Attacking the Rights of Women is Par for the Course With These People

Senator Hillary Clinton points out a case of deranged wingnuttery from the Bush Administration:

The Bush administration is up to its old tricks again, quietly putting ideology before science and women's health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is poised to put in place new barriers to accessing common forms of contraception like birth control pills, emergency contraception and IUDs by labeling them "abortion." These proposed regulations set to be released next week will allow healthcare providers to refuse to provide contraception to women who need it. We can't let them get away with this underhanded move to undermine women's health and that's why I am sounding the alarm.

These rules pose a serious threat to providers and uninsured and low-income Americans seeking care. They could prevent providers of federally-funded family planning services, like Medicaid and Title X, from guaranteeing their patients access to the full range of comprehensive family planning services. They'll also build significant barriers to counseling, education, contraception and preventive health services for those who need it most: low-income and uninsured women and men.

The regulations could even invalidate state laws that currently ensure access to contraception for many Americans. In fact, they describe New York and California's laws requiring prescription drug insurance plans to provide coverage for contraceptives as part of "the problem." These rules would even interfere with New York State law that ensures survivors of sexual assault and rape receive emergency contraception in hospital emergency rooms.

Here's the link to HillPac, and a letter you can sign protesting this outrage.

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So much for the horse race, let's look at track conditions

All right Democrats. It is time to get our collective act together and put the past behind us. It isn't about anyones hurt feelings. I voted for Hillary in the primary and one of the checks I wrote this primary season was to her campaign. But I can read the tea leaves, and Obama is going to be the nominee.

So take the long weekend to lick your wounds, and when Tuesday rolls around, start with mending fences. It is time to get over yourself. It isn't about you, or me, or even the candidates. It is about electing a Democrat and saving the Supreme Court.

Looked at through that lens, Obama is perfectly suited for the job, because he was a Constitutional Law professor. That is hugely important with a Supreme Court that has a liberal wing that is as chronologically advanced as our liberal justices are. Especially with Roberts as Chief. Ugh...

McClatchy has an article on the importance of Missouri this fall. Obama carried the state - narrowly - on Super Tuesday - because of St. Louis and Kansas City. In the outstate areas, Hillary is the overwhelming choice. At the State Democratic Convention I saw Hillbillies for Hillary t-shirts, and my father in law, who has voted in the primary for the guy who eventually won the White House since 1980 is a huge Hillary Clinton supporter. I have been telling everyone since September, when we went to the country for bow season, that she is the outstate favorite.

Obama - and the state and national party apparatus - have challenges in this bellwether state - but they can be overcome with grassroots organization, and most importantly - presence. When Missouri voters in outstate areas are asked about Obama and the response ranges from

"I feel like I just don't know him yet."

to

"I can't vote Republican. I'll either vote for Obama or not vote. If it were today, I would not vote. There's still six months . ... He's gonna' have to convince me. I haven't seen it yet."

Our mission is clearly defined. Convince voters. I spoke to my father in law before the state convention and asked him if there was anything he wanted me to impart to the leaders of the party. He said I should tell them to make their presence known, that no one was going to vote for them if they didn't bother to ask.

So here is how Obama wins in Missouri, and helps deliver the Missouri Sixth congressional seat to Kay Barnes, the Democrat opposing the odious Sam "96%" Graves, (as in he votes the way aWol wants him to 96% 0f the time), and takes a congressional enemy off the chessboard.

It's politics 101. What Howard Dean did for the nation with the brilliant 50 State Strategy, the Obama campaign and the Democratic Party (national and state need to get their act together and combine resources for this) need to do in Missouri. Call it a 114 County Strategy.

Get someone on the ground in every county - it can be as simple as a dedicated cell phone and someone willing to answer and return calls, and store yard signs, bumper stickers, lapel pins and campaign literature in their garage or basement and pass it out when people ask for it, and put an add in every county paper every single week.

