Rally 'Round

An NBC News poll shows Clinton and Sanders virtually tied at 49% and 47%. That makes the Washington Post story, Leading liberals begin new push to unify Democrats around Clinton, sound a bit desperate. Especially, when you read the article and the only "leading liberal" that they mention as a Clinton supporter is Jerry Brown and the NRDC Action Fund.

They also mention Elizabeth Warren, but she hasn't endorsed Hillary and has only spoken out some more against Trump. Weak stuff if the troops are supposed to be rallying around her.

"Dad" Isn't a Bad Word

"When I was a little kid, I started with B. Then it was Ber and then Bern and now it's Bernard. Or the Bernster. I've never called him Bernie. And I never have called him Dad," says Levi. "Even when I was six years old, I thought it was childish. He was a friend, not an authoritarian."

This is just sad. What his son calls him doesn't matter, whatever they like and is comfortable for them is fine. What's sad about it is that Levi thinks that Dad = authoritarian. "Dad" isn't a bad word.

There are all types of dads - some good, some bad, a lot in between. I can see wanting to reject a bad one (which no one is saying that Sanders is), but rejecting the word "dad" just seems to be rejecting the whole concept of dadness.

By contrast, the Trump kids usually refer to Donald Trump as "dad".

Moderate VP for Hillary Would Be a Disaster

Because that's what would be a disaster about a Clinton presidency, a moderate VP.

Come Together

A Look Back On January 2016

Here's a meme post from a last January. Skip ahead to May and the Republican party is unifying under Trump and the Democrats are separating further and further under Crooked Hillary and Crazy Bernie.

Bernie Finds Out What It's Like to Be a Conservative

Bernie isn't denouncing the people that some on the Left think should be denounced. He's not rolling over and letting Hillary take the position that she's "obviously" earned.

This is how the Left treats Republicans. "Say what we tell you to say! Don't represent the people who support you, just get out of our way!"

Two months ago, Moulitsas declared the primaries effectively over and banned from his site “malicious attacks on our presumptive presidential nominee or our presidential efforts.” Last month Drum said Sanders was “basically running a con … we were never going to get a revolution, and Bernie knew it all along.”

Why don't they just crown Hillary queen and stop all of this other nonsense?

Maybe a Career In Stand-Up?

"Even though Senator Sanders has endorsed my opponent, I remain, as I have been from the beginning, neutral in the presidential Democratic primary."

It's either comedy or a delusion.

Wasserman Schultz has pushed back against Sanders' accusation that the party had rigged the system against him. 

"We've had the same rules in place that elected Barack Obama. These rules were adopted for state parties all across the country in 2014," she said earlier this week.

 I'm not really clear on how rules adopted in 2014 were in place in 2012. Still, she does have a point. The rules weren't put there to rig the primaries against him, they were there to rig them in favor of whomever the elites in the party selected and against anyone who thinks they can win by being popular with regular people.

Sanders Supporters Don't Like Clinton or Wasserman Schultz

That doesn't surprise me. I'm more surprised that anyone does like either of them.

Sanders supporters blame Wasserman Schultz for what they see as system rigged against their candidate and say he is being cheated by contests closed to independents and unfair weight to superdelegates.

The system is rigged, that's the whole idea behind superdelegates - make sure the rubes don't have the final say in who gets nominated.

The online anger erupted this week after Wasserman Schultz called on Sanders to get his supporters in line after a rowdy Nevada Democratic convention where Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) endured a hearty booing. Wasserman Schultz also criticized death threats and obscene messages left on the voicemail of the chairwoman of the Nevada state party.

I can understand their anger and confusion. Democrats are only supposed to treat Republicans like that, not other Democrats, especially not their "betters".

They Were Chanting, "Peace, Love"

In 1968 before the Democratic Convention riots.



The eventual nominee, Hubert Humphrey, hadn't won any primaries. One of the most popular candidates had been Robert Kennedy, but he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles right after Kennedy had won the California primary.

I don't wish for that kind of thing to happen to any candidate, regardless of how I feel about their politics, but I can see a front runner dropping out for other reasons - an FBI investigation resulting in an indictment, for example.

Even without that kind of drama, the Democratic Party is looking at a widening division. We've already seen how Sanders supporters have shut down Trump's rally in Chicago earlier this year.



And shut down the road to the rally location in Arizona.



And blocked Trump's motorcade in California.



Which Trump got around by getting out and walking, like a boss.

What do you think they're going to do if Hillary Clinton gets the nomination? Even in the somewhat-less-likely event that Sanders gets the nomination, do you think all of these people will just say, "our job is done" and go home to wait for the election? Nope. It's going to be more of this until November and it's going to turn "Never Trump" people who are watching the chaos into Trump voters.

