Former Clinton Honcho Now Key TransCanada Lobbyist

Speaking of lobbyists, Hillary Clinton isn't to be trusted, either.

Via Great Plains Tar Sands Pipelines, I learn that Friends of the Earth is alarmed that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton isn't one of them. Apparently, one Paul Elliott was national deputy director and chief of staff for delegate selection for Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. Paul Elliott is now a chief lobbyist for TransCanada in Washington, D.C. TransCanada needs Secretary Clinton to approve construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

“TransCanada clearly sees an opportunity to get this dangerous pipeline approved through Secretary Clinton's relationship with Paul Elliott,” said Alex Moore, dirty fuels campaigner at Friends of the Earth. “Mr. Elliott’s influence in the State Department’s consideration of the pipeline is yet another reason we believe that the White House should reassign review of this project. The stakes for the public are too high to have anything but rigorous and fair scrutiny of the environmental risks of this controversial pipeline and tar sands oil” [Friends of the Earth, press release, 2010.12.13].

Friends of the Earth says Clinton should recuse herself from the Keystone XL decision-making process. Clinton has already caught heck from Nebraska's leaders for saying she's inclined to approve the pipeline. Is there any chance our current South Dakota Congressional delegation, or maybe our lobby-favorite Congresswoman-elect, will join in turning up the heat on Clinton for her Big-Oil-lobbyist connections?

Obama Caves to Bush; Clinton Stands for 4th Amendment

Not only can't we get any of our South Dakota delegation to stand up for the 4th Amendment; we can't get Senator Obama to help, either. Back in October 2007, the Obama campaign said the Illinois Senator would support a filibuster of the FISA reform act in the form it took at that time. That promise left Obama a lot of wiggle room: the FISA reform act before the Senate today has changed some from last year's incarnation, and Obama only said he'd support a filibuster, not actually start one himself.

Great. Grand. I can't wait to defend Obama with that line.

No one else started a filibuster, so Senator Obama joined 68 other senators today in voting for a FISA reform act that lets corporations off the hook and guarantees continued arbitrary disregard of the Fourth Amendment by our government. More than 40 lawsuits against AT&T, Verizon, et al. move to a circuit court for a show hearing and summary dismissal, and the government continues to listen to Americans' phone conversations without any court order.

A Democrat-led Congress hands George W. Bush a big victory in the dog days of his lame-duckery, and on a basic issue of Constitutional liberties, no less.

Interestingly, not joining Senator Obama in his capitulation to fear and Bush was the junior Senator from New York, Hillary Clinton. Harrumph. Maybe Hillary needs to get together with Dennis Kucinich for that Cleveland insurrection at the convention after all....

Primary and General Elections: Different Worlds

During the general election, the primary election process can look like much ado about nothing. Issues that look huge in the heat of an intra-party battle disappear once we get to the main event.

Consider the Hispanic vote: During the primary season, the pundits (and Clintonistas) made much fuss about Obama's weakness among Hispanic voters. Clinton beat Obama two to one among Hispanics on Super Tuesday. The story line made good conflict for the commentators, even though some commentators even in January could see there wasn't as much "there" there as the media might wish. After Super Tuesday, Clinton's Hispanic advantage evaporated, although the Clinton camp spun right through May that her strength among Hispanics was inarguable and that McCain would "trounce" Obama among Hispanic voters.

Some of Clinton's highly placed Hispanic backers are still fighting the primary battle and asking for "more outreach" from the Obama camp. But (hat tip to the oft-quoted Star Parker) a Gallup poll this week finds that Obama "dominates" McCain among Hispanic voters, 59% to 29%. Only 18% of the Hispanic voters surveyed identified themselves as Republicans.

The split is notable given that President Bush won 35% and 40% of the hispanic vote in 2000 and 2004, respectively—not exactly a "trouncing" of Gore and Kerry, but enough to help Bush win. Trailing by 30 points suggests McCain may be reversing a building advantage the GOP thought they could count on.

But the primary chatter no longer matters. However the votes went from January to June, a big majority of Hispanic voters are now saying ¡Sí se puede! Welcome to the new world; on with the general election.

GOP Nightmare: Democrats United!

Republicans are running out of fantasies to entertain that might help them cling to their belief that Senator McCain can salvage the GOP's chances of winning the White House in November. McCain supporters wanted to believe that Obama's hiring of former Clintonista Patti Solis Doyle was a big flip of the bird to Clinton. Yet Clinton is ready to start campaigning with Obama, with the first joint event in aptly-chosen Unity, New Hampshire, on Friday. Says Clinton in a video on her website:

Together we made history and I will continue to work toward our common goal of building an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.... This goal is shared by our Democratic Party nominee, Senator Barack Obama, and I look forward to campaigning with him across this great country of ours.

Says Obama to women in Albuquerque:

"Standing here today, I know that we have drawn closer to making this America a reality because of the extraordinary woman who I shared a stage with so many times throughout this campaign -- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. And in the months and years ahead, I look forward to working with her to make progress on the issues that matter to American women and to all American families -- health care and education, support for working parents and an insistence on equality."

