[courtesy of Blog for America]

Ken Silervstein at Harper's Magazine writes about Bob Dole's criticism of Scott McClellan's tell-all book:

This would be the same Bob Dole who promised Kansans that he would come “home” if he lost his 1996 presidential bid and then, after being crushed by Bill Clinton, stayed in Washington and went to work as a lobbyist for a host of corporate and foreign interests?

Danny
Communications Director

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) announced yesterday that she would be supporting Barack Obama. Apparently Capps was pulled from both sides by her daughter:

Capps is one of those with strong ties to the Clintons. Her daughter, Laura, worked several years in Bill Clinton's White House (serving part of the time as a speechwriter). But that link was trumped by this one -- Laura recently wed Bill Burton, Obama's national press secretary.(LAT Top of the Ticket 4/30/08)

The LAT Top of the Ticket post has a full breakdown of where the California congressional delegation stands as superdelegates.  Right now it is Clinton 16, Obama 8, Undecided 10.  

[courtesy of Blog for America]

I  have news for the forces of greed and the defenders of the status quo;
your time has come and gone. It's time for change in America.   Bill Clinton  
 

In his Pennsylvania primary speech, Barack Obama talked about change and how the Status Quo resists change. As I interview people about what are Progressive Values and about how Conservative Values have Failed, the interviewees repeatedly talk about the conservative fear of change and the promotion of the status quo.

We start off with this exploration of the Failed Conservative Value of the Status Quo with Barack Obama's speech on change versus the status quo.

 Failed Conservative Values: Barack Obama Status Quo v Change
 http://youtube.com/watch?v=IBCaqdH1FDY

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Sara S. Nichols

I'll let you in on an important political secret: my mother is the unit California Democrat. As she votes, so vote the Democrats of California. As long as I have been tracking it, this has been proven to be true.* And my mother doesn't like (putting it mildly) Hillary Clinton.

Here are the facts: she is a retired schoolteacher, born and raised in the deep south east, she has lived in California 55 years (40 of them in San Diego). Although widowed by a radical leftist (yes, my father) who registered Peace and Freedom Party and often voted for losing third party candidates against mainstream Democrats, my mother is a yellow dog Democrat. There isn't an ounce of swing voter in her. She is relatively socially liberal, tends to be comfortable with and support the mainstream Democratic choices.

She supported Bill Clinton, Michael Dukakis (she loves Greeks), Walter Mondale, Al Gore and John Kerry in their respective primaries (and she supported them long before the historically late California primaries rolled around). She still holds bitterness and resentment against some of her children for "throwing the election to that man (W)" by supporting Ralph Nader in 2000. "That man" was also what she called Ronald Reagan.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

(not totally local, but I mentioned the Empower Change Summit yesterday, so I thought I'd update)

So I spent Saturday on the campus of UCLA, at the American Democracy Institute's "Empower Change Summit," a gathering of aorund 3,000 young people, to interact and discuss the ways in which they can be a force for social change.  The ADI describes itself as a nonpartisan organization built on shared values (though they are, to be honest, typically progressive), dedicated to being a leadership gateway, inspiring people to create change on their own in a bid to make democracy more relevant to people's lives.  The desire for a new model of political engagement, one that exists both within and without the electoral sphere, which foregrounds values and principles and encourages public citizenship and the change we can make in our daily lives, is noble.  But it was unfortunately turned briefly into a world-class spin session during the closing speech by former President Bill Clinton.

by Dante Atkins (hekebolos) [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

David Dayen and I attended the EmpowerChange summit at UCLA today, put on by the American Democracy Institute.  Bill Clinton gave an address, which I transcribed (rather roughly) and am pasting below the fold.

I didn't get the chance to attend any significant portion of any of the workshops that were offered at the summit; I caught the tail-end of the ecology workshop, but that was just about it.

I will say that this was probably the only speech I've attended as media in which the media got the worst seat in the house.  We were shunted all the way to the back corner of Royce Hall for the speech.

Remarks below.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

She continues to hold big leads in the primary race here, but that might change depends on what happens in Iowa and New Hampshire.  Field Poll (PDF) results here. You'll find all the typical numbers there, she has  45% to Obama's 20 and Edwards' 11. (Dem Race Field Poll) But today's Field Poll release was slightly different, more focused on Hillary, and uses data from back in the Clinton era to track her.  There's some interesting points there.

Most pointedly, Bill Clinton is really, really popular here. Always was, and always will be. Even during the dark days during the impeachment era, he was still clocking in at 54, 55 percent overall, and today he's still at that 57% mark. Hillary, occasionally strays below that magical 50% mark. She's at 48-39 Favorable now, but her peak was only at 55-39 in October 1999. More over the flip.