The interviews were conducted on 27 and 28 October, and the margin of error for this poll is four percent.

Please consider volunteering with Harriet Christian in northeast PA or volunteering with the Real Democrats in western and southern PA this weekend. If Real Democrats, independents, PUMAs and others can deliver PA to McCain, the Obama juggernaut will be derailed once and for all.

Feel free to consider this an open thread. And feel free to read more about this poll at Memeorandum.

Since I started writing speeches more than ten years ago, I have always believed in the Democratic Party. Not anymore. Not after the election of 2008. This transformation has been swift and complete and since I’m a woman writing in the election of 2008, “very emotional.”

Not only has this party belittled working people in this campaign, it has also been part of tearing down two female candidates.

Wendy goes on to explain how she was first inspired by Edwards but not getting a job with his campaign, came to work for Obama:

I helped with his announcement speech and others. I worked in the Senate when he was in D.C. One day after a hearing on Darfur, we were walking back to the office. I was still hobbling from a very bad ankle injury and in a very kind and gentle way he offered his arm when we approached the stairs. But later in debate preps and phone conversations and meetings, I realized that I had made a mistake. I didn’t belong. No matter how hard I tried, my heart wasn’t in it anymore.
…
This drift started on a personal level with the fall of former Senator John Edwards. It got stronger during the Democratic National Convention when I counted the substantive mentions of poverty on one hand and a whole bunch of bad canned partisan lines against Senator John McCain. Some faith was lifted after Senator Hillary Clinton’s grace during a difficult hour. But that faith was dashed when I saw that someone had raided the Caligula set and planted the old columns at Invesco Field.

The final straw came the other week when Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (a.k.a Joe the Plumber) asked a question about higher taxes for small businesses. Instead of celebrating his aspirations, they were mocked. He wasn’t “a real plumber,” and “They’re fighting for Joe the Hedge-Fund manager,” and the patronizing, “I’ve got nothing but love for Joe the Plumber.”

Having worked in politics, I know that absolutely none of this is on the level. This back and forth is posturing, a charade, and a political game. These lines are what I refer to as “hooker lines”—a sure thing to get applause and the press to scribble as if they’re reporting meaningful news.

As the nation slouches toward disaster, the level of political discourse is unworthy of this moment in history. We have Republicans raising Ayers and Democrats fostering ageism with “erratic” and jokes about Depends. Sexism. Racism. Ageism and maybe some Socialism have all made their ugly cameos in election 2008. It’s not inspiring. Perhaps this is why I found the initial mocking of Joe so offensive and I realized an old line applied: “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party; the Democratic Party left me.”

Wendy then delivers the most blistering indictment of the current Democratic Party and certainly I agree with her reasons for holding them in such low esteem now:

The party I believed in wouldn’t look down on working people under any circumstance. And Joe the Plumber is right. This is the absolutely worst time to raise taxes on anyone: the rich, the middle class, the poor, small businesses and corporations.

Our economy is in the tank for many complicated reasons, especially because people don’t have enough money. So let them keep it. Let businesses keep it so they can create jobs and stay here and weather this storm. And yet, the Democratic ideology remains the same. Our approach to problems—big government solutions paid for by taxing the rich and big and smaller companies—is just as tired and out of date as trickle down economics. How about a novel approach that simply finds a sane way to stop the bleeding?

She correctly addresses the DNC’s outdated talking points and ideology in the midst of the economic storm we face. If Obama had any real clue as to policy, post–partisan genius that he is purported to be, he would think outside the box and propose something new. Clearly he is not capable of doing so, only stealing others ideas for his own; riding in late to take credit after doing none of the hard work required to get there. Remember “Congress will call me if they need me.”

…Not only has this party belittled working people in this campaign from Joe the Plumber to the bitter comments, it has also been part of tearing down two female candidates. At first, certain Democrats and the press called Senator Clinton “dishonest.” They went after her cleavage. They said her experience as First Lady consisted of having tea parties. There was no outrage over “Bros before Hoes” or “Iron My Shirt.”

Ms. Button remembers this outrage as well as the rest of us. All of Senator Clinton’s accomplishments and great policy ideas were tossed under the bus in favor of every negative speck of dust the press and Obama’s campaign could find to magnify.

But here we are about a week out and it’s déjà vu all over again. Really, front-page news is how the Republican National Committee paid for Governor Sarah Palin’s wardrobe? Where’s the op-ed about how Obama tucks in his shirt when he plays basketball or how Senator Biden buttons the top button on his golf shirt?
…
Here we are discussing Governor Palin’s clothes—oh wait, now we’re on to the make-up—not what either man is going to do to save our economy. This isn’t an accident. It is part of a manufactured narrative that she is stupid.

Most interesting to me was Wendy’s take on Sarah Palin. It was encouraging to me that a die hard Democrat would take the time to put aside any preconceived notions and actually looks at Palin’s record:

Governor Palin and I don’t agree on a lot of things, mostly social issues. But I have grown to appreciate the Governor. I was one of those initial skeptics and would laugh at the pictures. Not anymore. When someone takes on a corrupt political machine and a sitting governor, that is not done by someone with a low I.Q. or a moral core made of tissue paper.

Obama, who wouldn’t know strong moral code if it bit him, and can’t seem to find a policy he likes well enough to hold on to against the changing winds, might want to take a page out of Sarah Palin’s book — instead of belittling her.

When someone fights her way to get scholarships and work her way through college even in a jagged line, that shows determination and humility you can’t learn from reading Reinhold Niebuhr. When a mother brings her son with special needs onto the national stage with love, honesty, and pride, that gives hope to families like mine as my older brother lives with a mental disability. And when someone can sit on a stage during the Sarah Palin rap on Saturday Night Live, put her hands in the air and watch someone in a moose costume get shot—that’s a sign of both humor and humanity.

Has she made mistakes? Of course, she’s human too. But the attention paid to her mistakes has been unprecedented compared to Senator Obama’s “57 states” remarks or Senator Biden using a version of the Samuel Johnson quote, “There’s nothing like a hanging in the morning to focus a man’s thoughts.”

