England for Obama

The third finalist in the Obama in 30 seconds ad contest is called “Imagine”:

Yesterday it was Joe Andrew, today it is Paul Kirk, a superdelegate and Democrat Party Chair between 1985 and 1989, who is backing Barack.

With only one remaining neutral, Obama is now holds an unassailable lead in endorsements of ex-Democratic National Committee chairs, which he adds to his lead in both Senators and Representatives.

With superdelegates certain to be the final determining factor in deciding the nomination, the endorsement of two ex-leaders in as many days could help sway other ‘Supers’ to also make their views known as Joe Andrew, in a letter he sent to all of them has suggested they need to do urgently.

No other endorsements have been made so far today, but it’s still very early in the day in America.

Paul Kirk made the following statement:

“It is with a great sense of pride and confidence in his leadership that I am delighted to publicly endorse Senator Barack Obama and pledge my support to him as former National Democratic Chairman and as a superdelegate. Senator Obama is the one candidate who has and will continue to expand the electorate beyond the traditional Democratic party base and bring young and new and Independent voters to the Democratic banner in November, an essential ingredient to a Democratic victory.

“Throughout his life and public career, has fought the tough fights to advance the quality of life of the working families of Illinois, not with election year gimmicks like the gas tax holiday espoused by others, but by hard headed, common sense solutions, and that’s what he will do as President of the United States.

“America never turns back. America always marches forward to seize the future. 8 of 10 Americans believe their country is on the wrong track. Senator Obama is the one candidate who, in the best tradition of American history, will not take us back but will lead us to a new future.

“Senator Obama is the one candidate best able to quickly restore America’s respect and reputation globally. Senator Obama is the one candidate best able to set the tone at the top for the unity and reconciliation needed in this country, to bring us together, to define our common goals and to provide the inspiration to move us forward.

“After the attention paid to the poisonous and polarizing diatribe of recent days, Senator Obama’s clear and compelling message which appeals to our best instincts as Americans is more important than ever. For all these reasons, I heartily endorse Senator Obama and hope my colleagues will do the same.”

The endorsement brings the total number of superdelegates to endorse Barack Obama to 253. Senator Obama is 279 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination.

SUPERDELEGATE UPDATE: The Clinton campaign left it late in the day, but added a superdelegate to their tally. Jaime Gonzalez Jr. (TX), DNC - 2 May 2008 (Source)

As the race hots up for the next primaries in North Carolina and Indiana you’re going to hear a lot about “a gas tax holiday.” That’s because Hillary Clinton has jumped on the McCain bandwagon and is proposing to cut taxes on petrol, which the Americans call ‘gas’, for the 3 months of summer. British readers facing the prospect of paying £1.50 a litre may look enviously as Americans baulk at paying $4 a gallon, and would probably love to see taxes on petrol cut too, but economists agree that the ‘tax holiday’ plan is a very bad idea indeed.

The problem with the plan is that the moratorium on the 18.4-cents-per-gallon tax is unlikely to be passed on to consumers, but pocketed by the oil companies. It might even increase petrol prices at the pump, because the price is mostly determined by tight supply.

The battle is now on for Barack Obama, who opposes the plan, to explain the reality of what is likely to seem like money for nothing to voters. In effect he’s asking them to vote for higher taxes, or at least that’s how it will probably look to many. It could hardly be a more difficult proposition if McCain and Clinton were to hand out Dollar bills, rather than try to buy votes using Federal money.

Obama isn’t shying away from the task though, quite the opposite. As the video above shows, he’s linking the plan to a more central theme - that the “old politics” of gimmicks is symptomatic of all that’s wrong with Washington. Instead he’s trying to push his policy of levying a windfall tax on the oil companies and cut taxes on “middle income” families by $1,000.

He’s also gone on the offensive politically by publishing statements by two former Clinton administration Energy secretaries slamming the proposed tax break. One of them, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, called it “a shameless political ploy that would do nothing to help American families.” The other, Federico Pena, called it “the kind of pandering that insults people’s intelligence.”

