The Democratic Party tried to resolve its longstanding dispute over delegates from Michigan and Florida. The party's Rules and Bylaws Committee agreed to seat all the delegates from the two states, but give them each just half-votes at the August national convention in Denver.
Continue reading "Florida and Michigan Delegates Get Half-Votes" >
Laura Krantz, Weekend Edition
Early on Saturday morning, people lined the street outside the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. As the Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee decided the fate of Michigan and Florida, protesters, many of whom supported Hillary Clinton, demanded a fair deal for the two states' delegates.
Faye Anderson, citizen journalist
Faye Anderson is currently at The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting in Washington DC. Also check out Ken Rudin's political junkie column for more background on today's meeting.
Millions of voters are being disenfranchised by design of the Democratic National Committee. The decision to punish Florida and Michigan for moving up their primary dates makes a mockery of DNC Chairman Howard Dean's claim that "Democrats believe that the more people who vote, the better it is for our country."
Continue reading "Florida and Michigan Voters Disenfranchised by Design" >
Joshua Levy, Associate Editor, techpresident.com
Originally posted on techpresident.com
This Sunday is the Puerto Rico Primary, and the Democratic candidates are doing their best to show their inner Puerto Rican-ness by dancing in the streets, drinking the local beer, and speaking accented Spanish. We'll see how they fare on Sunday. Also, a curious Memorial Day message from John McCain and a glimpse at Hillary Clinton's early life in elementary school.
Continue reading "Videos of the Week: Los Candidatos en Puerto Rico " >
The DNC's Rules Committee is scheduled to meet May 31 to debate whether or not to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan. NPR's Wade Goodwyn spoke with Puerto Rican Superdelegate Eliseo Roques Arroyo who is one of the Chairs of the Democratic Credentials Committee.
Continue reading "Superdelegate Eliseo Roques looks ahead to May 31" >
Jacob Soboroff, Field Vlogger
I sat down Thursday at NPR in Washington with the host of this week's WESUN, Ari Shapiro, to talk about HBO Films' RECOUNT, which debuts tonight, and how it -- like our work at Why Tuesday? -- is raising questions about the state of America's voting system.
Mindy Finn, Political Strategist
As Americans plan for the Memorial Day holiday, packing away their winter clothes, firing up their grills, and smiling at the thought of a three-day weekend (and the short week that follows), presidential candidate Senator John McCain is making unique holiday plans, vetting potential vice presidents.
Joshua Levy, Associate Editor, techpresident.com
Originally posted as a Daily Digest on techpresident.com
Alert: someone has kidnapped New York Times columnist David Brooks and replaced him with a a 25-year geek who refers to things like Twitter, Kottke.org, and Vampire Weekend in his columns, and who now writes phrases like “Barack Obama has become the Prince Caspian of the iPhone hordes.” At least it’s entertaining. Maybe the captors will release Brooks after Memorial Day, when he can resume describing the decline of the Republican Party and predicting Barack Obama’s success.
Jacob Soboroff, Field Vlogger
Oregon is the only state in the Union that votes entirely by mail, and as NPR's Ina Jaffe reported last week, that's not only changing the way campaigns conduct their get-out-the-vote efforts, it also removes the tradition of the secret ballot entirely from Oregon's voting system. This week for Why Tuesday? I met with United States Postal Service Communications Program Specialist Larry H. Dozier to learn more about voting-by-mail.
Joshua Levy Associate Editor, techPresident.com
Last weekend, as I spent a late spring day walking around Brooklyn, I noticed a pattern: Obama volunteers seemed to be standing on every corner. They were holding clipboards and wearing buttons sporting that famously clean Obama logo with a new phrase attached: Vote for Change. That's the name of a new Obama initiative launched last week in which the campaign is scattering volunteers across all 50 states in an effort to register as many new (Democratic) voters as possible.
After trouncing Barack Obama in Tuesday's West Virginia primary, Hillary Clinton spent today in Washington. She's trying to convince top donors and the Democratic party's undecided super-delegates to let the nominating process play out. NPR's David Greene reports even though her chances of catching Obama in the race for delegates appear slim, she's pushing forward.
