Happy Independence Day everyone!! Today our nation celebrates it's Declaration of Independence from the British Empire. After much sacrifice from that generation, our nation would go on to become the first that was built upon the liberal ideals of the Enlightenment. Our nation would become a bastion of freedom, and the "city on the hill" for the world to aspire to.

Exxon Ed Whitfield has had this seat for a long time and made a lot of votes. During his tenure, he has been a constant rubber-stamp for the failed policies of the Bush Administration. Despite his election year "Renaisance" Exxon Eddie can't hide from his real record. He has consistenty gotten it wrong time and time again.

Many of you know that I have been writing a lot of diaries for my Congressioinal candidate, Heather Ryan. However, after buying a copy of Wednesday's Paducah Sun and reading an editoral by David Cox, my efforts for Heather must take a backseat for the day.

It seems many residents of the First District have inquired of Heather Ryan how she feels about the FISA compromise, including myself. Well, today she answered us.

In Kentucky's First Congressional District, we are fighting to defeat one of the most shameless enablers of George W. Bush and Mitch McConnell, Exxon Ed Whitfield. We have fielded an awesome grassroots Democrat named Heather Ryan to do just that.

The people are speaking.  Is our party listening?

Early in the primaries, Barack Obama promised that he would win more people over the longer he campaigned.  He said that every state becomes an "Obama state" once he goes there.  But an interesting thing happened as winter turned to spring, and the people kept voting in record numbers.  Hillary Clinton stole the momentum.   Her popularity soared; her appeal broadened; and she steadfastly became the darling of the masses, even as Barack was crowned darling of the mass media.

It started back in New Hampshire, when Hillary "found her voice," but what really happened is that the American people have found Hillary. And there's nothing like raw data to illustrate the point:  

*The Electoral Vote "Poll Watcher" shows Hillary gaining steam against McCain, now leading 310 to 228, with Hillary winning key states like Florida, North Carolina, and West Virginia.  (Obama trails McCain by over 30 EV's.)

*Over the last three months, Hillary has won more contests, gained more votes, and earned more delegates. Since March 4th, she has gained nearly 500,000 more popular votes than Barack Obama as voters in crucial battleground states have made their voices known.

*More Americans have voted for Hillary than any other presidential candidate this cycle. In fact, more people have voted for Hillary than any other primary candidate in history - nearly 18 million so far.

*Just yesterday, Hillary won 150,000 more votes than Obama in Kentucky and Oregon, even though delegate counts will be split fairly evenly.

*Hillary has now won nearly 64,000 more votes than Obama in total, when all caucuses and primaries are included.

Hillary Clinton just keeps winning.  She is the candidate who closes the deal with voters. Despite being out-spent by margins of up to 4-to-1; despite anxious efforts by Obama, his surrogates, and an obedient press corps to convince people that the race is over.  They keep voting for her anyway.  Thankfully there's a stubborn gene in the American people, a natural resistance to authority, and maybe that's why the people love Hillary.  They see her get up with the roosters every day, work herself to exhaustion in pursuit of a dream, and never give up or give in to the nay-sayers.  Hillary, in spite of all the odds, has become a genuine Made in the USA hero, a leader for the people and no longer just "Bill's wife," the other Clinton.

My candidate for President, Hillary Clinton, said in her Kentucky victory speech last night:

It is not just Kentucky bluegrass that is music to my ears. It is the sound of your overwhelming vote of confidence even in the face of some pretty tough odds. Some have said your votes didn't matter, that this campaign was over, that allowing everyone to vote and every vote to count would somehow be a mistake. But that didn't stop you. You've never given up on me because you know I'll never give up on you.

Funny thing...that pesky notion of one-person-one-vote-rules in a democracy, such an irritant to the power-brokers who want Hillary Clinton to pad dutifully back to her seat in the Senate, and forget about the 18 million people who want her to be President, including 2.3 million in Florida and Michigan who knew exactly what they were doing.

Power to the people, that's the lesson from November, 2000.  It's not too late to take it to heart.  Hillary Clinton can close this deal for the Democrats in November.


