The Congress-watcher news magazine The Hill writes this week that:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) must commit to helping illegal immigrants achieve citizenship or else risk losing the vital Latino vote in the general election, Hispanic Democratic lawmakers are warning.

If he does not promise so-called comprehensive immigration reform, the lawmakers say, the only other way to win over Hispanic supporters of his erstwhile rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), may be to pick her as his running mate.

While I think that’s true, the problem for Obama with Hispanics goes deeper than that and again it comes to down those pesky values which I keep on referencing. That Obama is likely to carry the Hispanic vote I do not doubt. It is the narrower margin by which he will do so that should give the Democratic leadership pause. Here’s the crux of Obama’s problema muy grande:

While Obama won the Latino vote in his home state of Illinois and in Colorado, and stayed competitive in New Mexico and Arizona, he was walloped among Latinos — 64 percent to 24 — throughout the 24 contests making up Super Tuesday. In California, Clinton won over Latinos 67 percent to 29.

Latino voters comprised 30 percent of California Democratic primary voters, an increase of 17 percent from 2004. In Texas, the number of Latinos voting in the Democratic primary rose 8 percent, to 32 percent of the electorate, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

In the Florida Republican primary, where Latinos made up 12 percent of the total vote and where McCain edged out Romney by only 4 percentage points, the Arizona senator won 54 percent of the Latino vote compared to Romney’s 14 percent. And many Republicans remember that it was in 2004 when 40 percent of Latino voters abandoned the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), to vote for President Bush, Munoz said.

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“I am confident I will get her votes if I’m the nominee. It’s not clear she would get the votes I got if she were the nominee.” — Barack Obama, February 1, 2008

Could he be anymore wrong? In states like West Virginia and Kentucky, over 40% of Clinton supporters noted in exit polls that they would not support Barack Obama. In states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, the number is over 30%. These are not just irrate women voters, they come from all walks of life but they all have one thing in common, No Obama, not now, not ever.

On National Public Radio, Madeleine Brand talks to lifelong Democrat Barbara LeBey about why she might vote for McCain instead of Obama in the general election. Here’s the audio: Barbara LeBey Interview on NPR.

And who is Barbara LeBey?

Barbara LeBey practiced law for several years before spending fifteen years as a Judge with the State of Georgia. She is the author of two books “Family Estrangements: How They Begin, How to Mend Then, How to Cope with Them”, and “Remarried with Children: Ten Secrets for Successfully Blending and Extending Your Family” and several magazine articles including “Why Families Are Growing Apart” in USA Today Magazine and “Bury the Hatchet” in AARP The Magazine.

It is pretty clear that Barack Obama won’t be getting many of Clinton’s supporters votes in November and he will rue the day he ever uttered those words. His campaign did nothing but divide the Democratic Party. Go dance with what brung you cause I ain’t gonna dance with Barack Obama. I’ll sit this one out or I’ll even dance with the other guy. Sure, he’s older but he didn’t vote for the Bush-Cheney Energy Bill either.

Below the fold more people not voting for Obama: (more…)

Last night pundits across the political spectrum were saying how the Jim Johnson saga was not a big deal and how this “crisis” would just blow over. Jim Johnson was chosen by Barack Obama to head his Vice Presidential vetting committee. Unfortunately no one vetted Jim Johnson. Well the crisis did blow over, sort of, but not in the way the pundits thought it would because today Jim Johnson stepped down. It was a big deal and David Gergen, Roland Martin, Donna Brazile and Ed Rollins were wrong.

Jim Johnson, a manager of Democrat Barack Obama’s vice presidential search team, resigned Wednesday amid criticism over his personal loan deals.

“Jim did not want to distract in any way from the very important task of gathering information about my vice presidential nominee, so he has made a decision to step aside that I accept,” Obama said in a statement. “We have a very good selection process underway, and I am confident that it will produce a number of highly qualified candidates for me to choose from in the weeks ahead. I remain grateful to Jim for his service and his efforts in this process.”

Johnson, the former chairman of mortgage lender Fannie Mae, received loans with the help of the CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp., which is part of a federal investigation in the midst of the subprime mortgage crisis. The story was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

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and targeting you for defeat. We will make sure that the next time you come before the voters, you will get a run for the money and with luck ousted from office.

Target Number One: Senator John Kerry

Before he was for it, he was against it and now he has his first primary challenge in over 20 years. It’s time to take him down. Let’s show the man who defines effete liberalism the door.

Ed O’Reilly, A Working Class Democrat for the US Senate

About Ed O’Reilly

Born in Boston, Ed grew up in a large Watertown working class family. His father, Robert C. O’Reilly, was the former Watertown Fire Chief. Ed graduated from Watertown High School in 1971 where he was a notable member of the hockey team.

