After Hillary's repeated challenges, implying that Obama would "
prefer to give speeches than have to answer questions," Obama went head to head with Hillary and won:
MSNBC (Jonathan Alter): Obama won.
Hotline – On Call: …Barack Obama wins the night -- and the momentum in his direction continues.
Atlantic (Marc Ambinder): … The Debate Belongs To Obama
LINK TIME (Mark Halperin): Mark Halperin’s Grades: Obama B+, Clinton B
NBC (Chuck Todd) : …Obama set the tone
LINKCNN (Donna Brazile): …And look, Barack Obama tonight was exceptional- he was presidential, he was poised, he was calm. He had the poetry, but he also had the prose. He put the substance ahead of, you know, perhaps some of the rhetorical flourishes that he's capable of giving. He was good; so, you can’t deny him that.
CNN (Gloria Borger): …Tonight, you saw Barack Obama as a very credible commander in chief.
Politico (Ben Smith): Obama has come prepared to talk about substance, and offers detailed personal anecdotes, not more abstract oration, for most of his opening statement, before pivoting to the question of who can unify the country to get it done.
LINKCNN (David Gergen): … Barack Obama is dramatically better as a debater than he was a few months ago. I thought he was excellent.
moreOn substance, Obama explained why he's no slouch:
SEN. OBAMA: Well, I think actions do speak louder than words, which is why over the 20 years of my public service I have acted a lot to provide health care to people who didn't have it, to provide tax breaks to families that needed it, to reform a criminal justice system that had resulted in wrongful convictions, to open up our government, and to pass the toughest ethics reform legislation since Watergate -- (applause) -- to make sure that we create transparency -- to make sure that we create transparency in our government so that we know where federal spending is going and it's not going to a bunch of boondoggles and earmarks that are wasting taxpayer money that could be spent on things like early childhood education.
You know, I think if you talk to those wounded warriors at Walter Reed who, prior to me getting to the Senate, were having to pay for their meals and have to pay for their phone calls to their family while they're recovering from amputations, I think they'd say that I've engaged not just in talk, but in action. (Cheers, applause.)
Now -- now, I think Senator Clinton has a fine record, and I don't to denigrate that record. I do think there is a fundamental difference between us in terms of how change comes about. Senator Clinton of late has said "let's get real." And the implication is, is that, you know, the people who have been voting for me or involved in my campaign are somehow delusional -- (laughter) -- and that -- (chuckles) -- that, you know, the -- (laughter) -- you know, the 20 million people who have been paying attention to 19 debates, and the editorial boards all across the country at newspapers who have given me endorsements including every major newspaper here in the state of Texas -- (cheers, applause) -- you know, the thinking is that somehow they're being duped and that eventually they're going to see the reality of things.
Well, I think they perceive reality of what's going on in Washington very clearly. And what they see is that if we don't bring the country together, stop the endless bickering, actually focus on solutions and reduce the special interests that have dominated Washington, then we will not get anything done. And the reason that this campaign has done so well -- (applause) -- the reason that this campaign has done so well is because people understand that it is not just a matter of putting forward policy positions.
Senator Clinton and I share a lot of policy positions. But if we can't inspire the American people to get involved in their government, and if we can't inspire them to go beyond the racial divisions and the religious divisions and the regional divisions, that have plagued our politics for so long, then we will continue to see the kind of gridlock and non-performance in Washington that is resulting in families suffering in very real ways.
linkThis Daily Kos diary, "
I found the BEEF - Obama's Senate Record," shows why he's no slouch:
Below I summarize Senator Obama's legislative record in the US Senate.
First I list the bills he sponsored that have become law.
Next I summarize the bills that he has sponsored or cosponsored since he became a US Senator in 2005.
I have only included major pieces of legislation and have not summarized continuing resolutions or naming post offices, for example.
His record suggests several priorities and the bills he supports address many of our most pressing problems.
