The Indisputable Truth

Wish me luck. Hopefully I will be able to come back with somewhat of a photodiary.

Obama ’08

The courage campaign changed this. DTS voters heavily go for Barack, and the L.A. Mayor works with the Clinton campaign. Do the Math. 

Dear Friend,

I’ve got some good news. And I’ve got some bad news for you — bad news for the election integrity movement in California as well as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

First, the good news.

In the days leading up to Super Tuesday, your people-powered activism made it possible for the Courage Campaign to contact 1.1 million independent “Decline-to-State” voters — yes, one-third of the 3 million total DTS voters in California — to inform them about their right to vote in Tuesday’s Democratic Party presidential primary.

Your support also made it possible for the Courage Campaign to place “Yes, You Can… Vote for President!” radio ads with Bradley Whitford on the air in Los Angeles and San Diego, expanding our original ad buy from radio stations in San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno and Bakersfield.

The bad news?

In what the media is now calling “Double Bubble Trouble,” 94,000 “Decline-to-State” votes in Los Angeles County — 50% of the total DTS ballots cast — are being rejected due to a ballot design flaw, despite the Courage Campaign’s discovery of the “double bubble” problem and official notification to the Registrar prior to Election Day.

Unfortunately, Dean Logan, the Registrar in charge of Los Angeles County, is refusing to conduct a physical hand-count of every “Decline-to-State” vote before the official vote is certified in just a few weeks.

Every vote must be counted. And time is running out. Please sign our petition to Registrar Dean Logan today demanding that he conduct a physical hand count of all “Decline-to-State” votes cast in the Democratic primary. The more names we add to this petition, the more likely it is that the Registrar will count every vote:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/CountEveryVote

Last weekend, lawyers for the Courage Campaign uncovered the “double bubble” problem — a shocking requirement that “Decline-to-State” voters fill in a redundant “Democratic” bubble (on a ballot clearly marked “Democratic Party”) as well as a bubble next to their preferred presidential candidate. Our legal team realized that — without the “Democratic” bubble filled in — the county’s optical scanners would void votes for “President of the United States,” regardless of voter intent.

On Monday morning, 24 hours before polls opened, we sent a letter from our lawyer to the L.A. ROV, threatening legal action if the Registrar did not rectify the ballot problem before the primary. Unfortunately, on Election Day, polling places across Los Angeles erupted as the votes of DTS voters were rejected, even though almost every one of these voters clearly intended to vote for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. According to the Los Angeles Times:

The registrar’s comments followed an uproar among decline-to-state voters in the county who discovered too late that they were required to mark a bubble on the ballot denoting which party primary they were voting in. Some complained that poll workers told them not to mark the bubble; others said they were unaware of the requirement, which is unique to L.A. County.

Had we not warned Dean Logan and the press on Monday, the numbers of disenfranchised voters could have been significantly higher. As a result of our threatened legal action, the Associated Press, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and several TV and radio stations jumped on the issue immediately and Logan issued a Public Service Announcement and last-minute directions to poll workers.

But now Mr. Logan is refusing to do everything in his power to count every vote cast by “Decline-to-State” voters. What does this say to DTS voters — who represent 19.3% of the total electorate in California? Please sign this petition to Dean Logan today and tell him to conduct a physical hand-count immediately. Then tell your friends to demand that every vote be counted as soon as possible. With only 26 days left before the L.A. County vote is officially certified, there’s no time to waste:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/CountEveryVote

We don’t know if this “Double Bubble Trouble” will change the number of delegates that either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will receive. But we do know that we need to protect voter rights, increase voter confidence in our elections system, and prevent this from ever happening again.

We live in a democracy in which every vote is supposed to count. But, in Los Angeles on Tuesday, the votes of almost 100,000 Decline-to-State voters were rejected because they didn’t fill in an extra, irrelevant bubble.

Never again. Not in California. Not in America. Please sign our petition to Registrar Dean Logan right now:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/CountEveryVote

We know Secretary Debra Bowen is paying attention. And we have friends in Los Angeles who are focused on this issue as well– like Eric Garcetti, President of the Los Angeles City Council, and Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky — but they need your help. With hearings being set up by State Senator Dean Florez and the eyes of California voters converging on Los Angeles County, there’s no time to waste.

