Airing Dirty, and Clean, Laundry

TGIF! I decided to take the day off. After getting the twins to preschool (so nice to be leisurely about it), I managed to get 2 loads of laundry on the clothesline before heading out to do endless errands. Errands are so much more bearable when you take NPR along for the drive.

Today's top news stories are Scott McClelland's new tell all book, and the upcoming meeting of the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee. I don't have much to say about McClelland except...ooo, big surprise!! Bush mislead the nation. There's a shocker. McClelland should thank everyone on both sides of this debate for boosting his sales. There truly is no such thing as bad publicity.

Rules & Bylaw, now there's a subject I can sink my teeth into. I bet when those DNC members were elected to or were selected for that committee, they didn't anticipate it being a very glamorous assignment. When I hear the word bylaws, I think of the two long, painful, dramatic years my little local Mothers of Multiples club spent rewriting our piddly little bylaws. I don't want to imagine what the DNC Bylaws look like.

So, given that I am from New Hampshire, I'm sure you can guess where I stand on the issue of seating delegates who had the audacity to move their primary or caucus up. But, in case you are new here, let me make it clear: rules are rules. And by nature (and certainly by nurture), I am a rule follower. End of story.

Sort of. Things are really never that cut & dry, I know. I was very glad to read earlier in the week that lawyers for the DNC ruled that reinstating 100% of the delegates would not be possible. I think most rational people agree. Rules without any consequences are hollow (any parent knows that!). Now, their task is to figure out how to award some portion of delegates as to allow participation while still sending a strong message for 2012: don't mess with New Hampshire.

And, coincidentally, there's a representative from NH on the Rules & Bylaws committee: NH State Senator Martha Fuller Clark. I don't know her personally, but I recall voting for her when she ran unsuccessfully for Congress a few years back, and I have a favorable impression of her. I'm sure she's experiencing a sudden increase in popularity in the run up to the big meeting, but I feel confident that she will remain her down to earth self. I trust her, and I think you should too.

My vote, were I on the committee, would be to let all delegates attend the convention, and have each vote count as one half. I don't think there is any other fair way to dole out delegates. Giving more delegates to Hillary because she "won" is ridiculous. Other candidates pulled their names off the ballot, and weren't an option. But even more importantly, they didn't visit the states. They didn't set up field offices, buy TV commercial time or set up town-hall meetings. So of COURSE the "establishment" candidate with all the name recognition received the most votes (I originally wrote "won" but really that is not the correct term to use here). Duh. That's the part that makes me so angry. As an Edwards supporter, I'd like to believe JRE might have earned a delegate or two had he set up shop in those places. He's so much more persuasive in person. But he didn't have the chance to go out & shake hands with the voters, because he followed the RULES. So, Hillary's attempt to say she earned those votes fair & square tells me a little more than I want to know about her sense of fairness.

Now, allow me to rant a bit (what? what have you been doing so far??): If voters from Florida and Michigan feel disenfranchised (as they should) I believe that their anger should NOT be directed at the DNC (who clearly stated the rules up front) or the candidates (who mostly followed those rules), but to their respective State Democratic Party Leaders. Another Duh. Anyone who is trying to shift that blame is desperate & self-serving. I hope Michigan and Florida voters vote THOSE knuckleheads out.

Phew, do I feel better now that I've gotten that off my chest.

And just in time...I do think my laundry is dry now (free and without producing a single speck of carbon emmission).

More Growing Up Lessons

I don't usually do this, but you just must read this: a blog post from Chip Collis, posted at Off The Bus. So brilliant, I wish I had been articulate enough to have said it! As an Edwards supporter, I can totally agree. LOTS of people didn't get their candidate to the nomination. We all had to grieve, accept it, and get over it. Time for Clintonistas to do the same.

Welcome, New Readers

A few blogs have recently expressed interest in linking to me, which suprises me since the NH Primary is long gone. But hey, I'll take the link. Welcome! Thanks go to Seacoast Online's Michael McCord, Huffington Post's Off The Bus, and of course my friend Jess, The Seattleite.