Most of his legislative effort has been in the area of Energy Efficiency and Climate Change (25 bills), health care (21 bills) and public health (20 bills), consumer protection/labor (14 bills), the needs of Veterans and the Armed Forces (13 bills), Congressional Ethics and Accountability (12 bills), Foreign Policy (10 bills) Voting and Elections (9 bills), Education (7 bills), Hurricane Katrina Relief (6), the Environment (5 bills), Homeland Security (4 bills), and discrimination (4 bills).
Of the 15 bills Senator Obama sponsored or co-sponsored in 2005-7 that became law:
Two addressed foreign policy:
Promote relief, security and democracy in the Congo (2125)
Develop democratic institutions in areas under Palestinian control (2370).
Three addressed public health:
Improve mine safety (2803)
Increased breast cancer funding (597)
Reduce preterm delivery and complications, reduce infant mortality (707).
Two addressed openness and accountability in government:
Strengthening the Freedom of Information Act (2488)
Full disclosure of all entities receiving federal funds (2590)
Two addressed national security
Extend Terrorist Risk Insurance (467)
Amend the Patriot Act (2167)
One addressed the needs of the Armed Forces
Wave passport fees to visit graves, attend memorials/funerals of veterans abroad (1184).
Of the 570 bills Senator Obama introduced into the Senate during the 109th and 110th Congress (Senate Bill numbers are in parentheses), they can be summarized as follows:
25 addressed Energy Efficiency and Climate Change
Suspend royalty relief for oil and gas (115)
Reduce dependence on oil; use of alternative energy sources (133)
Increase fuel economy standards for cars (767, 768)
Auto industry incentives for fuel efficient vehicles (1151)
Reduce green house gas emissions (1324)
Establish at NSF a climate change education program (1389)
Increase renewable content of gasoline (2202)
Energy emergency relief for small businesses and farms (269)
Strategic gasoline and fuel reserves (1794)
Alternative diesel standards (3554)
Coal to liquid fuel promotion (3623)
Renewable diesel standards (1920)
Reducing global warming pollution from vehicles (2555)
Fuel security and consumer choice (1994, 2025)
Alternative energy refueling system (2614)
Climate change education (1389)
Low income energy assistance (2405)
Oil savings targets (339)
Fuel economy reform (3694)
Plug-in electric drive vehicles (1617)
Nuclear release notice (2348)
Passenger rail investment (294)
Energy relief for low income families (2405)
21 addressed Health Care
Drug re-importation (334)
Health information technology (1262, 1418)
Discount drug prices (2347)
Health care associated infections (2278)
Hospital quality report cards (692, 1824)
Medical error disclosure and compensation (1784)
Emergency medical care and response (1873)
Stem cell research (5)
Medical Malpractice insurance (1525)
Health centers renewal (901, 3771)
Children’s health insurance (401)
Home health care (2061)
Medicare independent living (2103)
Microbicides for HIV/AIDS (823)
Ovarian cancer biomarker research (2569)
Gynological cancers (1172)
Access to personalized medicine through use of human genome (976)
Paralysis research and care (1183)
20 addressed Public Health:
Violence against women (1197)
Biodefense and pandemic preparedness and response (1821, 1880)
Viral influenza control (969)
End homelessness (1518)
Reduce STDs/unintended pregnancy (1790)
Smoking prevention and tobacco control (625)
Minority health improvement and disparity elimination (4024)
Nutrition and physical education in schools (2066)
Health impact assessments (1067, 2506)
Healthy communities (1068)
Combat methamphetamines (2071)
Paid sick leave (910)
Prohibit mercury sales (833, 1818)
Prohibit sale of lead products (1306, 2132)
Lead exposure in children (1811, 2132)
14 address Consumer Protection/Labor
Stop unfair labor practices (842)
Fair minimum wage (2, 1062, 2725, 3829)
Internet freedom (2917)
Credit card safety (2411)
Media ownership (2332)
Protecting taxpayer privacy (2484)
Working family child assistance (218)
Habeus Corpus Restoration (185)
Bankruptcy protection for employees and retirees (2092)
FAA fair labor management dispute resolution (2201)
Working families flexibility (2419).
