very vague. When Obama speaks in concretes, e.g., attacking Al Qaeda bases in Pakistan unilaterally, there is nothing new and different about that approach. Yet what seems to be happening is that the disgust with the Bush years, combined with a reassessment of the Clinton years, is leading many people to look for something very different. This is in part generational, but actually much deeper than that. I emphasize this point because it is easy to write off the excitement as being naiveté. There is an unfocused desire to break with what the...

Having an issue with the quote function this morning.

Whatever, full article:
The Black Commentator - Cover Story: And Now, Obama? - The African World By Bill Fletcher, Jr., BC Executive Editor

[wil]

note this is heresay, unvalidated.

Listening to C-span a bi-racial individual who was a Obama supporter changed his tune when he went to an Obama rally. He was told he couldn't sit in the bleachers as he was too dark, they were looking for white and light skinned people as those bleachers were opposite of camera positions and the campaign wanted to indicate that Obama had a majority of white supporters.

yikes.

[China Cat Sunflower]

I wouldn't be surprised, wil. Politics is a production. How do you feel about the idea of McCain as Pres.? Would it make you vote the other way, or do you like McCain? Or will you vote for someone else? You've expressed an interest in third party politics, but you haven't specified a Party, so I was just wondering.

I'm waiting for Ohio and Texas. Texas mostly. I think that after that we'll know who it's going to be for the Dems. Obama has the buzz right now, and Hillary will have to use the latino vote to stomp him in Texas or else. I'm not counting her out, just sayin' that the Obama momentum is poised to reach critical mass.

Chris

[wil]

McCain has proved himself to cross party lines to try to accomplish needed tasks, M-Fiengold, M-Kennedy, much to the chagrine of his republican counterparts hence the animosity for him.

Should he choose Huckabee as a running mate, I could not vote for him.

I don't see Obama or Clinton as change as they claim. Although I believe Obama will instigate a change, a wake up call in the US, for one reason....his ethnicity. A bi-racial President with an Islamic background would definitely stir the pot, and a pot that needs stirring and dirty laundry that needs airing. Our inherent racism and denial of same will be called on the carpet.
Of these forrunners, I see McCain as the only candidate with the credentials of Commander in Chief, the potential of getting both sides of the aisle to accomplish things, and the experience to be involved in foriegn policy.

(So Obama, a candidate who will polorize parties, create social conflict and hopefully understanding in the process but very little accomplished in congress. Or McCain who will most likely get congress to act on all sorts of stuff...I'm torn here, as one of the safest things we have in the world is when congress ISN'T passing laws)


I'd like to see a Ron Paul/Kucinich ticket, I may vote green, I am completely undecided at this time. I'm still waiting to see how the third party tickets pan out.

What I quit doing years ago, what I refuse to do today is vote AGAINST somebody. If I decide for the first time in decades to vote for one of the two party candidates, I will do it because I want to see them in office, not because I don't want to see the other guy in office. At this juncture I can see myself voting for McCain (depending on running mate) I can see myself voting for Obama, I cannot see myself voting for Clinton.

[gp1628]

This is my political stance. Personally I do not think that either major party has it all correct enough to remain in power for too long. And the minor parties are not strong enough yet to offer a real choice which might win (but I wish they did) So I guess that I belong to the toggle party. The major parties should be alternated so that neither can do too much damage before the other gets a chance to fix things. Since the Republican party has had so much time (too much time in my humble opinion and a great example of what Im saying) then I will definetly be voting Democrat. This time. Altoh I will also take steps to insure that there is not too much democratic power falling into the houses at the same time. Gandalf Parker -- "Daddy, is the US republic or democracy?" "Neither. We are capitalism."

[Pathless]

Originally Posted by gp1628

"We are capitalism."

True that.

I can't in good conscience vote for any of the major players. With a nagging conscience I may cast a vote for Obama. McCain is an odd fellow. I've seen footage of him in which he appears intelligent and moderate, and I've heard tell that he thinks we should stay in Iraq for 100 years and bomb Iran (to the tune of the Beach Boys). I couldn't vote for him. I won't vote for another Clinton, not simply because I dislike Hilary (she seems to have a modicum of compassion), but because I think family presidential dynasties are a really bad idea.

I will probably be violently lodging a third-party protest vote into the great lumbering, rusting, representative democratic framework this November.

[wil]

Originally Posted by gp1628

..the minor parties are not strong enough yet to offer a real choice which might win (but I wish they did) So I guess that I belong to the toggle party....

