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Lieberman defends radical McCain ally John Hagee

post from Crooks and Liars on 17 May 2008 06:15:02 PM. © Crooks and Liars

(Video added by Nicole B., courtesy of Bruce Wilson at Talk2Action. Think Lieberman knows about this?) I can appreciate the fact that Joe Lieberman has finished off the McCain Kool Aid. I also realize Lieberman is completely on board with everything McCain says, does, and believes, and will defend the Republican presidential campaign against [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/05/17/lieberman-defends-radical-mccain-ally-jo
hn-hagee/

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Another pledged delegate switches to Obama

The last time we had a delegate battle last this long into the primary season was 1980, when Senator Kennedy (and, of course, our thoughts are with Senator Kennedy and his family this evening) was running against President Carter. In 1980, though, delegates were bound by rule F(3)(c) to vote for the candidate they were pledged to on the first ballot. That rules was abolished though, in 1982, and now:

12 J. Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.

And that's all the rules say. Since 1980, there hasn't been a nomination fight close enough for these rules to come into play. But during this nomination battle, Sen. Clinton and her campaign have made the point that pledged delegates are not required to vote for the candidate they were elected for. From a rules point-of-view, her statement is completely true. Politically, though, this statement caused an uproar from the Obama side, about how this would subvert the will of the voter.

The debate, however, was mostly considered to be theoretical. All pledged delegates are signed-off by the campaigns, and are considered to be the most loyal of supporters. The idea that a pledged delegate would actually switch their vote while the nomination was still being contested was considered unlikely.

Well maybe these pledged delegates consider the nomination as no longer being contested, but with Clinton still campaigning, many observers consider the switching of pledged delegates to be very surprising and somewhat upsetting, no matter which way they've switched.

We had our first switch on Tuesday, when Maryland at-large delegate Jack Johnson switched from Clinton to Obama. And we had our second today:

DC Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans announced minutes ago he?s throwing his support behind Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Evans had been a longtime Hillary Clinton supporter, co-chairing her campaign in the District. Earlier this month, he?d been elected by local Democrats to serve as an at-large delegate pledged to Clinton.
Asked to explain his move, Evans cited ?just the momentum that was going behind it.? He says he left a message with the Clinton campaign about the decision but was not able to speak with the senator before making the announcement today. - Washington City Paper

Evans said he switched his support because Ward 2 overwhelmingly voted for Obama in the District primary in February. He said he is most concerned about having a Democratic White House. - Washington Post

Evans was elected as an at-large delegate earlier this month:

The slots filled last night were all ?pledged? slots, which could only be filled by candidates who had filed papers pledging their support to a particular candidate. Three of the four slots were pledged to Barack Obama, based on the results of the District?s primary vote. Only the seat Evans won was pledged to Hillary Clinton. The Clinton seat was also the only one that drew a contested vote....

Evans? competition was Franklin Garcia, a committee member and technology consultant. His speech to his fellow members before the vote?which, according to witnesses, focused an awful lot on what a great candidate Obama is?failed to win him the Clinton slot: He lost 52-6. - Washington City Paper

I think it would be very interesting to see the papers Evans signed.

As a final note, the Obama campaign is not recognizing Jack Johnson's switch in their current delegate count, and I would expect them to do the same with Evans.

Read The Full Article:
http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/05/another-pledged-delegate-switches-to.html

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Now Obama Gets Flack For Sporting a Flag Pin

post from Garling Gauge on 17 May 2008 06:03:19 PM. © Garling Gauge

Wear the pin, no wait, don’t wear the pin. Clip-on patriotism needs to be unclipped.©2008 Garling Gauge. All Rights Reserved..

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GarlingGauge/~3/292508770/

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Now Obama Chided For Sporting a Flag Pin

post from Garling Gauge on 17 May 2008 06:03:19 PM. © Garling Gauge

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Myanmar junta blocks food aid shipment

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 17 May 2008 06:00:00 PM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

Disgraceful. How hard is it to "negotiation" the delivering of food aid when your people are starving?

A French government statement said navy ship Le Mistral was waiting some 13 miles outside Myanmar?s territorial waters, hoping to go in and unload its cargo of 1,000 tons of food ? enough to feed 100,000 people for 15 days. The aid also includes shelters for 15,000 people, the statement said.

