Imprimatur - noun
1. an official license to print or publish a book, pamphlet, etc., esp. a license issued by a censor of the Roman Catholic Church.
2. sanction or approval; support.
After a brief hiatus from blogging, I finally find the need again to add to the debate. In an effort at full disclosure, I have been disgusted at the discourse that has evolved in the Democratic race and was so angry that I felt it wise to hold my keyboard. I'm glad. The things that I would have said in the last few days would have not been responsible toward the Clintons. That being said, I will proceed.
Today, in an editorial in the New York Times, Caroline Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama for President. Here is the final paragraph and inspiring finish to her piece:
"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 - Barack Obama."
Today Maureen Dowd, a columnist for the New York Times was on Meet the Press with Tim Russert and said "I think this is huge... this is very much like the moment that Bill Clinton pushed when he shook JFKs hand at Boys Nation. The Clinton campaign made that the Arthurian moment where Galahad took the sword out of the stone. Now Caroline has done that for Obama but its a real moment because she is saying 'you are like my father'. After decades of politicians pretending to be like JFK, and Gary Hart chopping his hand and Dan Quayle trying to act like he was JFK she is giving him the Imprimatur and I think its huge."
It was her term used to describe Obama's new legitimate claim to the Kennedy dream and the Kennedy legacy. After weeks of the Clintons trying to cut down this new national hero, here is the first family of Democratic politics - in effect - giving Obama the reverse of the Dan Quayle moment. The Kennedy clan is saying effectively "We knew Jack Kennedy and this man is the closest thing we have to Jack Kennedy." If Senator Edward Kennedy gives his endorsement on Monday this will be the full weight of the surviving Kennedy clan effectively telling the Clintons that they are wrong - that this new political phenomenon is the real thing.
This is why I wanted to lead with this term. Imprimatur - a latin term not often used in english conversation - it hearkens to the Old English prose of Camelot, and reinforces the weight and profundity of a clan that still leads the ideological heart of the Democratic party.
Will the Clintons dare sully this new vision? A new grass roots movement that carries with it the real dream of a new Camelot?
They should do with the full knowledge that the core of the party is rapidly losing patience with them.
I have long believed that the Democratic party establishment support for Hillary Clinton was always soft. They were not so much in love with her, but in hope of winning the White House. They knew that this couple could win, and they were willing to hold their noses in order to prevent another Republican president. As the tide of red state endorsements for Obama grows, will the support of the establishment, or the super delegates be sustained? This blogger thinks there is a chance that it will not.
There is no denying that Barack Obama represents something new and powerful in the country, yet the Clintons are hell bent on painting him as something old and failed. They compare him to Jesse Jackson - a black candidate that Al Gore and Dukakis both mercilessly tried to pigeon hole as a single constituency candidate with no real chance of winning. They mock the comparison to Dr. Martin Luther King by lowering King's achievements and saying that he 'needed a president - Johnson - to pass the legislation. The code they are using is not subtle and not vailed. What they are saying is 'slow down', 'wait your turn', 'we'll take care of you'. The implication is that two white folks are better suited to take care of black interests than a black candidate. I expect this language from the old Dixiecrats, or the Republicans not the new Democratic party. It is a shameful testimony to the Clintons that they would stoop to this level in order to win, and the rage - if my friends are any measure - is spreading like wild fire. You can't just do anything to win, this is a democracy and you need to deserve to win. Right now, the Clintons deserve to be served up a round of eye opening defeats.
In the two states that Barack Obama has won so far he has done so with an overwhelming turnout, and an overwhelming turnout in traditional Republican states - Iowa and South Carolina. In the two states that he lost, he lost narrowly and with a strong wide coalition of voters. He has attracted record numbers of young people to the process, and has raised money from a bigger coalition of Americans than any campaign has acheived - ever.
