5.0 With Manhattan Organizations

Earlier I showed up for this DL21C debate watch party event. (It Is A RSVP: Here I Come DL21C) It was the same venue as this: Iowa: One And A Half Victory Parties. So I was not so sure. I got there at seven, right on the dot. I felt a little uneasy. I went to the restroom downstairs. When I came back I had to wait only a few seconds. Dan Berger came down the stairs. He was on the phone. He looked like he was uneasy. I just waited, making small talk with the receptionist, this young woman who was encouraging me to go upstairs, "There already are about 15 people up there."

I patiently waited until Berger got off the phone. Then we had the best, shortest, the only non-tense conversation we ever had.

"Can't come upstairs."

"Okay," I said.

We were both totally relaxed. Otherwise every time I have been in his presence for as long as I can remember, the vibe always has been like he wants to blame me for 9/11 or something. Every single time.

I don't know for sure but I am guessing Berger is a Jewish last name. Spitzer is Jewish. There is that er at the end of both names. I am getting better at this.

I felt good about the exchange. No, it is not easier to ask me to leave if the guy is Sicilian rather than Jewish.

The meeting with the women was good, but we really did not get to the discussion part. (Martha Outed Kenton And Women With Issues) And Martha never really wrote back on my proposal, so I guess that is a no: 2.0 Penetrates DL21C.

I really liked the setting, and finally it was going to be an event where you get to talk instead of just watch.

I am getting a little better with the Jewish angst, I think. Getting a better feel for it.

I am guessing Dan Jacoby, that is also a Jewish name. Met him at DFNYC. I was talking to this European journalist woman and he rudely interrupts to say money can be made by appearing in porn movies. As in, no money brown guy - and this was back, way back - talking to white woman: what is this about? I took offense, and I do want to leave it at that. But now I wonder if that was an expression of the angst. Black people like sex, Jewish people like money, and the rest of us are monks.

There was another incident with Liz of MYD. Here, let me take my bag away from here where you are standing. I am guessing now that was also an expression of the angst. At the time I equated it with Obama complaining "only a few years back people were throwing keys at me in the parking lot."

I don't know for sure but I am guessing Liz is Jewish.

At first you take the incident literally, and you take offense. But over time you step back a little and realize there are a few different things at play. I don't know a whole lot about the Jewish identity, but I know enough to be able to say it is an identity that Jewish people still grapple with.

What is anti-Semitism? When someone comes across someone Jewish, they suddenly react a certain way that end in social exclusion of the said person, almost like a chemical reaction. Is that the mainstream version?

I could talk at great length about the ethnic prejudices inside the mini Nepal in Queens. It is unbelievable. People are 10,000 miles away from home, but it is like if you were to bring along a piece of rock from the moon, that would still be moon rock on earth.

There is a coral reef aspect to this ethnic, racial stuff. It is fascinating to watch it unfold, especially when it is the garden variety, social setting, pretty much harmless kind. You soak it in. So far I have limited myself to experiencing political events. Sorry, not interested in holding an Officer position, or sitting on committee, or anything like that.

DFNYC, MYD, DL21C. They now appear in the rear view window, kind of. Either their organizational structures are too primitive or I am not cut for politics, or whatever. They are designed to make you feel like, okay, so you were part of something like a French Revolution, but in this hierarchy here, who are you? You don't need a place in the hierarchy to experience an event.

Barackface: The French Revolution And DFNYC

I did not move to NYC even for Nepal, or Obama, but to launch a company. Nepal and Obama were distractions. I have absolutely no interest in the local races. As long as the subway keeps running, let me be. My fascination with NYC is that it is the capital city of the world, the Amazon forest of humanity, a feast to the eyes, a feast to the mind.

5.0 with the Manhattan organizations is offensive at two levels: they are not cutting edge group dynamics at all, not enough embracing of 2.0, and they are socially not progressive, it is not exactly post-ISMs variety. Or perhaps my standards are high.

My team member two with my young company Adam is already pissed he thinks I give too much time to politics. Forget these organizations and their events, forget Obama, let's go run with this baby. Give it total attention.

I have resisted getting structured into Obama 2008 in the city. (Barackface: NYC, Obama, Structure, Me) It has been the same resistance with the organizations before that. I function like the Wikipedia was written. There is something to be said of leaderless organizations.

Silicon City
Web 5.0: Face Time
A Web 3.0 Manifesto

What does your NYC socializing look like when the only work socializing is 2.0 with some techies in Mumbai? That is so much less stress than trying to get the message you are here only to experience an event.

I am getting better by the day with saying hello and making small talk and just plain schmoozing. My baseball is politics, and I watch it best online.

I go to an event like this one looking for some hard core political action: Martha Outed Kenton And Women With Issues. Whereas for most people it is just socializing, politics is just the excuse. And nothing wrong with that, it is a free country. When the event is over, it is over. Don't give me homework.

I am at a point where I am like, so do you still go to Dave Pollak's parties? That will have to be decided one Facebook email at a time. Go with the mood, time permitting. Or what?

