Democracy for New Mexico

Tonight: Obama Supporter Meeting in ABQ with James Lewis

From Grassroots Obama - New Mexico:
There will be a meeting of Obama for President supporters in Albuquerque on Tuesday, March 18, at 7:00 PM at 1301 San Pedro NE (Democratic Party state headquarters).  This is a special meeting. We have the Honorable James Lewis, our very own State Treasurer, as guest speaker. He is the highest ranking state official to support Obama. If you support Barack Obama for President, hope to see you there. More info: Bradford Lyau; Chair, Grassroots Obama - New Mexico (GO-NM); 650-430-5340 (cell)

Major Speech: Obama Addresses Race

Full prepared text of Barack Obama's major speech on issues of race given today in Constitution Center on Independence Mall in Philadelphia. The 37-minute video above captures the entire speech as given. I decided not to provide any excerpts because I think it's essential to take in the speech in its entirety, from start to finish, to experience its power and clarity. I kept thinking as I listened, imagine having a president talking in these terms, in this manner, for eight years, to all the people, persuasively and inclusively, as we take on the immense challenges and changes in motion in almost every area of human endeavor. This time ....

Video: Gov. Richardson on Clinton, Obama Endorsement

In an interview with LA Times journalist Maggie Farley at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations' second annual conference on March 11, Gov. Bill Richardson discusses his personal experiences in the Democratic presidential primary race, the role of superdelegates and whether he will endorse Sen. Hillary Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama. Click to see another video of Richardson talking about his experiences negotiating with Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro and others during his speech that day.

Olbermann Special Comment on Clinton-Ferraro Damaging Duet

(Updated) Mississippi Dem Prez Primary: Polls and Results

Columbus MS: Not running for VP of the United States ...

UPDATED: Obama wins Mississippi as expected.
Obama   255,809  61%   19 delegates  100% reporting
Clinton   155,686  37%   14 delegates

The polls are open for Mississippi's Dem presidential primary from 7 AM to 7 PM Central time today. Once again, record-breaking turnout is expected. It's been 20 years since Mississippi had any real say in a Dem prez primary. Recent polling shows Obama has a good chance of beating Clinton by double digits in the state. There are 33 pledged delegates up for grabs in the open primary. RESULTS will be reported here once the polls close at 6 PM our time.

There's a six-week gap between Mississippi and the next Dem primary in Pennsylvania on April 22. Do you think Penna. residents will get tired of all the ads, phone calls and canvassers knocking at their doors? With 158 pledged delegates at stake, both campaigns will be going all out to contact and win over voters over the next month and a half -- although it's next to impossible for Clinton to overcome Obama's pledged delegate lead. Contests remaining after Pennsylvania (pledged delegates in parentheses):

• 5/3: Guam (4)
• 5/6: North Carolina (115)
• 5/6: Indiana (72)
• 5/13: West Virginia (28)
• 5/20: Oregon (52)
• 5/20: Kentucky (51)
• 6/1: Puerto Rico (55)
• 6/3: Montana (16)
• 6/3: South Dakota (15)

Huge Turnouts for Wyoming Dem Caucuses Today; Results

First off, you should be aware that Obama won Texas in that he won the most delegates. Now, on to Wyoming: CNN results, updated as votes come in. Updated 3/09/08 (final):

Race		Candidate	State Del.*	%	Del*	Pcts
Wyoming		Obama	5,378	61%	7	100% reporting
		Clinton	3,312	38%	4
		Uncommitted	63	1%	0

The caucuses in counties around the state have various start times throughout the day. Twelve pledged delegates are at stake. This diary on Kos has the nitty gritty on how the delegates relate to the CNN numbers and will have genuine delegate results. According to Yahoo news:

Sen. Barack Obama took the lead over rival Hillary Rodham Clinton in early returns as Democrats deluged caucuses in Wyoming Saturday, straining the ability of party officials to accommodate crowds. Obama led Clinton 57 percent to 40 percent with 6 of 23 counties reporting as they vied for the next prize in their extraordinarily tight Democratic presidential nomination race. During the first caucuses of the day, it appeared the state's Democrats were showing up in record numbers. In 2004, a mere 675 people statewide took part in the caucuses

In Sweetwater County, more than 500 people crowded into a high school auditorium and another 500 were lined up to get inside.

