Why I Love Joe Biden

by: Tim C.

Mon Sep 27, 2010 at 12:16:01 PM EDT

With just a few supporters and aides, Joe walked into the State House and right into a fourth-grade class on a tour, and immediately engaged with them. His aides, about to head up the stairs and briefly hoping that they could drag him along with them, soon sighed and gave up. As minutes ticked by, the message trickled up to his supporters (partly via me) that Joe was downstairs talking to kids, and a bunch came down to stand around with signs as if they'd planned to do so all along.  The press stayed upstairs waiting for the formal event; meanwhile, Joe was happy as could be taking question after question from ten-year-olds in an impromptu town hall meeting in the lobby of their state capitol, on a field trip he had gleefully hijacked from their unprotesting teachers.

Some politicians are helplessly drawn to TV cameras. Joe Biden is helplessly drawn to talk to people.

Come by any time, Joe.

Hillsborough District 4 Needs Your Help

by: Kelly Nordstrom

Sun Sep 12, 2010 at 00:08:06 AM EDT

Outrage, cannot begin to explain my feelings over receiving this mailing.

We're a large district in terms of the area we cover, but a small district in terms of resources and voters. We need help.

Is there precedence for this? What happens if he ends up on both tickets for the general election? What he if garners the 1st and 2nd most votes (we have 4 seats)?

We have our own write in candidate, Kary Jencks, and neeed help in New Boston, Mont Vernon, Wilton, Lyndenborough, and Temple to keep this most assuredly UN-Democratic candidate off our ticket.

(Trying to post scanned postcard, but can't remember how to do that)

MORE (Dean): A scan of the ridiculously deceptive mailer is below in the comments.

MORE-ER (Dean): Elect a REAL Democrat to Hillsborough 4 by helping out Jennifer Daler here.

9 Comments: Questions for GOP Candidates, NOW

by: elwood

Sat Jul 24, 2010 at 20:12:55 PM EDT

And in most campaigns we hear, "The candidate wooed the party base in the primary but is now tacking to the center."

It appears to me that a winning candidate votes just about the way s/he said during the primary. In primary, veritas. So it behooves us to Get Stuff on the Record Now.

Here's a list of nine questions for Republican candidates for major office. They're aimed at getting candidates on the record NOW while they are appealing to their base. Please add your own!

Keep the Faith: General Elections are not Primaries

by: Dean Barker

Sat Nov 01, 2008 at 22:31:04 PM EDT

So, despite all the evidence of the polls, the twin facts that we live in New Hampshire and that Barack Obama is our nominee certainly can play tricks on the brain.  Who can forget that between the Iowa caucus and our primary, all the pollsters, pundits (and bloggers, me included) nationally and statewide got it completely wrong.  Which is why it's good to keep this in mind, from Dante's post that I referenced earlier:

Yes, we all know that Obama blew a big lead in this state not so long ago. (Believe me, this dumb pundit won't forget anytime soon.) But we also all know that primary elections are much more volatile than general-election contests because political party identification, of course, does not offer any cues to voters in primaries.  But people tend to vote their party in general elections, and this one is no exception.

There is no evidence that large numbers of late-deciding Granite Staters changed the outcome of either of the last two presidential races, both of which were closer than this one is.

Tales From The Bottom Of The Ticket: Contested Democratic State Rep Primaries In New Hampshire

by: Andrew Sylvia

Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 20:48:17 PM EDT

The day's biggest free for all takes place for the nomination in Hillsborough 17 with eleven filed candidates vying for eight slots, and only returning incumbents in Jane Bealieu, George Katsiantonis, and Joel Winters.

Hillsborough 17, consisting of Manchester's wards 10 through 12, comprises all of the demographically diverse West Side of the city. It is the only race of the day that has an excess of more than one candidate fighting for the Democratic Party nominations.

Elsewhere in Manchester, contested races are being held on the North Side in Ward 1 and 2 , as well as on the far east side of the city in Ward 6 , and the areas near Gill Stadium and Queen City Avenue in Ward 7 and 8. Each of these Wards contains its own State Rep District, Hillsborough 8,9,13,14 and 15 respectively.

Three races have seen procedural questions arise.

In Merrimack 11, consisting of all of Concord west of the Merrimack River as well as the area stretching from the State House to White Park to Cavalary Cemetary, Klee Dienes has dropped out of the race due to obligations in the National Guard.

In Coos 2, which stretches from Whitefield to Randolph up to Stark, saw tragedy with the untimely death of Bill Cowie by electrocution in upstate New York, Cowie filed along with three other candidates.

