I‘m voting for Barack Obama in the Democratic primary. I’ll probably do early voting today if I don’t fall asleep at the wheel on the way home.
I did keep an open mind about Hillary Clinton. I don’t begrudge anybody that choice, as a frequent complaint about Democrats is they lack backbone. If backbone is standing up to illegal but popular wars before they have the chance to become unpopular illegal wars, then Hillary Clinton is lacking in that era. If you define it as resilience in the face of brutal personal and professional attacks, then she has it in spades. I don’t doubt her personal toughness, but she seems to be in the LBJ mold of ruthless adherence to short-term political expediency over any coherent ideology.
That said, she still would be an exponentially better president than what we’ve had for the past 7+ years, and I will vote for her in the general if she’s the nominee.
I have more reasons that I decided to go with Obama, but two in particular stand out:
- He demonstrated a more nuanced understanding of the issues surrounding technology than any candidate (see Techcrunch’s endorsement). This is both my profession and my passion, and therefore of vital importance to me.
- I’m tired of seeing Bushes and Clintons in office. Is it really change to vote for someone who is from one of the same two families that’s been on presidential ballots since two years after I was born? Maybe, maybe not, but I’m not eager to relive the vitriol from the 90s if it can be avoided. At least, that part would be the same.
I would be pleased if we end up with a McCain-Obama race. McCain has done a few dumb things — maybe even a few reprehensible things — but I at least don’t doubt his intelligence or competence. Either of them would restore sanity and honor to an office that deserves it, and hasn’t seen it for a long, long time.
I’m in, sitting in the back with TV and radio folks. They have power strips, you understand.
I just interviewed Senate candidates Vernon Jones, Dale Cardwell and Josh Lanier. Time was short, so I had to stay on topic about the effect of Edwards leaving the presidential race (i.e. - no threesome or tower questions).
I tried to interview John Barrow, but he referred me to his publicist after I told him I was a blogger. It sounded a little less like “talk to my publicist” and a little more like “fuck off.”
My camera is not doing well tonight. I snapped a few photos, but many of them are coming out blurry. I’m afraid something might be wrong.
I’m on AOL Instant Messenger as evilwilly1 and on Yahoo Messenger as rustytanton if you want to chat. Also, on Twitter as rustytanton.
Update 7:10 p.m. Therbert Baker is the first speaker. Thanks constitutional officers, esp. Tommy Irvin.
Update 7:16 p.m. TB says 2008 is “our year.” Here because they want to win, etc.
The sound is shitty in here and it’s hard to follow. I hope they fix the mics by the time Hillary comes on. Things are running well over an hour late. To be fair, I don’t think anybody expects to come to a Democratic event and have things run on time.
Just ran into Andre. He’s doing triple duty tonight, working for Hillary and Vernon and gathering material for blog posts. He said Hillary is in the building, and they may have to alter the program to get her on.
Update 7:18 p.m. Dubose Porter speaking now. They’ve been going through belabored introductions of the statewide officers for the whole time. The guy next to me groaned “Jesus.”
Update 7:26 p.m. Sounds like the journalist next to me is going to complain about missed deadlines all night. Shirley Franklin got up, said “let’s hear it for local officials,” then stepped down. Now Jane Kidd. Please give me something to write about.
Update 7:30 p.m. Calvin Smyre (I think) talking about Tom Murphy’s legacy as a yellow dog democrat.
Here are the photos I’ve managed to take:
Update 7:35 p.m. They just gave out Tom Murphy Lifetime Achievement awards, but I couldn’t hear the names to write them down. Boooooo.
Update 7:38 p.m. Showing a film about Max Cleland. Guessing he’ll be speaking next.
Update 7:41 p.m. Film from John Kerry, says he can’t tell you how sorry he is for not being here tonight. Reminiscing on John Lewis telling stories. Now a tribute to Max Cleland, talking about Vietnam.
Update 7:45 p.m. Kerry talking about Richard Russell. Blake Aued says the professionals are in the green room and there’s pasta there. Roy Barnes to speak now.
Update 7:50 p.m. Max Cleland speaking now. Bottom 8 percent of America is being denied opportunity to pursue the American dream, he says. (note: I was told after the fact he might have said 80 percent here, not 8. The sound sucked.)
Update 8:09 p.m. John Lewis is speaking. Time for an unsubstantiated rumor!
Update 8:24 p.m. Sorry for the lack of updates. I was caught up in a conversation with a very nice GPB reporter who brought dinner to a few of us dummies who forgot to get some. Hillary is here to speak.
Update 8:30 p.m. Thanks the young people, wants young people to run for office. Brought out the fake Southern accent again: “Glad to be around some jorrrrrrrjan Democrats.”
Update 8:32 p.m. “I feel very at home in Georgia.” Fake accent again.
Update 8:34 p.m. Standard stump speech. Global warming, etc. “Who will be best president on day 1?”
Update 8:36 p.m. Talking about poverty. Thanks John Edwards for his efforts against poverty.