Gee, doesn't sound like the conversation I'd expect to arise from "the biggest f--- you I've ever seen in politics." (Keep wishing, WorldNetDaily readers.)

And what about all those diehard Clinton voters who swore they would vote for McCain if Obama took the nomination? As expected, just primary season bluster. A Fox News poll finds Clinton supporters making the shift, with only 17% of them saying they'll vote for McCain in November. In April, 32% of Clinton's people said they'd pick McCain over Obama. I'm betting at least half of that lingering 17% are using their responses to pollsters as leverage for the vice-presidential slot. Get past Denver, and and with or without Clinton on the ticket, McCain's Clintonista support will dwindle to a single digit... maybe not even enough to compensate for the bleeding Bob Barr will cause.

Dems united -- scary thought, isn't it?

Dems Unite Behind Obama

One of my commenters finds it "amazing" that I could be a staunch Kucinich man and still stand up for Senator Obama now. No more amazing than the fact that Senator Clinton, having lost her battle for the Democratic nomination, could today endorse Senator Obama and exhort her supporters to back his historic bid for the Presidency.

Said Jon Cardinal, a Clinton backer at her endorsement address today in Washington, DC, "This is a somber day.... It's going to be tough after being against Obama for so long."

I know what you mean, Jon. My wife and I still consider ourselves Kucinich Democrats, members of the Democratic wing of the Democratic party, like Paul Wellstone and my new acquaintance from this week's blog convention, New Hampshire's Arnie Arneson. When Dennis dropped out in January, we were genuinely disappointed.

But sometimes you've got to back the horse you have rather than the horse you were wishing for. The Spurs didn't make the NBA Finals, but is that enough to make you basketball lovers skip watching the Celtics and the Lakers rekindle their historic championship rivalry?

Same for presidential politics... although the historic battle to come between Obama and McCain is much more than a game, and we are much more than spectators. It is a fight for the fate of our country, a fight we can't afford to sit out over sour grapes. Back in December, not one of the Dems (or the Republicans, for that matter) had a majority of the voters. Kucinich, Richardson, Edwards (Brownback, Huckabee, Romney...) -- there's no lack of voters who could sit back and grouse about how the best person didn't ascend to the top of the ticket. But if we all did that, there'd be about 10% of the population turning out to vote in November, and that's no way to play this game.

Obama vs. McCain: that's the big game in town. Let's suit up, play hard and play fair, and may the best candidate win!

South Dakota Stands Alone with Clinton on Prairie

Commenters offer the following observations on South Dakota's preference for Clinton over Obama and my comment on the national media dropping the South Dakota story:

South Dakota received the coverage it deserved. We voted against our interest, again. Obama is from a prairie agricultural state. Clinton's a New York multi-millionaire pretending to be a populist (not unlike Bush from Connecticutt pretending to be a Texan). Obama supported biofuels and ethanol, the Farm Bill, the GI Bill, actually passed health care reforms in state and federal legislatures, and has more experience in elected office than Clinton.

...and...

South Dakota thumbed its nose at itself. It has a culture-deficit syndrome. Taken clockwise, ND, MN, IA, NE, WY, and MT voters all figured out that voting for Obama was voting for their interests. So, what's the matter with South Dakota?

What's the matter, indeed. When he spoke here in Madison, Bill Clinton talked about "people like you in places like this" recognizing that Hillary was the better choice for President. But the people most like us in places most like this said otherwise:


This New York Times map (which is cooler and interactive at their site!) shows that South Dakotans have to drive through two other states in any direction to get anywhere that gave Hillary a majority. (O.K., technically you could drive through North Dakota, cross into Canada, and get to Michigan or New York via Manitoba and Ontario, thus going through only one state and two provinces to get to Hillaryland.)

"People like us in places like this" -- how come they're all a full day's drive away? Why was South Dakota such an anomaly in this election? Are South Dakota Dems really so rebellious that they would spurn the recommendations of George McGovern, Tom Daschle, Tim Johnson, and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin to vote for a candidate with little hope of winning? Does South Dakota have some anomalous concentration of idiots like Cheryl Chamberlain* who actually buy the Obama=Muslim, Koran=terrorism bull being spread by vile liars masquerading as defenders of the faith?

Bill Clinton tried to back his argument about Hillary's electability with lots of the New Math his wife was preaching. But a big chunk of South Dakota's American Indian population saw through it. So did all of our neighbors... and their neighbors. People like us in places like this put Barack Obama over the top and set America on a course to make good history. Let's hope South Dakota can catch up.

*Expect no apology, Cheryl. I try to avoid insult blogging, but anyone spreading such idiocy and making South Dakota look so grossly ignorant and hateful will receive my fullest scorn.

Clinton Magic? Not on the Rez...

I was ready to offer the conclusion that the Clintons won South Dakota because of their vigorous face-to-face campaign. Here in Madison, I got to shake hands with both Senator Clinton and the mister, and in Lake County, which Clinton won 61% to 39%, that personal contact appeared to beat the pants off all the door-knocking and phone-calling that the eager organizers waged. (Nate! I told you: Obama has to come here and go fishing! Put that on the calendar for September!)

