I have just received word from the Director of Online Communications for the Democratic National Convention Committee that KnoxViews/TennViews has been selected as the official credentialed Tennessee blog for the August 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Part of the deal is that yours truly will be seated alongside the Tennessee delegation on the convention floor ("one of the best seats in the house") to live-blog the greatest political event in recent history.

Developing...

UPDATE: DNC Chairman Governor Dean Announces Blogs Selected For 2008 Democratic National Convention 'State Blogger Corps'

"Similar to the record-breaking voter turnout our Party has seen during the primary season, the demand for these coveted blogger positions is yet another indicator of the tremendous interest in this historic Convention," said Governor Dean. "The Internet has played a critical role in connecting Americans to elected officials and candidates seeking office. The DemConvention State Blogger Corps will continue to foster this dialogue - in all 50 of our states and our territories too - as we head towards this year's historic election and elect a Democrat to the White House."

Follow the link for the full press release and list of blogs.

UPDATE: Square State, the official Colorado blog, interviews Howard Dean about the State Blogger Corps.

UPDATE: Associated Press

UPDATE: Howard Dean welcomes state bloggers:

If polls are correct, Senator Clinton will win the West Virginia primary today by a hefty margin. Such an outcome would be in line with a larger trend that bloggers such as DHinMI have noted: Senator Obama has failed to gain any traction whatsoever in Appalachia.

Why is this? A common theory being tossed about is "racism." Is it that simple? Or is there a more complex explanation?

is what Obama said true?

At a time when we're facing the largest homecoming since the Second World War," Obama said of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, "the true test of our patriotism is whether we will serve our returning heroes as well as they've served us."

Just a quick Google search on the Vietnam war:

1968. U.S. strength in South Vietnam totaled more than 500,000 by early 1968.

January, February, March, 1972. U.S. troop strength in Vietnam dropped to 136,500 by 31 January 1972, to 119,600 by 29 February, and then to 95,500 by the end of March.

What if I Googled the Korean War?

Etc., etc., etc....

America faces a housing crisis that it has not seen the likes of since the great depression. Hundreds of thousands of families have lost their homes due to the mortgage crisis in the past year and more are at risk if we don't act now. That is why the US Senate must support some version of the Foreclosure Prevention Act, which passed this past week in the US House. This legislation, which is on its way to the Senate next week has been threatened with veto by President Bush.

In a recent Newsweek, The Last Word, column George Will wrote:

You [Obama] favor eliminating the cap on earnings subject to the 12.4 percent Social Security tax, which now covers only the first $102,000. A Chicago police officer married to a Chicago public-school teacher, each with 20 years on the job, have a household income of $147,501, so you would take another $5,642 from them. Are they undertaxed? Are they rich?

Doesn't George know that social security is not paid jointly?

After anointing Obama as the nominee on Tuesday, the media narrative has shifted to the West Virginia and Kentucky "Appalachian" contests. They are reduced to quaint curiosities in which poor, white, uneducated mountain people from a "bygone era" have been trained to make their way to a school gym and push a button just like real people for the delight and amusement of the media elite.

OK, then.

RCP North Carolina average: Obama +8. No recent poll has shown an advantage for Clinton. Obama has overcome a Clinton lead of 24 points in November.

RCP Indiana average: Clinton +5. Only one recent poll shows an advantage for Obama. Obama crept up to a slight 3 point advantage in late April, but Clinton has since erased it.

There are 72 delegates at stake in Indiana, and 115 in North Carolina. Obama currently has 1737 delegates, and Clinton has 1607 (Green Papers estimate). Neither candidate can get to the 2025 needed to nominate today, even if one were to win 100% of the vote in both primaries.

And so it continues.

(The encouraging news is that nearly 32 million people have voted for a Democratic nominee so far, v. 18.5 million for a Republican.)

If you agree with this line of thinking and would like to see more of it on the Supreme Court for another generation, vote for McCain in 2008.

No, seriously. I'm not making that up:

To pay for the tax credit, McCain would eliminate the tax exemption for people whose employers pay a portion of their coverage, raising an estimated $3.6 trillion in revenues, Holtz-Eakin said. Companies that provide coverage to workers still would get tax breaks. McCain would also cut costs by limiting health care lawsuits.