In Hillsborough 3, consisting of Peterborough, New Ipswich, Greenville and Sharon, one candidate has stated that he is no longer a part of the party which he seeks the nomination of. 9/11 conspiracy theorist Mike Casnerstated in the August 23rd edition of the Keene Sentinel that he does no longer considers himself a member of the Democratic Party, changing his affiliation to the Green Party after the filing deadline.

Casner went on the state that incumbents should be replaced due to "hush money" making them ineffective.

Other contested races around the state will be held in Portsmouth and Newington (Rockingham 16), Cornish, Grantham and Plainfield (Sullivan 1), Hopkinton, Warner and Webster (Merrimack 4), Bradford and Henniker (Merrimack 5), Amherst and Milford (Hillsborough 6) and the neighborhoods surrounding Crown Hill and Rivier College in Nashua making up the city's 7th ward (Hillsborough 25).

-----

Alright, let me get out of my reporter voice and get back into my politician voice. Apparently writing inverted pyramids are like riding bicycles.

Those are the Democratic State Rep primaries, but i'd be remiss if I did not mention the Republican State Rep primary in my own town of Merrimack, also known as Hillsborough 19.

All of the GOP incumbents except for Maureen Mooney will be running along with former selectmen in Dick Hinch and Tony Pellegrino, a former state rep from the Seacoast in Bob Dodge, and CEO Peter Jennings.

Any one of them is a formidable opponent, but unless there is a large turnout from the anti-tax base that unseated Hinch from the town's last board of Selectmen in 2006, my assumption based on signage, name recognition and what i've been hearing is that all six incumbents will win the nomination along with Hinch and Pellegrino.

So far I have seen one sign clearly on a lawn or business for Dodge and none for Jennings. To contrast, currently I have 61.

However, I may be biased since i've met the other eight candidates, and because when I told a good friend of mine that Peter Jennings was running, he asked me how and why a Canadian newscaster would return from the dead to run for State Representative in Merrimack, New Hampshire.

I am %99.99999 sure that all the candidates in town are indeed not deceased network anchors, but if that or anything else unusual happens from Merrimack, you'll hear it from me first.
 

The New Hampshire Primary, the DNC Meeting, 9 Comments

by: elwood

Sun Jun 01, 2008 at 20:47:44 PM EDT

It seems to be a cottage industry in Michigan. Right after the Dingells and the Levins make their latest moves to help the American automotive industry drink itself to death in oil, they aim their guns at the New Hampshire primary.

In a moment we'll look at 9 higher-priority problems with our nominating process. But first, let's remember a couple of points that get ignored:

• New Hampshire gets back only 67 cents for every dollar it sends to DC. The dark hints that the primary enables us to get Special Treatment is complete bullshit not supported by the data.
• That line about how we "rubber-stamp Iowa, and end the contest?" How's that working for you this year?

Have the Dingells and Levins left yet? For the rest of you Democrats, here's a list of things to fix before you worry about New Hampshire's pole position:

Kathy Sullivan on Morning Edition this morning

by: Kelly Nordstrom

Fri May 02, 2008 at 07:42:16 AM EDT

update: here's the link Who Are Unpledged Add-On Delegates?
I heard her at about 6:30 AM, the links not up on NPR yet (won't be up until tomorrow), they were doing a story on not only super delegates but add-on delegates.  They interviewed 2 people, one was Kathy.

Brava!

The Democratic Party Going Forward

by: Jennifer Daler

Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:04:03 AM EDT

Most agree that this primary race, along with major dissatisfaction with Bush and his party, has galvanized more people than ever to participate in the Democratic primary, especially the young and so-called minorities. The youth vote is very important because research shows people tend to stick with the party they chose as young adults, whether Democratic or Republican. I know more than one elderly Republican whose views tend more Democratic these days, but will not change party registration.

There is a real chance, in my opinion, for the Democratic party to lose the potential for new members, fresh ideas and new energy if there is a "coup" of super delegates or some other smoke filled room scene a la 1968. The story is as old as Chronos eating his own children for fear they will usurp his power.

But what of the youth, many of whom are involved in their first political campaign? Will they stay with "the party" if they perceive the nomination being stolen somehow? Do they accept the "politics ain't beanbag" meme?

There's an interesting take on this from Elizabeth Drew on Politico.com

Drew cites three reasons why super delegates will not be rushing to abandon Obama:

(a) Hillary Rodham Clinton is such a polarizing figure that everyone who ever considered voting Republican in November, and even many who never did, will go to the polls to vote against her, thus jeopardizing Democrats down the ticket - i.e., themselves, or, for party leaders, the sizeable majorities they hope to gain in the House and the Senate in November.

