Kennedy & Kennedy: bringing down the house

Caroline Kennedy took the stage at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado on the evening of 25 August 2008 to remind those assembled for the Democratic Nominating Convention that the same values that define the Kennedy family resonate in Barack Obama's family, too: Justice, fairness, service and sacrifice, faith, and family. She stressed that we are all in this together, that we all have something to give.

She repeated what some have heard her say before in the context of the campaign, "I've never had someone inspire me the way people tell me my father inspired them. But," she went on in a clear recognition of the pending nomination, "I do now!"

Ms. Kennedy was understated as she tugged at the heart-strings of the crowd, alluding to Ted Kenndedy's "early, courageous stand against the war in Iraq." Her uncle values family, she told them, and, "never missed a first communion, a graduation, or a chance to walk a niece down the aisle." She mentioned, briefly, how his response to the recent surgery had served as a lesson in "dignity, courage, and the power of love."

The crowd was warm, and appreciative, then listened attentively to a video tribute that served segue rattling ovation ted took the Senator Kennedy spoke new season of hope in he renewed his call to that nation we healthcare as fundamental not a privilege."

Kennedy is confident that, when elected as the next President of the U.S., Barack Obama will "close the door on the old politics of race, gender... and straight against gay." He reminded us that as a result of his brother's leadership when he set the moon as a goal for the nation in the early 60s. "We have scaled the heights. I know it. I've seen it. I've lived it. And we can do it again."

This November, Kennedy said, "the torch will be passed to a new generation." He told the delegates, and honored guests of the convention, that, "the work begins anew. The hope rises again, and the dream lives on."

Barack's sister had roused the crowd. Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., had fired them up, Caroline gathered them with calm confidence into the palm of her hand, and Ted Kennedy brought them to a fevered pitch, daring to dream, to hope, to believe in the vision that Barack Obama has for uniting America.

Senator Barack Obama : The Best Choice For President

Laurie and Awais are two Superdelegates who are the heads of the national college democrats, and have asked for comments on who they should select as President of the United States. My choice is Senator Barack Obama and I state why in this video. More here soon.

Brent Turner Talks About Open Source Voting

My friend Brent Turner is on a focused mission at the California State Democratic Convention to make sure our voting process is safe and free from the chance of fraud using "open source voting" where you can see the software code of the electronic voting systems. You can go to openvoting.org for more information.

Hillary Clinton Disses African Americans and Activists After Obama Wins

In an uncharacteristic show of unfortunate speech, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, as reported by CNN , unleashed her anger over losing to Senator Barack Obama by targeting the reason for his wins to activists and African Americans.

Clinton told reporters who had gathered to watch her tour a General Motor plant here that "everybody knew, you all knew, what the likely outcome of these recent contests were."

Clinton: "These are caucus states by and large, or in the case of Louisiana, you know, a very strong and very proud African-American electorate, which I totally respect and understand."

Clinton has publicly dismissed the caucus voting system since before Super Tuesday, seeking to lower expectations heading into a series of contests that played to Obama's advantage. His campaign features what many consider to be a stronger and more dedicated grassroots organization than Clinton's.

Noting that "my husband never did well in caucus states either," Clinton argued that caucuses are "primarily dominated by activists" and that "they don't represent the electorate, we know that."

So let's take a time out from this and think. Senator Clinton has just said essentially that African American and activists in a caucus system are the reason she lost. Why say that at all? It's a total dis -- and she failed to congratulate Senator Obama, which means she's totally angry about the whole thing. But to say all of this is a totally terrible thing to do. Now, she's going to have to back-track on her statements -- again.

Caroline Kennedy Endorses Barack Obama For President

"A President Like My Father"

The lengendary Caroline Kennedy stepped forward from an over-20-year silence in presidential endorsements -- her last being Senator Edward Kennedy in 1980 -- to back Senator Barack Obama for President.

Kennedy chose an op-ed in the New York Times to do this, which is interesting to me, as the same "Grey Lady" for some reason annouced the backing of Senator Clinton last week. Thus, the uninformed could see the NY Times itself as endorsing Obama!




Here's part of what Kennedy wrote:

"OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.

Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama."

"Mitt Romney Should Not Be The Next President" - Concord Monitor

Wow. This says it all. I agree, too!!

