Category Archives: Democratic Party Chatter

I Wish I’d Posted My Prediction on the Massachusetts Senate Race…

Lessons for bloggers: don’t hold back on unpopular predictions, lest you end up being right. A few weeks ago I predicted that Martha Coakley would lose the US Senate special election in Massachusetts. Every single time I brought this up, my Democratic friends would look at me like a heretic and proceed to rattle of something they read on “Daily Kos” about why I was wrong and that speaking such heresy meant I was going to Hell. And yet, none of their reasons had anything to do with actual facts or history. So here was my reasoning, and why liberal bloggers sometimes have their heads in the sand:
-Martha Coakley’s campaign was spectacularly poor. She didn’t campaign like she should have, once she got the Democratic nomination. If part of life is showing up, in campaigns, it is everything. By basically assuming she’d win by default, she made the classic mistake that allowed the other candidate to define the race. She also made several verbal gaffes that amplified her seeming disdain for talking to actual voters.
-Her campaign was run almost exclusively by DC based political people, and veteran campaign consultants and workers were sidelined by the Geniuses from DC. Another sign of something Really Bad. Pushing aside the people who know the state in favor of generic strategies based on abstract polling data and focus groups doesn’t work well. Plus, there are a lot of rings that need to be kissed in Massachusetts politics, and you don’t necessarily know which ones those are if you’re relying on whiz kids from DC.
-Massachusetts is not 100% Communist Leftist Whatever. Massachusetts has elected Republicans as Governor exclusively since 1990, and it was only in 2006, when Deval Patrick won, that the cycle broke. Also, remember that Ted Kennedy himself came dangerously close to losing his re-election in 1994 against Mitt Romney (!), and it took a Herculean effort of money and resource to ensure his re-election. Had it not been for some extremely poor choices of words by Romney, and a recognition that Kennedy was in trouble in time to do something about it, he might have well lost. Remember, in 1994, the Speaker of the US House lost his bid for re-election that year.
-President Obama is an easy target. People know right now they can call him names, they can use code words for the “n-word,” and they can call him a liar in front of the entire country, and nothing will happen. Obama’s obsession with getting the acceptance of people who quite literally, do not think he’s a legitimate holder of the office, and who will say or do anything to tear him down, is his ultimate weakness.
No one fears President Obama if they cross him, so they rip him a new one on any big or little thing (remember that bullshit crying spasm the righties had about his choice of mustard? WTF?). So of course they’re going to prop up some dude in Massachusetts and make 41 the new majority number for a Senate of 100. (Wait, what?)
There’s no reason why Obama and Democratic office seekers can’t turn this around, but it isn’t likely they will. Running around and “re thinking” and “re framing” are popular pastimes of bloggers, party insiders, and the endless amount of “staff” of officeholders, and while they’re talking and bitching, the other side wants to kick their asses. Until they decide they’re going to respond in kind, they will continue to get their asses kicked.
The sad part is the other side has nothing of substance to offer beyond blind rage. When we had them in charge of Everything (President, Senate, House, SCOTUS), the best they could come up with was Tom DeLay/Jack Abramhoff style corruption, a war without end, and endless trillions added to the deficit, and a bubble economy that just blew up on us. But we don’t think about that anymore, right?
PS: Oh, and one other thing: despite what the folks Outside of California assume about our Golden State, California is not 1000% Communist either. Look at the history of statewide initiatives and elections starting in 1982, and see just how well “lefties” do. Barbara Boxer has always had to run a tough race, and the Democratic hold on statewide offices has NEVER been absolute, ever.
The fact the California State Democratic Party acts like it IS 1000% Democrat is well, I suppose good news for Republicans?
PPS: Jack Donaghy is one of my all time favorite characters on TV. F*ck yeah, Jack!

Twittering The California Democratic Convention

What few readers out there that still read this blog may recall we launched this blog at the CDP Convention in 2006 in Sacramento. I’m up here now mostly for my day job, but I’m also posting Twitter updates, which can be found at my Twitter page. In fact I’m at the “Jerry Brown 2010 Social Networking” booth with the Governor as I post this.
I’ll be tagging tweets with #cdp09 for easy searching, too! Thanks for following!

Yes He Could: GOP Sen. John McCain Speaks At ACORN Rally in Miami, 2006! No, really

I can’t make this stuff up…apparently GOP Senator John McCain was a featured speaker at a (gasp!) ACORN organized rally with (gasp!) unions and (double gasp!) IMMIGRANT’S RIGHTS people! ZOMG!
I did not believe it until I saw this:

Then this:

and this:

Note to McCain campaign: when living in glass houses (all seven of them), ya might not wanna throw ACORNS….

