[courtesy of Blog for America]

From The Washington Post:

Michigan and Florida: She Said, He Said

The process that led to primaries in Michigan and Florida being disqualified started nearly two years ago. Along the way, the presidential candidates have taken varying views on how important the contests are and whether their results should be counted.

Danny
Communications Director

by Ron Shepston for Congress [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

We can talk about "unity" -- but the meaning of that word varies depending on the reader. I want to drive home the meaning for you, to tap into the energy and synergy that comes from people striving for a common goal. In the netroots, I'm sure a lot of people will assume that I mean unity of the Presidential candidates.

That is part of it. Click on the picture to sign our pledge for unity.

(Misha, me & Dave in front of Democratic Party Of Orange County banner. We will be adding LA and San Bernardino Counties)

But we want to go further than that. We want to take this beyond gimmicks. We want to take this beyond cliche'. As my friend Dallasdoc says "Think movement".

This campaign has never been about me. It's been about all of us coming together to change the face of American politics to make the changes we know need to be made.

[courtesy of Blog for America]

Helen Thomas devotes a column to George W. Bush and torture:

Is Congress so cowed that it accepts the statements of a president who has little regard for the truth?

Is there no lawmaker who is appalled about the tarnishing of our image in world opinion? And where are the voices of the other presidential candidates who will inherit the Bush legacy of torture? Why the silence?

I count on the American people to refuse to be shamed any more.

Backbone: it's not just for vertebrates anymore.

Danny
Communications Director

by DFA Staff [courtesy of Blog for America]

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution takes a look at the presidential candidates and where there support is coming from...or not:

Hillary Clinton can bank on the support of women. Conservatives will never trust John McCain. Southern white men won't vote for Barack Obama.

All were conventional wisdom before this year's presidential contests began, and the voters shot some holes in each.

Danny
Communications Director

by DFA Staff [courtesy of Blog for America]

Ari Berman has a piece in the upcoming issue of the Nation about Howard Dean, the DNC, the presidential candidates, and the 50-state strategy:

The race for the Democratic nomination is a window into how the candidates view the future of the party, which is being shaped in large part by Dean's efforts. Are Clinton and Obama similarly committed to Dean's fifty-state strategy? How much faith would each, as the Democratic nominee, put in the party's grassroots? In the Internet era, the party is less about elder statesmen sitting in Washington than millions of people across the country organizing locally around issues and candidates. Dean and Obama have understood how the party is changing--and have embraced it. Clinton, thus far, has not.

Danny
Communications Director

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Senator Art Torres (Ret.), Chairman of the California Democratic Party, today issued the following statement regarding the ballot procedures for Independents to vote in the Democratic primary in Los Angeles County:

“The California Democratic Party is allowing Independents to vote in its presidential primary.
 
However, Los Angeles County ballot equipment requires Independents to fill in the bubble to the right of the word 'Democratic.' Below that, you fill in the bubble for any of our eight presidential candidates.
 
Filling in the bubble for Democratic is an extra step required by LA County. So instead of one bubble, it’s two bubbles, and with that it means your vote in the Democratic presidential primary will be counted."

by Monica Smith [courtesy of Blog for America]

Any number of presidential candidates have promoted the idea that the moral standing of the United States in the world community is in dire need of being re-established. However, few have mentioned any particular actions they would take to accomplish that goal. Perhaps that’s because they haven’t really thought through what brought about the sudden collapse of the moral authority which the United States enjoyed after World War II.

It seems pretty clear, in retrospect, that the country which earned the respect of other nations was one which said what it was going to do and then did it. From stopping totalitarianism to sending men to the moon, the United States set goals and then achieved them. No longer. Ever since Ronald Reagan, the United States has taken to telling other nations what to do, while conditions at home were allowed to deteriorate.