Romney should not be the next president
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Letter to editor


Monitor staff
December 22. 2007 3:00PM


If you were building a Republican presidential candidate from a kit, imagine what pieces you might use: an athletic build, ramrod posture, Reaganesque hair, a charismatic speaking style and a crisp dark suit. You'd add a beautiful wife and family, a wildly successful business career and just enough executive government experience. You'd pour in some old GOP bromides - spending cuts and lower taxes - plus some new positions for 2008: anti-immigrant rhetoric and a focus on faith.

Add it all up and you get Mitt Romney, a disquieting figure who sure looks like the next president and most surely must be stopped.

Romney's main business experience is as a management consultant, a field in which smart, fast-moving specialists often advise corporations on how to reinvent themselves. His memoir is called Turnaround - the story of his successful rescue of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City - but the most stunning turnaround he has engineered is his own political career.

If you followed only his tenure as governor of Massachusetts, you might imagine Romney as a pragmatic moderate with liberal positions on numerous social issues and an ability to work well with Democrats. If you followed only his campaign for president, you'd swear he was a red-meat conservative, pandering to the religious right, whatever the cost. Pay attention to both, and you're left to wonder if there's anything at all at his core.

As a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1994, he boasted that he would be a stronger advocate of gay rights than his opponent, Ted Kennedy. These days, he makes a point of his opposition to gay marriage and adoption.

There was a time that he said he wanted to make contraception more available - and a time that he vetoed a bill to sell it over-the-counter.

The old Romney assured voters he was pro-choice on abortion. "You will not see me wavering on that," he said in 1994, and he cited the tragedy of a relative's botched illegal abortion as the reason to keep abortions safe and legal. These days, he describes himself as pro-life.

There was a time that he supported stem-cell research and cited his own wife's multiple sclerosis in explaining his thinking; such research, he reasoned, could help families like his. These days, he largely opposes it. As a candidate for governor, Romney dismissed an anti-tax pledge as a gimmick. In this race, he was the first to sign.

People can change, and intransigence is not necessarily a virtue. But Romney has yet to explain this particular set of turnarounds in a way that convinces voters they are based on anything other than his own ambition.

In the 2008 campaign for president, there are numerous issues on which Romney has no record, and so voters must take him at his word. On these issues, those words are often chilling. While other candidates of both parties speak of restoring America's moral leadership in the world, Romney has said he'd like to "double" the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, where inmates have been held for years without formal charge or access to the courts. He dodges the issue of torture - unable to say, simply, that waterboarding is torture and America won't do it.

When New Hampshire partisans are asked to defend the state's first-in-the-nation primary, we talk about our ability to see the candidates up close, ask tough questions and see through the baloney. If a candidate is a phony, we assure ourselves and the rest of the world, we'll know it.

Mitt Romney is such a candidate. New Hampshire Republicans and independents must vote no.

Mitt Romney Tells Lie: Father Did Not March With Martin Luther King - "Fudging" The Truth

Gloves to cover dirty hands of one who fudges the truth

Well, the long string of mistatements, flip-flops, and now an outright lie continues. It turns out, according to The Detroit Free Press, that former Governor and now Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney lied when he said that his father marched with Martin Luther King. So now, can we -- are we free to assume that -- state that his claim that he cried when he listened to the news that the Mormon Church elected to allow Black priests is false?