(b) To take the nomination away from Obama when he is leading in the elected delegate count would deeply alienate the black base of the Democratic Party, and, in the words of one leading Democrat, "The superdelegates are not going to switch their voter and jeopardize the future of the Democratic Party for generations." Such a move, he said, would also disillusion the new, mostly young, voters who have entered into politics for the first time because of Obama, and lose the votes of independents who could make the critical difference in November.

(c) Because the black vote can make the decisive difference in numerous congressional districts, discarding Obama could cost the Democrats numerous seats.

Furthermore, the congressional Democratic leaders don't draw the same conclusion from Pennsylvania and also earlier contests that many observers think they do: that Obama's candidacy is fatally flawed because he has as yet been largely unable to win the votes of working class whites. They point out something that has been largely overlooked in all the talk - the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries were closed primaries, and, one key congressional Democrat says, "Yes, he doesn't do really well with a big part of the Democratic base, but she doesn't do well with independents, who will be critical to success in November."

"We may have to go to June, and whoever ends up with the most delegates wins," a key Democrat says. "Meanwhile, the attention will be on the battle she can't win, so why is she doing this - from here on out she's only bleeding the party. The right way to put it is, 'This is a war of attrition and it's obvious that the numbers aren't going to add up, so what's the point?'" He added, "The hope is that at some point the superdelegates will get frustrated and join the Obama bandwagon."

The question is why doesn't this happen sooner rather than later?

Another perspective on the same theme from a Daily Kos blogger.

That's why Obama is the right nominee for Democrats in 2008.  Not just because he is winning by all real measures, including actual delegates and the popular vote, nor because he is just as electable as Clinton if not more so.  All of these are true, but it wouldn't matter if they were not.

Obama is the nominee who can literally lock in structural advantages for Democrats for the next forty years (to say nothing of Obama's downballot advantages today).  Clinton is the nominee who will wage an increasingly futile battle to bring back the lost Democratic coalitions of yesteryear.

Win or lose in November, the right choice for the Party and the country is obvious: Barack Obama is the candidate who will secure the future of the Party--win or lose.  Just don't expect pundits, prognosticators and consultants still stuck in the realignment patterns of 1968 to understand that.

They just don't get it--and they probably never will.

This primary is more than just to see which candidate gets the nomination. It is for the future of the Democratic party. I believe there are times in history when a window opens and real change can occur. If that window shuts, the opportunity may be lost for another generation.  

Penn Debate Backlash

by: Jennifer Daler

Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 12:30:23 PM EDT

Articles and op-eds abound with criticism for last night's excuse for a debate. The Philadelphia Daily News writer Will Bunch said it best, in "An Open Letter to Charlie Gibson and George Stephanapolous":

With your performance tonight - your focus on issues that were at best trivial wastes of valuable airtime and at worst restatements of right-wing falsehoods, punctuated by inane "issue" questions that in no way resembled the real world concerns of American voters - you disgraced my profession of journalism, and, by association, me and a lot of hard-working colleagues who do still try to ferret out the truth, rather than worry about who can give us the best deal on our capital gains taxes. But it's even worse than that. By so badly botching arguably the most critical debate of such an important election, in a time of both war and economic misery, you disgraced the American voters, and in fact even disgraced democracy itself. Indeed, if I were a citizen of one of those nations where America is seeking to "export democracy," and I had watched the debate, I probably would have said, "no thank you." Because that was no way to promote democracy.

You implied throughout the broadcast that you wanted to reflect the concerns of voters in Pennsylvania. Well, I'm a Pennsylvanian voter, and so are my neighbors and most of my friends and co-workers. You asked virtually nothing that reflected our everyday issues - trying to fill our gas tanks and save for college at the same time, our crumbling bridges and inadequate mass transit, or the root causes of crime here in Philadelphia. In fact, there almost isn't enough space - and this is cyberspace, where room is unlimited - to list all the things you could have asked about but did not, from health care to climate change to alternative energy to our policy toward China to the deterioration of Afghanistan to veterans' benefits to improving education. You ignored virtually everything that just happened in what most historians agree is one of the worst presidencies in American history, including the condoning of torture and the trashing of the Constitution, although to be fair you also ignored the policy concerns of people on the right, like immigration issues.

Are you even thinking when simply echo some of the vilest talking points from far-right talk radio? What are actually getting at - do you honestly believe that someone with a solid track record as a lawmaker in a Heartland state which elected him to the U.S. Senate, who is now seeking to make some positive American history as our first black president, is somehow un-American, or unpatriotic? Does that even make any sense? Question his policies, or question his leadership. because that is your job as a journalist. But don't insult our intelligence by questioning his patriotism.

