Baldeo is denying that he attempted to extort a judgeship from Queens Dems

Times Ledger article below reports that Albert Baldeo claims he never tried to get a judgeship for dropping out of the primary against Addabbo for the Serph Maltese Senate Seat

http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2008/07/01/forest_hills/forest_hills_ledger/news/forest_hills_ledger_newsbaldeooffe06262008.txt

NY Daily News article a couple of weeks earlier reports that Baldeo would have accepted a judgeship in return for dropping out of the race.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2008/06/10/2008-06-10_albert_baldeo_hints_at_thirdparty_run_fo.html

John McCain advertising on QueensCourier.com

When you are so far behind in fundraising to your opponent, you should waste money in States there is no possible chance of winning, and congressional districts without Republican challengers to boot.

Good Job, John McSame!

Como's sliver of a win in a special election

The unusual reaction of the Queens GOP that Como nearly getting beat by a less than adequate candidate whose only attribute to the campaign whose her last name and the familial obligation that the Queens Democratic Chairman felt towards her, was that if Liz Crowley can't win a Special Election as a Democrat in 30th City Council District then there is no way that Addabbo cannot possibly Beat Serf Maltese.

Baldeo without any money, any endorsements, simply with voter enrollment in his favor came several 100 votes away from knocking Maltese off in 2006. It would be hard to argue that Republican Brand in Queens has improved in the last 2 years, and with Obama at the top of the ticket there will be a large Democratic turnout. Addabbo will have as much money as he needs, Malcolm Smith will make sure he as much, if not more, feet on the ground than Crowley recieved for the special election. New York City Democrats are a little embarassed to have 3 republican State Senators that do not represent the Republican bastion of Staten Island (2 of the 3 in are in Queens).

The Clinton Narrative-Ben Smith's Blog

Ben Smith's Blog - Politico.com

Ben Smith writes about the rationale why Hillary continues to be covered as if she still has chance to be nominee, even though mathematically she does not. I would venture to guess their is a dark subconscious reason Hillary will stay in the race (well after all primaries have been decided in Obama's favor) and that reason is we have never had a presidential candidate with such a likelihood of being assassinated as we have in Barack Obama.

If a tragedy does befall Obama, Hillary will likely be this generation's Herbert Humphrey and loose to McCain in the fall. If Barack Obama lives to a ripe old age, then our generation will have what the 60's didn't: a charismatic leader that we are left with faults and all. With the on going adulation the media has been giving Obama, and repeatedly being compared to a Kennedy it is not entirely good for him to fulfill the presidential path of JFK or RFK. Both Kennedys presidential aspirations (achieved and potential) tends to be over hyped through the rose colored glasses of nostalgia in my opinion. Had JFK not been killed, he may very well have lost re-election, though probably not to Goldwater but an ideological middleground candidate. RFK would not have been able to carry all of the hopes, dreams and aspirations that the deaths of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. put on his shoulders, and would have been a tredmoundous let down.

Super Tuesday Aftermath

To the defenders of GOP's policy of splitting Michigan and Florida delegates, we won't see the benefits of either DNC or GOP reaction to states breaking party rules until 2012. If in 2011 every republican primary is moved a full year forward to catch a jump on the other states knowing the worst the RNC will do is halve their delegates, so be it, Chris Mathews and Brian Williams and Tim Russert and Faux News will still fawn over any state that flouts RNC directions. On the other hand if Dean shows his back bone and really will not seat the delegates from states that broke party rules then certainly no state would be willing cross the DNC 4 years later.
As far as the super delegates, there are over 800 of them! Seriously if you think that Hillary can win the nomination with the 160 she has today, sorry it just won't happen. Obama's 50 super delegates aren't going to win him the nomination either. The 600 super delegates that are waiting to see how the primaries result in a clear winner and/or looking to see who will poll better against McCain in the general election they will be the king makers. John Edwards and his 26 pledged delegates are looking pretty influential now that delegate results (sans super delegates) are nearly tied.

