Halloween in Charlotte: Sarah Palin Meets Obama-cain

"Obama-cain" and "Sarah Palin"
Boardwalk Billy's
Charlotte, N.C.
Halloween, 2008

Note: If you're still undecided about your choice for POTUS, Obamacain won't be helpul.
Photo by Jude Nagurney Camwell

DOLE .. DONE?

Five North Carolina Presbyterian Church leaders have entered the controversy regarding the Elizabeth Dole for Senate ad casting her opponent Kay Hagan as a godless person who's hoping to erase God from the minds of all her constituents. Pretty nutty stuff.

The faith leaders have issued a statement that says they "take offense at Senator Dole's political ad." According to WSOC-TV [Charlotte], "Sam Roberson of the Presbytery of Charlotte and four other church leaders endorsed the statement. 'Kay Hagan is a faithful member of her local Presbyterian Church. We implore the senator to stop running the ad,' the statement said.

I believe that Elizabeth Dole's refusing to take down this ad, which is basically a lie because she makes the crazy (and blatantly untrue) claim that Ms. Hagan wishes to erase God from Americans' everyday lives, is a death-knell tolling for Dole's chances to win next Tuesday. Hagan is running an ad defending her faith and accusing Dole of bearing false witness against her. I envision a huge pro-Hagan sign

DOLE
DONE

Bill Clinton: "Unless the Wheels Come Off..."

Former President Bill Clinton spoke rather confidently about a likely win for Barack Obama in next Tuesday's Presidential election when he joined Congressional candidate Al Franken at a campaign rally for Franken yesterday at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Clinton said, ""Unless the wheels come off, Barack Obama's going to be elected next Tuesday."



According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, after praising Barack Obama for his performance during the nation's financial crisis, Clinton asked:

"If [Obama's] all
that great,
why does he need Franken?"

The answer, [Bill Clinton] said, is to turn back "a radical right-wing philosophy ... You've got to send him [Franken] to the Senate to make sure America doesn't blow this chance" to repudiate the Republicans' governing philosophy.

"[Obama] has a chance to rewrite the 21st century," Clinton said. "Let's go back and do it right this time. In order to do that, he's going to have to get some votes" in the Senate, like Franken's.

Mr. Franken has also had the help of Senator Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail in Minnesota recently:

Chuck Hagel Visits "Charlotte Talks" WFAE

Senator Chuck Hagel was a guest of Mike Collins' Charlotte Talks radio show this morning on WFAE [FM]. Here are a few of his statements:



Speaking about the need for the next President to be more open to diplomatic talks:
"Every challenge we face in the world today is connected to our alliances.
We need to engage."

Regarding negativity in this Presidential race:

"It's not new. It's just become more sophisticated."
[Reminding listeners of 19th century political vilification of Abe Lincoln when he was cast as an ape.]







About his wife Lilibet's October 7th endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for POTUS, which was played for the listening audience:

"I'm very proud of her. She wrote it herself. She didn't show it to me.
I think what she says is accurate."
[Explaining that he didn't plan to expend political capital in order to make an endorsement himself.]

Youtube version of Mrs. Hagel's endorsement statement in Alexandria, Virginia:

American Blues Vol. 1 by Pete Yorn

Pete Yorn wrote this song on the 4th of July after reading the morning paper and feeling, as so many of us have been feeling, the persistent emotional weight of negativity as each day in America has unfolded only to have a new crisis revealed. A friend of Pete's with an unwavering faith in America decided to make a video and craft the video as a message for people to get out and vote for a change in the direction of the country.

American Blues Vol. 1
Music and lyrics by Pete Yorn

Even those in The Optimists Club
Have a hard time staying in love
18 members of a dying breed
We know what color we bleed
Book drive for the school children
Independence day flag distribution
The general level of pessimism
the worst in almost 30 years
$4-a-gallon gas as jobs get slashed
You love your house?
Now give it back.

Keep beaming through the pledge of allegiance - you aint dead yet
Just disgusted and scared
Living through this mess
This year we are not so sure
Battered and bruised
Young and old
Stable or stone?
Stable or stoned?

It’s happening everywhere we look
Everything’s rehearsed
Should be better
Life’s getting better while the people feel worse
Everyone needs someone to blame
When things don’t go their way

Life’s getting better while the people feel worse
Everyone’s rehearsed
Something new, someone new
People need someone to blame when things don’t go their way
Maybe the price has to be paid
Model American
Take us by the hand
Live through this depression

Zogby Poll: Catholics Not One-Issue Voters

A recent Zogby Poll shows that most Catholic Americans are not concerned solely with the abortion issue although, if you were to look through media reports, you'd be misled into thinking it was so. What surprised me about the poll results was that, out of only 22% of Catholics who believe abortion should never be permitted, 43% of that group would be willing to vote for a candidate who disagrees with them.