Here's a question for you, George. Is it true that yesterday you appeared on the radio with conservative talk radio host Sean Hannity, and that you said you were "taking notes" when he urged you to ask a question about Obama's supposed ties to a former member of the Weather Underground - which in fact you did. With all the fabulous resources of ABC News at your disposal, is that an appropriate way for a supposed journalist to come up with debate questions, by pandering to divisive radio shows?

Bunch goes on to note Gibson's apparent ignorance of what constitutes "middle class" when he questioned them on capital gains taxes for the poor folk who are earning $200k a year.

The closing reflects my sentiments exactly:

This. Must . Stop. Tonight, if possible. I thought that we had hit rock bottom in March 2003, when we failed to ask the tough questions in the run-up to the Iraq war. But this feels even lower. We need to pick ourselves up, right now, and start doing our job - to take a deep breath and remind ourselves of what voters really need to know, and how we get there, that's it's not all horserace and "gotcha." Although, to be blunt, I would also urge the major candidates in 2012 to agree only to debates that are organized by the League of Women Voters, with citizen moderators and questioners. Because we have proven without a doubt in 2008 that working journalists don't deserve to be the debate "deciders."

ABC News and other entities are trying to tear down Barack Obama the way they tore down Dukakis with the tank, Gore with the internet, Dean with the "scream", Kerry with the "swiftboating" and others. But the difference is, this time it isn't working. The rest of America has seen what I saw in Senator Obama almost a year and a half ago in Manchester. Is he perfect? No. But nobody and nothing on this planet is. He's the best person to be president at this time, is all, IMHO. And whenever I talk to people outside the US, they're pulling for him. Germans, Italians. My friend was just on a business trip to Montreal, and the Canadians she met were all hopeful about Obama. "The US will be respected again, just by electing him", they told her.

A video clip on HuffPo shows the crowd heckling Gibson (well we hear them and see his reaction) as they went to commercial break. I say good. it's about time we stand up to this pablum of negativity we're being fed. We're being told negativity trumps hope. We're being told going the lowest we can go trumps being the best we can be. That isn't true.

And it seems many people are not going into this election asleep like we were led into the Iraq war. It's thanks to blogs like this and others that we have access to good information and discussion. But when comedians like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert deliver better information and interviews than the biggest news outlets, well, we're in interesting times, let's say.

First in the Nation

by: smucci

Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 12:20:42 PM EST

The Primary and Election Integrity: A Clarification

by: elwood

Mon Jan 21, 2008 at 20:09:11 PM EST

BradBlog and BlackBoxVoting starting talking about evidence of fraud as soon as the results were announced, claiming that the variance between candidate percentages in scanner precincts versus hand-count precincts was very suspicious.

Both Bev Harris and Brad Friedman have contacted me to correct me. (And they are independent of each other, although I'm responding to their separate objections in one diary.)

They each have a valid point: I don't believe either of them using the word "fraud." Many bloggers did use the term in citing their work, but each of them was careful to not use the word.

I'll clarify my language below the fold. I think it is already pretty clear, but I admit that if I were on the other side of this discussion I'd be upset too.

Hillary, Maya's Poem and the NH Primary

by: newhampster

Sun Jan 20, 2008 at 13:29:37 PM EST

The Observer Unlimited reports Maya Angelou has recently penned a poem for Hillary Clinton.  For those of you who do not know, Maya Angelou is a renowned poetess and author of National Book Award winner, autobiographical novel, I know why the caged bird sings .  The poem borrows from an earlier work of Ms. Angelou, her iconic classic, Still I Rise .  Hillary can take great honor in Maya's use of the imagery of that poem as it is an important work, and indicative of her great love for Hillary that she made her "family" in her heart that way.  Maya's poem really struck a chord with me after my experience volunteering for Hillary in Southern NH, and I would guess it was written in that time period.  I was campaigning for Hillary from hours before she lost Iowa until hours before she won NH.  My story and the poem below the fold.

No Regrets: A Primary Photo Blog

by: Kelly Nordstrom

Sat Jan 12, 2008 at 23:59:15 PM EST

After our first day of canvassing in May:

It's cleanup time people and I don't want my town littered with dem signs

by: newhampster

Sat Jan 12, 2008 at 12:15:18 PM EST

There is a great upside for us.  We on the local Democratic Committee are cheap and we want to recycle the wickets this fall in the state races.  We also feel that tax dollars should not be used for highway crews to do the cleanup.

