No, it is not racist dog whistle politics. She was most certainly not equating being white with being hard-working and to suggest such is outrageous. Comparing a woman who has been a loyal Democrat, bowed out of this race with grace and gave a passionate endorsement of the nominee to the most openly homophobic, racist senator in recent history is simply disgusting. You obviously know nothing about Jesse Helms either.

I'm a North Carolinian and I lived through Jesse Helms' tenure in office. The kind of campaigns he ran against politicians like Harvey Gantt or Nick Galifanakis were xenophobia and racism of the worst kind. Trying to pull things Hillary Clinton said out of context and condemn her as a racist is lazy and stupid.

Posted at June 15, 2008 8:46 PM in response to Hillary Pledged Delegate: I'm Backing McCain!

What astute analysis. We've carved the country into so many demographics and segments that when Hillary Clinton states the fact that more working class white voters supported here in Ohio or Pennsylvania that it's blowing the racial "dog whistle." This is just silly.

I find it so strange that so many in this community have excoriated Hillary Clinton for something like this. I'm a Democrat and an ardent Obama supporter, but he was not without fault in the primary campaign. Does anyone remember him using the fiercely anti-gay gospel singer to win over churchgoing African-Americans in South Carolina? Nobody takes any issue with that?

Posted at June 14, 2008 7:06 PM in response to Hillary Pledged Delegate: I'm Backing McCain!

Why the hell is this story even news? The only reason this undeniably obscure pledged delegate is making the news is to try to reignite the feuds of the past between Clinton and Obama supporters. The individual is obviously stupid.

I take umbrage at all the posters here who suggest that somehow this person's actions are indictive of the feelings of Democrats who supported HRC in the primaries. Also, to the individuals who have tried to inject gender into the debate over this story, I have to say that's incredibly, truly sexist. It's counterproductive and intellectually lazy.

We need to work to unite the party.

Posted at June 14, 2008 7:00 PM in response to Hillary Pledged Delegate: I'm Backing McCain!

Tim Mahoney is sort of useless. I guess he's just trying to establish his "independent" credentials in case Obama runs poorly in his district come November.

He is a fool for saying he's going to "lobby" McCain on local issues, but I don't think he necessarily needs to have a primary challenger considering the redness of his district and the trouble we would have holding it otherwise. I know Childers and Cazayoux won their special elections in much redder districts, but they were also solid, inspiring candidates unlike Mahoney. Tim Mahoney won because of a fluke and I'm sure his district's voters would return a Republican to the House if Mahoney were not: (a). an incumbent and (b). in the majority party. This is the problem we get sometimes with so-called "self-funders." They've got enough money to often make races competitive without relying on DCCC or DNC cash, but they are usually really inept politicians and/or public servants.

Nevertheless, I'm certainly glad he is in this seat rather than Joe Negron or whomever it was that stood in Mark Foley's stead after Pagegate '06 (or as Wonkette called it, Cocktober Surprise).

Posted at June 9, 2008 11:37 PM in response to Florida Dem Declines To Endorse Obama

I second this post. I was an ardent Hillary Clinton supporter, I donated to her campaign and I saw her twice here in North Carolina in the week leading up to the primary.

I would never consider voting for a Republican, a party that is opposed to everything Hillary Clinton has fought for her entire career. John McCain will not change things and all we'll end up with is a longer war, conservative Supreme Court justices, a Republican economic policy and inaction on health care and energy.

I wholeheartedly support Barack Obama for president.

Posted at June 8, 2008 10:13 PM in response to Things to Consider Before Voting for McCain This Fall

I can't stand this guy and it has little to do with his political positions and way more to do with his ineptitude at his trade. More than Obama's insurgent campaign or all the grassroots inspiration the senator engendered, Mark Penn is the single biggest reason Hillary Clinton lost.

She should have fired Mark Penn after the Iowa caucuses, or better yet, never hired him in the first place and hired David Axelrod instead. I think we all know that not seriously contesting the caucuses is the single biggest thing that led to her defeat and I none of us were paid millions of dollars by her campaign.

Believe it or not, I have read many accounts where she strongly considered hiring Axelrod in over Penn in 2006 to run her polling operation.

Posted at June 8, 2008 10:05 PM in response to Mark Penn: We Should Have Contested Caucuses

While I personally like Al Franken and think this whole controversy is much ado about nothing, I think there's a big difference in the tenor of the Franken "Playboy" article and the material George Allen's campaign criticized Jim Webb for back in 2006. Sen. Webb's novels were award-winning portrayals of his war experience while Franken's article was a lame piece of comedy.

I think we've got a fair chance at unseating Norm Coleman, but I agree with other posters that for all the enthusiasm and cash Franken has engendered, he is too easy for the GOP to unfairly define as an "out of touch, Hollywood liberal" who's unready for the Senate. Franken's not the best candidate we could have fielded for this race and he's got some definite liabilities, but I hope he's able to pull this one out in November.

Posted at June 6, 2008 9:27 PM in response to Franken Apologizes For Writing "Porn-O-Rama" Essay In Playboy

No, she didn't do any of those things. The only reason most of the blogosphere dislikes her is because she's not Barack Obama.

Posted at June 4, 2008 8:57 PM in response to Breaking: Hillary To Suspend Campaign

I like this ad a lot from a stylistic standpoint, particularly the way the fingerprint oozes like oil.

Mark Udall would be a great US senator. He will doubtlessly be helped by a strong run by Obama in the state at the top of the ticket.

Posted at May 26, 2008 11:10 PM in response to Ad Wars At Full Throttle In Top-Tier Senate Race

I like this ad a lot from a stylistic standpoint, particularly the way the fingerprint oozes like oil.

Mark Udall would be a great US senator. He will doubtlessly be helped by a strong run by Obama in the state at the top of the ticket.

Posted at May 26, 2008 11:10 PM in response to Ad Wars At Full Throttle In Top-Tier Senate Race