Continue reading "Clinton courts uncommitted super delegates" >
Hillary Clinton won the West Virginia Primary last night and she won it by a very big margin. NPR's Mara Liasson says, her approximate 2-to-1 win over Barack Obama was expected, but Clinton savored it all the same.
Continue reading "Mara Liasson on Hillary's West Virginia win" >
Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic Primary in West Virginia. Based on exit polls and early returns, NPR projects Clinton will easily defeat rival Barack Obama. NPR's David Greene is in Charleston, West Virginia, where Hillary Clinton is holding a victory party tonight. Greene says, Clinton's campaign is using the West Virginia victory to gain some much needed momentum.
West Virginia Public Radio will have live election coverage Tuesday night, beginning at 8 p.m. Click on Listen Live
And here's the latest Mother's Day video on Youtube. It's got little kids urging their moms to vote for Illinois Senator Barack Obama.
Jacob Soboroff, Field Vlogger
This year, superdelegates, Democratic party leaders and elected officials with votes in the nominating process not tied to any popular voting whatsoever, have unintentionally shifted the debate about election reform from the nuts-and-bolts of our voting systems, to our party system. Even some of the higher-ups within the Democratic party, including Al Gore and at least one of those who crafted the present-day Democratic Party nominating system, are taking a second look.
In February, for Why Tuesday?, I met with political consultant Tad Devine, who describes himself as "one of the driving forces behind the modern rules and delegate system." Watch my vlog for our in-depth interview, in which I ask Devine if the system he helped create is undemocratic, and what should be done about it.
It was only fair to also post Chelsea Clinton's video of her Mom, Senator Hillary Clinton. Click on the video link below:
Sunday is Mother's Day, so we couldn't resist posting this campaign ad about Senator John McCain and his 96-year-old mother, Roberta McCain. In an email message to supporters, Cindy McCain said this of her mother-in-law: "She is still as active and delightful as ever and even joins us out on the campaign trail from time to time."
Faye Anderson, citizen journalist
As expected, Barack Obama won the North Carolina primary. Hillary Clinton eked out a two-point victory in Indiana. But the election results only tell part of the story. The rest of the story is in the exit polls. And there may not be a happy ending for the Democratic Party.
Hillary Clinton is vowing to press on with her campaign despite a disappointing defeat to Barack Obama in North Carolina's democratic primary. Senator Clinton narrowly won the Indiana primary last night. Click on the audio post from NPR's Chris Arnold.
Barack Obama held onto his lead last night in his democratic primary race against Hillary Clinton. Obama decidedly won North Carolina by a nearly 15 percentage point margin, though Clinton narrowly won Indiana. Click on the audio post from NPR's Chris Arnold.
Indiana and North Carolina are next in the presidential primary battle. North Carolina has the most delegates at stake with 134. On Friday, North Carolina Governor Mike Easley made a prediction. He said that if Hillary Clinton wins his state's primary Tuesday, she'll capture the Democratic nomination and the presidency. But even Clinton herself isn't predicting victory over Barack Obama in North Carolina. We spoke to reporter Laura Leslie, the Capital Bureau Chief for North Carolina Public Radio.
Senator Barack Obama defeated Senator Hillary Clinton by a razor-thin seven votes in the presidential caucuses in Guam yesterday. It took all night to count the 4,500 ballots in the U.S. territory on the Pacific island. Liane Hansen speaks to Chris Hartig of KPRG Public Radio in Guam.
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is leading rival Hillary Clinton right now in the party's caucuses in Guam. But both candidates are stumping hard as they prepare for Tuesday's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.
Continue reading "Democrats press on in Indiana and North Carolina " >
Jacob Soboroff, Field Vlogger
This week at Why Tuesday? we decided to explore Monday's Supreme Court ruling which determined that requiring voters to show ID to cast a ballot is constitutional. I visited with election law expert Rick Hasen and hopped on the bus to time how long it would take to get a photo ID to vote if you don't already have one. Take a look.
Mindy Finn, Political Strategist
Voters are looking for candidates to act presidential and provide solutions to Americans' looming concerns - and as gas prices and unemployment rise, health care concerns have risen as well.
Continue reading "Kudos to McCain for his healthcare solutions" >
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