It's disappointing for me, personally, to understand that a majority of Catholics fail to grasp the meaning of the Church's social justice teaching. Only 38% of my fellow Catholics go beyond what I believe is primarily self-interest in order to support governmental policies that would take the poorest of us into consideration. Whether or not Democratic progressives want to hear the truth, the "Joe the Plumber" attitude toward economic policy seems to prevail in the minds of a majority of Catholic swing-voters.

I suppose these poll numbers prove that many Catholics believe, especially in these hard times, that it isn't the "American way" to care so much about the poor in our society and to care/understand enough about faith-based social justice that they will vocally support US government anti-poverty programs.

As someone who supported the anti-poverty platform of John Edwards, who was criticised by many in the American press once he'd put the issue front-and-center in his Presidential campaign, I'm beginning to see what an uphill battle he was fighting.

Another major disappointment for me is seeing that 54% of my fellow Catholics [who attend services at least once each week] are still selfish [in my way of thinking] when it comes to narrowly defining marriage as man-woman only. Then there are the 59% who, in my opinion, are still in the dark ages when it comes to end-of-life issues and say that one who believes that euthanasia should be a legal end-of-life option is a "bad Catholic." Anyone who's seen a loved one suffering with a cancer that has taken its final toll after a long, courageous battle might understand how, years from now, we'll be looking back and asking this about the way we treated end-of-life issues, "What were they thinking?"

Interestingly, the less these Catholics who were polled attended services, the more they leaned toward pro-social justice issues. It causes me to wonder what is missing in the Mass today that would cause so many to feel the way they do about certain political issues.

Love, justice, and mercy were not created by religion, but I've always personally believed that my faith teachings led me to understand the fullness of love, justice, and mercy.

When it comes to the poor and to the suffering, it's quite sobering for me, with my committed hope for finding and supporting political, private, and non-profit solutions to end poverty and suffering at home and around the globe, to realize how few of my fellow Catholics seem to take these teachings to their hearts. I see this as a major opportunity for change in an ever-increasingly interdependent world.

Syracuse, NY - Catholics have been identified by many analysts as a key "swing vote" in the 2008 presidential election. As the candidates spend the final week of the campaign focused on encouraging turnout, the Le Moyne College/Zogby International Contemporary Catholic Trends (CCT) project polled a sample of U.S. Catholics to find out what motivates their voting decisions.

The prevalence of news stories about the Catholic vote and abortion suggests that this issue trumps all others for Catholics. The latest Le Moyne/Zogby CCT poll does not support this perception, as 29% of Catholics say they would be unlikely to vote for a candidate who disagrees with them on abortion rights, but with whom they agreed "on all issues except for abortion." [..]

Asked about personal abortion attitudes, 22% of respondents say abortion should never be permitted, and of this group 57% say they would be unlikely to vote for a candidate who disagrees with them. 18% of Catholics say abortion should be allowed "as a matter of personal choice," and of these Catholics 21% say they would be unlikely to vote for a candidate who disagrees with them. According to Dr. Matt Loveland, Le Moyne sociologist and CCT Principal Investigator, "In essence, less than a third of Catholic voters appear to vote solely on abortion attitudes, but those who do tend to favor 'pro-life' candidates. Abortion attitudes point to important identity issues for some Catholics. Some would say a 'real' Catholic could never vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights." Addressing this question, the poll found that 44% of Catholics believe "a good Catholic" could not vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, but that 53% say a good Catholic could.

What other issues matter to Catholics?

A key Catholic social teaching is the Preferential Option for the Poor, which holds that a just society is one that privileges the poor over those who are better off economically. U.S. politicians, however, take pains to demonstrate their concern for the 'middle class.' How well do these potentially competing positions play with American Catholics? In the October Le Moyne/Zogby CCT survey, 38% of Catholics agree, somewhat or strongly, that government policies should privilege the interests of the poorest Americans over those in the middle and upper classes, but 4% are undecided and 58% disagree. "Church teaching on this issue seems to run counter to recent popular sentiment against 'spreading the wealth,' but it looks like many lay Catholics agree with 'Joe the Plumber' on this issue," said Dr. Loveland.

