Live at the DNC – I survived a PUMA

I’m finally at a place where I can write a full on post about what I’ve seen thus far at the Convention. It’s been interesting. In order to stay up to the minute on what I’m seeing, follow The SuperSpade on Twitter at http://twitter.com/superspade, where I’ll be sending updates from my phone on various events.

The PUMAs are coming

My shuttle ride in from the airport was 2.5 hours long. I shared that shuttle with an Obama volunteer, 2 Hillary Clinton delegates from Virginia, and a woman from Real Democrats in DC. What I found in them all were women that were ostensibly passionate about democratic and the Democratic Party, but who underneath were actually angry and disappointed in their party’s treatment of Hillary Clinton and how the party selects its nominee.

Some of the arguments made sense, but others had a strange hint of ‘my discrimination is better than yours’, even if it wasn’t intentional. For example, the Hillary folks never liked the caucus process, and I never really understood why. Now I do. They felt like caucuses gave some voters the chance to intimidate other voters in certain districts. Ladies and gentlemen, don’t be confused: that is code for Black voters scared away white voters in Black districts. It’s just like calling Barack Obama arrogant: the “pc” way of saying that he is out of place.

They did have a different take on why her time as First Lady should count as experience: the analogy was a family-owned business. In many cases, the husband’s name is on everything (loans, bills, etc.) and the wife may not even be on the official payroll. Nevertheless, she contributes to the business operations (management of paperwork, employees, travel planning, etc.) and also is effectively a consultant on business strategy and decisions (e.g. Should we open another store across town? Should I hire an intern? etc.). This I think has merit, since I KNOW that I consult significant other when making business decisions. The nuance of this though was probably lost in the election mayhem.

Another thing they said was that a lot of older women in the Northeast were withholding their money from the DNC, which is dangerous considering the amount of money that the Republican Party has been raising ($75 million compared to the Democrats’ $28 million).

What do they want?

Something has to be done to bring these women to the table. When I asked the woman from Real Democrats who she wanted held accountable, her answers were:

• The Democratic National Committee for ignoring their complaints on caucus practices
• The Obama Campaign for doing that and taking these upset voters for granted

None of these women had plans to vote for John McCain. They said that most of these women in their movement were hardcore Democrats that wouldn’t cross over; they’d rather stay home than do that. The problem is, crossing over and staying home have the same effect. I pushed her on this point and here response was “no stance, no respect.” Truer words were never spoken, even if I don’t like this particular context.

The really scary part: Hillary doesn’t control them

The press and the Obama campaign keeps saying that Hillary Clinton needs to “get her supporters in line.” These women were very clear when they said to me that there was nothing that Hillary Clinton could do or say to change their position. Nothing. What that means is that this thing has legs all its own, and their going to keep kicking and screaming.

Hopefully though, it’ll somehow die this week.

One Love. One II.

Barack Obama: Nominee

Yes, The SuperSpade is brand new again. I’ll write about that specifically later, but I am elated that the first post on this new website is about a genuine Black History, American History moment.

[After giving his wife dap,] Barack Obama stepped to the podium and declared himself the undisputed [by everyone except Hillary Clinton] Democratic nominee for the President of the United States. In the same moment, he made broad statements about who he is, what he wants, and what he believes, and coupled those with thanks to Hillary Clinton and harsh words for hs Republican opponent, John McCain. I actually don’t think it was his best speech of the campaign thus far. But nevertheless, on the biggest night of his political life, he did not disappoint.

Barack Obama’s Democratic Nomination Acceptance Speech

American Idol shows why we need an Electoral College

I don’t usually write on stuff like this, but I was struck last night and got to thinking about whether talent is enough, or whether the right person always wins. And in the event that the wrong person is winning, is there a way to correct that?

I saw two of the most talented individuals participating in the vanguard of American cultural expression that is American Idol get sent to the elimination round yesterday, with one of them having to be sent home. If that show had an electoral college (the judges?), that probably would not have happened.

In today’s political season, we may see something similar play out.

Obama should drop out

No I don’t think this should be the case. However, a recent development has occurred whereby a woman that posts regularly posts on dailykos has resigned for what she deemed as unfair bias against her preferred candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton. Here is an excerpt from her open letter to the blogosphere.

NAACP Chairman Julian Bond endorses Clinton (basically)

From the Michigan Messenger,

A noted civil rights leader weighed in the Democratic race by calling on the Democratic National Committee to seat delegates from Florida Michigan.

The AP reports that “In a Feb. 8 letter to DNC Chairman Howard Dean, NAACP chairman Julian Bond expressed “great concern at the prospect that million of voters in Michigan and Florida could ultimately have their votes completely discounted.” Refusing to seat the states’ delegations could remind voters of the “sordid history of racially discriminatory primaries,” he said.”

Super Tuesday observations

Conventional wisdom and polls strongly suggest that Democrats are virtually guaranteed victory in November 2008. And as we come down from Super Tuesday, Senator Clinton and Senator Obama will have to continue to compete for delegates maybe all the way to the Democratic convention. However, if Senator Clinton wins the nomination, I am all but certain that John McCain will win the general election for a number of reasons. 1) There are throngs of Democrats and progressives that will never vote for any candidate that voted for the war. 2) I have had extensive conversations with Obama and Edwards supporters that will never vote for Hillary. 3) McCain would do a better job winning over Independents even though he may not have full throttle support from social conservatives. No matter the outcome, there will be widespread motivation to either vote against Clinton by voting for McCain or sitting at home.

