Bill Clinton Off His Leash

Read Talk/Talk with Jacqueline Salit and Fred Newman:

Newman: I'm the last one to deny the skill of the Clintons and the Clinton people. I think they're very skillful. On the other hand, if you strip away the decorations, I think they have the skills of bullies. That's who they are. Are they skillful bullies? Yes. But I don't think you can focus on their "skills" without pointing that out.....

......

Salit: So, what should Obama do?
Newman: Obama should make a very strong and serious public bid for the independents.
Salit: He can't afford the luxury, even in the primary season, of giving independents away to John McCain or to anybody else.
Newman: He's got a natural relationship to the independents. But, he's got to push that all the way. And I think there's some indication that he's trying to do that. But, he's got to do that and he's got to do it fast.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• About Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel being excluded from Dem afternoon delight debate yesterday, a few major papers made note of it by saying that they didn't fit the criteria, some blogs made note of it and added the comment "not sure why Allen Keyes was included in the Repub debate since he didn't meet that criteria either...." Here is some of the "coverage", and mind you the only real protest concerning democracy issues was a letter to the Des Moines Register: Leaving candidates out of debate compromises democracy (LETTER Des Moines Register)
• Kucinich press release on exclusion (OpEdNews) It seems that the Cleveland Plain Dealer doesn't like Kucinich....
• Keyes in, Kucinich out of Iowa debates (Boston Globe)
• Thursday’s political round-up-excerpt on exclusion of Kucinich (The Carpetbagger Report)
• 2 Democrats excluded from debate but Keyes allowed to take part (WCCO - MN)
• The networks and the debates (mediabistro.com)
• Kucinich fans wanted him in debate (Des Moines Register)

• There are 34 candidates on the New Hampshire ballot-- some spoke at the Manchester Community Access Media broadcast the forum, which will be aired on C-SPAN. (New Hampshire Union Leader)
• Matt Bai has a new blog on the NY Times' The Caucus called The Primary Argument
• There's a noticeable shift among black voters in South Carolina from Clinton to Obama (Wall Street Journal) and while the Washington Times calculates the Oprah Factor, it's a little known fact that Wayne Griffin and other independents in S.C. are organizing voters to challenge politics as usual

• Interesting roundup of blogs on National Journal The Hotline ...Markos Moulitsas, with the political instincts of a 15 year old hounddog, says: "I voted 'Obama' this time, not necessarily because I support him, but because the alternatives are no good. ..... "

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• An Engaged Independent Electorate-CBS News poll says most independents are not able/not interested in voting in the primaries (The Caucus/NY Times blog)
• 27 year old New Hampshire hedge fund manager Gregory Chase offers $1 mil to get Mike Gravel in debate (Philadelphia Inquirer) and (Mens News Daily)
• Judge leaves election-law loophole open-"The big loser is the state constitution and the people who voted for the amendment to have an open primary." (Orlando Sentinel)
• Officials debate drop in voting in Louisana's gov race-"If we are truly interested in keeping democracy alive, we have to make voting more user friendly.” (The Advocate)
• Driscoll: Republicans and Democrats trot out the bogeymen-"something that is ultimately sad and destructive to our democracy. I'd like to believe we can do better than this. All of us.'' (Waltham Daily News Tribune)
• Conviction Politics... in Practice: Tom Perriello for Congress as an independent in Virginia's 5th CD (TPM Cafe)

Conversations on Democracy

• On the Obama campaign for the White House: Michael Roberts' Dilemma...
• Fred Newman has some advice for Obama in Talk/Talk...
• Republicans have failed the Right (The Economist)
• Stuart Rothenberg has had enough debate -- Gravel, Kucinich, Paul, Tancredo? Let's move on!.....
• And journalist/filmmaker John Pilger has an excellent piece on Clintonism in Dissident Voice: "What Clinton and Blair have most in common is that they are the most violent leaders of their countries in the modern era; that includes Bush. Consider Clinton’s true record...." (more)