Upon graduation from High School, Ed delayed his college education and worked in a factory in order to earn enough money for college. From January 1972 until May, 1975, Ed attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he earned a B.A. in Legal Studies, Magna Cum Laude. While at UMass, Ed was also a paid Call Firefighter in the Town of Amherst, following in the firefighter footsteps of his grandfather, father and three of his uncles. After graduation from college, Ed worked for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections at Norfolk State Prison and Park Drive Pre-Release Center. He has also been a Commercial Lobsterman and a past member of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association.

Ed served for over three years as a proud member of the Watertown Fire Department, IAFF Local #1347 until he was laid off due to the effects of Proposition 2 ½ . Later, Ed transferred to the Gloucester (where he owned a small cottage) Fire Department and proudly served as a member of IAFF #762. As a Watertown firefighter, Ed worked many hours on the Rescue Squad and later, as a Gloucester Firefighter, became a certified CPR instructor. One notable fire Ed worked was battling the conflagration that devastated downtown Lynn in the early 1980’s.

As a civilian, Ed has been involved in several situations where he has used his CPR training to save peoples’ lives. He is also the recipient of the American Red Cross Good Neighbor Award for saving several lives in a storm related incident on the coast of Gloucester.

Ed received an academic scholarship to help him attend New England School of Law. In 1982, Ed was admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Ed is well known statewide as an excellent Criminal Defense Attorney. Over the past 25 years, Ed has criss-crossed the Commonwealth and appeared in nearly 70 different Massachusetts Courts.

Ed has devoted much of the last 18 years helping clients and their families to deal with substance abuse problems. Ed has extensive knowledge and experience in issues surrounding substance abuse. He brings deep commitment and understanding to helping people discover recovery.

Ed is stepping back from his law practice in order to devote his complete time and energy campaigning and meeting people across Massachusetts.

A working class Senator or an effete liberal one. It’s that simple and that stark a choice.

Please visit and contribute at Ed O’Reilly US Senate 2008

Via the New York Times.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was gracious in her full-throated endorsement of Senator Barack Obama. But that does not mean all is forgiven by others in the Clinton universe. For proof, look no further than Doug Band, chief gatekeeper to former President Bill Clinton.

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I am old enough to remember 1968 and this looks like 1968. June, 1968, June 2008. Plus ça change, Plus c’est la même chose.

South Korea

In Seoul, 80,000 people marched yesterday to protest the government’s decision to import beef from the United States. More from the Gulf Times of Qatar.

Fuel Protests in Cornwall

Spain and Portugal Protests Leave Two Dead

Tens of thousands of Spanish lorry drivers (truck drivers for the American readership) began an indefinite fuel price protest strike today that could bring the country to a standstill. It immediately led to lengthy queues at many service stations across the country by drivers worried they would be left without petrol.

The stoppage and protests by pickets led to traffic jams several miles long at the main border crossings with France. Hundreds of lorry drivers staged “snail protests” holding up traffic on ring roads around Madrid and Barcelona.

“We are the ones who move the goods that this country needs to keep working. If we stop because we haven’t got the money to buy fuel then the country will stop,” Julio Villascusa, president of the transport association federation Fenadismer, said. Fenadismer said more than 90,000 drivers have been called to take part in the strike.

The story from the UK Guardian and the UK Independent.

Fuel Protests in India

Fuel Protests in Malaysia

Via Reuters:

Malaysia’s ruling coalition rejected calls to reconsider a sharp rise in fuel prices on Friday, but state media said the country’s beleaguered leader planned measures to ease the burden on consumers.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has come under renewed pressure from the opposition over this week’s 41 percent rise in petrol prices and the 63 percent increase for diesel, brought about by the global surge in oil prices.

He will attempt to appease public anger by revealing four measures next week to curtail the pain of the price rises.

Abdullah will detail measures for state bodies to save costs, widen the social safety net for the poor, increase the number of price-controlled items and improve public transport, state news agency Bernama quoted the premier as telling senior editors.

Go Slow in Hong Kong
Discontent over soaring fuel prices faced governments across Asia on Tuesday, surfacing in strikes and protests and pressuring leaders to consider policies to quell the anger.,Like others around the globe, Asian governments are struggling to keep rising prices from breaking their budgets while not making the burden on the public so heavy it threatens political stability. In India, Hong Kong and Nepal, protesters took to the streets over the issue, while South Korean truckers threatened a nationwide strike.

Reuters provides the coverage.

Chilean Protests
Thousands of Chilean drivers parked their trucks along national highways on Tuesday to protest soaring fuel prices in a tacit rejection of government fuel subsidies announced amid fanfare this week. Students in Santiago were a bit more dynamic.