In Iowa, as in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton would have won if the turnout was what it was in 2004. She won 140,000 votes in South Carolina and in 2004 the total turnout was 290,000. The trouble is that Barack Obama has changed the game. Barack Obama convinced a record number of blacks and young people to come out and vote. He won more votes than the ENTIRE democratic turnout in 2004!!
If he can do this in the general election - atleast 5-6 red states on the border and in the south are now in play. The Democratic party CAN NOT turn this down. If they do, they deserve another decade of defeats.
Hope is real. Hope drives people to volunteer. Hope drives people to vote. Hope wins elections.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Ed Muskie in a Pantsuit?
In the tradition of hearing beautiful lines from the political pundits and elaborating on them, I'll continue with this little gem I heard today on Meet the Press.
Mike Murphy, long time Republican political consultant - and former adviser to John McCain said on the show that "If she loses here [New Hampshire], she turns into Ed Muskie in a pantsuit".
This and awesome analogy, and I'd like to comment on it.
The year was 1972. The Democratic party was hungry for a win against the lying war mongering imperial presidency of Richard M. Nixon.
The favorite for the nomination was, overwhelmingly Ed Muskie. He had been on the ticket in 1968 and with strong Democratic credentials, he assumed that it was his turn to be at the top of the ticket.
The primary system was in its infancy, and he had never competed in one.
A dark horse candidate by the name of George McGovern, Senator from South Dakota, challenged him in Iowa and lost to Muskie. They then went on to New Hampshire and Muskie won there as well, but by a very small margin.
Muskie was so surprised by the enthusiasm of the McGovern campaign that his effort dissolved quickly thereafter.
Muskie was never heard from again in a major race in the National Democratic party.
Mike Murphy, long time Republican political consultant - and former adviser to John McCain said on the show that "If she loses here [New Hampshire], she turns into Ed Muskie in a pantsuit".
This and awesome analogy, and I'd like to comment on it.
The year was 1972. The Democratic party was hungry for a win against the lying war mongering imperial presidency of Richard M. Nixon.
The favorite for the nomination was, overwhelmingly Ed Muskie. He had been on the ticket in 1968 and with strong Democratic credentials, he assumed that it was his turn to be at the top of the ticket.
The primary system was in its infancy, and he had never competed in one.
A dark horse candidate by the name of George McGovern, Senator from South Dakota, challenged him in Iowa and lost to Muskie. They then went on to New Hampshire and Muskie won there as well, but by a very small margin.
Muskie was so surprised by the enthusiasm of the McGovern campaign that his effort dissolved quickly thereafter.
Muskie was never heard from again in a major race in the National Democratic party.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Why I can't resist having hope
Until now, I've resisted putting much personal information into this blog.
I'm not sure why, perhaps I wanted to maintain an impartial distance. Now that this distance is clearly out the window, I feel like my story, or the story of my family has brought here me to this place in a way that has made my recognition of this new movement and my participation in it inescapable.
My father was Irish, born in Dublin, Ireland. At the age of three, his father went to Burma as an engineer. At this young age, he was evacuated from Burma to escape the advancing Japanese forces, and grew to 10 years old living in Shimla, India. He finished his studies at Trinity College and went to Canada for graduate school as a PhD candidate in Physics in the early sixties. After a brief post-doctoral stint in California, where he met my mother, he went back to Canada and began a career in physics. The year was 1965.
My mother was born in New Caledonia, and came to California at the age of 10. Speaking french as a first language, she felt out of place as a teenager on the west coast in the fifties.
When my parents made the decision to move to Canada in 1965, politics was not a small part of the decision for them. I have read many of the letters my father wrote to my mother during this time, and the Kennedy assassination, the rise of militarism and escalation in Vietnam were subjects that they talked about, and made them like the United States less than their alternative, Canada.
As a child, I really did not understand this. I questioned why they would allow this to influence their decision making, and why they wouldn't choose to live in such a cool place like California.
It wasn't until I came here myself, as a graduate student in Physics at Stanford, that I started to understand.