Romney fields questions on King
Campaign says claim not literal

December 20, 2007

BY TODD SPANGLER
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said he watched his father, the late Michigan Gov. George Romney, in a 1960s civil rights march in Michigan with Martin Luther King Jr.
On Wednesday, Romney's campaign said his recollections of watching his father, an ardent civil rights supporter, march with King were meant to be figurative.
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"He was speaking figuratively, not literally," Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for the Romney campaign, said of the candidate.
The campaign was responding to questions raised by the Free Press and other media after a Boston publication challenged the accuracy of Mitt Romney's account.
In a major speech on faith and politics earlier this month in Texas, Mitt Romney said: "I saw my father march with Martin Luther King."
He made a similar statement Sunday during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." He said, "You can see what I believed and what my family believed by looking at our lives. My dad marched with Martin Luther King. My mom was a tireless crusader for civil rights."
Romney's campaign cited various historical articles, as well as a 1967 book written by Stephen Hess and Washington Post political columnist David Broder, as confirmation that George Romney marched with King in Grosse Pointe in 1963.
"He has marched with Martin Luther King through the exclusive Grosse Pointe suburb," Hess and Broder wrote in "The Republican Establishment: The Present and Future of the GOP."
Free Press archives, however, showed no record of King marching in Grosse Pointe in 1963 or of then-Gov. Romney taking part in King's historic march down Woodward Avenue in June of that year.
George Romney told the Free Press at the time that he didn't take part because it was on a Sunday and he avoided public appearances on the Sabbath because of his religion.
Romney did participate in a civil rights march protesting housing bias in Grosse Pointe just six days after the King march. According to the Free Press account, however, King was not there.
Broder could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
The Boston Phoenix reported Wednesday it could find no evidence that Romney and King ever marched together.
Mitt Romney's older brother, Detroit attorney Scott Romney, said he recalls his father telling him the elder Romney marched with King, possibly in 1963, but he could not remember exactly when the event took place.
Fehrnstrom called the Romney brothers' recollection and the historical materials a "pretty convincing case that George Romney did march with Dr. Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders in Michigan."
The governor's record was one of supporting civil rights. He helped create the state's first civil rights commission and marched at the head of a protest parade in Detroit days after violence against civil rights marchers in Selma, Ala., in 1965.
Mitt Romney's campaign planned today to further research George Romney's papers for evidence of his march with King.
Free Press Library Director Alice Pepper contributed to this report.

Barack Obama Wins Kansas Straw Poll - Obama Rising

Barack Obama seems to be peaking right at the time an eventual front-runner in Presidential races does.

From LJ World.com

Topeka — U.S. Sen. Barack Obama won the Kansas Democratic Party email straw poll, party officials announced today.

Obama tallied 692 votes out of 1,904 votes cast for 36.3 percent. The poll was held this week and ended last night.

Second place went to U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton with 504 votes, or 26.5 percent. Former senator John Edwards had 355 votes or 18.6 percent.

After Edwards came U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, 6.8 percent; U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, 6 percent; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, 4.7 percent; U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, 0.7 percent and former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel, 0.3 percent.

The state Democratic Party plans to have its party caucuses on Feb. 5.

Hillary Clinton and Staff Dislike Barack Obama and Smart African Americans?

This video was insprired, if that's the right term, by a blog written by Dave Corn over at CQPolitics, and from which I discovered while reading Sam Stein's blog at the Huff Post. The title of the blog by Corn is "Hillary on Obama: Fear and Hatred on the Campaign Trail" and has these statements:

"When talking to Clintonites in recent days, I've noticed that they've come to despise Obama."...." They're not spinning for strategic purposes. They truly believe it. And other Democrats in Washington report encountering the same when speaking with Clinton campaign people. "They really, really hate Obama," one Democratic operative unaffiliated with any campaign, tells me. "They can't stand him. They talk about him as if he's worse than Bush." What do they hate about him? After all, there aren't a lot of deep policy differences between the two, and he hasn't gone for the jugular during the campaign. "It's his presumptuousness," this operative says. "That he thinks he can deny her the nomination. Who is he to try to do that?" You mean, he's, uh, uppity? "Yes." A senior House Democratic aide notes, "The Clinton people are going nuts in how much they hate him. But the problem is their narrative has gone beyond the plausible."

And I think the Clinton people have gone a little too nuts. It seems like they and the candidate herself has an issue with bright, smart African Americans as represented by Senator Obama. The campaign's mounting a series of words that point to this, from Bill Clinton describing Obama as "articulate" to these terms captured by Corn, particularly the term "uppity."

Now the term "uppity" is commonly and stupidly combine with "negro" in American Culture. According to The YBP Wiki , it means

"Uppity Negro, 1. A fearless black person who by social definition is “not in their place”. Unapologetic. 2. A black person who knows his or her American legacy, his or her actualized social status, and his or her social and emotional plights with still the identical high regard to self as an equally entitled American due the same privileges, attitudes, concessions, and respectability of the entitled.

