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Soon, so soon, they will be here. Thousands of delegates, hundreds of campaign staffers, bunches of bloggers, and all of them potentially divided. After more than a year and a half on the campaign trail, fueled by an unprecedented total half-billion dollars, worn by 16-hour- plus days on buses and planes to stadiums and churches and greasy spoons in every corner of the United States, teams Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama finally will come to town. In but 101 days. And if Democrats don't use that time to figure out how to heal the wounds and bring the teams...

A labor-union campaign in Colorado to tighten restrictions on layoffs and ... could put Democrats in an awkward position as they gather here in August for their presidential convention. Unions are pushing to get a total of six measures on the fall ballot, all of them opposed by small-business owners and corporate interests. "If they pass, it would be like putting a big 'Do Not Locate Your Business Here' sign on Colorado," ... Big labor groups said they will pump as much as $35 million into Colorado to pass their own measures and defeat a rival initiative promoted by business...

TALLAHASSEE -- For a sign of Florida Republicans' all-out effort to attract black voters, look no farther than the glossy full-colored The Black Republican magazine that launches broadsides like these: The KKK was the ''terrorist arm of the Democratic Party.'' Democrats, in addition to waging ''war on God,'' are still mired in sex and financial scandals. That's all tucked in the back of the Sarasota-based National Black Republican Association's 60-page mag, the first half of which touts Republican Gov. Charlie Crist's civil rights record and the Republican Party of Florida's minority outreach efforts that the association has helped coordinate. The...

To the question of the moment--What did Barack Obama know and when did he know it?--I answer, Obama knew everything, and he's known it for ages. Far from succumbing to surprise and shock after Jeremiah Wright's disastrous performance at the National Press Club, Barack Obama must have long been aware of his pastor's political radicalism. A careful reading of nearly a year's worth of Trumpet Newsmagazine, Wright's glossy national "lifestyle magazine for the socially conscious," makes it next to impossible to conclude otherwise. Wright founded Trumpet Newsmagazine in 1982 as a "church newspaper"--primarily for his own congregation, one gathers--to "preach...

I have been working with clients in DC the last few days and as always, rumors, gossip and backstabbing are three of the main products produced within the District. This is the latest rumor/suspicion/supposed plan here in the Capitol. Word of it comes from some well-placed sources. They are in a position to know this information and they have been reliable sources in the past. Story is as follows… Hillary is many things, but she is no fool. She realizes 2012 was never an option for her, as she will be 65 and “used.” Any afterglow of Clinton 42 will...

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. (the presumptive Republican presidential nominee), is facing questions about his ties to Arizona real estate developers and home builders. DNC Chairman Howard Dean and Arizona Democratic Party spokeswoman Emily Bittner pointed Friday to recent stories by 'The New York Times' and the 'Washington Post' on McCain backing land deals involving SunCor Development Co., Del Webb Corp., and developers Donald Diamond and Fred Ruskin. The deals involved parcels and projects in the Phoenix area, Northern Arizona and Nevada. Republicans dismissed the stories and Democrats' criticism, saying the deals had bipartisan support and were done to benefit...

Until recently, Barack Obama's presidential campaign was premised on the future. The senator from Illinois orated floridly about bringing "change" to the country; a New Political Man, he pledged to soothe the feuds of old and usher in a national reconciliation amid troubled times. With the emergence of divisive figures like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's longtime friend and acerbically Afro-centric pastor, the focus has shifted to the past, and with good reason. As FrontPageMag.com senior editor Jacob Laksin discovered in his recent reporting from Chicago's South Side, the predominantly black community where Obama launched his political career in the eighties...

(05-08) 18:49 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Bernie Ward, the most prominent liberal voice on Bay Area talk radio for more than two decades, admitted Thursday to distribution of child pornography by e-mail in a plea deal that will send him to federal prison for at least five years. Ward, 57, a former Roman Catholic priest, was a fixture on KGO-AM 810 for three hours every weeknight, known in recent years for his fervent denunciations of President Bush and the war in Iraq during his news talk show. He also hosted "God Talk," a Sunday morning program on religion, and was...