But before we give any theory of personal campaigning the stamp of approval, check out this map:

Actually, check out the interactive CNN version, which is much cooler. A lot of that dark Obama blue is Indian Country, which the Clintons fought hard for. Bill Clinton came to Indian Country twice during his Presidency, and the Clintons were banking on fond memories to bolster the charm campaign this time. But the Clinton magic didn't materialize in places like Pine Ridge, Eagle Butte, and Fort Thompson.

What happened there? Maybe the youth vote on the reservation came through for Obama. (Remember: the Indian population skews young in South Dakota compared to the white population.) Or maybe the Indians heard what the Clintons said repeatedly to the white folks in this state, that Hillary was winning because of "people like you in places like this." Maybe they recalled Hillary's claim to be the choice of "hard-working Americans, white Americans." A century and a half of broken promises can make people a little sensitive to racial code talk like that. The results from Indian Country suggest those signals from the Clinton camp came through loud and clear enough to undo some hard-won Clinton support.

Future-Blogging the Final Primary Night

Why live-blog when you can future-blog? Here's what you'll see on the news tonight (all times Central Daylight):

8:00 p.m.: Last polls in South Dakota (Mountain Time Zone) close.

8:08 p.m.: CNN calls South Dakota for Clinton based on exit polls held thanks to suspension of South Dakota law (just wondering: does this suspension also mean we can electioneer within 100 feet of the polls wihtout fear of arrest?).

9:00 p.m.: Polls in Montana close.

9:01 p.m.: 107 superdelegates, including President Jimmy Carter, officially endorse Senator Barack Obama.

9:09 p.m.: CNN calls Montana for Obama.

9:24 p.m.: Obama takes the stage in St. Paul, claims victory, thanks Mrs. Clinton for a hard-fought campaign.

9:51 p.m.: Clinton takes the stage in New York City, voice hoarse, eyes New Hampshire misty, and suspends her presidential campaign. Says to supporters, "We couldn't have made it this far without you, and we can't make it in November without you," eliciting roar from crowd aimed directly at St. Paul and marking beginning of the Clinton campaign for the Vice-Presidency.

10:48 p.m.: Final results from Montana: Obama wins 55%-45%.

5:23 a.m. Wednesday: Last South Dakota results trickle in: Clinton wins, 53%-47%. South Dakota receives last mention in national news until October, when Hillary Clinton returns to Madison to campaign against the retread abortion ban (she makes no mention on that trip of either Obama or his running mate, Governor Kathleen Sebelius).

Timing Is Everything... and Hillary Clinton Doesn't Have It

My pal Toby calls and points me to the big American Research Group survey numbers showing Clinton more than reversing the numbers from the two-month-old DWU poll. (See more coverage at SD Moderate and SD Politics.) But just as Clinton has the chance to turn South Dakota from kingmaker to queenmaker and stick a big finger in the eye of Daschle, Herseth Sandlin, and McGovern, The Huffington Post breaks the story (and Epp points us South Dakota readers there first) that as Clinton heads home to New York City, she's summoning her "top donors and backers" to hear what is sounding like a farewell speech.

The Huffington Post also notes that "Obama and Clinton spoke Sunday night and agreed that their staffs should begin negotiations over post-primary activities." For real nuts-and-bolts evidence that Clinton is about to fold, Marc Ambinder reports Clinton staffers are getting word that they should turn in their receipts by the end of the week, while Ben Smith at Politico reports that the campaign is offering advance staffers the option of coming to New York Tuesday or just heading home. Granted, the latter may not be a big deal: with the primaries almost done, there are no more big events for those advance people to arrange... and a campaign $20 million in the hole can't afford to pay staff to sit around and do nothing.

Of course, if that staff hadn't been sitting around doing nothing anywhere but the big states back in December and January, the most powerful Democratic political machine of the last two decades might not be getting beat by a freshman Senator from Illinois right now.

Timing: Pulling the plug just in time to make a win in South Dakota meaningless is the least of the Clintons' problems. The real timing problem that is bringing an end to the era of Bush-Clinton politics is the Clinton campaign's failure to learn the importance of small-town, small-state campaigning until it was too late.

* * *

Update: Even Bill Clinton is acknolwedging the possibility of defeat. As he began his speech in Milbank today, he observed:

I want to say also that this may be the last day I'm ever involved in a campaign of this kind. I thought I was out of politics, 'til Hillary decided to run. But it has been, one of the greatest honors of my life to go around and campaign for her for president [Sarah Amos, ABC News, 2008.06.02].

National Right to Life Rooting for Hillary... for Now

Just back from canvassing for Senator Obama, I ran into Mike Lee, who asked if I'd gotten a call from National Right to Life yet.

"Call? I've been walkin' all morning!"

Mike whipped out his cell phone and played back the voice mail. A woman claiming to be calling on behalf of the National Right to Life Committee gave the same spiel that NRLC sent out in robo-calls to Indiana before their primary. She urged us, "Please do not vote for Barack Obama."