"I'm worried about where we're going to put them all. But I guess everybody's got the same problem," said Joyce Corcoran, a local party official. "So far we're OK. But man, they keep coming."

Party officials were struggling with how to handle the overflow crowds. The start of the Converse County caucus was delayed due to long lines.

In Cheyenne, scores of late arrivers were turned away when party officials stopped allowing people to get in line at 11 a.m. EST. A party worker stood at the end of the line with a sign reading, "End of the line. Caucus rules require the voter registration process to be closed at this time."

Vera Double, 71, said she arrived late because she had a hard time finding parking.

"I'm so proud to see there are this many Democrats showing up in Cheyenne, but I'm very disappointed in the rules because we had difficulty parking and we had a long walk and they closed it off at 9 (a.m. MST)," she said. "I consider it — we're disenfranchised, which they've done in other parts of the country."

Laura Paskus on Ballot Booth Woes

In the aftermath of our recent Democratic presidential caucus, Laura Paskus takes an indepth look at New Mexico's election system and its problems past and present in this week's Santa Fe Reporter. She tries to find an answer to the question, "Can New Mexico Run a Successful Election?"

With critical presidential, Congressional and local elections on tap this coming November, citizens and advocacy groups here and all over the nation are questioning whether we can trust the voting systems that are crucial to our democracy. What can we do to help ensure the integrity of our elections? The first step has to be to learn more about how they work.

I'm not providing any excerpts from Laura's piece because you really need to read the entire article. Comments?

Updates on Dem Prez Primaries/Caucuses: OH, RI, TX, VT Results

Frequently updated results for all four states are available at the CNN website.

UPDATE 9PM: Check out how the delegate counts are going for the real story here. The explanation provided is very instructive. This is the kind of mathematical analysis that indicates that unless Clinton wins big, like 65%-35%, in all the states tonight plus all the states to come through June, and she ALSO wins big in most every district within the states, she cannot make up Obama's delegate margin.

Before tonight, Obama's pledged delegate margin was 161 or so. The results from today will probably be a wash -- with one or the other gaining only a handful of net delegates.
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Vermont: 15 pledged, 8 super delegates
Polls had barely closed in Vermont when Barack Obama was projected to be the winner of his 12th straight contest based on exit polling results. Obama was expected to win the state by a healthy margin, so this is no surprise, but it does represent one down, three to go if you're an Obama fan like me. The exit polling in Vermont shows Obama winning by big margins in almost every demographic category.

Texas: 126 pledged - primary, 67 pledged - caucuses, 12 super delegates

Vote stealing being reported in Houston. And it's not by the Obama campaign. Description of voting and caucus chaos in . Clinton projected as winner despite the fact that the caucus results, which will allocate about 35% of delegates, are only dribbling in. I thought the "winning" of the state of Texas was dependent on who wins the primary AND the caucus, didn't you?

Ohio: 141 pledged, 21 super delegates
Polling places in two counties staying open late due to weather. Hillary projected winner at about 9:00 PM our time, although most major city totals are not yet in.

Rhode Island: 21 pledged, 12 super delegates
As expected, Clinton the projected winner, although it looks like the pledged delegate split will be about even. Exit polling.

(Updated) Two New Mexicans On the Ground in Dallas for Obama

Obama greets supporters after Carrollton town hall (AP/Rick Bowmer)

UPDATE: Check out the comments thread for Laura Sanchez's report on her experience in Dallas.
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Check back later. I'll be posting updates from Albuquerque's Mario Benevidez and Laura Sanchez, who are on the ground in Dallas for the Obama campaign. That's IF and WHEN they can find the time! Also, I learned that Maggie over at m-pyre is hosting the duo at her place in Dallas so check over there for tidbits too.

Albuquerque Obama supporters Mario Benevidez and Laura E. Sanchez traveled all the way to Dallas to be a part of today's much anticipated Dem primary and caucus in Texas. Late yesterday afternoon, they hooked up with former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk and progressive rising star State Rep. Raphael Anchia (D-Dallas) to attend a packed Obama event for students and parents at the Newman Smith High School auditorium in Carrollton, just north of Dallas. Snow was falling but spirits were high.