13 addressed the Needs of Veterans and the Armed Forces:
Improve Benefits (117)
Suicide prevention (479)
Needs of homeless veterans (1180)
Homes for veterans (1084)
GI Bill enhancement (43)
Military job protection
Dignity in care for wounded vets (713)
Housing assistance for low income veterans (1084)
Military children in public schools (2151)
Military eye injury research and care (1999)
Research physical/mental health needs from Iraq War (1271)
Proper administration of discharge for personality disorder (1817, 1885)
Security of personal data of veterans (3592)
12 addressed Congressional Ethics and Accountability
Lobbying and ethics reform (230)
Stop fraud (2280)
Legislative transparency and accountability (525)
Open government (2180, 2488)
Restoring fiscal discipline (10)
Transparency and integrity in earmarks (2261)
Accountability of conference committee deliberations and reports (2179)
Federal funding accountability and transparency (2590)
Accountability and oversight for private security functions under Federal
contract (674)
Accountability for contractors and personnel under federal contracts
(2147) Resctrictions awarding government contracts (2519)
10 addressed Foreign Policy:
Iraq war de-escalation (313)
US policy for Iraq (433),
Divestiture from Iran (1430)
Sudan divestment authorization (831)
Millennium Development Goals (2433)
Multilateral debt relief (1320)
Development bank reform (1129)
Nuclear nonproliferation (3131,977,2224).
9 address Voting/Elections
Prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections (453)
Voter access to polls and services in Federal elections (737)
Voter intimidation and deceptive practices (1975)
Senate campaign disclosure parity (185)
Require reporting for bundled campaign contributions (2030)
Election jamming prevention (4102)
Campaign disclosure parity (223)
Presidential funding (2412)
Integrity of electronic voting systems (1487)
11 addressed Education
Increase access of low income African Americans to higher education (1513)
Establish teaching residency programs (1574)
Increase early intervention services (2111)
Middle school curriculum improvements (2227)
Public database of scholarships, fellowships and financial aid (2428)
Summer learning programs (116)
TANF financial education promotion (924)
Higher education (1642)
Build capacity at community colleges (379)
Campus law enforcement in emergencies (1228)
Support for teachers (2060).
6 addressed Hurrican Katrina
Hurricane Katrina recovery (2319)
Emergency relief (1637)
Bankruptcy relief and community protection (1647)
Working family tax relief (2257)
Fair wages for recovery workers (1749)
Gulf coast infrastructure redevelopment (1836)
5 addressed the Environment
Drinking water security (218, 1426)
Water resources development (728)
Waste water treatment (1995)
Combat illegal logging (1930)
Spent nuclear fuel tracking and Acountability (1194)
Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act (Introduced in Senate)
4 addressed Discrimination
Claims for civil class action based on discrimination (1989)
Domestic partnership benefits (2521)
Unresolved civil rights crimes (535)
Equality or two parent families (2286)
4 addressed Homeland Security
Judicial review of FISA orders (2369)
National emergency family locator (1630)
Amend US Patriot Act (2167)
Chemical security and safety (2486)
Next time someone asks you "where's the beef" in Senator Obama's Senate record, please feel free to send the link to this diary.
This analysis shows why he's no slouch, and clearly distinguishes Obama from Hillary:
In last July's CNN/You Tube debate, Hillary Clinton posed as the foreign policy sophisticate to Barack Obama, the bold leader who did not hesitate to say that he would meet with the leaders of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Venezuela. Some argued that Obama had committed a major blunder reflecting his lack of foreign policy experience.
But I argued that such "sophistication" can also be a trap. Witness how far Clinton's nuanced experience got her when confronted with the 2002 Iraq war resolution.
Obama's opponents tried to exploit his response. But they didn't get far. And from a foreign policy point of view was Obama's response so wrong and Clinton's so right? Her husband's administration generally followed Hillary's approach; during his two terms President Clinton did not meet with Fidel Castro or with Hugo Chavez or with the leaders of Iran, Syria, and North Korea--while generally pursuing a policy of trying to isolate these countries. But what did the Clinton approach actually accomplish? The Cuban regime, now in a transitional era, and Chavez in Venezuela have only grown stronger and more influential in Latin America. Although Syria was forced to withdraw its military forces from Lebanon in 2006, the regime of Bashar Assad is as firmly entrenched in power as was his father's. And in spite of the odious politics and qualities of Ahmadinejad, Iran carries more weight in the Middle East than it did doing the early 1990s while American power and standing has declined considerably.