The poll also covered other issues about which the U.S. Bishops have written, asking about them in the context of what it means to be "a good Catholic." Majorities agree that good Catholics can vote for candidates who support embryonic stem cell research (60%), the death penalty (55%), and can vote for a divorced candidate (77%). On the other hand, majorities say that good Catholics should not vote for candidates who support same-sex marriage (54%), euthanasia (59%), and human cloning (76%). Interestingly, those who attend Mass at least weekly differ from those who attend less frequently on each of these issues - they are less likely to agree that "good Catholics" can vote for such candidates.

An Obama Landslide Victory?

"Should all signs on Tuesday point to an Obama landslide, news directors say they will have no choice but to report the obvious."
- From a Reuters/NYT article "U.S. Media Ready For Possible Early Election Outcome " October 28, 2008

Bono Speaks to CA Women's Conference

"In the globalized world, Africa is our neighbor."



"Women care more because women bear more....."



"Your country isn't just a geographical location. Your country is an idea...and it's a great idea."



Other Youtube captures of the speech:
Part One
Part Two

Social Networking Sites "Good For Businesses"

Excerpts from Reuters/NYT article:
[..] Good news for workers addicted to Facebook, Bebo and MySpace -- a British think-tank says bosses should not stop their staff using social networking sites because they could actually benefit their firms.

The report by Demos said encouraging employees to use networking technologies to build relationships and closer links with colleagues and customers could help businesses rather than damage them.


[..] Robert Ainger, Corporate Director of Orange Business which co-produced the report, said it would be wrong of businesses to ignore the importance of networking in the current economic climate.

"The report points out that the value of networking within an economic downturn is perhaps more important than ever and I believe it could mean the difference between a business collapsing or capitalizing on the tricky conditions," he said.

Harry Taylor Endorsed by Humpy Wheeler [NC-9]

Harry Taylor, Humpy Wheeler, and Leilani Münter
On October 27th, candidate for US Congress Harry Taylor [NC-9] was endorsed by NASCAR icon Humpy Wheeler and by race car driver/environmental activist Leilani Münter at Thompson Park in Charlotte, N.C.




Harry Taylor for U.S. Congress
Harry played his banjo for rally attendees

photos and video by Jude Nagurney Camwell

McCain Sounds Like He's Scolding Colin Powell

After being shown an obviously racist comment by Rush Limbaugh about Colin Powell's endorsement of Sen. Obama on this morning's Meet the Press, Sen. John McCain said he was disappointed in Colin Powell [sounding like a father scolding a child]. I can understand how Powell's decision may have made McCain sad, but I think you can express the feeling about the decision without referring to the person as a disappointment. If Powell made an informed decision to endorse a candidate, no one should be disppointed in him, should they?

Disinvited Blogger Thinks She Was Right 4 Yrs Ago

Four years ago the LA Times suggested that I may have been disinvited [credentials revoked] from blogging the 2004 Democratic convention because of this statement, borne of my own intuition about the nature of al Qaeda:

"Bush is al-Qaeda’s choice for American President."
Jude Nagurney Camwell writing on Iddybud (iddybud.blogspot.com)

The newspaper had prefaced this with the following statement:

[..] the Democrats won’t release a list of whom they’ve accredited – or de-accredited – it’s hard to draw definitive conclusions. But we’ve pulled some excerpts from the blogs of both those who say they have credentials and those who say their credentials were yanked. See if you can tell which are which.

A hint: You can go with your gut most – but not all – of the time.

The LA Times asked people to "go with their gut" .. while insinuating that I - in going with my gut - got me disinvited from the Democratic convention.

In today's New York Times, Nicholas Kristof is talking about the fact that John McCain is al Qaeda's choice for President.
Go figure.

It turns out that my intuition was pretty darn good, even though the LA Times believed that my own party saw me as an over-the-topper at the time.

I don't like revisiting the years when the Democratic center allowed itself to be cowed by the GOP-promoted fear of looking anti-American. It did none of us any good to hide our feelings about the actions and policies of the President with the lowest public popularity ratings ever seen and [arguably] the poorest performance record for Presidents in U.S. history.

A Hymn for Barack Obama by Carpe

A recent German visitor to my blog has written a song and crafted a video that I found to be inspiring. It pleases me to share it with my readers. Thanks for your creation, Carpe. Warm greetings from the U.S.

