Edwards Should not Drop Out

[dempartisan23]

i dont favor anyone. i will vote for the nominee. i do think mr edwards should stay in incase its a deadlock. he may be a compromise nominee.

[Freddie Stubbs]

1. I agree that he should stay in. He will split the anti-Hillary vote

[JCMach1]

2. He should suspend campaigning and take Elizabeth home

NOT drop out

[dempartisan23]

5. if he campaigns

he may get enough delegates to keep clinton or obama from claiming the nomination

[OzarkDem]

15. Why should he do that?

The primary campaign has just begun. Elizabeth participates when she wants to, as do the other candidate's spouses. Why should they be any different?

[caligirl]

3. He actually helps Obama in the south if you believe the writing of MyDD.

[Tellurian]

9. Edwards seems disgusted with Obama..

Theres bad blood there now between them in light of the Reagan thing and the smear on Hillary by the Obama camp..

Do you think, Obama will apologize to Hillary for his nastiness in NV?

[caligirl]

10. No more than Clinton would for his nastiness to Obama, but they are big kids they can

survive this. The repugs will do worse and there most certainly won't be any apologies then.

[Tellurian]

12. Obama is in for hard times from here on in..

There are complaints coming about voters being pressured by the Obama campaign to vote for him or they can't vote..

Then there is another story breaking about the Rezko Trial coming up.. and I guess Obama is named in that too:

"Obama surfaces in Rekzo's federal corruption case"

Well have to see how he navigates a bumpy road..

[caligirl]

13. Watch out. It was stated in many articles that it was a language

problem between an employee and a supervisor (Arturo in one instance), had nothing to do with the Obama campaign or Obama. Its a clear difference when one says that two individuals complained about this coming from their union, that is not the Obama campaign and news articles available clearly make that distinction. here is an interesting tidbit I didn't know though:"The lawsuit was filed by the firm Kummer, Kaempfer, Bonner, Renshaw, and Ferrario. Senior partners Michael Bonner and Christian Kaempfer have donated money to Clinton in the past, and Clinton ally and former Rep. James H. Bilbray, D-Nev., is an attorney at that firm."http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2008/01/clinton-employing-voter-suppression.html


Union organizers puhing hard for Obama are not themselves Obama campaign members nor were they asked to do this. Jobs weren't threatened, though feeling intimidation by a union organizer is unacceptable just like Bill Clinton's pushiness has offended senior members of the democratic party so much so that Senator Kennedy told him to stop it in a phone conversation as reported in one news story today. I think Newsweek has it.

Culinary union pushes hard
18 January 2008

by Michael Mishak

By Our Partners at the Las Vegas Sun

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- As the Culinary Union worked feverishly this week to persuade its members to support Barack Obama, a prickly question arose: What is the difference between tough political tactics and unethical, or illegal, intimidation?

Some Culinary members say they have felt intimidated by the pushy approach of some organizers.

But labor experts say a vigorous back-and-forth is the norm as unions work to spread the word of an endorsement -- and the tactics don't cross the legal line of voter intimidation unless workers are threatened.

None of the Culinary members interviewed by the Sun claimed to have been threatened by union activists gathering pledge cards for Obama. Some, however, were told they would have to caucus for Obama, period.

If so, it raises the question of where a union draws the line between hard-nosed politicking and intimidation.

"One person's intimidation is another person's persuasion," said Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Labor experts said that although member-on-member intimidation prevailed a half-century ago, it's exceedingly rare today, especially in the context of a caucus, in which voters must show up at a particular place and time and publicly declare their support for a candidate. In other words, caucusgoers need to be highly motivated to turn out. Intimidating the voter pool would be counterproductive.

"That would be stupid," said Peter Francia, a political scientist at Eastern Carolina University who has studied labor unions. "It would alienate the people you need to mobilize your political muscle."

Organizers cross the legal line, experts said, when they threaten a worker's union status or job security. http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article.cfm?contentID=170743


The case you cite is going to trial, posting a link in this way makes you look like your attempting to smear an opponent with out an ounce of proof he did anything. In the case of Bill and Hillary many people are very knowledgeable about the things they have done.

[Tellurian]

17. No, I don't belive your assessment is anywhere near accurate..

The accusation was made LIVE on FOX news as the Caucus was going on. I felt the accusation had merit seeing there were eight people who were intimidated by Union Organisers who told them if they wanted to vote they would have to fill out their registration form by Wednesday, voting for Obama.

It seems they spoke English well enough to search out the easily recognizable Bill Clinton because they obviously wanted to vote for Hillary. He personally assisted them taking them to another location got them registered and they were able to vote.

"The case you cite is going to trial, posting a link in this way makes you look like your attempting to smear an opponent with out an ounce of proof he did anything. In the case of Bill and Hillary many people are very knowledgeable about the things they have done."

FYI, Before a case goes to Trial, first comes an investigation for "just cause". If Rules have been broken, rules have to be stated, names have to be named associated with rules broken. Then a determination if the Rules broken are a Criminal Violation or is it a Civil matter in which case a lawsuit would be filed or in some cases, both would apply.

