Hillary Should Concede March 4

Hillary Is Not Losing, Barack Is Winning

Hillary is not losing, Barack is winning. This new kind of politics, politics of hope is a paradigm shift thing. And that is why the old Clinton hands are flustered.

This nomination fight has to end March 4. Hillary has to be prepared to give a great concession speech. She is going to lose the two biggies. Both Texas and Ohio will be had by Obama 08. Then it is over. But things don't have to end for Hillary if she gives a great concession speech. She is a capable woman who has a lot to contribute.

I relate to Hillary in a very personal way. Hillary has been a first in many ways. When Hillary got into the White House, people were like, this First Lady is actually talking public policy, woe is to me. It was unfair to her and to the women of the world that her talking policy was news, but it was. She has been a pioneer woman. She has taken a lot of flak from right wingers, and sexist men in the Democratic camp. But she has also taken a lot of flak from women, period. And I relate to that. There is sexism, anti-sexism, but also internalized sexism. Hillary has been one angle facing two angles. There is ethnic prejudice, anti-prejudice, and internalized prejudice, this I say about being a Madhesi in Nepal. There is racism, anti-racism, and internalized racism. I have been one angle facing two angles on those two counts. So I relate to her in an extremely personal way.

And there is also this sidestepping thing. The powers that be will always find another Madhesi, or another brown guy who does not have "issues." They will find people in that second angle to suggest, see, I am not prejudiced, I am not racist, there are these people who get along with me just fine, it is just you.

We can't do that to Hillary. We can't think of another woman for the ticket. And white men are absolutely, totally out of bounds. Women have come so far, and I don't mean just the women in America, but the women of the world, actually I mean primarily the women of the world, the women of the world have come so far in Hillary simply have come this far as a candidate. America had never before seen a serious woman candidate for president. This was a first time. It is kind of primitive that the country waited for so long. But that does make Hillary a pioneer woman. She can not be wasted. She has come this far. She has to go further. She has to get on the ticket.

The Need For A Race Gender Coalition
A Vote For Barack Is Not A Vote Against Hillary

Simple Arithmetic

This has been such a tight race. Simple arithmetic says you got to get Hillary on the ticket to unify the party, as simple as that. Don't make a short list. Don't shop around. As soon as Hillary gives her concession speech, call her up and offer her the slot. As soon as she accepts, and accept she will, she suggested as much during the Texas debate, you go public. You give your speech saying you are honored to have Hillary on your ticket.

Great Chemistry

Barack and Hillary genuinely like each other. So it is not just about arithmetic. We got arithmetic, but we also got chemistry. Hillary ran a tough, competitive campaign. That is why she will be a great Vice President.

History

Barack fans are like, oh, Barack is just so great. Hillary fans are like, oh, Hillary is just so great. Well, when you are a black man, or a woman, you have to be great, you have to be super, you have to be a superduper individual to get as far as these two have gone.

We can't waste either of them. So it is about arithmetic, it is about chemistry, it is about history.

It Is Hillary Or It Is Nobody

I can't think of anyone else.

Dragging On Makes No Sense

March 4 is it. That is the day when we have to become one campaign. That very night, we have to announce that we have become one.

Texas Is Not Looking Good For Hillary

Hillary: "Tell Him To Come Meet Me In Texas"

In The News

Poll: Clinton, Obama Tied in Texas The Associated Press Hillary Rodham Clinton, 50 percent Barack Obama, 48 percent