Her statements about Iraq were also surprising; certainly unusual coming from a Democrat:

But thank God for election 2008. We can talk about the wardrobe and make-up even though most people don’t understand the details about Senator Obama’s plan with Iraq. When he says, “all combat troops,” he’s not talking about all troops—it leaves a residual force of as large as 55,000 indefinitely. That’s not ending the war; that’s half a war.

I was dead wrong about the surge and thought it would be a disaster. Senator John McCain led when many of us were ready to quit. Yet we march on as if nothing has changed, wedded to an old plan, and that too is a long way from the Democratic Party.

In closing, I think Wendy echoes the sentiments of a great many Hillary supporters who, alternately, sit in wonderment and horror that the Democratic Party they fought for, donated to, campaigned for and believe in all these years would exhibit the behavior Ms. Button discusses here:

I can no longer justify what this party has done and can’t dismiss the treatment of women and working people as just part of the new kind of politics. It’s wrong and someone has to say that. And also say that the Democratic Party’s talking points—that Senator John McCain is just four more years of the same and that he’s President Bush—are now just hooker lines that fit a very effective and perhaps wave-winning political argument…doesn’t mean they’re true. After all, [McCain] is the only one who’s worked in a bipartisan way on big challenges.

Before I cast my vote, I will correct my party affiliation and change it to No Party or Independent. Then, in the spirit of election 2008, I’ll get a manicure, pedicure, and my hair done. Might as well look pretty when I am unemployed in a city swimming with “D’s.”

Whatever inspiration I had in Chapel Hill two years ago is gone. When people say how excited they are about this election, I can now say, “Maybe for you. But I lost my home.”

Just yesterday, Senator Biden made another mind bending statement when he said “this is a new Democratic Party not the party of the 70s and 80s. This is a party that has adjusted to the realities of a new world order.”

I am not sure what ‘new world order’ he is talking about, but if it includes demeaning women, belittling working class voters and ignoring the issues that weigh heavily on our country at the moment in favor of pretty, vacuous sound bites and “word salad.” obviously I am not a part of it.

Thanks Wendy, for having the courage to speak up and tell the Democratic Party off.

Because their caravan across southern Ohio was a success, Real Democrats intends to tour eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and southern Pennsylvania. I quote Paulie Abeles:

Our next bus tour will be next weekend—
We plan to hit the road Friday morning, October 31st and continue until—yup, you guessed it—Tuesday, November 4th.
Right now, we anticipate traveling through Eastern Ohio, Western and Southern PA.

If you desire to join Paulie and her group for a weekend of campaigning in the critically important region of eastern Ohio and western PA for one day, two days or for the entire five day period, please contact Paulie at pabeles@realdemocratsUSA.org. The more volunteers there are, the more effective the group will be.

Also please consider contributing large or small donations to the Real Democrats if you cannot attend. The group requires funds for gas and for fliers to be distributed to Hillary Clinton Democrats and other voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania who will determine the outcome of the Presidential race. They have almost reached their goal, and they are asking No Quarter for just one more round of large and small donations.

Here are photographs of Real Democrats in action in Ohio during the weekend of the sixteenth:

Help Real Democrats deliver Ohio and Pennsylvania to McCain by either participating in their tour or by donating to their effort. And thank you again for supporting Real Democrats.

Over thirty volunteers from from states across the nation participated in this effort: they visited over 20 towns in counties that voted heavily for Hillary during the primary; they placed flyers on cars; they canvassed; they spoke with voters; they attended festivals; they visited malls; and their RV and caravan brandished “Democrats for McCain” signs.

Feel free to visit Real Democrats at their website, and feel free to contribute to their cause. Large and small donations are welcome, as they intend to campaign every weekend until the election. Also write Paulie Abeles at pabeles@realdemocratsUSA.org if you desire to join them.

Be sure to participate in their activities, or consider campaigning in your local area.

Here are more photographs of Real Democrats on the road in Ohio:

Lady de Rothschild has been instrumental in helping “Democrats for McCain,” including the activist efforts of Harriet Christian and other New Yorkers who travel every Saturday by bus to Scranton, Pennsylvania to connect with voters, and return home the same evening to Penn Station. If you would like to join the lively, revved-up group of Hillary supporters for McCain — or you can drive to Scranton and meet up with the group — here are the details that Harriet Christian described to me:

(These are the same notices and instructions as we posted last week, because everything is the same, except that when Harriet called me this morning, she told me that last Saturday evening, as the group returned to NYC, they were all in such great moods, and felt energized.)

If you can’t do the “Real Democrats” Ohio jaunt (but you still will want to donate to help our McCain Democrats make their Ohio campaign a success), you East Coasters can’t pass up joining Harriet Christian Saturday and every weekend until November. Harriet e-mailed me about a campaign blitz in Pennsylvania this Saturday. E-mail Harriet at hchristian@infnyc.com to CONFIRM, hopefully by mid-afternoon Thursday.

The best parts: The bus trip is free. You’ll meet Harriet and other supporters. And you’ll be helped at every step and given everything you’ll need!

The details: The bus taking you to Scranton leaves NYC’s Penn Station at 9:00 a.m.. Meet up outside Penn Station, along West 31st St., before the corner with Eighth Ave. The bus arrives in Scranton at 11:00 a.m. You depart Scranton at 6:00 p.m., and get back to Penn Station @ 8:00 p.m.

NOTE the Scranton location correction: “If you want to drive to Scranton,” Harriet says, “meet up with everyone coming from NYC at @ 11:00 at Scranton’s McCain/Palin campaign office at 430 Lackawanna Ave..” GO TO Democrats for McCain at 420 North Main Ave., Scranton, PA 18504.

Here’s more from Harriet:

Flyers and other materials will be provided by the McCain campaign. They have flyers for Hillary supporters in Scranton – Hillary won by almost 70% there.

Tell people to dress comfortably – and to wear layers – in case the weather changes.