If Obama campaigns hard in Kansas City, St. Louis, and the Sixth Congressional District...He wins. KC and StL are reliably Democratic. The Sixth is vulnerable and due to flip. The Sixth is also huge in area - the population isn't dense, but the people aren't either. They know that republican policies have damaged them economically and sent their kids to fight and die in a senseless conflict that should never have been undertaken. A couple of stops in St. Joseph would pull supporters for both Kay Barnes and Representative Nancy Boyda of the KS 02 and fill the stadium at Missouri Western. Do the same thing in Hannibal and bolster democratic turnout among rural voters in three states. What's not to love about this plan?

Now the Democratic Party needs to get their act together and start plotting strategy. Ask any veteran and they will tell you - It is always - always - a bad idea to cede the hill country in any fight.


[Crossposted from Show Me Progress]

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At the End of the Day - February 19, 2008

Sorry, but this stuff doesn't happen by accident. Later in the broadcast, Matthews stated, "You may have noticed a graphic over my shoulder -- a picture we showed over my shoulder -- that was a mistake earlier in the broadcast. We apologize for the error." He provided no further explanation of the error or why it occurred. No one has asked me, but if they did, I would recommend we deal with this sort of idiocy the way good teachers deal with consistent discipline problems. Networks need to start suspending entire staffs when the Osama / Obama juxtaposition happens. Tweety definitely needs a good checking. If it knocks him on his ass, all the better.

Wheeeee! Oil prices shot up over a hundred bucks a barrel on Tuesday, in the wake of a weekend refinery accident in Texas.

The refinery, located in Big Spring, Texas, processes 70,000 barrels of crude per day, and could be closed for as long as two months. Don't be surprised if the price remains at or above a hundred bucks - for a while. OPEC has hinted at reducing production next month.

Always ask that follow-up question...When the latest employment figures were released in January, 52 consecutive months of job expansion ended with a contraction of 17,000 lost jobs. The Bush administration immediately dismissed the lost jobs by pointing to the low overall unemployment rate.

Fortunately, McClatchy asks the follow up questions. When they looked behind the numbers touted by the Bush administration, they found that jobless Americans are spending more time looking for work and that those who can't find work now make up a greater share of the unemployed.

But where the picture changes rapidly is when the long-term jobless (over 27 weeks out of the workforce) are added to the equation. The long term jobless comprised 18.3% of all the idle workforce in January. "Long-term unemployment is really very interesting and in some ways a more telling indicator," said Jared Bernstein, a labor economist with the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington. "It basically says that given the particularly low level of unemployment, you'd expect a much lower share (of long-term unemployed) on the jobless rolls. Job creation has been anything but robust."

Foreclosures really can destroy entire neighborhoods...As the foreclosure epidemic rocks middle America, there is a brutal irony for many homeless people. In many cities, on any given night, they are outnumbered by vacant homes. This has led to street people squatting in recently foreclosed homes. Recently foreclosed homes have a tremendous advantage over boarded up dilapidated buildings - often the utilities are still on. "That's what you call convenient," said James Bertan, 41, an ex-convict and self-described "bando," or someone who lives in abandoned houses.

If someone can cut through the BS here, would you please explain it to me? And can Democrats stop with the infighting and get busy scrutinizing the Straight Jacket Express, please? I'm no wizard with finances, but my instinct is this doesn't pass the smell test.

Wow. Wisconsin handed down a definitive decision. Obama took it standing up - 60-40 is what you call "decisive." But look at the totals - Approximately a million Democratic ballots were cast, to less than 350,000 Republican ballots. Hillary, finishing a distant second, garnered more votes than all the Repugnant Ones put together. So when the nomination is sewn up, lets keep the momentum going all the way to November. It's the only chance we have of restoring what we've lost these last seven years.

Well, that's it for Tuesday.

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Public May Be Ahead Of Candidates On Medical Marijuana

Testifying before Congress last summer, the chief scientist in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Dr. David Murray, reportedly said that the medical use of marijuana had sparked violence and robberies in California.

