MOMocrats™

Joe Biden in St. Louis

At a rally held at Mehlville High School in southern St. Louis county on Tuesday, Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Biden brought some serious rhetorical game to the Show-Me state, giving about 1500 suburban Midwesterners a taste of what they have to look forward to when Washington University in St. Louis hosts the 2008 Vice Presidential Debate.

America's faltering economy seemed to be the theme of the day. Several local politicians were in attendance, including St. Louis City mayor Francis Slay, former Senator Jean Carnahan, and U.S. Representative Russ Carnahan. But Biden was not introduced by a mayor or a congressman. Instead, a St. Louis area woman, a member of the United Auto Workers union, prefaced Biden's speech with a personal story exemplifying the consequences so many ordinary Americans have suffered as a result of the nation's ongoing economic downturn. She explained that, after being laid off by Chrysler when the plant she had worked at for years closed down, she eventually found employment at a second Chrysler plant, only to be laid off again a short time later; meanwhile, in Canada, Chrysler has bustling factories working at full capacity, running three shifts per day.

It was an appropriate intro to a speech wherein Biden focused strongly on the decline of our economy over the past eight years under the Republican's economic policies, policies Biden asserted McCain plans to continue. Biden highlighted key policy differences in Obama's plan to stop American job loss and help revive the economy.

McCain/Palin press avoidance tactics: More of the same for America

It's now 8 days since Sarah Palin has been "too busy" to talk to the press.

The first question that popped to mind is the one that most thinking Americans are wondering right now: How is she ready to be President, let alone Vice President, if she doesn't even have the ability to talk to a little ol' reporter?

But on further reflection--eight whole days of it--I realized this isn't about prepping (although lord knows she could use it). This isn't about stalling for time while Palin signs up for a crash course on geography at the Learning Annex or sits down for a primer on the policies that McCain keeps claiming he has.

This is about protecting the lies.

The RNC: Kickin' Ass With Sarah Palin

There’s a lot I admire about Sarah Palin:  Her meteoric rise in a highly-scrutinized, male-dominated profession. Her ability to be smart and tough but also beautiful and feminine.  The challenges life has thrown her way and how she has handled them.  My friend Andy, a republican insider on Capitol Hill, says the party has had its eye on her for years.  A true rising star.  She is "feisty, with grace,” as a republican delegate recently put it. 

Sure, I find it pretty easy to be excited about all of that.

And, then there’s a lot I don't like about her.  Her belief that creationism should be taught in public schools.  Her desire to drill for more oil and build nuclear power plants instead of insisting on clean and safe sources of energy.  Her belief that government should be able to tell women what they can and cannot do with their bodies.  There’s a lot of policy to disagree about, but these disagreements are par for the course in a republican versus democratic race. 

This race isn’t going to come down to any of that.

No, this race is going to be about personality and character.  And it's now abundantly clear that Sarah Palin has a lot of both.  The question is whether she’s got the kind of personality and character befitting a person holding the second-highest office in the land. 

Or whether hers is conduct unbecoming.

During her acceptance speech I expected to hear the kind of content conservatives salivate over, just as the DNC speeches dripped with the content democrats crave.  So I wasn’t surprised by the topics.  Still, I heard some things that made my stomach churn.

I heard her ridicule Obama’s community organizing experience.  Of course we democrats know that community organizing is what you do when government is failing to meet the needs of the people.  Martin Luther King was a community organizer.  So was Jesus Christ.  Maybe she does not understand what that work is all about.  But did she have to ridicule it?

What was with the tone she took? The attitude? I was instantly reminded of the swaggering cowboy we currently have in the Oval Office who makes clear that he thinks anyone who disagrees with him is like an animal in his personal rodeo.  After hearing Sarah Palin speak, it is easy to imagine her as the new cowboy in town, with the leather chaps, metal spurs and lasso, kicking ass and taking names. This is who we want representing us in the world?

The world is so tired of an America that behaves that way. 

And so am I.

We need a president who respects people – all people – who doesn’t think we are better than everybody else, and better yet who understands that while we are but a tiny fraction of the planet’s population we have a great obligation to help lift up those around the world who are enduring tragedy and hardship. We need a president who will make America America again, both around the world and right here at home.   It is hard to imagine that a woman who is called a "barracuda" because of how she treats people would be one of our nation's highest leaders.  It is hard to imagine a woman who had no need for a passport in the first 43 years of her life being able to be an ambassador for America around the world.  It is hard to imagine such a woman being a heartbeat away from the presidency.