This is the first weekend trip. The free buses will be provided by the McCain Campaign every Saturday and some Sundays for the rest of the campaign.

:::::::::::

Check out Truthteller’s great report on the exciting Ohio trip: Your donations, small or large, will make the difference in how far this great group can go in Ohio!

Here, we usually talk politics. This time we can DO politics. We can not only talk the talk, but walk the walk — by helping financially and/or by hopping on those buses.

Now, when I watch candidates speak to voters, I adopt Ani’s ‘who gives a crap-o-meter’ regarding their rhetoric and their policies. Unfortunately, Democrat though he claims to be, Senator Obama, with his ceaselessly aloof and dispassionate behavior, leaves the ‘who gives a crap-o-meter’ pointing in the low single digits.

Likewise, Senator Obama’s past voting record, his flip-flopping on so many important campaign promises, and his sidling up to Bush’s policies, leave me feeling like I am watching nothing but a spin-meister, no matter how much the media lauds him or gives him ’style’ points. How bizarre that McCain, the maverick Republican, came across as more connected to the American people and more empathetic to their concerns in last night’s debate.

According to many news sources I checked, the debate produced no clear winner. The news media’s bias notwithstanding, both pundits and bloggers alike kept looking for some sort of “knockout blow” by McCain to change the dynamic of the race. I honestly don’t know what they expected. How about if he said this:

Senator Obama , you are an duplicitous, unrepentant liar who has spent the last 20 years associating with criminals, radicals and divisive, dangerous individuals. You don’t have an original thought in your head. You don’t have the savvy or experience to do this job and you couldn’t stick to a policy or find loyalty to an idea or a person to save your soul.

Would that have done the trick? Fortunately, the crafty McCain was smart enough not to fall into this trap in a town hall setting. He would have been termed ‘desperate’ had he started in on all the Bill Ayers stuff – leave that to the campaign trail, and Gov. Sarah-‘cuda’ Palin to point out. I’m sure they’ll be hammering Senator Obama on his associations for the next 27 days non-stop and keep him just off balance enough.

Last night, McCain needed to accomplish several goals

• Tie Senator Obama to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
• Point out the sharp difference between rhetoric vs. record.
• Show he’s got a grip on how to help our faltering economy.
• Remind voters he’s the guy with the foreign policy bona-fides who will not make naïve mistakes.
• Be calm, cool and collected in the midst of a very difficult time for Americans both at home and abroad;
oh yeah, and…
• Show he actually gives a crap about the American people – not just about winning.

From various pundits’ statements I read – he damned well did the job.

Commentary Magazine’s Daniel Casse:

“McCain is delivering tight, crisp, and extremely effective answers. Every answer has a similar structure: (a) I care about this issue (b) I’ve stood up against Bush/special interests on this issue (c) Obama has never taken a stand, never acted on this (d) so let’s compare records.”

He scored points right away letting voters know that Obama was tied to the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae debacle, whereas McCain co-sponsored a bill to provide stricter oversight. McCain warned of this crisis in 2005. Very interesting that Obama’s opening remarks on the financial crisis brazenly placed blamed on John McCain while ignoring the fact that Obama and other Dems did not want regulations of Fannie and Freddie.

Balz, Kornblut, Abromowitz of the Washington Post weighed in:

McCain played the role of the aggressor throughout the 90-minute debate…”I have a clear record of bipartisanship,” he said. “The situation today cries out for bipartisanship. Senator Obama has never taken on his leaders of his party on a single issue.”

McCain statement was a good reminder to voters that he was willing to put country first by suspending his campaign in an effort to get the rescue bill passed, while Obama was content to declare “Congress will call me if they need me” and all of America got to watch one of Obama’s biggest champions, the unpopular Nancy Pelosi, insult Republicans in order to sabotage the bill’s passage – playing politics with people’s livelihoods. Nice, Nancy — you get a ZERO on the ‘who gives a crap-o-meter.’ Obviously Nancy and Barack don’t give a crap about you or me if they were playing shenanigans like this.

Most important, ABC’s Charlie Gibson pointed out McCain made the one new proposal of the night:

McCain used the debate to promote another approach to solving the economic crisis, saying he would have the government buy up bad mortgages and renegotiate them at the current lower housing values, thereby allowing struggling homeowners to remain in their homes. He argued that until the housing markets stabilize, the economy will continue to falter, and he sought to use the idea to demonstrate his independence from the Bush administration.

“It’s my proposal, it’s not Senator Obama’s proposal, it’s not President Bush’s proposal,” he said. “But I know how to get America working again, restore our economy and take care of working Americans.”
…
The plan, he said, would turn such mortgages over to the government, replacing them with “manageable, fixed-rate mortgages” for homeowners to reduce the chances of default. His advisers circulated talking points to Republican surrogates telling them to describe it as a “bold initiative” and to call it the “McCain Resurgence Plan.”

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: “I thought Senator McCain started out very strong when he said we have to address this financial crisis by having a plan to buy up all of the bad mortgages in the country showed real compassion and empathy there...”

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell: “[W]ith the economy in such a tail spin, [McCain] came armed with a new proposal to have the government buy up failing mortgages … That was a gutsy move.”

Well, actually, I believe this was Hillary’s plan – good move, John! And today, in the NY Times, the McCain campaign gives her credit for the same – better move, John!

Even Charles Krauthammer, no fan of Johnny Mac, thought “McCain won the first hour on domestic (issues).” Strange since Obama’s ace in the hole is supposed to be the economic situation. McCain really hit Obama over the head about his tax proposals, so it could have been comments like this that did the trick:

“Nailing down senator obama’s tax proposal is like trying to nail
jell-o to the wall” and “the last time a president raised taxes in an economic crisis like this was Herbert Hoover.”

Ouch. McCain nailed Obama on the difference between talking the talk and walking the walk. But this was the comment that had all the pundits’ tongues wagging:

“There was an energy bill on the floor of the Senate loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies. And it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney. You know who voted for it? You might never know. That one,” McCain said, gesturing toward his rival. “You know who voted against it? Me.”

