I have a question that just hit me when I was reading this email update I get from the dark side of our economy

*  A new CNN poll shows 73% of Americans support American-made energy exploration;
*  A Fox news poll says 76% of Americans support immediately increasing oil drilling in the United States;
*  A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll shows 68% of Americans would support increased exploration for oil and natural gas;
*  Rasmussen Reports show 67% of Americans support oil drilling off the nation's coasts and 64% think it will lower gas prices;
*  A Reuters/Zogby poll shows that 60% of Americans support more U.S. drilling and some 59.6% said they would favor government efforts to boost domestic drilling and refinery construction to lower energy costs; and
*  Finally, a Gallup Poll says that 57% of Americans also support drilling in U.S. coastal and wilderness areas now off limits.

How this pertains to FISA: Obama voted "against" the majority interest when he voted for a bill containing retro-active immunity. The argument oft bandied is that a majority of Americans did not support this immunity, so therefore he was out of the main stream and caved to the Bush Klan.

Now that polls show that a majority of Americans support renewed drilling efforts, what happens if Obama were to follow the "majority" argument outlined above? One can only assume that the same people so angry at him for the FISA vote will be equally unhappy for supporting new drilling in previously off-limits areas. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Also a keu illustration why we rearely elect Senators to the Presidency - such service opens you to too many compromises.

It is official. We now have two examples of downstate races and the impacts of the two Dem Presidential Candidates.

In Kentucky we have a close race with the preferred candidate coming in second and in Louisiana the preferred candidate coming in first place in a hotly contested election.

First let us review the Hillary Clinton coattails:

The day began with hope and pomp. Bolstered by the sentimental support from 157,770 fans and endorsed by presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton and cheered by Clinton's daughter, Chelsea

That is a huge crowd by current Clinton standards... but what follows seems to be SOP for the Clinton Gang:

She crossed the wire 4 3/4 lengths behind favorite Big Brown. Then, with the second-largest crowd in Derby history whooping it up, Eight Belles collapsed with two broken front ankles.All that heart and her gallant fight, however, ended in the worst of all possible ways: a breakdown, an ambulance on the track. And, with no other choice, she was euthanized by injection.

Now lets go to the Obama Coattail Express where we have Cazayoux (D) vs. Woody Jenkins (R) in the special election down in Lousiana's 6th district:

The Republicans have been sharpening their message against Barack Obama with $500,000 in new ads in the ongoing special House elections in Mississippi and Louisiana -- a stark contrast to the old days when Hillary Clinton was the boogeyman of Republican advertising.

"I think he's the weaker candidate, and I've thought that for over a year now," said NRCC Chairman Tom Cole. "He's very inexperienced. He is by any definition liberal and to the left of Hillary Clinton, and he will give us plenty of ideological divisions to work with."

Another close race with totally different results:

10:46 PM ... Cazayoux sneaks ahead with 79% of precincts reporting. A 3 point margin.

10:48 PM ... Flips back to Jenkins.

10:49 PM ... with 99% reporting, Cazayoux back up. Looks like he took it.

So there we have it folks. Hillary backs a newcomer to the stage, and the poor candidate gets literally slaughtered and the Obama backed candidate who takes a 30 year republican seat despite the GOP Wright stuff.

The update for the super delegates is clear: Obama is the rising tide, Hillary is becoming past tense.

You tell me:

Snark
Bold
Brave
Insane
Left Hook
Brilliant

I had to test out the new TPM rules you know.

I think everyone already knew this, but the Clintons are not pristine and there is a lot of dirt available for the RNC spew machine. The following quote highlights that  very clearly.

“Clearly there’s a sense that she would be a tougher general election candidate,” said one Republican strategist. “So why do we want to acknowledge her and give her more credibility? Attacking her sends a message to the Democratic electorate. If she’s not the person you want to engage, why would you do that?”

To some degree, Clinton is now seen in conservative circles as a temporary ally who ought not be thrown off stride.

“She’s our best surrogate,” joked Barbara Comstock, a former RNC research director and GOP strategist.

But Comstock, like some other Republicans, also believes it’s risky to give Clinton a free pass.

“Given how volatile this campaign is, we should highlight that both are left of center,” she said. “She and Obama are soul brother and sister on philosophy. And right now you have to fight against the ideology of both of them.”

Noting the photos that surfaced of Bill and Hillary Clinton with Tony Rezko, the image of Jeremiah Wright with Bill Clinton in the White House and the fact that the former president commuted the sentences of some members of the Weather Underground, Comstock said the Obama vulnerabilities could be paired with Clinton.