Originally Posted by Pathless

I will probably be violently lodging a third-party protest vote into the great lumbering, rusting, representative democratic framework this November.

Again, I do not believe a third party vote is ever lost or simply a protest vote. The Dempublicans and Repocrats both follow closely what the people are doing when they go behind the curtain and pull the lever (or walk up and hit a touchscreen)

So when any third party gets any significant share of the vote say greater than 5% or makes a jump greater than a couple percent over last times go around...the party wonks get concerned and see where we are voting, co-op the thinking of that third party and attempt to bring those folks into the fold.

You may not get your candidate in...but a third party vote can and will change policy!

[path_of_one]

I can't vote for McCain. He has lots of experience but I simply can't vote for someone who plans to continue this war that we can't afford and is not helping anything. (Not to mention that I am pacifist, so voting for someone who plans to continue with war is just not compatible with my beliefs.) On some issues I don't have a problem with him, but on others he is entirely opposite my belief system. And he doesn't come across to me as a guy who cares at all about lower class and middle class families who are now struggling to survive. I was struck by the difference in who was surrounding the candidates after their latest wins/losses- McCain's group, which he addressed as "my friends" in his speech, was incredibly white and mostly wealthy and older looking. This could be contrasted with the much higher rate of diversity in both age and ethnicity, and class (if presentation says anything) at the Dems' speeches. McCain says he will cut government spending, but if he plans to continue on with the war, all that translates to in my head is that he'll continue to spend unreasonable sums of money on killing people while slashing already-underfunded areas like education, health care, scientific research, and the arts. No thanks. If history serves as any sort of warning system, we need to be careful that we don't make ourselves into an empire and overextend our financial resources while bankrupting our own nation. It's happened throughout history and it usually ends badly with some sort of political, financial, and social meltdown.

It's a slight aside, but I look at the billions of dollars that leak out of this country to go to war and can't help but think if we spent all that cash on fortifying our borders and airports, increasing security and preparedness, we would practically be impenetrable by now. But no, we spend it on a war in Iraq, in an area that has been in conflict for thousands of years, thinking we will magically be able to hand over democracy on a platter.

As for the Democrats, there are practically no differences between Obama and Clinton in policy, from what I've seen of the debates. A few differences in the means, but little to none in the ends. Clinton has the experience of being married to a former president, which in that family I think chalks up to more experience than people may think. Obama needs more specifics, but in the meantime I have to admit that I think it's fantastic that he's drawing out the young and disenfranchised voters that usually are apathetic about government. That's worth something in itself to me.

In short, I don't particularly love any of the three, but I appreciate what Obama is doing to stir the pot.

If Edwards paired with either Dem candidate, I'd be very tempted. I like Edwards, and I don't think he annoys the Republicans as much as the other two.

[Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine]

Gotta go to the polls today (primaries.) Pray for me.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine

[Operacast]

Originally Posted by wil

Listening to C-span a bi-racial individual who was a Obama supporter changed his tune when he went to an Obama rally. He was told he couldn't sit in the bleachers as he was too dark, they were looking for white and light skinned people as those bleachers were opposite of camera positions and the campaign wanted to indicate that Obama had a majority of white supporters.

I'll tell you. Having been burned once or twice on similar stories that proved false, I'm beginning to think such anecdotes may be deliberately put out there to discredit Obama. There are some pretty hair-raising tales out there that have been definitively debunked, although this one is a new one on me. I've recently started to assume, frankly, that there is an orchestrated attempt -- goodness knows from whom -- to smear Obama among the grass roots, and if they can put smears like this out on C-Span -- hey, they'll do it in a heartbeat!

Bottom line: be generally wary of yarns like this.

FWIW,

Operacast

[Pathless]

Nice media medley of Ani DiFranco's music and Dennis Kucinich's rallying inspirational politics:

YouTube - Fleetwood:Ani & Dennis Kucinich Political Art Chowder

[wil]

Here we go, with the last primairies the Republicans got two presents, both with a double edged sword.

First McCain locks it up and Huckabee concedes...all well and good, but now John has to go the Whitehouse to be endorsed by George, surely that 34% favorability rating will help tremendously!

Second Hillary wins and keeps the battle splitting Democrats alive, but if she can keep the momentum the likelihood of a Clinton/Obama ticket looms. And that would be unbeatable.

Ron Paul is dancing as last challenger standing, odds are he'll go all the way to the convention now, hoping to get a few protest votes from those who don't want McCain.

[Paladin]

And let us not forget that even in our Corporatocracy another voice can still be heard...
Michael Colby: Ralph Nader vs. the Fundamentalist Liberals