Edwards' fans: any of you have exchange between HRC and JE about Ohio2004 and THE MATH?

[blm]

I don't recall the exact scenario but it was something about Hillary thinking contesting Ohio would be futile.


Anyway, if you have the fuller story, it would be appreciated.

[mod mom]

1. I have to do a little research but I remember hearing Hillary was thinking of joining

Barbara Boxer in contesting the seating of the Ohio electorate-it obviously never materialized.

[blm]

2. Hillary 'thinking' about it meant how would it serve her campaign later on, and decided it wouldn't

.

[mod mom]

6. This was all I could find (but admittedly I didn't search too hard):

As of January 3, 2005, no U.S. senator had stepped forward to join Rep. Jones. The next day a busload of activists left from Columbus for an overnight "freedom ride" to Washington. As they arrived the morning of January 5, the burgeoning "Election Protection" coalition staged a media briefing at the National Press Club, finally generating major global media coverage, including ABC's Nightline. Throughout that day, and the next, Rev. Jackson, with Fitrakis and others in tow, lobbied the Congress, providing in-depth briefings for key Democratic senators, including the newly installed Democratic leadership and former first lady Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

On January 6, at a morning rally across from the White House, Rev. Jackson announced that Senator Boxer would join Rep. Tubbs Jones in questioning the seating of the Republican delegation from Ohio to the Electoral College.

Boxer's historic decision was greeted with loud cheers from the Election Protection coalition. In her California re-election campaign, Boxer had been America's third-leading vote-getter, behind Kerry and Bush. But extremely harsh personal attacks spewed from Rep. Tom DeLay (D-TX) and the Republican leadership in the Congress and in Ohio. Much of the Ohio media, which had ignored the story since election day, jumped in with personal attacks on Rep. Tubbs Jones and the voting rights activists.
-snip
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1318

[The Magistrate]

3. No Fool Like An Old Fool

Bit of an Emily Vitella moment here....

"More Wars! Less Jobs! McCain '08"

[blm]

4. Then you can fully understand why I will 'never mind' the reply.

.

[The Magistrate]

5. Absolutely, Ma'am: Let Us Have Happy Daze....

There must be a drink named that, somewhere, eh?

[Skwmom]

7. In 2004, I talked to a long time Democratic Party member and even though

she supported Clark, she said that the plan was for the ticket to be Kerry/Edwards, that they would lose but not by much b/c they didn't want it to be such a blow out that it would hurt Hillary's chances in 2008. I remember one of the pundits laughing after the ticket was named (Kerry/Edwards) and her saying that Bill Clinton was a political genius (seeming to infer that Bill Clinton had manipulated the desired outcome).

I also listened on tape to a book about H. Clinton (I forget the name). It wasn't a book unfavorable to Clinton. The author claimed that Hillary Clinton had said that she and Bill had been approached to let Bush win reelection in 92. If they did, they would give the Clintons a free pass in 1996. The Clintons did not agree to the deal and the Bush group was furious. Now fast forward to how much Bill Clinton has defended Bush. People have consistently said that the Clintons act like the election is theirs. I can't help but wonder if the Clintons made a deal with the Bush group to let Bush win reelection in 2004 and if they did they would give her a "free pass" in 2008. I for one don't think McCain is going to be hard to beat b/c he can be tied to Bush, he is the oldest person ever running for office, and he is not supported by many in the base.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

8. "Not with a bang but a whimper"

excerpts~~
It was different this time. When Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones rose in the House chambers, she announced that she had a protest to lodge against the Ohio vote, in writing as required. "And," she said, "I do have a senator." The senator was California's Barbara Boxer, who said she joined in the protest because it was the only way to shed light on the voting irregularities in Ohio and the need for election reform nationwide.

Sen. Ted Kennedy praised Boxer for forcing the issue, saying that to treat the vote certification as a "meaningless ritual would be an insult to our democracy." But as noble as the Democrats' intentions might have been, it was hard to see how the protest itself was anything other than a "meaningless ritual."

The protest put a hold on the vote certification so that each house could retire to its respective chamber for debate and a vote on the issue. But Boxer -- or anyone else who thought the protest would lead to serious discussion of election reform -- must have been disappointed by the sorry spectacle that followed. There was no sense of history being made, no sense that anything was really happening at all. Although a few hundred people protested in the drizzle across the street from the Capitol, the visitor galleries in the Senate were mostly empty. Fewer than a dozen senators showed up for the debate, and only the ones who spoke -- among them, Hillary Rodham Clinton and, in his first floor speech, Barack Obama -- seemed to take it seriously. As Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin made an impassioned plea for a bipartisan effort to improve the electoral system, Dick Cheney and Sen. Rick Santorum sat slumped in a couple of chairs on the edge of the Senate floor, talking and laughing. They weren't listening. With solid majorities in both houses, they didn't have to.


http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/01/07/gonzales_vote/index.html

[beachmom]

9. Interesting, since at that time, Obama was not considering a presidential run until 2012.

He changed his mind later on, when circumstances changed, but definitely not January '05. Another words, he spoke out then less on political expediency than Clinton.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

10. Intriguing point you offer. It holds merit.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

11. Can't find what all he said on the floor that day, His first day speaking as a Senator.

Found this snippet
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0107-02.htm

Obama's first speech

Obama, the only African-American in the Senate, did not follow the Congressional Black Caucus -- or even the progressive Illinois House Democrats -- on this one. I don't blame him. It would be unecessarily sticking his neck out in his first week on the job.

"There are different elections for different parts of the country and these differences turn shamefully on differences of wealth and race,'' Obama said in his first speech from the Senate floor.

Jackson Sr. earlier in the week told me that he was inclined to cut Obama some slack on this one because he was so new. On Thursday, Jackson was elated that Congress -- and the nation -- was forced to focus on voting rights. Regarding Durbin and Obama he said, "They did what the club did. At least they spoke out.''
end.

His Senate site does not have this speech on it either.

I have always admired Boxer, but after that day, I've adored her. She amazes me.