Together4US

I want a Democrat in the White House. At the Convention, the sole job of the delegates will be to select the person who is electable in November.

That person is Hillary Clinton. During the primary process BO did not “close the deal” with primary voters. The more voters got to know BO, the more votes Senator Clinton received. By the time she suspended, not ended, her campaign, she led in the popular vote, in the blue states and swing states needed to win the Electoral College, and in the polls against McCain.

She won convincingly wherever one-person-one-vote was the principle of the voting process; she did not prevail in the caucuses - one of the least democratic voting methods imaginable - no secret ballot, limited access, no absentee ballots…

Senator Clinton has the best, most progressive stance on issues of importance to Democrats - truly universal, affordable health care; sensible mortgage relief to avoid the dissolution of our communities; universal pre-k and greater access to high education; energy independence; investments in infrastructure, urban regeneration, stem cell research and other scientific explorations… she has the connections to and the admiration of the world leaders and populations desperate for strong leadership from the United States… (more…)

Senator Barack Obama’s campaign is steering the candidate’s wealthy supporters away from independent Democratic groups, calling into question what had been expected to be the groups’ central role in this year’s Democratic offensive against Senator John McCain.

Obama’s national finance chairwoman, Chicago hotel mogul Penny Pritzker, told supporters at a national finance committee meeting in Indianapolis May 2, and in other conversations, not to give money to the groups, people familiar with her comments said.
“From the beginning of this race Obama has told supporters that if they want to help his effort, they should do so through his campaign,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton, who confirmed that Pritzker has told donors not to give to the groups. “And he means exactly what he says.”

Many of these progressive groups were established to counter movement conservatives’ dominate infrastructure. In 1971, in a reaction against the New Left, Lewis F. Powell drafted a memo for business groups and the Nixon administration on building a conservative infrastruture to counter what he saw as an anti-capitalist, anti-freedom movement of the New Left. This plan was followed and we have had a third of a century of conservative governance, interrupted by 4 years of Carter and 8 years of Clinton. (more…)

The fact is that Obama’s [economic] plan today is the most shameless piece of potential plagiarism that I have ever seen. He basically took Clinton’s words and Clinton’s policies and called them his own. If I were a professor I’d give him an F and try to get him kicked out of school for something this terrible…If I were on the Clinton team, I’d be prepping memos.

- Kevin A. Hassett, Senior Fellow and Director of Economic Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute, John McCain adviser (H/t AndreWalker08 at MyDD.com)

It must also be noted that John Edwards’ economic stimulus plans were also widely acknowledged to be vastly superior to Obama’s far weaker plans. NYT columnist and economist Paul Krugman, in January, wrote: “[L]ast month, before the economic consensus turned as negative as it now has, [John Edwards] proposed a stimulus package including aid to unemployed workers, aid to cash-strapped state and local governments, public investment in alternative energy, and other measures.”

“Those covering Senator Obama’s economic speech in Wisconsin today could be forgiven if it felt like déjà vu all over again. Voters may ask themselves that if Senator Obama cannot produce his own ideas on the campaign trail, how will he solve new problems as President?,” asks Neera Tanden, Policy Director for the Clinton campaign.

“Senator Obama’s only ‘new’ ideas were ones that Senator Clinton proposed months ago,” Tanden continues.

FOR STARTERS: His “new” proposal for a national infrastructure bank is one that Hillary proposed August 8, 2007. [”I’m proud to co-sponsor Senator Dodd and Senator Hagel’s National Infrastructure Bank Act that we just introduced to establish a federally-backed independent bank that will evaluate and finance large infrastructure projects by subsidies, loan guarantees, and bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.” Rebuilding America speech, 8/8/07; S. 1926, 8/1/07]

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