If Clinton wins the nomination Obama will be under tremendous pressure to open up his rolodex of donors and supporters to stomp for Clinton. This will put Obama in a difficult situation because Clinton would not pick him as her running mate and the bulk of his supporters will want to see him run again.

No matter what happens with this race, Obama won.

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

BS is the #1 issue among voters

Cross-posted at the Brave New Films Blog.

I love The Onion because a lot of truth can be said in jest.

Don't vote for Clinton because she's a woman or Obama because he's Black; vote because you agree with them. Vote on things that should matter, not things that shouldn't.

One Love. One II.

Punk Politics: Why no presidential hopefuls showed up at The Jena 6 rally

Barack Obama came out in support of The Jena 6; he was the first to do so publicly. Hillary Clinton made a statement praising Mychal Bell’s case being thrown out. John Edwards made a statement on the issue. So on the surface, it looks like the democratic presidential wannabes are on the record here.

Let me tell you why this not only insufficient, but it is another example of [democratic] politicians’ lack of backbone on the issues that matter in America.

One-on-One Presidential Debates

A lot of people think that Presidential debates don’t really mean a lot. They see them as a bunch of people making meaningless, empty, rhetorical statements.

I think that is sentiment is true for the most part. I do think that there is a solution: One-on-one debates. The reason is simple. It is much harder to get away with B.S. statements when you are giving them to one person than it is when giving it to a group.

Does gender trump race?

Shirley Chisholm is a hero to many because she was the first Black woman to run for president. This was a tremendous act for women and Black people in this country.

In what I think is her most interesting quote, she said the following:

“I’ve always met more discrimination being a woman than being black,” she told The Associated Press in December 1982, shortly before she left Washington to teach at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. “When I ran for the Congress, when I ran for president, I met more discrimination as a woman than for being black. Men are men.

I’m interested what people think here. Is society more sexist than racist, as Chisholm suggests?

With a white woman (Hillary Clinton) and and a Black man (Barack Obama) both having a great chance at being the next president, this election season could potentially bring such a question to the forefront, for better of for worse.

One Love. One II.

Sen. Obama beats Sen. Clinton

Senator Obama raised about $5 million more than Senator Hilary Clinton this quarter from 258,000 donors. This is a big deal because what this shows is that even if Obama doesn’t win the nomination (though I hope he does) he has all but assured his viability as VP candidate regardless of who wins the nomination. The man is a force to be reckoned with, period.

“At least $31 million of Obama’s total is for party primaries,” whereas Clinton has not reported her primary/general election breakout, which effectively means that Obama has more money for the primaries. Obama, if any of your staff are reading this, don’t get comfortable and know this is a marathon, not a race. I should note I threw up the fist when I read this article.

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

Obama’s New Politics

My colleagues at the Northwest Progressive Institute pointed to a disturbing story about a document put out by the Obama camp. It was basically a slap in the face to Hillary Clinton’s India supporters. I would never have expected this from Obama.

New rule: Black Presidential endorsements

New rule: If you are Black person of any influence and want to endorse a Presidential candidate, avoid saying dumb stuff!!! My outrage is directed towards Daryl McDaniels, founding member of the legendary Run D.M.C. This guy, speaking to reporters says he is

Maya Angelou endorses Sen. Clinton

I keep seeing “hat tip” on many Black Blogs so I am giving a hat tip to Jack and Jill for posting a video featuring the video of Dr. Maya Angelou endorsing Senator Hilary Clinton for President.

Dennis the Menace & Why it’s Important to Watch Candidates Closely

Many people have never heard of Dennis Kucinich, a Democratic Congressman from Ohio. Kucinich is running for President in 2008, and is considered to be one of the most progressive candidates on the Democratic side. In my view is right on on most of today’s issues: Iraq, the media, health care, and others. I think he did very well in the debate this week. All in all, a guy I’d vote for.

The above reasons are why it troubles me so much that he is SO ABSOLUTELY WRONG about the CBCI/CBC-Fox New Debate Issue.

A Letter to the [next] President: Don’t participate in CBCI Debates

The SuperSpade has been very involved in the fight to get the Congressional Black Caucus Institute (CBCI) to end their partnership with Fox News for their debates, while at the same time helping to convince leading Democratic Presidential candidates not to participate.

Below is an open letter to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards, created by Color of Change, which The SuperSpade has signed officially (along with other Black bloggers). The letter is encouraging the three of them to stand their ground and not participate in the CBCI debates. If you are interested in signing it too, let us know so we can add you to the list.

One Love. One II.

Obama and Clinton back Iraq Pullout Deadline

Wow.

It takes a lot for most politicians to be explicit about something. Anything. These two are definitely no exception. The strange similarities between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton’s stances on Iraq continue, but they took a turn for the better yesterday. Instead of dancing around the idea of having a firm date for US troop withdrawal like they did in the past, both of them voted yesterday to set a 31 March 2008 for US troops to be out of Iraq. While it is sad that these two candidates are some of the last to have some Iraq sense knocked into them, this is actually a good sign for anti-occupation efforts.

Senator Clinton simply put

Are you pulling for Senator Clinton to win the Democratic nomination for President? If so, why?

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

One by One: Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton decline Fox debate

Senator Clinton and Senator Obama join John Edwards in declining to participate in the debate sponsored by Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. So with the top Democratic frontrunners backing out, this debate will have virtually no impact, if at all. Wouldn’t it be funny though if all the Republican Presidential candidates showed up?

Again, why is no one from the CBC not saying anything? Do they even want to sponsor a debate? Their silence is driving me crazy. 

Thanks again to Color of Change and all the other online communities that worked together to put pressure on the candidates to back down from participating in this debate.

 Stay up fam,

 Brandon Q.