Plus I really don't want to hit that metal with my car or have to look at the litter all winter.

So Democrats, Environmentalists, get out there and show we care for our towns.  We are Democrats and we put our boots where our words are.

Presidential Write in Votes Are Available

by: Kathy Sullivan 2

Fri Jan 11, 2008 at 15:13:37 PM EST

Here are the Republican write ins for Democratic candidates for president:
Obama: 1,800
Clinton: 1,743
Edwards: 696
Ruchardson: 191
Kucinich: 13

On the Democratic side:
McCain: 932
Romney: 611
Paul: 267
Huckabee: 242
Giuliani: 161

How Obama Lost New Hampshire

by: elwood

Thu Jan 10, 2008 at 20:26:29 PM EST

• It didn't help that this was college break for the big schools except Dartmouth.
• Maybe the outrageous sexism of many pundits backfired in Hillary's favor.
• Maybe Obama suddenly became the resented "inevitability candidate" after Iowa.
• Maybe the local Clinton campaign really knew how to get out the vote, and understood New Hampshire - or at least Hillary's best turf in New Hampshire - better.

But with all of those factors working against him, Barack Obama could still have won easily. And he blew it.

He did not try to win over progressive voters.

My Day at the NH Polls and the Tsunami of Women Voters

by: newhampster

Wed Jan 09, 2008 at 22:58:57 PM EST

I was the Clinton visibility captain for Londonderry, NH, the second busiest polling place in NH, and this diary focuses on my observations of the voters on Tuesday 1/08/2008.

My day began at 5 AM and I arrived at our single polling location shortly after 5:30.  First job was to plant about 50 signs along the drive leading to Londonderry High's Gymnasium.  Having gotten up well before other campaigns, I of course put our signs on the prime real estate up here.  The tops of plowed snow piles, the entrance corner, all along the drive and around the fenced entrance to the polls.

Those signs look pretty and make supporters feel good but that's not what won New Hampshire for Hillary.

The Un-Polled, Unregistered women of NH came out in record numbers for Hillary.  The pundits can pull their hair out all day but the answer to why the polls were wrong is simple.  

Those who were never polled, never called, never canvassed came out for Hillary.  

Londonderry
9,433 Total Votes 4214 Dem Ballots and 5219 Rep Ballots
There were over 1000 same day registrations of new voters.

Who were those new voters?

My best primary day ever.

by: GreyMike

Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 21:59:16 PM EST

Took the whole day off from work to volunteer for Edwards.

Chrono:
- 7:30 Got to office, no sticks for poll signs. Went to lumber yard, got sticks.
- Stapled signs to sticks.
- Voted
- 8:30-11:45 Stood outside polls with signs (really had a great time with everyone there, Rep,, Dem. alike, regardless of candidate; saw lots of friends.)
- 11:45-4:00 Transported young out-of-state Edwards volunteers to train station so they could go home after canvassing and phone banking all weekend.
- 4:30-6:30 Stood outside polls with signs (more fun with everyone there, Rep,, Dem. alike, regardless of candidate; saw more friends.)  
- 6:30 ordered pizza, went home and ate it.
- 7:30 Went back to polling place after closing and picked up all those signs with the sticks.

Short summary: from slumber to lumber, lumber to slumber. Time to go to bed now, can't change any results by watching numbers and bloviating punditry.

My personal results: priceless

I Love To Vote

by: smucci

Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 10:09:59 AM EST

An uncomfortable leap for change

by: Kelly Nordstrom

Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 18:22:56 PM EST

Also, I was out canvassing today and surprisingly enough encountered voters who are planning to vote tomorrow but who are still undecided!  

Dear Friends,
It is very difficult to reach out and talk politics with friends.  I do not even know which party many of you tend to affiliate yourself with, nor do I know if you regularly vote.  In my experience, NH voters tend to be quite private in their deliberations and value highly the secret ballot they cast.  So, while it is difficult for me to do this, I am writing you this letter because I believe that there has never been a more important time in our history than now.  I believe the stakes are too high in this Presidential election season to be comfortable and silent; and so I am standing up and speaking out.

When I watched the 2004 Democratic National Convention on television and saw the keynote address given by then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama, I knew that I wanted this man to be my President.  I felt that he was not only speaking to me but for me.  In the past, my involvement in presidential campaigns has been putting a bumper sticker on my car.  This time, I am involved.  I am a part of this campaign, this movement, because I have never been more inspired and believe in the "fierce urgency of now."  Barack Obama does not want to change America, he wants us to do it; and that's why I'm standing with him.

Read the rest of the letter below the fold