I suppose I've seen too many silly old movies like Reefer Madness. I envisioned, in grainy black and white, wild-eyed, pot-crazed cancer patients, knocking over convenience stores to get at the Milk Duds stash.

More seriously, this season's leading Republican presidential candidates seem to be toeing the White House line on this issue. The Democrats, characteristically, have been more open-minded. But they all seem to be trailing the American public.

As long ago as 2002, a Time/CNN survey found that 80 percent of Americans support the use of marijuana as medicine. And in the same survey, 72 percent said nonmedicinal users should be fined, not thrown in the hoosegow. In other words, they favored decriminalization.

Here's a video sampling of what some of the candidates, current and former, have said about medical marijuana.

Onward.


From Barack Obama, who admits having inhaled his share as a young man:



From Mitt Romney, evasion and swill:



Here's Hillary Clinton. At least she answered the question:



Now John McCain. He makes one thing perfectly clear -- he's opposed to incarcerating the dead:



This from recent dropout John Edwards. Even with some problems, I'm sad he's not still in the running:



Last, but not least, heeeere's Ron Paul. True to 19th-century American values, he's for states' rights on the issue:



That's all we have time for today, folks. Until next time, 2012, don't get diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Crossposted at Manifesto Joe.

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Wasn't there something I was supposed to blog about today?

Oh yeah - I remember now.

There's a Republican primary election in South Carolina and both parties held their caucus in Nevada today.


Nevada first...With 88% of precincts reporting, Hillary Clinton was declared the winner with 51% to Obama's 45%. Edwards garnered 4%, and should probably think about withdrawing with his chances for a cabinet position - and his dignity - intact.

On the Republican side, Romney took it standing up with 51%. Ron Paul took 14%, John McCain came in with 13%. Huck and Fred tied at 8%. Rudy brought up the rear with 4%.

I guess the Nervous Nellies among Hillary supporters were a bit over-the-top. For the record, they totally took the wrong tack. They should have approached it from the position of "then you have to hold caucuses in hospitals, too." What judge would want to be seen as the guy who upheld a showgirls right to caucus, but nurses can go hang? It was a no-brainer. Apparently. Some no-brain out there fucked that up from Jump Street.

Okay - South Carolina - that's a Republicans-only primary election, and polls won't close for a couple of hours, but Politico.com has a pretty good summation:

Saturday's most crucial showdown was on the other side of the country, in South Carolina, where the Republican contenders try to wrest advantage from each other — after three different candidates won the first three major contests.

Most polls have shown McCain leading Huckabee, trailed by Romney and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson.

The stakes for the entire GOP field are high if history is a guide — every Republican nominee since Ronald Reagan has won South Carolina.

And the weather is absolutely miserable. Can you believe it's snowing in parts of South Carolina?

Well it is.

In the part of the state where Mike Huckabee's support is strongest.

Wonder what God's own Candidate is thinking right now?

[Updates below the fold]


UPDATE - Pale Rider

God's own candidate, Mitt Romney, did well out in Las Vegas. I've seen some coverage writing it off, basically saying that an overwhelming Mormon vote is the reason for his win in Nevada.

Ron Paul pulling 14% and beating McCain is huge--as is the fact that Ron Paul has a larger constituency within the Republican Party than that of Rudy Guiliani. I'm reminded of Ron Paul explaining why we were attacked on 9/11 and Rudy "not getting it" and trying to belittle Ron Paul for his ideas. As nuts as he is, Ron Paul gets it right on the war and that's gotta be troubling for the overtly pro-war candidates on either side of the aisle.

UPDATE II - Pale Rider 7:45 PM- Eastern

Tucker Carlson is trying to fan the flames of a Hispanic vs Black split in the Democratic Party. As if. We don't even have a nominee yet. We don't have anywhere near enough information to make that assessment. We have yet to see a large, populous and diverse state vote yet. And the Republican shill machine is desperate.

