Day: March 26, 2008

Who Signed That Letter to Pelosi?

Trish

Wondering who signed that letter to Nancy Pelosi, telling her they expect her to zip it and let Hillary Clinton drag this race all the way into the August convention? They are mostly long-time Clinton cronies, some going clear back to the (Bill) Clinton White House. There are CEO types who run media companies as well as corporate lawyers. One thing they all have in common though: Big Bucks.

March 26, 2008

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the US House of Representatives
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Madame Speaker,

As Democrats, we have been heartened by the overwhelming response that our fellow Democrats have shown for our party’s candidates during this primary season. Each caucus and each primary has seen a record turnout of voters. But this dynamic primary season is not at an end. Several states and millions of Democratic voters have not yet had a chance to cast their votes.

We respect those voters and believe that they, like the voters in the states that have already participated, have a right to be heard. None of us should make declarative statements that diminish the importance of their voices and their votes. We are writing to say we believe your remarks on ABC News This Week on March 16th did just that.

During your appearance, you suggested super-delegates have an obligation to support the candidate who leads in the pledged delegate count as of June 3rd , whether that lead be by 500 delegates or 2. This is an untenable position that runs counter to the party’s intent in establishing super-delegates in 1984 as well as your own comments recorded in The Hill ten days earlier:

“I believe super-delegates have to use their own judgment and there will be many equities that they have to weigh when they make the decision. Their own belief and who they think will be the best president, who they think can win, how their own region voted, and their own responsibility.’”

Super-delegates, like all delegates, have an obligation to make an informed, individual decision about whom to support and who would be the party’s strongest nominee. Both campaigns agree that at the end of the primary contests neither will have enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination. In that situation, super-delegates must look to not one criterion but to the full panoply of factors that will help them assess who will be the party’s strongest nominee in the general election.

We have been strong supporters of the DCCC. We therefore urge you to clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August. We appreciate your activities in support of the Democratic Party and your leadership role in the Party and hope you will be responsive to some of your major enthusiastic supporters.

Sincerely,

Marc Aronchick
Clarence Avant
Susie Tompkins Buell
Sim Farar
Robert L. Johnson
Chris Korge
Marc and Cathy Lasry
Hassan Nemazee
Alan and Susan Patricof
JB Pritzker
Amy Rao
Lynn Forester de Rothschild
Haim Saban
Bernard Schwartz
Stanley S. Shuman
Jay and Tracy Snyder
Maureen White and Steven Rattner

If you have a better link to any of these folks, please pass it along.

Chelsea’s Best Answer on Monica: “None of Your Business”

Trish

I guess Chelsea is no better than her mom at handling tough questions. The person was asking if her mother’s credibility was in doubt because at the time, Hillary was adamant that Bill was not fooling around with Monica. She was only taking her husband’s word for it, and I think it’s a pretty dumb question myself but I also think it’s astounding that, “None of your business” was Chelsea’s best answer.

Like she never thought this might come up? After more than a year on the campaign trail she didn’t already have a statement ready that would defuse the question instead of elevating it to most-watched status on YouTube?

Update: While Chelsea was ducking, her dad was talking tough. Just not about his family.

“You know, I don’t give a rip about all this name calling that’s going on,” [Clinton] said.

“If a politician doesn’t wanna get beat up, he shouldn’t run for office,” the former president said. “Let’s just saddle up and have an argument. What’s the matter with that?”

Giddy up.

The Peanut Butter Plan to Save the World

Trish

If you’re like me, you’re tired of looking for ways to help global warming and only finding instructions to use compact florescent light bulbs. Like I haven’t been doing that for 10 years?

But here’s a new one that I can totally get behind: eat more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Besides the obvious reasons (they’re so gooood), you can help the planet. Look what you save when you choose a PB&J:

  • 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over an average animal-based lunch like a hamburger, a tuna sandwich, grilled cheese, or chicken nuggets
  • Almost 3.5 pounds of greenhouse gas compared to a ham sandwich or a hamburger
  • 280 gallons of water over the hamburger
  • 12 to 50 square feet of land from deforestation, over-grazing, and pesticide and fertilizer pollution
  • A whole bunch of fuel compared to wild-caught seafood
  • A whole bunch of fuel, pollution, antibiotics, hormones, and other really bad stuff over factory-farmed fish

The people at the PB&J Campaign are starting PB&J clubs. Email them at pbj@pbjcampaign.org if you want to start one of your own in your workplace or school.

Buck and I like our peanut butter extra crunchy and our bread whole-grain. Like Elvis, we enjoy a PB & Banana, but hold the mayo and don’t fry it.