Race, Class, Gender, Globalization And 2008

The social issues are all rather hard to deal with. The identity issues are hard to deal with. I don't know what exactly Obama said in San Francisco at a private dinner but he got reported as saying that people in small town Pennsylvania are bitter and so they cling to guns and religion.

Like James Carville said, Pennsylvania is Philly and Pittsburgh, with Alabama in between. And there are no blacks in this particular version of Alabama.

The poor everywhere are extra susceptible to identity politics and prejudices. Guns and religion were there before the outsourcing of industrial jobs, guns and religion were there before industrialization, but people do cling extra tight to them when the times go rough. A lot of people don't know Barack's mother was a cutting edge anthropologist. She did microfinance work decades before Yunus got the Nobel for the same.

The reaction was one of defensiveness. You calling me poor? You calling me desperate? You calling me white? The media churn on the issue was so total that Obama 2008's millions in TV ads got drowned out.

It is hard to engage the electorate on social issues. Most people feel their particular worldview is cutting edge and they have no viewpoint they need to change. Roe V Wade was 1973, and the pro-choice agenda is still hot. Progress on social issues tends to be slow.

What to do?

1. Turn the class issue into one on globalization and how to tackle it best.
2. Inject the gender issue full force. That will put Hillary on the defensive. She desires to quietly squeak by, she does not seek to talk gender.
   
3. Address race. That one was a speech about Jeremiah Wright. Now tell the people how you will take race relations in America to the next level. (JFK, Obama Parallels: Catholic, Black)
   

Hillary's momentum from her nine point PA victory is a little unsettling. It will help to get a little paranoid.

Ground Rule: When you get hit, you hit back. The new kind of politics does not change that. What it does change is you don't get nasty when hitting back. When you don't hit back, people think you got hit and you did not even notice.

The Working Class Are Hurt By Special Interests And Lobbyists' Money
Hillary Is Seeking The Green Party Nomination
Taking Race Head On: A Speech
Lessons From PA: Race And Globalization Must Be Addressed
Gender Talk: Coming At It From The Future
Skyward Bound
Philly Debate: Quick Impressions During
Nobel Peace Prize 2008: Making A Case For Nepal (2)
Sexism Bothers Me Directly
Outsourcing Anxieties: The Internet Metaphor

In The News

Bush to address Americans' financial fears CNN
Clinton surges way ahead of McCain in latest poll Hindu
Rev. Wright more than Obama's former pastor CNN

Iranian President’s Visit Tests India New York Times
Wright's Remarks Leave Obama Wounded U.S. News & World Report
Obama’s Wright Response New York Times
Why Wright Doesn't Hurt Obama's Shot at the Nomination Newsweek
What's new: Is the Obama camp right about Wright? USA Today
Pastor's rebuttals fuel troubles for Obama Boston Globe led McCain by nine points in what is perhaps the best news her campaign has seen or heard in the last several weeks .... Both Democrats were roughly even with 71-year-old McCain in the previous poll about three weeks ago. .... 30 per cent of Clinton backers and 21 per cent of Obama's maintaining that they will vote for McCain if their preferred candidate did not get nominated. ....... Governor of North Carolina Mike Easley, a superdelegate, announced his support to her.
Clinton Tip-Toes Around Rev. Wright Issue ABC News
Clinton drives home her Lincoln-Douglas debate idea and Obama ... Los Angeles Times
Clinton Could Ease Racial Tensions Wall Street Journal

Obama Team Remains Unshaken CBS News, USA The Plan, a blueprint devised 15 months ago ....... Her campaign, ensconced in a Washington suburb, has experienced two major staff shakeups fueled by high-level staff rivalries, shifting strategies and an unusual degree of finger-pointing. ..... a candidate intolerant of infighting, a clear line of authority and a healthy distance from the city they want to take over. ....... 2000, who presided over a loyal, linear and leakless operation in Austin ........ “Intense loyalty to and belief in the candidate,” Jordan said, citing the similarities. “Simple, clear lines of authority with real discipline among the staff and consultants. Deep, talented teams. Maybe most importantly, candidates who trust their campaign, who understand what they’re doing, who deliver as well as demand loyalty, who intuitively relate to and handle their campaigns with just the right touch.” ........ the rival Democratic campaigns are a study in contrasts. ........ Obama strategist David Axelrod is the anti-Penn. ....... the low-key and well-liked Axelrod ........ run on change, win Iowa and then embark on a national campaign aimed at maximizing their delegate count. ......... a demeanor like Obama’s, tends to avoid highs or lows. ...... block out the din and the whims of the 24-hour cable news culture. ....... there should be only intentional leaks, and disputes must be dealt with in-house ....... we feel confident in the plan and we are still ahead

Obama on Rev. Wright: "He Does Not Speak for Me" Washington Post "I have said before and I will repeat again that some of the comments that Rev. Wright have made offend me and I understand why they've offended the American people," Obama said ........ Obama seemed determined to wrench his campaign back to the basic messages ...... "Having politicians bickering back and forth doesn't help you," Obama said. "Having them worrying about superdelegates doesn't help you. This election is not about me. It's not about Senator Clinton. It's not about John McCain. It's about you. It's about your struggles, your hopes and dreams."

