Hillary Rodham Clinton is demonized every day on a hundred or a thousand blogs and in a hundred or a thousand editorials as "Hitlery KKKlinton," the death-mongering anti-Christ of American politics. Where did this craziness come from?

It doesn't originate with Barack Obama. Whatever his real flaws as a candidate may be, including some surreptitious hanky-panky with the race card, his message is still relatively positive. Senator Obama may be vacuous, but it would be ridiculous to call him a hater.

It seems to me that two related factors have produced the unprecedented tsunami of hate-speech directed at Hillary Clinton:

With only an announcement former Rep. Jim Slattery is just within reach of Sen. Pat Roberts with tons of time to make up the rest.

According to a recently released Rasmussen Poll

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


click to enlarge

cross-posted @ This Week With Barack Obama

Congratulations to Hillary Clinton and her supporters for the win in West Virginia.

Clinton netted 137,410 of the popular vote.

Many estimated that West Virginians would vote upwards or over 500,000 to 600,000, but that was not the case.

The turnout was lower.

Moving on....

I just saw this on the morning post on the MAINblog and about choked on my coffee.

It seems Phyllis Schlafly has taken an interest in seeing judges elected in Johnson County Kansas vs. having them appointed in a non-partisan process that costs tax payers little to nothing.

"Voters in Johnson County, Kan. will have a proposition on the November ballot that could send shock waves through the tenure of state court judges.

Barack Obama won the black vote in North Caralina 91-6%. Hillary Clinton won the white vote 59-36%.

If the black preference for Obama had fallen in the same range as the white preference for Clinton, she would have picked up the difference between 6% and 36%, which would have amounted to 30% of the black vote.

Since African-American voters comprised 33% of the vote in the North Carolina Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton would have received another 30% x 33%, or 10% of the total vote, and Obama would have received 10% less.

Instead of 56-40% in favor of Obama, the vote would have been 50-46% in favor of Clinton, and Hillary Clinton would have won the North Carolina Democratic primary.

Crossposted from WiretapMag

In the most exciting news I've seen on election coverage, the Washington Post declares Young Voters to be one of the winners of last night's election.

"No age group has been more ridiculed for their lack of participation than those under 30. But in Indiana that age group comprised 16 percent of the overall vote while those 65 or older comprised 15 percent. Under 30s went for Obama 61 percent to 39 percent, a margin that all but neutralized Clinton's 44 percent margin among older Hoosiers."

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


click to enlarge

Let’s see ... after graduating from Harvard Law as Law Review Editor, one candidate -- the grandson of a goatherd from Africa [Bloomberg News] -- heads for Chicago’s notoriously poor and ravaged South Side to organize neighborhoods in need of community playgrounds, asbestos cleanup and just plain help after the steel mills had shut down, leaving families with no jobs and not much hope. [L.A. Times]

According to a release from the Student PIRGs a number of Indiana voters were INCORRECTLY turned away from the polls today and given MISINFORMATION about the validity of their identification preventing them from casting a ballot they legally should have been able to cast.

Let me remind you - that when the US Supreme Court made its decision they decided...

There's an avalanche of bad news about healthcare. It's  making me very worried.

But before I lay all that on you, here's the good news.

The good news is Elizabeth Edwards. Elizabeth is smacking down John McCain at every turn in the road.

Now to the bad news, there's so much.

Former Congressman Jim Slattery is making his way through Kansas today officially announcing his candidacy for the US Senate against Pat Roberts (R).

Slattery for Senate has launched an unbelievable website, beautifully designed (complete with amazing video) showcasing his history of leadership and his life as a Kansan. I've spent the past year poking fun at websites in state and the extent to which people seem far removed from the web 2.0 explosion that has captured everyone in the country except for Kansas. Slattery's team gets technology. Perhaps that's because he's 200 years younger than his opponent. Or because Joe Trippi is consulting.

The US Supreme Court just voted to disproportionately disenfranchises our rights to cast a ballot. Remember that whole thing about democracy and everyone having the right to vote - HA! I bet you thought that was real, right??

UPDATE 2: Rock the Vote recently released statement calling it "supremely wrong."

UPDATE 1: Politico has also reported on the topic

------------------

The last few weeks have been extraordinary in ways that I could not have imagined, let alone forecasted. The American people, at least those that look past the mainstream media, seem to be rejecting the status quo and have begun to voice their opinions in a way that can’t be misinterpreted. I’m not just talking about the liberal/progressive wing of the political dynamic; I’m talking about centrist Democrats and Republicans, as well. The issues that people are bring up in forums and in articles, bring up the same issues; the war, our tax structure, the economy and the destruction of the Middle-Class, the weakening of our fundamental rights under the Constitution, special interest influence and the refusal of politicians on a Federal level to listen to their constituents.

cross-posted @ One Million Strong

I woke up today to read two stirring diaries by two of my favorite diarists, kid oakland and teacherken. Both thought provoking and on point.

But I am going to go further, because I can being African American and growing up in this community.

And I will go even a greater step further. If the Democrats do not stand up and get a spine they will lose in November.