They may be trying to make hay out of “that one” not sounding warm and fuzzy – but he got his point across. He also said it with a smile. If it sounds like McCain doesn’t have a lot of respect for Senator Obama, well when a neophyte Senator keeps trying to outshine his opponent with pretty promises not matched by his actions, what do you expect?

According to WaPo:

Foreign policy occupied the last third of the debate, with the candidates clashing repeatedly on Pakistan and on their overall approaches to the use of U.S. military forces. McCain sharply criticized Obama’s opposition to the troop surge in Iraq and his response to Russian aggression in Georgia, as he sought to sow doubts about his challenger’s capacity to handle the commander-in-chief functions.

“In his short career, he does not understand our national security challenges,” McCain said. “We don’t have time for on-the-job training.”

MSNBC’s Pat Buchanan:

“I think McCain did come in with more heart and more fight. And I agree with you, he was the aggressor. He was throwing the punches. He did it in a better way than he did it last week when I thought he had won on points. Here he smiled. He looked at his opponent. He looked at Tom Brokaw. He talked to the audience, and he did it in a more calm fashion. And I think he clearly scored more points than Barack Obama did.”

Another telling moment was described by The Politico’s Jonathan Martin:

“McCain, taking a question from a naval retiree, gives him a pat on the shoulder and a firm handshake. ‘Everything I ever learned about leadership, I learned from a chief petty officer,’ says one old sailor to another. It was surely a moment that won a lot of nodding heads from vets all over the country.“

When McCain shook the man’s hand and said he appreciated his service, it came from his heart. Senator Obama walked over to the man, similarly thanking him for his service – another moment that had no resonance whatsoever. After the bracelet nonsense of the last debate, I would have thought Obama would find a way to be a little more genuine about addressing someone in our military. But there is still a fundamental disconnect between Obama’s statements and any heartfelt conviction behind them. And that is always where he loses me. The trust issue. The ‘does he really give a crap’ issue. The ‘what will he give away when I’m not looking cause it really doesn’t matter to him’ issue.

CNN’s Bill Bennett said “The last comments [John McCain] made, I thought, were quite impressive and quite moving.” Mr. Bennett is right. Senator McCain closing remarks were extremely moving.

Was the debate sort of boring otherwise, yeah. Is Obama a smoother speaker than McCain, sure. But what Senator Obama staccato style never ever communicates to me is the one thing we need in a President at this time more than ever: heart. Senator McCain’s closing remarks about spending a lifetime serving his country and being lifted up by his comrades bespeak a gratitude and an allegiance and dedication to our country’s principles that is undeniable and comes from a place of deep conviction. Likewise, every policy proposal, every idea that came out of his mouth last night may not have sounded like Shakespeare, but each one was concise, and spoken from a place of knowledge, caring and a record he could stand on. I never worry that McCain will flip flop at a crucial moment.

At the end of the day, whether or not we agree on all the issues, I trust McCain’s experience and character to win the day more than I trust Obama’s rhetoric.

Perhaps there was a winner after all.

When you read the I Own My Vote Pledge, keep in mind that the demands it contains are not admissions of defeat, nor are they conditions precedent to your vote. Hillary’s campaign is only suspended, not ended. And only you can decide when your vote has been earned. Whether you are a PUMA activist, a WomenCountPAC donor, a Just Say No Deal blogger, a Clinton Democrat for McCain, a yellow dog Democrat for VoteBoth, or simply a Hillary Clinton supporter who feels like the Party leaders and their presumptive nominee are ignoring everything that you value, the most powerful statement you can make right now is that YOU OWN YOUR VOTE. Only in finding that common ground will we be counted, for only in that common ground will we be able to count ourselves.

I stand together with Hillary Clinton’s 18 million voters to demand that Senator Obama and the Democratic Party:

• Bring us together by seating 100% of the Florida and Michigan delegations in Denver with 100% of their votes, allocated in accordance with the popular vote of each state.
• Bring us together by adopting policies on the Platform Committee that Hillary Clinton has championed.
• Bring us together through reform of the primary and caucus system to reflect the basic principle of one person/one vote.
• Bring us together through outspoken denunciation of all gender bias, racism and other forms of discrimination.
• Bring us together by fairly and respectfully including Hillary and her supporters at the Democratic National Convention in Denver by, among other things, placing her name in nomination for President, conducting a roll call vote, and providing her a prominent speaking role during prime time on August 26th, the 88th anniversary of women’s suffrage.

I own my vote. It does not belong to any party. It does not belong to any candidate. It does not belong to any mob that would impose its will on me. Only I can decide how to use my vote, and I can decide based on any criteria I choose. Therefore I pledge not to give my vote to anyone who does not earn it.

Click here to sign the pledge: http://iownmyvote.com/

• Outrage at the blatant bias against Hillary in the mainstream media
• Outrage that the Obama campaign has played the race card repeatedly and been given a “free pass” by the media
• Outrage at the DNC and the NCDP for their unethical behavior in steering voters to Obama in the watershed North Carolina Democratic Primary
• Outrage that almost a century after women won the right to vote, we’re still living with the same old paradigm – a woman who stands up and speaks out gets told to shut up and sit down
• Outrage that after eight years of Bush, we’re stuck with another loser Democratic candidate

 We’re mad as hell – and we have a new website:  charlottefrontandcenter.com Declare your independence this July 4th and take back our Democracy!  On July 3^rd Hillary supporters and centrists from all over the country will be joining charlottefrontandcenter.com in our Operation Hell Hath No Fury mail-in protest.  We are sending old-school paper postcards to the heads of the DNC, all state Democratic officials, and major media personalities.  You can print them out and mail them – or - Check out our new website for complete details of how to do it online – the USPS will mail them for us!  Want to see how it’s done? You’re invited to our Postcard Party!!