Seamless 2.0 and 5.0 and the political organizations in Manhattan: that is a culture clash, a clash of civilizations.

Some of the racial thinking of white folks in Manhattan is like some Hindus I know of in Nepal: they think Christians and white people generally are the fifth caste, somewhere down there. It is a mindset, largely quixotic. The weirdest part is when they will ignore your email. They had a similar theory about email in Kentucky. Are you shy? No, I am online. And I thought it would be quicker.

It is just that all roads lead to Jerusalem, all roads leads to Silicon City.

I was kinda sorta interested in this event. Do I go? Do I not go? To be? To be no be?

Thursday, February 7

6:00 pm

Planned Parenthood and DL21C's Women's Issues Committee present

A Night Out with Women in Politics
6:00-9:00pm
The Zipper Factory, 336 W. 37th St. between 8th & 9th

Please RSVP!

Barackface: I Want To Join The DL21C Steering Committee
Barackface: It Is A RSVP: Here I Come DL21C
Barackface: 2.0 Penetrates DL21C
Barackface: December 12 DL21C Bash
Barackface: DFNYC, Drinking Liberally, DL21C, Cosmopolity
Barackface: DL21C Annual Summer Bash: Barack Won The Straw Poll
Barackface: DFNYC TV, DFNYC Wiki
Barackface: Tracey Denton Of DFNYC
Barackface: DFNYC And This Blog
Barackface: DFNYC Socializing Is Circle 3 For Me
Barackface: DFNYC, 100000 Strong, Scalable Organization
Barackface: Drinking Liberally
Barackface: Facebook And Drinking Liberally
Barackface: DFNYC, Drinking Liberally, DL21C, Cosmopolity
Barackface: Drinking Liberally: Session X
Barackface: Liberally Tipsy

Let's Finish This Thing On February 5

Let's seal up the nomination for Barack on February 5. It can be done. I am opposed to the idea of having to keep fighting beyond February 5.

It can be done.

Win big in South Carolina.



Raise a ton of online cash. Issue whips. We have more than half a million donors. Let this become our biggest quarter yet. We have more online donors than all the others, Dem and Repub, running and no longer running, put together. Now is the time to cash it. The hour is at hand.

Do massive phone banking during the week leading to February 5. We got more volunteers than all the other Dem and Repub campaigns, breathing still and deceased, put together. Now is the time to cash on it.



Send volunteers out into the streets and to knock doors during that week like never before. There has to be this feeling that this is it, this is the final push. After that it is over.

Run the Mother ad relentlessly all across the country. I am tempted to say run just that one ad. Pour a ton of money into it.

We will run Michelle Obama ads in 2012 when Barack will seek reelection, but for now mother before wife.



Send Barack to all the big media markets during the final week leading to February 5.

After South Carolina everything he says will be national news. His geographical location will become less relevant.



Pick fights with Bill Clinton, especially on his distortions and lies. He thinks he can spin Barack's anti-war stand out of existence. That is too ambitious a task even for Bill Clinton.

Anti-war was what Dean 2004 was all about. Barack is a Deaniac, the most visible Deaniac.

Let no attack go unanswered. Just don't get mean with the rebuttals, that's all. After all, we are the new kind of politics people.



Attack Hillary on Iraq. She never apologized. How could she not?

Howard Dean Was Grassroots 1.0, Barack Is Grassroots 2.0

Barack Obama is a Deaniac from 2004, so am I, although I did not hear of him until Dean 2004 had boiled over. He was in Illinois, I was next door in Indiana. I was on the road, I was in Illinois all the time.

I was in NYC for a few days when he gave his speech in Boston. I watched one of his debates with Alan Keyes at a truck stop.

Dean 2004 was my initiation into US presidential politics. MeetUps were all the rage. So when I got to meet and know and become friends with the MeetUp CEO Scott, it was a big deal. "It is like going to L.A. and meeting Tom Cruise," I said to him. He is not a very assuming kind of guy, and I think I embarrassed him. But Scott is an Iowa native. We had the dot com bonding, we had the Midwest bonding, curiously. I have been everywhere in Iowa.

When I moved to NYC, the Dean 2004 alum were the first group of people I got to know.

Pound for pound I do think Barack Obama is a superior candidate to Howard Dean. But then Barack stands on Dean's shoulder. Obama 2008 would not have been possible if Dean 2004 had not happened. Dean 2004 laid the ground.

But then also Dean 2004 was a little ahead of its times. Back then there was no Blogger, there was no YouTube. The I Have A Scream fiasco would have never happened in a YouTube era. Dean was trying to shout on top of a shouting crowd. The TV people cut out the crowd and made Dean look ridiculous.

When I left Berea College in summer 2001, I had no plans, but my instincts were stronger than ever. When I moved to NYC, it was with the express intention of launching my company, but I got distracted by Nepal work, best work I ever did.

Like the French Revolution, the work on Nepal is ongoing. The revolution is not over yet. But it takes much less time. If Nepal ends up being a multi-party democracy of state funded parties, it will have become the top democracy on the planet. At that point Nepal's April Revolution joins the league of the top revolutions in world history.