This is hilarious. Does the NRLC really think Hillary Rodham Clinton will make their pro-life constituency any happier? Only as fodder for the Republican attack machine in the fall. Evidently the pro-life crowd are so scared of an Obama steamroller in the fall that they'll throw in with the Clinton campaign.

Hmm... NRLC and Hillary Clinton working together... maybe that's just one more sign that Barack Obama really can bring our country together.

I'll be fighting for women's rights this fall. Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, whichever of you wins tomorrow, you're both welcome to come back and help us in that fight.

Bill Clinton in Madison -- Details from the Speech

It's a strange world where Schaff and Blanchard give the in-depth Obama coverage and the Madville Times gives the Clintons big press.

Neener-neener to the whiners in Florida and Michigan: President Bill Clinton followed his wife to Madison, South Dakota, yesterday evening to stump for Hillary's bid to take the family back to the White House. Only the second President to ever visit Madison (Nixon was the first, in 1969, to dedicate the Karl E. Mundt Library), President Clinton made his pitch to about 700 listeners in Library Park on why they should vote for Hillary Clinton in the South Dakota primary on Tuesday.

Making his fifth stop of the day, the former President showed no signs of wearing down. (His eyes look tough, but they always have, and so do nearly every politician's.) For under an hour, he hammered away with policy details of what the Clinton Administration 2.0 would do. He used the phrase "For example" just slightly more than the phrase "people like you in places like this."

The policy issues (with a few Obama notes thrown in for good measure):

Inequality of Wealth: Time to Go to War?

President Clinton noted that under his administration, America added 22.7 million jobs (and when he came into office, Clinton had promised 8 million). Under Bush, we've seen less than half that amount of job growth. President Clinton asserted that 90% of the economic gains of the past decade have gone to the top 10% of Americans, and that 43% of the economic gains have gone to the top 1%. "The U.S. used to attack dictators for that kind of inequality," said Clinton.

(Obama sounds a similar note in Aberdeen, and has all along.)

Rural America Needs Energy Independence (and Less Gambling!)

Clinton said he has driven through more of South Dakota than he has flown over, and as he looks at our landscape, he thinks, "Not enough windmills." Wind power, said Clinton, means more jobs for everyone in South Dakota, especially on the reservations. In an interesting connection, Clinton portrayed wind power as a way for the Indians to stop relying on gambling for income. Clinton said the Indians shouldn't have to resort to gambling to pay the bills and went so far as to argue South Dakota's reservations don't have the population density necessary to make gambling really profitable.

Clinton said his wife's plan will promote wind power by giving federal funds for building transmission lines (Bill, read the blog!). He also advocated green building practices for all public buildings (ah! Bill is reading the blog!). Do that, said Clinton, and your town, school district, county, etc. get lower utility bills forever. Plus, start building every school, courthouse, and library by green principles, and you eliminate the need for any new power plants for 40 years.

On oil, Clinton offered his wife's three-point plan:

1. Investigate speculation among energy traders and price gouging among the oil companies.
2. Cut gas prices by 40 cents for six months by (a) stopping the flow of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (it's 97% full, says Clinton, and 90% full is plenty) and (b) cutting the federal gas tax and taking it out of the hide of Big Oil.
3. Get more high-mileage cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, and semis (!) on the road by (a) giving a $10,000 tax credit for the purchase of plug-in hybrids and (b) pumping money in to research and development of battery technology and recycling.
   

(Not a word about needing more pipelines or oil refineries.)

(Obama in Aberdeen: close tax breaks for Big Oil, give middle-class $1,000 tax credit to put money in our pockets to cover gas prices, invest in alternative energy, increase fuel efficiency standards.)

Health Coverage: Talking Like Kucinich, Making Policy Like Romney

Clinton asked for a show of hands of people who know someone who doesn't have health coverage. Lots of hands went up. He said that only in America can you ask that question and get any response. Other countries don't let their people go without health coverage. Said Clinton, you can't control cost without covering everybody. The private insurance companies spend $50 billion each year figuring out ways not to cover us. With hundreds of companies and thousands of policies, we also burn up 30 cents of every health care dollar on paperwork. Meanwhile, Medicare (a.k.a. government-run health care) spends 3 cents per dollar on paperwork.

Nice to see the Clinton campaign has finally picked up on what Dennis Kucinich has been telling us since his 2004 campaign. Too bad the Clinton-Romney health care plan won't give us real universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health coverage. Instead, it leaves those hundreds of companies and thousands of complicated, bureaucracy-laden policies intact.

(Obama at least has the good sense not to mandate that we buy coverage from the private insurers who are profiting from sickness and driving the American health care system into the ground.)

Education: Bag No Child Left Behind

President Clinton gets the same good crowd response his wife does when he calls for ending No Child Left Behind. It doesn't work, the President said. It causes cuts in history, economics, arts, and other important curriculum and discourages hard courses and tests. Instead of focusing on a few standardized tests, Clinton said we need to follow the lead of other countries and keep kids in school longer, start the hard classes sooner, and pay teachers more.