A fair, just, and loyal person. Historically, a Black person who has been reprimanded or persecuted for voicing his/her dissatisfaction with or rejection of the sub-standard treatment of himself or other Black people. A Black person who holds others fully accountable for their actions and demands adequate treatment from everyone including family members. A Black person who was never or is no longer willing to rearrange himself or conform her behaviors simply to ensure the comfort of White people. A Black person who requires and demands respect, fair treatment, and regard. A Black person who is committed to reversing the crimes of self-refusal, self-denial, and self-hatred that are endemic to the Black community and detrimental to the Black psyche. One who is not in his or her place; furthermore, an Uppity Negro is one who has no concept of “place” definable by factors such as race or class. An Uppity Negro’s place is wherever he or she chooses it to be. www.uppitynegro.com"

By that defintion, and looking at the statements of the Clinton Campaign it would seem that they think Senator Obama does not know his place as a Black person. There's no other way to interpret their statements and any other definition without evidence would be a stretch at best.

This, then, is the a view at what the cultural glass ceiling look like and why we must break it. Senator Obama's a great example of the American ideal: that anyone can make it in their chosen profession in this country. Senator Clinton and her staff don't seem to get this, and it may be that in their anger over losing the lead in Iowa, their real prejudices have come to the surface.

If that's so, and I think it is, the campaign owes African Americans an appology, especially the "uppity" ones, like me.

DesMoines Register Reports Barack Obama Ahead in Poll

Yet another poll is reporting that Senator Barack Obama's ahead in Iowa; this one by The DesMoines Register in Iowa. What it may mean is that -- assuming the poll focuses on older voters -- that the Iowa older voter is seeing Obama as the candidate of choice. If that's the case then Clinton's in big trouble, as Obama's growing beyond his base of young supporters.

Oprah Winfrey & Barack Obama Scheduled To Tour Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire

I just got this email press release from the Obama campaign on Oprah Winfrey's scheduled tours with Senator Barack Obama.

CHICAGO, IL - The Obama for America campaign today announced that Oprah Winfrey will join Barack Obama for a tour through three early voting states on December 8th and 9th. Winfrey and Obama will hold two events in Iowa, one in South Carolina, and one in New Hampshire. All events will be free and open to the public.

TOUR SCHEDULE:

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8TH
DES MOINES, IA
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9TH
COLUMBIA, SC
MANCHESTER, NH

Locations and times for the events will be announced in the coming days. Those interested in attending can sign up online today to ensure that they receive the event details when they are announced.

Links below:

http://iowa.barackobama.com/oprah_dm
http://iowa.barackobama.com/oprah_cr
http://sc.barackobama.com/oprah_sc
http://nh.barackobama.com/oprah_nh

Liberty Dollar Factory Raided By FBI - Plant Makes "Ron Paul Dollar"

First, I didn't know it was legal to make an alternative currency, but the backers of Libery Dollar claim this is so. Their headquarters was raided by the FBI on Thursday. But before we get to that, here's the information on the Liberty Dollar:

The Federal Reserve creates inflation when it issues US dollars backed by government debt. Since 1913, when the Federal Reserve was created by Congress, your money has lost 96% of its purchasing power due to inflation. The more "money" the Federal Reserve creates - the less your Federal Reserve "money" will buy.

From 1913 to 2001 the national debt grew to $6 trillion in 88 years. In the next three years it climbed to $7 trillion dollars in 2004. In just one year it climbed sharply to over $8 trillion dollars. The acceleration of the national debt is alarming. The corresponding loss of your purchasing power may also accelerate in the near future.

Now you can profit from the coming inflation with the inflation proof REAL money - the 100% gold and silver Liberty Dollar.

Hi. My name is Bernard von NotHaus. I was so concerned about what is happening to our "money" that I designed and developed the Liberty Dollar. For 25 years, I was the Mintmaster at the Royal Hawaiian Mint and have devoted my life to the study of money, why it is valuable, and how we use it to fulfill our dreams. Like you, I am paying a lot higher gas prices, but I am also making a lot more money because I am using the Liberty Dollar. Here is what G. Edward Griffin, the noted author on the Federal Reserve said:

Below is the letter that appears on the Liberty Dollar website after the FBI raid.

Dear Liberty Dollar Supporters:

I sincerely regret to inform you that about 8:00 this morning a dozen FBI and
Secret Service agents raided the Liberty Dollar office in Evansville.

For approximately six hours they took all the gold, all the silver, all the
platinum and almost two tons of Ron Paul Dollars that where just delivered last
Friday. They also took all the files, all the computers and froze our bank
accounts.

We have no money. We have no products. We have no records to even know what was
ordered or what you are owed. We have nothing but the will to push forward and
overcome this massive assault on our liberty and our right to have real money as
defined by the US Constitution. We should not to be defrauded by the fake
government money.