It’s a tough sell all the same, but one which may pay long term benefits as superdelegates are likely to be impressed by the principled stand based on sound economics. The voters however aren’t known for voting for perceived higher taxes in America any more than they are in the UK.

“They are the best practitioners of the old politics, so they will no doubt call me a traitor, an opportunist and a hypocrite. I will be branded as disloyal, power-hungry, but most importantly, they will use the exact words that Republicans used to attack me when I was defending President Clinton.”

That’s how Joe Andrews predicted his switch to Obama would be characterised by the Clinton campaign yesterday and, given that they had previously branded Bill Richardson a “Judas” for backing Barack, it’s not hard to see why.

So it comes as no surprise that Hillary’s campaign tried to marginalise Joe Andrew’s Indiana credentials in an MSNBC interview. It was a huge mistake though, because Joe Andrew not only fought back, but dealt an embarrassing knock-out blow to the attempt.

In modern parlance, the Clinton campaign got owned:

Having accused Barack Obama of being an elitist, despite being the poorest of the candidates (and he made his money on his book sales), Hillary Clinton who is reported to be worth $110 million said this on Fox News:

“Rich people, god bless us. We deserve all the opportunities to make sure our country and our blessings continue to the next generation.”

During a media stunt to highlight the petrol tax holiday plan McCain dreamed up and she endorsed, she was also caught not being able to use a coffee machine. The video of that shot to the top of YouTube yesterday with almost half a million viewers watching it in 24 hours.

Here are both in one video:

Today is the 5th anniversary of the photo-op of President Bush standing on an aircraft carrier’s deck in front of a star-spangled banner declaring “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq. Since that time, thousands of US and Iraqi lives have been lost and the Republican’s candidate shows no sign of wanting to change the occupation of that country.

The Democrats however have the opportunity of nominating a candidate who has consistently opposed the war, or they can nominate Hillary Clinton. Clinton knows how fundamental this choice could be, so has lied about Obama in an attempt to muddy the clear blue waters which divide them on this issue. Lied is a strong word, but one we have had to use in the past with Senator Clinton, so before the brickbats fly let’s recap on Hillary’s Iraq problem:

I’m grateful to The Jed Report for creating this video, entitled Hillary Clinton: War, Lies, and Misjudgement.

We leave the final word to Hillary Clinton herself:

If the most important thing to any of you is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or has said his vote was a mistake, then there are others to choose from.

We beat CNN in publishing the news about former Democratic National Committee chairman Joe Andrew’s switch from Clinton to Obama this morning, but the endorsements haven’t ended there. Also added to Obama’s total (by us but not yet by the official Barack Obama campaign) are three more superdelegates - Mayor Daley; Illinois House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago); and Cook County Board President Todd Stroger because of this report.

Hillary Clinton picked up an extra delegate to make up for losing Joe Andrew too.

Since the 22 April Pennsylvania primary these are the new declarations:

Endorsements for Obama
Joe Andrew (IN), DNC - 1 May 2008
Jeff Bingaman (NM), Senator - 28 Apr 2008
Bruce Braley (IA), Representative - 30 Apr 2008
Lois Capps (CA), Representative - 30 Apr 2008
Ben Chandler (KY), Representative - 29 Apr 2008
Richard M. Daley (IL), Add-On - 1 May 2008
Charlene Fernandez (AZ), DNC & State Vice Chair - 26 Apr 2008
Barbara Flynn Currie (IL), Add-On - 1 May 2008
Brad Henry (OK), Governor - 23 Apr 2008
Baron Hill (IN), Representative - 30 Apr 2008
Richard Machacek (IA), DNC - 29 Apr 2008
Audra Ostergard (NE), DNC & State Vice Chair - 23 Apr 2008
John Patrick (TX), DNC - 1 May 2008
Todd Stroger (IL), Add-On - 1 May 2008
David Wu (OR), Representative - 24 Apr 2008

