Jane!

Jane!

Jane!

Hello Jane

Ola.

We in this house are pleased that we no longer live in Cali, and have come home to our native land where we were born. We have paid our dues in the fast and ridculous track.

California in play? Happy to be voting here. Have seen very few signs, mostly for Obama, nothing in the mail so far.

OMG! Joni Mitchell! I grew up in NYC listening to her, this one was especially one of favorites. Thanks, Jane. Bring back lotsa great memories from Manhattan when I was young… You know, those halcyon days.

It’s nice to finally have California in play. I always thought it was kinda silly to have the largest state not matter at all. Hurray for us !

They Paved Paradise is another one of my Joni Mitchell favorites…

Bon apres midi, Jane…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPIuIwSJ41s

Two nice young men just came to my California door, canvassing for Obama. I told them my primary concern was to get the Republicans out of the White House, and I was trying to decide who had the best chance of doing that. A few minutes ago, Yahoo news was running a headline that Hillary wanted to garnish wages for those who wouldn’t buy health insurance; that looked like a problem for her. But I just checked back, and now the only visible Hillary headline reads “Clintons address black voters’ concerns”. Hmmmm.

I thought this stat in the WaPo/ABC was interesting:

Do you “strongly” support your candidate?
Hillary supporters – 62% strongly
Obama supporters – 49% strongly

I thought it would have been just the opposite result.

One of the interesting aspects of this is that the polls may not reflect how many delegates are won. Apparently the rules in California are that there are some even districts and some odd districts. Even districts have 2, 4…delegates. Odd districts have 1, 3 delegates…based upon population. In “even” districts a delegate differential of 15% will likely result in a split of the delegates. Thus a 57%-43% split will not result in more delegates accruing to the winner. But in the odd districts even a 50.5 vs. 49.5 winner may get 2 delegates to 1 for the other candidates 1 delegate. Where there is only one delegate available…it’s essentiallly “winner take one”. Thus it’s the odd districts that will actually matter more. I’ve looked at the delegate map and I have to say that this seems to me to favor Obama…East Bay, South Central LA, Sacramento City…seem to have a lot of odd districts.

What an amazing primary election. Should be a very exciting night.

Hill in my town today…

Joni Mitchell was right. And we have the CO2 to prove it.

egregious, I haven’t seen signs for democrats either. Lots of Ron Paul and Mitt Romney though.

I think many Obama supporters may be transplanted Edwards supporters who are still not “strongly” in the Obama camp. Like me, they may still be yearning for the man who isn’t there.

Modern California. The land of Ronald Reagan, Pete Wilson, George Deukmejian, Arnold Schwarzeneggar and three-bedroom one bath million dollar homes.

A few minutes ago, Yahoo news was running a headline that Hillary wanted to garnish wages for those who wouldn’t buy health insurance; that looked like a problem for her. But I just checked back, and now the only visible Hillary headline reads “Clintons address black voters’ concerns”. Hmmmm.
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I suspect that was to reinforce the “Harry and Louise” mailer that was sent out by the Obama campaign.

I have not seen even one political sign. Amazing.

wake me when i can help vote out pelosi

My, you make it sound so inviting! 3 bedrooms and 1 bath? Even our little house has 2 baths…

Hopefully Cali will vote for change over so called experience.

Does that principle apply to teachers?

My main reservation about Obama (now that Edwards is unavailable)
is that Andrew Sullivan is a big fan. Given Sullivan’s disastrous
past political love life (Thatcher, Reagan, Blair, Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney,…),
I am concerned.

Pretending to believe that corporations are willing to regulate themselves, Republicans are gutting environmental regulations, poisoning our air, water and the food we eat (during a time of emergency global ice melt). AND the media and the people want to make this into a personality contest. It is important that Republicans are not reselected by electronic voting machines and fools.

Meanwhile, it looks like MN has been wired for Obama on so-called tsunami Tuesday…

I don’t quite understand the question. ;0)

Moved to LA in 57 left in 63 and most of my family stayed there. Great place to visit when the surf is decent at the Manhattan Beach Pier.

There’s a dkos diary discussing this and apparently Hillary said this on Stephanapolis … I wasn’t watching so not sure but the account suggests she was pushed on the mandate issue and on the third pass said enforcement would include garnishing wages.

The thinking now has to be WHO CAN WIN …..
the niceties are over. This is the whole ballgame right here and we must take the WH.