Americans are well acquainted with presidential candidate Barack Obama’s legendary pledges to bring “change” to America’s political and social landscape. (For example, see here and here and here.) Indeed, “Change We Can Believe In” is the slogan that adorns the homepage of his campaign website and so many of the placards displayed by the supporters who attend his speaking engagements. His Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, is also well practiced at issuing calls for change. Her “Change and Experience” ad campaign was but an outgrowth of her 1993 declaration, as First Lady, that “remolding society is one of the great challenges...

Tent State University today notified Re-create '68, the chief local protest group organizing for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, that it is severing ties because of R-68's image and its oftentimes heated rhetoric, reports Chuck Plunkett. "We don't feel that Re-create 68 is working well with the anti-war left," said Adam Jung of Tent State University.

Watching the coverage of the Indiana primary tonight, everyone is wondering why the votes from Lake County, where Gary is located, are delayed. A cynic might assume that local officials are waiting to see how many votes are needed to put Obama over the top.

A split has opened in the ranks of two groups organizing protests during the Democratic National Convention in August.Tent State University, a group that hopes to bring college students from across the country to Denver, said Monday that it has severed ties with Re-create 68."Re-create 68 has demonstrated an inability to fulfill the needs of a growing list of individuals and organizations," Tent State organizer Adam Jung said in a prepared statement. "Our ability to effectively present our message to the delegates, the Democratic Party, and the public, is our number one priority."The statement said that Tent City organizers felt...

Back in the day I was learning afresh of this wondrous new thing called blogging. As a callow-headed newbie, I took a shot at what users of Freerepublic.com refer to as a vanity post. My target was the execrable Howard Brush Dean III, MD and my post was entitled “It’s The Condescension, Stupid.” This was written back in 2004. I felt concerned back then that Dr. Dean would be spending the next four years writing a prescription that would clobber America the way he and those of his repugnant ilk would like to see us clobbered. It was also right...

Democratic Party leaders claim to care about the little guy. They also claim to be champions of minorities. Neither of those assertions is true. I will prove it to you with a couple of case studies. Recently, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a major supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's bid for the Democratic Party presidential nomination over Barack Hussein Obama, gave a speech at the Buffalo Museum of Science. He talked about joblessness – a hot topic in Buffalo. If you have visited Buffalo recently, you know it is a severely depressed metropolitan area. It is depressingly depressed – with...

Today on Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace confronted Howard Dean over two highly misleading ads put out by the DNC attacking John McCain on Iraq and the economy. Regardless of the very obvious fact that the ads were misleading, at best, Dean refuses to back down irrespective of the evidence Wallace cites. It makes for comical political television, and we can all rest assured that there's plenty more of this to come...

Dean: GOP uses ‘hate’ and ‘race baiting’ to win By Klaus Marre Posted: 05/04/08 12:06 PM [ET] Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Sunday that Republicans are using “hate and divisiveness” to win elections. Dean argued that the use of Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) former pastor Jeremiah Wright in GOP ads in local races is “race baiting.” “When you start bringing up things that have nothing to do with the candidate and nothing to do with the issues, that’s race baiting,” Dean said on Fox News Sunday in response to a question whether the Wright issue and his ties...

The Talk Shows Sunday, May 4th, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean; Joe Andrew, former DNC chairman; Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe; Carly Fiorina, adviser to John McCain's campaign. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.; Richmond Mayor and former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder. THIS WEEK (ABC): Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.LATE EDITION (CNN) : Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Govs. Mike Easley, D-N.C., and Bill Richardson, D-N.M; Robert Reich, former...

Excerpt - The Democratic National Committee raised only $4.7 million in April and ended last month with a perilously low $3.7 million in the bank, a Democratic insider tells Washington Wire. Four years ago during the last presidential election cycle, the story was much different. The DNC raised $19 million in April 2004 and ended that month with $42 million cash on hand, Federal Election Commission reports show. ~ snip ~ What explains the cash crunch at the DNC? Some critics say it’s proof that Chairman Howard Dean just hasn’t been very effective at cultivating donors or managing resources. Dean’s...

According to the latest Federal Election Commission reports filed through the end of March, the RNC had $31 million in cash on hand while the DNC had only $5.3 million. The RNC has raised $36.5 million this year while the DNC has raised $17.7 million.

On this day in 1963, police in Birmingham, Alabama -- under the command of the Democrat sheriff, Eugene "Bull" Connor -- attacked several thousand African-American schoolchildren who were demonstrating peacefully for their civil rights. At the time, it should be noted, Connor was the Democratic National Committeeman for Alabama. Connor's men used dogs and clubs... [see http://grandoldpartisan.typepad.com for more] Republicans would benefit tremendously from appreciating the heritage of our Grand Old Party. See www.republicanbasics.com for more information.