Nastiness and Denial Will Likely Lose Robin Hayes His Seat in NC

Robin Hayes' comments earlier this week were dumb, especially after having heard Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's equally crazy-sounding idea to investigate Congress members for suspected anti-Americanism. Hayes' comment that "liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God" seemed to be a perfect grassroots fundraising opportunity for Hayes' opponent Larry Kissell and A-plus fodder for MSNBC's Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person the the World" designation.

A Salisbury Post editorial said this regarding the misguiding attitude forwarded by the Hayes comment:

We have polarized ourselves into paralysis at the very time we need wise action the most. Liberals, conservatives and moderates will have to work together to surmount the formidable challenges that stand before this country. God help us all.

Adding fuel to his own fire, Hayes publically denied that he'd really meant what he said when he said what he said.

Then, unbelievable and insulting to anyone with a lick of sense, he publically averred that he hadn't denied anything at all.




Hayes has been caught, like a deer in the headlights of the American vehicle, claiming the tires on the vehicle are not moving the vehicle on the same course as the steering wheel - - and the vehicle moves ahead, crushing him just the same.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Larry Kissell will win this race for a Congressional seat in NC-08 on November 4th.



~ Jude

Joe Biden Speaks at UNC Charlotte Rally

I took some photos at a Joe Biden rally at UNCC in Charlotte, N.C. yesterday.

Joe Biden said, "There is not one fundamental economic issue, not one fundamental economic issue, on which John McCain has taken issue with George Bush." He continued, "If it walks like a duck, if it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck! John McCain and Sarah Palin are quacking like George Bush!"

Senator Biden said, "Great presidents have always turned dire circumstances into real opportunities...and I believe that Barack Obama will be a great, unifying president."

"For too many people the American dream is literally receding
before their eyes."

This young fellow is from Japan. He attended the rally in support of American citizens and the change he thinks they so badly need.

Here's Senator Biden with an enthusiastic crowd after having given his speech.

Signs frame the speaker who promises the kind of change that the Obama/Biden audience seeks. Senator Biden said, "I’ve never seen a time when so many Americans have been knocked down with so little help from their government to get back up. So, folks, now we’ve got to commit. It’s time. It’s time together as Democrats, Republicans, Independents to get up as a nation. America is ready to get up, you’re ready to get up, I’m ready, Barack Obama is ready. Ladies and gentlemen it’s our time, it’s America’s time, so let’s get up! Let’s get up and unite this nation and to be the nation we can be."

Biden with the attentive crowd behind him

(All photos above are by Jude Nagurney Camwell)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These photos were taken by others:



Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress [NC District 9] Harry Taylor and Mel Watt watching Senator Biden


A shot of the crowd in which I am included.

James Taylor Sings in Charlotte for Obama

"I feel the spirit of change and a new beginning. After a long, long winter, it feels wonderful." ~ James Taylor

James Taylor (with wife Kim on background vocals) singing "You Can Close Your Eyes" in Charlotte NC
Concert for Change, Ovens Auditorium
October 19 2008

"There is an awakening spirit in the nation and we have a real leader that is inspiring us to love our country again. I'm so excited that North Carolina can embody the change that America needs." ~ James Taylor

From the Boston Globe - For Obama, How Sweet It Is

James Taylor yesterday played the first of five shows he'll do for Barack Obama in North Carolina. Sweet Baby James called the election the most important in years. "The last time I felt [this] was Bobby Kennedy's campaign in 1968, and it's a wonderful thing to feel and be a part of," said Taylor, who grew up in North Carolina but calls the Berkshires home these days. "The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the bluest of the blue states and that's just fine with me. But it's wonderful to come to an area, my old home state, to feel the change taking place. This is an exciting place to be." Taylor's wife, Kim, joined him (above) for the encore, "You Can Close Your Eyes."

Salisbury Post - Taylor played greatest hits from early in his career in a 50-minute concert. Sunday's playlist included "You've Got a Friend," "Something in the Way She Moves," "Fire and Rain" and "Carolina in My Mind." [..] Taylor's newest CD is "Covers," released Sept. 30. He included just one song from that album, "Wichita Lineman," the hit made popular by Glenn Campbell way back in 1968.

Daily Kos - James Taylor 4 Barack (with Pictures and Video)

The Troubador Tribune has video and setlist

Noonan: Palin's Failin'

WSJ:
[..] it's unclear whether she is Bushian or Reaganite. She doesn't think aloud.
She just . . . says things.

[..] In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism.

- Peggy Noonan
Palin's Failin', WSJ, Declarations, Oct 17, 2008

Censure Rep. Michele Bachmann

Censure Michele Bachmann
Source: www.censurebachmann.com

There's a call out there today for Congress to censure Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann after she called her fellow members anti-American during an interview with MSNBC's Chris Matthews.