Thank you so much for your activism, especially today.

Rick Jacobs
Chair

P.S. Please read this heartbreaking message that we just received from Julian H., a young man voting for the very first time:

“I’ve been following politics before I even hit my teens. And 2 weeks before this election, I turned 18, with my registration in weeks before. I knew the issues, the candidates, the propositions, and for the fist time in my life cast a ballot. I heard the next day about the double bubble. No one at the polls mentioned it, and I didn’t see instructions that even pointed to its existence. It’s not such a great feeling that you’re first close up experience in a system you’ve watched for so long at a distance could have amounted to nothing.”

If you know of any “Decline-to-State” voters in Los Angeles like Julian H., please send them to a special web page we have set up specifically for disenfranchised DTS voters:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/LosAngelesVotes

………

Courage Campaign is an independent political committee and online organizing network empowering grassroots and netroots activists to build a progressive California. In 2008, the Courage Campaign will catalyze action to increase California’s importance in the race for the White House, hold our elected officials accountable, and block Blackwater from building a base on our border.

“Congratulations to Rick Jacobs and the folks at the Courage Campaign for all of their hard work on this issue — their grassroots organizing efforts have been incredibly successful and effective.” – Kim Alexander, California Voter Foundation
 

Dear Darin, 

We won!

After weeks of bad news, here’s the good news: Tens of thousands of “Decline-to-State” (DTS) voters — who intended to cast a ballot for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton on Super Tuesday — will now have their “double bubble” votes counted by the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters.

And it’s because of you.

Thank you to the eye-popping 32,802 concerned Californians who signed our “Count Every Vote” petition to Dean Logan, the Acting Registrar of Los Angeles County.

Thank you to the amazing 437 generous donors who raised a whopping $16,572 to help our legal team keep up the pressure on Logan.

Thank you to the grassroots and the netroots — the activists and bloggers who raised their voices loud enough so that the Los Angeles Times (see article below) and other major media outlets could no longer ignore the problem.

Thank you to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and in particular Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, for working with our lawyers to bring an end to this double bubble trouble.

And thank you to Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who suggested the methods used by Logan to make sure that every vote that can be counted… will be counted.

Because of you, Dean Logan is going to do what the Courage Campaign has advocated since the day after the primary election: where and when voter intent can be accurately determined, Logan will count the ballots of DTS voters who tried to vote for president in the Democratic and American Independent Party primaries.

This means that thousands of voters who intended to cast a ballot for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will not be disenfranchised. Every ballot — in which voter intent can be clearly and concretely ascertained — will be counted.

Will this change the delegate count for each candidate? Not according to our estimates. But counting delegates has always been a secondary goal to counting every possible vote and to sending the message to citizens that their votes will count.

Fortunately, there’s even more good news: Dean Logan and the Supervisors have also promised to junk the “double-bubble” ballot design so that voters in future elections will not be disenfranchised.

We look forward to working with Acting Registrar Dean Logan, the County, Secretary Bowen, and our friends in the election protection community to make sure this never happens again.

32,802 petitions signed. 437 donors. $16,572 raised. Tens of thousands of votes counted. And the end of “double-bubble” ballots.

Of course, that was just what you did after Super Tuesday. Before the primary — and before our legal team uncovered the double-bubble ballot problem — you helped the Courage Campaign contact 1.1 million DTS voters with one simple message on the radio, via video, and by email and phone: “Yes, You Can… Vote for President!”

From “Yes, You Can…” to “Count Every Vote!”, thank you again for making these people-powered victories possible. This is the kind of grassroots activism that will make 2008 a new era for progressive politics in California.

Rick Jacobs
Chair

P.S. We’ve won a big victory for voter rights in California. Thanks to the relentless efforts of so many, including our legal team, “double bubble” ballots are now history. And tens of thousands of votes for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that would have gone uncounted… will now be counted.

