Post-Clinton Bill

Berättelsen om de amerikanska presidenternas fortsatta öden efter dess presidenttid tagit slut kan göras lång. Under George W. Bushs tid som president har det som mest rört sig om fem levande ex-presidenter - av dessa är det utan tvekan Bill Clinton som gjort mest väsen av sig. Här är en väldigt lång, men väldigt läsvärd artikel om Bill Clintons liv efter hans presidentskap. Tyvärr får man en ganska patetisk uppfattning av den fd presidenten - och även om jag inte kan förutspå framtiden har jag mycket, mycket svårt att tro att George W. Bush kommer att hantera sin post-presidenttid på samma sätt, måste man säga gnälligt patetiska vis.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/07/clinton200807?currentPage=1

Clinton vinner Puerto Rico

Artikel NY Times om Clintons överlägsna seger i Puerto Rico där hon vann i princip varje väljargrupp, inklusive unga, som annars nästan uteslutande röstat för Obama. Segern gör att hon med förnyad kraft kan argumentera för att superdelegaterna som ompröva sitt beslut. Man får säga vad man vill om Hillary, men hon är beslutsam - hon är förmodligen en betydligt mer prövad fighter än Obama är, och även om situationen ser mörk ut för Hillary bör hon inte anses som helt uträknad ännu.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/us/politics/02dems.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1212390139-7asD3QHJ3J1T52PuiKxgVA

Mattias Gardell ljuger och snackar skit om Rice

Mattias Gardell dissar Rice- på ett sätt som får mig att förakta honom, helt oavsett att jag sen i stor utsträckning respekterar en hel del saker som han gjort i sin akademiska karriär. Men, när han gör så här, then "Thats enough", som Obama skulle ha sagt:

http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/artikel_1308055.svd

En väldigt intressant analys om Hillarys chanser

Lanny J. Davis, en fd rådgivare till Bill Clinton och nu en stark supporter till Hillary skriver en mycket intressant och granskande artikel om Hillarys position och chans att bli nominerad.

Dels sägs i artikeln att Hillary har betydligt större övertag i de delstater där Demokraterna måste vinna i höst, te x Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida:

The latest state-by-state battleground polls (published May 21-23) by other respected polling organizations verify Gallup's findings that Sen. Clinton is significantly stronger against Sen. McCain in the key states that a Democrat must win to gain the presidency. According to various poll data within the last 10 days:

- Pennsylvania: Sen. Clinton leads McCain 50%-39%; Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain are effectively tied.

- Ohio: Sen. Clinton leads Sen. McCain 48%-41%, Sen. Obama is down 44%-40%.

- Florida: Sen. Clinton leads Sen. McCain 47%-41%; Sen. McCain leads Sen. Obama 50%-40%. (Sen. Clinton has a net advantage of 16 points!)

- North Carolina: Despite a substantial primary victory, Sen. Obama is down 8% vs. Sen. McCain, (51%-43%), while Sen. Clinton leads by 6% (49%-43%).

- Nevada: Sen. Clinton up 5%, Sen. Obama down 6%.

Dels säger också artikeln att Hillary fortfarande har möjlighet att vinna majoritet i nationellt röstantal - om hon vinner stort i de kvarvarande delstaterna. Detta trots att hon inte fick som hon önskade när de gällde Michigans delegater.

Artikeln påpekar också att de "nya röster" som Obama drar - inte skulle dra rösterna på ett strategiskt sätt i höstens val, utan likväl ge McCain övertag i de flesta nyckelstater:

Even the theory that Sen. Obama can open up significant numbers of "red" states has not been borne out by recent polling. For example: in Virginia, which Sen. Obama won substantially in the Feb. 12 Democratic primary, he is currently down in at least one recent, respected poll by a significant 9% margin – one point greater than the 8% margin Sen. Clinton is behind Sen. McCain.

Kort sagt så anser denna artikel att Hillary är ett bättre kort i höst, än Obama är. Det allra bästa vore dock om de två slog sig ihop med någondera av dem som vice- och den andre som president. Det skulle i princip garantera en Demokratisk seger i höstens val.

Källa: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121219030144534313.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

Obama quits Chicago church after long controversy

Obama har slutligen tagit det stora, men måhända nödvändiga, beslutet att lämna sin flock.

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ABERDEEN, S.D. - Barack Obama has resigned his 20 year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and more recent fiery remarks at the church by another minister.

Obama campaign communications director Robert Gibbs said Obama had resigned from the church "over the last few days."

Campaign aides said they weren't immediately certain how the resignation took place, whether by letter or in some other fashion, and were trying to find out.

Messages left for a church spokeswoman in Chicago were not immediately returned Saturday afternoon.

The development came as Obama campaigned in South Dakota.

Obama said he disagreed with Wright but initially portrayed him as a family member he couldn't disown. The preacher had officiated at Obama's wedding and been his spiritual mentor for some 20 years.

But six weeks after Obama's well-received speech on race, Wright claimed at an appearance in Washington that the U.S. government was capable of planting AIDS in the black community, praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and suggested that Obama was acting like a politician by putting his pastor at arm's length while privately agreeing with him.

Obama denounced those Wright comments as "divisive and destructive."

Comments by Wright inflamed racial tensions and posed an unwanted problem for Obama, front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, as he seeks to wrap up the nomination.

More recently, racially charged remarks from the same pulpit by another pastor, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, kept the controversy alive and proved the latest thorn in the side of Obama. Pfleger mocked Obama rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as a guest speaker at Obama's church.

Although Obama condemned comments by both Wright and Pfleger, the controversy has persisted.

For months, Obama has been hamstrung by the rhetoric of Wright, whose sermons blaming U.S. policies for the Sept. 11 attacks and calls of "God damn America" for its racism became fixtures on the Internet and cable news networks.

Initially, Obama said he disagreed with Wright but portrayed him as a family member he couldn't disown. The preacher had officiated at Obama's wedding and been his spiritual mentor for some 20 years.

But six weeks after Obama's well-received speech on race, Wright claimed at an appearance in Washington that the U.S. government was capable of planting AIDS in the black community, praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and suggested that Obama was acting like a politician by putting his pastor at arm's length while privately agreeing with him.

On Thursday, Obama was again forced to reject another man of the cloth, this time Pfleger, who made racially charged comments mocking Clinton in a guest sermon at Obama's church.

Obama made it clear he wasn't happy with the comments — in which Pfleger pretended he was Clinton crying over "a black man stealing my show" — and said he was "deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger's divisive, backward-looking rhetoric, which doesn't reflect the country I see or the desire of people across America to come together in common cause."

Pfleger, too, issued an apology, saying he was sorry if his comments offended Clinton or anyone else.

The timing of Obama's decision was clearly planned with an eye toward Washington and the calendar. The news broke late on a Saturday and while most of the political attention was focused on the Democratic National Committee's struggle to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan.

Republican John McCain also has had his woes with religious leaders.

Earlier this month, McCain rejected endorsements from two influential but controversial televangelists, saying there is no place for their incendiary criticisms of other faiths.

McCain spurned the months-old endorsement of Texas preacher John Hagee after an audio recording surfaced in which the preacher said God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land. McCain called the comment "crazy and unacceptable."

He later repudiated the support of Rod Parsley, an Ohio preacher who has sharply criticized Islam and called the religion inherently violent.

Källa: Yahoo!