I am a democrat.  I believe government should actively safeguard a basic quality of life for all citizens.  I believe our leaders must believe in science, in global warming being greatly compounded by human behavior, in a woman’s right to choose.  But even more than these things, I want the highest leaders in the land to respect people.  The kick ass attitude Sarah Palin showed in her acceptance speech may be what it takes to get things done in Alaska, but in my view it is conduct unbecoming the next Vice President of the United States.

Yee haw.

Lies Are the New Truth at RNC '08

Mike Huckabee, 2008 Republican National Convention: "And speaking of Governor Palin, I am so tired of hearing about her lack of experience. I want to tell you folks something. She got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

Actual Number of Votes Received by Joe Biden During the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary: 79,754

Actual Number of Votes Received by Sarah Palin During the 1999 Wasilla, Alaska Mayoral Election: 909

Rudy Giuliani, 2008 Republican National Convention: "She’s got an 80 percent approval rating. You never get that in New York City, wow."

Actual Approval Rating for Sarah Palin as Governor according to July 30th Rasmussen Poll: 64%

Sarah Palin, 2008 Republican National Convention: "But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate."

Number of Bills Barack Obama Sponsored While in the Illinois State Senate: 823

And that was just a sampling of last night's non-facts.

What will they try to sell us tonight?

Jaelithe also writes at The State of Discontent.

Obama Response to the RNC/Sniping: "I've Been Called Worse on the Basketball Court"

Yeah, that's my candidate. He cares about the lives of everyday people. If president, he would end this insanely costly war we're in. He would use his considerable smarts and strategic thinking to keep America safe and at peace, he would actually work to make affordable health insurance available to everyone (even to right-wing thugs and tools of the patriarchy, because they get sick too), and he would sign bills that make equal pay for equal work a reality. As president, he would restore our country's esteem among its peer nations through diplomacy and the good works that many nations used to connect America with. He would make sure that any returning veterans were taken care of, instead of left to fend for themselves.

What's his reaction to the bilious slanders issuing forth from the RNC, speaker after speaker?

It's dirt you have to brush off your shoulder.

And you know what? Me and a whole lot of other patriotic Americans who all put our country first are going to do the best thing for our country and ourselves, and vote him into the Oval Office this November. Just watch.

Cynematic writes at P i l l o w b o o k and votes from Los Angeles.

Sarah Palin Slashed Funding for Special Needs Kids 60% in One Year

Please go read the update to this by clicking this link.

Sarah Palin is proving to be the Mayor of Liarsville and Governor of the State of Deception. Her speech last night was so full of inaccuracies, falsehoods, misleads, and flat out untruths I'm surprised that she thinks the American public is that stupid and I sure hope the GOP is regertting their crazed applause and support of her speech last night.

Do Republicans really want a candidate with a big target on her back? It's like moose manna...and since the gloves are off (thanks Governor) we're happy to strip down that speech and dress it with expertise, using the sort of skill hunter Palin claims to have with big game.

I'm going to take on her self-proclaimed advocacy for special needs children.

I'm not going to focus on the fact that Cindy McCain had to carefully orchestrate the Proper Photo Op setup last night during Palin's speech by slowly shifting special needs baby Trig from the middle daughter to Todd Palin, aka Feeling Very Blessed Daddy (honestly, I give Cindy mad props for always being 100% aware of How Things Look to the Press and Public and How Things Should Look for Maximum Effect and Personal Benefit. Her husband must drive her crazy.). I'm not going to speculate about that or how baby Trig is usually in one of the girls' arms.

Instead I'm going to tell you facts about Palin's record supporting (or not so much) special needs children. I'll use facts, aka hard data.

First, though, for the Republicans in the audience, let me define fact. Unlike Rudy Giuliani's definition---wherein if you don't like the facts, you simply change them to suit you (which sort of makes them fictions, eh, instead of facts)---facts are actually hard and verifiable, indisputable, backed by solid evidence.

The facts here show Governor Palin cut funding for special needs kids dramatically.

