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Remember this ad from four years ago? For those of you on dial up, the transcript:
ANNOUNCER: What do you think of Howard Dean’s plan to raise taxes on families by $1900 a year?
MAN: What do I think? Well, I think Howard Dean should take his tax-hiking, government-expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading…
WOMAN: …body-piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freakshow back to Vermont. Where it belongs.
MAN: Got it?
ANNOUNCER: Club for Growth PAC is responsible for the content of this advertising.
Well, Kos brings to our attention last night’s comments from Int’l Assoc. of Machinists President Tom Buffenbarger’s while introducing Hillary Clinton (quoting from MSNBC):
[I]t was Obama supporters for whom Buffenbarger saved his most vitriolic contempt, and he proved that the Democratic Party’s coalition is nothing if not fragile. Channeling Howard Beale from the movie “Network,” he yelled into the microphone, “Give me a break! I’ve got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won’t last a round against the Republican attack machine. He’s a poet, not a fighter.”
His predecessor, William Wimpisinger, is probably rolling in his retirement. Looking at the comment, and the ad, imagine if somebody released an ad in California about Huckabee which read “I think he should take his Bible-thumping, Coors drinking, Wonder Bread munching, WWF watching, Ford Ranger driving, Limbaugh listening, illiterate ass back to Arkansas where it belongs.”
Would everybody take it for a joke? Maybe. But I wonder if there isn’t a double standard. I seem to recall a slew of salsa advertisements aimed at New York City. One of those ads was aimed at San Francisco, but I think the silliness of suggesting that nobody in San Francisco knows how to make salsa came down on them pretty quickly. But again, if a New York based company was to advertise making fun of whatever pizza comes out of Texas, it would be universally vilified as elitist at minimum. Not that Hollywood/NY cultural elitism doesn’t slip through. But it does have to be a little more discreet about it.
Meanwhile, the Teamsters and Boilermakers are endorsing Obama.
Addendum: McCain should take care. He may get just what he asked for.
The artwork, by Iris Schenke, is posted on Artists for Hillary.
So, I guess March 4 is Clinton’s “firewall.” Ohio and Texas are states Clinton should do well in – in theory. Ohio being filled with economically hard-hit working class voters and Texas with a large segment of Hispanics and other demographics which did well by her on Super Tuesday.
But Wisconsin is also made up of voters which should have been favorable to her – working class white voters yearning for the Clinton era. She pulled out early, probably so she could wiggle out a defense that she had to focus on March 4 and so Wisconsin doesn’t really count anyway. She made no mention of Wisconsin in her speech last night. But I think she was counting on a closer win. Everybody, including myself, had been praising her organization and ground game based on her New York wins. But as Laura Flanders pointed out on the Peter B. Collins show yesterday, her organization is top down. Obama has made extensive use of volunteers in every state so that the campaign has been off and running before the paid people showed up in each state. Obama’s is the first campaign to successfully run on grassroots power in decades. Howard Dean had made the last attempt, but supporters of John Kerry’s campaign had to pull teeth just to get yard signs. Much is being said about Obama’s money, but it’s much of it has come from small donations.
And by all accounts he has an excellent ground game going in Texas, and while not quite as advanced his Ohio effort is coming together as well. And he’s just opened offices in Vermont and Rhode Island.
I expect Clinton to pull out all the stops. With nothing to lose, Bill will probably go back on the attack. The Clintons have always been at their best when their backs were against the wall. Will Ohio and/or Texas (and Pennsylvania in April) be her Trenton or Waterloo? And even if she wins both, will it matter? The math suggests it’s nearly impossible for Clinton to overtake Obama in pledged deligates. Will the super delegates give her the win if the elected delegates have chosen Obama? How will that play out in November?
Addendum: You say Obama, I say Osama. The media’s still not getting it right. Are we in for 8 years of this?
By now you know that super delegates are elected party members or party bureaucrats who have been given a vote at the Democratic Party nomination convention and have the power to vote as they want rather than as their constituents prefer. They were installed a few decades ago as insurance against “insurgency” candidacies such as McGovern circa 1972 and even Carter in 1976. The idea is that these 800 delegates could maintain some control.
Some of the super delegates have committed to one candidate or the other, though a few who formerly supported Clinton have jumped on the Obama bandwagon. Others are waiting – hedging their bets.
Despite Obama’s lead in delegates, which was enlarged by a very convincing win today, neither candidate can win the majority of “pledged delegates” prior to the convention. The nomination will be decided by the super delegates. Some super delegates have suggested that they would support the candidate receiving the largest number of pledged delegates (which if proves to be the rule begs the question – either the super delegates serve an anti-democratic purpose, or they’re superfluous).
Rep. Mike Thompson has publicly backed Hillary Clinton. As a result, Bill Clinton came to Eureka, spoke to several hundred while pissing off a couple of thousand, and Obama won big in Humboldt County. It was a little closer in the other First District counties (fortunately for Hillary, Bill didn’t show up in those counties), but Obama did indeed take the district (does anybody know how the pledged delegates in our district were allocated?).
So the question is, will Representative Thompson vote with his district, or does he view the Obama vote as an insurgency he is bound to squelch?
Addendum: Still only 8 percent of the votes counted, but it looks like a blow-out in Hawaii.
Somebody finally found the article and posted the link.
Rodoni said he is running for re-election against candidates Estelle Fennell and Clif Clendenen because he believes he best represents the diverse residents in the southern areas of the county — particularly the working people he says aren’t given enough voice in government.
If he was going to make a campaign promise, Rodoni said it would be to not change his principles, ideology and philosophy he said have remained consistent during his tenure in office.
Sometimes criticized for his comments that some say go to far, Rodoni admits he is the most outspoken supervisor of the five-member board.
He also said he is the most conservative member and would remain that way if re-elected.
He says that economic development is in the hands of business leaders and the best thing government can do is stay out of their way and not bug them for taxes.
According to the article, he’s raised about 9000 dollars. And he reminds everybody who say he’s inaccessible that he has an office in Garberville (behind the library) and he’s there every Thursday.
Addendum: Heraldo reports on Rodoni’s comments on Estelle at the Board meeting, apparently not referring to her by name and calling her “emotional” about the Eel River.
For another three days. Use this thread to report on the proceedings. Or you could just repeat the same lamoid arguments and accusations you’ve been making for a year and a half. Or you could come up with something new to say, though I wonder if there actually is anything new to say. Comments about private individuals who aren’t actually major players in the case will be deleted, as well as over-the-top insults and of course anything which appears to be libelous or threatening.
I’m looking forward to the conclusion of this thing, however it ends.
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