At the end of the Democratic Primary season, this was the situation:

Popular Vote
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: 17,857,446, (48.04%)
Senator Barack Obama: 17,584,649 (47.31%)

Pledged delegates

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: 1,730.5 (39.17%)
Senator Barack Obama: 1,747.5 (39.55%)

(source)

Then, for no apparent good reason, in June Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosis decided THEY, not the delegates chosen by the electorate and not the superdelegates appointed via proper party procedure, were going to decide who would represent the top of the ticket for the general election. Now that same leadership wants YOU to legitimize their undemocratic and unprincipled methods by putting their selected candidate into the White House on November 4.

But WE can say no to the subversion of democratic principles within the Democratic Party. We can say no with our votes and by urging our fellow Democrats to pay attention to the particulars of the candidate Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi selected to represent the Democratic Party.

Put this ad on the air and let America know that our voices count.

Over the next 24 hours and across the internet, we as a community will urgently be raising money to run edgy and persuasive ads made by Democrats in key battleground states. Generous contributors have pledged $500 in matching funds. Your voice counts. Please contribute now

CLICK ON ROSIE TO DONATE:

Or go to Democrats For Principle Before Party - The Denver Group’s general election website, where you can view other ads the group is running:

Medusa’s original post: According to a rumor on Daily Kos, Obama’s internals show him with a mere 2 point lead in Pennsylvania. If true, this is very bad news for the Anointed One. John Kerry carried Pennsylvania by only 2.5 points, and Kerry didn’t insult the voters there.

Heidi Li Feldman and Marc Rubin of the Denver Group and Democrats for Principles Before Party (DFPBP) have two ads currently running in different metro regions in Pennsylvania. Watch the most recent one, here:

Pennsylvania is key in the election, and as you may have heard, Democratic Representative Jack Murtha first called his own Pennsylvania constituents “racists” but has now softened the insult by calling them “rednecks.” In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Murtha said:

There is no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area

But actually it turns out that these people are the gun-toting, bitter, religious types that the Dems find so clingy and bitter. Murtha clarified his remarks to mean that:

some of his constituents in western Pennsylvania are “rednecks” and the entire region just five to 10 years ago was “really redneck.

Marc Rubin’s fabulous post on No Quarter How Democrats Can Defeat Obama, See McCain Win, Still Get Everything They Want and Respect Themselves In The Morning spelled out the reasons why many Democrats refuse to vote for Obama:

Many Democrats seem to be going through a period of conflict over this election. They see Obama for what he is: a dishonest snake oil salesman, unfit and unqualified to be President, throwing out one sweet talking lie after another as the political Mr. Goodbar, trying to pick up as many votes as he can get.

Rubin rightly states that Obama must be defeated in order to “fumigate” the Democratic Party of its corrupting influences. And he urges people to vote for McCain to send a clear message to the party that gave us the Rules and By-Laws that awarded Hillary’s votes to Obama:

Obama is the nominee because of a dishonest primary in which these same people, along with the press, did everything possible to sell Obama as the nominee and do it as dishonestly as they knew how, including rigging the roll call vote, violating every Democratic Party rule and procedure in the process.

Dean, Pelosi, Brazile, Fowler and every member of the DNC who engineered and went along with fixing the process needs to go. Those who won’t resign (though I think many will after an Obama defeat) need to have their power and their base removed, so the that the Democratic Party can air itself out. And the only way that can happen is with an Obama loss. And the bigger the better.

Rubin is a former advertising executive and he understands how advertising works. In a recent interview on No We Won’t radio, with Riverdaughter, Heidi Li and Harriet Christensen, Rubin explains how skewed the polls are and why, and he says that with enough money to create ads, he feels that the DFPBP could influence this election away from Obama. Listen to the interview here.

Donating to The Denver Group’s DFPBP is a powerful way to make a difference now. If we can get 500 No Quarter regulars to donate $20 we, as a community, could raise $10,000 to run powerful, persuasive ads in Pensylviania and other battleground states!!! Now is the time to act. You have the power. Click here to donate.

Remember what Hillary said:

For everyone here in Ohio and across America who’s ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out, for everyone who has stumbled but stood right back up, and for everyone who works hard and never gives up — this one is for you.

More No Quarter posts on The Denver Group:

The quality of intent: What is really at stake in the 2008 Presidential Election by Heidi Li Feldman

Holding the DNC’s Feet to the Fire: An Interview with Marc Rubin of The Denver Group by Ani

The Denver Group’s New Video by SusanUnPc

The Denver Group’s Letter To Prevaricator Howard Dean by Uppity Woman

MAKING THE SQUEAKY WHEEL SQUEAK LOUDER Marc Rubin

NQ Radio Interview — The Denver Group Bud White

(Photo credit: Hillary with Heidi Li Feldman at an event in Washington, D.C.)