Ever got to POP?

Modern California. The land of Ronald Reagan, Pete Wilson, George Deukmejian, Arnold Schwarzeneggar and three-bedroom one bath million dollar homes.

That’s Southern CA. (Up here most of the million dollar houses have at least two baths.)

Is the principle that “change” is better than “experience” apply to teachers?

Here is something on the wacky odd-even delegate issue. BTW the number of delegates a Congressional district may allocate goes up to seven/district (I think based upon the Democratic votes in the last Presidential election, but perhaps registration).

Odd-Even Delegates in California

Here’s a Color-coded Map of the Odd vs. Even Delegate Districts.

It seems to me that one could go batty with such efforts as to where to allocate resources. Obviously if one was competing in an even district of four delegates it might not behoove one to actually try to win. But in a five or three it could result in a delegate differential.

In a six or seven there are certain “threshhold points” that have similar delegate shifts, so some even delegate counts are important in evens. But in a very close race a 6 will split 3-3, but a 5 will go 2-3, a seven will go 3-4. Take enough of the “odds” and you could walk away with 10-20 more delegates…even though the other candidate wins a majority of the vote statewide.

Are you in the Bay Area?

It is important that Republicans are not reselected by electronic voting machines and fools.

Amen.

Here’s a good Frank Rich column
Ask Not What J.F.K. Can Do for Obama

What is exciting is that Arizona is in play too….. for ever the CW is that AZ is a deep red state so they write it off without trying.

Would be really great if McCain lost his home state :)

Funny! I was being evaluated on Thursday, and I spent an entire 20 minutes preparing. When I was 23 and first teaching I would spend six hours. Thursday’s lesson was much better too.

Yup.

clinton push polling obama in california?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.co…..ews-p.html

I need a short break from politics… on to Superbowl!!! *G*

There are a few Romney signs out there. It’s raining. Californians don’t go ANYWHERE when it rains

Musician man, Bela Fleck, lubes my gears.

Watch that Velveeta! *g*

Most are sayin McCain’s a lock. Goopers have decided he can win.

I predict Hillary will win California and most everything else.

I have friends in Sausalito and they have a three-bath four-bedroom house…They’re both hedge-fund specialists…

Not supposed to rain on Tuesday in the Bay Area.

I suppose I am being dense today. But I still am unclear on the question. Are you saying get rid of experienced teachers and replace them with new ones? And that would make my argument for political change consistent? Help me out here.

and most everything else.

Oh yeah? Says who?

It’s not supposed to be raining HERE- NOW. (San Diego)

Sullivan would be the first to admit to making a mistake in backing someone undeserving support. A rarity in today’s atmosphere IMO.

Yep.

“Oh it gets so lonely
When you’re walking
And the streets are full of strangers….” kind of like being a Hillary supporter in the left-wing blogosphere lately.

Watch that Velveeta!

I think it’s more like Brie and caviar… Some of us watch Superbowl in style, especially if there’s a MN Viking in the room…*g*

They Paved Paradise is another one of my Joni Mitchell favorites…

Actually titled “Big Yellow Taxi” and written by the most famous Native American songstress, Buffy Sainte-Marie.

There’s discussion of the issue and a link on the prior post. I don’t think it’s as harsh as the short headline. She indicated that those who could not afford medical care, it would be supplied. Only those who could afford, and chose not too, would be forced by garnishment or payroll deduction. Go ahead, Cinnamon, explain “sponge libertarians” again.

I’m not following eCAHN either on this one. Usually I know what she’s talking about…*g*

I’ve been seeing signs in here in the Santa Cruz mountains, Ron Paul and Barack Obama signs are the most frequent.

I won’t be voting on Tuesday. This year the Congressional race in my home state needs my vote than any of the races or propositions here in California. Gretchen needs to defeat Baron. Because the Indiana primary is in May it means my vote for president will likely be moot (I hope because Obama has wrapped it up by then).

Well, there you go – California weather.

Not a good photo of Hillary there. Looks like the Grinch who Stole X-mas.

I think you can safely say that they were “formerly” million dollar homes. Cal has turned into foreclosure village. You can’t drive down a residential street without seeing “for sale” with “price reduced” signs tacked onto them.

Of course of course…Thanks! It’s been so long ago…I’m getting old… (But at least you knew the song I was talking about.)