Despite moving here during the Clinton years, I was struck by how apolitical and apathetic most Americans were. It was as if the thought of change and the hope for responsible government was a myth that existed in ancient times.
I have studied history my entire life, and this movement that I'm witnessing now has not happened in 40 years.
I walk down the street and people are talking about politics, and they're excited about it.
People actually are allowing themselves to believe that something might change and that government might actually speak to them and not the rich or the interest groups.
This is an enormous thing that Barack Obama is doing right now.
It is so earth shaking that the real effects of this will not be realized for 10 or 20 years.
Living in the United States for almost 20 years now, I have never been tempted to give up my Canadian citizenship.
If Barack Obama wins the Presidency, I would consider it.
I'm not sure why, perhaps I wanted to maintain an impartial distance. Now that this distance is clearly out the window, I feel like my story, or the story of my family has brought here me to this place in a way that has made my recognition of this new movement and my participation in it inescapable.
My father was Irish, born in Dublin, Ireland. At the age of three, his father went to Burma as an engineer. At this young age, he was evacuated from Burma to escape the advancing Japanese forces, and grew to 10 years old living in Shimla, India. He finished his studies at Trinity College and went to Canada for graduate school as a PhD candidate in Physics in the early sixties. After a brief post-doctoral stint in California, where he met my mother, he went back to Canada and began a career in physics. The year was 1965.
My mother was born in New Caledonia, and came to California at the age of 10. Speaking french as a first language, she felt out of place as a teenager on the west coast in the fifties.
When my parents made the decision to move to Canada in 1965, politics was not a small part of the decision for them. I have read many of the letters my father wrote to my mother during this time, and the Kennedy assassination, the rise of militarism and escalation in Vietnam were subjects that they talked about, and made them like the United States less than their alternative, Canada.
As a child, I really did not understand this. I questioned why they would allow this to influence their decision making, and why they wouldn't choose to live in such a cool place like California.
It wasn't until I came here myself, as a graduate student in Physics at Stanford, that I started to understand.
Despite moving here during the Clinton years, I was struck by how apolitical and apathetic most Americans were. It was as if the thought of change and the hope for responsible government was a myth that existed in ancient times.
I have studied history my entire life, and this movement that I'm witnessing now has not happened in 40 years.
I walk down the street and people are talking about politics, and they're excited about it.
People actually are allowing themselves to believe that something might change and that government might actually speak to them and not the rich or the interest groups.
This is an enormous thing that Barack Obama is doing right now.
It is so earth shaking that the real effects of this will not be realized for 10 or 20 years.
Living in the United States for almost 20 years now, I have never been tempted to give up my Canadian citizenship.
If Barack Obama wins the Presidency, I would consider it.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Where is she going to hide the body?
Sometimes there is a line in the days news that just can't be ignored.
I love it.
Chris Matthews, a favorite of mine, was talking to a table of pundits regarding the upcoming Clinton/Obama showdown. Faced with the statement that Hillary could lose New Hampshire and still soldier on challenging Obama for the nomination, he issued a question that summed up the central issue of the Democratic party from now on.
Where will she hide the body?
If Clinton continues to challenge, and possibly beat this energetic young transformative figure, how will the party survive?
How will she convince Obama to go back to being the junior senator from Illinois?
Pat Buchanan uttered it in another way. He said "she could still win, but she'd have to steal it from the kid - and that kind of fight can destroy a party."
She won't convince his growing army to vote for her in the general. That much is assured. Logically, then so will be her loss to another Republican.
Even if the Democratic party does not yet know it, this is the choice that it now has in front of it.
1) Move forward and embrace the Obama Revolution or,
2) Shrink back, retreat, and lose another election out by nominating another party insider.
We'll see.
The contest in Iowa has gone a long way, I hope, of convincing rank and file Democrats in the other 49 states that Obama can win.
Now, can the Democrats convince themselves that they want to win?
I love it.