Tucker--talk about Ron Paul beating main stream Republicans with 50 times the name recognition and then ask us about a split among Democrats. The split is on the Republican side, clearly, because they are seeing candidates who have spent millions go down in flames.

The MSNBC coverage is dominated by Olbermann and Russert. Matthews is the third wheel along for the Prom date, and no one wants to give him liquor because he'll get caught and everyone will get busted by the Gym teacher. This makes for stilted coverage. CNN is unwatchable. They have Bill Bennett in there and all I want to do is ask "did that lardass play the one-armed bandit all day?"

UPDATE III - Blue Girl

Lets look at the Nevada numbers:

Women were a strong majority for the Democrats in Nevada. 59% of Democrats attending the caucus were female, to 41% male.

On the Republican side, the numbers are closer, but males are a solid majority - 52% to 48%.

But more telling than the gender demographics are the age demographics.

Republicans

60-up_________45%
45-59_________27%
30-44_________17%
18-29_________11%

Democrats

60-up_________36%
45-59_________32%
30-44_________19%
18-29_________13%

The numbers tell this well-versed-in-stats political consumer that the Republican party is entering the twilight years, along with it's stalwarts. It is sooooo yesterday. People who want to move forward are throwing their lot in with the Democrats, and the demographics on the Democratic side are much more stable and desirable. If you read these numbers as if they were in the respective prospectus of companies competing for your investment dollars, where would you invest your money?

UPDATE IV - Pale Rider

Yes--the voters are turned off by the Republicans, they are identifying themselves as Democrats, and the Republicans can't raise money. It's shocking to see how broke some of them are--Guiliani and McCain are literally broke and running on fumes on a day to day basis. Romney is using his own money and Huckabee isn't spending any money. The only who has a legitimate fundraising machine is Ron Paul and he's not going to piss that money away. In 1999, George W Bush was raising millions and was building a massive war chest with which to run. There is no comparison this year. They are all running on fumes.

How about a shout out to Howard Dean? The Fifty State strategy means we are going to compete with Republicans everywhere, and we will make them play a full-court game. As their "brand" continues to sink, we will make gains in places the Washington DC establishment would have written off four years ago.

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Hillary Clinton Campaign Headquarters Open In Kansas City

Saturday after noon the Hillary Clinton campaign headquarters held a grand opening in Kansas City. The doors opened at 10:00 a.m. and volunteers started phone banking, then at 2:30 a group of local and state elected officials who are endorsing Senator Clinton in her bid for the White House spoke to the standing-room-only crowd.

The headquarters is located at 7442 Holmes, on the northeast corner of 75th and Holmes, across the street from the northeast corner of Tower Park. The office space is being donated by local businessman, developer, community re-investor and Democratic fundraiser Nick Abnos, owner of the Abdiana Futon chain.

I arrived at the headquarters at about 2:00, with the local politicians who have endorsed the Senator scheduled to address the crowd at 2:30. State Senators Rachel Storch and Jolie Justus, Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders, and United States Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver. They were great speakers one and all - well-spoken, articulate in their expression of why they are supporting Senator Clinton - but Congressman Cleaver spoke last, and that man can move a mountain with his oratorical skills.

He had a lot of things to say, and much of it quotable - but one thing he said rings absolutely true...speaking about the Republicans and the concern-trolling of certain factions of the Democratic Party - "We are all Democrats. We can't let them separate us."

Amen, Mayor (Congress is only national) you got that right.

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Hillary Clinton in KC - October 5

Hillary Clinton came to Kansas City today for a fundraiser and to meet with faith leaders from the community. After the fundraiser, she held a press conference in the Iowa Room of the President Hotel to discuss her meeting with the local faith leaders.

She entered a few minutes late, accompanied by Missouri Congressman and AME minister Emanuel Cleaver, Jackson County Executive and state campaign co-chair Mike Sanders, and about a dozen local clergy, who stood behind her as she took questions.

