Clip of Jonathan Tasini on NY1, the station that won't let him debate >

[Stephanie]

At least they covered his press conference. This clip is a nice opportunity to see Tasini speak, albeit briefly:


VIDEO LINK >
http://real.ny1.com:8080/ramgen/real4/00188913_060810_184954hi.rm

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=3&aid=61747

Jonathan Tasini Hopes To Ride Anti-War Wave In Race To Unseat Sen. Clinton
August 11, 2006

An upstart candidate defeats an incumbent U.S. Senator. It happened in Connecticut, where Ned Lamont beat Joe Lieberman in that state's Democratic primary. And Lamont's victory is giving Jonathan Tasini some hope as he aims to take down Senator Hillary Clinton. NY1's Molly Kroon filed this report.

"I believe this war should never have happened," said Jonathan Tasini.

Hoping to ride the wave that took Ned Lamont to victory in a Connecticut primary, Sen. Hillary Clinton's little-known challenger tried to back her into Joe Lieberman's political corner Thursday.

“That vote in Connecticut had at its core a larger message: Something is amiss in our country, and pro-war, pro-corporate Democrats must be held accountable for their votes and their actions," said Tasini.

But while Tasini's banking on the hope that the political winds have changed enough for voters to throw Clinton out of office, he hasn't been able to take his anti-war message to the bank itself. While Lamont had $4 million of his own money to spend on his campaign, Tasini has less than $150,000.

That’s a drop in the bucket to Clinton's more than $22 million war chest, and not enough to qualify him for a televised debate on NY1, something he takes serious issue with.

“If all it comes down to is money, than this is really about politics becoming a class war," he said.

And Lamont had more than just bucks, he had the liberal blogs, which have been slow to jump on the Tasini bandwagon, as Clinton has been stepping up her criticism of the handling of the war, just recently calling for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation.

It’s something Tasini calls political smoke and mirrors.

“It was just gorilla dust thrown up there to confuse people,” said the candidate. “It was simply a political ploy."

<more at link>

And here is a recent video from his blog:

http://tasinifornewyork.org/videos/latestvideo.html


More at > www.tasinifornewyork.org

[MissWaverly]

1. Good, I sent him money

He thinks for himself. I like someone like he and Ned Lamont that have opinions. I have noticed even government officials no longer have opinions; instead they use Groupspeak, like
our administration is following a policy of peace. They don't say we have negotiated with
the Lebanese for 15 hours, here are the points that remain in question.

[Stephanie]

3. He's not a professional politician.

He says what he thinks.

[MissWaverly]

4. yes, and the important thing is that he THINKS

I am so tired of hearing what they were wearing and where they were and I don't want to hear
any more about what they were EATING. Does my boss, the doctor, ever ask me what I ate? No,
it's always "is it done yet?" In fact, when she hands me a project, I ask her did you need me
to have this done 10 minutes ago.

[Stephanie]

5. He also writes >

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-tasini/

Jonathan Tasini

Bio

08.03.2006 at 11:55am
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07.25.2006 at 11:44am
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07.12.2006 at 06:44pm
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06.14.2006 at 11:16am
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06.02.2006 at 02:13pm
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04.13.2006 at 06:19pm
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04.01.2006 at 01:15am
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03.24.2006 at 02:12am
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03.20.2006 at 02:13pm
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03.14.2006 at 03:54pm
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01.27.2006 at 07:07pm
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[MissWaverly]

6. I am totally impressed

I wish there were more candidates like him and Ned Lamont

[Stephanie]

7. there will be - this is the next wave of Democrats

Triangulating and caving in to Republican bullying will not fly with Democratic voters any more. We've had it.

[MissWaverly]

13. Whoot, Whoot for that

I think part of this is due to us, our letters are having an impact, they thought they could
igonre their constituents and embrace the right. Wrong, not. I am still pissed that my
Senator voted for the Patriot Act again. But they are seeing the impact of the netroots now,
so I think it will be different now.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

2. Kick

[karlrschneider]

8. Saw him on FSTV yesterday, he seems to be quite bright

and has some good insights into the Israel situation (he lived there for some years.)
I think NY could do worse for sure.

[MissWaverly]

11. Yes, let's get opinions based on observed fact

not gut, I am so tired of gut, the thing that frustrates me the most is the lack of experts
on the Middle East that have been used, they are so busy villifying the experts; maybe
they should listen to them instead of thinking up ways to isolate and neutralise them.
Joseph Wilson is just 1 example here.

[Stephanie]

14. His Dad was an Israeli freedom fighter.

He has deep roots there.

[MissWaverly]

9. also, I will probably get flamed for this but what does Hilliary say

okay, she said to Rummie, basically why after 5 years should we believe you now. Well, why
has it been 5 years, it's obivious that we were not greeted as liberators, we have been
in Afghanistan since 2001. I don't remember hard and critical analysis from her before the
winds of this election started to blow. And because she stated the obivious to Rummie, folks
were doing cartwheels, what changes in policy is she calling for. Quite frankly Wes Clark,
John Murtha and Chuck Hagel have gone on record for some time with criticism, I don't really
recall her stepping up before.

[Stephanie]

10. She accuses Rummy of doing a poor job in waging an illegal, immoral war.

It's completely beside the point. The war is wrong but she won't say so. Instead she says the admin has not waged the war very well. They should do a better job of invading and occupying a country that was no threat to us.

[MissWaverly]

12. yes, that is like saying the trim needs fixed

on one of the homes that Katrina has devestated.

[Stephanie]

20. It's like saying, I'm all for Katrina, but I oppose Michael Brown

[MissWaverly]

21. that is funny, I wish it wasn't so true, why can't they help not hurt

[Armstead]

15. Tasini should get more visibility

I have no illusions that he can actually beat Hillary -- But it would sure be refreshing to see a spirited campaign in the primaries, and enough support for him to scare the dickens out of the centrists like Hillary.

Tasini stands for everything Democrats should stand for. He's not just an anti-war candidate. He gets it on economic issuees, the corporate takeover and the otehr key issues that the triangulation/strangulating Democratic "centrists" like Hillary have ignored for too long.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

17. I'd love to see him on Colbert Report nt

[Stephanie]

19. write Colbert and tell him

call them up

[LTR]

16. Hypothetical question

Let's say (I know this is a real stretch) that Hillary loses to Tasini. Will the Rethuglicans go apeshit about "extreme leftists" voting against a somewhat centrist candidate like Hillary Clinton?

After all, Hill isn't that far left of Loserman.

Here's a better question: Why aren't more of them assailing extremist radicals in THEIR OWN party?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1895156

[Stephanie]

18. Who cares what they think?

This country is about finished with caring what Republicans think or what they're going apeshit over. Big time.

[MissWaverly]

22. If Tasini is the best choice, then he is the best choice

let's go with that and let them name call.

[EFerrari]

23. They do that now. They'll do it regardless. n/t