?The specifics of the delivery of this aid have not yet been defined,? the statement said, adding such details ?will be the subject of negotiations? with Myanmar authorities, who are yet to authorize it to dock either in the delta or in Yangon, Myanmar?s largest city.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Americablog/~3/292595488/myanmar-junta-blocks-food
-aid-shipment.html

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Hillary's Portland Town Hall

post from Taylor Marsh on 17 May 2008 06:00:00 PM. © Taylor Marsh

Guest post by ScanJudging from this local news recap, she seems to have scored.Open thread.[...]

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http://www.taylormarsh.com/archives_view.php?id=27711

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Obama Gets Another Superdelegate

post from Daily Kos on 17 May 2008 05:50:09 PM. © Daily Kos

On a slow news day -- aside from hoping to hear more positive news about Senator Kennedy's condition -- let's check in with Obama's latest announced superdelegate:

CHICAGO, IL—Maryland superdelegate Greg Pecoraro endorsed Senator Barack Obama today, pledging to support Obama at this summer’s Democratic National Convention. Pecoraro’s endorsement brings Obama’s superdelegate total to 295.5. Obama is now 119.5 total delegates from the nomination.

Pecoraro is a city councilmember in Westminster, Maryland, where he serves as chairman of the Committee on Economic Development and Community Affairs, vice chair of the Finance Committee, and co-chair of the Special Committee on Growth and Annexation. He has also served as an assistant to U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes and Maryland State Treasurer Lucille Maurer.

Update: And as readers point out, Kid from Vegas has a diary pointing to an Inside Nevada Politics showing a Nevada delegate gain for Obama:

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama succeeded in driving more supporters to the Nevada state convention than his opponent U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, who had won the state in the Jan. 19 caucuses. Obama essentially reversed Clinton's lead from the caucuses, capturing 55 percent of the state delegates to Clinton's 45 percent.

The heavy turnout earned Obama one more delegate to the national convention, than previously expected based on the caucus results.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/292490505/836

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Why The FL Delegation Must Be Seated

post from TalkLeft on 17 May 2008 05:48:00 PM. © TalkLeft

At some point, one hopes, Barack Obama and his supporters will start thinking about winning in November. It needs to start with seating the Florida and Michigan delegations. There are many arguments that those worried about the future Democratic primary schedule can raise about this and that and the integrity of the RULZ. I think they do not have much merit, but I am not writing here to rehash that. Why? Because a normal functioning Democratic Party would not be wasting time thinking about the 2012 primary schedule and instead would be thinking about making the 2012 primaries moot - by winning the Presidency in 2008. No one will remember or care about Donna Brazile and her silly RULZ fixations in 2016, if we win the White House in 2008.

Which brings me to Florida. Adam Smith argues it SHOULD be in play this Fall:

Florida is turning bluer by the day. . . . In a state that decided the 2000 election by 537 votes, you bet it matters that today Democrats have more registered voters in a bellwether like Pinellas County, where Republicans in 2000 had a nearly 28,000-voter advantage. Or that in the mega battleground of Miami-Dade County, Democrats have had a net registration gain of nearly 59,000 since 2000.

"What we're seeing is the beginnings of a major sea change,'' said Mark Bubriski, spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party. "When you add up all of the major factors that go into the analysis of an election, everything is going the Democratic Party's way."Well, maybe not everything. There's that delegate debacle and primary boycott. You've got a lot of work to do introducing yourself in Florida and soothing the simmering resentment among many Democrats who claim they might not vote for you. . . .

(Emphasis supplied.) It is time to forget the silly Donna Brazile and the other silly people in the DNC whose own inflated sense of importance have put us in this mess. Senator Obama, it is time to join Senator Clinton and urge that the Florida and Michigan delegations be seated. The time is now. Not in August.

Join Senator Clinton and the Democrats of Florida and Michigan, and urge the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations on May 31. For your own sake and the sake of Democrats everywhere.

By Big Tent Democrat

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/292490990/169

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Obama Way Ahead Of McCain Among Cell-Phone Only
Households

In what could be a huge problem for pollsters not only this year, but in all future elections,[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/292494448/showDiary.do

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Judge delays first war crimes trial at Gitmo.

Yesterday, a military judge “postponed the first war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, saying he wants to wait until the Supreme Court makes its highly anticipated ruling on the right of detainees to challenge their confinement in civil courts.” The case will now be delayed until July 21, to avoid “‘potential embarrassment, waste of resources and prejudice to the accused,’ if the Supreme Court ruling forces a halt to the proceedings mid-trial.” Defense lawyers for Salim Ahmed Hamdan had requested a postponement, but military prosecutors said they were “eager to go to trial.”

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/17/judge-delays-first-war-crimes-trial-at-gitmo/

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