So, for a quick intro to who I am, please visit my very first post. And please note, I make no claim to be a journalist. I don't do much fact checking, I just rant. I am prone to exaggeratation. I'm a regular citizen who is a bit of a political junkie who is addicted to the New Hampshire Primary.

Growing Up

I think I've finally figured out what is at the heart of my dislike of the Clinton campaign. Stay with me here...

I grew up in a family with four kids. I am the baby, thankyouverymuch. The first two kids were born in the late 50s, and one sister and I were born in the mid 60s (post-JFK assassination). Long before I ever heard the words baby boomer, I had a feeling that something about their upbringing and ours was dramatically different.

As a budding social scientist, in my head I labeled my cohort "chasers." It seemed like we were always chasing the boomers, and never catching up with them. They did everything first, and everything better. We couldn't do anything unique. It was always all about them.

As a huge market, they got all the attention. So many things were created just for and targeted to them. We just got the hand-me-downs. Pop culture was all about them. JFK was their man, their message for older has-beens to step aside and let the youth voice be heard. Media paid no attention to anyone else, and in some ways it still does. Oh, can I tell you how much I have hated Newsweek's Boomer Files series?? PuhLEEZE...as if they are the first people ever to get old.

And this brings me to the Clintons today. Bill was the first Boomer President--Fleetwood Mac as a theme song, and smoking pot (but not inhaling of course). Their time for legitimate power had arrived. Step aside, other generations, and we'll show you how it's done. Many Clinton supporters invoked memories of being inspired by JFK as youth, being called to service, asking not what your country can do for you.

But, time marches on. It's time to pass the baton, and the Clintons want nothing to do with it. In typical boomer style, they still think it's all about them. They ridicule the newly enfranchised youth supporters, inspired by Obama's message to becoming involved in politics or public service. Hillary's theme became "experience." Can you imagine what they would have said about such a theme back in the day? Experience, are you kidding? Don't trust anyone over 30.

If you dare to disagree with Team Clinton, you get smacked with the label of "sexist," regardless of the terrible errors her campaign made. NH State Rep Jim Splaine of Portsmouth is a longtime Clinton supporter, but also a very vocal critic of her campaign. He seems to be the only calm and rational supporter I've heard of willing to look critically at her as a candidate and not willing to whine, play victim, or worse, entitled.

And THAT is what bugs me the most: the sense of entitlement. "It's all about me and MY experience, I deserve this, I'm in to win." She's whining NOW about a sexist media, but where was the whining when she was up 30 points, got the vast majority of media coverage early on (especially around here), and got the greater percentage of questions at the debates? Remember the Talk Clock? The arrogance, the cackling laugh when she was asked difficulty questions, the stupid comments about RFK, Obama's drug use, hard-working white voters, and equating Florida's vote with Zimbabwe, or underestimating her opponent, or ignoring caucus states--these are some of the reasons she will not be the nominee. Sexism may have something to do with it, but Hillary has fought sexism her whole life. That's nothing new. She used to rise above it.

I think she needs to take some responsibility for herself and the people who work for her (including her husband). And she needs to start acting like a grown-up (rather than a spoiled child) and graciously allow us all to move on after the last primary.

They've already blown one Clinton Legacy, and they are about to blow the second one. Which is too bad. I used to like them.

The Money Game

So, I finally finished tracking down all my Primary Pals now working in DC, and now they might be unemployed again. Progressive Media USA is making headlines instead of trying to shape them, and that has a few people worried.

Of course, I wish we didn't need these 527s to do the dirty work either. And I think it's very noble of Obama to want to distance himself from them or to keep a tight grip on them, lest he be considered "impotent," as McCain has been called for not getting an inappropriate ad pulled. (note to media: enough of the testicular references already!) But after the whole Swiftboat thing in 2004, it seems prudent to have something ready & up your sleeve, just in case. You can bet McCain isn't telling anyone to stop donating anything! Oh, contraire! I just hope they lie low for a while, let this pass, and quietly continue to put together some great yet appropriate (policy-based, not personally-based) anti-McCain ads. And I continue to hope that donors quietly continue to support their awesome cause. And, just one request for PM USA: don't fire your best tracker!!