The work is not over, and if Condi creates Palestine this year, she will deserve it more, but other than that I have laid claim to the Nobel. Objectively speaking that is the respect Nepal deserves.

If I could win the Nobel and Barack could win the presidency, that will have been two Deaniacs who went on to do big things.

And I was telling Dean alums in 2005 that some day a few election cycles later some Deaniac is going to be president. I was not thinking Barack because he had made it very clear he was not seeking the presidency or the vice presidency in 2008. And I was not thinking 2008. I was saying Barry Goldwater in 1964, and Reagan in 1980. Dean in 2004, so perhaps some Deaniac in 2012, 2016.

But this is the internet age. Time travels faster. Good ideas travel fast. The grassroots was not going to wait. Howard Dean had the energy, the guts. Barack has the sophistication to take on the establishment without making them feel all queasy.

White Media Says The Clintons Won Nevada

White Media's Nevada Call

Barack won more delegates than the Clintons, but white media gave Nevada to the Clintons. Is it because the Clintons are white? Because otherwise the competition was for who got the more delegates. That is how you win the nomination, right?

But white media did not want Barack to get the momentum. They want the Clintons to build on their New Hampshire momentum.

First they called him Osama. And that was not just Fox, that was also CNN. Then they said Hillary was inevitable. Then it looked like he might win Iowa. Then they said if he wins all four of the January states, the race might turn competitive. Unbelievable. Now they have gone ahead and actually snatched away a victory from him. Election results don't count. The people decided Barack won. The white media decided the Clintons won. (If Clinton 08 wins the presidency, and the two Clintons move about separately, which one gets the Air Force One?)

This is so utterly blatant. This is unacceptable behavior.

Tim Russert Measures Up
Tim Russert: Bill O'Reilly's Lower Case Cousin
Old Media Is The Reason Obama Is Lagging In The Polls
Jupiter And Obama
Pig In The Barn, Ailes At Fox News
Race, Gender
JFK, Obama Parallels: Catholic, Black
Fox, Barack, Islam
Rush Limbaugh: Idiot
Advice To Keith Olbermann
Keith Olbermann
Media Smear On Obama's Name
Wolf Hitler, I mean Bitler, Blitler, Whatever
Bill O'Reilly, Bill O'Rama, Whatever The F___ His Name Is
Barack, Fox, MLK, Mandela
Bill O'Reilly: A Right Wing Gadfly

Big Speech, Mother Ad

I think Barack has to do three things to try and seal the nomination on February 5.

He has to give a big speech on race one day before the South Carolina primary. This has to be about taking race relations to the next level, and it should have a MLK tone that uplifts not just blacks but also whites. He has to not only gain big chunks of the black vote in South Carolina, but if that gain is not the right way, he risks a white backlash on February 5. The speech should be to immunize against such a backlash. Besides there is not much point in having a first black president who will not take a serious look at race.

The speech I have written is at the bottom of this page: JFK, Obama Parallels: Catholic, Black.

The second thing he has to do is run this Mother ad all across the country. This is my favorite Obama 2008 ad of all. This is not saying to white America, look my mother is white. This is about presenting a full picture of who he is. His father who did not raise him, hardly knew him, can be seen on his face every single moment. Why can't the mother who actually raised him be seen in a TV ad?

Barack's mother died young at 53. She was quite a pioneer woman. She was into microfinance for women in the poor countries decades before Yunus bagged a Nobel for the same. She was a casualty to the health care system mess in the country. And she is the number one reason why Barack is so big on universal health. And that story has to come out. His full story has to come out. In 1992 the Clinton pollsters found out most Americans thought he had a rich father, because they reminded him of JFK, and so Bill Clinton started talking much about the father he never met. Well, today, most Americans don't have the slightest clue about Barack's mother and that has to be corrected.

Obama 2008 has to put more money into this one ad than any other. That will make all the difference on February 5. Personally I find it fascinating that the dude is biracial. You need someone of his quixotic background to try and heal the very real racial wounds in this country. My experience has been most people would rather not talk about race. It is like most people would rather not take Calculus 301. It is hard stuff for anybody. White people are that way, black people, brown people. Nobody wants to talk about race in too open a way. But most everybody realizes it is a big issue and there is an understanding that progress tends to be slow. But people do want to make progress. They do want to move beyond the angst.

You necessarily need someone of Barack's background to help take race relations in America to the next level. And so it is fundamentally important that Obama 2008 makes total effort to get word out that his mother was white, she was beautiful.

If Barack's mother had been black, that would be nothing wrong. But even I would be less likely to think he could do big things to improve race relations in America, everything else being equal. Everything else equal, someone of a biracial background I believe can do more.

Let's blanket these United f____g States with this one ad. It gives a full picture of Obama's background, it highlights his signature issue of health care, and it is reassuring on race. And at 30 seconds it is easy to digest. And it is beautifully made. The aesthetics are sharp.

Mother
Barack's Mother Makes An Appearance
Barack Has To Talk Much About His Mother




The third thing to do is raise big bucks online every day after the South Carolina primary.

