U.S. Congress: October 2007 Archives
Elizabeth Edwards often has made the excuse that her husband, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, doesn't get as much media attention as rivals Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton because he's not black or a woman. "We can't make John black, we can't make him a woman," she said. [Mmm... no, but like Obama and Clinton, you could come up with better campaign strategies to get up in the polls, make your campaign more interesting and attract more media attention.]
The Washington Post examines whether John and Elizabeth Edwards are trying to appeal to people who may not want to vote for Barack Obama because he's African American or Hillary Clinton because she's a woman.
Carla Babb, a journalism student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, wondered why John Edwards based his poverty focused presidential campaign in an affluent Chapel Hill neighborhood, rather than in a low income community that would better reflect his message about ending poverty. She videotaped interviews with Chapel Hill residents about the issue (they were split), and the video was later posted on the University's website and YouTube.
The video got few hits and went virtually unnoticed, until the Edwards campaign tried to get it taken off the web. Babb said, "I was completely shocked to get a phone call from the Edwards campaign saying that the story was straight from the Republican Party and that we needed to take it down." The campaign also threatened that leaving the video up would harm the Edwards' relationship with UNC (ie., no more alumni contributions from us, Tar Heels!). Both John and Elizabeth Edwards attended law school at the University.
See also:
Edwards campaign tried to stop student's TV story, professor says [AP]
Edwards tussles with UNC j-school [The News and Observer]
Hillary Clinton has earned the support of the majority of African American female voters, but she wants an even bigger piece of that pie. She sat down with Isabel Wilkerson of Essence, a magazine that targets African American women, for an interview published in the current issue (November 2007). Here are a few exerpts of what she had to say about her marriage and family:
On her marriage:
“I know the truth of my life and of my marriage, my relationship and partnership, my deep abiding friendship with my husband. It's been enormously supportive to me through most of my life. Now obviously we've had challenges as everybody in the world knows. “But I never doubted that it was a marriage worth investing in even in the midst of those challenges,” she says, “and I'm really happy that I made that decision. Again, not a decision for everybody. And I think it's so important for women to stand up for the right of women to make a decision that is best for them.”
On the most romantic thing her husband has done for her: She hesitates for longer than is comfortable, then she says, “Oh he's so romantic. He's always bringing me back things from his trips. He brought me a giant wooden giraffe from Africa. Oh, he bought me this watch,” she said, holding out her left wrist to show off a Chanel watch, its bracelet made of white cubes shaped like elegant dentures, if you can picture it. “I had dental surgery, and he said it reminded him of teeth.”
Outside of work, what her proudest moment is:
“Chelsea,” she says without hesitation.
Pick up Essence to read the entire interview.
Those who say African Americans base their voting decisions solely on race are totally wrong.
Hillary Clinton has widened her democratic primary lead over rival Barack Obama (who, we all know, happens to be African American), thanks to the support of African American registered democrats. A recent CNN poll shows that African Americans support Clinton over Obama 57% to 33%. Clinton takes a greater lead among African American women, who support her over Obama 68% to 25%. African American men are split betwen the two candidates, with 42% favoring Clinton and 46% favoring Obama.
Clinton has also secured the endorsements of two prominent African American congressmen , Rep. Charles Rangel and Rep. John Lewis.
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)
According to USA Today, Sen. Sam Brownback (Who?) is expected to drop out of the presidential race tomorrow. Brownback was running as a conservative Republican and tried unsuccessfully gain the support of the Christian right (Wait! Was he in a movie? Brownback Mountain or something?). He is dropping out of the race, because he was unable to raise enough money (Well, duh. Nobody knows who he is.). Brownback represents Kansas in the U.S. Senate.
Family portrait? Vice President Dick Cheney poses with his cousins, the Obamas. Reuters Photo.
Lynne Cheney told MSNBC today that she discovered that her husband, Dick Cheney, and Barack Obama are 8th cousins.
Sen. Larry Craig. AP Photo.
In an interview with Matt Lauer, Sen. Larry Craig called out frienemy Gov. Mitt Romney (MA) for not supporting him after he was arrested in a public men's room for soliciting sex from an undercover cop. Sen. Craig had served as Senate liason for Romney's presidential campaign, but he resigned when the news of his sex scandal broke. At that time, Romney said that he was disappointed in Craig's "disgusting" behavior.
"I was very proud of my association with Mitt Romney," Craig told Lauer. "... And he not only threw me under his campaign bus, he backed up and ran over me again."
Hmm. We beg to differ. We would say that Romney threw Craig under his campaign bus, backed up, ran over him again, hopped out of the bus to check to see if Craig was really dead, got in a few licks while Craig lay flattened on the ground, then backed up his bus again a few times just to make extra sure that Craig was super dead.
