Capps Endorses Obama
Rep. Lois Capps endorsed Senator Barack Obama's campaign for President yesterday. Readers sent me a few articles about it from Politico.com and The Huffington Post.
Saying that Obama "is challenging us to lift ourselves out of the ugliness that increasingly consumes Washington...", Capps surprises some in that she and Walter had both had strong ties with the Clintons. Bill and Hillary both have been to Santa Barbara on their behalf.
The following part of her statement brought her deceased husband back to me for a moment as if he was standing in the room, looking at his shoes for a moment and then launching into something unexpected, inspiring and moving.
What was the turning point for Lois? Ads from H. Clinton waving the red shirt of terrorism? Were there one too many Hillary supporters that have have made ugly public statements about Obama only to apologize the next day? or was it plain electoral math? We will probably never know.
Good for her though. It is time to move on.
Saying that Obama "is challenging us to lift ourselves out of the ugliness that increasingly consumes Washington...", Capps surprises some in that she and Walter had both had strong ties with the Clintons. Bill and Hillary both have been to Santa Barbara on their behalf.
The following part of her statement brought her deceased husband back to me for a moment as if he was standing in the room, looking at his shoes for a moment and then launching into something unexpected, inspiring and moving.
“Walter once said that ‘we are strongest as people when we are directed by that which unites us, rather than giving into the fears, suspicions, innuendos and paranoias that divide.’ For years I have been waiting for a President that speaks to that vision. I believe Barack Obama may very well be that rare leader.” (from Huffington Post)
What was the turning point for Lois? Ads from H. Clinton waving the red shirt of terrorism? Were there one too many Hillary supporters that have have made ugly public statements about Obama only to apologize the next day? or was it plain electoral math? We will probably never know.
Good for her though. It is time to move on.
Labels: Barack Obama, Lois Capps
posted by Sara De la Guerra | 5/01/2008 05:17:00 AM
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14 Comments:
Sara you leave out one factoid---Capps son-in-law, just happens to be Obama's Press secretary. Maybe his reach somehow permeated Lois' statement yesterday? You are making this a little more complicated than it truly is
Yes! Yes! Obama is the one to put America Barack on Track!
Oh come on Sara, wouldn't you like to see this drag out to the convention and watch all the posturing and politics. ;o)
Wonder what James Carville will have to say about this? Rep. Capps showed great political courage, as well as keen insight in making this choice than honors her constituency and our country. And the national comments on Huffington Post are also very supportive of her action.
Does anybody care anymore that Lois Capps said two terms and that was it?
I still do.
I watched Reverend Wright twice and found it fascinating...I spent the whole day studying the African Methodist Episcopalian Zion Church and Saint Thomas in Philadelphia way back to 1794 when the whole community was going bonkers for the French Revolution and the Whiskey Rebellion was just starting to roll down the pike. Very interesting stuff indeed!
That Church has historic credentials.
Then I looked at Tuskegee and simphilis and those Tuskegee Airmen.
Brother Farrakhan is too way out for me.
Aids and the government. I don't see it unless it was all those polio vaccinations.
9/11 and "chickens coming home to roost"--well I don't see that either--unless you think the Takfirs are right...
So I suppose Reverend Wright's sermons were not just born from the mind of Zeus last Monday and it's a little hard to understand how Obama just hung in there...I could speculate but won't.
I can't stand Hillary and think having Billary in the White House violates the two term rule in the Constitution. Why should it be their turn AGAIN...we got more talent on the team than that. Put somebody else up to bat. I don't trust them.
McCain seems too old for me so he's got to pick a super Vice President for me to vote for him...
Therefore I am still an Obama man. I like his style and hope he can do something to change the rules in Washington. But I doubt that it's possible...He's got some Lincoln in him. Here's hoping...
There you have it. The vote as seen by an old Spanish Don.
Lois is indeed a gracious woman and was kind enough to call the Clinton Delegates before making her announcement public. I am also sure she was thoughtful in making her choice even though I disagree with her decision. She does clearly point that Senator Clinton is a great Presidential candidate and one that will serve us very well as President
Obama did indeed win Lois’ district but only by a small margin of 1.9%. On the other hand, Obama won by a far larger margin in her State which could also have dictated her choice. Using that logic, both Senators Feinstein and Boxer as well as all other elected State officials must now cast their votes for Clinton.
To those who think this is a valid basis for super-delegate choice, ask yourself if that would mean that in all districts and states, the candidate winning in that district or state would get all of the super-delegate votes in that district or state. If so be aware that such a policy would likely prevent Obama from getting enough super-delegates to prevail.
However, there are many quite important things to think about in the upcoming months until the Convention in August
First of all, as of right now, there is no expressed “will of the people”. Millions of voters not yet been able to cast their votes, and in statistical terms, the totals (both in votes and in delegates) remain in a virtual tie. A very small percentage separates the two candidates and that difference is hardly a “mandate”.
Secondly, the Democratic Party established a complex and arduous procedure to determine the nominee of the party. It is dramatically different than that of the Republican Party, which system had it also been used by the Democrats, would have already confirmed Clinton as the nominee. Once a procedure has been established, changing it midstream to the benefit of one candidate over the other can only undermine the integrity of that process and the integrity of the party. The only appropriate way to proceed is to now let that entire process play out until conclusion, the way it was intended at the outset.
