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There's really interesting exchange going on now in The Forum that I thought this community might find of interest. I am going to let it speak for itself, except to note below the fold one quote that I, as a former selectman, found telling.
I took this picture inside our phone banking room in the Des Moines HQ. Amidst copies of the Des Moines Register, call logs, talking points, fact sheets of Chris Dodd's record of results and lots of empty coffee cups, I saw a print out of Blue Hampshire co-founder Mike Caulfield's endorsement post.
People often ask what the value of blogger endorsements is and I think this is evidence of it. Mike's argument in support of Chris Dodd, like that made by many other bloggers, is a thoughtful presentation of why Democrats should support Dodd's candidacy. It's exactly the sort of thing that volunteers and field staff find useful when talking to voters here in Iowa. Beyond that, it's great to have the encouragement of someone writing outside the campaign to pick you up in the midst of a long phone banking session.
Today, I'm heading on the road to cover Senator Dodd's events in Waterloo at one of my favorite restaurants in all of Iowa, Steamboat Gardens. From there, I'll head with the Senator to Dubuque for our campaign's New Year's Eve event.
I'll be staying on the road on New Year's Day to cover events in Cedar Rapids and a few other stops. I'll be posting videos and pictures from the road, as well as writing about the events as the Dodd campaign heads into the new year and towards the Iowa caucus on January 3rd.
Stay tuned for more updates from Iowa on the Dodd Blog.
"Bill Richardson, the only heavy-weight in bout for Democratic nomination"
Some excerpts (emphasis mine):
Retail politics works. And it's not overstating it to say that because N.H. voters see, hear and meet the candidates in person, we are better informed than voters in the rest of country, who rely primarily on electronic media.
We live in a world where Russia's leader may rewrite his country's constitution to maintain power, and where violence is often the political tool of choice, as in much of the Middle East. It is remarkable, and a testament to the strength of this country, that the next leader of the free world understands the real power of this country is in its people, and the path to the White House includes running the gauntlet at little N.H. newspapers like the Sun.
The editorial staff of the Sun is extraordinarily fortunate to have had exclusive access to the candidates. Without handlers at their sides or the national media butting in, most of the candidates have given our eight writers and editors an hour to engage in freewheeling question-and-answer exchanges.
Our staff takes seriously its bit part in selecting the next president. It is impossible to completely discount the "electability" factor and screen out mainstream media, but each of us weighs heavily what we observe in these editorial board interviews.
In our opinion, this year's Democrats are stronger than we've ever seen, and out of three that we believe could be good presidents, we endorse N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson.
A handful of years as senator for each of them [Clinton, Obama, and Edwards] simply does not stack up to Richardson's powerful resume as a former congressman, energy secretary, U.N. ambassador, and now, governor of New Mexico.
Like our own Gov. John Lynch, Richardson is a big hit in his home state, where he is considered one of the nation's most environmentally-conscious governors. In New Mexico, he has raised the minimum wage, given all children under 5 access to health insurance, cut taxes and is pro-business.
On the national level, his experience negotiating with bad boys like Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro and the North Koreans is world-renowned. Richardson gained the reputation as Pres. Bill Clinton's top international troubleshooter, and during the '90s humorously referred to himself as the "undersecretary of thugs." His success as a negotiator also earned him four nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Richardson has heavyweight credentials for a heavyweight job; Obama, Edwards and Clinton, by comparison, have barely found their way into the ring.
The knock against Richardson is that he doesn't have the dynamic personality of Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton, although in person he's funny and engaging. Asked about this rap and to compare himself to Bill Clinton, Richardson says, "Yes, Clinton can electrify a room, but I can get it done." We're convinced he can, and we ask you to join us in voting for him.
http://action.richardsonforpre...
By the way, he's up to five Nobel Peace Prize nominations now.
The Salmon Press newspapers, 11 weeklies that reach 7,400 homes from the lakes to the Canadian border, have endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.
The newspapers endorsed Bill Bradley in 2000 and Howard Dean in 2004.
The editorial follows:
Those that don't think experience counts in politics haven't been listening to Sen. Hillary Clinton. The combination of her proven track record and positive vision for America make her our choice in the Democratic primary.
Sen. Clinton earned our admiration as the First Lady and respect as a U.S. senator from New York. Today she's an engaging personality able to unite people behind a common cause regardless of their political affiliations. She hit the Senate floor on the run and she can do the same thing in the White House.
She is sincere and passionate about restoring fiscal responsibility, providing health care to all Americans, protecting the environment, keeping the tax burden off the middle class and earning the faith and trust of the American people.