Indeed, both Clinton and Bush may have missed a historic opportunity to open a new chapter with Iran when reformer Mohamed Khatemi was elected in 1997. Had President Clinton taken the bold step Obama suggested and had met without precondition with President Khatemi in 1998 or '99 instead of pursuing sanctions, might not the democratic reformers be in power in Iran? Might we not have a healthy and growing trading relationship with an economically reformed Iran? Might Iran have capped its nuclear program and cooperated with us in managing regional relations including the peaceful downfall of Saddam Hussein? We do not know because the foreign policy sophisticates thought it was too politically risky for President Clinton to make such a bold move.
Above all, foreign policy is a matter of simultaneously projecting American confidence and American humility. In signaling that he was willing to meet with the leaders of these countries, "with preparation but no preconditions," Obama was signaling that the United States has the confidence in its values to meet with anyone. But he also signaled a certain humility that reflects the understanding that the next president must reach out to the rest of the world and not merely issue conditions from the White House and threaten military force if it does not get its way.
Today, a survey of the polls show Obama eroding Hillary's lead in must-win states for her:
Friday, February 22, 2008
By Michael J.W. Stickings
New poll numbers, via
The Plank: "The new ABC News/WaPo
poll has Clinton ahead of Obama by 7 in Ohio and 1 in Texas. She had double-digit leads in both states last week. Meanwhile, Rasmussen has Clinton up
three in Texas (last week he had the New York senator up 16)."
RealClearPolitics is a good resource for state-by-state polling. Here's
Ohio and
Texas. The trend in both states is clear: Obama is closing the gap in dramatic fashion. Note, too, that ABC News/WaPo has Clinton up by just one point in Texas.
Clinton continues to have a double-digit lead in
Pennsylvania, which will hold its primary two weeks from today, but the trend is the same there as in Ohio and Texas: Obama seems to be catching up.
Elsewhere, Obama is up by ten in
North Carolina, another fairly big state that hasn't been getting much attention (because it is expected to go for Obama and because Clinton has been ignoring it, like so many other states).
linkRemember that list of feminists for Obama, it has grown from
100 to 1,200:
More than 1,000 feminists have signed
a statement criticizing Hillary Clinton and supporting Obama for president - evidence that Clinton's support among women activists continues to decline. The group, "Feminists for Peace," started out with 100 signers before the super-Tuesday primaries, and has 1,200 signers two weeks later.
Clinton's support for the war in Iraq was the leading reason she lost the support of the feminists, along with the fact that "until quite recently (she) opposed all legislative efforts to bring the war and occupation to an end." The group added, "We urgently need a presidential candidate whose first priority is to address domestic needs."
Those endorsing Obama include writer Barbara Ehrenreich; longtime peace activist Cora Weiss; Katha Pollitt, columnist for The Nation; Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times writer Margo Jefferson; women's rights historians Alice Kessler Harris and Linda Gordon; political scientist Frances Fox Piven and actor/activist Susan Sarandon.
Then there is the issue of campaign management, fund raising:
by Shaun Appleby, Thu Feb 21, 2008 at 04:51:03 PM EST
A candidate supporter diary for MyDD
Fundraising is an essential, and early, component of any successful campaign. In Senator Obama's case, an unexpected and relatively late decision to run against an established and well resourced opponent, it formed a vital part of his campaign strategy. From the beginning, he was confidently able to tap a large pool of institutional donors in his native Illinois, but his first major coup was to acquire not only key staff but the bulk of the existing, and substantial, donor base of Senator John Kerry, who declined to run:
Kerry's loss has primarily been Obama's gain. The newcomer has secured commitments from 27 of the 41 former Kerry backers who have thus far declared allegiance to a new candidate, says a Kerry fund-raiser who is not aligned with either Clinton or Obama. Clinton has nabbed the other 14. None of the backers has yet joined any of the other Democratic hopefuls. "Senator Kerry told people that they ought to follow their own conscience," says Jay Dunn, national finance director for Kerry's political action committee.