But to make matters worse, all the gold and silver that backs up the paper
certificates and digital currency held in the vault at Sunshine Mint has also
been confiscated. Even the dies for mint the Gold and Silver Libertys have been
taken.

This in spite of the fact that Edmond C. Moy, the Director of the Mint,
acknowledged in a letter to a US Senator that the paper certificates did not
violate Section 486 and were not illegal. But the FBI and Services took all the
paper currency too.

The possibility of such action was the reason the Liberty Dollar was designed so
that the vast majority of the money was in specie form and in the people’s
hands. Of the $20 million Liberty Dollars, only about a million is in paper or
digital form.

I regret that if you are due an order. It may be some time until it will be
filled... if ever... it now all depends on our actions.

Everyone who has an unfulfilled order or has digital or paper currency should
band together for a class action suit and demand redemption. We cannot allow the
government to steal our money! Please don’t let this happen!!! Many of you read
the articles quoting the government and Federal Reserve officials that the
Liberty Dollar was legal. You did nothing wrong. You are legally entitled to
your property. Let us use this terrible act to band together and further our
goal – to return America to a value based currency.

Please forward this important Alert... so everyone who possess or use the
Liberty Dollar is aware of the situation.

Please click HERE to sign
up for the class action lawsuit and get your property back!

If the above link does not work you can access the page by copying the following
into your web browser. http://www.libertydollar.org/classaction/index.php

Thanks again for your support at this darkest time as the damn government and
their dollar sinks to a new low.

Bernard von NotHaus

Monetary Architect

What's interesting as well, is that Bernard von NotHaus was making a "Ron Paul Dollar." Now what do you suppose such a dollar could be used for? That's right: paying for his campaign. Think I'm kidding? Look at this:

In celebration of The 4th of July, 2007 you are invited - even urged - to flex your independence with the Volunteer Network's 'secret weapon' - the Ron Paul Dollar bringing new meaning to the U.S. Mint's "Presidential Dollars" and symbolizing the Congressman's values. WOW! Now the Internet's favorite Presidential candidate has his own money to help turbo-charge his shot at the White House.

I'll bet the FBI raid was intended to derail that attempt to subvert the government. I'm not sure how I feel about what they've done, but I can't help but see it as a form of monetary terrorism.

Stay tuned

Barack Obama - CBS News Reports A Surging Obama Campaign

Hillary Clinton's slips in the last debate caused this shift, aiong with the Obama campaign's constant focus.

(CBS) The crowds are enthusiastic, and the candidate is pumped.

A week of mostly positive press coverage, a star-turn last Saturday night and a tougher, more competitive tone in the debates and on the stump have convinced Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., there’s a chance now to reshape his political destiny, CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds reports.

“I disagree with Senator Clinton,” he's said on the campaign trail. “Just remember who got it right and who got it wrong in the most important decision! I strongly disagree with Sen. Clinton on her commitment to block a war in Iran.”

For Obama, the roll-out is over and the rumble is on.

“It’s changed the dynamic in the race,” Obama told CBS News. “I think there was a period of time when things were static and people liked what they were hearing from me, but they didn't have a sense that there were significant differences between me and Sen. Clinton.”

At stop after stop, Obama tries to draw even sharper distinctions with Clinton on Iraq, on Iran, on immigration and on who could better unite the country.

Voters are taking notice.

“He's sharpening himself and honing himself and I think that's more effective than being Mr. Nice Guy,” said Iowa caucus voter Nancy Nieland.

But it’s not a risk-free strategy.

“The question is whether Sen. Obama is gonna be comfortable attacking and in fact, the more he attacks, whether that causes some damage to his reputation, in his image and frankly, in his message,” said political analyst Stuart Rothenberg.

Obama says playing it safe is for others - Clinton for example.

“I don’t fault her for that. That is how people have been taught politics in Washington. That’s conventional wisdom, right?” Obama said. “You make yourself a small target by avoiding being definitive about anything.”

Democrats have tried that before, he says - and lost.

Dick Cheney On Cousin Barack Obama - CNBC’s Larry Kudlow Interview

Here's a video of Vice President Dick Cheney's comments on the finding that he's related to Senator Barack Obama:

Dream Presidential Ticket: Obama / Colbert Would Win!

