How Blue The Map Is For The Young

While the conservative pundits scream and shout that we are still a center-right country, they have no intentions of remarking what the electorate of tomorrow feels about our future and which party to vote in to change it.



Now that is a serious landslide of blue!

Yesterday In 100 Seconds

TPM sums it all up:

The Three Sweetest Words: President-Elect Obama

It truly is incredible to be able to say that he is, "President-Elect Obama." Four years ago as of this past July, I was introduced to Barack Obama in the Fleet Center at the Democratic National Convention. His speech there was like nothing I had ever seen before. He held the audience in his hand and blew everyone away, making him the talk of the convention even if he wasn't the nominee.

Then at the beginning of 2007 he started down the path of a hard campaign to become our 44th President. Wow, just, wow! I wasn't a supporter at first, but by February of this year I jumped on board and the more I gave to the campaign in small donations and larger amounts of time, the more I got back from the candidate. Sure, we've had our disagreements but in the end our similarities unite all of us around our next President.

All the hard work had finally culminated into the last day of the election and what a day Tuesday, November 4th was. I bounded out of my apartment just before 6am, giddy and teary at being able to vote for Barack Obama. Seeing the 45 minute line that awaited me was an inspiration, knowing that so many of us were doing whatever it took to cast our ballots for a change. From then on I worked at a couple of poll sites for a candidate out in Queens but kept abreast of the news from my Treo during the day.

Finally it was getting too dark to see and it was time to head back to the city. Watching the first returns at dinner (the place at wifi!) gave me hope but I simply had no idea. The first party at DL21C on west 50th was overcrowded, smelly and loud but the metaphorical air was as sweet as a pastry shop. State after state came in blue and we all cheered. My girlfriend and I however, were in need of some air, so out we went and then over to the NY State Democratic Party party at the Sheraton in Midtown.

The big airy room was packed with revellers and politicians, but was much more amenable and there we stayed until after midnight. When Virginia went blue, I knew it was over, but I just had to see the west coast close their polls to make it official, because the news was almost too good to be true. Yet, it was true and at eleven o'clock, President-Elect Obama was a reality, and the room filled with cheers and screams, followed by tears and hugs. And to top it off, when Governor Paterson came out to speak (during McCain's concession speech) he announced we had won the State Senate back as well, and it added the icing to an already sweet, incredible and Earth-changing cake.

A Two Year Election Condensed Into One Minute

Okay so the video is actually a minute and forty seconds, but the comedy team at 23/6 pretty much covers everything in a nutshell:



And now it is time for a break and to hit the NYC election parties!

Cheers to watching more great returns!

Riot Police Called Up In Ohio?!?

It truly is amazing to see the difference between a swing state and a traditionally blue one like what we have here in New York. Today I talked to voters in the neighborhood of Jamaica, Queens, encouraging them to kick State Senator Frank Padavan out of office and to elect a progressive in his stead by the name of Jim Gennaro. It was relatively quiet out in the suburbs but a steady stream of voters proceeded to cast their ballots. I handed out palm cards next to a Padavan supporter and even though we agreed to disagree on things, it was always polite and civil. That is why it is scary as hell to hear what is going on in Toledo, Ohio right now.

From RawStory:

Police chief Mike Navarre told the network officers will carry equipment similar to the gear they used during 2005 race riots.

"They have been asked to have their helmets and their gas masks available tomorrow and Wednesday," Navarre said, "That's the equipment they would not normally carry with them on a normal day."

Police chief Navarre added that officers wouldn't be station at individual polling places -- but the memo says otherwise. According to NBC, it reads, "On Tuesday, units shall be directed to patrol the polling locations".

First of all, Navarre should be brought up on charges for violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Then he should be fired by the city of Toledo before being held accountable for his actions. There is absolutely no reason to turn the cops into soldiers during the election. If he is trying to instill fear into the hearts of Toledo, I'm sure he succeeded to some degree. People ran from similar-looking law enforcement in places like Burma a few months ago.

While November 4th is not a normal day, it is not a time for active voter suppression by the police chief nor any other official authority figure. This is the day America votes, not the time to cower in fear of cops who look menacing with gas masks and helmets. If Jamaica, Queens isn't seeing it, neither should Toledo, Ohio.

The Most Important Thing You Do Tomorrow...

Besides being able to wake up, the most important thing tomorrow is to vote. The powers that be are trying to do everything and anything to suppress your right as an American to choose who will represent you in government.



So if you are in a swing state, remember to stay in line if the lines get long. They may try to test our will but they cannot break our spirit.