(O.K., on NCLB, Clinton beats Obama, who still maintains that the broken law can be reformed. But no worries -- VP Richardson will straighten him out.)

Research: We Like Elite Experts After All

President Clinton noted that agriculture is built on research. We need to get back to funding research, said Clinton. We need research on manufactured materials to produce lighter vehicles for energy efficiency. We need research on energy. We especially need research on health care to address the diseases of old age (we're going to live to be a hundred, but what good is that if we have Alzheimer's or Parkinson's for those last 30 years?) and young age (Hillary is on the Senate autism caucus -- who knew there was an autism caucus?).

(And if you think that pesky intellectual elitist Obama won't meet or beat any Clinton proposal for increasing R&D funding, well, you haven't been paying attention.)

Don't Slap the Banker -- Balance the Budget!

President Clinton said free, fair trade is great, but it will only work if we balance the budget. Remember the poison dog food and toys from China? How'd that happen? Don't we have trade regulations to stop such crimes? Sure we do, said President Clinton, but we can't enforce them against China, Japan, Korea, or the big oil powers when we fund our deficit with big loans from China, Japan, Korea, and the big oil powers. As Clinton said, you won't go downtown and slap the banker (even though you might want to) and then expect him to give you a loan. Deficit spending puts our health and security at risk; we need to balance the budget.

(Note: Obama in Aberdeen advocates his pay-as-you-go approach to government.)

There's the policy breakdown -- photos and more commentary to come!

Clinton: KELO Video, Argus Endorsement

KELO gets a great shot of the Madville Times family breakfast, as well as of Senator Clinton:

[Click here for the video -- I would embed it, but I don't like the autostart.]

The yawning boy was hilarious. And props overall to KELO rookie reporter (and former Watertown debater!) Erica Johnson for some darn fine video-journalism!

Rhubarb pie must be the decider for that Sioux Falls paper, which has this morning endorsed "long shot" Senator Clinton in the primary vote. The Sioux Falls editorial board makes up some reasons to vote for Clinton that don't distinguish her from Obama at all:

• "Measured against her opponent, Clinton is philosophically more moderate."
  Baloney. Clinton and Obama's policies are mostly identical. The Clintons' "moderation" is never a product of philosophy, only of pragmatic political ambition. Obama is as capable of sitting down with opponents and finding common ground as -- if not more so than -- Clinton.
• "Clinton's energy policy is forward thinking and wise. She advocates a broad federal research initiative to help solve our looming oil crisis. It's a plan that would join university researchers, private industry and individual inventors behind a common goal."
  Obama advocates a doubling of funding for research into biomass, solar, and wind resources.
• "Is ethanol part of the answer? Clinton believes it is but not necessarily corn ethanol.That is not precisely the answer South Dakota wants to hear."
  O.K., then how about Obama's answer: along with boosting cellulosic ethanol, Obama will provide incentive for more locally-owned ethanol refineries and increase the renewable fuel standard (that means more corn-based ethanol).
• "Clinton has demonstrated a real commitment to Native American issues...."
  Again, how does this distinguish Clinton from Obama? Obama is on record as a fighter for Indian rights, enough to win the endorsement of fifty tribal leaders and all Indian superdelegates who had announced as of May 23.

Failing to make any real policy distinction between Clinton and Obama, maybe that Sioux Falls paper is just thanking Clinton for sending the paper's web hits to the moon last week with the RFK assassination comment video.

Or maybe the Sioux Falls editors are looking at this race from a purely South Dakota perspective. Who's giving South Dakota the love? While Obama took yesterday off, Clinton Hit Madison, Huron, and Watertown. Obama talked with tribal leaders privately before his Sioux Falls rally; as that Sioux Falls paper points out, Clinton "will have visited several South Dakota reservations before the race is over." Obama's surrogates have been making the rounds, but Clinton's most famous surrogate, ex-President Bill, is hitting 12 South Dakota towns between now and Monday.

Back in February, I staked my claim to Obama as the South Dakota candidate based on his small-state politics:

I'll note that Obama is the one campaigning as if all 50 states, including us rural states, make a difference, getting an early (and as we see now, successful) jump on campaigning in relatively small North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Idaho while Clinton plays big-city, big-state politics and will start pouring resources into the rest of the country only now that it looks like she needs us. [CAH, "Obama -- The South Dakota Candidate?" Madville Times, 2008.02.10]

Clinton appears to have finally picked up on the small-state lesson, now that she needs us. In the big picture, the Clinton effort in South Dakota may be too little too late. But at the South Dakota level, for my neighbors who are still deciding, the Clintons are putting on one heck of a show. For South Dakotans who ask, "Which candidate is taking the time to come to my town and look me in the eye?" Clinton is winning hands down.

Obama is spending the weekend here. For the first time in a long while, he's playing catch up to Clinton. Let's see that hustle again, Senator Obama!