Finally, if Hillary can not raise any money from the grassroots simply because she is uninspiring then she certainly is the one that Howard Dean will have to coax out of running. I;m from NY and almost a tautology of elected officials here are for Hillary mostly because of fear that Obama isn't tough enough, too much of a peacenik to make a strong argument that he will be able to keep the country safe. President Bush certainly isn't lacking machismoism and bravado; He will never be considered a dovish politician and yet the country has certainly lost security through his bellicose foreign policy. On September 12th, 2001 there were 6 Billion inhabitants that could easily recognize who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. On September 12th, 2001 there were millions of muslim, arabic, and or middle eastern Americans that had already rejected religous fundamentalists of their old home countries and chose America over the culture of fake-martydom that Sayyid Qutb, and Osama Bin Laden promotes. On September 12th, 2001 we could say that the World Trade Center was the largest in muslim deaths of any single terrorist attack or single western Military attack. Alqueda began with the bombing of Kobar towers attacking fellow muslims and yet the U.S. continues to frame the problem with ourselves against all muslims and that the problem can be solved militarily. Sen. John McCain, President George W. Bush, and Sen. Hillary Clinton all suffer the same perspective in that the tool they have in the tool box is hammer (military), therefore every problem looks like a nail (a war).

Barack Obama was willing to stick his head out to be cut back in 2002, when he openly opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq despite it being massively popular. He supports the war in Afghanistan, therefore is far from a pacifist. He is the only plausible next-president that actually can and wants to make peace in the world.

Greatest Episode Ever!

I could not be more satisfied than by last night's Simpsons.

John Edwards is he petitioning in New York?

I've found out recently that the John Edwards campaign will attempt to gain state wide ballot access in New York via all volunteer petitioning effort. The Edwards campaign will probably lean heavy on the California State SEIU State Council to do the grunt work to get on California's ballot, and will likely go the volunteer route for Illinois as well.

Does the Edwards campaign really think they will have a decent Super Tuesday if they don't get on Illinois and New York ballots?

Obama: the 2008 Howard Dean model

The Dean campaign around the same time in cycle in 2003 were attracting the same size crowd (though with less money raised) yet were able to use the grassroots for the free labor to control the crowds. Obama seeming to have even less planning than Dean's campaign could end up the same way as Howard Dean.

A little advice to Senator Barack Obama, please remember to take your loss in Iowa calmly and not to take it as an opportunity to pump up your supporters that just spent months in the cold to see you come in 3rd.

The point of the Dean-Obama comparison is that Obama has all the media buzz, like McCain before Dean, and Perot before McCain. Dean's campaign had state by state infrastructure which had ten thousands people at rallies in Vermont (for the kickoff), Austin, TX, Boston, MA as well as a huge rally in Bryant Park here in NYC. The Dean campaign had a more authentic grassroots creation, nearly every aspect of the campaign was directed by the supporters, while Obama's campaign seems to be overwhelmed at every step. Even Obama's blog is simply to be just running account of press releases.

The problem with both the Obama campaign and the Dean Campaign is that they need/ed to focus with just states the first 4 states. IA, NH, NV, & SC campaign staff has to be native to the state. The 3,000 orange capped out of staters that descended onto Iowa in the name of Dean for America, had more to do with his defeat than his scream/yelp.

Democratic GAIN: Job posting of the ever annoying and excessively ambitious State Sen. Jeff Klein

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Details about Job Posting no. 9438
Company NYS Senator Position: Fundraiser Job Category: Campaigns Post Date: 08/Jun/2007 Salary: Competitive / Yearly
Summary: Democratic NYS Senator seeks a high energy, fundraiser with strong track record of success.
Description: Responsibilities: Responsible for day-to-day fundraising efforts for multi-million dollar committee budget; Assist with development & implementation of finance plan; Manage call time program; Make outbound calls to solicit pledges; Perform donor research; Set, track & chart measurable goals, i.e. Overall Call Time, Revenue/Calls per Hour, Per Pledge average, New Donors, and Efficiency goals; Develop & implement new and small donor plan; Plan & execute fundraisers and other events; Develop & implement donor communications program, including direct mail, fully utilizing campaign website, writing & e-blasting (via fax & email) newsletters, updates, etc.; Maintain all contribution databases; Prepare correspondence; Prepare compliance and filing documents; Position may require Travel with the Senator Senator ; Perform additional duties as needed.