OK. Seeing as Stephen Colbert has annouced he's running for President, and that his new Facebook group has gained 1 million supporters in just over a week, let me be the first to introduce what could become a reality: the Obama / Colbert. That's right. Senator Barack Obama paired with Stephen Colbert.

If you think about this match, it's made in Heaven. At least Internet Heaven because both Obama and Colbert command huge numbers of people and can mobilze young voters in a snap. Both lay claim to several million supporters online and in America. Imagine if that numerical power were combined for the greater good?

I'm serious here, folks. I really think Obama / Colbert's a better ticket than Obama / Gore, and that's because, as Barack said "Vice President might be a step down for him."



But not for Stephen Colbert. I think he'd go for it. Not only, that, he should go for it!

Stephen Colbert Could Run For President As A "Write In" Candidate

Yep. I'm not sure what to make of all of this, except that all of this response to Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert's supposed "effort" to run for President has not only taken on a life of its own, but -- hey folks -- he's actually got time to file and run for President.

I was under the impression that the filing deadline was November 2nd, but that's the last time I listen to television. Here's the actual information.

It seems the candidate can actually sign up as a write-in competitor in some states. Read this from the North Dakota website :

Running as a Write-In Candidate in the
General Election
A person who intends to be a write-in candidate for President
of the United States at the November 4, 2008 General Election
shall file a sworn Certificate of Write-In Candidacy with the
Secretary of State by 4:00 p.m. on the 21st day before the
General Election. The sworn Certificate of Write-In Candidacy
must contain the complete address of the candidate and the
names and complete addresses of the candidate’s 3
presidential electors. A sworn certificate of acceptance signed
by the candidate’s presidential electors must accompany the
Certificate of Write-In Candidacy.
The certificate of
acceptance for each elector is included as part of the
Certificate of Write-In Candidacy. If the presidential candidate
has a vice-presidential running mate, the name and complete
address of the running mate shall be contained on the
Certificate of Write-In Candidacy as well. If there is no vice-
presidential running mate, the certificate shall be appropriately
marked. The sworn vice-presidential certificate of acceptance
is also included as part of the Certificate of Write-In Candidacy.
NDCC Ch. 16.1-12-02.2
A Complete Filing Must Include
1. A Certificate of Write-In Candidacy President of
the United States General Election (SFN 18440);
2. A Statement of Interests (SFN 10172) or a like
personal disclosure statement required by the Federal
Election Commission for presidential and vice
presidential candidates.
When and Where to File
The filing deadline with the Secretary of State is October
14, 2008 by 4:00 p.m. Complete filings must be in the
physical possession of the Secretary of State’s office by
the filing deadline.
________
_
_________________________________________
Interaction with Federal Laws
Candidates for President and Vice President of the United
States are subject to the registration and financial disclosure
requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act.
Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, a candidate is
subject to registration and financial obligations when the
campaign exceeds $5,000 in either contributions or
expenditures.
Questions and requests for further information may be directed
to the:
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
999 E Street North West, Room 232
Washington, D.C. 20463
Toll Free
1-800-424-9530
Web Site
www.fec.gov
__________________________________________________
Forms
The state forms listed above (SFN) are available from the
Secretary of State’s office and may also be accessed from the
Secretary of State’s web site and Fax-On-Demand service line.
Secretary of State
State of North Dakota
600 E Boulevard Ave Dept 108
Bismarck ND 58505-0500
Phone
(701) 328-4146
Toll free
1-800-352-0867
Fax-On-Demand Service (701) 328-0120
Web Site
www.nd.gov/sos

So hang on, folks, this could get serious. He's already massed a Facebook group of over 1 million people!

Hillary Clinton > DCCC Email Controversy Update

Ok. After a phone call I made to the DCCC regarding the Hillary Clinton Birthday email issue , I did get a call back from the DCCC's person in charge of the email effort, Nick Jeffrey.

Mr. Nick Jeffrey told me that the DCCC was "in negotiations with the other presidential campaigns regarding email swap programs like the one that resulted in the Hillary Clinton birthday emailer." But I told Mr. Jeffrey that the DCCC should get its story straight because another DCCC spokesperson said...

