Barack Obama has won the Wisconsin primary and Hawaii caucuses. That's ten straight wins!
Sen. Barack Obama won the Wisconsin Democratic primary and the Hawaii caucuses decisively last night, extending his winning streak to 10 consecutive contests and dealing another significant blow to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose imperiled presidential candidacy now hangs on the outcome of showdowns in Ohio and Texas in two weeks. - Washington Post
Fellow blogger, cosanostradamus, is in Hawaii and left this comment on DFC describing the exhuberance at the polls.
Not a "HILLARY" button in sight! You never saw a more orderly yet joyous crowd in your life. I think everyone knew that they were making real history by the simple act of taking their lives in their own hands. It was truly a Sixties moment. Democracy, baby, it's a beautiful thing. Democrats oughta try it more often!Other than sex, food, water and air, I've never seen so many people want something so bad. Old, young, rich, poor, students, workers, blacks, whites, Latinos, Asians, Polynesians, gays, straights, Vietnam Vets, Iraq Vets, WWII vets, Korean Vets. Patiently, we waited, together, to change the world.
Prague Spring, anyone? No Russian tanks coming, no matter what McCain says.
More later...
Posted by Diana at February 20, 2008 11:59 AM.
I was too conservative: The turnout was up not by a factor of five or six, but 7.4364.
Read it and weep, Powers That Be:
HONOLULU ADVERTISER Wednesday, 20 FEB 2007
http://honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080220/BREAKING01/302200004
"Obama wins Hawaii in a landslide"
"Obama had 28,347 votes, or 76 percent, to U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's 8,835 votes, or 24 percent, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting."
"The caucuses have typically drawn fewer than 5,000 people in the past but got more than [7] times that figure last night."
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That's 37,182 caucusers instead of 5,000. That's 32,187 "New Democrats." And that's just the hard core that braved balmy tropical breezes and temps in the mid-70s to "caucus" (?). The arab-street here says there will be a similarly huge and enthousiastic turnout for Barack here in November, breaking all records, as noted by even Clintonite old-guard local-Japanese-elite Machine Democrat-in-Chief Senator Daniel "Watergate" Inouye, who single-handedly won WWII, and should know.
The local Democratic Party will never be the same. It's the biggest event in Hawaii politics since Inouye & Co took over the Democratic Party in the 1940s-50s. It could be the beginning of the end of their monolithic, self-serving, ethno-centric, anti-progressive stranglehold on the Party, and the State.
HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN Wednesday, 20 FEB 2007
http://starbulletin.com/2008/02/20/news/story06.html
"Neighbor island polls draw thousands"
"Nearly 1,000 people stood in line for about an hour to vote in one of the three districts at the center. People brought their dogs and their children, caught up with neighbors and, in general, tried to figure out exactly which line to stand in.
'This is the best party in town,' said Judy Louie, a Kilauea resident voting in her first caucus.
While Louie said she voted for Barack Obama, her friend, Toni Childs, was a Clinton supporter. The two said that the important thing was voting to make a difference.
'We finally have hope for change,' Childs added."
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If, according to the local papers, the Hillary vote was regular "traditional" Dems, and the Obama vote was us irregular and "New Democrats," then we have done exactly what I've been exhorting people to do here: Rise up and take over the Party by sheer strength of numbers.
The real test will be how many people really get involved and stay involved, to keep the Party and its' candidates out of the pockets of special interests who do not represent the rest of us, the real majority.
This is what US pol's since Jefferson and Adams have feared: That the great inchoate mass of the people, the 60-80 per cent who opt out or are left out in every election, should suddenly coalesce into a real force for change.
For the comfortable Powers That Be, of course, change is never good. For the rest of us, it all depends upon who manages it. If it isn't us, it won't be to our benefit.
We've only just now taken Step One here in the Aloha State. Step Two requires hard work and a willingness to stay on the job. But if last night's glorious turnout was any indication, not only can we do this, but it might actually be fun!
However, if we let go of the wheel now, someone else is already waiting to grab it. And who knows where we'll end up then? As the fellow in Pere Lachaise says, keep your eyes on the road, your hand upon the wheel.