The ACLU of Colorado has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Secret Service and the city of Denver to ensure that protesters are within "sight and sound" of delegates attending the Democratic National Convention this August. "Ultimately, it's the federal courts that are sort of the last resort protectors of constitutional rights," Mark Silverstein, the ACLU's legal director, said today. "It's been the federal courts that are the ones to say law enforcement has not struck the proper balance here between security concerns and citizens' fundamental First Amendment rights," he said. Silverstein said the city is dragging its feet...

Put yourself into the mind and mood of an uncommitted Democratic superdelegate. You are getting inducements and pressure from both the Clinton and Obama campaigns -- including direct appeals from the candidates themselves that range from the intellectual ("I will be the better candidate in the fall") to the seductive ("You will be a player in my administration") to the vindictive ("Get on the train now or there won't be a seat for you later"). But you are also juggling a set of other intense pressures: Who did your state or district support, and would you erode your own standing...

Was it remotely conceivable that someone with Jeremiah's Wright's worldview and connections had somehow avoided a pilgrimage to the world capitol of Yankee-hatred, to worship and commiserate with its high priests? Not a chance. Reverend Wright was part of Revered Jesse Jackson's 300 person entourage to Havana in 1984. “Viva Fidel!” bellowed Reverend Jackson while concluding his speech at the University of Havana. “Viva Che Guevara!..Long Live our cry of Freedom!” “He (Jesse Jackson)is a great personality,” reciprocated a beaming Fidel Castro, “a brilliant man with a great talent, capable of communicating with people, very persuasive, reliable, honest. Jackson's main...

About 200 Democrats from Florida did indeed picket outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters building on Ivy Street in Southeast Washington today. According to my colleagues at CongressDaily, Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL) threatened to "shut down the convention" unless the full delegation were restored. Many of the protesters were members of LULAC, a Latino-rights group. Video link of the protest at DNC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq1KE7oG53s

Excerpt - WASHINGTON (AP) — A leader of the Democratic Party under Bill Clinton has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama and is encouraging fellow Democrats to "heal the rift in our party" and unite behind the Illinois senator. Joe Andrew, who was Democratic National Committee chairman from 1999-2001, planned a news conference Thursday in his hometown of Indianapolis to urge other Hoosiers to support Obama in Tuesday's primary, perhaps the most important contest left in the White House race. He also has written a lengthy letter explaining his decision that he plans to send to other superdelegates. "I am...

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court -- in a shock 6-3 decision (shocking because Justice John Paul Stevens was on the side of the angels!) -- held that states could indeed require voters to show photo-ID before voting... causing Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY, 90%) to eructate, "This decision is a body blow to what America stands for -- equal access to the polls" (for senior citizens, minorities, and the poor... most of whom, apparently, carry no identification). The Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter-identification law on Monday, declaring that a requirement to produce photo identification is not unconstitutional and that the state...

Howard Dean sent the following email to his mailing list yesterday: "Dear Friend, John McCain wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years. He’s said it, and it’s on tape. But his campaign hates that he was caught. They’ve viciously attacked anyone who reminded the American people that he said it, including me. They’ve said that those who reference the 100 years comments are “deliberately misleading voters.” So we’ve taken John McCain’s own words — video of him saying that 100 years would be “fine with me” — and made a TV ad. There’s no confusion, no distortion, no misleading...

Many veterans and bloggers are e-mailing about the DNC's latest anti-war ad against McCain, which features a scene with two soldiers standing in the foreground as an IED goes off. The ad implies that they are US soldiers in Iraq. The ad is featured right now on the front page of Democrats.org in a splashy contribution plea. The question for many outraged readers is: Where did the DNC get the video footage? Here's the ad on YouTube:

Carolyn NJ State Coordinator Gathering of Eagles ent me the following message, " If you have not yet seen this ad from the Democratic Party, it shows two American soldiers being blown-up in iraq. My heart goes out to all of those families that have lost loved ones in Iraq, and I cannot imagine the anguish that this ad must be causing them. We MUST express our outrage to the Democratic Party - this ad is so hurtful to our military families and it should not be tolerated in the American political arena. If you have not seen the ad...