Note: popular vote statistics from Real Clear Politics




Cross posted at texasdarlin

TexasDarlin, all rights reserved
Not affiliated with the Hillary Clinton campaign

Today, as the severity of Senator Kennedy's condition became more apparent, I found myself, once again, back in seventh grade. I am in a large hall, waiting in line. I am not sure what the line is for, and for some reason the line can't seem to form properly. We seem to be waiting to go into an auditorium. Words are migrating from student to student. It is November 22nd, 1963. The President has been shot. Next to me stands a sweet looking young girl. Shoulder length dirty blond hair. Delicate features. And she says, "I hope that he dies." This was the President who had taken us through the Cuban Missile Crisis, who spoke of civil rights, and who had two young children. And she wanted him dead. Her hatred was palpable and irrational. In retrospect, given the times, I have always wondered whether her enmity was due to the fact that he was a Catholic, and one who supported civil rights.

At 12 years old, I couldn't fathom what I was hearing. I was struck dumb. I simply couldn't respond. I just stared at her and turned away. Now, of course, I know that it was not her wish, but her parents' or some relative's wish. But over the years this fact has only intensified the shock. Everyone says that they remember where they were when they heard that Kennedy was shot. I remember. But I also recall a young girl who believed that she wanted to see him dead.

Before I became fully aware of the deep divisions in the country over civil rights, Vietnam, or "values," I knew that if this young president could create such hostility, something was terribly wrong. And so it was. I suppose that this was my introduction to the 1960's. Every now and again this scene reappears. Sometimes it arises for no apparent reason. Sometimes it arises at appropriate moments, like today, when we have learned that Senator Kennedy is gravely ill.

I have not always agreed with the Kennedys. But I remember supporting Bobby. And of course I remember him being shot. I also remember Teddy trying so very hard, over four long decades, to do the right thing for the underprivileged and marginalized. I recently cheered as The Lion of the Senate passed the torch to Obama. He was aging. Now that he had found someone he trusted to carry on the Kennedy legacy, there was an arc from 1963 to 2008, an arc that the last eight years of Bush, Rove, Cheney, et al, seemed to have made impossible. But as I have watched the returns from certain states, such as Kentucky this evening, I return to that space in 1963, and I am afraid. I fear that as a nation we will fail to do the right thing because we are still too afraid of those who are "not like us."

http://msa4.wordpress.com/

     Much of the focus of tonight has been on Senator Obama, who is to be congratulated for his winning a majority of the pledged delegates (see CNN for confirmation). However, in this eagerness to certify Senator Obama as the Democratic nominee the Kentucky primary was deemed to be of little imporatance in the nominating process. While the logic behind this is reasonable(that the state does not have enough delegates for Clinton to catch Obama)the fact remains that Obama's inability to attract a credible retinue in the state mirrors his problem among blue collar whites in West Virginia. While this group has not been one of the Democrats' more reliable constituencies, their support is critical in the general election. The fact that Obama did not deign to campaign here shows that he is all too aware of the problems he faces among this demographic. However, I do not think that is fair to attribute Clinton's convincing wins in WV and Kentucky to racism, as many on this site (not mentioning any specifics for fear of additional undeserved troll ratings) have recently done. It is undeniable that to a small segment of the population in these states, race played a major factor in their votes but the overwhelming majority said that race ad no impact on their decision. This is somewhat exemplary of the double standard that has been utilized in many instances, such as the North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, etc primaries, in which not a word is breathed about Obama's heavy reliance on the African American vote in his victories. For confirmation of my statements, feel free to check out Cnn's exit polls or the NY TImes politics page. Again, I know that many on this site are eager for this marathon of a primary race to end but there are others, including myself, who would like to see the contest carried on at least until the end of the primaries so as to give every state a voice. I know many of you disagree with this reasoning, but the fact remains that Senator Obama's problems with white blue collar workers, as evidenced in the WV and Kentucky primaries, are quite serious and merit mention in arguments concerning his electability on the general election.