I’m in Mountain View and have lived here (in my 1-bath house) for a long time. No way I could afford to buy a house here now, let alone in Sausalito.

Brie and caviar I can see! Superbowl, not so much.

Hill is my town now. But I don’t the time of day for her…

You needn’t worry. One way or another, Hillary is our ‘future,’ Hillary is our ‘fate.’

Not a good photo of Hillary there. Looks like the Grinch who Stole X-mas.

Yeah, especially when it’s a YouTube of Joni Mitchell, makes HRC really look like hell… /s

I was referring to Rosalind at 45 – the LA Times Clinton push poll allegation has an unflattering Hillary Clinton photo.

The trend is Obama’s Friend

I’m more than a bit leery of the daily tracking polls, but the trend is clear–Obama is screaming upward and has been for some time. Looking at the new polls, don’t forget the margin of error. I haven’t looked but they are typically in the neighborhood of 3%-4%. This means that in several cases these polls are showing considerable overlap. In other words, impossible to say statistically who is ahead and who behind.

Superbowl, not so much.

Actually we just watch the commercials, interrupted by the plays…then we take breaks for the caviar and brie and red wine. Some drink beer. Me, not so much. That went out with my college days.

I’m with you there, on watching the commercials rather than the game. Except beer is involved here to a limited degree!

Meanwhile, this sick f*ck needs to get out of office like yesterday:

Filed at 4:03 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the nation’s first-ever $3 trillion budget, President Bush seeks to seal his legacy of promoting a strong defense to fight terrorism and tax cuts to spur the economy. Democrats, who control Congress, are pledging fierce opposition to Bush’s final spending plan — perhaps even until the next president takes office.

The 2009 spending plan sent to Congress on Monday will project huge budget deficits, around $400 billion for this year and next and more than double the 2007 deficit of $163 billion. But even those estimates could prove too low given the rapidly weakening economy and the total costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which Bush does not include in his request for the budget year beginning Oct. 1.

Sounds good! Especially the red wine. I got (almost) all my bad habits taken away from me after a stint in the ER last summer, but remember my more decadent days fondly.

Emptywheel hooks up Jeffrey Feldman and his take on the Obama/Clinton situation.

Wow.. Joni. Great pick.

GObama is trending up and Hillary is sliding down the slippery slope.

Wrong…it was written by Joni Mitchell. You’re right about the title, though.

I can’t WAIT to read all the sites and papers come Wen. morning. A WHOLE lotta heads are jes gon EXPLODE!!!!!!!

Don’t bet on it. She does not energize the young, many Indys and this Democrat, who is a white women in her target age group.

The Obama campaign is swamping our household with inquiries, reminders, calls, emails, and home visits. We had an Obama precinct campaign ring the doorbell in the pouring rain yesterday, checking to see if we knew where to vote and for whom. Within an hour, I had an email invite to see MIchelle Obama speak in San Jose; this on top of previous invites to see Ted Kennedy in Oakland and John Kerry around the corner at Everett Middle School in San Francisco. That afternoon, my fiance got a call from another Obama precinct captain, who told him all about his exciting time in Iowa roadtripping for caucus-goers, with the hope we’d vote for his man.

We voted early for Edwards, but wow, it is exciting to live in a primary state that counts this year. What is everyone else seeing? I mean as regular voters, not as Lake denizens. I’m trying to sort out my voter impressions from my web-izen impressions.

We’re going out for a walk now; I’m interested to see if people are campaigning in the neighborhood at the usual places.

Yea, in two frickin hours. Now they have turned THIS into a goddam American Idol freakshow. Just shoot me.

Ooops. made a boo-boo…Joni DID write “Big Yellow Taxi” (though Buffy performed it and had a hit with it). Buffy wrote the title track to that Joni Mitchell album…”Circle Game”. A bit of mutual admiration from fellow Canadians! Buffy also wrote that big hit for Donovan “Universal Soldier” and many other important protest songs dealing with war, Native American, labor and womens rights issues.

She’s also a talented visual artist!

Was just looking at polls at Americablog and noted that the economy was the most important – far above the Iraq situation. Was surprised how wide the margin was. Don’t think we can energize the economy until we stop the spending on the war over there. IMO

I’m in Mountain View

Are you a Googler on campus?

Another graph from pollster. For the first time, Obama popped a poll above Clinton’s trend line in California.