Curfew in southern Nepal, capital running out of fuel AFP
Election Count Begins in Pakistan Voice of America
Obama seeks to turn table in Ohio, Texas Los Angeles Times Obama has launched a newly aggressive strategy to undermine two pillars of support for rival Hillary Rodham Clinton: Latinos and working-class white voters. ...... a push from younger members helped persuade the Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers to endorse Obama last week. ...... "He's not just going to crack a glass ceiling. He can really kick the door off its hinges, and clear the way for all of us, even Hispanics." ..... Texas, where Latinos and blacks have a history of building political coalitions ...... The state's complicated system of voting, involving both a primary and a caucus ..... Obama's strategy is to try to make NAFTA a central issue of the campaign
Obama quietly meets with ex-rival John Edwards Los Angeles Times Obama sneaked down to North Carolina on Sunday and met with former opponent John Edwards .... Reporters normally travel with Obama, but he flew down in secret. ..... eight consecutive losses to Obama. ... Polls show her with a comfortable lead over Obama in Ohio, and the two candidates are scheduled to debate in Cleveland on Feb. 26. ..... she sampled a spicy Mexican sauce at a Milwaukee grocery store in a heavily Latino neighborhood and purchased hot peppers, which she eats in large quantities to try to ward off colds.
In Wisconsin, Obama has edge over Clinton MarketWatch
Clinton Camp Charges Obama with 'Plagiarism' Washington Post
In Wisconsin, Clinton Campaigns at Vigorous Pace Washington Post
Is Hillary History? she had just lost four states to Obama, been forced to lend her operation $5 million and dumped her campaign manager ...... She is drowning in a sea of negative coverage. ..... "the once-mighty Clinton campaign is beginning to feel like the last days of Pompeii." ...... if she doesn't win Ohio and Texas next month, "she's out." ..... likened her campaign to the Titanic. A Slate headline put it starkly: "So, Is She Doomed?" ...... The Nation, the country's largest liberal magazine, has endorsed Obama. Markos Moulitsas, the most prominent liberal blogger, voted for Obama in the California primary and has been ridiculing Clinton's campaign. ........ the candidate "crippled by poll-tested corporate packaging that markets her as a synthetic product leeched of most human qualities." ...... a conventional politician pitted against a cultural phenomenon. ...... a mathematical long shot. ...... Clinton is a disciplined and detail-oriented candidate, with a style that produces few sparks, while Obama is filling basketball arenas with thunderous oratory. That is why her choking up in a New Hampshire coffee shop became such a huge story -- because we rarely get a peek behind the steely exterior. ........ After his victory speech Tuesday, MSNBC's Chris Matthews said he "felt this thrill going up my leg." ..... Obama has defied the laws of journalistic gravity, somehow avoiding the usual scrutiny applied to front-runners. ...... her "direct and plain-spoken, with an edgy sense of humor . . . she can be tough, and even a little steely." She is "outspoken, strong-willed, funny, gutsy, and sometimes sarcastic," cutting "an athletic and authoritative figure" ....... The editor of the NYT compares Obama and Mandela. ..... kicking Hillary when she's down ....... "Her attitude clearly is to win, no matter how, and worry about the repair job later. ...... 'I'm tested, I'm ready, let's make it happen!' she yelled into a mic on a stage in Texas on the night of her latest defeat. This is meant to look like confidence. Whether or not you wish her well probably determines whether you see it as game face, stubbornness or evidence of mild derangement. ........ my sense is that Obama has already won this thing. ...... Much of Clinton's current predicament stems from Penn's disastrous, glass-jaw 'inevitability' strategy and the mind-boggling decision not even to contest a slew of states where Obama racked up huge victories and many delegates. ........ that the Clintonistas would even suggest the use of super delegates to subvert the will of the Democratic Party electorate ....... "Among the 125 million people in the U.S. who visit online dating and social-networking sites are a growing number of dullards who steal personal profiles, life philosophies, even signature poems. 'Dude u like copied my whole myspace,' posts one aggrieved victim."
Mandela, like Obama, although he wasn’t always the most riveting public speaker, was the kind of speaker who didn’t dwell on the details of his ten-point program, but went for emotional lift. ..... both of them, in a way, transcended race

