Nevada Primary Results...

These results below are with 89.9% of precincts reporting, and show Hillary in the lead by about 5% over Obama. Edwards is coming in a full 42% behind Obama though, surprisingly low with only 3.75%. You can find the results here on the NV Democratic website, and here on CNN. CNN has the same numbers as below right now, but also has the Republican numbers, with Romney taking 52% of the vote, with Paul and McCain in second place with only 13%! That's with 79% of the precincts reporting. I guess Romney has some real pull there, what an incredible lead though. CNN has predicted Clinton and Romney are the winners, but it's hard to take much from the media projections, wrong as they were in FL in 2000. The final results should be in soon enough though, and you can keep checking the links above for updates. Here's another neat link that breaks down who voters chose among Democrats by gender, main issue, etc.

	Senator Hillary Clinton: 50.77% Senator Barack Obama: 45.13% Senator John Edwards: 3.75% Uncommitted: 0.3% Congressman Dennis Kucinich: 0.05% Senator Mike Gravel: 0%

Update: As everyone may have seen by now, with 98% of precincts reporting, Hillary apparently received the highest percentage with 51%, Obama 45%, but it appears that Obama may have received one more national delegate because of the way votes from certain parts of the states are weighted. I found two somewhat conflicting takes on it though:

1. NY Times article:

"Mrs. Clinton scored a clear victory measured in the number of people attending the caucuses on her behalf. But Mr. Obama’s campaign was successful by another measure — in the allocation of delegates to the national nominating convention, a result of a complex formula that gave more weight to votes in some parts of the state."

2. Congressional Quarterly article:

"But the Obama campaign caused a stir by spinning the outcome into a win for its candidate — claiming he had clinched 13 of the state’s national convention delegates to 12 for Clinton, based on the fact that he performed well around the state while Clinton’s overall lead was built on her big edge in Clark County (Las Vegas), the state’s major population center. Both the Clinton campaign and the state Democratic Party disputed Obama’s claim, noting that no national convention delegates were actually allocated on the basis of Saturday’s results, only the first stage in a multi-step process."

There have been similarly different takes from each of the two candidates, with each basically claiming the victory for themselves. Here's an excerpt from each:

-Clinton (in an email sent to supporters):

"Dear Friend,

Have you heard? We just won the Democratic caucuses in Nevada. You have done so much to make winning moments like this possible. Thank you!

People across the country are placing their faith in our campaign, especially those hardest hit by the recent downturn in the economy. We can't let them down. We're working together to bring about change, and America is responding to our efforts..."

-Obama (in a statement released tonight):

"We’re proud of the campaign we ran in Nevada. We came from over twenty-five points behind to win more national convention delegates than Hillary Clinton because we performed well all across the state, including rural areas where Democrats have traditionally struggled. The reason is because tens of thousands of Nevadans came out to say that they’re tired of business-as-usual in Washington and ready for a President who can bring this country together, take on the lobbyists and special interests, and end the politics of saying and doing whatever it takes to win an election..."

By the way, with 95% of the vote in, McCain looks to have taken South Carolina, winning 33% of the vote, with Huckabee next with 30%, Thompson 16%, Romney 15%, Paul 4% and Giuliani 2% (the Democrats' SC primary won't be until next Saturday, Jan. 26th). Also, it's no small thing that Paul, at this point, beat McCain by a percentage point (14% to 13%) in Nevada.

Judge Tells MSNBC, Include Kucinich or Cancel the Debate

A note to readers: I must admit, as has likely been clear, I have been quite taken with Congressman Dennis Kucinich and his stand on various issues. This blog was, as I explained in the summary at the top of the page, part of my attempt to make sense of who the options were and who I would like to support in whatever ways I could. That has placed me tentatively in his camp*, but I'm still thinking as I go here, and intend to offer more variety on the other candidates going forward. Now, on to the news:

As stated in the New York Times yesterday:

"A Nevada judge has ordered MSNBC to include Representative Dennis Kucinich, a Democratic presidential candidate, in Tuesday night’s debate in Nevada, the Associated Press reports.

The debate was expected to feature Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.

Charles Thompson, a senior district court judge for Clark County, Nevada, said he would issue an injunction stopping the debate if Mr. Kucinich is excluded."

The Kucinich campaign's press release on the subject begins in the following way:

"Less than 44 hours after NBC sent a congratulatory note and an invitation to Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich to participate in the Jan. 15 Democratic Presidential debate in Las Vegas, the network notified the campaign this morning it was changing it announced criteria, rescinding its invitation, and excluding Kucinich from the debate.