It would be good if most of you could understood the definition of the word "smear".. A "smear" is exactly what it implies. A falsehood used to damage by implication or innuendo the reputation of another. On the face of what was earlier stated, there are eight people who are representing a claim. They exist as witnessess to a serious charge of forceful intimidation and disenfranchaisement of their right to vote freely and have a valid reason for the complaint and are seeking justice for a violation of Federal and State Voting Laws.

In regards to your attempted "smear" of Bill and Hillary Clinton. A Special Prosecutor appointed by Congress, investigated them for over 7 years at a cost of over $70Million dollars at the expense of the Tax-Payer and found no evidence of wrong doing on their part. I have no idea who you are referring to with the statement "many people are very knowledgeable about the things they have done." I am not, Please enlighten me.

Here is an example of voter intimidation by Union Organizers:

"Horrified" | 1/19/2008, 10:01 pm EST

"I am surprised at how little credibility is being given to claims of intimidation by the culinary union. Remember, we’re talking about casino bosses here. I have to say, I just got off the phone with my brother who was working at a caucus location on the strip today, and he was horrified at what was going on. My disclaimer is that he works for Hillary, but this is my brother and he would not make stories like this up. He talked to numerous people who said that their bosses told them they could not caucus unless they voted for Obama - my brother had to explain to several Spanish-language speakers that they could vote for whoever they wanted. One woman told him she talked back to her boss and said she was going to vote for Hillary; her manager responded that if she voted for Hillary, they’d put her on all night shifts. She ended up not caucusing at all because of this. Another woman told him the union people were offering workers $35 to vote for Obama, but she said she didn’t care because that wasn’t enough money to change her vote. Campaign people are not allowed on the caucus floor, but the union people were, and they took full advantage of it. The worst story he told me was from a caucus worker who literally had to pull a woman away from union people because they were trying to mark her ballot for her.

However cynical politics may have gotten, I cannot bring myself to believe that any Democratic candidate would sanction this kind of intimidation. I do not believe that Obama could have known about this and not done something. But the fact remains that these workers were intimidated by the union that is supposed to represent and protect them - and to those of you who question the lawsuit over the caucus locations, I’d like to point out that this intimidation would not have been possible if people were voting at home rather than at work."

http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs/index.php/2008/01/18/nevada-turns-ugly-clinton-campaign-alleges-voter-intimidation-by-obama-organizers/

[cali]

21. I suggest you read today's front page NYT Edwards article.

It says precisely the opposite- that Edwards favors Obama over Clinton. Not that I think it's terribly important anyway. And Obama has nothing to apologize to the Clintons for. That's totally absurd. The Clintons should apologize to Americans for their silly lawsuit to disenfranchise.

[polichick]

4. He's what they call a "king maker" (or queen maker) nt

[Triana]

6. I agree. He should stay in it... his message is important - as it is copied by Hillary and Barack..

...it needs to keep going and as others have said, he may still be a key in the outcome.

[stravu9]

18. GO JOHN!

Head if the class!

[patrice]

7. Hillary vs Obama is sucking all of the oxygen out of this primary season.

Aided by a media blackout on John Edwards.

Obama haters and Clinton haters + so-called Independents and cross-overs are dominating the process.

Truth be told, I'd bet we find, the for real actual supporters of each of the top three are probably close to being equal. This is an unusual election environment, so there's a lot of "english" on every shot.

[Renew Deal]

8. I'm not sure if it matters either way.,

He's on his way to Kucinich level relevance.

[femrap]

11. His message must be heard! nt

[Kucinich4America]

14. Hillary should drop out

for the good of the country.

[Catchawave]

16. He's not :)

EDWARDS CAMPAIGN STATEMENT ON NEVADA CAUCUS RESULTS

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – John Edwards for President campaign manager, former Congressman David Bonior, released the following statement about today’s Nevada caucus results.

“Congratulations to Senator Clinton for her win in Nevada. Our campaign is very grateful to all those who demonstrated the loyalty and dedication to stand up for John Edwards in the face of very difficult circumstances and long odds, including our brothers and sisters in Nevada from the Carpenters, Steelworkers, Transport Workers, and Communications Workers of America.

“John Edwards is the underdog in this campaign, facing two $100 million candidates. But that is nothing compared to the real underdogs in our country – working men and women, middle class families, and all those who have no voice in Washington.

“John Edwards is in this race to fight for the real underdogs and to make sure the voices of the American people are heard in Washington, not the special interests. That’s why he’s the only candidate in this race who has never taken a dime from PACs or Washington lobbyists; the only candidate who will ban corporate lobbyists from his White House; and the only candidate who is honest enough to say we are in a fight for our country and we need to take on the special interests if we are going to have a country that works for hard-working families and the middle class.

“The race to the nomination is a marathon and not a sprint, and we’re committed to making sure the voices of all the voters in the remaining 47 states are heard. The nomination won’t be decided by win-loss records, but by delegates, and we’re ready to fight for every delegate. Saving the middle class is going to be an epic battle, and that’s a fight John Edwards is ready for.”

[stravu9]

19. Nor Will He!

He's no quitter!

[navarth]

20. absolutely. k/r