Alas, Romney's efforts failed, and Craig lived to file an appeal today to overturn a judge's refusal to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea in the case. And, of course, bring about even more negative publicity to the Republican party by doing an interview with Matt Lauer about the scandal, which will air Tueday night on Matt Lauer Reports and Wednesday morning on Today.
Viva La Cure! Sport this fun and foxy Juicy Couture tee to remind everyone you know that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
With more than 217,440 individuals diagnosed with breast cancer each year, it is extremely important that we continue to raise money and awareness. So call a couple of friends and participate in some National Breast Cancer Awareness Month activities together. And while you're at it, you might as well remind your congressional representatives to support efforts to find a cure.
Viva La Cure!
This entry was posted in memory of Rep. Jo Ann Davis and in support of Elizabeth Edwards.
Meghan Will, Cindy McCain, Meghan McCain and La-toria Haven atend a Young Professionals event for Sen. John McCain in Arizona. Photo from mccainblogette.com.
John McCain's daughter Meghan has a blog called McCain Blogette. [Wonkette.com]
See also:
McCain's Daughter Aims To Be Next Wonkette [The Huffington Post]
Rep. Jo Ann Davis poses with the American Cancer Society Action Network.
Polichicks, we have lost one of our own.
U.S. Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis (R-VA) died Saturday morning after battling breast cancer. She became Virginia's first Republican woman elected to Congress in 2000, and she served on the House Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee.
President Bush said in a statement, "Her determination to fight the disease is an inspiration to all of us."
AP Photo
Sen. Larry Craig has announced that he has no plans to resign, because he still has some very important work to finish in the senate. He's probably redecorating the senate men's room right now.
"Today the president showed the nation his true priorities: $700 billion for a war in Iraq, but no health care for low-income kids; $50 billion in subsidies for huge oil companies; but no health care for low-income kids; $8 billion lost to waste, fraud, abuse, and no-bid contracts in Iraq, but no health care for low-income kids," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill.
"Millions of American children and their families won't forget that they are on the bottom of the president's priority list," Emanuel said.
Hillary Clinton whupped some you-know-what in fundraising this past quarter. She raised $27 million, and for the first time, beat Barack Obama in number of new donors and amount of primary election money raised.
See also:
Clinton Outpaces Obama in Fundraising in Third Quearter [CNN]
Clinton Leads the Field in Campaign Fundraising [The Los Angeles Times]
So if your senator or congressperson takes the wrong position on an issue, or worse, actually decides to vote like they don't have a lick of sense, the usual course of action is to write them a nice letter and politely voice your opinion about their performance. About.com offers some tips to make your letter more effective:
1. Be courteous and respectful without "gushing."
2. Clearly and simply state the purpose of your letter. If it's about a certain bill, identify it correctly. If you need help in finding the number of a bill, use the Thomas Legislative Information System.
3. Say who you are. Anonymous letters go nowhere. Even in email, include your correct name, address, phone number and email address. If you don't include at least your name and address, you will not get a response.
4. State any professional credentials or personal experience you may have, especially those pertaining to the subject of your letter.
5. Keep your letter short -- one page is best.
6. Use specific examples or evidence to support your position.
7. State what it is you want done or recommend a course of action.
8. Thank the member for taking the time to read your letter.
Yeah, you could do all that... but we say that when your so-called public servant screws up, it's a whole lot faster and more to the point to just send them this:
Nothing says "don't make me send you back to your district for good" like a Hallmark card (or a card from whimsypress.com).
Now, of course, we're kidding. Write the nice letter.
Urbandictionary.com's word of the day:
This is coined from the transparent defense of Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho), to charges of disorderly conduct, stemming from his apparent solicitation of an undercover officer, underneath the partition of a restroom stall.
Prior to pleading guilty, Sen. Craig attempted to explain his behavior by claiming that his shoe touched the officer's underneath the partition because he had a "wide stance", when going to the bathroom.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks with Dr. Nadine Burke about expanding coverage for children under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Photo credit: Pelosi's official website at www.house.gov/pelosi.
Everybody's sweating the polichicks! Politicians are doing all they can to book appearances on daytime talk shows to reach us.
So on that note, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will appear on The View tomorrow to discuss her role as the first woman Speaker of the House, children's health insurance (she's fighting for it!), Iraq, and the news of the day. The interview will air live, and the Speaker will appear as the first guest on the third segment of the show. The View airs at 11 a.m. EST on ABC.
Be sure to watch!
Tyra asked Barack to send a message to her brother and his fellow troops who are stationed in Afghanistan. The clip below aired today on the Tyra Show.
When asked who would play him in a movie, Barack Obama said that he would like Denzel Washington to play him but admitted that Will Smith would be better because of the ears.
The clip below aired today on the Tyra Show.Looking for his future in a crystal ball, Barack Obama exclaimed, "I see the White House right there!" The clip below aired today on the Tyra Show.