Dave Helling went first and asked about her philosophical differences with the ministers…issues such as reproductive freedom and gay marriage.

The Senator handled the question ably.

She pointed out that there was a whole lot more that they can find common ground on, and we need to listen to one another and treat one another with respect.

She mentioned specific points of agreement they share, on issues such as housing, and education, and healthcare, and stopping the revolving door between the prison and the street.

The next question was asked by Mike Mahoney. He asked her about something former President Clinton said the day before - that he [Bill Clinton] would not be surprised to see former presidents asked to serve in various capacities in a Hillary Clinton administration.

And she laughed (we'll get to that in a minute) before saying "I wouldn't be surprised to see that either!"

(Keep Reading)


She gave the current occupant credit for, in the wake of the Indonesian tsunami, asking former presidents Bush and Clinton to lead American efforts there, and it improved the image of America in the eyes of Indonesians and of people throughout the region.

Dave Helling then asked if she was planning on campaigning in Missouri, and brought up the Kerry campaign (Helling mistakenly stated that Kerry did not campaign here, but he did - he pulled out of the state three weeks before the election, but he most certainly did campaign here).

"I intend to campaign vigorously in every state.I want to represent the entire country." She responded. This is her second trip to Kansas City in recent months and her third or fourth to the state.

The next question was about the torture revelations of the last couple of days, and the incumbent saying today "We do not torture."

On this she grew quite serious. We are only finding out now how far the administration has gone, and she reminded all that there was no information forthcoming until the Democrats took over in January. She did state unequivocally that no administration, no person, no president should be above the law.

That was supposed to be the last question, but she took one more, on immigration.

She didn't come close to touching the current third rail of politics. She favors the standard "comprehensive immigration reform™" that every politician and their aunts, uncles, cousins and pets espouse. In her version it involves strengthening the borders and employing technology. She did give more than perfunctory acknowledgment to the idea that helping Mexico develop their economy so people won't feel like they have no choice but to leave their homes and families and enter the U.S. illegally to better their lives.

She didn't say anything new or controversial, but she did stress that business owners employing undocumented workers are a huge part of the problem and until they are held accountable, no other efforts will be truly effective.

Overall, I had a pretty positive impression of her. She was relaxed and composed and confident. She seemed to exude competence and ability. She was charming and well spoken and didn't butcher a single sentence. Overall, she seemed downright presidential. We could certainly do worse, as the last seven years have shown us.

Now - about the laugh.

Get over it.

The laugh is real. I was just a few feet away from it a few hours ago. It is genuine and there is a twinkle in her eyes when she laughs that ya just can't fake. That laugh endears her to me on a certain level. It is the same laugh that I stopped trying to stifle the first time I heard "Freedom Fries." It is the laugh that should assault Chris Wallace's ears every time he spouts a wingnut talking point. It is the laugh that should have issued forth thirty years ago when the foam flecked loonies and assorted hypocrites started emerging from the lunatic fringe.

People stopped laughing at the assorted array of idiots, and look where it got us! For the love of all that is holy, stop acting like the wingnuts have any credibility, stop taking them seriously, and start guffawing at these idiots every time they say something stupid.

And when the Maureen Dowds and Frank Richs and various M$M chuckleheads start obsessing about the authenticity of a presidential candidates laugh instead of the substance of their message…mocking, derisive laughter directed back at them is the only appropriate response.

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Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders Endorses Hillary Clinton for President

The Hillary Clinton campaign announced today that Jackson County Missouri County Executive Mike Sanders has endorsed Hillary for President and the campaign has named him a Co-Chair of the Missouri campaign.

“Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience to get our troops home safely from Iraq and tackle the tough challenges we face at home, from moving toward energy independence to establishing universal healthcare for every American,” Sanders said in his endorsement. “Hillary is uniquely qualified to deliver the change this country needs.”

