Results tagged “primaries”

Last Friday, Sarah Miller's Open Letter to Barack Obama in the LA Times Opinion section caught my eye. Got me thinking. Had me nodding my head. I'm not the only one, as the comments on her letter are getting heated. As an Obama supporter, she raised some concerns about his seeming inability to be concrete and clear about how he is different from Hillary Clinton. In short, Sarah Miller asked Obama to be specific so that people could know why they were behind him, other than wanting radical change in how our country is run.

Hope is an empty diversion without substantive, original arguments on issues. When will you discuss rebuilding New Orleans? Can you offer creative thinking on the Iraq war as it currently exists, instead of just reminding people you opposed it years ago? Why don't you demonstrate a respectful, nuanced view of the Middle East instead of referring to the "the terrorists," as you did in a recent debate? How do you envision the United States' role in Africa's many dire problems and conflicts? How do you plan to fix our decrepit infrastructure and invigorate the economy in just and environmentally responsible ways? Will you argue for the value of a well-regulated, domestically produced food supply, favoring produce over commodity crops, for our safety and environmental health? What are your positions on international trade agreements? Do you have creative ideas for generating more affordable housing in our cities? And how will you handle the responsibilities of the presidency when you can't unite and persuade, as will inevitably happen sometimes?

I agreed with Miller's points. Bravo! I thought. This is exactly the kind of letter I would have written to Obama if I'd thought of it first. She asks him the very questions I would ask him if I had the chance. I was sure, though, that last night's debate would change all that, rendering her letter both effective and no longer needed. I fully expected Obama to lay it all out there and be clear on his big plans, rather than just seducing with big speeches. I was wrong.

• Don't forget: LAist Super Tuesday Election Party tonight at Seven Grand! Details and RSVP here.
• Did you have any problems voting in Los Angeles today? The Los Angeles Times and LAist report on problems in the precincts, especially for non-partisan voters.
• Is it still a long strange trip if it's only just begun? The last remaining members of the Grateful Dead are reuniting tonight in San Francisco to show their support for Obama.
• The HuffPost says that Obama AND Clinton will be the big winners on Super Tuesday...of course, that depends on what "win" means.
• Polls are closing one by one over the next few hours: so far Huckabee has won West Virginia and Obama has Georgia.
• If prisoners can vote, so can you! Even California's inmates have been swept up in election fever this year.
• Want to know about where LAist, your absolutely favoritest ever LA city blog, will be headed in the next year? Check out this interview with the your favorite cute n' cuddly Editor, Zach Behrens, over at the San Fernando Valley Business Journal (paid subscribers only, sorry, email Zach and harass him if this upsets you as much as it upsets me).
• Tired of election news? Why not take a break with this classic Disney cartoon from the 1950's: Willie the Operatic Whale. Why not, you know?

Photo by Os! via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

Photo by Sundogg via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

The TelePromTer-readers and out-of-touch-hate-mongers of the mainstream media thought that they were being super-cool by discussing/bitching about the presidential candidate debates that were posted on YouTube. So since that new, interesting, and youth-vote promoting aspect of the next election has been talked to death by the talking-heads, I have found these candidate related webpages to occupy me during my early in the ante meridian down-time: At SuperBook.com, you can go to their "Exotic Lines"...