Requirements: Immediate full time position that requires a meticulous, goal-oriented, self-starter with the following abilities: Exceptional telephone techniques & skills, using strong communication (sales) and persuasion skills; Personable, clear, concise with the ability to work a room and develop and maintain strong relationships; Excellent written communication skills; Professional appearance & demeanor are essential; Must work independently with little supervision; Strong work ethic, self-motivated, performance driven, with the ability to set & track daily measurable goals; Able to prioritize well; Highly organized & detail oriented; Pro-active, possessing a positive attitude at all times; Ability to listen, take direction, follow through and multi-task; Must excel under pressure & meet changing requirements in a face-paced environment; Flexible schedule, ability to work nights and weekends as required; Knowledgeable about NYS politics and stays informed of current political news; Proficient computer & research skills; Knowledge of NGP database helpful, but not required; Hours are long and the work is hard but the opportunity to network and learn is incredible; Own Car is preferred.

HOW TO APPLY:
Forward resume, cover letter (which should include political affiliations and leanings), references and salary history. Incomplete submissions will not be considered. Qualified candidates will be contacted.

City: Bronx State: NY Region: Northeast Positions Available: 1 [Photo] [Photo]
This job posting will expire in 82 day(s) on 9/08/2007.
Click here if you would like to preview (in another window) the application the employer will see, if you send your application.

Bloomberg running for Prez, & what the candidates are riding around town in

Politics1 - American Politics, Elections, Candidates & Campaigns

Mayor Bloomberg relaunched his campaign website as well as Chuck Hagels' appearence on Face the Nation stating that Bloomberg would be a great candidate to run with in independent run for president.

HYBRIDS: The AP asked the leading Presidential candidates "What car or cars do you drive?" The answers showed a surprising number of hopefuls in both parties said they drove hybrids as their personal vehicles. The hybrid drivers: Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo. Dennis Kucinich drives a compact, but not a hybrid one. Joe Biden drives a classic 1967 Corvette. Mitt Romney prefers a Ford Mustang convertible. Bill Richardson drives a Jeep. Mike Huckabee and Duncan Hunter prefer large SUVs. John McCain and Barack Obama drive luxury sedans. The most surprising answer came from Rudy Giuliani: "I don't drive." No answers were reported from the other hopefuls.

Giuliani's answer is telling of his problem in the GOP primary: he is first and foremost a New Yorker before he is a Republican. If Giuliani and Bloomberg fail in their presidential runs it will occur because the rest of the country is so far behind NYC that the city should start looking into breaking off into a Singapore-like City-State. Maybe the city should keep the counties that lead up to the Canadian border because the Adirondack State park was the idea of a Manhattanite (Teddy Roosevelt) and the city needs the reservoirs in Ulster, Putnam, et al counties. Western NY can be appended to Pennsylvania (if PA wants economically backwards cities like Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse) .

Blacks are unemployed because there are too many broken 40 oz. bottles

Barak Obama speaking to 1199SEIU union staffers and excutive council members had a question posed to him by Kym Platt of askthisblackwoman.com asked the junior senator from Illinois "the African-American community suffer from a large unemployment problem, especially here in New York, what would your adminstration do to solve this problem?"

Barack Obama's response was to state

"that our government has failed them but also there seems to be too many broken 40 oz bottles in the streets."

Sen. Obama pivoted off the racial faux pas by pointing out that in Iowa the problem of unemployment leads to hopelessness as well and that they also turn to drinking. When he finally got around to answering the question he returned to an earlier answer about energy conservation and environmental concerns that would lead to "many new jobs for our young men and women." Obama, in my opinion, did not adequately dodge the racial issue that was couched in the question, nor did he answer the question in anything close to a straight forward manner.

Edwards Campaign to go on despite wife having a recurrance of cancer detected this week

The New York Observer Politicker: Edwards' New York Crew

This probably was quite a relief to latest staffers added just a couple of days ago all from NY

Latest poll may dispel fears of Clinton losing the general

Ohio (OH) Poll * March 22, 2007 * Clinton, Obama, Edwards Run Be - Quinnipiac University

This latest poll of 2004 ultimate battleground state O-HI-O, has former first lady leading America's Mayor Giuliani by 3%. Though within the MOE it shows a big get in the general election for Hillary, since Giuliani is leading the pack of Republicans running for Prez. Ohio along with Arkansas, and maybe Colorado* could all go Hillary's way that didn't go for Kerry or Gore.

*With hosting 2008 Dems Convention and Congressman Mark Udall running for the open US Senate and likely will win due to lack of a bench for the GOP in Colorado.