Obama numbers rise as candidate endorsed by service union Bizjournals.com, USA Obama has taken the lead in the Texas Democratic primary polls ..... Obama ahead of Sen. Hillary Clinton 48 percent to 42 percent ...... Obama took point with self-described independent voters by a vast margin: 71 percent to Clinton's 24 percent. Clinton edged out Obama among women (54 percent to 42 percent), whites (51 percent to 40 percent) and Latinos (44 percent to 42 percent), while Obama captured the lion's share of men (55 percent to 29 percent) and blacks (76 percent to 17 percent). ....... "We haven't seen this kind of energy in years. We hope our endorsement will help propel him to victory in Texas to secure the nomination." ....... Texas primary, with its 228 delegates at stake, could be the most influential of all the remaining state primary elections. Dallas, which offers about 67 delegates

In The News

Obama hits Clinton on NAFTA support in drive to win crucial Ohio ... International Herald Tribune Barack Obama hammered Hillary Rodham Clinton on her long record of support for a free-trade agreement unpopular with working-class voters as he pushed to win next week's Ohio primary and possibly force his rival from the Democratic presidential race. ..... Obama has won 11 straight primaries and caucuses this month ..... Bill Clinton has said publicly his wife probably needs to win both of them if she is to capture the Democratic presidential nomination. .... In Ohio, polls show Clinton with a narrowing lead .... "He thought that there was no difference between Al Gore and George Bush and eight years later I think people realize that Ralph did not know what he was talking about," Obama said.
Thousands pack University of Toledo stadium for Obama rally Detroit Free Press The first Barack Obama fan arrived at the University of Toledo at 3:45 a.m. today, anxious to see the political phenomenon. ...... By 3:45 p.m., Savage Hall at the university was packed with more than 10,000 adoring supporters ..... politics that aren’t about tearing people down, but lifting people up
Political Memo Somber Clinton Soldiers On as the Horizon Darkens New York Times she has the perspective of a realist: someone has to lose. ...... To her longtime friends, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton sounds unusually philosophical on the phone these days. She rarely uses phrases like “when I’m president” anymore. ..... Mrs. Clinton has begun thanking some of her major supporters for helping her run ....... she no longer exudes the supreme confidence that was her trademark before the first defeat, in Iowa .... she is also a cold, hard realist about politics ....... “She has a real military discipline that, now that times are tough, has really kicked into gear” ..... she knows that there will be an end ...... Over take-out meals and late-night drinks, some regrets and recriminations have set in, and top aides have begun to face up to the campaign’s possible end after the Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4. ........ expressed frustration with the difficulty of “running against a phenomenon” ...... not planning a political strategy to compete in the primaries after Feb. 5. ..... 700 people, $100 million, nationwide offices ...... Morale is low. After 13 months of dawn-to-dark seven-day weeks, the staff is exhausted. Some have taken to going home early — 9 p.m. — turning off their BlackBerrys, and polishing off bottles of wine ....... Some advisers have been heard yelling at close friends and colleagues. ..... Others have taken several days off, despite it being crunch time. Some have grown depressed ...... some of her major fund-raisers have begun playing down their roles, asking reporters to refer to them simply as “donors” ....... she had been a better candidate than her campaign strategy and operation reflected. ...... she talks to her aides on the trail and at headquarters about the tasks at hand, pursuing them in checklist fashion —impressing some with her hardiness, while suggesting a joyless or workmanlike feel to others. ...... “Hillary is not a fatalistic person — this is no woe-is-me woman.” ....... “I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored,” she said. “And you know, whatever happens, we’re going to be fine.” .... to some friends, she is in fact acting differently; to others, the situation has become simply heartbreaking. ..... When Mr. Clinton said last week that his wife had to win in Texas and Ohio, it was not only the first public admission by a senior member of her circle that her candidacy was on the line, it was also a moment that deepened the feeling of shock felt by some of her supporters. ....... Clinton has not retreated into a shell. She asks her aides about their children, spouses and partners. ...... has pointedly not talked to her staff about the notion that she might drop out someday.

