Clinton distorts image of Obama in campaign ad to make him "blacker"

The details are over on DailyKos, but here is a summary.

Hillary Clinton put out a campaign ad where a picture of Barack Obama was used. The photo was altered to make his skin darker. If that wasn't bad enough, the ratio was also altered, or "squished", to make it seem as if he has a wide, flat nose.

In this ad, she also lies about his subcommittee, saying it's responsible for Afghanistan, and that he hasn't held hearings. Problem is, Afghanistan is under another committee.

Then, when confronted, the Clinton campaign denies that the ad is theirs. Except the ad was on Clinton's own site. Oops.

Seriously, go read this, look at the facts. This is absolutely horrible behavior. This woman does not deserve to be president, by any stretch of the imagination.

Red-Faced States: A Preview of Tonight

From ThinkProgress:

The Dallas News reports that already, polling places are experiencing a “crush” of voters for today’s primary elections. The Texas Secretary of State office said that “early voters last week had already surpassed the total early-voting numbers for both the 1996 and 2000 elections,” and that interest is expected to continue today. GOP polling sites, however, “were not as busy.”

I think maybe no one wants to be seen voting for a Republican, even in red states. Thanks to Mark for the witty reply that I turned into the title.

I've said over and over since this started that record turnout was the only prediction I would make. And it seems that record turnout on the Democratic side has been the theme through every state so far, and again in Texas. This is bad news for Hillary, I think.

I'm hosting a Watch Party tonight at Mo Diggity's, and plan to live blog from the party (my first attempt at such a thing). Let me know what you think as the results come in, and I'll share with the crowd.

And if you want first-hand information on what it's been like in Texas, read this entry by a guy who's been in my hometown of Sugarland, TX (aka Houston).

Newsflash, Hillary: Fear Mongering Is a Republican Tactic, Not a Democratic One

Yeah, we all know about the 3 am phone calls right now. And this does start out on that topic, but it gets much juicier.



I love the part where Bill tells the crowd (for Kerry during the '04 election):

Now, one of Clinton's Laws of Politics is this; If one candidate's trying to scare you, and the other one's trying to get you to think. If one candidate's appealing to your fears, and the other one's appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person that wants you to think and hope.

I sure as hell don't want another 8 years of Bush style politics.

Daddy, I want to be president!

After the last video I posted of Hillary endorsing McCain, I stumbled upon this video.



This is exactly what Hillary has reminded me of so many times, and towards the end when it shows her saying she had a specific social security plan, then her saying she wouldn't endorse any social security plan until she's "approaching fiscal responsibility" just eats at me.

I saw Countdown earlier talking about her accusing Barack of making side deals with Canada about NAFTA, and a friend (hi, Nikki!) sent me a link to an article about it. As I told her in reply, tfahese are the things I've known about her since the start, just knew inside. She'd lie to get us to go to war just like Bush, if it suited her purposes.

And that's why, as much as I'd really, truly like to see a woman in the White House, Hillary is not someone I believe should be in there. I hope that tomorrow's primaries and caucuses (aka primacaucuses) will answer any doubt about the Democratic Nominee being Barack Obama. The Results Watch Party will be quite a thrill!

Hillary Clinton Abandons Democratic Party ...or... Clinton Endorses McCain

I'd like to find a more eloquent way of expressing what I think of this. More below.

CBS News titled this: Clinton Says She and McCain Offer Experience, Obama Offers Speeches

Hillary Clinton told reporters that both she and the presumtive Republican nominee John McCain offer the experience to be ready to tackle any crisis facing the country under their watch, but Barack Obama simply offers more rhetoric. “I think you'll be able to imagine many things Senator McCain will be able to say,” she said. “He’s never been the president, but he will put forth his lifetime of experience. I will put forth my lifetime of experience. Senator Obama will put forth a speech he made in 2002.”

The only thing I can say is "What a bitch!"

She has obviously abandoned the Democratic Party. Will they abandon her now?

Watch for yourself:

More Diebold Problems

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

Obama's Victory Speech

I received this email from Senator Obama earlier this evening:

Misty --

Today, the people of Wisconsin voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new kind of politics.

They rejected an onslaught of negative attacks and attempts to distract them from the common concerns we all have about the direction of our country.

No doubt we'll hear much more of these attacks and distractions in the days to come.

But the noise of these tired, old political games will not drown out the voices of millions calling for change.

You can help bring a new voice to our political process. By giving through our matching program, you will double the impact of someone giving for the first time this year.

We're nearing our goal of 500,000 people giving so far in 2008. You've already donated to this campaign -- but now you can help push us over the top and bring in someone new.

Make a matching donation right now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/promise

We won't know until late tonight the results of today's Hawaii caucus, but we'll let you know how that turns out tomorrow.