The Theory That the Clintons Got Trump to Run

There's been a theory that Donald Trump entered the presidential race to make it easier for Hillary Clinton to be elected. This is mostly based on a phone conversation between Trump and Bill Clinton shortly before Trump decided to run.

Let me suggest a different theory. What if the Clintons used the Democratic machine to encourage Bernie Sanders to run? They could have thought that she needs some competition in order to get attention during the primary season, who better than Sanders? He's out of the mainstream and comes off as a little odd. He definitely lacks the practiced political polish of the Clintons. What a surprise it must be to them that he's proving to be a real challenge for her to beat.

Castro Campaigning to Become Hillary's VP?

Housing Secretary Julián Castro, a surrogate for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, took aim at Bernie Sanders’ record on immigration during the senator’s former elected capacity as an Independent member of the U.S. House from 1991 to 2007. 

Sanders "voted with Republicans to protect the Minutemen, a hate group that used military tactics against our community," Castro, a former San Antonio mayor, said in a statement rolled out by the Clinton camp March 8, 2016, the day that Sen. Sanders of Vermont won an upset victory in the party’s Michigan presidential primary. 

Clinton leveled a similar claim about Sanders and the Minutemen at a Democratic debate in Miami the next day; PolitiFact found her statement Mostly True. Unlike Castro, she did not call the Minuteman Project a hate group. 

White People Don't Know What It's Like to Be Poor

Some Bernie supporters are saying that was taken out of context. You decide.

Poor Hillary

Maureen Dowd begins, "It's hard not to feel sorry for Hillary Clinton." And that's where she looses me. It's easy for me to feel no sympathy for the woman, at least not for the problems she's brought on herself.

I also don't feel sorry for her that she's being challenged by a socialist who is clueless on economics and foreign policy. Having to run against an old white guy who acts like he thinks he's Santa Claus with all of his promises of free stuff isn't her fault, but his popularity is the voters' reaction to the party she's been such a big part of for a long time.

Alinsky's Rules for Radicals: 1

“Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood.

The government has money. (Ours!) The two main political parties have money. The strength that both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have comes from people. Oh, they're spending money, but so did Jeb Bush and a lot of others who've dropped out already. They're both affecting people who are unhappy with the status quo and they're getting these people excited about politics.

Hillary Demonstrates Leadership...By Wanting Everyone Else to Go First

Voters deserve to see Clinton's Goldman Sachs speech transcripts, says The New York Times.

A televised town hall on Tuesday was at least the fourth candidate forum in which Mrs. Clinton was asked about those speeches. Again, she gave a terrible answer, saying that she would release transcripts “if everybody does it, and that includes the Republicans.”

The Sanders campaign came up with two closed-door speeches he made two decades ago. He made less than $1000 per speech (compared to Clinton's $675,000 for three speeches.)

 By stonewalling on these transcripts Mrs. Clinton plays into the hands of those who say she’s not trustworthy and makes her own rules.

Ya, think?

No, This is a Dove

Stopping (Temporarily) Isn't Stumping

Chicago rally postponed.

Protesters, meanwhile, shouted “We shut s*** down” and “We stumped Trump.” Others chanted “Bernie” as supporters whipped out Bernie Sanders campaign signs.

Organizations got together to stop the rally (see the video at the :37 mark).

How 1400 People Suddenly Decided to Vote for Trump (Or Maybe Bernie)

The Carrier Air Conditioner manufacturing plant in Indiana is closing and moving to Mexico. The distribution center is moving also.

I want to be clear, this is strictly a business decision.

I guess that's the corporate way of saying, "It's not you, it's me."

Hillary's Super Power

With the Iowa caucus a near tie between the two leading Democrats, and with a win in New Hampshire for Bernie Sanders, how is it that Hillary Clinton has 394 delegates and Bernie only has 42? Superdelegates.

In the Democratic Party, there are delegates whose vote isn't determined by the voters in their state. They are free to support any candidate they choose. There are 4,051 regular delegates and 721 superdelegates (for the Democrats) so Hillary's current lead does not guarantee her a win.

The superdelegates are made up of Democrats currently in office as the Congressional Representatives, Senators, or Governors of their state plus some people who are considered party leaders. The idea behind having them is to prevent the nomination of an unelectable candidate.

(I'm sure there's a reason for them besides the Democratic Party thinking its voters are too stupid to be trusted, but I can't think of what it could be. The Republican counterpart of the superdelegates are required to vote the way the voters in the state did in their primary.)

The people in power, and those close to them, want to keep things the way they are and their choice right now is Hillary. They could change their support if they see enough of the popular vote going to Bernie. (Even if they want Hillary, they're not going to commit political suicide for her.)

All the Young Girls Love Alex

Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros works the crowd.



All those young people just make Bernie look older. Maybe it feels different when you're actually there.