* * *

Update 11:38 CDT: Back from a morning stroll with Madville Times, Jr., I see South Dakota Moderate finds that Sioux Falls paper's endorsement of Clinton similarly puzzling. SDM points to an article from that same paper to make our point for us: on South Dakota policy issues, that Sioux Falls paper identifies no clear difference on which to base its endorsement.

Clinton in Madison: On the Issues

Senator Clinton covered a fair amount of policy ground in her quick tea-and-pie pitstop at the Second Street Diner here in Madison this morning. Some highlights:

Glad to Be Here... Really!

The junior Senator from New York said she's excited to be here in South Dakota... although you know her advisors are kicking themselves for having to be here after blowing inevitability back in January. If the Clinton camp had mounted a 50-state strategy from the start and done the sort of small-town politicking we saw here today, they might have kept the junior Senator from Illinois from building a delegate lead on a big string of small-state wins like the ones Clinton is hustling for in South Dakota and Montana now.

HRC, Down-Home Girl

Clinton hit a number of good South Dakota points. She advocated a "more effective and sensible policy toward Indian Country." She argued her rural economic development chops by reminding us that she's the Senator not just from New York City, but New York State, which includes that great upstate area that feels a lot like South Dakota. (Andrea, the Clinton organizer from upstate New York who's been in the state all month and came to our Lake County Dems meeting May 2, said that South Dakota feels a lot like her home turf; Clinton made a similar observation this morning.) Clinton also noted that even in New York, the #1 industry is agriculture.* So don't think she's just some city girl -- Clinton has dealt with rural and ag issues.

Barack Who?

Senator Clinton mentioned her "highest regard and respect for Senator McCain." She made no similar mention of Senator Obama. She did mention that she has traveled to Iraq with McCain, a veiled reference to Obama's refusal of an invitation from McCain to travel together to Iraq.

Energy Policy: Go Brazil, Not Begging

Senator Clinton pointed to Brazil as a model of good energy policy. After 30 years of building its sugar cane ethanol industry, Brazil has achieved energy independence (or something darn close). Meanwhile, the President of the United States (that would be George W. Bush) goes to Saudi Arabia and begs unsuccessfully for his sheik-buddies to pump more oil. "That's not an energy policy," said Clinton.

No Child Left Behind -- Clinton Doesn't Pander

Clinton took two questions from the audience. The one I could hear came from a gentleman who identified himself as an insurance agent who sees the need for health care reform. Interestingly, his statement of support for Clinton's health plan (of course he supports it: requiring people to buy private insurance offers a captive market to the profiteers) was just cover for his real question: the man said he also works (or perhaps his wife does... sorry, I didn't hear it perfectly!) as a private tutor who has seen the good No Child Left Behind can do and wanted to know why Clinton wants to repeal that law. This statement drew strong boos from the crowd, and I joined them. This gentleman sounded like a corporate shill just trying to funnel more federal funding into private tutoring programs. Nothing like free-market folks enjoying their slop at the public trough.

And Senator Clinton, bless her heart, stood her ground. She defused the man's question as effectively as possible: after acknolwedging the good work that he and his wife may be doing as tutors, Clinton said that nationwide, No Child Left Behind isn't showing the kind of results that justify the investment of federal dollars. She repeated her call for repeal of the law, to the applause of the crowd. To hear a Clinton say something that a voter didn't want to hear was unusual and refreshing.

Sibby Alert: Clinton on Preschool Funding

Alas, Clinton set off the Sibby-Marxism-global-cabal alarms, saying that instead of No Child Left Behind, the federal government should make a commitment to pre-kindergarten education. She said investments in kids before age 5 produce the biggest returns. I didn't hear the words "universal" or "mandatory," but I'm sure my conservative friends will.

Clinton on the Abortion Ban

Had Clinton taken more than two questions, I wanted to ask what Senator Clinton could do to help defeat South Dakota's retread abortion ban. Alas, Clinton took two questions, then sat down for pie (and can you blame her? Shari makes good pie!). However, I lined up with the photo- and autograph-seekers, and before I knew it, I was right there at the Senator's seat.

I put out my hand, introduced myself, and said, "We're proud to have you here in Madison."

"I'm proud to be here," said Senator Clinton.

"And I hope you'll come back in the fall, whatever happens in Denver, and help us defeat the abortion ban and protect women's rights."

She smiled at me and said she will help. I thanked her and asked her to at least keep us on her radar. A few minutes later, I mentioned the question to the Wall Street Journal guy, hoping maybe he'll get a chance to ask Clinton a little more deeply about the issue.

Whether she returns as the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party or simply as the most prominent female political voice in the country, I hope we will see Senator Clinton here again in the fall to stick a fork in the abortion ban.

-----------------------------------------------
*Interesting ag facts for New York and South Dakota: In 2002, NY had 32,654 individual/family farms, 87.6% of the total farms in the state. The same year, SD had 28,189 individual/family farms, 88.8% of the total farms in the state.

HRClinton in Madison -- Photos!