But we’ve still got a lot of work to do. To make sure every possible vote is counted, our legal team will be monitoring the process before the election is officially certified on March 4. Please consider contributing to the Courage Campaign today so that our lawyers can finish the job:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/contribute

John McCain apologized Tuesday for disparaging comments about Barack Obama made by talk radio host Bill Cunningham at a McCain campaign rally in Cincinnati.Cunningham, a radio host at WLW-AM, had warmed up the crowd at Memorial Hall with comments about Obama and Hillary Clinton, likening Obama to a “hack, Chicago-style” politician and saying the Illinois senator would “saddle up next to Hezbollah,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il if elected president.

When McCain addressed the crowd, he apologized for the remarks. “I regret any comments that may be made about these two individuals (Obama and Clinton) who are honorable Americans,” he said. “We just have strong philosophical differences, and so I want to disassociate myself from any disparaging remarks that may have been said about them.”

Though McCain apologized for remarks directed at both Democratic presidential candidates, Cunningham’s comments were directed at the Obama camp.

Cunningham had delivered remarks that painted a grim future for America if “Barack Hussein Obama” is elected president. He mentioned Obama’s middle name three times.

“Obama just came back from meeting Ahmadinejad; he’s got a meeting the next week with Kim Jong Il of North Korea. Then he’s going to saddle up next to Hezbollah; they’re going to have a little cookie-and-cream party. All’s going to be right with the world.

“When the great prophet from Chicago takes the stand, and the world leaders who want to kill us will simply be singing ‘Kumbayah’ together around the table of Barack Obama, it’s all going to be great,” Cunningham said. “Things are going to be wonderful.”

Cunningham ended his stump speech with “if you think about immigration, think about terror, think about success in Iraq, there is only one man who can get the job done, John ‘Wayne’ McCain for president.”

McCain later took the stage and apologized for the remarks.

“I will take responsibility in any offense that was inflicted,” the Arizona senator said.

Asked whether the use of Obama’s middle name — the same as former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein — is proper, McCain said: “No, it is not. Any comment that is disparaging of either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama is totally inappropriate.”

McCain said he didn’t know who decided to allow Cunningham to speak, but he said he was sure it was in coordination with his campaign. He said he didn’t hear the comments and has never met Cunningham, but “I will certainly make sure that nothing like that happens again.”

Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, applauded McCain’s remarks.

“It is a sign that if there is a McCain-Obama general election, it can be intensely competitive but the candidates will attempt to keep it respectful and focused on issues,” Burton said.

Last fall, McCain faced criticism for not immediately repudiating a voter in South Carolina who called Clinton a “bitch.” McCain chuckled in response to the voter’s question, but didn’t embrace the epithet. A few minutes later, he said he respected Clinton, a New York senator and colleague.

At one point on Tuesday, Cunningham compared Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Madeleine Albright, who he said “looks like death warmed over.” He also commented on the difference between former Ohio Rep. Rob Portman, whose wife is named Jane, and Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, who is gay. “Jane’s the main difference. But that’s a different story,” Cunningham said.

As Cunningham finished, Portman, who has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate, took the microphone to introduce McCain.

“Willie, you’re out of control again. So, what else is new? But we love him,” Portman said. “But I’ve got to tell you, Bill Cunningham lending his voice to this campaign is extremely important. He did it in 2000, he did it in 2004. It was crucial to victory then and it’s even more important this year with his bigger radio audience. So, Bill Cunningham, thank you for lending your voice.”

Speaking to reporters later alongside McCain, Portman said: “I was backstage so I didn’t hear everything he said. Bill Cunningham is a radio talk show host who is often controversial so it does not surprise me that he was controversial.” He added: “That’s, I guess, how he makes his living.”

This just makes me sad. Enough said.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

With just a week to go until the crucial March 4 Democratic Presidential Primaries, Barack Obama continues to gain ground on Hillary Clinton in Ohio.

The latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows Clinton earning 48% of the Ohio Democratic Presidential Primary vote. That’s unchanged from a week ago. Barack Obama’s support has grown to 43%. That’s up from 40% last week and 38% the week before.

Overall, Clinton’s lead is now just five percentage points in Ohio, down from an eight-point advantage last week and fourteen points two weeks ago.