The Early Word: Hard Times for Hillary Clinton New York Times speculation that her closing debate remarks amounted to a concession
Clinton Takes Strong Exception To Tactics of Obama Campaign Washington Post "the sudden change in tone" and questioning Clinton's timing, ahead of Sunday newspaper deadlines and with another debate three days away. ...... "She's the champ, she's part of the Democratic network in Washington, and if you're the title holder, then you don't lose it on points. You've got to be knocked out."

Yellow Roses

the sovereign nose of your arrogant face












Love Sonnet XLV: Don't go far off, not even for a day, because--/because--I don't know how to say it: a day is long/and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station/when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep./ Don't leave me, even for an hour, because/then the little drops of anguish will all run/together,/the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift/into me, choking my lost heart........ may your eyelids never flutter into the empty distance./Don't leave me for a second, my dearest,/ because in that moment you'll have gone so far/I'll wander mazily over all the earth, asking,/Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying?

Love Sonnet XVII: I love you as certain dark things are loved,/secretly, between the shadow and the soul. ....... I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,/I love you simply, without problems or pride:/I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving...... so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

Love Sonnet XI: I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair./Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets...... all day/I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps...... I want to eat your skin like a whole almond. ....... I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,/the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,....... hunting for you, for your hot heart,/like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.

Rabbits Birthing Rabbits

Being Fair To Justin Krebs

"You just met me!"

That was him saying meeting many times is not what does it, or you have met me many many times, and nothing has happened. Take this guy with you right now. It is okay this is the first meeting.

He is like. I am your friend. I will move you from Brooklyn to Manhattan. I will engineer a step-up for you. This is a banker lady. She floats in money. You don't look like no banker to me.

Krebs is a political entrepreneur extraordinaire. Rabbits birthing rabbits, that is his organization.

First day he saw me, he ordered pizza for everybody when he saw me eat hot dogs, and we had not even talked yet. Besides, how did he find out I am kind of crazy about pizza? But by the time pizza got there, I had had three hot dogs, so I was not able to eat the pizza. It felt like such a missed opportunity. I felt stupid. Damn those hot dogs. I never saw him do that again: order pizza for everybody.

And for the longest time I did not know he was a Harvard guy. Like for months. Then one day an Indian college friend of his shows up, a doctor now in Memphis, just passing through town. I gravitate to the only other Indian. We talk. He says he is a friend of Justin. I am not impressed. That is what people say in this town to impress you. Oh, hello, I am a friend of Justin.

Then he says he is a college friend. That got my attention. Really? And where was that?

"Harvard."

"Justin went to Harvard!?" I said in mock disbelief.



My Third World People Don't Get To Vote In This City

I am a Third World guy, that is who I am. That is my identity for this lifetime. I think about deaths on a daily basis. Deaths to stupid violence, petty disease. My company's mission statement is to do with the fact that it is the internet that will bridge the gulf between the so-called First World, and Third World.

There was a lone Chinese guy at the Irish Rogue debate watch that I mention in my previous post, he was sitting all alone, so I approached him. And he says, hi, I am a friend of Justin. I had never seen him before, have not since.

Being Fair To Dan Berger

How Ganesh Got His Elephant Head

One day I got an email from Dan Berger. Hello, this is Dan Berger from DL21C - as if I would mistake him for any other Dan Berger - can I have your number, I needed to call you up. He got my number but never called me up.

I think that was after I had shared Barack's Harvard Law classmate story with Caputo over email. I met Terrence Yang at the Texas debate watch party. He was with an Indian friend of his. "Meet Samir."

Who is this guy Dan Berger, and why is he so unusual?

Berger was saying. It was not a banker thing. It was a DL21C thing. You are a weird guy who shows up for all DL21C events but refuses to join the organization. She asked for your number, I asked for your number.

The Jewish Identity In New York City

At the NYU event, I was making small talk to Berger. So if Hillay were to become president, do you think Rangel will become Senator? I did not realize Elizabeth had come to stand next to me by then. Berger did.