Misc. Reasons I’m GLAD I’m Going to Nerdvana This Week…

Tonight I depart for San Diego, where I, and 149,999 of my nerd brothers and sisters will be gathering for San Diego Comic-Con. Three times the size of Burning Man, with celebrities and air conditioning (but with folks in costume, like BM), it should be fun.
However, taking a look at what’s up this week, I’m kinda glad I’ll be out of town. True, I’ll miss this cool Obama Art Show on Thursday, but here’s what else I’ll get to avoid:
-Everyone’s Favorite Bully, Chris Daly, and his many fatwas issued to anyone who dares oppose him as the “de facto” leader of so-called “progressives” on the DCCC (that’s the Democratic County Central Committee for those of you who don’t follow such minutiae).
Since the takeover of the DCCC by elected officials, the same politics of pettiness, bitterness and attack of City Hall has now infected the DCCC. They’re having some big meeting this week to decide this non-matter. Somehow, all this bullsnot is supposed to be an improvement over regular citizens running the DCCC. What-ever
Funny how the people who claim to be “progressive” and open are the ones making threats, taking power away from us citizens, spamming my inbox (that’s you, Mr. Daly!), and issuing fatwas, and not The People They Oppose. Kinda makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
-The Mayor’s wedding. Hey, lucky guy, marrying an attractive actress (if you haven’t seen her in Life, you’re really missing something), whatever, but I ain’t going and I’ll read about it in People Magazine, or even better, at Beth’s awesome blog.
Besides, the Mayor’s a cool guy and all, but he’s no Christian Bale aka Batman. Or is it the other way around? I dunno. Anyway, best wishes, Mr. Mayor, but I shall be hanging with the Cool Kids from Battlestar Galactica and the Fox Network.
-MUNI failwhales to come. The reason a MUNI blog writes itself most days, and I’m sure Something Big will happen when I’m away (it usualy does). Instead I’ll be enjoying the convenience of San Diego’s trolley line to take me to the convention every week.
Anyway, that is all. Have a fun week, keep enjoying our uniquely SF summer weather, and stay tuned for updates from the Convention floor at Galactica Sitrep, and will be posting pictures on Flickr here!

Attention 1960s Lefty BS’ers! NO ONE CARES What You Think! Obama’s WAY Past Y’all…

Wanna know why I voted for Obama? It ain’t whatcha think….
No really.
See, I voted for Obama as someone subjected to the inane bullsh*t that was 90’s Liberalism On Campus (at UC Hippie Dipsh*t Santa Cruz no less!), that whole big basket of irrational PC bullsnot that was all about nonsense that made even the most liberally liberal wanna vote Republican, just to piss off the arrogant, lying, snotbags on campus.
Anyway.
So when I hear about Failure Ralph Nader (and his FAIL pal Matt Gonzalez) upset that apparently two whites can determine what a black man can say, or hear about Jesse Jetstream go on about how he’s pissed that Obama thinks folks should act like responsible adults, well guess what?
I’m GLAD he’s pissed these failure-eating morons off. I’m REALLY GLAD.
Because as he did in his speech on race, he said what was REALLY on people’s minds. And more importantly, he said “hey guess what white people? you have legitimate greivances too, and you’re not a bad person for saying so!”
More to the point, Barack Obama thinks it’s time to get past all this crapola. Because India and China figured out how to, and are about to kick our butts if we’re not careful. But Barack, being a true American, believes…”yes we can!”
Yes, we can Kick Ass on these folks if we choose to.
If….we choose.

DNC Chair Howard Dean is in Millbrae on Friday, the 13th. Discuss.

This might be interesting: Dr. Howard Dean, chair of the Democratic National Committee is in town on Friday the 13th (!) for an executive board meeting of the state’s party. The folks at Calitics cover this in WAY more depth than I.
It was only 3 years ago that Dr. Dean was running for Chair of the Party, and there were all sorts of dire warnings if he won. Three years later, and Dean’s plan to actually work in all 50 states has paid off somewhat. And much of the internet/grassroots organizing of Dean evolved into what would later become Sen. Obama’s campaign.
If you’re a registered Democrat and want to stop by the proceedings, you can stop by the Westin SFO, located at 1 Old Bayshore Highway, in Millbrae, just off of 101, and not too far from the BART/Caltrain station. They ask for a $20 donation if you’re not an e-board member, but remember, that’s just what they ask. Unless you’re doing something really outlandish, they don’t mind Democrats watching the oh-so-thrilling proceedings.