Obamzilla.

I don’t vote until March 5, and it probably won’t matter by then. Still I have mixed feelings. All things considered, I think I would chose experience over speaking ability and general idealism, given our present complex difficulties. Still, I remember and really got caught up in the JFK idealism and have often complained that young people are too cynical. So, I can understand either way.

I think many Obama supporters may be transplanted Edwards supporters who are still not “strongly” in the Obama camp. Like me, they may still be yearning for the man who isn’t there.
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Or men. I went to Edwards when Dodd dropped out. It still infuriates me that my preferred candidates dropped out on the basis of the opinions of a few people in IA and NH, before I or anybody else in this most populous (?) state had a chance to vote. Now I just want somebody who can beat the republicans.

Don’t bet on it. She does not energize the young, many Indys and this Democrat, who is a white women in her target age group.

Or this one. But I’d vote for her if I thought she had the better chance of winning.

Pacific Ocean Park or Pay One Price, oh yea. Did you ever see Dogtown and Zboys where they surfed the old pilings? Even go to “The Plunge” in Long Beach, a massive saltwater pool. And then there was the Hermosa Biltmore. In the summer of 66 the hotel was closed but there was a “teenage” club in the basement where thet had bands and free popcorn!

NYC here.

No land lines, so no calls.

I gave only to Edwards campaign so no email.

I throw out political snail mail unopened in the trash basket in the mail room.

I don’t watch commercial TV.

No lawns in midtown Manhattan.

You sure wouldn’t know there’s a primary on Tues. from my life.

I did catch an Obama commercial snippet before changing channel last night.

To be fair, I haven’t looked at the polls but would assume that because it’s Hillary’s home territory, probably neither is making much effort here.

Once again, my vote doesn’t make a difference.

I had been renting in Mountain View prior to buying a house in the mountains. Prices have tended to be lower because a lot of people don’t like driving on mountain roads. Personally I enjoy roads with curves, more on motorcycle than in a cage, but even on four wheels it’s fun.

I’ve been seeing signs in here in the Santa Cruz mountains, Ron Paul and Barack Obama signs are the most frequent.

I won’t be voting on Tuesday. This year the Congressional race in my home state needs my vote than any of the races or propositions here in California. Gretchen needs to defeat Baron. Because the Indiana primary is in May it means my vote for president will likely be moot (I hope because Obama has wrapped it up by then).

Bubba should have STFU:

Filed at 4:06 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband visited predominantly black churches Sunday, hoping to ease resentment among a core constituency group that felt her campaign disparaged the achievements of presidential rival Barack Obama.

Modern California. The land of Ronald Reagan, Pete Wilson, George Deukmejian, Arnold Schwarzeneggar and three-bedroom one bath million dollar homes.

an’ 5 acre Ranches

POP

No lawns in midtown Manhattan.

You got that right. But you must have a lawn in your country home, coz once during a weekday thread you said something was on your front lawn…*g*

No, unfortunately!

If I am following what you are asking, and if I said yes, then wouldn’t it follow I would have to say (to be consistent) that we would need to replace everybody. And of course then I would be put into a position of being charged with being ludicrous.

The short answer is that arguing for political change, in my view, is not the same as advocating that all experienced teachers (or members of any profession for that matter) be replaced. Perhaps I’m still missing your point. May I gently suggest you consider reformulating the inquiry? Incidentally, Lahoma and I read with interset your comments here. And discuss them. ;0)

Considering I wanted to vote for Edwards, and have said all along I’d vote for Hillary or Obama if they were the candidate, I look at Tuesday as practice for November. My friends here in NJ who are activists are breaking for Obama now that Edwards is gone.

Bubba should have STFU:

Not sure where you got your link title from the info in the article linked. Or is this just a rhetorical statement about the former president in general?

…Democrats, who control Congress, are pledging fierce opposition…

“fierce opposition” for the jelly-fish dems led by Pelosi/Hoyer means (1) holding a press conference (2) saying stirring things like “we need bi-partisan support of legislation” and then (3) caving in and giving the retarded boy-king everything he wants followed by a press conference trumpeting the bi-partisan achievement.

Now that’s some fiercesome opposition!

I might be swayed too, but every indicator shows her viewed as polarizing with higher negatives in the GE than Obama. Obama gets higher percentages in every matchup with the GOP. If we really want a DEM in ‘08, why would we risk Hillary with her baggage?