• Caribou Coffee at 7510 Pineville-Matthews Road (at Carmel)
• Wednesday night, June 25th – Drop in any time from 7pm to 9pm
• Bring a laptop and a credit card – No laptop?  No problem, use one of ours
• Cannot attend?  Out of state.  Send postcards online instead.

At charlottefrontandcenter.com, you’ll find links to other like-minded grassroots organizations that have sprung up all over the country. They’re joining us in our nationwide demonstration.  Will you?  Send the DNC and the media a clear message:  NOBAMA 08!  

In spite of her scathing accounts of Obama’s behavior and the party’s disregard for its constituents throughout the primary, Taylor Marsh is an example of someone who seems to think that Hillary’s supporters are simply disgruntled and stubborn in their resistance to the presumptive nominee.

But that’s not it. We believe that not only is Obama inexperienced, unqualified and potentially a danger to our country, we also believe that he gained the nomination in an undemocratic coup of the party, aided and abetted by the powers that be. Not only do people believe that the primary was fixed, that is, that the nomination of Obama was preordained and the entire process of the primary, from corrupt caucuses to accusations of race-baiting, and the final blow by the RBC giving Obama Hillary’s Michigan delegates, was orchestrated by the DNC itself. These are not bitter grapes. This is not disappointment.This is revolutionary, as Charles Lemos described in his brilliant post on NQ. The Democratic party doesn’t need us. They are no longer democratic.

But that’s only the beginning of the shock and distrust now apparent in millions of (former) Democrats, the infamous 18 million Hillary-supporters. Among the great majority, there seems to be a consensus that the entire Democratic Party itself has been seized in a hostile takeover.

When Ben Smith broke the news that the DNC was moving to Chicago only days after Hillary suspended her campaign, our worst fears about a collusion between Obama’s campaign and the Democratic party leaders were confirmed. Hillary supporters spent the months prior to that fateful week watching in disbelief as it became clearer and clearer that Dean, Pelosi, Leahy, Brazile and others were in the tank for Obama. As Smith puts it:

The move reflects Obama’s desire to maintain an unusually streamlined campaign, as well as his swift and complete takeover of a Democratic Party…    

SusanUNPC articulated what many of us feared: that the Democratic party takeover by the Obama campaign is motivated by his relationships with the corrupt Chicago machine.

Chicago is the home of Obama’s longtime extremist mentors, associates, advisers and benefactors — both before and immediately after his law school years — including Reverends Jeremiah Wright, Otis Moss and James Meeks; Minister Louis Farrakhan; Father Michael Pfleger; Weather Underground terrorists William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn; marketing guru David Axelrod who created the mix-and-match Obama and Deval Patrick personae; the convicted Antoin “Tony” Rezko who only two years ago enabled a “sweetheart deal” that allowed Barack and Michelle Obama to buy a historic mansion they could ill afford; the Illinois state senator power broker Emil Jones who “[f]or almost a year … used his position as leader of the state senate to block anticorruption legislation passed unanimously by the state’s lower house.”    

Hillary’s supporters may not have been a movement when the kool aid was first being dispensed, but now we have consolidated, even if it appears to outsiders that our groupings are random and chaotic. We may not all worship at the feet of a candidate, but we are united in our horror at and alienation from the party that left us behind. In a telling exchange between bloggers on The Confluence, a blogger called hwddog writes:

The idea that the DNC is moving so soon after they’ve completed their fix of the election, only shows that it’s been in the works for some time, and those in the party behind this weren’t going to have the people’s votes get in the way.    

This post received many responses indicating that voters had been doing their research in an attempt to understand the party’s bait-and-switch. Blogger plukasiak responds to the post above:

The date to be looking at is April 25, when it was announced that the Obama campaign and the DNC has set up joint fundrasing operations….and had “not reached an agreement with the Clinton campaign”    

DownListen responded with “I think the fix was in before the primary.” And Carol, another blogger boldly states:

I have asked repeatedly on other sites, “Do we have the right to see all of the communications between Dean, DNC and Obama camp?” I believe the fix has always been in from the beginning.   

About the merging of the DNC with Obama’s campaign headquarters in Chicago, the ever-insightful Anglachel makes clear that the enormity of such a project takes time to plan and even more time to initiate. She writes:

This merger cannot have been considered, agreed to and implemented in a single week’s time. This is something that requires logistics, not to mention money and legal sign-offs. This points to two key issues: first, the party leaders have been intending to do this for some time (how far back is yet to be established), which casts their behavior towards *all* candidates in an uncertain light; second, it means that they have subsumed the party to the political objectives of a particular person who has been shown through his campaigning to be divisive and antagonistic to a significant portion of the party    

The power behind these DNC’s improprieties is not yet clear. But there’s much speculation. Some think billionaire George Soros is responsible. He donated millions of dollars to defeating Bush in 2004, which failed, and has recently included Moveon, and the Obama campaign in his donations. And as seen in the linked post, his participation in American politics has not always been legal. Others, as described by Pat Racimora, wonder if it’s not the Chicago Combine.   

In any case, many people would like to see an investigation into the party leaders, the caucuses, and the RBC as well as the DNC’s move to Chicago.The revelation that Patti Solis Doyle has joined the Obama campaign, that she is an old friend of David Axelrod and that her brothers are connected to the Chicago machine has only added to the disparity between transparency and corruption. As Texas Darlin puts it:

There is nothing that is unifying about this latest hostile act involving Mole Doyle. This is the Politics of Division. The Politics of Destruction. The Politics of Disrespect. The Politics of Barack Obama. And if this is now the Politics of the Democratic Party, I have just one 4-letter word for the Unity Team and your stinky Losing Ticket, and that includes you, Al “lost-your-own-state” Gore. PUMA.     

What’s important here is that half of the Democratic Party are now in exile. And if the other half think that we’re going to get over it, they think that what we’re mad about is that Hillary is not the candidate. That is no longer our issue.What we are mad about is that both the nomination and the party have been stolen. And about that we will not get over. Garychapelhill sums it up best for those of us who are now exiled from the so-called Democratic party:

Barack Obama is a dirty politician. He wins elections through fraud. When we get to a point that elections are meaningless then our democracy is finished. If this is the change that we’ve been waiting for, count me out.    

