Through one voter’s eyes

By Jennifer J. Foster

Readers, we are now within 24 hours of Primary Day in North Carolina. You most likely already know that Hillary Clinton has closed the gap with Barack Obama in the state (thanks, Rev. Wright!) and now, according to latest polls, has the spread down to single digits.

Today we have a special treat: Jim, an Obama supporter from North Carolina with whom I exchanged e-mails regarding one of my previous columns, has agreed to provide us with his personal insights ahead of the primary tomorrow. (Note: Supporters of other candidates are welcome to write, as well.) As you read his comments, keep in mind that Jim was a sometimes-activist in college and has been “pretty much a straight-line Democrat” since. “I feel strongly that logic and science should be our guidelines whereas Republicans seem to be driven solely by emotions and shallow observations,“ he writes.

Jim is also a walking contradiction; or, as he says, “Like many people, those who don’t know me can easily stereotype me, but then the labels fall off when you get a little closer.“ Jim is an “old-time liberal and advocate for gun control who has also been a member of the NRA; a self-described atheist, he says he is also one of the most honest people you would ever find in business and sales (real estate). He is “completely at odds with the politics of the Realtors” but has served as president of his local chapter of Realtors; he supports capital punishment “in some cases” but also says he is “the biggest cry baby you ever saw in an orphanage.“

“Hell, I confuse myself,“ he says—and in that way, he is representative of so many Americans, who believe the lie that they are alone in thinking neither party really represents them. They trudge to the polls—or not—to cast lukewarm votes for the least of the evils, their frustration with the system pervasive, their alienation from their government ever-increasing.

Jim is evidence that they are not alone.

Without further ado, here are his comments:

We live in Fayetteville (moved here eleven months ago), so close to Fort Bragg that our entire house shakes when they start artillery practice, and we are surrounded by officers as neighbors. As you would expect, soldiers are not commonly going to go on the record about politics. But, under their breath, the officers commonly let it slip that they see the present administration as a ship of fools, and they sure as hell don’t want ten or one hundred more years of same-old-same-old.
   
The enlisted men are more likely to be the Reds. For example, we found a table for sale on Craigslist and met the medic-seller who came back from over there with the old Vietnam attitude: “Kill ‘em all; let god sort them out.“ He said that America should not care one whit about what the rest of the world thinks of it. Now there is a damned fool, and we are the losers since he represents a large group of uber-patriots. My poor wife had never met anyone so openly bloodthirsty so she was genuinely shaken.
We have Obama signs in all of our windows and no one has given us any negative feedback. A refrigerator repairman came over last week, and proved to be one of those rare people who will talk politics with a stranger. He let it be known right off that he thought George H.W. Bush was “too liberal,“ and this here Obama had too much of a Muslim background, and so on. I good-humoredly told him that Obama had no more ties to Muslims than anyone else he knew, but I didn’t expect to get through to someone whose only source of “news” is some radio show of right wing indoctrination (doesn’t the right ever admire the “whole truth?“).
He went on with his views, including how unhappy he is with McCain, who is also too liberal for him, and then he noticed with a laugh that I was wearing one big Obama button on my shirt. I actually enjoyed the exchange…he was jocular…and I have often thought about writing him a detailed response, but I have become somewhat resigned to the idiocy that permeates America. In fact, I left America after Bush was “re-elected” to live in the Philippines, but the corruption there made America look like a nation of goody-two-shoes, so the wife and I returned to live a quiet life of dissent.
We went to the Obama initial organizing rally several weeks ago, where 200 or so people crammed into a room without a breeze to cheer and share their hope that this ship will return to a wiser and saner course.
Years ago I thought that I would be delighted to see Hillary in the White House, even if I found her to be less than appealing in some ways, but now I don’t think I could vote for her under any circumstances. Her present campaign has proven that she cares a lot more about her personal status than whether or not the Dems reclaim the White House. She says she is doing Obama a favor, as a rationalization for doing everything she can to make him look inept. If she had focused on policy, I would not find her so horrible but now I see why so many people have mistrusted her raw ambition over the years.
Don’t hesitate to write and inquire. I’m semi-retired with lots of time to write (I’ve written three books so the fingers are facile). Yes, I am trying to remain optimistic that this intelligent and decent Obama will soon be our leader for eight years, and that this country will recover and lead the world to a much healthier life, but honestly I have to wonder if it isn’t too late. The greedy and/or thoughtless actions of the majority of Americans have gone on for so long that this environmental mess may be like a major car wreck…you survive but lose three limbs and an eye, and sometimes wish you had died.
We can blame our mess on our leaders, but SUV owners and their ilk have chosen these leaders so we have no one to blame but ourselves (I have to wonder if my fellow liberals and environmentalists could have been more effective, but I fear that the self-interests of most people would have made us ineffective with almost any approach).
I tell my friends that I would like to live another 100 years if just to see if any of the greedy and thoughtless types ever show any remorse. But, as Seinfeld might say, “Not bloody likely.“