Sanders has a long record of public service. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army in the early 1990's, before returning home to attend law school and enter into government. Before he was elected to the County Executive position, he served two terms as the county Prosecuting Attorney. We elected him to the County Executive position in November 2006, after he campaigned on a platform of transparency in government, fiscal responsibility and safe neighborhoods.

“Mike has worked tirelessly to make Jackson County a safer and more livable community, and he gets results,” Clinton said. “I’m honored to have his support and delighted that he’ll help lead our efforts in Missouri.”

Sanders is a young, hard-hitting, take-no-prisoners politician, worthy of the mantle Truman Democrat. He has shown us all that he is not afraid of taking on the entrenched Democratic power structure in this deeply blue county. He is well connected, and with his network of friends, his endorsement is bound to translate into votes and cash.

(that's all.)

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Stop It! Stop It RIGHT NOW!!!!!

Republicans do NOT own national security. Republicans have NOT made the nation more secure than it was prior to 9-11-01. And it's time for Democrats to NOT run for cover worrying how to respond to a national security threat because said Democrats believe such a threat will only help Republicans.

Why bring this up now? Because a Democrat running for president just perpetuated the myths above:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday raised the prospect of a terror attack before next year's election, warning that it could boost the GOP's efforts to hold on to the White House.

Discussing the possibility of a new nightmare assault while campaigning in New Hampshire, Clinton also insisted she is the Democratic candidate best equipped to deal with it.

"It's a horrible prospect to ask yourself, 'What if? What if?' But if certain things happen between now and the election, particularly with respect to terrorism, that will automatically give the Republicans an advantage again, no matter how badly they have mishandled it, no matter how much more dangerous they have made the world," Clinton told supporters in Concord.

"So I think I'm the best of the Democrats to deal with that," she added.

STOP THIS MADNESS! The Democrat "best positioned" to deal with GOP political efforts to claim National Security Superiority in a post-attack environment is the one who isn't reflexively inclined to see failed Republican policies resulting hundreds, if not thousands, of American deaths as a political advantage for the Republicans.

Every Democrat running for or in office needs to blame the failures of Bush's national security policies on Bush's (and hence, the GOP's) failed policies.

Leading Democrats need to begin LEADING! America is NOT safer because of Bush. America is NOT better off because of Bush. The vast majority of Americans know this. Why do so few Congressional Democrats?

Stop it. Stop it RIGHT NOW!!!!!!

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The apology was nice and all, now make with firing Edelman already

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sent a nice letter to Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, apologizing for the accusation by Eric Edelman that “Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia.” by asking about Pentagon plans to withdraw from Iraq.

Gates' letter, dated Wednesday, insisted that was not the point of Edelman's missive.

"I emphatically assure you that we do not claim, suggest, or otherwise believe that congressional oversight emboldens our enemies, nor do we question anyone's motives in this regard," Gates wrote.

The Defense secretary both agreed with Clinton that congressional oversight of military planning is needed and at the same time defended Edelman.

"I truly regret that this important discussion went astray and I also regret any misunderstanding of intention," Gates wrote.

"I agree with you that planning concerning the future of U.S. forces in Iraq — including the drawdown of those forces at the right time — is not only appropriate but essential," Gates wrote, adding that Edelman also agrees with that point.

"You may rest assured that such planning is indeed taking place with my active involvement," he wrote in the letter.

Of course, the apology was rather blunted by the bit about Edelman being "a valued member” who provides "wise counsel and years of experience (that) are critically important to the many pressing policy issues facing the military."

He is not irreplaceable, and Gates should fire him. His bio, afterall, is not impressive in the least. He is perceived by the Turks to have been the worst ambassador to Turkey ever, in fact, the Turks practically threw a tickertape parade when the feckless fool left the post.

Oh – and lest anyone forget - he was installed as Undersecretary of Defense by a recess appointment. He was such a poor nominee that his nomination stalled in the Republican Rubber Stamp Senate in the 109^th Congress.