Clinton responds:

"The McCain plan eliminates the policies that hold the employer-based health insurance system together, so while people might have a 'choice' of getting such coverage, employers would have no incentive to provide it. This means 158 million Americans with job-based coverage today could be at risk of losing the insurance they have come to depend upon."

Uh, Hillary, divorcing health insurance from employment is the only sane part of McCain's plan.

Obama says:

McCain is "recycling the same failed policies that didn't work when George Bush first proposed them and won't work now. Instead of taking on the big health insurance companies and requiring them to cover Americans with preexisting conditions, Senator McCain wants to make it easier for them to reject your coverage, drop it, or jack up the price you pay."

I didn't get that part, but maybe it's in the details McCain hasn't provided. And Obama is standing up to the insurance companies how? By not making you buy their product?

According to this report, McCain said that he would "encourage state governments to create guaranteed-access plans" as a safety net for high-risk workers. Sounds like another unfunded mandate. And state Medicaid and SCHIP programs are already stretched to the breaking point.

At any rate, one thing all the candidates agree on is that insurance policies should be portable and available across state lines. We will have to wait for more details of McCain's plan, but it doesn't sound like there's a dimes worth of difference between any of the three proposals. OK, maybe fifteen cents. And the bottom line is that the President can't unilaterally enact any of this anyway.

New Clinton supporter is a potent symbol:

"It's an incredibly strong endorsement because Easley is popular among the blue collar 'Bubba' voters who are Democrats," said David "Mudcat" Saunders, a Democratic consultant who advised former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner on winning rural voters.

OK, then.

As you've probably heard, Barack Obama went on Fox News for an in-depth interview. He finally distanced himself from the left-wing barking moonbats and started talking some sense:

WALLACE: Over the years, John McCain has broken with his party and risked his career on a number of issues — campaign finance, immigration reform, banning torture.

As a president, can you name a hot-button issue where you would be willing to buck the Democratic Party line and say, "You know what? Republicans have a better idea here?"

OBAMA: Well, I think there are a whole host of areas where Republicans in some cases may have a better idea.

WALLACE: Such as?

OBAMA: Well, on issues of regulation. I think that back in the '60s and '70s a lot of the way we regulated industry was top-down command and control, we're going to tell businesses exactly how to do things.

And you know, I think that the Republican Party and people who thought about the markets came up with the notion that, "You know what? If you simply set some guidelines, some rules and incentives, for businesses — let them figure out how they're going to, for example, reduce pollution," and a cap and trade system, for example is a smarter way of doing it, controlling pollution, than dictating every single rule that a company has to abide by, which creates a lot of bureaucracy and red tape and oftentimes is less efficient.

Outstanding. Free markets work, and are more efficient. It's about time serious Democrats acknowledged this and started bringing the conversation back from the far-left fringe into the mainstream center with the DLC and the Blue Dogs where the business of America is business.

</snark>

Elizabeth Edwards asks the press to help the voters of North Carolina and the country to discuss the issues so that informed decisions can be made.

But I am saying that every analysis that is shortened, every corner that is cut, moves us further away from the truth until what is left is the Cliffs Notes of the news, or what I call strobe-light journalism, in which the outlines are accurate enough but we cannot really see the whole picture.
...
Who is responsible for the veil of silence over Senator Biden? Or Senator Dodd? Or Gov. Tom Vilsack? Or Senator Sam Brownback on the Republican side?

The decision was probably made by the same people who decided that Fred Thompson was a serious candidate.

Will the media listen? Do they care? Will the story be about her bitterness that John is not longer a candidate? It's the economy stupid. It's about paying for decent healthcare. It's about our soldiers dying in Iraq. It's about the billions of dollars spent in Iraq while our infrastructure is crumbling and American citizens are not asked to sacrifice but given money to go shopping.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for trying.

From a ridiculous GOP fundraiser email:

It doesn't matter who Democrats choose as their presidential nominee. Obama and Hillary are both out of touch with middle-class families in America.

There is too much at stake in this campaign to fall behind now. The future of our economy, our quality of life and our national security all depend on the outcome of the 2008 elections.

Unless we defeat them, the radical liberal Democrats will continue to raise your taxes, give amnesty to illegal immigrants, initiate a government takeover of health care, roll-back welfare reform, and push for passage of their entire special interest dictated laundry list of left-wing programs.

Wow. How many lies can they pack in one sentence? It would be funny if it weren't for the fact that this, turned up to 11 then squared, is what we're in for come October.