The following is being issued by the Republican National Committee:April 29, 2008 Chairman Howard DeanDemocratic National Committee430 S. Capitol St., S.E.Washington, D.C. 20003 Re: DNC's Use of "Fahrenheit 9/11" Footage in "100" Ad Dear Chairman Dean: I write regarding the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) advertisement attacking Senator John McCain titled "100," which was released on Sunday, April 27, 2008. As you are already aware, and as has been widely reported, the DNC's ad is troubling for at least two reasons. First, its message is factually false; the DNC is deliberately misleading American voters. Second, it constitutes an illegal excessive in-kind...

DNC Ad on John McCain and Iraq: "100"

The left, the Democrats, and soldier death porn In addition to the "100 years" lie, the DNC ad in question also shows a serious lack of respect to our servicemen and women by showing imagery of some of them blowing up: The Democratic National Committee has sparked outrage among veterans and others across the internet by running an anti-John McCain ad that shows U.S. soldiers being blown up. After the new ad’s voice-over castigated McCain for suggesting that the United States may stay in Iraq for “maybe 100� years, the footage becomes shocking. The DNC ad then shows an explosive...

The Democratic National Committee has sparked outrage among veterans and others across the internet by running an anti-John McCain ad that shows U.S. soldiers being hit by an IED blast. The video excerpt in the DNC ad does not indicate if the soldiers survived. Video: See the DNC Ad -

MIAMI - The Republican National Committee demanded Monday that television networks stop running a television ad by the Democratic Party that falsely suggests John McCain wants a 100-year war in Iraq. The ad says President Bush has talked about staying in Iraq for 50 years, then plays a clip of McCain saying, "Maybe 100. That'd be fine with me." The announcer then says: "If all he offers is more of the same, is John McCain the right choice for America's future?" Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan said the ad deliberately distorts what McCain, the likely GOP presidential nominee, said....

<p>The Democratic National Committee has sparked outrage among veterans and others across the internet by running an anti-John McCain ad that shows U.S. soldiers being blown up.</p> <p>After the new ad’s voice-over castigated McCain for suggesting that the United States may stay in Iraq for “maybe 100” years, the footage becomes shocking.</p>

Having hit McCain on the economy last week, the DNC rolls out an ad today with some arresting images from Iraq going after him for his "100 years" comment and tying him to Bush. It will air this week on cable channels. Howard Dean offered the preview on "Meet the Press" and laid down a pre-emptive response to the McCain/GOP response that McCain was alluding to a peaceful U.S. presence in the country a la South Korea or post-WW II Germany : “Now, does anyone think who's watching this show that if you keep our troops in Iraq for 100...

WASHINGTON - Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Monday that either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama must drop out of the Democratic presidential race after the June primaries in order to unify the party by the convention and win the election in November. But Dean didn't say which candidate should drop out, only that it should happen after primary voters have been to the polls. "We want the voters to have their say. That's over on June 3," Dean said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America." Dean also said that while the party rules say Democratic superdelegates...

With four months to go until the Democratic National Convention in Denver Colorado August 24-28, what is now clear is that the two warring camps in the party mean to fight out the nomination to the floor itself and at least the first ballot. This is a full scale civil war in the Democratic Party. Both camps identify four major fronts where the combat will be sophisticated, ruthless and round-the-clock. The first major battlefront is cash. The Obama campaign is clearly dominant, raising a dumbfounding $235 million overall, with $42 million on hand and more each hour. I received four...

Terry McAuliffe, Sen. Hillary Clinton's finance chairman, is one of the biggest proponents for counting Michigan's primary results even though the state violated Democratic Party rules by moving up its contest. However, Mark Nicholas finds an amazing passage in McAuliffe's own memoir, What A Party!, that shows he took a very different position as DNC Chairman four years ago.

Bob Herbert: voice of reason? On economics and the role of government, no. On the dynamics of the Dem nomination race? Actually, yes. In both his TV appearances and columns, Herbert, an Army veteran who grew up largely in a comfortable New Jersey suburb, comes across as more clear-eyed and down-to-earth, less angry and ideological, than his NY Times confreres like Paul Krugman or Frank Rich. Take Herbert's column of this morning, Heading Toward the Danger Zone. My sense is that, at heart, Herbert backs Obama. But that doesn't deter the columnist from offering an unblinking assessment of the very...