Tonight is Hillary’s night. So it’s fitting that The Denver Group held a reception prior to her speech to discuss the work being done to assure that Hillary’s delegates are allowed to vote. Although that is looking increasing unlikely, Heidi Li Feldman talked about the future of The Denver Group and the Democratic Party.

The event was held at a country-style French restaurant on the edge of downtown. Heidi Li Feldman, co-founder of The Denver Group, greeted guests at the door to a private room. In attendance were Hillary supporters, PUMAs of various stripes, No Quarter’s NancyA, and at least two members of the press. My wife and I spoke with Harriet Christian, heroine from the RBC fiasco. She sipped on a Coke and told us, with increasing passion, about her experience at the RBC. She described it as a sham and a fraud.

After about 45 minutes, Heidi Li climbed up on a chair and spoke to the group. We gave her a round of applause. She is just as committed, witty, warm, and intelligent as you’d imagine.

CQ Politics was there covering the event:

A prominent backer of Hillary Rodham Clinton now says delegate intimidation by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama ’s campaign means a fair nomination vote will be impossible on Wednesday night.

“I think they are hell bent on having a pretend vote,” said Heidi Li Feldman, the Georgetown University law professor whose Denver Group sponsored advertisements this summer demanding a roll call vote on the presidential nomination at this week’s convention.

Feldman says the Denver Group now plans to run more ads after the convention under the rubric of “Principle over Party.”

“All of that energy is now going to be channeled into making sure the Democratic Party does not inherit such incompetent leadership as we have had to endure this election season,” she said.

Feldman held court Tuesday before about 50 rowdy Clinton supporters at Le Central, a French restaurant in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. They greeted her pledge to demand Dean’s ouster with resounding applause.

Several attendees asked Feldman how they should vote this November. “I don’t think you should be behind the party right now,” said Feldman, who said she plans to leave her own presidential ballot blank. “Keep standing in front of the Pepsi Center and saying this is a fraud and a fake and I am not going to be party to a party that is corrupt.”

The work of The Denver Group is not finished. Please consider going over to The Denver Group and making a donation to run their ads. I believe their work, along with many others, helped raise awareness of the sham taking place in Denver.

The Denver Group.

All of Colorado is preparing itself for the Democratic National Convention. Denver is already filling up with anxious participants.  The Secret Service is said to be camped out on downtown rooftops.

Some Hillary supporters are arriving in hopes of seeing her name on the ballot, in one form or another. Other people, including the Just Say No Deal/Pumas, and other former Hillary supporters, are coming to protest the corruption we all witnessed at the top of the Democratic Party. Tensions are running high, and groups opposing the takeover of the Party are gearing up to make our voices heard, especially PUMAPAC and The Denver Group. 

Of course, supporters of the presumptuous nominee are arriving with their “Denver or Bust” bumper stickers. And there’s a report today in the Denver Post that tickets to the coronation are being sold for over three grand. 

As registration for free tickets available to see Sen. Barack Obama at Invesco Field at Mile High ends today, a pair of tickets are going for $3,650 at an online ticket-auction site, reports Chuck Plunkett.”There are another four days to go on the auction, and I expect to see people bid it up at the end,” Eric Baker, chief executive of the auction site, Viagogo, said Monday.

“It’s hard to imagine a political candidate generating that sort of excitement,” Baker said. “Never would it have occurred to me that a political speech would have a secondary market.”      

But Focus on the Family, the evangelical group based in Colorado Springs, is hoping to disrupt the Reichsparteitag at Invesco Field with the help of a “higher power.” The Denver Channel describes the video::

Focus on the Family Action has pulled a video from its Web site that had asked people to pray for “rain of biblical proportions” during Sen. Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at Invesco Field on Aug. 28.      

While the video has been pulled from their website due to protests it’s available on YouTube, and below, for your viewing pleasure. Politics does indeed make for strange bedfellows. Let it rain!  

Some Hillary Clinton supporters want to make sure that the upcoming Democratic Convention doesn’t turn into a “coronation” of Barack Obama.