Not that it should surprise anyone, but Bob Johnson is in the media pushing the Geraldine Ford line about Obama only in the race now because he is black:

"What I believe Geraldine Ferraro meant is that if you take a freshman senator from Illinois called `Jerry Smith' and he says I'm going to run for president, would he start off with 90 percent of the black vote?" Johnson said. "And the answer is, probably not... ."

The only problem that Johnson has, is that Obama did not have 90% of the black vote until Big Dog Billy opened his mouth in South Carolina. Up until then, Hillary had been well supported by the black community. Not to mention that he is trying awfully hard to revise her statement well after the event in question.

Facts, who needs them?

Anytime a campaign tries to limit the success/failure to one particular factor, it opens a clear logical fallacy. Events are not isolated and a mesh theory needs to be used to process the end results. AKA Kerry lost because of swiftboating. Kerry lost for a number of reasons, and the swiftboating was merely one of the final straws that broke the camel's back.

Simplistic reasoning like this is the same reason why Clinton was not ready for Obama to knock her lead by using small state math. Myopic. They just need to get over it, and show why anyone should vote for her.

This from a Obama Email:

I want to tell you about one of the most exciting projects of this campaign. It's called the Obama Organizing Fellowship.

When I was a young man, I was inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and the idea of people working at a grassroots level to bring about change.

I got my chance on the South Side of Chicago, as a community organizer, and it was the transformative experience of my career.

It allowed me to put my values to work and to see that real change comes not from the top-down, but from the bottom-up, when ordinary people come together around a common purpose.

The experience changed the course of my life -- and I want to share that kind of opportunity with you.

That's why we're introducing a program that's going to train a new generation of leaders -- not only to help us win this election, but to help strengthen our democracy in communities across the country.

If you apply and are selected, you'll be trained in the basic organizing principles that this campaign and our movement for change are built on. You will be assigned to a community where you'll organize supporters. Assignments will begin in June, and you'll be required to work a minimum of six weeks over the summer.

This program is designed to give you real world organizing experience that will have a concrete impact on this election.

Apply to be an Obama Organizing Fellow and put progressive values to work in the real world:

http://my.barackobama.com/fellows

If you can't take the time away from work or your family that's required for the fellowship program, you can still get involved.

• Reach out to someone you know who may be interested in this program, and let them know we could use their help:
  http://my.barackobama.com/fellowsinvite

• House an Organizing Fellow -- If you have a spare room, you can help by offering housing to an Organizing Fellow near their training or near their eventual assignment. We haven't set locations for all of the trainings and assignments, but if you sign up, our staff will be in touch as the campaign grows:
  http://my.barackobama.com/fellowshousing

• Support this program by making a donation to this campaign:
  https://donate.barackobama.com/fellowsdonate

Being a community organizer wasn't easy, but it was the most valuable education I ever received. It taught me that together, ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Organizing changed my life, and I hope it changes yours.

Thanks,

Barack Obama

Being an Independent, this really brings home the slogan: We are the Change we have been waiting for. I wish I could volunteer for something like this, but my job prevents it. On the other hand it has reawakened the desire to Be Change so I will continue to seek opportunities locally. Regardless of who wins this election, the fight must go on, and hopefully this primary will spark a new generation to step up to the plate.

One Love.

Here is a question:

How much money would it cost to fix the sundry problems with this site? The problems that prevent it from continuing its growth as a community?

The follow up question is: would the people who like the potential (and some say lost during the great upgrade) of this community be willing to contribute to cover this cost?

I was looking at some blog entries that I only found because I decided to investigate a normally semi-offensive poster to see if there was some more meat than the usual stick-and-run comments. There is a ton of discussion that gets lost if you do not catch it during its brief stint on the side bar, or if you already know to go to that particular blog. Plus I lack the ability to recommend, so I cannot help get blogs higher on the rec list.

I add some to my bookmarks, but my book marks are not always with me. Does anyone else have any other ideas of how to hang on to good posters? or good posts that do not make the rec list?

They say it helps to read before posting. Try 2:

Read it here

"The White House wasn't for it. We really roughed them up" in trying to get it approved over the Clinton administration's objections, Hatch said in an interview. "She may have done some advocacy [privately] over at the White House, but I'm not aware of it."

The Party Elders have spoken - first Pelosi, now they have let this little story loose. Now that the writing is on the wall, will she listen or go down fighting?

What I hear in this article:
Option 1: Leave quietly and keep your reputation
Option 2: We call in a hit on the Clinton Campaign

I know that Hatch is a R, but Kennedy is in the article as well. The link is not direct, but the message is there.