If we win in Hawaii, it will be ten straight victories -- a streak no one thought possible, and the best position we can be in when Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island, and Vermont vote on March 4th.

Thank you for making this possible,

Barack

Congratulations to Senator Obama on Wisconsin Win!

I am looking forward to finding out how the Hawai'i caucuses went, but in the meantime, Obama's 9th straight win in Wisconsin is great news!

According to MSNBC, he split the female vote in Wisconsin with Hillary, which makes me believe that women who previously were going for Hillary solely because of her gender may now be looking for something more, and have found that in Barack.

With 60% currently reporting, Barack has 56% of the vote, with Hillary at 43%. That should give Barack a pretty good chunck of Wisconsin's 74 delegates.

Yes we can!

Barack Needs Your Help Today!

I just got this email from Anne Filipic, the Obama Utah Director:

Today is Utah's chance to help make Barack Obama the next President. Please help us get as many people to the polls today as possible!

Three easy ways to do this:

1) GO VOTE
2) Tell all your friends, neighbors and co-workers to go vote. Send out an email to your whole list, call through all the numbers in your cell phone, etc. There are a lot of people in Utah who still don't realize that today is the presidential primary and the best person to tell them why they need to go vote for Barack is YOU!
3) Help us make calls and knock on doors to Obama supporters. Call 801-886-2262 or come down to our office at 1747 South 900 West in SLC if you can help out. (We also have locations in Park City, Ogden, and St. George if you are closer to any of those locations and want to help out there.)

There is a lot of support for Barack in Utah but it won't mean anything if we don't get our supporters to go VOTE! We'll be on the phones and the doors all the way through 8pm, when doors close. Please help us help Barack!!

All But Republicans and Green Party Can Vote in Democratic Primary?

According to the Salt Lake Tribune:

Democrats and unaffiliated voters can cast ballots in that primary. (Members of other parties, such as the Green Party, will technically be considered unaffiliated voters, except for those registered in the Constitutional Party.)

And while we're at it:

Utah by the numbers
* 1,709,629 registered voters
* 1,043,905 independent (not affiliated with any party), 61 percent
* 538,305 Republicans, 31 percent
* 125,992 Democrats,
7 percent
* 1,427 Constitution Party, 1 percent

Rules of the game
* Independent (small i) voters have a choice. They can vote in the Democratic primary just by asking for a ballot. If they are willing to sign up as a Republican at the polls, they can vote in the GOP primary.
* Registered Republicans can vote only in the GOP primary; registered Democrats only in the Democratic primary.

Grateful Dead Concert for Obama Live NOW!

Dead Heads for Obama '08

Michelle was Amazing!

I just got back from the Salt Palace, and it was amazing! I believe I'll be able to find video later, and will blog that as soon as I can. I'm on cloud 9, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, Michelle Obama will be our next First Lady, and she will make America proud. She is beautiful and eloquent, and means every word she says.

Here are the photos I took. I hope to have other photos later.

Yes, we can, Utah! And we will!

Chills, I tell you! [Update]

Idaho isn't too much different from Utah, really. They are about as red as us, and they have a high LDS population. And when Barack's visit to Utah was canceled, it was to Idaho that he headed.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what a movement looks like:

Click on it, and let it load - talk about amazing! BoiseNoise took this panoramic photo of the 15,000 people there to see Barack.

Yep, I said 15,000. Say it with me, slowly. Fif-teen thou-sand people. In Idaho. Did you get the shivers, too?

Here's what the photographer had to say:

I volunteered to help with Obama's visit to Boise. When we breifed we expected to fill up maybe four sections of the Taca Bell Arena at BSU. There was a curtain placed behind the stage as they often do with small crowds. Well we had more than a small crowd. Between 14000 and 15000 people attended the event. This was a great surprise to everyone. Idaho is traditionally a strict Republican state.

At this point I'd have to say get on the train. Don't stand in front of it. There's too much momentum.

Yes, we can!

[Update] In 2004, Idaho had 642,000 registered voters. 172,000 of them voted. If you look just at Boise, there were 159,000 registered voters, and 25,000 of them voted. And on Saturday, 15,000 people showed up to see Barack? Simply amazing!!

Politics as Usual

The LA Times broke this story today:

Ed Coghlan was just starting to prepare his dinner in the northern San Fernando Valley the other night when the phone rang. The caller was very friendly. He identified himself as a pollster who wanted to ask registered independents like Coghlan a few questions about the presidential race and all the candidates for Super Tuesday's California primary.

Ed, who's a former news director for a local TV station, was curious. He said, "Sure, go ahead."

But a few minutes into the conversation Ed says he noticed a strange pattern developing to the questions. First of all, the "pollster" was only asking about four candidates, three Democrats -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, who was still in the race at the time -- and one Republican -- John McCain.