Double-dipping crossovers

By Jennifer J. Foster

I promised you a list of the Alabama House members who crossed party lines on HB 787, the bill to overturn the double-dipping ban. Here it is—along with an accounting of legislators’ “day jobs,“ for context:

Republicans voting for the bill (i.e., to overturn the ban):
Rep. Spencer Collier (R-Irvington), executive director of the Alabama Safety Institute;
Rep. Blaine Galliher (R-Gadsden), director of business and industry training for Calhoun County at Gadsden State Community College;
Rep. Todd Greeson (R-Ider), farmer, insurance agent and workforce developer with Northeast Alabama Community College;
Rep. Jeremy Oden (R-Vinemont), CFO of Delta Discount Corporation, a remodeling and reconstruction contractor;  and
Rep. Allen Treadaway (R-Morris), a Birmingham police sergeant.

Democrats voting against the bill (i.e., to preserve the ban):
Rep. Richard Laird (D-Roanoke), president of Ranco Inc., a real estate and development company;
Rep. Frank McDaniel (D-Albertville), retired food distributorship owner;
Rep. Charles Newton (D-Greenville), president of Newton Oil Company; and
Rep. William Thigpen (D-Fayette), retired businessman (type of business unspecified).

Love or hate the double-dipping ban, say what you will about the folks above: At least they cast a vote.

That’s more than can be said for the following members —six of each party—who took a pass and voted “present” on final passage:
Rep. Billy Beasley (D-Clayton), pharmacist and drugstore owner;
Rep. Robert Bentley (R-Tuscaloosa), a board-certified dermatologist;
Rep. Christopher John England (D-Tuscaloosa), full-time legislator;
Rep. David Grimes (R-Montgomery), insurance agent;
Rep. Mike Hill (R-Columbiana), insurance agent;
Rep. Randy Hinshaw (D-Meridianville), “education specialist;“
Rep. A.J. McCampbell (D-Demopolis), insurance agent;
Rep. Jim McClendon (R-Springville), retired optician;
Rep. Mac McCutcheon (R-Capshaw), law enforcement professional and associate pastor;
Rep. Joseph Mitchell (D-Mobile), researcher and musician;
Rep. Yusuf Salaam (D-Selma), attorney; and
Rep. Elwyn Thomas (R-Oneonta), Realtor and real estate evaluator.

Incidentally, there has been some discussion among Alabama politicos about whether to consider the BIR vote, the cloture vote or the final passage vote when determining who crossed party lines. I go with the final passage vote here, because it is what matters to Alabamians in the end.

I invite any and all legislators mentioned in this post to respond and provide explanations for their votes—or lack thereof—on HB 787. I pledge to post responses in full as I receive them.

Legislators owe the people of Alabama an explanation as to are voting the way they are—or why, in some cases, they are not voting at all—on this critical policy measure. I hope they take this opportunity to tell us.

Every vote counts

By Jennifer J. Foster

I get so tired of hearing people say that their vote doesn’t make a difference.

