The Democratic Primaries Are Over — Where Is Al Gore?

  “Where is Al Gore?”  That’s what I want to know.

In preceding months we always heard that Mr. Gore didn’t want to influence the process so he would wait until most of the superdelegates showed their hand before he showed his.  The superdelegates have shown their cards.  “Where is Al Gore?”

I know he and Obama like each other, as a matter of fact they use to speak to each other often.  At a town-hall meeting in Pennsylvania in early April Obama was asked if he would tap the former vice president for his Cabinet to handle global warming.

“I would,” Obama said. “Not only will I, but I will make a commitment that Al Gore will be at the table and play a central part in us figuring out how we solve this problem. He’s somebody I talk to on a regular basis. I’m already consulting with him in terms of these issues, but climate change is real. It is something we have to deal with now, not 10 years from now, not 20 years from now.”

Gore was the most coveted endorsement for Obama and Clinton during the competition.  The competition is over.  “Where is Al Gore?”

I don’t have any answers, just the question, “Where is Al Gore?”

 

Paulette

Obama: Everybody Needs To Settle Down About VP Choice

Barack Obama said Thursday he’s in no rush to pick a vice presidential candidate, telling CNN “everybody needs to settle down” and let the vetting process run its course.

 

Watch Obama discuss his VP selection process.

Speaking with CNN’s Candy Crowley Thursday, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said it’s not in his best interest — or in the interest of his former rival Hillary Clinton — to make a hasty decision about who will serve as his running mate.

“Everybody needs to settle down, we just completed this arduous process,” Obama told CNN’s Candy Crowley. “It’s only been two days, and I think its not just in my interest and Senator Clinton’s interest, but in the Democratic Party’s interest and the country’s interest, to make sure I make this decision well.”

New and Improved DNC with Barack Obama As It’s Leader

Barack Obama is mobilizing and is actively becoming the leader of the Democratic Party.

Obama’s campaign has announced that Howard Dean will remain head of the DNC, addressing rumors that he might be replaced with a candidate chosen by Obama himself.

Dean’s large-scale effort to build party infrastructure in all 50 states had been met with mixed reviews and have been criticized by Democrats nervous because of the DNC’s dismal financial situation. Dean’s beliefs fit well with Obama’s strategy – being competitive in every state and getting massive wins in traditionally red states.

The Obama campaign has said that Barack Obama will ask the Democratic National Committee to no longer accept money from federal lobbyists or political action committees (PACS).  Obama will ask Paul Tewes, a key advisor, to help the DNC with its fundraising operation, which has been ineffective even while Obama raised millions over the past several months.  Tewes will be Obama’s insider at the DNC and his focus is to make sure that the Democratic Party and Obama are in sync. 

Paulette

Team Clinton: Out of Touch

After Senator Clinton was pressured by her New York supporters to suspend her campaign and after another flood of superdelegates announced that they would support Obama, it was shocking to me that Hillary’s team said that they had no idea that Hillary was losing her support with superdelegates in Washington.  How can that be?  How could they not realize that the superdelegates had broken up with Hillary, moved their personal items out the house and was already living with their new boo Obama?

I am stunned that the Clinton insiders were so out-of-touch with Washington insiders!  What was former advisors Mark Penn and Patti Solis doing?  What has Terry McAuliffe, Maggie Williams and the rest of the Clinton team been doing since Penn and Solis left the campaign?  That is one of their MAIN jobs — to keep in touch with insiders!  After getting some rest and looking back at her campaign, Hillary is going to be shocked at some of the decisions that were made for her and by her.

I have heard McAuliffe say several times during the course of several months that they’ve been working the phones and talking to superdelegates just about every day.  Hillary’s team seems to be either out-of-touch with what was going on around them or they were hearing only what they wanted to hear.  Her team is comprised of Washington insiders; it seems like Terry McAuliffe and Maggie Williams and the like aren’t Washington insiders anymore otherwise they would have known that consensus was for Obama and they would have planned accordingly.

I was surprised when I heard Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York, the person who convinced Mrs. Clinton to run to be the Junior Senator for New York; the man who personally became her advocate, took her under his wings and rallied all the political top brass from New York to support her as Senator and then as the democratic nominee say it’s time for Hillary to step down so the New York delegation could endorse Obama.