JustSayNoDeal.com

Ripped from Pagan Power’s blog.

Great, great job, Paula!

Thanks to V for posting Paula’s video at the No Quarter channel at YouTube.

1) One of the headscarf-wearing women denied a seat behind Obama is demanding a personal apology from the candidate.

Aref said she received a phone call and apology from an Obama campaign offiicial, but said that’s not enough.

“I do appreciate they’re taking the time to look into what happened,” Aref said. “I think it’s a huge deal. I was hoping for an apology from Sen. Obama himself. He needs to send a strong message this kind of discrimination won’t be tolerated.”
—————————–
“It is offensive and counter to Obama’s commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run,” Burton [a campaign official] was quoted as saying. “We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers.”

Of course, it’s the VOLUNTEER’S fault!! Probably a kid donating his/her time to help out and, WHAM! under the bus. Nothin’ but fumes.

Read the rest ->

2) Meanwhile, back at HuffyPot, Claudia Cividino, a Hillary supporter in the beginning, changed her mind when Clinton declined an invitation to appear in Vogue Magazine. Also, while some of her oh-so-progressive fellow typists at the ‘Pot felt Clinton’s misty eyes in PA were contrived to the point of conspiracy, Cividino felt she didn’t show enough emotion or know how to use her emotions.

After years of a bobble head in the top office, this country seems to be asking for competent leadership and a new approach to solving our problems, which will require intelligence in the classic sense, as well as emotional intelligence. As far as I’m concerned, Hillary disqualified herself on this last point.

Do the google. I don’t link to the ‘Pot.

3) And at NewsBusters, Matthew Balan calls out Roland Martin of CNN.

CNN contributor Roland Martin, when asked on Tuesday’s “Anderson Cooper 360″ if Michelle Obama was being held to a different standard than other presidential candidates’ wives, unequivocally placed the blame on conservative men. “No, I think what you have is you’ve got some weak men on the conservative side who, frankly, don’t like strong women. I mean, we saw the exact same thing take place for Hillary Clinton back in 1992…. All of a sudden… Michelle Obama is this angry black woman, when in fact, she’s an accomplished woman, a mother, a wife. And so, they are trying to define her in that way, because they don’t want to deal with the reality.”

I’d like to snark, but I truly don’t know where to begin and I’m trying to keep this entry short. Supply your own punchlines below, please.

4) While the Obama campaign is blasting McCain for his position on off-shore drilling, Fortune notes Obama has quietly toned down his opposition to NAFTA. Obama certainly used NAFTA as a club to pummel Hillary during the primary to the extent that she had to remind him as the first lady she didn’t actually write the legislation.

But now NAFTA doesn’t suck so bad, I guess. Nina Easton reminded Obama of his former words:

In an interview with Fortune to be featured in the magazine’s upcoming issue, the presumptive Democratic nominee backed off his harshest attacks on the free trade agreement and indicated he didn’t want to unilaterally reopen negotiations on NAFTA.

“Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified,” he conceded, after I reminded him that he had called NAFTA “devastating” and “a big mistake,” despite nonpartisan studies concluding that the trade zone has had a mild, positive effect on the U.S. economy.

Of course, after that, Obama’s handlers backed off Obama’s latest words:

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said that Obama-as the candidate noted in Fortune’s interview-has not changed his core position on NAFTA, and that he has always said he would talk to the leaders of Canada and Mexico in an effort to include enforceable labor and environmental standards in the pact.

But Nina noted:

Nevertheless, Obama’s tone stands in marked contrast to his primary campaign’s anti-NAFTA fusillades. The pact creating a North American free-trade zone was President Bill Clinton’s signature accomplishment; but NAFTA is also the bugaboo of union leaders, grassroots activists and Midwesterners who blame free trade for the factory closings they see in their hometowns.

Hmmmmmm. Take a position to beat up on democratic rivals, then switch to a smarter position as soon as the path is clear. Then have your handlers opine that you never actually switched! Brilliant.

Watch for all of Hillary’s policy positions to get “Obamized.” He’ll take credit for them the way he took credit in Il for legislation he did not work on and for glomming on in DC to yet more legislation he did not work on.

5) Signs of the Apocalypse
The WSJ today had a short but remarkable item by Susan Davis.

In a guest appearance on ABC’s “The View” today Michelle Obama sided with Sen. Hillary Clinton’s view that sexism played a role in the presidential primary campaign.

“Yes, there’s always a level [of sexism],” she said. “People are not used to strong women.” Obama credited Clinton for her race and for breaking down barriers for women.

“And I think that Hillary Clinton, as she said, has made 18 million cracks on the ceiling and we need to keep pushing it and pushing it.” She further credited Clinton for paving the way to make it easier for her young daughters, Sasha and Malia.
“She’s taken [the hits] so that when my girls come along they won’t have to fight it as badly,” she said.

You know, I’m going to really have to think about what she said.

Hmmmmmmm. Uh-huh.

Done.

Gag.

I call bs on that. Un-freakin-believable.

6) If you go to JohnMcCain.com, the picture leading to the section “Citizens for McCain” is of a woman holding up a Hillary Clinton poster now also sporting McCain bumper stickers.

Sweet.

Why We Were There

During a primary season that lasted six months, nearly 18 million voters chose Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party. That was more votes than for any primary candidate in American history, and 300,000 votes more than the presumptive nominee received. During the last four months of the campaign, the punditry and the commentariat relentlessly urged Hillary to quit, despite the fact that she was so close in the popular vote and the delegate count.

Never before has any candidate been so incessantly hounded by members of the political commentariat. Not even candidates who were several hundred delegates behind like Ted Kennedy in 1980 who took his fight all the way to the convention. How come no one tried to hound him out of the campaign? The most common answers are sexism, DNC bias, and hatred of the Clintons.