Just 16% of Likely Democratic Primary Voters believe the North American Free Trade Agreement—NAFTA—is good for America. Fifty-five percent (55%) say the trade agreement negotiated by the Clinton Administration is bad for the nation.

By a 53% to 14% margin, voters believe that Obama opposes NAFTA while there are mixed perceptions on where Clinton stands. Thirty-five percent (35%) believe she favors NAFTA, 31% believe she opposes it and 34% are not sure. This issue is critical in a state that has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs. Politically, these lower-income voters have generally supportive of Clinton throughout the primary season.

Clinton still leads among voters who earn less than $60,000 a year. Obama leads among higher income voters.

Clinton leads by eleven points among women but trails by four among men. A recent commentary by Susan Estrich wondered if the “G-word”—gender—is the reason for Clinton’s struggles.

Nationally, Obama leads Clinton in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll. According to the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator, the Democrats have a modest early lead in the Electoral College.

In Ohio, Clinton is viewed favorably by 77%, down four points since last week. Obama has earned favorable reviews from 72%, up a couple of points over the past week.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Likely Democratic Primary Voters say that Clinton would be at least somewhat likely to win the White House if nominated. That’s down five points from 82% a week ago.

Seventy-nine percent (79%) say the same about Obama. That’s up four points over the past week.

Ohio is one of two states that the Clinton campaign and many outside experts have deemed essential for the former First Lady to win is she is to have a chance of winning the Democratic Presidential nomination. Texas, which also votes on March 4, is the other. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll in Texas shows the same trend in Obama’s direction. Heading into the final debate before Election Day, Clinton’s lead is down to just a single point in the Lone Star State.

Data from Rasmussen Markets suggests that Obama is now strongly favored to win the nomination.

Monday, February 25, 2008

While most of the attention in the Democratic Presidential Primary is focused on Ohio and Texas these days, Rhode Island and Vermont will also be voting on March 4. Rhode Island offers a rare bit of good news for the campaign of New York Senator Hillary Clinton. The former First Lady leads Illinois Senator Barack Obama by fifteen percentage points, 53% to 38%.

Clinton lead by twenty-five points among men and by three points among women.

Clinton is viewed favorably by 80% of the Likely Democratic Primary Voters in Rhode Island. Those figures include favorable reviews from 84% of women and 75% of men. Obama earns such positive reviews from 73%. There is no significant gender gap for Obama’s numbers.

Seventy-nine percent (79%) believe that Clinton is at least Somewhat Likely to win the White House if nominated. An identical percentage believe that Obama is at least Somewhat Likely to win.

Forty-eight percent (48%) of Rhode Island’s Primary Voters name the economy as the top issue. Twenty-one percent (21%) say it’s the War in Iraq while 13% name Health Care as the top priority. The voters who consider the War in Iraq as the top issue are evenly divided between Clinton and Obama. Clinton has the edge among other voters.

Clinton currently has a very narrow advantage in Texas and Ohio. Most analysts believe she must win both of those states to have any chance of winning the Democratic Presidential Nomination. Vermont also votes on March 4, but Obama has a wide lead in the state once governed by Howard Dean.

Nationally, Democrats have a slight advantage at the moment in the Electoral College but McCain is competitive with both leading Democrats in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

An Inside Report by Robert Novak says that some senior Democrats are wondering who will tell Clinton “that she cannot win the presidential nomination and the sooner she leaves the race the more it will improve chances of defeating Sen. John McCain in November? “

Rasmussen Markets data now shows Obama with a 82.2% chance to win the Democratic nomination. Expectations for a Clinton victory are at 15.7%.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (CNN) — Former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Chris Dodd on Tuesday endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president, calling on fellow Democrats “to come together, to get behind this candidacy.”

At a news conference in Cleveland, Ohio, Dodd warned that a heated fight for the Democratic presidential nomination could damage the party.

“I don’t want a campaign that is only divisive here, and there is a danger of it becoming that, not because the candidates want it, but too often the advisers, the consultants, others are seeking for that divisiveness,” he said.

“It is devastating in the longer term when it comes to building victories, uniting people and making a difference.”