Senator Barack Obama is starring in a growing number of campaign commercials, but the latest batch is being underwritten by Republicans. In a sign that the racial, class and values issues simmering in the presidential campaign could spread into the larger political arena, Republican groups are turning recent bumps in Mr. Obama’s road — notably his comment that small-town Americans “cling” to guns and religion out of bitterness and a fiery speech by his former minister in which he condemned the United States — into attacks against Democrats down the ticket. “The public, week by week, is becoming more familiar...

McCain spoke with bloggers this morning on a number of issues ranging from William Ayers to Rev. Wright to Tony Rezko. Jennifer Rubin noted that Hamas had endorsed Senator Obama and asked McCain whether Obama might have given "an unhelpful signal" to the terrorist group. McCain's response: All I can tell you Jennifer is that I think it's very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States. So apparently has Danny Ortega and several others. I think that people should understand that I will be Hamas's worst nightmare....If senator Obama is favored by Hamas I...

Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has again sparked controversy by saying he was "dreaming of riots in Denver" during the Democratic National Convention. "Riots in Denver, the Democrat Convention would see to it that we don't elect Democrats," Limbaugh said during his radio show on Wednesday. He prodded his listeners to help make that a reality. KOA 850 Radio, the local affiliate that carries Limbaugh's show, issued the following statement: "A review of the full transcript from Limbaugh's show on Wednesday, April 23, shows that Limbaugh was not advocating violence in Denver at the Democratic National Convention, but trying...

Lately I've been thinking of four left wing incidents that happened in Maine over the course of two years. I feel I should get them off my chest I think some of them would be interesting and I think others should know about them. The first one involves an incident that took place in the Bangor metro area two years ago. This freind of mine and his family were having trouble. He had difficulty getting by and he worked at Edwards Shop'n'save in Hampden outside Bangor. He was on food stamps and his wife was laid off and couldn't get...

As former President Jimmy Carter met with Hamas leaders and laid a wreath at the tomb of terrorist Yasser Arafat, Americans were wondering who Carter really is. Carter came into office portraying himself as a man of the people, a peanut farmer who cares about the problems of working class Americans. But Secret Service agents, Air Force One stewards, and White House residence staff saw an entirely different picture.Snip.... If the true measure of a man is how he treats the little people, Carter flunked the test. Inside the White House, Carter treated those who helped and protected him with...

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama swapped some of the most negative attacks of the campaign two days before the Pennsylvania primary, each unleashing television ads on Sunday that accused the other of maintaining ties to special interests they both claim to reject.Obama also paid the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting a backhanded compliment. "Either Democrat would be better than John McCain," he told an audience in Reading. "And all three of us would be better than George Bush."That drew a feisty rebuke from Clinton, who said a McCain presidency would continue the policies of the Bush administration."We need a nominee who...

Word has it that radical peace (?) groups are planning to create monumental tumult during the August Democrat National Convention in Denver. The goal is a media-frenzied series of public disturbances similar to the disorder which occurred in the 1968 Chicago Democrat Convention. However, the current plan is more extreme. They plan to throw bags of urine and blood on cops at the DNC protests. Pretty disgusting, eh? Under the name ReCreate 68 and led by Ward Churchill supporter, Glenn Spagnuolo, the group wants to choreograph the actions of various anti-American, anti-capitalist and socialist throngs such as Code Pink, Food...

Governor Howard Dean, DNC Chairman, Delivers the Democratic Radio Address Good morning. I'm Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. I want to start by offering Pope Benedict XVI the warmest welcome as he travels here in the United States. He is in our thoughts and prayers while he visits America. His visit reminds us of the Catholic values of social justice, working for the common good, and caring for those most in need. These are also the values of the Democratic Party. We face challenging times in our country and our world. Our troops are in Iraq...

Denver won't 'cage protesters' at DNCBy Chuck Plunkett The Denver Post Article Last Updated: 04/17/2008 04:38:57 PM MDT Protesters will not be confined to "cages" during the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and the city wants to get away from the long lines of shoulder-to-shoulder, riot-gear-clad police that typified security at the national conventions in Boston and New York, Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown said today. "We don't want to provoke violence," Brown said. Brown said he talked with Mayor John Hickenlooper on Wednesday and that the two discussed "trying to get away from having lines of police officers." Brown later...