Sexism

The appalling incidents of misogyny and sexism against Hillary exhibited by many members of the broadcast and print media, both male and female, were legion during this campaign. There were daily sexist jokes against Hillary during the monologues of both Jay Leno, the worst perpetrator, and David Letterman. The worst broadcast network was NBC and the worst cable network was MSNBC, with CNN a close second.

The sexism was used as a weapon by stations owned by NBC which include MSNBC, CNBC and several local stations. General Electric owns NBC so the question is, where did the order for the bias originate, GE or NBC news? Who’s the bad guy in this, the head of NBC News or the CEO of GE? My vote for worst person in the world goes to Keith Olbermann. This article in The New Yorker sheds some light on him: ONE ANGRY MAN.

Most commendable throughout the campaign was Fox News Channel, a station that actually lived up to its slogan, “Fair and Balanced.” A special shout out goes to CBS’ Katie Couric who made a point during her Evening News broadcast of noting the immense level of sexism used against Hillary throughout the campaign. Brava!

Millions of women are outraged at all the sexism and misogyny and take it personally as an attack on them, not just Hillary. They weren’t just attacking a female candidate, they were attacking all women. They were attacking the progress an entire generation of women thought they had made, as my wife put it.

DNC Bias and Hatred of the Clintons

As if the sexism wasn’t bad enough, Hillary was also placed at a disadvantage by her own party throughout the campaign, starting last year. A proposal was passed that went beyond the DNC rules and stripped MI and FL of all delegates for violation of the timing rule. Since those states heavily favored Hillary, she was immediately placed at a disadvantage. It didn’t matter that three other states also violated the timing rule.

A meeting of the Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) at the end of May resulted in the seating of all the delegates from those states at the convention, but with half votes, similar to the original DNC sanction for a timing violation. The half vote provision should not have affected superdelegates, but the RBC had no interest in abiding by its own rules.

What really angered Hillary supporters was the arbitrary way in which 59 uncommitted Michigan delegates were assigned to Obama while four earned, pledged delegates were taken away from Sen. Clinton, and given to Obama. That was an outrageous violation of the DNC charter, a blatant disregard of fair reflection, the basic tenet of the party.

That was the last straw for many of Hillary’s supporters, who immediately left the party as a result. Numerous new Web sites and blogs sprang up. To get an idea, see Just Say No Deal.

As for hatred of the Clintons, that’ll have to be another article for another day. Whatever the reasons, there was nothing to warrant the treatment Hillary received during this campaign. Also, nothing warranted the savagely brutal treatment that Hillary’s supporters received at the hands of Obama supporters, both online and in the field.

Bloggers and diarists supporting Hillary were called all sorts of names and dangerous attempts were made to uncover identities. Campaign workers in the field were subjected to name calling, harassment, and sexist remarks by SEIU members in Pennsylvania. Never before had Democrats been subjected to such treatment by fellow Democrats.

As Lou Dobbs often says, what in the world is going on here?

What’s going on is a blatant attempt to seize control of the Democratic party on behalf of the so-called Liberal Elite. They’re the far left of the party that despises the Clintons for their centrist views, despite the fact that Bill Clinton was the most successful Democratic president in 40 years. No other Democrat won as many electoral votes in those four decades and he was the only two-term Democratic president. Democrats lost 7 out of 10 presidential contests in the last 40 years.

Now, the far left is attempting to seize control of the party, taking over and remaking the party in Obama’s image, in a ruthless attempt to oust the Clinton faction. They’re even going so far as to move the DNC to Chicago and force party members to work for the Obama campaign. Should they be successful, there will no longer be a Democratic Party, just the Obama Party. And the co-mingling of DNC and Obama staffs–and possibly funds–will undermine election law limits.

Senator Clinton suspended her campaign for the nomination on Saturday, June 7. She said she endorses Sen. Barack Obama and that we, her supporters, should support him. Sorry, Hillary, as much as we love you, many of us cannot do that.

We have come to know Sen. Obama far too well to be able to support him in any way. Some of us have already changed our party affiliation, some to Independent while others have switched to the Republican Party. Many of us have joined the PUMA movement which originally stood for Party Unity My Ass.

We’ve had it with the far left, the Liberal elitists, with Obama and his mean, vicious, thuggish supporters.

We all continue to support Hillary and still want her to win the nomination, hoping against hope that something will happen to change the minds of wayward delegates who have gone astray from our Liberal ideals. We’re hoping they will come to learn the true nature of Sen. Obama so that they will shy away from him the way we have. We don’t trust him and can never vote for him. We think Sen. Obama represents a threat to this country, that he’s far worse than president Bush.

So, while Sen. Obama is planning to build a new basketball court in the White House, some of us are exploring our options. Many of us are considering voting for Senator John McCain.

Meeting With Senator John McCain

A bunch of us attended a special virtual and real town hall meeting for Hillary supporters on Saturday, June 14. It was part of his “Citizens for McCain” grassroots effort. We thought the Senator would be elsewhere and that it was to be a conference call event. We didn’t learn until the night before that Sen. McCain would actually be there. It was held in the McCain for President headquarters in Crystal City, in Arlington, Virginia. RNC Victory Chair Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard, accompanied the Senator.

The women with McCain’s team were very impressive and extremely nice. They understood we were lifelong liberal Democrats who were considering voting for a Republican for the very first time. I tried to explain that it wasn’t out of anger or disappointment but out of fear for our country.

It was a very good meeting, full of Hillary’s supporters, many of them from NYC, in full Hillary regalia. John McCain made a short statement about his policies and positions, followed by lots of Q&As from attendees in Arlington, and conference call participants, mostly women from Ohio and Pennsylvania. Sen. McCain was very complimentary of Hillary, making a special point of complimenting her on her campaign.

Everyone was very pleased to be there, and Sen. McCain was in good spirits. The questions were all very good, and McCain’s answers were clear, concise, and direct. There were also some good laughs during the Q&A. One of the callers was a fire chief from a town in Ohio. McCain said he’d like to come visit and be shown around town. The caller happily agreed.