First time I went to POP was I believe, in 1956. Fond memories. One of my aunt and uncles lived in Redondo at the time. ;0)

I agree, a consistant trend (above the statistical noise) is more telling than static polls. Also if you see a trend in the same polls…ones that use the same methodology. A lot of people compare one poll to another and think that the poll shows a gain or a loss…but ignore the fact that one poll may be using “registered voters”, another “probable voters” (which is an abstract based on prior voting patterns, or age, or some other set of criteria), and a third just on the strength of committment.

There are all sorts of other issues…such as whether people who respond to a poll have already voted by absentee ballot, and the organization to get voters TO the polls.

The last minute polls have been very “off” this year. They’ve mispredicted just about every primary…underestimating the Obama turnout in SC (although they indicated such a trend that way). They blew his victory (and Huckabees) in Iowa. They noted the trend, but not the closeness of the race in NH for Obama, but failed to predict McCains victory. Obama has consistently done better than the polls have suggested (e.g. Nevada) so it may be that the formulas are ignoring the turnout by younger voters.

I see a lot of Obama buttons and signs, and very little for Clinton…but then again, I’m on a college campus most of the day and live in an urban area. Maybe the burbs are more Clintonesque in Sacramento.

I didn’t go to the country this weekend, and as of last weekend there were no signs visible. Or put differently, my neighbors around the corner who’re very liberal have had an “IMPEACH” sign on their lawn forever, and as they are obsessive local anti-development folks, they recently added a “Save the Lakes” sign.

The only political signs I remember seeing are for local offices from mid-Oct to election day. (There’s actually a regulation about early the signs can go up. Don’t know if there’s one for primaries.)

South Bay Surfers Rule. My mom lived in Torrance until she passed away and my sis lives right off Sepulveda in Hawthorne. . round round get a round I get around

You answered. I was just asking you to reflect on whether there were any other areas where experience would be considered a negative. (Getting rid of incompetents with experience always allowed.) And to set those reflections against your desire for change.

Kiddo and I will be voting for Obama.

L.

There is a hand painted sign I saw on a pole today in Athens

McCain vs Clinton
WTF?

The only thing I’ve seen political was a group of suburbanites standing out on a corner in Diamond Bar waving Romney signs. Romney’s ad he is running against Hillary here portrays himself as being the GOP candidate that can run the country because Hillary has never run anything (except a better campaign than him) and the purpose of the ad I think is to elevate himself as the GOP frontrunner he is not.

I might be swayed too, but every indicator shows her viewed as polarizing with higher negatives in the GE than Obama. Obama gets higher percentages in every matchup with the GOP. If we really want a DEM in ‘08, why would we risk Hillary with her baggage?

I’m sort of coming around to that opinion.

Well, you did forget about the strongly worded letter. Now that’s some really fierce opposition…

Or is this just a rhetorical statement about the former president in general?

In a word, yes.

How bout a pop my space page

MY space

McCain vs Clinton
WTF?

That person knows something you don’t know…can see into the future.

Husband-wife team, one voting for McCain in the R primary, and one for Clinton in the D primary?

Yeah, and the Comfy Chair too…

So will this Edwards supporter.

Kiddo and I will be voting for Obama.

L.

I probably will too, Lahoma.

(Getting rid of incompetents with experience always allowed.)

Whew! I was pondering on how to inquire about doctors who, while they may be tremendously skilled at what they know how to do, may not have kept up with new surgical techniques or treatment algorithms. At this point one of my main criteria for picking a physician is that she or he be at least 10 years younger than I.

L — so will Mr. Marion in Savannah and I. We feel that he has a better chance to win in November.

Quite plausible answer. FDLers are very very smart…*g*

Carville/Matalin?

Well, W has experience as prez. *g*

It’s not the be-all, to be sure. And no one needs to be consistent. And experience can be variably defined. Just meant to provoke a little thought.

OH, NO… Not the comfy chair… [howls with laughter] Love me some Python!

Blgggghh.

I might be swayed too, but every indicator shows her viewed as polarizing with higher negatives in the GE than Obama. Obama gets higher percentages in every matchup with the GOP. If we really want a DEM in ‘08, why would we risk Hillary with her baggage?
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Some of that is a result of the Corporate media “fluffing” Obama. I would be feeling a lot less nervous about Obama if he was getting even 1/4 of the attacks that Hillary getting. I think he is being “sand-bagged”.