A humorless organization called “The Denver Group” ran an ad in a Capitol Hill newspaper demanding that Hillary’s name be placed in nomination at the convention and demanding that speeches be allowed in support of her nomination. They’re just full of demands. [HOW UNAMERICAN OF THE DENVER GROUP! Why, THEY'RE NO BETTER THAN THOSE GEORGIANS WITH ALL THEIR DEMANDS! FOR DEMOCRACY, NO LESS! HOW UNREASONABLE IS THAT?!?!?!? DEMANDING DEMOCRACY! SUCH RENEGADES!]

And if they don’t get their way they are threatening a revolt. The ad says, “Will Howard Dean and the DNC turn the Democratic Party into the Boston Tea Party?” More demands. They demand a roll call vote on her nomination… presumably after those speeches they are demanding. This despite the fact that she lost and dropped out of the race months ago. …

PHOTO CAPTION: Bitter old women complaining about undemocratic behavior. Ludmila Bigayeva-Kinkadze, an ethnic Ossetian woman married to a Georgian man, condemns the Russian-Georgian conflict at a rally near Vladikavkaz, the main city of North Ossetia, Russia, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008. The rally was a response to threats received by ethnic Georgians in the ethnically mixed village of Verkhnyaya Balta outside Vladikavkaz. (Via Yahoo News — AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

Check out The Denver Group’s latest ad, run in Roll Call.

Special thanks to Just Say No Deal for alerting us to this story.

But this movement has a twist: Obama lacks legitimacy. The continuation of this rift is not about Hillary “losing.” Clintonistas, like myself, know that losing elections and having your heart broken is the inevitable risk of politics. Anglachel writes:

With John Edwards in the news these days, I have been reflecting on the theme of “Two Americas” and have applied a twist that more accurately reflects the two Americas within the Democratic Party - those whose bigotry and biases are excused because they are of the right class and those whose flaws are inexcusable, even when the flaws do not exist.

This “class” split in the Democratic Party is much more than an economic split. As Anglachel suggests, it is evidence of a values divide. These values are not the black-and-white split of abortion. Instead, this divide is a matter of emphasis. Obama talks about access to health care, but he doesn’t offer a universal plan. Obama criticized Hillary for her Iraq War vote, but he wasn’t in the senate to vote. Obama lectures Americans to learn Spanish–an irony not missed by many– a language he doesn’t speak.

But the differences of emphasis were not themselves the deal-breaker. The deal-breaker, I believe, was about Obama’s tactics in the campaign and the Democratic Party’s complete bias and vote-rigging for their chosen candidate. Donna Brazile’s embarrassing performance at the RBC was so transparent in its bias that she became the most visible Obama shill massaging rules for her candidate, all the while lecturing us on rules. Do they really think we’re that stupid?

Clintonistas, and now PUMAs, are revolted by four major issues. This is by no means an all-inclusive list, but includes the followings:

(1) The Democratic Nomination was Stolen

garyinchapelhill writes about Obama’s lack of legitimacy resulting from a stolen nomination:

Obama’s decision to return full voting status to delegates from Michigan and Florida does not make up for the fact that the RBC stole delegates from the uncommitted voters, as well as all write in votes, AND 4 of Hillary’s delegates. Until that travesty is corrected the votes of those delegates can not be considered legitimate.

And Marc Rubin of The Denver Group considers Obama’s current flip flop on Florida and Michigan as a ploy to entice disgusted Democrats into the fold:

Florida and Michigan were one of the earliest examples of how dishonest, two faced underhanded and fraudulent Obama can be, when he claimed in speeches that he stood for “voices being heard” and “every vote must count”, and then clamped his hand over the mouths of almost 3 million voters in Florida and Michigan because he didn’t like what those voices were saying, which was a loud “go home”. And in all likelihood are still saying “go home and will continue to say it. Clinton beat him by landslide numbers in both states and this little act of political self preservation isn’t going to fool anyone. Anyone, even an Obama supporter can see it’s nothing more than another cynical political ploy to try and win back voters who were disgusted with him a long time ago because he needs them now.

(2) Obama Race-Baited the Clintons

Obama’s race speech was compared to Lincoln by his sycophants in the media. It was closer to Nixon’s infamous “Checkers” speech, a disingenuous, hateful piece of sophistry created to dove-tail with white liberal guilt. The conflation of Jeremiah Wright’s homicidal racism with Geraldine Ferraro’s simple observation was only the most glaring evidence of Obama’s tactics. Anglachel points out that Obama’s demonizing of low income whites was a basic political calculation:

working class voters are not the socio-economic slice of the “white” vote that votes Republican. They are the least likely portion of white voters to do so, which is part of what made the constant slamming of this group so infuriating during the primaries. This was the slice of the white demographic most likely to vote for Hillary, and that was the reason they were being singled out for shaming and insults.