Differences between Dems pale between the differences between us and the Republicans. Appealing to populist themes. Long past time to close every loophole and giveaway that permits jobs to be moved to every country.
Update 8:42 p.m. Concept: green collar jobs. We can put hundreds of thousands of people to work. Germany has made a big bet on solar power.
Update 8:43 p.m. Same healthcare option that members of Congress have.
Update 8:45 p.m. Talked about healthcare tax credits. Now on to education. Universal kindergarten program. End NCLB.
Build partnership between state, fed and local govts. Make college affordable for working families.
Max Cleland sitting in front of me, snapped a couple of photos.
$3,500 tax credit for each child for each. Raise pell grants. Offering two years of national service to earn money for college. Offer public service jobs, let people pay debt by serving public.
Sounds like she wants the govt to get into the student loan business. Says they’ve been charging high interest rates. My student loan had a pretty damn low interest rate.
Update 8:48 p.m. End cronyism and no-bid contracts. Transparency. (just not when it’s your own records, right?)
Says she wants to end war in Iraq and bring troops home. “Now look, we have to do this responsibly and carefully.” Says she wants to Congress to give her a pullout plan within 60 days of her taking office.
Update 8:53 p.m. Telling story about captain at Walter Reed. Very graphic. Ring melted on his finger. Asked Sen Clinton “how do I get my brain back?” (note: I was told after the fact she said “ring” here, not “brain.” Again, the sound sucked.)
21st Century G.I. Bill.
Doesn’t want Democrat or Republican foreign policy. Wants American foreign policy. I bet the one world government conspiracy theorists shit their pants when they heard that.
Update 8:56 p.m. Talked about the snow of New Hampshire, peaches of Florida. She’s in Georgia. Even though peaches aren’t as big a deal as they’re made out to be, I think she could have picked a better example.
Update 8:58 p.m. Mentioned Peachkids. Now talking about taking Republican abuse for years and years, and that she’s still standing. Now she’s firing up the troops. Sounds like the speech is about to end.
“If you are ready for change, I am ready to deliver results for America”
Playing BTO “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” on the PA.
Update 9:02 p.m. Think that’s it for me folks. Going to try to GTF out of here.
Update 9:14 p.m. Actually, I lied. Not leaving quite yet. Ran into Amani and SpaceyG, we’re going for a quick beer at Manuel’s. Here are the other photos I took:
Max Cleland watching Hillary Clinton:
Max Cleland:
Hillary Clinton speaking (yeah, kind of a shit photo, but I wasn’t going to leave my stuff unattended):
Update 9:48 a.m. Jan. 31 Here’s the list of Tom Murphy Lifetime Achievement award winners that I wasn’t able to hear last night:
Senator Tim Golden. 1st Congressional District
Carol R. King, 2nd Congressional District
Ernest Broadwell, 3rd Congressional District
Elliott H. Levitas, 4th Congressional District
Odessa P. Wheeler, 5th Congressional District
Bill Teasley, 6th Congressional District
Mike Berlon, 7th Congressional District
Joni Woolf, 8th Congressional District
Hoyt Robinson, 9th Congressional District
Herb West, 10th Congressional District
Gene Richardson, 11th Congressional District
Maxine Goldstein, 12th Congressional District
Sandra Hardy, 13th Congressional District
I hadn’t planned on attending the Jefferson-Jackson dinner tonight. But after writing the last post, I put in an email to DPG asking about Edwards’ status, and they offered me a press badge. Rock. So I plan to show up with my laptop and a portable audio recorder, and we’ll see what happens.
(if you’re wondering, as of an hour ago, there was still no word on whether Edwards still plans to speak tonight or not…guessing we’ll know after his 1 p.m. New Orleans speech?)
It’s safe to assume there is going to be a lot of press there tonight. Most conventional questions will be answered by professional press more quickly and effectively than I would be able to answer them. So I’m contemplating how I’ll approach covering this event that will actually be valuable and relevant in some way as supplemental information to the MSM coverage.
As of now, I plan to interview Clinton and Obama supporters to see how they think Edwards dropping out effects their respective candidate’s chances. I also hope to find some Edwards supporters to interview and ask them who they’ll vote for now that Edwards is out, and why. And then I’ll post those interviews as an episode (or episodes) of Politics is Vocal.
Other than that, what would y’all suggest? Live-blogging the speech(es)? Would there be any interest in attempting some live audio on Talkshoe?
(BTW, Blake Aued will be doing some live-blogging there, I hear)
…would that leave the post-Jefferson-Jackson dinner rally down from three presidential candidates speaking to one? The JJ dinner is the biggest annual fundraising event for Georgia Democrats. At various points, Edwards, Clinton and Obama were scheduled to appear. Obama bailed, apparently thinking Georgia was a lock.
CNN claims Edwards and Giuliani are quitting.
Edwards was polling at 13 percent late last week, so sayeth Rasmussen. Obama led Hillary Clinton by a slim margin, 41 to 35 percent.