UPDATE: It's a "list-swap," says DCCC spokeswoman Jennifer Crider. The campaign committee -- as Politico reported yesterday (!) -- is trying to broaden its fundraising base with an offer to send an email on a candidate's behalf to its list, in exchange for access to their similar-sized lists. The offer has been extended to Clinton, Obama, and Edwards; Clinton is the only one to take them up on it so far.

Mystery solved.

So that's where the story is. The next step is to get word from the Obama and Edwards camps to determine if they were actually contacted or if it's all just political smoke!

Hillary Clinton > Did DCCC Violate FEC Laws In Emailer For Her Birthday?

It's spreading all over the Internet. This email letter you see is from Bill Clinton and asking receivers to help celebrate her 60th birthday. This has got many non-Clinton supporters in an uproar, as the email was sent through the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or "DCCC".

This news first hit my attention via the Obama listserv and was the focus of a blog post on DailyKos today. To get to the bottom of this, I called the DCCC, and the receptionist told me, in response to my question on this that "The DCCC does not support anyone for president; we were just trying to expand our email list. You should talk to Nick Jeffrey, who runs the email campaign."

So I called Mr. Jeffrey, but got his voicemail.

Even if the DCCC's not taking a position, it sure looks that way and seems to be another example of "triangulation politics" where a person says they're for or against something in word, but not in deed. I call it being dishonest myself.

The question for me is this: does this count as an FEC violation? I don't know the answer. But it seems that if the DCCC is raising money and working on behalf of Congressional democratic candidates, this move is against their mission, as it looks like the DCCC's supporting a single Presidential candidate. They didn't do this for Senator Obama's birthday August 4th.

More on this.

Ron Paul Searches Rank High On Technorati Again Today

The appearance of searches for Ron Paul blog posts has become a daily affair on Technorati.com, and today's no exception at all.

Many are writing about Paul's performance in Sunday's Republican Debate, which I did not see. Plus it seems that Fox News is at war with Ron Paul, blocking any positive news about his debate performance, or reporting that he won the post-debate poll Fox established.

Presidential Polls - "Eligible Voter" v. "Most Likely Voter" Important

How many times this year have you seen a presidential poll that says it surveyed "most likely voters"? Chances are you've seen or heard this a lot -- almost every day. But think. How many times have you listened to someone use the term "eligible voter"?

Chances are, not a lot.

This difference reflects poll manipulation in action. Eligible Voters are those people old enough to voter. Period. But the designation "Most Likely Voter" blocks young people from consideration in polls because only older people are considered. It's a very important difference because...

" In A Journalist’s Guide to Public Opinion Polls, another 1992 situation is described in which additional changes in eligibility procedures dramatically altered the polls. In this example, the authors document how CNN’s change from "eligible voter" to "most likely voter" in the latter days of the ‘92 campaign, impacted the Bush-Clinton numbers by a full six percentage points... overnight!

It's also interesting that CNN's matched with Clinton in the example above. CNN uses the term "most likely voter" today, in what seems to me like an attempt to skew the polls toward people who are more conservative and thus more likely to vote for Senator Clinton over Senator Obama.

Then CNN reports on the results of such out-of-wack reports nationwide, making people think that she's got it in the bag.

Nope.

This is because the "Most Likely Voter" approach consistently avoids surveying new voters, according to Ruy Teixeira, at the Joint Fellow at the Center For American Progress, and who claimed that the Gallup Poll's design benefited more older, more conservative voters who were more likely to vote for Bush in 2004 and Hillary Clinton in this election.

The polls also don't pick up cell phone users. Again, according to Teixeira,...

"Cell phones are yet another thing that pollsters are scrambling to try to figure out how to deal with. The thing that mitigates the cell phone problem is that most people who have cell phones also have landlines. The number of pure cell phone users is relatively small, though it is growing fast. However, even if you confine your intention to that group, there is some evidence that by excluding the cell phone-only users, it is a group with a fairly distinct demographic profile which leads to a certain kind of politics. They tend to be poor, they tend to be renters. There is some evidence that excluding them from polls does skew the polls slightly."

In addtion, there's every indication to believe that cell-phone-only homes are near 25 percent of the voting population now.

One dynamic is clear in the 2008 Presidential Election to this point. While the youth vote is driving campaigns, especially Senator Obama's effort with its reliance on social networking online tools commonly used by young people, and Ron Paul's almost totally internet-based campaign surge, the polls and the mainstream media are all but ignoring the youth vote, thus creating the climate for what will be the most suprising election in history.