Mega Walk For Change

We did a walk for change thing back in Spring. We have to have a weeklong walk for change leading to February 5. The largest grassroots movement in history has to decide it is now or never. We have the largest grassroots army of all others put together. We have to unleash and be done with this nomination thing by February 5. We have to knock on doors like crazy.

Phone banking is key. All the retails tools are key. We have to do it all.

Don't take me beyond February 5. I am ready to take on the Republicans.

Race: How I Deal With It

My number one way is the 2.0 way. My Nepal work and Obama 2008 work have been in 2.0. And it is in the 2.0 space that my very young company is taking shape. 2.0 space makes possible a post-ISMs individual group dynamic. Bruce Lee experienced racism in Hollywood, and he went to Hong Kong to do his work. I have gone into 2.0.

There is another angle to it. Race and gender fascinate me. Group dynamics is a major thing I bring to the table for my work. And there's nothing like race and gender to get your juices flowing on group dynamics. The average person prefers not to talk race and gender. I seek every opportunity to get to talk. It helps me with my work strengths. Delving into gender helps me with the work of inventing a corporation, how about that?

2.0 Penetrates DL21C
2.0 Screen Time, 5.0 Face Time, Of Racialism, Progressive Group Dynamics

And then there is the personal space. I don't think it is possible for someone like me to get close to the racists and the internalized racists. With the rest, you go with chemistry. If you get along, you get along, if you don't get along, you don't get along. Personal space is private space.

And then there is policy: race as it impacts politics and the policy sphere. Health care is a hugely complex issue. Race is more complex than that. And gender is more complex than race. Globally speaking, gender is a bigger issue than race, in America race is bigger than gender, and hence Hillary for Vice President.

I propose the spectrum to navigate all three as the other policy issues. The spectrum is 1-10. A 5-10 has to be an electoral majority. I think it is possible to create a permanent progressive majority. The beauty of the spectrum concept is it also allows you to be a compassionate progressive. You build a 5-10 coalition, but you also make the 1-4 feel like you really truly have heard them.

Barackface: How To Play The Race Card In South Carolina
Barackface: Race, A Few Different Angles
Barackface: Race, NYC, Future, Globalization, Internet, Glass ...
Barackface: Race, Gender, Progressive, Conservative Divides
Barackface: The Spectrum/Dialogue Concept Is Key To Power
Barackface: Landscape Talk
Barackface: The Spectrum Concept: Wide Applications

Bill Clinton Lied

Is that news?

Barack And Iraq

Barack opposed the Iraq War in 2002 when it was a very risky thing for him to do. That is the recond.

So why has he voted for all the funding for that war? That is what a responsible Senator does. If the troops are out there, does not matter you disagree with the war, you vote for funding. You seek to end the war politically, by winning a presidential election, the democratic way, the people power way, not by leaving the troops high and dry in a desert.

He said in 2004 right before the convention that he was not sure how he would have voted if he had been Senator in 2002. He said that to boost the Kerry-Edwards ticket that he was endorsing.

Bill Clinton understands all this. But he is going to try and muddy things regardless.

On the other hand, if Clinton 08 wants to erase the Iraq gap with Obama 08, why does not Hillary simply go ahead and apologize for her 2002 vote rather send out her husband to lie?

Viral Emails

A lot of nasty stuff has been going around over email. That has to be countered. How do you do that? You issue rebuttals and you send out your own viral emails. One thing you can't do is you can't ignore these attacks, however ridiculous they might sound.

The Fairytale Metaphor

There are racial overtones to that. If you are not white, you are not to be taken seriously. That is the suggestion.

I have had people say about this blog, oh, it is so funny, it is like The Onion. This blog is a fairytale, it is not to be taken seriously. Does not matter that it has allowed me to go to some pretty high levels of political conversation in this country.