Katrina vanden Heuvel responded:

Bachmann seems to be drunk on division and forced suspicion at a time when sobriety and a calming quality in leadership is required. This stark reminder of a very dark chapter of American history should give pause to every person who cares about the future of America. We can only get where we need to go if we go there together. What Bachmann is doing is contrived...it's damaging to our social fabric....it's evil. I find it hard to believe that she's engaging in this sort of pubic behavior with all we face as a troubled people. After seeing her determined behavior in a recent interview with a seemingly disbelieving Chris Matthews, I realize that people in her district need to think twice about re-electing a person who embraces such admitted hatred and disrespect for fellow citizens and Congress members!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Republicans have lifted the lid off their rightwing id
by Michael Tomasky
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
My favorite quote from this Michael Tomasky/Guardian column:

"[Michele] Bachmann is just an idiot.
She wouldn't know Edmund Burke from Billie Burke."

Harry Taylor & The New Political Awakening

Harry Taylor, candidate for U.S. Congress in NC District 9
In this photo, Mr. Tayor is interviewed for WGIV radio
by Donna Jenkins Dawson
Mecklenburg County Democratic Convention, April, 2008
(photo by Jude Nagurney Camwell)

Harry Taylor Has Sparked
A New Political Awakening
Mary Newsom said, in her McClatchy column this week, that "something profound is happening" - both in North Carolina politics and all around the nation. She credits a tiny flutter of a butterfly's wings for starting what has become a tidal wave. I think she's right.

This campaign is different. It isn't just a campaign with opposing sides, like 2004 and 2000 and 1996. Something profound is happening. It's as if a slow-building fire got lit sometime in the past few years and finally is blazing.

But the kindling was glowing as early as April 6, 2006. That day in Charlotte, a gray-haired real estate broker named Harry Taylor, attending a speech by President Bush to an applauding audience, stood and said into a microphone: "In my lifetime I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened, by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency.

And I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself. I also want to say I really appreciate the courtesy of allowing me to speak." Many in the audience booed. Letters to the editor in the Charlotte Observer flayed Taylor as "embarrassing," "boorish," and "wimpy." But that day in 2006, some subtle shift was already occurring in the political atmosphere, and Taylor's remarks were the fluttering of a butterfly's wings. His words rippled around the globe. He was interviewed on national TV and deluged with calls and e-mails. Seven months later, the Democrats captured Congress.

Now Harry Taylor is running for Congress.

For a while, America seemed to have lost its collective soul and mind. Harry Taylor warmed my broken heart on one of my own chilly April Upstate New York mornings in 2006 when he stood up to an American emperor who had been clearly naked for a long time with too few having an opportunity or the guts to say it.

On that day over two years ago, I sensed that nothing in American politics would be the same again.

My own cartoon, created on the 2nd anniversary of what has come to be thought of as the tipping point in the new American political awakening, shows the truth of the matter.


Click HERE for larger view
The people who surrounded George W. Bush never wanted to let someone like Harry Taylor in to one of their exclusive town-hall meetings. Harry didn't look like what they thought of as a typical protestor. He looked a bit like Abe Lincoln - tall, thin, a face lined to show many years of life and experience; a calm voice speaking from common sense.

One quietly intelligent, honest, and bold fellow certainly surprised the powerful [and the wrong] in Charlotte on that fateful day. It's only now that Americans are seeing the fullness of just how wrong a road down which the country has been led. A recent public poll of Americans showed that only 7% believed the nation was on the right path.

I hope, come November 4th, they'll continue to ask "who let that man in here?" I hope, this time, the "here" will be the halls and the chamber of U.S. Congress. Our country needs thousands more Harry Taylors in Washington DC.

Can the citizens of North Carolina's District 9 start by electing the original?

Hillary to Bloggers: Chapter Closing on Republican Misrule

Closing a long chapter of "Republican misrule"

Hillary Clinton took some time out of an extremely busy campaign season to join a number of bloggers in a discussion about the way ahead here in this final stretch of the 2008 campaign as she and other Democrats work to win the White House and to expand Democratic majorities. I was appreciative to have been a party to that blogger's call. Senator Clinton's campaigned at more than 50 stops for fellow Democrats, including Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama. She's traveled to numerous states, raising over $10 million for Democratic races. She said that she's become increasingly optimistic about Senators Obama and Biden winning on November 4th. She believes the choice for President couldn't be clearer. She suggested that last night's debate at Hofstra University
- closed the deal for Barack Obama;
- that John McCain had his last chance to make his case;
- that, in her opinion, the debates were Obama's 3-for-3 [and the Democrats 4-for-4 if you include the Biden-Palin debate];
- and that she suspects that soon we'll be seeing the closing a long chapter of "Republican misrule".