Pinning down fund-raisers early is one sign of a campaign's viability. Obama's success has surprised some, given his relative inexperience and Clinton's deep ties to the Democratic Party.
Cranking Up The Money Machine Business Week 12 Feb 07
But that was just clever tactics, and an indication that Obama had put together a professional and experienced campaign team. The next move was strategic and implied a cleaner, more process-oriented political philosophy which resonated with voters:
<...>
Herein lay the seed of one of the process messages which both Obama and Edwards would use to distance themselves from the traditional 'top down' fundraising planned by Hillary. This was followed up with a surprisingly successful fundraising campaign in direct competition to Hillary in California and even her native New York. An early investment was the infrastructure for the kind of grass-roots fundraising machine which Howard Dean had pioneered in 2004, leveraging the Internet and his populist appeal and doubling Hillary in the first quarter for number of contributors. This made important early news for his campaign and set the narrative of a populist candidacy as distinct from Hillary's institutional support:
<...>
It is now apparent that the Clinton campaign had seriously miscalulated their financial position in the critical first months of caucuses and primaries:
She simply did not have the cash to compete in the post-Feb. 5 states, mostly because her campaign spending blueprint was built around two flawed premises: that no one would be able to match her fundraising and that the nomination would be decided on Super Tuesday.
Kenneth P Vogel -
Consultant spending saps Clinton campaign Politico 21 Feb 08
The seeds of this dilemma, however, were planted through the fundraising strategy she had adopted in the previous year, by the fourth quarter of 2007 a stunning 47% of Obama's fundraising was coming from individual donors contributing $200 dollars or less while the majority of Hillary's loyal donors were 'maxed out:'
Hillary Clinton raised about half of her primary money from donors who gave in amounts of $2300 or more. Since these donors have given the legal maximum, the candidate could not go back to them again in January to help her primary campaign. Barack Obama raised only about one-third of his funds from these "maxed out" donors. For both candidates, these percentages held steady between the third and fourth quarters. This clearly suggests that Obama had more room than Clinton to seek additional support from his donors under the law's contribution limits.
<...>
To make matters worse, Hillary's campaign had burned through their war chest at an alarming rate:
Hillary Rodham Clinton ended January with $7.6 million in debt -- not including the $5 million personal loan she gave to her campaign in the run-up to the critical Super Tuesday elections, according to financial reports released Wednesday.
In contrast, Democratic rival Barack Obama's campaign's finances continued to be robust.
He reported raising nearly $37 million and spending nearly $31 million. His cash balance was $25 million, of which roughly $20 million can be spent on the primary. He reported a comparatively small $1 million in debts, owed largely to just three vendors.
The January monthly financial disclosure reports glimpse a behind-the-scenes imbalance that has had a significant impact on the primary contest -- one that continues in the days leading up to the critical March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio.
As the Clinton campaign scrambles for cash, Obama appears on track to raise more than $30 million again in February.
Kenneth P. Vogel and Jeanne Cummings -
January yields debt for HRC, cash for Obama Politico 20 Feb 08
<...>
Wow. Not only has Obama's strategy paid off but it positions him favourably for the general election. Hillary, on the other hand, already feeling the effects of bad financial management, is now facing not only a cash shortage as critical expensive races loom but potentially the narrative that this predicament erodes her core message of being a capable and experienced executive manager.
By Eric Kleefeld - February 22, 2008, 8:59AM
With Hillary Clinton's campaign going downhill, a lot of big donors are now expressing their discontent with the way the finances have been handled, from the high-paid political consultants to the ostentatious spending on luxury hotels.
Former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle came under particular scrutiny for some of the big spending, not only in the presidential race but in Hillary's easy 2006 re-election, which managed to spend $30 million without having a major opponent. "The Senate race spending in 2006 was an omen for a lot of us inside the campaign," said one anonymous fundraiser, "but Hillary assured us that her presidential bid would be the best run in history."
linkIt's not just poor money management, Hillary's
entire campaign
strategy has been
strange