In The News

Obama Fights Back Against Bill Clinton Washington Post accused former President Bill Clinton of distorting his words ..... harsh words for Bill Clinton ....... The former president "has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling" by making statement that are not supported by facts ...... An e-mail chain has suggested he is hiding his Islamic roots. It says he was sworn into the Senate on the Quran and turns his back on the flag during the pledge. ....... As dozens of Obama supporters shouted "Harlem for Obama," Clinton's supporters tried to drown them out by shouting "Hil-la-ry!" .... chiding the former New York City mayor at a news conference for his 0-6 record in the early primaries and caucuses.
Latest South Carolina Polling FOXNews
Britain, India push for UN Security Council reform AFP called for India to have a seat at the UN's top table because of its growing economic clout. ..... "I think that there is a broad agreement that international institutions, if they are to be credible, cannot ignore countries like India and China," Singh said, saying both were giving a "major stimulus" to the world economy. "You cannot deal with global problems and global concerns if countries like India are not on the high table." ..... "A country of one billion people, the biggest democracy in the world and one of the world's fastest growing economies... should assume its vital place in the deliberations of the world including membership of the UN Security Council" ...... "the biggest shift in the balance of economic power in the world in two centuries" .... changes to the IMF, World Bank and the G8 that reflect the rise of India and Asia ..... make Britain and India high growth low carbon economies.
What's new: Obama says he'll 'confront' Bill ClintonUSA Today
Angry Obama criticises Bill Clinton The Press Association
Obama (nicely) accuses President Clinton of lying Baltimore Sun
Barack Obama Blasts Bill Clinton for Lying FOXNews
We shall overcome, Obama tells King's flock Sydney Morning Herald
Bill Clinton under fire from Barack Obama Telegraph.co.uk a detailed rebuttal of Mr Clinton's "distorting" of his words. ... Over the past fortnight Mr Clinton has called Obama's opposition to the Iraq war a "fairy tale", criticized his views of Ronald Reagan's achievements and accused his supporters at the Nevada caucuses of strong-arm tactics. ...... the Obama camp has decided to come out fighting ...... The battle lines in the campaign have now been redrawn to a struggle between Mr Obama and both Clintons ..... the attacks by Mr Clinton on his candidate were "shameless, flat-out distortions". ...... South Carolina remains one of the most racially polarised states in the south. A large black minority of 25 per cent votes overwhelmingly Democrat while 80 per cent of whites normally vote Republican. ...... Obama's endeavour to become the first actual African American president has however soared in popularity among black voters since he won the Iowa caucuses on Jan 3 .... "All the brothers adored President Clinton but I feel Obama can be the full black president." .... With blacks expected to make up 60 per cent of voters in the primary, they are forecast to deliver Mr Obama a victory that provide invaluable momentum going into Feb 5, when 22 states hold their votes.
Why Clinton and Obama walk a fine line on racial divide Globe and Mail The race for the Democratic presidential nomination is fissuring along racial lines, which in America is the most dangerous divide. ..... Obama's coalition is driven by young enthusiasts and affluent idealists. ...... By January, CNN was reporting that black support had completely reversed, with 59 per cent opting for Mr. Obama, while only 31 per cent still backed Ms. Clinton. ..... Latino voters favoured Ms. Clinton almost two-to-one. And that could be the statistic that decides this race. ...... The Latino community in the United States is now slightly larger than the black community, and there are strong and growing tensions between the two groups, with many African Americans fearful that Latino immigrants are taking away their jobs, and that an increasingly Latino America will further marginalize their race. ...... Decrying the intolerance and self-pity that mars all communities, including black America ...... We can no longer afford to traffick in lies or fear or hate. ..... Obama is able to hold on to most of the black vote and most of the youth vote, while drawing a substantial minority of whites and Latinos, then he will arrive at Super Tuesday with a formidable coalition. ....... Clinton's larger assembly of women, whites and Latinos. .... He is clearly failing to build the unstoppable momentum that his Iowa win seemed to grant him. ....... If Ms. Clinton wins Florida on Jan. 29, it will give her a boost going into Feb. 5, however much Mr. Obama and North Carolina senator John Edwards dismiss the result as meaningless. ...... it is entirely possible that neither the Obama nor Clinton forces will score a decisive victory on Feb. 5. In that case, the Democrats may have to pick a candidate at their national convention, which is in Denver in the last week of August.
Bill Clinton vows to knock on doors for black vote Melbourne Herald Sun the global statesman's attack dog tactics and his volatile temper on the campaign trail. ....... Obama, is expected to now take the gloves off and begin directly confronting Mr Clinton.

Which Clinton Is Running For President?

It is like Bill Clinton were running for a third term. He is all over the place. He has managed to distort so much about Obama. Suddenly he will have you believe Obama actually voted for the Iraq War.

Obama needs to assemble a rapid response team or he stands to lose, something called a War Room is needed.

I wonder if Clinton 2008 were to win, which Clinton will be sworn in? Which Clinton will walk with the suitcase with which a nuclear strike can be launched?

Bill Clinton has already said he will travel the country as First Lad to sell policy.

Which Clinton will go attend the G8 summits? Which Clinton will go address the UN?

And if Bill Clinton will continue to overshadow Hillary like this all the way, and if Hillary were to be president, will that really count as the first woman who got elected president? I doubt that.

The world will still have to wait for a woman who got elected on her own.

Which Clinton will the CIA brief? Or will the Clintons divide the portfolio? You go to the G8 summit, I go address the UN, next year you can go to the G8 summit.

Would it not be better than to just go ahead and give him some kind of a cabinet position? Or make him ambassador of some far away country?

This is getting confusing. Would it not have been better to just go ahead and amend the constitution so Bill Clinton could legitimately run for a third term?

With Bill Clinton the 1990s slash and burn politics are back.

If Clinton 08 were to get the White House, which Clinton will deliver the State of the Union, I wonder.

What if Hillary is technically speaking the president, but Bill Clinton is the one who generates scandal after scandal? God forbid we have to go through another impeachment, impeachment of the First Lad. Is there such a thing?

Global Trafficking Of Women

We talk of global warming, and terrorism, and nuclear proliferation, and the energy crisis. And they have to be talked about. They are all challenges that no one country no matter how mighty can meet and the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. But we have to talk of the global trafficking of women in the same breath. Lincoln liberated the black slaves, who will liberate trafficked women? It can be argued these trafficked women fare much worse than those slaves. Which is worse? Being forced to pick cotton or raped daily while being held in bondage? Women get trafficked like they were so much cocaine.