She stressed the importance of changing the direction of the nation - both in the political party of the winning candidate and in the values that the party embodies.

"Society's unfinished business..."

On Sexism and Racism in the 2008 Campaign

The blogger known as Alegre [Alegre's Corner], who'd made a bold move in the world of alternative political media when she led a mass exodus of Hillary [primary] supporters [in the form of a strike] from an increasingly partisan Obama-focused group at Daily Kos last March, asked Senator Clinton how the political playing field can be leveled for women in future campaigns. Alegre pointed out the blatant sexism that she'd seen on display in the news - not only by media pundits but even with certain fellow Democratic party members - during the 2008 primary season, much to the sadness of many women and men who could see the injustice clearly. [Note: I'd done a bit of my own artistic commentary during the primary season]. Senator Clinton graciously commented that she felt that the sexism [and racism] that were raised as concerns during the 2008 campaign were indicative of "society's unfinished business" and, after 2008, she'd like to see public statements in the media that better reflect our progressive values. She said this could be accomplished by having more citizen-watchdogs who would make an example of any perceived blatant or inappropriate sexist or racist public commentary. She mentioned this watchdog duty as a particularly positive and productive opportunity area for progressive bloggers. Senator Clinton promised to do what she could do to make our nation a more just and free place for all.

"Keep the marketplace of ideas vibrant."

Fox News and Alernative Media

Alegre's question had surrounded a form of political media that had obviously become boldly partisan and a subsequent question from a blogger from MyDD seemed to extend the topic of fairness in media. Senator Clinton was asked a question about Fox News - particularly about Matt Bai's upcoming article in this Sunday's NY Times magazine where Obama was quoted to have suggested that Fox News has cost him a few percentage points in the polls. Senator Clinton replied that Fox News is a reality that must be dealt with and that no one benefits from ignoring the reality of their reporting. She pointed out that there are, however, many alternative political news-reporting outlets available today - including the blogs. She said it was important to keep after them and that it is very important to "keep the marketplace of ideas vibrant."


Down-Ticket Races

When blogger Armando Llorens [aka Big Tent Democrat at Talk Left] asked Senator Clinton about 2008's down-ticket House and Senate races, she became especially animated in her reply. She named certain House seats that looked very hopeful for a number of Democratic candidates, including Dan Maffei in my own District 25 here in Syracuse, N.Y. Her chief goal, however, is to see that the current Senate majority is increased on November 4th. She'd like to see progressive bloggers "adopting" a Senate or House race or two of their choosing in the next few weeks - bloggers can write about the issues or sign up to get out in the field and help in local races or travel to battleground states of their choosing. HillPAC has a website called "HILLARY SENT ME" [mentioned in a recent WaPo/Dana Milbank story] where Hillary supporters can sign up and offer to help out with the work left to be done before November 4th.

Senator Clinton's October 1, 2008 remarks about the Homeowners Mortgage Enterprise [HOME] can be seen HERE.

The Home Mortgage Crisis

A question was asked [by Armando] about Senator Clinton's call for a new Home Owners' Loan Corporation [HOLC] to assist Americans. She said she was quite surprised when John McCain announced his plan because, in some ways, it sounded eerily like her original idea (with the exception that, with McCain's plan, bankers and lenders would profit from their own irresponsible actions and her plan would not have that effect. A major missing factor in the recent federal bailout is the lack of direct assistance to homeowners who've seen their home values drop and those who've been affected by unabated foreclosures. Her plan would help stabilize the home markets and modify existing mortgages by creating a federal entity whose responsibility would primarily deal with home mortgages - stopping many foreclosures and providing an atmosphere for more stable mortgages. She said she was pleased to have heard Barack Obama's call for a 90 day foreclosure moratorium for homeowners who are acting in good faith.


Related Blogposts:


- BREAKING... Hillary takes a moment from campaigning for Obama-Biden and the Democrats to talk to progressive bloggers - Taylor Marsh

- Hillary's Call with Bloggers This Evening - Alegre's Corner

- Call with Hillary Clinton: Discussing HOLC and the Campaign - Talk Left

- Quote: "She was, as ever, dazzlingly brilliant on policy—and typically generous and funny." - Shakesville