Madville Times photojournalist Erin Heidelberger snapped these photos of Senator Hillary Clinton during her visit to the Second Street Diner in Madison this morning. (I was busy holding Madville Times Jr. up to get a glimpse of history. And readers, feel free to click the Tip Jar to the left and chip in to buy the Madville Times some better photo equipment!)

Senator Clinton is in the house! "Mmmm... how's that omelet?"

Senator Clinton addresses a hundred-some Madisonites, as well as a crowd of press. Credit to Shari Eliason, owner of the Second Street Diner: on probably the busiest morning in Second Street Diner history, she did not run out of coffee... or, as far as I know, anything else! (I did see the Wall Street Journal reporter eating pie later with his fingers, but not for lack of forks: he was just too hungry to wait!)

Senator Clinton sitting down for pie and autographs. That's the back of local Dem committeewoman Trudi Nelson's head to the right -- she's a Clinton diehard, surely in seventh heaven today!

District 8 Senator Dan Sutton made the trip over from Flandreau to see Senator Clinton. (Go ahead, PP, that's a freebie for you. :-) )

For more photos, see fellow Madison blogger JN's snaps at Horseshoe Seven. Good work, JN! (And if you look closely at photo #5, you can see the the Madville Times family -- me, Jr., Erin, even Grandma Madville!)

Update 15:55 CDT: More photos of Clinton's Madison visit at KJAM, the Boston Globe, and AP via Yahoo News.

Update 16:40 CDT: MDL's Chuck Clement gets a good photo of HRC next to Madison's Diane Krueger.

Clinton in Madison, Tackles No Child Left Behind, Apple Pie

Senator Hillary Clinton made Madison history this morning, becoming the first presidential candidate to visit our fair city since... well, since anyone I've talked to can remember. The last time any visit like this happened was President Nixon's visit to dedicate the Mundt Library back in 1969.

Senator Clinton made an "unplanned" stop at the Second Street Diner this morning around 10:00. ("Unplanned" evidently means the Secret Service guys come just a couple days beforehand to case the joint, according to Second Street Diner staff, who took some mirth in the efforts of slickly coiffed New Yorkers and others in nicely fitted suits trying to be inconspicuous in Madison.) She worked the crowd of about 100-150 diners who had come for breakfast and the worst-kept secret in town. Clinton addressed the crowd for several minutes, took a couple questions (including a tough one about No Child Left Behind, and she stood her ground!), then sat down for apple pie with some local folks. More folks lined up for handshakes, photos, and autographs (Elta Woodard brought her copy of Clinton's autobiography; my mom got an autograph on an ace of hearts she borrowed from the diner.)

And then, in the midst of rain and even a little hail ("We don't have weather like this where I come from," said one Clinton staffer -- he couldn't have been Secret Service, since he actually smiled), Clinton slipped out, and the bus rolled on to Clinton events in Huron and Watertown.

Speech highlights and more photos coming up!

Clintons in Madison!

The Obama campaign has a busy office here, but can eager staffers compete with the Clintons themselves? Senator Hillary Clinton is coming to Madison today. KJAM has snagged an interview with her, scheduled for shortly after 8:30 this morning; then if there's time before her next event up in Huron, Senator Clinton may stop at the Second Street Diner (which, ironically, is not on Second Street). Then husband Bill gives KJAM an interview at around 2:10 this afternoon -- I haven't gotten clear word on whether that's just a call-in affair or if the ex-President will be stopping by the studios this afternoon. KJAM is reporting that President Clinton will be in town Saturday.

Marketing note: KJAM's Dairy Queen Secret Word of the Day is "Clinton." Now if we could just get President Clinton to stop by for one of DeLon's triple cheeseburgers....

Update 08:00 CDT: While the Clintons hammer away at South Dakota voters, Senator Obama "is taking a breather back home in Chicago." Sure, it's important to project the image of a frontrunner confident in his lead over the desperate Clinton camp, but might that position change if Clinton's efforts turn into a final win in South Dakota?

AP's Chet Brokaw also offers good analysis of the South Dakota race. Forget that old DWU poll from April: Professors Burns (SDSU) and Smith (USD) see a close race. Brokaw also invokes West Virginia and Kentucky, saying South Dakota's demographics match those states that Clinton won. Sounds like Obama has some catching up to do this weekend!

Clinton Agrees to Honor DNC Rules on Primary Calendar...

...until it no longer suits her desires.

Keep your word should be somewhere in the top 10 rules for the President of the United States of America. As the Clinton campaign begins its final push in South Dakota, I am reminded of Hillary Clinton's September 2007 promise with respect to the primary calendar:

The following is a statement by Clinton Campaign Manager Patti Solis Doyle.

"We believe Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina play a unique and special role in the nominating process.

And we believe the DNC’s rules and its calendar provide the necessary structure to respect and honor that role.

Thus, we will be signing the pledge to adhere to the DNC approved nominating calendar."

Just for backup, here's the video version from NBC:



Contrary to her own words, Clinton has not "consistently said that the votes cast in Florida and Michigan in January should be counted." Clinton was willing to disenfranchise Michigan and Florida back when she thought Destiny would hand her the nomination anyway. But then Hillary Clinton never thought she'd be touring Kyle, South Dakota, in May. What a difference a primary season -- and a great challenger who knows how to organize at the community level -- can make.

