Levin's Out To Bump IA and NH's Elbows

The Democratic party's flawed primary in Michigan stems directly from the campaign of Michigan's "spectacles challenged" senator, Carl Levin, to overturn the "privileged position" of Iowa and New Hampshire as the first caucus and primary in the nation.... leading an effort to have Michigan as one of the four states allowed to hold its primary in January. (CNN)

Told that they couldn't do this, Michigan nevertheless pushed their date forward.... so, the Rules and Bylaws Committee took away Michigan's delegates to the national convention and declared their primary illegal.

Harold Ickes, Hillary Clinton's point man on the committee, voted for this sanction.

Accordingly, Barack Obama and John Edwards, two of the three leading Democratic candidates, removed their names from the ballot.... Hillary Clinton did not.

Hillary's position before the committee last Saturday when this issue was revisited, was that since she got all of the votes.... except uncommitted.... she should get all of the delegates. Ickes argued for this position on her behalf.

The name for this proposal is "chutzpah," made by a candidate not interested in party unity.... heck, not interested in the party at all.

Although Obama had majority support on the committee to split the delegates 50-50, he compromised with a 59-69 split in Hillary's favor, reflecting the Michigan Democratic party's "fair reflection" of what the vote would have been if not flawed.

Hillary wasn't happy, and Ickes reserved her right to take it to the Credentials Committee even though he voted with the committee for the sanction in the first place.

Levin, and others, will undoubtedly keep pushing to knock Iowa and New Hampshire from first-in-the-nation status. One thing is certain, this unnecessarily messy Democratic primary will assure that their primary process will change by 2012.

GOP in Hillary's Corner

Have you noticed how many Republicans are encouraging Hillary Clinton to "stay in the fight."

Saying Florida and Michigan should be counted..... that everyone should have a voice.... even though John McCain was coronated long before all GOP voters got their say.

Neocon pundit William Kristol tipped the GOP's hand in today's op-ed "Biography Isn't Enough" (NYTimes).

"As Obama and Clinton go at it over the next couple of months, McCain can ignore the Democrats and set forth his own policy agenda. His focus on substance could provide a nice contrast to their political bickering...."

Hillary can drag out the primary process, she can listen to the GOP apparatchiks, she can tear the party apart and clear the path for a McCain presidency. But, she can't win the nomination.

Instead of hiding behind "not taking sides" homilies, the DNC needs to step up.... the Queen has no clothes.

Hillary's Firefight

Hillary Clinton has made it clear.... she'll do whatever it takes to win.... whatever.

From trying to imply Barack Obama isn't up to the job of commander-in-chief or a patriot, while lauding GOP candidate John McCain in those same roles.... to using the donor muscle of the rusting Clinton $$$ political machine to pressure Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to back off of her comments that superdelegates should support the candidate who has the most pledged delegates....

To trying to capitalize on the media's dust up over Obama's pastor-gate. This week, Hillary said to the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.... owned by her once arch-enemy, "vast-right-wing conspiracy" master manipulator Richard Mellon Scaife no less.... that if she were in Obama's place she would have left the church.

She's relentlessly trying to stir up controversy over the Michigan and Florida delegates, constantly advocating that they must be seated at the Democratic convention.... though it was the choice of their state party to go against agreed upon party rules.

Still, she persists and threatens a credentials fight at the national convention, a fight that might well destroy the party nominee's chances in November.

Trying to make her First Lady forays into legionnaire duty.... dodging bullets in Bosnia and bringing peace to Northern Ireland.... when caught out she unblushing said she just "misspoke," even though she misspoke on numerous occasions and from prepared remarks.

What Hillary's flamethrower scorched-earth campaign has gotten her is a drop in the opinion polls.... eight points nationally behind Obama as of today.... while her negatives steadily rise.

As Eugene Robinson points out in "Collateral Damage" (WaPo) Hillary's anything goes approach "was always Bill Clinton's political method: Do what you have to do; apologize later, if necessary.

"But maybe what the people want this time is a real person, rather than an image or a strategy."

Unmasking Hillary

Hillary Clinton's record.... she boasts of "35 years of experience" ....includes most importantly her claims to have played a pivotal role in decision-making and foreign policy during Bill's presidency.

We'll put aside the fact that she had no top security clearances, and her just-released White House schedule reads more like redacted tea-pouring events. Let's weigh her experience, her judgement, her character, and her claims against the actual record:

Dangerous foreign trips. Last week, during a written speech at George Washington University, Hillary said if "a country was too small, too poor,or too dangerous the president couldn't go, so send the First Lady."

To prove her point, she described a trip to Yugoslavia in 1996 where she said the plane had to land "corkscrew"-style to avoid surface-to-air threats and "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."

Good story. But, this week firsthand reports.... and video tapes of her visit contradicting her account.... continued to surface. (YouTube)

Others on the trip said there was no "corkscrew landing," no "sniper fire," and video clips show Hillary walking across the tarmac, greeting a Bosnian girl and well-wishers.... no run "with heads down" to get into vehicles.

U.S. Air Force journalist, Don Jackson, who was on the tarmac when she arrived, said "there was no enemy fire, and no imminent danger."

This oft told story.... in dramatic fashion at her campaign rallies.... always includes "sniper fire."