Malcolm Smith Promises A New Atmosphere In Albany

As I have been canvassing around Queens in the last few weeks and talking to voters, the one thing voters can agree on is that Albany is broken and needs to be changed. The culture of corruption up there is horrendous and because of that, nothing for the people of our state really gets accomplished. The only winners have been the wealthy contributors to campaigns, particularly developers and other well-off rich people that have gotten extra breaks at the expense of the rest of us. Well whether or not you approve of Malcolm Smith, the atmosphere he is promising (if gets to remain Leader of the future Majority) is markedly different from the current one.

From The NY Times:

ALBANY — Malcolm A. Smith, the minority leader of the State Senate, is promising something drastic, by Albany standards, if Democrats win control of the chamber on Tuesday. He wants to share power with rank-and-file lawmakers.

Whether he will follow through remains to be seen. But in an interview, Mr. Smith, a Queens Democrat, who would be the state’s first black majority party leader if his party gains control of the Senate, listed a litany of the sweeping promises politicians make when they stand outside the levers of power.

He said he would reinvent the Senate’s committees, which often have little discernable authority, and make them work more like committees do in Congress. He said he would move to cut the Senate majority’s central staff by at least 15 percent, or roughly 100 workers. He said he would narrow the wide gap between the resources allocated to majority and minority party members for office budgets. And he would move quickly to introduce legislation to publicly finance elections, despite the state’s fiscal crisis.

As the Times goes on to remark, many are skeptical of Smith's promises and that we as a state have been failed by politicians with similar claims in the past. However, no one can deny that things are broken the way our state government is constructed now. The only way we can find out if we can get change is to create change ourselves and hold the politicians to their promises. First we elect good people like Addabbo, Mesi, Gennaro, Foley and others, then we pressure them to push the legislation we want from proposals to bills and then into action.

Add Boehner To The List Of Crazy Republican Dreamers

This wouldn't be a dream like Martin Luther King's. Boehner's dream consists of gaining back power in this year's electoral contests for the Republican party. Like the GOP crazies who thought they'd win the midterm elections two years ago, Boehner sees success in November in spite of the money woes. Of course like any Republican in politics, he fails to grasp the big picture.

From FireDogLake:

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) predicted Thursday that Republicans will pick up seats in the 2008 election despite a slew of GOP retirements and the Democrats' significant fundraising advantage. "We don't need as much money as [Democrats] have," he said. "We need enough to tell our story." He added, "I think we are going to gain seats this year. Period."

Confident Delusional Hilarious words for a man who just a few weeks ago was pleading with his fellow Goopers to get off their "dead asses" and raise money because the GOP's fundraising "sucks."

Money, schmoney. Boehner's right. There is that wonderful Republican story to be told of the housing crisis, the recession, two lost wars and generally what awesome shape the country's in. Because when voters hear that story, they'll swoon.

It's just fabulous.

Yes, I can't wait for Boehner to tell that story, gather around the children and let the lies flow like water out of the Hoover Dam. I hope they spend whatever money is left letting Americans know all about those wonderful things.

McCain Calls Americans Cynical, America Responds "Thanks, Thanks A Lot"

Conventional wisdom says that when there are two candidates left on the other side of the political spectrum and you've won your primary, you need to STFU and raise money for the battle ahead. Now McCain might be putting a few dollars together (albeit illegally) but he is bucking CW and opening his big mouth so that everyone can see the ridiculousness that spews out.

From RawStory:

"Many Americans are indifferent to or cynical about the virtues that our country claims," the former Vietnam prisoner of war will say.

In part, he says, it is because some have suffered economic dislocations while others profit as never before, and in part, it is a "reaction to government's mistakes and incompetence and to the selfishness of some public figures."

He comes close to calling some Americans spoiled, saying they are cynical because "the ease which wealth and opportunity have given their lives led them to the mistaken conclusion that America, and the liberties its system of government is intended to protect, just aren't important to the quality of their lives."

Skepticism is healthy, he will say, "But when healthy skepticism sours into corrosive cynicism our expectations of our government become reduced to the delivery of services. And to some people the expectations of liberty are reduced to the right to choose among competing brands of designer coffee."

First of all, leave my bird-friendly Honduran French Roast alone. It is my right as an American to drink whatever coffee bean I like. Secondly, what the f**k are you talking about??? Clearly you are completely out of touch with the majority of Americans. Sorry Mr. McCain, America does not look like the ass-kissing "journalists" that you like to hang out with.

Those economic dislocations you talk about aren't only about some public figures who are selfish, it is the culture of Washington and the way government works for corporations instead of the people. Government would make less mistakes if it held the Bush Administration accountable, something you never helped to make a reality while the Republican Congress sat on its ass and let George Bush run amok and obliterate the Constitution.