On a related note, Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-NH, has decided to accept funding from DCCC. (it's related because a few campaign retirees are now employed there, I believe.) I know how badly she wanted to stay independent, and pull off another victory in her homegrown, grass-rootsy way. But she needs the money (because she is representing constituents like me who have no money to spare), and we need her to stay in Congress. I hope Team Obama will eventually see that writing on the wall as well.

The End Is Just The Beginning

Well, he has finally spoken. John Edwards has endorsed. I'm not sure which news source to site, so I'll go with HuffPo. But I did first see it on cnn.com, then clicked all over to make sure I was reading it correctly. Yup: John Edwards Endorses Barack Obama.

And in Grand Rapids, Michigan, no less. The most Republican place I have ever been. Home of Gerald Ford & his presidential library, the Dutch Reform Church, Amway, and my grad school pal, Leyla. I hope she was there in the crowd.

So, what happens to JRE's 18 delegates? Will they follow him?? We fans of JRE are very loyal, but I don't see anyone picking a candidate because he says so. But I do bet most of them go O too. That will place Obama within reach of the necessary delegate count. Cool.

I'm so glad that Edwards picked now. Smart move...he gets to paint himself as the big party uniter. He brings some of that 7% from West Virginia, the "hard working white folks" that HRC so eloquently referred to.

Seeing Edwards on the news sites and TV made me realize how much I miss him. I really came to like him, his policies, his style. His fire. His accent and that smile. And of course I miss his staff & supporters. Thanks to everyone who sent me links and announcements, or wrote on my wall this morning.

It's a nice way to end the semester and the primary cycle for me. I'm seeing so many students who worked on campaigns graduate and move on. It's good end-of-academic-year-karma.

Cell Phones vs. Land Lines

Way back in the beginning of this current primary cycle, I whined a lot about polling. I can't find the posts now, but I know that I was ranting about land lines and cell phones and how lack of calling cells can tilt a poll. At the time I think I was suggesting a tilt to favoring "establishment" voters.


Well, now, here this! Research is catching up with me. But it's hard to say who is helped or hurt by excluding cell-only households.

By the time we start the 2012 Primary Cycle (2 years from now), I'm sure this will be an even greater issue, even in New Hampshire.

Final Exams

We're about to embark on finals week here at UNH. In some ways, I think Hillary is also facing her own Final Exam. And like the ones going on at schools & colleges around the world, one's performance all semester matters. You can pass the final and still fail the course.

So, this may come as a complete surprise to some, but it's not really rocket science. I've changed my mind: I think Hillary should stay in the race until the last primary. No, I haven't changed my mind about her and I still agree with my widget on the chances of her success. I'm thinking about the bigger picture. Like Senator Obama, I am moving on to the general election.

Like my man, I believe she should first do no harm. Having said that, I believe that her staying in the race just a few more weeks allows every state and territory to have what we in New Hampshire get every cycle: A real presidential primary that counts, gets media attention, and most importantly, fires up the state's party machine. I'm thinking GOTV. It seems like every state has reported record numbers of new voters, new Dem voters, as the primary passes through. How's THAT for a 50-state strategy? (well, 48-states since Florida & Michigan are still a bit up in the air.)


Obama will now go into the general with a decent (at the very least) ground game in every state, he will have up-to-date voter & activist lists. AND donor lists. Whether dems agree with the final outcome or not, at least every single state would have voted and had its say. No more whining about NH & Iowa getting all the say. I like that!

And, I do think my work-study student would be a bit ticked off if Puerto Rico didn't have it's chance to vote, even though she's now registered in Massachusetts. If I've learned one lesson this year it is this: it's not women in pant suits you need to fear... never piss off a Puerto Rican woman! ;-)

Good luck on finals to her, and to Hillary as well. Grades, I expect, will be posted on or before June 15, 2008.