Lost in all the attention on the Democratic primary, there was also a Republican primary in Pennsylvania yesterday.

McCain won with 73% of the vote. Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul got 16%, followed by Chucklebee at 11%.

73% doesn't seem like a very strong showing by the presumptive nominee and savior of the Bush GOP legacy against two guys who already dropped out.

It sounds like a third party Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul/Mike Huckabee ticket is just what the GOP disaffected need. Democrats would be happy with that scenario, too.

Turnout was also interesting. More than 2.3 million Democrats voted, v. 804,000 Republicans. That's nearly three to one for Democrats. Of course, St. McCain is a lock so lots of Republicans probably stayed home. Hopefully they'll do the same in November.

Asked how Obama can outspend Clinton three to one and take total command of the airwaves in Pennsylvania for seven weeks and still not close the deal, Harold Ford Jr. offers Obama some free advice...

Yes, probably all that, but it's also like I said the other day. Clinton does well in states with a strong, established Democratic political machine. Ed Rendell is a one-man political machine.

Cable news is saying it's too close to call. They are writing Clinton's obituary on MSNBC. Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell agree that Ed Rendell will be the one who has to have "the talk" with Clinton. Looks like a long night for the Clinton camp. Obama is in route to Indiana for a rally...

UPDATE: NBC has declared Clinton the projected winner. With 1% reporting, they have Clinton 60% to Obama 40%. With 0% reporting it was 65%/35%. I guess the margin will continue to narrow as the returns come in. The talk all night has been how narrow, and what does the Clinton margin have to be for her to raise enough money to go on.

UPDATE: 3% reporting, Clinton 53% Obama 47%.

UPDATE: 4% reporting, Clinton 57% Obama 43%. It's a roller coaster ride!

UPDATE: Final result: Clinton by 10, 55% to 45%, net six delegates. On to Puerto Rico!

What do you think? My guess: Clinton by 10+.

The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) has launched Convention 101, a website that explains the nominating process that will take place leading up to and at the Denver convention (August 25-28, 2008 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado).

It's presented in a tutorial format. Lesson one is "Convention Lead-up," and lesson two is "At the Convention." There are "extra credit" sections covering topics such as "What is a superdelegate?"

It occurred to me that the Democratic primary is a classic study in machine v. grassroots politics.

Obama has put together an impressive grassroots movement. Clinton has cranked up the formidable Clinton machine to keep it competitive.

With only a few exceptions, Clinton has done well in big states with established Democratic political machines. Obama has done well in smaller states where Obamanauts can go door to door selling retail.

The trouble is, grassroots campaigns may win a few battles but machine politics usually wins the war, like a big old Bush Hog rolling over an overgrown weed patch.

In 2004, the Republicans had a bigger Bush Hog. In 2008, ours is stalled in the tall weeds and will need extensive repairs before November.

Are you ready? It's time again for Clinton and Obama to answer some questions.

ABC News, the National Constitution Center and WPVI-TV will host a Democratic Presidential Candidate debate in Philadelphia on Wednesday, April 16. The live debate, which is scheduled to run 90 minutes, will be moderated by ABC News anchors Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos and will air from 8:00-10:00 p.m., ET/PT on the ABC Television Network.

I'm excited. I just can't wait to see how George Stephanopoulos will be as a moderator.

Fundraising, endorsements, and more.

Here's a database of all the candidates for the Knox Co. August 2008 general election:

Link...

Included are websites and e-mails that I could find. You can filter the list by office, party, and/or incumbent status.

Please let me know if you have any additions or corrections. Candidates who wish to submit photos and profile info (bio, positions, etc.) can send info to rneal@rviews.com

(For Tennessee state and federal primary candidates, see here.)

Breaking News: Mark Penn out as Clinton chief strategist

In a simple, short and not-so sweet message, Hillary Clinton's campaign announced minutes ago that Mark Penn was out as her chief political strategist.

Good riddance.

UPDATE: The AP report.

Here's a database of every candidate for the Tennessee August state and federal primaries:

http://www.tennviews.com/tn08aug

You can filter the list by office, district, and/or party. Candidate listings include links to district maps, campaign websites, emails, and campaign finance disclosures that we could find, along with links to search Google news, websites, and blogs.

We will be updating it over the next few weeks. If you have any updates, additions or corrections please submit them to rneal@rviews.com.