After the Q&A, McCain mingled with the crowd, signed autographs, and spent quite a bit of time chatting with individuals, including Harriet Christian, whom you may have seen being ejected from the May 31 RBC meeting. John McCain knew who Harriet was and was very happy to see her and she him.

Here she is on Fox discussing her meeting with John McCain, for whom she will vote despite his position on abortion. McCain’s position is irrelevant because he said he wouldn’t have a litmus or ideological test for judges. They just have to be qualified. He voted for Breyer and Ginsberg, for example. He held Roberts up as an example of the type of judge he would nominate.

He was very personable and easy to talk with. He reminds me a bit of Harry Truman. My father once walked along with him on one of his regular walks around the White House block. That was back when you could have that kind of access to your president.

The Senator even posed for some group photos, and I managed to snap a few with my iPhone.

Click here to view the Web gallery. (Note the display options at the bottom and the download button above the photos on the left.)

As you can see, the Hillary supporters were very upbeat. I didn’t take detailed notes of the meeting because it was being videotaped and I thought the video would be available on McCain’s Web site at some point.

Hillary supporters there were appalled at what our party has been doing lately and one of the staffers also expressed horror at the DNC’s move to Chicago. What might Obama do to this country with a compliant Congress? We’re looking to McCain as a last resort but we also want to see Hillary reenter the fight. I overheard some Hillary women talking about how much they wish they could still have a woman in the White House.

I know it’s pure fantasy but I’d like to see Hillary protest what’s happening with the DNC and how Obama’s taking it over, remaking it in his own image. I’d like for her not to support Obama at all and start railing against him and the party. Yes, just a fantasy because it looks like Hillary and Barack will be getting together onstage June 26 for a fundraising event.

What impressed me about Sen. John McCain was how forthright he was, how decisive and direct in his answers. No hemming or hawing, no ums or uhs, just simple, direct answers without equivocation. In other words, he sure didn’t come across as someone trying to sell you something, or someone who tailors what he says to who’s listening. Carly Fiorina talked with us after the event, after McCain left, and told us that what we had seen was the real John McCain. I’d have to agree.

I would have absolutely no reservations about voting for him if his opponent is Obama. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to do everything I can to promote Hillary and to defeat Obama, the illegitimate one.

OF NOTE: Tomorrow morning (Monday), Will Bowers of PUMA08.com will be interviewed by MSNBC’s Monica Novotny at 11:30 a.m. I have seen Will interviewed on other programs, and he is an articulate spokesperson — as is Diane — for our arguments and our cause. VIDEO UPDATE of Will Bowers on Neil Cavuto’s program this past week, just below:

We have a VIDEO UPDATE that features both Will Bowers (appearing tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m. ET on MSNBC) and Thuc Nguyen, 32, a graduate student at the University of California (who is featured in the second article quoted below):

Here are a couple snippets from news articles about Will Bowers and his PUMA efforts:

Will Bower is known as the person who had created the group known as “Party Unity My A—“ (PUMA), after Senator Hillary Clinton of New York had lost the Democratic nomination. The ongoing contest between Clinton and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois had created a rift within the Democratic Party. The ruling by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) had left many supporters for Clinton bitter and frustrated.

[...]

McCain did not hesitate to go after the Clinton supporters. Will Bower, the founder of PUMA; wants Clinton in office. Bower would not settle for Obama. Instead, Bower has openly said he will support McCain.

Bower has formed PUMA to get other frustrated Clinton supporters to make a stance. This stance is to keep Obama from winning the US Presidency. Bower is not just angry at Obama, he is angry at the whole Democratic Party. …

Read all from the article in the Digital Journal.

:::::::::::::::::::

Hillary Clinton’s official acknowledgment of defeat and call for party unity finally came yesterday, but William Bower wanted none of it.

A Clinton supporter and contributor for whom voting Democratic comes as natural as breathing, Mr Bower very nearly refused to attend the announcement. He knew Mrs Clinton was going to ask him to do what he considered unthinkable: support Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee.

“I don’t want to hear her say that, and I know she will,” he said before the event, which was held in the National Building Museum in Washington. “I don’t want to be told to vote for Obama.”

“I love her, and I would do 95 per cent of what she’d ask,” Mr Bower said. But not that.

How many Democrats there are like Mr Bower is Mr Obama’s newest worry after a passionate primary that, while bringing out millions of new Democrats, also split the party in two. Both Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton each got nearly 18 million votes.

[...]

“In the hearts of her ardent supporters, we know she’s the best one this time or 2012, which is why we’re willing to put [Senator John] McCain in for four years and [then] have another go at it,” said Thuc Nguyen, 32, a graduate student at the University of California who is part of a burgeoning group known as PUMA, which stands for Party Unity My A—.

Another organisation, HillaryGrassrootsCampaign.com, is urging her to continue running for president, as an independent. “Why vote for McCain or Obama, when you can vote for Hillary!” the website says. “Our mission is to keep our eye on the prize and that prize is having Hillary in the White House,” said Robin Carlson, a spokesman for that group.

Another group, WriteHillaryIn.com, wants people to do just that on the ballot in those states that allow it.

Pam Hamilton, a Clinton supporter who works in sales in Medford, Oregon, and who started a website called ClintonDems, said a lot of women are feeling the four words about party unity that gave PUMA its acronym. She, and others, talk of Mr Obama in terms of inexperience and lack of substance, while complaining of unfair treatment of Mrs Clinton, both by the Democratic National Committee and by the media.

Ms Hamilton suggested she was not sure whom she will vote for – “My dream is that somehow Hillary gets on the ticket” – or whether she will even vote. But the longer she talked, the more it seemed she already had made up her mind. “With neither of them really appealing to my sensibilities, I have to look at who’s more experienced and who do I feel most comfort with, and it’s John McCain,” she said. “We know him.”

It is unclear what effect the PUMA crowd will have in November, if any, but its ranks are mobilising. Ms Nguyen helped launch last week what she described as the group’s official website, gopumaparty.com, although there are several ad hoc offshoots. …

Read all at the The National.