Don't Abandon California

Hillary abandoned South Carolina and paid for it heavily. Barack should not abandon California. That is too big a prize to let go.

Women in California are giving Hillary her lead. I think many of them will change their minds after South Carolina and the Kennedy endorsements sink in. But my primary weapon against Hillary would be Hillary herself. Spread rumors that you are looking to make Edwards your Attorney General. As in, you are not thinking of him as running mate. The women of California can have Hillary on the ticket. If they want some symbolism, they can sure have it. I mean, I like Hillary.

A Vote For Barack Is Not A Vote Against Hillary

I can so totally see why for the women of California Hillary is attractive. If you are a working woman, intelligent, well educated, you face gender as an issue on a daily basis. So if you are driven by self-interest, you will let gender be your deciding factor.

But if you think about the country and the fresh leadership it sorely needs, or that race is a bigger hurdle than gender in America, or if you think about the world and especially Africa and what a President Obama could mean to that continent, you are going to have to go for Barack, even if you might be a California woman.

15 Point Lead

Hillary's 15 point lead in California is from before the political earthquake in South Carolina, from before the high voltage endorsements by the JFK daughter Caroline and the JFK youngest brother Ted Kennedy.

The Kennedy Endorsements

This is how it worked. Caroline's children had a friend who worked for the Obama campaign, and he lighted the fire. The children got Caroline's ear. And when Caroline endorsed, Ted Kennedy was compelled to.

Never underestimate the power of an Obama campaign worker.

Obama-Edwards

If it boils down to that, it might as well be an Obama-Edwards change ticket, if all the Edwards delegates throw their lot behind Obama to give him the nomination he will otherwise not have. Edwards has also not taken lobbyist money. He has exhibited strong labor support. He will help greatly in the South especially when there might be no Southerner on the Republican ticket.

McCain-Romney

Is that what we are looking at?

In The News

McCain, Clinton have big leads in California Los Angeles Times the battles remain hugely volatile ...... Clinton held onto a 49% to 32% lead ...... Democratic women continued to power her effort, siding with Clinton by nearly a 2-1 margin. ..... The poll was conducted largely before Obama's victory Saturday in South Carolina and today's high-profile endorsements of him by U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and his niece, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg...... 3 in 10 likely voters said they could change their minds .... increasing her margin of support among Democratic women from 15% to 26%.
Why the Kennedys Went for Obama TIME For a moment, Obama looked overwhelmed when he saw all of the Kennedys waiting for him. Then he gathered Caroline in a big hug. "Thank you so much," he whispered. "I'm so excited." ..... Caroline and I are very close, and she started this process ...... She took her children to listen to all of the candidates ...... we had a long lunch in the middle of the summer. They were talking about it at that time; they were talking about Barack Obama. ....... This is about who you're for, not who you're against. ..... It was actually my kids talking about it last Christmas vacation. A friend of theirs, who is here today, is working for Senator Obama. ........ I don't think there's anybody who understands the possibilities of government more than Ted Kennedy. ..... his voice has all the power of 30, 40 years ago. He is at the heart and soul of the Democratic Party — the belief in civil rights, the belief in opportunity for all people, in upward mobility, in caring for the least of these, a vision that extends beyond our shores. And he speaks to a vision in which we are a beacon for those who are still trapped in poverty or oppression.
Obama's Win Reshapes the Race
Obama on his way to win nomination Daily Times
Ted Kennedy's roof-raising endorsement of Barack Obama. Slate and bet the whole darn Kennedy Compound that this man is The One ...... he performed a double vivisection on the Clintons ..... Obama fights for what he believes in, "without demonizing those who hold a different view." And unlike some he could name, what Obama is selling is "not just about himself, but about all of us," Kennedy thundered. ........ the choice as he described it was between fear and hope, the past and the future, meanness and possibility. ...... urged voters not to listen to former President Clinton's naysaying, likening it to Harry Truman's suggestion that JFK was too green to be president back in the day ...... Diann Heine, a longtime aide to Hubert Humphrey, left American University's Bender Arena building crying. "I never thought I'd feel this way again," she said. "It's a miracle."
Clinton, McCain Lead in NY Poll The Associated Press Hillary Rodham Clinton, 56 percent Barack Obama, 28 percent ...... On the Democratic side, 70 percent said they had made up their minds compared to 25 percent who could still change their minds. Forty-five percent of Clinton supporters were certain to vote for her compared to 20 percent for Obama.
Dirt Is Found on the Clinton Campaign Trail in Iowa FOXNews

Caroline Kennedy: A President Like My Father

January 27, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
A President Like My Father
By CAROLINE KENNEDY

OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.

Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.

Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.

Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.

I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.

Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.

Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love.”