Tying Up Loose Ends

First Up: Another lost & found NH JRE staffer! OK I think this is probably the last one. Out of respect for his privacy, I won't give his name. But he has happily landed in Washington DC, employed as a researcher for Hildebrand Tewes. Impressive!

Second: JRE himself has been in the news a bit lately, and that always makes me happy. Yesterday everyone kept emailing me links about his & Elizabeth's disagreement over endorsing. It seems like the disagreement between them is exactly the disagreement going on in my own head! (I don't so much support Obama as I am not interested in reliving the Clinton years. To me, there's a bit difference.) George McGoverned bailed on HRC yesterday. And today, JRE's campaign manager David Bonior endorsed Obama. Seems like the tide is shifting. Oh...this just in...rumor has it that John Edwards is going to be on the TODAY show tomorrow. Hmmm...

Third: Looks like Senator Sununu will be speaking in POLT 403 sooner rather than later (um, classes end on Monday, I believe). If my humble little blog had something to do with that, well, shucks folks, I'm speechless. ;-) Just doing my part to promote an awesome professor and his top-notch students.

Still Up Front!

It's been a while, but today I managed another unexpected front row seat! Hamilton Smith room 127, to be exact.

I was scheduled to do a 3-5 minute information session on my programs at the university (Prelaw Advising, National Student Exchange, and The Washington Center for Internships), for Prof. Chris Reardon's POLT 403 class, US in World Affairs. When I arrived before class, who was standing in the halls of Hamilton Smith Hall with Chris other than former NH Gov. Jeanne Shaheen! She was the guest lecturer for the class for the day, rather unexpectedly. Handshake & introduction...by the way, we'll get you some UNH interns when you are in Congress. Embarrassingly, I did succumb to name drop, and the Gov responded with "Oh, actually, today is Susie's birthday?" So, I was happily bumped to the end of the class, and went back to my office.

Then I realized that it would be beneficial to hear her lecture so I can make direct connections to TWC and my pitch for students. Back I went, and snuck into the class, sitting next to Prof. Reardon on the side of the classroom by the door.

The lecture seemed mostly to focus on US foreign policy in the middle east and the war in Iraq. The question & answer period, however, was all over the place. The students did not disappoint, asking questions on everything from the price of gasoline to decriminalizing marijuana. She gave a great answer to the questions about marijuana, using storytelling about a colleague (when she was in Mississippi) who did research of the effects of smoking pot. No condescension, no defensiveness, just how the scientist/friend had convincingly shared his scientific conclusions with her. Lots of environmental/energy questions as well.

She's also good at knowing when not to elaborate: "Are you endorsing anyone in the current Presidential Primary?" "No."

She is a very comfortable speaker, and obviously at home in the classroom, asking questions here & there instead of just lecturing. She knew what the professor had been teaching all semester and worked that into her lecture and examples. And, she lives right down the street (in Madbury NH) and worked that in easily as well.

Of course, I had to admire her great navy blue suit--fitting perfectly and actually looking comfortable--and her sensible yet stylish flatish blue shoes. It reminded me of all the times I spent staring at the backside of John Edwards and the frayed cuffs of his blue jeans.

In the wrap up and thank you, Prof. Reardon was quick to add that Senator Sununu will be extended the same invitation, "as soon as he has a re-election campaign in place." That made me chuckle.

Chris needed to walk Gov. Shaheen out and as he did he said to the class: "you heard from a real politician, now you'll hear from someone who can help you become one." Well, maybe not exactly, but if you are a student at UNH who needs an internship, let's talk!

BTW: as I type this, my nine current UNH TWC interns are at Rep. Carol Shea-Porter's office in DC, getting their own meet & greet that I arranged with the Congresswoman (and hopefully a picture for my website), and tour of the Capitol. I feel so well-connected!