April 29: Arianna

Tuesday, April 29

7:00 pm

(doors open at 6:00pm)
DL21C's Political Author Series continues with
Arianna Huffington
Editor-in-Chief, the Huffington Post
discussing her new book
Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe
723 Washington Street
A/C/E to 14th Street, 1 to Christopher Street/Sheridan Square
Free for members; $7/non-members
Books available for purchase and signing on-site
More information about Right is Wrong

Please RSVP!

Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
Arianna Huffington - Politics on The Huffington Post
Arianna Huffington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
10 Questions for Arianna Huffington - TIME
Arianna Huffington - TIME
ARIANNA ONLINE - About Arianna
Arianna Huffington
Columnist: Arianna Huffington | AlterNet
Reuters/Second Life » Interview with Arianna Huffington in Davos












In The News

Setback for China's expanding railway BBC News
Poll: Clinton leads McCain The Associated Press
Obama strays from the Rudd manual Sydney Morning Herald
Clinton donors open their chequebooks for Obama guardian.co.uk
Obama tweaks strategy to woo blue-collar voters in Indiana International Herald Tribune
Clinton gets bump in polls Boston Globe Clinton now leads Republican John McCain, 50 percent to 41 percent, while Barack Obama remains virtually tied with McCain, 46 percent to 44 percent. ....... Clinton leads McCain 47 to 44 percent while Obama and McCain are tied at 45 percent. Also, Clinton and Obama are tied at 47 percent among Democrats in the tracking poll -- a 5-percentage-point gain for Clinton since she won the Pennsylvania primary last Tuesday.
Obama pastor says controversy is 'attack on the black church' AFP
Obama's Former Pastor Says Attacks on His Comments Are Unfair Voice of America
Clinton's dare falls on deaf ears Sydney Morning Herald
Clinton’s New Debate Proposal: On the Back of a Flatbed Truck FOXNews
Yup. Things Were Different Before Clinton-Obama. New York Times Oct. 22, 2006, when Mr. Obama said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he had changed his mind and was considering a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. The average price of gas then stood at $2.20 a gallon.
Clinton calls for gas tax holiday Boston Globe
Nepal PM urges political parties to form new coalition government International Herald Tribune

Party Leaders Concerned Voters Will Not Unify After Nominee is Chosen ABC News
Mars, Buffett to buy Wrigley for $23 billion MarketWatch
Austria Says Man Locked Up Daughter New York Times 73-year-old man .... kept his daughter locked in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her, three of whom never emerged into daylight ...... Josef Fritzl, an electrical engineer ....... this quiet Austrian town. ...... provide for the children in his basement. ...... a nondescript, three-story apartment house in Amstetten, a town 80 miles west of Vienna ...... Elisabeth, 42, told the police that in 1984, her father drugged, handcuffed and dragged her into a basement, accessible only through a hidden door with an electronic code. She said she spent close to the next quarter-century imprisoned there, a constant victim of sexual abuse and incest by her father. ........ Her father ordered her to give up three of the children, who were then adopted or cared for as foster children by Josef and his wife, Rosemarie, the mother of Elisabeth. ....... Rosemarie apparently did not know of her daughter’s ordeal ...... When Elisabeth disappeared in 1984, her father claimed that she had written a letter asking her parents not to search for her. ....... Three of the children born in the basement — now 19, 18 and 5 — never left it ....... sexually abused by her father from the age of 11. ....... he built a dwelling capable of sustaining a family. ....... one room to sleep in, one to cook, and there are also sanitation facilities ...... “I can see the house from my balcony and from my window, and when I think now of who was in there, I can simply not imagine that.”
William Kristol: Hillary Gets No Respect Obama will most likely be the nominee. His team has run the better campaign. ..... realized how important the caucus states could be: Obama’s delegate lead depends on his caucus victories. ...... “I get pretty fed up with people questioning my patriotism.”