Just like Palestine is the sore thumb to the goal of peace in the Middle East, I think the global women's rights movement needs to pick this issue of the global trafficking of women as its rallying cry. It should be picked up with the same fervor as the pro-choice movement in America.

Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) - Home
Facts on Trafficking and Prostitution
Horrific abuse of Women
The Global Trafficking Of Women
Trafficking in Women
Fact Book Menu - Coalition Against Trafficking of Women
Sisyphe.org - Globalization and the Sex Trade : Trafficking and ...
Amazon.com: Global Trafficking in Women and Children: Books: Obi ...
[PDF] International Trafficking in Women to the United States: A ...



In The News

Clinton Camp: Obama’s Sour Grapes FOXNews
Clinton victory increases pressure on Obama Irish Times Bill Clinton promising to campaign door to door in black neighbourhoods. "Eleven days ago people were dancing on Hillary's grave - we have another thing coming now," Mr Clinton said. .... "It took us a while, but what's eight years among friends?" he said. ..... Mrs Clinton said that a vote for her should not be seen as a vote against Mr Obama. "I have the highest regard and admiration for my friend and colleague Senator Barack Obama. He is an extraordinary person with many gifts and contributions to our country and the world. I am honoured to be running with him," she said.
Obama faces uphill battle to survive Super Tuesday Independent
Delegates may alter Democrat picture The Age, Australia

On Eve of King Holiday, Race Dominates Campaign New York Times was doing something Sunday that he has rarely done in his months of campaigning for the presidency. ..... He was appearing before a black audience, and he was speaking about race. ...... “The division, the stereotypes, the scapegoating, the ease with which we blame the plight of ourselves on others — all of that distracts us from the common challenges we face: war and poverty, injustice and inequality,” said Mr. Obama, of Illinois. “We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing each other down.” ....... all of whom will share a stage Monday at a debate that will be focused, in part, on racial issues. ...... race remained a strong undercurrent. ..... Obama suggested that he intended to “directly confront Bill Clinton when he’s making statements that are not factually accurate.”

Obama Faces White Resistance In South, Polls Show Huffington Post While Obama is expected to pick up one out of five white Democratic primary voters, his margin among such voters in this deep Southern state lags from three to fourteen percentage points behind his support among whites nationally ...... This lag, which appears at present to hold across the entire South ..... "I've got to tell you that as a white Southerner, it gives me an immense amount of pride to see an African American who could really win the presidency. It would do great things for race relations in the country." ..... a number of signals pointing to difficulties for Obama in the South. ........ In the South, however, Edwards has run consistently ahead of Obama among whites. ....... "Obama comes in third among the white southern Democrats. Clinton gets 36 percent, Edwards 24 percent and Obama 17 percent." ....... in the South Carolina Democratic primary found that among whites, Hillary Clinton had the support of 39 percent of respondents, John Edwards 28 and Obama 20 ...... among white Democratic voters across the country; Obama does much better than among white southern Democrats. ...... One of Obama's weakest levels of white support is among Democratic union members in the South ....... Donna Brazile, who ran the 2000 Gore campaign, said "my sense is that it [white southern support for Obama] is independents, college students, high income, highly educated and urban whites who often back strong Black reform candidates for mayor and congressional offices."

In the Name of Honour - Iraq

Become Aggressive, Or Become Adlai Stevenson

We Won Nevada

We got 13 delegates to Clinton's 12. I am counting that for victory. Al Gore got more popular votes than Bush in 2000. Millions more. But the way the system works is.

New Kind Of Politics Does Not Mean Slap Me

When you get hit, you hit back. You let no attack go unanswered, no false claim about you go unchallenged. That probably is the fundamental law of campaigning, if there is such a thing. If the smear emails say you are a Muslim - and what is wrong with being a Muslim, asks the Buddhist - and you don't reach out to that same audience with a clarification that you happen to be a Christian, then people are going to believe you are a Muslim. There are emails out there claiming Barack is a commie, goodness.

This is not an argument against the politics of hope, the new kind of politics. I am not preaching slash and burn. I am not saying you put out viral emails claiming Hillary is a Sikh, or that she is a Maoist. No.

But you do have to make people feel that you do notice when you get hit, and that you do hit back. You can hit back with humor, with simple clarification, or a clever phrase. You can use the rebuttals to draw attention to issues. Example.

Hillary: I am a doer, not a talker.
Barack: What has she done on Iraq?

If Barack refuses to accept this fundamental law of campaigning, he is not JFK, he is Adlai Stevenson.

Engaging Hillary is also the best strategy going into February 5. That is how you will get equal media attention. The first time Barack moved nationally was when he first engaged Hillary: The Exchange. Remember?

Politics continues to be a contact sport. All the new kind of politics means is that that contact does not have to be ugly. It can be matter of fact, it can be playful, it can be humorous. On the other hand, it can be terse. It can be pointed, barbey.