Also, every question about Clinton was curiously positive, Coghlan recalls. The caller said things like, if you knew that Sen. Clinton believed the country had a serious home mortgage problem and had made proposals to....

freeze mortgage rates and save families from foreclosure, would you be more likely or less likely to vote for her?

Ed said, of course, more likely.

Every question about the other candidates was negative. If Ed knew, for instance, that as a state senator Obama had voted "present" 43 times instead of taking a yes or no stand "for what he believed," would Ed be more or less likely to vote for him?

"That's when I caught on," said Coghlan. He realized then that he was being push-polled. That malicious political virus that is designed not to elicit answers but to spread positive information about one candidate and negative information about all others under the guise of an honest poll had arrived in Southern California within days of the important election.

And there's plenty more before the story wraps up this way:

Phil Singer, the spokesman for the Clinton campaign. was contacted by e-mail last night. He answered that he was there. He was asked if the Clinton campaign was behind the push-poll, knew who was behind it or had any other information on it. That was at 5:27 p.m. Pacific time Saturday. As of this item's posting time, exactly eight hours later, no reply had been received.

Obama's Superbowl Ad

I missed the Superbowl tonight. Well, ok I didn't really miss it, but I didn't watch it. I usually watch for the commercials, if there's a party to go to. But, with Tuesday's primary looming, there was no way I could take that much time out of everything else I have going on.

Thankfully, I still got to see the best Superbowl commercial of '08!



I know it must have cost a fortune, but I think it was a brilliant move, and a brilliant commercial. Yay!!

Michelle Obama In SLC!

Please join us for a 'Stand for Change' Rally with Michelle Obama in Salt Lake City. Stand for Change Rally with Michelle Obama Salt Palace Convention Center 100 South West Temple (Please use the Salt Palace entrance at 300 West) Meeting Room 255 Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Monday, February 4, 2008 Doors open: 11:00 a.m. Program begins: 11:45 a.m. RSVP now: http://ut.barackobama.com/slcMO This event is free and open to the public; however an RSVP is strongly encouraged.

Pete Ashdown And MoveOn.org Endorse Obama [Updated]

I'm very excited to see Pete Ashdown's new blog post. It's titled Obama for President.

[Update] Moments later came MoveOn.org's endorsement.

In a resounding vote today, MoveOn.org Political Action's members nationwide voted to endorse Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for President. The group, with 3.2 million members nationwide and over 1.7 million members in Super Tuesday states, will immediately begin to mobilize on behalf of Senator Obama. The vote favored Senator Obama to Senator Clinton by 70.4% to 29.6%.

xkcd: Real Programmers Endorse Barack Obama

Alt: Real programmers set the universal constants at the start such that the universe evolves to contain the disk with the data they want.

Does that mean God is a real programmer?

On a side note, I was pleasantly surprised, and a bit shocked, to see this "blag post" from Randall Munroe, the author of the xkcd comic:

Okay, politics time.

I’m a political junkie, but I’ve largely kept that out of xkcd (other than occasional cracks about science and net-related issues). So this will be a one-time thing — after this post, you’ll hear no more political advocacy on this site for the rest of the election. But I think we’re at a balance point, where a few words between friends who are generally in agreement might make a difference, so here goes.

Please support Barack Obama.

He goes on to elaborate quite eloquently about why he thinks this. And honestly, out of all of the "endorsements" I've read, this is the most down-to-earth one. And go figure - he's not a politician.

I knew there was a reason I liked this guy. Besides that he has a great comic and is apparently a Super-Geek. He's also smart.

[UtahforObama] 12 Utah Lawmakers Endorse Senator Obama [Updated]

Watch for this on the news tonight! (I wonder if this is "the big endorsement", or if we have something still in the works?)

11 Utah lawmakers Endorse Barack Obama

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - Today 11 Utah lawmakers endorsed Senator Barack Obama, citing his ability to unite the country and his judgment to lead the country forward.

"Barack Obama is the one candidate with the unique ability to unite people from different political backgrounds around a common purpose for change," said Rep. Brad King. "For those who want a change in direction, we believe Barack is the best person-- the most electable person-- to get us there."

"Obama, the one candidate who can unite America, will bring about real, meaningful change on the issues important to the people of Utah," added Rep. Carol Spackman Moss. "For those who want someone who will unite American again, I urge all Utahns to vote for Barack next Tuesday in the Democratic primary."

"We're yearning for a leader who is not driven by polls, but by principle; a leader who will fight for us not just when it's easy, but when it's hard; a leader who can actually work with the other party to make progress," said Senator Gene Davis. "That leader who can bring us together again is Barack Obama."

These endorsements, including five from Utah legislators in House and Senate leadership positions, come on the heels of Obama's historic win in South Carolina.

"To have the support of these community leaders is invaluable to our grassroots organization," said Senator Obama. "This grassroots movement in Utah will help us succeed on Tuesday, February 5 and will help bring about change we can believe in."