Obama is in a heated battle for the Democratic presidential nomination with Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. Obama leads Clinton in the race for delegates 1,327 to 1,255.

Obama and Clinton will next compete March 4 in primaries in Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island.

Obama has won 11 contests in a row since Super Tuesday on February 5. Supporters of Clinton — including former President Clinton — has said she must do well in Texas and Ohio if she is to soldier on for the nomination.

A former adviser for Dodd said the timing of the senator’s endorsement “works pretty well” given that foreign policy has become a key issue of the campaign. Watch Dodd explain why he supports Obama »

“With Clinton on the attack, a recognized leader on foreign and military affairs is vouching for Obama’s readiness,” the Dodd adviser said.

Dodd is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

The Connecticut lawmaker dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination following a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses in January.

In an e-mail to supporters Tuesday morning, Dodd wrote, “While both of our party’s remaining candidates are extremely talented and would make an excellent commander in chief, I am throwing my support to the candidate who I believe will open the most eyes to our shared Democratic vision.

“I’m deeply proud to be the first 2008 Democratic presidential candidate to endorse Barack Obama,” he added. “He is ready to be president. And I am ready to support him — to work with him and for him and help elect him our 44th president.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kica8hmSdAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2zO5d-XZWA

The Economist writes:

ONE of the most interesting political videos on YouTube features a young Obama supporter, Derrick Ashong. A camera-wielding interviewer collars Mr Ashong in the street and starts to pepper him with questions. The interviewer assumes that his victim’s casual appearance—he is wearing a baseball hat, a shell necklace and is chewing gum—betokens an equally casual approach to politics. “Do you have any specifics?” he demands aggressively. “What are their policies?” Mr Ashong delivers a series of carefully argued replies that could form the basis of an editorial in a serious newspaper. The interviewer is increasingly abashed. But, having delivered his defence of Barack Obama, Mr Ashong concludes the interview by saying “I’m independent. I’m not a Democrat. I might vote for McCain.”

This race is electrifying, isn’t it? We went from an inevitable Hillary Clinton, to a surging Barack Obama in Iowa. Then came the teary-eyed moment in New Hampshire, and this race was essentially tied up until “Super Tuesday”. Barack Obama has since won a total of 10 straight states, from little Hawaii to the heritage-enriched state of Virginia. Someone asked me a few days ago, “What happened to Hillary Clinton’s campaign?”

            This is a striking question. Exactly what happened? I can explain this phenomenon in great detail. The first mistake of the Clinton campaign was to label their candidate as the establishment, status-quo, and safe choice. For God’s sake, she is the first women to have a great shot to control the countries’ future in the forthcoming years! And they labeled her as more of the same? If this election was about political experience, our nominee would be Joe Biden right now.

            The second mistake of the campaign was to assume that she could not be beaten. The word “Inevitable” frequently came from supporter’s mouths, these supporters obviously oblivious to what had happened just three years earlier to Howard Dean in the 2004 primary.

            Hillary Clinton did not connect with voters in Iowa. She hosted large events, with over a thousand people attending while campaigning there. John Edwards and Barack Obama sat down with voters, in small groups; and addressed their concerns.

            After losing Iowa, Hillary obviously adopted the “recipe of change” into her campaign tactics. This was a cheap attempt to steal Barack Obama’s base, and it backfired. The race was extremely close until South Carolina came along. The black vote was split approximately 50-50 before this primary, and now exit polls show blacks going almost 90-10 for Barack. Bill Clinton insulted millions of voters in calling Obama’s campaign a “fairy tale” and comparing him to Jesse Jackson; which was an obvious attempt to label him as the “black candidate.”

            During the weeks before Super Tuesday, the campaigns cruised at a safe altitude, but after losing 8 in a row, Hillary falters again. She has numerous points of attack, inconsistent with each other, that just are not accurate. Political plagiarism? Are you kidding me? Politicians hire speechwriters for a reason, taking a line is not plagiarism, especially when Hill doesn’t even write all of her speeches.

            This race is a good “Idiots guide to running a campaign,” and too bad for Hillary, she ended up in the “What not to do” chapter.