1000 people evacuated near Sierra Madre wildfire Los Angeles Times
Hamid Karzai survives assassination attempt Telegraph.co.uk

John McCain's war, Howard Dean's war Baltimore Sun
Iran to discuss pipeline with India, Pakistan Reuters India
A Topless Photo Threatens a Major Disney Franchise New York Times
Obama confronts race question in presidential vote AFP as Democrats mulled whether racial bias makes Hillary Clinton the better Democratic candidate. ....... the American people, what they're looking for is somebody who can solve their problems ...... The reality is that Barack Obama has been in political office longer than Hillary Clinton. He's been in political office longer than George Bush had been
Barack Obama rejects Hillary Clinton debate Telegraph.co.uk
Obama discounts race as a factor in presidential election The Associated Press
Obama, McCain Spar on Iraq as DNC Takes Aim at McCain FOXNews
Hillary has cynically turned to the one argument she has left: race guardian.co.uk by Gary Younge The FBI wasted millions of dollars and hours trying in vain to prove that Martin Luther King was a communist. ...... Constantly questioning his national loyalty and obfuscating his religious affiliation, both the media and his opponents have sought to cast him not only as anti-American but un-American and at times even non-American. His bid to transcend race appears to be crashing on the rocks of racism. ....... Of the 10 whitest states to have voted so far, Obama has won nine. ....... One of the moderators asked Obama of his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright: "You do believe he's as patriotic as you are?" ..... Hillary applauded the line of questioning. "You know, these are problems, I think these are issues that are legitimate and should be explored." ....... When asked whether Obama was a Muslim, Hillary said that he wasn't: "There is nothing to base that on - as far as I know." ..... By February, 80% of Americans had heard rumours that Obama was Muslim. Even after the furore over the Rev Wright, one in 10 Democrats still believed this. A recent Pew poll showed that the only character trait on which Obama loses to Clinton is patriotism. Exit polls in Pennsylvania revealed that 18% of Democrats said that race mattered to them in this contest - and just 63% of them said that they would support Obama in a general election. ........ Polls show that in the states won with less than a five-point margin in 2004 Obama does far better than Clinton against McCain.

Tired Barack Obama resorts to aggression Telegraph.co.uk If he fails to wrest Indiana from Mrs Clinton, who is slightly ahead in the polls, his campaign fears that the remaining uncommitted super-delegates will lose faith in his ability to win and back his rival instead. ....... As he courted senior citizens on Friday he tried a little bonding. "Seniors, listen up. I'm getting grey hair myself. Running for president will age you quick." ......... The Democratic battle increasingly resembles a civil war ...... the candidate, who is clearly tired and lacks the electric energy of two months back. ....... the senator will do more to stress his humble roots as the scholarship schoolboy son of a single mother. ....... his campaign is carefully nailing down the pledges of super-delegates, to wheel out after the final primary on June 3. ...... he has seen a list of 50 names ready to declare for Mr Obama within days of the last vote, but that his campaign expects to have up to 150, enough to clinch the nomination.

Clinton’s battering of Obama is brutal, bloody – and fair Times Online the most intriguing presidential campaign of modern times. ...... Her campaign has been a chaos of sacked managers, unpaid bills, gaffes and indiscretions, but she cries: “The American people deserve a president who doesn’t quit,” and that is that. ........ There is a touch of Margaret Thatcher to Clinton at present. ....... America, she implies, is ready for a woman president but not a black one. ...... He is new and exciting, and would make McCain appear tired and old. ....... Obama not only writes good books (by himself) ...... His team is calm, efficient and, in comparison with Clinton’s, loyal. ........ Merely by being elected, Obama would resolve the anguish that seems to afflict modern America, both abroad and at home. Surely black America’s time has come in this man. .......... her jibe: “He is not a Muslim . . . as far as I know,” and the advertisement implying that Americans would not want a black hand reaching out to the 3am crisis phone call. ......... at this juncture she seems physically and emotionally tougher than him. ......... The attention paid by candidates to the smallest communities in states across the nation is phenomenal. Compared with the synthesised, centralised elections of Europe’s political clubs, it is politics raw and intimate and real. ......... The next president must end a war and rescue a nation’s finances.

Obama pastor: I had death threats guardian.co.uk He has two more interviews scheduled this week, including an address to the National Press Club in Washington DC. That will add fuel to a fire of negative attacks on the campaign trail. ....... After months of attacks Clinton's team believe they have finally succeeded in raising enough questions about Obama to weaken him. A win in Indiana, they believe, will ensure Clinton can carry that fight all the way to the Denver party convention in August where she will try to rally superdelegates to her side. ...... the most recent surveys show Obama opening a slight lead.

The Working Class Are Hurt By Special Interests And Lobbyists' Money

I think it is bizarre that the media is portraying Obama as elitist and Clinton as the candidate for the working class. I do not see the logic.