A crowd of more than 2000 got to hear Obama urge students to get involved with politics and government, take responsibility for their actions and be a part of the solution (click for video). Obama also answered their questions about the environment, global warming, the Iraq war and immigration and spoke to them about the future.

Working for Obama's Voter Protection Team
Mario and Laura called me today to say they'll be working all day and into the night for the Obama campaign's voter protection team in Dallas. Attorneys and law students from around the nation have traveled to Texas to help monitor voting sites and respond to any reported problems concerning voter suppression or other irregularities. The two New Mexicans will be stationed outside a polling place at Robert Thornton Elementary School, in a primarily African-American precinct, and holding signs indicating they're available to help voters who run into obstacles or technicalities, or who need information.

Texas Two-Step
Polls opened in Texas at 7:00 AM this morning. There will be two shifts covered by Obama's voter protection team at the Thornton Elementary polling place -- with only a few minutes of respite in beween -- until the polls close at 7:00 PM. Like other voting sites, their precinct will reopen at 7:15 PM sharp for the evening caucus, part of the so-called Texas Two-Step. After casting their primary ballots during early voting or on election day in a voting booth, voters can return to the same polling place for their caucus and support their candidate a second time -- this time publicly.

The results in the primary portion of the voting will determine who gets about 65% of the delegates, with the caucus participants deciding the remainder according to a complex formula.

Texas Early Voting Turnout Has Been Huge
Mario reported there were voters in line when the precinct site opened, and voting was steady as of about 8:00 AM our time. Turnouts have been recordbreaking at early voting sites all over the state. According to Texas blog Burnt Orange Report, a total of about 800,000 people voted in the Texas primary-caucus in '04. This year, more than a million have already voted early. In Dallas County, about 13,000 Democrats voted early in 2004. This year, more than 123,000 have participated in early voting there.

Long Day's Journey Into Night
Nobody knows how many will vote in the Texas primary today or who will take the time to return to attend a caucus tonight. Mario and Laura will be checking in with me when they can today to report how things are going at the precinct they're monitoring. They believe they're the only New Mexicans who traveled to Texas to be a part of the Obama voter protection team.

It's great to be getting their on-the-ground reports from one of the biggest states where votes are up for grabs on one of the most critical primary days in the '08 cycle. Are you fired up? You'd better be. I have a feeling it's gonna be a long, long night before we know the final results from the four states where Dems are voting today: Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island.

Hillary Says She and McCain Ready for Presidency, Not Obama

If this isn't the most disloyal statement by a Democrat running for the nomination in decades, I don't know what it is. Coming down to the wire in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island, Hillary Clinton is praising John McCain as she bashes Obama. I'll say that again -- she's praising McCain. According to a statement Hillary made to reporters at a press conference in Fort Worth today, only she and McCain have the "experience" necessary to be president.

The irony about the "experience" she cites is demonstrated in the second part of the video above, while she's making her Senate floor statement supporting her vote for Bush's Iraq invasion. She cites her "experience" of eight years in the White House to justify her vote. Got that? Her EXPERIENCE convinced her to vote for Bush's unilateral war based on lies -- lies that multitudes around the globe saw through from the get go. And the life experience-rich McCain? He voted right along with Hillary to get us into this horror. Apparently, it's that same "experience" that's convincing him it would be peachy keen to stay in Iraq for 100 more years.

Criticizing Obama's experience is one thing. Comparing him unfavorably to the loose cannon who is the presumptive Repub nominee is shameful, in my view. She's starting to sound like Joe Lieberman. The line has been crossed.

A reporter at the press conference did probe further about Clinton's claim that she's read to be commander-in-chief on "day one."

When asked at the press conference if she could name a particular instance in her past that equips her to deal with a national security crisis, Clinton balked, saying, “Well, I was involved in a lot of the decisions that were made. Again, you are looking at it from the wrong perspective,” Clinton said. “You know, no one who hasn’t been president has done that, so that’s not the right question. The question is, what have you done over the course of that lifetime to equip you for that moment?”

What HAS she done in terms of foreign policy or national security? Anyone know? Does cleaning up after Bill's messes count?