Iraq: The Gift That Keeps Giving

Hillary messed up on the defining issue for a generation. I could design a rebuttal for everything Hillary ever says to point out to her mistake on Iraq.

Big Speech

Barack must give a big speech on how he will take race relations in America to a whole new level if only to avoid a white backlash on February 5 to his impending South Carolina victory. You can't be someone wanting to become the first black president - no, that is not Billie Clinton - and avoid race as an issue. You can turn it into a big advantage. If you do it right, white America will vote you because you are black, not inspite of it.

The speech is at the bottom of this page: JFK, Obama Parallels: Catholic, Black.

Issue Whips To Raise Money

Barack has half a million online donors. He beats Hillary big time there. He must issue online whips to raise big money. He should be shameless on this count. How about a goal of $2 million per day for every day after South Carolina? Got to spend big in the big media markets.

If Barack has an Iraq advantage, he also has a money advantage in having so many online donors, more than all other individuals in both parties combined. He must milk these two cows relentlessly. Otherwise Hillary plays even on most other counts.

Good Job On Reagan

Barack's positive comment on Reagan was a masterstroke. That played well in rural Nevada.

Hillary Cried Again, But Noone Saw The Tears

In New Hampshire she showed tears. In Nevada she exploited the Monica name to rally the women behind her. That was clever, I guess.

Money Is Talking

Both Barack and Hillary raised more than $100 million each during 2007. That should be indication this race is going down the wire. It will stay close.

40-60 In CA, NY, 70-30 In IL

If Barack could do this, he will win February 5. He will do real well in NYC. NYC will make up for Hillary's possibly better performance upstate.

In The News

Obama Edges Clinton in Delegate Count Washington Post The Nevada Democratic caucus has turned into a kids' soccer game: everybody is a winner. ..... pointed to Obama's support across the state ..... "a demonstration of what a strong general election candidate [Obama] will be." ...... increasingly this is going to turn into a contest of delegates
Clinton Defeats Obama in Nevada Vote New York Times her strength among Hispanic voters, who comprise a large share of the electorate in several upcoming states ...... “including rural areas where Democrats have traditionally struggled.” ...... Clark County, home to Las Vegas and its influential union blocs, was supporting Mrs. Clinton by an 11-point margin ..... more than 107,000 Nevada voters attended the caucuses ...... the most mysterious among the early-voting states. There was no clear front runner, no reliable polling data, and no institutional history. ..... At the Flamingo hotel, one of the at-large caucus sites on the Las Vegas Strip, it was a chaotic scene. ..... A boxed lunch was served and the proceedings were translated into Spanish. ..... “Hillary has more experience – and she has Bill!”
Analysis: New Tone in Democratic Race The Associated Press Clinton laid down a winning hand in Nevada. So did Barack Obama. ...... shifts the fight to the South, where Obama is relying on black voters ..... Obama was able to salvage a foothold in the race and keep Clinton from claiming a full dose of momentum. ....... Six out of 10 of these attending the state's caucuses were women and nearly half of them backed her ....... More than half of white voters entering the caucuses said they supported Clinton; one in three said they backed Obama. The white vote made up two-thirds of the overall vote. ...... "Obama has to really take South Carolina to reassert his place in the order." ...... He headed home to Chicago while the caucuses were under way and planned no public appearances. His campaign, however, trumpeted the delegate victory and noted that Obama had closed a 25-point lead that Clinton had enjoyed in the polls in November. ..... no sign the race will turn genteel in the South. ...... the New York senator "does not respect our people." ...... South Carolina, no stranger itself to fight night politics.
Analysis: Obama's Age Gap: Is It Race? CBS News Older Americans Have So Far Proven Unwilling To Vote For Barack Obama ..... Obama’s weak performance so far among older voters substantially increases the odds against him scoring big victories in the slew of states voting on February 5th ...... Nationally, Clinton led Obama 44 percent to 18 percent among voters over 65 ... in Nevada, a dazzling 36 percent of the primary voters were over 60 ...... When asked if the whole country was ready to elect a black president, just 54 percent said yes. By contrast, 65 percent said the country was ready to elect a woman president. ..... a pattern that could be a key to making Hillary Clinton the first female presidential nominee in American history.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama swap poison as muddled ... Times Online he was conforming to the caricature the Clintons have painted of him as the candidate of the well-educated liberal elite, rather than the sons and daughters of toil ....... a nasty racial undertone perilously close to the surface. ..... shored up her base among women by appealing for their sympathy over the scandal of Monica Lewinsky ........ California, which supplies one-tenth of the delegates ...... Clinton instantly went on the warpath, claiming that voters had been told, “they shouldn’t come or can’t support the candidate of their choice”. She further alleged that workers were threatened with the sack if they did not back Obama, but did not provide any examples. ...... An irascible Bill Clinton claimed to have personally witnessed voter suppression by union officials with daughter Chelsea and lost his temper when challenged about the lawsuit brought by his wife’s supporters to prevent casino workers voting at their workplace. .... mocking Hillary’s claim of having more experience than him. .... presumed it was “through osmosis, as a consequence of having been first lady” because he saw “no management experience” on her CV. ....... “Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and Bill Clinton did not” ......... “That’s what happens when you’re in Washington too long. You don’t speak English any more.” ...... disappointed to see the former president “descend from the high place he’s been and become an attack dog”. ..... anonymous leaflets were circulating at the university rally calling Obama the candidate of the “casino bosses”. ...... “I used to be a big admirer of the Clintons but they’ve been dirtying the pool. I’m seeing them do things I used to defend them over when they were in power.” But he was pessimistic about Obama’s long-term prospects of winning the nomination: “We’re seeing the same old political machine at work that used to wag the dog.” ....... It’s all a facade. You can tell because as soon as Obama became a threat, she started to twist and turn every word he said. ........ Clinton appeared to belittle Martin Luther King as a civil rights dreamer rather than a doer ...... African-American voters could still tilt the race in Obama’s favour, but at the risk of sending anxious white voters in Clinton’s direction. ...... From Adlai Stevenson to Gary Hart, Paul Tsongas, Bill Bradley and, in 2004, Howard Dean, the reformers have always lost. ........ very nearly an even fight, the most even I have seen in my lifetime. ...... California with 441 delegates and New York, Clinton’s home state as senator, with 281 ..... the Clintons have been playing the race card against Obama in the hope of driving a “wedge” between black and white voters ..... “It is so obvious what they’re doing. They’re telling African-American voters, ‘You know an African-American can’t win so vote for us as the next best thing’, and telling white voters, ‘Look, these people are trying to take over. Is that what you want?’ ” ....... Connor drew the line at supporting Obama, repeating the increasingly common smear spread by viral e-mails that the Illinois senator could be the “Manchurian” candidate – a reference to the film in which the president is a sleeper agent for the communists. “A lot of people will vote against him just because his middle name is Hussein.” ...... Georgia, a Super Tuesday state with 103 delegates ....... Obama could win more states than Clinton on Super Tuesday but that she will win more delegates. That would boost Obama’s contention that he is best placed to win the support of independents and disaffected Republicans in a general election, and would be used to tempt the “super delegates” to him.
Clinton loses support among black Democrats Boston Globe Clinton's support among black Democrats has cratered as racial politics emerged in the nomination fight ...... Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents Washington, D.C., in Congress, joined the chorus, warning Clinton to "watch out'' in her comments on race. "The black community is not only sensitive on race,'' Norton said in an interview on Bloomberg Television today. It is "super-sensitive on race.'' ...... Among all Democrats, Clinton still leads 42 percent to Obama's 33 percent