NBC Political Director Chuck Todd notified the Kucinich campaign this morning that, although Kucinich had met the qualification criteria publicly announced on December 28, the network was “re-doing” the criteria, excluding Kucinich, and planning to invite only Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and former senator John Edwards.

The criteria announced last month included a fourth-place or better showing in a national poll. The USA/Gallup poll earlier this month showed Kucinich in fourth place among the Democratic contenders."

Another look at some of the details is available here, and a link to the court document here. MSNBC has appealed the ruling, and the hearing was supposed to happen at 4:30 this afternoon. MSNBC must not be very confident about their chances though, with the top story on the debate section of their website including details on how Kucinich will likely be included. Apparently some of the questions will be asked by the candidates, one to another, so Dennis could really spice things up if he's there. Nothing is finalized though, so we may just have to wait till the debate airs tonight to find out (it'll be on MSNBC and MSNBC.com from 9-11 pm EST).

* I am trying to consider if I will cast my vote his direction come the Virginia primaries. As mentioned here, on the Huffington Post's blog, with much stacked against him, Kucinich may simply be staying in it to influence the positions taken by the other candidates--a laudable goal for sure; if that's the case, I'll have to think through some strategy in terms of whether a vote for him would be better spent on another candidate that has a greater likelihood of being elected. Either way though, here's what the writer in that Huffington Post piece said about all this:

"Kucinich is not running to win the nomination. He knows he is not going to succeed...He is running to influence the political discourse within the Democratic party --- which is critically important. He is running to show the frontrunners what the full spectrum of Democratic opinions might be...in a real debate. We cannot elect the really "perfect" until we see it. Which is why Kucinich and his Democratic positions are so important. I know that history is on his side and his positions are the right direction for democracy. I can only hope that Hillary and Obama see it too. One day we will have universal medical care, we will ban corporate control and corrupt financing of the political process, we will legalize gay marriage, we will get rid of the Patriot Act, and we will stop fighting stupid wars. So thank you Dennis, for speaking truth to power. And you will have my vote in the primaries."

Update: Alas, the Nevada Supreme Court apparently just ruled tonight that Kucinich could indeed be excluded from the debate, overturning the above ruling.

Update 2: Kucinich discussed the ruling and his sentiments on it outside the debate while people protested his exclusion. At least for some of the night tonight, the video screening is available here: http://arqiva-dc-node-005.wm.llnwd.net/arqiva_DC_NODE_005 The debate was worth watching though, and did give a good idea of the other candidates; I'll see if there's a link at some point to add to the full debate (although I do still feel Kucinich would have added a lot, and brought a real challenging voice to the discussion).

Update 3: The radio/TV show "Democracy Now," carried on public radio and television, used a unique format the morning after the MSNBC debate to include Rep. Kucinich. They aired the questions and answers of parts of last night's debate, one section at a time, and followed each section with the answers of Rep. Kucinich (i.e., Kucinich was live on Democracy Now, and explained how he would have answered each question had he been included; he also responds to the other candidates' comments). Audio and video of the show are available here.

Update 4 (gotta be the last one): More links--1. Video by the Las Vegas Sun on the exclusion; and 2. Columbia Journalism Review article on the exclusion.

Candidates Asked About Crime & Punishment, Economic Disparity, Darfur, AIDS

"This week billionaire Warren Buffet said that the very wealthy aren't taxed nearly enough. In fact he noted that he's taxed at a lower rate than some of his employees that earn much less. Do you agree that the rich aren't paying their fair share of taxes, and what would you do about it?"

So begins the "economic disparity" section of the Democratic portion of the "All American Presidential Forums on PBS." On the website, the forum was described in this way:

"Inspired by the book the Covenant with Black America, The All-American Presidential Forums on PBS marks the first time that a panel comprised of journalists of color is represented in primetime. Many of the questions asked of the candidates focus on key domestic priorities that were originally outlined in the book."

The forum was held for Democratic candidates on June 28th, and Republicans on Sept. 27th. I just discovered this today, and really appreciate the pressing subjects that were covered in both forums, along with the effort this represents to consider issues particularly affecting the African American community. The length of the primary race--running over a year as it has--makes a forum held seven months ago feel irrelevant, but that's simply not so when you are a voter considering where to place your support; what the candidates who are still in the race said in this debate is key, and offers insight into who they are and where they stand (and there's of course importance in understanding issues holistically by listening to those candidates who have dropped out if possible; if you are looking for a particular candidate's responses though, the video screen is setup a little differently than most online videos, and you have to use the fast forward button on there to do so). The uniqueness of the subjects covered in this debate really do make for a standout forum though, and although the amount of time given to candidates is fairly quick in some parts, this does allow for short, to the point clips on each topic. Here is a link to the page with a video screen and a list of all of the topics for the Democrats' section, or you can just click on any of the links below to go a video on a specific topic:

• Race in 21st Century America
• Poverty in America
• AIDS Epidemic
• Economic Disparity
• Crime & Punishment
• Katrina: Right to Return
• Outsourcing Jobs
• Crisis in Darfur

And the same for Republicans, with a link to the video page of all the sections here, and a list of the topics covered below, each with a link to a video on that section:

• Candidate Participation (regards Giuliani, Romney and McCain not attending)
• Your Legacy on Race
• Employment Disparity
• Immigration: Path to Citizenship
• Jena 6 & Racial Justice
• Voting Rights
• Access to Healthcare
• Iraq: Bearing the Burden
• Crisis in Darfur
• Capital Punishment
• Affirmative Action

Who IS Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich?

For all those who are not sure who Congressman Kucinich is, I felt it appropriate to do a quick piece on him, particularly since he was, it is increasingly clear, wrongfully excluded from the final New Hampshire Democratic debate. It's funny to me how incredibly easy it is to give a helpful picture of who someone is via the internet, with the plethora of videos available online. So I'll simply place some videos below that come to mind as especially representative of Kucinich in a few areas. Most of them are just a few minutes long, but I note the ones that are a bit longer.

As a brief primer though, he is a six term Congressman from Ohio , he was a state representative for years, as well as the mayor of Cleveland. You can read a concise overview on his website bio, as well as on Amazon, where it describes his most recent book about the challenges of growing up in a family of seven, going around through 21 different homes in his first 17 years, watching his parents count pennies to pay rent, etc. I am actually reading it now, and it's a fun read with his wit and detail, but was clearly a tough childhood that wrought some important qualities of service, hard work, and so forth in him. His positions are organized into a few easy-to-navigate categories here on his regular site, and here for short videos of him, organized by the issue that each focuses on.

In terms of the videos I'll list here, I've broke them into a few sections to make it easier for readers to find what they may be particularly interested in:

1. Overview videos
2. Debate clips
3. Health care videos
4. Social justice-related videos
5. Impeachment teach-in video with the Nation magazine
6. Endorsements
7. Clips of his wife, Elizabeth, speaking
8. Question and Answer/Other

--
1. Overview videos

Who is Dennis Kucinich video (about six minutes)



Bill Moyers Journal interview on Jan. 4, 2008 (about 15 minutes)



2. Debate clips

On the need to stand by one's voting record, along with an important highlight of how many of the other Democratic candidates have voted on various issues



On "Making abortions less necessary and protecting a woman's right to choose"



Brown and Black Forum, 12/1/07 (brief clip)



CNN debate, 11/15/07 (his responses only, about 9 minutes)



AFL-CIO debate, 8/7/07 (his responses only, about 7 minutes)



On the link between war and poverty, 6/28/07, PBS Tavis Smiley Debate



3. Health care video

Available here (just under an hour of in-depth questioning of Rep. Kucinich about the details of his plan with NPR, Wall Street Journal, ABC and PBS reporters):

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/presidentialhc.cfm?hc=2418

4. Social justice-related videos

At the Heartland Presidential Forum Dec. 1st in Des Moines, Iowa (lasts about 15-20 minutes with parts 1, 2 and 3). From the Forum's site: "Representative Dennis Kucinich answers questions from grassroots community leaders about comprehensive immigration reform, worker rights, environmental protection, and campaign finance reform."

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



5. Impeachment-related videos (Congressman Kucinich brought a resolution to impeach Vice Pres. Cheney in April 2007)

CNN interview of Kucinich the day after filing



Impeachment teach-in video with the Nation magazine (around 10 minutes)


6. Endorsements

Sean Penn



Viggo Mortensen of Lord of the Rings



7. Clips of his wife, Elizabeth, speaking

Campaigning in New Hampshire



On Politics and Religion



8. Question and Answer/Other

Q&A period in Charlottesville, VA, 12/7 (around 20 minutes)



On Fox's Hannity and Colmes, 12/6/07



Ron Paul talking about Kucinich



On the House floor in 2006 calling for an end to the war



A lot of these I listed and various other videos of his can be found on his YouTube site, his website's video section, and here, where a number of Constitution-related videos can be found.

Update: Here is a great article/in-depth interview with Kucinich, published in the Philadelphia Inquirer Jan. 4th, 2008.

Do Obama and Clinton's Calls to "Include ALL in Debate" Ring Hollow?