But no president can do it alone. She must break recent tradition, cast cronyism aside and fill her cabinet with the best people, not only the best Democrats, but the best Republicans as well.. We're confident she will do that. Her list of favorite presidents - Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, both Roosevelts, Truman, George H.W. Bush and Reagan - demonstrates how she thinks. As expected, Bill Clinton was also included on the aforementioned list.
After all it was during his administration - eight years of peace and prosperity - that Hillary was able to observe, learn and contribute, all at the same time. And though she possesses traits similar to the former president, a great communicator chief among them - the voters of New York State have overwhelmingly validated her abilities - twice.
Sen. Clinton told us she doesn't want our vote just because she's a "woman." She wants our vote because she's the "best." On the Democratic side we agree that she is.
The Associated Press is reporting that Hillary Clinton won the endorsement of the New Hampshire Chapter of the NEA.
Both Senator Clinton and Senator Edwards actively sought the endorsement of the 16,000 member strong union.
Senator Clinton spoke to the government relations committee of the group in March giving a policy speech to the group's conference in March. In it, she criticized the Bush administration for outsourcing teaching to private tutoring companies, arguing that many firms have close ties to Republicans. She was warmly received at the time.
Is it just me, or does John Edwards sometimes remind anyone else of your typical superhero? You know, fighting for the little guy, saving democracy, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Well, OK, maybe not that last one, but the man is inspiring.
Today, John gave a speech in New Hampshire that was all about saving democracy. After years of having politicians tell us that the best we can expect is incremental change within our broken system, it is quite astounding to hear someone actually tell the truth about what is wrong with our system, and propose major reforms to fix it. To me, having the courage to confront our big problems and offer real solutions makes John a real hero, despite the conspicuous lack of spandex in his wardrobe.
Several months ago I wrote on Monticello about Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd hiring my friend and fellow blogger Matt Browner Hamlin as his campaign blogger. Since that time MBH has done an outstanding job of keeping track of the Senator's travels and his journey toward the Democratic nomination for President.
It's been fun to see someone I know hitting the Presidential campaign trail hard like Matt has done and he's been in the trenches of the frontline battle for the nomination. I wish I could tell you I know some deep internal campaign stuff but Matt's been an honorable and loyal guy for the senior Senator from CT and hasn't shared anything but some amusing anecdotes of office stuff and minor but hilarious incidents from the road warrior's life he leads these days.
(Excellent roundup. A little more put below the fold by me. - promoted by Dean Barker)
Labor Day Weekend is a good time to take stock of where things stand in the campaign for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. We are now probably more than half way to the first delegate selection events in Iowa and New Hampshire. The next few months are key in the campaign because once the holiday season starts it will be hard to get voters to focus on the candidates and then after Christmas it is likely only a couple of weeks to the caucus and the first primary. Candidates are turning up the heat and trying to develop momentum going into the early states. Time is getting shorter and shorter.
Where have the candidates concentrated their efforts so far?
Not surprisingly, since January 2007 most of the candidates have concentrated their efforts in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina with most of the candidate campaign events occurring in Iowa. All of the data is from the Washington Post Campaign Tracker.
The other candidates are spending comparable amounts of time in the early states as well. For example, Governor Richardson has had 71 campaign events in Iowa and 73 campaign events in New Hampshire. He has also had 32 campaign events in Nevada. Senator Dodd has had 89 campaign events in Iowa and 60 campaign events in New Hampshire.
Now that's a coup, and interestingly timed after Norelli's Clinton endorsement. New Hampshire based, but nationally known, openly gay, progressive and religious leader Gene Robinson has endorsed Barack Obama. A very interesting catch indeed. From the press release:
"As my work shows me every day, leadership means bringing people together and inspiring them to live out their values," Bishop Robinson said. "Barack Obama sees beyond the partisanship and hopelessness that have dominated in recent years, and the movement he's building is bringing vital new energy and optimism into our democratic process. I'm excited to work with Barack to bridge the old divides and make this country one again."
Bishop Robinson was the first openly gay man elected bishop of a major American Christian denomination, and has never before publicly endorsed a candidate for office.
A resident of Weare, New Hampshire, Robinson is known for his innovative approach to ministry and his work in clerical leadership development and conflict resolution. He is deeply committed to service, working in Africa to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, and leading programs here in New Hampshire to increase access to health care and promote the development of affordable housing.
I have a fundamental disagreement with the "seeing beyond the partisanship" theme that Obama has pushed, but I am equally impressed with his string of NH endorsements so far that speak right to me: the Hirshbergs, the Duncans, Congressman Hodes, and now the Bishop. Senator Obama is literally surrounding me with people I really like.