Thirdly, to those who feel continuation of the primary process will undermine the eventual Democratic nominee, I say HOGWASH. It is only those who feel that short- circuiting that process can benefit their chosen candidate who express that view. In a larger view, a well contested primary will only prepare each of the candidates for their eventual run in the November election.
To those who feel that recent attacks on Obama are unfair and counterproductive, please be assured that the GOP will undertake a far more aggressive approach and no issue is safe from exploitation in the general election. If he is the eventual nominee, he will be all the more prepared to fight the kind of battle necessary to beat John McCain in November
Finally, it is apparent that the longer the process continues, the more it will become apparent that Clinton will more easily beat McCain than would Obama. The ultimate goal of the Democratic party is to prevent the GOP from staying in the White House and Obama stands a far greater chance of losing in November.
Give him some seasoning and a real chance to prove his strengths so when he does become the nominee in eight years, he will then have unified support within his party. He is great with poetry right now, and in a few years, he like Senator Clinton is now, will then be just as great with prose as with poetry, and he will then be ready to lead our country.
In the meantime, the candidate most prepared for this office will find her strength grow even more in the remaining primaries which will carry her to victory in Denver in August.
Greg -- I didn't know that until later today after I had written the post. Still, I think anyone that knows Lois would agree that she put a bit more thought into it -- even though she holds her family dear, don't you think?
Oops, make that Real Math -- and Greg, I also saw that Joe Trippi said today he wishes he would have told Edwards to stay in the race. I do too.
The only thing the repub did this year that makes any since is McCain. Anyone else and they'd have been totally whomped in November. Now (Clinton or Obama) v. McCain is only 50-45, when 70% think of Bush negatively.
If the Dems had a likeable white guy, they'd be in. Obama's great but in the Heartland that name is just too much... if he was named Frederick Douglass he'd be in too. And Hilary... just wants it too, too much. Ever notice how she re-branded herself as Hilary... but if she wins she'll swear in as Hilary Rodham-Clinton. Well good for her if she wins.
I miss elections...anybody remember them? The old fashioned "one citizen, one vote, winner take all" routine. Now we are subjected to a byzantine process that employs an antiquated electoral college, altered by states so eager to be counted first they end up not counted at all. And "Super Delegates." Why not "Ginormous Delegates?" Or "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" delegates?
Yeah, I know...but we've really buggered up the process pretty good. Makes a guy real melancholy.
"Where, Oh Where Has My One Vote Gone; Where, Oh Where Can It Be?"
I guess this matters to anyone who thinks a Lois Capps endorsement is worth something.
I find it more interesting that Capps would turn her back on the two people (Bill and Hillary) who were clearly the most influential in getting her into her forever-safe spot in Congress to begin with.
To Rob Egenolf: You're picking and choosing very selectively to contort the current election process to support Clinton's candidacy. If you want to support her, fine--but the ideas you're promoting, and the ideas your omitting, present a one-sided case for Clinton.
Despite all you say:
Obama is winning by the rules set up by the Democratic party.
I think your math must be dragging in Florida and Michigan voters, and how can you do that when Obama followed the rules in effect and wasn't even a real candidate in those states?
Obama is winning the popular vote of recognized primary elections, and he's well ahead in delegates chosen by the popular vote. That's a simple fact that choose to ignore.
If he is truly less electable than Clinton against McCain, why are jerks like Limbaugh supporting Clinton? You don't even mention Clinton's extremely high negative factor. Republicans want Clinton as a candidate for a good reason.
I'd vote for either Obama or Clinton over McCain, but your support for Clinton's candidacy is not based on any objective reading of what's happened so far in the primary season.
Johnsanroque: Rob Egenolf was so careful in his "picking and choosing ...to support Clinton's candidacy", that he was careless in picking and choosing his words. He actually says:
"Obama won by a far larger margin in [Capp's] State which could also have dictated her choice."
Oops, a diagnostic Freudian slip: Obama could easily win California, a BIG state!
As nice a guy as Rob Egenolf is, especially commenting under his own name, he is just dishing the spin that pervades the Clintonian how-to-get-nominated-theory-of-the-week for which their campaign is so desperately infamous.
Yes, Rob, you are being a good soldier for you Candidate, especially as you are a Clinton delegate to the national Democrat convention.
Gee, Hillary (or even Hilary) won Modoc County in California, so is that how Lois Capps should vote too as a Superdelegate?
Capps is voting the way her constituents did in her Congressional district. She did her job. The margin was thin at less than two percent edge for Obama in this district, but a win is a win. The Clinton camp knows that theory of winning very well.
As for the ever factually challenged Bill Carson, you fail to recognize that is not a mere endorsement but rather what Superdelegates are and how they affect this election.
Please all you Clintonistas, stop with these games and just deal with the delegate counts. Those are the rules your campaign agreed to. These math games are hurting the Party and only favor McCain.
The Hillary in 2012 plan is suicide.
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