Endorsements for Clinton
Carmen Arroyo, Add-On - 1 May 2008
Luisette Cabanas (PR), DNC & Territory Vice Chair - 30 Apr 2008
Andrew Cuomo (NY), Add-On - 1 May 2008
Thomas DiNapoli, Add-On - 1 May 2008
Mike Easley (NC), Governor - 28 Apr 2008
William George (PA), DNC - 30 Apr 2008
John Olsen (CT), DNC - 1 May 2008
Ike Skelton (MO), Representative, 29 Apr 2008
Kathy Sullivan (NH), Add-On - 26 Apr 2008
John Tanner (TN), Representative - 23 Apr 2008
C. Virginia Field (NY), Add-On - 1 May 2008

It’s all too plain that the majority of the declarations are still going in Obama’s favour. Let’s hope the remaining superdelegates heed Joe Andrew’s call to endorse and end this divisive contest soon. We can all turn our attention to the real fight ahead against McCain then.

* UPDATE: John Patrick (TX), DNC has also endorsed Obama today and has been added to the list above. John Patrick previously endorsed John Edwards for President, who has of course suspended his campaign but not himself endorsed either Obama or Clinton.

* UPDATE TWO: The Clinton campaign is reporting that it has today picked-up 4 new Supers - so-called “At large” or “add-on” delegates which were selected by the New York state party today. These are: Andrew Cuomo; Thomas DiNapoli; C. Virginia Field; and Carmen Arroyo. Despite this article looking as disjointed as the USA Today article we linked to yesterday, we have added these to the list above too.

As of this second update, the Barack Obama campaign (which is not yet counting the three Illinois Supers we have added) says that it is now 283 delegates from winning the nomination.

“We always knew this was an improbable journey, when we started off,” Obama said in an interview with NBC’s Meredith Vieira aired this morning on the Today show. “I think because of our success, people have forgotten that. People discount what we’ve accomplished and then focus on, well you know, you’ve lost a couple of states… But the truth is, that we always knew this was hard, and the reason is, because we’re trying to do something new….

“Let’s be honest here, I am an African American named Barack Obama who is running for president… That’s a leap for folks.”

Indeed it is, but are there also double standards, and racism, at work too? So asks a Texas blogger in what is perhaps the best summary of those double standards I’ve ever read.
Judge for yourself here.

The second finalist in the Obama in 30 seconds ad contest is called “loud and clear”:

After the flurry of superdelegate endorsements yesterday, Barack Obama today received support from an unexpected source as a former Democratic National Committee chairman, who was appointed to the post by President Clinton, switched sides in the contest.

But as influential as Joe Andrew might be in status terms, it is the unequivocal reasons he cited for the switch which may be more important.

“I am convinced that the primary process has devolved to the point that it’s now bad for the Democratic Party,” Andrew said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue this process, and a vote to continue this process is a vote that assists John McCain.”

That is about as stark an indictment of the increasingly negative “slash and burn” Clinton campaign as a former friend can deliver, and is unlikely to go unnoticed by other superdelegates.

Andrew stressed that the Obama campaign had not asked him to switch his support, but he decided to do so after watching Obama’s handling of two issues in recent days - the summer gas tax holiday which both Clinton and McCain support, and the controversy surrounding his former pastor, the Rev. Wright.

“He has shown such mettle under fire. The Jeremiah Wright controversy just reconfirmed for me, just as the gas tax controversy confirmed for me, that he is the right candidate for our party.”

The importance of his switch however remains the stark reasons why he thinks the primary race needs to be decided.

“While I was hopeful that a long, contested primary season would invigorate our party, the polls show that the tone and temperature of the race is now hurting us,” he said. “John McCain, without doing much of anything, is now competitive against both of our remaining candidates. We are doing his work for him and distracting Americans from the issues that really affect all of our lives.”

It is a sentiment which few Democratic Party realists can deny, although only time will tell whether other superdelegates have the courage to follow his lead before the primary process ends. Clearly Joe Andrew hopes that his intervention will tip their hands too, but even if it doesn’t his switch removes a delegate from Clinton and adds it to Obama, widening the gap by two.