OT: Just curiosity. Do you ever hear TRex mc classical music on public broadcasting station in Athens? If so, does he ever comment or just introduce music?

Some folks have many years of experience, others have one year of experience repeated many times.

Little Boots has one year experience as President repeated seven times.

I indulged myself and slept in. Afternoon all you more ambitious folks. I love being remiss.

Jane – I’m shocked. My li’l feelings are hurt. Danny-boy Lipinski describing li’l ole me as “Left-wing extremist punk”. Golly whiz. No one ever called me that before. I thought I am “regular folks”. I look and feel like regular folks. Guess I’m confused. Live and learn. I am condemned to be from “Places like San Francisco” – like what? Is there a problem? Best French pastries outside of Paris. Is that bad? I just don’t know what Danny-boy is talking about? We must have walked different streets in San Francisco.

That too.

Just meant to provoke a little thought.

Trust me — your comments do that on a VERY regular basis, and in the best way possible.

haven’t seen any door to door activity in my neighborhood, but the excitement among youngsters is palpable. Both my kids are 20-something & i see them & their friends frequently. Obama fever has been escalating ferociously in the last few weeks, especially on campus according to the youngest. Their crowd doesn’t hate Hillary, they prefer her to any Republican, but they agreed with my assessment that she’s an old-fashioned moderate Republican.

I’ve heard his program here in Savannah. He’s all music business while on the air, and very knowledgeable. His program is a delight to listen to.

Oh, that’s good! :D

Thank you very much. I ‘preciate that.

What Marion in Savannah says, ditto

Okay. Thanks. I was just interested.

Little Boots has one year experience as President repeated seven times.

That much? I was thinking more one month repeated 84 times…

See the same here … they come sit with me and ask me how Obama is doing and what the latest news is

I think most meaningful experiences were as frat boy.

Author on Pelosi bio coming up in 3 minutes on C-SPAN 2. As I listened earlier today, I’m back to my book. (Only 20 pages left.) BTW it’s not the Nancy Pelosi we’re frustrated with. It’s a very complementary portrait, including Qs from the audience. Worth checking out if you don’t know what motivates her.

Nevada ia as excited as California about Super Tuesday. You’d think they were caucusing again.

For some strange reason, I was trying to be gracious and give him the benefit of the doubt.

OT..disturbing fact:

Perhaps less known, Super Bowl Sunday is also the day that typically sees a peak in incidents of domestic violence. Indeed, the time period stretching roughly from Thanksgiving to Super Bowl Sunday is acknowledged by police, domestic violence shelter administrators, doctors, and other first responders as a time when domestic violence skyrockets.

link

I guess I don’t have that many manners!

I’m not particularly surprised by this. When hormones (not just testosterone) are coupled with strongly held “fan” positions and lubricated by alcohol sometimes nasty things happen.

If you know someone who needs a helping hand getting to the voting booth Tuesday, won’t you please give that person a hand up. ;0)

okk and Lahoma

Book Salon is on! C’mon and join us!

He’s on the graveyard shift, I go to bed at 10 and get up @ 5:30 so we are in dofferent orbits. Since WUGA is the flagship for the entire Georgia NPR network my guess is that he plays it pretty straight.

Actually the recent polls are equivocal on thisPollster.com. The head-to-head with McCain is pretty much within the margin of error for all the polls. In one…the LA Times/Bloomberg…Hillary was actually ahead of McCain while Obama was behind him. In that one, the differences with McCain were statistically w/in the margin of error…but between Hillary and Obama it was barely significant. Obama has trended up in the last few days though.

I think this meme about Hillary’s (or Obamas) negatives is widespread in the progressive community…but it’s largely based on the gut feeling that either

a) maddened hordes of evangelicals will come out and vote for whomever the Republican candidate vs. the demon-woman Clinton.

or

b) that whites will not vote for Obama as evinced from his 25% showing amongst that group in South Carolina [also implying that Edwards, with his 38% showing amongst that group presumably attracted large numbers of white racists].

The polls don’t seem to support either such conclusion as being consequential. In fact, the polls, already include a bias for those hardened Republicans that were energized on red-button issues by Karl Rove [since these people have voted in the past primary and general elections]. New registrants and younger voters mobilized in this campaign as indicated by their high turnouts in the Democratic primaries, are consistently under-weighted by polls. They simply aren’t supposed to vote in the General elections, much less Primary Elections. Yet they are coming out in record numbers.