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Cynthia Ruccia made headlines back in April and May when she went on national television and point blank announced that she will not vote for Barack Obama. Despite two calls from DNC Howard Dean asking what it will take for them to get on board the Obama train, these ladies are holding firm. No Obama choo-choo for them. Now they have started a new group called Women For Fair Politics.

Women For Fair Politics is a grassroots organization that is reacting to the terrible treatment that Hillary Clinton has received during her historic run for the Democratic nomination.

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Ohio Governor and Hillary Clinton supporter Ted Strickland told National Public Radio that he would turn down Obama if asked to be Vice President on the ticket:

Asked on NPR’s “All Things Considered” if he is auditioning to be Obama’s running mate, Strickland said, “Absolutely not. If drafted I will not run, if nominated I will not accept and if elected I will not serve. So, I don’t know how more crystal clear I can be.”

I’d say Ted you’re pretty crystal clear. Good for you. (more…)

Here is the Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 edition of interesting reads from around the world.

US Senate Rejects Windfall Taxes on Oil Companies
Republicans in the US Senate on Tuesday blocked a proposal to tax the windfall profits of the nation’s biggest oil companies and eliminate some of the firms’ tax breaks, rejecting Democratic claims that the measure would help assuage consumer anger over $4-a-gallon gasoline. Silly move since, oil companies are now cash cows reaping rewards for their previous investments and making few investments in alternative energy development. More on this story from the Houston Chronicle.

South Korean Protests Simply Stunning
I have been covering the protests in South Korea now for a week in this section but even I am stunned about how steadfast the protesters are and how quickly they have grown in size. President Lee Myung-bak’s government has been caught off-guard. And all this over imports of US beef. South Korea’s president said Wednesday that his government will make a fresh start, hours after an estimated 80,000 people gathered in the South Korean capital in the largest demonstration yet against the planned resumption of U.S. beef imports. But President Lee Myung-bak warned that dismissing his entire Cabinet might cause “a vacuum in state affairs” amid rising oil prices and other economic difficulties. “I thought about a lot of things while watching protests last night,” Lee told leaders of small companies Wednesday morning, according to South Korean media pool reports. “The government intends to make a start with a new determination.” Reports from New York Times and the Korea Herald. And a profile on South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Time Magazine.

Bangladesh Adrift as Political Tensions Rise
After nearly two years of caretaker government in Bangladesh, the politics of the country seem to be heating up as all the political parties, including the two major ones, grow increasingly frustrated with the pace of progress toward elections. Although the army-backed government headed by Fakharuddin Ahmed, a former World Bank economist, has announced elections for the third week of December, sudden mass arrests of an estimated 12,000 people since May 28 have added to the concern prevailing in Dhaka’s political circles. Some are beginning to doubt whether elections will be held at all. The story in the Asian Sentinel.

2007 A Deadly Year for Journalists in Nepal
The year 2007 for the South Asia Media workers and journalists in Nepal turned out to be the ‘bloodiest and most difficult year’, said a South Asia Media Monitor-2007 report. A total of 25 South Asia media associate journalists and media workers were killed in different parts of the country and for different reasons, said the report launched today at the South Asia Free Media Association Nepal (SAFMA-Nepal). The full details from The Rising Nepal.

China’s Trade Surplus Shrinks
China’s trade surplus stood at 20.2 billion dollars in May, down 9.9% from a year earlier, according to customs figures made public on Wednesday. Chinese exports in May rose 28.1% from the same month a year ago to 120.5 billion dollars, while imports increased 40% to 100.3 billion dollars, customs figures showed. The Chinese government said last week the nation’s trade surplus is likely to shrink in 2008 for the first time in five years on weakening exports mainly due to the rising local currency and the US economic slowdown. In terms of crude oil, China imported 75.97 mln tons of crude oil in the first five months, up 12.7% year-on-year, the General Administration of Customs said. Imports of oil products in the first five months rose 17.3% year-on-year to 17.34 mln tons.

Fact Sheet for Sudan Airways
Silobreaker has all you want to know about Sudan Airways. If you fly in Africa as I do, there are two airlines that stand out in terms of meeting Western standards, Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways. Many of the rest are flying coffins. Nigerian and Zairean airlines are the worst.

Chávez’s Ex-Wife To Run for Mayor of Barquisimeto On Anti-Chávez Platform
Marisabel Rodríguez, the former first lady, plans to run for mayor of Barquisimeto, the capital of Lara state, in November. “I want to change the face and way of doing politics in this city and this country,” said the former PR executive on Sunday, confirming her candidacy for the Podemos party. Chávez has suffered a series of reversals despite a surge of petrodollars into state coffers – inflation, sporadic food shortages and a revived opposition threaten to topple pro-government candidates. More from the UK Guardian.

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