WaPo reported The Democratic candidates have signed a pledge that would forbid them from campaigning in states such as Michigan and Florida that have sought to move their presidential primaries into January 2008.
"We believe Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina play a unique and special role in the nominating process," Clinton's campaign said in a statement.
And they will keep that pledge until a poll is published that shows they are losing ground in one of those states, at which time their pledge will be as worthless as other promises they make.The move ended weeks-long jockeying over which states get to hold early primaries. Democratic leaders in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, the four states that had been designated by the Democratic National Committee to hold early primaries, demanded in letters Friday that the candidates not participate in the early primaries of other states. The candidates either had to sign the pledge or risk annoying officials in those key states.
What about annoying voters in the other states.Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) and Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.), along with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, signed the pledge within hours on Friday.
None of whom stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting the nomination.By yesterday, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.), and former senator John Edwards of North Carolina, had joined them.
"We believe Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina play a unique and special role in the nominating process," Clinton's campaign said in a statement.
What is that role? An extremely white state, a small state that demands physical presence in living rooms and coffee shops, a state with a lot of gambling, and one state where blacks might have a say."And we believe the DNC's rules and its calendar provide the necessary structure to respect and honor that role."
1 comment:
Please read Bill Richardson’s recently published article on how we must reconfigure the entire US Foreign Policy, printed in the Harvard International Review, yet has hardly been noticed by any mainstream media. You could conclude that Bill Richardson is changing the nature of the debate
between the Democrat candidates and improving the international focus of their dialogue, not to mention being the strongest candidate to speak for ending the Iraq war immediately.
I hope you can share this important document with your friends, colleagues, and readers. It is a very important international policy breakthrough and deserves to be read and considered by every single American, the entire diplomatic community from every nation,
as well as your insightful readers! I am not officially connected to his campaign, but as a private citizen, I do recognize the importance of this statement enough to send it to you.
Thank you, Stephen Fox
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New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's International Policies, from Harvard
International Review
“New Realism: Crafting a US Foreign Policy for a New Century”
Governor Bill Richardson
Redacted from the Harvard International Review
US foreign policymakers face novel challenges in the 21st century. Jihadists and environmental crises have replaced armies and missiles as the greatest threats; globalization has eroded the significance of national borders. Many problems that were once national are now global, and dangers that once came only from states now come also from societies—not from hostile governments, but from hostile individuals or from impersonal social trends, such as the
consumption of fossil fuels. The piece does a credible job of laying out the problems before us and arguing that the Bush Administration has not taken the appropriate measures to deal with them.
The highlights of Richardson’s plans:
First and foremost, the United States must repair its alliances. US leaders also must restore commitment to international law and multilateral cooperation.
Promoting expansion of the UN Security Council’s permanent membership to include Japan, India, Germany, and one country each from Africa and Latin
America.
Ethical reform at the United Nations so that this vital institution can help its many underdeveloped and destitute member states meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Expanding the G8 to include India and China.
The US government must join the International Criminal Court and respect all international treaties, including the Geneva Conventions.”
On environmental issues, the United States must be the leader, not the
laggard, in global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by embracing the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, Lead the world with a man-on-the-moon effort to improve energy efficiency and to commercialize clean, alternative
technologies.
Stop considering diplomatic engagement with others as a reward for good behavior.
Various efforts including ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
The United States needs to start showing, both through its words and through its actions, that this is not, as the Jihadists claim, a clash of civilizations. Rather, it is a clash between civilization and barbarity.
Closing Guantanamo
The United States also needs to pressure Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and other friends in the Arab world to reform their education systems, which are
incubators of anti-US sentiment.
Spend more to develop first responders and to drastically improve public health facilities, which, five years after 9/11, are not ready for a biological attack.
The United States needs to lead the global fight against poverty, which is the basis of so much violence.
Encourage rich countries to honor UN Millennium goal commitments.
Lead donors on debt relief, shifting aid from loans to grants, and focus on primary health care and affordable vaccines.
Promote trade agreements, which create more jobs in all nations and which seriously address wage disparities, worker rights, and the environment.
Pressure pharmaceutical companies to allow expanded use of generic drugs, and encourage public-private partnerships to reduce costs and enhance access
to anti-malarial drugs and bed nets.
Promote a multilateral Marshall Plan for the Middle East and North Africa.
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I look forward to your reply,
Stephen Fox
stephen@santafefineart.com
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