Jane, that was the greatest — Joni Mitchell. Thank you so much!

Actually, Mr. Peter in Savannah can do that while I’m at work. He’s retired and has several people he carries to the polls. Thanks for reminding those who can do that what a good idea it is.

he plays it pretty straight.

not that there is anything wrong with it!

Athens, Georgia?

There is a hand painted sign I saw on a pole today in Athens

McCain vs Clinton
WTF?

Did the sign say “McCain vs. Clinton…WTF?”

Or was the latter your own addition?

Oh, gawd… You’re channeling Punaise! Sorry you’re not able to hear his show. It’s delightful.

That’s what the sign said.

Thank you Steve. My daughter and her husband actively support a woman’s shelter in San Mateo County. He managed to get his entire team to donate to this organization and got the community to donate things children need. Now the company he works for has joined him.

Sadly, the shelter is growing. This is one nonprofit you’d like to see shrink. Success means growing violence. This has been a very busy period for them.

Thank you for remembering the other side of the sports world.

“Little Boots has one year experience as President repeated seven times.”

That much? I was thinking more one month repeated 84 times…

Remember to remove the vacations down on the Ranch.

Ever check out his brother’s band?
Music Hates You

Ha, Petty at halftime, does a lot to disassociate the NFL from drugs. (I am a HUGE Petty fan)

Nevada ia as excited as California about Super Tuesday. You’d think they were caucusing again.

Are you guys sending people down to work the doorbells? ;-)

I know we Californians are always up in Nevada trying to turn out the vote!

He’s on the graveyard shift, I go to bed at 10 and get up @ 5:30 so we are in dofferent orbits. Since WUGA is the flagship for the entire Georgia NPR network my guess is that he plays it pretty straight.

You can listen to TRex’s program online (though at this moment I can’t get it to work).

Hell, I can open the window and hear it, the studio is about a mile and a half away!

I have to vote on Tuesday, and since Edwards is out, I’m still undecided. I know many have felt the charismatic pull of Obama, but I don’t feel it. At all. I find his speaking style in anwering questions somewhat round about and long winded with lots of pauses. I like Hillary’s more direct faster-paced style. (Has this Midwesterner lived in the East too long?)

I also like that Hillary has some details to tell the public about her plans. I like her goal of universal healthcare tremendously (since it’s almost Edwards!). I don’t like her votes on Iraq, Iran, and, retch, the flag issue!

I don’t know why Obama took his signature speech against the Iraq Invasion off his website when he decided to run for the Senate. I don’t like that he watered down his bill on requiring nuke energy sites to report leaks, eventually giving control to the NRC and the nuke energy plant companies themselves (d’uh!). It was when R’s controlled the Senate, but he gave them everything they wanted. So his bipartisan dream sort of scares me.

When he talks about change I keep asking what that change will be. We’ve had extraordinary change over the course of the Bush Maladministration, almost all of it extraordiarliy bad, even if he did say that R’s had most of the ideas the past 10-15 years (Clinton’s two admiinstrations and now Bush’s two–uh, was he sure about his dates?). I like his ability to bring out young people. Then I ask if they know what they’re supporting or moving toward. I don’t like that Obama dissed the movement people of the 60’s and 70’s when he spoke to the Reno editorial board.

But, mostly, I want to know why he doesn’t talk more about his plans and give his change idea some substance.

So, by Tuesday….gotta make the vote.

I don’t think you can look at the polls today as a guage of what it will look like 10 months from now to “pick the winner” against the Republicans. There are so many variables and who knows what can happen between now and then. I’m going with the person that I feel most comfortable with and know can has the experience to handle the job.

When he talks about change I keep asking what that change will be

If you have a few hours, you might want to poke around at this link:

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

It’s one of the most detailed “plans” I can ever remember seeing from a candidate.

I really like a lot of what’s in there. There’s some middle-of-the-road stuff, but not much. There’s plenty to critique Obama about, but the frequent “all speech, no details” complaint ain’t one of ‘em IMO.

I agree the Dem and Repube nominees going head-to-head, especially considering how weird CrazyTrain is.

One thing we can tell from recent polling though is the absolutely stunning gains by Obama. It’s clear there is a political platonic shift happening larger than I’ve ever seen.