Clinton Wrong About 1992

Sure, you can argue that Senator Clinton's reference to RFK and the 1968 campaign was simply "an historic fact." The RFK comment was more incendiary, but the other part of her historical justification for staying the race, her husband's 1992 primary fight until "the middle of June," is more spinful and specious. Says AP's Devlin Barrett:

In the same breath, she maintained that her husband had not wrapped up the nomination until June. In truth, he did so in March with the Illinois primary. While California made his victory a mathematical fact, the outcome had not been in doubt for month [Devlin Barrett, "Analysis: Clinton's Latest Off-Key Remark," AP via Yahoo News, 2008.05.24].

For more detail, check out this bullet list from tremayne at OpenLeft:

1. The 1992 primaries ended on June 2, 1992, a day earlier than this year. Several states, including California, had primaries that day. It was not mid-June.

2. According to wikipedia: "Clinton effectively won the Democratic Party's nomination after winning the New York Primary in early April."

3. Clinton's chief rival was Paul Tsongas who dropped out of the race in mid-May, 1992.

4. According to polls, Clinton led in every remaining state except California where Jerry Brown was polling well (his home state). Brown was not going to catch Clinton for the nomination in any scenario.

5. From the May 11, 1992 New York Times: "Aides to Mr. Clinton say that in most of the remaining primaries he will ignore the former Governor of California, Edmund G. Brown Jr., and will try to give voters a clearer sense of his own personality and his positions on major issues, in preparation for a general election campaign against President Bush."

So was Clinton trying to make the point that she was glad Jerry Brown stayed in the race through June? By comparing herself to Jerry Brown, Clinton herself seems to be implying that she is the new Kucinich, the new Nader, the new radical victimized and marginalized by a corporate media and political machine determined to coronate a mainstream frontrunner and exclude true progressive voices...

What the heck am I saying? Senator Clinton, you're no Jerry Brown. And it's silly to compare your campaign to the 1992 campaign of Jerry Brown, who had only 388 delegates versus Bill Clinton's 2,059 going into the June 2, 1992, primaries. You actually have a mathematical chance of winning (see this hoepful conservative thinking from National Review's Byron York). Your 1968 analogy may have offended common decency, but your 1992 analogy defies logic.

Update 2008.05.25: More on Clinton's fuzzy history at the Houston Chronicle open blog. Plus, she wins a "Barely True" Truth-o-Meter rating from Politifact.com for spinning the same yarn back in March. Of course, Bill has been spinning that same yarn.

Update 2008.05.27 10:12 CDT: Oh, wait -- Bill hasn't always spun that yarn. SD Moderate does the homework and finds this quote from Bill's memoir My Life:

On April 7, we also won in Kansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. On April 9, Paul Tsongas announced that he would not reenter the race. The fight for the nomination was effectively over.

Obama seeks to make history. The Clintons only fabricate it to suit their message of the moment.

Readers Voice: Obama Working Harder, But Losing Margin

The second Madville Times South Dakota Democratic Presidential Primary poll has just wrapped up. The results:
A couple weeks ago, the first Madville Times poll found Obama with a larger margin, 59%-38% over Clinton. Slippage, or simply absurdly large margin of error? And what to make of the opposite results at SD Watch showing Obama's strength only growing? Have what fun you will with those numbers. But the Clinton folks have yet to post an edge over Obama in any South Dakota poll, scientific or otherwise.

Clintonistas, you'll get one more shot to put Hillary on top (and Obamanistas, to fend her off) in a few days, when the Madville Times runs the final SD-Dem primary poll. We look forward to both campaigns pushing to make South Dakota the big exclamation point at the end of this remarkable primary season.

Why Clinton Is Losing

Future historians won't blame Senator Hillary Clinton's failure to close the deal on the Democratic nomination on her Robert F. Kennedy assassination comment in Sioux Falls today. Rather, they may point to the statistical flatline of Clinton's poll numbers since October 2007, caused perhaps by the apparent gravitation of supporters of the other failed candidates -- Kucinich, Richardson, Edwards, et al. -- to Senator Barack Obama. Consider this passage from Doug Wiken's latest post at Dakota Today:

As I have previously indicated, I supported John Edwards and have been watching the primary mostly undecided about Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton as the candidate choice. But, I have steadily become less impressed with Hillary and more impressed with Obama. Obama and his organization have demonstrated management skills that exceed the much vaunted Clinton team. The Hillary campaign debt is enough reason to suggest that her administration might not be what is needed to undue the Bush damage to the US economy and federal and state deficits [Doug Wiken, "Until the Last Super Delegate Has Sung," Dakota Today, 2008.05.23].

That's not sexism or sensationalism. That's a fair look at how the candidates perform in a real life test of their administrative skills. And with many voters whose previous favorite dropped out and who thus had to take a fresh look at the remaining choices, Senator Clinton is failing that test.