Hillary now says she just "misspoke." In a recent interview with the Philadelphia Daily News she dismissed it as a "minor blip." Brings back memories of "what is, is." She learned how to fog from the master. But, she isn't the master, and her words and deeds are coming back to haunt her.

NAFTA. In a January 2004 news conference, Hillary said she thought Bill Clinton's NAFTA legislation "on balance has been good for New York and good for America." But, needing to win primary states stomped on by NAFTA.... Ohio and upcoming Pennsylvania and Indiana.... she now says that she has "long been a critic of the shortcomings of NAFTA"

No Child Left Behind. Hillary voted in favor of The Decider's 2002 education bill hailing it as "a major step forward." Now, with student performance plummeting and teachers raging against the limitations the bill places on their ability to perform, she now attacks the law as a "test, test, test" approach.

War in Iraq. Hillary voted for the war, and defended that vote until her last debate when cornered by moderator Tim Russert.

Ending the war in Iraq. In June 2006 Hillary restated her long standing opposition to a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops in Iraq.

Now.... faced with the continuing unpopularity of the war and Barack Obama's promise to withdraw troops in a responsible way she's trying to catch up with his Iraq stance. She now says she'll "start withdrawing" troops within 60 days of her inauguration, bring out "one or two brigades a month" and have "nearly all of the troops out" by the end of 2009.

Drivers licenses for illegal aliens. In a campaign statement in October 2007, Hillary initially expressed support for New York governor Eliot Spitzer's plan to offer limited drivers licenses to illegals. Yet, in a presidential debate two weeks later, after first trying to defend her stand, she finally said "No" when asked if she approved of the unpopular drivers license idea.

Florida and Michigan delegates. In September 2007, the Clinton campaign formally pledged not to participate in primary or caucus elections staged before February 5, 2008 in defiance of DNC rules. She now says delegates from those states should be seated at the Democratic convention, flaunting the rules that all the major Democratic candidates endorsed.

Foreign policy. "There is no doubt that I played a major role in many of the foreign policy decisions." Hillary interview with NPR, March 13, 2008. (WaPo)

Northern Ireland. Hillary claimed to be "intimately involved" in the Northern Ireland peace process although the chief negotiator, George Michael, said that Clinton was "not involved directly" in the diplomatic negotiations, and a former northern Ireland chief minister, David Trimble, described Hillary as more of a "cheerleader" than a "principal player."

Macedonia and Kosovo. Hillary claimed that she had "negotiated" with the Macedonian government to persuade it to re-open its border with Kosovo during the NATO air war against Yugoslavia in May 1999. Actually, the border was re-opened the day before she arrived in Macedonia. She did press the Macedonia president to keep the borders open. But she didn't "negotiate" to open them.

Hillary's "35 years of experience"-resume reminds me of a New Yorker cartoon where the applicant being interviewed for a job was told: "I'm afraid your M.B.A. loses some of its lustre in light of the fact that you were home-schooled."

As Bill and Hill pursue their scorched-earth campaign tactics.... "the audacity of hopelessness".... Hillary's overinflated resume is being exposed for what it is. Truly, she's a legend in her own mind.

Harkin: Play By the Rules

Iowa's Senator Tom Harkin (D) has it right.... "Seating delegates would be 'disastrous' " (DesMoinesRegister)

"Rules are rules," said Harkin, who is an uncommitted superdelegate. "We had a national schedule that everyone agreed to.... Michigan, even knowing they would not be seated, and Florida, decided to step out of the line. They are the ones that created the situation, not the DNC, and now they have to live with the consequences."

Harkin said he has talked to the DNC Chairman Howard Dean, and that Dean and other Democrats are "adamant" that the Michigan and Florida delegates not be seated.

At last, a superdelegate who speaks up.... you can't change the rules after the game has started.

It's the only fair and decent stand to take, regardless of Hillary.... and the meddling GOP's.... full court press to the contrary.

Iowa's Last To Be First?

Thursday, January 3, 2008 will probably mark the end of an era.

Considering the jumbled musical chairs the primary season has become, it is likely it will be the last time Iowa will hold its caucuses as first in the nation.

Even at that, to be first this time around both the Iowa GOP and Democratic parties have had to push their caucus date forward to New Year's week.... the night of the Orange Bowl game.... January 3.

Other larger and more populous states are throwing elbows, crowding into line.... and really, who can blame them. Every four years the national spotlight falls on Iowa as presidential wanna-bes of both parties travel, spend money.... almost camp out in the state. Other states want part of the action.

In the future, retail politics as practiced in schools, churches, even living rooms of prospective Iowa caucus goers will give way to the realities of the electronic age.... and sadly one-on-one campaigning will fall into the dustbin of history. As quaint as the notion of knowing your neighbor.

Although just four states.... Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.... were designated by the Democratic party to hold their nominating contests pre-February 5, Florida jumped their date ahead forcing South Carolina to hold their primaries earlier, while Michigan set its primary for January 15, a week earlier than the scheduled date for New Hampshire. New Hampshire will undoubtedly nose forward on the calendar.... bumper-car politics.

Hopefully when the primary scheduling traffic jam is addressed for future contests, other common-sense things will be addressed also. Like limiting the length of the campaign season.... and reining in the monstrous cost that increasingly only produces corporate-beholden nominees.

Otherwise, just rearranging the order of the starting lineup won't save the dangerously out-of-control Mad Max race to the White House.