fixed

just an important side note since you obviously live in MI. I was just on a family trip to Ironwood, MI. While there I went to the public library to catch up on the news. This website among others were BLOCKED. Any article I waas able to read BLOCKED reading any existing posts. the posting editor was available but I didn’t post and wondered if I did that it would have been added to the webpage.

Also, while there a few people came in checking to see if their books had arrived. The titles were about Government Secrecy and Politics and they hadd been waiting for a very long time. From witnessing the sites I’ve come to enjoy being blocked, my thought was their requested books won’t ever be available. And this is a Public Library! Maybe you may want to look into this!

Marty Didier
Northbrook, IL

There was no “overrunning of the caucuses” in Texas. I’ve participated in the Texas Democratic Party precinct conventions for 20 years. Other than the fantastic turnout (including more than a few Republican Hillary-Haters who showed up to support her), there was nothing outside the norm this year.

The document you linked to shows a few isolated incidents of wrongdoing, a lot of confusion and misconceptions, and many unsubstantiated fears. Stuff like that happens every year. It gets resolved with challenges at next level in the process. This is the way the Democratic party works, at least in Texas. I would like people to appreciate how great the caucus was for the Texas Democratic Party. We’ve got names and addresses of most of the people who were at the caucuses. The state party has been re-invigorated in a way that wouldn’t have happened with just a primary. Both campaigns did a good job of turning out their supporters. It might just help us send the odious John Cornyn back home. And believe me, the rest of the country should be grateful if we can do that.

Actually since I caucused for Hillary on February 5, and know many people who tried to organize for her — but got no support from her staff — people who actually know how to work within a caucus system, I think you should assume I have been talking with state and local Clinton people, some who have stuck with her since February, others like me who watched what was happening, and switched to support Obama.

I think anyone concerned with party matters (and I have served a decade on the State Central, managed 20 campaigns at the state and local level, and been on a slew of task-forces and committees, Chaired Credentials at a State Convention — etc.,) you look at Presidential Candidates in terms of your state. Obama won 2/3rds of the delegates at Caucus, More than half of his State Convention delegates have been to two or more State Conventions prior to this year — (the idea that he doesn’t have the party regulars is nuts.) In the polls in Minnesota, Obama runs ahead of McCain fairly consistently, Hillary is within the margin of error. Obama plus Franken for Senate does better by two points than Clinton plus Franken. Walter Mondale, a super delegate, is committed to Hillary since early last fall, but has talked about Carter’s thinking — which is pro-Obama, and says that he can see why he would go along with Carter, though Carter has not made a public declaration yet. In otherwords, Mondale is OK with Obama, and his former aid, Jim Johnson is heading up the VP selection team, and Mondale has been talking with Obama about the job in practical terms.

So yea, I do know what I am talking about. I asked the State Chair the question about party organization, at an event where the author of an old but classic book on the Gene McCarthy take over was present, and in the context of that book.

Man, this is pretty painful and difficult to say, but this country has a pretty long and ugly history of putting darker skinned foreigners on ships against their will. Not much thought was given to it then; I doubt the Bushies gave much thought to it now.

well, in the metaphorical realm of selling people down the river, you can’t do better than Barack Obama and his buddy Wexler, who disenfranchised millions of Florida voters for the “crime” of supporting Hillary Clinton — and remember, Obama WANTED FLORIDA at half strength, and Michigan at full strength. Retireees, especially the large number of Jewish retirees in Florida, and half-people to Obama. Hispanics and Latinos are half-people to Obama. Women, who made of 59% of the Florida electorate, are half people to Barack Obama.

As someone who is supporting Clinton, I’m proud to say that I can condemn Bush without hypocrisy. But those supporting Barack “John Yoo” Obama are going to have a very tough time reconcilating their principles with their candidate of choice.

its seems to me like all the people you are talking to about how peachy keen everything is are Obama supporters (and Dean is in the tank for Obama.

Don’t you think you should survey state and local clinton supporters before you assume that personal anecdotes from like-minded people are universal truths?

Mr Ockham claimed that there was nothing untoward about the actions of Obama supporter behavior in Texas. Here is some evidence that there was egregious abuse of the caucus system in that state.

I don’t this this can be stated as unequivocal fact.

“Howard Dean’s goal is to build a party organization. He thinks he can do that on the coattails of Barack Obama. But there is a VERY serious flaw in that assumption.

Barack Obama’s ‘grassroots organizations” that Dean wants to co-opt have no interest in building the party. They are little more than an Obama personality cult. And they alienate a LOT of long time, staunch, rank and file democrats.”

I guess I would like to know how you know this?

Yes, there will be something of a generational shift in party officers, some who have been around for a decade or so, will move on, but there is apparently no wholesale replacement going on. I am one who first took party office as a result of Gene McCarthy’s campaign — and I retired some years ago from all those meetings, but I did ask my State Chair if it was happening, and the answer is generally no. A good many of the Obama supporters actually come from the ranks of those with significant party experience, and yes, they have recruited from the Obama supporters people to run, for example, for State Central Committee — but there is no wholesale turnover coming down. State Chair says it is not happening in other states either.

Minnesota State Chair heads a very healthy party, he is a solid Howard Dean backer, and understands the importance of having both old hands and new people in the party officer mix. Looking at how campaigns for Congress and State Senators and Representatives are shaping up, I see lots of Obama people getting involved in the down ticket races.