The following Utah leaders announced their support for Senator Obama today:

Senator Gene Davis-- Senate Minority Whip

Senator Scott McCoy

Representative Lynn Hemingway

Representative Christine Johnson

Representative Brad King-- House Minority Leader

Representative David Litvack-- House Minority Whip

Representative Phil Riesen-- Minority Caucus Manager & Utah State Rep. for Obama for America

Representative Jen Seelig

Representative Carol Spackman Moss-- Minority Assistant Whip

Representative Mark Wheatley

Representative Larry Wiley

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Contact:

Erin Fitzgerald/ Andrew Savage: 312-505-4893

Shannon Gilson: 702-539-0796 (c)

Anne Filipic, the Utah State Director for the Obama campaign, added this in her email announcement:

Just wanted to make sure everyone saw this! The Obama campaign is honored to have the support of these 11 impressive members of the Utah Legislature, including leadership in the House and Senate. (Note that every member of the House Leadership team endorsed Senator Obama!)

We had a great press conference at the Capitol this afternoon. Check out the evening news for some press coverage!

[Update]Shortly after the above press release came this one:

Former utah Congressman BILL Orton Endorses Obama

DNC committeeman says Barack channels energy of jfk

SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- Former Congressman Bill Orton (D-UT), who served Utah in the United States Congress from 1991 to 1997, endorsed Senator Barack Obama today in his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president.

"Barack Obama channels an energy of hope and inspiration I haven't seen since President Kennedy," said Orton. "He knows what this country needs and has the unique ability to unify our country to take us there. He will be a leader we can believe in again."

Orton represented the Third Congressional District of Utah for six years and currently serves as a Utah Democratic National Committeeman.

Congressman Orton's endorsement comes on the same day as 11 Utah lawmakers endorsed Senator Barack Obama at the Utah State Capitol.

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

John Edwards Dropping Out [Update 5] (Now With Video)

ThinkProgress is reporting that John Edwards is dropping out of the race. I will update this with more information as it becomes available.

[Update 1]
The AP reports:

Democrat John Edwards is exiting the presidential race Wednesday, ending a scrappy underdog bid in which he steered his rivals toward progressive ideals while grappling with family hardship that roused voters' sympathies but never diverted his campaign, The Associated Press has learned.

The two-time White House candidate notified a close circle of senior advisers that he planned to make the announcement at a 1 p.m. EST event in New Orleans that had been billed as a speech on poverty, according to two of his advisers. The decision came after Edwards lost the four states to hold nominating contests so far to rivals who stole the spotlight from the beginning - Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

Apparently, he doesn't plan to immediately endorse anyone. But, I would think that if he does endorse anyone it would be Barack. Of course, if he's the VP, then of course he'll endorse Barack. We'll see.

Fitting....

Edwards planned to announce his campaign was ending with his wife and three children at his side. Then he planned to work with Habitat for Humanity at the volunteer-fueled rebuilding project Musicians' Village, the adviser said.

With that, Edwards' campaign will end the way it began 13 months ago - with the candidate pitching in to rebuild lives in a city still ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Edwards embraced New Orleans as a glaring symbol of what he described as a Washington that didn't hear the cries of the downtrodden.

I've been trying to find out for a while...does Edwards have control of what happens with his delegates now? I'm assuming he still gets to "accept or decline" the delegates, to get people who will vote however he wants, but what are the rules? Anyone know?

[Update 2]
Ok, this isn't really an update, and it's not really true, but it's definitely amusing (if you get and like LOLCats humor):



[Update 3]
Here is Barack Obama's statement on John Edwards:

John Edwards has spent a lifetime fighting to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the struggling, even when it wasn’t popular to do or covered in the news. At a time when our politics is too focused on who’s up and who’s down, he made a nation focus again on who matters – the New Orleans child without a home, the West Virginia miner without a job, the families who live in that other America that is not seen or heard or talked about by our leaders in Washington. John and Elizabeth Edwards have always believed deeply that we can change this – that two Americans can become one, and that our country can rally around this common purpose. So while his campaign may end today, the cause of their lives endures for all of us who still believe that we can achieve that dream of one America.

Anyone know where I can find Hillary's statement? I heard there is one, but I didn't find it on her blog or newsroom.

[Update 4] The 2008 Democratic Convention Watch site has some answers on what happens to Edwards' delegates. I don't consider it an authoritative source, and it doesn't have any citations, but I'll accept this as the most likely answers, until I get citations or authoritative sources.

According to them, the 12 delegates from New Hampshire and South Carolina will attend the August convention as "uncommitted". His Iowa delegates will be replaced with Clinton or Obama delegates, depending on how the state level delegates decide to vote.

[Update 5] This is probably my last update for this post. Here is video of Edwards' speech.