	Obama	Clinton
Personal Wealth	Made $4 Million From Books	Made $100 Million From Husband's Speeches To Big, Fat Companies
Definition Of Middle Class	Middle Class	People Who Make $250,000 A Year
Where Power Rests	With The People Who Donate $25, $50, $100 A Pluck, Does Not Take Money From Lobbyists	Number One Recipient Of Money From Lobbyists In Either Party
Political Style	New, Positive, Uplifting, Uniting	Slash And Burn, 1990s Style

Obama is more likely to deliver on education and health care. He is more likely to bring the gas price down by ending the gouging going on by the oil companies. He is the one who will tame the mortgage industry now known for predatory lending. Why? Because he will answer to the people and the people alone.

The Responsibility Of The Superdelegates

Not all remaining superdelegates have to fall for my guy, but all must cast their preference one way or the other by the time the final primary/caucus is held. The party must have its nominee by then. Otherwise it will be like gifting all of summer to McCain. Summer is when the flesh pressing happens. Don't deprive the nominee of that.

We give Barack all summer and he will give us a 60 strong majority in the Senate. I think that is a bargain. What do you think?

The superdelegates are political professionals. They don't need more time. They know the candidates better than most of the rest of us. They don't get to have more time. They don't get to wait until the convention.







In The News

In Black Voices, a Range of Views in Police Verdict New York Times
Bell's fiancee: 'They killed Sean all over again' CNN
GOP Now Sees Obama as Liability for Ticket New York Times
Wesley Snipes Gets 3 Years for Not Filing Tax Returns New York Times
Obama making plans to attract voters and money for November Boston Globe Yesterday, his campaign announced "Vote for Change," what it described as an unprecedented 50-state voter registration and mobilization drive. The effort will start with at least 83 events across the country on May 10 and has already launched a website. .... Obama has won the overwhelming majority of new voters in primaries and caucuses. ...... setting up a joint fund-raising committee with the Democratic National Committee, an arrangement that allows donors to write one check to be divided between the candidate and the national party ...... The contribution limit is $28,500, compared to $2,300 for the general election for donations directly to a candidate. ........ Obama has picked up 83 percent of the superdelegate endorsements since Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, narrowing Clinton's superdelegate lead to 259-236. ...... Huckabee, popular with social conservatives, has been mentioned as a potential running mate for McCain ....... "black people are incensed" over Clinton's "bizarre" behavior.
Obama wins the "World Primary" Seattle Times King of the World ..... people from Pakistan to Venezuela to Iraq are immensely affected by the economic, as well as political, decisions of the president of the United States ..... a recent trip abroad convinced me that, as of this moment, Barack Obama would win a World Primary, hands down. ...... his eight years of personal flaws and policy indecisions ...... the New Frontier candidate of the 21st century. ...... an Obama presidency would offer the idealism of a Woodrow Wilson and the youthful vigor of a John Kennedy — absent the peevish arrogance of George W. Bush or the embarrassing personal peccadilloes of an all-too-human Bill Clinton. ....... Many Africans would of course toast the development to the heavens; many Muslims would find considerable comfort in the election of a Christian who nonetheless has the middle name of Hussein. In Asia, the now-surging continent of ever-increasing optimism, Obama would be hailed as opening a new chapter in a more nuanced, sensitive and cosmopolitan U.S. foreign policy. ....... Obama's election would prove so enormously electric that perhaps as much as 50 percent of global anti-Americanism could dissipate virtually overnight. ...... the Democrats in general (and the Hillary Clinton campaign in particular) would do everyone a favor if they were to unite around the man who lived briefly in Indonesia, much longer than in Hawaii, and who continually gives the world the impression of the United States of America no longer as the same old, tired self.
Upcoming Contests to Test Dems’ Working-Class Appeal FOXNews
New poll shows a dead heat in state between Clinton, Barack Obama CNN Obama is tied with Clinton at 45 percent, with 10 percent of respondents unsure ...... All polls include interviews conducted after the Pennsylvania primary, which Clinton won Tuesday by about 55 percent to 45 percent. ..... Clinton easily wins among senior citizens and women ...... oughly two-thirds of people in a separate survey done by the Pew Research Center said the race has gone on "too long." ...... the closest race in a generation ...... The May 6 contests have 187 combined delegates at stake. ...... African-Americans, young voters, upscale whites and independent voters. ....... Nancy Pelosi, D-California, made it clear Thursday that she thinks Clinton and Obama shouldn't run on a joint ticket this fall.
At Indiana Rally, Clinton Plays Up Midwestern Values CBS News
Should Clinton play the gender card? Globe and Mail
Clinton Sidesteps Questions About Staying in the Race Washington Post hinted yesterday that she might reconsider the state of her campaign if she loses in Indiana. ....... Obama holds a double-digit lead in some North Carolina polls ..... About twenty-five percent of the state gets media from Chicago
Amid Clinton-Obama struggle, Americans see campaign as too negative Los Angeles Times Too long? Too long? We're not even three-quarters of the way through this 23-month, $2-billion extravaganza.