[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

I feel a bit left out of this whole Obama/Hillary back and forth. Like many Californians, I voted by mail and did so nearly three weeks ago. I voted for John Edwards.
 
Some friends, who knew I already voted, asked me if I wish I could retrieve my ballot. I do not. I have been an Edwards supporter since I first met him in 2002 when I was asked by a DC friend to take Edwards around the CDP convention after his speech and introduce him to folks. Super Bowl weekend in 2004 I campaigned for him in Columbia, South Carolina. And, this cycle, I was again firmly on board. I felt and still feel that he most closely represents my hopes for the future of my country.
 
That does not mean that I am not proud that our party's nominee will be a woman or an African American. I am. And, I think both Obama and Clinton are fine people. But, I believe in what Dr. King said about reaching a point in time where we judge people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin (or, by extension, gender). I take Dr. King's comments to mean that we should aspire to be a country where we should consider the positions of the candidates rather than their outward characteristics to determine who to support. I would no more vote for a candidate because of that candidate's race, religion, ethnicity or gender than I would vote against a candidate for those reasons.

by Elizabeth Cable [courtesy of Blog for America]

Throughout human history, humankind has been fond of waging perpetual wars, the meaning of which being a war waged upon an enemy that can never be definitively defeated. We likely do this because we are rather illogical creatures, creatures whose passions and prejudices can easily trump logic. In modern times, one place in the world where this illogicality of perpetual war has fully taken root is the United States of America. Given, all countries behave illogically to some extent (as they are all governed by fallible human beings), but America is the one that I know the most about. This illogicality is illustrated perfectly by two “wars”, one military and one not, that America currently is waging: the War on Terror and the War on Drugs.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Wolf Blitzer, Moderator
Jeanne Cummings, Moderator
Doyle McManus, Moderator

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

With Sen. John Edwards departure from the presidential race yesterday, all eyes are on where his California supporters will go. According to today's Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles trial lawyer Tom Girardi, one of the state's most politicially active attorneys, is throwing his support to Senator Clinton.
 
The Clintons "have taken an important role in the protection of people, and Hillary has a proven track record," Girardi told the Journal.

by Bob Brigham [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Moveon has 575,000 California activsts:

Spurred by John Edwards's withdrawal from the race on Wednesday, MoveOn surveyed a sample of its members to gauge endorsement interest, according to a source with knowledge of the group's operations. Then MoveOn set a deadline of 11 am Thursday for members to back a virtual endorsement vote. If a majority support the idea, virtual balloting will run overnight, open only to the group's 3.2 million activists, and an endorsement could be announced by Friday.

Your ballot will be hitting your inbox shortly. Looking at the movement in the Daily Kos poll, I can see Obama meeting the revised, 2/3 threshold.

by Monica Smith [courtesy of Blog for America]

Although it's been widely reported that a comment by Francine Torge in introducing Senator Clinton at an event in Dover, N.H. on January 7, 2008 is the origin of a significant amount of controversy, and ultimately led to the endorsement of Senator Obama by Senator Kennedy and other members of the Kennedy clan, it struck me as a bit peculiar that this person kept being identified as a former John Edwards supporter.

by E J Zipprich [courtesy of Blog for America]

Well, our true progressive voice has step aside. Sadly, John Edwards lost out to the media. The media has chosen Hillary & Obama. There are your choices against McCain and Romney, the media's other darlings.

This is a greater reason for you to attend Wednesday's DFALink meeting. What do we do now? Talk to other progressives about the two choices left in the race and determine who is the more progressive candidate. Let's throw our support into our congressional and local races since both remaining presidential campaigns are well funded & organized.

Monmouth for Democracy will meet at Racioppi's Kitchen 107 Oakland Street, Red Bank, NJ.

 Ed Hughes will moderate the discussion starting at 6:30. Please "chip-in" for Food & drink at about 12 bucks!