And Alegre puts her finger on why PUMAs find Obama unacceptable:

I think I can speak for millions of Hillary’s 18 millions supporters when I say that Camp Obama stepped over a serious line when they tarred the Clintons as racists in the lead-up to the SC primary (and since). Those attacks were simply unforgivable and may be a big reason (among many!) why many of us won’t get on that unity pony of Howie’s.

(3) Obama Attacked Hillary from the Right

Attacking Hillary from the Right was not by itself a deal-breaker. But the fact that Obama went after Hillary on health care — after everything she had fought for in the 1990s — was a disgraceful appropriation of Right Wing tactics and talking points. As SusanUnPC writes:

The sad reality, of course, is that Obama has no fealty to commitments over issues. Issues are merely fodder to be used to grab what he seeks above all else: Victory…Now, every politician has to be focused on winning. But most politicians have some issues about which they genuinely care and are knowledgeable about. Obama doesn’t seem to hold any issues dear.

(4) The Democratic Party Rejects Racism, Embraces Sexism

Democratic Party leaders and Obama supporters stayed silent while egregious misogyny was leveled against Mrs. Clinton. As feminist blogger Violet Socks said to me, the silence from our “brothers” on the Left regarding this sexism has been one of the most disappointing political events in the annals of progressivism. So we must have an accounting, and a defeat. There are worse things than losing elections, and I believe we have just witnessed them during the primaries. Obama’s use of sexist stereotypes against Hillary gave cultural permission for the venom against Hillary. It was outside the realm of acceptable behavior for a Democratic politician, and must be vehemently rejected. Voting for Obama is condoning tactics which are anathema to why we are Democrats in the first place.

Lynette Long writes:

I am not Lolita. I will not crawl back into bed with a party that raped me. I will not stay in an abusive relationship because I have nowhere else to go. I will not be placated by a pat on the head or a worthless trinket. I will not spend the rest of my life waiting for tomorrow or listening to people tell me that today is better than yesterday.

Defeat is Good

Just as Barry Goldwater’s defeat by Johnson in 1964 was considered the end of the conservative movement, Obama’s victory is seen by the neo-liberals as a rejection of third-way progressivism. However, the PUMA movement is not an end but a beginning. It’s not the continuation of Bill Clinton’s moderate policies, but a movement of dedicated progressives who embraced Mrs. Clinton’s far more bold agenda, an agenda more analogues to FDR than Bill Clinton, and one which is much more progressive than Obama’s. Our nascent movement parallels the rise of the conservative movement:

All the pundits saw the size of Goldwater’s defeat. Almost none grasped the implications of the fact that the Goldwater campaign had twice as many volunteers as Johnson’s — or that while 66,000 people donated to the Kennedy and Nixon campaigns of 1960, over a million gave to Barry Goldwater in 1964. Among other things [it is an] account of how a rebellious and at first marginal political faction moved toward power reminds us of the dynamic character of politics and the dangers of static analysis

I am a Democrat because I believe in universal health care, because I despise racism, race-baiting, and sexism, and because I believe in the democratic process. On all these counts, our Party has failed us. We must rid our Party of race-baiting, sexism, and vote stealing, and return our Party to its glorious heritage of patriotism, equal opportunity, and care for the most vulnerable.

Thanks to Medusa for her help with this essay.

Update: The video above is a “REVISED” version. For the 1st version, Click Here. Again, for the 1st version, the text at the beginning of the video which may appear “smeared” is pasted onto the video so that it is easier to read. If it is too quick, press the handy “pause” button.

Please donate to the Denver Group.

“Senator Clinton’s name on the ballot is not good enough. Her name must be placed in nomination for it to have any meaning so that super delegates have a real choice in deciding the nomination by casting their votes for either candidate. Nothing less is acceptable.”

Click my Act Blue page below to make monetary contributions for the Denver Group:

http://www.actblue.com/page/geeklove

From my blog, “Come A Long Way.”

While Howard seems to have a self-destructive desire to cut the Democratic Party in half, thereby marginalizing it for another couple of decades, one wonders what exactly he will be doing for a living in January. All I can say is I am really glad he’s not practicing medicine on women any longer.

The Denver Group has written the following letter to Howard, so he understands that nothing he says will ever get past them. Click on the title link and show some support to Heidi and Marc, who have more brain power when they are sleeping than Howard “If I can’t be president then screw America” Dean has after eating plenty of Green Brain Food.

