New Hampshire Racism Imperils Obama Momentum (Field Report One)

I've been doing some volunteer campaign work recently for one of campaigns. Doesn't matter which one or where (but it's not Obama - I'm a Libterarian and am VERY pleased with Ron Paul's 10% result in Iowa).

One of my colleagues on another campaign told me that they have a South Asian volunteer who has been harassed, threatened and called the N word more times than anyone can count. While I am EXTREMELY pleased with what Obama's Iowa victory says about our nation slowly transcending race as an issue, the treatment of this volunteer by New Hampshire residents is discourgaging in the utmost. Not being representative of the country in terms of diversity is ok if you're openminded (witness Iowa last night), BUT BEING LILLY WHITE AND RACIST is just one more example of why New Hampshire should lose its first in the nation primary status. I don't support Obama due to policy disagreements, but the way New Hampshire is treating this volunteer indicates that he has a hard row to hoe there.

Putting on my analyst/pundit hat, this does not bode well for the Obama campaign and New Hampshire racism could halt his momementum and pitch the race towards Hillary or Edwards. I have no doubt that Hillary Clinton and John Edwards are good Americans who hate racism and don't want to win this way. It's just unfortunate that this racist little state will get to kneecap Obama before he can really take full advantage of what President George H. W. Bush referred to as "The Big Mo." I mean, it's not like this is happening in the South where such things are to be expected.

I wish our country would finally embrace MLK's dream of judging us by the content of our character and not the color of our skin. New Hampshire residents obviously don't share this dream.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised - after all New Hampshire is populated by former Boston residents, and it's no secret that Boston is one of the most racist cities in the country.

The Comments Heard Around the World

Maureen Dowd's recent column has put Hillaryland and her campaign into a tizzy with her comments by David Geffen. While they've been covered extensively, here is a summary of what Hillaryland is upset about:

Mr. Geffen said the Clintons lie “with such ease, it’s troubling” and that the Clinton political operation “is going to be very unpleasant and unattractive and effective.” Mr. Geffen called Mr. Clinton a “reckless guy” who had not changed in the last six years, and suggested that Mrs. Clinton was too scripted.

The real panic in Hillaryland is that Geffen's defection will signal to other high dollar donors that it's ok to raise money for someone else. Their other fear is that Geffen was right: Clinton still has a zipper problem (just like John Boehner - Carl Hulse of the New York Times told me this about Boehner while we were waiting for last year's GOP leadership elections) and Clinton's problem WILL come out during the campaign and cost her some valuable media time. Additionally, talking about him and his pecadillos really doesn't help her much.

Her status as trailblazing first lady to become a Senator and presidential candidate puts her in the same category as Vice Presidents running to succeed predecessor. It's hard for her to tie herself to the successes of her husband's administration without being tarnished with his administration's failures. This proved awkward for Al Gore, and as the latest spat shows, will be even harder for her. Gore could separate himself from Clinton by picking Joe Lieberman, but Hillary can't do anything similar.

Here only real way to distance herself from her husband's failures is to try to intimidate the political class and punditocracy into not tying her to her husband. She even brought back the 90s meme of the "politics of personal destruction." Ironic for a woman who once boasted that her husband's election would give us "two for the price of one"

(Oh and then there are the reports that the whole Hillaryland reaction was actually due to Bill's furiousness about criticism regarding his pardon of multi-millionaire fugitive Marc Rich).

Unfortunately for her, the Clinton years, and Bill's ongoing affairs will be issues that will be embarassing and a challenge for her campaign to overcome. Good thing for her she has enough money to become the nominee anyway. Bad thing for the Democratic party.

Clinton Abandons Freedom of Speech

ISLAMABAD: Former US president Bill Clinton on Friday condemned the publication of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) caricatures by European newspapers and urged countries concerned to convict the publishers.

What a coward. There's a reason that we, the United States, preserve and protect the freedom of the press - because it is essential to have as many different viewpoints as possible when operating a Democracy, as well as a basic human right (the right to free expression without fearing violence). But Freedom of Speech does not end becase somebody else is offended.

Now, I'm not saying the European Union is a democracy, because it's not. But civilized Westerners have been fighting for free expression since long before our Revolutionary War. The fact that Clinton would ask the US convict publishers shows that he really doesn't care about the values enshrined in our Constitution.
Clinton is backing away from American principles to appease the middle east and those in the West who sympathize with them. It really makes you wonder (again) whether he has any real principles at all, or is just a very talented opportunist.
Shame on him.

Failed Equivalence btw Clinton Impeachment and Putative Crimes of W

ABC News: The Note: Hailing the Chief: "Wethinks doing everything you believe to be legal and justified to protect Americans against terrorism is not at all viewed the same way by the American people as doing everything you believe to be legal and justified to protect yourself from an intern sex scandal."