"I am hot!" he said. As in, you are trying to show off to me that you are a hot guy.

Why else would Caputo come stand next to me other that I am a hot guy?

Being Fair To Liz

I am talking to Lee Motayed, this young Indian woman. In front of me is a chair. On that chair is Liz' bag. She comes and gets it and walks to some other part of the room. It is called right to private property. That is my bag on that chair, and I can pick it up.

I think I misunderstood.

At the 2006 victory party, Caputo did the exact same thing to me. I did not see her put her bag near me. But I did see her pick it up and take it away. I said, oh, hey. She did not respond. She was mad.



Online Autobiography: Being Fair To Me

Autobiography

I don't think I could have thought in terms of a relationship, or even my company if I had not spilled it all out. I needed that to become whole again, something ongoing. I needed to get stuff out of the system.

I am guilty of some random lashing out at random white guys. Sometimes I have a valid reason to do so, sometimes I don't. It is better to work further on the online autobiography than to engage in random lashing. I am going to lash stronger for valid business and political moves. So I should save the energy and not go after potential allies and friends.

This is a progressive city, the progressive capital of the world. We are all progressives around here.

Being Fair To Mike Lupinachi

What he did at the Rangel event, and at the event after that: that was poetry. Pollak pulled the same poetry at the December Baby party. Cordelia walked over to me for two seconds at that party. She is here!

Being Fair To Lewis Cohen

Lewis Cohen, the DFNYC grand wizard. At the Washington governor event, I said to him, "Lewis Cohen, important guy!" He really liked that. This guy is saying I am an important guy.

Bobby

Bobby Jindal became governor of Louisiana. DL21C did an event with a Louisiana Senator not long after. The beginning and the end of that event was a little unpleasant to me, end more than beginning.

Moral of the story is, Caputo's Republican opponent is going to be Jindal.

But don't mistake me for Bobby. I am better looking. My name is not Anglo. I am a Buddhist. I converted to Buddhism in Bible Belt Kentucky. I am a progressive. Bobby never ignited a French Revolution, so you could say I am smarter.

Some day I am going to say to the Indians of the world, if the idea is to take pride in an Indian, why can't you take pride in me? Why do you need Bobby?

But the split second shouting match with Berger was good for me. Getting angry was an icebreaker. Otherwise I was getting socially ossified. I should get angry more often. Vent it, just vent it.


Small Town

You know 50 people and you know all the progressives in town. You meet some of the same people over and over again.

Weak Social Muscles

That has been the price to pay for some amazing 2.0 work.

The Clinton Dynasty

Hillary dispatched hubby Bill to South Carolina. Obama won that state in a landslide. Hillary dispatched daughter Chelsea to Hawaii. The landslide there was bigger.

I am thinking the Clintons as a political dynasty are overrated. What do you think?

The Kennedys on the other hand have oomph. Look what Caroline and Ted endorsements did to Obama 08. We have not had to look back since.

Ohio

Everybody thinks we will take Texas.

I am thinking we will take Ohio as well. The momentum is so obvious. Besides, I am gonna be there.