Kennedy has endorsed Obama, a move that deeply upset the Clinton campaign. Hatch initially endorsed Mitt Romney for the GOP nomination, then switched to Senator John McCain of Arizona after Romney left the race. Hatch, a longtime Kennedy friend, said he didn't want to criticize Clinton, but felt that the record should be set straight about how the SCHIP program was developed.

Asked whether Clinton was exaggerating her role in creating SCHIP, Kennedy, stopped in the hallway as he was entering the chamber to vote, half-shrugged.

"Facts are stubborn things," he said, declining to criticize Clinton directly. "I think we ought to stay with the facts."

Word on the street for the Clinton campaign is that she can leave the country quietly, or the hit will be called in.

Read this

"The White House wasn't for it. We really roughed them up" in trying to get it approved over the Clinton administration's objections, Hatch said in an interview. "She may have done some advocacy [privately] over at the White House, but I'm not aware of it."

The Party Elders have spoken - first Pelosi, now they have let this little story loose. Now that the writing is on the wall, will she listen or go down fighting?

From NBC/NJ’s Mike Memoli
CANONSBURG, Pa. -- After a rare two-day hiatus, Bill Clinton returned to the campaign trail today in Pennsylvania, a state he promised that his family expects to cover “like a wet blanket between now and April 22.” The former president again set the bar for his wife’s campaign

And we all know how much fun a wet blanket is.

Talk about setting a bar. Wow.

Renunciation is not getting rid of the things of this world, but accepting that they pass away.
-Aitken Roshi

I would argue yes. Scratch that - I would argue Sunztu.

Strike at what appears to be the strongest attribute. If you strike hard enough, the sense of strength will reel enough to cast it in a questionable light - true or not.

Now in terms of ferocity? Negativism?

Clinton said her proposal would not force low-income Americans into poverty by compelling them to pay for full health care coverage. She said it included surplus funding to subsidize coverage for families that could not afford it.

Obama said it was a mandate - and a mandate it is. It is only negative if you have questions about how well it is going to work out. It is a distinguishing point, worthy of discussion.
Health Insurance is the problem, not the Health Care. Mandating HI will only prolong that problem, not solve it. Think, the preternaturally large US government organization locked horn to horn with what, 3 insurance providers? Also over large and prone to protective bureaucracy? Yikes.
The solution is out there, but it will take a lot of negotiations to get there in a healthy manner - fighting only makes it harder.

So is all power bad? Some? What is legitimate power to exercise? Rove being effective, shouldn't make all tactical moves bad .

All this discussion about men and women and power has raised lots of hackles as well as interesting points. I think this primary season has really brought the concept of power to the forefront and many people do not even realize it. The following excerpt is very explicit:

Power is not something limited to power-hungry individuals or organizations; it is part of every social interaction where people have the capacity to influence one another's states, which is really every moment of life. Claims that power is simply a product of male biology miss the degree to which women have obtained and wielded power in many social situations. In fact, studies I've conducted find that people grant power to women as readily as men, and in informal social hierarchies, women achieve similar levels of power as men.

So power is not something we should (or can) avoid, nor is it something that necessarily involves domination and submission. We are negotiating power every waking instant of our social lives (and in our dreams as well, Freud argued). When we seek equality, we are seeking an effective balance of power, not the absence of power. We use it to win consent and social cohesion, not just compliance. To be human is to be immersed in power dynamics.

You see power played out all day long in the comments section of blogs. I think you also see the success of Obama's ground game as a demonstration of power - individuals motivated to actuate their own power in the name of hope.

I think that there is substantial misogyny in the MSM, in the Right Wing, and every where you can find a group of people. I also think that to limit the focus to "wo/man hating" is to miss what really happens at the inter-personal level. Social constructs are a two-way street and require both parties to accept the valuation derived therein.

Hence the term: Shake it off.

I think that it is hard to deny that the Obama Campaign's fund raising gambit with the Clinton(s) was a nice counter move in this chess game. Team Obama used the actions of their supporters to make it loud and clear that YES YOU CAN might be more encouraging than previously hoped.

Last I checked, one can wage "war" without violence. Strength through character.

I attended my first ever caucus as a volunteer as I am a registered Independent. It was exhilarating and very empowering. The turn-out seemed to be heavily Obama leaning and the number of people attending blew away all expectations of the Democratic Party. It was the presence of the Obama Help Team that pulled it all together.

Lots of naysayers want to paint Obama as an Establishment Candidate - a candidate of the Rich White Male(tm). Yet the people I saw attending this caucus were anything but establishment, and while there were white males, there were plenty of other demographic groups - especially plenty of elderly voters.

If you base it on the demographics of that event - the Establishment Candidate was overwhelmingly Clinton.