John McCain wants us all to remember his prison camp experience, when he was held in isolation and couldn't escape, but when it comes to freedom for people of color people in his own country, his voting record is abysmal. Shame on you John McCain.
Link...

Our military veterans have served the nation honorably, and deserve the best treatment we can give them. Regardless of how one feels about the current policy of the Bush administration regarding the war in Iraq, our veterans deserve our respect and gratitude for their service to the country. They chose to serve out of a sense of obligation, duty and often times a desire to improve their circumstances in life. The current war in Iraq has produced a high rate of disabled veterans who have been injured and wounded in the line of duty. This is in large part due to the advancement in treating combat related injuries in the field and the speed at whcih the wounded are moved out of the field of service to hospitals and critical care units.

In the United States, of our nation's 25 million veterans, about ten percent are currently considered disabled. That is about 2.5 million people who have served the country, been wounded either in combat or in the the line of duty and are currently dependent on the care of the TRICARE system for their health care benefits. In addition there are almost ten million retired veterans in this country receiving retirement benefits. We are currently spending about sixty billion dollars a year on veteran's benefits for all of our nation's veterans and twenty billion for our nation's wounded and disabled veterans.

When our servicemembers are recruited to join the military, they are made the promise of health care for life, and benefits for themselves and their families in exchange for answering the call to serve our country. These health care benefits are earned not only through the promise that we have made them as a nation, but also through the suppression in their pay and the intangibles represented by "total military compensation" which is the pormise of retirement benefits being available to the military and their families.

Last year, a task force on the future of military health care began looking at the situation of military retirees, who are increasingly being called upon to pay for more of their benefits. These benefits have been earned through their tours of duty and their service to our country, and it is up to us, as taxpayers, to honor that promise that has been made to our service members. This trust has been broken and veterans are concerned. Perhaps the most outrageous request coming from the Pentagon has been the call for increasing the enrollment fees in both TRICARE and TRICARE FOR LIFE, which is the primary system by which veteran's receive their military health benefits.

This situation needs to be addressed. We cannot leave our nation's veterans hanging on the edge. Many of our veterans are homeless and living in the streets. Others are living on marginal incomes and in poverty. This is not the promise we made our young men and women made when they answered the call to serve our country. These increases in the cost of health care are a burden that many cannot afford to pay, and we cannot afford to betray the trust of those who have served. It is time to bring the troops home from Iraq and stop funnelling hundreds of billions of dollars into an illegal war that is draining our nation's treasury. It is time to remember the promises that were made to those who came to the defense of our country and to give the military health system the funding priority that it needs.

Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign has racked up at least $8.7 million in unpaid bills, including $292,000 it owes in health insurance premiums for its employees, The Politico reports. A spokesperson for the Clinton campaign says that it “pays all of its bills,” but two Ohio companies — owed a total more than $25,000 —reportedly are urging other businesses to demand cash up front.

and the full article in The Politico

Anne Woodle

UPDATED:

Harry Tindell (D) State Rep. 13th District
Ryan A. Haynes (R) State Rep. 14th District
Thomas S. Baer (R) State Rep. 14th District
Rachel L. Ray (R) State Rep. 15th District
Joe Armstrong (D) State Rep. 15th District
Bill Dunn (R) State Rep. 16th District
Barbara Nicodemus (D) State Rep. 16th District
Charlotte Meyer (D) State Rep. 16th District
Stacey Campfield (R) State Rep. 18th District
Jonathan A. Katsiros (R) State Rep. 18th District
Ronald Leadbetter (R) State Rep. 18th District
Harry Brooks (R) State Rep. 19th District
Jamie Woodson (R) State Senate 6th District
Gary Farmer (D) State Senate 6th District

Super delegate Gov. Bill Richardson has chosen to not endorse the presidential candidate chosen by the majority of voters in his state of New Mexico.

Gov. Bill Richardson has chosen to endorse Sen. Barak Obama.

That is why, out of loyalty to my country, I endorse him for president.

The majority of voters in New Mexico chose Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Super delegates are not bound to vote how the people they represent vote. As with Sen. Edward Kennedy from Massachusetts who has also endorsed Obama when the voters from Massachusetts overwhelmingly selected Clinton. The super delegate math should get very interesting in that it appears the 2008 Democratic presidential candidate will not be determined by the state primaries and caucuses.