Nevada settled, South Carolina up for CNN International In Nevada's contest, Clinton led rival Barack Obama by 6 percentage points with 98 percent of precincts reporting ..... Although Clinton won the overall state vote, Obama took more delegates because of the areas where he won. Obama picked up 13 delegates to Clinton's 12. ..... Clinton's campaign organization helped hand her the win. ..... "Her people are efficient, fervent. They were there first, they were calling people, they had a list of voters they were using to call people, making sure people came out. They had signs, they had shirts, they had a clear chain of command" ....... Romney captured 94 percent of the voters who identified themselves as Mormon, which made up 25 percent of all Republicans participating in the GOP caucuses. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints estimates there are 170,000 members living in Nevada.
Teen 'Bhutto assassin' arrested the militants may have wanted to put the cyanide into the municipal water supply. ..... The growing bloodshed has cast doubts on the ability of the security forces to maintain peace during the campaign for parliamentary elections on February 18. It has also sparked calls from opposition politicians for President Pervez Musharraf to step down. ..... a five-person squad was dispatched to Rawalpindi, where Bhutto was killed, by Baitullah Mehsud, a militant leader with strong ties to al Qaeda and an alliance with the Taliban in nearby Afghanistan. ....... But Maulvi Mohammed Umar, a purported spokesman for Mehsud, dismissed the report. "It is just government propaganda ... we have already clarified that we are not involved in the attack on Benazir Bhutto." ...... vague allegations that elements within the government might have been involved in the assassination. ....... Most registered voters say Clinton and Obama -- as well as McCain -- have the necessary leadership skills and vision to be president

Bill Clinton accuses Obama supporters Independent, UK

Romney wins Republican caucuses in Nevada; Democrats Clinton ... The Canadian Press Former President Bill Clinton was a constant presence as well in a state he carried twice on his own in 1992 and 1996.
Campaigns Face Common Foe in Nevada: Confusion New York Times “I’m like, what the heck is caucusing?” Vickie Francovich ..... “Where do you go?” ..... 520 Democratic caucus sites ..... in his closing argument to voters, Mr. Obama spent an exceptional amount of time dwelling on Mrs. Clinton. He repeatedly mentioned her by name, reflecting a sense by some Democrats — and worry among his own advisers — that she indeed held an advantage. ..... “Senator Clinton has said she is ready to lead from Day 1” “But it’s important on Day 1 to get it right, whether you’re talking about war or you’re talking about economic proposals.” .... the coast-to-coast fight that lies ahead on Feb. 5.