You think Americans are too cynical? Gee, I wonder why. A Republican Administration and (until last year) a Republican Congress let oil companies get away with hundreds of billions in profit while people suffer from paying at the pump, assistance to the poor has dropped dramatically while corporate welfare has gone through the roof. Meanwhile, the freedoms that are enshrined in the Constitution are torn asunder so that we can be "safe" from terrorists while the majority of the terrorizing is done under our watch in places like Iraq at the cost of thousands of our troops who paid the ultimate price and a financial sum that every American is forced to pay a part.

You think we shouldn't feel cynical about that?

Well I'll clue you into something John. Americans are cynical about your party and what its done to our country. If you look at who is coming out to vote for the first time in their lives this year and which party is seeing record turnout you would know that cynicism isn't the only feeling out there in this great big country of ours.

Not too far away in the dictionary from cynicism, there's a word that's spelled C-H-A-N-G-E and your name isn't in the definition.

The Speech To End All Speeches

Everyone but Hillary and Rush Limbaugh are calling this brilliant:



Oh and he wrote it himself too.

Republicans For Hillary, Not Really For Hillary

From a voting standpoint, one of the great appeals about Barack Obama is that he brings new people into the fold. Americans are attracted to his visions of hope and opportunity. They are yearning for a new way in the way our country views and runs government. But to be fair to his opponent in this primary race, Hillary Clinton is also bringing new voters into the process, specifically the Democratic primary and specifically getting Republicans to vote for a "D" in 2008. However, it isn't that simple, because they do not want to hang around us for too long.

From The Boston Globe:

For a party that loves to hate the Clintons, Republican voters have cast an awful lot of ballots lately for Senator Hillary Clinton: About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show.

A sudden change of heart? Hardly.

Since Senator John McCain effectively sewed up the GOP nomination last month, Republicans have begun participating in Democratic primaries specifically to vote for Clinton, a tactic that some voters and local Republican activists think will help their party in November. With every delegate important in the tight Democratic race, this trend could help shape the outcome if it continues in the remaining Democratic primaries open to all voters.

Spurred by conservative talk radio, GOP voters who say they would never back Clinton in a general election are voting for her now for strategic reasons: Some want to prolong her bitter nomination battle with Barack Obama, others believe she would be easier to beat than Obama in the fall, or they simply want to register objections to Obama.

It seems that many Republicans both publicly and privately are supporting Hillary in the primary only. They see her as a weaker opponent in the general and paradoxically are voting for her now to beat her later. They fear a contest between McCain and Obama....and they should be afraid. Afraid that their time to ruin our Constitution is at an end. Afraid that corporations will no longer have absolute domination over the rest of us. And afraid that we will bring our troops home from a war that didn' work when we went in, a war that isn't working now and a war that will only get worse over time.

So the Republicans can try to push for Hillary all they want, but Obama still leads his party in delegates, states and the popular vote. In our party, the Democratic party, the majority will pick our nominee and that my friends, is that.

Thank You AFL-CIO!

McCain is the nominee for the Republicans and has been for sometime. He has been able to attack Barack Obama and Democrats in general. Meanwhile, Hillary has been praising him and Obama has had to fight both of them, a true two-front war. Now a group is stepping in to fight the guy that really deserves it, John McCain. That group is none other than the powerful AFL-CIO.

From DailyKos:

Although the Democratic nomination is still up in the air, the AFL-CIO has decided to step in against John McCain now, rather than leaving him to raise money and attempt to look presidential with no opposition. Its McCain Revealed campaign will be forcefully making the case to 13 million union households in 23 states (and particularly in five: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota) that McCain would represent a third Bush term.

In a conference call yesterday, the AFL's political director, Karen Ackerman, laid out some of the details. The organization has budgeted a record $53.4 million for their political efforts this year, the bulk of which will be focused on the presidential race. (Affiliate unions will no doubt spend heavily as well.) The money will go not to television advertising but to a more grassroots mobilization including fliers distributed in the workplace (and available as a PDF for download here), mail pieces, phone calls, and canvassing. They'll also organize turnout at McCain's own campaign events to highlight his worker-unfriendly views on economic issues. (They kicked this off at a McCain event in Exeter, New Hampshire yesterday.)

This is exactly what we need as the Democratic primaries drag on and on: Without endorsing one of the Democratic candidates over the other, the AFL-CIO is stepping up and ending McCain's free ride. They're taking on one of the most important issues in this election, which just happens to be one of McCain's weakest points. They're reaching out to millions of people in key general election states, and they have a proven record of delivering votes to Democrats.

I couldn't have said it better myself! And since you have to give to get and vice versa in politics, the new Democratic President will/must/should deliver for unions and put the unions' corporate tormentors in their place.

Fox News' Shep Smith Gets Nasty When His Network Gets Called Out

Check out this exchange:



Shephard cut her off at the end, but if you didn't quite hear it, Naomi mentioned that 18yr olds are still someone's babies. Smith may not think so, but try getting a mother of a teenager to agree with him....not gonna happen.