I mean, he won South Carolina by OVER TWICE as many voters as Hillary. Unbelievable! I’ve been surprised at how people don’t seem to talking about that. Turns out the polls were way off there as well – many S.C. polls had him up around 10% the day before. Obama won by over 25%. Amazing.

Edwards organizers in Cal now active with Obama- However Clinton firm Push poll calling and large number of absentees Grateful dead to unite in SF concert Monday for OBama I understand it will be aired on line- If everyone hasn’t seen yes we can music video- move on is sending out-produced independently by Bob Dylan’s son & wil i am

From the New York Times January 8, 2008
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

“Women Are Never Front-Runners
By GLORIA STEINEM
THE woman in question became a lawyer after some years as a community organizer, married a corporate lawyer and is the mother of two little girls, ages 9 and 6. Herself the daughter of a white American mother and a black African father — in this race-conscious country, she is considered black — she served as a state legislator for eight years, and became an inspirational voice for national unity.
Be honest: Do you think this is the biography of someone who could be elected to the United States Senate? After less than one term there, do you believe she could be a viable candidate to head the most powerful nation on earth?
If you answered no to either question, you’re not alone. Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House. This country is way down the list of countries electing women and, according to one study, it polarizes gender roles more than the average democracy.
That’s why the Iowa primary was following our historical pattern of making change. Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women (with the possible exception of obedient family members in the latter).
If the lawyer described above had been just as charismatic but named, say, Achola Obama instead of Barack Obama, her goose would have been cooked long ago. Indeed, neither she nor Hillary Clinton could have used Mr. Obama’s public style — or Bill Clinton’s either — without being considered too emotional by Washington pundits.
So why is the sex barrier not taken as seriously as the racial one? The reasons are as pervasive as the air we breathe: because sexism is still confused with nature as racism once was; because anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects “only” the female half of the human race; because children are still raised mostly by women (to put it mildly) so men especially tend to feel they are regressing to childhood when dealing with a powerful woman; because racism stereotyped black men as more “masculine” for so long that some white men find their presence to be masculinity-affirming (as long as there aren’t too many of them); and because there is still no “right” way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what.
I’m not advocating a competition for who has it toughest. The caste systems of sex and race are interdependent and can only be uprooted together. That’s why Senators Clinton and Obama have to be careful not to let a healthy debate turn into the kind of hostility that the news media love. Both will need a coalition of outsiders to win a general election. The abolition and suffrage movements progressed when united and were damaged by division; we should remember that.
I’m supporting Senator Clinton because like Senator Obama she has community organizing experience, but she also has more years in the Senate, an unprecedented eight years of on-the-job training in the White House, no masculinity to prove, the potential to tap a huge reservoir of this country’s talent by her example, and now even the courage to break the no-tears rule. I’m not opposing Mr. Obama; if he’s the nominee, I’ll volunteer. Indeed, if you look at votes during their two-year overlap in the Senate, they were the same more than 90 percent of the time. Besides, to clean up the mess left by President Bush, we may need two terms of President Clinton and two of President Obama.
But what worries me is that he is seen as unifying by his race while she is seen as divisive by her sex.
What worries me is that she is accused of “playing the gender card” when citing the old boys’ club, while he is seen as unifying by citing civil rights confrontations.
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What worries me is that male Iowa voters were seen as gender-free when supporting their own, while female voters were seen as biased if they did and disloyal if they didn’t.
What worries me is that reporters ignore Mr. Obama’s dependence on the old — for instance, the frequent campaign comparisons to John F. Kennedy, though Senator Edward Kennedy is supporting Senator Clinton — while not challenging the slander that her progressive policies are part of the Washington status quo.
What worries me is that some women, perhaps especially younger ones, hope to deny or escape the sexual caste system; thus Iowa women over 50 and 60, who disproportionately supported Senator Clinton, proved once again that women are the one group that grows more radical with age.
This country can no longer afford to choose our leaders from a talent pool limited by sex, race, money, powerful fathers and paper degrees. It’s time to take equal pride in breaking all the barriers. We have to be able to say: “I’m supporting her because she’ll be a great president and because she’s a woman.”
Gloria Steinem is a co-founder of the Women’s Media Center.

IIRC, inn the CA’s district-by-district primary system, someone can have a plurality of the vote but not a plurality of the delegates.