Speaker of the House Terie Norelli announced today that she was supporting Hillary Clinton for President. She was named a New Hampshire Co-Chair of the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign.
She said in her statement:
I have met with Hillary and talked with her. She is a woman of warmth, compassion, and dedication to issues that really matter. For 35 years she has stood for transformational change, and she is the candidate who has the experience and wisdom necessary to handle complex challenges.
This is cool, because I only seem to hear about special elections after they're already over. From Steve Marchand to my inbox:
Jim Webber is running to fill the vacant House seat in the Rockingham 14 House District, encompassing the towns of Hampton Falls, South Hampton, Seabrook and Kensington.
A co-founder of the Kensington Democrats, Jim has worked alongside folks like you and me to make a real difference in New Hampshire. His experience as a management consultant, his commitment to the environment, and his support for reproductive rights make Jim Webber the right person to serve his district in Concord.
Steve has highlighted a canvass on Saturday, a phonebank on Monday, and a GOTV on Tuesday (election day).
Click on "There's More" for details, as well as some new endorsement news.
It's been more than 7 months since voters took control of Congress away from corrupt Republicans, and more than 5 months since Democrats took over - and still we are waiting for real ethics reform to improve accountability in Congress. We at 21st Century Democrats ask, "are there enough reform-minded Democrats with strong leadership to convince the foot-draggers that the party will be over if they don't enact real ethics reform?" Sadly, the answer may not be what we want to hear.
The House leadership started off on the right foot in January by enacting rules restricting meals, travel and gifts from lobbyists, but some of the strongest measures, like requiring lobbyists to publicly disclose when they bundle campaign contributions for federal candidates, were passed over due to the resistance of some Members who don't get it.
National LGBT Leaders Endorse John Edwards For President
John Edwards for President
Apr 10, 2007
Chapel Hill, North Carolina ? The John Edwards for President campaign announced today that prominent LGBT leaders from across the country endorsed Senator John Edwards for President.
"I am honored to have the support of so many well-respected LGBT leaders," said Edwards. "They work hard every day to make our country a better place and I am proud to join with them to fight for equal rights for all Americans."
The following LGBT leaders endorsed Edwards for President:
Skip Paul, Corporate Executive
Darren Star, TV Producer
Julie Johnson, Human Rights Campaign Public Policy Committee Co-Chair
Eric Stern, Former National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director; Former Democratic National Committee LGBT Outreach Director
David Mixner, Former Bill Clinton for President Adviser; LGBT activist, fundraiser, author www.davidmixner.com
Dennis Erdman, TV Producer/ Director
Mary Snider, Human Rights Campaign Board of Directors Executive Committee Member
David Tseng, Kerry-Edwards 2004 National LGBT Advisory Committee Co-Chair; Former Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) National Executive Director
David Mariner, Former Out for Howard Dean Co-Chair; Founder, www.outfordemocracy.org
James Duff, TV Producer
Ramon Gardenhire, National Stonewall Democrats Black Caucus Co-Chair; Former DNC LGBT Deputy Outreach Director
Scott Benson, Majority Leader Minneapolis City Council
Shane Larson, AFL-CIO Pride @ Work National Executive Board Member; Association of Flight Attendants (AFA)-Communications Workers of America (CWA) Government Affairs Director
Scott Wiener, Human Rights Campaign Board of Directors Member; San Francisco Democratic Party Chair* (for identification purposes only)
Jeff Gardner, Garden State Equality Vice Chair; New Jersey for Democracy Co-Chair
Lynne Wiggins, Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) National Leadership Council Member; Former Human Rights Campaign Board of Governors Member
Ken Keechl, Broward County Commissioner; Former Dolphin Democrats President
Linda Elliott, Human Rights Committee Board of Directors Member
Dave Garrity, Former Democratic National Committee Member
Mark Periello, Former Human Rights Campaign staff member; Democratic strategist
Ron Ginsburg, LGBT Community Activist; business owner
Randall Kelly, LGBT Community Activist; attorney
Stephanie Kornegay, LGBT Community Activist; business owner
Robert D. Horvath, Mautner Project Board of Directors Member
Patrick J. Lyden, LGBT Community Activist; Homeland Security Advisor
Several months ago I wrote on Monticello about Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd hiring my friend and fellow blogger Matt Browner Hamlin as his campaign blogger. Since that time MBH has done an outstanding job of keeping track of the Senator's travels and his journey toward the Democratic nomination for President.