CNN reports:

Sen. Barack Obama won Guam’s Democratic presidential caucuses Saturday by just seven votes, according to a Guam election official.

With all 21 precincts reporting, Obama finished with 2,264 votes, or 50.1 percent. Sen. Hillary Clinton got 2,257 votes, or 49.9 percent.

Seven votes. Out of 4,521.

That’s 0.15 percent.

Overall in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, CNN estimates that Obama leads Clinton in pledged delegates by 137, while Clinton leads Obama in superdelegates by 22.

As for the popular vote, estimates of Obama’s lead range from a razor-thin 0.03 percent—11,400 votes out of 30,669,564 cast—to a meager 2.1 percent—611,695 votes out of 28,894,055 cast.

If you’re a numbers person, then the RealClearPolitics Democratic popular vote tally page—and all its disclaimers, addenda, provisos, etc., necessitated by the Florida-Michigan-Iowa-Nevada-Maine-Washington craziness—is for you. (Note: As of this posting, the Guam numbers are not updated on the RCP tally, but I have included them in the figures above.)

With Clinton raising expectations for her performance in Tuesday’s North Carolina primary, will former Democratic candidate John Edwards, who dropped out of the race at the end of January, finally endorse one of the two senators? Or will he keep his powder dry in hopes of leveraging his influence to advance his anti-poverty agenda with the candidates ahead of the convention in August?

Keep an eye out here for a first-person account of the atmosphere on the ground in North Carolina ... Tuesday’s going to be fun!

Courting Joe

By Jennifer J. Foster

I had a conversation with Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham earlier this week regarding the furor over Jeremiah Wright and how it’s impacting things for Democrats behind the scenes.

In short, his comments seemed to confirm what outside observers have suspected: Whatever the numerical realities are headed into the Denver convention in August—whether it is states won, delegates won, popular votes or even the electoral count based on states won—both the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns are preparing their best arguments for national electability.

Turnham is one of many superdelegates expecting to hear strong arguments on this front, he said. And his decision will hinge on them.

“I want someone who can win in November,“ he said.

Turnham said he expects this to be a common theme among superdelegates from 13 surrounding states as they convene in Mobile, Ala., for a regional convention June 19-21. The so-called “Southern Caucus,“ one of four such DNC-sanctioned regional events, is expected to draw about 100 superdelegates, Turnham said. The Birmingham News notes that party leaders expect the event to draw national media coverage—and possibly even visits from the candidates themselves—because it “could be the last major gathering of superdelegates prior to the party’s national convention.“

As for DNC Chairman Howard Dean’s preference that superdelegates declare their choices as soon as the primary season ends in June, Turnham said he won’t be rushed, saying he will commit his support as DNC rules and its calendar provide.

Turnham told me he is “officially uncommitted” as to whom he will support for the Democratic presidential nomination.

“Are you ‘unofficially committed?‘“ I asked.

“No comment,“ he said.

He also tipped me to a web site called 270towin.com, an Electoral College primer with an interactive map that allows users to explore various potential outcomes in the states and how those outcomes would affect the distribution of electoral votes. Users choose a starting point, whether from among preset maps (options include 2008 swing states, 2004 very close states and 2004 competitive states) or a blank slate. Individual state information is available below the map, so users can consider states’ recent electoral history as they play out their strategies. Users then click on individual states to turn them red or blue; the electoral count updates accordingly.

I spoke with the founder of 270towin.com this week, and I’ll share my interview with him here in coming days. But Turnham’s mention of the site is notable in itself: It indicates that Turnham and his fellow undeclared superdelegates are likely among the users, and they may be basing their decisions—and the fate of the Democratic presidential nomination—on the strategies they play out on that map.

Morning shock

By Jennifer J. Foster

I’ve already received some calls and e-mails about my picture in the Opelika-Auburn News this morning.

I have only two things to say about it: One, I had no idea it was coming; two, the feeling I got when I saw it is why I went into print instead of broadcast journalism.

Jeepers.