An Open Letter To Howard Dean from The Denver Group

Dear Dr. Dean,
Through the wonders of the internet The Denver Group has learned that you have reportedly discussed us in an interview today. Since the purpose of our ads has been to make our points partly to you as well as the rest of the DNC and Democrats as a whole, normally we’d be pleased to know they are getting through to you. But based on the interviewer’s characterization of your comments, we don’t think you actually know much about The Denver Group, its founders, and its goals. The interviewer writes:

When asked about the ads criticizing him and Speaker Pelosi for Clinton supposedly not being on the ballot at the convention, he [Howard Dean] scoffed. Clinton will be on the ballot at the convention, and will be speaking there. Dean indicated that the rules were so clear on this matter, that the groups running these ads and spreading these rumors must be associated with the other internet rumors going around, such as Obama being a Muslim. He also speculated that McCain supporters might be behind these rumors.

No need for you to speculate, Dr. Dean. We are happy to tell you exactly who we are, what we expect of you and the DNC, and why your comment that Senator Clinton’s name will be on the ballot is not enough. Senator Clinton’s name must be put in nomination, not just “on the ballot” and the roll call vote to be a real honest and open opportunity for superdelegates to do their job under DNC rules and select the nominee at the Convention. Just saying that Senator Clinton’s name will be on the ballot is not going to fool anyone. Being on the ballot counts for nothing if a candidate’s name is not placed in nomination. More than 18 million Democratic voters would be pleased to hear you say publicly that there will be an open convention with Senator Clinton’s name placed in nominaton and an open roll call vote.

Since the interviewer in question does not quote you directly and certainly has never asked us about our views on any of the matters you supposedly raised in relation to our group, we are not speculating as to what you actually said or what you actually believe or know about The Denver Group and its founders, Heidi Li Feldman and Marc Rubin. If you want to actually know and so that you have your facts right feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,
Heidi Li Feldman and Marc Rubin
for The Denver Group

For the FULL story on The Denver Group, read my earlier post here or visit our blog where you can sign up and contribute to our efforts.

CHECK OUT: “The Denver Group Covered by Congressional Quarterly Weekly Magazine,” posted by Heidi Li Feldman, J.D., Ph.D.

Note to readers: CQ Weekly is a publication of Congressional Quarterly, a media group that bills itself as “The Nation’s Leader in Political Journalism Since 1945″. You can learn more about Congressional Quarterly here.

CQ WEEKLY – VANTAGE POINT
July 14, 2008 – Page 1877

Clinton Diehards Want Convention Vote
By Shawn Zeller, CQ Staff
Photo caption and credit: WAVE ON: A few Clintonites think she has a chance. (BLOOMBERG NEWS / JON C. HANCOCK)

She may have given up, but a few of Hillary Rodham Clinton ’s people haven’t.

The senator from New York is said to be negotiating a respectful presence followed by a graceful exit from next month’s Democratic convention, and last week the party announced that Barack Obama would formally accept the party’s nomination in the stadium built for the Denver Broncos. But there are Clinton supporters clinging to the
hope that if her name is placed in nomination and the roll call of the states is conducted, she might — might — still win.

Heidi Li Feldman, a Georgetown University law professor, insists there’s still“no way of predicting” the outcome should there be a fair vote. That’s because Obama has not secured enough pledged delegates to ensure the magic number of 2,118 needed to claim victory; the Illinois senator has gone past that benchmark only with thepledges of about 390 superdelegates —and they can change their minds at any time up to the moment they cast their ballots.

“If they had a meaningful vote, I have no idea who would win,” Feldman says. “But I know that if Sen. Obama were sure he would win, there wouldn’t be a negotiation” about Clinton’s role at the convention.

So Feldman, who says she has raised about $100,000 for Clinton, has turned her prowess to raising money for advertising demanding a convention vote, and she has teamed with a fellow pro-Clinton blogger, Marc Rubin, to form the Denver Group to lobby the Democratic National Committee, much of the staff of which has already moved from Washington to Chicago to work for Obama.

Feldman says she won’t vote for Obama if Clinton doesn’t get a convention vote. Rubin says he might not. Both say they aren’t worried that their efforts will continue to divide Democrats at a time when they should be uniting to take on Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona. In fact, they argue, many Democrats might stay home if they feel Clinton gets short shrift.

READ ALL: “The Denver Group Covered by Congressional Quarterly Weekly Magazine.”

____________

ALSO: Don’t miss Bud White’s audio interview of Heidi Li and Marc Rubin.