If Obama and Clinton truly felt that Kucinich's exclusion from tonight's debate was an encroachment on the people's ability to choose, as they stated here, then it seems to me they could have refused to participate in tonight's debate (nevermind that Edwards did not call for this at all).

As a larger point, however, the basis for the ABC-WMUR exclusion of Kucinich, and any other candidate for that matter, is baseless. I say this because in a WMUR/CNN poll, conducted four days ago on Jan. 2nd, it stated:

"However, only 42% of likely Democratic primary voters say they have definitely decided who they will vote for, 27% say they are leaning toward a candidate and 32% said they are still trying to decide."

That statement, from one of WMUR's OWN polls, discredits their basis for excluding any candidate. I readily admit that ABC's reasoning is understandable: they want to, ostensibly, include the candidates whom voters are, according to polling, most demonstrably interested in--yet therein lies the question, do the voters know who they are interested in yet? And that question exactly is what, four days ago, WMUR, together with CNN, answered:

"...only 42% of likely Democratic primary voters say they have definitely decided who they will vote for, 27% say they are leaning toward a candidate and 32% said they are still trying to decide." (emphasis added)

Therefore, the question becomes, if only 42% of these New Hampshire Democratic primary voters have "definitely decided," how will the other 58% make up their mind? Well, one might think it reasonable that they would watch the final Democratic debates, held a short three days before the New Hampshire primary. Not only is that reasonable, but is it not likely that many were waiting for this final debate to make up their mind? And what conclusion might they draw after tuning into this highly publicized media frenzy? Might it slightly (read: almost entirely) make them think that the only real options are the four candidates participating?

Yet the elephant in the room is the fact that the 58% of undecided Democratic New Hampshire voters could still choose Kucinich, or Mike Gravel, who was also excluded. Yes, they could also not choose them, but there's the rub: many will feel the all-knowing media has presented them with the only real choices. Yet, with 58% still not certain, are there not enough in New Hampshire, not even counting Independents, to give Kucinich a strong showing? I'll just end with part of a recent Kucinich endorsement by Sean Penn, in which he stated:

"I’ve been torn lately, I’ve been torn by the allure of electability…here’s how simple it is. If those of us who truly believe in the Constitution of the United States, all of us, vote for Dennis Kucinich, he’ll be elected. Could we call him electable then?"

Please consider going here and here to express your discontentment with ABC's decision (and vote in my poll below as well)--a protest in the streets would feel more refreshing, but a flood of their inbox may be a good option in the meantime. By the way, the numbers I quoted above from the WMUR/CNN poll are available at the bottom of page one in their survey, located here.

more at twiigs.com...

Update: Here's a few key links related to this, with a video of Kucinich's speech outside the ABC/WMUR debate below, a press release by the Kucinich campaign and a link to singer Melissa Etheridge speaking out to the New York Times about Kucinch's exclusion.

Update 2: Lots of comments on this issue here, on Bill Moyers' PBS blog.

Paul and Kucinich to Appear on Bill Moyers Journal Tomorrow Night, January 4th, on PBS

This is just a quick note to pass on the word and let readers know that Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Rep. Ron Paul will be on the Bill Moyers show tomorrow night on PBS (airs at 9pm in Virginia where I am, but the video with Kucinich is available here on Moyers' site, and Paul here; all shows are archived on his main site, so check out any of the past shows for some more great stuff). The below email was sent tonight by the Kucinich campaign. I have great respect for Paul, Kucinich and Moyers, so wanted to be sure to pass this on. It looks like the subject will be the mainstream media's role in candidate exposure and electability.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from Kucinich for President
reply-to info@kucinich.us,
to Brendan <***@gmail.com>,
date Jan 3, 2008 10:07 PM
subject DENNIS GUESTS ON BILL MOYERS JOURNAL FRIDAY, JANUARY 4

TV WORTH WATCHING!
DENNIS GUESTS ON BILL MOYERS JOURNAL
FRIDAY, JANUARY 4

Dear Supporters,

Great News! Dennis will be the guest on Bill Moyers Journal Friday night, January 4.

Bill Moyers will look at the media's power to benefit some candidates and disadvantage others.

(Check the schedule of your local PBS station. Bill Moyers Journal is re-broadcast several times on most PBS affiliates.)

Thank you for your support,

The Kucinich campaign

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877-41-DENNIS (877-413-3664)

Paid for by Kucinich for President 2008

Paid for and authorized by Kucinich for President 2008, Inc. P.O. Box 110180, Cleveland, OH 44111 | (877) 41-DENNIS.

---

Update: Here's the Kucinich clip, it's about 15 minutes, but quite worth it (the Paul one is available through the link above, I had already downloaded this one, so it was easy to place here):