Does that mean Edwards would skip the dinner, or would he show up and stump for someone? Who will those 13 percent vote for if Edwards is indeed out? Amy Morton is a big Edwards supporter, would love to hear her thoughts.
Also, should Obama reconsider? Georgia appears not to be a lock for him with that 13 percent in play.
Update 10 a.m. CNN claims he doesn’t plan to endorse anybody immediately, but might in the future. So it’s probably safe to say he wouldn’t show up and stump for anybody tonight.
Update 4:01 p.m. The Political Insiders say Obama is scheduled to speak in front of the National Baptist Convention of America, which is in the same building as the JJ dinner. Does that mean Obama is coming back afterall, or was he always scheduled to speak in front of this group?
I missed this Atlanta Business Chronicle article from Dec. 21, which says that Atlanta has a good chance to lure the College Football Hall of Fame away from South Bend:
Atlanta has the inside track over a potential rival to lure the College Football Hall of Fame away from South Bend, Ind., according to a person with knowledge of the thinking of the National Football Foundation (NFF), which runs the college hall.
That assessment is based on the quality of Atlanta’s site plan, said the source, who asked not to be named.
There’s a discussion about this going on at Inside the Sprawl.
I love me some college football, as you know. And as I said in the thread at ITS, I think as good a case can be made for Atlanta as can made for South Bend, if you’re talking college football history (just read what I said in the thread over there if that statement sounds outlandish to you).
While personally I would love to be able to hop on MARTA and visit, it sounds like the HOF has bounced around from venue-to-venue, unable to attract enough visitors to sustain itself. As the Chronicle article notes, it has a sweetheart deal with South Bend where the city paid $15 million for the venue and is paying $500-600K per year to keep it open.
So, given the deal the HOF has with South Bend, I can’t imagine it moving if it weren’t going to receive equivalent perks from the city of Atlanta and/or the state. It sounds pretty poorly-managed, so I have trouble supporting the idea if the money is coming from public funds.
There’s a good discussion going on at Jason Pye’s blog about the possibility of a Atlanta-Chattanooga Maglev (magnetic levitation) train line.
I reserve the right to change my mind, but I don’t think it’s the best use of money currently.
First, I don’t see a business case for a train unless Chattanooga plans to build a much bigger airport than it currently has. Tourism to or from Atlanta alone doesn’t justify the cost, which could be anywhere from $3 billion to $8 billion depending on whose estimate you believe. Commuting certainly doesn’t in this case. Hartsfield is having trouble offering service to fliers during peak flying times, and there is a need for another airport option for Metro Atlanta. But why send that business out of state?
The only way that makes any sense is if Georgia reaps a huge incentive that makes up for that loss. Like, umm, say, a giant straw extended to the Tennessee River to bolster Georgia’s dangerously-low water supply.
Like Larry cites in the original post, getting TN to sell GA water has been tried several times, and TN has declined each time. So I agree with him this smacks of being a bribe to sweeten the pot for a water deal. Without a guarantee that would happen, I don’t think this Maglev line should be built. I’m not sure that’s a good deal for GA even if TN were to sell us some water. I’d need a lot of convincing.
I mentioned in a post a few days ago that the DeKalb Commission was taking public comments about the PATH Project in Mason Mill Park this past Tuesday. Three Forks Heritage Alliance has retained legal counsel to oppose construction, which starts in February. They need donations to pay the lawyer. If you support what they’re doing, time is of the essence, since construction is scheduled to start in February.
Here’s the letter in full:
Friends and Neighbors~
As you all are aware, the PATH Foundation, along with Dekalb County, has plans to begin construction (or destruction) of the Mason-Mill woodland areas.
In response to this action, Three Forks Heritage Alliance has retained legal counsel in an effort to stop this proposed plan which is scheduled to begin in February.
While members of Three Forks Heritage Alliance are all volunteers, the Attorney and engineer are not. We need the engineer to provide hard facts and figures on the impact of this trail/route soil and water in order to get an injunction or another ’stop order’ action.
It is with this in mind, that we are actively soliciting funds for our legal battle. We are suggesting/recommending $250 which is a helpful amount since we’ve only a week to get the papers filed, etc. More than that is welcome if you can, or whatever you feel comfortable with contributing.
Checks can be sent to: Three Forks Heritage Alliance; P.O. Box 15445, Decatur, GA 30333-9998. Information can always be found on our website, too. www.3forksalliance.org
If you have questions please ask. If you want to volunteer, let us know.
Thanks for your concern and financial support.
Fern Garber
Three Forks Heritage Alliance
I think on the whole that PATH does more good than harm, but this is the wrong project, passed by the DeKalb Commission the wrong way.
Visit Three Forks at www.3forksalliance.org for more info.
Update 10:52 a.m. January 31, 2008 My headline was misleading, so I changed it. The decision to file suit or not hasn’t been made yet. Thanks to Fern for pointing that out in the comments.