News Flash: Obama Ran A Better Campaign….

While the conspiracy theorists and primal screamers come up with all sorts of hot air as to why Sen. Clinton’s campaign, despite all its money, high priced consultants and insiders, is losing, there’s a great story in the AP today that describes how Obama’s campaign won, mostly by taking the time to understand the arcane rules of the Party nomination process. Then they took the time to (gasp!) organize in those districts. Shocking!
While Clinton’s camp spent most of 2007 raising money from wealthy donors and telling everyone “it’s inevitable,” Obama’s camp spent their time paying attention to the myriad of rules developed in the 70s and 80s. It helped, of course, that the Democratic party does not award delegates on a “winner take all” basis. It also helped that Obama had the money to put together a field operation, thanks to the ease at which he could solicit small and medium (and some large) donors, primarily online.
But more importantly, the Obama folks never conceded a state, no matter how well Hillary was doing, while Hillary’s people wrote off entire sections of the country to Obama. The era of focusing on a few big, or “swing” states is over, and whoever wins in November, Democrat or Republican, will have to run a more expansive campaign than in the past.

Oh No She Didn’t: Latest Hillary Hyperbole Invokes Kennedy Assassination!

Sen. Clinton continues to make the case that a) her campaign is over and b) she just doesn’t have the temperament to be president when things don’t go entirely her way. (Mind you, we have many qualified women who can be president who do possess the intellect and judgment to be president, they’re just not running this year. Which is unfortunate).
Lately, she’s been prone to comparing her (broke as Hell) campaign to things like the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s, Rwanda, Zimbabwe (you know where all those people died) and so on. Today, she hit a new low, the same week we learned of Sen. Ted Kennedy’s brain tumor, when she cited the assassination of Robert Kennedy in California as a reason her campaign should go on.
No, really. In addition to all the other tacky statements she’s made, in addtion to the virulent racism of her supporters like Geraldine Ferraro, in addition to race baiting, she said that.
This week.
The same week we heard about Ted Kennedy’s tumor.
A few weeks from the 40th Anniversary of Bobby’s assassination.
Hillary for President? Hell no. She’s no longer some sort of bold leader of whatever. She is behaving like a psycho ex girlfriend, but this time she wants her finger on the nuclear button.

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When Did Anyone Ever Expect to Read the Words “Hillary Clinton” and “Longshot Campaign” in the Same Sentence?

Whilst reading the breaking news that John Edwards finally endorse Barack Obama (AFTER the North Carolina primary), I have to say I was more than a bit surprised to read this:

Democrat John Edwards is endorsing former rival Barack Obama, fresh signs of the party establishment embracing the likely nominee even as Hillary Rodham Clinton refuses to give up her long-shot candidacy.

Now, mind you, I was never one to simply assume Mrs. Clinton had this thing pwned from the beginning, but many other people did, and made their choices as appropriate. Now, Bill and Hillary are personally in debt, have $20 million in general election campaign money they can’t spend, and have pulled out all the stops to block Barry, all to no avail. Up against a guy who most people hadn’t even heard of just a few years ago.
Go figure. That’s almost as baffling as the state Senate incumbent with a warchest full of cash and an array of Sacramento insiders running the show, now running third in a three way race. Strange how a year changes things.

News Flash: Obama Endorsed By Conservative Democrats Nunn and Boren? Um, Woah! UPDATED: Joe Andrew’s Letter For Obama!

While the drones in the Media focuses on things that make for good “stories,” (but don’t cover “issues) we’ve missed a pretty big milestone in the race for President by Barry Obama:
Former Senator David Boren (D-OK), former Senaor Sam Nunn (D-GA) and former Democratic Party Chairman Joe Andrew (D-IN ) all endorsed……..Sen. Barack Obama.
No kidding.
Folks, this is real news. Sens. Boren and Nunn are not hippie lefty latte-sippers hanging with the trustafarians in the Mission. These guys are serious conservative Democrats and have decided to sign in with Sen. Obama. Joe Andrew is also definitely not some wild-eyed Communist, and his endorsement is fairly important as well, on the eve of the Indiana primary.
Even in the midst of all this nonsense about some pastor, or some bowling ball, or whatever, even when the media chooses to ignore Really Big Problems like the recession, decline of the dollar, and the war in Iraq, these guys chose to support Obama.
Wow.

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