Democratic Candidates Respond to Bhutto Assasination

The tragic death of Benazir Bhutto has brought much needed attention from the American voter on foreign policy decisions being carried out by President George W. Bush and his administration.

Several of the Democratic candidates for President offered statements concerning the recent assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan and many were later interviewed by Wolf Blitzer of CNN.

Former Senator John Edwards (SC) indicated he has spoken to the Pakistan ambassador and later President Pervez Musharraf. He urged Musharraf to allow international and independent investigators into the country to help satisfy suspicions that exist worldwide concerning the assassination of Bhutto and he indicated that Musharraf said he would consider this. Senator Edwards also felt the financial aid package to Pakistan needed to be revised for there has been no accountability and a failure of the Pakistanis to go after the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the northwest portion of the country.

Senator Barack Obama (Illinois) said he would first contact the Pakistan government and make sure the nuclear weapons stockpile was secure. He would also urge Musharraf to send his condolences to Bhutto's family and supporters and ensure the upcoming scheduled elections would continue. He felt long term action was needed by the Pakistani government in pursuing Al Qaeda.

Senator Hillary Clinton (NY) continued the mantra of her experience and even accused Obama's campaign manager of issuing a statement saying that she was responsible for Bhutto's assassination. Senator Obama quickly responded with a denial saying instead the campaign staff person had spoken about how Senator Clinton had voted to support the war in Iraq. Further, this preoccupation with Iraq by the United States ultimately diverted the attention from the pursuit of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.

Senator Clinton's foreign policy knowledge was shown to be lacking when she referred to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf as a candidate in the upcoming elections. As the rest of the world knows, Musharraf was recently reelected as President and the upcoming elections in Pakistan are for representatives in their Parliament.

Meanwhile, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson called on Musharraf to resign and supported the creation of a broad based coalition government. He also called for a review of U.S. financial aid to Pakistan.

Senator Biden (Vt.) stated his concern that a change in leadership caused by the resignation of Musharraf would cause a power vacuum in Pakistan and lead to further instability in the country.

Voters in Iowa and the rest of the U.S. are paying attention to these responses by the Democratic candidates for President. They understand the importance of electing a President with a strong understanding of foreign policy issues.

After seven years of failed foreign policy by the President George W. Bush administration, voters are ready for a change. The Billions spent by the U.S. supporting the Musharraf dictatorial regime while the Taliban and Al Qaeda flourish in the northwest region of Pakistan needs to come to an end.

The voters deserve a President who is dedicated to providing a safe environment for their families while also earning the respect of countries around the world. This respect is best earned by having a foreign policy based upon and dedicated to supporting human rights.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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What is with this Democratic Primary Schedule?

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is chaired by Former Vermont Governor and 2004 Presidential candidate Howard Dean. Discussion has taken place within state Democratic Parties across the country and the DNC ever since the 2004 election as to when to schedule the primary of each state. The results are early primaries and lots of frustration among state Democratic Parties across the country.

The DNC decided to add just two states in the month of January to the traditional first in the nation primaries held by Iowa and New Hampshire. The new additions are Nevada and South Carolina.

The earliest the DNC has said they will sanction other primaries is February 5, 2008. So at least twenty states have now scheduled primaries for that date creating the new "Super Tuesday".

Two states of significance for the number of delegates they have, rebelled against the DNC verdict and scheduled primaries in January. Florida scheduled their primary for January 29th and had their 210 delegates stripped by the DNC. Michigan scheduled their primary for January 15th and have been informed by the DNC if they do not reschedule by January 5th, they will lose their 156 delegates. CQPolitics has a story on this. Click here:
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002650873

The majority of the Democratic candidates, showing respect of the DNC, have not campaigned in these two states and some will not even appear on their primary ballots.

This is hardly the type of unity the Democrats should be showing after two Presidential elections lost by small margins. This discussion should have been resolved in the three years preceding the kick off of the primary calendar.

All of the states and voters deserve the attention and personal appearances of the Democratic candidates for President. The goal of the DNC to have a front loaded primary schedule so that the Democratic nominee is chosen earlier has prompted states to schedules their elections as early as possible. Otherwise, they may not be graced with the attention of the candidates.

The states with primaries scheduled later in the calendar are faced with the possibility that their vote will not matter by the time their elections are held. This would mean the candidates would most likely not visit or barely visit their states prior to their primary election.

This was the case in Maryland in 2004. Senator John Kerry (Mass.) did not campaign significantly in the state due to their late primary and did not even place delegates on his behalf on the ballot. The Maryland Democratic Party wanting to attract more attention from Presidential candidates to the voters of their state encouraged the Maryland General Assembly to move their primary to February 12, 2008.

Unfortunately this was done prior to the rush by states to the February 5th date and the creation of the new Super Tuesday primary. So in all likelihood, it will be difficult for candidates to pay attention to Maryland when close to half of the states hold their primaries one week earlier.

This has created an incredible long campaign for President with the potential to shut out many voters in many states across the country from the nomination process.

It would be interesting if the results after Super Tuesday would lead to no clear candidate for the nomination. This would require a continuation of the nominating process to include meaningful campaigning in the rest of the states across the country. Maybe after the primaries, the Democrats would be facing a broker-ed national convention that would be something other than a coronation party for their nominee for President.

How refreshing that would be.

Democracy For America Plans Live Conference Call From Iowa

I receive a lot of emails from candidates and organizations. This is a email I received from DFA. With the Iowa vote so close I thought some of you may find it fun to listen in and hear about their plans in Iowa so here are the details:

Dear George,

All year, we've been working hard to make sure that the Democratic nominee is progressive. With the Iowa caucus on Thursday and the New Hampshire primary only a few days later, there's no better time to find out how the DFA Unite for a Progressive President campaign is working on the ground in Iowa.

Please join me for a nationwide conference call Wednesday night, January 2, starting at 8pm central time.

Live from Iowa with Jim Dean
National Link-Up Conference Call
8pm to 8:30pm Central Time

Call-In Number: (646) 200-0620

Or listen live on the net at:
http://www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/BlogTalkRadio

I'll be in Davenport Iowa, joining DFA members at their January Link-Up. You can call in from your local group's January Link-Up, call in from home, or listen live on the net.

We'll hear directly from local DFA members about the momentum on the ground for Kucinich, Edwards, and Obama. DFA Unite Caucus Captains will update us on the campaign at their caucus location. We'll even read some of the Unite letters local members received from DFA members nationwide.

This will be a fun call on the eve of the first election of 2008. This is what a national community is all about. I hope you can join us.

Thank you for everything you do.

-Jim

Jim Dean
Chair