Going To Ohio
Rabbits Birthing Rabbits

In The News

Hillary Should Get Out Now Newsweek to withdraw this week would be the best thing imaginable for Hillary's political career ...... In Pennsylvania, which votes on April 22, the Clinton campaign did not even file full delegate slates. That's how sure they were of putting Obama away on Super Tuesday. ....... It's time to stop overlearning the lesson of New Hampshire. .... He has brought up his game so sharply ...... the odds of Hillary's looking bad on March 4 are high ..... the Clintons approach power the way hard-core gun owners approach a weapon—they'll give it up only when it's wrenched from their cold, dead fingers ..... These are the same loyalists who told Hillary that she was inevitable, that experience was a winning theme, that going negative in a nice state like Iowa would work, that all Super Tuesday caucus states could be written off. The Hillary who swallowed all that will never withdraw. ...... She described what "an honor" it was to be in a campaign with Barack Obama, and seemed to mean it.
Nepal government hopeful of end to ethnic unrest AFP In Nepal, hill-origin elites dominate local and national government as well as the security forces.
Utah's superdelegates having second thoughts in light of Obama ... Salt Lake Tribune Obama's commanding victory in Utah's Feb. 5 vote has softened their support for Clinton. Obama, who is considered the front runner after winning 11 contests in a row, took 57 percent of the vote in Utah to Clinton's 39 percent. ..... the excitement of an Obama candidacy will boost the chances of Utah Democrats running in state races. ...... Obama has picked up 25 superdelegates in the past two weeks, while Clinton has lost two
Superdelegates Are Flocking to Obama The Associated Press
Superdelegates switching allegiance to Obama Guardian Unlimited
Democrats focus on Ohio as Clinton denies looming defeat AFP
Ohio, Texas Uphill Climbs for Clinton The Associated Press independents and crossover Republicans are welcome to vote in their Democratic primaries. .... The political calendar of late winter has been less than kind to the embattled presidential contender, who once figured that a big day in early February would affirm her march to the presidential nomination and the rest would be icing. Instead, it's been slippery ice at every turn ..... Among independents, Obama is leading Clinton by 14 percentage points in Ohio and by 13 in Texas ... In the 22 contested Democratic primaries so far, independents made up 22 percent of the vote and they supported Obama by an overwhelming margin of 64 percent to 33 percent. Crossover Republicans, a far smaller percentage in the Democratic primaries, backed him 55-33. ..... the kind of grunt work where Obama's forces have excelled ...... Clinton's lead in Ohio polling has slipped into single digits, less than half of what it was only weeks ago. .... The awarding of half a delegate comes from expatriate and U.S. territorial Democratic contests.
Clinton Soldiers On Despite Setbacks Washington Post
Clinton: "Shame on You, Barack Obama" CBS News Clinton slammed Obama and his campaign for distributing mailings to Ohio voters attacking Clinton’s universal health care plan and her position on NAFTA. ..... Meet me in Ohio and let’s have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign
Clinton on the ropes: How she got there Seattle Times She had everything going for her. The most famous name in politics. A solid lead in the polls. At least $133 million. ..... an unusually gifted speaker with a face that appeals deeply to the Democratic Party. He also had a better-organized campaign. ..... She chose an inexperienced campaign manager, crafted a message that didn't match the moment, fielded poor organizations in key states, and built a budget that ran dry when she needed money most. ...... "To think that someone named Clinton with $130 million could end up here is amazing" ....... the New York senator has fallen awfully far awfully fast. .... she'll be a heavy underdog in Mississippi and delegate-rich North Carolina. ..... "He is a once-in-a-generation politician." ..... Starting with Iowa, Clinton was outhustled and outorganized in almost every state that had caucuses rather than primaries. ...... "They seemed to give up on organization," one Democratic strategist said. "To lose every caucus but Nevada is to say we do not care about organization. ...... "There was never any concept of how South Carolina should be addressed in terms of identifying voters and getting them out. The skill set of people in the Clinton campaign was pretty low, and there was no central guidance or direction. They had plenty of resources; money wasn't a problem. They just didn't execute." ..... Worse, Clinton and her husband, former President Clinton, hit Obama heading into the South Carolina primary in terms that struck many African Americans as racially charged. ...... "They blew up in South Carolina," said a white Democrat who worked in the Clinton White House. "It changed everybody's perceptions of them." ..... he's a better speaker. He has a better speech ..... "Bill Clinton had people who had run campaigns. Patti and Maggie were there by virtue of their personal loyalty, not their campaign experience." ..... "Every decision that was made — whether it was spending or the message or what states to invest in — was a collaborative process," the other strategist said. "It's unfair to Patti to blame her. It was a ministerial position."