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I just got back from a little surprise my boyfriend gave me for my birthday...an Obama rally in downtown Dallas! The rally was very exciting, and I just shifted from undecided to leaning towards Obama.
Posted by: Sara at February 20, 2008 05:57 PMThanks for that really exciting update on the Hawaii caucuses. Hope you don't mind that I moved your comments to the blog. I just felt they needed to be up in front.
It's wonderful to see the joy in people's faces, isn't it? I feel like we've all been like refugees in our own country, and we're comming out of a long dark nightmare. What a relief to see so many Americans recoil from the brink of the Bush Co. abyss and move toward the light, en mass. They "get it!" They get it in unimaginable numbers.
There is a growing sense that this election marks a major paradigm shift that has been secretly developing under the radar. Obama is tapping into it and calling it forth. This burgeoning movement was leaderless, and needed someone like Obama to coalesce behind.
The party better be very careful. If they allow the superdelegates to decide this election against the will of the people demonstrated at the polls, I predict Obama will go Independent, and that could be the end of the party. I'm sure Pelosi, Howard Dean, and others are working feverishly behind the scenes to make sure that doesn't happen. I'm sure they see the dangers, but maybe the demise of the party would be best for this country. The two party duopoly is an old lumbering system that has become a hotbed of corruption and has disenfranchised millions of Americans who simply refused to play a rigged game. For years the party served as a fundraising and organization mechanism, but now with the Internet it appears to have become obsolete. It's only a matter of time. Whether this is the time for the demise of the party-system remains to be seen, but I would not be surprised if this is the pivotal moment in our history for a change of that magnitude, a change that transcends politics and works its way into society. One thing is sure, the change train has left the station, and there's no stopping it now.
Whatever happens, I believe people will stay involved, not necessarily in the party, but in democracy itself, and in transforming society, block by block, community by community.
"We are the change we've been waiting for."
It's all good. Very, very good :)
Posted by: Diana at February 20, 2008 08:24 PMSara, hi :)
I'm glad you're leaning toward Obama. You'll be in a position to make a real difference in Texas next month.
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Posted by: jchnlo at March 4, 2008 06:07 PMDiana, where are you??? Are you watching the show?
Hope you're ok.
Posted by: supa at March 6, 2008 11:51 AMHi supa, thanks for your concern. I've been out of sorts lately and got a really bad rash, of all things. Seems it was a reaction to eating shrimp. It's really painful and has lasted for weeks. Sitting at the computer has just been too uncomfortable.
There's never been an election like this in my lifetime, so how could I miss the show? I've watched all the political goings on with rapt attention and with growing dismay over Hillary's ability to make dirty tactics pay off for her. If this keeps up she'll destroy any chance we have of beating McCain. Then again, this may be what is needed for her to destroy herself and finally prove that the "old century" politics she represents are ultimately bankrupt.
Either way, I'm definately watching and hope to have something to add to the debate when I'm feeling better.
Hope all is well with you too.
Posted by: Diana at March 7, 2008 08:59 PM.
Keeping my fingers crossed. The Rush (To) Limbo Factor may have kept Billary alive, proving once again that they are DINOs: If the Repukelickins can't have McCain, they'll take Clinton. Or vice versa. Same difference: Endless war, increasing corporatist control.
Let's hope we survive the racial and gender politics that Billary will now employ in desperately gnawing and clawing their way back into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They didn't care if Newt Gingrich took over Congress. They won't mind if Bushco stays in office, as long as they get their shot. To do . . . Republican-Lite stuff.
If you weren't sure about Billary before, folks, let this be a lesson.
Thanks for the bump, BTW. Hope you're feeling better. Maybe you're allergic to mercury.
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Or maybe you're allergic to Hillary. Just listening to her makes me feel like breaking out in hives. She's absolutely toxic.
Did you hear Obama's speech today on Race?
Absolutely brilliant! This man is operating on a much higher level then the kitchen sink and simply soars above his detractors.
Finally we will have a President the better half of this country deserves!
Hope you're feeling better.
Posted by: supa at March 18, 2008 09:19 PM