Chris Matthews, a favorite of mine, was talking to a table of pundits regarding the upcoming Clinton/Obama showdown. Faced with the statement that Hillary could lose New Hampshire and still soldier on challenging Obama for the nomination, he issued a question that summed up the central issue of the Democratic party from now on.
Where will she hide the body?
If Clinton continues to challenge, and possibly beat this energetic young transformative figure, how will the party survive?
How will she convince Obama to go back to being the junior senator from Illinois?
Pat Buchanan uttered it in another way. He said "she could still win, but she'd have to steal it from the kid - and that kind of fight can destroy a party."
She won't convince his growing army to vote for her in the general. That much is assured. Logically, then so will be her loss to another Republican.
Even if the Democratic party does not yet know it, this is the choice that it now has in front of it.
1) Move forward and embrace the Obama Revolution or,
2) Shrink back, retreat, and lose another election out by nominating another party insider.
We'll see.
The contest in Iowa has gone a long way, I hope, of convincing rank and file Democrats in the other 49 states that Obama can win.
Now, can the Democrats convince themselves that they want to win?
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Obama Wins in Clinton County
OK, maybe that title is too clever by half. I'll try not to gloat.
The truth is, in Clinton County Iowa, Obama took 37% of the vote to Clinton's 33%.
Symbolic? Maybe.
Although the Clinton camp will try and trample on this victory in the next few days... they have to in order to salvage a prayer of winning New Hampshire, there are a few salient figures that should be mentioned.
1) Turn out - It is possible that turn out could be up as much as 85% as compared to 2004. Possibly 230,000 Democrats, Independents, and Republicans caucused as Democrats tonight handed Obama his victory. If this can be maintained in the general, this is a game changing strategy and will put half of the red states in play against the Republicans.
2) Women - Despite Hillary's appeal to older women, women as a whole supported Obama by 57%.
3) Young People - There was a youth vote this year, and it supported Obama by 46% to 17% for Hillary
4) Independents - 20% of the turn out were independent voters and without them, Obama's win would be only a point or two.
Together, these facts not only destroy the Clintonian claim of inevitability, but also to electability. Obama now clearly owns the electability crown. Through solid political organizing techniques that he honed as an organizer in the streets of Chicago, he is well on his way to winning this thing.
This is a historic day for American Politics. The final Iowa results are
Obama - 38%
Edwards - 30%
Clinton - 29%
My prediction some weeks ago was not that far off. I predicted the correct order of candidates, but the bunching of Clinton and Edwards is tighter than I thought it would be. Obama's win was also larger than I thought it would be.
An African American is now the leading contender to win the Presidency of the United States.
The truth is, in Clinton County Iowa, Obama took 37% of the vote to Clinton's 33%.
Symbolic? Maybe.
Although the Clinton camp will try and trample on this victory in the next few days... they have to in order to salvage a prayer of winning New Hampshire, there are a few salient figures that should be mentioned.
1) Turn out - It is possible that turn out could be up as much as 85% as compared to 2004. Possibly 230,000 Democrats, Independents, and Republicans caucused as Democrats tonight handed Obama his victory. If this can be maintained in the general, this is a game changing strategy and will put half of the red states in play against the Republicans.
2) Women - Despite Hillary's appeal to older women, women as a whole supported Obama by 57%.
3) Young People - There was a youth vote this year, and it supported Obama by 46% to 17% for Hillary
4) Independents - 20% of the turn out were independent voters and without them, Obama's win would be only a point or two.
Together, these facts not only destroy the Clintonian claim of inevitability, but also to electability. Obama now clearly owns the electability crown. Through solid political organizing techniques that he honed as an organizer in the streets of Chicago, he is well on his way to winning this thing.
This is a historic day for American Politics. The final Iowa results are
Obama - 38%
Edwards - 30%
Clinton - 29%
My prediction some weeks ago was not that far off. I predicted the correct order of candidates, but the bunching of Clinton and Edwards is tighter than I thought it would be. Obama's win was also larger than I thought it would be.
An African American is now the leading contender to win the Presidency of the United States.
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