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Hillary Endorsed by Former Representative Dick Gephardt

At 1:00 easterntime today, former U.S. Representative Richard Gephardt endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in a conference call to journalists and bloggers. Gephardt explained that he is endorsing her because “our country is in as much trouble as it has ever been in” and if ever we needed a president who would dive right in from day one and grapple with the problems we face, he is confident that Hillary Clinton is that person, and he believes she would be a great president. He bases this belief on her experience, strength, and intelligence. “I will do anything I am asked to help her win the nomination.” He stated unequivocally.

After the initial statement, the lines were opened up for a few questions from journalists. First up was Lynne Sweet from the Chicago Sun Times. She asked for Mr. Gephardt's take on Barrack Obama’s statement that the way the system is gamed, and expectations set high, the only person qualified to be president is a former president.

Hillary played a unique roll as spouse to President Clinton, she knows what it means to be a President, and knows the challenges first hand. She is not a former President but as close as you can be to that. We face the most difficult challenges that this country has ever faced, in both the domestic and foreign policy realms, and she is the best suited to face those challenges. "We need someone who can, from the first moment they take the oath of office, dive right in."

Brian McNulty of Gannett was up next, and asked how Mr. Gephardt’s stance on trade issues differed from Hillary, as he had been a vocal opponent of President Clinton’s trade policies.

The Democratic Party has come together on the trade issue, and Senator Clinton has been integral to that coming together.

Christina Vallentini(sp?) with the Washington Times asked how he thought he could help the Senator in Iowa based on his experience there.

She doesn’t really need any help. She is running a very good campaign. Iowans make decisions late in the process nobody tells them who to be for. He is heartened by her showing thus far.

Some chucklehead on the radio in St. Louis – Devin somebody, I believe - dredged up the “cookies” remark from February 1992. How can she expect to get the women she insulted to vote for her, after she attacked such a “great institution”? (I heard the smirk from the other side of the state.)

After initially stifling a chuckle, Mr Gephardt pointed out that she has come a long way since 1992, and her experience and ability to lead is what people see, not the primary candidates wife from 15 years ago.

Jo Mannies of the St. Louis Post Dispatch had a more substantive question, about the votes both Gephardt and Clinton cast for the AUMF. She inquired about his assessment of whether her evolving position on Iraq would help or hurt her?

She has defined a position that most Americans agree with, she has been fighting in the Senate to equipment to the troops in the field and care when they get home. She opposed the escalation, and she has come forward with plans for a phased withdrawal. “I think her position is right in line with where it should be and where the American people are.”

A television reporter in St. Louis (sorry I did not catch her name) asked the final question, and she asked what Mr. Gephardt could offer with his endorsement, and could he bring other people to her side?

“I’m a has-been politician, I don’t know that I can do more than cast my own vote.” Maybe I can get my family and friends to vote for her. I will advocate her candidacy to anyone who will listen.

I have also signed on to be an economic advisor to her campaign. But I have “no illusions about being any big factor in this election, I just want a good president in 2009, and I think [Hillary is the right person for the job]”

Personally, I seized on the economic adviser info-drop at the end of the call. I read into that, that Hillary needs a counter to John Edwards muscular pro-union stance, and given Gephardt’s long pro-labor history, she hopes he can be that counter.

With Missouri shaping up to resume her rightful spot as the quintessential battleground state (it was the Missouri Compromise you learned about in 6^th grade, remember) in 2008, a Gephardt endorsement could hold some sway with primary voters. Especially in the urban centers of St. Louis and Kansas City, where Unions aren't dead yet. Missouri entered the Union fussing and feuding; and before too long we were fighting with our neighbors to the west in the Border War that predated the Civil War by a decade; and in the Civil War, we fought amongst ourselves.)

Missouri has long served as a microcosm of larger, national struggles, and I think the case can be made once more, when our economic situation is assessed and compared to the nation as a whole. We are facing the same problems as the nation, just more focused and sharply felt.

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