DNC '08 Note to the DNCC: Awe-Inspiring Conclusion, But Next Time, Hire an Event Planner

At 1:45 p.m. on Thursday, I left a Democratic Youth Council event at the Colorado Convention Center that I was live blogging on Twitter early to head toward Invesco Field to watch Barack Obama accept the Democratic Party nomination for President. Events at Invesco were scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.; Obama was scheduled to speak at 8:00 p.m. I knew there would be a security line. And I knew it would be long.

I'd been to an Obama event many months earlier, at a stadium in my own home town,  where I had waited hours to see him speak on a chill winter night, in line with 20,000 other people. I'd seen the lines

But, I thought, Thursday's line would probably go smoothly. After all, Obama's speech in St. Louis had been planned at the last minute; it had been staffed by a small group of local volunteers, and it was first-come, first-serve. This event, on the other hand, had been carefully orchestrated for weeks by the DNCC, the city of Denver, the DNCC, and the Obama campaign; all of the attendees had tickets, and the campaign knew the size of the audience ahead of time. I'd already gone through the formidable security barrier around the Pepsi Center earlier in the week, and despite a long walk through the buffer, that experience had been much less time-consuming than I had expected.

I'd been told by the Youth Council folks who had supplied my Community Credential (the ticket to get inside Invesco) earlier that afternoon that they expected the line at Invesco would probably take about two hours to get through. So. leaving the Community Center before 2 p.m., I expected to be a little late and miss some of the pre-show entertainment.

DNC '08: Can Anything Match Those First Night Speeches?

Watching Hillary Clinton's speech at the DNC on television tonight as my fellow MOMocrats Julie, Cynematic and LawyerMama covered the convention live on Twitter from the Pepsi Center, I couldn't help but feel as though something were missing. The words she spoke were eloquent and powerful, but seemed to lack the passion and candor I had witnessed in Hillary earlier today at the Women Count Lunch.

Now that I think more on it, though, I don't think it was really that Hillary Clinton's speech was subpar, as convention speeches go. Certainly, she moved the crowd; on CSPAN's coverage I saw many audience members, including, at one point, Michelle Obama, moved to tears.

It was more that after watching Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama both deliver what may have been the best speeches of their careers on the same night, my expectations have been raised so high for this convention that I'm pretty sure I'm doomed to mild disappointment for the rest of the week.

The DNC: AAPI Caucus

At the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Caucus now; the introductory comments were from Howard Dean. I arrived late and managed to catch his remarks having to do with preventing voter fraud in the General Election. Our multi-lingual community includes speakers of well over 20 languages, some of whom are low-English proficiency. It also includes people who are recent immigrants to this country and perhaps unfamiliar with our electoral process, but still eligible to vote.(pdf) Those attributes sometimes engender vulnerability to GOP/partisan deception and fraud. The need for bilingual ballots serving eligible voters who are low-English proficiency adds to this vulnerability.

When Congressman Mike Honda spoke, he chided anyone who was "still holding out and undecided about voting for Barack Obama," and "anyone who's thinking about voting for McCain because you're upset your candidate didn't get the nomination, shame on you." Or if "you're thinking about not voting at all because your candidate didn't get the nomination, shame on you again!" I had to chuckle, as he stressed the fact that as Democrats and Asian Pacific Americans, we're family, we share similar values that our nominee Obama also shares, and of course, maybe we have a wee tiny propensity for being moved by appeals to GUILT. Love it. He must know my mother.

Interesting nuggets of info from the caucus:

• AAPIs have 25% more delegates at the DNC in 2008 than in 2004.
• 9 delegates from otherwise lily-white Minnesota! Woo hoo!
• McCain's Ohio ground game has gone missing, and with the help of APIAs, "we have a great chance of winning the state," according to Jay Goyal, OH State Representative, 73rd district.
• Ted Lieu,  CA State Assembly, 53rd Assembly district: AAPI voter participation is on the rise.
• Yul Kwon, Survivor McHottie, was once aide for Joe Lieberman...before Lieberman went over to the dark side.

There was a lively panel afterwards where young activists discussed APIA voter participation via social media (extremely effective, especially in the under 30 crowd). It's a GOTV and education tool. And the youth vote, which overwhemingly went for Obama in the primaries, can be effective in advocating up the generational ladder among family and friends.

Cynematic also writes at P i l l o w b o o k.

McCain Oopsapalooza Tour

It's been a bad week for Senator McCain. Obama was touring the Middle East and Europe, sending postcards that said "So glad you're not here!" to McCain, and McCain stayed stateside.

First, his microphone didn't seem to work.